aBHBHBffMPffl ; I CECIL I *''''!"'* ! lllKJittMii HORACE A. SCOn 2208 North Ross Street Santa Ana, California ' N K 'JJ * CJ w o cr > I fi -t - FOUR BOOKS IN ONE VOLUME SOUTH AFRICA BY PROFESSOR W. DOUGLAS MACKENZIE, D. D. OF CHICAGO AUTHOR OF 'CHRISTIANITY AND THE PROGRESS OF MAN," "THE ETHICS OF GAMBLING," ETC. ASSISTED BY ALFRED STEAD LONDON, ENGLAND SUPERBLY ILLUSTRATED WITH ORIGINAL DRAWINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS UNDER DIRECTION OF GEORGE SPIEL AMERICAN BOOK AND BIBLE HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA, PA. COPYRIGHT 1899, BY GBORGE SPIEI 5145223 PREFATORY INTRODUCTION. IT HAS often been said that there is no teacher of geography so interesting and so thorough as war. Americans, for example, hardly knew anything more of the Philippine Islands, and their inhabitants, and their political associations, than that such islands existed in a colonial relation to Spain. But alike the geography and the history of those islands have been studied with intense interest by scores of thousands of all classes in America during the last eighteen months. The new relations in which America found herself so suddenly involved with the West and the East Indies led many of her citizens to face the general history of colonization, and especially to investigate the extra- ordinary place which colonization has occupied in the development of British commerce and influence throughout the whole world during the last hundred years. It is not too much to say that a large number of Americans have come to understand the growth of the British Empire more sympathetically since they were led to see in their own case how a great people could be impelled on her historic development by circum- stances and forces seemingly beyond her resistance. The shallow notion that Great Britain has conquered territory all over the world merely through greed, and cruelty, and oppression, is rapidly being relegated to the limbo already so well occupied of popular prejudices and inter- national misunderstandings. It is safe to say that a still larger number of the inhabitants of North America have been drawn, this winter, to a still closer study of the growth and spirit of the British Empire through the occurrence of this deplorable and disastrous war in South Africa. The demand is very great indeed for information regarding the history, the geography, the inhabitants of that country. People wish to know who the Boers are, when they arrived in Africa, what kind of people they found there, and the history of those people since the invasion of the country by Euro- 8 t PREFATORY INTRODUCTION. peans. Especially do persons desire to know the history of Cape Colony while it was under the Dutch government, how it became the property of Great Britain, part of the British Empire, how it is that so many wars have occurred in that region between the Boers and the natives, the British and the natives, and the Boers and the British. There have not been wars so frequent or so disastrous, even in India, during the last seventy-five years, as in South Africa. There have not been race quar- rels in Canada during this century like those in South Africa. No- where else have whole bodies of Europeans sought to escape beyond the boundaries of any British colony or dominion in which they were born and brought up, save only, perhaps, in the case of Ireland. People wish to know who have been the prominent figures of South African history. They know vaguely that it has been the scene of great exploration, exciting adventures with wild beasts, prolonged and most earnest mis- sionarf labor. They know that in recent years South Africa has sud- denly revealed her possession of enormous treasures in precious metals and precious stones. All these facts have had their own influence upon the racial problems which have been so intense as to appeal to the terrible arbitrament of war for their settlement. It is the purpose of this book to present to the reader a. general account of this region, such an account as shall enable him to form a fairly full and clear idea of the land where this most fierce and ruthless war is raging. An effort has, therefore, been made, as rapidly as pos- sible, within the space allowed, to throw some light upon everything that may help to interest the reader in that country, to explain to him its problems, account for and describe its wars. The book professes to be a conspectus of South African history, heroes and racial struggles. The best authorities available have been consulted. The works of missionaries, travelers, historians, politicians, and the Blue Books of the British Parliament have been consulted. The author and his assistant have both very deep personal interest in South Africa and a familiarity with its history derived from years of reading and discussion there- upon. The general standpoint aimed at is that of a fair, frank and unpreju- diced description of all matters bearing upon South Africa, and espe- cially those that illuminate the meaning of this war of 1899-1900. No PREFATORY INTRODUCTION. 9 man can profess, on any great matter, to be absolutely impartial. But every man ought to strive Tor fairness and justice. In this book, a serious attempt is made to present both sides of every great discussion that has arisen in South African history, especially between the British and the Boers. It will be seen, in the following pages, that sometimes the Boers have had the most of right on their side, and sometimes the British. As to which side, on the whole, has manifested the nobler spirit and deserved the more lenient judgment or the warmer sympathy of all intelligent and humane onlookers a,nd students, this is not the place to attempt an opinion. The honest and earnest attempt to tell the truth, whatever conclusion regarding the merits of this dispute that truth may force upon us, is claimed for the substance and tone of the following pages. Chicago, January, 1900. W. D. M. PRESIDENT KRUGER Photo, by Duffus Brothers, Johannesburg. CECIL J. RHODES Said to have been "taken growling before breakfast, but very characteristic. Photo, by S. B. Barnard, Cape Town. CONTENTS. BOOK I. THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA. PART I. GENERAL SKETCH OF THE STATES AND RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHAPTER I. Page The Geography and Climate of South Africa 23 CHAPTER II. The Dutch Occupation, 1650-1806 37 CHAPTER III. The Colony of Natal 41 CHAPTER IV. The Orange Free State. 48 CHAPTER V. Zululand , TO CHAPTER VI. Basutoland 91 CHAPTER VII. Bechuanaland 99 CHAPTER VIII. Rhodesia 108 13 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. Page Cape Colony, 1814-1900 ^ 126 CHAPTER X. THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC 139-199 Section 1. The Earlier History- of the Transvaal 130 Section 2. The Transvaal, 1864-1877 144 Section 3. Characteristics of the Boers 151 Section 4. The Transvaal Government and Native Races 161 Section 5. The Annexation of the Transvaal , 169 Section 6. Through Imperial iTule to Independence 166 Section 7. The Constitution of the Two Republics 190 CHAPTER XI. The Native Races 200-211 Section 1. Gariepiue Races 201 Section 2. The Bantu Race . . / 204 CHAPTER XII. The Animals of South Africa 215 CHAPTER XIII. The Chief Industries of South Africa. , . 231 PART II. FAMOUS MEN AND LEADING TOWNS OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHAPTER I. POLITICAL WORKERS 239-284 Section 1. Earl drey 239 Section 2. Dr. Jameson 241 Section 3. General Joubert ,-,, ,...,,..,.,. 250 CONTENTS. 15 Page Section 4. Sir Hercules Robinson 257 Section 5. Olive Schreiner 266 Section 6. Sir Theophilus Shepstone 269 Section 7. Hon. W. P. Schreiner 273 Section 8. Sir Jno. G. Sprigg 276 Section 9. President Steyn 278 CHAPTER II. Khama, Chief of the Bamangwatos '. 284 CHAPTER III. CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES 302-355 Section 1. The Influence of Missions 302 Section 2. Robt. Moffat . . . . ~ 307 Section 3. David Livingstone 315 Section 4. John Mackenzie 328 Section 5. Francois Coillard 355 CHAPTER IV. Cape Town 358 CHAPTER V. Johannesburg 363 CHAPTER VI. * Kimberley and the Diamond Mines 368 CHAPTER VII. OTHER LEADING TOWNS 378-394 Section 1. Bloemfontein , 378 Section 2. Buluwayo 380 Section 3. Durban 383 Section 4. Grahamstown 387 Section 5. Port Elizabeth 391 Section 6. Pretoria . 394 16 CONTENTS. BOOK II. CECIL J. RHODES, CAPITALIST AND POLITICIAN. CHAPTER I. Page Introductory 401 CHAPTER II. The Earlier Life of Mr. Rhodes : 404 CHAPTER III. His Early Political Life 416 CHAPTER IV. Mr. Rhodes and the British South Africa Chartered Co 427 CHAPTER V. Mr. Rhodes as Prime Minister 439 CHAPTER VI. Mr. Rhodes and the Jameson Raid 446 CHAPTER VII. Mr. Rhodes Since the Raid 459 BOOK III. STEPHANUS JOHANNES PAULUS KRUGER. CHAPTER I. The Earlier Life of Mr. Kruger 469 CONTENTS. 17 CHAPTER II. Page Mr. Kruger and Transvaal Politics 475 CHAPTER III. Mr. Kruger and the War of Independence 484 CHAPTER IV. Mr. Kruger's First Presidency 490 CHAPTER V. President Kruger and the Outlanders . . . 496 CHAPTER VI. President Kruger and the Raid 511 President Kruger's Last Stand 517 BOOK IV. THE BRITISH BOER WAR 1899-1900. PART I. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR. CHAPTER I. The Transvaal and South Bechuanaland 525 CHAPTER II. The London Convention, 1884 531 CHAPTER III. The Settlement of South Bechuanaland. , . 544 18 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Page The Outlanders of the Transvaal .' 551 CHAPTER V. The Story of the Jameson Raid 557 CHAPTER VI. The Colonial Office and the Raid : 577 CHAPTER VII. The Transvaal After the Raid . 582 CHAPTER VIII. The Afrikander Bond and the Presidents' Hope 590 CHAPTER IX. Diplomacy and the Ultimatum 608 Summarv of the Causes of the War . . . 623 PART II. THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR. CHAPTER I. The Invasion of Natal .' 627 CHAPTER II. The Invasion of Cape Colony 650 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Hoisting the British Flag in South Africa by Dr. Jno. Mackenzie, the Author's Father. Frontispiece David Livingstone and John Mackenzie Frontispiece President Kruger 11 Cecil J. Rhodes 12 Cape Town 21 House of Parliament in Cape Town 22 A Pretty Suburb of Cape Town 31 Hon. W. P. Schreiner 32 Sir Alfred Milner 32 Soldiers' Monument 33 A Queen's Memorial 34 Pietermaritzburg, Capital of Natal 43 Chief Teteluki, Natal 44 Sir W. Hely Hutchinson 53 Conyngham Greene, C. B 53 Sir J. Gordon Sprigg 53 J. H. Hofmeyer x 53 Soldiers' Graves 54 A Pineapple Field ... 55 Going to Market 56 Boers Outspanned 65 A Traveler's Difficulty 66 Zulu Kraal 83 Zulu Ladies' Reception 84 Dagga Smokers 101 A Native Wizard ... 102 A Zulu Military Review 119 Page Zulus Defying the Lightning 120 A Family Group ". 137 Inside the House 138 Zulu Warriors 155 / Zulu Warriors Uncivilized 156 Zulu Warriors Civilized 156 Sifting Gravel for Diamonds 173 DeBeers Compound 174 Chief's Kraal, Zululand 191 Native Kraal 192 Building a Homestead 209 Waiting for the Vultures , 210 The Tugela River 227 Mica Deposit in a Donga 227 Natives of Amatongaland 228 Olive Schreiner 245 Dr. Jameson 246 Barney Barnato 246 Muster of Town Burghers at Pretoria. .246 Majuba Hill 263 Going to Work 264 Going Home from the Mines 281 Diamond Field Claims in 1869 282 Ostrich Farming 282 Native Miners 299 Native Compound 300 Old Workings Kimberley Diamond Mines 317 Durban Main Street.. ..318 19 20 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, Page Durban Road to Berea 318 Charging the Boers' Laager 335 The Middle Mugan River Natal 335 A Street in Johannesburg 336 Civil Prisoners Entering Pretoria 353 General View of Johannesburg 354 Gold Mines at Johannesburg 371 Wrecking an Armored Train 372 The Charge of the Lancers 389 A Boer Scout 390 Wounded Boer Prisoners 407 A Warm Day at Ladysmith 408 Front Door of Mr. Rhodes' House 425 Mr. Rhodes' Library 426 The Home of Cecil Rhodes 443 Mr. Rhodes' Farm 444 General Jan Koch's State Funeral 461 Pretoria Commando Leaving for Ser- vice . . .' 462 General Joubert Ready for War 479 General Joubert Ready for the Plat- form 479 Dr. Leyds 480 General Piet Cronje 480 President Steyn 480 Lord Roberts Face 528 General Kitchener.. . " 528 Page General White Face 529 General Buller " 529 Gen. Sir A. Hunter " 544 Gen. Sir Cornelius F. Clery " 544 Maj-Gen. Sir Wm. Gatacre " 544 Lt.-Gen. Sir F. W. E. Forestier Walker " 544 General Methuen " 545 Col. Baden-Powell " 545 Lt.-Col. Otter and Officers " 560 Lady Minto " 561 Lt.-Col. Otter " 561 Highlanders " 576 The First Canadian Contingent in Street Parade " 577 Group of Canadian Officers " 592 First Canadian Contingent at Toronto " 593 Group of Artillery Officers " 608 Farewell Manitoba ' 609 Boers in the Trenches " 624 General Warren " 625 General French " 625 A Wagon Breakdown " 625 The Battle of Spion Kop " 640 Hauling the Guns Up Coles Kop. . " 641 o 50 H -2"* BI ~~" "< o H a 2 25 U 2s "% S 9- B 85 j 3 BOOK -I. THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA. PART I. GENERAL SKETCH OF THE STATES AND RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHAPTER I. THE GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. SOUTH AFRICA, or, as it has been sometimes called, Austral Africa, is the term given to that portion of the continent of Africa which lies south of the Zambesi River, on the eastern coast, and a point at or about the port of St. Paul de Loanda on the western coast. The whole region is roughly shaped like a triangle, with the apex point- ing south and somewhat blunted. One of the most remarkable things about South Africa is the monotony of its coast-line which affords very few safe harbors, and no rivers that are navigable for any distance inland. This fact has undoubtedly much to do with the slow develop- ment of this region, for travelers and explorers have been compelled to make their land journey from the very coast by ox wagons. Until within a few years only three or four ports have been much used, and from these ports nearly all the development of the entire region has taken place. It is true that on the west side there is one fine harbor, known as Walfisch Bay. This bay and a portion of the land round it, consisting of about 800 square miles, was nearly twenty years ago proclaimed as British territory and annexed to the Cape Colony. But, while the harbor is good, it is as yet practically valueless on account of the dreary nature of the country lying behind it. For many, many miles it consists 23 24 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. exclusively x>f barren hills and sandy plains, with only here and there a small oasis or a river channel which contains water only after the fall of rain. Some day it may be that this harbor will be of great value, when a railway, which was proposed more than ten years ago, runs from this point across the desert into Bechuanaland. The next break in the coastline is found at the mouth of the Orange TCiver. While this is the largest river in South Africa the estuary is barred by sandy banks and thereby rendered useless for shipping. Fifty miles further south is Port Nolloth, a small harbor from which cargoes of copper found in Namaqualand are shipped to Europe. Thence we come to St. Helena Bay, whieh is 30 miles across, but as yet con- nected with no inland industry and therefore of no importance, and Saldanha Bay, which, while a fine natural harbor and the best on this coast, is also rendered valueless by being far removed from any town or sources of production. At the extreme southwest corner we come upon Cape Agulhas; from that it is but a short run to Table Bay, on which Cape Town is placed, and False Bay. The former has been made comparatively safe for shipping by means of breakwaters, but with a northwest wind the anchorage is still precarious. The much larger bay, known as False Bay, contains within it a still smaller one known as Simons Bay, which is thoroughly well protected and has been for many years the Imperial naval station. It is of the utmost value to the British Empire alike for its safety and its importance as a coaling station. The southern coast has only a few small indentations and useless river mouths. The harbor at the outlet of the Knysna Kiver is available for small ships, which must find their way over a double bar ere they can reach security. At the southeast corner of the continent lies the well known Algoa Bay, which is 35 miles across from point to point. On this bay stands the prosperous town of Port Elizabeth, which is the chief shippin-g place for the entire eastern province of Cape Colony and has in recent years run a race with Cape Town for commercial leader- ship in South Africa. It has the advantage of being the central landing place for Cape Colony, lying as it does about midway between Cape Town and Durban. It is now connected by railway with the important regions north and northwest and proposals are made for a railway along GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. 25 the coast which will still further add to its prosperity by encouraging industries in regions hitherto practically isolated from the commercial world. Algoa Bay, while now somewhat improved, used to be a most dangerous anchorage owing to its exposure to the terrific force of the southeast winds. Storms from this direction have sometimes in a single o night thrown many vessels upon the shore. Beyond this point we have Port Alfred, at the mouth of the Kowie River, and having trade con- nections with the Grahamstown district. Beyond that again we reach East London, the third seaport in Cape Colony. The sandy bar at the mouth of the Buffalo River has been, with considerable enterprise, dredged and the channel deepened to allow vessels of a considerable size to reach the harbor. It is connected with Queenstown by a railway, which thence passes on through the Orange Free State and thus reaches the Transvaal. The land journey from this point to the gold fields is much shorter than either from Port Elizabeth or Cape Town. Passing Port St. John at the mouth of the Umzimvubu River we come to the coast line of the important colony of Natal. Natal has only one harbor of importance, formerly known as Port Natal, but for many years as Durban. The bay is shallow throughout, with an area of 7 or 8 square miles. It has been well dredged and the entrance has been nar- rowed by means of breakwaters so as to measure only about a quarter of a mile across. On the south side of the entrance is the bluff, over 200 feet high. The town itself is the largest in this colony and is situated on the north side of the bay. It is overlooked by the beautiful Berea Hill, on whose slopes are built most handsome and picturesque residences. The name is derived from a mission station which in former days was situated here. Beyond this the only important break consists in the strange shaped lake of St. Lucia and the mouth of the Kosi River. As yet the former is too shallow to be of much use for shipping, although the day may come when capital and skill may turn some portion of this lake into the finest harbor on the eastern coast of Africa. Beyond these again there lies the well known Delagoa Bay, w T hich has as its central port the Portuguese settlement known as Lorenzo Marques. This place is connected by submarine cable with Aden in the north and with Durban to the south. It is the nearest harbor to the Transvaal, whose border is only 57 miles westwards, is situated in the territory of Portuguese East 26 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. Africa, and lias attained great importance in recent years through the very large increase of shipping caused by the development of the Trans- vaal gold mines and the building of an important railway between Pre- toria and Lorenzo Marques. For a number of years Great Britain has had a treaty with Portugal affording the former the right of pre-emption of Delagoa Bay, and it has long been the opinion of South African states- men that at some no distant date that most important point must, for the development of a vast portion of Austral Africa, indeed for the good of the entire country, pass into the hands of the British. Delagoa Bay is 12 miles wide, over 50 feet deep at the entrance, and affords well shel- tered anchorage for the largest vessels. Hitherto the development of Delagoa Bay has been much hindered on the one hand by the incapacity and corruption of the local Portuguese officials, and on the other hand by the extremely heavy charges upon goods carried from this point to Pretoria by railway. When we come to study South Africa by moving inland from the coast line the first fact of importance is that along the coast, almost around the entire region, there is a narrow strip of land not exceeding 500 feet in height, sometimes very narrow, at one point broadening to a few miles and at Delagoa Bay extending even to 15 or 20 miles, which is properly speaking the coast belt. On the east coast this belt is the un- healthiest part of South Africa, and its dangerous character increases northwards towards the tropics. Europeans especially find that in this strip of coast land they are liable to malarial disorders. Beyond this low strip of coast land the hills lead up to a second region. Except in the far northeast and in the neighborhood of Cape Town the rise is somewhat gradual, while at the places named it is abrupt and rugged. The second region is healthier than the first, but it again gives way to a third. As the traveler passes inland he finds himself mounting towards yet another terrace, through ranges of hills. When he has traveled from 30 to 50 miles from the sea he finds himself at a height of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level, and this is increased in some regions again to a lofty plateau land only 60 miles from the sea coast, which rises to a height of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. These hills intersected with narrow valleys or passes belong to the long range of mountains which extends a distance of 1,600 miles from Cape Town right up to the valley of the GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OP SOUTH' AFRICA. 27 Zambesi River. No name has been given to the entire range, although the tendency is to extend over the whole the name Drakensberg, which was first, confined to that portion of the range forming the eastern boundary of the Orange Free State. Only in Basutoland do the peaks of this range attain the height of 10,000 and 11,000 feet. Here they are even covered with snow for several months of the year. Beyond this range of mountains one goes down only from 1,000 to 3,000 feet to find one's self on a vast table land. This table land is generally flat as the flattest prairie land in America, or it is gently undulating, its rolling contours being broken here and there by abrupt and rocky hills. At some points this plateau is even 6,000 feet above sea level. This third region, this great plateau we may say, is South Africa itself, since it consists of no less than seven-eighths of the entire region so named. In the far north it descends slightly to the channel of the Zambesi, to the west it slopes gradually down and descends less abruptly to the sea level than on the eastern coast. No one can thoroughly understand the possi- bilities of colonization and the prospects of development in South Africa who does not clearly realize the peculiar characteristics which result from the extension of this plateau region. We have referred to the importance as a geographical feature of the Drakensberg Mountains. They form the most important, if we may not even say the only, water-shed determining the direction of the South African rivers. It has been remarked that South Africa is the land where the rivers have no water and the birds have no songs, where there may be thunder without lightning. It is true that many of what are known as rivers of South Africa are practically just dry channels for most of the year and contain water only during what is known as the rainy season. This is true, however, in the main only of the rivers which flow from the Drakensberg Mountains westwards, and is not true of the rivers which from the mountain heights take the shorter course east- wards to the Indian Ocean. The greatest river system of South Africa is that of the Orange River, whose chief tributaries are the Caledon and the Vaa'l. The Vaal is itself a large river with tributaries of its own. As the Orange River flows west on its journey of 1,000 miles to the Atlantic Ocean, the number of its tributaries decreases. In many parts it flows through rough and 28 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OP SOUTH AFRICA. wild scenery and at one point passes over what are known as the Great Falls, to which some day no doubt many tourists will go as they go to Niagara, or as they will go to the still more beautiful Victoria Falls on the Zambesi. The Orange River with its tributaries drains an area of about 300,000 square miles. The Limpopo River, otherwise known as the Crocodile River, having its source in the hills near Pretoria, flow r s northwards and then eastwards and forms the northern boundary of the Transvaal, falling into the Indian Ocean north of Delagoa Bay. This river also suffers from the irregularity of its water supply. There are signs not a few that in past ages the entire region of south central Africa possessed a much more abundant water supply than it does to-day, and it is one of the interesting problems of the future whether by means of irrigation and the extension of verdure over the central desert region a change in the annual rain fall may not be grad- ually secured. South Africa at present enjoys two principal seasons of the year which are known, not as summer and winter, but as the wet and dry seasons. The wet season is caused by the moisture laden winds from the east and southeast. As the clouds are driven towards the land they are caught up on the sharp peaks of the Drakensberg Mountains and pour their rains upon the highly favored eastern coast. This causes of course the swollen rivers, the many floods familiar in that region ; but the abundance of rain is also the reason for the remarkable productivity of the eastern coast, which stands in strange contrast with the barren and sandy wastes of the western shores. The rest of South Africa is watered from those clouds which succeed in passing the Drakensberg range. In some parts of the western region the annual rain fall is only from 5 to 10 inches. The value of this, however small it may be, vanishes almost altogether owing to the intense heat of the sun and the perpetual thirst of the arid soil. It is the opinion of many explorers that even the great Kalahari Desert, which extends from Kuruman northwards and westwards, can be made to blossom like the rose in spite of its almost complete destitution of rain-fall by means of artesian wells. Such wells have been opened at various unpromising points with remarkable suc- cess. If this can be done on an extensive scale results ought to be ob- tained comparable only with those which followed the first turning of the soil on the prairies of Nebraska and Kansas. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. 29 The famous African explorer, Sir Henry- M. Stanley, in his well known letters to the Times on his journey "Through South Africa," has thus described the region which he traversed in Bechuanaland: "To a new-comer it would not seem so full of promise as it was to me. It would appear as a waterless region, and too dry for a man accustomed to green fields and flowing rivers, but I have seen nothing between the immediate neighborhood of the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains to surpass it, and each mile we travelled in Bechuanaland confirmed that impression. Every few miles we crossed dry watercourses, but, though there was no water in sight, it does not derogate from its value as farm laud. The plateau of Persia is a naked desert compared to it, and yet Persia possesses eight millions of people, and at one time contained double that number. The prairies of Nebraska, of Colorado, and Kansas are inferior in appearance, and I have seen them in their uninhabited state, but they are to-day remarkable for the growth of their many cities and their magnificent farming estates. All that is wanted to render Bechuanaland a desirable colony is water, so that every farm might draw irrigating supplies from reservoirs along these numerous water- courses. For Nature has so disposed the land that anyone with ob- servant eyes may see with what little trouble water could be converted into rich green pastures and fields bearing weighty grain crops. The track of the railway runs over these broad, almost level, valleys, hemmed in by masses of elevated land which have been broken up by ages of torrential rains, and whose soils have been swept by the floods over the valleys, naturally leaving the bases of the mountains higher than the central depression. If a Persian colonist came here he would say: 'How admirable for my purpose. I shall begin my draining ditches or canauts from the bases of those hills and train them down towards the lower parts of these valleys, by which time I shall have as many constant and regular running streams as I have ditches, and my flocks and herds and Olds shajl have abundance of the necessary element.' A thousand of such Persians would create thus a central stream with the surplus water flowing along the valley, and its borders would become one continuous grove. As the Persians would do, the English colonists whose luck it may be to come to this land may also do, and enrich themselves faster than by laboring at gold-mining. 30 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. "These dry river-beds, now filled with sand, need only to have stone dams built across, every few hundred yards, to provide any number of reservoirs. They have been formed by rushing torrents which have fur- rowed the lowlands down to the bed rock, and the depth and breadth of the river courses show us what mighty supplies of water are wasted every year. As the torrents slackened their flow, they deposited their sediment, and finally filtered through underneath until no water was visible, but by digging down about two feet it is found in liberal quanti- ties, cool and sweet." One of the remarkable features of south central Africa is its destitu- tion of trees. Through great tracts of the country the forests are sparse and the individual trees small and scrubby. Thorn trees abound, but these are usually somewhat short and possess little beauty of form or color. There are many wild fruit trees and it is possible that from some of these may be developed new and luscious contributions to the break- fast tables of the world in years to come. In some districts, as for example at Shoshong, the former capital of the Bamangwato tribe, it is known that long ago trees abounded where now few are to be seen. The fact is that they have been destroyed by the native tribes themselves who needed them for building their huts as well as for fire-wood. A great change has been wrought in such formerly treeless districts as Johannesburg and Kimberley by the planting of suitable trees and shrubs, and careful watering of them. Beautiful parks and shady ave- nues are now seen where all was sandy, stony and desolate twenty years ago. This of course has been facilitated by the fortunate introduction of the blue gum tree (Eucalyptus) from Australia. This tree has evi- dently taken to South Africa in a most lively and happy manner. It grows rapidly, throwing a fine shade, and has done more than any other plant to make unlovely places cool and beautiful. The climate of the country of course varies from the coast belt where, in many parts, malaria is frequent, to the intense heat of the sultry in- land valleys; but by far the larger part of South Africa is high and dry. The result is that on the whole the. climate is one of the most healthy in the world and eminently suitable for European colonization. Sun-stroke is unusual although the direct rays of the sun can be very fierce, espe- cially in those parts that are within the tropics. Europeans, however, SOLDIERS' MONUMENT TEis monument was erected at Pietermaritzburg, in Natal, in memory of the Natal colonial soldiers who fell in the horrible massacre of Isandhlwana during the Zulu war. NAPOLEON EUGENE LOUIS JEAN JOSEPH PRINCE IMPERIAL A QUEEN'S MEMORIAL The inscription on this plain cross in far-off Zululand tells its own story. CHIEF TETELUKI NATAL Not a Bird of Paradise a Zulu warrior the professional rapine and slaughter maker of South Africa. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. 35 neither on first going nor in the third or fourth generation show any sign of lassitude or loss of energy. They are big, robust, active and alert men and women. Many parts of South Africa will become famous as health resorts, especially for those who suffer from chest complaints in more northerly regions. This salubrity of the country is due of course to the dryness of the atmosphere, to the height of the plateau land above sea level, which renders heat less trying and the air more invigorating than would otherwise be the case in that latitude. There is a danger encoun- tered by newcomers which arises from the fact that at nightfall, as soon as the sun has set, a sudden coolness penetrates the air. In the winter season the contrast between the heat at noonday and the often very intense cold at midnight is most remarkable. This requires the exercise of care and prudence on the part of all at night time. Many of the native tribes suffer greatly from pulmonary complaints through the use of in- sufficient covering during sleep at night. But where this alternation between heat and cold is prudently prepared for it rather adds to the exhilaration of the system, the cold night doing much to refresh the wearied frame to endure the heat of the ensuing day. The deadly pest of malarial fever has been already referred to as prevalent especially in the tropical coast belt, but inland it is to be found in some parts, especially in the northeastern Transvaal. In fact, the early Boer settlers were driven back from some portions of the Ee- public rather by the attacks of fever than of natives. Pretoria, which lies in a well watered area among the hills, is said to suffer considerably during the wet season from malaria, but Johannesburg, which is only forty miles off, has no fever at all, as it lies on the top of a dry, stony ridge. Far up in the north the fever is found as you reach the valley of the Zambesi, but in Matebeleland, much of which is 4,000 feet above the sea, it is practically unknown. In the matter of climate one of the most remarkable portions of South Africa is that known as the Karroo, which was formerly described as a desert and was the terror of travellers by wagon who were hasten- ing from Cape Town north\vards to Bechuanaland. ' It is a vast prairie country between the second and third ranges of hills from the coast. Scarcely a tree or shrub is seen on its wide extent; it is covered by a strong, wiry looking grass which, unpromising as it seems, has proved to 36 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SOUTH AFRICA. be full of succulence and makes the Karroo one of the finest stock rais- ing districts in the world. Sir Henry M. Stanley describes the air of the Karroo as strangely appetizing. Mr. Bryce says: "The brilliancy of tha lir, the warmth of the days, and the coolness of the nights remind one /vho traverses the Karroo of the deserts of western America between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas, although the soil is much les.j alkaline, and the so-called 'sage-brush' plants characteristic of an alka- line district, are mostly absent." And again he says: "In a landscape so arid one hears with surprise that the land is worth ten shillings (about $2.50) an acre, for one or two of the smaller shrubs give food for sheep, and there are flowers scattered about sufficient for the flocks. The farms are large, usually of at least 6,000 acres, so one seldom sees a farm house. The farmers are all of Boer stock. ... At Matjesfontein, an enter- prising Scotchman has built a hotel and a number of smaller villas to serve as a health resort; has dug wells and planted Australian gums for shade, making a little oasis in the desert." This entire territory of South Africa is divided between three Euro- pean countries. Germany now owns since the year 1884 the regions on the west coast known as Namaqualand and Damaraland. On the far northeast a strip on the coast has hitherto belonged to Portugal. The remainder has been developed under the influences of the British Em- pire, and the war of 1899-1900 has for one of its main objects to deter- mine how those influences henceforth are to be exercised and what they are to secure. Cape Colony occupies the southern portion, with the Orange River for its northern boundary, while South Bechuanaland has since 1890 been annexed to it. The area of Cape Colony is 276,551 square miles. In the east we have the colony of Natal with 20,461 square miles. The native territories under the Imperial Government consist of Zulu- land and Amatongaland with 15,000 square miles altogether, Basuto- land with 10,293 square miles, North Bechuanaland with about 200,000 square miles. In addition to these we have Southern Rhodesia, which is administered by the South Africa Chartered Company and whose aren is about 210,000 square miles. Besides these we have the two independ- ent states mainly ruled by Europeans of Dutch descent, namely, the South African Republic (the Transvaal) with 114,000 square miles and the Orange Free State with 48,000 square miles. CHAPTER II. THE DUTCH OCCUPATION, 16SO-1806. SOUTH AFRICA became known to Europeans in the year 1480, when Diaz, the famous explorer from Portugal, discovered the headland at the southwest corner of the continent. Here he encountered such terrific storms that he called it "Cape of Storms." It was his king who, disliking the name and foreseeing, perhaps, the benefits which this discovery might bring, called it "Cape of Good Hope." Some years later another famous Portuguese sailor sailed right round the southern end of the continent, found his way up the east coast and thence to India. This voyage opened up the great trade route which henceforth was taken every year by fleets of merchant vessels plying between Europe and the East Indies. The Cape, as it came to be called, did not seem inviting in itself to any of those who passed its shores. They stopped there only to obtain fresh water and to rest their sailors on land for a few days ere starting out on the weeks of sea life which yet lay between them and their destination in either direction. About the same time the English and the Dutch East India Companies thought of placing some kind of a fort on this southern point and making it a regular port of call in that region. Accordingly, in 1620, two ships, belonging to the English company, did actually run up the English flag and took formal possession. When this action was reported to the English government, they disapproved of it and no further steps were taken to carry out the policy of the great East India Company. This is the 'first of many instances which we shall note in the course of our story, in which Great Britain first took a step and then withdrew it in her dealings with South Africa. The habit became so confirmed that an African chief, a few years ago, called the British government "The government that is always going away." But, to return. In 1652 the first permanent settlement was made by the Dutch East India Company, with the full consent of their Govern- 37 38 . THE DUTCH OCCUPATION, 1650-1806. ment. The crew of a ship which had been wrecked had spent some months on the very spot where Cape Town now stands; they had planted a few seeds, had found the climate pleasant, the soil productive, and some of them reported their happy experiences to the authorities in their homeland. A number of people, amongst whom were a very few women, were accordingly sent out under Jan van Riebeck to establish a hospital for sick sailors, to cultivate gardens for the supply of ships with fresh food, to barter with the natives for cattle and to build a fort for their own protection. They were not considered as colonists in the ordinary sense; they were all servants of the East India Company, living there in order to facilitate the movements of their great merchant fleets. It was found necessary, however, at a later date, to have the land in the immediate neighborhood of the fort parcelled out into farms and to give these over to colonists of another type. Towards the end of the seven- teenth century the number of these colonists was very largely re- enforced by the arrival of French and Swiss Protestants, who, having fled from persecution in their own countries to Holland, were sent out, with their own consent, to the Cape. These new arrivals added elements of the greatest value to the little Dutch community. To them is traced the beginning of that grape culture, for which Cape Town has since become so famous. These French families became gradually absorbed. They were forced to give up their v language for Dutch and soon lost all direct relationship with their own country. At first these European settlers came into contact with the natives of South Africa in the trading of cattle and sheep. As their numbers increased, they gradually occupied lands which the natives had used for the pasture of their cattle, and over this land question the first quarrels arose. To begin with, the Dutch sought to buy the lands. At a later date they gave up this formality and formed the habit of seizing what they wanted for their farms. At a still later date they even went the length of employing the former owners of the soil as their slaves in its cultivation. The slave movement was, most unfortunately, stim- ulated by the introduction of negro slaves from the west coast. It must not be imagined that the early Dutch governors of South Africa found it an easy task to administer their singular dominion. To begin with, some of the governors themselves were self-seeking and THE DUTCH OCCUPATION, 1650-1806. 39 unscrupulous men. They were apt to break the rules of their office by attempting to make their own fortunes. This brought them into com- petition of a commercial kind with the very people over whose interests they were supposed to rule. Further, they fell into the blunder of im- posing heavy rates of taxation, which created great and increasing impatience. These, and other such circumstances, induced many of the farmers, or Boers as they were called, to move farther away from the seat of authority and tyranny. They passed northwards and east- wards, occupying all the desirable lands, often encountering the natives in warfare and enduring great hardships. But they found it not easy to isolate themselves and become sovereigns of their own domain. The Dutch governors followed them over mountain ranges and across large rivers into their distant homes and insisted on treating them either as citizens still responsible to the Dutch government, or as rebels liable to the severest punishment. The life which these distant settlers lived was by no means unen- joyable. The climate is extremely healthy. Their habits of life were simple and regular. They performed their journeys, drawn slowly at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles a day, by long teams of oxen. They built their little house, tilled their patch of land, looked after their ever-increasing herds, fought off any of the natives who threatened to be troublesome, paid their rare visits once or twice a year to the nearest church for the celebration of the "nachtmaal" or holy com- munion. Nevertheless, the life was by no means elevating, for as the} 7 spread northwards they became less and less of an agricultural, more and more of a pastoral people. Their farms became larger until no one was contented with less than three miles square; they came to relish manual labor less and less and depended wholly upon the inefficient service of ignorant natives. They formed no large towns which they could visit and where something of civilization could lay hold of them; they learned to love hunting and traveling, and the mere independence of their isolated life. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, three or four European countries were engaged in a mighty struggle for the control and the development of large portions of the world. It was being determined whether France, or Holland, or England should lead the destinies of 40 THE DUTCH OCCUPATION, 1650-1806. vast regions through the nineteenth century. It was impossible that the importance of the Cape should remain unnoticed by these fierce con- testants, and hence we find that the South African colony changed hands several times with the changing fortunes of war in Europe. The European nations were contesting for supremacy in the East and the Cape route was the only one available; it was therefore important to determine whether France, Britain or Holland should own the Cape Colony. From 1795 to 1802 it was held by Britain and was then restored by treaty to Holland. But in 1806, when Napoleon was crush- ing Europe, Britain felt compelled to keep the Cape from his grasp. It was not then formally annexed by the British Government, which looked forward to the possibility of restoring it to its former owners at the conclusion of the war. In the meantime two Governors were sent out successively from London who acted with great wisdom, and on the whole succeeded in allaying the first intensity of bitterness felt by the Dutch colonists at being conquered and made subject to a foreign power. In 1814, when she had finally overwhelmed Napoleon, Great Britain had many treaties to make. She had saved Europe at infinite cost to herself, and was entangled in many complicated rela- tions as a consequence. At the treaty of London, accordingly, provision was made with Holland for the purchase by Great Britain of certain Dutch colonies, including the Cape Colony. For these Great Britain paid the sum of 6,000,000 (about $30,000,000), the interest on which was more even at that time than these colonies could possibly have paid in cash to the purchasers. The history of the Dutch occupation of South Africa legally ended in that year and the history of British supremacy in that region began its curiously uncertain and perplexing course. CHAPTER III. THE COLONY OF NATAL. ABOUT two years after the Great Trek out of Cape Colony some of its leaders discovered the pleasant land of Natal. They crossed under a brave and able man, Mr. Pieter Retief, over the Drakens- berg Mountains, and found themselves in the region of the Tugela River. This region was supposed by the Boers to be entirely new to Europeans except along the coast line. But at Port Natal, the name of the harbor where Durban now stands, a few enterprising Englishmen had for a number of years been settled. In 1825 one of them, a British officer, had already obtained a concession from the Zulus covering a large part of that territory. This concession is ignored by all the pro-Boer historians. These Englishmen petitioned in vain to the British Gov- ernment for the formal annexation of their region and their own pro- tection by British power. They, from the first, resented the idea of being united with, or considered as a part of, Cape Colony, and wished to have a new history and a country of their own. When the Boers arrived in Natal they found that the splendid coun- try from the Tugela River southwards to that which now is called St. John's River had been almost entirely denuded of native inhabitants by the ruthless wars of a Zulu tribe. This was the tribe which had been so marvelously organized into an irresistible army by the great chief, Chaka. He had been succeeded by his brother Dingaan, whose capital was situated in a valley north of the Tugela River. The town consisted of a vast circle of huts surrounding a central open space or kraal; this was the spot where his regiments were drilled and reviewed ere they engaged in their vast feasts of beef and beer and engaged in their weird and terrible war dances. When Retief found that Dingaan was the most powerful man in that country he resolved at once to get into as friendly relations with him as possible. It was his aim to obtain the formation of a treaty by which Dingaan as an independent ruler should grant to him and his Boer followers a large slice of territory. There they 41 42 THE COLONY OF NATAL. hoped to be able to settle in a region over which the British Government had as yet established no authorit}-, and where the Boers might hope at. last to erect an independent republic of their own. Iletief was received by the chief with every sign of good- will and a large territory was offered to him on condition of his compelling a distant chief to repay some thousands of cattle which he had taken from Dingaan. This con- dition Eetief fulfilled, and, returning with the cattle, he brought also from the Orange Free State, we are told, nearly 1,000 wagons containing the families and movable property of those who hoped, under his leader- ship, to establish the new state. When they descended upon -the region which they expected to make their home, Retief went with some 50 Boers and about 40 black men to make their final agreement with Dingaan. The chief received them as before, displayed his warriors and held war dances, and then with foul treachery, at a moment when the Boer party were collected before him without their arms, he shouted to the dancing warriors, "Kill the wizards," and not one of Retief s entire party was allowed to escape. Swift as a thunderbolt Dingaan hurled his army upon the encampments of Boers. The first was reached at a place of sor- row, ever after named Weenen (place of weeping). Here they surprised a party of 41 white men, 56 white women and their children to the num- ber of 185, besides more than 200 black servants, and put everyone to death except one young man, who hastily rode to the other encampments and warned them of their danger. In the year '38 the various companies united under a powerful leader called Andries Pretorius, and under him they succeeded at last in crushing Dingaan's power. But several most fierce and terrific battles were necessary ere this was accomplished. The Englishmen at Port Natal also assisted. With more than 1,000 na- tives, they attacked Dingaan. After fighting for many hours they were overwhelmed by thousands of Zulus and only four Englishmen and some hundreds of blacks escaped, having rushed through the Tugela River. The most memorable day of battle was the 16th of December, 1838, when about 450 Boers met many thousands of Zulus, defeating and scat- tering the very flower of Chaka's army. This day has ever since by the Boers of the Transvaal been celebrated as Dingaan's Day, with religious worship and solemn rejoicing. In memory of their victory they also 06 OQ O -, Of I ac H 2 O 2 O a ee OQ a w S 5 3 u , Of ' St. 5 u -s n -s THE COLONY OF NATAL. 45 built a church at the town which they proceeded to establish and which they called Pietermaritzburg. They were enabled finally to crush the Zulus by means of an alliance with one Panda, who revolted with a large section of the tribe against Dingaan, the chief. The latter fled north and was assassinated in 1840. No one can fail surely to admire the courage and almost sublime de- termination with which these Boers carried out the conquest of Din- gaan. Whether one reads of the heroic women who urged their hus- bands on to punish the chief for his act of treachery, or the men who set themselves with a fierce will to rid the land of this blood-thirsty tyrant, or even the young boys w r ho went into battle with the passion of filial de- votion; or whether we think of the religious fervor which characterized them all through their campaigns, which enabled them to pray night by night on their marches, and to praise the God of battles after every vic- tory, we cannot but feel that this story of the conquest of Natal deserves to be placed as a mere story of brave deeds and dauntless enterprise among the most remarkable in the history of men. All the more must we sympathize w r ith the keen disappointment of these farmers when it came to their knowledge that the British Govern- ment was about to assert its authority over Natal. Stories came to Cape Tow r n of certain efforts which the farmers were making to drive other tribes away from desirable locations and to move them south and west towards Cape Colony itself, thus intending to make comfort for them- selves at the expense of the citizens of the older colony. When a small party of soldiers at Port Natal claimed authority over them the Boers at once attacked them and laid siege to their camp. At last, however, rein- forcements came and the Boers at once submitted. At a meeting of their Volksraad, prolonged and bitter debates took place, which ended in a resolution to accept the inevitable and come under the authority of the Queen. Some hundreds of families remained in Natal, and have ever since enjoyed the peace, the security and prosperity of a steady and strong Government; but the majority, it is said, could not brook the idea of remaining under authority. It is probable that not a mere prejudice against government by Great Britain led to their fresh emigration. The fact is that they w r ere once more brought into contact with the funda- mental principle upon which Great Britain deals with native races. 46 THE COLONY OP NATAL That principle in its humbling application by British Governors had driven them from Cape Colony, and the prospect of its application drove them from Natal. One of the chief reasons given for the assertion of British authority in that region was the protection of the rights of native tribes, and three conditions were announced as necessary to be observed by all who would settle there as subjects of the Queen. First, there should not be in the eyes of the law any discrimination founded upon distinction of color or language or creed. Second, no attacks should be made by private persons or bodies of men upon natives residing beyond the limits of the colony without direct authority of the Government. And, thirdly, slavery in any form and under any name must be consid- ered as unlawful within the Queen's dominions. It was in 1842 that Port Natal was taken; in 1845 it was constituted a Colony. Between these years various parties of the Boers crossed the Drakensberg Mountains and settled in various parts of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. In 1856 Natal was granted a still larger measure of self-government, the affairs of the colony being managed by a council consisting partly of representatives chosen by the white inhab- itants and partly of officials appointed by the Crown. One of the imme- diate results of the British occupation and government was that the de- populated country became a haven for tribes and remnants of tribes, and vast numbers of individuals who had for years been practically without homes. As they flocked into the country, locations were assigned them. Now the population is estimated at between 400,000 and 500,000 natives. Many of these live under tribal laws and have been hardly touched by either Christianity or civilization. They are increasing with enormous rapidity and the wisest statesmen in Natal look forward with anxiety to the problem which they will present in a few years to that Government. Natal, with its warm climate, its rich soil, its abundant rivers, yields many most valuable products, but these can only be grown by means of native labor. .Inasmuch as the African natives are lazy beyond com- pare, the enterprising Natal Europeans hit upon the idea of importing coolies from the East. Many thousands have been brought from India, of whom it was thought that they would all return to their homes, but most of them find Natal as good a place to die in as India ; and there they remain. As they were British subjects before coming to Natal their THE COLOXY OP XATAL. 47 presence there has constituted a distinct and serious problem for colon- ial politicians. Like the Cape Colony it is a self-governing colony, complete self- government having been granted in 1893. The Legislature consists of the Governor, a nominated Legislative Council, and an elected Legisla- tive Assembly. The Legislative Council is composed of eleven mem- bers, nominated by the Governor on the advice of his ministers, and distributed between the eight counties into which the colony is divided. A member of the Legislative Council must be 30 years of age, a resi- dent in the colony of ten years' standing, and possessed of immovable property within the colony to the net value of 500. He holds his seat for ten years. The Legislative Assembly consists of thirty-seven mem- bers, elected by ballot to represent thirteen constituencies. The quali- fication for membership of the Assembly is the same as the electoral qualification. Electors must be 21 years of age, and possess immovable property to the value of 50, or rent such property to the annual value of 10, or have resided three years in the colony, with an income of not less than 96 per annum. The life of the Assembly lasts for four years, if it is not previously dissolved by the Governor. Members of the Council and Assembly are not paid, but are entitled to a travelling allowance. The executive power is in the hands of the Governor and his Execu- tive Council, the latter consisting of the -Ministers for the time being. They are not more than six in number, and may sit and speak in either house, but vote only in the house of which they are members. Under the Constitution Act a Civil List is reserved, one item in which is the sum of 10,000 to be devoted annually to promoting the welfare and education of the natives. CHAPTER IV. THE ORANGE FREE STATE. THE Boer farmers, who in large numbers were moving north- wards, met with many strange and dreadful experiences, but large numbers of them settled down in regions where they en- joyed comparative peace and prosperity. Amongst these were the set- tlers in what is now known as the Orange Free State. This region, tying north of the Great River now invariably called the Orange River and south of the Vaal River, has for its eastern base the remarkable highlands of Basutoland and the range known as Bracken- berg. The country itself consists, for the most part, of rolling prairies intersected with many streams. It is a rich farming country. When the Boer farmers first reached it, they found that it had been recently devastated by a section of the Zulu tribe under a brilliant but ruthless leader called Moselekatse. These savages, afterwards called Matebele, had swept the country, slaying the people, destroying their fields and carrying off their cattle. They spared only the young boys and girls, who were destined to be brought up as members of their tribe. The Boers could not escape a contest with these terrible and bloodthirsty warriors. One section of the Boers, under a man named Potgieter, left at a certain point the women and children of their large company in order that the men might explore the country further north. In their absence, the families were attacked and a large num- ber of them put to death by a band of these Zulu warriors. The Zulus went to their headquarters for re-enforcements, and in the meantime Potgieter and his company returned. He proceeded immediately to form what is called in South Africa a "laager,'' which is a rough circle of camp material formed by drawing the wagons together and filling up the space between the wheels with earth and branches of trees. From behind this breastwork the Europeans could use their guns stead- ily and with comparative safety, while the Zulus, not possessing fire 48 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 49 arms, found themselves unable to break through the barriers and use their terrible spears. By these means Potgieter inflicted a severe defeat upon the Zulus and drove them off. The savages were so driven to despair at not getting through the wagons to reach their enemies that they attempted to attack them by throwing their spears over the roofs of the wagons. This, of course, was a comparatively harmless pro- ceeding. Having, in several skirmishes, thrashed these Zulus and taken some thousands of cattle from them, they found themselves at last attacked by Moselekatse himself at the head of twelve thousand warriors. The Boer farmers only numbered 135, but they were on horses and armed with guns and for nine days they kept up an incessant battle against the hosts of their enemies. Their method was simple, daring and most effective. They approached to within a short distance of the Mate- bele, used their guns with terrific precision and then galloped away from the rushing onslaught immediately made upon them, thus keeping beyond the reach of the Matebele assegai and shooting down no one knows how many of the masses opposed to them. They at last fairly disheartened Moselekatse and his famous regiments. Invincible these had proved themselves against natives armed as they themselves were and invincible also' they had deemed themselves against the white men. Great was their amazement and horror to find themselves defeated, and they fled, northwards they fled, spreading death and destruction throughout the whole region which they traversed. Many years after- wards visitors to Matabeleland, now called Rhodesia, where Moselekatse settled, were wont to hear the older warriors of his tribe speak of their ancient battles with the Boers. Always they spoke with tones of respect and even of awe as of men they had found superior warriors to themselves. At the place where one of their victories was gained, namely at Winburg, the emigrants formed themselves into an organized com- munity, adopting articles for their self-government. That was in the year 1837. It was not long before they found themselves pursued, as heretofore, by the long arm of British authority. In 1846 there arrived across the Orange River one of the most famous governors of South Africa, Sir Harry Smith by name. He found himself involved in dis- 50 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. putes with these farming communities that were establishing them- selves at various parts north and east from the Cape Colony. In the conduct of these disputes, the British authorities were not always right. They frequentl}' made mistakes, especially in their dealings with the immense variety of native tribes, many of whom were quarreling amongst themselves for the possession of the lands of which also the Boer farmers were taking possession. If the Cape governors and their officials had known all about South African ethnology, about the cus- toms and laws of native tribes, which is known now, many of their worst blunders might have been prevented. Moreover, the principle had been adopted and was sedulously maintained, that the Boer farm- ers, being actually British subjects, could not expect to be allowed to pass beyond the control of the Queen. Wherever they went, they went as British citizens, responsible to the Governor at the Cape; wherever they went he was responsible for them. The fact that they settled among natives in territories which were not British did not seem to the latter authorities any reason for disavowing their citizenship. Bather did their presence, and the positions of pre-eminence which they gained in regions hitherto occupied by native tribes involve their rulers in serious obligations regarding their conduct. This principle had been maintained by the Dutch government before the British came, and has been generally acted upon, it is believed, by every European govern- ment when groups of its citizens have settled in savage lands or unoc- cupied territories. It was in pursuance of this principle that Sir Harry Smith, in 1846, established what he called the Orange Biver Sovereignty over the region described above. The Boer farmers were many of them contented to have it so, but others of course were discontented. These latter placed themselves under Commandant Pretorius, who, in the year 1848, drove the English officials across the Orange Biver and proposed to rule the country without them. Sir Harry Smith imme- diately returned and in a fierce fight at Boomplats defeated them. Pretorius, and those who were thoroughly ipreconcilable, forthwith set out on another trek. This time they crossed the Vaal Biver and settled down in the region which came speedily to be known as the Trans- Vaal. The communities which remained in the region between THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 51 the Orange and the Vaal Rivers were, on the whole, well content to be under British government. Unfortunately, the Governor was able to leave in that region only a very small military force. When Moshesh, a powerful chief of the Basutos on the eastern border, offended the Orange River authorities by making raids upon the farms and carrying off thousands of cattle, this little force attempted to attack him. They were driven back and the farmers were in consternation. The British forces were already engrossed in a protracted and severe struggle fur- ther east with the natives of Kaffraria and no immediate help could be expected from them. The farmers accordingly appealed for help to their former commandant, Pretorius, who at this time was treated by the British as an outlaw. He at once saw his opportunity and gave the British their choice between recognizing his community across the Transvaal as an independent republic, or meeting him again at the head of the disaffected farmers of the Orange River Sovereignty. Finding themselves in this- dilemma the British accepted the former alternative and in that year, 1852, at the Sand River convention, agreed to those articles which created an independent Transvaal State. And now Sir Harry Smith found all his plans upset from an entirely new quarter. The home government in London were becoming thor- oughly tired of incessant struggles in South Africa with natives they could not love and Boers they could not understand. It seemed as though Cape Colony were only a burden and an expense, which brought no return either of wealth or of glory. Accordingly, it had been resolved that the Orange River should henceforth form the northern boundary of British dominions in South Africa. Sir George Cathcart was there- fore commanded to abandon the Orange River Sovereignty and to enter into a treaty recognizing the Europeans there as an independent and self-governing State. "He called upon the European inhabitants to elect "a body of representatives to take over the government; but when the "representatives assembled, they objected in the strongest terms to be "abandoned by Great Britain, for even while they were debating, Mos- "hesh was crushing Sikonyela and another of his opponents, and adding "their territory to his own. In effect, the representative assembly said "to Sir George Clerk (the British special commissioner) that they held "England in honor bound to reduce the great barbaric power she had 52 t THE ORANGE FREE STATE. "done so much to build up. When that was done, they would not need "military assistance, and would be prepared to take over the govern- "rnent of the country, though they wished to remain permanently con- "nected with the British Empire. The special commissioner, however, "was prevented by his instructions from paying any attention to lan- guage of this kind, and was obliged to term those who used it 'obstruc- tionists.' The assembly then sent two delegates to England to implore "the Queen's government and the parliament not to abandon them, but "those gentlemen met with no success in their mission." (Theal.) After a considerable amount of negotiations, the Governor at last succeeded in persuading the assembly of delegates to agree to accept independence it w r as asserted that it was even necessary to bribe some to vote for this measure. The following excerpts from the articles of convention, which were at last agreed to between the Queen's special commissioner and the representatives of the inhabitants, may be inter- esting at this point. In Article I: "Her Majesty's special commissioner, in entering into a convention for finally transferring the government of the Orange River territory to the representatives delegated by the inhabitants to receive it, guarantees, on the part of her Majesty's government, the future independence of that country and its government." A procla- mation is promised "finally freeing them from their allegiance to the British crown, but declaring them to all intents and purposes a free and independent people, and their government to be treated and considered thenceforth as a free and independent government." The second article declares that. the British government has no alliance whatever with any native chiefs or tribes north of the Orange River, with the exception of one whose case is afterwards dealt with. It is, moreover, asserted that this government has no wish or intention to form any treaties "which may be injurious or prejudicial to the interests of the Orange River government." The seventh article declares that the Orange River government shall permit no slavery or trade in slaves in their territory north of the Orange River. Thus did Great Britain take a great step backwards, not merely resolving to push no farther but actually to withdraw from a rich territory and a prosperous community where her continued exercise of SIR W. HELY HUTCHINSON Governor of Natal and Zululand. CONYNGHAM GREENE, C. B. British Consular Agent at Pretoria, SIR J. GORDON SPRIGG Late Prime Minister of Cape Colony. MR. J. H. HOFMEYR Leader of the Dutch Party in Cape Colony. en a th CE w a - o en B ^ 3 " ft J U " H g^ be Oca a> fe-o y 9 = xa 5 O 3 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 57 authority was freely and profoundly desired. This is the second in- stance of British withdrawal, made with as much sincerity as spon- taneity, but destined, like nearly all the other instances which we shall have occasion to record, to bring forth troubles more numerous and more perplexing than those which it was intended to ward off. One reason why the fifteen thousand white inhabitants of this territory feared to stand alone w r as their fear of that powerful Basuto tribe w r hich already had caused them so much loss in possessions and in valuable lives. Nevertheless, the little republic settled down to its extraordinary task among these ominous circumstances with a courage which proved itself indomitable. The British government has never had reason to interfere with the internal administration of this country from that day to this. The Free Staters have proved themselves both wise and firm, and good-hearted citizens. They have had the inesti- mable advantage of being led by several presidents who were men of great ability and high soul. They have administered their affairs with care and with singular success. They have gradually increased in wealth; they have paid much attention to education and thus have earned for themselves the hearty respect and good-will of their former rulers their permanent friends the British government. Within five years of the acceptance of their independence the people of the Orange Free State found themselves in such difficulties that they actually petitioned the British government to receive them again into the British Empire, annexing them to the Cape Colony. After some consideration, this petition was finally refused. On only two occasions have the British government and the Orange Free State found themselves in serious difficulties with one another. The first of these events occurred in the year 1867, when the Free State found itself once more at war with the Basutos. On a former occasion the Governor of the Cape had intervened to save the Boers from the Basutos.* On this occasion, Moshesh, the Basuto king, finding himself hard pressed, sent a message to the Governor imploring his interven- tion and good offices. The Governor acquiesced, much to the indigna- tion of the Boers, who hoped on this occasion to finally crush their inveterate foes, annex their country and thus take one long step towards the sea coast. It was one of the ambitions of this young republic to HS THE ORANGE FREE STATE. stretch its territory across the continent eastwards until it should pos- sess a seaport of its own and become one of the States of the world, with an international importance. The Governor of the Cape, wit- tingly or unwittingly, shut this project off forever by making Basuto- land a protectorate under the British crown. Very naturally the Free State felt a bitter chagrin at this most unexpected move on the part of Great Britain. They could point to the words of the second article of the convention, quoted above, and apply the promise there made to this case. The British Governor could, on the other hand, very fairly argue that the protectorate assumed over the Basutos could not be proved to be injurious or prejudicial to the interests of the Orange Free State as it then existed. It simply made impossible the scheme of extension which was not in contemplation at the time of the convention and could not be fairly included under that article. The other occasion on which the two governments clashed with one another was in the year 1869-70 over the discovery and development of the diamond fields. At this time the President of the Orange Free State was one Jan Hendrick Brand, who was first elected in 1865 and was repeatedly re-elected until his death in 1885. He was a man of high character, great ability and consummate tact; one of the noblest figures of South African history and one of the best beloved. If he had not conducted the prolonged and sometimes embittered controversy regard- ing the territory in dispute, worse troubles might have arisen. Elsewhere in these pages, the diamond industry of Kiuiberley is described. Suffice it here to say that the first diamond identified in that region was found in 1867. In 1869 a native was found wearing as a charm a large stone which is now always known as the "Star of South Africa," When a few more had been found, it became evident that the region lying in the narrow angle between the Vaal and the Modder rivers was diaiuondiferous and the inevitable rush of prospectors and fortune seekers began. No railway came within several hundred miles of this district and the thousands of people who flocked thither from all over the world had the hardest experiences in attempting to reach the object of their journey. They had to travel either in wagons, -or crowded day after day in small coaches, or they had to tramp over the whole distance. Of course, they were of many nationalities and of many varie- THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 59 ties of character. Camps that were speedily formed at the spots where diamonds were said to have been found became centers of the usual free and reckless life associated with mining populations. The first question that arose had regard to the government which was responsible for the maintenance of law and order among these camps. Over this difficulty the British government came into its most serious collision with the Orange Free State. The negotiations were protracted. At times they verged on bitterness, but they were brought to a termination without an open rupture, and that very largely through the calm wisdom and magnificent self-control of President Brand. Of course there were great divergences of opinion regarding the merits of the dispute but it is ever more widely agreed, among those who have investigated the story, that the Orange Free State had by far the best of the argument; that the British governors at the Cape committed a grievous error in law when they seized and occupied the territory of the Diamond Fields. The territory uf the Diamond Fields, as we have pointed out, lies in the narrow angle between the Yaal River on the north and the Modder on the south. To the north of the Vaal there lived a Griqua chief by name Waterboer, who employed as his business agent an exceedingly clever European named David Arnot. Under the advice of Arnot, and guided by his skilful diplomacy, Waterboer laid claim to the territory of the Diamond Fields before an arbitration court which had been constituted to settle a dispute regarding his territory on the other or northern side of the Vaal River. The arbitrator does not appear to have investigated at all closely this particular claim and he did not summon the Orange Free State to say whether their interests were involved in it. When the arbitrator, Governor Keate of Natal, issued his award, it was discovered that he had assigned to Waterboer this territory of the Diamond Fields. Waterboer, under the advice of his agent, immediately applied to the British government for advice and aid in the control of this region. Now the Orange Free State have their story to tell concerning this most valuable territory. They assert that it was bought by them in earlier days from the Korannas, who had, in the ordinary course of South African events, conquered and driven out its original owners. 150 THE ORAXGE FREE STATE. This purchase by the Boers appears to have been freely acknowledged so far back as 1850 by the British Resident, while the Orange Free State was still under the British authorities. Moreover, it was afterwards proved that the British authorities had themselves granted title deeds to certain farms in that very district, which were filed in the office at Bloeinfontein, the capital of that country. Copies of these deeds were produced by President Brand and shown to the Governor at the Cape. In that district President Brand proved that a hundred more farms had been allotted and their title deeds likewise filed. Moreover, a mag- istrate had been appointed whose authority was also understood by the Free State government to extend over the region where the diamonds were discovered. That region itself was almost entirely barren, and hence had not been settled. When the first rush of miners came, the Free State authorities immediately sent a new magistrate, placing his office at the little village of Pniel. He was already there and beginning to exercise his office when the Governor at the Cape, having received the appeal above mentioned from Waterboer, sent another magistrate, appointing him to that very district. He began his work on the north side of the Vaa'l River, but speedily crossed over with a band of police and entered upon the duties of his office on the Diamond Fields. There might, of course, have arisen a very serious condition of affairs if the Free State had not been guided by President Brand. He imme- diately issued a proclamation, in November, 1871, characterized by great wisdom as well as dignity. He firmly and frankly described this pro- ceeding of the Governor as an hostile invasion in time of perfect peace and a violation of the territory of the Free State, but he at the same time ordered and enjoined the officers and citizens of the State to avoid any action which might lead to a collision between the two countries. He expressed the fullest confidence that the information and explana- tions which were to be placed before the government in England would secure the acknowledgment and recognition of their rights. The British government in London was, so far as regards accurate information, at the mercy of its representatives in Cape Town. Accordingly, the Colonial Office threw the responsibility upon the Cape government, ex- pressing willingness to have this territory annexed only if the Cape Colony desired to possess it and agreed to rule it. This the Cape gov- THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 61 eminent at first seemed willing to do, but later it declined the responsi- bility. Here then was a strange complication. The authorities in London agreed to take Waterboer's territory if the ministers at Cape Town would annex it to Cape Colony. The colony, after hesitation, declined. Now the Governor of Cape Colony had already taken the momentous step of sending a magistrate and the policemen to occupy the territory, practi- cally, on his own responsibility. He therefore found himself in the unhappy predicament of ruling a small territory which neither England nor the Cape Colony desired to possess or had empowered him to annex. But such a step is more easily taken than withdrawn, and the Governor proceeded to treat the Diamond Fields, with the surrounding country, as a British protectorate under the name of Griqualand West. Throughout all these events a voluminous correspondence w T as, of course, passing between the two governments at Bloemfontein and Cape Town. President Brand on one occasion paid a visit to Cape Town x when a new Governor had arrived. On this occasion he complained of the length to which the correspondence had grown, and in illustration said that one letter alone had extended to a certain very large number of paragraphs. "It must be a very poor case, said the Governor, that needs such a long argument." "But, your Excellency," replied the President, "that was your own letter." Curiously enough it was a British court that put the strongest argument in the hands of the Free State government. It has been ever the custom of the British government, when it was settling a new country and found conflicting land claims, to appoint a court with full power to investigate and determine these claims. This happened in Griqualand West, and one of the conclusions, to which this court came was that Waterboer had no right to the terri- tory and, therefore, that no claims to any portion of the land which were based upon a transaction with him, could be held as valid. As soon as President Brand obtained this powerful argument, he went straight to London and there presented his case. He was very warmly received, and very generously treated. But when it came to deciding as to whether the Diamond Fields territorj-, which had now been ruled by England for six years, should be handed back to the Orange Free 02 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. State, practical difficulties arose. The population was equal to fully half that of the Orange Free State, and was composed of the most diverse elements from all parts of the world, forming- a community notoriously difficult to control. The expediency of retrocession was at least debatable. The British government finally said to President Brand that they desired, without attempting to decide the merits of the original dispute, to pay to the Free State a solatium of ninety thousand pounds (about $450,000.00). President Brand does not seem to have struggled very long over this offer. He accepted it, and on returning to his own country applied that sum to the reduction of their public debt. No doubt the Free State did feel sore over this apparent wrong, rnd the gradual discovery that the Diamond mines were worth far more than was anticipated even in 1870, may have tended to inten- sify their disappointment. But, on the other hand, it must be con- sidered that in the development of this region they have found a splen- did market for the produce of their splendid farms, and that it has brought to them a large increase of wealth without adding to the burden of their administrative responsibilities. In 1880 Grequaland West was annexed to the Cape Colony. The development of the Orange Free State after the settlement of the difficulties about the Kimberiey diamond fields was on the whole characterized by steadiness rather than rapidity. It was the policy of that wise and far seeing President Brand to avoid all complications which would in any wise drag his people into war or bring disorder among themselves. In 1881, for example, when the Transvaal Boers were preparing for their war of independence President Brand rebuffed all overtures for co-operation which would have dragged him into the strife. Again in 1887, when President Kruger came to Bloemfontein and proposed an alliance which would have brought the two Republics into the closest possible union both for commercial and for military pur- poses, President Brand, in whose hands his Volksraad left the decision, firmly but finally declined the proposal. Even when the Transvaal President offered to pay the sum of 20,000 ($200,000) annually for ten years to the treasury of the smaller and less wealthy Republic, the stal- wart self-respect of President Brand thrust the temptation aside. The result of President Brand's generous attitude was such as to give him a THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 63 position of great influence, where he enjoyed the confidence of every statesman in South Africa and the ministers of the Queen. The honor in which he was held in London was manifested when in 1882 he was offered the decoration of K. C. M. G. by Queen Victoria. This he had both the courtesy and the strength to accept, and he became henceforth known as Sir John Brand. 'In commercial affairs the Orange Free State has had to depend on the whole upon the gradual development of its farming system. It is true that a diamond mine was discovered at Jagersfontein, but it has never reached large proportions, and the prospecting craze which seized the population at the time of this discovery has made it practically cer- tain that every corner of the land likely to yield diamonds has been searclied and found wanting. One of the most important stages in the commercial prosperity of this plucky and peace-loving Republic was reached when the railway was built from Cape Town and carried through to the Transvaal. Customs arrangements were made with Cape Colony which have proved peculiarly favorable to the Orange Free State. The country is subject to the affliction of recurrent droughts, which are severely felt by the large farming population; but these now produce less of real affliction, owing to the general level of comfort which the people enjoy. On July 14, 1888, the beloved and honored President Sir John Brand passed away. The Volksraad immediately met and in the following month elected Mr. F. W. Reitz to the presidential chair. It was this Mr. Reitz who a few years later forsook the Orange Free State for Pretoria and became Secretary to the Government of the Transvaal. In recent years there have been repeated quarrels between the two Republics on the matter of the tariff, but these became finally adjusted. When Mr. Reitz resigned, the present President, M. T. Steyn, was elected to succeed him in the year 1896. Mr. Steyn is a son of the land, his father is an honored farmer who was induced to send his promising boy to Europe to complete his education. During six years of study both in Holland and in London President Steyn became a master of the legal profes- sion, gained an insight into the larger life of European countries, and returned to become speedily a man of influence and a maker of history in the Orange Free State. A solemn treaty had been formed with the 64 THE ORANGE 'FREE STATE. Transvaal in which each state promised to assist the other if its inde- pendence should be threatened or attacked. It is this treaty which has dragged the Orange Free State into the present war. President Steyn all last year (1898) took a prominent part in the events which led up to the catastrophe of war. He it was who helped to secure the conference at Bloemfontein between President Kruger and Sir Alfred Milner. At a later stage in the discussions he interposed with a striking and powerful letter of protest and entreaty which he sent to the British Government. In this despatch he wired that his Government had "done all in its power to obtain a peaceful and satisfactory solution of the differences between Her Majesty's Government and the South African Republic," recommending important reforms in the matter of the franchise and representation for British subjects who were desirous of becoming burghers of that Republic. He complains that while the Boer Government was trying to induce the Yolksraad to accept the sug- gested reforms, a change was noted in the tone of the despatches ema- nating from London. "The British Government, it is urged, had in fact departed from the basis on which negotiations were opened that of not interfering in the internal affairs of the Republic. The request for the Joint Commission of Inquiry emphasized that fact beyond any shadow of doubt." Still, he says, the Free State Government persisted in their efforts and "once more advised the Government of the South African Republic to make yet another concession, and to give yet an- other proof of its willingness to meet the British Government by con- senting to accept the invitation of the British Government to take part in such a Joint Commission." He asserts that this advice was adopted by the Boer Government, and that only then did they discover that the concessions hitherto made by the South African Republic were unavail- ing. The despatch goes on to assert that while the British Government had promised new proposals it had persisted "in the absence of any apparent cause" in the work of making extensive military preparations in South Africa. "This Government cannot conceive at present that the points of difference that may exist on this subject justify those extensive and ever increasing military preparations being carried out on this bor- der, not only in South African Republic, but also in the Orange Free State, and they are therefore reluctantly compelled to conclude that they DUTCH BOERS OUTSPANNED The span of oxen has been taken out and placed within the inclosure for the night. The Boer trav- elers have lit their fire and are cooking their evening meal. They are tall, straight, powerful men, accustomed to life in the open air, to physical exposure: some will sleep within the wagon, and some on the ground beneath it with their guns always within reach. .THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 67 must be intended to secure other objects at present unknown to the Gov- ernment of this State." The President begs therefore that no effort be spared to effect a peaceful settlement if possible of the points in dispute and urges that pending the issue of the new proposals which were being prepared by the British Government, "any further movement or increase of troops on or near the borders" should be stopped. It is now a matter of history that this despatch, powerful as it was, proved powerless to arrest the course of events. While the British Gov- ernment was still preparing its new proposals the Government at Pre- toria suddenly issued its ultimatum and the war began. President Steyn then published his "Manifesto," from which we extract the follow- ing powerful and stirring paragraphs: "Burghers of the Orange Free State! "That moment, which we have tried to avoid by all means in our power, and which we are driven to oppose against wrong and shameful oppression, has now come. "Our sister Republic north of the Vaal River is on the eve of being attacked by a remorseless enemy, who already for many years past has looked for pretexts and has prepared for the act of violence of which they are now guilty; the object of which is to end the independence of the African nation. "We are related to our sister Republic, not only by ties of blood, of compassion, and of common interest, but also by a formal treaty, ren- dered necessary by circumstances, and we are bound to assist them whenever they should be unlawfully attacked, which, alas, we heave had reason to expect for a long time already. "We therefore cannot tolerate that wrong to be done to them, and our own liberty, acquired at so high a price, to be endangered, but are as men bound to oppose it; trusting in the Almighty Lord, in the firm belief that He will never suffer wrong and injustice to triumph, and confiding in our good right in the eyes of Him and all the world. "Thus if we oppose a mighty enemy, with whom we have always been desirous of living in friendship, in spite of wrong and injustice suffered from them in the past, we solemnly declare, in the presence of the Al- mighty Lord, that we are driven to do so through the wrong done to our 68 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. relations, and through the knowledge that the end of .their independence will render insignificant our own existence as an independent nation, and that their fate, should they have to fall before an overwhelming force, will involve us, too, in a short time. "Solemn treaties have been of no avail to our sister Republic against annexation, against conspiracy, against claims of a suzerainty no longer existing, against constant oppression and meddling with their affairs, and now against a repeated attack, the sole object of which is their ruin." Then follows a statement of the grievances which the Orange Free State feels itself to have received from the British Government in the early days of the Basuto quarrels. This leads to an important statement regarding the franchise question which cannot but make the reader wonder how far President Steyn had been sincere and earnest when he was urging President Kruger to deal with that problem in a spirit of compliance with the demands of the Outlanders. "The consequence of this claim (i. e., of the franchise on reasonable terms), if acquiesced in, will be that from those or their ancestors, who have saved the country from barbarism and have opened it to civiliza- tion and light with their blood and their tears, will be taken away the measure of control over the affairs of their country to which they are entitled according to Divine and human laws; and that an excess of power will be placed in the hands of those who, foreigners by birth, enjoy the privilege of emptying the country from its most important treasure, whereas they never evinced any loyalty but to a foreign Gov- ernment.. Moreover, the unavoidable consequence of giving way to these claims would be that the independence of the country, as also their autonomy and sovereignty, would be irreparably lost." Two short paragraphs cast the blame of the war upon Britain's move- ments of her troops and her diplomacy. And the manifesto concludes as follows: "On their heads be the blood, and may an equitable Providence pun ish those who deserve it by their acts. "Burghers of the Orange Free State! Rise to a man against the op- THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 69 pressor and violator of justice. Let none of your deeds in the war, to which we are forced now, be such as would not beseem a Christian and burgher of the Orange Free State. "Let us trust for a favorable end to this war, relying upon the aid of Him without whose assistance human arms are of no avail whatever. May He bless our arms. Under His banner we go to the war for Liberty and for Fatherland. "These passed under my hand and the Grand Seal of the Orange Free State at Bloemfontein. (Signed) M. T. Steyn, "State's President" CHAPTER V. ZULULAND. THIS name is given to a narrow strip of territory which lies on the northern borders of Xatal between the southeastern border of the Transvaal and the sea coast. It runs north until it borders with Tongaland, a small territory which again borders with the Portuguese territory. The general geographical features of Zululand are much the same as those of Natal. The name is derived from the race which inhabits it, and they derive their name Zulu, according to some authorities, from one of their early chiefs whose name was Zulu. As the Zulus have, more than any other South African race except the Basuto*. made history in South Africa, it is worth while to describe them and their political relations and influences during this century. The remarkable and unique thoroughness of their organization as a military tribe has been traced back to one man, Dingiswayo, the chief of another tribe. This man belonged to the Tetwa tribe and was an exile in Cape Colony during the years 1793-1799. There he closely observed the military drill of the Dutch soldiers and noticed how their thorough discipline gave them enormous power when fighting against much larger forces of undrilled and undisciplined native opponents. When he re- turned to his own people it was with the resolve to adapt to their posi- tion and weapons the ideas of drill and discipline which he had imbibed. While he was thus perfecting the organization of his tribe there came to him a young man, a refugee from the Zulus, who lived north of the Tugela River. This young man, Chaka by name, born about the year 1787, had fled with his mother from the anger of his father, the chief of the Zulus. He lived with Dingiswayo and under his instruction learned the principles which that leader was applying to the development of his people. When Chaka's father died the young man at once returned to his own tribe, seized the kingship and on receiving a portion of the Tetwa tribe, who had become attached to him and resolved to become 70 ZULU LAND. 71 members of his tribe, set himself with their aid to apply to the Zulus the principles of military organization and warfare which he had learned from Dingiswayo. Being a man of extraordinary vigor and organizing genius, and bent upon the extension of the power of his people over as vast a region as possible, and having adopted .certain plans which stead- ily increased his power, Chaka very speedily made himself a name of terror almost throughout South Africa. One of the fundamental rules of his kingship was not to leave the people whom he conquered to enjoy their independence, nor utterly to destroy them, but as thoroughly as possible to incorporate them with his own tribe. In many instances this necessitated the killing of all the adults and the absorption only of the young. In some cases, especially in the earlier period of his history, whole tribes were sometimes thus incorporated where the adults were willing to come completely under his sway, and were likely to prove effi- cient warriors. It was from his kingdom that there went out one day a young officer, Moselekatse, who crossed the Drakensberg Mountains with some of Chaka's regiments, and finding that these regiments had formed a deep devotion to himself, resolved not to return to Chaka, but to set up a Zulu kingdom for himself. It was Moselekatse who depopulated such a large portion of the Transvaal and then, partly as the result of the Boer in- vasion, moved northwards beyond the Limpopo River till he settled in the region called Matebeleland. Of him and his tribe we speak else- where, but as the organization was practically identical w r ith that of Chaka's it may be best to take from the pages of a competent observer the following description of a Zulu chief and his relations to his tribe: "Zulu society may be said to exist for the chief. His claims are su- preme and unquestioned. To him belongs every person and everything in the country. The droves of cattle which you meet in every part of the country belong to the chief; and if one dies he is informed of it. The herd-boy who follows the cattle, and his master who lives in the adjoin- ing town, belong alike to the chief. The troops of girls who rush out from every Zulu town to see the passing wagons belong all of them to the chief; the immensely fat women who slowly follow are introduced to the traveler as the wives of Moselekatse. The chiefs officers or head men may indeed possess private property; but the chief has only to raise 72 ZCLCLAXD. his finger and their goods are confiscated and they themselves put to death. "The head men lead perhaps the most wretched lives under this wretched government. The private soldier has little in possession or enjoyment, but he has also little care. The officer, on the other hand, knows that jealous eyes are upon him. His equals in rank and station covet his possessions, and regard the favors which he receives from the chief as so much personal loss to themselves. Therefore the head men are continually plotting and counter-plotting against one another. 'We never know/ whispered one of them to me, having first looked carefully around to see if we were quite alone, 'we never know when we enter our house at night if we shall again look upon the light of the sun.' As a matter of fact such men seldom fall asleep sober, they every night call in the aid of boyala (beer) to deepen their slumbers. One day a small wiry man was introduced to me at Inyate by one of the missionaries. He was asked where he had been the night before, and with a smile mentioned the name of a certain village. This person had sharp, restless eyes, the thinnest lips I had seen among natives; his mouth was wide, and his teeth large and wide. I was told after he left that this was one of the chiefs executioners; and from the frequency of his domiciliary visits he was called by the Matebele the chiefs knife/ I thought his face befitted his office. Waiting in the neighborhood till his victim has drunk the last cup of beer, he gives him time to fall into that stupor of sleep and drunkenness out of which he is never to awake. The chiefs knife has his assistants, who are in readiness to 'mak siccar* any bloody work; for M">elekatse could not carry on his paternal administration with only one 'knife.' According to" the testimony of one of the missionaries, it is nothing for him to send in one night four or five different parties of ven- geance, to hurry the inhabitants of four or five different villages into eternity. . . . "The captives taken in their raids grow up in the service of their captors, or of those to whom they sell them within the tribe. They herd cattle in time of peace; they carry the impedimenta of the soldier when he goes to war. At home they practice fighting and running with the boys of their own age; in the field they are familiarized with deeds of blood. Their physical frame thus becomes more fully developed than if ZULULAND. 73 they had grown up in their own unwarlike and ill-fed tribes. I have seen children of Bushmen among the Matebele whose personal appear- ance formed a perfect contrast to their ill-favored relatives in the desert. As the captive boys grow older they become impatient of the restraints of their position, and laying their heads together, all living in a certain town march off in a body to the chiefs quarters and present their peti- tion to Moselekatse: 'We are men, O King; we are no longer boys; give us cattle to herd and to defend.' If the chief approves of their petition, he drives out a few cows as their herd, and gives these boys in charge of an experienced soldier, with some assistants, who, in the new town or bar- racks which they erect, proceed to train them as Matebele soldiers. This is called to 'bota/ It is in this way that the Matebele army is supplied with men. "The new military town or regiment is called by the same name as the one in which they lived as captive boys. When they go to war now it is as a company of that regiment. But they are no longer baggage-car- riers; they bear their ow r n weapons now like their former masters. Should they succeed in killing and taking captive, they at once occupy the position of their former owners, and on a second war have their boy to carry their food and water. Should they not succeed in killing man, woman or little child, their position is still one of dishonor. They are not men. If at the camp fire they sit in the presence of comrades whose spears have drunk blood, the latter will sometimes show contempt for them by rubbing their portion of meat in the sand, and then throwing it to them as to a dog. There is therefore every possible inducement to ani- mate the youth to shed blood speedily. On their return journey from a successful raid the captives are during the night tied to their captors, or to trees, to prevent their escape. Should a captive fail on the march after his master is tired urging him forward, he stabs him and leaves his body in the path. The Matebele soldier-town has nothing domestic about it; it is not a town, but barracks. The voice of the infant, the song of the mother, are almost unknown there. Only after some signal serv- ice does the chief bestow, as a great reward to the soldier, a captive girl to be his wife, who has no choice in the matter, but is delivered to her new' owner as an ox is given to another man, whose deeds have been less 74 ZULULAND. meritorious." ("Ten Years North of the Orange Kiver," by John Macken- zie.) The result of this policy is of course that the Zulu people are now an exceedingly mixed race. Accordingly, it is impossible to describe their appearance in any adequate manner. The original Zulu seems to have been of a reddish copper color and not to have possessed the flat nose and the very thick lips of the negro and some other Bantu tribes. Accord- ingly in Zululand there are to be found those who possess the basal char- acteristics of the tribe, and those also who are of a jet black color, with woolly hair, very large mouth, very thick lips and very flat nose. Like all South African tribes the land under the Zulu ownership be- longs not to the individual absolutely, but to the tribe as such, and every man who desires a location on which to build his kraal must go to the chief and receive from him the spot which henceforth he is to use. He cannot sell it; he has it simply for himself by permission of the chief. Hence it is that some have held all actual deeds of sale which Europeans have alleged as having been transacted between themselves and indi- vidual natives, or even between themselves and chiefs of native tribes, to be illegal; since the law of the country has alw r ays been that the land is inalienable, and that every man occupies his own portion of it at the will of the tribe through the chief. Having received the site of his future residence, the Zulu proceeds first of all to make the kraal or circular pen for his cattle; its size will vary according to his actual wealth or his ambition. Around this he will build his huts for himself and his wives and dependents. Each hut is built of the branches of trees woven together in a cup-shape, and covered over with mud and grass. He shares his hut with whatever fowls he has, and reserves a portion near the low, little entrance door for his goats and calves. It has never occurred to him to build a separate pen for these. The Zulus are fond of ornament, and deck themselves out with bracelets, necklaces, anklets and other decorations made of copper and beads and whatever other materials are obtainable. Their habits are lazy and sensual. The women work in the gardens, oftentimes carry- ing heavy loads in harvest times as well as their children on their backs, while the men loaf about the kraal, or go out hunting or sally forth on a military expedition. The men care for the cattle and do the milking as ZULULAND. 75 is the custom throughout all the Bantu tribes in South Africa. No woman dare enter the kraal while the cattle are there; no woman dare interfere with the duty of milking the cows. This strange and ancient custom has no reason for it that the modern mind can discover. The Bantu man himself has no better excuse for the strong and binding law than that he is afraid the women will drink the milk. Such a custom as this no doubt had its origin in circumstances, perhaps thousands of years ago, which made it necessary and rational, but w T hich we cannot now discover or describe. The superstitions of the Zulu people are innumerable and have af- forded scope for much investigation by students of comparative religion. They believe in charms of all kinds. They carry charms in the form of bits of wood or bone about their necks, which protect them against all kinds of evil, from the bite of a serpent to the lightning stroke. They believe in the fatality attaching to the movements of certain birds and animals. If a hawk or a turkey buzzard visits their kraal or sits upon the hut, or is caught iu a trap, it is an evil portent; it is fatal if a cock crows early in the night before people are asleep; if any four-footed ani- mal jumps upon the hut, sickness or death is thereby portended for the dwellers there. The chief Panda reigned nearly thirty years and during his time maintained a remarkable moderation in his dealings, especially with the neighboring tribes. Throughout this period the Zulus counted the colonists of Natal as their friends and maintained an attitude of un- changing hostility to the Boers. The Transvaal Boers had gradually crept down southeastwards from the center of their territory towards Zululand, and entered into various treaties with the Zulus. One treaty of especial importance was made with reference to the use of a consider- able strip of territory which the Boers considered that they had bought outright, but which the Zulus afterwards asserted had only been loaned them for purposes of pasturage. It is said that the Natal people were cruel as well as foolish enough rather to encourage than dissuade the Zulus' hatred of the Boers. This was done for the sake of their own safety. Such an acute observer as Sir Bartle Frere when he came to study the facts at close quarters was amazed on the one hand that Natal had remained free from Zulu aggression, and was grieved also at the 76 ZULU LAND. somewhat selfish attitude which Natal had assumed in relation to the Boers. Panda had two sons who, as soon as they reached manhood, both de- sired the reversion of their father's position and power as king of the Zulus. The inevitable contest resulted in the victory of Cetywayo. When he was about to receive public recognition as the heir it was sug- gested that Mr. Theophilus Shepstone of Natal should be present to recognize him as the successor of Panda. This Mr. Shepstone, the same who afterwards carried through the annexation of the Transvaal, was in many ways a most remarkable man. He had gained great influence over the Zulus. He is described as a silent and self-controlled man, with a very strong and determined will, who curiously combined with these a strong inclination to defer all disagreeable action and to trust that if only a temporizing expedient could be discovered and employed for stav- ing off the practical solution of a hard problem, time would bring that solution to light. He, after some hesitation, agreed to perform this office for Cetywayo. But when he arrived at the Zulu capital it needed all his strength and heroism to face the angry and tumultuous Zulus who surged around him, threatening instant death, indignant at the thought that he, a white man, should exercise the lofty privilege and function of nominating the future king of the Zulus. Panda insisted, his people yielded, and Shepstone who at one moment had been threatened with death, found himself in a little while recognized as the king-maker, and therefore as in a sense an official father of Cetywayo. Henceforth he was known by the latter as Father Somsteu (Father Shepstone). This unique ceremony was completed when in 1873 Panda died, and Shep- stone once more was present in Zululand to install Cetywayo as king of the Zulus. Cetywayo is described by a remarkable Norwegian missionary (Bishop Schreuder) as "an able man, but for cold, selfish pride, cruelty and untnithf ulness worse than any of his predecessors. He has a curi- ous lack of gratitude, and will never acknowledge the slightest obliga- tion to anyone." Whereas his father had been of a kindly and merciful disposition, Cetywayo showed himself cruel and ready even to torture those who became the victims of his vengeful wrath. Cruel practices that had been dropping into disuse were revived by him. The number ZULULAND. 77 of people who were annually killed in his own country steadily in- creased. He carried on the horrible practice of "smelling out" alleged criminals; that is he trusted the pow r er of a witch who was often in league with himself, to discover not only actual criminals, but those who in their hearts were plotting crime against the king and tribe. On one occasion the horrible massacre of young women was so atrocious that the Governor of Natal was compelled formally and very earnestly to protest against the deed. The answ r er which he received from Cety wayo opened the eyes of the British authorities to the new and threatening spirit which Cetywayo w r as introducing into Zulu policy. He spoke of the matter frankly and openly asserted that it was the custom of his people to kill, that he intended to keep it up. "I do kill," he said, "but I do not consider that I have done anything yet in the way of killing. Why do the white people start at nothing? I have not yet begun; I have yet to kill; it is the custom of our nation and I shall not depart from it. I shall not agree to any laws or rules from Natal. . . . Have I not asked the English to allow me to wash my spears since the death of my father, Panda, and they have kept playing with me all this time, treat- ing me like a child? Go back and tell the English that I shall now act on my own account. The Governor of Natal and I are equal ; he is Gov- ernor of Natal and I am Governor here." About the year 1876 and onwards it became evident to many observ- ers that a far reaching movement was abroad.among the various native tribes in South Africa. The origin of this movement appears to have been in Zululand. They themselves w r ere encouraged when they heard that in the far north the native tribe of Bapedi, under the brave chief Sekukimi, had repelled the Boers and that the Dutch commando had re- turned disgusted as well as defeated to their homes. This helped to con- firm the self-confidence of the Zulus, and the ambition of Cetywayo be- came inflamed to a great heat. But more than by any of these events was Cetywayo rendered suspicious and hostile to the British by their annexation of the Transvaal. Especially was he amazed and embittered by the fact that his own "Father Somsteu" (Shepstone) was now r chief of his Cety wave's hereditary foes, the Boers. This fact made it certain to his own mind that the British could no longer be at the same time his friends. IS ZULULAXD. The dispute with the Boers concerning the strip of land above re- ferred to became acnte, and at last in 1878 a commission, appointed by the British Government, attempted to investigate the claims of both parties, and to reach a final and authoritative conclusion. It is said that they declined to consider written documents as legal evidence when those who formed one party to the contract could not read. It is beyond dispute that, in many instances, white men in South Africa have at- tempted to filch land from native chiefs by getting them to agree to a document and to sign it, which, when read aloud in a native translation to the chief, stated one set of conditions, and which, when presented later before a land court or European tribunal of some sort, was found to contain entirely different conditions. Such might easily have been the method employed in this instance, and the commissioners therefore shut out the evidence of documents which Zulus could not read. Hav- ing heard and considered the evidence of both sides, the commissioners decided in favor of the Zulus. Not long after this Sir Bartle Frere, High Commissioner for South Africa, came to Natal and among other matters inquired into the findings of this commission. He was disappointed and made up his mind that the Boers had suffered a serious injustice. He attempted to atone in some measure for this injustice by warning Oty- wayo that when land had been occupied so long as this land had been by these European farmers they, although brought under his authority as chief of the country, yet had rights in their homesteads and farms with which he must not interfere. Cetywayo was in no mood to receive advice or dictation from a white man, and he ignored this warning and advice. His soldiers swept into the disputed territory, the farmers fled before them, their homesteads were set ablaze and a fair land became desolate. On several occasions bands of Zulus had pursued the victims of their raids into Xatal itself, and there in defiance of local authorities had seized and carried them off to be put to death. Protests against this were made in vain, the chief offered to pay compensation in money, but any further promise was declined. The result of their attitude and of the successes of Sekukuni against the Boers, as well as of the peculiar uncertainty regarding the intentions of Great Britain in relation to the extension of her South African dominions, spread, as we have seen. ZULULAND. 79 unrest throughout the entire region. The position is briefly summarized as follows: "Col. Lanyon had written in May, from a place on the Orange River, that for 150 miles of his march thither from Kimberley he had found the country deserted and all the farmers in laager, the attitude of natives being insolent, and cattle stealing, accompanied by acts of violence, not uncommon. In Pondoland there was apprehension of trouble with the natives. In the Transvaal discontent was on the in- crease among the Boers; and Sekukuni, who had successfully defied the Boer levies, and was closely allied with Cetywayo, was ready to break out again. . . . There were Cetywayo's unwashed spears, a thunder cloud on the frontier. Everywhere the outlook was stormy." ("Life of Sir Bartle Frere," by J. Martineau.) The main fact which the rulers of southeastern Africa had to con- sider was the mere existence of this great and ever-increasing tribe, its thorough and stern military' organization, and its complete sub- jection to the will of a man w r ho showed himself ambitious, self-con- fident, and who manifested the conviction that he could overthrow the power of the white people. This temper began to express itself in definite acts which he knew could only be received as hostile to Natal on the one hand, and the Transvaal on the other. Before the award of the commissioners regarding the disputed territory was reached, Cetywayo sent his soldiers into that region and drove many Boer families away. On more than one occasion the soldiers crossed the Tugela River into Natal in order to capture fugitives from his own tribe. These invaders secured their victims and carried them off in spite of protests of the local Natal authorities. Remonstrances from the Governor of Natal were treated by Cetywayo with something amounting to disdain. Those who know less practically of the temper of such a race would no doubt to this day urge that pacific measures might have maintained peace, and that it was better in any case to stave off the evil day; but men like Sir Bartle Frere, the High Commissioner for South Africa, who had behind him a long and great experience of savage tribes and who knew the enormous dangers which accumulated upon the heads of those who imagine that a tribe of professional war- riors can consider pacific measures as anything but weak compromises on the part of their opponents, were and are probably unanimous that 80 ZULU LAND. sooner or later the Zulu army organization must have been faced and beaten by British soldiers. Exactly the same story was repeated some years later in Matebele- land. Here again it was from the beginning perfectly obvious to those who knew the facts that the country could not be opened to European settlement, nor the surrounding territories peacefully inhabited until the military organization of the Northern Zulus there had been com- pletely smashed. Sir Bartle Frere was a man who loved peace more than war, but who also lived and worked under a high sense of responsibility and guided by an experience of extraordinary breadth and variety. Cruel and most unjust assertions have been made against him by some his- torians of South Africa in connection with the Zulu and other tribal wars which took place in his time. But a reading of the despatches which he sent to London throughout this period will speedily prove to most that his soul desired only peace. Those documents reflect also the sad conviction which grew upon him as he became acquainted with the facts, that since war with the Zulus was inevitable at some time, the sooner the terrible necessity was faced the easier would be the victory and the more certain the arrangement of an abiding peace. He did not create conditions which made the war necessary. He says in one of his letters, "The die for peace or war had been cast long before I or Buller or Sir Garnet Wolseley came here." And again he says, with pathetic emphasis, "I certainly did not come here to spend the fag end of my life, away from all I care for, in setting up strife. I hoped and still hope to do something for permanent peace and good government in South Africa, and should be sorry to be regarded as the evil spirit of war." Frere resolved that in sending to Cetywayo the announcement of the final award regarding the disputed territory, he would also send him a demand in the form of an ultimatum regarding those matters of dispute between the Zulus and the Natal Government. In this ulti- matum a demand was made for the surrender within 20 days of those who had carded the refugees from the Natal territory, and the payment of a fine both for those offences and the delay which had already oc- curred in atoning for them, and another fine for an offence committed ZULU LAND. 81 on two English officials. The most important points of the ultimatum consisted in a demand that the existing military system of the Zulus should be thoroughly reformed; that, for this end, the law enforcing celibacy upon the Zulu soldiers must be abrogated and the men allowed to marry and have homes of their own; that, while the law demanding military service from every member of the nation need not be repealed, the regiments were not to be assembled on the mere will of the king without permission of the council of the Zulu nation and the council of the Natal Government. To see that all these provisions were honorably carried out a British Resident must be received in Zululand, to represent the Governor and to act as the friend and adviser of the king. These demands were most wisely conceived, whether they were made at the right time or not; for the threatening power of Zululand con- sisted in the fierce devotion of all its people to the practices of war, the ambition of every Zulu soldier to wash his spear in human blood. This spirit could only be changed by a radical change in the social organiza- tion of the people, and this could only be done by such alterations as Frere demanded. The right to make these demands undoubtedly be- longed to any or all the surrounding peoples to whom the existence of the Zulu army was a constant menace and a source of unsettlement and dread. The ultimatum was issued in December, 1878, and from 20 to 30 days were allowed to the Zulu king for considering and obeying its demands. The time passed without any action on his part, and there remained nothing to do but to march British troops upon Zulu- land to secure by force the perfectly righteous results which could not be secured by persuasion. At this time there were available for the purpose of this war only about 5,500 British troops. The Commander-in-Chief was Lord Chelms- ford. Before the war began Natal volunteers were secured and some Basuto troops were prepared for service. The authorities strove very hard to imbue the military leaders and officers with a sense of the peculiar nature of the war in which they were entering and the abso- lute necessity for adopting plans not recognized as necessary or digni- fied in European warfare. Boers who had fought in the famous war in 1838 were consulted and their evidence and advice was printed and cir- culated among the troops. Just at this time Mr. Paul Kruger, after- 82 ZULL'LAXD. wards President of the Transvaal, was returning from England through Natal, disappointed with the efforts which he had made in London to secure the granting of independence to his country. He was consulted by Sir Bartle Frere, who brought him to an interview with Lord Chelmsford himself. We are told that "Mr. Kruger gave much valuable information as to Zulu tactics, and impressed upon him the absolute necessity of laagering his wagons every evening, and always at the approach of the enemy. He urged the necessity of scouting at con- siderable distances, as the movements of the Zulus were very rapid, mentioning how even he had once been surprised, and was extricated only by clever hand to hand fighting inside the laager." Kruger at one point said: "Ask what precaution the General has taken that his orders should be carried out every evening, because if they are omitted one evening it will be fatal." Alas! these efforts to bend the military leaders from their tradi- tional methods or to draw them from their fatal contempt for black enemies were in vain, as we shall see. The invasion of Zululand was arranged to take place from three separate points, which of itself was a bad plan, inasmuch as it divided up an already small force into three widely separated columns, between whom no communication was pos- sible. The plan was that they should converge upon Ulundi, the capital of the country and seat of Cetywayo's power. What was called the headquarters column, commanded by Lord Chelmsford himself, crossed the Tugela at a place known as Rorke's Drift. Another column entered near the sea on the east, in which the leader of the cavalry force was Major Redvers Buller, who to-day (January, 1900) is Commander of the British forces in Natal. Another column entered from the northwest, under the command of General Evelyn Wood, who was very deeply indebted for his own deliverance from disaster and for his success, to the presence and advice of a venerable and noble Boer by name Peter TVS who, with his two sons, fought in this war as loyally as if they were members of a Boer commando. On the Natal side of Rorke's Drift Lord Chelmsford left about a hundred soldiers in charge of the commissariat. The General, having crossed the river, pitched his camp under the hill called Isandhlwana. In forming his camp he ignored completely all the advice which had & o He E ill W S= = U -o- QJ "- ~~ Of --2 ZULULAND. 85 been given to him. The work of scouting was so inefficiently done that a vast Zulu army was able to assemble within striking distance, unno- ticed and unsuspected. The camp itself was without entrenchments, the tents were scattered and so placed in a hollow at the foot of the hill that if an enemy attacked the front only one mode of escape was pos- sible, back to the river, through an opening in the side of the hill, called in South African parlance a "nek." On the morning of January 22, 1879, Lord Chelmsford left in the camp about 800 soldiers, and with as many more moved forwards, hoping to attack and destroy a certain kraal of Zulus a short distance off. After he left, scouts were sent out who suddenly came in contact with a large force of Zulus. Firing at once began, and the entire Zulu army, amounting to more than 10,000 men, rose for a united attack. They came on in front, rushing in great masses upon the camp. The British soldiers were scattered about, en- gaged in all kinds of employment; their ammunition w r as not within the reach of all; they were compelled very hurriedly to assume the defen- sive in disordered groups wherever it was possible; a few of them rushed up the hillside to secure a retreat through the nek back to the river, but almost with the swiftness of cavalry the right horn of the Zulu host had swept behind Isandhlwana hill and met them at the narrow pass. With irresistible force they now rushed upon the despair- ing and disorganized British soldiers. A small band of brave men on the hillside used their guns w r ith terrific effect until the last moment, and then their officer, with a fierce sweep of his sword, leapt upon the encircling spears. The entire 800 soldiers were put to death in that horrible pit of blood. The Zulu gives no quarter, dreams of no mercy; every man who is a foe is put to death. A few broke through the crowds and made for the river; tw T o especially were determined to carry the colors of their regiment safe to the other shore. They reached the river and jumped in to swim across; the natives shot one, and the other, missing his companion, turned to find him, as if his own life were valueless where the life of a comrade is at stake. He helped him to the shore, and both attempted the oppo- site bank. Exhausted and w r ounded they could run only a short dis- tance ere their fleet pursuers were upon them, and they, too, lay dead. 86 ZULU LAND. The colors were found long afterwards, for whose honor they so bravely fought and gave their lives. The victorious Zulus made of course for the Tugela River, and crossed into Natal. There they came upon the hundred soldiers on the opposite bank. These had in some way received warning and nobly determined not to flee, even in such an extremity. They had hurriedly made a rude laager for themselves out of stores which they were guard- ing; sacks of corn and packed biscuit boxes were piled to form a circular wall around them, and behind this rude defence they awaited the tri- umphant and blood-thirsty Zulus. On they came, in rush after rush, only to be met with steady, cool and accurate fire from the brave little force. Time after time the dusky force recoiled and at last, cowed and afraid, they made for the river and betook themselves to their own land again. That heroic stand saved Natal from being overrun with men as fierce as wild beasts and worse in the damage they could do Poor Lord Chelmsford returned to his camp only to behold the heaps of dead. His force actually slept there on that fearful field; a strange and tortured sleep it must have been, full of startled awakenings and horrible apprehensions. At dawn they woke and made for the river. Back the discomfited General came to Pietermaritzburg, worn and sick at heart, an object of universal pity and sympathy. The brave and noble Sir Bartle Frere alone presented a courageous front in the days of gloom which followed. All Natal citizens were thrown into indescrib- able panic by the idea that Cetywayo would immediately invade the colony and overrun their farms and towns with his cruel and irresistible hosts. They did not realize the effect produced upon him and his soldiers by the resistance which they met from the brave band of less than one hundred men. Of course, the only thing to do was to send immediately to England for re-enforcements. Sir Bartle Frere tele- graphed to all of the nearest points where British garrisons were estab- lished for help, and within a few weeks squadrons began to arrive from here and there; the news spread through the laud and up into Zulu- land that hosts of soldiers were arriving from England to take revenge for Isandhlwana. Meanwhile the eastern column was content to in- trench itself and await developments, especially re-enforcements. But General Wood, well advised and courageous at heart, on the northwest ZULU LAND. 87 pressed on. He formed strong intrenchments at a place called Kam- bula. Here on a hill, from which a gentle slope led down to a wide plain, he awaited the onslaught of his self-confident enemies. They came in their own terrific style, with yell and rush, but were thrown back time after time and at last returned, baffled and ashamed, to their indig- nant and angered king, leaving a thousand of their dead upon the field. As speedily as possible Lord Chelmsford reorganized his troops and once more entered Zululand. It was not until the end of June that this was possible. With scarcely any resistance he was allowed to proceed as far as Ulundi itself, and there the final battle took place. Forming his infantry into a hollow square, with gatling guns at each corner and in the center of each front, w r ith squadrons of cavalry moving swiftly from point to point according to the needs of the moment, he met the onslaught of Cetywayo's entire army. The regiments of young warriors were allowed to approach until within two or three hundred yards and then the full fire of the lines opposite them broke upon their compact masses. They fell literally in hundreds as they came w r ithin a hundred yards in their impetuous way. When the fiercely concentrated hail of bullets struck them they wavered and fell back. At the right moment the signal was given to the Lancers, and they charged through and through the panic-stricken hosts, scattering them to the w r inds. Cetywayo, who had watched the battle from a distance, was now a fugitive. The enormous kraals which formed his capital, some of them measuring 500 yards across the open space in the center, were burned to the ground and the war was over. Not long afterwards the king was caught and taken to Cape Town, where he was kept prisoner. This battle took place on the 4th of July, 1879, and as soon as it was over Lord Chelmsford resigned his command into the hands of Sir Garnet Wolseley, who had been sent out from England to take chief command, and to act as High Commissioner in southeastern Africa. He came with full power to establish the new order of things in Zululand. Wolseley was a man of undoubted ability as military commander, but without any valuable experience as administrator of native terri- tories. He was, in a most foolish and indefensible moment in London, appointed to take the place of Sir Bartle Frere, and to act as High Commissioner for that region in direct correspondence with London. 88 ZULULAND. Wolseley appears to have, either on his own motion or actuated by sug- gestions from home, resolved not to consult Frere regarding the future of Zululand. The result was that he adopted a plan as ingenious as it was foolish, utterly impracticable, because based upon no experience of the facts with which he professed to deal. He proposed to break up Zululand into thirteen districts and to appoint a chief for each; he gave the chieftainship of the largest district of all to an Englishman, John Dun, a clever and kind-hearted man, but one who had lived for many years practically as a Zulu, having adopted most of their customs, including polygamy. This degenerate European was made the most powerful person in Zululand! As soon as Sir Bartle Frere heard of the plan, he, in the most courteous way, pointed out its serious effects to Wolseley; but his advice was received with ill-concealed contempt. Zululand was not according to this plan to be governed by any European, nor were Europeans to be allowed to settle in it, and the Zulus were even half encouraged to discourage missionaries. What Frere suggested was the plan which, in 1883, on the complete collapse of Wolseley's plan was begun, and was fully adopted in 1887! In 1883 Cetywayo was restored, but soon died. His son, Dingizulu, had to fight against another chief, Sibepu, for the succession, and in order to make success sure accepted the aid of Boers living in what had been the disputed territory. He promised to cede to them a large and valuable region in return for their aid. Of course, he won and became chief. It thus happened, in the most strange whirl-i-gig changes of British policy and foolish alterations of purpose, that part of the very country which Great Britain had conquered at so heavy a cost of men and money was handed over to the Transvaal Government, at a time when not one foot of that territory belonged to Britain, the conqueror herself! As a formal annexation of Zululand to Great Britain had not been announced by Sir Garnet Wolseley, the large district kuown as Vryheid thus became a portion of the Transvaal. In 1887 this annexation actually took place. Something like the verv plan which Sir Bartle Frere proposed, in 1879, was finally adopted and operates with the utmost ease and comfort to-day. The country is divided into sections, over each of which a European magistrate is ap- ZULULAND. 89 pointed. The Governor of Natal is also Governor of Zululand, a light hut-tax cheerfully paid by the Zulus defrays all expenses of local gov- ernment. The Zulus are being encouraged to accept education, the Christian religion, and various elements of civilized life. Their country is rich and productive, and the ease with which food can be obtained tends to keep them lazy as well as cheerful, unprogressive because content. The hope of Zululand lies in the work of Christian missionaries who have given their lives to the salvation of that degraded people. For many years it was of course impossible to establish extensive missionary operations in Zululand itself. The first success was gained by the Nor- wegian Missionary Society, whose representative, Schreuder, began work about the year 1844 and won his way to the approval of the Zulu chief by means of his medical work. Schreuder was a man of high character and great ability, w r ho in time gained the complete confidence of the Zulu monarchs with whom he had to do; so powerful indeed was his position in the land that when the war broke out between Cetywayo and the British, while many Europeans had to flee, Schreuder's station was left untouched. No higher tribute could be paid to any man's personality than that one fact. Some of the most successful workers among the Zulu people have been the missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Their work has been confined until recent years almost entirely to Natal, but through them principally was the entire Bible translated into the Zulu language and foundations were laid for an extensive system of Zulu education. To this department of the w T ork they have, with singular foresight, paid very earnest and constant attention. Through their normal schools and theological seminaries they have aimed to provide a comparatively high type of native evangelists and preachers. Through their boarding schools for Zulu girls they have aimed at reaching the motherhood of the land. It is from these educational centers that the strongest in- fluences are now streaming throughout Zululand. One of the greatest names connected with American missions in Natal to the Zulus is undoubtedly that of Dr. Lindley, who gained for himself a very high place in the regard of the European and native peoples as well as of the Dutch. He has emphasized the enormous influence exercised upon the 90 ZULULAND. native tribe by the advent of a missionary amongst them. It is the con- verts to the Christian religion who became the healthy nucleus of a new and high development among the people. Their radicalism in religion leads these converts to break away more easily from the cus- toms of their tribes in other matters. They most quickly adopt Euro- pean costume, build square houses rather than huts, use tables and chairs instead of squatting on the ground. It is they who most readily depart from native methods of agriculture, who use American ploughs, and thus begin the healthy but remarkable change of sending the men into the fields to do the work instead of women. It is they who begin to protest against witchcraft and other heathenish and abominable prac- tices. It is they who have learned to read and to write, and, thereby gaining great power in many ways, stimulate the desire amongst their fellow-countrymen to gain the same advantages. It is not unlikely that with the enormous increase in population which is taking place in Zululand, as elsewhere in South Africa, the problem of a livelihood will become more acute than it is at present. In that case, when men must work harder and a new energy is thus infused into the people, it will be from the mission stations and those whom they have influenced that the guidance of those new departures in history which economic changes will make necessary, must be provided. CHAPTER VI. BASUTOLAND. BASUTOLAND is always described as the Switzerland of South Africa. A traveller of so wide experience and a mountaineer so intrepid and enthusiastic as Mr. Bryce goes into ecstasies over the glories of Basutoland scenery. "Its peaks," he says, "are the highest in Africa, south of Mount Kilimandjaro, for several of them reach 11,000 feet. On the southeast this mountain-land, the Switzerland of South Africa, faces Natal and East Griqualand with a long range of formidable precipices, impassable for many miles. The interior contains valleys and glens of singular beauty, some wild and rugged, some clothed with rich pasture. The voice of brooks, a sound rare in Africa, rises from the hidden depths of the gorges, and here and there torrents plunging over the edge of a basaltic cliff into an abyss below make waterfalls which are at all seasons beautiful, and when swollen by the rains of January, majestic. Except wood, of which there is unhappily nothing more than a little scrubby bush in the sheltered hollows, nearly all the elements of beauty are present, and the contrast between craggy summits and the soft, rich pasture, and corn-lands which lie along their northern base gives rise to many admirable landscapes." This wonderful country is the home of the Basuto people, who now comprise portions of various tribes. In the beginning of the century the region was divided among several rival tribes, but about the year 1824 there began the work of consolidation under a young man known to the English-speaking world as Moshesh. This youth, w r hile belonging to a family by no means of first rank and even while his father was alive, displayed extraordinary gifts of diplomacy as well as a warlike courage. He succeeded in bringing under his control one set of people after another, conquered some small tribes, and added them to his followers, and then, as his power grew, proceeded deliberately to select a capital for his little kingdom. With the keen eye of a born strategist he selected the top of a mountain, overlooking the western plains, which can only 91 92 BASUTOLAND. be reached by one narrow roadway through the rocks. The top of this hill is a flat plateau, with its own supply of spring water, and extensive enough to pasture cattle. It could therefore be hoped that it would prove impregnable against direct assaults and would be able to with- stand the trials of a long siege. The name of this famous and hitherto unconquered citadel is Thaba Bosigo. As the renown of Moshesh spread more of the native tribes of this region willingly came under his sway. This fame was much increased by the cleverness with which he treated Moselekatse, the head of the rebellious Zulu regiments who had swept the Transvaal with desolation. When they attacked Moshesh, they found him of course beyond the reach of the regiments; but as they retired they were surprised by au embassy from Moshesh, which brought to them provisions for their journey homewards. This unexpected appeal appears to have been successful, for the soldiers of Moselekatse never again attempted to attack Moshesh. In 1843 Moshesh agreed to a treaty with the British Government which recognized him formally as the head of the Basuto people, and which assured him not only of the moral support of the British Govern- ment over his rivals, but also an annual subsidy of 75 (about $375). This document had in after years to be rescinded, and there are many critics of the past who assert that it was a great blunder thus to aid in consolidating the power of a man whose people were able in after years to do great damage both to the English and to the Boers. It is a girat question, however, whether after all it has not been easier to deal with the Basutos as one people when the rational process of trying to govern and to civilize them was seriously undertaken, than if they had been left as separate rival bands, each having to be dealt with on its own account. When, in the year 1852, Sir George Cathcart heard that the soldiers of Moshesh were committing depredations upon the Boer farmers of the Orange River Sovereignty, he proceeded north to punish his un- faithful allies. He met with an unexpected reverse when he had come close to Moshesh's seat of power. No doubt by pressing on and adopting other methods of warfare he might have pushed the war to a satis- factory conclusion, and no doubt Moshesh, if he had been a shallow BASUTOLAND. 93 pated and conceited man instead of a far-seeing and cautious states- man, would have remained in his fastness, and for long have defied the onslaught of English soldiers. But Moshesh once more displayed his diplomatic gifts. After consultation with one of his missionaries, the well known M. Casalis, he sent to Sir George Cathcart what has been called "the most politic document that has ever been penned in South Africa*" It ran thus: "Thaba Bosigo, "Midnight, 20th Dec., 1852. "Your Excellency : "This day you have fought against my people, and taken much cattle. As the object for which you have come is therefore a compensa- 1ion for Boers, I beg you will be satisfied with what you have taken. I entreat peace from you you have chastised let it be enough, I pray you; and let me be considered no longer an enemy to the Queen. J will try all I can to keep my people in order in the future. "Your humble servant, Moshesh." This letter does not mention the reverse which the enemy had sus- tained, but simply the success he had enjoyed in carrying off some cattle. The letter very prudently requests peace and confesses wrong. Along with the letter a message was sent in which the South African habit of making familiar and quaint illustrations was employed. "I am still," he said, "the child of the Queen. Sometimes a man beats his dog and the dog puts his teeth into his hand and gives him a bite; but the dog loves his master, and the master loves the dog, and will not kill it. I am ashamed of what happened yesterday; let it be forgotten." Inevitably such wisdom secured its end, for Sir George Cathcart was only too glad in such a pleasant way to find a close, so soon and so unexpected, to a campaign which he dreaded. Some of his soldiers and many of the farmers would have preferred to see him press on and punish Moshesh, and no doubt it is, taking human nature as a whole, a unique thing to treat an enemy generously if he has defeated you. Generosity is apt to be mistaken for weakness. But Moshesh was not the man to miscalculate an enemy, and he knew that if the English chose they could destroy him and his people. He therefore accepted Sir George Cathcart's compliance with his letter in the right spirit and boasted not that he had beaten the English, 94 BASUTOLAND. Moshesh had one great ambition, which was to push his territorial possessions westwards so as to include a large region formerly inhabited by some portions of his tribe ere th-?y were driven out by Moselekatse and the Boers. This ambition led to depredations made upon the farm- ers by some of his regiments, and that led to war. In this war, in the year 1858, he pressed the Boers so hard that at last they appealed to the Governor of Cape Colony for mediation. He stepped in, persuaded Moshesh to cease fighting and settled some of the disputes about land, taking some at one part from Moshesh and some at another from the Boers. The Boers of course complained that they had got the worst of the bargain. The peace did not last long. In the year 1868, after the struggle had lasted off and on for two or three years, the Boers pressed close to the famous citadel itself. On one occasion they had actually got up the narrow footpath and within a few yards of the flat plateau. One final rush and the history of Moshesh would have been suddenly closed, but one bullet which struck the leader of the Boers settled the matter, the rest fled back, the attack was over and Moshesh had breathing time. Now it was his turn to sue, and he begged the Governor to intervene on his behalf, as an earlier Governor had intervened on behalf of the Boers ten years before. On this occasion Sir George Grey not only gave a considerable slice to the Free Staters, thus giving them a reward for their long struggle, but sought to make an end of these border disputes by proclaiming the Basutos as English subjects. A resident was ap- pointed and Basutoland entered on a new phase of its history. In 1871 the Imperial Government, in pursuing their fatuous policy of retiring from every direct responsibility which they could possibly escape, persuaded the Colonial Government, though young and inex- perienced and in many ways unsuited to the task, to annex Basutoland and rule it. The Cape politicians, unfortunately for their own country, accepted the heavy task. In the disturbances to which we have made frequent reference, dur- ing the years 1877-1879, the Basutos did not escape the infection of restlessness which spread from the eastern coast^through to Bechuana- land. When, at the close of the wars in the southeast, a peace protec- tion act was passed at Cape Town, whose principal measure for BASUTOLAND, 95 preserving peace was the disarming of all native tribes within their borders, they sought to apply this cure to the Basutos also. A few of the better disposed obeyed immediately, but the vast majority of the people considered this an indignity and war broke out. The Basutos had by this time acquired the use of firearms and had raised a race of ponies, always known now as the Basuto pony in South Africa, which enabled them to move with great rapidity and security along their mountainous country. They were, accordingly, foes of a formidable nature whom the forces of Cape Colony were unable to conquer. The sorry story ended when, in 1884, an act was passed by which Basuto- land was once more separated from Cape Colony and placed under Imperial authority. The Home Government accepted the responsibility, on condition that the colony should help to defray the expenses of government by paying the amount of customs received at the seaports of Cape Colony upon goods going to Basutoland. The British Government at once appointed a Kesident, who made his abode at Masura. They were fortunate in finding Sir M. Clarke, one who was supremely fitted for this difficult post. The problem before him was on the one hand fully to respect the authority of the chief, to sus- tain him in the exercise of his office, and yet at the same time gradually to take over those functions which had become too complicated for the untrained native mind to exercise. Some white men were appointed as magistrates, about 200 native police were drilled by a British officer, and these dealt with all cases of a more serious nature which occurred amongst the various sections of the tribe. But the ordinary tribal laws regarding the distribution and use of land and minor offences were left in the hands of the chief, who thus retains a real, though limited, sovereignty. The name of the present chief is Lerothodi, a grandson of the great Moshesh. At this date the population amounts to about 230,000 natives, with more than 600 Europeans; the latter consist almost entirely of Brit- ish officials, the missionaries and traders. No European is allowed to settle in the country, even traders must obtain license before doing busi- ness there. Some suspect that precious minerals abound among the mountains of Basutoland, but all investigation is strictly forbidden and relentlessly prevented. The aim of the Imperial Government ie gradu- 96 BASUTOLAND. ally to develop the Basutos by keeping them intact, preserving them from the disintegrating influences of a European influx. This splendid experiment has been splendidly carried out during the last fifteen years with the utmost possible success. The sore feelings left by the struggle with Cape Colony against the indignity of disarma- ment are passing away. The native respect for the Queen is firmly fixed. With the absence of war more attention is being given to agri- culture, stock raising and industry of various kinds. Many thousands of Basutos sally forth to Kimberley, where they work in the diamond mines, and return home with their wages, thus bringing money and increased prosperity into the country. Basutoland has been the scene of one of the most remarkable mis- sionary enterprises in all South Africa. . When Moshesh heard while still a young man of the advantage to be obtained from the presence of European missionaries, when perhaps especially he realized that they might stand as intermediaries between himself and the Boer farmers, he petitioned for missionaries. It was some years before his request could be met. When missionaries did reach his country they were Frenchmen sent by the Paris Evangelical Mission, men of Hugue- not blood and tradition. The most important of the first group was Mons. Casalis. Moshesh received them with great gladness, and him- self assigned to them a spot for their station on the rich ground beneath his steep and rugged fortress. He took a personal interest in their work, frequently descending to their Sunday services and gradually coming to an understanding of the principles of the Christian religion. He himself, however, never became a professor of Christianity. He attempted to use its social and political benefits while escaping its personal claims of a more intimate nature upon himself. A character- istic retort was made to him by one of the chiefs who had become con- verted and whom he had reproved. "You told me," said the chief, "when you bade me take care of the missionaries, that I was only to put one foot into the church, and keep the other out; that I was only to listen with one ear, and keep the other closed; I put one foot into the church, but I could not keep the other out." When Moshesh was in political difficulties with his white neighbors, his trusted French missionaries proved themselves most valuable ad- BASUTOLAND. 97 visers. They earned for themselves, as so many missionaries did in other parts, the hatred of the Boers, who attempted to destroy their stations and whose wrath against them was so great that when, in 1868, a portion of Moshesh's territory which contained four mission stations was handed over to the Boers, the stations had to be abandoned by the Frenchmen. The French missionaries have succeeded in bring- ing into the church large numbers of Basuto people. They have estab- ished many schools, and among them an industrial school where work of a high grade is performed. In 1897 there were 23 French Protestant missionaries, 16 main stations and 140 out-stations. There were said to be no less than 1,500 adult professing Christians. Prof. Bryce records that at recent public examinations at Cape Town "The French Protestant missionaries sent 20 Boer boys, of whom 10 passed in honors and 10 in high class, the standard being the same for whites and blacks." "There are now," he adds, "150 schools in the country, all but two of which are conducted by missionaries. Some of these of course are missionaries who have been sent in more recent years to Basuto- land by Roman Catholic and English Episcopalians, but their num- bers are few and their power as yet is small." ("Impressions of South Africa," by James Bryce.) The history of Basutoland during the last fifteen years is a remark- able proof of the wisdom of those who have for many years very strongly and persistently urged that purely native territories in South Africa ought to be administered by Imperial officers, working under and responsible to the High Commissioner for South Africa. If Great Britain had 60 years ago adopted this plan, when strongly recom- mended by Sir Benjamin Durban, or if even nearly 25 years ago it had been adopted when afresh urged by Sir Bartle Frere, with all his ex- perience of Indian administration to strengthen his advice, much of the saddest side of British history in South Africa would not have been written. The British Government were afraid of expense, afraid of difficulties raised from time to time by the prejudices of the Dutch and the ambitions of the colonists in general. But these oppositions would iong ago and very speedily have been stilled, if only the policy had been clearly grasped in London and had been consistently carried out. He would be a bold politician either in South Africa or London to-day who 98 BASUTOLAND. propose to change the political relations of Basutoland, and what has been realized in that country might have been realized also in other territories where less wise methods have been adopted and where difficulties aj*e yet to be encountered. CHAPTER VII. BECHUANALAND. THIS word as a geographical term is only of comparatively recent use. The natives of South Africa do not call any territory by such a name. Bechuana is a racial term including within it a large number of tribes, who early in the century must have occupied more territory than any other one race in South Africa. It was they who lived in the best parts of the Transvaal and upon whom Moselekatse descended before the Boers reached that country. A few of their tribes remained in broken remnants here and there. Most of them moved westwards and northwestwards. The divisions of the tribes were by no means fixed and constant; kaleidoscopic re-arrangements were constantly taking place as this or that village waxed or waned. For example the Barolong people included a number of tribes, each with its chief who had headmen under him, and among these chiefs there was a considerable unanimity as to who occupied the position of paramount chief. This paramountcy, however, was a matter of keen contest and both British and Boer author- ities have been frequently puzzled therewith. 'The Bechuanas have not gone farther west than the Kalahari Desert, but they have extended their territory all over central South Africa. The leading tribes have ap- parently always been independent of one another, often making war upon one another and yet feeling a certain community of interest which united them against attacks of all who were not of their race. Hence they would help one another against the Matabele, while willing enough to quarrel among themselves when occasion offered. They are not on the whole a warlike race, rather do they, in contrast to the Zulus, present the appearance of quietness and submissiveness. They are a fairly intelligent race and have produced several men of great vigor of character, able to hold their own even against the white man. Amongst these must be named Montsioa, who for so many years pre- sented a bold front to the aggressions of the Boers, whom the British 99 100 BECHUANALAND. Government treated so ill by deserting him in his hours of need, but who yet was clear sighted enough to know that safety for him lay in coming under the white Queen's rule. Into his hands loyal British subjects in the Transvaal actually gave their possessions in goods and money and cattle during the war of Independence in 1881. He ful- filled his trust most honorably and his reward w r as neglect and aban- donment to the mercy of his lifelong enemies, the Boers, until the year 1884. Another man of vigor was Monkoroane, whom the humorou^ officers of the Warren expedition loved to identify among themselves as "Macaroni." He, like Moutsioa, stood faithful to the British Gov- ernment on various occasions, remaining loyal when the Boers threat- ened him with destruction if he did not side with them at the time of the war of independence, and for his pains and loyalty was for a time deserted to these enemies of his by the Government which he had supported. Truly, it may be said here parenthetically that if any people in South Africa have reason to complain that Great Britain has not dealt fairly with them it is these native tribes of South Bechuanaland. They have been in the strange position of always feeling and knowing that Great Britain would be their best protector, and finding that she repeatedly disappointed them and left them the prey to their relent- less enemies on the east.. Another of these chiefs of vigor and power was Sechele, whose station it was at Kolobeng that the Boers attacked when they destroyed Livingstone's mission premises. Yet another was Sekhomi, and yet another his remarkable son, Khama, of whom we shall give a much fuller account. These four paramount chiefs prac- tically controlled the territory from the Orange Kiver to the Zambesi River for many years. Bechuanaland came to be used as a geographical term probably from about the year 1871 and is now universally understood to de- scribe the region occupied by the tribes owning the paramountcy of the four chiefs we have named. South Bechuanaland entered into British problems in the year 1877 and caused considerable trouble in succeeding years. As we have shown elsewhere the region was for awhile placed under the administration of Great Britain and was in 1881 abandoned. Then it became the scene of terrible confusion and a ~ s s it Iff * fe" o 2.2 O 5^ fi " . rt ** NATIVE WIZARD This may be the most powerful man in his tribe, whom even the chief may fear. He knows too much, he knows the meanings of his bones and the secret spells by which disease and disaster may be hurled against the foe. He can "smell out" criminals, who are generally enemies of the chief or himself and who are done to death at his word. He deals in drugs and poisons. In some tribes only the wizard and doctor is allowed to wear the skin of certain animals. BECHUANALAND. 103 strife through the incursion of freebooters and filibusters from various white races, but almost entirely under the leadership of certain well known Boers of the Transvaal. In 1884 South Bechuanaland, which includes all the territory south of Mafeking, was proclaimed as a British territory. This proclamation was followed by the strange, incoherent events, which we describe elsewhere, connected with the names of Mac- kenzie and Rhodes, and which came to an end with the Warren expedi- tion. On Sir Charles Warren's departure from South Africa the country was placed under the administratorship of Sir Sidney Shippard, whose chief and most onerous task was that of instituting a land commission. This land commission considered the multitudinous conflicting claims for the best farms and farm lands in South Bechuanaland, and endeav- ored to do justice both to black and white people in their settlement. For about ten years the country was known as a Crown Colony, being ruled directly by Imperial officers under the High Commissioner, and gave promise of steady development under that political arrange- ment. The natives were proud and content to have peace and to be guarded by the "white Queen." The Europeans settled in increasing numbers upon territory that was so highly adapted to stock raising as well as to agriculture. In 1895 the happy arrangement was disturbed by the agitation for annexing the country to the Cape Colony. The Blue Book, which preserves the story of the annexation of South Bechuanaland, represents it as opening with favorable petitions from that very region. These petitions recite the desire of the signator- ies for annexation to the Cape Colony, describe the advantages which, they think, will accrue from that step, and boldly assert that it had always been intended to transfer the country from occupation "by her Majesty's Government" as soon as "the Colonial Government" was prepared for annexation. It is a peculiar fact that among the names of the signatories are to be found some of those who took part years before in the "Stellaland" troubles, Mr. Rhodes's friends of the dark days of 1884-5. They represent distinctly the Afrikander Bond interest, and the documents which they sent in were redolent of the spirit and full of the phrases which one is accustomed to find in the productions of that remarkable association. 101 BECHU AN ALAND. While these petitions were being circulated for signature alarm was taken by the native chiefs, and both Montsioa, with 48 headmen, and Monkoroane, with 100 headmen, sent in earnest counter petitions against the proposed step. It detracts little from the significance of these counter petitions that, after they found the annexation to be an inevitable fact, they were induced to withdraw them and substitute the statement of a certain number of conditions on the fulfillment of which they agreed to annexation. Those who are familiar with the manipulation of native chiefs at once understand this story. Any chief would decide that when the event had become inevitable, his duty and his interest directed him to make peace with those who soon were to be his masters. It is significant that the petitions in favor of annexation were arranged for and sent in before the opponents of the plan could be organized. When these at last became aware of the dangerous move that had been inaugurated, they sent in one petition signed by three sets of men, namely Dutch speaking farmers, English farmers and merchants and Indian subjects of her Majesty. Their petition is much more powerful than those referred to above. It states the reasons against annexation with great firmness and persuasiveness. But they were too late. Mr. Rhodes and Sir Hercules Robinson had already been in constant telegraphic communication with London, were pressing for an immediate decision arid had got the Colonial Office so far committed that withdrawal was practically impossible. Accord- ingly Mr. Chamberlain, who in this summer became Colonial Secretary, sent out a message to assure the numerous inhabitants of South Bechuanaland who desired to remain under Imperial control that they were mistaken in their fears, that the Home Government had consid- ered all their interests and the interests of all South Africa and were con- vinced that every interest would be best served by handing over that Crown Colony to the Cape Government! The last steps were rapidly taken, the Act was passed without a hitch through the Cape Parlia- ment, was brought with surprising promptitude to the notice of her Majesty, and Sir Hercules Robinson was able so early as in the month of October to announce that British Bechnanaland was annexed to and henceforth formed a part of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. No adequate reasons have ever been offered for this change in the BECHU AN ALAND. 105 circumstances either of Cape Colony or of Bechuanaland. Colonial poli- ticians had quite enough territory and quite enough native problems to discuss at Cape Town and to deal with on the spot; the addition of South Bechuanaland to their responsibilities could add no wealth to their treasury nor glory to their political standing. Nor did Bechu- aualand need for its good to be transferred from the standing of a Crown Colony to become a portion of the older colony. The natives feared and had good reason to fear the change. The white people knew that it would bring, and it has brought, no conceivable benefit to them. But in spite of these facts the measure for annexation was carried through. The fact is that Mr. Rhodes had his reasons for desiring it, reasons which bore neither on the good of Cape Colony nor the good of Bechuanaland, nor any peculiar blessing which he desired to confer upon the Colonial Office in London. His desire for this important and hazardous step was due beyond all doubt to further plans which he cherished regarding Rhodesia and the British South Africa Company. Already certain schemes were rapidly maturing in his and other minds with regard to the insurrection at Johannesburg and its support by Dr. Jameson's force, and these could not be carried out as long as Bechuanaland was under direct Imperial control. That factor must be eliminated once more. These matters were in those years treated by the British public at large with silence, in spite of the efforts of many earnest and far-seeing men in London and elsewhere who strove to have the truth known and prevent the wrong from prevail- ing. One of the sad results of this annexation came in 'the war which broke out in 1896 between the Cape Colony and the native tribes occu- pying the western portion of South Bechuanaland. The history of this war has yet to be fully told. It was the direct result of Mr. Rhodes's "Colonial Imperialism." Suffice it to say that it ended in a measure whose significance and shame the British public has not yet fully appre- ciated. It was a measure which could have only been carried through by men determined to act in thorough harmony with the Boer spirit itself, a measure which for the first time allowed to happen within British territory what has happened, and has been by British authorities most severely condemned over and over again, in the Transvaal. That 106 BECHVANALAND. is to say the natives who were conquered in this Langeberg region were carried wholesale into Cape Colony and divided up among various farming districts, where they were appointed to serve farmers for a considerable term of years. This barbarous proceeding, this touch of slavery within the British Empire, is of course an unspeakable disgrace. The fact that it has been allowed can only be explained by the other fact already mentioned that it was carried through not by Imperial officers nor by Cape ministers of the Imperial type, but by men who were under the dominance of the Afrikander Bond and who, alike through their subservient ministry and their acquiescent Governor, were able to prevent the Colonial Office from dealing with the facts straightforwardly and abruptly. North Bechuanaland consists for the most part of the territories oc- cupied by the Bakwena and Bamangwato tribes. The history of the latter is told with practical completeness in the account given else- where of Khama, its powerful chief. Suffice it here to say that one of the most remarkable treaties ever proposed was that which Khama submitted to Sir Charles Warren in 1885. According to this treaty he offered himself as a subject to the Queen, and he resigned to the Imperial Government one of the richest portions of his great territory. This he proposed that the Imperial Government should allot to white settlers on terms which would repay the Government for its expense of administra- tion. He claimed for himself that a certain portion, which he described, should be reserved for himself and his tribe; within this region his tribe should continue its own history and he himself retain his chieftainship. This remarkable and wise offer the world can hardly believe that the British Government, which is universally accused of land-grabbing in South Africa, ignored for many months and finally declined. But in the year 1895, when Mr. Khodes was working for the annexation of South Bechuanaland to the Cape Colony, he was working also for the annexation of North Bechuanaland to Rhodesia. The one plan can only be understood in the light of the other. He, as it were, said to his friends at Cape Town, "I will give you South Bechuanaland and I will take North Bechuanaland, and of course if we are only deter- mined upon it the old fogies in London will give way." But Mr. Rhodes had reckoned without his host, his host being in this case his intended BECHUANALAND. 107 subject and tributary Khama, chief of the Bamangwato. He with great enterprise allied with himself two neighboring chiefs, proceeded directly to England, and there, by his tour through the country and the powerful plea which he personally placed in one great meeting after another before the public, produced so powerful an impression that the Government did not dare to accede to Mr. Rhodes's desire. There can be little doubt that Mr. Chamberlain w r ould at this time have actually yielded even this rich and magnificent territory into the hands of the hitherto omnipotent Chartered Company. But as the well-known tele- grams which passed in that crowded Autumn between London and Cape Town sufficiently revealed, Mr. Chamberlain was pulled up by British sentiments in favor of Khama and this huge injustice was prevented. It will need all the alertness of those who stand for the right to prevent this wrong from being yet consummated. North Bechuanaland is now a British protectorate and a Resident lives with Khama. There are many who very earnestly hope that if the present war should lead to a re-adjustment of territorial conditions in South Africa, South Bechuanaland will be once more separated from the Cape Colony and united with North Bechuanaland in one great and truly Imperial crown colony. This colony should stand between Rhodesia and the Cape Colony, the center of direct Imperial administration, until the day comes when the influx of a white population and the civilization of the blacks shall make the granting of responsible government pos- sible. CHAPTER VIII. RHODESIA. TO THE north of the Transvaal there lies a large and magnificent region into which there swept about sixty years ago the terrible regiments of the Zulu chief, Moselekatse. We have elsewhere described the ruthless manner in which this people destroyed the vil- lages that lay in their way northwards. The tribe gave its name, so far as Europeans are concerned, to that part of South Africa, and it has always been known as Matabel eland. Eastward there lay the region called Mashonaland, inhabited by a peace-loving and industrious race. They became the victims of annual massacres by Moselekatse's terrible regiments. The result was that a country which at one time supported a large population was practically denuded of human beings. Here and there villages were still to be found, inhabited by shrinking and terrified creatures who knew not the day nor the hour* or rather the night, on which they might not hear the fierce yell and irresistible onrush of the dreaded Matebele. In the year 1889, as we have described elsewhere, the British South Africa Chartered Company was established by the British Government, to which was granted administrative authority as well as exclusive com- mercial privileges in these territories. As soon as the charter was granted vigorous steps were taken to begin the building of the railway from Kimberley northwards, for the erecting of a telegraph right into North Bechuanaland. Within a year we are told that the railway was extended to Vryburg, a distance of 148 miles, and the telegraph. to Palapye, a distance of 350 miles from Kimberley. A pioneer force of about 200 men was organized under the immediate command of Major Johnston for the purpose of making a road 4t)0 miles long from the Macloutsie river as far as Mt. Hampden in Mashonaland. The directors had been earnestly advised to avoid even the appearance of touching Matabel eland and so arousing the jealous alarm of Lobengula on their first entry into these territories. It was accordingly agreed that they 108 RHODESIA. 109 should go eastwards into the great and practically unoccupied terri- tories of Mashonaland The Company occupied at this time a most puzzling and dubious position. They had received a charter empowering them to carry out the terms of their concession with Lobengula and giving them authority to exercise government, after the power to exercise it should have be- come theirs; but as yet they had no territory of their own, they had not bought an inch of soil nor had any been granted to them. How were they then to begin their work? How could they introduce colonists into a land where they could give them no titles and how could they exercise sovereignty in a land where they held no possessions? They were entering a country in the name of commercial transactions with Loben- gula, with whom they were, or were supposed to be, on terms of peace and mutual understanding. And yet when they proceeded to occupy Mashonaland they felt bound not only to send forward 200 pioneers for the purpose of opening the way, but found it necessary to send after them a military force of 500 volunteers. This force included some of the flower of the English aristocracy, some of the dashing young officers of the British army, as well as seasoned colonists of different races and of many varied kinds of experience. The money necessary for the equipment of these forces was partly found by drawing upon the reserve of the De Beers Consolidated Mines at Kimberley. The charter had been signed on October 29, 1889, and in the Sep- tember of the following year Mashonaland was already occupied by the pioneers and police of the Chartered Company. They started from Mafeking on June 10, 1890, the pioneers leaving first and having as their task the making of a road and fixing upon sites for the forts which it was intended to establish at various points on the long road. They performed their work with great skill and courage. Their movements were, for South African methods of traveling, remarkably quick. More- over, the road which they chose under wise advice was one which kept them outside of Lobengula's acknowledged dominions; so that while his mind was in an uncertain condition and his regiments were full of wrath no excuse was found by him or them for making an attack. The Chartered Company's forces moved, nevertheless, with all the 110 RHODESIA. wariness of an invader. They formed the laagers carefully at night and kept the steam up in the engine for their search -light; they also maintained strict picket duty at night and careful scouting on the march. The search-light produced a great effect upon the few Mashona natives whom they came across. As it swept the country at frequent intervals it seemed to them as if the white man had chained the light- ning for his use. The military leader of the pioneer force was Major Johnston, who was accompanied by Mr. Colquhoun, and also by Mr. F. G. Selous, the famous South African explorer and hunter. On September 12th they reached the high rounded hill known as Mt. Hampden, at the foot of which it was intended to make the terminus of their long journey of 400 miles. Here Fort Salisbury was erected, which has now grown into the town of Salisbury. Other forts which were placed on the route were named Ft. Tuli, near the Transvaal border, Ft. Victoria and Ft. Charter. The Chartered Company's leaders were men of marvellous ambition and energy, and their energy is by nothing more remarkably displayed than their action in relation to the territory known as Manicaland. They knew that here there had been discovered old and long disused gold mines such as are found in some parts of Mashonaland itself, and they had reason to believe that Manicaland still contained large quantities of the precious metal. Mr. Colquhoun and Mr. Selous accordingly, in September, 1890, made a journey to the kraal of the chief Unitasa in Manicaland. Xow, this territory had not as yet been effectively occu- pied and claimed by any European country. The Portuguese had at one time hoped to establish a great colonial empire throughout the region south of the Zambesi, but they had been driven back by the natives themselves and by their own weakness, so that their attempted occupation embraced only a few points on the coast. But the Mozam- bique Company had trading stations at various places and one of these was in Manicaland. When the representatives of the British South Africa Company interviewed Umtasa, they were on the whole favorably received and were assured by him that neither he nor any ancestor had ever made any treaty with Portugal, nor sold nor granted any concession to any Portuguese individual or company. Having satisfied themselves on RHODESIA. Ill this point these forceful Britons induced him to make a treaty with the company which they represented. In this treaty Umtasa bound him- self to grant no land in Manicaland to any foreigner except with the consent of the Company in writing. He now granted to that Company the entire mineral rights of his country and gave them permission to construct and establish public works of all kinds, including roads, rail- ways, tramways, banks, etc. For these concessions the king was to receive the assurance of British protection and the payment of an an- nual subsidy either in money or in goods, at his option. Not far distant there was an European trader, through whom these transactions became speedily known in Portugal. The result was that certain Portuguese officials appeared from the coast at Umtasa's kraal and endeavored to coerce him into renouncing that treaty and entering into relations with themselves. These officials, who were accompanied with a large native convoy armed with rifles and swords, were, by about forty police of the Chartered Company, put under arrest and disarmed. The trader was released, the other officials were taken to Ft. Salisbury and sent to Cape Town. This produced considerable excitement in Portugal and a volunteer force consisting of 100 Europeans and 300 or 400 blacks invaded Manicaland. They were met by about fifty of the Company's police, and in the battle which ensued they were put to an ignominious flight. Of course this led to negotiations between Great Britain and Portugal, with the result that for the first time a western boundary for Portuguese possessions at this point was fixed, Manica- land falling into Charterland. It was arranged that a railway should be built from the nearest Portuguese seaport, named Beira, which has since that time considerably grown and promises to become a most important place. In fact it is through the development of the Trans- vaal and of Mashonaland that Delagoa Bay and Beira have become busy places and Portuguese possessions have become valuable to her. After their arrival and after making sure of a sufficient garrison for each of their forts, the Chartered Company allowed the volunteers to disperse all over the country as prospectors for the precious miner- als. The conditions under which they were to receive claims and farms were fully made known to them. The terms appeared by no means too favorable to the individual prospectors, although perhaps in 112 RHODESIA. actual practice they may turn out to be more favorable, for it must be understood that most of the gold found in Charterland is embedded in quartz rock and cannot be extracted in paying quantities without the use of expensive and elaborate machinery. Each man therefore who found a claim must either be able to form a company for the purpose of working his claim or he must allow the Chartered Company to do it. In either case half the produce in gold must be given to the Chartered Company, the remainder being reserved by the claim owner for himself. The Company had the good fortune to acquire soon after their arrival in the country what seemed to be a secure title to their owner- ship of the soil. Without this they could not have allotted farms nor planted towns. A man, Lippert, persuaded Lobengula to grant him the right to sell lands and form townships. Lobengula thought him- self quick-witted when he granted this concession. He imagined that it would prove to be a checkmate of what he now saw to be the extraor- dinary ambition of the Chartered Company. But Lippert almost im- mediately sold his concession to the Chartered Company, which now had the whole thing in its hands! On this basis and in the most lavish manner titles were granted right and left to white people. Sites for towns were selected and the work of active colonization was begun. The news that Mashonaland had been successfully and peacefully occupied and that the pioneer Europeans were now prospecting all over the country in safety, finding what promised to be magnificent mining grounds, spread like wild-fire in the cities and towns of older lands and a regular stream of people from Europe as well as from the colonies of South Africa moved northwards. Large numbers of these never got to Mashonaland. Some of them died on the way of hard- ship and fever and accident; many turned back in disgust after a few weeks of familiarity with wagon travel; some, when they did get into Mashonaland, were bitterly disappointed that the towns were still scrubby villages, the mines still existed only in the hopes of their dis- coverers, the price of living was extremely high, the comforts of civiliza- tion lay some hundreds of miles away behind them, around them appeared only the rolling plains of unoccupied territories varied with abrupt rocky hills here and there, and covered with scrubby thorn bushes or dwarfed and sparsely scattered trees. Many, even of the RHODESIA. 113 pioneers, were disappointed. Nor did the first visit of Mr. Khodes him- self in the year 1891 succeed in putting any heart into the depressed citizens of Mashonaland. During that and the following year or two they became exceedingly critical of the Chartered Company and its administration. They began to ask how it was that the railway was not being built from Salisbury to Berea, a distance of only 380 miles, and why it was that the machinery for the gold mines was not being hurried into the country on that shorter and cheaper route instead of being brought 1,200 miles from Cape Town. They began in fact to find that Mr. Rhodes, as at once Prime Minister of Cape Colony and manager of the Chartered Company, had, like his chief, the Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner for South Africa, two functions to fulfill whose interests were sometimes gravely antagonistic. It ap- peared of great importance to him as a shareholder and director of the mines both at Kimberley and Johannesburg that he should retain the friendship of the Cape Colony and hold his position as Prime Min- ister there. But this position would be seriously endangered if his friends at the Cape found that he had built a railway to the eastern coast of Africa, had opened a commercial traffic in that direction in- stead of through Cape Colony, and was thus developing south central Africa without benefiting the older colony itself. It appeared therefore to the settlers in Mashonaland that their interests were being sacrificed for political reasons, or at least for reasons which they could not appreciate and which affected other interests not their own. Mr. Khodes is a man not easily swerved from whatsoever policy he has adopted, and they did not find themselves able to obtain from him either any modification of the conditions on which mining claims were allowed, or any promise of an immediate improvement in their commer- cial relations generally. That improvement was not possible until the war against the Mate- bele had taken place in the year 1893. As we have seen, Lobengula viewed with great jealousy the advent of the Chartered Company. He saw that on the strength of the concessions which he had sold to them the Company had entered, not as he expected in the capacity merely of commercial seekers after gain, but as a veritable government which threatened to become a powerful rival of his own. This rivalry ap- 114 RHODESIA. peared in a curious form when in the year .1893 some of his regiments went into Mashonaland on their usual annual raid. The poor and help- less Mashona people fled to the Company's settlement for protection. Lo- bengula demanded that they should be delivered up to him and would listen to no arguments advanced from a European point of view re- garding personal rights and liberties. He held that the Mashona were as much his property as the cattle of his kraals, and were his to be dealt with by himself at his good pleasure. The controversy became so acute that everyone saw war to be impending. Lobengula, however much he may have desired it, could not have restrained his ferocious regiments. He manifested what for a savage Zulu chief was a high degree of honor by w r arning the missionaries and white traders at his capital that they remained at their own peril; that he himself did not desire to injure them, but that he might not be able to hold in his warriors in their passion for blood. Many of the white people, therefore, hastily left the country. Two traders remained who were found as the only living inhabitants of Buluwayo, when the chief had fled and left the town in ashes. The invasion of the Matabele was carried on by the Chartered Company's forces from the east with about 600 men under Major Forbes and a column composed largely of imperial police volunteers under Col. Goold-Adams, numbering about 450, who advanced from the south. The latter column was greatly assisted by a force of 1,700 or 1,800 men led by Khama, the chief of the Bamangwato. These were of use as scouts and in other ways. They remained with the British force until Khama ascertained that Lobengula had been beaten and that the war was virtually over. Without attempting to join in the triumphal march into Buluwayo, he immediately returned to his own country. Loben- gula was pursued under the orders of Dr. Jameson, who was Adminis- trator of the territories of the Chartered Company, with a view to his capture. It was while engaged on this mission that the sad and yet thrilling disaster overtook Maj. Alan Wilson and a small company of mounted men who w r ere riding with him in pursuit of the fugitive chief. They found themselves cut off from the main body, and sur- rounded by large numbers of Matabele. Some of them had their horses shot down from under them and the rest, w T ho could have fled, remained with their comrades to the last. As the Matabele closed in around the RHODESIA. 115 devoted band they stood back to back until the last cartridge was spent, then the fierce savages rushed in upon them and left not one alive to tell the tale. It turned out afterwards that before this disaster Lobengula had sent two white men as messengers to Dr. Jameson, giving them 1,000 (about f 5,000) in gold to hand to him as a pledge of peace, re- questing that the terms of a treaty should be sent to him. The black- hearted messengers could not resist the temptation to keep the money and the message to themselves. Their treachery was not discovered until some time afterwards, when they were arrested and of course amid universal execration condemned to a severe sentence. Loben- gula spent some miserable months in wandering and exile and finally died in January, 1894. Buluwayo, which had been the capital in Loben- gula's time, was immediately pitched upon as the best center for the government of Matabeleland by the Chartered Company. Immediately there. was a rush of white people to that place, and it is said that no tow r n in South Africa, not excepting Johannesburg itself, passed through the early stages of development so rapidly and successfully as Buluwayo. After the first conquest of Matabeleland in 1893 it was proposed to organize the administration of Matabeleland under the Char- tered Company. This accordingly was done by the British Govern- ment in May, 1894. The main features of the administration were as follows : The executive power was placed in the hands of an Admin- istrator and a council. The council consisted of a judge who could only be removed by the Secretary of State in London, and three other mem- bers whose appointment by the Chartered Company was subject to the approval of the Secretary of State. The Administrator had very large powers and was under no final obligation to secure the approval of his intentions from the council, but he was bound to report all action to the council. Legislation took place when the Administrator framed and issued regulations which had se- cured the concurrence of at least two members of the council and the approval of the High Commissioner for -South Africa. The judge had separate jurisdiction over all legal procedure both civil and criminal; and legal procedure was to be modelled as far as possible after that which obtains in the Cape Colony. In cases between native litigants 116 RHODESIA. native law was to be observed in so far as that law was not repugnant to the principles of morality or to the legislation of the new Adminis- tration. Local magistrates were to be appointed by the Company with the approval of the High Commissioner. These simple and sensible arrangements appear to have worked fairly well. Much importance attaches naturally to the laws bearing upon the treatment of the native tribes. Everything was done to pro- vide for full recognition of the rights of the natives as the original occu- pants of the soil, and in the following regulations a remarkable contrast is presented between the spirit of the Imperial Government even when acting through a Chartered Company and the spirit manifested by most of those Europeans who hitherto have seized native lands in South Africa. Very careful restriction was placed upon the power of the European communities to levy fines on native chiefs or tribes. Fines could only be imposed by the Administrator, sitting with his council, and every case of the kind must be immediately reported with full particulars to the High Commissioner. Natives were to receive special legislation and careful treatment so as to prevent the sale of liquor, arms and ammunition to them. In order to safeguard the interests of the natives in the land, a special Land Commission was organized. It was composed of three persons, namely, the judge, one member ap- pointed by the Secretary of State in London, and one member appointed by the Company. The decisions of this Land Commission are subject to revision by the Secretary of State. When the Land Commission shall have completed its labors and the reason for its continuance has ceased, all its powers and duties will pass to the judge. Its first task was to assign to the natives then inhabiting Matabeleland, sufficient and suit- able land for their agricultural and grazing requirements, and cattle sufficient for their needs. They were to be carefully secured and pro- tected in the ownership of the land, and hence no contract for the purchase or encumbering of a native's land is valid in Rhodesia unless it is made before a magistrate, who mu^t satisfy himself that the native understands the bargain and. must himself attest the contract. All natives, of course, have the same rights as white people to acquire and hold and dispose of landed property in any other part of the country with perfect freedom and on their own responsibility. Should the RHODESIA. 117 couipany require any of the land assigned by the Commission to natives, either because of its mineral wealth, or its adaptation for townships or public works, the Company must bring its plea before the Land Com- mission. Upon good and sufficient cause being shown the Commission may order the land so required to be given up, but the natives con- cerned must receive full compensation in land elsewhere, and this land must be, as far as possible, equally valuable for their purposes as that from which they are removed. The inquiry leading up to any such im- portant action must be made upon the spot by the Commission. Such regulations promise a fair future for the relations of the Company to the natives. But, alas! the law may propose it is the citizens who dispose. Even in Rhodesia the actual relations of the Company to the native races were such, after the Matabele had been conquered, as to cause irritation and fan the smouldering fires of resentment into flames of open rebel- lion. Many of the settlers acted in the spirit of Olive Schreiner's hero, "Peter Halkett," and the natives were unable to obtain redress, or did not know by what steps redress could be obtained. The Matabele were chiefly annoyed by the administration of their affairs in respect to their 4 cattle and to the question of labor. The Company required large quan- tities of cattle; they divided the country into districts and placed over each district a native chief or induna who was held responsible for the payment of as many head of cattle as the Company through its local officers might at any time demand of him. No method of conducting commerce or collecting tribute could possibly betray more ignorance of the native spirit or be better calculated to quicken rebellion. Scarcely less foolish in the circumstances was the method of obtaining native labor by requiring from every induna as many black men as were re- quired in this or that district. The Matabele had come to regard them- selves as an aristocratic class, superior to those, like the contemptible Mashonas, who engaged in manual labor. To be forced to labor even for the Company and even for fixed wages, was to have the sense of their defeat and subjection driven into their proud hearts day after day and month after month. There seems abundant evidence that at certain times even force had to be employed in order to bring a sufficient num- ber of laborers to serve the whites. Matters were brought to a head 118 RHODESIA. .when the news spread late in 1895 that Dr. Jameson and his force of vol- unteers had left Rhodesia. Only about 40 European members of the police force were left to 'control the large number of native police, who had been drawn from Lobengula's fierce regiments, and the coun- try as a whole. It is scarcely possible to think with patience of the blind folly of the administration at this time. They appear to have been blinded in Matabeleland by the intensity of their gaze upon Johan- nesburg. The fascination of the expected revolution in the Transvaal and the illimitable possibilities which that suggested to the ambitious minds of the Chartered Company, confused their judgment regarding the state of matters in Matabelelaud. For some months they were like people standing over a volcano, heedless of the quaking earth and the rumbling sounds. All at once the volcano burst. When Dr. Jameson was a prisoner at Pretoria, defeated and disgraced, the native police felt their strength and wondered why they had allowed men to beat them in '93 who were so easily crushed by the Boers in '96. In spite of strict regulations against the sale of guns and ammunition many of the natives had been able to purchase these from European smugglers, who brought them into Matabeleland through Portuguese territory and the Transvaal. Swiftly as news spreads through native territories the word passed from kraal to kraal that liberty was at hand and that the whites were at their mercy. On March 24, 1896, the terrible rebellion of the Matabele broke out. All over the land defenseless farmers with their wives and children were suddenly overwhelmed and murdered, their bodies mutilated, their homes burned over their heads. Instantly every living white man in the coun- try put himself under arms and made for Buluwayo or Salisbury. There were many wonderful feats of courage, wonderful deeds of heroism per- formed in those days by desperate white women and passionate white men. Forces were raised also in the Colony and sent north, with the result that in a short while there were more than 5,000 troops in Mata- beleland under the command of Gen. Frederick Carrington. The chief officers under him w r ere Col. Plumer and Col. Baden-Powell. As these troops, under magnificent and skilful management, were broken up into parties who scoured the country, rescuing the whites wherever they could find them and punishing bands of wandering native warriors, they grad- H Of N ZULUS DEFYING THE LIGHTNING Among the curious superstitions of South African natives we must place that of making the rain, and the one depicted in this scene of defying the lightning. Primitive men think of nature as standing in a closer relation to human beings than we can conceive. When an eclipse occurs they beat their drums and raise their war shouts to frighten the evil spirit away; so here, when the lightning flashes and the thunder roars, the warriors take their shields and spears and defy the power that threatens them. RHODESIA. 121 ually drove the Matabele from the open country. Among the Matoppo hills the natives took refuge, whence the white men soon found that it was practically impossible to dislodge them within a reasonable time. The only plan was to starve them out. Towards the end of August, 189C, the natives lost heart. The time for sowing their crops was at hand; there was no prospect which they could see of winning the victory; they had indeed learned once more the humiliating but necessary lesson that they were no match for the white people. Accordingly peace was concluded with the leading commanders, who brought their regiments back to their kraals and to their locations, and set them to work upon the sow- ing of their seeds and the raising of their crops. The Company were wise enough to provide the natives freely with seed corn in order to tide them over the critical period lying before them. Mr. Rhodes fresh from the humiliation of the Jameson Raid was in Matabeleland during the war and distinguished himself by the frank courage with which he walked unarmed into the presence of the leaders of the rebellion and offered them peace. They were deeply impressed, as savages always are when a white man defies them and their weapons in this way, and hence- forth regarded Mr. Rhodes with new awe. In Mashonaland the natives had also risen encouraged by the Matabele and irritated by certain doings of the white people, but they were soon overwhelmed. By this time the country was under the administration of Earl Grey, who had succeeded Dr. Jameson. Partly as a result of this second war as well as of the misuse of their power by the leaders of the Chartered Company in the organization of the Jameson plan, the British Government readjusted the methods of administration in Rhodesia. The necessary modifications in the admin- istration of Rhodesia by the Chartered Company were made in 1898 under an Order in Council issued by the Queen. The main alterations and additions in the relations of the Chartered Company, as a governing body, to the Imperial authorities were intended to obviate the repetition of any such arbitrary action as the Jameson Raid. The British public thought that it had been proved unsafe to leave the Company in absolute possession of the territories under its charge, and that some check must be placed upon the possibility of disloyal proceedings. The main feature of the new order consisted in the appointment of l-2'2 RHODESIA. a Resident Commissioner, who derives his authority as well as his salary directly and solely from the Imperial Government, is ex-officio member both of the Executive and Legislative Councils, with power to attend all their meetings and the meetings of any committee thereof. He may discuss whatever matters are brought before such meetings, but has no vote. It is his duty to make constant and full reports of all proceedings to the High Commissioner at Cape Town. An equally important alteration was made with regard to the Rhodesian police. These were taken entirely out of the hands of the Company and placed under the direct control and authority of the High Commissioner. The Commandant-General and subordinate officers are all appointed by the Secretary of State in London and paid from the Imperial treasury. In any case where the Commandant-General as an Imperial officer differs from the military plans of the administration under the Company, he may apply for instruction to the High Commissioner, whose authority is final. A High Court was also constituted by this order, whose judges are appointed by a Secretary of State on nomination of the Company; the Company, however, has no right to remove any judge who has once been appointed, this being reserved solely for the Secretary of State in London. Fur- ther and more elaborate plans were drawn out for the conduct of native affairs. These were placed under the Native Secretary with a body of assistants called native commissioners, who are all appointed by the Administrator acting for t!ie Company; but the High Commissioner and Secretary of State have reserved to them ultimate power in the matter of appointment, salaries and the removal from office of these officials. It is thus apparent that it has been found necessary within ten years of the granting of the charter to the British South Africa Company, on account of the policy and conduct of' the directors and officers of that Company in South Africa, very seriously to curtail the powers originally granted to it. Practically the present system of government of Rhode- sia consists in this: First, the Company, in return for the possessions and privileges granted to it, and through which it hopes to make a great income for its shareholders, pays all the expenses of the actual admin- istration and legislation, and has power to nominate its principal officers anil to appoint subordinate officers. But on the other hand, all these RHODESIA. 123 nominations and appointments must be laid for final approval before the High Commissioner and the Secretary of State. The Imperial Gov- ernment has reserved to itself direct control of the military forces, and has made arrangements for a constant scrutiny of the entire conduct of affairs both legislative and executive, as carried on by the Company. Every check has been placed upon the power of the Company in any way to wrong the natives or to misuse its forces in relation to neigh- boring states. Many of the wisest supporters of the Chartered Company and defenders of the policy of colonial development by means of a chartered company, are thankful for the present arrangement. They allege that it enables Britain and South Africa and the Company to get out of the system all the advantages of enterprise and skill which the members of a commercial company must exert in their own interests, while it secures also all the advantages of direct Imperial guidance and control. Since the year 1896 the development of Rhodesia has proceeded at a rate hardly equalled by the early history of any colony in the world. The work of administration of the natives has been carried out on much wiser plans and on the w T hole with great smoothness and success. Peace has reigned throughout Matabeleland and Mashonaland. The original inhabitants of the country have shown that they realize the position in which they were left by the operations of 1896. They implicitly obey the orders of the administration, and, what is of very great significance, they pay the hut-tax, which goes towards the expenses of administra- tion, with promptitude. For the year 1899 this tax was expected to produce 42,000 (about f 200,000). Even in Matabeleland, where the tax was levied for the first time in July, 1899, the amount collected was 22,000 (about $100,000), which was considerably in excess of the esti- mates made by the native officials. The tax per capita is small, of course, but it is sufficient to make the people feel that they are under authority a'nd that they have a personal stake in the righteous admin- istration of the law in their midst. The great difficulty, which presses hard upon the administration, is that of persuading the natives to work. The wages are for them fairly high and a man can by working a few weeks make enough to keep himself and family for a year. This puts a premium upon laziness, and laziness is the foe of development. The 124 RHODESIA. chief practical problem in many South African native regions is the same, how the natives can be turned from useless, often loathsome, idlers into active and progressive workers. Perhaps the most striking feature of Rhodesian history is the build- ing of the railways which connect that country with Cape Town in the south and Beira on the east coast. In 1896 the railway had reached Mafeking, about 850 miles north of Cape Town, in November, 1897, it had actually been built as far as Buluwayo, 1,360 miles from Cape Town. To celebrate this event invitations were made to eminent men in Lon- don, some of whom availed themselves of the opportunity, made the long voyage to Cape Town and traveled upon the new railway to Bulu- wayo itself. Among these was Sir Henry M. Stanley, who, in letters to the London Times, which have since been published in a volume entitled "South Africa," describes his experiences and the opening of the rail- way after an interesting manner. He appears to have been surprised at the energy, the foresight and the ambition displayed by the Chartered Company and the inhabitants of Rhodesia. The town of Buluwayo itself, which had been formerly Lobengula's kraal and which within one year after its selection as the capital of the country received a popu- lation of no less than 3,000 white people, seemed typical to the British traveler of the rapidity with which the whole country is likely to develop. Of course, to start with, the class of men who settle in Rhodesia is, on the whole, of very high average in character and intelligence. The happy-go-lucky miner, the mere wayward adventurer has no chance in that country, where prices are high and an income is only made by hard work and by the exercise of intelligence. As soon as the railway was opened machinery and goods of all kinds poured into the country and were disposed of at prices far below anything attainable before. The hope cherished by the majority of those who go to Rhodesia is, of course, that they may become discoverers of gold mines. Undoubtedly there are still gold districts which will become important as they are further developed, but no district in Rhodesia yet approaches the value of the Rand in the Transvaal. The country, however, contains other attractions. In the north along the valleys of the Zambesi there are rich and splendid coal fields. In some parts rice can be grown in large quan- tities and cereals, including wheat, flourish in others. Even in those RHODESIA. 125 parts which are not likely to be so productive in fruit and grain crops, there are excellent facilities for stock farming. Perhaps one of the most important facts connected with the history of the Chartered Company in South Africa is the fact that the territories which we have be'en describing are known as Southern Rhodesia and that across the Zambesi there is another enormous territory known as Northern Rhodesia. Through the eastern part of this territory it is proposed to continue the railway and the telegraph, which have already reached Salisbury. The plans have been laid out for that tremendous undertaking and the estimates received. As soon as favorable circum- stances arise, the task will be undertaken to carry railway communica- tion from the northern bank of the Zambesi right up to Lake Tanganyika. Since the advent of the pioneer force in 1890 Southern Rhodesia has developed with extraordinary rapidity. The sums expended upon pub- lic works are large and they include a considerable amount which has to be employed in the maintenance of roads to the extent of 2,485 miles. The native population has not as yet begun to increase. In the prov- ince of Mashonaland it is estimated that there are nearly 200,000 natives and in the province of Matabeleland about 115,000, making a total native population for Southern Rhodesia of more than 300,000. Since the opening up of the country by the Chartered Company, in spite of the wars which have taken place, the difficulties of travel, .the high price of living and the many other practical problems which face the miner, the merchant and the farmer alike, the population has grown to more than 13,000 Europeans. The capital city, Buluwayo, is said to have now a population of more than 7,000 Europeans. When the pres- ent war is over, when the railway line to Beira on the eastern coast has been made more useful and transportation upon it cheaper, which will be the case soon, it is to be expected that there will be a large influx of white people into these territories. It is not unlikely that Southern Rhodesia may yet in many respects become the rival of the Transvaal and the superior of all other South African states in its mineral wealth, its agricultural facilities and, above all, in the energy of its colonists. Sir H. M. Stanley suggests that Buluwayo may become the Chicago of Africa and what more can be said? CHAPTER IX. CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. FOR some years after the occupation of the Cape by the British Gov- ernment at the Cape they were singularly successful in their con- trol of Colonial affairs* They sent out as Governors able and high-minded representatives of their country who neither sought to advance their personal wealth nor found pleasure in ' tyrannizing over any portion of the country under their care. Lord Charles Soineset, for example, had the good fortune to be warmly supported by the best Dutch officials in the Colony. One of these especially, a Mr. Stockenstrom, received from him the very highest encomiums for the fidelity, ability and energy of his services both as a judge and niilitary officer. It is a significant fact that even in those early days the first bitter troubles between the Government and the Dutch arose over the treat- ment of the natives. One of the most unhappy episodes, and one that has left its influence on the entire history of the Colony down to this day, arose from this cause. A farmer near the 'frontier, of the name of Bezuidenhout, was accused by a black servant of having grossly ill- treated him. The latter brought his complaint before the Landdrost at Graaff-Reinet who ordered a subordinate to investigate the complaint and deal with it. This subordinate was also a Dutchman. Bezuiden- hout resented what he thought to be an invasion of his private authority over his servants, and it was necessary to issue a warrant for his appre- hension. This the farmer resolved to resist with force of arms. He prepared himelf by carrying a large supply of ammunition to a cave near his house which could only be approached by one man at a time. Thither when hard pressed he retired and warned his would-be captors that he would shoot every man who came to the mouth of the cave. He had companions with him to support him in his struggle. The matter was soon over, however, for one of the Government officers, stepping to the front, shot him down before he could take aim. The immediate relatives of this Bezuidenhout deeply resented what 126 CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900, 127 had been done and his brother actually collected a band together to take vengeance of a murderous kind upon the civil and military authorities alike. It must be remembered that the civil authorities were their fellow Dutchmen. They gathered together a band of rebels whom they incited with threats and with warnings that those who did not help them they would leave to the mercies of the Kaffirs. In the meantime the authorities gathered another force which included a great many Dutchmen; the latter came under the leadership of their Dutch field- commandants. So far, then, the story is simply one of border ruffians fighting against the simplest rules of Government. There was no poetry, no patriotism, no morality, no religion in the struggle of these Boers. There was nothing to show that they had been wronged, but everything to prove that they were wild and passionate men, desiring to be left alone to live entirely as they liked. The result was, of course, that in the battle which ensued the rebels were overwhelmed, the second Bezuidenhout was slain and his followers immediately surrendered. Thirty-nine men were put on trial and were condemned to various de- grees of punishment. The five who were identified as the chief fomenters of the miserable and unprincipled rebellion, were condemned to be ex- ecuted by hanging. The sentence was carried out in public, of course, according to the universal custom of the day. Unfortunately, either through accident or, as is suggested, through treachery, the gallows gave way and the poor wretches had to pass through the agony of waiting until arrangements were made for carrying the execution out. Naturally appeals were made by the criminals as well as by their sympathizers for mercy; but the officer in charge, probably a man as merciful as most men, saw no way of avoiding his stern military duty, on the ground that an accident had occurred. The sentence was carried out. The border Boers called the spot where this occurred "Slaghter's Nek" and the name has been retained from that day to this, the story being told with embellishing details from generation to generation to stimulate hatred of the British Government and to confirm the notion that this Govern- ment has always persecuted the Boers. Every Government in the world whose territories have bordered upon or included men of a lower race as well as their own citizens of the wilder sorts has had to perform deeds like this upon its border ruffians. 128 CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. Lord Charles Somerset found himself involved, as all his predeces- sors and successors in the thankless office of Governor of the Cape Col- ony, in wellnigh continuous difficulties with native tribes. It would be needless to enter in the space at our disposal into the details of the repeated negotiations and fights and peace settlements and terri- torial annexations and fresh misunderstandings which were incident to every one of the many contests with native tribes. In the year 1819, in response to a suggestion from the Governor, the British Government took one of the wisest steps, which has been re- peated all too seldom since that day. They described to the people of Great Britain and Ireland the advantages of South Africa as to climate, beauty and fertility of soil. They were thinking of what is now known as the Eastern Province, and offered to convey thither at the Govern- ment's expense parties of emigrants to the number of 5,000. They actually received 90,000 applications! On their arrival the 'emigrants were taken in charge by officials appointed for the purpose and led to the different districts suitable for settlement. They soon took root in the country and took their place among the most valuable colonists in South Africa. In the year 1829 an Order in Council, dated from Windsor Castle, gave to South Africa what one of the ablest and fairest historians of the country (Mr. John Noble) has called "The Magna Charta' of tjje Colonial Aboriginal Kaces." This enactment was partly the result of prolonged consultation with Mr. Stockenstrom as well as with the Kev. Dr. Philip, the well known and powerful representative of the London Missionary Society in South Africa. The name of Dr. Philip has from that day to this been an object of intense hatred on the part of the Boers. " At this time the Dutch felt some irritation over the remodeling of the courts of justice and the decision to have all documents addressed to the Government either written in English or presented with the translation attached. These changes are nowadays referred to by a certain class of historians as among the causes of the Dutch dislike of Great Britain. An enactment of 1829 removed certain restrictions which had been placed by Dutch law and custom upon the freedom of the colored people and placed them on the same political platform as CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. 129 Europeans. This was also most deeply resented, and while it ought to have prepared their minds for the approaching act of slave emancipa- tion, it only rankled in their hearts and added to the bitterness with which they received that great transaction. In the year 1834 there arrived at Cape Town one of the greatest Governors whom South Africa has ever seen, by the name of Sir Benja- min D'Urban. One of the first measures which took place under his Governorship granted to the Cape a legislative council which consisted of the Governor himself as President, five Imperial officers, and five colonists who were selected by the Governor as fit and proper to repre- sent their fellows in all matters of legislation and administration. It was in his day that the greatest strain was put upon the loyalty of the Dutch people, for he it was who had to see the slave emancipation act carried into effect. On Dec. 1, 1834, the ownership of slaves ceased to exist in Cape Colony, but it was very carefully provided that the negroes were to remain apprenticed to their former owners for a period of seven years. All those who speak of the harsh way in which -the British Gov- ernment is said to have enforced emancipation upon the burghers of Cape Colony practically ignore the economic significance of this seven years apprenticeship. It was a wise measure which if wisely used by the farmers ver^ considerably weakened the force of their fall from ownership to the other, yet higher, position of employership. Great Britain had set aside the sum of 20,000,000 (about f 100,000,000) to be paid as compensation to slave owners throughout her colonies. It is calculated that in 1833 Cape Colony had 35,700 slaves out of a total of 780,00.0, which is about 1 in 22. Of the total sum set apart for com- pensation no less than 1,200,000 was set apart as compensation to slave owners in the Cape Colony which reached the higher proportion of 1 in 16. The Dutch slave owners in South Africa were therefore intended to be compensated at a rate above the average paid throughout the British colonies. Of course the carrying out of this measure entailed loss upon many slave owners, and the Dutch very bitterly resented what seemed to them a hard and arbitrary act of the Imperial power. Too ignorant to know what occurred elsewhere they considered themselves as pecu- liarly wronged; too ignorant to manage their money affairs well they 130 CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. allowed greedy and clever money agents to cheat them' out of a large part of the compensation due to them; too full of resentment at the recent act conferring political equality upon themselves and the col- ored people of the colony they saw the day approaching when the men who had been their slaves would have the same rights before the law as themselves. To many Dutch farmers this was all too hard to bear, too bitter a draught to be taken quietly and assimilated. For this reason above all others that can be named, practically for this reason alone, several thousands of farmers resolved to leave the Cape Colony and seek some land where they could settle beyond the reach of the British policy. The number of emigrants has been variously estimated at from 5,000 to 10,000. They moved north across the Orange River into the Orange Free State, and eastwards over the Drakensberg Mountains into Natal; thence the most enterprising pushed north again across the Vaal River to form the South African Republic. The story of their long journeys into unknown regions, their heroic struggles against misfor- tunes of various kinds, and, above all, their fierce contests with native tribes, forms one of the most stirring and picturesque pages in the his- tory of European colonization. Sir Benjamin D'Urban soon found himself under necessity to engage in another Kaffir war. When it was concluded he saw a broad and magnificent territory at his disposal. He immediately outlined a re- markable policy; his plans was based upon the annexation of this territoty and provided for the direct control of native tribes and the orderly settlement of the country by white immigrants. His policy was a brilliant one. It was capable of adaptation to changing circum- stances and yet was reared upon the fundamental principle that the British Government must deal in advance with the native tribes on or near her borders through official residents at the native capitals, or occasional commissioners sent by the Governor. If this policy had been adopted the border wars would have been largely reduced in number, the feuds between the farmers and the blacks would have been prevented, the Boer farmers especially would have felt that they were receiving wise and adequate protection, and, in fact, the best conditions of steady progress would have been established. But alas! faintness CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. 131 caine over the authorities in London and they not only repudiated the Governor's proclamation but compelled him to move the border of the Cape Colony back to where it was prior to 1819. The Governor's very earnest remonstrance against this order from London resulted in his recall. It was a disastrous event, as all students of South African his- tory have decided. The succeeding years were marked mainly by a series of border troubles and Kaffir wars, varied by internal administrative troubles. Shortly before the year 1850 an event occurred which once more showed how little the authorities in London understood the problems of South Africa. So many troubles had arisen in that distant Colony, such poor reports of the prospect of its development, that it gradually became an object almost of contempt. This ignorant estimate of the Cape Colonists led to the extraordinary decision of Earl Grey, the Secretary of State, to turn Cape Colony into a penal settlement. It is said in defence of the Government, that the convicts whom they intended to send there were not ordinary criminals but Irish political offenders for whom it was necessary to find a home beyond the seas where they would be unable to foment any more plots or rebellions. Whatever the intention was, the Government found themselves opposed by a unanimous deter- mination of all Cape Colonists to resist this disgrace. The Colonists, of course, won. Earl Grey withdrew his order and the ship-load of con- victs, who had been kept waiting off the shore for weeks, were sent elsewhere. The British Government were evidently surprised by the spirit, intelligence and force which their South African Colonists manifested in connection with this event. They were the more willing, therefore, a few years later, to grant representative government to a people so intelligent and self-conscious. The first Parliament met in July, 1854, for legislative purposes. The Executive Council was still retained under the direct control, and its members under the appointment, of the Imperial Governor. Sou ih Africa was fortunate at this time to receive another Governor of great experience and ability, capable of formulating a broad and intelligent policy. This w r as Sir George Grey. He succeeded in raising nearly 100,000 (nearly |500,000), of which Great Britain contributed 132 CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. about one-half, for the purpose of carrying out various public works, including the opening of many roads and subsidizing the education of native tribes. During his administration about 2,000 German agri- cultural laborers, including their wives and children, were settled in the eastern part of the province, and they have contributed very largely to the rapid progress which that province has made. During the ten years which followed the opening of Parliament at Cape Town the commercial prosperity of the Colony advanced with great rapidity. While, in 1854, the exports were valued at about 760,000 (about $3,800,- 000), in 1864 they had reached the amount of nearly 2,600,000 (about $13,000,000); the imports had risen from almost 1,550,000 (about $7,500,000) in 1854 to about 2,470,000 (more than $12,000,000) in 1864. During the Governorship of Sir Philip Wodehouse, which began in 1862, various attempts were made to obtain a better administration for the thickly populated native territories in the east of the Colony. But this Governor became involved in difficulties through the failure of the mixed system of government which had been established in the Colony, to work smoothly. It was almost inevitable that friction should arise between a Legislative Chamber, elected on a popular franchise, and an Executive Government, appointed from outside. The result of the discussions and the unhappy experiences which then occurred, came in the granting of full responsible self-government, which was instituted finally in the year 1872. Again, the conferring of this final degree of self-government resulted in a great accession of energy and commercial enterprise throughout the Colony. Now the exports amounted to more than 4,200,000 (over $20,000,000); the imports in the same year reached the comparatively large sum of 5,500,000 (about $27,000,000). It was during this period that the opening of the diamond fields brought a rush of Europeans and a great increase of commercial pros- perity to the Cape Colony. It was the first great event which broke the monotony of South African European life. Hitherto South Africa was known practically as only a farm region. The attempts at viticulture and the raising of fruits at the Cape or in Xatal had made little or no progress. The main hope of ambitious colonists had always gone in the direction of developing the sheep farming of the country. Now for CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. 133 the first time in South Africa there grew up a large town on a purely commercial basis. The rise of Kimberley brought in many ways a pro- found change upon South Africa, upon Cape Colonial sentiments. In the year 1877 Sir Bartle Frere became Governor of the Cape Colony and entered upon his troubled reign. Elsewhere we deal with the causes of his extraordinary failure. These causes lay not in him- self nor in his policy nor in his methods, as we believe future historians will abundantly prove. They lay, first, in the policy which curtailed his sphere of authority as High Commissioner and in the failure of the Home Government to grasp the real nature of the problems which con- fronted him. They expected results of a kind and with a rapidity which those who really knew South Africa saw to be absurd because utterly impossible. Cape Colony was deeply moved, of course, by that strange wave of native enthusiasm and determination to fight the whites. It swept from the east coast far across to the west side of the continent. It specially affected the Cape Colony in so far as it troubled the territories known as the Transkei, for which they were responsible, and, above all, as it excited the warlike Basutos who had also been placed under their authority. At this time the famous difference occurred between the Governor and his Ministry. He believed that the latter were acting and determined to act in an unconstitutional manner, and he once for all defended the Constitution by dismissing them from office. Mr. John Gordon Sprigg, who became his Prime Minister, found himself involved at once in all the difficulties of a most complicated situation. He attempted to grapple with the Basuto problem by means of "The Peace Preservation Act," whose main provision was that the natives occupy- ing tribal territories under the Cape Colony should be disarmed. This led to war with the Basutos, a war which lasted several years, which brought no honor to the Colonial Government, which resulted in the act for separating once more Basutoland from the Cape Colony and restoring it to direct Imperial control. This disagreeable business was finished in the year 1883. In 1881, shortly after the advent of Sir Hercules Robinson as a successor to Frere, there occurred the retrocession of the Transvaal. This event thrilled the hearts of many thousands of Dutch farmers in CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. Cape Colony with a new hope. The country which could give back native territories in this easy way might, if pressed hard enough, give back or give up still more. The Afrikander Bond was formed in the heat of this hope, and the advent of that association at once exerted untold influence upon both social and political life throughout Cape Colony. It derived its main supporters from Cape Town and the western province, and from the districts bordering on the Orange Free State. Many of those members professed to be, and, no doubt, were, loyal to Great Britain, but it is safe to say that many more, and they included the really energetic and active members, seriously discussed together and nourished the hope of hastening the day when South Africa should be a so-called Dutch Republic and British authority be swept into the sea. One of the earliest efforts of the Bond was to restore the Dutch lan- guage to a level with the English on the floor of the Cape Parliament. The result was that great power was put into the hands of the organizing leaders of the Bond party at Cape Town, and those retrograde pieces of legislation were begun which marred the history of that Parliament from 1883 down to this date. Needless to say the Cape Colony has been deeply affected by the discovery of gold fields in the Transvaal, as well as by the opening up of the great Colony of Rhodesia. It must be remembered that the Cape Colonists have ever cherished pride in their State as the Premier Colony of South Africa. Among them lives the High Commissioner for all South Africa, and he is the Governor of Cape Colony. The Colony has been eager to employ every means for maintaining its primacy in commerce as well as in education, in diplomacy as well as in official dignity. It has been chiefly anxious to hinder the opening up of trade routes from other coasts into the interior, since it is evident that if railway lines should run from harbors whether on the east or west coast north of the Cape Colony borders, and pierce into the heart of the continent, they would speedily prove more popular routes than those which are reached by taking the longer voyage to Cape Town or Pt. Elizabeth, and making in some cases a longer journey up country. The Cape Colony must henceforth be content to stand on an equality with the other members of the sisterhood of South African colonies. The prosperity of these will ultimately add to her own, while the devel- , CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. 135 opinent of their distinctive resources will tend to concentrate the atten- tion of Cape Colonists upon those sources of wealth which hitherto have received scant consideration. Enormous wealth lies before those who will thoroughly improve the breed of sheep, who will perfect the manufacture of wine, who will open up the splendid fruit bearing regions, who will discover the best methods of stock raising and who will in these ways give to the Cape Colony the successful development of its own characteristic treasures. It remains to be said that in Cape Colony absolutely equal rights are conferred upon black people and white people. Black people, of whom there are now a considerable number fairly well educated and fairly prosperous, may be appointed to serve on juries; and instances have been known where a black man has served on a jury in a case which involved the acquittal or condemnation of a white man. The franchise belongs to both races alike and on the same conditions. According to the laws of the land, as amended in 1892, a double test is applied. He who would vote, whether black or white, must prove either that he holds property worth 75 (about $375) or receives wages amounting to 50 a year (about $250), and, further, he must be able to sign his name and to record his employment and his address in his own handwriting. Individual whites no doubt show contempt for their black neighbors, and some social customs have grown up within the Colony which it is hard for a superior race to avoid forming in its relation to an inferior; but the fundamental fact, significant for the future history of the races, is to be found in this absolute equality before the law. On the whole, the black people of Cape Colony are aware that before most judges and especially before those of English origin they can be sure of having their cases fairly heard and justice honorably administered. The Cape Colony is at present undergoing probably the severest trial in its history. The strain upon the loyalty of its Dutch people must have been at certain times within the last year almost intolerable. It ought to be recorded that their patience is very largely due to the self- sacrificing devotion of Mr. W. P. Schreiner and his colleagues, especially perhaps Mr. Richard Solomon. These men are fighting as brave a battle as Lord Roberts or General Buller. For the sake of their country and the Empire they are confronting the muttered resentment of the Bond 136 CAPE COLONY, 1814-1900. party on the one hand and the blatant Jingos on the other. When the accounts are made at the close of this war the worth of the work of these men will be seen by those who can see such things to have been beyond all price. It surely says much for the future of South Africa, gives us indeed a bright presage of the splendid days which are to come, that Cape Colony is passing through this affliction without civil war, and it awaits, with divided feelings no doubt, but with stern self-repression and patience, the approaching day when conditions shall be established under which the final reconciliation of the white races will surely be begun, and the best treatment of the enormous native population will be deliberately adopted and steadily pursued by all the States and Colonies of South Africa. fltS SM K o oj X : .a" a &S ta 2 o a g CO QJ 9 ^"S ^a ^3 5^,, oHB 00 05 OJT3 ^g-g SS! is: NflO v >.a So a tt s- 8 o flj P O a *jl Ssl 2s ^j OS ,C W3 eg^ S-o A a CHAPTER X. THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. SECTION I. THE EARLIER HISTORY OF THE TRANSVAAL. ONE of the Boer leaders in the fierce battle of Boomplaats, in 1848, where the British were victorious, was A. W. J. Pretorius. He fled northwards, followed by a large party of the more determined and irreconcilable immigrants. A reward of 2,000 (about $10,000) was offered for his apprehension. The British did not pursue him across the Vaal River, especially as their small available force was engaged in fierce fighting with the Kaffirs in the east. While the British authorities were involved in these and other difficulties the Boers across the Vaal River resolved to appeal once more for recogni- tion as an independent state. The Governor, Sir Harry Smith, decided to grant their request and a conference was held within the Orange Free State, which resulted in what has ever since been known as the Sand River Convention. It must be clearly observed that in this act the Queen of Great Britain, through her representatives, w r as in no position of submitting to terms dictated by victorious enemies nor making a treaty with any organized nationality having an independent standing. She was deal- ing with men whom she considered as her subjects and who were so considered by the rest of the w r orld, so far as it thought of them at all. In the next place in granting them the powers of self-government the Queen did so on certain conditions, on whose fulfillment the continu- ance of that self-government must be supposed to have rested. The document is a very simple and a very short one, and was signed on the 17th day of January, 1852. The names of the signatories are curious- ly mixed up, those of the British commissioners standing amongst those of the representative Boer farmers with whom the agreement was made. The important parts of the convention are as follows: Her Majesty's assistant commissioners are represented as settling and adjusting the affairs of the eastern and northeastern boundaries of the Colony of the 139 140 THE TRAXSi'AAL REPUBLIC. Cape of Good Hope, and they have held a meeting with a deputation from the immigrant farmers residing north of the Vaal River. "The assistant commissioners guarantee in the fullest manner, on the part of the British Government, to the immigrant farmers beyond the Vaal Kiver, the right to manage their own affairs and to govern themselves according to their own laws, without any interference on the part of the British Government; and that no encroachment shall be made by the said Government on the territory beyond, to the north of the Vaal River, with the further assurance that the warmest wish of the British Government is to promote peace, free trade, and friendly intercourse with the immigrant farmers now inhabiting, or who may hereafter inhabit, that country, it being understood that this system of non- interference is binding upon both parties. "Should any misunderstanding hereafter arise as to the true mean- ing of the words the Vaal River, this question, in so far as regards the line from the source of that river over the Drakensberg, shall be settled and adjusted by commissioners chosen by both parties. "Her Majesty's assistant commissioners hereby disclaim all alliances whatsoever and with whomsoever of the colored nations to the north of the Vaal River. "It is agreed that no slavery is, or shall be, permitted in the country to the north of the Vaal River by the immigrant farmers." The remaining four paragraphs deal with matters of trade, courts of law, certificates of marriage, and. the free movement of individuals from one side of the Vaal River to the other in either direction. It is distinctly laid down that "mutual facilities and liberty shall be afforded to traders ami travellers on both sides of the Vaal River." It must be observed that the ambitious name of the "South African Republic" claimed by the immigrant farmers is not used or recognized by this document. Further it is of importance to notice that nothing was said, or probably could have been said, regarding the boundaries of the Gov- ernment here recognized. Much of the region into which they had gone was practically unexplored, and therefore unknown to the British authorities. Mr. Theal has risked the statement that "roughly speaking, they (the boundaries) were the Limpopo River on the north, the Vaal THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 141 River and a line a little above Kuruuiau on the south, the Kala- hari desert on the west, and the mountainous country corresponding with the Drakensberg on the east." This statement concedes too much, even although it does not go to the extreme length which the Transvaal delegates went when they placed their proposals before the Earl of Derby in London in the year 1883. It is of significance that the docu- ment always uses the phrase "north of the Vaal River" as the one geographical term adequately describing the territory in question. Of course, only a small part of the immense territory now covered by the South African Republic was at that time actually occupied by the immigrant farmers, and the question is how much territory eastwards, westwards and northwards may fairly be said to have been in view of both parties at the time of the Convention. To say that Mr. Pretorius stretched his ambition as far as Kuruman on the west or the northern- most point of the Limpopo River, is surely to give him credit for a much larger ambition than was possible at that time. What is per- fectly evident is, that, by the strict terms of this Convention at least, no land west of the western end of the Vaal River could have been claimed by the immigrant farmers. If they had at that time announced it as their conception of the case that their territory included the region of Bechuanaland which had for many years now been penetrated by the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, with Moffat and Livingstone among them, and by the traders who followed the route which they opened up, the British commissioners would, beyond doubt, have disallowed this claim. In determining the actual meaning of such a document the entire circumstances on both sides must be taken into account; and they, as subsequent conventions have proved, indicated that the terms of that Convention applied, not to an unlimited territory reaching more than half way across the continent, but to the territory already occupied, or which could be easily occupied within a reasonable time and without injury to other interests by the immigrant farmers. The Article which states that the British Government disclaim all alliances with natives to the north of the Vaal River must be inter- preted in the same way; and it can be proved that no such alliances have ever been made since that date by Great Britain until more than thirty years afterwards, when native chiefs in Bechuanaland, after 142 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. repeated appeals to the British Government for protection from the Boers, were declared to be under the British protectorate. But that story shall be told later. The fourth Article is of immense importance not only as indicating what was the prevailing and acknowledged idea concerning the attitude of the Boers towards the slavery question, and their reputed treatment of natives, but as forming a political basis for inquiry into the question whether the conditions of the Sand River Convention were actually observed by the Transvaal Boers in this as well as in other particulars. This also is a story for later pages. The immigrant farmers who had received recognition as a self- governing community did not for a number of years exceed 20,000 men, women and children. They were farmers distinctively and exclusively, and they therefore selected from the vast territory at their disposal those sections most favorable for agricultural and pastoral pursuits. It is a recognized law of human history that the pastoral represents a lower stage of development than the agricultural; it is therefore of great significance that the Boer farmers of the Transvaal tended to become less and less of agriculturists and to attach their ideas of wealth and prosperity to the extent of their flocks and herds. This meant that every farm must be large, must consist of from 4,000 to 6,000 morgen or from 2,000 to 3,000 acres, and must be merely superin- tended by the Boer owner; the actual work of attending to the stock or raising the small crops necessary being left almost entirely in the hands of native servants, as soon as these could be obtained and trained for that purpose. It is an interesting fact that the Transvaal Boers formed themselves not into one but into several small republics. For twelve years there were at least four of these, whose centers were respectively known as Potchefstroom, Zoutpansberg, Lydenburg and Utrecht. Between these several republics there were differences which became so bitter that on more than one occasion there were brief and slight battles among them. The bloodshed was happily not abundant, and the strife did not prevent them from uniting in strong sympathy as soon as any movement out- wards on native tribes was necessary. Efforts at the union of the four began in 1857, when Pretorius, who was called President of the republic THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 143 at Potschefstroom, gradually obtained the assent of the other three centers to a constitution, and at last, in 1864, the one Republic was actually established. Its President was Martinus Wessel Pretorius, and the Commanding-General was one whose name was destined to become famous far and wide in after days, namely Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger. It is strange to discover that in this very year, 1852, on November 22d, the famous and high-souled Robert Moffat wrote a letter to London, in which he announced that the very Convention which we have de- scribed was being made the basis and reason by the Boers for carrying on war against tribes far distant from the main centers of the Boer populations. After describing various attacks made upon different tribes in which mission work had been begun, he goes on to say, "The Boers can give no reason whatever for all this, except it be that all the apprentices must become their vassals; and they conceive that they have a special right to engage in wars and to depose chiefs of the lands.of their forefathers, on account of the late treaty between them and the British Government, in which their independence north of the Vaal River is acknowledged and proclaimed. Every account of rapine and bloodshed is carried on with the excuse that the country is theirs by authority of the Queen of England. This strange note jars horribly on the ears of the natives. Their estimation of England was once very high." In the year 1857-58 the Republic began to cast its eyes westwards and entered upon a policy of territorial expansion towards Bechuana- land. The trouble for the Bechuanas was begun by a Bushman, who committed depredations in the Orange Free State and carried his booty across the Vaal River into Bechuanaland. Here he was unfortunately allowed to settle by the paramount chief of the Batlaping tribe. His success and apparent immunity encouraged several others to follow his example, and they too succeeded in making raids both into the Transvaal and the Orange Free State and bringing home a con- siderable amount of live stock and some fine horses. As soon as pos- sible a party of Dutchmen was sent into this district, the leaders were killed and the chief himself, who had given them custody, was shot and beheaded. The Dutchmen, not content with punishing so severely the 144 THE TRAXSVAAL REPUBLIC. other depredators, pushed on to the village of Taungs, where a number of refugees from the already punished tribe had taken refuge. The chief of this district, Mahure by name, had himself disapproved the raids and none of his people had taken part in them, but the Dutchmen compelled him to promise payment of an exceedingly heavy indemnity, amounting to 8,000 cattle, 300 horses, and 500 guns, besides 10 men accused of murder. This fine was of course an impossible one, and it is probable that Mahure did not know its real amount when he agreed to it. The missionaries have always asserted that none of the Christian chiefs of the Batlaping tribe villages had taken any part in these raids, and they felt, therefore, that the threats uttered by the Dutchmen against the whole Batlaping tribe were unjust. Nevertheless the Dutchmen issued a warning that in the following year they would carry their raids westwards, even as far as Kuruman. About that time they heard that the representatives of the London Missionary Society, who were considerably increased in numbers, were contemplating, under the inspiration of Moffat and Livingstone, an extension of their missionary work as far north as the Zambesi Kiver. A letter was therefore sent to Dr. Moffat informing him that no mis- sionaries would be allowed to proceed north without permission granted by the President of the South African Republic! This warning was actually made while there were still four republics in the Transvaal and in the name of Pretorius, whose only center of rule and authority was at Potschefstroom. On hearing of these transactions Sir George Grey, the Governor of Cape Colony, sent a letter of remonstrance to Pretorius which had two results. In the first place a reply was sent to Cape Town, in which Pretorius expressed his own admiration and high regard for the noble Christian work of the missionaries at Kuru- man. The second result was that the threatened invasion of Bechuana- land was abandoned, and not for many years was any claim heard that the Boers had rights of sovereignty in that region. SECTION II. THE TRANSVAAL. 1864-1877. It was in 1858 that Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, who was at that time President of the little Republic at Potchefstrom, drew up the docu- ment which ultimatelv became the Constitution of the South THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 14.~> Africa Republic. It took six years before the other three little states adopted this Constitution and the one Government was established over the whole country. The four communities were very jealous of one another and several fights took place ere the union was consummated. From that year, 1864, onward the history of the Transvaal really consisted in its struggles with the surrounding tribes and the occa- sional changes in its supreme officers. The internal history contains almost nothing that can be recorded. No progress of any kind either in social or political organization was made; rather is the story of the internal affairs of the Republic the story of growing ignorance and bitterness until a state of actual collapse was reached. The population was increasing at a considerable rate, and as it increased the distance of the furthest farmers from the little villages which they called towns, became too large for anything like frequent communication. A gener- ation of Boers therefore grew up who were really more ignorant than the fathers who had first entered the land. Fewer of them could read or write, fewer of them had ever tasted anything of an orderly government, even for the pleasure of repudiating it, fewer of them had ever been pricked in conscience as to their treatment of the dependent jraces. More of them took for granted that their isolated way of life was that which the will of God ordained, and that the clearing out of blacks, "brambles" as they were often euphemistically called, was a divine duty imposed by the Scriptures of the Old Testament. No roads were made, and hardly ever a bridge was thought of. Trade was carried on by means of barter almost entirely, except when a wandering trader from abroad or an enterprising hunter or a hated missionary came to their farms for supplies. These always were expected to pay in coin of the .British realm, whose value was much prized while the image and super- scription were detested. The first trouble of any importance with an outside people began in the beginning of 1865, when the Baramapulana tribe offered resistance to some depredations by a Boer commando. This tribe occupied a vary strong position in a mountainous region in the north of the Transvaal. They had for some years formed the habit, as all native tribes did so rapidly, of purchasing guns from white traders; and this gave them of course a much greater advantage when fighting with the Boers, com- 146 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. pared with that which even more warlike tribes had enjoyed when they were armed only with the spear and javelin. Mr. Theal, the well-known describer of South African history from the pro-Boer and anti-mission- ary point of view, states the beginning of this war as follows: "In April, 1865, when searching for a fugitive offender, some of the lawless Europeans and a party of blacks who were assisting them, committed acts of great violence upon the outposts of the tribe, and a general war was brought on." When translated into less clouded language it means that some one, most probably a native and very probably a slave, who at 30 years of age thought his apprenticeship, which legally came to an end at 22 years of age, ought to cease, had fled across the indeterminate border into the territory of this tribe, or perhaps a herd had run off with some cattle, or it may be that an adventurous spirit of this tribe had stolen a cow from a Boer farmer. All these were things that happened all round the Transvaal territory, and were made the occasion con- stantly for calling a commando to go and attack the tribe whose chief and headmen may have been absolutely innocent of all wrong, who may have been in the first place the injured party, and who now had no alternative but to fight or lose their land and cattle without fighting. On the occasion here referred to the Boers found themselves involved in a larger task than they anticipated. The leader of the Boer forces was no less a man than the Commandant General Paul Kruger. He found that the southern burghers refused utterly to help their northern brethren in this struggle. He himself advanced with his troops as boldly as usual, but to his own chagrin and the consternation of the entire country, was defeated and forced to retire. So complete was the reverse that the Boer farmers had to desert the neighboring district, and the rich region of the Zoutpansberg was forsaken by the white farmers for some years. The new r s of this native triumph spread of course as all news does with the utmost rapidity from tribe to tribe. Others grew bolder in every direction, feeling that defeat was not inevitable and the Boers not invincible. In Bechuanaland several chiefs whose names afterwards came very much to the front in connection with border disputes, at this time began their courageous attitude. On the southwestern corner a very important dispute had gradually THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 147 been gathering in bitterness and determination. The Boers claimed that this territory, which is opposite the diamond fields north of the Vaal river, belonged to them. The native chiefs alleged that no treaty and no conquest could be produced in evidence of this claim, that the territory had belonged to them and their ancestors for a long time. President Pretorius got into correspondence with the Governor at Cape Town over this, and it was agreed to submit the matter to a court of arbitration. They decided that in case of disagreement between the two arbitrators the matter should be submitted to a final umpire. It is of the utmost importance to remember the fact as often as the "Keate Aw^ard," as it is called, is mentioned, whether by Boer or British, whether for condemnation or approval, that Mr. Keate, who was then Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, was actually nominated as umpire by President Pretorius himself. The arbitrators of course disagreed and Governor Keate travelled across the country to receive the evidence and come to a decision. It is alleged by the Boer's friends that Pre- torius and his attorneys presented their case very weakly, and that ma}- well have been the case. But no one is able to dispute that on the evi- dence presented to him Governor Keate gave a sound decision. Although the Transvaal had been by its President committed to accept this Award, the Raad promptly repudiated the whole proceedings, and insisted upon the resignation of President Pretorius. This occurred in the end of the year 1871. The Boers made up their minds under some strange inspiration, that what they lacked in their rulers was education and acquaintance with the affairs of the world. They decided therefore that the next Presi- dent must be a man who knew more than the ordinary matters concern- ing Boer farmers and native disputes; must be a man in fact of real training, large experience and acknowledged power. Such a man they thought they had found in the person of Thomas Francois Burgers. This man had at one time been a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, whose views had grown too broad for that office and who was now available for service in political life. As described on all hands by those who knew him, he was a man of unbounded vigor of intellect, great ambition, real knowledge of affairs, and possessing also a great gift of ringing and persuasive oratory. 148 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC, No sooner was Burgers in the Presidential chair, than he launched out into the most ambitious schemes. He told the Boers that their country ought before long to be inhabited by 8,000,000 people, white people of course, and that they ought to attain a speedy international standing and high dignity amongst the powers of the world. He in- sisted that this could not be attained without extensive public improve- ments in the way of roads, bridges, railways, and so on. They must have better laws, especially dealing in a broader way with government lands and native lands. Legislation having in view all these improve- ments in administration and government was secured, and in good time President Burgers proceeded on an important visit to Europe in order to obtain the money wherewith to begin the vast schemes which he had outlined. This mission was a comparative failure. Instead of the 300,000 (about f 1,500,000) which he aimed at he could only secure 90,000 (about $450,000). With this sum he purchased the material necessary for building a railway, and had this transported promptly to Lorenzo Marques, where it lay undisturbed for years and went to rust and destruction. On his return to his country he found that the acting- President Joubert and the Commandant-General Kruger had co-operated ardently in the work of undoing all that he had with infinite pains managed to attain. They deliberately ignored his legislation and ren- dered it impossible to realize a number of his administrative schemes; they also used his absence as an opportunity for stimulating public prejudice against him. The chief ground of accusation against him was that he was an unbeliever, while they were the servants of the Lord. This contrast was driven home with such persistence and power that it gradually spread through the country a feeling of dread that they should be found under the direction of an unbeliever. Many of them could not see how they should expect prosperity when a man accused of such ter- rific departures from the faith was their President. These things happened up to the year 1875. In the year following difficulties began with the tribe of the Bapedi, who had as their chief a strong man by name Secocoeni. As usual the dispute was about land, and as usual the Boers determined to end the dispute by an attack upon this tribe. Burgers himself led in this war, finding himself at the head of about 2,500 white men and several hundreds of black men. The THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 149 quarrel had arisen not with Secocoeni in the first place, but with his brother, a Christian man called Johannes who lived at the mission sta- tion of a Mr. Merensky. He fled of course from this place when the trouble began, and was protected by his brother, the chief. It must be remembered that this chief had never been and was in no sense a sub- ject of the Republic when this war began, and that this land had been under the actual occupation of his own brother as part of the tribal ter- ritory. The Boers were successful in two opening battles of their campaign, the second of these taking place at the stronghold which Johannes had occupied. The Boers left the actual attack to their horrible allies, the Swazis, and allowed them when the place was captured to destroy it; the women and children were killed with the utmost barbarism. Jo- hannes himself was fatally wounded; he lingered only two days and died, taking leave of his people in the most solemn fashion, urging his brother to become a reader of the Word of God. It is scarcely possible to read descriptions, more than can be recorded in these pages, of attacks like these upon native chiefs, some of whom were at least as earnest and religious, at least as honorable and peace-loving as the ordinary white man, without feelings of the utmost shame. And when one remembers that the people who did this kind of thing were not isolated irresponsi- ble blackguards, but the leaders and soldiers of a nation which is being described all over the world as a distinctively religious people, and that they carried on these practices under the cloak of Old Testament exam- ples, natural horror at the scenes depicted becomes moral indignation at the excuses urged in their defense. On the 2nd of August in the year 1876, the Boers attacked the moun- tain on which Secocoeni himself was intrenched. Only a few of the Boers had the courage to face this problem, for as soldiers they have ever been accustomed to fighting in the open with those who had no fire- arms, and from behind breastworks and trenches when dealing with those who possessed them. This attack therefore failed, and the entire Boer army returned in disgrace to Pretoria. The President had suf- ficient energy to build a fort at a place called Steelport, where he after- wards kept a few men to guard against invasion of the Transvaal. Consternation thrilled through all South Africa, black and white, at 150 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. the news of this disaster to the white men. The Boers themselves could not be aroused to any fresh effort. A special meeting of the Kaad was called and it was decided to entrust the further operation of the war to a body of volunteers. These were to be raised by a foreigner named Schlickmann, who was succeeded later by a very clever and unscrupu- lous Irishman called Aylward. The latter, some years later, found it so necessary to clear his name and to attack the British relations to the Transvaal, that he wrote a considerable volume, which failed in both of these aims. These men secured as their volunteers a strange mixture of desperadoes from different parts of South Africa, men who for the most part were wandering about in search of excitement, who were attracted by the prospect of a war which was legitimized by a Govern- ment and by the prospect of liberal rewards in lands and plunder which were offered to them. Some of the horrors performed by these "filibus- ters," as the newspapers of South Africa speedily nicknamed them, are too dreadful for record. Of course they failed in their main object, and the war lingered on in the most miserable fashion, increasing the pres- tige of the black men and strengthening the convictions of the Zulus and Swazis that their day of vengeance had come. As a matter of fact Oetywayo, the powerful Zulu chief, made up his mind that his hour had come for washing his spears in the blood of the Boers. In the spring of 1877 he made quiet but effective preparations for an attack upon the Transvaal. The Boers then, after twelve years' effort at' self-government, had utterly failed. No other word can be written across the history of those years than the word "collapse." These people had asked for self- government from the Queen, who gave it to them; they had failed egregiously not only in maintaining right relations to the native peoples but in managing their own affairs; their taxes were unpaid; their officers received their salaries long after they were due, and in yery un- certain installments. Bitterness among themselves was now approach- ing a very intense degree, inasmuch as an election of representatives was approaching and a supreme contest was raging between Kruger and Burgers for the Presidentship. Observers of the country at this time predicted that, if such an election took place war would break out amongst the white men themselves. Burgers had tried in vain to obtain THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 151 loans in Europe; he had even sought alliances with various European powers including Germany and Holland, but these had consistently de- clined. The country therefore had a gradually increasing debt, abso- lutely no credit, no administration, no taxes, nothing in fact of all the activities that constitute a living government. This was the position of affairs in 1876 when the British Government first stepped in. SECTION III. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BOERS. It has been wittily said that the Boers went to South Africa in the seventeenth century and have been travelling backwards ever since. This, of course, is not true of the Dutch inhabitants of the Cape Colony and of the Orange Free State. The fact is that circum- stances have divided the entire Dutch people of South Africa roughly into two classes. One class consists of those who have had the good fortune to live in or near European towns, or have possessed farms on some of the main roads of travel. These have of course made great progress in culture of various kinds. They are quite equal to any of their white neighbors of whatever descent, German or English or Scotch. As one travels north and west in Cape Colony one finds that the people gradually deteriorate in character and attainments until, in the Orange Free State, the quality of the Dutch farmer suddenly rises again. Hence it is that we find such contradictory accounts and such confusion of mind in many directions, both in England and America, when the Dutch of South Africa are being discussed. People contra- dict each other with the utmost heat when they are not discussing the same subject! In Africa the name Boer is now given to those of the Dutch population w r ho have pushed farthest away from centers of civilization, and the name has been long ere this used in a special manner concern- ing the inhabitants of the Transvaal. The world is to-day chiefly inter- ested not in those Dutch people who have grown into the possession of an ordinary European education and civilization, but in the Boers who have pursued other ideals and who to-day confront Great Britain for the preservation, as they imagine, of those ideals. In the first place, be it observed that the Boers entered the Trans- vaal fighting; that they have extended the borders of the Transvaal until to-day it is larger than France, by fighting; that their whole career 152 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. is a career of warfare, and their principal national organizations have hitherto been created for the purposes of war. Hence we must be pre- pared to find the Boer a man of great vigor and independence and deter- mination. His vigor is nurtured by his healthy life in the open air; his independence is nourished by the largeness of his farms, for it is a small farm which measures less than three square miles in extent; and his determination of will is strengthened by every attack which he makes successfully upon a native tribe, by every call which his leaders address to him to fear and resist the approach of an English "tyranny." The kind of life which thus the Boer determined to pursue has re- sulted in the creation of what we must call land-hunger. This is one of the most curious and striking characteristics of the Boer people in the Transvaal. The possession of land is the supreme social ideal. It is this which gives a man status among his fellow citizens; it is this which is a test of his worth, the more land the greater the man. The man who owns none is an object of pity, if not of contempt. This passion has exercised a very powerful influence over the entire history of the country. The annual, or still more frequent, wars with native tribes have always had for their main object the gaining of more land for hungering farmers. The treaties made with natives upon which afterwards gov- ernmental authority was usually established had to do first of all with land. Land is the Boer gold, and perhaps it may be called his god. Closely connected with this must of course be mentioned the family life of the Boer. They are famous for their large families. One man is said to have boasted that he had given thirty-two citizens to his country. The families usually range from six to twelve or fourteen children. Of course as these grow up, provision must be made for them, and the only provision possible is either the division of the paternal estate or the obtaining of new farms. As marriages take place very early in life the population thus increases at an enormous rate and the demand for new farms makes a constant pressure upon the borders of the country, forcing them out over neighboring tribal terri- tories. As is always the case with people who live far separated from on* another, who have to take long journeys on various social and busines occasions, hospitality becomes a highly valued virtue. Awav from t)' THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 153 high roads this hospitality is open and genuine. Every white face is welcome, and the family arrangements are without hesitation com- pletely upset that the visitors may be warmly treated. Beside the high roads the farmers became liable to visits from wandering travellers of various descriptions and were often made the victims of cruel jokes and unjust dealings. This tended to make them suspicious and even hard or greedy in their dealings with all "uitlanders" who approached them. Travellers who have come long distances with wagons and oxen have many needs to satisfy when they reach the verges of civilization, and the Boer can help them or refuse to help them in many little ways which concern their comfort. Where such travellers are frequent it has become necessary for the farmers to make charges both for attentions and for provisions which, away from the high roads, would be gladly bestowed without charge. In a Boer household the position of woman is by no means a high one. She is hard worked, deprived of the privilege of much travel or intercourse with her fellows; she is uneducated and not expected to show any intelligent interest in other than domestic affairs. Visitors to Pretoria have described the evident inferiority of the position which even Mrs. Kruger occupies in her own household. The women go out little, it is said, from the fear lest the sun destroy their complexion; the result is that they are almost without exception very stout, as well as very large, and that their faces have an unnaturally bleached look. Some travellers and observers have made hard assertions upon the households and personal habits of the Boers. It is not easy to find excuse for whole families living in houses of two or three rooms, for the neglect of the simplest habits of personal cleanliness, for the gen- eral untidiness and dilapidation presented by the majority of their farm buildings and agricultural methods. At the same time justice must be done to them from the consideration that their life had, until the last few years, taken them many hundreds of miles from any rail- way; that they had no roads, and therefore little communication with the outside world. Few were the influences brought to bear upon them to rebuke their neglect of such matters. It was hard to obtain furni- ture or ornaments, clothing, or other minor but necessary appurte- nances of a civilized life. Moreover such things could usually be ob- 154 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. tained only for cash, and of cash the Boer usually saw little. His wealth consisted in the land which he occupied, in the flocks and herds, the grain and vegetables and fruit which his extensive farm or estate so abundantly yielded. In all these things he might be said to be rich beyond the average of such farmers anywhere. Education is by the Boers of the Transvaal by no means openly despised, but almost totally neglected. So far as it is carried on it is mainly by itinerate teachers who pass from farm to farm or district to district, instructing the children. Their chief object is to prepare them for the examination in reading the Scriptures and reciting catechism, without which they cannot be received into the church, nor be allowed to marry. Thus the education of the majority of the Transvaal Boers has been gradually growing poorer and poorer, and it is said that a very large proportion of the adults can neither read nor write. Next to their commandos and land extension, the Boers are interested in their church. Perhaps it is not fair to say next, in this manner, for much of their conduct in relation to land grabbing is stimulated by their religious ideas. It is, as we shall see on the authority of one who knew them well and as is so often described by so many travellers, the literal fact that the Boers of the Transvaal apply the Old Testament language concerning Israel literally to themselves, and its language concerning the Canaanites, who were to be destroyed and crushed out, literally to the native tribes. It is hard to say how much of hypocrisy there is in this; it must be confessed that in a very large number of instances it is no hypocrisy, but a clear belief in which they have been trained from childhood. The great church events of the year are the Nachtmaal seasons, when they travel by ox wagon shorter or greater distances to the nearest church for the purpose of celebrating the communion. The language which the Boers speak is hardly intelligible to Dutch- men from Holland. It is practically a new colloquial tongue which during nearly three centuries has developed on South African soil. It has become differentiated from Holland Dutch alike in pronunciation and idioms, some of which are drawn from native languages and all of which together combine to render it a very uncouth and imperfect medium of communication. It has not even the richness and smooth- ness of the colloquial native tongues. In church of course pure Dutch - '4 " I I I W ZULU WARRIORS Zulus as a people have learned to live for war. Their Chief Chaka was the first to drill his soldiers in a systematic way, and thus made them practically invincible. They use either the "assegai" which is a spear consisting of a long, wooden handle with an armored lancet-shaped point at one end, or the "knob- keerie." The latter is the weapon held in their right hands by these men. In addition each man carries a shield. In actual battle the shield is larger than those in this picture, so large as to hide a man as he crouches behind it on the ground. The shield is made of dried skin stretched around a frame of wood. ZULU WARRIORS, UNCIVILIZED The first picture shows part of a Zulu regiment with its strange bead-gear and shields and spears, crouching on the ground with only their commander standing in front. ZULU WARRIORS, CIVILIZED The second shows the same class of men after they have comg under the training of British officers. They are armed with rifles and bayonets, and wear the light and useful clothing of the native volunteers. THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 157 is spoken, and in their Bibles they read it, but it requires more frequent church attendance than many of them are able to give to enable them to become proficient in the understanding of sermonic Dutch. It is an interesting and remarkable feature that one of the favorite characteristics of the Boers, one which they admire most in every one, is expressed by the word "slim." When a Boer farmer speaks affection- ately and admiringly of General Joubert he nicknames him "slim.Piet." The word means cunning, and is applied to those who in their business and political dealings have shown themselves adepts at "taking in" their rivals and competitors. The man who can most effectively "take in" a native chief or an English trader who thinks himself smart, or the English Government conscious of its power and easily making agreements with its weaker neighbors, thereby displays to his admiring neighbors the quality described by "slim." On the whole, concerning the average Boer of the Transvaal, the judgment of travelers and close observers has generally been that he is a man of natural power whose circumstances had until the last few years been dragging him backwards into barbarism, but w r ho has shown in various ways his capacity to develop rapidly into an enlightened citizen of this generation. The following paragraphs, which seem to have a certain value as coming from a close student of the facts and a sympathetic observer of human nature in white race or black, were written by the late John Mackenzie. In his "Ten Years North of the Orange River," which was published in 1871,he says: "A few years ago, religious strife and party-spirit ran high in the Transvaal country; and on more than one occasion the opposing forces took the field. They kept, however, at long range from one another, and happily not much blood was shed. A description of the causes of the combats would take us back more than two hundred years in the history of our own country. The "Doppers," as they are called, occupy the position of dissenters from the Established Dutch Church in South Africa; although they do not object to receive aid from the State. The only difference between them and their opponents which an elder of the Dutch Church could mention to me, was first that (like the Carneronians in Scotland) they sing only the Psalms of David in public worship; all 158 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. other sacred hymns being "carnal." Then there was a certain cloth or covering used by the Doppers in public worship and at the Table of the Lord, different from that used in the Church. Beyond these two points in "religion" my informant could not go; although the differ- ence had been the cause of bloodshed. He went on to say that in their own dress the Doppers, like the Quakers, do not approve of the changes of fashion. Their costume is usually a hat of the very largest dimen- sions; a short jacket, part of the cloth for which would seem to have gone to make the trousers, which are very roomy; a large vest, buttoned to the chin; and the usual "veld-schoen." My informant admitted that the Doppers we're very good people, although he thought that they could be improved by "conforming" both as to the singing of hymns and the wearing of longer coats. The remaining portion of the Dutch community is divided ecclesiastically into Orthodox and "Liberaalen," or Rationalists, as they are called in England. In Potchefstroom these three sections had separate congregations all consisting of Dutch- speaking people. It was perhaps better that they should differ and even fight about a hymn or a vestment than remain in the torpid routine of formalism. The existence of the Orthodox, Liberaalen, and Doppers, in the Transvaal, and also in the Cape Colony, is an evidence of increas- ing life and thought among the people. "The frontier Dutchman prefers the Old to the New Testament. He is at home among the wars of the Israelites with the doomed inhabitants of the Promised Land. And no one who has freely and for years min- gled with this people can doubt that they have persuaded themselves by some wonderful mental process that they are God's chosen people, and that the blacks are the wicked and condemned Canaanites over whose heads the Divine anger lowers continually. Accordingly, in their wars with the natives, the question of religion is at once brought into continual and prominent mention. Dutchmen will tell you that in a certain engagement the "heathern" loss was so many, and there were so many Christians murdered. Worship is conducted in the laager or camp by some official of the church, who probably exercises mili- tary rule as well. In their prayers the language of the heroes of the Old Testament is freely appropriated; they are God's people, and their enemies are His enemies. And here a geographical question presents THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 159 itself to their minds. If they are the chosen people, they must be either in or out of the Promised Land. The latter is the received opinion: "Man never is, but always to be, blest." In their journeys northwards they would seem to have cherished the hope of speedily reaching the land of Canaan. A map of the world drawn by a Dutch colonist would be a curiosity. At a certain mission station some Dutchmen laughed to scorn the idea that the earth was round.. Those, therefore, whose cosmos is what they have seen on horseback, or heard described by "traveled" neighbors, are to be excused if their ideas of the distance between South Africa and Pales- tine are peculiar to themselves. I have been often privately questioned on this point by some grave house-father. "Was Canaan near?" "Where was Egypt?" "Could one go there in his wagon?" In this con- nection it is somewhat affecting as well as amusing to know that the farmers in some of the most northerly districts inhabited by the Dutch, have names given to them indicating the longing of the farmers to reach the land of promise and of rest. "The faith and the simplicity of the devout and humble Dutch colon- ist are changed into fanaticism and superstition in the case of those who have only the "form of godliness," without loyally submitting them- selves to its "power." What they want in their own life and character they strive to make up by wonderful "experiences," of which they them- selves are the only witnesses. I have listened a whole evening, in a company of Dutchmen, to the recital by one and another of anecdotes of Divine interpositions and warnings; of people who were told, as in Old Testament times, that they would get better of some sickness, how long they would live, etc. the event always tallying with the predic- tion. It is a fact that some Dutch hunters resort to the use of dice before going out to the day's sport, a native diviner being called upon to declare by this means in which direction game is to be found on that day. A Dutchman in the border districts will often submit to the charms and necromancy of a heathen priest and doctor, under the de- lusion which the native of course encourages that he has been bewitched. Not long ago a native doctor was deliberately rewarded by a Dutchman, who had long been without an heir, because through the 160 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. said doctor's charms and spells the farmer's wife had at length brought forth a son. Ignorance has thus been gradually lowering the tone of the people, especially in the case of those coming into contact with the natives. The remark which I have often heard made by Englishmen who had long resided among the frontier Dutch might no doubt have been made with equal justice for several generations that the "young Dutchmen are seldom such fine men on the whole as their fathers." This of course could not apply to those who have come under European influence, but to those who have fled from it. "The farther the Dutch-speaking population is removed from centers of civilization, from churches and from schools, the ruder are their man- ners and the more uncouth the dialect which they speak. Their fellow countrymen to the south affect great contempt for their restless connections on the frontier, and sometimes call them "Vaalpensen," which is the Dutch for Bakalahari, the ill favored and lean vassals of the Bechuanas. I have observed that many young Dutchmen, sur- rounded from their youth by Bechuana servants, introduce certain Bechuana idioms into their own language in ordinary conversation. For instance, the Bechuanas have a hyperbolical way of speaking about pain or sickness, which is ridiculous w r hen reproduced in Dutch. If a Bechuana man has a headache, the idiom of his language requires him to say, "I am killed by my head;" if he has a sore finger, "I am killed by my finger." This is now in constant use in Dutch in certain districts. Again, when a Bechuana wishes to arouse or to hasten his servant, he will say, although it should be before sunrise, "Make haste, the sun has set." The Dutchmen on the frontier are learning to say the same thing, not only to their servants but to one another. "The hospitality of the Dutchmen residing in the remoter districts may be said to be wonderful, and it is a most worthy trait in their character. No person, black or white, leaves a frontier farm without having partaken of food. Natives travelling through these districts count upon such entertainment along with the farm servants, and Europeans know that they may quite reckon upon a place at the far- mer's own table. On much frequented roads this habit is gradually changing; and a "bondle-drager," a person on foot, who carries his all in a bundle, is not very welcome at farm houses, and for sufficient rea- THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 161 sons. In the Transvaal, when gold diggers in large numbers were expected through the country, I had an opportunity of observing the high place which hospitality occupies in the mind of the Dutch house- holder. Not wishing to invite suspicious characters to his house, a farmer whom I knew proposed to build on his premises a little "house of entertainment," where he intended to supply food and a night's lodg- ing to passing strangers. "The bad character of the people must not cause us to fail in what is our duty," said this Dutchman; and I believe he gave utterance to the feelings of many of his neighbors. But the white-skin passport to the Dutchman's table sometimes leads to amus- ing incidents. For instance, a gentleman living in a certain distant village rode out one day 'to visit a Dutch neighbor. To his surprise, when all had assembled at dinner, he found his own coachman among the guests. He had obtained leave of absence that morning, and, not knowing his master's intentions, was paying a visit here on his own account." V SECTION IV. THE TRANSVAAL GOVERNMENT AND NATIVE RACES. During the years 1864-1876 the history of the Transvaal Kepublic is chiefly concerned with the wars carried on by the Burghers against strong native tribes in the northeast, east and southeast. The student of their character and social organization will also be much concerned during this period with the question of their treatment of natives within their own territory. According to the fourth article of the Sand River Convention (1852) they were bound to have no slavery, but in the "Grondwet" or Fundamental Constitution of the Republic, drafted in 1855 and adopted in 1858, which is the basis of the South African Republic to-day, it is determined that "the people (the Boers) will suffer no equality of whites and blacks, either in State or in Church." The black man possesses practically no status in the eyes of the law, except in relation to such laws as limit his freedom of movement and his possession of property. The policy of the Transvaal was, in a few districts where they found tribes existing, to allow tribal law to continue, and it has sometimes been represented as the policy through- out the country; but the same class of writers also urge in another breath and for another purpose that the larger part of the central 162 THE TRAXSl'AAL REPUBLIC. Transvaal had been denuded of population by the terrific raids of Moselekatse and his blood-thirsty Zulu regiments. When the Boers settled in these unoccupied territories, the problem pressed upon them how they were to obtain native labor. Natives did not and would not flock to service under them as they have flocked to the diamond mines or the gold mines under the British Government, nor volunteer to serve the farmers in the Transvaal as they have willingly done in many parts of Cape Colony. The Boers, on the other hand, had already received into their souls the poison which white people so often have contracted where they are in the presence of such races; namely, that of a contempt for manual labor. Servants, therefore, had to be found, and one of the interesting questions vital to the understanding of the economical history of the Transvaal during these twelve years bears upon this question. How did they find this labor? There can be little doubt that during these early years the Boers were much less scrupulous about the way in which they treated the native tribes than they have become in recent years under the severe criticism of outlander w r hites and of their own higher-minded fellow Dutchmen in the south. The people who gave the blacks no equality in State or in Church could not, if their principles were to be carried out, allow natives to own land, even when they had made enough money to purchase it. Hence it became the custom for blacks here and there who desired to own land to purchase it through, and have it registered in the name of, some missionary or other white man, in whose honesty they trusted. This was all that the black man could possibly attain. Further, no native was allowed to move about from place to place without a pass, which, needless to say, could not be obtained without some little diffi- culty. The operation of these two laws resulted in this, that the native adults in the Transvaal were wholty dependent for their work, rate of wages and opportunities for purchase, upon the Boer farmers on whose land they happened to live. Moreover, every farmer had the right to impose hut-taxes upon all natives living on his lands. Needless to say, little or nothing was done by the Boers for the edu- cation or the religious improvement of the natives within their own country. They provided themselves with churches, and maintained a zealous form of religion, but they frankly and openly avowed that this THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 163 religion was not intended for the blacks. It was not for many years that the ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church, many of whom have always been earnest and sincere Christian men, succeeded in persuad- ing their church to promote the cause of the Gospel amongst their own subject peoples. In fact, one of the most remarkable statements, made so late as the year of the London Convention, 1883-4, referred to this very matter, and part of it may be quoted here as characteristic of their spirit and indicative of the progress they had hitherto made. In the manifesto which they issued, addressed to the English-speaking people, they dealt with the accusations made against them regarding the treatment of the natives. They refer to the horrible misdeeds com- mitted by the Dutch in the Indian Archipelago and the English in India, and even in the present century by the Southern planters in the United States. They confess that their own people may have been guilty in earlier years of the Republic's history, "on that account we humbly pray to the Lord, our God, to forgive us the sins that may have been committed in hidden corners." "If you leave us untrammeled, we dare hope to God that ere a new generation has passed by a considerable portion of our natives in the Transvaal will be converted to Christianity at least, our Government is preparing arrangements for a more thorough Christian mission among them." In spite of the strenuous denials that have been made on certain occasions regarding the Boer treatment of the natives, the evidence is too abundant and too varied in its origin to allow of any doubt on two points, first, that the supply of native labor was maintained by the importation of captives, mostly women and young children taken in their raids upon native tribes beyond the borders, and secondly, that there was established within the Transvaal during the first twelve years of its existence, a system which in its main principles and actual working can hardly be distinguished from slavery. For many years it was cloaked by what was called native apprenticeship, a method whereby the children brought from native tribes, whose parents had been slain and who were therefore brought as orphans into the country, were bound as apprentices to the farmers. This apprentice- ship lasted until they were 21 or 22 years of age, after which they came 164 THE TRAXSl'AAL REPUBLIC. under the operation of the laws described above, whereby their life was still restricted to the farms on which they had been brought up, and some of the poor creatures took far longer than the rest of mankind to reach their twenty-first birthday. Xo one who knows anything of the life in South Africa would criti- cise the Boers for having instituted a law against vagrancy and a sys- tem of passes. Where natives are held together by tribal law, lan- guage and custom, they are not likely in large numbers to wander over the country; but as soon as the cohesiveness of the tribe gives way, consider the terrible social position in which the natives find them- selves! They have no valuable property or steady industry holding them to one place of abode; they can make their stay here for one month and fifty miles away for another month; they can travel from place to place, making their homes anywhere and their living anyhow. Where natives in this condition amount to many thousands it is obvious that the dangers of murder and rapine are enormously increased and strict laws and supervision are needed, no less for the safety and com- fort of the general community than for the social education and moral development of the natives themselves. To secure this a system of native locations and the employment of passes have become absolutely essential. The injustice to the native comes in, when he is refused the ordinary rights of property within the district which he inhabits, and when besides that, as between him and the white man, the law asserts that the one can have no equality with the other "in Church or State." Few people would be found to deny, at least in Great Britain or America, that black men ought to have full rights of property in the country which they inhabit, and that to deny them these rights is to make them dependent upon the white owners of the soil in a manner which must tend continually toward slavery. Further, few people would deny that a dominant people which collects taxes from black subject peoples, ought to give them some direct return for this taxation in the form of education and governmental measures making for their social development. It is of course very likely that some accusers of the Boers in the matter of slavery have exaggerated its extent and made its conditions appear darker than they actually were. It is certain also that there THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 165 has always been in the Transvaal a section of white farmers who dis- approved of slavery, and who disliked the methods employed by their fellow-citizens of dealing with native tribes. We must also be careful not to accuse the Boers of slavery in regard to those tribes to whom they assigned locations, and whom they left for the most part under the operation of their tribal laws and customs. It must also be admitted that some of the worst deeds attributed to the Boers, some of the most ruthless murders of black peoples, were committed not by the high- toned farmers living near the centers of population, but by the wilder spirits who pressed ever towards the borders. It was they who proved themselves over and over again ruthless towards native tribes; it was they who carried to its logical conclusion, the Boer principle that they were a chosen people, and that the native tribes were to them as the Canaanites to Israel, people deprived of their rights by the will of God, and destined by the same Power to become servants to their conquerors. When all these allowances are honestly and fully made, there still remains, it must be sorrowfully insisted, a large amount of testimony to the fact that the Transvaal Boers did for the first quarter of a century of their existence as a people, treat the natives to all intents and pur- poses as their serfs, that they denied to them the benefits of civilization and deprived them in very large numbers of blessings which they had enjoyed under native laws and native freedom. It must also be asserted as proved and sure, that in order to find servants for the districts which had been denuded of population before the Boers arrived, a system of importing orphans was brought into operation which remains a blot upon the history of the Transvaal during those years. It was a British Colonial statesman who pointedly asked how it was that the Transvaal found so many "orphans that it needed special Legislature by their supreme Government to regulate their welfare." The answer must be found in the fact that Boer commanders, for some reason or other, found it constantly necessary to attack native tribes, and that they would carry off the children of these tribes and distribute them among the farmers of the Transvaal, indenturing them under the laws of apprenticeship then in operation. When they reached their majority and became free, these orphans found themselves in a position of abso- lute dependence upon the farmers on whose lands they had been brought 166 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC, up; their own tribe was either far distant or obliterated from existence, and their entire life cut off from any connection with their race. In 1881, Mr. Herbert, Secretary of the Royal Commission through which independence was restored to the Transvaal, said: "I do not think it can be denied that the actual buying and selling of bodies has almost ceased, though it did exist. But there is a form of servitude more dreadful, because it is more universal and less easily detected; and that is the authority exercised by the Boer farmers over the natives of the kraals on their farms. There are the natives. They have nowhere to go to escape this form of slavery. They are at the beck and call of every Boer. The Boer takes their cattle and their children, and there is no redress." In the year 1865 a formal report was made to the High Commis- sioner by Mr. W. Martin of Pietermaritzburg, who had paid visits on two different occasions to the Transvaal, and who did not hesitate to describe the system then obtaining as slavery. He speaks of its exist- ence as "a notorious fact to all persons acquainted with the Transvaal Republic," and even asserts that the destitute children were bought and sold as "black ivory." In the year 1866 the Governor of Cape Colony addressed a letter to President Pretorius, in which he refers to the ^popular sale" at Potchefstroom and its vicinity of native children. This protest was based upon a report made by a Boer, a Mr. Steyn, who himself had been Landdrost of Potchefstroom. He stated that "every year we, the Boers, were at war with small native tribes at Zoutpansberg, in the northern part of the Transvaal." After one of these wars Mr. Steyn asserted that thirty-one Kaffir children between the ages of 3 and 12 were publicly disposed of at prices varying from 15 to 22, 10s. In some instances the price was paid in cattle. In 1867 again, in one of these raids in the north, 120 children were obtained from one tribe. These orphans were distributed among the burghers. The Commandant General was at this time Mr. Kruger (now President Kruger), who, of course, may not have known directly and officially of these proceedings, or may have found it necessary to take charge of these children when they had no parents left to them; but it is easy enough to see how proceedings like these necessarily led to stories, which on the one hand awakened resentment amongst the better THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 167 class of South African Europeans of every race, and on the other hand created hatred and fear of the Boer Government throughout the native territories of the whole region. The High Commissioner added in that letter, "I cannot close this communication without inviting your most serious and immediate atten- tion to those provisions of the laws of the South African Republic under which, as I am informed, native children and youths, called orphans, or perhaps made so by the murder of their parents, can be registered as apprentices for a term of 21 years, and can, during that term, be sold from hand to hand as a marketable commodity. I must plainly state that such arrangements, no matter under what name they may be disguised, can only be regarded as sanctioning practical slavery, and as being therefore the greatest violation of one of the most import- ant stipulations of the convention between the Government and that of her Majesty." He proceeds to demand a repeal of these laws and the effective stoppage of "any further traffic in human beings." In 1868 the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal describes the system in the same way and the evils to which it necessarily gave rise. At last, in August, 1876, one of the noblest natives in South Africa, Khama, chief of the Bamangwato, addressed a letter directly to the Queen of England, through the Governor of Cape Colony, in which he complained against the practice of the Boers in carrying off the children of native tribes and causing them to be sold. He pleads with the Queen to protect his country from the Boers. He says, "I do not like them. Their actions are cruel among us black people. We are like money; they sell us and our children. * * * Last year I saw them pass with two wagons full of people, whom they had bought at Lake Ngami." In view of all these facts it must be concluded that the Boers' treat- ment of the natives has been such as to deprive them of the sympathy of all who believe in equal laws and strict justice for all men, both black and white. The native problem in South Africa is an exceedingly diffi- cult and perplexing one, even for those rulers who would act most fairly and most generously towards them, but the difficulty is enormously in- creased when their spirit has been embittered by undeniable oppression. It is not asserted that the natives in any of the British colonies are treated by all classes of white people with due consideration; no one 168 THE TRAXSl'AAL REPUBLIC. who has not lived where superior races mingle with inferior ones, can conceive of the difficulty of maintaining right relations between them. There will always be a tendency on the part of large numbers in the vast rnajority of superior races to treat the members of inferior races with unconcealed contempt. The result will be a setting up of customs in their daily conduct and relations towards one another which are to be deplored. No one would consider it therefore a matter of peculiar accusation against the Boers that they have, either as individuals or even as a community, formed habits of thought and conduct towards these races which are open to criticism. The matter assumes an entirely different complexion when it is not the silent pressure of social preju- dices and private qualities that have led to injustice, but when it is the very constitution and statutes of the land which draw a line of dis- tinction between the black and white, and which forbid the black to have any equal claims with the white, before the laws of property, education and religious freedom. It is of the latter crime against the very name of a Kepublic that the Boers have proved themselves guilty. In large parts of India the natives are governed by white people and possess no vote, and in those parts the natives are liable to the social and private ill-treatment of the official European classes; but throughout India every native has rights before the law. He can own land, he can bring evidence in the courts of law against any man, white or black, who does him wrong; he can and does even recover damages against the Government when the latter is responsible for any loss in- curred by him ; he has offered to him opportunities of education, even in government schools and colleges, that may carry him from the elements up to the ripest and widest scholarship. In Cape Colony the colored peo- ple suffer from social ostracism and have, no doubt, legitimate com- plaints to make against the treatment which they receive from the white minority inhabiting the land; but there the black man enjoys the fran- chise and can vote on exactly the same terms as the white man; he can own land and become rich, he can have education and religious privileges as really as the white, he can even serve on a jury where a white man is accused of crime. In Natal, where the proportion of white men is smaller even than in the Transvaal, social and customary oppression is probably greater than in the Cape Colony, and the pass system must, as THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 169 we have seen, necessarily be enforced; but even there the law does not discriminate as it does in the Transvaal, making the black man practi- cally the serf of the white. In all our discussions therefore of the merits of the Boer Government and the claims of the Boers to independ- ence and self-government, we need to weigh their claims not only in the light of the complaints which a hundred thousand outlanders have made against their rnisgovernment, but also in the light of the national, deliberate, constitutional bad treatment of 700,000 natives during half a century of history. The complaints against the systematic cruelty of the Boers to the natives have been accumulating steadily for fifty years or more. The Boers accuse the European missionaries of having fomented this preju- dice against them, and they have good reason. The Boers and the missionaries have been opposed to one another during all that time. Those who know, and the best men of science and students of ethnology know, that the missionaries all over the world have been remarkable for their fair and trustworthy evidence on all matters coming under their observation, will not believe that the severe criticisms which they have offered for three generations upon the Boer treatment of native races, has been all that time unfounded in fact or based on inconsider- able and scattered instances of cruelty. SECTION V. THE ANNEXATION OF THE TRANSVAAL. The course of events in the Transvaal which we have described in the preceding section could not be unobserved by the Governors of Natal and Cape Colony, as well as by the Colonial Office in London. The Colonial Secretary at that time was the Earl of Car- narvon, who had formed the ambition of signalizing his tenure of office by a great achievement in South Africa. He had for two years pre- viously been steadily laboring "towards one object and one end," namely, "The union of the South African colonies and states." He was at this time considering the details of a bill which was to be pro- posed in the next session of Parliament opening the way for the con- federation of these South African colonies and states into a United States of South Africa, or one large and powerful Dominion. In pre- paring for this great consummation Lord Carnarvon kept a very careful 170 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. watch over the course of events in the Transvaal, as also throughout the rest of South Africa. He had not been unaware of the terrible dan- ger overhanging the Colony of Natal in two directions, from the aggrandizement of native tribes. He had been keenly sensitive to the increase of this danger through the failure of the Boer wars with their native enemies. It seemed to him, therefore, that the time had come for taking some definite steps which should have the double effect of arresting native ambitions and bringing the European colonies and states into some form of actual union with one another. In order to further his project Lord Carnarvon took two important steps. First he selected a man as High Commissioner for South Africa and Governor of Cape Colony, whose past magnificent career had given him wide and rich experience in dealing both with colonists and de- pendent native races. This man was the noble-hearted and high-souled Sir Bartle Frere. Only two or three of the long list of Governors sent to South Africa have resembled this man in breadth of mind, firmness of grasp and loftiness of character. It was his fate to be sent out to un- dertake an impossible task, to face complicated problems created by the negligencies of his predecessors and the short-sightedness of colonial officers; it w r as his fate to have the name of High Commissioner of South Africa without the real authority and power, and to be considered by the unobservant and harsh judging world as responsible for calamities which w T ould almost certainly have been one and all avoided, if the power placed in his hands had corresponded with the title of his office. Sir Bartle Frere was the victim of a series of Imperial blunders which politicians in Great Britain were clever enough or ignorant enough to heap upon his name, bringing his brilliant career to a saddened close. Secondly, when Sir Bartle Frere was approached with a view to his appointment as High Commissioner in South Africa, Lord Carnar- von had already begun to act in relation to the Transvaal. As he said, Great Britain had been on the edge for some time of a great native war, and the difficulties of the Transvaal Government were bringing native troubles nearer and making them more dreadful. He accord- ingly sent, towards the end of 1876, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, of Natal, as a Special Commissioner to the Transvaal. Shepstone was ordered to act with discretion, but he had authority to act as his investigation of the THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 171 circumstances should determine. If the condition of affairs in the Transvaal made its annexation to Great Britain desirable and possible, he was authorized to arrange with the Transvaal Government for car- rying through the momentous change. Shepstone arrived on December 20, 1876, and was received every- where with great kindness, and, by large numbers of the Transvaal people, even with enthusiasm. His coming was a proof to them that Great Britain was taking an active interest in their affairs, and that the unspeakably miserable experience of the last few years would be brought to an end. Mr. Rider Haggard has proved, both from his actions and his words, that Shepstone did not enter the Transvaal with the fixed purpose of formally annexing the land. He kept clear before him the fact that he was there to investigate, and that annexation was only one of several alternatives which he was allowed to entertain. One of his earliest acts was to offer a Confederation Bill to the Volksraad, hoping that if they approved the idea of being brought into a living union with the other South African colonies and states, this would open up negotia- tions by which the affairs of the Republic might be put upon a sound footing. Even President Burgers, in the defence of his own adminis- tration which he left for publication after his death, bore witness that Shepstone, while he avowed his purpose to annex the Transvaal, also frankly gave the Boers time to call together the Volksraad for the pur- pose of considering measures by which Burgers felt sure that the coun- try could be delivered from its distresses and its dangers. Burgers tells us that Shepstone promised that he would "abandon his design if the Volksraad would adopt these measures, and the country be will- ing to submit to them, and to carry them out." Shepstone lived in the Transvaal from December 20th till April 12th before he took action. Throughout that time he conducted him- self with the greatest tact, firmness and wisdom. He was accessible to everyone, and large numbers of Boers freely interviewed him both in private and in public. He concealed nothing, plotted nothing, openly told them that he was there to investigate the troubles in which they were placed, and to find a way out of them. The idea of annexation was discussed throughout the length and breadth of the land, was being 172 THE TRAXSrAAL REPUBLIC. welcomed by some thousands of white persons, including many of the most influential Boers, while it was of course being deprecated and bitterly opposed by the majority of the Boer people. With the mem- bers of the Government and President Burgers throughout these long months Shepstone discussed every aspect of the situation. He urged them to put things right, or to show that they could be put right, or even to prove that the people were willing to back up the Government in any advances which they might propose. As a matter of fact, he made up his mind that the state was bankrupt, that the administration and legislation, as well as the taxation, were all in collapse, and that the danger of devastating invasions of native tribes was very real and very dreadful. President Burgers was meanwhile carrying on his own agitation, striving to arouse enthusiasm among the citizens and looking forward to the contest now impending for the presidentship. Mr. Kruger was on the other hand busily canvassing for his own election and stirring up the people in his own way to resist all suggestions of annexation. Neither of them succeeded in rousing the people to take definite steps in one direction or another. Disheartened and humbled the farmers only gathered in excited groups here and there and talked their patriot- ism, condemned their opponents within the Transvaal and without it, and went home without any clear idea of progress in any direction, without any action leading anywhere. On April 10th news came to Pretoria that Cetywayo had gathered his forces in three powerful columns on the borders of Zululand with a view to the invasion of the Transvaal. About forty square miles had been already previously overrun and every house burned. Shepstone at once sent off a messenger to Cetywayo with the news tjiat the Queen was now taking over the Government of the Transvaal, and that he must not fight against the Boers. At once Cetywayo gave way, disappointed but obedient. "You see my impis (regiments)," he said to the messen- ger, "are gathered. It is to fight the Dutch I called them together. Now I will send them back to their homes." This warning was so significant and stern that Shepstone resolved to delay action no further and Burgers gave way. A very curious series of negotiations took place between Burgers aad Shepstone. Tho en u a OS a CQ S o* c3 ^5 a .a a> C 3 1) a O O ijj S 1* ^ 30) o-o * (- O ^^00 tL 5 "^ ^H a la| ^fc * CtJ ? QE 1 g O > > a, S' 1 '* QJ MtS a o *C o ** S u H -g.3 a 2 O 2> HgS 83 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 175 former in secret acquiesced in the annexation; he even read the procla- mation of annexation before it was made and proposed the alteration of only two words. He did propose the addition of some matter which Shepstone accepted and inserted. Burgers, on the other hand, explained that it would be necessary for him to issue a protest "to keep the noisy portioii of the people quiet." As a matter of fact he acknowledged that the annexation w r as necessary, and most of the members of his Govern- ment had already told Shepstone that they saw r no other w T ay out of the difficulty.. Burgers actually read the draft of his protest to Shepstone and asked for his opinion upon it! When Shepstone complained that it appeared to pledge the people to resist by and by, Burgers said it was intended only to tide over the difficulty of the moment, saying that no British .troops were in the country within a fortnight's march, and that by the time any action upon the protest was reported from London, the opposition would have lost heart and retired. In his proclamation Shepstone took high ground. He did not pro- fess that the majority of the Boers desired this event, but he grounded the reasons for it upon the collapse of the Government and the condition of the country both from a commercial and a political point of view. He promised of course that the country would be governed for the ben- efit of the people, that their liberties would be observed and that con- stitutional government would as speedily as possible be established. Throughout South Africa this daring act was received with utter astonishment and much disquietude. But when people heard that no rebellion had taken place, that the Boers had gone back to their farms, that British troops had entered unmolested, delight spread from region to region. In the Transvaal relief came at once. Land values which stood at nothing before the act of Annexation, sprang up; business increased; an air of confidence reigned everywhere; people felt that stable conditions had now been created and they put capital into buildings and business; the native tribes were given to understand that now they must reckon, not with the disheartened Boer commandos, but with the organized and irresistible might of England. At Cape Tow r n the most surprised man probably was Sir Bartle Frere, the High Commissioner for South Africa, The Transvaal had been placed beyond Frere's authority, and this initial blunder is largely 176 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. accountable for the subsequent mismanagement and disasters. Even Lord Carnarvon was astounded and for a time afraid, but he loyally supported the decision of the man to whom he had given a free hand. England at this time was, unfortunately for South Africa, absorbed in excitement over the Eastern question. The "sick man," the Sultan of Turkey, was in the thought of every European politician. Before the tremendous issues of that controversy, the question of annexing another slice of Africa with 50,000 white people was a small affair. Politicians paid it little attention. Government officials treated it as a mere incident. Thus the prolonged and irritating neglect of the pressing problems of the Government of the Transvaal was made possi- ble, a neglect which in itself is absolutely indefensible and which beyond all doubt led to the disasters both of '81 and '99. SECTION VI. THROUGH IMPERIAL RULE TO INDEPENDENCE. It would be of 'course foolish to maintain that the Boers enjoyed the idea of coming under the authority of the Queen. Many of them, especially the wealthier and better educated Boers, as also all the English settlers, and practically all the German immigrants, heartily welcomed the change; to them it made all the difference be- tween a harassing poverty and an immediate prosperity, all the difference between a sense of security and a permanent condition of alarm at the threats of native tribes. Yet the majority of the Boers must not be thought to have inwardly approved or welcomed the step which was taken. The protest which President Burgers published, as he said to Shepstone, for reasons of policy and really to quiet the people, was immediately made the basis of action by the more determined antagonists of Great Britain. The Vice-President of the country and candidate for the Presidency was Mr. Paul Kruger, and the Attorney-General was a Dr. Jorissen, whose legal knowledge was afterwards found to be so meager that he was more than once rebuked from the bench and compelled to retire. These two at the annexation retained their official positions and re- ceived pay from the British Government. A letter was afterwards found in the Government offices, through which Mr. Kruger made a THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 177 definite attempt to obtain some post in the Queen's service. Mr. Joubert had the independence of mind to decline office under the Government which he hated; but the other two did not consider it inconsistent both to accept pay as British officials and to proceed as a deputation to Lon- | don to protest against the annexation, and thereafter to work for the re- bellion and independence. Lord Carnarvon received the deputation, but very firmly told them, as they had expected, that the annexation was final. While these protests were made it must be remembered that there was no active resistance within the Transvaal and no sign of such. Sub- mission to Great Britain was regarded as an evil, at thought of which hundreds of men ground their teeth in anger, but they seem to have felt it an inevitable evil. When therefore the annexation of the Transvaal is nowadays described as an act of indefensible aggression on the part of Great Britain, the facts which we have glanced at must be clearly weighed in the balances. If Great Britain is to be convicted of perfidy and oppression then a number of facts must be explained. For example, why was it possible for Shepstone to make his proclamation when he had no British soldiers with him and was surrounded simply by a little body-guard of 25 policemen? Why was it that the actual administra- tion of the country passed over into his hands and the functions of gov- ernment were exercised by him without one redcoat in the land? Why was it that Mr. Kruger and other members of the little Government recognized themselves as officials of the British Government and took their salaries from it? Why all this, if the Transvaal Boers had not found themselves unfit for self-government? It is generally asserted nowadays by the opponents of annexation that the Boers could easily have resisted the natives. It must be re- membered that Shepstone lived in the Transvaal five months and gave them the opportunity to say this and to act upon it, and they did not do so. In the very proclamation which he issued he made the threatening strength of neighboring tribes one of the main reasons for the annexa- tion, and no Boer commander appeared to say that this was an error and that they were ready to meet any such emergency. And surely if they were strong enough to crush these tribes they were strong enough to defy Shepstone and 25 policemen, to laugh at his proclamation, and 178 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. carry on the Government for themselves. Those who maintain that the annexation was indefensible and perfidious must explain how the annexation was actually carried through. Candid historians will hereafter say that Great Britain did wrong to annex the Transvaal; first, if she played them a trick or took them by surprise, which is disproved by Shepstone's long residence in the coun- try, and the open discussions of the entire circumstances before making the annexation; second, if she ought to have left the Transvaal as a self-governing and independent community to meet the miserable fate which seemed to all to be impending upon her, on the ground that Great Britain had no right to interfere in her internal affairs. There are those who seriously maintain that Great Britain would have considered her own interests if she had allowed this to come to pass; third, she was wrong, if it was her duty to step in and help the Transvaal out of its difficulties, pay its debt, fight its battles and step out again, thus allow- ing the country to enjoy its new-found strength, absolutely independ- ent still. This no doubt would have been the ideal Christian method of action, and there are those who maintain that this is what she ought to have done. Certainly no believer in the Christian religion can criticise the proposal except by saying that no nation seems as yet, as a nation, to have attained this height of abnegation, and that it would be a little unfair to criticise Great Britain for not having carried out a policy which is so lofty that no other people has yet been found to pursue it. On the other hand, impartial historians of the future will assert that the Boers of the Transvaal were wrong when they acquiesced in the annexation, if at the time they were strong enough to maintain their own Government and to fight their threatening foes. But on the other hand, they did wrong, if they were at the time not strong enough for these efforts, when at a later period they rebelled against the power which had given them strength and deliverance. As early as possible Shepstone made a tour of the country, travelling slowly from one village to another, meeting with the Boers in all kinds of ways in public meetings and private conferences. No incident hap- pened seriously to mar his peace of mind or to suggest that the country was indignant as a whole at the annexation. Rather did this tour seem to prophesy a happy future for the country. He at once set to work THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 179 upon the new Constitution and form of Government, which he had in the name of the Queen promised to establish. This Constitution was forwarded at once to London where, alas! and alas! it was received and docketed and left in darkness and neglect. Both in the Transvaal and in Cape Colony opinion and feeling were divided regarding the act of annexation, and each division began to express itself chiefly by the way of formal petitions or protests addressed to Her Majesty, the Queen. One of these as a formal protest of the late Transvaal Government was carried to England by the deputation con- sisting of Mr. Kruger and Dr. Jorissen. This protest, however, lost much of its force by the fact that it was drawn up and adopted by the Government before the Act of Annexation, and that the very men who carried it to England had, as we have shown, accepted offices under the new Government! The largest petition against annexation and the most remarkable was undoubtedly that which was sent in by the inhab- itants of Cape Colony. It is a curious circumstance that the agitation against annexation took at first a far stronger form around Cape Town, and in the western province of Cape Colony generally, even than in the Transvaal itself. This petition was said to have been signed by over 5,000 people. It does not attempt to describe any other way out of the distress into which the Transvaal had come than that which had been taken, the only practical suggestion being that the population of the Transvaal "was loath to part with their independence, and willing for the sake of retaining it to submit to the stringent laws which both the Republican Government and your Majesty's special Commissioner con- sidered necessary for the maintenance of order." This exceedingly vague and unnatural statement evidently suggested that Shepstone ought to have gone on making stringent laws in co-operation with the t Transvaal Government! How "stringent laws" could have effected the transformation which was needed is of course not suggested. On the other hand, petitions were presented by Cape Colonists, in- cluding many influential Dutchmen, strongly approving of the act of annexation. Sir Bartle Frere who was a close observer of all these events and a man of most penetrating and sane judgment, said that he had given every facility he could think of to a free expression of opinion on the subject, but that he did "not receive from any quarter any prac- ISO THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. tical or even plausible suggestion for any alternative course differing from that adopted." Further, petitions were received above all in the Transvaal itself from large numbers of influential citizens strongly approving of the annexation. The first of these was signed by certain members of the Volksraad, officials of various kinds under the previous Government, land owners and other inhabitants. This petition which is very ably and clearly drawn affirms that Mr. Kruger and his companion rep- resented "only a small minority of the influential inhabitants of the country." It emphasized the prolonged consideration of the matter while Shepstone was in the country and asserts that by its silence "the population practically acquiesced in the act." His mission was known and yet no movement was organized against it, hence "coercion cannot be maintained." The petition refers to the weakness of the former ad- ministration under which, it asserts, that civil war was impending. It says that Shepstone by his ready tact had already assuaged the anti-Bri- tish bitterness of the farming population, that the measures of reform which the Volksraad had last approved had never been enforced, and it had not been shown how they could be. It insisted on the dangerous state of matters in relation to the native tribes. The other petition was likewise signed by land proprietors and other inhabitants. It affirms that the petitioners "although they might have been well content to live in an independent Republic, if it had been well governed, were satisfied with the proceedings of the special Commissioner" on account of the proved incapacity of the late Government to promote the prosperity and insure the safety of inhabitants. Besides these there were many ad- dresses from small communities, official bodies, and private individuals in various parts of the Transvaal, all expressing approval of the step. Taking all these things into consideration, the difficulty is not to prove that the annexation was at the time a thoroughly righteous pro- ceeding and even approved by the most powerful sections of the country; the difficulty is, to account for the gradual rising tide of disaffection and the disasters of 1881. On the whole it would seem that the following facts yield the best account of this extraordinary change. In the first place, a few energetic Boers with Mr. Kruger and Mr. Joubert at their head, persistently carried on a public agitation. They called meetings, THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 181 interviewed individuals, went on deputations to London, interfered wherever possible even with the executive authorities, and, in fact, did all that could be done to keep alive in the minds of the farming popula- tion their ancient hatred of British rule. Potchefstroom, one of the oldest centers of population, became the headquarters of the agitations. In the second place, -and it is a most remarkable thing, that the execu- tive allowed this agitation to proceed. Even when steps were taken which looked like open rebellion the leaders were allowed to go unpun- ished. Meetings that were avowedly revolutionary were not prevented. As these events succeeded one another they failed to produce the im- pression which was intended, upon the minds of the Boers, viz., that the British Government was generous to all, and shrank in the name of justice from hindering the expression of .private opinion, and allowed the Boers to do just what her own citizens were allowed to do in London or Manchester. The attitude of the Government on the contrary pro- duced on the minds of the Boers an impression of weakness, insincerity and a lack of determination to hold the country forever. For example, when Sir Garnet Wolseley in January, 1880, had the courage to arrest two of the Boer leaders and put them in prison awaiting their trial, he suddenly dropped the prosecution, he even went the length of nominat- ing one of these men, arrested for high treason, as a member of the new Legislature! The utter lack of insight into Boer nature which this dis- played is astounding. The real effect is piquantly expressed in a re- mark made by a Boer in a meeting two months later. "Yes," he said, "it appears you must be first put in prison before you can get a good appointment." It is true that both Shepstone and Sir Garnet Wolseley, when he succeeded Shepstone, repeatedly spoke of the annexation as final and irrevocable; their words were firm but their acts were weak. But in another direction the Government undoubtedly blundered. They failed, as we have seen, to provide a Legislative Chamber as they had promised. This failure may have been due, as some suggest, to the opinion that if South African confederation was approaching it would be more easily carried through before such a Legislature was estab- lished; and the Legislature itself could then be created so as to fit into the scheme of confederation that should be achieved. It is much more probable that the delay was due to the unconfessed fear on the part of J82 THE TRAXSl'AAL REPUBLIC. the authorities in London lest the new Volksraad should be captured by the malcontents and become a more powerful instrument than they already possessed, in their struggle for independence. The Boers were not only irritated by the absence of their Legislature but by what seemed to them some arbitrary acts on the part of their military rulers. Especially did the conduct of affairs by Sir Owen Lanyon create disaf- fection and offend the proud independence of the farmers. And they hated all direct taxation, resisting even with blood any efforts to en- force it. It must not be forgotten that, by this time, the Zulu war had taken place and the power of Cetywayo had been finally destroyed. More- over, towards the end of 1879 it had been found absolutely necessary to meet with Secocoeni who had been carrying on with impunity various little invasions of the Transvaal territory. His strong fortress had to be attacked and was only conquered at considerable cost, with very little help from the Boers and the expenditure of many thousands of pounds of British money. Nevertheless this Transvaal enemy was also conquered. The Boers in the north therefore could spread themselves once more into territories which they had abandoned under their own Government and feel secure. In fact, one more-of the great reasons for the weakness of the Boer Government and causes of the annexation had been removed. Independence would be safe. Yet another explanation of the change from acquiescence in the an- nexation to open and powerful rebellion must be found in the fact that certain British statesmen spoke words in the heat of election contests in Great Britain, which condemned the annexation in strong terms and seemed to suggest that if a change of administration took place in Lon- don a change would take place at .Pretoria. Mr. Gladstone especially during his election campaign in Mid-Lothian would appear to have pro- duced this effect in the Transvaal. It is true that when he came into power he and his officers repudiated the notion of giving up the Trans- vaal, and spoke of the annexation as a final act, absolutely irrevocable; but they as leaders had to reckon not only with their own utterances but with the criticisms of some of their supporters. It is even asserted that one supporter of Mr. Gladstone was treacherous enough to com- municate to the disaffected Boers his idea that if they only persisted THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 183 long enough and strongly enough, Mr. Gladstone would give way. And he did give way. These things happened in 1880. Towards the end of the year matters reached a crisis through the effort of Sir Owen Lanyon, who tried to force the payment of his taxes by a Boer who had refused to do so. This was no uncommon predicament even in the days of the previous Government, but the aggravating thing was that whereas the Boer Government did not use force in such cases Sir Owen Lanyon at- tempted to do so. He suddenly found that the Boer was ready to resist and at the same time found that, through various careless movements of troops, he had no adequate force at his own disposal. It must also be once more asserted that one of the most disastrous proceedings of the British Government in South Africa at this time was the division of the High Commissionership, and many regard this as one secret of the blundering and therefore one cause of the war. Sir Bar- tie Frere made a journey during the Zulu war into the Transvaal, where he met large numbers of citizens. He interviewed both in public ancl pri- vate even the malcontents themselves, and showed in that brief period the great power of his personality and the influence which he could have gained over the Dutch people. It must be remembered that only those could at that time deal with the Transvaal Boers successfully who were known to be men of great determination and religious convictions. It is easy to laugh down the notion that religion should have any. part in political affairs. It is not so easy for the scientific student of history to ignore the extraordinary influence which religious characters have exerted in most of the great crises of national history. The Boers are intensely religious, even although their type of religion be very poor. They understand a man who is in earnest about the eternal, they feel the influence of that spirit upon his actions and his words, even when he is farthest from making a religious speech or using pious phrases. It is not too much to say that Sir Bartle Frere was fitted by reason of his religious reputation to gain in six months an ascendency over the Boer mind which 20 years of astute politics or stern militarism could not pos- sibly have gained. But Sir Bartle Frere was, by the persistent and disastrous and inexplicable blundering in London, prevented from exer- cising official authority in the Transvaal. When Shepstone was ap- pointed he was made independent of the High Commissioner for South 184 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. Africa; when Sir Garnet Wolseley went out he was appointed High Commissioner for Southeastern Africa, including the Transvaal, and when Sir Owen Lanyon succeeded Sir Garnet Wolseley, Bartle Frere was still, as it were, told "hands off." In the beginning of December a mass-meeting of Boers was held at Paardekraal, from which it adjourned to a safer place. On December 16, 1880, a proclamation was issued which announced the re-establish- ment of the Republic and named Messrs. Kruger, Joubert and Pretorius as the responsible leaders of the Republic until the country should be in their hands again. A messenger was at once sent to Shepstone announcing this action and giving him 48 hours to surrender the coun- try. On this very same day, however, fighting began at Potchefstroom, w r here the Boers attacked a patrol of Englishmen. While the war was thus formally opened, the first important military event took place at Bronker's Spruit. Shepstone had ordered Col. Anstruther to bring up a small force of a little more than 250 men at once to Pretoria. They had to march 180 miles from Lydenburg, and were within a very short distance of their destination on Sunday, the 20th of December. They were marching in a long, thin line without anxiety, when all at once they saw what turned out to be a force of about 500 mounted Boers in front of them. A Boer advanced with the white flag and Col. Anstru- ther went out with a companion to meet him. While they w r ere nego- tiating under the white flag the Boers moved about, taking up every vantage point which they could see. The Boer messenger announced that Col. Anstruther must cease his march to Pretoria until they heard Shepstone's answer to the proclamation of the Republic. Anstruther replied that he must obey orders, and he intended to move on. Before he could return to his men the Boers, who had surrounded the little force and placed themselves behind every rock and tree that was avail- able, poured a deadly fire upon them. The officers of course were care- fully picked out and every one of them was shot down, killed or wounded. Col. Anstruther was actually struck in five places. Of course there was only one result possible; within fifteen minutes 56 were killed, 101 were wounded, including a woman, and the dying Col- onel gave the signal for surrender. This event produced consternation throughout the country. The THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 185 natives were in despair; the Boer insurrectionaries were exultant; they were "bowed down," they said, "in the dust before Almighty God, Who had thus stood by them and with a loss of over a hundred of the enemy only allowed two of ours to be killed." The little British garrisons placed at five or six different towns were all at once attacked. They were besieged until the end of the war, but not one of them was cap- tured. At Potchefstroom alone was their surrender secured by the redoubtable and unscrupulous General Cronje. Although by that time an armistice had been arranged and active warfare had ceased, Cronje deceived the Colonel in command into a surrender. This shameful act was in keeping with Cronje's career both then and afterwards; but it was repudiated generally even by the Boers themselves. In the meantime the Boers advanced toward Natal to meet the attack which they expected from Sir George Colley, who had a small British force under his command in that region. Sir George Colley was a popular official and administrator, but no one has yet been able to account for the extraordinary tactics which he pursued throughout his disastrous campaign. He exposed himself three times in succession to the attacks of the Boers, under circumstances which made defeat inevitable, at Newcastle and at the battle of Ingogo. The darkest hour for the British cause and the brightest for the Transvaalers came with the dawn of February 27. During the night of the 26th General Colley, to the astonishment of all his officers, gave orders that 600 men were to leave the camp with him. In the dark- ness they set out and found themselves being led straight up the steep sides of Majuba Hill. This huge round hill stands as a kind of sentinel between Natal and the Transvaal. On its western and nortlnvestern slopes it looks down a steep descent upon the pass, or "nek," where the road pierces the range of mountains and connects the two countries. (Below that road again nowadays runs the railway tunnel.) It was a terrific undertaking, which, however, was courageously carried out. When light came the Boers w^ere amazed, and at first overwhelmed, to find that their enemies occupied this commanding position. It is said that General Joubert at once ordered a retreat, that they had even begun to inspan their oxen, when some quick wits noticed that there was no sign of the advance of a strong force from the camp. This 186 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. at once meant to them that the force on Majuba top was isolated and unsupported. Immediately a few courageous hearts proposed that an effort should be made to dislodge the daring company which had occu- pied the mountain. Among those who urged this attempt, instead of flight, is said to have been General Joubert's wife, who energetically urged her husband not to retreat until this attack had been tried. It looked desperate enough, but volunteers were found, it is said, to the number of 150, who immediately began to climb the hill. They crept from rock to rock, pausing at each to fire a shot at the figures standing out above them against the distant sky line. The British troops, who fringed the crest, were baffled at once by having to fire down the abrupt face of the hill, and by the fact that their enemies seldom showed them- selves. It w r as soon found that one British soldier after another was shot, while there seemed to be no chance of effective retaliation. As the Boers drew nearer the summit, the men .at the front drew back. The top of the hill is somewhat hollow and Sir George Colley, for some extraordinary reason or other, allowed his men to retreat into this hollow. As soon as the Boers arrived on the crest, instead of being instantly shot down by wary, watchful foes, they found themselves looking upon a huddled mass, terrified and disordered. They poured in their fierce hail of lead and instantly the mass scattered. One Boer is said afterwards to have described the way in which running to the side of the hill he stood there, and, while the flying British ran pell-mell down the slope, he picked them off like springboks, and watched one after aaother as he was hit leap forward and roll headlong downwards. Sir George Colley himself did not attempt flight, but, standing his ground in the horrible hollow, received his death from a bullet in the head. This signal victory of the Boers, so sudden, so complete, so dramatic in its circumstances, sent a shudder of amazement throughout the world. At once it was seen that the Boers had gained an enormous moral advantage. From their point of view the victory seemed to pre- sage either a terrible vengeance from an exasperated Empire or the immediate success of their cause. The British Government had to face one of the most trying tasks in the history of any government. Having already decided to restore practically complete self-government to the THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 18? Boers, they had either to withdraw from that resolve in order to avenge Majuba Hill or to prosecute it in the face of a country maddened with the sense of defeat. It surely says much for Mr. Gladstone and his Government that they had the magnanimity to carry out their purpose, and surely it ought to be remembered to the credit of the British people that they did not instantly overwhelm the Government and cast them from power for doing so. While these events were occurring at the scene of war, troops were being hurried out from England under Sir Frederick Roberts (now Lord Roberts), numerous enough to have made a swift victory absolutely sure. But in the meantime the Government itself began to waver. Before even the disaster of Majuba Hill, Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet had resolved to make some arrangement with the Boers short of fighting it out and holding the Republic by force. If they had weakened so far it simply became a question as to how much they should give up and how little they should retain. Every telegram drove them further, while every victory on the battlefield increased the spirits of the Boer leaders, brought streams of volunteers to their ranks, and made them more determined and proud in their demands. Finally Mr. Gladstone decided that the Transvaal must be given up, and that the only question remaining was to fix the conditions under which self-government should be once more granted to the Boers. To determine this a commission was appointed, which after conducting negotiations in Natal, proceeded to Pretoria. A report of this commission was made the basis of the document hence- forth known as the Pretoria Convention of 1881. According to this arrangement the Transvaal once more received self-government, the British Government appointing a Resident to live at Pretoria whose functions it should be to supervise the relations of the Boer people to native tribes outside their borders and the great native populations within the Transvaal. An investigation of the finances of the country showed that altogether Great Britain had spent, over and above what had been received in taxes, in the payment of salaries, meeting the pub- lic debt, paying the cost of the successful expedition against Secocoeni, no less a sum than 800,000 (about $4,000,000). This sum the Commis- sioners actually reduced to 265,000 (about $1,300,000). The news of the retrocession of the Transvaal struck the South Af- 188 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. rican world with amazement and dismay. The loyalists throughout every colony and state were thrown into the most dismal humiliation. The Boers became elated, their hearts afire with the hope that this pre- saged the dawn of Boer supremacy in South Africa. These feelings were strongly enough aroused in Cape Colony, Natal and the Orange Free State, but of course beyond all else was the contrast of humiliation and exultation to be observed among the population of the Transvaal. Thousands had remained loyal to Great Britain. To them it was well- known that the victory of the Boers made their personal ruin inevitable. They had been assured that the annexation was final; they had bought land and built houses, invested capital in their business on this assur- ance; they had resisted every temptation to disloyalty, consented to face the loss of business and of money rather than join those whom they called the rebels. All this they had done through faith in the words not only of Wolseley and Frere and Lanyon, but even the ringing words of Mr. Gladstone himself when he said after his accession to office, "the Queen cannot be advised to relinquish her sovereignty over the Trans- vaal." Now that ruin stared them in the face we are told by one who witnessed their sad plight, "that they did not say much, and indeed there was nothing to be said. They simply began to pack up such things as they could carry with them, and to leave the country, which they well knew would henceforth be utterly untenable for Englishmen or English sympathizers. In a few weeks they began pouring down into Newcastle (Natal) by hundreds; it was the most melancholy exodus that can be imagined. There were people of all classes, officials, gentlefolk, working people and loyal Boers, but they had a connecting link; they had all been loyal and they were all ruined." (History of the Trans- vaal, by H. Rider Haggard.) But after all there was a large number of human folk who still must be mentioned to whom retrocession brought yet deeper despair. These were the natives, who had no other land in which they could find refuge. They had most enthusiastically welcomed the British rule; they had begun to taste something of fair administration, and knew what it was to be recognized by a white man's government as human beings for the first time. They outnumbered the Boers by far more than 20 to 1 ; they had offered when the war began to aid the British and, if Shepstone had THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 189 given them leave, the war would never have gone far. The bitter task was laid upon Shepstone of summoning to Pretoria the native chiefs, to the number of about a hundred, in order to announce to them that once more they were under the Boer Government. It was a strange scene upon which the English, who were present, looked, with now their hearts full of passion and anon their eyes full of tears. The black people wailed aloud unrestrainedly. The chiefs rose one after another to speak the hot words that were in their hearts. Some of them protested against being "thus treated as a stick or piece of tobacco, which could be passed from hand to hand without question." One after another they arose and protested "I am English, I Belong to the English, we are under the Queen, we must stay with the Queen." One of them said, "We would like to have the man pointed out from among us black people who ob- jects to the rule of the Queen. We are the real owners of the land. * * * Did it not belong to our fathers and forefathers before us long before the Boers came here?" Another said, "Our hearts are black and heavy with grief to-day at the news told us. We are in agony; we do not know what will become of us, but we feel dead; it may be that the Lord will change the nature of the Boer, and that we will not be treated like dogs and beasts of burden as formerly, but we have no hope of such a change, and we leave you with heavy hearts and great apprehension as to the future." W T e are told that one chief who had been personally threatened with death by the Boers after the English were driven out, simply wept like a child. These quotations are guaranteed as repre- senting the very things that were said and done at this most tragic of all the tragic gatherings which, even down to this day, Pretoria has seen. Another incident of a more trifling nature may be mentioned because it has been recalled since the present war began (1900). While the Pretoria Convention was being signed in Government House, just outside about 2,000 loyalists and native chiefs had placed the British flag in a coffin and on the coffin had written the word "resurgam" (I shall arise), and solemnly buried it. Of course justice must be done to those in England who were ignor- ant of the fact that the Boer party was only a part of the white popula- tion of the Transvaal even if a majority, and who forgot that all the whites put together were to the blacks a mere drop in the bucket; who 190 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. forgot that four years of sovereignty had created most solemn and last- ing responsibilities; that public and official pledges had been given which laid the most binding moral obligations upon the British Govern- ment towards many most loyal citizens of various races. They were, however, to a large extent captivated by the moral glamour thrown around the act of retrocession by the eloquence of Mr. Gladstone. To him and to them it seemed that England was doing one of the grandest and most generous things in history, restoring a country small and easy to be crushed, restoring it at the very hour when passion called for vengeance, restoring it in the name of that freedom, that love of democ- racy and that principle that the majority must rule, which have now for so long dominated English history. They expected that the world would feel this generosity, nay more, that the Boers themselves might be captivated by a magnanimity so extraordinary and might be won over to a better understanding of England and England's heart! Alas! the sad history of succeeding j^ears has shown that this act of Mr. Glad- stone's, however generous its intention towards a few thousand Boers, was a crushing blow to 700,000 natives. It did not impress the Boers with Britain's magnanimity, it convinced them of her weakness ; it did not win the world's approval, for to-day when, in America and Russia, people speak of this matter it is to condemn England for the cruelty of the annexation and to praise the Boers for the bravery of their triumph- ant war of independence. SECTION VII. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE TWO REPUBLICS. The constitutions of the Transvaal State and the Orange Free State have been very lucidly described by Mr. James Bryce (The Forum, Volume 21, 1896). The following brief account of them is largely in- debted to that article: To begin with it must be remembered that the Boers who went out on the Great Trek from Cape Colony did so because they disliked the government under which they had been living. When they passed northwards and eastwards they broke up into many separate groups, and these groups usually put themselves under the leadership of the most powerful man amongst them. This was on their part a voluntary act, and an act of the people, as it were, taken mainly with a view to eg N *"C IS S c s p< u 5| o ,,2 s: - is u. 5 N w * 21 H ll THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 193 their effective self-defence against the attacks of native tribes. When they settled down in any region they proceeded to arrange in a crudely formal way for their mutual help and defence. Their working ideals resembled rather the patriarchal than any other organized social system. Each farmer sought as large a farm as possible where he and his large family and their native servants could live practically as a law unto themselves, owning only the supremacy of the father and master of the community. If they had been sure of immunity from attacks by British or native enemies their form of gov- ernment would very probably have remained entirely undeveloped. When, as in the Transvaal, small hamlets were formed around a store and a church, a nucleus was made from which the system of government gradually grew. Thus we find that in the Transvaal from 1852 to 1864 there were really four separate little governments. These were organ- ized mainly for military purposes. There was practically no taxation,, no legislation, no administration beyond the appointment of military officers in the different districts. The function of the officers was to bring the farmers together when necessity for fighting with a neighbor- ing native tribe had arisen. The Boers never liked any Governors even when they were appointed from among themselves. They accordingly were slow to adopt any formal constitution. When in the Transvaal such a constitution was drawn up in the year 1858 it remained practically inoperative until in 1864 the separate republics melted into one under the sway of President Pretorius. In the Orange Free State the conditions had necessitated the formal establishment of a government from t'ie beginning. To start with, they had already lived in that country under the British Government, and when the latter, against the will of the farmers, insisted that they should become self-governing it was necessary to provide for the continuance of offices of administration already at work. Moreover the citizens of that State had from the first a great fear of the powerful Basuto tribe on their eastern border. The threatening proximity of that people compelled them to arrange plans at once for the effective self-defense of the entire community. Accordingly we find that the Orange Free State began by drawing up its Constitution, whereas the Transvaal 194 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. State did not in any of its parts apparently attempt such a thing until six years after its recognition as a Government, and that Constitution was not adopted by the whole country until six years more had passed, as we have seen. The ideal underlying the Constitution of both Republics is that all the farmers, being of course white people, are on an equality as citizens, and have an equal voice in the direction of the affairs of the State. Possibly, as Mr. Bryce has suggested, if they had lived within shorter distances from one another they might have continued for some time to carry on all legislation by direct popular vote. But from the beginning they scattered themselves over so large an area that this was impossible and the system of government by representation or delegation was seen to be necessary. In each State accordingly provision was made for the election of representatives who formed the Volksraad or people's coun- cil. This in each of these States is the supreme authority. The entire legislation and appointment of officers, except the President and Com- mandant, the entire internal and external policy of the State is in the last resort placed in the power of this House of Legislature. In each State it is formally and firmly provided that only white men may enjoy citizenship. In the Orange Free State the terms of enfranchisement have always been very simple and easy. A foreigner could become a full citizen after two years' residence if he owned land property to 'the value of 150 (about $750), or after three years' residence if he made an affirmation of allegiance to the Orange Free State. The supreme authority in that State rests in the Volksraad which consists of a single Chamber made up of 58 members. These are elected by the wards into which every District of the State is divided, together with the chief town or village of each of these wards. The members are elected for four years, but half of these retire every two years. The work assigned to the Volksraad consists not merely in passing laws or regulating financial and com- mercial as well as criminal affairs, it is empowered also to promote re- ligion and education. The religion is to be promoted only through the Dutch Reformed Church which is thus the established church of the State. It is especially provided that the Raad shall not have the power to pass any law against the right of public meeting and petitions. THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. '.The most prominent office in the Orange Free State is of coarse that of President, whose incumbent is directly chosen by the entire people. The Volksraad is allowed before the election to nominate one or more suitable men to the electors. The President holds office for five years, and may be re-elected. As a matter of fact Sir John Brand was elected altogether five times. The President is expected to be present at all discussions of the Raad, and may address them on any subject under discussion; he may even introduce bills. But the President is not allowed to vote in the House on any subject; nor when the House has passed a law has he the power of veto. He must report to the Eaad regarding the finances of the country and its interests as a whole. He is surrounded by a council of five men, all of whom are appointed not by him but by the Kaad, he being allowed to nominate two of these. It is through the President that foreign and diplomatic relations are main- tained, and through him war is declared, but for all these he must have the counsel of the Raad. ( Every citizen is bound to take a 'share when it is demanded of him in the military operations of the State. For this purpose every ward has at its head one who is called the Veldt Cornet, and every District, con- sisting of several wards, has a Commandant. These two classes of mili- tary officers are elected by the people, but they meet together and elect the Commandant-General who is the supreme military officer of the State. The Constitution of the Transvaal which is a much longer document and drawn up with much less definiteness and discrimination, presents many points of resemblance as well as contrast to that of the Orange Free State. There is indeed considerable dispute amongst students of constitutional law as to whether the so-called "Grondwet" or funda- mental Constitution of the Transvaal is to be viewed as a fundamental instrument or not ; and further as to whether it is a rigid Constitution, one, that is, whose provisions can only be altered under defined and diffi- cult conditions, as is the case with the Orange Free State, or whether it is open to continuous alteration by successive acts of the Legislature. It is further a disputed point as to how far these acts of the Legislature are liable to be pronounced illegal and inoperative by the supreme judi- ciary of the land. As a matter of fact President Kruger has in recent 196 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. years decided the matter by securing that even bare resolutions of the Raad shall have the effect of law and shall be above criticism from the highest judge in the land! This manifestly puts enormous power first into the hands of the Legislature and second into the hands of the President. The Legislature has, if this be true, no check whatsoever upon its methods of legislation. Mr. Bryce strives to prove that the Constitution contains the assumption within it that the voice of the people shall be consulted upon every important matter of legislation, except when urgency can be proved, and that in this way it was intended to limit the power of the Legislature. But in practice, as we have seen, the vague underlying assumption which Mr. Bryce refers to has not been powerful enough to check the forces which were driving the Volksraad toward the assumption of a power in the land which is controlled by no law and by appeal to no authority other than itself. Of course this power can only be exercised within certain limits, since after all the members of the Raad are only eligible for two years and half of them retire annually. Nevertheless even this check depends for its operation upon the success with which the popular mind has been instructed and aroused against any determined policy of the Volksraad. The number of members in this Volksraad has varied in recent years, but they are much smaller than in the case of the Orange Free State, numbering only about 24. Besides the President who is appointed for five years, the people publicly and directly elect the Commandant-Gen- eral. While for a long time the latter appointment was understood to be unlimited in time the practice has latterly been to hold such an elec- tion every ten years. The President of the Transvaal, like his brother in the Orange Free State, may speak in the Raad but not vote. He may criticise by speech every act of the Legislature, and even suggest both policy and laws to them; he must annually visit all the centers of popu- lation in the country and there meet with all w r ho desire to express their wishes on local or state affairs to him. He is assisted by a council con- sisting of four men, the Government Secretary, the Commandant-Gen- eral and two others, the latter as well as the first being chosen and ap- pointed by the Raad itself. Mr. Bryce asserts that the military organization when studied (in 1896) indicates the highly militant character of the Republic. Mr. THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 197 Bryce might well have laid more emphasis upon the fact that the only real and effective organization of the Transvaal has been that which had w r ar for its purpose and active war for its motive. There was no real administration of education or religion or public works. Even the judicial system remained inchoate, inasmuch as there were few appeals to law, and these were usually settled in a rough and ready manner by the Veldt Cornet. The Boers entered the Transvaal fighting, they ex- tended their territory year by year through constant fighting on one excuse or another with neighboring native tribes. It can be said that hardly one year from 1852 to 1877 can be named in which at some point or another the Boers have not been "punishing" a native tribe and "fining" them by taking all their valuable land and many hundreds, even thousands, of their cattle. These facts explain what Mr. Bryce calls the "highly militant" character of the Republic. The judiciaries are elected and are said to be free and independent of the President. In recent years there has been established a Supreme Court, consisting of a Chief Justice and four judges. By a well-known act of President Kruger's, in which he was supported by the Eaad, it became an accepted principle of procedure in the Transvaal that the Supreme Court should itself be subject to the decisions and findings of the Raad. This means that the Raad cannot pass any law, however directly contradicted by the letter and spirit of the Constitution, which can be annulled by the judiciary. The Boers have never liked taxes, and especially have resented from first to last attempts to make them pay direct taxes. The revenue is raised chiefly by payments for fees and licenses and from a tax on land which is not allowed to exceed $40. On two matters of importance the language of Mr. Bryce himself must be used: "Although enacted by and for a pure democracy, it (the Constitution) is based on inequality inequality of whites and blacks, inequality of religious creeds. Not only is the Dutch Reformed Church declared to be established and endowed by the State, but the Roman Catholic Churches are forbidden to exist, and no Roman Catholic nor Jew nor Protestant of any other than the Dutch Reform Church is eligi- ble to the Presidency, or to membership of the legislative or executive councils. Some of these restrictions have now been removed. But the door is barred as firmly as ever against persons of color. No one whose 198 THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. father or mother belongs to any native race, up to and including the fourth generation, can obtain civic rights or hold land." "They (the farmers) had provided a method whereby the nation would always have an opportunity of expressing its opinion upon legislation, namely, the provision that the people should have a period of three months within which to intimate to the Volksraad their views on any proposed law, it being assumed that the Volksraad would obey any such intimation, although no means is provided for securing that it would do so. This provision has given rise to a curious question with reference to those laws which admit of no delay ( 12). Now the Volksraad has in fact neglected the general provision and, instead of allowing the three months' period, has frequently hastily passed enactments upon which the people had no opportunity of expressing their opinion. Such enactments, which have in some instances purported to alter parts of the Grondwet itself, are called Resolutions, as opposed to law r s; and when opposition has been taken to this mode of legislation, these Reso- lutions seem to have been usually justified on the ground of urgency, although in fact many of them, though important, were by no means urgent. They have been treated as equally binding with laws passed in accordance with the provision of the Grondwet (but Article XII has never been altered); and it is only recently that their validity has been seriously questioned in the courts." The importance of this criticism of Mr. Bryce will present itself to those who elsewhere read any account of the manner in which the affairs of the Outlanders have been dealt with by means of Resolutions passed in this way, under the excuse of urgency, by the Volksraad. For some years now there has existed what is called the Second Volksraad which is not provided for in the Constitution. This Second Chamber was created by President Kruger for the purpose of meeting the desires of the Outlanders. Its special function is supposed to be the regulation of mining operations. The members are chosen by those who after two years' residence in the country have become naturalized, and they may themselves become eligible for membership therein. The value of this Chamber is practically nil, for none of its legislative acts can take effect until they have been approved by the First Volksraad, while on the other hand the latter House may pass regulations dealing THE TRANSVAAL REPUBLIC. 199 with those very affairs professedly committed to the care of the Second House, and such acts of the First House take effect ^s laws without be- ing submitted for. the approval of the Second House! Mr. Bryce attaches a deserved significance to Article VI in the Con- stitution which declares that the territory of the Transvaal is open to every stranger who submits himself to the laws and declares that all persons within that territory are equally entitled to the protection of person and property. When therefore it is asserted, as occasionally is done by those who are not aware of the facts, that the Boers from the beginning desired a country of their own, it must be remembered, First, that they desired a country with an abundant supply of native labor while the Constitution affirms that "The people will not tolerate equality between colored and white inhabitants, either in Church or in State," and Second, that the same Constitution from the beginning of the history of the Kepublic professed the desire of the Boers for the immigration of white settlers into their country. CHAPTER XI. THE NATIVE RACES. SOME of the most interesting and at the same time most pressing problems in South African politics arise in connection with the native tribes. In India the natives have filled the country so completely that even although the climate had suited Europeans there would have been no room for them to settle as colonists. In Australia and in North America the aborigines were so few and the unoccu- pied country so enormous that the influx of Europeans resulted .in the disappearance of the natives from competition either through actual slaughter or through their confinement to definite and limited localities. In South Africa on the other hand the native population is numer- ous. Some of the tribes have manifested a war-like character which enables them to contest, often successfully, with the advancing tide of whites for ownership of the soil. After the early period of Euro- pean history in South Africa it looked, indeed, as if the extermina- tion policy of Australia might be carried out here also. But when the Kaffirs and the Zulus were met and when the more enlightened con- science of the 18th and 19th centuries was brought to bear upon the native tribes events changed their color. The result of European occupation of South Africa has then taken this peculiar form. There are large regions where European colonies have been founded in a climate which is delightful and suits the European excellently. The presence of a strong European government has established such order among the natives as to put an end to all mutual wars, to free them from the ravages of epidemic disease and hence to lead to the rapid increase of the native popula- tion. For long it was taken for granted in Europe that the natives in South Africa were decreasing in numbers and must at last dis- appear in the presence of the Europeans, but about the year 1871, and from thence on, investigations were carried out which estab- 200 THE NATIVE RACES. 201 lished the fact that the native populations are growing at a very great rate. At present the population is estimated variously at from 2,500,- 000 to 3,000,000 natives of various nations and tribes. The native tribes of South Africa are by ethnologists divided into two great families. The first has generally been called the Gariepine, which includes the Bushmen, Hottentots and Korannas. The second is called the Bantu and comprises by far the largest number of South African natives. SECTION I. THE GARIEPINE RACES. It was members of the Gariepine family who were first met by the Dutch when they settled at the Cape. The tribes who there herded their cattle and lived a nomadic life were the Hottentots, but amongst the mountains behind them and on the high plateau lands beyond the mountains the Bushmen were also to be met. The Hottentots un- doubtedly represented a mixture of races, whereas the Bushmen appear to have preserved the original type of the family in their features and their language. The set of their eyes and general form of their face have from the first reminded many travelers of the Chinese race, and in fact by the early Dutch sailors they were spoken of as China- men. For the most part they are found living high up in the moun- tain regions or far out on the borders of the desert, where they wan- der about in small family groups in search of their scanty sustenance. Their existence was miserable in the extreme. They possessed no cattle, they cultivated no gardens, yet they occupied vast waste regions which afterwards were developed by the Europeans into fine pasture and produce lands. These Bushmen lived by the chase and when ani- mals could not be procured they took to hunting for roots in the soil, and for wild fruits. In their search alike for fruits under ground and for game they acquired what almost seems like preternatural skill. They could catch the game only by laying traps for them, which gener- ally took the form of a hole in the ground made on some frequented game track and covered carefully over with sticks and soil, or by shooting them with little poisoned arrows. They could, of course, get near enough to use their bows only by the most patient and clever stalk- ing, in which they became marvelous adepts. To creep along the 202 THE NATIVE RACES. ground for hundreds of yards where grass was sparse and short and bushes were few, or even to move cautiously along hidden behind a large bunch of grass which they held in front of them and which excited the curiosity of their prey, or to wait behind a rock or a bush hour after hour in the hot sun for the time when some wild animal should approach their drinking place these were methods of hunt- ing w r hich required almost infinite patience and extraordinary skill. But to the European the Bushman presented a still more striking feature when it came to hunting for roots. One has seen them with keen, little, half-shut eyes scanning the ground till they found a minute leaf or plant in the sandy soil which they suddenly attacked with a bit of stick or a European knife or even with their hardy little fingers. They would dig round that little leaf, until grasping something hid- den beneath the sand they pulled forth a root which was immediately devoured with unconcealed gusto. It is interesting to watch the per- formance, but one can hardly help shuddering at the thought of being dependent for any great share of one's daily subsistence upon a search and a discovery of that kind. These Bushmen have one of the strangest languages on the wide earth. It is far-famed as the "click" language. It has been said that far more than half of the syllables of their language begin with a click. Clicks are not confined to the Bushmen only, nor to the lan- guages of the Gariepine family only. They are found, though rarely, in the languages of some Bantu tribes, as in Kaffir and Zulu. The click is produced by striking the tongue against the teeth or against the side of the mouth in a peculiar way. Some people who speak English use one at any rate when uttering a repeated sound somewhat like "ts" blended into one as an exclamation of surprise. Another click occurs with some drivers of horses when striking the side of the tongue against the cheek; that produces a sharp sound which printed in Zulu is represented by the letter X. These Bushmen build for themselves the rudest of all the different kinds of huts found in South Africa. Very often they simply dig a hole in the ground; if they live in a mountainous region they probably live in a cave. In Bechuanaland they probably are slaves of some chief or head man in a Bechuana tribe. Their slavery amounts simply to this, that tbey THE NATIVE RACES. 203 are obliged to surrender to their master the skins of all the animals they kill in the chase. They expect his visits at certain periods of the year and generally strive to have ready for him sufficient spoils from their hardy life to meet his demands. On the whole they are not cruelly treated by their masters, though naturally they do not love them and strive, if possible, especially if their hunt has not been good, to be out of the way when they approach. There used to be a current belief among the Bechuanas that if a Bushman suddenly saw a representative of his master's tribe traveling in the distance and knew that he could not escape by running, he would stand on his head, spread his feet and so hold himself like the dried stump of a tree, black and motionless, until they disappeared. Whether true or not this piece of gossip about their tactics is an evidence of the cunning and endurance attributed to them among the Bechuanas. When the Bechuana master arrives at the little huts of his vassals he takes possession both of the huts and of all the skins which they have collected. He generally settles down for a short period of hunting. Every day now the Bushman with his spear and bow and arrows and with the dogs, if they possess any, and the master with his gun, sally forth in search of game. "Woe betide the Bushman should it be found that he has hidden away part of the produce, or that instead of keeping the skins for his master he has ventured to make with some of them a mantle for himself or his wife." As to religion it has been pointed out by one who watched them as closely as any European can, that they were probably the most superstitious race in South Africa. The Bushman is close to a uni- versal power every day of his life. Every change of weather affects him more severely than it affects those who live in the towns and villages. He has come to depend very largely upon the use of charms and dice, the latter of which he carries on a string around his neck. These bits of bone he will acknowledge are only bone and he will sell them to you for a few beads, but he will speedily make another set and use them again as his means of discovering the intentions of the powers above. These dice and charms are undoubtedly viewed by him as in some way channels for knowledge of the supernatural. The Bush- men do not consider the bits of ivory or bone in their hands as a god, 204 THE NATIVE RACES. but in some way they believe that through these an unseen power that rules over their daily fortunes can be certainly questioned. The Bushmen have frequently been employed by travelers in South Africa as guides and within the range of the country which each set of Bushmen calls his country no one could be found more fitted to act in this capacity. Strangers have told not only of their marvelous clever- ness as guides, but of their real kindness when travelers were deter- mined to take the wrong road or in ignorance were moving toward some disaster. SECTION II. THE BANTU RACE. The second group of South African peoples is known as the Bantu race and it includes by far the largest number of South African tribes. Amongst themselves they vary considerably in appear- ance, language and custom, but not so much as they vary from the other great South African race. They include all the Zulu tribes, the so-called Kaffir tribes of Cape Colony, the Basutos, the Bechuanas and others. During the course of this century they have become divided into two classes, the first consisting of those tribes which are organized upon a military basis, known generally as Zulu tribes, and those in which the military S3 r stem is subordinate to the civil. It appears that at the beginning of this century the Zulus were living much as their neighbors did, w T ith their . gardens and cattle, and were not distinguished above them for prowess in war or for tribal ambition; their distinctive history begins with the career of Chaka. He, having learned some of the principles of a thorough military organiza- tion, set to work to practise them among his own people. By drilling them in regiments, teaching them some simple tactics, and arming them with a short spear, he speedily taught them to overcome all other sur- rounding peoples. With the courage partly born of success, he reorgan- ized the civil life of the community, abolished some of the most ancient and cherished customs of his race, altered many others in a most serious way, with the intention of giving to the chief, as the commander of a standing army which comprised every, citizen within it, supreme authority. The principle of the Chiefs supremacy was carried so far that a Zulu THE NATIVE RACES. 205 chief came to be spoken of as the owner of every person and everything within his realm. One can see easily how this would arise from the initial idea that his people existed for the purpose of war and that he was the supreme commander. Absolute obedience is the first requisite for military order, and when the principle of absolute obedience is car- ried into the whole life of the soldier as a citizen, it implies that all his property as well as his person, must be completely at the disposal of his commander. The question as to whether he shall own land now becomes not one of right, as with other Bantu tribes where the chief must seek to allot ground to every member of his tribe, but of permission. If he owns cattle they are a reward given to him and yet liable to be with- drawn at the king's will ; if he receives a wife or wives and is recognized as a married man, this, again, is a reward of military prowess and indi- cates the dignity which he has attained in the eyes of his king. Thus not only every man because he is a soldier, but every woman and every foot of land, and every domestic animal, came to be spoken of among the Zulus as the king's property. Such a system resulted, of course, in extinguishing the deeper affec- tion; family life was uprooted. Even those affections which tw r ined round the sense of exclusive personal possession found no support and no energy in a system of arbitrary and reversible rewards at the hands of an inscrutable chief. Where the affections were thus ruthlessly tram- pled out, cruelty took their place. The tribe existed for war; it main- tained its strength by constant war. Its members could not prove them- selves worthy members unless they had washed their spears in blood. When the youths were admitted to manhood and enrolled as soldiers, their first ambition was to slay some human being. In Matabeleland we are told that they were impatient until their chief had ordered them to attack some village and bring the spoils of cattle and children to the king. If they were successful in their first raid the young Zulus returned rejoicing to the kraal and received the acclamation of the older warriors. The sweetest praise in life was when they heard the heroes of many years say, "Now, indeed, you are a man." If, by some mischance, they were foiled in their raid, if the inhabitants having been warned had fled or armed themselves and offered a successful resistance, the baffled regi- ments of young warriors returned ashamed to spend months in disgrace. THE NATIVE RACES. As they sat waiting for their portion of meat at their daily meal an eldei* warrior might throw the lump of beef to them with mere contempt, allow- ing it to fall in the dust as if the recipient were a dog. Not only did the force of military ambitions make war necessary, it was necessary also on economic grounds; for these warlike tribes depended very largely upon the cattle and the corn which they could carry off in their raids upon the humbler and more diligent tribes around them. They depended also for the maintenance of their power upon bringing into their tribal life the young boys whom they could capture. These were brought up as members, of the tribe and trained to become soldiers in their turn. Thus the entire tribal organization of these Zulu peoples could only be maintained by means of the unceasing prosecution of war. The Zulu war of 1878 arose from the effort of the British to break down this system. It is held by all intelligent observers of the situation to have been most remarkable that Cetywayo had succeeded in restraining his people from war for so many years. It must always remain a mystery how it was that they did not break loose at an earlier date and fall upon sur- rounding communities, whether of blacks or whites, in defiance of the known wishes of the British Government. These wishes, as expressed through the Governor of Natal, were the reasons w T hich Cetywayo gave to his people when stilling their ambitions and promising them time after time an early opportunity for enjoying the luxury of bloodshed. It was this system which nearly twenty years later confronted the British South African Company in Matabeleland. There Lobengula found him- self unable to do what Cetywayo so long had done. His young and ardent warriors could not be restrained, and compelled him to give assent to their desire for the continuance of their annual raids upon the inoffen- sive and undefended Mashonas. Quite evidently, then, no progress could have been made in the uplifting of native races or in the colonizing of unoccupied territories by whites, in those regions which were devastated or threatened with devastation by these ruthless military tribes. The Zulus whom Chaka organized gave rise to several branches. Two of these have become famous. One is known as the Angoni, who pressed steadily northwards until they had even crossed the Zambesi and made their name a terror in the region around the southern end of Lake Tan- THE NATIVE RACES. 207 ganyika. The next great movement was that created by Moselekatse, whose tribe swept its terrible way northwards and became known as the Matabele tribe, controlling a large territory between the Limpopo river and the Zambesi. Among the Bantu tribes, perhaps the most interesting feature of so- cial organization is that which concerns the ownership of land. The terri- tory which they call their own belongs to the tribe, and none of that territory can by tribal law become the absolute property of any individ- ual. The chief is the ultimate judge in all matters concerning the allot- ment of the land, and is himself entitled to the use of a larger share than any one else in the tribe; this is due to his position and his services. Yet he simply has the use of this land which he is by public consent allowed to call his own. On his death his successor may desire to occupy some other portion of the territory with his herds of cattle or for his gardens, but in that case he will be expected to assign the land used by his prede- cessor to other members of the tribe. Every one to whom land is allotted is expected to use it, and as long as he uses it the tribe expects that he will be protected in his right there. Public sentiment would not approve of a chief, say in Bechuanaland, removing a man from his lands arbi- trarily without good cause shown. The sense of insecurity which this would create would be resented by the entire tribe. When these principles are thoroughly grasped one can imagine the indignation with which native tribes have seen white men, whether Boers or English, enter their country and on the strength of certain transac- tions with their chief lay claim to absolute ownership of valuable portions of their territory. This, according to the laws of the land, was an impos- sible arrangement, and if only both the Boer and British Governments had determined to deal justly with these natives and recognize their own laws, until they were changed in a legal manner, much injustice and much irritation would have been prevented. All matters connected with public policy, allotment of lands, etc., are dealt with by the chief in the khotla, as the Bechuanas call the court- yard adjoining the chief's residence. Here at a certain hour every day he takes his place with his headmen around him and proceeds to adju- dicate on all kinds of complaint which any of his people desire to put before him. Witnesses are examined by himself with the assistance of 208 THE A'./ 77/71 RACES. his headmen, discussions take place in which each joins, and then the chief gives his decision, which is as a rule accepted as final. At times there occurs a more important form of meeting which the Bechuanas call a Pitso, when matters of public interest, especially concerning foreign relations of the tribe, are discussed. This, in fact, is an arrangement not unlike that of the early Saxons out of which the House of Commons, the mother of the world's parliaments, grew. In this Pitso there is an opportunity for the display of oratory; and many who have attended such gatherings, for they are, as a rule, free to all, have spoken with ad- miration of the fluency, the eloquence, even the grace with which these natives deliver their orations. They get of course much excited over little, as do members of more dignified parliaments. The illustrations which they employ, while often beautiful and clever, are at other times weak or even foolish. Nevertheless, the Pitso affords a standard of an intellectual kind which has done much to keep the life of these tribes from losing all trace of intellectual interest. The language which is heard on such occasions is the ordinary lan- guage of the people, and all students of these South African Bantu .races bear witness to certain admirable elements, namely, the variety and abundance of their vocabulary, as well as the richness and suggestiveness of their grammatical forms. For musical quality some of them have been compared with the sonorous beauty even of Italian. It is not without regret that one contemplates the inevitable disappearance of these native languages. As the English language spreads through South Africa it will become gradually the desire and ideal of the natives to learn English. In their schools they will demand that they be taught in English, and while their native tongues will linger long in remote places and in family life, they will before many years come to be regarded as unnecessary burdens in the work of daily schools. Even those who speak the English language and are proud to see it spread round the world, have times of regret, when they remember that its spread is at the cost of many beauti- ful and interesting tongues. The Bantu people while on the whole living on low levels of moral life, yet do recognize the institution of the family. The chief enemy of the home has been the practice of polygamy; but inasmuch as it has been the custom for every man to pay for his wife, and, of course, the more AS & o a 35 a .2 a"3 2-fl * S 2 s ri 15 ^ ^ t u* -^^ *r 2^: ft a its o w t. fe O < ^ |s ^3 S*g l8 8613 3 "as flu .28 o cs i: 4-> g OJ3 -*-> U) OXS 3 !il Slf w4 CO Btfe H X H or o u. o E H 3 * * S9 P TTTE NATIVE RACES. 211 wives the more expense, a limit has been placed on this practice by the comparative poverty of the people. Only the chief and a few of the head- men have really been able to forsake monogamy, but with them custom and a sense of dignity practically made it obligatory that they should have more than one wife. The remarkable story is told elsewhere of the fight which the young chief Khama was forced to engage in with his father, who attempted to compel his obedience to this tribal law. Justice is, of course, dealt with in a summary fashion, the chief modes of punishment being fines which are especially imposed where cattle are abundant and have become a kind of medium of exchange, execution by spearing for graver offenses, expulsion from the tribe, and sometimes some form of corporal punishment. Much, of course, depends upon the honor of the chief, who may become a persecutor of those who incur his personal dislike and so may inflict great suffering upon them. Never- theless public opinion puts a restriction upon any such tendencies to manifest and persistent injustice; and cases are known where a tribe, having at last become embittered against a plotting and cruel chief, have driven him away. Where fines for criminal offences are imposed the property passes to the chief. In civil cases the fine which is imposed goes to the party aggrieved, who, however, like the plaintiff, in civilized lands, is expected to fee those who have acted as lawyers in his case. These customs, no doubt, present many temptations to greedy chiefs, with whom the pros- pect of personal gain does interfere often with their honorable discharge of judicial functions. Theft is punished with considerable severity in the first place by means of fines ; but where a man shows himself invet- erately given to theft he will sometimes find himself punished in a more dreadful fashion, having his hand thrust into fire or being in some other way mutilated so that he henceforth carries in his very person the terrific retribution and reminder of his crime. In religious matters the Bantu peoples present many points of in- terest. They of course believe in supernatural powers, concerning whom, however, their doctrines are indistinct and confused. These supernatu- ral powers manifest themselves in the use of charms, in the significance of portents, such as the cawing of a crow on the roof of a hut, or the casting of a man's shadow upon another who is asleep, as well as in the 212 THE NATIVE RACES. use of enchanted medicines, the burning of various substances accom- panied with the utterance of incantations by a "medicine man." The Bantu people also believe in and practice rain-making, which in most parts of South Africa is found to be a very necessary process, if not always successful. They do not belong to the races that have a sacrificial system or elaborate forms of public worship. They have no idols and practically no habits of prayer; yet they believe in prayer, and some observant Europeans have found that certain of them before entering upon an im- portant hunt will step aside alone and speak to Morimo, the great god, im- ploring a blessing upon their undertaking. This Morinio appears not to be defined by them either as a spirit or an ancestor or an animal; he is simply the great being to whom they leave all things, the distant and chief god of whom they speak but seldom, yet who is acknowledged by them as above all other subjects of reverence and fear and worship. They do pray to their ancestors, crying aloud to them by name and pleading for their aid in some distress or danger. One peculiarity of the Bantu tribes has never yet been fully described while it ought to prove of considerable importance to students of South African native religions. That is the curious relic of totem worship which is found among them. By a totem is understood a sacred animal which a family or tribe will treat as in some sense having divine or super- human power and influence over their lives and fortunes. This animal they will not kill, still less will they eat it By some totem worshipers even the seeing of their sacred animal is considered exceedingly danger- ous. Now, in South Africa, each of the Bantu tribes is named after an animal which is considered sacred and dreadful among the members of that tribe. The Batlaping means the people of the fish, the Bakwena the people of the crocodile, the Bamangwato the people of a species of antelope. These animals will be spoken of by members of these tribes reluctantly and with fear. A curious and yet a historically significant fact is that some tribes have as their totem an animal belonging to a region which that tribe has not inhabited even for generations. The Bantu before the advent of the Europeans were of course scantily clothed. They were dependent almost entirely for clothing and for covering at night upon the skins of animals. The art of tanning and preserving these skins was carried to a considerable degree of perfection THE NATIVE RACES. 213 by some of these tribes. The skin was first stretched out with pegs or under stones in the sun till it was thoroughly dried, then the owner of it would begin the prolonged task of softening it. Some form of grease was rubbed on it and then the skin was rubbed with the fists. When the skin was large this was done by a group of men in a rhythmic movement accompanied by a curious ejaculatory or grunting sing-song, which could be heard a considerable way off. When the skin had thus been thor- oughly cured and softened, it was then gone over with needle and thread, the thread usually consisting of sinew from the leg of an animal. The sewing was sometimes directed in the case of a large skin entirely to the patching of the holes made in the killing and skinning of the animal. Very beautiful rugs were also made by sewing together a number of skins of smaller animals. The needle used was without an eye, each stitch being completed when the hole had been made and then the thread passed through with a separate effort, somewhat as the shoemaker works. Many of these skins when made up in this way were very handsome and lasted a very long time. Most of the Bantu people depend for their living partly on cattle and partly on their gardens. In these gardens they grow some smaller grains, but in most of them they also grow the Indian corn which at some un- known period was introduced into South Africa and spread rapidly from region to region. It forms now one of the staple foods of native tribes and is called by all Europeans in South Africa "mealies." The children of the Bantu tribes grow up in their native state without any education, of course excepting that which prepares them for the responsibilities of their own citizenship. They are usually allowed to run about as they please until youth is dawning upon childhood. When they thus become men and women they are formed into regiments and led out of the town in separate directions to live in camps, where they pass through various ceremonies, some being of a brutal and degrading nature. They stay. there for several weeks and then return to be recog- nized as men and women. In the case of the boys an essential condition of their becoming men was that they should be thoroughly thrashed. The thrashing was, in some tribes at any rate, administered by the father of each boy ; and in after years a man would point to the welds on his back as a proof not only of the thoroughness with which he became a man but 214 THE NATIVE RACES. of the affectionate heart of the father who had done his work so well. Many -peculiar native customs are, of course, gradually dropping away, partly through the work of the missionaries, partly through the assump- tion of European dress and the habits which European dress brings with it. Partly also are changes coming through the loosening of tribal bonds. As the natives move more freely from one part of the country to another they feel themselves inevitably cut off from many of the narrow preju- dices, ignorant superstitions and traditional customs w r hich seemed to them inevitable and authoritative until travel had emancipated their minds. CHAPTER XII. THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. IN THE early days South Africa was a very paradise for hunters and swarmed with game. The number and variety of the game was unequaled. That lions were common, even down to the shores of Table Bay, we know upon the authority of Van Riebeek, who met one in his own garden. There were 34 varieties of antelopes besides the quagga and zebra these roamed about in great herds over the central plateau. The wanton destruction of these animals has resulted in many districts becoming destitute of game and many varieties becoming extinct. It is only in the far north, where the hunter has not yet been able to destroy, that the South African fauna has a chance to regain and retain its old glory. The best sport is to be obtained in the Zambesi Valley and in Nyas- saland. The Kalahari desert, described sometimes as the natural per- manent home of wild game, also offers attractions to the hunter. It has been suggested that the Kalahari should be made into a national reserve. That such a reserve is necessary is evident and this fact has been recognized by all the Governments. The Chartered Company in 1895, promised to enclose a game preserve of 200,000 acres as soon as their finances would permit. Taking the animals of South Africa, in order to examine into them the Lion naturally heads the list. Amongst others of the animals o- South Africa, the lion, once plentiful throughout Cape Colony, is no\v practically extinct south of the Vaal and Orange Rivers, though in Rhodesia and North Transvaal there are still many to be found. It is however, quite possible to traverse the country and see no sign of a lion While the natives maintain that there are white, red and grey necked lions the naturalist only admits the existence of one species The length of the full-grown South African lion is about 12 feet from the nose to the tip of the tail; the height at shoulder 40 inches, and the weight 400 to 500 Ibs., the lioness averages 25 per cent less than the 815 216 THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. male. Many wonderful tales are told as to their enormous strength, and there is no doubt that they can leap 18 paces and carry off a large bullock. The lion does not often attack man unless provoked or pressed by hunger. Mr. Selous says that on a dark night these animals are undoubtedly very bold and fearless. When hungry the daring of the lion knows no bounds and it would be hard to mention any part of an encampment that is safe from their attacks. The length of life attributed to the lion is over 30 years. Though of gregarious habits, the lion is frequenth- encountered alone. The Leopard, commonly known as the "tiger" by the colonists (as is, also the cheetah), is still to be found over the whole of South Africa, except where the population is very dense. The natural haunt of the leopard is in rocky places, which fact prevents its rapid extermination. It is often hunted for the sake of its beautiful skin. The full-grown leopard may measure as much as 9 feet in length, and is very dangerous, especially when wounded. Though its natural food consists of baboons and small antelopes, the leopard does not hesitate to replace this diet by sheep and goats. Consequently it is customary to poison or other- wise destroy these "tigers" remorselessly. The color of the skin and the markings vary greatly, some "tigers" being found with perfectly black skins, though belonging to the same species. The Cheetah is smaller than the leopard, but is frequently con- founded with it. It is not dangerous, except very rarely when w r ounded ; and for this reason it is comparatively easy to kill. It is prized for the beauty of its skin black spots over a red and yellow ground. The cheetah is rapidly being killed out in the Southern districts. There are also to be found, north of the Orange Kiver, the Serval or tiger-cat and the Ked Lynx. The Wild Cat is larger than the common cat and can be most danger- ous. Its hair is coarse and the tail is short and thick. In color it is grey w r ith black markings. Formerly it was to be found all over South Africa, but it is already becoming rather rare in Cape Colony and Natal. The Reed-cat is much more common. Of the Hyaena there are three varieties, although two of these, the striped and the brown, are very rare. The Spotted Hyaena is frequently met with in the interior, though nearly killed out of the THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 217 Cape Colony. In color it is a yellow with darker markings and a wiry short coat. In size as large as a full-sized wolf and a powerful beast, the hyaena is not courageous, and generally prefers to follow in the wake of a lion or other braver animal, when it regales itself on the leav- ings. Hyaenas are very troublesome to the stock farmers, though they will rarely attack stock in camp. They are therefore killed as vermin, their skins being of no value. The Aard-wolf resembles the hyaena in appearance, but is much smaller and is practically toothless. It is hunted with hounds and is to be found from the Cape Peninsula to Abyssinia. The African Hunting Dog is a white and liver colored piebald animal with black markings. These dogs hunt in packs and are very destructive and in consequence are not often to be found in the neighborhood of farms, as it is absolutely necessary to exterminate them. The Long-eared Fox is a grey slender animal with a small black- tipped tail and long, erect ears. It is very rare in Cape Colony, although common enough in the interior. Its diet is supposed to consist largely of insects. There are three or even more varieties of Jackals. Of these the Black backed or Silver Jackal is the largest and the most common. It changes its color with the seasons, being black and tawny during the w r inter and a grizzly white during the summer. The Hare Jackal is the only other variety w^orth noticing; its skin being of some value. Of the smaller animals there are among the carnivora, the Civet- cats, rarely found south of the Limpopo, two varieties of the Otter and several varieties of the weasel family, such as the Mere-cat. The Elephant, from the point of view of sport, is now practically non- existent in South Africa. In the districts where elephants are still to be found they are strictly preserved in order to save them from extinction. In Cape Colony elephants are preserved in the Knysna and other forests forming a narrow strip of country from Mossel Bay to Port Elizabeth. In 1898 it was estimated that there were 150 head in Cape Colony. These elephants are strictly preserved and may only be shot by special permission of the Governor and on payment of a fee of 20. 1318 THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. The only occasions on which permission is given is when an elephant has habitually destroyed property. The high price of ivory was the cause of the rapid killing off 'of the elephants. Some idea of this killing off may be gained by the export figures for 1875 and 1897. These are respectively 60,402 and 992. The African elephant differs from the Indian species in many re- spects; its ears especially are enormous, and when extended in charging are said to measure as much as 15 feet, from tip to tip, across the fore- head. The brain of the Indian elephant is its most vulnerable point, whereas the African elephant is almost impervious to the forehead shot which is so fatal in India. Sir Samuel Baker and Mr. Selous both bear witness to this fact. This hardness of the front of the skull is shared by the African buffalo. While the female elephant is always tusked, the tusks only weigh from 15 to 25 Ibs. each, w r hereas the male tusks average 120 Ibs. In a few cases a single male tusk has been known to weigh 200 Ibs. A bull elephant may stand as high as 10 feet 6 inches at the shoulder, and is a dangerous animal to attack on foot, as its hearing and scent are most acute. Of the Rhinoceros there are or rather there were two varieties, the White and the Black. The former is nearly extinct, in fact for some time it was considered as unobtainable until some specimens were obtained in Rhodesia by Mr. Selons. The White Rhinoceros is a very large animal, larger than the black variety. It is curious to note that its color is practically the same. The dimensions are as follows: 13 feet 9 inches in length; 12 feet in circumference; 6 feet 6 inches in height, and bearing an anterior horn, very long and slender, sometimes reach- ing the length of 4 feet 9 inches. The Black Rhinoceros used once to be found all over the Cape Colony, one becoming especially renowned in that it charged the coach of Governor Van der Stel near Cape Town in 1685. It has two horns, of which the front one is usually the longer. It is to be found in practically the same districts as the elephant, viz., in the more unhealthy parts of South Africa, where the tsetse fly prevents the use of horses or oxen by the hunters. THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 219 The Hippopotamus has been more fortunate than the rhinoceros, but the time of its disappearance is rapidly approaching. It is to be seen plunging and splashing in the waters of the Limpopo, the Pungwe and the rivers of Zululand and Nyassaland. It may also be found on the lower reaches of the Orange River. Its skin, which is from 1^ to 2 inches in thickness, is used in the manufacture of "sjamboks" (hide whips). The length of the hippopotamus is about 14 feet from tail to snout in bulk and weight it is second only to the elephant. The Crocodile still holds its own to a great extent, and may be found on the rivers all down the East Coast, in Zululand and in the pools of Rhodesia. Into these pools Lobengula used to sometimes throw offenders, to be devoured by the sacred crocodiles. In consequence of these denizens of the rivers it is extremely dangerous for oxen going down to drink and for wayfarers crossing over the drifts. The Giraffe has become very scarce and there are only a few to be found on the Transvaal-Matabeleland frontier and in the Kalahari dis- trict. Measured perpendicularly from the head to the ground it stands from IT to 19 feet. In color it is bright yellow to almost black, the latter color being peculiar to very old bulls. The flesh is excellent and the hide is used for whip-lashes, it being possible to cut a strip 20 feet long down its back. The Buffalo is preserved in the Cape Colony in the forests between Mossel Bay and Algoa Bay. In 1898 it was estimated that 700 head of buffalo were in the preserves. Except for this there are no buffaloes south of the Limpopo, though they are fairly plentiful in the un- healthiest parts of the East Coast. The rinderpest in 1896-98 reduced their numbers considerably; they suffered more than any other wild animals. The buffalo is one of the most dangerous of animals and never hesi- tates to charge the hunter. Cases have occurred in which a buffalo has driven one of its horns through a horse's breast and out through the saddle. Its color is nearly black and its hair short and smooth. Stand- ing nearly 5 feet at the shoulder, the buffalo has broad, strong horns, measuring from 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches. One hunter describes how on one occasion the head of a buffalo was 220 THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. so massive as to present a difficult feat to two men to carry it to the camp. The Zebra proper is almost extinct, though there are about 200 head strictly preserved in the mountainous districts on the east of Cape Colony. It stands about 12 to 12| hands, and is beautifully striped right down to the hoof, but not under the belly. Burchell's Zebra is now very rare in the Transvaal, but one variety is to be found in Bechuanaland. It has been proved by one or two people that it is possible to domesticate these zebras and break them to hacness. The Quagga has been practically exterminated, though only a gen- eration back it was found in great numbers on the Free State plains. The antelopes are known chiefly by their Dutch names and are unfortunately nearly all very rare and very nearly exterminated. The Eland is the largest of all the antelopes and weighs as much as 900 Ibs., the meat being often both tender and juicy. It stands from 5 feet to 6 feet at the shoulder. The horns are really more than 2 feet 6 inches long. The skin is fawn-colored, shading to white underneath and is sometimes marked by white stripes. Owing to their slow rate of speed in running, the Elands are almost extinct south of the Limpopo. Mr. Gordon Cumming writes of this antelope: "At length I observed an old bull Eland standing under a tree. He was the first that I had seen, and was a noble specimen, standing about 6 feet high at the shoulder. Observing us, he made off at a gallop, springing over the trunks of decayed trees which lay across his path; but very soon he reduced his pace to a trot. Spurring my horse, another moment saw me riding hard behind him. Twice in the thickets I lost sight of him, and he very nearly escaped me; but at length, the ground improving, I came up with him, and rode within a few yards behind him. Long streaks of foam now streamed from his mouth, and a profuse perspiration had changed his sleek grey coat to an ashy blue. Tears trickled from his large dark eye, and it was plain that the Eland's hours were numbered. This magnificent animal is by far the largest of all the antelope THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 221 tribe, exceeding a large ox in size. It also attains an extraordinary, condition, being often burthened with a very large amount of fat. Its flesh is most excellent, and is justly esteemed above all others. It has a peculiar sweetness, and is tender and fit for use the moment the animal is killed. Like the Gemsbok, the Eland is independent of water, and frequents the borders of the great Kalahari desert in herds varying from ten to a hundred. It is also generally diffused through all the woody districts of the interior where I have hunted. Like other varieties of deer and antelope, the old males may often be found con- sorting together apart from the females, and a troop of these, when in full condition, may be likened to a herd of stall-fed oxen." The Sable Antelope is still fairly plentiful about Salisbury; it is smaller than the Eland and is dangerous when at bay, making short ferocious charges. In color it is very dark tawny with white belly its face is peculiar because of the white markings of it. The eye, which lies close to the horn, is very prominent. The horns are annulated and curve evenly backward. The Roan Antelope or Bastard Eland is rapidly becoming extinct south of the Limpopo. Mr. Gordon dimming says: "We were entering a thicket of thorny bushes when a very large grey-looking antelope stood up under one of them. I could not see his head, but I at once knew that it was the long-sought-for roan antelope, or Bastard Gemsbok. The noble buck now bounded forth, a superb old male, carrying a pair of grand scimiter-shaped horns; he stood nearly five feet high at the shoulder." The Khoodoo is the most plentiful of the large antelopes and is still to be found in the Eastern Provinces of the Gape Colony, where it is preserved. Its flesh is excellent and its hide makes fine leather. Its horns are twisted in a beautiful spiral and are about 3 feet 9 inches in length. Mr. Gordon Cumming writes concerning this Antelope: "Owing to the nature of the ground which they frequent, it is a very difficult matter to ride them down, and they are more usually obtained by stalking or stealing stealthily upon them. When, however, the hunter discovers a heavy old buck khoodoo on level ground, there is no great difficulty to ride into him, his speed and endurance being very 222 THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. inferior to that of the oryx. The skin of the khoodoo, though thin, is extremely tough, and is much prized by the colonists for 'forelocks/ or lashes for ox-wagon whips." The Oryx or Genisbok frequents the most remote and waterless parts of the* Kalahari desert and of Damaraland. Though not one of the most fierce of the antelopes it has more than once been known to prove a match for a lion. The two skeletons are found together, that of the lion transfixed by the terrible horns of the antelope. The Genis- bok has the honor to figure in the Coat of Arms of the Cape Colony. Mr. Gordon Gumming gives the following vivid description of the Oryx: "The Oryx, or Gemsbox, to which I was now about to direct my attention more particularly, is about the most beautiful and remark- able of all the antelope tribe. It is the animal which is supposed to have given rise to the fable of the unicorn, from its long straight horns, when seen, en profile, so exactly covering one another as to give it the appearance of having but one. It possesses the erect mane, long sweep- ing black tail, and general appearance of the horse, with the head and hoofs of an antelope. It is robust in its form, squarely and compactly built, and very noble in its bearing. Its height is about that of an ass, and in color it slightly resembles that animal. The beautiful black bands which eccentrically adorn its head, giving it the appearance of wearing a stall collar, together with the manner in which the rump and thigh are painted, impart to it a character peculiar to itself. The adult male measures 3 feet 10 inches in height at the shoulder. The Gemsbox was destined by nature to adorn the parched karroos and arid deserts of South Africa, for which description of country it is admirably adapted. It thrives and attains high condition in barren regions, where it might be imagined that a locust would not find sub- sistence, and, burning as is the climate, it is perfectly independent of water, which, from my own observation, and the repeated reports both of the Boers and Aborigines, I am convinced it never by any chance tastes. Of several animals in South Africa which are hunted in this manner, and may be ridden into by a horse, the Oryx is by far the swiftest and most enduring. They are widely diffused throughout the center and western parts of Southern Africa." The Hartebeest is still found in the north of Cape Colony, and in the THE AXIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 223 Free State and Transvaal, while it is fairly common throughout Bechu- analand and the Kalahari. Its height is 4 feet and its color a dark chestnut. The head is long and narrow, and the horns, which measure 15 inches, rise from a peculiar bony protuberance in the skull. The brain lying behind this makes it difficult to shoot it when charging. The Hartebeest is very swift but rather stupid. There is also the "Lichtenstein" Hartebeest. Of the Wildebeests or Gnus there are two varieties, the white- tailed gnu or black hartebeest and the brindled gnu or blue hartebeest. The former is one of the supporters of the Cape Coat of Arms, and is preserved in the Colony. The blue wildebeest is extinct south of the Limpopo. The blue variety is the larger and has the characteristic curved horn. These branch like those of an ox and curve inwards the forehead is shaggy and massive, the hind quarters of this antelope closely resemble those of an ill-formed horse, the head being very large in comparison to the body. In color the black wildebeest is dark brown, while tne blue variety is brown grey with, dark ma'rkings. Both varieties have a heavy black mane. The wildebeest is a great wanderer and confines itself to no settled district. Its preference is, however, for the plains rather than the hills. The black wildebeests which also thickly cover the entire length and breadth of the Blesbok country, in herds averaging from twenty to fifty, have no regular course, like the Blesboks. Unless driven by a large field of hunters, they do not leave their ground, although dis- turbed. Wheeling about in endless circles, and performing the most extraordinary of intricate evolutions, the shaggy herds of these eccentric and fierce-looking animals are forever capering and gambolling round the hunter on every side. While he is riding hard to obtain a family shot of a herd in front of him, other herds are charging down wind on his right and left, and, having described a number of circular move- ments, they take up positions upon the very ground across which the hunter rode only a few minutes before. Singly, and in small troops of four or five individuals, the old bull wildebeests may be seen stationed at intervals throughout the plains, standing motionless during a whole forenoon, coolly watching with a philosophic eye the movements of the other game, constantly uttering a 224 THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. loud snorting noise, and also a short, sharp cry which is peculiar to them. When the hunter approaches these old bulls, they commence whisking their long \vhite tails in a most eccentric manner; then springing suddenly into the air, they begin prancing and capering, and pursue each other in circles at their utmost speed. Suddenly they all pull up together to overhaul the intruder, when two of the bulls will often commence fighting in the most violent manner, dropping on their knees at every shock; then quickly wheeling about, they kick up their heels, whirl their tails with a fantastic flourish, and scour across the plain enveloped in a cloud of dust. The Bushbuck is one of the few remaining antelopes which can be hunted in the Cape Colony and Xatal. It is generally hunted with beaters and is dangerous when brought to bay. In the open it is com- paratively helpless because it is a slow runner; its bright dark brow r n color renders it rather easy to detect amongst the bush which it fre- quents. This antelope only stands about 2 feet 10 inches and has spiral horns like those of the Khoodoo. There are also the Iiiyala the Nakong, the Dinker and the Spotted varieties of Bushbuck, but these are very rare. The Dinker is used by Khama, chief of the Bamangwato, as a crest. The Blesbok used formerly to be found in enormous multitudes all over South Africa, but now has become rare, there being in 1898 only some 280 head in Cape Colony. The horns of the blesbok are about 15 inches in length, cyrate, semi-annulated, pointing upwards and outwards. Concerning the habits of this antelope much information is given by Gordon Gumming. The blesbok, in his manners and habits, very much resembles the springbok, which, however, it greatly exceeds in size, being as large as an English fallow-deer. It is one of the true antelopes, and all its movements and paces partake of the grace and elegance peculiar to that species. Its color is similar to that of the sassayby, its skin being beautifully painted with every shade of purple, violet and brown. Its belly is of the purest white, and a broad white band, or "blaze," adorns the entire length of its face. Blesboks differ from springboks in the determined and invariable manner in which they scour the plains, right in the wind's eye, and also in the manner in which they carry their THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 225 noses close along the ground. Throughout the greater part of the year they are very wary and difficult of approach, but more especially when the does have young ones. At that season, when one* herd is disturbed, and takes away up the wind, every other herd in view follows them; and the alarm extending for miles and miles down the wind, to endless herds beyond the vision of the hunter, a continued stream of blesboks may often be seen scouring up- wind for upwards of an hour and cover- ing the landscape as far as the eye can see. The Springbok is to be found on the open treeless plains o'f South Africa. Formerly it was the most plentiful of the antelopes and used to migrate in countless multitudes. Thanks to the institution of a close season it is probable that the swiftest of bucks may regain some frac- tion of their former numbers. Gordon Gumming describes the old migrations : "The accumulated masses of living creatures which the springboks exhibit on the greater migrations is utterly astounding, and any trav- eler witnessing it as I have, and giving a true description of what he has seen, can hardly expect to be believed, so marvelous is the scene. "They have been well and truly compared to the wasting swarms of locusts, so familiar to the traveler in this land of wonders. Like them they consume every green thing in their course, laying waste vast dis- tricts in a few hours, and ruining in a single night the fruits of the farmers' toil. The course adopted by the antelopes is generally such as to bring them back to their own country by a route different from that by which they set out. Thus their line of march sometimes forms something like a -vast oval, or an extensive square, of which the diame- ter may be some hundred miles, and the time occupied in this migra- tion may vary from six months to a year. "On the 28th I had the satisfaction of beholding, for the first time, what I had often heard the Boers alludes to, viz., a 'trek-bokken,' or grand migration of springboks. This was, I think, the most extraor- dinary and striking scene as connected with beasts of the chase that I had ever beheld. "For about two hours before the day dawned I had been lying awake in my wagon, listening to the grunting of the bucks within two hundred yards of me, imagining that some large herd of springboks 226 THE AXIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. was feeding beside iny camp; but on iny rising when it was clear, and looking about nie, I beheld the ground to the northward of nay camp actually covered with a dense living mass of springboks, marching slowly and steadily along, extending from an opening in a long range of hills on the west, through which they continued pouring, like the flood of some great river, to a ridge about a mile to the northeast, over which they disappeared. The depth of the ground they covered might have been somewhere about half a mile. I stood upon the fore chest of my wagon for nearly two hours, lost in wonder at the novel and won- derful scene which was passing before me, and had some difficulty in convincing myself that it was reality which I beheld, and not the wild and exaggerated picture of a hunter's dream. "During this time their vast legions continued streaming through the neck in the hills in one unbroken compact phalanx. "Vast and surprising as was the herd of springboks which I had that morning witnessed, it was infinitely surpassed by w r hat I beheld on the march from my vley to old Swear's camp; for, on our clearing the low range of hills through which the springboks had been pouring, I beheld the boundless plains, and even the hillsides which stretched away on every side of me, thickly covered, not with 'herds,' but with 'one vast herd' of springbok; far as the eye could strain, the land- scape was alive with them, until they softened down into a dim red mass of living creatures. "To endeavor to form any idea of the amount of antelopes which I that day beheld were vain; but I have, nevertheless, no hesitation in stating that some hundreds of thousands of springboks were that morning within the compass of my vision." Concerning the habits of the Springbok the same hunter writes: "The springbok is so termed by the Colonists on account of its peculiar habit of springing or taking extraordinary bounds, rising to an incredible height in the air when pursued. The extraordinary man- ner in which springboks are capable of springing is best seen when they are chased by a dog. On these occasions away start the herd, w r ith a succession of strange perpendicular bounds, rising with curved loins high into the air, and at the same time elevating the snowy folds of long white hair on their haunches and along their back, which imparts THE TUGELA RIVER IN ZULULAND This river, before it enters Zululand, flows near Colenso, and has been the scene of the fierce struggle between General Duller and the Boer army. MICA DEPOSIT IN A DONGA An enormous deposit of mica is made here by the continuous flow of water, which has gradually worn the rocks and formed this donga or narrow chasm. o * X fe g 55 " 5 i ill THE ANIMALS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 229 to them a peculiar fairy-like appearance, different from any other animal. They bound to the height of ten or twelve feet, with the elasticity of an India-rubber ball, clearing at each spring from twelve to fifteen feet of ground without apparently the slightest exertion. In performing the spring, they appear for an instant as if suspended in the air, w r hen down come all four feet again together, and, striking the plain, away they soar again as if about to take flight. The herd only adopt this motion for a few hundred yards, when they subside into a light elastic trot, arching their graceful necks and lowering their noses to the ground, as if in sportive mood. Presently pulling up, they face about, and reconnoiter the object of their alarm. In crossing any path or wagon-road, on which men have lately trod, the spring-bok invariably clears it by a single surprising bound; and when a herd of perhaps many thousands have to cross a track of the sort, it is extremely beauti- ful to see how each antelope performs this feat, so suspicious are they of the ground on which their enemy, man, has trodden. They bound in a similar manner when passing to leeward of a lion, or any other animal of which they entertain an instinctive dread." The Klip Springer is often called the "Chamois of South Africa." It is common to the whole country, but prefers the rugged, hilly dis- tricts. The Tsesebe, or bastard Hartebeest, closely resembles the harte- beest, and is fairly plentiful beyond the Limpopo. Besides the antelopes enumerated above there are various other species of which the name will suffice. They are: The Waterbuck, the Redbuck, the Bluebuck, the Reedbuck, the Red Rehbock, the Grey Rehbock, the Bontebock, the .Lechive, the Pookoo, the Palla, the Stein- bock, the Oribi, the Gnysbock, and the Damaraland Antelope. Amongst the lesser animals of South Africa may be mentioned the Rock Rabbit smaller than the common rabbit, allied to both the ele- phant and rhinoceros; the Wart Pig and the Bush Pig, somewhat diminutive specimen of the boar family, with, however, ferocious-look- ing tusks; the Cape, Rock, Mountsin and Spring Hares are also found. The English rabbit exists on Robben Island, but may not be introduced on to the main land. All over South Africa may be found the Ant Bear, an animal with a 230 THE .-IXiM.iLS OF SOUTH AFRICA. long, low body, some 6 feet in length, sparsely covered with black hair; its snout, ears and tongue are also enormously long, but its legs and tail are strong and short. The Ant Bear devours ants, and invariably makes its burrow on the south side of the ant-hill. The Porcupine is also found all over South Africa. The Pangolins are peculiar to Africa. They are toothless, covered with hard scales, and arboreal in habit. When attacked they coil themselves into a ball. Their food is chiefly ants. The Game Birds of South Africa are very plentiful, it having been decided that there are eleven sorts of Francolin, five of Quails, three of Guinea Fowl, four of Sand Grouse, eleven of Bustards, two of Dik- kops, three of Geese, thirteen of Duck, Widgeon and Teal, three of Snipe and one of Ostrich. There are very few wild Ostriches to be found in South Africa at the present time, as thej T are hunted down for their feathers, which are worth more than those of the domesticated birds. The wild Ostrich is not fierce and is very good eating. The Great Kori Bustard or "Paauw" is the bird next in size to the ostrich. A cock Bustard will sometimes stand as high as 5 feet. These birds are to be found all over South Africa, but are difficult to shoot. Besides these game birds there are three species of the Ibis (includ- ing the sacred red Ibis), also varieties of the Stork, Flamingo, Heron, and Pelican, etc.; there are some fifty-two varieties of the Hawk family, and thirteen sorts of Owls. There are some thirty varieties of snakes, many of which are venomous. The Python, which attains to a length of 20 feet, is non- poisonous, and does not attack unless molested. The Black Mamba, which is sometimes as large as a rattlesnake,' is very venomous and very ready to attack. The Puff and other Adders are dangerous because of their sluggish habits. Lying in the sand, they are not able to move out of the way of the passer-by, and strike at once when trodden upon. CHAPTER XIII. THE CHIEF INDUSTRIES "OF SOUTH AFRICA. THE industries of South Africa may be divided for the sake of description into the pastoral, the agricultural, the natural pro- ducts and the minerals. In the first class are sheep, mohair and ostrich farming. The areas devoted to sheep farming are fairly wide. In the Cape Colony there is, first, a district in the Western Province from Caledon to Mossel Bay along the coast; and in the eastern provinces and the Transkei, the whole country between the Stormberg Mountains and the Indian Ocean. In these areas the sheep are fed on grass. Then there are the central districts, including the Karoo and the country north of the great mountain ranges; here the sheep are pastured on the succu- lent drought-withstanding Karoo plants. In 1896 there were 14,400,000 sheep in Cape Colony. Practically the w r hole of the Orange Free State is suitable for sheep farming. In the Transvaal the high country is most useful and in Natal the highest northeast plateau. The sheep in Cape Colony are mainly of the merino type, and, though for a long time little trouble was taken to improve the breeds, now both from Australia and England champions are imported, and the class of wool is likely soon to be very much raised. The total yield of wool is, however, very small and when compared with that of Australia shrinks almost to nothingness. In 1893 there was wool exported from South Africa to the value of 2,400,000, while the wool export of Australia was 25,000,000! In 1898 the export for South Africa, through the Cape Colony alone, was 1~782,498 worth. Mohair is furnished by the angora goat, which is a native of Central Asia and Asia Minor. These goats are pastured in many districts, especially in the inland division behind Port Elizabeth, such as Somer- set East and Graaf Reinet, also in the Klip River districts in Natal. The angora goat was introduced into South Africa in 1856, after many 231 232 THE CHIEF INDUSTRIES OF SOUTH AFRICA. unsuccessful attempts. The average annual clip per head amounts in weight to five or six pounds, and is worth 2/ld. The herds of goats roam at will over the veldt and require little care. In 1896, in Cape Colony alone, there were 5,000,000 angora and other goats. The value of the annual export amounts to an average of 400,000, and forms one-third of the mohair purchased in England. Export in 1897, 676,644; 1898, 647,548 (about f 3,000,000). (Through Cape Colony.) Wherever there is feed for cattle there cattle are to be found, but the country is not especially adapted to cattle raising, except Bechuana- land and the Free State. In 1878, there were in Cape Colony 2,000,000 cattle, in Natal 725,000, in the Free State 900,000, while in Bechuana- land Khama's tribe alone had 800,000. As an example of how these numbers were reduced by sickness, it may be mentioned that Khama's 800,000 shrunk to 5,000! As the railways increase and the transport wagons are no longer required it is probable that the number of cattle will decrease to a great extent. Hides are exported to a considerable value. Export, 1897, 217,754; 1898, 199,543 (about f 2,000,000). (Through Cape Colony.) Eastern Bechuanaland is considered one of the best of ranching districts in South Africa, as the grass is sweet and water obtainable by digging. Ostrich farming was almost a South African specialty, but there is now r a little competition in Australia and America. Ostriches are kept on most of the farms in Cape Colony but are more especially cultivated in the Oudtshoorn district and in the districts round Port Elizabeth. The price of ostrich feathers varies very much, but the average value of the yearly exports is oOO,000 (about $2,450,000). The ostrich is a native of South Africa and there have been three stages in the industry of its feathers. First, the birds were hunted and killed to obtain the feathers. Then ostrich chicks up to seven months of age were caught and farmed. They, however, grew up wild and unmanageable, so that in 1865 there were only eighty birds amongst the live stock. In 1869, however, the third stage was arrived at, when Mr. Arthur Douglas per- fected his artificial incubator. This enabled the birds to be properly domesticated. In 1896 the number of ostriches in Cape Colony was esti- THE CHIEF INDUSTRIES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 233 mated as 225,000. The value of feathers exported in 1897 was 605,058 (about 13,000,000); in 1898, 748,565 (about $3,600,000). Under the agricultural industries are corn, wine, fruit and tobacco. Owing to the lack of a regular rainfall South Africa is not very suitable for the growing of grain. The principal grain areas in the Cape Colony are: A western district, consisting of , the plains at the southwest corner of Africa, round Malmesbury ; an eastern district, of which Graaf Reinet and Middleburg are the centers; and the most important area lying between the Stormberg Mountains and the Orange River, containing Herschel and Barkly East districts. Grain is not grown in the Karoo or in the Eastern Coast districts, the former is too dry and the latter are too damp. On the southeastern border of the Orange Free State there is a grain district 100 miles long, from Bethle- hem to Wepener, which has a periodic rainfall. In the Transvaal grain can be grown in the central country, including the districts between the River Marico and Lydenburg. In Natal the only grain grown to any extent is maize; on the high plateaus oats are also grown. There are many kinds of grains grown in South Africa, from wheat to maize and Kaffir corn. South Africa, however, by no means professes to be a corn-growing country. Viticulture is the oldest established industry of the Cape. There was a time when wine was the best known product of the Cape, and when "Constantia" fetched a monopoly price in Europe. That time has long passed; but wine is still exported from the Cape. If the export be small it is the fault of the manufacturer, not of the grapes, for the soil of the Cape Peninsula and the neighboring districts where viti- culture is carried on are peculiarly adapted to the growth of the grape vine. These are grown without any support, appearing like small bushes. As to the suitability of South Africa for viticulture it is inter- esting to note the report made by the Australian expert in 1885 to the Cape Government. According to his report, the vineyards of the Cape are six times as productive as those of Europe, and eight times as pro- ductive as those of Australia. The yield in the coast districts reached the fabulous sounding proportion of 86| hectolitres per hectare, in the inland districts 173 hectolitres! Yet, after all this, the export of wine is very insignificant, being in 1892 valued at 18,000 (about $88,000), 234 THE CHIEF INDUSTRIES OF SOUTH AFRICA. and in 1898 at 15,043 (about f 75,000). The fact is that the Dutch are not enterprising enough as industrialists to develop this trade. Tobacco is grown chiefly in the Oudtshoorn district, but has not yet become a recognized article of export. Fruit of all kinds grows in profusion throughout South Africa. In the Cape Colony oranges, lemons, apples are cultivated, besides many soft fruits, while in Natal bananas and pineapples are the principal fruits. There is now a growing export trade in fruit with Europe, prin- cipally during January, February and March. As to sugar, in Natal there are some 36,000 acres under cultivation and 36 factories, notably in the districts of Durban, Alexandra and Unuzuito. It is owing to this industry that Natal has become one of the colonies where East Indian coolies form an important element in the population. The sugar output in 1891-92 was 15,000 tons; in 1897- 98, 15,000 tons. Coffee is also grown to a small extent, while cotton has been at- tempted. The cultivation of tea is, however, a growing industry in Natal. In 1898 it produced over 200,000 (about f 1,000,000). The want of forests in South Africa is one of the greatest mis- fortunes of the country; it helps to reduce the rainfall and aggravates the tendency of the rain to run off rapidly. This has been realized to a certain extent, and in many districts trees are being planted for the purpose of increasing the moisture and enriching the country. There are, however, a few forest areas; the best known of these is on the south coast in George, Knysria and Humansdorp divisions. Here there is a belt of timber 150 miles long, with a depth inland of from ten to twenty miles. The other chief forest region is behind King Williamstown in the east. The timber includes yellow wood, stink wood and box wood. In Bechuanaland there are considerable woody tracts of country, but the timber is mostly thorny mimosas. The western portion of the high plateau is almost bare of trees, having only scrub and a few mimosas. The eastern portion, which is better watered, has more trees, but all small. The new trees which are being planted are not indigenous, but are chiefly the Australian Eucalyptus and occasionally British oaks. The former, called, generally, gum trees, arc chosen because they grow quickly in dry soil. The city of Johannesburg is the best example of THE CHIEF INDUSTRIES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 235 the change that these trees can make in about twelve years. Where once was a bare ridge there is now a town crowded with gum trees, big, healthy trees which would never strike the onlooker as being youthful Uitlaiiders. The mineral w r ealth of South Africa is very great, but it has for the most part only been discovered very recently, and now South Africa may be said to be living on her capital, not her income, because of the rate at which the minerals are being worked. Copper mining is the oldest of the mineral industries of modern South Africa. There have been gold and silver workings in the far past, but these need not be taken into consideration here. The copper deposits are to be found in the northwestern corner of Cape Colony. Copper mining began in 1852, and by 1864 the export had risen to 100,000 in value. Since that date the annual output has reached a value varying from 250,000 to 800,000 per annum. In 1898 it was 262,820 (about $1,300,000). Ookiep, where the copper mines lie, is connected with Port Nolloth by a railway 90 miles long. Silver is found in the Cape Colony, but not in payable quantities. It is worked in the Transvaal in an area of about 150 square miles, east of Pretoria. Its, development has however been hindered by the rush for the gold mines. Coal is found in Natal, the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, Cape Colony and Rhodesia. The mines in Natal are in the highest and most northern of the three natural terraces in the colony. The annual output is increasing, and the quality of the coal is very good. In 1898 it was decided to give an annual contribution to the Imperial navy of 30,000 tons. The Transvaal coal fields are close to the gold fields, but deposits are found over an area estimated at 56,000 square miles. In the Cape Colony there are mines being worked in the Stormberg Mountains; these produce about 40,000 tons annually and are princi- pally employed to supply the railway systems, The principal center is the little town of Molteno, Diamonds are found in the Kimberley district and to a very small extent in the Transvaal. The first diamond was found in 1867 on the bank of the Orange River, In 1869-70 the stones were found largely 236 THE CHIEF INDUSTRIES. OF SOUTH AFRICA. where Kimberley now stands. The annual output is 4,000,000, and since the first finds more than 100,000,000 ($490,000,000) worth have been exported. Gold is found in Cape Colony, but not in payable quantities (at Knysna and at Prince Albert). It is also found in Xatal in the Tugela Valley and at Umzinto, but not in any great quantities. In Swaziland and Zululaud there are fair deposits. At Tati in North Bechuanaland and in the eastern and northeastern districts of the Transvaal, at Bar- berton and Lydeuburg, gold occurs. In all or nearly all these places, .as also in Matebeleland and Mashonaland the gold occurs in quartz reefs, and in many cases the reefs are very promising. But in the Transvaal, on the Witwatersrand, there is to be found the center of the gold mining industry of South Africa. In 1886 it was found that the conglomerate reef, known as "banket," was gold- bearing, in fact, was impregnated with very fine gold particles. The main reef extends about thirty miles east and west of Johannesburg. This reef, from Randfontein to Boksburg, is the center of the mining activity. There are some 60 or more companies employed around Jo- hannesburg. At first the ore was very easily reduced, but now the most complicated processes are required to extract the gold. (For methods of working, see on "Johannesburg"). The total value of the" gold still in the reef is estimated at 700,000,000 (about $3,500,000,000), and the an- nual output is now about 15,000,000 (about $75,000,000). FAMOUS MEN AND LEADING TOWNS OF SOUTH AFRICA. CHAPTER I. POLITICAL WORKERS. SECTION I. EARL GREY. ONE of the most interesting figures in South Africa history to-day is beyond all doubt that of Earl Grey. He was born in 1851, the same year as Mr. Ehodes. His father, the Hon. Charles Grey, was younger brother of the late Earl Grey, a childless old statesman who had spent his life in the service of the Queen and whose long years of old age found him inexhaustibly interested in Imperial questions, especially in the problems of South Africa. His nephew and heir, young Albert Grey, went to Cambridge -University and there took a distin- guished place, afterwards showing considerable interest in the Univer- sity Extension movement. In 1880 he entered the House of Commons and there remained until 1886. In the latter year he lost his seat when the split in the Liberal party took place, because he had identified him- self with the Liberal Unionists, the opponents of Mr. Gladstone's policy of Home Kule for Ireland. During the later years of his Parliamentary life Mr. Albert Grey had become deeply interested in South Africa and proved himself a valuable member of the South African Committee. He was then all in favor of the policy of direct Imperialism and was one of those who saw most clearly that the office of High Commissioner for South Africa ought to be separated from the Governorship of one South African colony. But in 1889 when the charter was granted to the British South Africa Company Mr. Albert Grey went over to the other side. He ex- plained that his convictions on African policy were the same, but that he believed it to be necessary and good for South Africa itself 'that a Chartered Company should take the initial work of opening up the terri- tories north of the Transvaal. He hoped that with his well-known sympathy towards the natives and his desire for the maintenance of British supremacy in South Africa, he might be able to exercise as a 239 240 POLITICAL WORKERS. director of the company considerable influence upon the management of its affairs in its new territories. Mr. Grey probably anticipated as little as anyone the course of events which afterwards led him to be- come, as he is to-day, the Administrator for Ehodesia. Having succeeded to the Earldom on the death of his uncle he found himself, in 1896, appointed to succeed Dr. Jameson in the office which the latter lost after the perpetration of the Raid. He arrived in Rhode- sia and found himself speedily in the midst of the terrible war of rebel- lion there. He has frankly recorded the fact that experience has considerably altered his ideas concerning the right methods of govern- ing native tribes and the developing of unoccupied territories. As regards the former he defends on the whole the administration of the British South Africa Company. He holds that they ought to have carried the conquest of Matabeleland in 1893 to completion, and that the rebellion of 1896 arose from the fact that the natives were not thor- oughly beaten in the first struggle. He also defends the treatment of the natives even against the reports of certain Imperial officers. He holds that the natives are in danger of becoming more degraded by not being forced to work, while he is most emphatic in the assertion that he does not mean to exert physical force in order to obtain that result. He now holds, he says, that the method of direct Imperial control is much inferior to that of control by a Chartered Company, and he has arrived at that decision by comparing the rapidity with which Matabele- land has been developed through the Chartered Company with the much slower rate of progression observed in Bechuanaland, which is under Imperial control. The comparison will not, however, convince even those who admire Earl Grey's ability, high character and humanitarian spirit. Even in Bechuanaland the method of direct Imperialism has not received adequate attention and encouragement. Nevertheless, the friends of South Africa and of the natives have every reason to be thankful that in these years of uncertainty they can count upon a righteous as well as a vigorous, a kindly as well as a just administration being exercised in Rhodesia as long as the subject of this sketch holds his position of great responsibility and magnificent promise. POLITICAL WORKERS. 241. SECTION II. DR. JAMESON. Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, a Scotchman, born in Edinburgh on February 9th, 1853, is the youngest son of the late Mr. K. W. Jame- son, Writer to the Signet, his mother being a daughter of Major- General John Pringle. The family subsequently settling in London, Dr. Jameson, after distinguishing himself at school both as a student and an athlete, studied medicine at University College Hospital. There his career was a brilliant one. He obtained silver medals for medicine, surgery, anatomy, and pathology, besides a surgical scholar- ship, and graduated in 1875 at London University, obtaining the gold medal for medical jurisprudence. Everything promised him a success- ful and most lucrative practice in the highest walks of his profession in London ; but his health gave way under the strain of overwork, and after a short health tour in America he accepted, in 1878, a partnership with Dr. Prince of Kimberley. His reputation grew rapidly, and he was soon recognized as one of the chief authorities in South Africa in every department of medicine. For instance, the Free State Volksraad, by special resolution, requested his attendance on the late President of the Orange Free State, Sir Henry Brand, at Bloemfontein. To a thor- ough knowledge of his business, untiring industry, and a conscientious sense of the responsibility of his work, Dr. Jameson added an amount of tact and a keen sympathetic insight into human nature which gave to his society the charm for which he has become so well known. Among the host of firm friends made by him during his residence in Kimberley, Mr. Cecil Khodes stands out prominently; and at the time when the amalgamation of the diamond mines was in process and the extension of British influence northward was still a dream of the future, their life was one of intimate association. At this period Mr. Rhodes was only beginning to be known, and was regarded even by his friends as somewhat over-sanguine. Dr. Jameson was possibly the one man who gauged his powers and his plans correctly. With an enthusiasm which equalled that of Mr. Rhodes, Dr. Jameson saw the greatness of his friend's schemes and the possibility of their realization. In 1888 it became necessary for Mr. Rhodes to send a trustworthy agent to Buluwayo, to carry out the various delicate negotiations con- 212 POLITICAL WORKERS. nected with the development of the concession granted to himself and Mr. Rudd. After much careful consideration, Dr. Jameson was selected. He persuaded Mr. Doyle and Major Maxwell, both skilled interpreters, to accompany him to Lobengula's kraal, and remained three months with the king, whom he meanwhile cured of an attack of gout. Before he left he acquired great influence with Lobengula and his principal councillors, and his mission was completely successful. The Charter was formally recognized, and full permission was given for the advance of a pioneer force into Mashonaland. Having completed his task, Dr. Jameson returned to his practice in Kimberley. Difficulties arose at Buluwayo after his departure, how ever, and at Mr. Rhodes's request he returned there, and once more persuaded the king to agree to the proposals made on behalf of the company. Dr v Jameson remained in Buluwayo in communication with Mr. Rhodes, and the Pioneer Expedition started on its road up country. Ultimately he joined the columns and accompanied them to Salisbury as the representative of Mr. Rhodes. The next task was originated by Dr. Jameson himself, and was an exceedingly arduous one. Recognizing .the necessity of a shorter and less expensive route to the coast than the long overland journey from the south which they had accomplished, Dr. Jameson, accompanied by Major Frank Johnson, left Salisbury, and traversed the country east- wards to the Pungwe, striking that river at about seventy miles from its mouth. The two adventurous explorers proceeded down the river in a portable boat brought with them in sections by native carriers, and successfully reached the steamer waiting for them in Pungwe Bay, after which Dr. Jameson proceeded to Cape Town to give an ac- count of his expedition to Mr. Rhodes. The ultimate result of this hazardous journey was the laying of the Beira Railway. Shortly afterwards, believing that Dr. Jameson could best carry out his plans with regard to Mashonaland, Mr. Rhodes requested him to return there as his representative, and in the latter part of 1890 Dr. Jameson again appeared at Salisbury. After a short stay, utilized in furthering the interests of the Chartered Company and in confirming much that had already been done, he determined, on the occasion of a visit to Manica, close on the Portuguese border, to proceed to the Gaza POLITICAL WORKERS. 243 country, ruled over by the Chief Gungunhama, with the object of secur- ing that vast territory for the Chartered Company. It was in Manica, when Dr. Jameson was with Mr. Colquhoun, the Administrator of Mashonaland, that the treaty of the Umtasa had been signed. This treaty, which in reality put an end to the hopes of Por- tuguese expansion in Southeast Africa, was most comprehensive. It pro- vided that no one could possess lands in Manica except with the consent of the British South African Company in writing; it conceded to the company complete mineral rights; it gave permission for the construc- tion and establishment of public works and conveniences of all kinds, such as roads, railways, tramways, banks, etc. Taking with him Messrs. Doyle and Moody, and totally unprovided with comforts, or even the bare necessaries for such an undertaking, he pushed across the veldt to Gungunhama's chief kraal, and arrived there in spite of innumerable difficulties; he thus penetrated what at that time was believed to be one of the most fever-stricken districts south of the Equator. On arriving at Gungunhama's "Great Place" (both of Dr. Jameson's companions being prostrated with fever), he found the King surrounded by Portuguese officials, who had with them a strong following of Por- tuguese native troops. But in the face of all this the expedition resulted in success, in so far as concerned the negotiations with the King, who freely invited the occupation of his country by the British South Africa Company. As, however, this concession was made the subject of corre- spondence between the British and Portuguese Governments, then dis- cussing the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty, the expedition did not result in an accession of fresh territory to the Chartered Company. This fearful march to the Limpopo left Dr. Jameson, on his return to Cape Town, in a very debilitated condition, and the victim of repeated and severe attacks of malarial fever. At the end of 1891 Mr. Colquhoun announced his desire to resign office as Administrator of Mashonaland. Mr. Khodes pressed the appointment upon Dr. Jameson. The position in Mashonaland was then exceedingly difficult. The Company had been incurring enormous expense in administering the country, while at the same time the Boers of the Transvaal were organizing treks to invade and take possession of a portion of the territory, with a view to establish 244 POLITICAL WORKERS. a new Boer Republic, and in addition to all this, the white population was in a condition of grave disaffection. But Dr. Jameson, ill though he was, at once consented to face all these difficulties, and, receiving full power from the High Commissioner to deal with the Boer trek, set out for Mashonaland as Administrator. He immediately took steps to meet the most pressing danger. On the banks of the Limpopo, supported by a troop of the British Bechuanaland Police, he found himself near a large body of armed Boers preparing to cross the river. An error of judgment might have precipitated a war between the English and Dutch elements, but fortunately the new Administrator was equal to the occasion. Alone and unarmed he met the Boers and persuaded them to give up their enterprise and to return to their homes. Still suffering from fever, Dr. Jameson went on to Salisbury, where he conciliated the discontented colonists. The early days of the development of all colonies are hard, and in Rhodesia the settlers had to suffer many hardships and privations. Mr. Rhodes's appointment of Dr. Jameson as Administrator was a ver- itable inspiration, for his administration was marked both by its ability and its popularity with the settlers. In 1892, Dr. Jameson got to work and succeeded, by wonderful administrative ability, in reducing the expenses of the Company from 250,000 to 30,000 a year. In the short space of twelve months he was able to make a financial statement in which the revenue and the expenditure almost balanced. In July, 1893, the murderous Raids of the Matabele reached right up to the township of Victoria. Then Dr. Jameson, seeing that his remonstrances to Lobengula were unavailing, ordered up some police to restore order. The Matabele were dispersed by the police and it was determined to strike promptly against the numerous bands of Matabele which had invaded Mashonaland. There were only 40 police available, but the settlers organized them- selves into a formidable force. This force, under the supreme command of Dr. Jameson, advanced on Buluwayo in three columns, amounting in all to about 900 Europeans. After an engagement on the Shangani River, in which the Matabele were repulsed, the decisive battle was fought at Imbebesi, where some 7,000 of Lobengula's best warriors were OLIVE SCHREINER This is the maiden name of the most famous South African author. She is extremely short in stature, a woman of very warm heart, impulsive, with great power of literary expression and noble moral instance. She has espoused the cause of the Boers with the utmost passion, mainly because she believes that the capitalists, with Mr. Rhodes at their head, have been the cause of the troubles which led to the war. She married a Mr. Cronwright. They are now known as Mr. and Mrs. Cronwright Schreiner. DR. L. S. JAMESON, C. B. BARNEY BARNATO MUSTER OF TOWN BURGHERS PRETORIA, NOV. 11, 1899 POLITICAL WORKERS. 247 routed with great loss. Following their usual custom, the Matabele charged the laager but could not stand before the hail of shot from the machine guns. Three days later, Buluwayo, the capital of Lobengula, was taken, while Lobengula himself, who had fled, was closely pur- sued by Major Forbes' force. It was in this pursuit that Major Wilson with some 38 men attempted to capture the fleeing monarch by a bold dash. This, however, was not possible, owing to the lack of reinforce- ments, and Wilson was attacked by overwhelming numbers of Mata- bele. He and all his band, having exhausted their ammunition, died fighting to the last. There are few more brilliant campaigns to be found in history than the overthrow of the power of the dreaded Matabele King by such a small force of volunteers. Dr. Jameson deserves great credit for his organization and direction of the volunteer force; the war was cheap too, only costing about 100,000 (about f 500,000). The main reason for the success of the Matabele campaign is that Dr. Jameson struck before the Matabele had had time to prepare for his attack. Thus many of the best regiments of Lobengula never went into battle at all. It was a fine imitation of the raids of the Matabele themselves. After the campaign, Dr. Jameson took up his residence at Buluwayo and the fine country soon drew together a great number of his volun- teers and others. Dr. Jameson was very active in stamping out witchcraft amongst the Matabele, a course of action which, though distasteful to the witch doctors, ameliorated the condition of the natives considerably. After the war, when the Matabele chiefs came to learn the "Great White Chiefs" will from Dr. Jameson, they came downcast, filled with nameless forebodings. But at the end of the interview they were much relieved, and said: "Now we can go away and sleep" (the Matabele way of expressing that their fears had been set at rest). Dr. Jameson declared to the assembled indunas that it was the company's earnest wish that the white men should live in friendship with the black. As Administrator he certainly did his utmost to bring about this con- summation. Then came the disastrous Raid which forever bears the name of Dr. Jameson. Acting under the orders of Mr. Rhodes, the Managing 248 POLITICAL WORKERS. Director of the British South Africa Chartered Company, Dr. Jameson collected during 1895 on the northwest borders of the Transvaal a force of mounted police. These were concentrated at Tuli and Mafeking, and were placed there in order to be able to back up the British Representa- tive on his arrival at Pretoria or Johannesburg, in the event of a rising of the Uitlanders. Mr. Rhodes, as Chairman of the Goldflelds South Africa Co., was one of the prime movers in the whole conspiracy. The agitators in Johannesburg, however, did not make good conspirators, and they had no leader. While they were collecting guns and prepar- ing deliberately for their coup Dr. Jameson was kept fretting on the frontier, anxious to go in. Dr. Jameson repeatedly urged the necessity of hurrying on the revolution, as otherwise he was sure that the position of his forces would become known, and alarm the Boers into preparations for defensive action. Becoming more and more convinced that the great lack in Johannesburg was a leader who would be prepared to act boldly, Dr. Jameson at last took the bit between his teeth, and started for Johannesburg on December 30th, 1895. The two columns from Tuli and Mafeking met, and then the force under Dr. Jameson, numbering 494 men, pushed on with all speed towards the Rand city. The distance was 150 miles and many of the troopers were unable to obtain remounts on the journey. Dr. Jameson had despatched men to cut the tele- graph wires, but they, being drunk, had bungled the business. Conse- quently the news of his start was able to bring only consternation to the hearts of the unprepared conspirators. They saw their famous Jameson Plan being ruined by the Jameson Raid. Messages were despatched after Dr. Jameson, ordering him to come back in the name of the High Commissioner and of Mr. Chamberlain. These orders were disregarded. In spite of the knowledge that the Boers were fully aware of the Raid, and were concentrating in great numbers before Johannes- burg, the wild rush went on. At last they met the Boers. After many hours' fighting, the little force, worn out, with done horses, reached Doornkop near Krugersdorp. Here they made a gallant stand until the arrival of Boer reinforcements and artillery compelled Dr. Jameson to surrender, on receiving the assurance of their personal safety from the Boer commander. The Raiders were taken to Pretoria as prisoners, and there was much discussion as to whether they should be shot or POLITICAL WORKERS. 249 not. President Kruger, however, decided that they should be allowed to go home to England to be dealt with by their own Government. Dr. Jameson's action took the Johannesburg revolutionists so abso- lutely by surprise that they were unable to help him ; they did not even destroy the railway line to prevent the arrival of the Staats artillery. They have often been called cowards for this non-action on their part, but it is well known now that they did not deserve this reproach. The feeling in Johannesburg during the period of time between the start and the finish of the Raid raised the bitter feelings of the Outlanders to such an extent that one of them said later that, if he had had a gun he would have felt inclined to shoot Jameson as he was brought prisoner into the town. Dr. Jameson seemed absolutely crushed by his failure, and looked as if he would have been rather glad to be shot and so escape the sense of defeat and universal contempt. Dr. Jameson was taken to England with his officers, and was tried in Court at the Old Bailey in London. The law under which they were charged was the "Foreign Enlistment Act." The prisoners were found guilty, and the Lord Chief Justice sentenced Dr. Jameson to imprisonment for thirteen months as a first-class misdemeanant, while the Imperial officers acting under him lost their commissions and this though they only obeyed the orders of their superior officer, who assured them that he acted under Government orders! These commissions have been returned to all the officers now. Dr. Jameson, after his imprisonment and the investigation of the Select Committee, went out to Africa again, and since then has been practically in retirement. He has suffered, as so many before him have done, from the fact that, while a successful revolution is a "noble struggle for rights," an unsuc- cessful one is "rebellion." Dr. Jameson was one of the few men who foresaw the present war, and he was anxious to see it begin that "Doornkop" might be avenged. He has been, during the first four months of the invasion of Natal, locked up in Ladysmith where, on the relief of the town, he was found to be struggling under an attack of typhoid fever. 250 POLITICAL WORKERS. SECTION III. GENERAL JOUBERT. One of the most striking figures in South African history is beyond all doubt that of the famous Commandant-General of the Transvaal ordinarily known as Piet Joubert. He stands out in the history of this country as the political opponent of President Kruger, who has repeatedly contested with him for the Presidentship and who has steadily opposed the policy which so completely repressed the Outland- ers. If in 1888 he had been elected President it is most unlikely that the franchise law would have been developed to the extreme which it reached under President Kruger, and in this case the entire history of the Transvaal Government would have taken another direction. Joubert was born in Cango, Cape Colony, in 1834, and is, therefore, nine years younger than his rival, Mr. Kruger. His parents were poor and he was left an orphan at an early age. It may be due to the rough experiences of his early life that his character has ever been marked by a certain manliness and self-reliance, differing in quality even from the sturdiness and passion for political independence manifested by President Kruger. As his name indicates General Joubert is of French descent, and the Huguenot blood flowing in his veins perhaps accounts for a certain high type of feeling which marks him out from the char- acteristic Boer. Embarked on the serious business of life as a stock- farmer in the Wakkerstroom district, in the southeast of the Transvaal, he soon became known as a keen man of business, with rare natural ability. He prospered in his trading and rapidly acquired large landed interests in his district. Tired of his farming life, and filled with ambitions of another order, he transferred his attention to law, and in the exercise of this profession became something of a jurist and had practice in speaking which has stood him in good stead. When he became a judge his popularity rapidly spread, and in 1867 he was elected as a member of the Volksraad.for his district. Here he rapidly came to the front and became State Attor- ney. During the visit of President Burgers to England he and President Kruger exercised supreme authority in the land. Like his associate, he was deeply disappointed in the failure of the President's visit to Europe, and he was one of the first probably to see the direction in POLITICAL WORKERS. 251 which events were mcmng. With deepest grief of heart he found him- self compelled to acknowledge that impending national bankruptcy and internal civil disorders all pointed in one direction, which was thrown into clear view before the eyes of the whole land w r hen Shep- stone, the British Commissioner, arrived in December, 1876. When the annexation took place Mr. Joubert had already retired from office and no pressure could induce him to assume any attitude but that of intense hostilit3 T towards the British Government. He had long been known for his clever management of events and for the success with which through perplexing circumstances he moved to the front in his career. But at this period his course of conduct was so quiet, so self-controlled and so w r ise that henceforth he was known with a tender affection amongst his own people as "slim (sly) Piet." He went with Mr. Kruger on a mission to England to make their protest against the act of annexation at headquarters.. He was deeply concerned, in the succeeding years, w T ith all the quiet and persistent methods used by the agitators to cast obloquy upon the British authorities and arouse to fresh endeavors the courage of the Boers. When the war broke out Joubert was appointed Commandant-General and it was largely through his energy, his quickness of movement and his resourcefulness that the invasion of Natal took place and so many battles w r ere w r on. When the war ended no name stood higher in the Transvaal than that of Joubert. General Joubert has always been a personal friend of Mr. Kruger's, although a political opponent. It is asserted that on one occasion (1893) when they were competing for the Presidency Mr. Joubert actually secured a larger number of votes but that the counting was not fairly done. After the first election of 1883, when they were rivals, Mr. Kru- ger, as soon as his victory was announced, turned round, shook hands with his defeated rival, Mr. Joubert, and appointed him Commandant- General on the spot. To him the modern organization of the military forces of the Transvaal owes its main features. He has divided the country into seventeen sections with a commander for every division, these again are subdivided. He has insisted that every Boer shall have his rifle always in good order, food supplies for a fortnight within reach in his household, and himself ever ready to respond to his General's call. When General Joubert gives the signal the Boers in every district, leav- 252 POLITICAL WORKERS. ing their farms to their wives, ride -to the local rendezvous where they receive information as to their further movements. There is probably no other country in the world where the forces for defensive or offensive action can be so quickly mobilized. It was tested suddenly by the Jame- son Raid, and the manner in which that task was carried out, proved that forty-eight hours is ample time within which to assemble the burghers in effective numbers and move to a definite engagement. In 1884-5 when President Kruger both foolishly and treacherously allowed his burghers to carry on systematic raids on the western borders General Joubert was kept in active military service. He was sent to those borders ostensibly to preserve order. The result of his presence was not at all visible in any lessening of the wrongs which were being inflicted upon native tribes, and it is very difficult to understand exactly what Mr. Joubert was doing during those three months in this region. But to his great disgust President Kruger allowed himself to be drawn into making a proclamation which even his faithful supporter and military adviser found utterly inexcusable. This was the well-known proclama- tion by which President Kruger annexed the territory of Montsioa, which a few months before had been proclaimed as British territory under the explicit terms of the London Convention of the same year. General Joubert as soon as this act of mingled folly, presumption and unfaithfulness was made public resigned office and went in disgust to his home. At a later date it was Mr. Joubert who almost led his country into difficulties in another direction and it was President Kruger who this" time resisted his advice and saved themselves from disgrace. Mr. Jou- bert had long cast his eyes with eagerness northwards beyond the Limpopo into Matabeleland and Mashonaland. So far back as 1882 he wrote a letter to Lobengula, the Matabele chief, which must be re- garded as one of the most extraordinary diplomatic documents which have ever been put on record. He addresses Lobengula as "Great Ruler" and sends his regards to him, "the son of the late king of Mata- beleland, our old friend Moselekatse." This old friend, be it remem- bered, was the terrific chief who had slaughtered the Boers on their first entrance into the Transvaal, whom thev had driven north with great / */ o slaughter, -between whom and themselves there had ever after existed POLITICAL WORKERS. 253 intense mutual hatred and distrust! The letter is written in order to inform Lobengula regarding the annexation of the Transvaal and the glorious way in which the English had been beaten. He desires, in fact, to win the chiefs heart away from his confidence in the English and to create in him a corresponding trust in the Boers. The following lan- guage is interesting, "The English took away our country, the Trans- vaal, or, as they say, annexed it. We then talked nicely for four years, and begged for our country. But no; when an Englishman once sees your property in his hand, then he is like a monkey that has his hands full of pumpkin seeds if you don't beat him to death he will never let go and then all our nice talk for four years did not help us at all. Then the English began to arrest us because we were dissatisfied, and that caused shooting and fighting, then the English first found that it would be better to give us back our country. Now they are gone, and our country is free, and we will now once more live in friendship with Lobengula, as we lived in friendship with Moselekatse, and such must be our friendship that so long as there is one Boer and one Matabele living these two must remain friends." He is eager to visit Lobengula, but he is waiting until "the country has become altogether settled, and the stink which the English brought is first blown away altogether." The letter concludes by offering a present of a "blanket and a handker- chief for his great w r ife who is the mother of all the Matabele nation." With exceeding cleverness "Slim Piet" closes this remarkable epistle by describing how he had recently punished the chief of a native tribe, destroying their fortifications and making them pay a fine of 5,000 cattle and 4,000 sheep and goats for their wickedness; and another chief well-known and powerful must soon be punished, he adds cas- ually, he must also pay a fine! With these quiet covert warnings to Lobengula, the epistle appropriately comes to an end. In 1891 Mr. Joubert once more turned his eyes with longing towards the regions of the north. He in that year organized a trek, and in this project he received the support of many of his own relatives and others. The plan was that they should move northwards into what is known as Banyailarid, occupy whatever territory seemed attractive to them and there form a new republic. We are told that arrangements had been ripened even to the length of naming the officers of the new 254 POLITICAL WORKERS. republic before the party had left the Transvaal. Mr. Joubert and his friends thus set out on the task of founding a new nation. They moved in their slow-going wagons northwards till they reached the boundary of their country, the Limpopo River. News of their project had of course spread far and wide and at a place called Rhodes's Drift they were met by the Administrator of Rhodesia, Dr. Jameson. He displayed no military force, confronted them merely with the facts of the case and put the matter so strongly and clearly that their journey was for the time arrested. Meantime representations from still higher quarters were made to President Kruger, who, under the pressure of these, at last sent a message to General Joubert which compelled him most un- willingly to turn his face to his own beloved country again and give up the dream of founding another Boer republic in the center of Africa. In 1896 it looked as if General Joubert would have his revenge. Dr. Jameson and his officers who conducted the Raid under him were in prison. The one raider now felt that he had the mastery of the other raider, and it was General Joubert who most strenuously insisted that Dr. Jameson and his fellow raiders should be hanged. President Kru- ger, however, with a shrewder insight into the case, argued with him throughout a whole night. In the morning Joubert was conquered and it was his turn now to conquer his fellow-citizens whom he had excited to the hanging point. His speech of persuasion was characteristic of Boer oratorical efforts. Like the President, Mr. Kruger, he turns naturally to incidents in animal life, or on the battlefield, or in the chase, for the illustrations which are to strike his arguments home. "Fellow burghers," he said, "if you had a beautiful flock of sheep, and a neigh- bor's dogs got into the pasture and killed them, what would you do? Would you pick up your rifle and straightway proceed to shoot those dogs, thus making yourself liable to greater damage than that which the dogs had done, or would you lay hold on those dogs and take them to your neighbor, saying: 'Now, here are your dogs. I caught them in the act. Pay me for the damage done, and they shall return to you'?" There was eloquent silence while the crowd of farmers slowly and steadily made the application and then the General drove it in. "We have the neighbor's dogs in our jail here. W T hat shall we do with them?" Thus once more President Kruger had his way. POLITICAL WORKERS. 255 In personal appearance the Commandant-General is tall, but not so broad as many of the Boers are, and he usually is represented in photographs with a slight stoop of the shoulders forward. He has a broad, straight-furrowed brow which overhangs a pair of powerful and clear gray eyes. The eyes are not shifting and furtive as those of President Kruger are generally said by visitors to be. The mouth is cold and hard, the corners drooping slightly, and the expression as a whole is not amiable. His nose is prominent, indicating in its outline a certain power mingled with a more sensitive nature than that of the average Boer. General Joubert is very fond of being photographed, and the last which the world has seen was taken by Mr. Bennet Burleigh, war correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph, who photographed him just at the opening of the war as he was making his journey by rail to his first camp. General Joubert has visited Europe on several occasions, the first occasion being in 1877. Again in 1891 he visited England and then extended his travels to America. He crossed the continent to the Pacific- coast, returning by the Canadian Pacific Kailroad. In the course of this- journey he made several public speeches, one being delivered at New York under the chairmanship of the late Mr. Henry George, and the other in Toronto. It is said that he was entertained by the Knicker- bocker Club at New York on his return; he looked forward to the event with glee as he promised himself that then before his fellow Dutchmen he would be able to use once more his native tongue. During the course of the dinner Joubert turned to the chairman and in Dutch asked him if he could make his speech in that language. The chairman did not understand the question. When it was repeated in English, to Joubert's consternation the reply came that there was probably only one man there who could understand Dutch, and he was the Minister from Holland. On returning to his hotel a friend said, "You see, Piet, that here Dutch has had to give way to the English language, and soon you will all be speaking English throughout South Africa." "I do not mind," replied Joubert, "if English does take the place of my language, if only we have our liberty and our rights left to us." Mrs. Joubert is said to be a marvelously active woman who has been in the habit of accompanying her husband on his campaigns of war, 250 POLITICAL WORKERS. providing for him in his tent as at home. She has the credit of pos- sessing more real moral courage than her husband, who is apt to yield before the force of another will. While not so well educated as the General, she exercises very great influence over him in the matters which he has under consideration and seeks to strengthen him for carry- ing through any policy or project in which he encounters opposition outside. It is even said that she it was who urged the General on when, at Majuba Hill, he was loath to make the attack and was in the act of inspanning his oxen for a hasty retreat. General Joubert throughout his life has been characterized by a broader outlook than President Kruger. He has been at the head of the progressive party in the Transvaal. In 1893 he almost succeeded in winning the Presidentship at the polls from Mr. Kruger, but in 1898 as the result of the Raid and the subsequent history of the Transvaal he had no chance and did not become a candidate. He has always con- fessed that the reforms demanded by the Outlanders were not unrea- sonable. In a letter written some months before the war he said: "If you came to me to-day with a petition, praying for reforms, I assure you that I would quite willingly sign my name, for I also want to better the conditions of the Government, which I know is not what it should be." For example, he has admitted that the conditions of obtaining the franchise by Outlanders ought to be more liberal and more simple. He w r ould even grant it after two, three or four years' residence. He would repeal the renunciation and revocation clauses of the oath, em- ploying only a declaration or oath of fidelity, loyalty and obedience to the Transvaal Republic, such as the Orange Ffee State demands. This would cut a man off from his previous citizenship and bind him to the South African Republic with all needed solemnity. He would, how- ever, retain the custom that has been introduced of recent years into the Transvaal by which the oath of allegiance is made at the beginning of the full period which must elapse before the power of exercising the franchise is conferred. It is strange, therefore, to reflect that the old General is fighting to provide what he regards as not unreasonable reforms. His is perhaps the most pathetic figure in this war, as he leads his armies in what he knows to be a hopeless struggle for the independence of his country. POLITICAL WORKERS. 257 The pathos is deepened when we realize that his own policy would have removed those very features of Transvaal law which occasioned the disputes that led to the war. Referring to the possibility of war, he declared that he could not see sufficient reason for a conflict between England and the Transvaal. In his opinion the differences could have been settled peacefully and without resort to arms. He was throughout unwilling to admit that the controversy would end in war, while as a loyal citizen he stood ready to carry out the behests of his Government. SECTION IV. SIR HERCULES ROBINSON. Sir Hercules Robinson was one of the many distinguished Britons who, having been fortunate enough to become widely known under their family name, have hidden themselves under a title of nobility on being raised to the House of Lords. Sir Hercules Robinson became Lord Rosmead at the very end of his life when his public career was over. Hence we must speak of him in the following paragraphs by that name which he wore throughout his life. His fame rests upon the fact that he became High Commissioner for South Africa, and Governor of the Cape Colony at one of the most critical turning points in the history of the country. He was sent out as im- mediate successor of Sir Bartle Frere, who had been appointed for the express purpose of carrying out a policy of vigor and hurry, but had been recalled under a cloud of official disgrace. Others had pursued that policy without wisdom and the disastrous effects were laid upon his shoulders. Like many men who have been concerned in the exten- sion or upbuilding of the British Empire, Sir Hercules Robinson was an Irishman. His father was Admiral Hercules Robinson of Rosinead in the County of Westmeath. The younger Hercules never forgot his an- cestral home, and at the close of his life he assumed its name as his title in the House of Lords. While a young man Hercules Robinson held various posts in the Irish civil service; then he became a justice of the peace in the County of Kildare. After a short period of military service in the 87th Regi- ment, he was appointed President of Montserrat, and for forty years thereafter he spent his life in the Governorship of distant portions of the British Empire. He became successively Governor of the Leeward 258 POLITICAL WORKERS. Islands, Governor of Hong Kong, and Governor of Ceylon. In the year 1872 he received remarkable promotion, and the first real opportunity of his life, by his appointment to the Governorship of New South Wales. Hitherto he had been ruling over the populations of dependencies, where the stage of self-government had not been reached. He now undertook the much more delicate task of acting as the titular ruler of a great self-governing colony. He appears to have made himself both popular as a man and successful as an official in this important sphere, and did good service by drawing attention to the problem which since those years has made gradual approaches to a solution, namely, the con- federation of all the Australian Colonies. He was one of those who believed in the possibility, and, if all goes well, the probability of fed- erating all the great colonies with Great Britain herself in still closer bonds than those which at present make them one. Eobinson as a student of constitutional history admired the Ameri- can and Canadian Constitutions and saw clearly that for any state in Australia to stand out of the union in the hope of benefiting itself would be an act of political and even of commercial suicide. The consumma- tion which he so long ago helped with others to prepare, has quite re- cently been happily reached on that continent. In the year 1881 the Governor of New South Wales received an ap- pointment of a still more trying nature and the supreme task of his life was laid upon Sir Hercules Kobinson. It was in the year 1881. Sir Bartle Frere, almost universally loved in South Africa by Boer and Eng- lish alike, who had had nothing to do either with the annexation of the Transvaal or its inisgovernment or with the war of independence or the retrocession of the country, was made the scapegoat for the blunders of others, especially of his superiors in London. He was openly threat- ened with impeachment on his return, and in every way had his name deliberately blackened by men, some of whom might have been honored by blacking his shoes. The Government decided to put in his place some one whose career had been characterized by suavity of manner, correctness of official performance and quietness of purpose. They found such an one, and afterwards paid the price, in Sir Hercules Rob- inson. He was an ideal official, scrupulous even punctilious in the ob- servance of all the routine and etiquette of high official life. He had POLITICAL WORKERS. spent his life in seeking to please men, and gave himself in South Africa to the task of pleasing every one. He had never been compelled as Sir Bartle Frere, an immeasurably greater man, to undertake labors de- manding large grasp of policy and what one may call the initiative impulse. He was always more led than leader. When he arrived in South Africa Sir Hercules Robinson found the Dutch party aroused to a white heat of self-consciousness and ambi- tiousness by the victory of their revolutionary brethren in the Transvaal. Everywhere the race feeling between English and Boers was accentu- ated. The keenest minds in the Dutch Republic and in the Dutch party in Cape Town saw as by a keen intuition into the weakness of the British Government, its attitude of compliance with whatever demands the Boers might make. Mr. Gladstone had avowedly restored to the Trans- vaal its independence because the Boer inhabitants of the country demanded it. "Where," these same men seem to have asked themselves, "Where shall we find the limits to this acquiescent spirit? Where will Great Britain attempt the hard task of putting down her foot and say- ing, Thus far and no farther?" The result of cogitations and questions of this kind in the minds of men at Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town was the formation of the Afrikander Bond. Concerning this most remarkable and most powerful society, the real moulder of South Afri- can history since that date, we give a full account elsewhere in these pages. The instinct of Sir Hercules Robinson, it may almost be said his inevitable duty, in the circumstances was to please the Afrikandtr Bond. His Governorship may therefore be summed up in this statement, that he sought conscientiously and earnestly on the one side to win over the trust and affections of the Dutch people by yielding to their demands in all matters which seemed to him compatible with the maintenance of British authority; but on the other hand this drove him at various im- portant points to find a way to exercise that authority which should at once preserve it from destruction and yet suit it to the ostensible aims of the Afrikander Bond. In 1883 the Governor returned to London in time to meet the Transvaal Delegates in conference with Lord Derby. The result of their conference was the drawing up and signing of the London Convention of 1884, and for this document Sir Hercules was very largely responsible, 'hi that Convention we find that once more 2(>0 POLITICAL WORKERS. Great Britain has yielded a large number of vital points to the demands of the Boers, without anj counterbalancing gifts on their part whatso- ever. At only two points did Lord Derby and Sir Hercules Robinson maintain a firm attitude, the one was regarding the making of treaties, the other the drawing of the boundary line in South Bechuanaland. With regard to South Bechuanaland Sir Hercules Robinson publicly committed himself to the policy of direct Imperial control and himself, against the wish at first of both Lord Derby and John Mackenzie, in- sisted upon the appointment of the latter as the first Imperial Deputy- Commissioner in Bechuanaland. It is evident that at this time Sir Hercules imagined that the Boers would be quieted and satisfied by the policy of acceding to their demands on many important and even vital matters, and that he w r ould still be able to maintain the British suprem- acy by the new policy of initiating direct Imperial administration of native territories. 'When he reached Cape Town he found the Dutch party full of en- thusiasm over the remarkable gains which they had made in London, but thoroughly aroused to the dangers in which their further plans would be involved by Robinson's scheme of Imperialism. They pro- duced a very considerable agitation on this matter with the result that they conquered Mr. Rhodes, who was then coming to the front, and Captain Bower, who was at that time named Imperial Secretary, and through whom under this title communications with the administrators of the new Imperial scheme were to be carried on. With their help a new policy with a new title was evolved to suit the emergency. The policy was known as Colonial Imperialism, and it was pursued with the utmost vigor. Mr. Rhodes did his utmost to conciliate the Dutch party by speaking openly of "eliminating the Imperial factor," by which he meant of course the removing of direct relations between Great Brit- ain and native territories or the new T colonies in South Africa. The policy which he at this time professed was the one which he himself later finally defeated, of extending the Cape Colony up through Bech- uanaland and gradually placing all South Central Africa under the British flag through the expansion of this one colony. The Dutch of course, while never professing enthusiasm for the scheme, allowed it to proceed, as being infinitely preferable to the other. Sir Hercules Rob- POLITICAL WORKERS. 261 inson, no doubt sincerely, believed that once more he could win the affections of the Dutch party for Great Britain by administering the pill of Imperialism under the sweet covering of colonial expansion. The result, as we describe elsewhere in detail, of the adoption of this policy was, that South Bechuanaland was very nearly lost to the British Empire within a few months of its proclamation as a British protector- ate by an Imperial officer. The only thing that saved South Bechuana- land from absorption by the Transvaal as the result of Mr. Rhodes's Colonial Imperialism, and. the one thing that saved Sir Hercules Robin- son's Governorship from an everlasting disgrace, was the sending out, against the wish both of Mr. Rhodes and Robinson, of the Warren expe- dition. The Blue Books show beyond all doubt that Sir Charles War- ren was from the first hampered by both the High Commissioner for South Africa and his Deputy Commissioner in Bechuanaland (Mr. Rhodes). This, Sir Charles Warren himself later proved in public print with the utmost clearness. The result of that expedition was the final rescue of South Bechuanaland from the Transvaal. It became a Crown Colony and so continued for about ten years. In the year 1888-89 Sir Hercules Robinson became interested in the magnificent scheme of development which had gradually formed in the mind of Mr. Rhodes and was kept cognizant of the various steps by which concessions were being obtained from Lobengula in Matabele- land. In April, 1889, the Governor sent a message to London announc- ing certain of these concessions and clearly hinting that they might become the basis of a Chartered Company. In that year Sir Hercules Robinson's term of office reached its close, and he returned to England. Having been reappointed he returned to the Cape for another term of seven years. But to the amazement of all he made a speech which was so full of anti-Imperialism, so amazingly disloyal, that the Dutch could not openly defend, though they rejoiced at it, and the loyal citizens were indignant. It led to his immediate recall ! He lived in retirement for six years and then in the year 1894, to the utter astonishment of all men, he was reappointed. His successor, Sir Henry Loch, afterwards Lord Loch, had found his position in South Africa growing more and more uncomfortable for himself. He could not work beyond a certain point with Mr. Rhodes, nor Mr. Rhodes with him. He was not so pliant to the 262 POLITICAL WORKERS. purposes of the millionaire Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and ruler of Rhodesia. When Sir Henry Loch retired Mr. Rhodes hastened to England and himself pressed upon the Government the urgent need of sending out Sir Hercules Robinson on the ground that he alone had kept the peace between the Boers and the English, and was the most successful Gov- ernor for that reason whom South Africa had seen. It is related that even President Kruger, in order to snub Sir Henry Loch, had spoken with enthusiasm of Sir Hercules Robinson as a man who always kept his word. So he did to Mr. Rhodes and the Dutch party. Yet Mr. Kruger did once, in 1884, call Robinson a "liar," but that was when Robinson displeased him. One of the first questions brought to the front on his return to South Africa w T as that of annexing the Crown Colony of Bechuanaland to the Cape Colony. This annexation was not desired by the Cape Col- onists as a whole; it was detested by the native chiefs with whom sol- emn Imperial agreements had been made, and it was deeply disliked by the majority of whites. But Mr. Rhodes had reasons for desiring this annexation and Sir Hercules Robinson was only reopening the old policy of Imperialism through colonial expansion; and it was always easy to persuade reluctant Cape Dutch, if there were any, that the colony would derive immense benefits from the annexation. The scheme was carried by a majority in the Cape Parliament, and was agreed to by the Colonial Office in London. The English Government in this way once more broke faith with native tribes and once more put them as. we have shown elsewhere at the mercy of Dutch prejudices and practices. The annexation took place in October, 1895, and in December of the same year the Jameson Raid occurred. A glance at the map will show that the Raid could not have taken place if Bechuanaland had not been brought out of Imperial administration into the power of Mr. Rhodes, Prime Minister of Cape Colony! When this tragic event threw South Africa into tumult, Sir Hercules Robinson saw for the first time the very instruments which he thought he had been using throughout his two administrations for reconciling the white races, used to cut them apart more widely than ever. The control of Bechuanaland had been neces- sary to Mr. Rhodes's scheme of supporting the revolution of Johannes- GOING TO WORK The diamond miners are here running on the trolley through the air. This mode of descent is now only employed In what they call the open-working mines. POLITICAL WORKERS. UGi. burg. Colonial Imperialism had been employed first in 1884 to recon- cile the Dutch in Cape Colony, and then, in 1895, to overthrow them in the Transvaal. Mr. Rhodes, hailed for years as the reconciler of the races, stood forth as their divider. South Africa was plunged into years of the utmost misery, which have reached their deepest darkness in the year now running its dreary course. When the Raid took place Sir Hercules Robinson as soon as possible rushed to Pretoria. He came upon the scene there at a time of extraordi- nary excitement and intense anxiety. He was commanded by the Brit- ish Government to repudiate all connection with the Raid and its insti- gators. At the same time it was his duty to obtain from President Kruger as lenient a treatment as possible of the Outlanders who had plunged into this difficulty, and to claim that the British subjects who had invaded the Transvaal or rather their leaders and officers should be sent to London for trial and punishment. There can be no doubt that Sir Hercules Robinson's past friendliness towards the Boers gave him some grace even amid this heat of passion in the eyes of President Kruger. On the other hand, there seems abund- ant proof that he once more gained the apparent good will of the Dutch by avoiding an insistent tone when appealing on behalf of the Outland- ers. They have ever since maintained that he allowed President Kru- ger to break faith w r ith them and that pledges made when they expected that the High Commissioner would see them fulfilled, were quietly ig- nored. When the trial of the Raiders took place in London and when the special committee of the House of Commons investigated the whole transaction, next to the question regarding the complicity of Mr. Cham- berlain, there was most interest in the question whether the Queen's rep- resentative in South Africa had also been mixed up in the affair or not. Mr. Rhodes could easily prove that all his dealings with the Govern- ment House at Cape Town had been through the Imperial Secretary, the same Sir Graham Bower with whom he had co-operated for so many years in adapting Imperial policies to Cape politics. It was not quite so easy for the Imperial Secretary to prove that he had kept the entire correspondence and scheme absolutely secret from his chief, Sir Her- cules Robinson. But on the other hand, he did before the committee very strenuously maintain the position which he had assumed, bravely 266 POLITICAL WORKERS. taking the entire responsibility upon his own shoulders. This story has yet to be made public, and then it will be known w r hether the poor, aged High Commissioner was actually used as a tool by his subordinates without his knowledge, or whether he had once more been persuaded by their stronger wills and determined purposes to acquiesce in proceed- ings which his strict official, mind ought to have cast utterly away as impossibilities. In spite of breaking health and the unenviable posi- tion in which he found himself, Sir Hercules Robinson held on in his * office, striving hard to assuage somewhat the extreme bitterness which had once more broken out between the South African white races. In the year 1897, "foiled by his fellow men, depressed, out-worn," this aged servant of the Queen left the "brutal w r orld to take its way" in South Africa, and retired under the title of Lord Rosmead into private life. He died before the end of the year. SECTION V. OLIVE SCHREINER. One of the best known names and the only famous literary name of South Africa, is that of Olive Schreiner. This is her maiden name, and she, in a fashion, retains it, for on her marriage her husband and she united their surnames into one, and they are known as Mr. and Mrs. Cronwright Schreiner. Her father w r as a Lutheran minister in Cape Town. Her mother was an English lady whose former name was Lyndall. Some time after her husband's death she went over to the Roman Catholic Church and retired to a convent at Gra- hamstown. It is her name (Lyndall) that Olive Schreiner after- wards gave to the principal character in her famous novel. She early left her home for the purpose of teaching, and w T hile thus occupied gave much time to very earnest and wide reading in modern literature and philosophy. Possessed of a very intense and enthusiastic nature she threw herself into the deepest controversies with her whole heart and soul. While yet in her teens the fashionable radicalism in matters of faith stirred her soul; it found passionate expression in the year 1883 in her famous and fascinating book entitled "The Story of an African Farm, by Ralph Iron." Nowhere else can one find a description so faithful, so vivid, so thrilling of life on a frontier farm in South Africa as in POLITICAL WORKERS. 267 this book. Seldom has a rebellious young soul poured out its indigna- tion against rigidity and insincerity in belief, or against those habits of social life which it deemed senseless and hurtful, with more eloquence or more terrible earnestness. The book by reason at once of its literary power, its brilliant descriptive passages and its bold utterances of a heart's rebellion against the horrid facts of life attracted great atten- tion. After her fame was made, Olive Schreiner went to England and there lived for a considerable period.. She has written various works, but none comes up to her first stroke of genius. Her little book entitled "Dreams," published in 1890, consists of a somewhat ambitious series of spiritual allegories. While beautiful and impressive they are too slight, with too little real body of thought in them, to give them a per- manent position in literature. At a later date she wrote her extraordinary book entitled "Trooper Peter Halkett," which one may describe as a novel with a purpose. The story is very slight. There is scarcely any plot, and what there is has elements in it which mar its unity and its value as a work of art. The book, however, is really a pamphlet, an utterance of Olive Schreiner's political views. At one time a warm admirer of Mr. Rhodes she came to regard him as the most dangerous man in South Africa, and believes so to-day. While recognizing his extraordinary power she has had her eyes opened to the sinister side of his influence. She views him chiefly as controlled by the master passion for gold, and believes that he has subordinated the interests of South African politics from Cape Tow T n to the Zambesi to his schemes as a capitalist. She has seen him organize the Jameson Raid, as she believed, in order to overthrow the Transvaal Government and obtain control of it for himself and his fellow capitalists. She has seen him send his pioneers into Mashona- land and Matabeleland and there engage in one war after another w r ith the natives, his chartered company's servants who spread them- selves over the land treating the natives as dogs under their feet. She has seen in this way Mr. Rhodes's brilliant scheme of Imperialism through the Colonial Parliament and the Chartered Company worked by him she believes to the disgrace of the Imperial name and the hurt of South African races both white and black. Nowhere does the difference between the Colonial and Imperial 268 POLITICAL WORKERS. attitude towards the natives receive more powerful expression than in the following words of her hero, Peter Halkett: "Now, he (Mr. Rhodes) is death on niggers; they say when he was Prime Minister down in the Colony he tried to pass a law that would give masters and mistresses the right to have their servants flogged whenever they did anything they did not like; but the other Englishmen would not let him pass it. But here he can do what he likes. That is the reason some of the fellows don't want him to be sent away. They say, 'If we get the British Government here they will be giving the niggers land to live on; and let them have a vote and get civilized and educated, and all that sort of thing; but Cecil Rhodes, he will keep their noses to the grindstone!' I prefer land to niggers, he says (an actual saying of Mr. Rhodes). They say he's going to parcel them out and make them work on our lands, whether they like it or not, just as good as having slaves, you know; and you haven't the bother of looking after them when they're old. Now, there I'm with Rhodes; I think it's an awfully good move. We don't come out here to work; it's all very well in England; but we've come here to make money, and how are we to make it unless you get niggers to work for you or start a syndicate. He's death on niggers, is Rhodes! * * * You can do what you like with the niggers, pro- vided you don't get him into trouble." Mrs. Cronwright Schreiner has viewed all recent events from this point of view. She has in recent years transferred her home from Kimberley to Johannesburg, and in each place she has seen in every public movement the master hand of the irresistible Cecil Rhodes. Brought up to love the Dutch, and trained by later experience to love the Queen's Government, she has viewed with the dismay of a wounded love the crash of bitterness between these two who should have been, and for the good of South Africa must be, united in confidence as they are united in interest. She has, therefore, during the events of the last twelve months, poured out her indignation in one public utterance after another, condemning in the most sweeping and scathing manner the entire proceedings of Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Chamberlain, of the agi- tators at Johannesburg and of their dupes and tools, as she believes, in London. Olive Schreiner is said by all who know her to possess a most POLITICAL WORKERS. 269 striking and delightful personality. She is thus described by one who came to know her well during a long voyage: "Her features are clear cut and strong, her figure below the average height, her eyes as deep as dark Derwentwater, and capable of storm as well as love. Her voice is buoyant and clear; her face as open as a child's, and as swift in its responsive expression of light and shade, yet marked by reserve of strength and will force. You find in her none of the marks of literary pedantry. She draws you on to your best and truest, and is ready to join you whether upon the ground of woman's world, the pleasures of England, or the deep things of Buddha but you must not rashly refer to her own writings, especially her 'African Farm.' " Perhaps the deepest passion of Olive Schreiner's life in recent years has been the longing to see the reconciliation of the white races of South Africa. She has noted with enthusiasm every sign of love for the Queen manifested by Dutch farmers, every expression of confidence in the British Government and every movement towards sympathetic action with English Afrikanders. Hence one can understand the truth of the assertion that she is nearly broken hearted over the horror and shame of the present war. To her it appears as the setting back of the clock, the opening of the wound that was nearly healed, the rousing of a hatred which had been long undergoing a quiet transformation into love. To this high calling it may be said that Olive Schreiner is pre- pared to devote her genius and all the years of her life. SECTION VI. SIR THEOPHILUS SHEPSTONE, Sir Theophilus Shepstone was one of the many able administrators whom clerical families have given to South Africa. His father, the Kev. William Shepstone, emigrated from England to the Cape in the year 1820, and became a devoted laborer among the blacks. Young Shepstone was therefore in a large measure educated at the native mis- sions, acquiring in this way a marvelous knowledge of the various dialects of South Africa. Two of the most marked tendencies of Shep- stone's character are due to the fact that he was English and not South African by birth, and to the other fact that he was educated by the mis- sionaries side by side with the native boys. 270 POLITICAL WORKERS. To the first fact is due his English patriotism, his constant desire to serve the Mother Country, his conception of the British Empire as a great unity long before such a thought had entered the consciousness of the home-staying British themselves. It is a remarkable fact that the British Empire is federating from without rather than from within. It is not the central Government in London that seeks to impose a closer bond; it is the outlying colonies themselves that first become conscious of a desire to cling closer to the country that gave them birth, both for their own sake and for hers. This desire animated Shepstone all through his political life. He never forgot that he was an Englishman. It was this desire that made him fall in so readily with Lord Carnarvon's confederation plan, and, as a preliminary to that, led him to annex the Transvaal. To the second prominent fact of his early years, his education at the native missions, is due that marvelous influence which he exercised over the native mind. It was through the possession of this single and re- markable quality that he became a power in South Africa, for few have ever handled the natives as he did. All over the Empire Britain has had men who by sympathy, knowledge, and, above all, matchless nerve, could enter into the native mind, get a grip on it, and so drive it where they would. Shepstone was one of these men. He did not think as a white man and then translate his thoughts into Kaffir like the average Bureaucrat; when need be, he could, by an uncanny intuition, go right into the native mind and think what it was thinking. The influence which this gave him among the blacks was obviously enormous. And he never abused it he did all in his power to protect the natives in- deed, it was the desire to protect the natives from the Boers as well as his desire to extend British influence that led him to annex the Trans- vaal. The natives repaid him with a like devotion. To them he was always "the white father." As an example of the mysterious power which Shepstone could bring to bear on the native mind there is no better story than that which re- counts how he subdued an angry Zulu host that was thirsting for his blood. He was alone, one white man in the midst of thousands of savages. When he rose to speak the white teeth and eyes gleamed ferociously in the black faces, making a strange ring of fierceness round POLITICAL WORKERS. 271 him. He began by speaking their own thoughts to them; how easy it w r ould be for them to kill him. "But," he said, and pointed to the sea, "for every little drop of my blood that you shed a white army wjll come across yonder sea and will slay you utterly." Every eye turned sea- ward, expecting that very moment to see the swift oncoming of the avenging hosts. Few orators have ever had such a compliment paid them, have ever produced an effect so immediate and telling. Shep- stone was allowed to go. And from that moment the natives would have died for him. Owing to his skill as a linguist Shepstone was made headquarters' interpreter of Kaffir languages at Cape Town in 1835. On the day that he was appointed to this responsible post, the 8th of January, he com- pleted his eighteenth year. He distinguished himself in the Kaffir war of 1834-5 by leading a party of volunteers to rescue the whites shut up in Wesleyville, and, as a reward, was made clerk to the Agent General. It was in 1838, when he was only twenty, that Shepstone began what was destined to prove his lifelong connection with Natal. A British force under Major Charteris occupied Natal temporarily in 1838, and a skilled native age'nt was required to deal with the Natal natives. Shepstone's previous services had marked him out, young as he was, as the best man for the post, and accordingly he was appointed. He acquitted himself so well that when Natal was constituted a separ- ate Government in 1845 he was made agent for the native tribes. In 1856, when the powers of the Natal Government were enlarged, Shep- stone became Secretary for Native Affairs, and a member of the Execu- tive and Legislative Councils. In the discharge of his duties he met with a good deal of opposition from sentimentalists, who wished to change a good Zulu into a bad European by the simple process of rig- ging him out in an old pair of pantaloons. But Shepstone was a strong man and would not allow himself to be driven. He maintained that civilization must go slow, if it is to go sure, among the black population. Old customs must not be swept violently away, else the black, deprived of tribal habit and not yet sustained by a new rule of conduct, will be left without any guidance whatsoever. Therefore black customs, un- less they are monstrously offensive to morality and good government, are not to be lightly meddled with. In this, as in other cases, Shep- 272 POLITICAL WORKERS. stone was actuated by his extraordinary feeling for what was going on in the inside of the Kaffir's mind. In 1872 Shepstone was sent into Zululand to arrange for the peace- ful succession of Cetywayo. He acquired an enormous influence over Cetywayo's mind, and thus we see the two influences that animated Shepstone's life coming together to produce a single and definite result. His power over the natives now conies to the aid of his Imperial pa- triotism, and helps him to aggrandize Britain by annexing the Trans- vaal, for there can be no doubt that Shepstone scared the Boers by asking what would happen "if he withdrew his hand from Cetywayo," and so made them more willing to come under English authority. Shepstone had doubtless been encouraged in his Transvaal scheme by the visit he paid to London, in 1876, to represent Natal at the con- ference on South African affairs. Lord Carnarvon, then Colonial Sec- retary, wished to confederate South Africa on the same lines as Can- ada. As the Transvaal was bankrupt, unable to defend itself, and a source of weakness to the other white states in South Africa; and as, further, nearly 3,000 voters out of a total of 8,000 were asking for Brit- ish intervention, it cannot be said that it was a wrong or a foolish move on the part of Shepstone to further Carnarvon's designs by taking over the Boer Government. The only charge that can be brought against him is that he acted with undue precipitancy. It is confidently said that if he had waited six months, the troubles of the Boers would have been so pressing that not three but seven thousand Boers would have been praying for his intervention. In that case the Boers could not have turned round afterwards and said that the annexation was against their will. True; but it should be remembered that if Shep- stone's promise to the Boers had been carried out at once they never would have had occasion to turn round and protest against the annexa- tion. Shepstone promised them representative government and he meant them to have it, too. He drafted a constitution for the Trans- vaal, but it was pigeon-holed in London and forgotten. Then Shep- stone was superseded, and, for various reasons, his designs were not carried out by his successors. And so the Boers rose in revolt ; but the fault was not Shepstone's. He retired from public service in 1880, and lived in retirement until POLITICAL WORKERS. 273 his death in 1893. That retirement was only broken once when he was asked to perform the ceremony of reinstating the deposed Cety wayo as chief of the Zulus. He had been made a Knight of the Cross of St. Michael and St. George in 1876. SECTION VII. HON. W. P. SCHREINER. The present Prime Minister of the Cape Colon}- is a native of South Africa, His father was a Lutheran minister who had five children, all of whom in one way or another have already made their mark in South African history. There are three brothers, of whom the eldest is an eminent educationalist and the other an enthusiastic preacher. There are two sisters, the elder of whom has devoted her life to the cause of temperance and has exercised remarkable influence upon the lives of many who have become victims of the drink craving. The younger sister is the far-famed writer Olive Schreiuer. The five broth- ers and sisters are known for their strong individuality and the utter frankness with which they express their differences of opinion to one another. Yet this is done without creating bitter divisions in the family affections. For example, the two sisters stand on opposite sides in their judgment of the necessity of the present war. W. P. Schreiner, the Prime Minister, is supported in his political life by the Afrikander Bond, while one of his elder brothers, Thomas, has recently put on public record the fact that in 1881 he declined to join the Afrikander Bond because he saw that its constitution implied disloyalty to the Queen ; and Mr. Reitz, afterwards President of the Orange Free State, and at present Secretary in President Kruger's Government, one of the founders of the Bond, was unwilling to deny that this might be the case. While yet a lad W. P. Schreiner made his way to Kimberley and worked for several years in the mines there. But this was a mere epi- sode in his career. The trend of his mind was in an entirely different direction, for he turned to the study of law and made his profession of a barrister the basis of his career. He was not long in coming to the front as a legal adviser and served in this capacity both with Sir Henry Loch and Sir Francis De Winton during the prolonged negotiations re- garding Swaziland. From both of these gentlemen he received high praise for his services. 274 POLITICAL WORKERS. In 1893 he became the leader of the Cape bar in point of practice, and in that year he reached the high position of official head in Mr. Rhodes's cabinet. He had already for some years been a member of the Cape Parliament as a representative of Kiinberley and had acted also as Attorney-General. Critics of his style affirm that there is a great difference between Mr. Schreiner's manner as a speaker when he pleads in the courts of law and when he addresses the Cape Legislature. In the former he appears as the quiet, judicial, self-restrained conversationalist, while in the latter his voice is loud, his style rhetorical, his tone aggressive and insistent. Like many able members of small houses of legislature he is said to be somewhat domineering in manner and unable to endure criticism and opposition. In the beginning of 1896 when the Jameson Raid broke out it was Mr. Schreiner who visited his former chief and found him in that condi- tion of despair, as if all his hopes were broken, and uttering piteous, affectionate complainings against his friend Dr. Jameson, which Mr. Schreiner afterwards described to the world. He came to London and gave evidence before the select committee of the House of Commons in the following year. In the year following that again (1898) Mr. Schreiner brought forward a motion expressing want of confidence in Sir Gordon Sprigg, the Prime Minister who had succeeded Mr. Rhodes. He denounced the administration of Sir Gordon Sprigg for three-quar- ters of an hour in the most unsparing fashion, denied that the issue before the country as' between the, two parties was that of British supremacy, affirmed that he and his friends and the whole Bond party were as firmly attached to the Queen and flag as the Progressives, who claimed that virtue as their monopoly. He had by this time completely broken with Mr. Rhodes and lost no opportunity of denouncing the policy by which Mr. Rhodes had for so long hypnotized the Dutch party in Cape Town while preparing to strike a fatal blow at Dutch supremacy in the Transvaal. As a result of the strong agitation which in and out of the House Mr. Schreiner kept up against the party formerly led by Mr. Rhodes, he was at the next election carried by a considerable mnjority into office and became Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. It is well known of course that there he has reigned by grace of Mr. POLITICAL WORKERS. 275 Hofmeyr and that the latter has a price for all the favors which he extends. When in October, 1898, Mr. Schreiner made a declaration of his party policy he laid emphasis upon the fact that they would endeavor to maintain, departmentally and as a Government, friendly relations be- tween Cape Colony and Rhodesia, He recognized of course that his predecessor by opening up those northern territories had once for all changed the balance of power in South Africa and that the day would speedily come when the Cape Colony could not stand out as pre-emi- nently the most powerful European community in South. Africa. One of the most interesting phases of recent history in South Africa is this loss by the Cape Colony of its ancient position as the dominant force in South African development, and the loss is not being accepted without many an effort to prevent it. Hence it was not an unnecessary asser- tion which Mr. Schreiner made, when he assured the public that the Cape Government would in no way attempt to interfere with the prog- ress of Rhodesia. Towards the two Dutch Republics he expressed cor- dial sympathies. His Government would recognize the autonomy and independence of the two sister States, and he trusted to be able to foster a condition of mutual good feeling between the older Colony and the two Republics. As the cloud of this war began to spread over the South African sky Mr. Schreiner's position as Prime Minister became exceedingly difficult and full of delicate problems for himself and others. He exerted him- self to the utmost to prevent the negotiations of 1899 from developing into an open rupture and so strongly did he press the need of patience upon Sir Alfred Milner and the British Government that it looked at one time as if he must resign his office in order to maintain his self- respect. But a deep sense of duty to his country undoubtedly restrained him from what would have been the rash and most dangerous step of resignation. By retaining his position as Prime Minister and from that high station voicing the sentiments of the Afrikander Bond, he has done more by far than at present can be appreciated to steady the Dutch sentiment in the Colony and to prevent disaffection from spreading through the land. It may be that when the war is over among the repu- tations that have been strengthened and among the characters that 2TG POLITICAL WORKERS. have been more highly developed by the strain of the tremendous respon- sibilities and self-sacrifice imposed by patriotism we must number W. P. Schreiner, the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. SECTION VIII. SIR JOHN G. SPRIGG. Like many well-known South Africans, Sir Gordon Sprigg was sent out to that land in his youth in search of health. He was the son of a Nonconformist minister at Ipswich in England; he first entered into general business and then, in 1856, went to London to serve on Gurney's staff of reporters in the committee rooms of the Houses of Parliament. It was here that he fell seriously ill and, his lungs being affected, was driven to seek recovery in a sunnier clime. He settled in Kaffraria as a farmer and there married a Miss Fleischer. In 1873, one year after the Cape Colony received the full Constitution of a responsible government, Mr. Sprigg was elected as member of the Legislature from East London. He has remained continuously in the Colonial Parliament from that day to this. In 1878 he was suddenly called upon by Sir Bartle Frere to the high post of Prime Minister. Sir Bartle Frere had just compelled his Min- isters to resign office on grounds which constitutional lawyers have since defended as of vast importance to the safe conduct of the affairs of the Empire in the Colony. Nevertheless Frere's strong act which demanded coolness and courage on his part, produced a large amount of temporary irritation and of course the new Prime Minister had to face his task in unpleasant circumstances. Mr. Sprigg, however, retained his office as Prime Minister and Colonial Secretary for three years. In 1881 the difficulties which had lasted so long between the Basutos and the Cape Government reached a crisis. The Prime Minister had passed through the Cape Parliament in the preceding year an 'act of disarmament under which all native tribes under the jurisdiction of the Colonial Ministry were to be deprived not only of their guns but also of their native weapons, the assegais and kerries. This arose from the widespread disturbances which in those years were arousing the Bantu races into hostile activity towards the whites in various parts of South Africa. The result of the unpleasantness was that Mr. Sprigg resigned his post. In 1883 his successors, among whom Mr. Cecil Rhodes held POLITICAL WORKERS. 277 office, were compelled to give up Basutoland to the British Government. Mr. Sprigg in order to carry his act into operation felt it necessary to visit Basutoland in person. He appeared at Maseru and there, through an interpreter, addressed a large pitso or general assembly of the tribe. In vain he argued with them in favor of his scheme of disarmament. They resented alike the plan and the reasons adduced for it. Indeed many of the chiefs treated him with considerable freedom in their speeches, making numerous remarks of a character which the judicious interpreters took care not to translate. In the year 1884 when his friend Sir Thomas Uppington became Prime Minister, Mr. Sprigg ap- peared once more on the Government bench as Treasurer-General. In 1886 he succeeded that brilliant and versatile Irishman in the high office of Prime Minister and held it until 1890, when he was succeeded by Mr. Cecil Rhodes. At the time of the Queen's jubilee year, 1887, Mr. Sprigg took part in the celebrations in London and received knighthood in honor of the event. During this period of official responsibility Sir Gordon Sprigg paid much attention to the question of railway development and proposed a relatively large scheme for the construction of new lines and the extension of existing railways in South Africa. The colonists, however, especially the Dutch farmers, shrank from raising so large a sum as 10,000.000 (about $50,000,000). The scheme was therefore thrown out and he was compelled to resign. Sir Gordon Sprigg failed in the tactics of an opposition leader, and besides was unhappy under the shadow of defeat. The hour came, therefore, when his hostility to Mr. Rhodes cooled and the latter seized the opportunity to appoint him once more to the office of Treasurer, where he remained until January, 1896. In that year Mr. Rhodes, as the result of the Jameson Raid, was compelled to give up his office, and Sir Gordon Sprigg became his successor. In 1898, however, when fresh elections took place, the revival of Dutch enthusiasm, which had been caused by the Jameson Raid, brought a strong majority into power for the support of the Afrikander Bond; as a consequence Sir Gordon Sprigg was immediately driven from office and the present Prime Min- ister, Mr. W. P. Schreiner, took his place. A glance over this story of his career throws into prominence the 278 POLITICAL WORKERS. frequency with which Sir Gordon Sprigg has been in and out of office, a fact which creates in many minds an unfavorable impression of his character. There can be no doubt that he loves to be in office and that he has sometimes appeared to give up his principles of to-day in order to accept office to-morrow. It must be remembered, however, that party politics in Oape Colony have not always proceeded upon large and clearly defined differences of policy, and hence that the man who opposes a ministry on one measure may agree with them on another line of legis- lation. Nevertheless, while it must be acknowledged that Sir Gordon Sprigg has not used his position for self-enrichment and has preserved his personal honor without stain, he has laid himself open to criticism for the ease with which he has stepped into office under or along with those whom he had opposed. Sir Gordon Sprigg holds strong views regarding the development of what is known as Imperial Federation. He hopes to see the day, that is, when all the colonies of the Empire shall be represented in an Im- perial Parliament in London, and when in this way the Empire shall be bound into a closer organic unity than exists at present. In appearance Sir Gordon Sprigg is lithe and wiry and his features are fine and pleasing. In the House he speaks quietly, and an occasional smile lights up his kindly eyes. His hair is now an iron gray and is a reminder that the ex-Prime Minister is growing old. His chief power is shown in attention to the details of administrative work. He is a very diligent man who does not shrink from hard tasks and prolonged labor. While not manifesting the qualities of a statesman of the first rank he is yet looked upon as a thoroughly conscientious and hard-work- ing and intelligent servant of his country. SECTION IX. PRESIDENT STEYN. Marthinus Theunis Steyn attained the easiest governing position in the world when he was elected President of the Orange Free State. Many people have considered him to be the one man in South Africa who could control the events of the future. That impression is not a well-founded one, and it is probable that President Steyn, whilst an able man, is not capable of ever becoming a great man. He was born in 1857, three years after the signing of the Bloemfon- POLITICAL WORKERS. 270 tein Convention, close to the capital of the Free State. His father was a member of the Executive Council and a close friend of Sir John Brand, who was President of the Orange Free State as well as an Eng- lish knight. Young Steyn received his education at the Grey College in Bloem- fontein, and after leaving school, at the age of 16, worked on his father's farm. Here he learned the use of the rifle and became an expert horseman. It was at that time all his ambition to become a successful farmer, but in 1876 ajrisit from Mr. Justice Buchanan, of the Free State High Court, changed the whole course of his life. Mr. Buchanan was so struck with the nineteen-year-old boy that he persuaded his father to send his son to study law in Europe. The journey was in those times very costly and very difficult, as there were no railways to the coast. Steyn studied in London and in Holland, spending in all six years away from home. He took special interest in the reasons of British greatness and in the British Constitution. He conceived a great admiration for the system of government which makes England as free as the best Re- public. In 1882 the young lawyer returned to his native country, twenty- five years of age and anxious for hard work. He practised at the Bar for six years; was made Attorney General in 1889, and became a judge after less than a year's interval. He was only 32 when he attained this responsible position. A romantic story is told of young Steyn and the lady w r ho is now his wife. When he. left for England, in his 20th year, there was a little girl of twelve years on the ship. During the long voyage he naturally saw a good deal of her and got to know her well. When he left the ship he lost sight of her until he returned to Bloeinfontein as a barrister. He was presented to her at a reception held directly after his arrival home. Taking this as a clear sign, the two fell in love with each other and became engaged. The finances of the future President would not permit him to support a wife independently of assistance from his parents. Thus it was only after some considerable time that, in 1887. Miss Fraser became his wife. She is a most efficient and capable help to her .husband, and, indeed, assists him greatly in his official work. President Steyn is very devoted to his home life and enjoys nothing 280 POLITICAL WORKERS. better than to be able to spend his time with his wife, his son and his three little girls. During his career on the Orange Free State Bench, Mr. Steyn had frequently to ride circuit over the whole of the country. It was at this time and during these rides, or, rather, drives, that the future President made the acquaintance and won the respect of his fellow burghers. In six years the people had plenty of opportunities of discov- ering if they could trust Mr. Steyn or not, and when it came to voting they showed what their decision was. There are few uncommon incidents in the story of Mr. Steyn's judge- ship, though it is said that none of his judgments were reversed. In 1893 he had the chance of becoming Chief Justice, but preferred to sacrifice his own advancement to the good of the State and persuaded the then Chief Justice to reconsider his decision to resign. In 1896, just after the Jameson Raid, a contest for President took place between Mr. Steyn and Mr. J. G. Fraser, his wife's uncle. It was an unfortunate time for a Scotchman to appeal to a Dutch people, even although he was chairman of the Volksraad and trusted almost as one of themselves in times past. It is difficult to say how much the Jameson Raid affected the result of the election, but it suffices to say that Mr. Steyn beat his opponent by six to one. Considering that the election took place only five weeks after the Raid one may imagine that the Dutch feelings of the burghers were well to the fore when they recorded their votes. Since he became President, Mr. Steyn has always been anxious to remain at peace with Great Britain, to a great extent because he had no wish to lose his native State and his post at the same time. Both before and after the Bloemfontein Conference of 1899 he endeav- ored to close the widening breach between the Transvaal and the British Government. It is said in some quarters that President Steyn was against the present war and that he was quite ready to overlook the treaty with the Transvaal in order to escape, but he was forced by his burghers to an act which he knew well was both impolitic and suicidal. This, however, may be untrue. The position of the President of the Orange Free State is not clearly GOING HOME FROM THE MINES These two Bechuanas have been working at Kimberley or Johannesburg have received their oav In e , a g t ld h en C in f thC BrltiS , h realm and are traveling on their road from 100 t 400 mile? to? thei? distant home. They carry a few trophies purchased In the great city, and reckon themselves as they approach their own town among the heroes and wise men of their tribe. DIAMOND FIELD CLAIMS ON DE BEERS' FARM IN 1869 Best view now possible of the scene where Cecil J. Rhodes, as a youth of twenty, began work on his claim. This spot is now occupied by the extensive buildings and operations of the De Beers Mining Company. SCENE ON AN OSTRICH FARM Ostriches are here kept for the sake of obtaining their feathers for European and American markets. POLITICAL WORKERS. 283 defined, and, while the burghers regard him as a powerful ruler, the Volksraad does not even allow him the right of "veto" over its acts. Thus if a President does not agree he has no other course but to resign. Mr. Steyn is not at all content with this state of things and has cherished the intention of having it altered by direct appeal to the people. It is of interest to see what are President Steyn's views on Rhodes, as expressed in 1898, at Bloemfontein. He said: "Looking north, there was a great Imperialist under the guise of philanthropy, calling the working man into the land to slave for him, for he had a monopoly in the country. Down South, the great Im- perialist had tried to ingratiate himself into the good books of the Afrikander Bond, his only object being the hoarding up of money bags. Just now he was an ultra-Imperialist, but if he did not get his way he would become a Republican. Here in this land the race feeling had been engendered by the great Imperialist, who has traded on the na- tional feelings of the people, all for the sake of riches. It is against the capitalists that we have to fight." As to the personal appearance of Mr. Steyn, the description given by Mr. Bigelow, in 1897, a warm admirer of the President, may be quoted : "The eyes of President Steyn are those of a frank as well as fearless man. . . . The whole expression of his face is eminently that of harmony and strength. His nose is a strong one, but not, as in Paul Kruger's case, an exaggerated feature of the face. Both Presidents have the large ears characteristic of strong men, and both are broad between the cheek-bones. The full beard of President Steyn gives to him so great an aspect of dignity that I, at least, was much surprised on learn- ing later that he was not yet forty years old. His ample forehead adds to his dignity, and he has, also, from much poring over books, allowed one or two folds of skin to droop over his upper eyelids. . . . Like Paul Kruger, Mr. Steyn is a man of great physical strength, stands full six feet high, and weighs 200 pounds." ("White Man's Africa," by Poulteney Bigelow.) CHAPTER II. KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. ONE of the most interesting figures in South African history for nearly forty years has been that of Khama, the far-famed chief of the Bamangwatos. His territory is a very large one, extending from about the 24th deg. of latitude northwards to the 18th on the banks of the Zambesi, and from about the 22nd deg. of longitude to the 28th. A part of this square must be cut out of the northeastern corner and assigned to the Matabele. The Bamangwato tribe was at the beginning * of our story by no means one of the most powerful of the Bechuana tribes, nor would its chief stand in rank in the first place; there were other tribes to the south who were considered more powerful and whose chiefs were superior. But the raids of the blood-thirsty Matabele had for many years been destroying the balance of power among these Bechuana tribes and there were also quarrels among themselves which resulted in alterations of their reputation and strength in relation to one another. The chief Sekhome, the father of Khama, had the audacity to resist the Matabele and on one occasion when forty of Moselekatse's men were sent to gather tribute from Sekhome the latter put them to death. The result of his courageous and successful stand against the universal^ dreaded tyrant was not only to increase his reputation but his population; for small tribes, some of them remnants of tribes whom the Matabele had destroyed, came from different direc- tions to settle at Shoshong under Sekhome. Sekhome of course had a wide welcome for all." He was himself a dark-hearted, selfish, suspi- cious, clever and cunning man; he lived in an atmosphere of plottings and ambitions, of black fears and intense hatreds. He was proud, how- ever, of his sons. The eldest son of Sekhome was Khama, who had a younger brother close to him in age and sympathy named Khamane. These two as youths came under the influence of a Hanoverian missionary, a Mr. Schulenborg. By him they were brought to the Christian faith and baptized. 284 KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. 285 About the year 1862 John Mackenzie of the London Missionary So- ciety settled at Shoshong and became at the critical time of their life the friend, teacher and adviser of the young chiefs. Khama was a man who early manifested his remarkable gifts. His apprehension of Chris- tian truths was so clear and firm that he seems to have shed most of the heathen superstitions in which he was brought up without any trouble, and to have passed beyond them, never fearing their shadow again. He from the first refused to have anything to do with the heathen prac- tices in which the chiefs son was expected to take part. While thus running counter to the habits and doctrines of his tribe he nevertheless won the admira.tion and love of a large majority of his people, and in the difficult times which came to him he had often reason to be grateful for the singular attachment which the people had formed for him and which stood as a bulwark between him and hostile plotters over and over again. In 1863 Khama and other young Christians had an opportunity of showing their real metal. The natives had come to believe that Chris- tianity knocked the spirit out of a man. Because he ceased to be a murderer, ceased to plot for selfish ends, ceased to desire vengeance or to relish tribal wars, it was imagined that he had lost courage of soul. When therefore the news suddenly came that the Matabele were coming to attack Shoshong many in the town immediately wondered how the young chiefs and their sympathizers would meet this emergency. To the amazement and delight of all, and above all to the intense satisfac- tion of the suspicious father Sekhome," they showed themselves true patriots. Their missionary told them that in this crisis they who were known to be haters of warfare must show themselves heroes, when it came to defending their homes and loved ones. Sekhome of course resorted to witchcraft in order to consult the invisible powers as to his plans and prospects of success. Khama abruptty urged him to put these things aw^ay and to discuss what they were going to do, as he was eager to meet the enemy. This unexpected outburst rather pleased than annoyed the surprised old chief. At last the two youngest regi- ments, namely those of Khama and his brother Khamane, were ordered out to meet the enemy. The town of Shoshong lies along the foot of a short mountain range 286 KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. running east and west. At one point there is a deep cleft or kloof in the mountain where the channel of the river runs. Here there really is no river except after heavy rains in the wet season, but far up in the kloof in what must be called the bed of the river there are wells which can be opened by a little digging and from which the town receives its water supply. Between the town which lies out partly on the plain and these wells was the spot where the missionaries lived and did their work. This open space between the narrowest part of the kloof and the wider plain on which the town stood was chosen by Sekhome as the place of defence if the Matabele should actually attack his town. The women and children and the old men fled up to the mountains and hid among the rocks and caves, while the young men and the experienced soldiers assembled below and sent out their fighting parties and their scouts in various directions. Shoshong was therefore somewhat of a stronghold which it would not be easy for the Matabele to capture. Nevertheless the two regiments were sent out to meet the dreaded enemy in the open country around the western shoulder of the moun- tain. The Matabele were found to be marching in three companies, two of which were together, and the defending party chose these for their first attack. The Matabele had no guns, the Bamangwato had a few, and this really settled the matter for the Matabele found themselves being shot at and some of their number being shot down before they could reach their enemies with their short spears. At last it was time for a Bamangwato charge, and Khama with seven "or eight other men, on horseback, rushed on the Matabele. The latter turned to flee and were fleeing, when the third regiment from whom they had been sep- arated came upon the scene of action. The Bamangwato found them- selves now surrounded by the enemy and were speedily disorganized. They took to flight, their horsemen doing all in their power to shelter them by cutting in between them and their pursuers. The Matabele might well consider that they had won the victory except that they had lost more men and that after all they had been confronted and their advance actually checked by two regiments of despised Bechuanas. One of the amusing incidents of this fight took place when a Bam- angwa'to warrior found himself too closely pursued by a Matabele, and took to his heels. The former had a gun which he carried upon his KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. 287 shoulders as he ran. He had not courage enough even to stop and fire. All at once while both were running the gun by some accident went off, the owner probably being as much surprised at the unexpected event as his pursuer, who immediately stopped. The latter evidently thought that a man who could shoot backwards while running at full speed was too dangerous for further pursuit. These things occurred on a Friday. Strangely enough on the Sunday, in the ordinary exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, the missionary (John Mackenzie) had come to the passage in the 5th chapter of Mat- thew in which men are commanded to love their enemies. It gave him an opportunity to discuss frankly and in the presence of the very facts the difference between a righteous war in defence of home, and the spirit that seeks vengeance as such, or which would make war for the purpose of personal gain. He even urged his hearers to pray for the Matabele, and believed that some of them did. The subject of this address was naturally much discussed throughout the town, even Sek- home who never attended church service hearing of it and expressing his approval of "the Word." He said, "We expected that all the men of the Word of God would have ascended the mountain with the women and children. But to-day those who pray to God are our leaders." An old man remarked, "In forbidding covetousness the Word of God stopped all war, for all Bechuana wars are begun through covetous- ness." The result of this war was to raise Khama and his brother higher than ever in the regard of the people. But it did not deliver them from persecution in the days to come. Khama had been married for some time to the daughter of Tshukuru, one of the leading under-chiefs of the tribe, and Khainane was engaged to marry another daughter of the same chief. Now it w r as both a matter of policy and a sign of dignity in a Bechuana tribe that the chief should marry several wives, the daughters of various under-chiefs. In that way he made powerful friends for him- self and maintained his royal state. Khama refused to marry the daughter of another chief whom his father had assigned to him; no arguments could persuade him to take the step which his religion for- bade. The wrath of his father was backed up by the jealousy of other head men who did not relish the idea of seeing one man the proud 288 KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. father-in-law of the two young chiefs. Sekhome tried various schemes, he even in his wrath and hatred attempted to get his people to attack his sons, but he found his people loved them too much. Every plot he made was exposed in advance, sometimes by the very men whom he had selected to carry it out. Khama moved through all these events without anger, without vengeance of spirit, calm, clear of mind and strong of will. At last danger came close to him and he had to flee. His sympathizers went with him and his brother, and they ascended the mountain over the town with a few cattle and goats, and there awaited events. Sekhome fired upon them, and civil war began. It lasted six weeks, the final step consisting of a close sifge during which Sekhome attempted to starve his sons and their followers into submission. At the end of that time peace was made. Khama was careful to lay down as a condition that he should not be marched into the town and into the khotla, or royal courtyard, as if he was a conquered captive, but that his father should take his place and allow Khama and his friends to enter as usual and take their places in the ordinary way. Peace did not last long, and Sekhome in the madness of his anger attempted another foolish plan which made years of misery both for himself and his people. There was living in another town a half- brother of his, by name Macheng, who, according to native laws, had a better claim to be chief of the Bamangwato than Sekhome himself. The latter resolved to name him as his successor, and sent for him to come and settle at Shoshong with that end in view. Macheng who had been brought up among the Matabele and had imbibed many of their abominable habits and principles, came of course very readily, wondering at the turn of events which brought him within sight of so lofty a posi- tion. When he came strange scenes were enacted. The people disliked him and Sekhome disliked him; and he soon saw that all the flattering speeches of welcome which they uttered were hollow and insincere. Sekhome had said to him beforehand that he wished him to come in order to kill Khama and Khamane and win the heirship for himself. Macheng speedily found that those whom he had come to kill were the only people whom he could trust. Khama, when his turn came to make a speech of welcome, spoke with a courageous frankness worthy of the KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. 289 bravest men that have lived. "King," he said, "it would appear that I alone am to speak unpleasant words to you this day. The Bamang- wato say they are glad to See you here. I say I am not glad to see you. If Sekhome could not live with his own children but drove them from the town and shot at them, how is he to submit to be ruled by you? If I thought there would be peace in the town, I would say I was glad to see you; I say I am sorry you have come, because I know that only disorder and death can take place when two chiefs sit in one khotla." Continuing he claimed his freedom. Let him have his own horses and wagon, and he would go where he liked; he would have nothing more to do with the politics of the town, with night meetings and with plot- tings, he would only attend conferences held in -daylight. "I am sorry, Macheng, that I cannot give you a better welcome to the Bamangwato." This bold and honest way of speaking fell like a thunderbolt in that assembly of hypocrites, and Macheng with a certain manly grace ac- knowledged it. When he spoke, having referred to the other addresses, he said, "All these I have heard with the ear; one speech, and one only, has reached my heart, and that is the speech of Khama. I thank Khama for his speech." Macheng assured Khama that no injury would come from him, and Sekhome's plot had once more failed. Khama's prophecy was very speedily fulfilled, for Sekhome could not endure the presence of Macheng, and very soon began plotting to get rid of his guest. He arranged with his supporters that on a certain day, as they were all assembling in the khotla, they should attack Macheng and his party when he would give a signal. While they were assembling ac- cordingly Sekhome stepped out from his quarters and suddenly with one blow knocked one of Macheng's followers to the ground. He turned, expecting his supporters to rush to his assistance and to overwhelm the other side. To his dismay he saw them stand still, and when he re- turned to them they gathered around him and advised him to flee. This he did, slipped out of his own courtyard and took refuge in the moun- tains. That evening when the sun was setting there was only one house in all his town to which he could go with confidence. That was the house of the missionary, against whom for years he had been speak- ing, and whose very life he had threatened to destroy. Macheng ruled as chief for several years and throughout those years 290 KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. Khama behaved with consummate tact, modesty and goodness. Ma- cheng, however, became more brutal as time passed; a drunken and sensual man, he gradually made himself intolerable; at last he even attempted to get rid of Khama by means of poison. Native charms and medicines would not do it, so he resolved to buy strychnine from a white trader. He got the help in this of a degraded European whom he sent to the store to buy it. The sharp-witted trader suspected mischief and sold to the white man instead of strychnine marking ink. This was destined by Macheng to be put into the cups of coffee which he w r ould invite Khama and Khamane to take; but they declined the invitation, and Macheng was doubly foiled. At last for the sake of his very life once more, long after his best friends had advised him to take the step, Khama drove the chief away, and he himself was the acknowledged chief of the Bamangwato tribe. This occurred in the year 1872. Khama once said, "When I was still a lad I used to think how I would govern my town and what kind of a kingdom it should be." No royal dreamer ever resolved more wisely than he. On the one hand he determined to have no hand in heathen practices. On the other hand he determined to forbid no one from continuing these practices who still believed in them. Freedom of thought and action were to characterize his kingdom. Further he resolved that one matter which had long been familiar to his mind should be firmly dealt with: that was the use of intoxicating drinks. Not only did his own people make a strong native beer which did much mischief among them, but alas! and alas! Euro- pean traders were in the habit of bringing in strong drinks which they were willing to sell to the natives, and which they too often consumed in large quantities themselves. Khama's heart had been sickened times without number at the sheer devilry wrought in these men's lives by the bad brandy in which they dealt. He resolved to cleanse his land of this curse. "I wanted," he said, "to rule over a nice town, and no town could be nice where there was drunkenness." But while these projects were ripening in his mind he took a step which no one of his friends has ever been able to explain. He actually sent for Sekhome, his father, and brought him back to Shoshong. The old chief began plotting on the day of his arrival. He quickly saw that the younger brother, Khamane, was ambitious and jealous of KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. 291 Khama, and their father set himself to win Khamane's confidence and to use him for the overthrow of the elder brother. When Khama real- ized that plots were again afoot and that his own brother had turned against him he once more with a singularly Christian heart resolved not to fight. He went forth with a few of his friends to a fountain not many miles away and there settled down. To the astonishment of the usurpers practically the whole town, family by family, put together their few possessions and went out to Khama. Soon he had nearly all his people around him again. Then he moved to the northern part of his kingdom and settled on the river Zouga; but within two years, finding that the usurpers did not relent but rather sought in every way to com- plete the work of his overthrow, he returned to. Shoshong. He then gave battle and quickly conquering in the sharp fight which took place in the kloof, established himself once for all chief of the Bamangwato. One of the great ceremonies of his people was that of rain-making. No harvest could be successful it was thought unless at the proper sea- son the native wizards used their concoctions and incantations to secure abundant rain and a rich harvest. Khama firmly determined to have nothing to do with it, but proposed rather that they should meet for solemn prayer to God, who alone could give them rain. This the mass of the people declined to do, and the ceremony of rain-making was car- ried through without the chief. There ensued a rainless season, no harvests and a terrific famine. The miserable creatures perished of hunger notwithstanding all the efforts used by the missionaries and traders and by the noble and generous Khama himself, to procure food and to distribute it freely. The missionary, Rev. J. D. Hepburn, proposed a week of prayer to God for rain. The native wizards attributed the drought to the god of the rain who was punishing them for deserting his worship. Great was their confusion of face when this very week of prayer closed on the day on which most abundant rains descended. The Christians were strength- ened in their conviction, and rightly so, that the Living God answers prayer, and the heathen were in large numbers so overwhelmed with the facts before them that they became learners of the Word. This prac- tically ended rain-making among the Bamangw^ato. The heathen cere- 292 KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. rnony has given way to an annual Christian service of worship and prayer. But Khama's hardest fight, the struggle in which moral courage of the noblest order was manifested by him, was when he arose for his contest with the drink, fiend. In spite of many remonstrances he found that the English traders insisted on bringing drink into his country. They brought it in indeed under the guise of other goods; but this kind could not be hidden long, for as soon as the bad brandy of South Africa has been taken, the man who takes it immediately announces the fact to all beholders and all hearers. At last the matter reached a crisis when it was ascertained that the majority of the traders w r ere deter- mined to defy him. He went personally from one to another of their wagons and houses and saw the most horrible scenes conceivable. At one place he found a group with their white shirts stained with blood, their goods strewn all over the floor, a huge cask of water upset and many things swimming in it, the men themselves raving with drunken- ness. This was on a Saturday. On the Monday all the traders had been summoned to the king's courtyard. "A cold, dreary, dark day, the chief in the sternest mood he ever assumes, but which, it is said, always means a fixed purpose with Khama. He did not ask any questions, but simply stated what he had seen; how he had taken the trouble to warn them, and they had des- pised his laws 'because he was a black man, and for nothing else.' " 'Well, I am black,' he said, 'but if I am black I am chief of my own country at present.' He went on: 'When you white men rule in the country then you will do as you like. At present I rule, and I shall maintain my laws which you insult and despise. You have insulted and despised me in my own town because I am a black man. You do so because you despise black men in your hearts. If you despise us, what do you want here in the country that God has given to us? Go back to your own country.' "And he mentioned them one by one by name. " 'Take everything you have; strip the iron roofs off the houses; the wood of the country and the clay of which you made the bricks you can leave to be thrown down. Take all that is yours and go. More than that, if there is any other white man here who does not like my laws KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. 293 let him go, too. I want no one but friends in my town. If you are not my friends, go back to your own friends, and leave me and my own people to ourselves. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. " 'I am trying to lead my people to act according to that word of God which we have received from you white people, and you show them an example of wickedness such as we never knew. You, the people of the word of God! You know that some of my own brothers have learned to like the drink, and you know that I do not want them to see it ever, that they may forget the habit; and yet you not only bring it in and offer it to them, but you, try to tempt me with it. I make an end of it to-day. Go. Take your cattle, and leave my town, and never come back again/ "The utmost silence followed 1 Khaina's words. Shame and utter bewilderment fell upon most of them. They had expected nothing like this, and they lost the very power to reply." Several individuals attempted to plead with him. "One man espe- cially pleaded that he had grown up from being quite a lad in the coun- try, and Khama and he were old friends. 'Surely, for old friendship's sake, he would pity him?' " 'Friendship,' said Khama; 'do you call yourself my friend? You are the ringleader among those who insult and despise my laws. If you have grown up in the country, then you know better than anyone how much I hate this drink. Don't talk to me about friendship. I give you more blame than any of them. You are my worst enemy. I had a right to expect that you would uphold my laws, and you bring in the stuff for others to break them. You do not know what pity is, and yet you ask for pity. You ask for pity and you show me no pity. You des- pise my laws, and defy me in the presence of all my people. My people and I are not worthy of pity because God has made our faces black and yours white. No, I have no pity.' " ("Twenty Years in Khama's Coun- try," by J. D. Hepburn.) Needless to say Khama in this instance gained the victory, and drove the drink sellers out of his town. To this day he has maintained his determination that no drink shall be brought into his country from abroad, nor made within his country. It has cost him much to carry on the struggle against his own people, against brutal white traders, and even against the British authorities, but his tremendous moral 294 KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. determination has carried him victoriously through his difficulties, and his country is to-day practically clear of the disgrace of drunkenness. Khama has baffled all students of his motives in his dealings with Sekhome, his father, and Khainaiie, his youngest brother. They both plotted repeatedly against his life and threatened the destruction of his people. The latter became, alas! a worthless drunkard. Khama had the right according to native laws and customs on many occasions to put them to death. He had as much right to do so as Cromwell to be- head Charles I. In many lands plottings like these would have received short shrift, but Khama has always had only one answer to those who inquire on this matter, "He is my father; he is my brother." No other reason does he offer, but this one has been final throughout his life. At last Sekhorne died and the weaker machinations of Khamane became less important as time went on. In the year 1876 Khama wrote to the British High Commissioner at Cape Town, requesting to be protected from inroads of the Boers. The Boers had cast their eyes upon many rich and lovely parts of Khama's kingdom, and many of them had determined to trek north- wards and settle there and elsew r here in the northern part of Austral Africa. Needless to say he did not receive the protection he desired. In 1885 Sir Charles Warren visited Shoshong and Khama proposed to him a treaty, one of the most remarkable documents in South African history. He put in a map on which was marked off a considerable por- tion of territory which he reserved for himself and his people. There they were to enjoy their farms for raising stock and agriculture and for hunting as hitherto. Within those limits also he was to continue to be o . chief and to rule his people according to his own laws and customs, and yet he proposed to receive a British Resident as his friend and adviser. All the rest of his territory, comprising some of the finest land in South Africa, amounting to no less than 70,000 square miles, he offered to cede to the British Government who should have the pow r er at once to divide it up into farm lands and townships, and send in European settlers. The British Government would be solely responsible for the control of these districts occupied by Europeans. This most wise and liberal proposal received no .answer for many months, and at last in 1886 was declined! So much once more for British aggression! The folly of this KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. 295 Step can only be seen and felt by those who realize the difference which would have been made in South Africa affairs to-day had Khama's statesman-like proposals been heartily accepted and earnestly put into practice. The besetting British habit of refusing responsibility and withdrawing from South African territories, which we have remarked so repeatedly in these pages, we see once more doing its fatal work here. It must be remembered that already Great Britain had proclaimed a protectorate over all Bechuanaland, and that fact makes the treatment of Khama's offer the more amazing in its dullness of vision and weak- ness of will. At last, however, a Kesident was appointed in South Bechuanaland who was understood to be in correspondence with Khama. In the year 1888 Khama sent to this assistant-Commissioner, Mr. John Smith Mof- fat, a letter in which he complained that on the Limpopo river forming the boundary between his country and the Transvaal, a number of Boers were gathering in a deliberate and suspicious way, with wagons and abundance of ammunition, that they were building a pontoon for trans- porting their wagons and cattle across the river, and that he regarded their presence and actions there as threatening his territory. Now in the preceding year the High Commissioner at Cape Town had kindly informed Khama that he must keep the subordinate tribes in his own territory in order himself, and that if Boer intruders invaded his terri- tory he must expel them himself. Accordingly, as no time was to be lost, Khama not only sent this letter to Mr. Moffat but also sent a party of his own men under the command of a near relative of his own, to the Limpopo river, telling them that they must on no account fight, but that they were to command any Europeans found in his territory to come to him, Khama, to explain their actions and their purposes. The natives found that one wagon had already crossed the Limpopo, and contained a large amount of ammunition. The head of this Boer expedition was a man of the name of Grobbelaar. When Khama's men came to him he behaved towards them in a brutal way, and in this he was backed up by some degraded English travellers with him, and other Boers. The Bechuanas displayed great courage and also great patience. Grobbelaar pointed his revolver at them, pressed it against the head of their leader, pummelled first one and then another, exclaim- 296 KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. ing in a loud voice repeatedly, "I will shoot you, I will shoot you." At last the struggle took a more serious form, and in spite of the efforts of the Bechuana leaders to maintain peace and to explain that Khania did not wish to fight but only wished their company to come to him for explanations, shots were exchanged. One of the bullets struck Grob- belaar, who died of the wound. The scene was repeated on two con- secutive days. Several of Khama's people w r ere killed. The incident produced much excitement and correspondence between the British Government and the Transvaal took place. Beyond a doubt this con- stituted another of the many breaches of the London Convention on the part of the Transvaal Government, for it should be distinctly under- stood that in a country like the Transvaal and among a people like the Boers no such movement as that of Grobbelaar can take place without prolonged discussions, careful preparation, and various steps of which the Government officials necessarily become perfectly cognizant. This instance also displayed Khama's wisdom and moderation. It is another instance of the real weakness and lack of insight at Cape Town that while this outrage occurred in a British Protectorate, instead of sending Sir Sidney Shippard, the Commissioner in Bechuana- land, to investigate the incident and report, Sir Hercules Kobinson actually invited President Kruger to join him in an investigation. Kruger sent General Joubert, and Joubert and Shippard of course disagreed. Then the Governor actually proposed a reference of the matter to the Chief Justice of the Cape Colony, and Kruger proposed the President of the United States or the President of France! The Impe- rial Government was carefully kept out as if by common consent. Perhaps the event just described brought to a head certain plans over which Khama had long brooded. As we have said the tow T n of Shoshong is situated on a singularly dry and barren region. It had served its purpose in the stormy days of the past as a stronghold against the Matabele, but now the fear of Matabele invasions was practically at an end and that reason for remaining at Shoshong existed no longer. Khama looked out for a new site on w r hich to place his capital. He selected a spot called Palapye, sixty miles northeast of Shoshong. There are mountains near but the site itself consists of rolling ground with abundance of trees and grass and abundance of water. It is in every KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. 297 way a most striking contrast to Shoshong. Khama planned that his town should occupy about twenty square miles which he divided into five quarters, each being under its own head-man. After the plans were completed the removal began. It lasted for weeks and months, streams of people marched almost daily from Shoshong, past the mission houses, through the kloof, and away to the new city where each company was shown to its own quarter and set to work to build its own houses. It was no slight undertaking thus to transfer from 20,000 to 30,000 people, but Khama carried the whole project through with great skill. Of course, an appropriate and as it appears a most beautiful site was selected and set apart for the mission station. In a short time the sum of 3,000 (about |15,000) was raised for the building of the new church. The church is of Gothic architecture, well built of brick, and holds about a thousand people. Arrangements were made for schools in every quar- ter and the energetic missionary, Rev. J. D. Hepburn, speedily had his native teachers at work. Khama has maintained through all these years his deep religious devotion, and makes it plain at every step in his life that he acts ever under the guidance and inspiration of his strong and clear Christian faith. Khama's selection of a site was wise on political as well as economic grounds. By this move he put himself into the heart of the region which he wished to retain permanently for his own tribe. He also placed himself on the direct road between the Transvaal and the unoccu- pied territories to the north, so that any Boers who henceforth should wish to "trek" northwards must come into close quarters with him ere they could reach their destination. Khama has in recent years more than once shown his determination to be a faithful member of the British Empire and loyal to the Queen. When the pioneer party of the British South Africa Company went north to occupy its territory in the year 1890, they received most valu- able assistance from the men whom Khama sent with them as guides, scouts and workers. It has been acknowledged that they greatly facili- tated the movements of the pioneer force. When the war between the British South Africa Company and the Matabele tyranny took place Khama once more assisted by himself accompanying the Imperial troops under Major Goold- Adams with a body pf his own soldiers; and once 298 KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATOS. more his men proved themselves valuable. A slight incident at the close of this war helps again to illustrate the dignity and high sense of honor of this native chief. He ascertained through his scouts that the Matabele had fled and that the war was at an end before the white scouts were able to obtain the same information. Khama himself immediately returned to Palapye with his troops. It was at first thought that he had deserted the British force, and the leaders of the latter were for a time indignant. This was reported to Mr. Rhodes, and when Mr. Rhodes reached Palapye he addressed Khama with great indignation. Khama resented what he felt to be an unjust rebuke. Mr. Rhodes after- wards discovered the true facts and at once honorably sent a message through Dr. Jameson to Palapye to express his regret for the misappre- hension and for the words spoken under that misapprehension. Khama himself said, "If the words were so spoken it is enough. I have already forgotten them." Some time afterwards Khama was asked to give an account of this incident, but he abruptly refused. "Mr. Rhodes," he said, "has asked me to forgive him for words which he spoke when he was misinformed, and I cannot go back on what I have already forgot- ten." It came to be known that Mr. Rhodes coveted North Bechuanaland, and that he desired the British Government to give that glorious ter- ritory into the possession of the Chartered Company. This had not been altogether unexpected, and the British Government had already re- ceived many protests against such a scheme. It had been pointed out that, it was one thing to accept Khama's cession of his territory and rule it directly under Imperial officers, who invariably maintain order and justice among native tribes and who would develop the country for the sake of its inhabitants both white and black; while it would be quite an- other thing to hand it over to the tender mercies of a purely commercial organization. Nevertheless the pressure w r as so great that in the year 1895 Khama, accompanied by two other neighboring chiefs, paid a visit to Great Britain. Their arrival in the country created widespread interest. The name of Khama was already familiar and his character admired by various sections of the British public, and wheresoever he went he found himself warmly received by the leading citizens of the land. Large meetings were .organized where he made his statements Saja --J e~2! 3 nil s s^sf 5 MO"!* lip ^ gS B -SSi ffl 0, ill Mil .60 O o P ^TS tn o CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. Livingstone produced marked effects upon the history of that country. He was born in the year 1813, at the village of Blantyre, near Glasgow, Scotland. His parents, Neil Livingstone and Agnes Hunter, were, w T hile poor, yet intelligent and pious. After a scanty elementary education David Livingstone was sent as an apprentice to a w r eaving establishment at ten years of age. His first wages he put into his mother's lap, and immediately afterwards used some of his wages to buy a Latin grammar. The little lad of ten years introduced himself to that language, working after his long day of toil in the mill by lamplight even until 11 and 12 o'clock at night over his Latin grammar and dic- tionary. He became an omnivorous reader, devouring, we are told, every kind of book that came in his way except novels. In this he differed from some people nowadays who never read any kind of book except novels. He early manifested a great interest in natural science, col- lecting plants and specimens of fossils and in every way extending his knowledge of nature. In the year 1836 he entered the Glasgow Uni- versity as a student, returning when the winter session was over to work at the mill for his living. He paid all his own expenses, only once having found it necessary to borrow a little money from an elder brother. At the end of two years, during which he studied principally in the department of medicine he carried out a long-formed resolve to become a missionary, by applying to the London Missionary Society. His idea was, at this time that he might be sent to China and undoubt- edly his mind was directed towards the interests of that great empire. After two years more of study in London, which w T ere divided between the classics, theology and medicine, he was, in November, 1840, ordained as a missionary and sailed for South Africa. It was a long voyage, as the ship first crossed the Atlantic to Brazil before proceeding to the Cape, but Livingstone used this time as few passengers have been able to use similar opportunities in hard study at theology and in acquiring the art of taking observations with the quadrant. The captain became interested in him and spent night after night instructing him in what became to him of vast importance w r hen in after years exploring new lands and fixing the geographical situation of new places by means of sun and stars. His first long journey by ox wagon was made from Port Elizabeth to Kuruman, a mission station in South Bechuanaland about > ^- a %> gS fl &3 - DURBAN MAIN STREET DURBAN ROAD TO THE BEREA The beautiful city of Durban is celebrated especially for the fashionable district called the Berea. CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 310 200 miles from the present town of Kimberley, where the famous Robert Moffat had his station. He felt the restrictions placed upon him by the African mode of travel keenly, enjoyed of course the freedom for walking, riding, shooting, and observing the phenomena of nature, but he missed the opportunity for consecutive reading and study. In the year 1842 he set out on a tour in Bechuanaland, partly for the purpose of fixing upon new mission stations and partly for the purpose of throwing himself thoroughly among the natives so as to acquire an intimate knowledge of their language and manners. Livingstone's first station was at Mabotsa, situated more than 100 miles northeast of Kuruman. Here he set to work, as almost every South African missionary has had to do, to build his own dwelling house, to make his own garden, and to carry on these operations with the most inefficient help conceivable. It was while living in the lovely valley of Mabotsa that Livingstone had that encounter with the lion which is associated with his name wherever that name is known. The district was infested with lions, which had become terribly bold through their comparative immunity from attack. The natives, being without guns and being of a timid dis- position, had been unable to slaughter even one of their fierce assailants. Livingstone agreed to help them, knowing that if even one only of the lions was killed the others would probably move away from the district. He accordingly summoned the people to join him in hunting them, and a large body of men moved out towards a small wooded hill which they were known to infest. They formed a large ring around this hill and began to close in upon it. One or two lions were seen, but the attempt to shoot them failed until at last they came upon one standing on a rock looking upon his human assailants in terrible wrath. Livingstone, who was only about thirty yards distant, promptly fired at it with both barrels in quick succession. The natives shouted, "He is shot, he is shot," but ere Livingstone could reload his gun the great beast was upon him. He himself has told the story in the following words: "Starting, and looking half round," says Livingstone, "I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little height. He caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came down to the ground below together. Growling terribly close to my ear, he shook me 320 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. as a terrier does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of a cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain, nor feeling of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. It was like what patients, partially under the influence of chloroform, describe, who see all the operation but feel not the knife. This singular condition was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihi- lated fear, and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the carnivora; and, if so, is a merciful provision made by our benevolent Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning around to relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, I saw his eyes directed towards Mebalwe, who was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels; the lion immediately left me, and, attacking Mebalwe, bit his thigh. Another man, whose hip I had cured before, after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebalwe; he left Mebalwe and caught this man by the shoulder, but at that moment the bullets he had received began to take effect, and he fell down dead. . . . Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds in my arm." The memory of this story should always include the name of the brave native teacher who came to the rescue of Livingstone, and with- out whose courageous act the lion might very probably have had time to inflict a vital wound upon its victim. Livingstone, through the re- mainder of his life, suffered from this wound. He was unable per- fectly to set the bones of his own arm and had no surgeon to help him, the result being that ever after he could use the arm only in certain positions and with pain. It is said also that exactly one year from the infliction of the wound it broke out again, causing him great suf- fering and trouble. Livingstone's magnificent journeys of exploration which took him through the most toilsome experiences possible, were all carried out under the limitations put upon his bodily strength and agility by this misfortune in his early missionary career. In the year 1844 he became engaged to Mary Moffat, the eldest daughter of the famous Robert Moffat of Kuruman. After their mar- CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 321 riage they found it necessary to remove to another station, from which again they moved to Kolobeng, the town of the well known Bechuana chief named Sechele. At each of these stations the labor of building had to be undertaken, and the hard work of beginning missionary work in a new field had to be faced. Sechele himself became an ardent friend of the missionaries, learned to read, and spent much time in reading the Christian Scriptures. It was long before he was able to make an open profession of Christianity, and to the last there were many unfriendly critics of his somewhat complex character who doubted his sincerity and pointed to unmistakable defects in him as proof positive that his profession was born of prudential motives. It was while here that Livingstone came for the first time, but with the worst result to himself, into contact with the Boers. The Boers, as we have seen elsewhere in these pages, had at this time crossed the Vaal River, formed themselves into various companies or commandos, with a very loose connection with one another, and considered that the entire region in which they found themselves was their land to occupy and deal with as they chose. Each native tribe they considered, to start with, as an enemy that must be crushed. Especially did they found their claim to the land upon the victory over the Moselekatse and his Zulu warriors whom they had driven off. The Boers intensely disliked the efforts of the missionaries sent from London by the London Missionary Society to push east and north into the heart of the continent, for wherever these men went they proved themselves the courageous and unfailing friends of the natives, and the stern opponents and exposers of all ruthless and unjust deeds done upon them by white men of any class or of any race. Frequently the Boers interfered with their plans and prevented the undertaking of journeys which would have been greatly for the benefit of the mission work. On one occasion they turned back another son-in-law of Dr. Moffat, who was moving northwards to open a new station beyond Dr. Livingstone. They succeeded in persuading him to return only by using personal violence against him. Next to the white missionary the Boers intensely disliked every effort to settle a native missionary in any of these native towns. Moreover it must be observed in the bare name of truth and reality that the Boer commandos held no national or international standing whatsoever at 322 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. this time. They had no fixed authorities, they moved about and spread themselves over the country, invading the lands occupied by organized and not savage native tribes, whom they destroyed or deprived of the best of their lands and then treated practically as their vassals. Their interference accordingly with the efforts of missionaries to begin work either personally or through native agents in these Bechuana towns is absolutely without excuse or defense. Their proceedings very serious- ly interfered with the development of plans which were being initiated and pushed by Dr. Livingstone regarding the appointment of native teachers, which would have very surely altered for the better the entire history of that vast region during the last fifty years. During this early period of his life Livingstone made many journeys. On these journeys he made it a practice to carry on observations of the most valuable kind regarding plants, animals, as well as human tribes and customs of the land. Much of what is now known concerning the fauna and flora as well as the geology of South Central Africa began to be known through the reports which this wide-minded and intrepid mis- sionary made from time to time to men of science in England and Scot- land. In the year 1847 the Boers, enraged at Sechele's independent spirit, attacked Kolobeng w r hile t>r. Livingstone was absent in the south. Livingstone has himself given a full account of the wreck of his own station, the destruction of his medicines, his books, his valuable diaries, and the carrying off of his precious furniture by these white marauders. All attempts to disprove this act of the Boers must be confronted with the plain fact that Livingstone himself shortly afterwards on his return to the station considered the evidence absolutely conclusive that not the natives, as some would suggest, but the Boers themselves had wrought this cruel vengeance upon the missionary of the Gospel and the friend of the natives. In the year 1849 Livingstone set out upon his second journey northwards. On the former occasion he had traveled as far as a point about ten days journey distant from Lake Ngami; on this occasion he determined to press onwards until he should reach the land of the lakes and rivers of which accounts frequent and en- thusiastic had reached him from the lips of natives. They told him of a region that was entirely unlike the vast deserts familiar to him CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 323 and his fellow missionaries in Bechuanaland, "A country full of rivers," they said, "so many no one can tell their number, and full of large trees." It was in the month of August, 1849, that at last Livingstone made his first great geographical discovery, and stood on the shores of Lake Ngami. He has recorded with enthusiasm the feeling of joy and triumph that swept through his heart when he beheld that noble sheet of water. He traveled back along the banks of the Zouga River, which flows out of Lake Ngami, but which, alas, ere long loses itself in the desert sands; for a considerable distance it is as he tells us a glorious river, its banks lined with gigantic trees and the region inhabited by a "fine, frank race of men." Dr. Livingstone on this occasion had failed to reach what he most desired, a healthy region where European missionaries might settle without danger of incurring the deadly fever. Accordingly, in the year 1850, he set out again in the same direction and penetrated farther than before. In 1851 he made the long and weary journey once more. This time he took with him his family, and terrible were the sufferings of himself and his wife and children as they crossed the wide, waterless deserts. On one occasion they were for four or five days without water, and the agonized parents felt as if they must watch their children perish with thirst when a native appeared with a small supply, and guided them to the fountain from which it came. No doubt in one way this brave missionary was aided in his dealings with the natives by the presence of Mrs. Livingstone and the children, for the natives were suspicious of any lone white man traveling with guns and servants, and unable to give to them an account of himself which they would feel to be intelligible; but when he brought his household with him the proof was at hand that he desired above all to settle among them, not as a marauder or a conquering war- rior, but simply as a teacher seeking to do them a good which they could not appreciate perhaps, but whose reality seemed great to him. Everywhere missionaries have borne witness to the influence exerted upon the minds of the heathen by the presence of their wives and chil- dren. Nevertheless at the conclusion of this journey Dr. Livingstone had decided that it would not be expedient to take his precious ones with him on the next great exploration, which already was in his mind. 324 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. Accordingly he decided that they must go to England and remain there until he should go for them. He went to Cape Town to arrange for their voyage home, and bid them farewell, and also to have a slight operation performed upon his throat which was necessary to his health and comfort. The pain with which he parted with his children finds expression over and over again in letters written at this time. In one passage he avows that the only explanation and defence he can offer is that he feels confident of a call of Providence summoning him to regions beyond. He had two overwhelming motives for this extraor- dinary and tremendous burden which he was undertaking. First, he was determined to find that healthy region which must lie beyond and above the level of the lakes and rivers he had seen, where missionaries could be settled and Christian work begun. Secondly, he had come to see that the slave trade was invading southern Africa. Tribes hitherto innocent of that degrading practice had recently been drawn into it by the discovery that they could exchange children for guns. Guns had come to be considered the most precious of possessions, inasmuch as only those who ow r ned and used them could hope to hold their own against other tribes already so armed. Livingstone was determined to see if no other route could be opened up either to the east or to the west coast of the continent, which should make it possible to develop trade connections of a healthier order between the European world and these benighted tribes of Central Africa. They were too far from the Cape and the journey too expensive to allow r of regular trade in that direction. Dr. Livingstone imagined there might be water com- munications between the coast and these central regions, which as yet had not been discovered or made use of. These were the hopes and these the motives which filled the mind of that true hero of our century, when, having bidden farewell to his nearest, he set out alone on a toil- some journey which lasted no less than five years. To begin with he covered the route already so well known to him, passed Lake Ngami up to the Zambesi, at a point which he had discovered, till he reached the lovely country of the Barotsi, which by the bye has long been said to be an object of eager desire on the part of the Boers of the Transvaal. Dr. Livingstone there labored, as he always did everywhere, amongst CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 325 the native tribes as a simple missionary of the Gospel. He preached and succeeded in deeply interesting large numbers of the people. At last with twenty-seven followers to whom he gave a pledge before they would consent to accompany him that he would bring them back, he set out for St. Paul de Loanda, a Portuguese seaport, in the province of Angola, on the west coast. The entire journey was made on foot or on ox-back. He was attacked over and over again with fever, and was reduced to great weakness; nevertheless he persevered in taking his astronomical observations and accurately fixing the route from day to day. He did not reach the coast until May 31, 1854, and there remained some months in the home of the English consul, months of intense satisfaction to him and comfort of mind. His companion and host was a man evi- dently well fitted to awake his interest and confidence, and he ever afterwards remembered. his kindness during these months. From here Livingstone wrote long letters of a personal nature and learned com- munications to men of science at the Cape and in London. These, un- fortunately, were lost by the sinking of the vessel which conveyed them, and Livingstone had to stop after having set out on his eastward journey to copy out once more these precious documents through weeks of patient labor. It is well at this point to note that men of science were amazed and filled with admiration at the extraordinary accuracy and value of Livingstone's geographical observations. One of them, Mr. Mac- lear, the Astronomer Royal at the Cape, repeatedly gave expression to this admiration and on one occasion, after detailing the laboriousness of this branch of his work and the enormous amount of it, he exclaimed: "How completely all this stamps the impress of Livingstone on the interior of South Africa. I say, what that man has done is unprece- dented. You could go- to any point across the entire continent, along Livingstone's track, and feel sure of your position." Dr. Livingstone might have been moved to sail from Loanda for England but for that immovable fidelity of soul which compelled him to return with his native companions to their own country as he had promised to do. He started from Loanda Sept. 20, 1854, retraversed most of his former route until he came to Linyanti. Thence he set out for the east coast. Shortly after starting he came upon the now famous Victoria Falls, the marvelous rivals of the American Niagara, which he 326 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. first of intelligent Europeans saw and named. At this point the great Zambesi River, hundreds of yards in width, comes upon a fissure in the earth which is only 80 feet wide and 310 feet deep. The whole river falls into this rent, sending up columns of steam into the air. At the bottom it runs along this strange crack in the crust of the earth which zig-zags for thirty miles, after that the river flows out into a calm and visible and noble stream again. Between this point and the coast Livingstone met with terrific difficulties with the tribes, nearly all of whom received him with a suspicion and hostility surpassing any of his former experiences. On several occasions it seemed as if he must perish at their hands. But He had infinite tact and strong Christian patience. He never threatened vengeance, he never lifted a gun, but trusting to the persuasiveness of a frank manner and a kind eye and a firm will he won his way through tribe after tribe in safety. It should be here said of Livingstone, what alas cannot be said of many of the great African explorers, that wherever he went it was easier for a white man to follow. Other men who bullied and fought and shot made it infinitely hard for any others to pass in safety through those regions where they left a trail of cruelty and bloodshed. It was not until May 20, 1856, that Livingstone completed his magnificent task by reaching the sea- port of Quilimane. He himself records that Arabs had made this journey from west to east before him, but he was the first European who had made it and the first man to make it with an intelligent purpose, and so describe it as to enable others to follow in his footsteps. The magnificence of the heroism aroused enthusiasm throughout the civil- ized world and his name became immediately famous as that of the humble missionary who had walked literally to the front of all living travelers and explorers. It must not be forgotten that wherever Livingstone went at this time or hereafter he went as the Christian preacher who used every opportunity to make known his message, and who had, above all, undertaken the great work of exploration with the single pur- pose of opening up the dark continent to the light of religious truth. It was therefore in strong conformity with his abiding purpose that he said, "Viewed in relation to my enterprise the end of the geographical feat is only the beginning of the enterprise." When Liv- CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 327 ingstone reached London he found himself the lion of the day. He was honored, yea, loaded with honors and compelled to speak on all kinds of platforms until he felt as tired of his life in England as of any African journey he had made. It was stated in public by one who knew, that at this time he had performed journeys amounting to no less than 11,000 miles. When one remembers that most of that was done on foot it is interesting to read his own words on that matter. "Pedestrian- ism," he says, "may be all very well for those whose obesity requires much exercise; but for one who is becoming as thin as a lath through the constant perspiration caused by marching day after day in a hot sun, the only good I saw in it was that it gave an honest sort of a man a vivid idea of the tread-mill." After spending about two years in his home land Living- stone set out, this time as a British Consul and the official head of an exploring party, for the Zambesi in the spring of 1858. On this journey -he once more reached Linyanti, where he was distressed to find that missionaries of the London Missionary Society who had expected to meet him there had arrived during the previous season and many of the party h*ad perished with fever. Thereafter Livingstone's journeys and explorations belong to the history not of South but of Central and Northern Africa. His name, however, is stamped upon the history of South Africa as the man who so repeat- edly made those journeys northwards from Kolobeng, that he thor- oughly opened the entire region up to and beyond Lake Ngami. He first, by his journey from \vest to east, drew the line along the great river systems which, since found, has been treated as marking the northern limits of South or as it has been called Austral Africa. Suffice it to say that he did more than any man to arouse an intelligent interest in those vast regions, to draw not only the attention of missionary so- cieties but of great commercial companies to the possibilities for religion, civilization and commerce among the peoples and in the glorious regions of Central Africa. When he died on that last journey of his, and his faithful native servants embalmed his body and carried it hundreds of miles at the danger of their own lives eastward to Zanzibar, and thence brought it to England, the whole civilized world was moved to its depths at the contemplation of his glorious life. And when it was re- 328 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. solved to lay this son of a humble Scotch workman, himself trained as a weaver, and ordained as a missionary to South African natives under the roof of Westminster Abbey consecrated as the receptacle of the dust only of the greatest of Britain's sons, men universally felt that this son deserved that honor even above many who have received it. SECTION IV. JOHN MACKENZIE. A few years ago no name was more constantly in the mouths of South African rulers and statesmen than that of the Scottish mission- ary, John Mackenzie. He was born in the north of Scotland in the year 1835, finished his schooling when he was about 13, and then became apprenticed to a printer with whom he served nearly seven years. He obtained release from his contract in order to proceed to London to prepare for his career as a missionary of the Gospel. In the year 1858 he was ordained in the city of Edinburgh, and married, and sailed in June on the S. S. "Athens" for the Cape of Good Hope. He was one of a band of young missionaries who were being sent out to open a new mission station among the Makololo, far north on the banks of the Zam- besi. These people were driven to an ^unhealthy region by the Matebele tribe of Zulus. In their new habitat they had been visited by Dr. Liv- ingstone, who somehow got the impression that they would be willing to move to a higher and healthier region on the north bank of the Zam- besi River and there receive missionaries. Livingstone had originally intended and attempted to extend his missionary operations eastwards from Kolobeng across the north part of the Transvaal, but in this he had been checked by the hostility of the Boers. The policy of the London Missionary Society who had sent him out was therefore changed by the Boers at that early date, and they were forced to seek an extension of their work by penetrating into the heart of the continent. The young missionaries proceeded first, by ox wagon of course, to Kurunian, where they gathered around the vener- able Robert Moffat for the study of native languages and customs, and in order to prepare for their bold and yet magnificent venture into the regions beyond. It was deemed advisable that, at first, Mr. Helmore and Mr.' Roger Price, with their wives and families, should proceed in the year 1859, and that they should be followed in the ensuing year by CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 329 John Mackenzie with fresh supplies. The road as far as Shoshong, at that time the capital of Khama's country, was to some extent familiar and without danger, but after that the difficulties began. Passing to the northwest of what is now the town of Buluwayo they had to tra- verse a practically desert region in the dry season. Both years the mis- sionary travellers suffered intensely. John Mackenzie somehow man- aged to escape the extreme privations which his predecessors encoun- tered, but the sufferings even of his party were at several points most critical. They were dependent upon the guidance of Bushmen, whose language they did not understand and of whose faithfulness they were not always sure. After a tedious and exhausting experience John Mackenzie found himself in the region of Lake Ngarni on the Zouga River, where, to his consternation, he began to hear rumors of a disaster having overtaken his fellow missionaries ahead of him. At first the rumors were rejected as due to the desire on the part of a certain tribe to deflect the course of his journey to the capital of that tribe, who desired also to have the honor of receiving white missionaries. The stories became more and more definite until on the banks of the Zambesi one dreadful day he found himself face to face with his friend Roger Price, the latter sick in body and evidently sorely stricken at heart. Gradually the dreadful story was unfolded which John Mackenzie in after years related in his first book entitled "Ten Years North of the Orange River." Dr. Liv- ingstone had not met the party and they had waited on in a malarial region through the rainy season, contrary to all prudence. They sickened one after another, children died, native servants died, the Helmores died, Mrs. Price died, and the sick who remained had to rise, shaking with fever, from their beds of despair to bury the sick who had died. The news of this disaster produced a great sensation in England and the project of settling with the tribe in question was of course abandoned. After a considerable period of uncertainty, the minds of the directors in London being undecided, John Mackenzie settled at the important center of Shoshong. At that time the chief of the tribe was Sekhomi, a dark minded, able, crafty, and iuveterately heathen man. His two 330 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. sons, Khania and Khamane, were brought into the Christian life mainly through the efforts of a Hanoverian missionary who had been stationed there for several years. But the training of these two young men now /ell into the hands of John Mackenzie. Theirs was no easy lot. Khania as the eldest son was expected to take part in various heathen practices, which, however, he firmly but finally refused to do. Then the father insisted that in order to uphold his dignity he must marry more than one wife. This led, on Khama's refusal, to war. Khama and his sym- pathizers, who were numerous, fled to the mountain top, overlooking the town, and there hid themselves among the rocks and caves. For some weeks they remained there and efforts were made from time to time by Sekhomi to dislodge them. Skirmishes took place, in which, however, there was little loss of life. An attempt was made on one dark night to poison the well at which Khama's people obtained water, but to the terror and chagrin of Sekhomi the poor wizard and poisoner was himself shot dead. This and other instances displaying the courage and inde- pendence of the young chiefs at last broke down Sekhonii's determina- tion and they returned. During these weeks of strife John Mackenzie had a difficult task. He was of course known to be the teacher of Khama and instigator, therefore, of his rebellious attitude, as it was called. As a matter of fact it was largely his influence which not only kept Khama steady and strong in his Christian determination, but respectful and deferential in every matter and even in the discussion of this matter towards his heathen father. When the strife broke out the missionary went down to the court of the chief and interviewed him. The chief pretended to be in a great rage at him and threatened him, but was met with un- flinching and quiet courage. On the first Sunday the missionary went down and announced it as his purpose to go up to the mountain and hold services with the chiefs sons. This seemed a startling proposal and once more evoked expressions of rage from the chief. Undaunted, the missionary went. On another Sunday he saw the chief summon with significant looks one of his worst emissaries of evil, into whose ear he whispered something and who immediately slunk away from the court. This man or one sent by him was seen by John Mackenzie with a gun, lurking among the rocks beside the path which he must take to reach CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 331 the refuge of the outcast sons. He walked quietly past, without shrink- ing, and nothing happened. Thereafter he went and came unquestioned and unhindered, preaching ever the good tidings, and advocating both with father and sons the love of peace and the w r ays of righteousness. It was beyond doubt that the influence of his powerful and yet calm character and demeanor did much to arrest the progress of this civil war. The Bamangwato, which is the name of the tribe over whom Sek- homi was chief, had long been threatened by an attack from Moselekatse, the dreaded and ruthless chief of the Matebele tribe. He who had oblit- erated tribe after tribe in his terrible march from Natal to the region of the Zambesi felt himself able easily to descend upon the unwarlike Bamangwato and scatter them to the winds. The news came, borne by swift and excited messengers from the northeast, that several regiments of the Matebele were on their way to attack Shoshong. At once Sek- homi proceeded to make arrangements for meeting the dreaded foe. His plan of campaign depended upon the question whether the Matebele would attempt to attack the town by descending through the narrow kloof or gorge between the hills, through which the little river ran, or ap- proach the town from the other side, attacking it on the open plain. He consulted much with his sons and with the missionary. The latter offered to go out and meet the Matebele, and attempt to dissuade them from their proposal; but the natives were unanimous in asserting that this would prove a most dangerous, very probably a fatal adventure. Khama especially was urgent that no such risk should be run. The chief was delighted while also surprised at the alert and eager patriotism of his Christian sons. Khama was placed in command of a regiment and had with him a few men on horseback. They proceeded forth to try to encounter the enemy on the plains. The story of their victory is told elsewhere in this book. In the meantime the missionary and his family had been urged to leave the little house and flee, like all the non-combatants of Shoshong, to the mountains. Here they lived .for about a week close to the caves of wild and fierce denizens, driven forth by the inrush of human beings. It was a trying experience for a mother with three little children to sleep on the open mountain side in the cold nights in a hastily constructed little hut of sticks and straw, 332 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. and to sit unprotected through the glare of the noonday. When the Matebele retired, baffled by the unexpected vigor of the Barnangwato soldiers, the refugees came back from the mountains to their homes in the valley. At a later date John Mackenzie made a journey to the Matebele, and spent several months there engaged in special work. He observed very closely the political and social life and organization of the tribe. He himself was an object of curiosity and suspicion inasmuch as it had been rumored that he had actively assisted the people of Shoshong in their battle. Some Matebele soldiers pointed to his horses and remarked significantly that surely these were among the horses that came against them. John Mackenzie, like all South African missionaries, was compelled to undertake very different kinds of work. He not only had his preach- ing, and his teaching in the elements of reading and writing of those who showed an inclination to learn; he not only had to administer sim- ple medicines to those who brought their diseases to him, and occasion- ally to act as surgeon or even as dentist; he had to be architect and builder. It was his task also to build a mission house and a church. In order to do this he had to employ native workmen, and this could be only done with the permission of the chief. These workmen had to be trained in brick making, in sawing timber for which a saw-pit was con- structed, and then also in preparing the lime and mortar, and laying the bricks and floors. For the roof of the house corrugated iron was brought a thousand miles from the Cape to the wonder and astonish- ment of the natives. Various, were the adventures, innumerable the annoyances and trials, deep sometimes the disappointments connected with tasks like these. But the men who had given themselves for life to the self-sacrifice of the Christian missionary, could only carry out the purpose of their consecration by triumphing over the difficulties and conquering the temptations of the way. In the year 1869 John Mackenzie returned home and during his fur- lough wrote his first book above referred to. Shortly after his return to South Africa he was appointed the first tutor of the Moffat Institution for the training of native pastors in South Africa, for which public subscriptions had been raised in England in honor of Robert Moffat. The CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 333 latter had retired to spend his remaining years in quiet at home. At first this Institution was placed at Shoshong, where John Mackenzie had as his colleague the Rev. J. D. Hepburn. But it was felt throughout the missionary circles of Bechuanaland that the true place for the Moffat Institution was at the famous station of Kuruman, where Moffat himself had passed the longest period of his life. Thither accordingly it was moved in 1876. Once more John Mackenzie was involved in all the dis- tractions and difficulties of building. Extensive buildings w r ere reared, affording room not only for the tutor and his family, as well as class- rooms and offices, but also for dwelling houses of the students them- selves. These were never very numerous inasmuch as the educational side of the missionary work in Bechuanaland had been most sadly and unfortunately neglected during the preceding forty or fifty years. It is one of the strange blunders which have hindered seriously the devel- opment of South Africa that no strenuous and well conceived plan of education was brought into operation in 'Bechuanaland. There might have been years ago schools and seminaries whose existence and influ- ence could have put Bechuana tribes on a far higher level than they occupy to-day. Shortly after the settlement of John Mackenzie at Kuruman the troubles with the natives began which we describe elsewhere. When a strong body of natives came, fully armed, to the station of Kuruman, and when wandering parties of natives had cut off connection with Kimberley, vague and alarming rumors spread throughout South Africa regarding the fate of the missionaries and traders at that station. The traders had implored John Mackenzie at the very beginning of the troubles to demand assistance from the British Government, but to this the missionary sternly objected. He made, as in duty bound, a formal report of the events, but he had expressed no desire for military aid on the ground that as a missionary he had once for all undertaken the responsibility for himself and his family of living beyond the confines of civilization and British administration, and he had no right to make any such appeal as was proposed. But he told the traders they were free to act as they liked, and he agreed that all the Europeans at the station should take refuge in the recently completed Institution buildings. These were strong enough to have held out against a considerable force 334 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. for a considerable time. One day, unarmed and alone, John Mackenzie walked across to the camp of the disaffected natives and interviewed the chief. Calmly and firmly he rebuked him, told him of the wrong he was doing to his own country, described to him the ill-effects that would follow any attack upon the Europeans, and succeeded in produc- ing a great change in the attitude of the threatening force. When succor arrived from Kimberley and still more when Col. War- ren began the work of thoroughly pacifying the region by punishing the murderers and robbers, the missionary's hands were full. He knew all the natives for many miles and miles around, and he enjoyed their perfect confidence and the deep affection of most of them. To him they came with their pleas, and to him Col. Warren came with his inquiries for information. When the military forces departed the missionary was left as the acting administrator and representative of the British Government, and this work he did without pay, after all his ordinary labors of teaching and preaching were over, daily and weekly for many months. He had been urged by Colonel (afterwards Sir Owen) Lanyon to give up his missionary work and formally undertake the position of administrator. This proposition was afterwards renewed at Kimberley, where he met Sir Bartle Frere, the High Commissioner for South Africa. The latter had conceived a real admiration for the missionary who had the qualities of a statesman, and made an offer which on its worldly side was both flattering and attractive; but the missionary had long ago as a young man decided to spend his life as a preacher of the Gospel to the heathen, and to this early ambition he still clung at this crisis. He laid the proposal aside and retired to the work of his life at Kuru- man. In the year 1882 John Mackenzie returned once more to England, after having spent a second period of eleven years in continuous work on the field. As soon as he arrived in London he threw himself into the task of rousing the sentiments of the whole of England in regard to her responsibility in South Africa. On his journey from Kuruman to Kimberley he had met parties of Boers and English adventurers who were invading Bechuanaland for the purpose of seizing native farms, and that made his heart burn within him. When he found that the British Government had finally retired from the responsibilities of ad- CHARGING THE BOERS' LAAGER The Lancers at work; the Boer wagon drivers forcing the oxen to run; the Boers, unable to reach their horses, take refuge in the wagons. . THE MIDDLE MUGAN RIVER IN NATAL 2 ^^ W g*. en B* 5 2 ~ u - OB CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 337 ministration which it had exercised for three years, the fire waxed fiercer. The love of his heart had gone out to these native tribes. The best years of his life had been spent in their instruction and civilization. He had taught them the principles of farming and of commerce as well as of morality and religion; he had urged them to raise crops and stock and send them to the colonial markets; he had in fact labored for their advancement in every direction. And the reward came. He began to see natives growing in social intelligence and in material wealth by car- rying out the precepts and directions given by himself and a few other broad-minded missionaries. But now he saw the land abandoned by Britain and seized by bandit adventurers. He knew that it was absolutely of no use merely to speak to a few officials in London and, by swaying their minds, attempt to change the national policy. He had indeed gained the approval and influence of the Governor of Cape Colony, Sir Hercules Robinson, for his views; and through him he was able to reach the Colonial Secretary, the Earl of Derby. But that was not enough. The Government would take no more forward steps in South Africa, without a public sentiment to compel and to support them. The earnest missionary-statesman saw that he must reach and move the English people as a whole. To his amazement he found that even among the active-minded people who took a deep interest in Imperial affairs, no interest but only a great deal of prejudice and impatience, was felt regarding South Africa. This discovery only aroused the full powers of the man. He proceeded to write articles for the reviews, letters to the newspapers and memoranda to" the Colonial office. He also sought out those leaders who were likely to exercise their influence for the good of South Africa, if once they intelligently grasped the situation, and discussed the whole sub- ject with them. Meetings were arranged for him in Scotland as well as in England. In London the South African Committee was formed which comprised among its members noblemen, members of Parliament, well known philanthropists and others. As a result of all these well- directed operations, together with the full information, the broad views and the powerful arguments with which in private and in public he urged his case, this unknown man, single-handed, profoundly altered 338 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. the attitude of the public and the official British inind towards South Africa during the eighteen months which he gave to this great task. Elsewhere in these pages the story is told of the visit of the Trans- vaal delegates to London in 1883-4. They reached London after John Mackenzie had been at work for more than a year. When it became known in South Africa that the delegates were going to London, Manko- roane, one of the leading chiefs in South Bechuanaland, on learning that he himself could not be received in London to represent his own interest, requested that John Mackenzie might be admitted as his representative. Lord Derby declined to allow the South African chief to appear either personally or by representative, but added that the Government would be glad to receive all statements made on his behalf by John Mackenzie. During the whole period of the conference between the Transvaal dele- gates and the British Government John Mackenzie was kept in con- stant, almost daily, intercourse with the Colonial office. This inter- course took place chiefly through the medium of Sir Hercules Robinson, and there is abundant proof that the information which he gave, the arguments which he urged, the policy which he proposed, had very great influence in determining the conclusions embodied in the London Con- vention of 1884. Most especially did he concentrate attention upon the one great pur- pose of keeping South Bechuanaland out of the Transvaal. He saw that if he failed in this, not only would the native tribes to whose salvation he had given his life, be denuded of all their lands and all their rights, and have their progress fatally arrested, but the great central route into the interior would be closed to Great Britain. When the results of the Convention were made know r n John Mackenzie was acknowledged by journalists and others who knew the facts in London as the man who had prevented this great blunder; but the clearest and most em- phatic testimony to his influence in this matter is to be found in the language employed regarding him by President Kruger when he re- turned to his Volksraad and which we quote elsewhere. The policy which John Mackenzie had very slowly elaborated in his own mind and had long urged upon the Imperial authorities was the result of his study, at first hand, of the social and political developments caused everywhere in South Africa by the constant movement of the CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 339 white races northwards and of the black races southwards. This study he began in 1858 during his first northward journey. He had also studied closely the history of the relations of civilized governments to native races in other parts of the world, chiefly in the United States of North America and in the Empire of India. The result of his studies was the conviction which remained clear and strong in his mind to the end of his life, that the best development of South Africa would take place when all the vast native territories of that region were taken under the direct control of Imperial officers. He urged that the colonies had mighty tasks of their own in which they were acquitting them- seKes sometimes magnificently, generally with credit, but that colonial officers were as a rule unfitted for the most difficult and momentous labor of ruling directly great native populations. He knew that if British Residents were placed among native tribes which retained their independence, and British administrators were placed over tribes where the chiefs had lost control and native government had become im- possible, the expense of such officers could all be paid easily by local taxation, which would be no burden to the tribes themselves. He knew that Imperial officers were almost invariably just and generous in their treatment of the native tribes, wise and patient in seeking their educa- tion and social elevation, wars w r ould be prevented, oppressions would have an end, European colonists could obtain vast unoccupied terri- tories and develop them, true prosperity would spring up, and, at last, self-governing communities would arise under the direction of these Imperial officers without stealing any tribal lands or inflicting injustice upon any native people. The scheme as he detailed it and as he urged it through the press and from the platform gained the adherence of some of the most experienced Governors of South Africa and large numbers of the best friends of that land. When the London Convention was drawn up it was announced that the Earl of Derby had, on a strong recommendation of Sir Hercules Robinson, the Governor of Cape, appointed John Mackenzie as Deputy Commissioner for Bechuanaland. In this office he was to represent and be in correspondence with the High Commissioner. He was to proceed to Bechuanaland, there proclaim the country as under the protection of the Queen, and proceed to educe order out of chaos in 340 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. which the region had become involved. It was estimated that he would require 200 mounted police to enable him firmly to deal with individual offenders and clearly to manifest the determination and strength of the Imperial purpose. In the discussion and settlement of all these measures John Mackenzie was constantly dependent upon the man who was to be his chief and with whose help he was to carry through his task. The missionary was too devoted to his work to step aside from it and to undertake unwonted responsibilities without very great reluctance. This reluctance was overcome by the arguments and promises which he received from the Colonial office, and especially from the High Commissioner for South Africa. Judging from all that he saw and heard in London, he concluded that this was a most favorable opportunity for putting his long pondered scheme intp actual operation. It would enable him to work amongst the people whom he loved and who loved him; he would go forth without hostility to any race, to deal honorably and justly with Boer and English, black and white, firmly but impartially. Great satisfaction was expressed when his appointment was made known, and John Mackenzie sailed for Cape Town, not without earnest brooding over the future but with great confidence that his work was right in the sight of God and likely to prove of benefit to men. When he landed at Cape Town the Deputy Commissioner found that his appointment was severely criticized by two classes of people. The first consisted of the Transvaal Boers, and the second of their sympa- thizers and pliant supporters among the politicians at Cape Town. Nevertheless he had behind him, as he imagined, the force of a sup- porting Government in London and a sympathetic High Commissioner at Cape Town. When he reached the field of his operations he began first by dealing with the so-called Republic of Stellaland. At Vryburg there had gathered a considerable number of white people, a large majority being- Boers from the Transvaal, who had organized a Government, selected their officers, adopted and raised their flag. When Mr. Mackenzie ap- peared among them he had no alternative but to announce his mission. His mission was to proclaim that the territory was now by the London Convention outside the Transvaal, and by the act of proclamation w T hich CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 341 he now made was brought within the Queen's dominions. He explained that there could not be two governments in one country, and there- fore to the breathless astonishment of certain big Boer leaders he announced that the Stellaland Government was no longer in existence. He attempted to make things easier for the future by appointing certain of the Stellalanders to office under himself. He named a Mr. Van Niekerk, one of the most adventurous and able leaders, as the local commissioner. He promised that at a future date all claims which any of them were ready to make regarding land, and all alleged debts which they as a Government had incurred in a reasonable way would be investigated. So successful was he that the Stellalanders accepted the situation, most of them speedily gained confidence in his fairness and integrity, and welcomed the advent of the Imperial authority and even persuaded him to allow the absurd Stellaland flag to be pulled down and the British flag to take its place. During these proceedings the Deputy Commissioner was in daily correspondence with his chief at Cape Town by telegram. He speedily became aware that the mind of Sir Hercules Robinson was not as it had been. The result of this was felt immediately in the criticism by telegram which followed his movements and the persistent refusal to act upon suggestions which he made, especially in the matter of raising and organizing the police force which he had been promised. It was a strange predicament for an honorable man who was conscious of rectitude and power to do his work, who had given up his life career at great cost to his feelings for the sake of this duty. At one stage in these events he proposed that he should be allowed to return to Cape Town in order to confer with the High Commissioner, but this request which was a reasonable one in the circumstances was refused on the ground that he was much needed in his sphere of duty. When he reached the northern part of his territory and came into the lands owned by the tribe of which Montsioa was chief he found a more forbidding and dangerous condition of affairs even than in Stella- land. The Boer filibusters, as they were called, were here of a more reckless order and were prepared to go further than the Stellalanders in their open ill-treatment of tne natives and their resistance of British authority. They had formed or were forming another republic in what 342 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. they called the land of Goshen. They had settled around one of the finest fountains in that region, which was on the Transvaal side of the border but supplied with its waters the territory reserved for Mont- sioa's tribe on the west. This position gave them practical advantages which they used to the full extent. They were able to take, and they had taken, the cattle of the Bechuanas, and driven them across the border, knowing that the Bechuanas would respect the boundary line which they were told the Queen had laid down. The natives steadily avoided any act which might be called an invasion of the Transvaal, even in the pursuit of their own property. On the other hand, when the Boers found that protests had reached Pretoria and when a Trans- vaal official appeared, or was about to appear, to investigate the alleged disturbances and find out the guilty parties, the latter received plenty of warning, and simply crossed the border into Bechuanalaud. When the official returned to Pretoria he was able to announce, and his announce- ment was wired to Cape Town and thence was cabled to London, that the Boer marauders had left the Transvaal before he reached the spot, and were "out of the country." It is true that many, perhaps most of the respectable Dutch farmers in the southwest of the Transvaal, heartily disapproved of these proceedings, and if one were to judge of the acts of the Transvaal by the opinions and character of these staid and thoughtful citizens, that Government would have to be ac- quitted of all complicity in these events. But when one finds that that Government had for many years past allowed exactly the same pro- ceedings to take place on all its borders; when one finds that among these freebooters were relatives and friends of well-known politicians at Pretoria; when one finds that the leaders of the Afrikander Bond, even at Cape Town, hindered every action intended to end this free- booting, and supported every policy that would nourish it, one is bound in the name of common sense and fidelity to indisputable facts to hold the Government at Pretoria responsible for the continuance of these proceedings on the part of her own citizens. At this place (the district of Rooi Gond or "Goshen") Mr. Mackenzie met with the chief and with him entered into a formal treaty, the chief most earnestly and gladly welcoming the advent of the Queen's pro- tection and help in the government of his country. After a few days CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 343 it became evident that a section, even of the white settlers in Gosheii, were sick of the brutal and lawless ways of their leaders. Some of them came to the Deputy Commissioner and spontaneously expressed their sympathy with his objects, and their desire for an orderly and firm government. Here, too, Mr. Mackenzie left behind him a represen- tative in the person of a Mr. Wright, whom he knew well and whose fitness for the work had already been proved. Then the Deputy Com- missioner continued his journey through Bechuanaland, meeting with one chief after another, and concluding treaties with them all. They received him and his Imperial message with unfailing and unassumed gladness. During the period of this journey he was under the impression that ^teps had been taken by Major Low to organize his police force. His amazement and disappointment may be imagined when he found that at Cape Town it had been resolved that he should not have any police, at one time because he did not need them, at another time because 200 would not be enough and there was no money to equip more. During this time some very curious work was done by means of cables to England, which announced from time to time that the Deputy Com- missioner was in difficulties, was hated and opposed by the white men, was threatened, and, at last, it was announced that he had been mur- dered. As there was never any shadow for these rumors in the events which actually occurred in Bechuanaland, and they were all sent from one source at Cape Town, inference has been very naturally drawn that in this as in other cases in connection with political events in South Africa, someone at Cape Town had the power and the evil spirit to attempt to produce political results in England by means of a series of well-concocted statements which were never corroborated, had no con- ceivable foundation, and w r ere almost never contradicted or corrected. When permission was given him to raise police the conditions had become complicated in Bechuanaland, and the permission itself was made of no effect by the proposals with which it was accompanied. At last, when the time seemed right to those who were manipulating the wires at Cape Town, the request was made to John Mackenzie that he should visit Cape Town for the purpose of conference with the High Commissioner. When he arrived there he found that those who had 344 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. influence with bis chief, and the chief himself seemed to be convinced that an entirely new policy must be adopted, the distinctive feature of which was "the elimination of the Imperial factor" and the annexation of Bechuanaland to Cape Colony. The next steps. that were taken in the effort to set that land in order were carried out by those who were in sympathy with the so- called Colonial policy. The reason given by the Cape politicians for this step was that they did not believe the Imperial Government to be sincere in professing to undertake the direction of affairs in Bechuanaland. Those who have studied the number of retreats made by Great Britain in South Africa during this century cannot be amazed at the feeling of suspicion and almost smiling contempt felt by South Africa for any new profession of Britain's determination to make an advance in that part of the world. They could not imagine and did not believe that the British conscience had been touched and British interest in Bechuanaland aroused to any high and fixed resolve. They accordingly decided that the only alternative was, since a protectorate had been proclaimed in Bechuanaland, to bring that region under the tender mercies of South African politicians themselves. It is only just to other men and due to the truth to state that there was one strong personality at Cape Town who for fifteen years exercised what must be on the whole described as a malign influence on the relations of the Imperial Government to South Africa, that was a military gentleman who occupied the position of Imperial Secre- tary to the High Commissioner. His influence over the High Com- missioner appears to have been far more than is expected on the part of a secretary over a great Imperial officer. He did much to swing round the mind of Sir Hercules Eobinson; he it was, who, on the strength of a few days' hurried visit to Bechuanaland, contradicted at Cape Town, in the ears of their common Chief, reports as to actual occurrences made by the Deputy Commissioner in Bechuanaland; to him must be traced the animus which appears in the telegrams addressed to John Mac- kenzie by the High Commissioner; to him is undoubtedly due some of the most absurd proposals and fatal mistakes ever made during the events of those two years (1884-5) ; to his steady misrepresentations and his determined hostility to the Imperial factor (and he was known as CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 345 the Imperial Secretary !) it is partly due that once more at this time the position of Great Britain in South Africa was made to tremble in the balance. When he, with the assistance of Mr. Ehodes, had succeeded in cornering John Mackenzie by persuading the High Commissioner at last to recall him to Cape Town, the steps which they took in relation to the freebooters strengthened the grip of the latter upon Bechuana- land, dismayed the many loyalists, crushed the hearts of the native chiefs and made it seem inevitable to many of the most thoughtful and faithful South Africans that the final retreat was being made and the door into the interior was being fast closed, and closed forever, by the weakness and blundering of those who were supposed to represent Imperial power in that region. It may be said here that down to the time of the Jameson Eaid the influence of the Imperial Secretary seems ever to have been directed towards schemes which showed the strange combination of vigor and incapacity, of determination to act in ways which deepened rather than relieved existing complications. It may be also remarked that probably at no time in the history of South Africa was Jojin Mackenzie's doctrine regarding the High Commissionership more fully justified than at this period. The High Commissionership, during the years 1884-5, touched the lowest point which that office has reached in its many peculiar moments of dipping in South African history. John Mackenzie urged with all the more passion in after years that Great Britain would never exercise her full moral influence over Austral- Africa as a whole, would never suc- ceed in awing the passionate ambitions of the Transvaal Boers, would never secure a prolonged, steady, constant policy in relation to the great native territories and the development of colonization in the vast unoccupied territories of the North until the High Commissioner- ship of Austral Africa should be severed from the Governorship of Cape Colony. The man who is responsible for all South Africa ought not to be the same man who is holding delicate relations with the ministry of one Colony at Cape Town. That ministry can reach him as High Com- missioner, and has reached him in many unworthy ways, and to the serious detriment of many other portions of South Africa. Alike when John Mackenzie attempted to act in the name of the 346 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. Imperial Government, and when Sir Charles Warren, in the following year, did so with a military force at his back, the most perplexing opposition which these* representatives of the supreme Government met in South Africa w T as offered to them, not by the Transvaal directly but by President Kruger, acting through the Afrikander Bond, which in turn acted upon the High Commissioner for South Africa. The High Com- missioner offered this opposition because compelled thereto by the men who surrounded and influenced him as the Governor of Cape Colony. When John Mackenzie returned to Cape Town he found not only that he had been deliberately checkmated in attempting to carry out the instructions which he received from the Earl of Derby and Sir Hercules Kobinson in London, but that, to use his own words, he had been "tripped up." In London he had friends like the late Mr. W. E. Forster, who had been watching the telegrams and who suspected that underhand dealings of the kind hinted at above were being employed by the enemies of direct Imperialism in South Africa. These friends demanded to know the facts of the case, but their demand was ignored. When John Mackenzie returned to Cape Town it was to state the facts, not as the false telegrams which were being showered from the interior represented, but as they actually were, and to urge that the most dangerous policy, the one which would lead to serious difficulties, if not even to war, was the abandonment of the Imperial plan. He was willing to return at once to his responsibility on condition that he should be backed up in carrying out the commission put into his hands by the Earl of Derby and Sir Hercules Robinson a few months before. He found that the mind of the man who had induced him to change the whole course of his life and to accept the post was now against the scheme on which they had united. He had been both "tripped up" and deserted by those pledged either by word or office or both to support him. There remained nothing for him to do but to hand in his resigna- tion. He was urged not to do so by some in Cape Town, who held that a firm stand must be made against the trickery and disloyalty which ruled the hour. Nevertheless he was too honorable to seem as if he clung for his own sake to a position of such importance. He was will- ing to allow Captain Bower, the Imperial Secretary,and Mr. Rhodes, who would succeed him, and Mr. Uppington, Prime Minister of the Colony, CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 347 to try their bands at the task of reducing Bechuaualand to order. In his letter of resignation he emphasized the fact that aH the native tribes trusted him, that the heads of the little Government at Stella- land urged and desired his return, that he had ignored all race dis- tinctions among Europeans, and his impartiality was well known amongst those with whom he had dealt in Bechuanaland. But at the same time he felt that he ought no longer to stand in the way of those who, whether justly or unjustly, whether sincerely or for political reasons insincerely, professed to see a way out of the muddle in South Africa other than that which he had pursued. The High Commissioner immediately telegraphed to London, recommending that the resignation be accepted, and even proposed with cruel kindness that the expenses of his journey to his mission station should be allowed to John Mac- kenzie! It is a strange fact and one significant of the troubled and doubtful state of mind in which the authorities of the Colonial office found themselves in London that this resignation was not formally accepted by the Earl of Derby until several months later. John Mackenzie had too high a sense of the task which, as he believed, God had laid upon him to do for South Africa, to leave Cape Town and desert his responsibility. He remained at Cape Town, closely watching the succession of events. He saw the Transvaal Government attempt, in utter defiance of the London Convention, which was only a few months old, to annex Montsioa's country. He watched the insane attempt of the Colonial Ministers to go down to Bechuanaland and solve the problem on what they were pleased to call Colonial lines. He saw the announcement of the action which Mr. Van Niekerk dared to take reversing the proclamation of annexation which an Imperial officer had made. He saw his own successor, Mr. Rhodes, approving that action of Mr. Van Niekerk and Captain Bower giving back the cruelly symbolic flag of Stellaland to the same Transvaal citizen who called himself "Administrator of the Republic of Stellaland." He saw at the same time that in Cape Town and in the Colony there were literally hundreds and thousands of loyal citizens of both English and Dutch descent who were humiliated and even disgusted at the extraordinary folly which was being perpetrated in the name of Imperialism before their eyes. 348 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. Those who felt themselves in sympathy with John Mackenzie's point of view gradually came together and organized at last a public meet- ing, which was held in the Exchange at Cape Town, on the evening of September 24, 1884. Heavy rain was falling; the meeting was called avowedly in the name of real Imperialism, and not the sham and dan- gerous Imperialism of the Afrikander Bond, working through Messrs. Uppington and Rhodes; and yet that great hall was crowded to the door, men occupied the open windows and gathered with eager faces on the outside, straining to catch the words that were spoken within. The Mayor of Cape Town was in the chair. It is significant that in the opening of his speech he referred to the crisis in Bechuanaland as a test of loyalty to the Queen, loyalty to the flag of the British Empire. One of the most eloquent speeches was delivered by the Hon. J. W. Leonard, Q. C. He lifted the subject to a high level, raised it above all personality, described the actual events occurring at Rooigrond and Stellaland. He said: "This is the way, gentlemen, in which the Lon- don Convention has been maintained. I can produce incontestable proof that they (the marauders and invaders) were supported by Mr. Joubert, General Joubert, of the Transvaal." John Mackenzie himself made the leading speech. The newspapers announced that when he arose the audience stood up in a body and gave him a reception which utterly surprised himself, as well as the leading organizers of the meeting. The enthusiasm created by this great meeting was speedily spread throughout the Colony. It fell to the lot of John Mackenzie to travel to all the main centers and to deliver lectures on the subject of the hour. In this way he visited Stellenbosch, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown and various places in the eastern province. The outburst of loyalty through- out the Colony was so remarkable, and the resolutions passed so strong and so unanimous, that they produced great influence at last upon the Home Government. In the meantime things had been going from bad to worse in Bechuanaland. The successors of John Mackenzie had matters worse even than he had found them. At last, when the Earl of Derby received from President Kruger the coo"l request for permis- sion to annex the most valuable part of Bechuanaland, even his im- CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 349 patience was aroused. The result was the sending out of the Warren Expedition to South Africa. When Sir Charles Warren landed at Cape Town the enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds. But as soon as he landed he found himself confronted with the forces which had baffled John Mackenzie. From the beginning he found the High Commissioner out of sympathy with him, and eager to throw every obstacle in the way of his under- taking. Sir Charles Warren resolved that he must have on his staff as the chief source of information regarding Bechuanaland the pres- ence of John Mackenzie. He was warned against this by the High Commissioner, on the ground that Mackenzie was "not a persona grata to the Transvaal Government." Sir Charles, of course, acted on his own judgment, and found as his expedition proceeded that the presence of this missionary did not add any complication to dealings with the Boer Government. On the contrary, when he met President Kruger himself at Fourteen Streams, John Mackenzie was present, and was treated with both respect and kindness by the President and his com- panions. The malignity of those whom he had at last defeated pursued John Mackenzie from step to step. It even went this length, when Sir Charles Warren wired to Cape Town a warning that in certain parts of the Colony near its northern border secret meetings were being held, only a few miles from his lines of communications, by people who were avowedly disloyal, and that he considered the Colonial authorities uijder obligation to receive and act upon this information, they replied by asking whether "it was true that the Rev. John Mackenzie, the late Deputy Commissioner to Bechuanaland, was then in the camp of Sir Charles Warren, and personally advising him." This inquiry was repeated several times. It was one of the few blows which John Mackenzie confessed that he felt bitterly. The suggestion that he was biasing the mind of Sir Charles Warren against any class of the col- onists, that he was attempting deliberately to sow the seed of discord and excite suspicion, was absolutely gratuitous and revealed the depths to which his accusers had allowed themselves to be dragged by hostility to his policy and dislike of his spirit. Throughout the W r arren expedition John Mackenzie lived very close to the General, advising him regarding the native tribes, acting as ;).->o CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. interpreter and intermediary between the chiefs whom they visited and this brilliant representative of Great Britain. From the south of the country right up to Shoshong, where they met with the chief Khama, the expedition moved as a continual triumph. When the expedition was over and Sir Charles Warren made his formal report to the Home -Government regarding the conduct of the expedition and those who had rendered Imperial service, he placed the name of this missionary first on the list. It was with a smile of amusement that the missionary noticed in the papers the decorations and rewards bestowed upon all the other officers of the expedition whom the General had praised, while to him was left only the satisfaction of having been thanked by Sir Charles Warren, and of having rendered, at great personal cost, the most arduous service of which he was capable, for the good of the land to which he had given his life and his love. On his return to London, John Mackenzie, in 1886, set himself to the task of writing the history of Great Britain in South Africa during the preceding ten years, and this was published in the year 1887, in two large volumes, under the title, "Austral Africa, Losing It or Ruling It." Thereafter he remained in London for several years, strenuously working for South Africa. No man could have loved any land or given himself more devotedly and unselfishly to her best interests than John Mackenzie during these years of work for South Africa. The South African Committee was revivified once more; the pen was in his hand, and his voice was heard from various platforms; once more he at- tempted to expound the true meaning of an Imperial policy in South Africa; once more he urged that the High Commissionership must be untrammeled by personal and delicate relations with any one Colony, but must remain free as the acknowledged overseer of all the colonies and territories, the visible, indubitable representative of Imperialism in South Africa. Once more he plead for native tribes, worked to save this one from the grasp of the Transvaal, and that one from the grasp of a Chartered Company, and that other from the grasp of a yet youthful colony. He worked every hour of every day through these years, at great cost to his health, for South Africa. In 1889 an entirely new direction was given to the history of South African development by the formation of the Chartered Com- CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 351 pany. Some wealthy noblemen and South African capitalists obtained from Parliament a charter, granting to them the right to develop the rich unoccupied territories of Mashonaland and Matabeleland, between the borders of the Transvaal and the Zambesi River, between Portu- guese East Africa and Khama's country. John Mackenzie saw at once two things; first, that this would realize one of the plans which he had for years urged, viz., that those territories should be saved from the Boer Government, settled with English and Scottish colonists, and their rich resources peacefully developed. Secondly, he saw that a Chartered Company was an unsuitable and antiquated instrument to use for this end. His view was unchanged and had been indeed con- firmed from year to year by events in South Africa, that the best possible mode of government which could be adopted for those new regions was that of direct Imperial control, as in India. This de- velopment of Mr. Rhodes' policy placed him in a delicate position. He must not even appear to oppose the occupation and development of Mashonaland, and yet his conscience would not let him accept the method of the Chartered Company. The forces against his view and those who sympathized with him were too powerful, however, to be over- borne. The charter w r as granted, the company entered upon its mag- nificent, responsible and dangerous task. During this period he was much interested also in discussions regarding Swaziland, Basutoland, Tongaland, as well as both North and South Bechuanaland. At last he felt that this portion of his life work had come to an end. In 1890 he went to the London Missionary Society and announced that now he was ready once more to undertake the work they had pro- posed to him. The. appointment which he received took him to an entirely new region, away from his beloved Bechuanas, away from the regions he had traversed so often, away from the problems upon which he had spent his life, to learn a new language, to live in a region new to him, and deal with people at a stage of civilization with which he had not been closely familiar. It was not without great effort, but it was with the humble soul, the pure intent, and the invincible self- control which had ever characterized him that he went to the little township of Hankey, near the coast, fifty miles west of Port Elizabeth. Here he labored as a preacher in Dutch as well as in English, and as 352 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. the administrator of a large estate, the director of extensive engineer- ing and agricultural operations, and as a visiting pastor and spiritual adviser. The climate did not suit him, and the story of his seven years there is the story of hard work, endless worry, undertaken without complaining in the face of increasing bodily infirmities. He did not lose his interest in the mightier problems to which he had given his best years, and with which he was still best fitted to cope, but only occasionally did his local worries and responsibilities allow him time for writing on these subjects. He became a member of the Congrega- tional Union of South Africa, and in the larger service of the brother- hood of churches to which this connection called him he gave unsparing and affectionate service. In the end of 1898 a stroke of paralysis laid him low. He recovered for some months, went to visit his son, Dr. J. Eddie Mackenzie, at Kimberley, and there passed away on March 23, 1899. So much space has been given to the life of this missionary and statesman, partly because his work is so recent, partly because much of that work has influenced the recent and present history of South Africa so profoundly, and partly also because it seemed right to pre- sent this sketch of a man who combined the intense devotion of the evangelist with the broad and powerful views and impulses of the statesman. It is not too much to say that John Mackenzie was one of the first men to dream of South Africa as a whole, one of the first who could honestly and earnestly say that he loved, not this colony or that native territory, but South Africa. And he was one of the first, if not the first, to take definite and intelligent steps of a public nature towards the great goal which now is so clear, and seems so near to the eyes of all the world, but which only twenty years ago lay far off in the mists of the horizon, hardly visible and power- less to inspire. He loved South Africa, not first of all because of its wealth, as a man of commerce might, nor first of all as a portion of the British Empire, as patriots of the limited vision might, but for her own sake, for the sake of the people who would fill her vast plains and wooded valleys in generations to come, of the races that there would live in unexpected harmony, enjoying an ever-increasing prosperity. He saw South Africa of the future, presenting to the world, as he dared Or u 09 S u i or O H or a ff a K u u a O or tt. C/5 or u O flf a -j > CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 355 to hope, a field upon which the reconciliation of the races might be wrought out in the spirit and by the power of the Christian religion. SECTION V. FRANCOIS COILLARD. Francois Coillard went to South Africa under the auspices of the French Protestant Basuto Mission in the year 1857. It was not until the end of 1896 that he returned from the mission field in which he labored for forty years. It is often asked how it comes that French missionaries are to be found converting the natives in lands that are under the British flag. In the preface of his interesting book "On the Threshold of Central Africa," Mr. Coillard himself supplies the reason. In the first place, in the early part of the present century the Protes- tants of France were prohibited from missionary work in their own colonies. In the second place, the places in which French missionary influence is now strong were not under the British flag when the Hugue- not pastors first went there. About 1830 the Reformed Churches of France were anxious to find a field for missionary effort. But no field seemed open to them, until they received an appeal from Dr. Philip, the head of the London Missionary Society at Cape Town. In response to this appeal they founded the French Protestant Basuto Mission. And it was in connection with this mission that Frangois Coillard went to the Cape in 1857. Mr. Coillard married a Miss Mackintosh, the daughter of the Eev. Lachlan Mackintosh, a Scottish Congregational minister. For twenty years they toiled among the Basutos, and for the greater part of that time they had no settled home, but roamed the country everywhere to preach the Gospel. It was not till 1877 that they had a church and house at Leribe, the great grain-bearing district of Basutoland, and even those they were not permitted to enjoy long, as they were shortly afterwards called upon to conduct a missionary expedition among the Banyai. One evening in 1877 M. and Mme. Coillard were walking in their pretty garden, w r hich they had just planted, and Mme. Coillard, pausing before a quince hedge, said, "I wonder after all these wander- ings if we'll be allowed to rest for awhile and taste our own quinces." But her hope was not fulfilled. In a few months she was accompanying her husband through the wilds of Banyailand. 356 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. During their sojourn among the Basutos the Coillards had many bitter experiences. In 1865 the Boers of the Orange River Free State expelled all the missionaries from Basutoland, except those who had taken refuge on the top of Thaba Bosigo. Poor Madame Coillard was packed off in such a hurry that she had not even time to take her bread from the oven. "Make the best of it," said the Boer Commandant, de Villiers, brutally, "for you'll never see Basutoland again." But in 1868 the country came under the protection of the British, and the Coillards went back to their much loved toil. Their efforts were attended by remarkable success. It was really their Basuto converts whose mis- sionary ardor led them north to Banyailand and Barotseland. It happened in this way: In 1875, a young missionary, Dieperlen, set out to conduct a party of native Basuto teachers through the Transvaal, on the way to a mission field among the Banyai. The Banyai are a native race in what is now Rhodesia, near the famous ancient" ruins of Zimbabye, of which, by the way, M. Coillard has given an interesting account. Dieperlen and his Christian Basutos passed through Pretoria in broad daylight without being challenged by any of the Boers. Two days later, however, the party was arrested by tw r o Boer cornets, the women and children were sent to a farm house, the wagons confiscated, and the native mission- aries lodged in jail, one of them in the condemned cell. There w r as no excuse whatever for this outrage, except the well-known Boer dislike of any attempt to Christianize the natives. Poor Dieperlen had to return to Basutoland, after paying a fine of seventy dollars for no adequate reason whatsoever. The Coillards felt that it was incumbent upon them to make another attempt to guide the native teachers to Banyailand. They were on the point of setting out for Europe to enjoy their first furlough for twenty years, but they willingly gave it up, and in 1877 set out through the Transvaal. Pretoria was now in the possession of the British, who gladly passed them on to the Limpopo. But no sooner had they entered Mashonaland than they were robbed of almost all their belongings by Masonda, a native chieftain. A few weeks later they were seized and carried before the terrible Lobengula. By him they were kept in a state of semi-captivity for a period of four months. It was not against CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 357 the Coillards but against the Basuto missionaries that Lobengula's anger was excited; he detested the latter because their chief, Malopo, had given up his kinsman Langalibale'le to the British. The Coillards witnessed some terrible scenes in Lobengula's camp during their en- I forced stay; on one occasion Lobengula burned a child's lips off with a fire-brand because he had detected him in some petty falsehood. He would not believe that the missionaries had come through the Trans- vaal, because Queen Victoria, he said, was not sovereign of the Trans- vaal, and, if they had come through her domains, she would certainly have sent him a present! One of the party incautiously said that per- haps she did not know of his existence. "What?" said Lobengula, "never heard of ME?" Mme. Coillard saved the situation by saying, "Yes, there are people so benighted as never to have heard of you, great king," whereat the dusky monarch was satisfied. It was owing to Mme. Coillard's influence that the missionaries were finally allowed to go among the Banyai, where they founded these missions that are now being carried on by the Dutch Keformed Church. After a two years' holiday in Europe from '80 to '82, during which time he gathered funds for his work, Coillard proceeded to Barotseland in the northwestern corner of the vast territory that now bears the name of Mr. Cecil Rhodes. Here he labored for sixteen years, founding five important missionary settlements which are now carrying on the good work he initiated. His devoted wife died in Barotseland, but he was much comforted in his niece Elise, who had married one of his help- ers M. Jeanmairet. In 1896 Coillard's health broke down, and he was only saved by an operation performed at Kimberley by Dr.' Mackenzie, the son of the Rev. John Mackenzie. It is interesting to notice that M. Coillard thoroughly approved of the suppression of the Matabele power, and, on the other hand, thoroughly disapproved of the bigotry and cruelty of the Boers. This support of the orthodox British opinion is the more noteworthy as Coillard is a Frenchman and therefore little likely to view British neighbors with any great favor. At the end of '96 Coillard returned to Europe, after spending forty years in a noble effort to Christianize the black population of South Africa. CHAPTER IV. CAPE TOWN. "Hail, snatched and bartered oft from hand to hand . . . " Rudyard Kipling. FIRST owned by the Portuguese and used by them almost exclu- sively for 90 years as a port of call for their Indian trade, Cape Town became gradually the regular calling station for all the fleets of merchantmen trading with the East. In 1652 Van Riebeek, with three small ships, founded the Dutch settlement, consisting of a "fort and garden," at Cape Town, from which the Colony has grown. The sole aim of the Dutch East India Company was to establish a place of refreshment for their ships, outward and homeward bound. In 1795 a British force, under Sir George Keith Elphinstone, landed at Cape Town and the rule of the Dutch East India Company ended, after having lasted 143 years. By the treaty of Amiens in 1802 the colony was given back to the Dutch and in 1803 the Dutch flag again waved over the Castle at Cape Town. The new regime, however, was destined to last for a very short period, as in 1806 the British again resumed control over the colony with their chief military post at Cape Town. Thus ended the bartering and change in the ownership of Cape Town and the Colony; since then the British have remained in undis- turbed possession. But we must turn from the historical to the geographical point of view, both of which are necessary to enable us to grasp the actual conditions of life and the traditions controlling them at Cape Town. The town lies under the shadow of Table Mountain, and its three attendant peaks of Signal Hill, the Lion's Head and the Devil's Peak. The narrow strip of land between the sea and the mountain is filled by the business portion of the town, while the suburbs run round the base of the mountains. The city, therefore, forms almost a 358 CAPE TOWN. 350 semicircle round its guardian mountain. The peninsula upon which Cape Town is situated is provided with two excellent harbors Table Bay in the north and False Bay in the south. Cape Town lies on the shores of the former, while Simonstown, the naval headquarters, is situated on the western shore of the latter, and larger, bay. The close proximity of the towns to the mountains makes it liable to heavy rains. As the clouds are caught passing eastward from the sea, they discharge their contents on Cape Town, while the suburbs on the other side of the mountain may be enjoying dry, fine weather. Similarly the heat is often most oppressive in Cape Town proper, as the sun's rays are stopped by the slopes of Table Mountain, while the hot winds, unable to pursue their course freely, seem to settle down as regular inhabit- ants of the luckless city. Cape. Town, when seen to the accompani- ment of hot winds and dust storms, is not at all likely to charm the visitor or to bear out the prospect unrolled before him as his ship approached the harbor. The suburbs of Cape Town, however, enable the residents to avoid these plagues, and indeed they gain by them through the relief felt on escaping from the Gehenna of the sweltering town. After that any suburb would appear cool and refreshing. And the sub- urbs of Cape Town are by no means to be despised, even when judged on their merits. They have abundance of trees and shady walks, while the views of the mountains are exquisite in their variety. But to everyone who visits Cape Town there is one scene which always lingers in the memory and which compares favorably with every other scene the world over. Not even Sydney harbor, the entrance to Hong Kong, or Nagasaki harbor can excel, in beauty the view of Cape Town from the anchorage in Table Bay. Seen in the early morning, when the mists are slowly melting before the rays of the sun and as the town and mountain are revealed, it is more exquisite than at any other time in the day. Moonlight, of course, gives an indescribable beauty to the sleeping town and harbor. But in the morning it is as if a curtain were slow T ly being drawn away from before a master- piece and when finally the whole panorama lies revealed it is indelibly engraved on the memory. Alas, that on landing the idyllic must fade into the real and the dream of the distance into the matter-of-fact commonplace of close prox- 360 CAPE TOWN. imity. But to say that Cape Town is commonplace would be to give a wrong impression, because it is never that. There is always something strange and picturesque to be seen or heard, and though the town is too sleepy to compare favorably with the eastern ports of Port Elizabeth and Durban, it gains rather than loses charm for that reason. Every- where can be seen the Dutch and the English styles jostling each other, in calm disregard of all rules of uniformity or symmetry. The low Dutch house with its wide stoeps stands side by side w r ith the new fashioned English store or hotel. This mixture of two such varying styles can have but one effect, that of giving a ragged, unkempt look to the streets, and to the whole town. Adderley street is the best example of the impossibility of making a modern street which has to include these antique houses. Every now and then 'the pavement is broken up by an old fashioned stoep, which, obstinate like its builder, persists in running out into the street in its own way. So, despite its fine build- ings, Cape Town can never hope to aspire to be a really modern look- ing town: at least until the Dutch citizens are helped to imagine that the ugly new English houses are to be preferred to their own comfort- able and useful style of building. That Cape Town has some fine buildings no one can deny. The station, the post-office, and the parliament buildings are excellent examples of modern architecture and worthy of the capital of the Cape Colony. The Government House is not at all modern; the old- est portion dating from 1740 and various additions having been made irrespective of appearances. The whole, looked at from an architec- tural point of view, resembles a patchwork quilt more than anything else. However, it is proposed to erect a new Government House in the suburbs, near Rondebosch, probably. Pleen street is the second street of importance and is the center of all the cheap emporiums of the town. On Saturday nights the scenes are frequently of the wildest and gayest description, as the Malays come out, gaudily dressed in their best, to do their shopping. The Parade Ground, laid out in 1699, lying at the back of the post- office, is a vast expanse of open ground utilized for Saturday auctions and for reviews of the troops of the garrison. However interesting may be the town itself it can scarcelv com- CAPE TOWN. 361 pare with the interest to be derived from the population. A leading Australian politician well said of Cape Town that "while in his colony the population was homogeneous, here there was all the world." And so it would seem. Here are, of course, British and Dutchmen, while representatives of all the other European races are to be found. Malays and Kaffirs abound, while half-castes and mixed breeds of all degrees and of all shades crowd together along the roads. Here also mcy be seen Chinese, patient gardeners^ always able to make cabbage grow where it is impossible for any one else to succeed. Emblem of the yellow danger: the little blessing of cabbage and the great curse of a virile nature, endowed with endless patience, combating the domin- ion of the white man! All types are here and all are subject to the law, the law of the Empire, and are able to live peaceably together in a way impossible under any other rule. After Table Mountain the pride of Cape Town is its system of docks, which although of national importance, has been paid for by the Colony alone. As far back as 1743 steps were taken to protect the bay and since then work has been steadily proceeding until now there is safety for a number of ships. There is besides a graving dock, and a large outer harbor is rapidly approaching completion. The work on the breakwaters is practically all done by convicts, principally men from Kimberley condemned for the offence of illicit diamond buying or selling. Within the last few years a system of electric trams has been in- stalled and gives every satisfaction. It is well to note that in practi- cally all the large South African towns American trams are in use. Electric light is also in use in the streets and the docks. The water supply is derived from Table Mountain, where there are immense res- ervoirs. The principal suburbs of Cape Town are Green and Sea Points to the west, and Woodstock, Maitland, Rondebosch, Claremont and Wyn- berg to the east. The western suburbs have the advantage of the sea view and of the sea breezes while they have excellent connection with Cape Town by electric tram and by rail. The eastern suburbs are also connected with Cape Town by a railway, which runs down to Simons- town, passing Kalk Bay, a favorite watering place on False Bay. 362 CAPE TOWN. The population of Cape Town, according to the census of 1891, is 51,083, of whom 25,253 are Europeans, and 8,255 Malays. The re- mainder are Kaffirs and other natives. The population both black and white has, how T ever, increased considerably in the last nine years. At the present moment Cape Town is one of the most important points in South Africa. Here the whole of the British army corps will land and here they will entrain for the north. It may be well just to glance at the distances of Cape Town from the various towns of South Africa. From Southampton 5,978 miles, from Kimberley 647 miles, from Buluwayo 1,361 miles, from Bloemfontein 750 miles, and from Johannesburg 1,014 miles, Cape Town must always be remarkable for its lovely view, for Table -Mountain, and as the finest example that can be had of the re- sult of the attempt to combine two stubborn northern races and to weld them into one nation. CHAPTER V. JOHANNESBURG. THE CITY OF GOLD AND DRINK AND DUST. THE greatest of all the many interests centered in the town of Johannesburg is the fact that it did not exist before 1886. Only thirteen years old and yet so incredibly big and so incredibly bad. The very rapidity of its growth has been the cause of its ruin; nowhere else could such a city have arisen in so short a time. The mere fact of there being a gold reef would not, in itself, be- sufficient to have called a substantial town of some 102,000 inhabitants into being. But when the reef is not quartz, but a conglomerate, in which the gold runs regularly and evenly, without breaks and faults, then and only then can it call up such a permanent town. Wherever else gold has been discovered the tendency has always been to avoid build- ing the houses too w^ell for fear that it might be money thrown awa^ if the gold gave out. But on the Rand there is no talk of such a possibility; the mine proprietors in Johannesburg feel as secure in the future of their gold as does the De Beers Company at Kimberley in the future of their diamonds. ' Thus the little fact that the gold runs regularly through the reef makes Johannesburg a substantially built town instead of a corrugated atrocity. It is as well that the town should have the satisfaction of being well built, because that is about the only thing it has to be proud of. Of course much must be forgiven to such an infant com- munity and nobody would expect it to rival or even approach older towns in its municipal and social arrangements. Certainly it is as well not to expect anything good, because very little will be found to reward such expectations. Johannesburg extends over an area of some six square miles and contains 126 miles of roads and streets. The parks occupy an area of 84 acres. The site on which the pioneers of the Rand elected to found their city lies on the southern slope of the Witwatersrand Range, 363 364 JOHANNESB URG. one of the bleakest and most elevated spots in the Transvaal, where land for agricultural or pastoral purposes was of so little value that farms changed hands sometimes for the value of a team of oxen. Of course the conditions are much changed now, or rather were so in the time of the boom in 1896 and 1897, when two stands in Commissioner street sold for 22,000 (about |110,000) and one in Pritchard street brought in 40,000 (about $200,000). At the time of the boom there was nothing talked of but land and "stands" (as the building sites are there designated.) At breakfast people announced their intention of bu3 r ing so much land at 5 ($25) a foot; at dinner in the evening the news came out that they had sold it at 10 ($50) a foot during the day. Everybody was land-inad and the boom recalled in many respects the Australian land booms when land covered with water fetched fabulous prices for building sites! The boom broke, as all booms do, and the price of land (even before the war) was ridicu- lous and so low as to lead new-comers to disbelieve the stories of the prices paid in 1896 and 1897. Whereas a house in 1896 would bring in 60 ($300) rent it now brings in 10 ($50) to 15 ($75), if it be so fortunate as to be let. The gold, with its steadily increasing output, saved Johannesburg from the worst effects of the breaking of the boom. Ten years ago the value of the output was 1,490,568 (about seven and a half million dollars); this year it has reached the huge total of over 20,000,000 (over $100,000,000). But the very atmosphere of Johannesburg is unhealthy and charged with the fever of speculation. The only object of the presence of the great majority is to make money. There is no thought in their minds as to the welfare of the town or of the government of the Transvaal. The mining tax does not touch the rank and file directly, as it does the companies, and the question of obtaining the franchise does not weigh so much with the great majority of the Outlanders as does the price of the latest fashion in drinks. The first intimation the traveler receives that he is nearing the Golden City is when the railway passes beside the outlying mines on the reef. There are no stations near to the greater number of these mines so the general practice of those wishing to reach them is simply JOHANNESBURG. 365 to jump off the moving train into the red dust of the veld. Of course the trains do not move extremely rapid, but it is a wonder that more accidents do not happen, especially during the night. The Park Sta- tion at Johannesburg is really a very fine modern erection, lit with elec- tric light and boasting all the conveniences of an up-to-date railway terminus. This excellence is by no means shared by the majority of Transvaal stations. For instance, on the journey from Durban, it is impossible to obtain refreshments after crossing the Natal frontier! The prevailing color of Johannesburg and the inhabitants is red; clothes and collars are immediately covered with the fine red dust and sand from the mines and the veld. Dust storms are very preva- lent and many hours may be spent in almost absolute darkness, while the air is thick with red dust and the traffic in the streets is discon- tinued. Of course the water supply is so defective that none can be spared for watering of the roads. Thus the dust has its own way in Johannesburg; it must be acknowledged that it makes good use of its freedom! The principal streets are Commissioner street, Pritchard street and President street. These are lined by many stately piles of buildings, containing offices and stores, which have had enormous sums expended upon them. The town is overlooked by Hospital Hill, which rises to the north. While it takes its name from the hospital built on it, by far the most conspicuous building is the jail, with, close at hand, the fort and the police barracks. The danger from the fort is not great as it could not withstand a determined assault, and as for harming Johannesburg, that can be done more easily with explosives in the town and mines themselves. But undoubtedly its erection there and its aspect as it threatens the town with its guns, give it an "uncanny" place in the minds of the citizens. Viewed from Hospital Hill the most striking feature of the town is the great numbers of trees which break up the blocks of houses. To look at a view of Johannesburg in 1886 and then to see the results of thirteen years' work makes one doubt one's eyes. The big buildings can be understood, but how was it possible to induce trees to grow in such profusion? The open spaces in Johannesburg are fairly numer- 360 JOHANNESBURG. ous and, though having rather a deserted and forlorn aspect, they must conduce greatly to the health of the town. One of the finest parts of the town is the road above the railway bridge on the way to Dornfontein on the north, along which the tramway runs between Kruger's and Joubert's Parks, under a broad, handsome avenue of blue gum and other trees, leading directly to Hos- pital Gardens and to the hospital. There are also some very pleasant suburbs within easy reach of the town by tram. Here the trees are to be seen in even greater profusion than in Johannesburg itself. One of the great drawbacks to Johannesburg is the fact that the natives, employed in the mines, are not kept in compounds, but are free to wander about at will. When this is coupled with the fact that there are in the town an enormous number of low public houses and canteens (almost in the proportion of one to every hundred of the popu- lation), there can be no denying the serious nature of the danger. The police force is defective and unable to cope with the difficul- ties that arise. The men are principally Germans or Hollanders and no British are allowed to join the ranks. The "zarps" (constables) always proceed in twos and frequently do not hear inconvenient calls to duty. The most noticeable feature of the crowds in the streets is the great number of Jews that are to be seen. Polish Jew r s, Russian Jews, German Jews, all sorts and conditions of Jews are there, but always well to the front, with the customary display of diamonds. Round the Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the innumerable lottery and sweepstake offices they naturally are well represented. But really the whole of the male population seems to think it as much their duty to take a lottery or sweepstake ticket as it is to drink with any acquaint- ance they may meet. The moral tone of the community is debased and degraded. Amusements with drinking are (or very many of them) the only methods of spending the evening on returning from work at the mines. Cape carts and the rickshas are the means of conveyance at the disposal of those who do not wish to use the trams. The great Market Square used to present a very fine sight in the mornings with the countless teams of oxen and the half tilted wagons. Since the rinder- JOHANNESBURG. 307 pest, however, the old scenes have never really been repeated. The Market Place has the distinction of being the largest in South Africa. Water is laid on to the houses in pipes, the principal source being at Zuwebekom, 15 miles from the town. Although not so expensive as formerly, Johannesburg is still one of the most costly places of residence in the world. Half-a-crown there equals in purchasing power one shilling in London. As a curious instance of the backwardness of many of the institu- tions which we have been taught to consider indispensable, mention may be made of the condition of the post-office in 1897, on the arrival of the English mail. The counter at which letters were given out was about nine feet long 'at one end of a smallish room. Consequently as soon as the room was packed the crowd would extend far out into the square and there they would have to wait for hours before they could approach the counter, possibly to find that there were no letters for them. This sight is one that lingers longest in the memory of spec- tators and longer still in the memory of participators! All day and all night Johannesburg resounds with the noise of the stamps in the batteries until, when Sunday arrives, the very quietness seems oppressive. Now, however, all the stamps are quiet and in all probability the whole of the solid and magnificent machinery of the Rand will be destroyed by the Boers. In emulation of the Russians who burnt Moscow in the hour of Napoleon's victory, the Boers will strike a last blow at their enemies by destroying the millions of pounds' worth of machinery and shafts. Johannesburg, the city of gold, is silent and deserted now, and has only to look forward to the ruin of her wonderful development in a few moments of scientific destruction. Like ihe cities of the plain she may be destroyed, but as long as there is the gold reef, men will flock to obtain it and a new Johannesburg will arise from the ruins. CHAPTER VI. KIMBERLEY AND THE DIAMOND MINES. THE DREARIEST AND THE LIVELIEST TOWN IN SOUTH AFRICA. THIS seeming paradox is easily explained. To realize the first definition we must imagine a straggling town in brick, iron and wood, standing in the level veldt. For miles around there is nothing much higher than a dwarf bush. To be sure it must be admitted that for a few months after the rains this veldt is unrecog- nizable with its carpet of lovely flowers and tender grass. This beauty, however, may be said only to accentuate the dreariness of the flat sur- roundings during the rest of the year. There are no woods to visit, there are no country drives to be taken, there is simply nothing except Kimberley. There is no country near Kimberley. There is, to be sure, boating to be had at Modder Eiver, but that necessitates a railway journey and cannot come under the head of a regular element in the relief of the dreariness of Kimberley. The very debris heaps from the mines, low, drab, uncanny looking hills of dirt, add to the utter desolation of the surroundings of the town. Truly, if any town can lay claim to the title of dreariness, Kimberley should be that town. But the very fact of the dreariness causes the second definition to be true. The inhabitants, having no outside means of enjoyment and amusement, make up for the lack by a most complete cultivation of the art of internal amusement. Neighbors do not stand aloof from neighbors, but rather vie with them in promoting the general gaiety and happiness of the town. Outdoor games are largely patronized, bicycling gives ample oppor- tunities for gymkhanas and picnics; balls and dances, concerts and dramatic performances enable the inhabitants of Kimberley to sup- port the dreariness. Not even the siege of the town by the Boers could discourage the people of Kimberley from giving a dance, even though it might be preceded by a skirmish. But really they are to 368 K1MBERLEY AND THE DIAMOND MINES. 369 be envied, these citizens of the dreariest town in South Africa! It would be almost worth while to isolate some of the large towns of the northern hemisphere if it would enable us to enjoy ourselves as thor- oughly as do the people of Kimberley. But apart from the social affairs of the people, the cause and reason of Kimberley is the diamond. Kimberley is the seat of the industry which first saved Africa. Kimberley is the real home of the prince of gems. Golconda, of In- dian fame, is but a phrase beside it. It boasts the biggest and the richest holes of man's making in the surface of the earth. One day, rather more than twenty-eight years ago, a trader out- spanned at a farm between the Vaal and Orange rivers, and noticed a pretty white stone in the hands of a Griqua serving lad: A something pottled-bodied boy That knuckled at the taw. The stone fetched 500. It was the "first diamond." The Griqua urchin, you may say, was innocently playing chuck-penny with the destinies of South Africa. The river diggings on the Vaal are still successfully worked. In 1870, however, the whole industry was turned upside down by the discovery of the "Diggings." Where Kimberley now stands, with its population of perhaps twenty-eight thousand (nearly half of whom are workers in the mines), there were three farms in the flat, bushy plain, the names of which or of their owners were presently immor- talized by the proclamation of the diamond mines of Du Toit's Pan, Bultfontein, and De Beers. The mines were worked by many small companies and groups of miners until finally in 1891 the celebrated amalgamation of all the mines and companies took place. The reason was not far to seek, for excessive competition had rapidly reduced the price of diamonds to its lowest ebb. The fortunes of Kimberley hung in the balance. Only one thing could save them amalgamation. But that, with so many and such conflicting interests, seemed at first impossible. Guided by Mr. Cecil Rhodes and by his fellow worker, Mr. Beit, the 370 KIMBERLEY AND T-HE DIAMOND MINES. De Beers Company began secretly and steadily, through agents, to acquire the main interest in all the others, until one fine day it was found that they were masters of the situation. Kemoulding themselves into the "De Beers Consolidated," with a trust deed empowering them to engage in any and every undertaking conducive to their end, the directors in this w r ay amalgamated first De Beers and then all the other mines into one colossal syndicate. The company acquired also a preponderant interest in the only other diamond diggings which need be considered, and controls to-day the diamond industry of the world. Thus we see how, by the simple process of amalgamation, Kim- berley became what it is to-day, a De Beers town. Whether it would have been better for the town under the old regime or not is a diffi- cult question to answer. Though the amalgamation had at first a bad effect in reducing the population by about one-half, the tide has now turned and there are ample signs that in the future it will be one of the most important and largest towns In South Africa. If it was the boast of Augustus that he found Rome of brick and left it of marble, the enterprising men of Kimberley may claim to have effected an equally striking transformation, for they are fast turning the Kimberley of iron into one of brick. The town labors under the disadvantage common to most mining tow T ns, in that its most striking feature is the irregularity with which it is laid out. The straight streets, crossing at right angles and at equal distances, so generally found in South Africa, as well as in America, are replaced by a want of uniformity, due no doubt to its gradual growth along the cart tracks used amongst the mines. While this irregularity has many disadvantages, it is calculated to please the eye of the British emigrant and to remind him of home. Probably, however, the citizens of Kimberley w T ould prefer to be able to displease the old fashioned idea of new-comers. They believe that there are so many delightful things in Kimberley that the very straightest of straight roads could not destroy its charm. Before passing to the all important subject of the Diamond mines it would be as well to say a few words as to the suitability of Kim- berley as a health resort. Situated as it is over 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, and enjoying a singularly dry climate, it would seem II d 00-2 S > a 2 O d ^^ IB! KIMBERLEY AND THE DIAMOND MlXLS. 37;J as if it should be peculiarly adapted to those suffering from diseases of the chest. Acting on this assumption patients are sent out from Great Britain and elsewhere in all conditions and in all stages of dis- ease. As often as not they are unable to afford the price of special treatment at the Sanatorium and expect that the mere fact of being at Kimberley will cure them. The great majority succumb to the bad food and to the irritation caused by the dust. Besides doing no good to themselves the patients are a great source of danger to the inhabitants generally, the ever present dust affording an admirable medium for spreading the germs of the disease. Besides the Sanatorium there is an excellent hospital with accom- modation for 250 patients (European and native). The population of Kimberley is 28,000, of whom 12,600 are of Euro- pean extraction. Situated as it is, so close to the frontier of the Orange Free State, during the present war it is inevitable that numbers of the burghers should be able to enter the town and ascertain all par- ticulars as to its means of defense and the position of its intrenchments. It seems strange, however, that even up to the actual investment, Boers were allowed to come in as they chose, even although none of the inhabitants were allow r ed to penetrate through the Boer lines. The principal road is the Du Toits Pan road, in which are situated many of the best buildings. For a short distance it has quite an import- ant aspect, but soon its houses become straggling and small. Every- where, however, one is conscious of the fact that it is the Diamond Town and that De Beers owns it. If it is not a debris heap that re- minds one, it is a chimney or else a glimpse of some of the winding plant at the head of the mine. As the mines seem omnipresent, it may be as well to deal with them at some length. They are unique and well worth a much longer description than we have room to give. The old system of open workings has been abandoned in the case of the two most important mines the Kimberley and the De Beers as although considerably cheaper, it was impossible to continue it in- definitely owing to the falling in of the wtflls. Consequently now the blue diamondiferous ground is worked by means of underground shafts. First of all it is as well to understand clearly the conditions of mining at Kimberley, and how the diamonds are found. 374 KIMBERLEY AND THE DIAMOXD MIXES. The mines are simply pipes, bored up to the surface while Mother Earth was yet a-boil, piercing the common shaly and basaltic forma- tions of the country, and filled with a sort of blue cake, in which the plums are diamonds. The half-baked cake apparently simmered up and down in the pipe with enough pressure to crystallize the carbon in it, but not to boil altogether over at the top. Broken bits of the case through which it pushed "floating reef" they are called, were imbedded near the top, which in each mine was funnel shaped. Be- low the funnel the pipe runs straight into the bowels of the earth, with but little bulging or hollowing of the sides. The "blue ground" in which are the plums is a not very hard rock of a dull, French gray color. The blue ground is blasted out from the tunnel and shafts and conveyed to the surface by a great skip, capable of hauling out 9,000 tons in a day. At the surface the precious "blue" is run in trucks by an endless rope to the drying grounds, which are some miles away and some square miles in extent. On the "grounds" the "blue" is softened by the sun and air, broken with picks, and then conveyed back to begin that process of reduction which magically transmutes each ton or two of dull and heavy earth into a tiny brilliant, destined, perhaps, to flash from the forehead of an empress. First, the ground goes into the washing machine the primitive "cradle" on a large and perfected scale the working of which de- pends on the fact that the high specific gravity of the diamond makes it behave differently from other stones under the joint action of centrifugal force and gravitation. Spun round in perforated cylin- ders and pans under a whirlpool of water, the bulk of the ground flows off in "tailings" of gray mud. The residue of divers stones of divers sorts and sizes is then jogged about with more water in the "pulsator." This machine is a huge framework of graduated sieves and runlets, which sorts the divers stones into several sizes, and after much percolation, delivers each uniform lot at a separate receptacle. After the pulsator there remain a number of "dry-sortings," and re- sortings on various tables, by hands both black and white, all under lynx-eyed surveillance, the pretty red garnets and other valueless pebbles being swept off by dozens with a bit of tin, the diamonds KIMBERL&Y AMD THE DIAMOND MINES. 375 dropped into a sort of locked poor box; until finally the coveted hoard, all scrutinized, classified, and valued, lies on the office table of the com- pany on its way to their impregnable safes. The excitement of the sorting table is one in which the more favored visitors may indulge. To sort the wet gravel with a small piece of metal, spreading the stones out on the sorting table and picking out the diamonds is a source of never ending pleasure to the novice. It seems, however, a great shame to have to put the diamonds away into a tin as soon as they are found. After the wet-sorting, the gravel is dry-sorted by native convicts. A great number of convicts are "rented" from the Cape government and work under strict supervision by armed keepers no convicts are employed underground. At the final sorting the sight in the offices of De Beers makes dia- monds seem almost cheap. Here are diamonds of every shape, and size, and tint, from the perfect octahedron, which will lose but little of its bulk in the process of cutting, to the irregular lump destined, unless of the finest water, to be split up into four, eight, or sixteen pieces. Here are stones from the size of a pin's head to that of a wal- nut, and from the purest and most limpid white to mantling yellow or orange. Here, again, is one which has been blown black indelibly by a charge of dynamite. Others are astonishingly bright for uncut stones. They have left Nature's hands so polished that it is only by the addition of glancing facets that art can better them. Then there are the "fancy stones" blue, green, brown, purple, puce, yellow, red- dish and even black for diamonds are of all those tints. The black ones, known as "boart," are excessively hard. Spurned by the beauty, these negro gems serve the purpose of the mechanic better than bril- liants of the purest water. The countless little heaps of diamonds reposing on white paper, in severe rows equidistant from one another, remind one more of the heaps of sugar and other crystals set out by children in a game of shops, than of a possible, realizable king's ransom. The output is sold to a syndicate, which again sells to the diamond dealers. Owing to the fact that they control the diamond market the De Beers Company are able to keep up the price of diamonds. Last year's work brought in the huge total of 3,647,874-13-11 (about $18,200,000), which gave a 370 KIMBERLEY AND THE DIAMOND MINES. profit of 1,777,795-12-8 (about $5,650,000). The average yield per load of the two important mines was .80 caret or 21s. 2d. (about $4) per load. The De Beers Company affords yet two other sources of interest both to the inhabitants and to visitors. The former find much delight in the leafy arcades of the village of Kenilworth, while moonlight rides past the reservoir to the village are a regular feature of life in Kimberley. Kenilworth is the model village of De Beers and lies about two and a half miles to the northwest of Kiinberley. It is built en- tirely upon ground belonging to the company and was designed to pro- vide residences for their employees. The village is simply planned, having four main avenues (two only of which are at present built upon) bounded on the north by an avenue, on the south by the main road to Kimberley, and intersected by a central avenue. The avenues are broad and well kept, lined with gums, fir and pepper trees and bor- dered by wide sidewalks and gardens in front of the semi-detached villa-like residences. The prices* of rental for the villas or for the apartments for single men are moderate enough to be within the means of any employee. Besides the residences there is a spacious club and the village boasts its own post and telegraph office. There is also a school for the child- ren, below the fifth standard; above this standard the children attend the regular Kimberley schools, being conveyed on the trains free of charge. The nurseries and orchards of the company present at certain seasons of the year a beautiful sight and reflect great credit upon those placed in charge of them. But the same may be said of the whole vil- lage, w T ith its private gardens, recreation grounds, tennis courts and all the varied arrangements for the enjoyment of outdoor sport. With all these material advantages, with cleanly surroundings and health giving breezes, Kenilworth is deservedly popular. The 24 houses built in 1889 have increased to 119, with a population of about five hundred, and at the present time there is not a single house unlet. Such experiments are well worth encouraging and every success should lead to the formation of similar institutions elsewhere. To the visitor De Beers supplies the interest to be derived from a walk through the native compounds attached to the mines. Here live the natives employed in the diamond works, shut off from the world KIMBERLEY AND THE DIAMOND MINES. % 377 during the time of their contract. The great proportion of the work- ers in the mines are natives and one has only to remember the state of affairs in Johannesburg with its gold mines to appreciate the ad- vantages of the compound system. It. benefits the inhabitants of Kim- berley, it benefits the company inasmuch as it prevents to a great extent the illicit diamond buying and selling which was once so rife, and most of all it benefits the natives themselves. They are well housed; and there are stores within the compounds, where they can buy every necessity and many luxuries with the exception of intoxicating liquor, which is absolutely prohibited. A hospital is included in each com- pound. If anyone doubted the happiness of the natives under the re- straint that is imposed, a visit to the compounds on a Sunday after- noon would convince him to the contrary. In the largest compound, that of De Beers or the West End, covering four acres, there are 3,750 natives. Altogether the diamond mines employ 10,340 natives and 1,860 Europeans. This forms a large proportion of a population numbering 28,000. The great enemy of the diamond company is the practice of illicit diamond buying, or I. D. B. Against this the strictest laws have been passed until now no one is allowed to own a rough unregistered dia- mond in Kimberley and the finding of such a stone is sufficient to secure a prosecution and in many cases a conviction. There is much more that is interesting in Kimberley, but the best summing up it can have is simply "The Diamond Town, the dreariest and the liveliest town in South Africa." However homesick the new- comer may be on his arrival the saying in Kimberley is: "Give him six months here and he will never want to leave the town." Happily for the rest of the world all the visitors are not able to stay six months in Kimberley. CHAPTER VII. OTHER LEADING TOWNS. SECTION I. BLOEMFONTE1N. ALTHOUGH Bloemfontein has now been the capital of the Orange Free State for many years it has never risen to be anything more than a quiet rural town. It has about 10,000 inhabitants, 7,000 of whom are whites. The town stands upon a plain at an elevation of 4,518 feet, surrounded by low hills. The air is dry and bracing and pre- sents special attractions to sufferers from pulmonary complaints. On one of the hills to the south there is a small fort, erected by the British Government in 1846 it* is usually armed with two maxims and is scarcely formidable. Close to the fort is a small monument to the memory of those killed in the Basuto war of 1865-68. Many English live in Bloemfontein, and the little town is the seat of both Anglican and Koman Catholic Bishoprics. The Anglican Church is the second largest in the town, arid has a very good interior. The Dutch Eeformed Church is naturally the principal one and is noticeable through possessing two spires. The town is laid out regularly round a large market square; this square is the center of the town, and here begin all the principal streets. These are wide and very well kept they are lined with trees, and these have grown so large that from the neighboring hills the houses look like little boats on an ocean of green. As capital of the State, Bloemfontein is able to boast the possession of some very creditable public buildings. The New Raadzaal is a very handsome building, with a dome-shaped tower some 90 feet high. The interior is very well arranged, and the principal chamber is equal to any to be found in the Colonies or the American States. This building cost 57,000 (about $280,000). The old Raadzaal is now used as a law court, and is not nearly so handsome as the present Zaal. In front of the old Zaal is a statue of the famous and noble President, J. H. Brand (1864-1888). The next most striking building in the town is the residence of the S78 OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 379 President, which cost about 15,000 (about $75,000), and is substan- tially built of stone. One of the characteristics of nearly all the public buildings is the happy combination of red brick with a peculiarly fine- grained white stone, quarried in the neighborhood. On one side of the town the villas have spread on to the slope of the hills and already the higher ground beyond has been laid out for building purposes. The town hall, with its large hall used for concerts, etc., is not striking, but the post and telegraph office on the Market Square is a credit to the town. There are also two hospitals, one of which (the Government hospital) has accommodation for 200 patients, and the other (the Old Cottage Hospital) contains a ward erected in commemo- ration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The well-arranged National Museum is contained in part in one of the first buildings erected in the town. This has been a church, a raadzaal and a court house, and was the one in which the British Convention was signed in 1854, which convention gave its independence to an unwilling State. There are several excellent educational institutions in Bloemfon- tein. The Grey College (a handsome building, presented by Sir George Grey), and St. Andrew's College for boys; the Ladies' Government Institute and St. Michael's Home for Girls, fully supply the needs of the community. The water supply of the town is obtained from a spring and from Sannah's Post, on the Modder River. From the latter source there have been 34 miles of pipes laid, costing about 80,000 (about $ 384,000). The water supply is a municipal enterprise, as is the electric lighting now in process of erection. In Bloemfontein living is not by any means cheap, although the majority of the inhabitants live very simply. There is scarcely any poverty and not very much wealth. Its inhabitants boast that it is the most idyllic community in South Africa, and it certainly is a fitting capital for the Orange Free State, whose arms are a lion and a lamb standing on opposite sides of an orange tree, with the motto: "Freedom, Immigration, Patience, Courage." There is an excellent club in the town, besides which are to be found a good cricket ground, race course and golf links. Bloemfontein is distant 449 3-4 miles by rail from Port Elizabeth. 380 OTHER LEADING TOWNS. SECTION II. BULUWAYO. A glance at the map of South Africa will show that somewhere in the region known as Rhodesia, south of the Zambesi, at a point where rail- ways from the far south and the farther north will meet with railways from the Indian Ocean on the east and the Atlantic Ocean on the west, a great commercial center may be expected to grow up. Some people think that Buluwayo is going to become the Chicago of Austral Africa. Where four or five years ago stood the Royal Kraal of the Matebele, a flourishing township has arisen with a white population of 4,000. The actual site of Buluwayo is an open, treeless plain, two or three miles from the Eoyal Kraal, which has been destroyed and replaced by Gov- ernment House. The tree under which Moselekatse and Lobengula used to dispense judgment has been left standing. The name of the town is a Zulu word meaning "the place of the killing," and that name will pre- serve forever the memory of the horrid massacres and assassinations in which the Matebele rejoiced. Buluwayo is one of the most astonishing towns in South Africa be- cause it does not owe its rapid growth to diamonds or gold to such an extent as do the two other great towns. There is gold of course, as there are also lead, copper and iron to be found in the neighborhood. Then again the country is most suitable for pastoral pursuits, and Buluwayo stands in what is likely to be one of the largest cattle and sheep districts in the colonies. The town is laid out on the rectangular system round a large square the streets run north and south and the avenues east and west. Both the streets and avenues the latter are called by numbers while the former have names are broad and promise to be very handsome when the buildings are completed. But already there are many fine buildings, and it is a great shock to many, when they visit Buluwayo, to find that it is not possible to live as in the wild, unsettled country. Connecting Government House with the town there runs an avenue 2,542 yards long and 130 feet w r ide, lined with trees along its full length. Both Government House and the avenue are the property of Mr. Rhodes. The principal thoroughfare in the town is Rhodes Street, which runs through the center of Market Square. The sides of the Square are OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 381 formed by 7th and 8th avenues on the north and south, Grey and Fife streets on the west and east. All the principal public buildings are to be found near the Market Square. There are the public offices and court house, the Stock Exchange, the postoffice and several banks. These are nearly all edifices which would and will do credit to a much larger town; the inhabitants know that in a short time the town will have grown very much larger and therefore have made the public buildings much larger than would seem necessary at present. The market house is a substantial building of two stories, with a dome and lantern, 86 feet high, very well arranged and lighted by elec- tricity. But indeed the whole lighting system of Buluwayo is admir- able, and having made so good a start it is probable that Buluwayo will never suffer from underlighting. The hospital is erected on ground specially granted for the purpose, and cost 6,500 (about $30,000). It is dedicated to the memory of Major Wilson and those who fell with him at the Shangani River, on December 4, 1893. There are churches of nearly all the principal religious bodies, some of the edifices being very well arranged and well built. In 1898 there were 8 schools, in which the total attendance was 424, of which 338 were white children. To the north of the town are the Queen's Club Athletic Grounds and a little beyond is the Native Reserve. The native location lies some dis- tance to the northwest. To the east of the town lies a valley through which the Matsheumhlope River runs, and beyond this is the suburban township now rapidly being built over, and the stands of which com- mand a high price. Between the two towns the ground is laid out for a park and botanical gardens. Of course, there are a race course and several athletic clubs in the town. Cricket, golf, polo and lawn tennis are amply provided for, while bicycling is an almost universal practice. Some idea of the growth of Buluwayo may be gained from the fact that in 1897 the municipal valuation was 1,682,278 (about $8,240,000), while in 1898 it had increased to 2,045,000 (about $10,000,000). In the former year statistics show that of the 578 houses in the town more 382 OTHER LEADING TOWNS. than half were built of brick. This is a wonderful record for so young a town and must be explained by the fact that excellent clay and lime are found close to the town. Water supply and lighting reservoirs and filter beds to hold some 40,000,000 gallons have been constructed near the railway station. There is a fall of over one hundred feet, and this is used to provide the electric power for the lighting of the town. The three lakelets lie amongst most picturesque surroundings and are capable of supplying 6,000 persons with 10 gallons per head for 18 months. The great diffi- culty in storing water here is the impossibility of stopping percolation. Water can generally be obtained by sinking wells to a depth of from 20 to 30 feet, Buluwayo lies at a height of 4,250 feet and is very healthy. From May to August the weather is very cold, with southeast winds; between November and March, 25 to 35 inches of rain falls. The average tem- perature for the six summer months (October-March) is about 72 deg. F. and of the winter months about 64 deg. F. Dust storms are frequently troublesome. A colossal statue of Mr. Ehodes is to be erected in Buluwayo and the pedestal is to be ornamented with a bas-relief of Major Wilson and his comrades, the names being given of the different troopers who fell with him. The total cost will be 3,000 (about f 15,000) and the statue is being made in England. Buluwayo is by no means a cheap place to live in. It is difficult to live for much less than 20 (about $100) a month, though after the war it is probable that the prices will be higher for some time. The town is situated on the Cape to Cairo Railway, and lies 1,361 miles from Cape Town by train; 713 miles from Kimberley; 490 from Mafeking; 1,199 from Port Elizabeth; 1,260 from East London; 1,109 from Bloemfontein. From Johannesburg, by train, it is 1,373 miles; but on Congo by coach or to Mafeking, 144 miles; and thence it is 512 miles by train to Buluwayo. Coaches used also to run from Johannes- burg, through the Zoutspanberg district to Tuli, and thence to Bulu- wayo. OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 383 SECTION III. DURBAN. The town of Durban is the largest in Natal and differs from the capital, Pietermaritzburg, in that it was founded by the British (in 1835), not by the Boers. Its name it bears in honor of Sir Benjamin D'Urban, one of the most able Governors of the Cape Colony. Origi- nally it was known as Port Natal, which name it received from the great Vasco da Gama, who visited it on Christmas Day in 1497, he gave it the name in honor of the nativity of our Savior. Durban is one of the most important ports of South Africa, and, though the railway distance to the Gold Mines of Johannesburg is greater than from Delagoa Bay, merchants prefer to ship their goods via Durban rather than trust to the tender mercies of the Portuguese. Any success that Durban may achieve as a port is owed almost entirely to the Hon. Harry Escombe, once Prime Minister of the Colony. He has devoted his life to the work of removing the bar and artificially con- structing an entrance to the harbor. That he has succeeded may be shown by the fact that during the present war the troopships are able to steam into the harbor, over a bar which used once to have only 11 or 12 feet of water covering it. Mr. Escombe looks forward confidently to the time when there shall be 30 feet of water on the bar at high tide. The channel is kept well defined and clear from silting sand by two breakwaters, the northern one, 2,900 feet long, and the southern 2,550 feet. This latter breakwater runs out from under the Bluff, a head- land some 220 feet above the sea level, on which is situated the light- house. Here are also to be found two batteries of garrison artillery, considered capable of defending the harbor mouth. After passing through the quarter-mile wide channel the ships enter into the land- locked bay, which has an area of 7^ square miles of open water. This bay is, however, very shallow, except near the mouth, where are the wharves, fringing the northern spit of land opposite the Bluff known as "The Point." There is a fine new quay of dressed stone, 500 feet in length, as well as the old timber structure, 1,800 feet in length. Besides these there is St. Paul's Wharf, used by the sailing ships. All these wharves are connected with the railway line, and thus the work of 384 OTHER LEADING TOWNS. discharging cargo is carried on very quickly. The electric light enables work to be continued during the night when necessary. The w r ork of loading and unloading is done by about 1,000 natives and 200 whites- no Indians do any of this work. The business town of Durban lies on the plain between the bay, the Berea and the sea; the residential portion is mainly, situated on the hill behind the town, known as the Berea. This hill received its name from a missionary settlement, which was -there in the early days and which was called after the Berea mentioned in Acts XVII., 10:11. Durban is a notable contrast to many of the other South African towns in that it bears plain evidence of the fact that its citizens take a pride and an interest in their home. It is tidy to a wonderful degree, and, though the town itself cannot be called beautiful, yet the Berea is wonderfully gay with flowering trees and brilliant garden patches. The roads are hard and smooth, a state of things which is a great relief to anyone who has had experience of other roads. Of course the fact that so much of the traffic is done in rickshas explains to a great extent the excellence of the roads. The rickshas in Durban are much larger and more comfortable than the average Japanese ones, while it would be difficult to imagine a more striking contrast than that between the stalwart big Zulu ricksha boy of Durban and the little coolie of Japan. The Durban ricksha men have to w-ear a certain amount of clothing by the police regulations, but they indulge in a great amount of extra ornamentation, calculated to attract the attention of the public. It is very quaint to see the Zulus prancing about and generally making a great display of friskiness in order to get a fare. The streets of the town are laid dow r n at right angles, and the three principal thoroughfares are lined with substantial stores, hotels and public buildings. The buildings in Durban are built well and in good taste, and there is none of that crude unflnishedness so very noticeable in Johannesburg. A very fine tram system serves the town and its suburbs. Starting from The Point the line traverses West Street from end to end, then passes along Florida Road, and, crossing over the railway, it mounts the Berea Hill. Up this slope the trams run, under trees and past beau- tiful flowering and sweet-scented shrubs. The line does not run on the OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 385 road, but has a special track at the side. After reaching the summit of the Berea, the trams run along the brow of the Hill. The trams are drawn by horses, indeed it would be a pity to spoil the town by intro- ducing any other method of traction unless it were electricity. Every- body uses the trams in Durban, though the ricksha charge for a short distance is only 3d "a tickey." There are no cabs; if there be much luggage a series of rickshas are engaged and follow in procession. The Berea is one of the prettiest places in South Africa. Its pictur- esque villas, nestling amongst a wealth of trees and flowering shrubs, command charming views down to the Bay, the sea and the Bluff. It is also remarkable as having been used in one of the first experiments at municipal socialism. The municipality bought the land, and by selling or leasing it in lots as the values increased, has secured a revenue which keeps local taxation very low and enables many improvements and enterprises to be entered upon. Durban has the reputation of being the best managed and the most self-respecting town in South Africa. One of the things which causes most pride to the citizens of Durban is their town hall. This stands in West Street, facing some public gar- dens, and is, therefore, not too closely enclosed to allow of a full display of its fine effect. The town hall was completed in 1885, at a cost of 50,252, and in 1894 a fine organ w r as erected in the main hall by the corporation. There used to be great rivalry between the organists of the Durban and Pietermaritzburg town halls as to the relative worth of their instruments. Since the town hall at the latter place was de- stroyed by fire, organ and all, the Durban organ has now no rival in South Africa. Certainly one of the features of the town is the excel- lent use to which the organ is turned to account. There are regular free organ recitals, and numerous musical works are given during each year by a capable choral society, trained and conducted by the organist. The botanical gardens of Durban are very well laid out and very well kept. Indeed they would do credit to a much larger town than even the largest town in Natal. The observatory is situated on the upper slope of the Berea, im- mediately above the botanical gardens, at a height of 260 feet above 386 OTHER LEADING TOW MS, the sea. Originally founded through the exertions of Mr. Escombe and some other citizens, in 1883 the institution was taken over by the Natal Government. Some excellent observation work has been done at this observatory. One of the most striking things in Durban is the number of Indian coolies and merchants. It gives quite an eastern air to the town at the first glance, but Durban is too English to allow even 40,000 Indians to make it more eastern. Indeed, so frightened are the Natalians of the power of the Indians, that it is extremely difficult for an Indian to obtain the franchise. These brown Uitlanders, however wealthy and respectable they may be, have very little chance of obtaining the fran- chise after any number of years in fact, when they do obtain it, it is as a favor, not as a right. In 1897 the citizens of Durban became seriously alarmed at the intelligence that many shiploads of Indians were coming to Natal, driven a* way from home by the famine. Protests were made, and, finally, on the arrival of one ship, the Durban people lined the quays and refused to allow the Indians to land. Eventually the Indians were allowed to enter Durban, but now an act has been passed by which all immigrants may be excluded who cannot write in European characters a letter applying to be exempted from the provisions of the law. What- ever may be their wrongs and their dangers, there is no doubt that they add a great deal to the picturesqueness of the town. The climate of Durban in winter, the dry season, is delightful, but in the hot, wet season it becomes rather oppressive. The average annual temperature is 69 to 70, and the rainfall 40 inches per annum. On occasion, however, it can be very hot indeed in Durban when the tem- perature will stand at 109 in the coolest shade, while in the sun 155 will be registered. Despite the nearness to the sea, it is possible to ride and walk, even in the immense heat of 109 in the shade, without feeling the effects seriously. The moistness in the air induces perspira- tion; in Durban the nights are not cool as they are in the higher lying portions of South Africa. The native policemen of Durban are a curious sight, but have a great opinion of themselves, and are a very fine set of men. There is, however, something very curious and quaint in seeing a man fully- OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 387 equipped in the police garments down to the knee, then bare legs and feet. The policemen carry knobkerries and keep remarkably good order. To the west of Durban, behind the Berea, are the park-like slopes and hills of Durban County. To the north, the more open country of Victoria County, covered with the brilliant green sugarcane fields, and the bold bluffs of the Inanda Kange are visible. Durban has a great future before it, and a very pleasant present. SECTION IV. GRAHAMSTOWN. Grahamstown has the reputation of being the most English town in South Africa. It is the metropolis of the Eastern Provinces and lies on the slopes of the Zuurberg Mountains, near the source of the Kowie Eivers. It is situated at a height of 1,741 feet above the level of the sea, and may be reached by rail from Port Elizabeth in 9 34 hours. The population of 10,436 contains 6,271 whites. The town is one of the oldest in the Colony, as it was founded in 1812. It became a military station in 1819, and next year was selected by the colonists as their rallying place in the event of native troubles. In 1819 an attempt was made by a Kaffir chief, with 10,000 warriors, to surprise the town, but the garrison of 320 men drove them back, with great loss. In 1834, 1846 and 1864 the wars between the colonists and the Kaffirs raged round Grahamstown, so that it would be difficult to find any kopje or valley which has not witnessed some struggle be- tween white and black. Grahamstown is the seat of two Bishoprics, the Anglican and the Roman Catholic, both of which have a cathedral in the town. The superintendency of the Wesleyan Methodist body is also located at ' Grahamstown. The public buildings are substantial, but have no claim to architectural merit. The town hall is in the Gothic style and is situated in High Street, the principal thoroughfare. It was completed in 1882, at a cost of 18,000 (about $90,000). A square clock tower, projecting on arches over the pavement, commemorates the early strug- gles of the settlers with the natives. The Eastern District Court House is also in High Street ; it is in Grecian style, and presents a rather top- heavy appearance. There are three resident judges. The possession USX OTHER LEADING TOWNS. of the two Bishoprics and the fact that it is the seat of the law courts of the Eastern Provinces gives a very much higher tone to the society of the town than is often found in South African towns. Grahamstown is one of the principal educational centers of South Africa. In addition to St. Andrew's College, founded in 1885, there are the public school, St. Aidan's College (Roman Catholic), and the Cathedral Grammar School, all for boys; with the Diocesan College, the Wesleyan High School (erected at a cost of 10,000, or about f 50,- 000), and the Convent School, for girls. The streets of Grahamstown run regularly and are wide and lined with trees. While not possessing any very special attractions, there are many features in favor of the town as a place of residence. Living is cheap and good. The agricultural population are the most progres- sive in Cape Colony; as regards dairy produce, Grahamstown is one of the few places in the Colony where cheese is made. The water supply is excellent and is laid on to the houses in pipes. The surrounding hills are well wooded and afford opportunities for pleasant drives and rides. The climate is very highly recommended, though the rainfall is too evenly distributed throughout the year to render it suitable for phthisi- cal patients. The botanical gardens are approached from the High Street, through the old Drostdy or Court House, which is now used for military pur- poses Grahamstown being a garrison town. Parliament sat in this building in 1864. The gardens, which are considered the finest in South Africa, cover 100 acres and are well irrigated, and the natural beauty of the valley in which they are placed has not been destroyed. The most interesting feature of the town is, however, the Bacterio- logical Institute, which is under the direction of Mr. Alexander Edding- ton, formerly first principal medical officer in Cape Colony. The insti- tute is one of the largest and probably the most complete in the world, and is subsidized by all the South African States, including the Trans- vaal and the Orange Free State. The primary reason for which it was established was that of making investigations into the diseases peculiar to South Africa, and elaborate researches have been made into "horse-sickness," with a view to discover a vaccine. Dr. Koch used the laboratory of the institute for his re- A BOER SCOUT The Boer Is trained to a mode of warfare in which scouting on swift horses is a prominent feature. He carries his belt of cartridges, and a water bottle over his shoulder, and wears his wide-brimmed hat. The rope round the horse's neck is used for knee-haltering, which allows the horse to move slowly about, browsing on the grass during a time of rest. OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 391 searches into the nature of rinderpest in 1896-7. Despite the general indifference on the part of the public the institute has made extraor- dinary progress and has been a marked commercial success. From its laboratories vaccine and other serums are made and supplied in their purest forms. SECTION V. PORT ELIZABETH. Port Elizabeth is the geographical capital of Cape Colony, while Cape Town is the historical. It is the second city of the Colony in importance, with a white population of 13,000, besides the natives, who number 12,000. In 1820 a large body of emigrants was landed in Algoa Bay, on the shores of which Port Elizabeth now stands. At that time there were only a few houses clustered around the little Block House. The town was laid out by order of Sir Rufane Donkin, Acting Governor, and he erected a stone monument on the hill above in memory of his deceased wife, Lady Elizabeth "one of the most perfect of human be- ings, who has given her name to the town below." Since 1820 the town has grown very steadily and has earned the title of the Liverpool of South Africa. The custom dues received during the 18 years ending 1896 reach the sum of 9,567,082 (about $47,275,000), as compared with 7,482,798 (about 137,665,000) received at Cape Town. The town does not yet possess a real harbor and ships have to anchor in the bay; the anchorage affords good holding ground and is sheltered from all winds but those blowing from the southeast. These are, however, the most dangerous of all, and it is often extremely dif- ficult for the tugs and lighters to pass between the ships and the jetties. At present all the harbor accommodation consists of two wrought-iron jetties, 840 and 1,152 feet long, costing, with their equipment, some 250,000 (about $1,225,000). They are lit by electric light, and are well furnished with cranes. In 1856 a breakwater was commenced and car- ried out for 1,700 feet; it had, however, to be removed in 1869, as the harbor had been rendered useless by the silting up of the sand. In 1897 a scheme was prepared by which it was proposed to construct a shel- tered harbor, at a cost of from two and a half to three million pounds sterling (from $10,000,000 to $15,000,000.) This, however, has not yet been commenced, and all the work is carried on at the jetties which are 392 OTHER LEADING TOWNS. connected with the railway. Vessels drawing 20 feet can lie alongside the jetty during favorable weather; statistics show that this occurs on four days and five nights out of six. Viewed from the bay, or even from the north jetty, Port Elizabeth presents a rather dusty and colorless appearance, owing to the absence of trees and the sandy hills on either side. The town lies at the foot, on the slope and on the top of a hill. The slope is so steep that steps often take the place of roads, and the houses rise one behind the other, the ones in front not in any way impeding the view of those higher up. Electric trams run from the Market Square down Main Street to North End Park, a distance of two and one-half miles, and another line runs up the hill. The total length of the electric tramway is twelve miles, and the fare unit is 3d (6c). On entering the town from the north jetty the railway station, a substantial white stone structure, is the first building on the right; on the left are the new harbor buildings and tlie custom house. Jetty Street leads into Market Square, which is the center of the town, and round which the principal buildings are clustered. By far the most striking building in Port Elizabeth is the town hall, on the south side of the square. It is built in the renaissance style, at a cost of 26,000 (about $128,000), and has a fine clock tower. Besides the public offices it contains a public library of 25,000 volumes, which, although not the largest, is the most perfectly arranged in South Africa. This library is to be transferred to a special building. In front of the town hall are the post and telegraph offices a new postoffice is being erected at a cost of 75,000 (about $367,000). The market buildings occupy a conspicuous position on the square. The site for these buildings had to be literally excavated from the side of the hill, and this is the principal cause for the heavy cost of construc- tion (70,000, about $343,000). Some idea of its size may be gained when one learns that the Feather Market Hall will seat 5,000 people. Besides this hall there are the Fruit Market and Wool Market Halls. Main Street is the principal thoroughfare of Port Elizabeth, and is one of the finest in the Colony. The end near the Market Square is particularly fine and contains some very handsome buildings. The fur- ther away from the square the road runs the worse the houses become, OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 393 until nobody could, with truth, praise it. Strand Street, below Main Street, has been improved recently and now contains some handsome offices. The upper part of the town, known as "The Hill," a flat tableland overlooking the sea, is composed of villas, and is best approached by White's Road, leading from Market Square to St. George's Park. There are numberless churches in Port Elizabeth, both for whites and for natives. There' is also one hospital, the Provincial, known as one of the best conducted in South Africa. St. George's Park is well laid out, with shady avenues, lawns and conservatories, and is all the more interesting because of the fact that most of the soil had to be carted to the spot. Adjoining the park there are cricket and tennis grounds. It is well to remember that Port Elizabeth has been the pioneer of tennis tournaments in South Africa, and that the championship meetings are still held there each year. On the north of the town is Prince Alfred Park, close to which are the golf links. The south end of the town is divided from "The Hill" by "The Valley," formed by Baaken's River. Apart from the town, on the east side, are to be found the native locations. It is impossible to find anything which cannot be utilized in the making of the dwellings in the location. Of course corrugated iron forms a large part of the building material, but everything else seems to find its place. For absolute ragged untidiness the native locations of Port Elizabeth beat even the wildest and newest alluvial mining camp. The iron, rusty in parts, and pierced and battered, has to be rendered water and wind proof by paper, by rags, or, in fact, by anything handy. The one redeeming feature of the native location is that it commands a magnificent view over the bay and its shipping (548 vessels entered the port in 1898, with a tonnage of 1,802,541). It is unfortunate that the natives do not feel so happy in the possession of the view as they would do if someone offered them a piece of corru- gated iron without a hole in it. However, it must be said that it is only the poorer natives whose dwellings are so raggedly put together. The water supply of the town, brought 27 miles from Van Staadens River, is excellent, and has been the means of greatly improving the town. The dam holds about 30,000,000 gallons, and the daily capacity 394 OTHER LEADING TOWNS. is about 600,000 gallons. The surrounding country is flat, sandy and not particularly attractive. When the railway, running along the coast from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, is completed it will be of great advantage to both towns, opening up the intervening rich, fertile country, well fitted for fruit growing and agriculture. The principal distances by rail from Port Elizabeth are: Kimberley, 485 miles; Bulawayo, 1,199; Bloemfontein, 449; Johannesburg, 714; Cape Town, 839 (by sea, 436 miles). That Port Elizabeth has a very great future before it cannot be predicted, as it is probable -that it will always be more of a forwarding station than a metropolis. That it will, however, become an important shipping place there is no doubt whatever. SECTION VI. PRETORIA. The fact that Pretoria is the recognized capital of the Transvaal lends it an interest which it would not otherwise possess. In reality, however, Pretoria is not the capital, for, by the first article of the Grondwet, Lydenburg is named the capital. This Grondwet was re- vised in 1898, but the first article still stands. However, it makes very little difference since Pretoria has been the seat of Government since 1863. The town, while lying 4,700 feet above the level of the sea, is sur- rounded by hills, especially in the direction of Johannesburg, which is 40 miles distant. Seen from one of the surrounding hills, Pretoria looks extremely well, owing to the number of trees fringing the streets and g owing in the gardens. There are one or two exceedingly picturesque blue gum and willow avenues, while there are many rose gardens dotted here and there through the town. The present population of Pretoria is about 12,000, of which 8,000 are whites. The town is very quiet and appears more so than it really is, from its close proximity to Johannesburg. The main feature in Pretoria is the huge open space known as Church Square. The fact that the greater part of the surrounding houses are not very tall makes the square appear really bigger than it is. On this square are situated the Raadzaal and the new government OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 395 offices. The center is occupied by a dreadfully ugly Dutch church, which deserves nothing better than to be pulled down and destroyed utterly. The Kaadzaal, which contains many of the Government of- fices as well as the two chambers of the legislature, is said to have cost 200,000. One curious story is related about the building of this Zaal. Having been originally planned to reach a certain height, it was altered when someone suddenly discovered that the Parliament House of the Republic would be one story lower than the big hotel next door. That of course could not be endured; one more story w r as added to the plan. Strange to say, the change was so well managed that experts declare it to be one of the few cases where the extension of an original design has produced an artistic result. The Raadzaal certainly is a most imposing structure, and does credit to the prestige and ambition of the burghers. Pretoria has not grown much since it was made the capital, but still remains quiet and sleepy. The hills which surround it are,, alas! now crowned with forts. These are placed on sites chosen by British officers while the Transvaal was in the hands of the British. The streets are wide and not cared for; the traffic is so small that they seldom need repairing, and still more seldom get it. After a rain the mud is quite appalling, and to add to the general misery the little streams which run down the sides of many of the streets overflow and make the crossing of a road a hazardous and unpleasant proceeding. Even after the Raid the feeling against the British was much less marked in Pretoria than in Johannesburg. After the Gold town, the Capital comes as a relief, and has a very English aspect. There are many English residents and their influence is considerable. To prop- erly appreciate the extent to which English is spoken and read, it may be of interest to note that there are two English papers published in the town, one bi-weekly, with a circulation of 2,000 copies an issue, and the other weekly. The main interests in Pretoria center round the Legislative Cham- bers and the Law Courts. In the latter there is never any lack of work, because the gold fields of the Rand ensure endless litigation. There are very many lawyers in Pretoria, and one whole street, known as Das- vogelsnest (Vulture's Nest), is filled with their offices. Many of these lawyers are British colonists, and nearly all have been in England to 396 OTHER LEADING TOWNS. receive their training. This legal element forms the most cultivated and leading section of society not but that the leading Dutch families also supply well-educated representatives from their younger genera- tion. The room in which the First Volksraad meets is a spacious chamber, having the national colors hanging across the ceiling. It is interesting to note that on the right hand of the Chairman there is a chair for the President of the Republic, while the Executive Council and the heads of Administration sit to the right and left below there being five of each. None of these eleven is a member of the Raad, but they all have the right to assist in its work. The President has the right of speaking as often as he likes; of this privilege he avails himself very often, rising and replying to each member at the end of his remarks. He becomes very indignant at opposition, and when aroused pours forth his ideas so fast as almost to render himself unintelligible. He never prepares his speeches, but simply takes up the subject of the moment on which he urges his view with all his might. When the President drives up to the entrance he is escorted by mounted troopers and on some occasions at any rate he is accompanied by two troopers as he passes through the corridors to his room in the Volksraad building. The behavior of the members is not dignified, but then it would be hard to find a house of Parliament where it is. Smoking is allowed and is much indulged in, while some practical joking is carried on to the general interest of the rest of the members. But taken as a whole and considering the various absolutely different types of mcH amongst the representatives, the chamber is conducted very creditably. Each mem- ber has a desk and a seat to himself and there is ample room, indeed the actually occupied space does not cover much more than half the floor. A large portrait of President Kruger hangs in the Raadzaal. The Second Volksraad is really of no account and can only submit suggestions on certain industrial and commercial matters to the First Volksraad, which suggestions are generally disregarded. The President lives in a long, low cottage, with the usual wide stoep. The reception rooms are large but not luxuriously furnished. The Presi- OTHER LEADING TOWNS. 397 dent scarcely ever stirs from his house, taking very little exercise. There is now always a guard of two soldiers at the garden gate, though for- merly there used to be no precautions taken. Directly opposite the President's house is the church of the Dopper sect where Kruger occa- sionally preaches. The name Dopper means "dipper" or Baptist. The railway station at Pretoria is very primitive and lies a good dis- tance from the center of the town. There are many very comfortable and even fine private residences; while the Wesleyan Methodists have a substantial church and school. One of the most striking features of Pretoria is the fondness of the inhabitants for lions in their decorations. There are lions to be found on one of their bridges, there are lions in front of their President's house (Barnie Barnato's gift), and there is even a natural lion's head at the top of a neighboring waterfall, known as the President's Waterfall. It is probable that these lions are not looked upon as representing the British Lion, but rather that of the Netherlands. From Pretoria coaches start to the Bechuanaland border, and to many towns in the Transvaal, not yet reached by the railway; it is a very picturesque sight to see them starting from Church Square with their team of eight to ten mules. They are awful torture chambers in or on which to travel, as the roads help the constructors to destroy all pos- sible hope of ease and comfort. Pretoria, though lying so high, is not very healthy and is very hot. Possibly the sickness may be explained by the fact that the system of drainage is very, very primitive and the situation is so damp that ma- larial fever is prevalent during the hot season. BOOK II. CECIL J. RHODES, CAPITALIST AND POLITICIAN. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. THEEE is probably no man living about whom more public curios- ity is entertained than the subject of this sketch. It has been jocularly said that the most important personages in the British Empire, and those about whom most people in the Empire are anxious to know, are the Queen, and her Prime Minister, and Mr. Rhodes. Concerning no man could there be so diverse and even contradictory opinions formed. He has large numbers of friends who appear to be deeply, even passionately, attached to him. They speak of his winning personality as well as his enormous force of character; they dwell upon the vast plans which he has cherished and the singular concentration of purpose with which he has sought to carry them through; they point to the achievements of his life in finance and statesmanship; they tell us of the steady success with which he built up his enormous fortune, and the equally steady unselfishness with which he spends his income year by year in the development of his ideas; they point to the position which he has gained through the establishment of the British South Africa Company, the energy with which he occupied the great territory placed under the administration of that company; they cite also the power he gained for himself for some years when he was Prime Minister of the Cape Colony; they point to the calm self-control with which he met the terrific shock of the Jameson Raid, and the determined words of prophecy with which he asserted that even after that disaster his career was only beginning; they point to the masterful and quiet deliberation with which he entered into negotiations with the King of Belgium and the German Emperor in order to secure from one or the other of these the power of completing his proposed telegraph line connecting Cape Town with Cairo. All these and other facts combine, his admirers say, to stamp Mr. Rhodes as one of those men of genius who rise but rarely upon the horizon of human history; men who by the combined originality of their conceptions and invincible persistence of their wills 401 402 CECIL J. RHODES. make history; men to whom other men are but the figures on a chess board, and even the forces of an empire are but the instruments of their hands. On the other side we have those who, in Africa and in England alike, deny all virtue and praise to this man; who speak of him with rage in their voices, a rage which is caused by the very fact that they admit the power of the man whose character they dislike and whose influence they despise. These speak of Mr. Ehodes as the colossal capitalist who uses his fortune for the purpose of a colossal selfishness; they delight to dwell on the darker side of the transactions through which the great consolidation of the diamond companies took place making the for- tune of Mr. Cecil Rhodes; they assert that he has a contempt for human- ity, holding the doctrine that every man has his price, and that the power of money can secure any end which a man cherishes; to them this capitalist is a man who has used his money with ruthless disregard to honor for the purpose of achieving his political ends; they assert that he is superior to the mere money accumulator, the mere possessor of wealth for wealth's sake, in that his supreme passion is the possession and exercise of power over men, and especially of power in that most intoxicating of all forms, the power of the Governor, of the Statesman who finds Empires and peoples pliant to his will; this is the special and most thrilling wine of life to Mr. Rhodes they say to drink this he will pay any price. The love of power they hold to be the key to his char- acter, .the light which explains every path on which he has chosen to tread. They accuse Mr. Rhodes of using money to obtain the Charter, of using the Charter to obtain money; they accuse him of fomenting the insurrectionary excitement at Johannesburg and proposing that Dr. Jameson should support the insurrectionaries; they accuse him of work- ing with Mr. Chamberlain to "get even," as it is said, with President Kruger, ever since the disastrous days of Dr. Jameson's blunder when President Kruger got the upper hand of Mr. Rhodes. One of the most ordinary and frequent cries in connection with this war arises from the belief that it has been caused by the capitalists; and when people speak of capitalists in South Africa they usually in their imagination sum up all others under the one dominant and most influential name of Mr. Rhodes. CECIL J. RHODES. 403 Evidently, then, we have a career here which must strike the imag- ination as one of the most dazzling in recent history, and a character which combines elements so diverse that honest men and women who have known this personality will take the most opposite views of his moral standing and value. The day has not come yet for an authorita- tive attempt to unravel the complexities which a nature so constructed must present to the mind. Only when the life story is complete, when many portions of it yet unknown have been described, and when motives can be discussed with a freedom which would be unseemly while Mr. Rhodes is alive and amongst us, only then can we hope that some one may arise who shall tell us all the facts, give us the real reconciliation of the contradictions which appear upon the surface and describe to us the real man as he actually has been, and the value of his personality in the light of the higher moral standards. But then that day may lie far ahead of us all, for Mr. Rhodes is still only about forty-seven years of age, and made his fame as the amalgamator and financier at Kimberley when he was about thirty. CHAPTER II. THE EARLIER LIFE OF MR. RHODES. CECIL JOHN RHODES was born in 1853, and was the fourth son of the late Rev. Francis W. Rhodes, rector of Bishop Stortford near London. He is therefore now only forty- seven years of age, of apparently sound health, and possessed of a bodily constitution which assures him of many years more of active life. When he had finished with his schooling in 1871 and was ready for college, he became threatened with a pulmonary trouble and was sent out to South Africa for his health. An elder brother had already preceded him to that country for the same cause. This elder brother, Herbert, was engaged in cotton growing in the Colony of Natal. In the following year young Cecil Rhodes returned to England and entered as a student in the far-famed Oriel College, Oxford. Here he caught a chill while rowing, and his lungs became again seri- ously affected. This drove him immediately back to South Africa. The two brothers having heard of the discovery of diamonds in Gri- qualand West gave up their ideas of settling in Natal and went to hunt for diamond claims in the new and wonderful scene of fortune-making. Here they speedily settled to work. After a time the elder brother, Her- bert, left, and in 1877 died while engaged on a hunting expedition in Cen- tral Africa. Mr. Cecil Rhodes was from the first successful in the diamond fields, so successful indeed that after a while he resolved to return to Oxford to complete his college course and take his degree. This un- doubtedly is an illustration of that, persistence and force of will which characterize the man. For two or three years he spent the larger part of the year in Oxford, returning for the long vacation to his work on the diamond fields. It was during one of these journeys toward Kim- berley that young Rhodes found himself sitting beside an older man who was evidently a British officer. With that strange reserve which Eng- lishmen exercise even toward one another, and which all other peoples so severely criticise, the two men sat for a long time in utter silence, 404 CECIL J. RHODES. 405 the elder watching with surprise his companion as he studied the Prayer Book of the Church of England. At last the officer asked him what he was reading, and was told that he was a student at Oxford and was studying the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England for his next examination. The older man was Colonel (afterward the famous Gen- eral Sir) Charles Warren. The acquaintance made in that Cape post cart on the way to Kimberley was the beginning, if not of a friendship, at any rate of an intercourse w r hich brought them some very exciting experiences in after years. It was while at Oxford that, according to Mr. W. T. Stead, he came upon an idea which had much influence in moulding his future life. "When Mr. Khodes was an under-graduate at Oxford," we are told, "he was profoundly influenced by a saying of Aristotle as to the importance of having an aim in life sufficiently lofty to justify your spending your life in endeavoring to reach it. He went back to Africa wondering what his aim in life should be, knowing only one thing: that whatever it was, he had not found it. For him that supreme ideal was still to seek. So he fell a-thinking. The object to which most of those who surrounded him eagerly dedicated their lives was the pursuit of wealth. For that they were ready to sacrifice all. Was it worth it?" We are told that having compared the burdens and anxieties of wealth with the pleasures of its possession, he made up his mind that wealth as such was not worthy of becoming his aim in life. Politics as he saw them did not attract him. In the church with its Christian creed he was unable to find rest. Hav- ing come upon the deeper problems of existence and of life, and having decided that there might be a God, that his life must be shaped in view of that possibility, he made up his mind that history ought to disclose to him the supreme purpose of that God, and that he would be fulfilling the ideal of his life if he sought to keep in line the expenditure of his ener- gies with the direction of that purpose. Therefore, Mr. Stead tells us, the first thing that he sought to find out was what God is doing in this world. Here the modern doctrine of Evolution assisted him to his con- clusion. He perceived that if the Darwinian doctrine of natural selec- tion is to be applied to human history then he must find out which of the races on the surface of the earth seems to promise most in the future development of mankind. Now the tests of the race best fitted to impel 406 CECIL J. RHODES. the world on its upward course must be found in three great character- istics. It must be the race which of all others most completely promotes justice, liberty and peace. He of course speedily decided that the race which of all others gives justice, liberty and peace to those who come under its influence is what we call the English-speaking race, whether British or American, Australian or South African. " 'Therefore,' said Mr. Rhodes to himself, in his curious way, 'if there be a God, and He cares anything about what I do, I think it is clear that He would like me to do what He is doing Himself. And as He is manifestly fashioning the English-speaking race as a chosen instrument by which He will bring in a state of society based upon justice, liberty and peace, He must obviously wish me to do what I can to give as much scope and power to that race as possible.' " The practical conclusion of all this theology and metaphysics, this sociology and ethnology was found in this that, "He would like me to paint as much of the map of Africa British red as possible!" This sounds more like Mr. Stead than Mr. Rhodes, most people will imagine; but as Mr. Stead has undoubtedly received many confidences from Mr. Rhodes, personal and political, it may be taken that on the whole Mr. Stead has in this vivid way set forth some thoughts which in the early years of his Kimberley activity and his brooding anticipations Mr. Rhodes actually did cherish. The life at Kimberley in those days was by no means conducive to the safe development of a young man's life. Before the compound system was introduced, drunkenness and crime were terribly rife amongst the many thousands of black people, as well as amongst the reckless white people who streamed thither from all direc- tions in search of fortune. Any young man who survived the tempta- tions and dissipations of those days, as well as the business excitements and fluctuations of fortune, must have possessed a strong will and a cool, clear head. On the business side matters were complicated for the diamond seekers by the fact that as they dug deeper and deeper in search of precious stones the claims began to fall in upon one another. The hole which one man had dug melted into the hole which his neighbor had dug, and these two into others, and these larger holes grew ever larger. WOUNDED BOER PRISONERS The pathos of this picture appears not only in the stooping figure of the man who is faint with pain and loss of blood, nor in the defiant look of one or two other Boers walking straight and scanning the distance, but in the contrast between their disheveled appearance and the marshal dress and commanding bearing of the cavalry soldiers who have them in charge. CECIL J. RHODES. 40!) This meant of course that all kinds of bargaining, of buying and selling were going on among those who owned and worked these mines. The inevitable tendency was to reduce the number of individual claims. As the number was reduced partnerships became more common, these grew into larger companies, and so the procession moved toward the final consolidation. But the severest strain upon the diamond industry came when at last it was apparent to all eyes, as it had long been apparent to some, that open diggings could not be pur- sued further. The "blue ground" in \vhich the diamonds are found sank down into the soil in a funnel shape, with the narrower end toward the center of the earth. As the digging proceeded downwards the upper soil in ever larger masses fell in upon and once more covered up the precious blue ground in which the gems were contained. It became necessary therefore at last to arrange for underground mining, and this brought about the largest change in the conditions of ownership which had yet been seen. Many men were ruined when the fall of the soil stopped the work and the output of diamonds ceased. Others who fore- saw the future bought the cheapened shares and held them. One man, known to the present writer, who had sunk practically all his money in these shares when they were at their lowest, retired to the old country to a little town and settled down as a local photographer! He was quietly waiting his time. When at last the companies had introduced the new machinery and penetrated to the "blue ground" by subterranean mines, diamonds were once more brought to the surface in abundance, dividends rose, the values of shares leapt to great heights, and the man who had been a photographer began to receive an income of many thousands of dollars every quarter. Some men were made millionaires at this time as the reward of their patience and courage. In the year 1880 the great De Beers Mining Company was founded with a capital of 200,000 (about $1,000,000). In three years it was expanded into the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited. By the year 1885 only four important mines remained, and these were still owned by 42 companies and 56 private owners. It was about this time that Mr. Ehodes began to forge his way into the very front rank. He had been quietly buying up one interest after another until at last he was one of the principal shareholders in the De Beers Mine. Simultaneously 410 CECIL J. RHODES. with the growth of the De Beers consolidation that of the great Kimber- ley Mine had been going on. These and the smaller companies were still rivals, putting out as many diamonds as they could annually, and selling them off as rapidly as possible. It was evident that this was driving the price of diamonds down while there was no assurance that the supply would be found inexhaustible. In the interests therefore of the companies it was evident that some arrangement must be reached by which they should restrict the annual output and maintain a steady price. In this way a large annual revenue would be assured, and the continuance of it spread over many more years. It is said that Mr. Khodes called one day on one of the Rothschilds in London, and having stated his case and applied for their financial backing, received it the same day, and went to Africa sure of his future success. There were determined men in all the companies and able financiers, but the three most famous names in Kimberley were those of Mr. Ehodes, Mr. Beit and Mr. J. B. Robinson. Gradually these three came to an understanding, and in 1888 the two great companies finally amalga- mated. This was Mr. Rhodes's first great financial achievement, and all competent students maintain that of itself it reveals financial genius of a high order. Of course transactions so numerous, involving so many interests tending toward common industrial ends, and resulting in the enrichment of a few men over all the rest, do involve the infliction of wrongs more or less serious and more or less deliberate upon many indi- viduals. There are in various parts of the world men who once, in Kim- berley, felt that fortune was at their feet until they met the machina- tions of the consolidators; and these men spend their disappointed years in cursing very earnestly the names of those financiers who led in this transaction. It is hard to know where blame and how much blame in such cases must fall. That men become cruel in the excited pursuit of business success is too obvious; that men who in the other relations of life are tender and considerate will ruthlessly ruin the position of a rival or will send the poor victim of a misfortune into bankruptcy is beyond question. It is not for the historian to unravel all the mysteries of con- science and apportion to the subject of his narrative exactly measured blame and praise, as if the inner world of motive and intent were open to his gaze. CECIL J. RHODES. 411 Four great mines were brought into the De Beers Consolidated Com- pany. Two of these were shut down and have not since been mined. They wait until the other two, known as the Kimberley and De Beers, shall be exhausted. No one can tell when that limit will be reached. This company practically controls the diamond markets of the world. The price is maintained at 23s (about $5.75) per carat. The capital of the company is 4,000,000 (about $20,000,000). The annual output of diamonds is said to be about 3,000,000 (about $15,000,000) in value, and the Company pays 25 per cent in dividends. In arranging the terms of the final amalgamation Mr. Rhodes took a very peculiar but characteristic step. His doctrine is said to be that the possession of wealth means nothing unless the wealth be used for prac- tical and worth} 7 ends. For some years Mr. Ehodes had cherished a definite political ideal regarding South Africa, and with his eyes upon possible developments in the future he sought to have inserted in the articles of the amalgamated company a provision, authorizing the direc- tors to appropriate from time to time such fuuds as they found it advis- able to set apart out of their profits for political or imperial purposes. It is said that Mr. Rhodes discussed this extraordinary proposal with Messrs. Robinson and Beit through one whole night until four o'clock in the morning, and that in the end his rivals and partners yielded to the strength of his desire and agreed to the insertion of this article. This provision was found of great practical value by Mr. Rhodes when a little later he needed money quickly and suddenly to open up the great country of Mashonaland. That work, it seems, would have been delayed for some time had he not been able to turn to the reserved surplus of the De Beers Company and appropriate 150,000 (about $750,000) towards the expenses of the pioneer expedition into Mashonaland. Diamonds having proved so successful, Mr. Rhodes turned his atten- tion to the gold fields of the Transvaal. Along with a well known friend, Mr. C. T. Rudd, he founded the Gold Fields of South Africa Company, which developed ultimately into the Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa, Limited, and gained a position of predominance in Jo- hannesburg. It was when possessed of the enormous financial power which these two companies gave him that Mr. Rhodes at last found him- 412 CECIL J. RHODES. self ready to undertake the still more enormous risks and responsibilities involved in the formation of the British South Africa Company. It is said that about the year 1881, when he was about 28 years of age, and when his financial position had become secure, Mr. Rhodes was found by a friend one day studying the map of South Africa with the utmost intentness. He was asked what he was doing, and answered that he had made up his mind to see that the British Empire should be extended to the Zambesi river. He had found, in the spirit of Aristotle, the aim which henceforth became the controlling thought of his life. That he saw clearly from the first all his plans or understood his general purpose need not be believed. We may find reason for the conviction that both the plan and the means of securing it were not for many years crystallized into definite form, but shimmered and w r avered before his vision under the influence of his political surroundings and the ever- changing atmosphere of South African thought and feeling. But honor must be given to the young man who, when wealth was coming to him, felt that its chief attraction for him lay in the power which it would confer upon its possessor to carry out a design so gigantic as the forma- tion of Austral Africa from the Cape to the Zambesi into one great and homogeneous Dominion. And yet the relations of men to the wealth which they possess and which they pursue is one of the most subtle and intricate subjects of study. Few have been the men who could say that their desire for w r ealth was simply and solely a desire to secure some definite object with that wealth. Many young men have set out on the road to w r ealth with philanthropic ambitions, and these ambitions have been driven from their thought and their affection the higher they mounted. In Mr. Rhodes's case it is not always possible to see clearly the indications of his desire to possess wealth only for the purpose of using it. His critics confront those who make this statement with the fact that all his chief political achievements, even the development of Rhodesia, which he used his wealth to secure, have tended to make him wealthier still. It is one thing for a man to become wealthy and spend what he has on objects that absorb his gifts, he "hoping for nothing again;" it is quite another thing to use his wealth upon even great and beneficent schemes which, while helping others, enrich him again still further. The sim- CECIL J. RHODES. 413 plicity of motive in the latter case is one which no outsider has a right to criticise, unless the evidence become so varied and so abundant as to compel the fear into a suspicion, and the suspicion into a conviction, because the wealth which has been pursued for the sake of political power has, through its political power, steadily added wealth to itself. It must of course be freely acknowledged that Mr. Rhodes has in many and various ways shown his willingness to spend money on experi- ments of a costly kind which have brought no pecuniary return to him- self or the companies to which he belongs. That indubitable fact must be reckoned as one piece of evidence in favor of that theory regarding his attitude toward wealth which Mr. Stead so enthusiastically and confidently expounds and defends. There is one fact concerning Mr. Rhodes which ought at this point to be mentioned. It is often brought against him and other millionaires of South Africa that they have no in- tention of making South Africa their homes, that they are only exploit- ing the mineral wealth of that region in order to retire to luxury and dis- tinction of life in their old homelands later. This is as yet distinctly un- true of Mr. Rhodes. He has spent his money freely in South Africa, on South African projects; he has not bought estates in England nor built houses and set up elaborate establishments there; as yet he counts him- self a South African, committed evidently to what may yet prove a long career of prominence and power in that region. If his intention in this direction is persistent and unwavering, then on all South African sub- jects he has as much right to speak, and with all South African problems he has as much right to deal, as any man in that land. It was in the early "eighties," and when he had begun his political career, before indeed he was quite 30 years of age, that Mr. Rhodes first came in contact with the great and noble General Gordon. The two were thrown together and Gordon conceived apparently a strong admir- ation for the genius and energy of the young colonist. They must have had many discussions in which they opened their hearts to each other, for we are told that on one occasion Mr. Rhodes asked General Gordon why, after the conclusion of his services to the Emperor of China, when the Emperor offered him a chamber full of gold, he had declined. Gor- don replied like a true Scotchman by asking another question, "Would you have taken it?" "Certainly," Mr. Rhodes replied, "and three more 414 CECIL J. RHODES. rooms full if I could have got them." He gave a reason for this willing- ness to accept wealth in any amount. He maintained that a man cannot carry out his ideas however good they may be unless he has wealth at his back. "That," he said, "is the reason why I have always tried to combine the commercial with the imaginative, and that is the reason why I have not failed in my undertakings." This remark of Mr. Rhodes himself would naturally lead the reader into deep and sometimes sad- dened wondering on the comparison between the progress which great ideas make in the political world, whose only force is in their truth and beneficence, and other ideas, whose success flows from the money that is used to push them towards realization. And truly, Mr. Rhodes has on more than one occasion confronted with his ideas, backed by his money power, ideas held by others which were not so backed. Mr. Rhodes has carried the day and his ideas have appeared for a time as those which must win. But the question is at least debatable, after all, as to whether his ideas and plans have not proved less helpful, even when backed with money, than those others which have not received this support. In every land where this feature of social development is presented to us our deep- est consolation comes from observing that wealth can only for a time give potency to false ideas. Sooner or later false ideas, mistaken policies, be- gin to manifest their error in the social-and political diseases which they produce, and men, without suspecting or confessing that the big idea underlying their movement is the cause of evil, begin to minimize its influence by tinkering here and there at the system which it has created. It is only gradually and painfully, but thank God it is surely, that the correcting of the wrong proceeds and the bringing in of the true ideals rejected long ago is concurrently carried on. Some think it is possible to prove that certain of the political ideals of Mr. Rhodes in South Africa and certain of his methods have been wrong, have gained a tem- porary victory because he employed and confessedly employed the power of wealth to force them into operation, but that the process of their alteration and final removal has begun. Perhaps it may be possi- ble in the course of this story to give some proof of this assertion. We are told that on one occasion, during the period of the troubles with the Basutos, Gordon and Mr. Rhodes were serving together and saw much of each other. Gordon disapproved of the dogmatic spirit in CECIL J. RHODES. 415 which his young friend took hold of his ideas and insisted upon them. "You think," he said, "your views are always right and everyone else wrong." Now the Basutos, like all natives, had formed an intense ad- miration for Gordon; wheresoever he went among primitive and savage peoples he invariably secured their confidence and their love. Mr. Khodes, it is said, put Gordon's humility of spirit and power of self- abnegation to a severe test one day. "I have an opinion," he said, "that you are doing wrong. You should let the Basutos know that it is Sauer who is the great man, not you." This Mr. Sauer was a South African lawyer who at the time was secretary for native affairs in the Cape Government, and was, therefore, officially the superior of General Gor- don whom that Government had employed. The keen and sensitive conscience of the Christian soldier felt the sting of this accusation. At the very next Indaba or council of the chiefs he stood up before them and, pointing to Mr. Sauer, explained to their astonishment that he was the great man amongst them. "I," he said, "am only his servant, only his dog, nothing more." Gordon afterwards confessed that it was "hard, very hard" to do this, but that he had done it because it was the right thing. No story could possibly put the two men who seemed to esteem one another in a more strange contrast, for while Mr. Khodes had the quick wittedness and the cynical humor to play thus upon the sensitive strings of Gordon's conscience, no one suspects that he had deemed it a reasonable thing or a step that lay in his own path of duty to humble himself before his fellow-men in so -cutting a fashion. But that, after all, marks the difference between the one man who will take all the wealth he can get in order to push his ideas, and the other man who will trust that the ideas of right shall at last, in himself and in the world, overcome even the hostilities of wealth and by their sheer force compel human hearts and human society to take their shape and mani- fest their spirit. We are told that not long afterwards when General Gordon was about to start on his last sad mission to the Soudan in 1884, and was looking round for men of energy and of ideas who should accompany him, one of those whom he selected was young Cecil Rhodes of Cape Colony, but at this time Mr. Rhodes was so deeply involved in Cape Colony politics that he had to decline General Gordon's offer. CHAPTER III. HIS EARLY POLITICAL LIFE. AFTER the annexation of Griqualand West to the Cape Colony the leading men of Kimberley, which was thus taken from under direct Imperial control, decided to have their interests repre- sented in the Cape Parliament. This was the moment at which Mr. Rhodes entered the larger arena of political life. He stood for the rep- resentation of the Barkly West constituency and was elected. He has held this seat in the Cape Parliament continuously from that day to this. A man of his energy and of his ideas could not longer remain an obscure or inactive member of any Parliament, and although still under thirty years of age, he speedily made his way to the front. While not pos- sessed of oratorical gifts he is yet described as a clear and incisive, if somewhat abrupt, speaker, who aims at no ornament, no flights of elo- quence, but speaks warmly and directly on every matter with which he deals. In the year 1882 a marked change was brought about in the political life of Cape Colony through the passing of an act which allowed the Dutch language to be spoken on the floor of the House. Already a political association had been for several years at work among the farm- ers of Cape Colony, striving to arouse their interest, especially in legisla- tion which affected agricultural affairs. This effort had proved by no means successful, until they knew that once more their own language was being recognized and that their own representatives would speak that language in the House of Legislature itself. This seems to have put new life into them. They sent a new class of representatives, took a new interest in parliamentary discussions and in the measures which were proposed on their behalf by the leaders of their party. South Africans tell us that the change was not all for good, because the repre- sentatives who were now sent to Cape Town and who were willing to take advantage of the new law, were as a rule men who had not educa- tion enough to speak English. Many of the constituencies were there- 416 CECIL J. RHODES. 417 fore represented by a poorer class of legislators whose chief task it was to follow the guidance of those whom they recognized as their party leaders. Another effect of this change was to give these directors of the Dutch party an enormous increase of influence. The chief of these was Mr. J. H. Hofmeyr. This singularly astute man, the head of the Afrikander Bond, and therefore the mouth-piece of all South African Dutchmen in the Parliament at Cape Town, adopted the clever plan of refusing to take the reins of power into his own hands. He would neither be the "vorlooper" who leads the team of oxen, nor the driver who wields the whip; he would be the master who sits on the box and decides on the route they are to take and the places at which they are to stop. He became the king-maker, as it w r ere, in Cape Colony from the year 1881 to the year 1899. Having the Dutch majority at his back, he practically decided who was to be Prime Minister, and what his policy should be. This has been felt of course by the Dutch party to be a great boon. We must leave the nature of that boon to be judged by those who will read the kind of laws which that party was instrumental in passing. But it was a bad event for the atmosphere of Cape politics; it immediately lowered the tone by making the ministers feel themselves the creatures of another force than that of public and intelligent opinion; it undoubt- edly made one or two well known Cape politicians too pliant as tools of their master; it drove others of stronger and more independent convic- tions permanently out of office. This power it was which Mr. Rhodes found himself compelled to face when he had been only a short time an important member of the Legislature, and it was the sudden uprising of this influence as much as anything else which produced that sudden change in the policy of the Governor (Sir Hercules Robinson) which we describe elsewhere. The first and most natural occurrence was the recognition of Mr. Rhodes's great financial ability by his appointment as Treasurer for the Colony. Later he held the office of Commissioner of Works. The first prominent action which he took in regard to the relation of Great Britain to the interior is to be found in an amendment to a motion which he put before the House in August, 1883. It was in the very period when, as we have elsewhere seen, the free-booters were busy in South 418 CECIL J. RHODES. Bechuanaland robbing the Beckuanas and threatening to occupy the whole territory. This would close up the road to the interior. John Mackenzie the missionary, had just reached home and was about to begin his work on this subject in England. Mr. Rhodes in Cape Town moved "that Her Majesty's Government be moved in the meantime, in the interests of this colony, to appoint a Resident with the chief Man- koroane." This most wise suggestion fell through with the motion to which it was proposed to be added. Mr. Hofmeyr was not anxious to encourage any step that would interfere with the plans of his fellow Bondsmen in the Transvaal. If Mr. Rhodes's wise suggestion, which was identical with proposals submitted three or four years before, earn- estly and fully, by John Mackenzie to Sir Bartle Frere, had been carried out, much ill would undoubtedly have been avoided. The next important experience in this line was reached by Mr. Rhodes in the following year. He was in Cape Town when the agitation against John Mackenzie's appointment to Bechuanaland began. He was in Kimberley when Captain Bower and Sir Hercules Robinson resolved to invite the Deputy Commissioner to visit Cape Town for a conference on the progress of his work, and it seemed to them a natural step to propose that Mr. Rhodes should act for him during his absence. In fact Mr. Rhodes was consulted by telegram as to the recall of the man whom he was intended to supplant! Mr. Rhodes accordingly pro- ceeded to Bechuanaland. What he found there was this: that the so-called Republic of Stellaland had been established for some time with one J. Van Niekerk as its Administrator and he was a citizen of the Transvaal! This little Republic which had a flag of its own, lay partly in the Transvaal, as defined by the new Convention, and partly outside the new boundary in Bechuanaland. Mr. Van Niekerk lived on the Hart River on the Transvaal side of this boundary, and there his coadjutors lived with him. They never were inhabitants of that por- tion of Stellaland which fell outside the Transvaal. Mr. Rhodes found further that when John Mackenzie arrived at Vryburg, the capital of Stellaland, he had lived there about three weeks, studying the situation and seeking to win the trust of the inhabitants. He had met with Van Niekerk and other leaders both in private and public meetings; he had formally offered to Van Niekerk, who seemed a capable man, the posi- CECIL J. RHODES. 419 tion of local Commissioner on condition that he should take the oath of allegiance to the Queen on entering upon his office. This offer Van Nie- l:erk had considered and had deliberately but finally declined. John Mackenzie had been further persuaded, even against his own will, to allow the Stellaland flag to be taken down and the British flag to be raised in its place. This seems the natural consequence of the step which he had been fully empowered to take, when he proclaimed Bech- uanaland as under the protectorate of the Queen and proceeded to re- organize its administration. When John Mackenzie proceeded north to complete his tour of Bechuanaland he made arrangements for a ten- tative conduct of affairs in Stellaland during his absence. This, Van Niekerk and his companions could not brook. They were not fully persuaded of the sincerity and earnestness of the Britis*h Government in its new step, and resolved to run considerable risks in the way of defiance. They therefore proceeded to act as if they still held authority in Stellaland, and claimed to be the masters of Vryburg itself, which was now in British territory. All these acts of these free-booters living in the Transvaal had created great unrest, had struck fear into the hearts of those who rallied round John Mackenzie, and threw the entire district into disorder. It was a disorder which a few police could have met and dealt with adequately if the promise of Sir Hercules Robinson to his Deputy Commissioner in this matter had been kept. When Mr. Rhodes was asked to act for the Deputy Commissioner during his absence at Cape Town he at once went into Stellaland. He met Mr. Mackenzie at Yryburg, who explained to him all that had taken place, and especially described the political attitude of Van Niekerk, who persisted in acting not only as a foreigner but as a hostile foreigner. Mr. Rhodes took the, as yet, unexplained step, of ignoring all that had been done and entered once more into friendly negotiations with Van Niekerk. Not only so, the small police force at Yryburg which was just being organized was disbanded; the proclamation made in virtue of his commission by Mr. Mackenzie was said to be annulled; Captain Bower was summoned from Cape Town and he brought back with him the Stellaland flags which Mr. Mackenzie had handed to him, and he, a British officer, actually restored them to Van Niekerk. Both Mr. Rhodes and Captain Bower either knew Van Niekerk well and had 420 CECIL J. RHODES. reasons for trying to please him, or imagined him to be a weak man whom they could use for their own ends and through whom they could gain ascendancy over the Stellaland people. Mr. Khodes received the draft of an agreement from this hostile foreigner regarding the Govern- ment of the British protectorate and this agreement is one of the most extraordinary documents in the whole history of these affairs. The document consisted of five articles, the first of which declared "that all matters transacted in Stellaland by Mr. Mackenzie be cancelled." It must be remembered that this included acts performed by him officially as an Imperial representative, and which were thoroughly covered by his commission. The second article arranged that the Stellaland Gov- ernment as it existed before the arrival of Mr. Mackenzie should con- tinue to act, ^pending annexation to the Cape Colony." The Commis- sioner, however, was to be nominated by the Cape Government. The third article made the extraordinary and generous provision that the land titles in Stellaland "as issued and signed by the Administrator (Van Niekerk) and registered in the Deed's office (Van Niekerk's office) be recognized." That is to say, Mr. Ehodes was to promise that all the titles which Mr. Van Niekerk had given to white men in that land should be accepted as final by the British Government without further investi- gation. This preposterous and absolutely indefensible provision was followed by one which provided for a court to investigate cattle thefts, but before the investigation should take place this article actually pro- posed "that Mankoroane (the Bechuana chief) shall have to repay cattle at once;" that is to say, his alleged thefts or responsibilities for theft were not to be investigated! He must be fined immediately before the court of investigation into all other alleged thefts could be constituted. The fifth article was another direct insult to all those who had favored the Imperial Government and had put their trust in it on the represen- tations of Mr. Mackenzie. It provided that none of these "will be allowed to obtain a Government situation in Stellaland." Captain Bower seemed to see no harm in this document, and trans- mitted it to the High Commissioner. The agreement which afterwards on the 8th of September Mr. Rhodes did sign did not fall far short of the claims made here by Van Niekerk. The first article was accepted with altered phraseology; the second article was also in substance accepted CECIL }. RHODES. 421 with the addition of the words "recognizing however Her Majesty's protectorate and subject to the conditions that all executive acts must be taken in concert and with the consent of the Commissioner of Bech- uanaland." But the fifth article in the new document actually sus- pended the operation of the second article for the period of three months! The result of this was that a territory which had been form- ally announced as under the Queen by a Deputy Commissioner sent from London for that purpose, and in which Imperial officers were already at work, was for three months to be placed once more under the power and full executive authority of a group of men who lived in the Transvaal, and who were openly and avowedly and intensely hostile to that Imperial Government. No one, not even Mr. Rhodes, has been able to explain what he hoped to gain by this most extraordinary agree- ment. When Mr. Rhodes went north to the land of Goshen he found that the Boer free-booters had become bolder than ever and had engaged in acts of bloodshed and fresh aggressions upon the territory recently brought under the protection of the Queen. Here his failure to secure any intercourse with the free-booters was signal and complete. It is quite evident then that Mr. Rhodes's first experiment in political administration resulted not in clearing the atmosphere, not in heighten- ing the regard of the Boers for the Imperial Government, but on the contrary in making that Government once more the object of laughter among the border Transvaalers as well as in Pretoria. The apparently bold step which the Imperial Government had taken in the action of Mr. Mackenzie, was now withdrawn through the influences working at Cape Town and through the very agreements which Mr. Rhodes was making. How Mr. Rhodes expected in this way to keep the trade route into the interior open, to secure South Bechuanaland for the Cape Col- ony, to clear it of the Transvaalers whose grasp on its administration he himself now deepened and strengthened, it is impossible to understand. He became aware himself that matters were becoming confused and serious and wired to Cape Town to that effect. Cape Town was other- wise becoming alive to the real meaning of the events transpiring in Bechuanaland, and the result as we have seen elsewhere came in the loud demand for an expedition from England and the presence of Sir Charles Warren in Bechuanaland. 422 CECIL J. RHODES. Mr. Rhodes, as we have seen, had of old formed a personal acquaint- ance with Sir Charles and knew therefore the strength of the man who was coming. A peculiar and never explained transaction took place when Sir Charles Warren was still at Cape Town. Mr. Ehodes was for some reason, he maintains that it was for the sake of his own honor and the honor of Her Majesty the Queen whose representative he had been, anxious that his agreement with Van Niekerk should be honored by his successor to the full. That very agreement, it must be remembered, was the one which cancelled and dishonored the acts of his own predeces- sor who also had been a representative of the Queen. Somehow or an- other Sir Charles Warren was persuaded to wire from Cape Town a promise to Van Niekerk that he would fulfill that agreement. When he reached the scene of all these transactions, when he came to know and understand the real events, when the real disgrace, weakness and danger of Mr. Rhodes's agreement stared him in the face, Sir Charles of course found it impossible to fulfill the promise which he had perhaps rashly, at any rate, ignorantly, made. Mr. Rhodes was indignant at what he interpreted as a personal affront, and sent a message to the High Com- missioner tendering his resignation. He w r as, however, persuaded to remain in office. Mr. Rhodes had during these experiences reached the conclusion that the best method for the development of Bechuanaland was the em- ployment of what he called Colonial Imperialism, instead of the direct Imperialism advocated by Mr. Mackenzie. He maintained in the House at Cape Town that "in Bechuanaland lay the future of South Africa," and that the Transvaal must be prevented from spreading itself across the continent so as to close the Cape Colony out of the interior. He now held that in order to carry this policy out the "Imperial factor must be eliminated." This startling phrase awoke the anxieties of large num- bers in South Africa who did not at once see its real meaning. It startled them, but it pleased a great many who thought they did under- stand it. These others were the friends of the Afrikander Bond, the people who secretly or avowedly, clearly or confusedly, hoped the day would come when the Dutch race would control all South Africa and Imperial connection would be cut off. For them the "elimination of the Imperial factor" from South African affairs, the refusal to allow the CECIL J. RHODES. 423 Imperial Government to send officers of its own to control events in any part of South Africa, was a necessary step towards that grander consummation. Now Mr. Rhodes did not mean this. What he did mean was that the British Government should in a general way superin- tend the course of events in South Africa, standing between Cape Colony and any other European power that should attempt to interfere in South Africa, watching also the critical moments in the relations be- tween Cape Colony and the Transvaal when the Government of the latter should show itself too aggressive or too insistent; but in the meantime the Imperial Government should allow the Cape Colony to do the developing work in the interior. For this purpose Bechuanaland must be annexed as speedily as possible, Mr. Khodes thought, to the Colony. During his brief period of administration in South Bechuana- land his plan seems, therefore, to have been to hold things in statu quo until an act of annexation should be passed through the Cape Parlia- ment and receive the Queen's sanction. All this, he expected, would be secured and carried out under the British flag by a British Colony. "Colonial administration in the name of the Empire" may be said to have been the motto of his policy at this period. Mr. Khodes did not himself realize the weakness of a young Colonial Government, nor did he suf- ficiently foresee the vacillations of purpose through which the Ministry at the Cape would pass on this very matter, vacillations surpassing even those of London. The previous Prime Minister, Sir Thomas Scanlen, had in London assured the Earl of Derby that Cape Colony would annex Bechuanaland. His successors in the Ministry at the Cape made up their minds that nothing would induce them to annex Bechuanaland. When John Mackenzie was succeeding in Stellaland and the work seemed fairly easy and inexpensive, when it was realized that there were not merely 50 but 500 European settlers in that country, the prize once more seemed too good to lose, and the annexation policy was once more approved. It was during this period that Mr. Rhodes made his remarkable agreement with Van Mekerk "pending annexation to the Cape Colony." When, a little later, two of the Cape Ministers them- selves visited Bechuanaland and pressed a policy which brought dis- grace both upon their office and the Imperial Government, while they made themselves for a while objects of derision and pity throughout 424 CECIL J. RHODES. South Africa, annexation was once more set far off as impossible and undesirable. In the mean time the only people who knew their minds were the Transvaalers who saw Bechuanaland as they thought falling completely into their power, and the Afrikander Bond leaders at Cape Town, who viewed this result with complacency. Mr. Rhodes's earlier efforts at the substitution of a "Colonial" for a direct Imperialism were thus rendered futile. FRONT DOOR OF MR. RHODES HOUSE Over this handsome doorway is a bronze bas-relief by Tweed representing the landing of Van Riebeek in Table Bay in 1662. HfiMkttt^^ CHAPTER IV. MR. RHODES AND THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA CHARTERED COMPANY. IT WAS known for many years that gold and other minerals were to be found in the regions north of the Transvaal, known as Matabeleland and Mashonaland. Indeed, Lobengula, the chief of the Matabele, was pestered for a long time by Europeans who sought to obtain treaties and concessions from him granting them the ownership of various parts of his country and mining rights therein. It was in the year 1888, however, that the eyes of the most capable and wealthy men were turned in that direction. In October of that year three men appeared before Loben- gula, and obtained from him the concession upon which ulti- mately the great Chartered Company was established. These three men were Messrs. C. D. Kudd, E. Maguire and F. E. Thompson. The concession was drawn up with the help of the Eev. C. D. Helm, a well- known and highly respected missionary of the London Missionary So- ciety. He had ever held himself ready to aid as interpreter, without fee or reward, in any negotiations between white men and Lobengula. His strong influence over the natives gave them confidence in him, and his interest in them prompted him often to undertake this task that he might protect them from unjust dealings by unscrupulous concession hunters. He certified that the concession to which we refer was by himself fully interpreted and explained to the chief and his full council of headmen, and "that all the constitutional usages of the Matabele na- tion had been complied with prior to his executing the same." It must then be acknowledged that this concession was granted by the chief with full knowledge of its contents and clear understanding of its con- ditions. It does not fall into that class of documents with which the history of South Africa abounds, whose main characteristic was their rascality towards ignorant natives. In this most important concession Lobengula granted "the complete and exclusive charge over all metals and minerals situated and con- 437 42S CECIL J. RHODES. tained in my kingdoms, principalities, and dominions, together with full power to do all things that they may deem necessary to win and procure the same, etc." In addition to this authority to engage in mining oper- ations a most important responsibility was laid upon the receivers of this concession. Lobengula complains that he had been much molested by divers persons seeking and desiring to obtain similar grants and concessions; but he now authorized the holders of this concession to take all necessary and lawful steps to exclude such persons from his land and promised to render them such needful assistance as they might require for that purpose. The holders of this concession practically, then, received all mining rights in Matabeleland and even police power to cast possible rivals out of the country. In exchange for this Loben- gula received 1,000 Martini-Henry breech-loading rifles and 1,000 rounds of suitable ball cartridges, and in addition an annual sum of 1,200 (about $6,000) to be paid in equal monthly installments. These three gentlemen were not the only ones who had their eyes upon this region. Mr. Cecil Rhodes was concerned in the matter from the beginning, and other men representing other exploring and gold mining companies were moving in the same direction. It. is an inter- esting fact that Sir Hercules Eobinson, the Governor of Cape Colony, was not only necessarily kept aware of these developments, but seems to have known also to what they might lead; for on March 18, 1889, referring to the monopoly granted to Mr. Eudd and his friends, he says that "it may possibly develop into a royal charter." He places before the Colonial Office in a positive and clear way the alternative which lay before Her Majesty's Government. Either they might allow any num- ber of foreigners to obtain concessions in Matabeleland and so cause a conflict of interests and innumerable quarrels, such as perplexed the administrators of Swaziland; or they might allow one powerful com- pany to control the commercial development of those regions. But further the question arises as to the relation of the British Government to those regions, and here Sir Hercules Robinson speaks almost as a critic of his own past, for he points out that either the British Govern- ment must make itself thoroughly responsible for the administration of those territories and face the question of expense before the tax- payers, or make some other provision for that administration. It is a CECIL J. RHODES. 429 strange thing which every thoughtful student of South African history finds hard to understand, that the British tax-payer has played so im- portant a part in despatches between London and Cape Town and has unwittingly exercised so restrictive an influence upon the development of Imperial interests in those regions. Every opportunity for a formal Imperial advance has been hindered or stopped by complaints of the Treasury at London or fears lest the Treasury should complain. This has not happened with the direct Imperial development of other regions such as New Guinea, or South Sea Islands, or even other territories in West Africa, not to speak of the Empire of India. The very despatch of Sir Hercules Robinson's now referred to, threatened that to take in hand the Government of Matabeleland and Mashonaland would cost the British tax-payers for some time at all events an annual expenditure of not less than a quarter of a million pounds sterling! This extra- ordinary and exaggerated calculation undoubtedly had its influence in London. The fact is that all these regions might long before that year 1889 have been paying by means of reasonable native hut-taxes, the expenses of a simple but adequate British administration. On April 30, 1889, Sir Hercules Robinson's prophecy was fulfilled when the Colonial Office in London received an application for a charter. The application was made by Lord Gifford V. C. in name of the Explor- ing Company, Limited, and was backed up by Mr. Ehodes and others representing the Gold Fields of South Africa Company. At first the proposal was put in a moderate and tentative manner. The objects of the company were said to be four, namely, the extension of the railway and telegraph systems towards the Zambesi, the encouragement of immigration and colonization, the promotion of trade and commerce, the development and working of minerals and other concessions. The company promised to begin with the railway and telegraph system ex- tensions immediately. Nothing was said in these first letters regarding the exercise of administrative authority by the proposed chartered com- pany. The proposal of course involved the union of a number of rival com- panies and the reconciliation of their apparently conflicting claims. In the negotiations between the Colonial office and the applicants for the charter, as well as between the Colonial office and Lord Salisbury, the 430 CECIL J. RHODES. Prime Minister, the idea of administrative functions granted to- the pro- posed company was gradually introduced. It was on June 28, 1889, that Lord Salisbury was asked for his final opinion, and was told that the charter as drafted would incorporate the company for trading and working the concessions which had been obtained, but would also em- power the company "if and when it acquired from the native chiefs grants or power of government, to assume such functions of government as Her Majesty may think desirable for it to undertake." Mr. Khodes was in a hurry to return to Africa and Lord Salisbury was asked there- fore to decide the matter in a few days. This was accordingly done, and the negotiations steadily proceeded until at last the charter was finally drawn up and was granted on October 15, 1889. It required the assent of the House of Commons, but that was easily secured in spite of the known disapproval of many members and large sections of the British public. This assent was obtained by bringing the matter before the House at the end of a session and in an unexpected hour. The country was surprised to find that with so little discussion, so sweeping a charter had been granted. On the whole the step was received with considera- ble enthusiasm by the press of the country. Attention was naturally concentrated by most people upon the commercial and colonizing as- pects of the scheme; the political advantages were of course emphasized in the fact that thus Great Britain finally secured for herself the position of territorial paramountcy in South Africa as a whole. But not much attention w r as paid to the most important, nay the vital part of the scheme, which gave to this company not only an enormous territory for its own possession and use with vast commercial privileges and facili- ties, but enormous responsibilities and powers of a political and admin- istrative nature. The petitioners to whom the charter was granted and who were named as first directors of the Company were the Duke of Abercorn, the Duke of Fife, Lord Gifford, V. C., Mr. Cecil John Rhodes, Mr. Alfred Beit, Mr. Albert Grey and Mr. George Canston. These persons had been selected with singular astuteness and were drawn from divers and influential sections of society. The Duke of Fife was within the Royal circle, the Duke of Abercorn was one of the leading noblemen of Great Britain, Lord Gifford was one of her bravest soldiers, Mr. Beit was not CECIL J. RHODES. 431 a British subject but a European capitalist of great influence, Mr. Albert Grey had been long prominent in connection with the South African Committee as one of the most earnest men in England concerning the Imperial development of South Africa and the recognition of native rights and preservation of native interests. He was the nephew and heir of Lord Grey, whose profound interest in South African affairs had lasted for many years. There seemed to be in this list a full guarantee to the British public that all the proceedings of the Company would aim at the noblest kind of administration in the territories assigned to them. The charter itself was granted avowedly on account of commer- cial advantages to British subjects in the United Kingdom and the colonies, which would accrue from the operations of this Company; but emphasis was also laid in the preamble upon the benefit that w 7 ould be bestowed upon the natives through the civilizing influences that could be brought to bear upon them by this form of administration. The slave trade would be suppressed, the liquor traffic would be regulated, immi- gration of Europeans would be both encouraged and directed, and thus the native peoples would be preserved from disaster and have their civ- ilization advanced. The territory assigned to the Company was said to be north of British Bechuanaland, thus including Khama's country, which, how r ever, has never yet been actually placed under the Company, north and west of the Transvaal and west of Portuguese territory. No north- ern boundary was assigned, leaving, let us suppose, all the territory as far as Cairo unclaimed and unassigned! All the regulations and admin- istrative functions of the Company were to be subject to the approval and open to the constant investigation of the Secretary of State in London, and his decision on all matters was to be considered final by the Com- pany. The Company must annually report on its income and expendi- tures in connection with its administrative work, and describe also its public proceedings and the condition of the territories under its Govern- ment. It was provided that the Imperial Government reserved the right to alter or annul the charter if any of the proceedings relating to administration and public matters were not satisfactory. In any case the charter would come up for consideration at the end of twenty-five years when it might be repealed or altered, and thereafter for similar consideration at the end of every ten years. 432 CECIL J. RHODES. It must be granted that these provisions, as well as the description of the purposes of the Charter in the preamble, were well calculated to satisfy the public that the granting of this Charter did not mean a return to the antiquated system of the old East India Chartered Company. Pull powers were reserved by the British Government, which seemed to make it certain that no serious departures would be made from tradi- tional methods of Imperial administration; and the tone of the docu- ment was such as to suggest powerfully that the directors of the Com- pany would keep the well-being of the native races continually in view and that towards them the most benevolent relations would be main- tained. The securing of this charter was a masterstroke from the point of view of those who saw the unfltness of Cape Colony to do such work, the unreadiness of the Imperial Government to undertake it, and the serious results that would follow if it were left to the Boers of the Transvaal to found new "Republics" therein. It must be regarded as one of the crowning achievements of Mr. Ehodes's life when thus re- garded. True Imperialists held and hold another view of those who granted the Charter instead of sending an Imperial administration into that region. The opposition to the granting of the Charter to the British South Africa Company was both considerable in extent and very strong in feeling. The conviction of many of the best minds in Great Britain was that a chartered company must ever be a very dangerous instrument of government. The danger arises from the fact that, as the modern mind more clearly perceives every day, the exercise of government must be based on high ideals and carried out by untainted officials. Government is for the sake of the governed; the authority and fame and the enjoyment of power, belonging to those who rule as legislators and administrators must be their supreme reward. The suspicion that legislators and administrators become wealthy through or in connection with their exercise of these functions is now seen to cast a direct dis- honor upon them. This responsibility of Governorship ns one of the loftiest to which any man can aspire, and the higher it is seen to be in its moral connections, which constitute its true glory, the further must those who would carry it as their life burden remove themselves from CECIL J. RHODES. 433 the accusation of corruption. On the other hand the commercial enter- prise exists mainly for the purpose of adding to the wealth of those who form it. The day may be coming when commercialism shall also be subjected to the same lofty ideals which are now before our eyes con- quering the sphere of government. It was once as hard to suppose that kings and soldiers, legislators and judges should consider the poor and needy and arrange for the long, patient process of upraising the oppressed and degraded, which we see in India, as it is to-day to imagine that mighty commercial corporations and syndicates should show by their methods that they exist for the benefit of the small dealer and in- efficient working men. At present the ideal of government in the actual practice of most modern states has far outrun the working ideal of com- mercialism. Hence the danger of attempting to unite the two as was done when the British Government in a weak hour, which many mem- bers of that Government have repented since, granted its charter to the British South Africa Company. According to the Charter, as we have seen, that Company was to be treated both as a commercial company, exploiting the northern part of Austral Africa for the enrichment of its shareholders, and a governing body, clothed with the power to make and administer laws both for the whites and blacks living in that region. Whether Mr. Rhodes and his co-workers succeeded in uniting these two apparently inconsistent functions honorably, in their commercial de- velopment of the territories assigned to them for government, or in the government of the territories assigned to them for commercial develop- ment, we must try to see. In the meantime it is of great importance for an understanding of the last ten years of British history in South Africa to realize, however painful it be to do so, both clearly and deeply that the existence of this Chartered Company has brought a tainted atmosphere about even the House of Commons, that noblest legislature known to history. For many years it has been the well-grounded boast of the British people that their rulers were incorruptible, that no statesman in the House of Commons or the House of Lords could be "reached" by any one inter- ested in a bit of legislation with any offer of personal or private reward. The pressure of public sentiment had become so powerful, and the criti- cal light so searching, that the moral tone in this regard had been raised 434 CECIL J. RHODES. high above any standard which probably the world had ever seen. But since the day when members of the Royal family and Dukes and wealthy politicians became members of this Chartered Company, and since its directors began to operate in London as well as at Cape Town for the development of plans affecting South Africa, plans which worked all together towards the ultimate aggrandizement of that Company, the English people have been troubled with an uncomfortable and often ill- defined suspicion. They have not hitherto been easily affected by the vague cry and the indefinite accusations against capitalists as such; yet they have come to feel that through the influence of this Company capitalists have at last succeeded in actually touching and directing Parliamentary affairs, for their own sakes. This influence is by some people traced so far back as to the time when Sir Hercules Robinson as High Commissioner for South Africa discouraged the British Government repeatedly and strongly against undertaking Imperial responsibilities in Bechuanaland and Matabele- land and Mashonaland. Powerful influences were at work before the year 1889 in England, as we have shown elsewhere, which were steadily making progress, and which would in a short time have secured that the desires of many native chiefs in those regions and the offers of trea- ties formally and repeatedly made by them should be accepted and acted upon, and the Imperial administration established there. Un- doubtedly the influence of Sir Hercules Robinson was steadily and powerfully exerted against this movement. At the very same time, dur- ing the years when he maintained that Great Britain had no direct interest north of Mafeking, he seems to have been aware that wealthy Englishmen and Colonists were busily striving with one another to buy concessions in those very regions. As we have seen he even seems to have known when Mr. Rhodes's agents (Mr. Rudd and others) were se- curing their great concession from Lobengula that this might blossom into a chartered company. Some people observe that, largely through the influence of Mr. Rhodes, who was at once manager of the Chartered Company and Prime Minister of Cape Colony, the valuable territory of Swaziland was offered on certain conditions to the Transvaal Government, and that among CECIL J. RHODES. 435 these was a covert warning against a threatened influx of Boers upon the Chartered Company's territories to the north. Some people remember the fact that the magnificent Crown Colony of South Bechuanaland was, contrary to the expressed and urgent de- sires of the native chiefs and the bulk of the white inhabitants, annexed to the Cape Colony only a few months before the Jameson Raid. Some people have been also aware that the large majority of the leaders of both the threatened insurrection at Johannesburg and the invading force of Dr. Jameson were shareholders in the Chartered Com- pany. People have observed with increasing distress that one great journal after another both in Great Britain and in South Africa suddenly swung round from opposition to the warmest approval of the Chartered Com- pany and its methods. They have observed that the news published by these journals as well as the editorial comments have been colored very deeply by their new-born partiality. Specific instances connecting Mr. Rhodes or his leading friends with influential personages upon at least several of these journals, have stimulated suspicion and distrust. People remember that more than once Mr. Rhodes has spoken, even in London, words- which indicated his firm belief that money can do any- thing, and that he has not met the man who cannot be bought. The latter statement is popularly ascribed to him ; but it must be corrected by another in which it is said that he has condescended to name two or three men whom he has met in South Africa whom he could not buy. People remember now that the Chartered Company has, as we shall see, been seriously accused on very full and substantial evidence of offences against the principles of honorable British administration in its management of its new dominions, but the public has not been al- lowed to hear these facts with any fulness. People remember that Mr. Rhodes managed to hoodwink the Gov- ernment, he even, Mr. Chamberlain asserts, managed to hoodwink himself, the wide-awake and most alert Colonial Secretary, when he was preparing for the attempted masterstroke of his life, the insurrec- tion at Johannesburg and the invasion from Rhodesia. People remember that when Mr. Rhodes returned to England for the Parliamentary inquiry he himself was not sent to prison when his South 436 CECIL J. RHODES. African coadjutors were; that it was proved that he kept Sir Hercules Robinson's financial secretary, Sir Graham Bower, informed of his projects, while the latter did not inform the poor old gentleman who had been brought once more to South Africa to serve the purposes of his smiling friends there. People remember that the inquiry was suddenly closed and that Mr. Rhodes's character, while utterly condemned by the findings of the Com- mittee, was utterly cleared by Mr. Chamberlain on the floor of the House. People who have remembered these things have felt throughout the past year a deep and invincible suspicion that even the controversy with the Transvaal Government was tainted, and the path of Sir Alfred Milner and Mr. Chamberlain towards the securing of justice to the Out- landers was made tortuous and impossible both by the past reputation and the present influences of South African capitalists. All this mass of suspicion has grown in the English mind, slowly but steadily and powerfully, and has spread though many circles a warm indignation at the existence in English history to-day of a com- pany whose functions are felt to be inconsistent with one another and whose influence upon the relations of Great Britain to South Africa have proved to be poisonous in their spirit and almost fatal in their issue. To-day, while the war goes on, the mind of England is confused. Patriotism and the instinct of self-preservation bid the Empire stand as one man till the final victory be gained and supremacy in South Africa once for all asserted. That seems for the moment to many people incon- sistent with a close scrutiny and a severe condemnation of those Imperial measures and mistakes which have led to the present conflagration. Keen minds are, however, at work upon the subject, and the wide- spread suspicion to which we have referred, regarding the influences which have moulded South African history for the last fifteen years, will lead, every true Imperialist hopes, to the public unmasking of the malign forces which have been at work. The mightiest of these have been, as it seems to an increasing number of British minds, the in- trigues in London and Cape Town of the Chartered Company. It is this haunting suspicion, which has so many successive political CECIL J. RHODES. 437 transactions to suggest it and stimulate it and clothe it with horror, that has made the only serious difficulty for the consciences of time Brit- ons in the prosecution of the war. They have felt that the British Government, being responsible for the creation of the Chartered Com- pany, is ultimately responsible for all those events which it produced and which co-operated to produce this war. Yet such Britons find it also necessary to remember the other side of the South African history, which we have sketched elsewhere, which shows that Great Britain, acting as an Imperial force in South Africa, has been on the whole most compliant and good-humored in her rela- tions to the Transvaal Government, and that sjie is face to face now not merely with complications largely caused by the Chartered Com- pany, but with complications caused also by the rising ambition of the rulers of the Transvaal. They have seen, as it were, Great Britain binding her own hands and feet with the thongs of that Company, while actually freeing from all bonds those ambitious personalities in South Africa who have worked steadily against British supremacy for a number of busy years. The question before Great Britain at the present hour as the result of her own changeful policy, the Chartered Company's steady self-aggrandizement, and President Kruger's in- tensified Afrikander ambitions is this Whether, because of mistakes which she must confess herself to have made, it is her duty now to abandon all the responsibilities which have accumulated upon her shoulders in South Africa during the whole century, and practically leave that region to be controlled and developed by, she knows not whom; or, Whether, still confessing and more deeply confessing the egregious mistakes of the past, she shall resolve, even through blood and fire, to carry out in a more generous and more statesman-like spirit the Imperial responsibilities which South African history has placed upon her shoulders. This is all perfectly germane to a study of Mr. Rhodes's life; for he made the Chartered Company and moulded its policy. What it has done is his doing, both of good and bad. If it has hampered Britain's dealings with the Transvaal and quickened Transvaal hatred of Brit- ain, Mr. Rhodes must carry that burden of guilt. Before the charter was granted Mr. Rhodes had given yet another 438 CECIL J. RHODES. proof of the limitless ambition filling his mind. He made an agreement with the African Lakes Company, Limited. The directors of this com- pany hoped that as commercial men they could contribute, by opening up Central Africa for purposes of trade, to help in securing David Liv- ingstone's passionate desire the destruction of the slave trade. The company was well known for its high tone and philanthropic spirit. It now controlled a vast territory in the very heart of the continent and immediately north of the Zambesi river. Mr. Rhodes cast his eyes in imagination across that river to whose south bank he saw his own territory approaching, and resolved to prepare for the future by offer- ing to subsidize the African Lakes Company. They accepted a sub- scription of 20,000 to their capital and an annual subsidy of 9,000, granting Mr. Ehodes the right of taking over the subsidized company at a later date, if desired: This right has since been exercised and the British South Africa Chartered Company has given the name of Rhodesia not only to the territory embracing Matabeleland and Mashonaland, south of the Zambesi, which is now known as Southern Rhodesia, but to a still vaster territory on the other side of the Zambesi, which is now marked on the maps as Northern Rhodesia. As soon as the charter was obtained Mr. Rhodes sailed for South Africa and preparations were made with extraordinary speed and energy for taking possession of the lands now assigned to its care. In all his plans Mr. Rhodes was assisted by the devotion to his scheme of Sir Hercules Robinson, the High Commissioner for South Africa. CHAPTER V. MR. RHODES AS PRIME MINISTER. IN THE year 1890 Mr. Rhodes, as the result and reward of his co- operation with the Dutch party in the Cape Parliament, became Prime Minister. The Governor and High Commissioner at that time was Sir Henry Loch. Mr. Khodes's influence and power in Cape politics may be measured by the fact that earlier in the same year he had been allowed to attend and take part in the conference between Sir Henry Loch and President Kruger which was held at Fourteen Streams, a little spot central and beautiful where the famous confer- ence took place between the President and Sir Charles Warren in 1885. The subject of discussion between the Governor and the President was the future of Swaziland, a territory lying between the eastern boundary of the Transvaal and the sea, concerning which President Kruger and his Government cherished great hopes. Mr. Rhodes's presence empha- sized the policy of which he was the protagonist, that Imperialism in South Africa must be conditioned by working through Colonial chan- nels; and it meant that he, as Prime Minister, and at this time an ardent Cape Colonist, must have some part in deciding how Great Britain should deal with the Transvaal concerning Swaziland. This of course implies that Sir Henry Loch when acting as High Commissioner for all South Africa and dealing with distant parts was compelled to consult the opinions and wishes of the ministry at Cape Town, because he was Governor of the colony. How deeply Mr. Rhodes was interested in the questions discussed at Fourteen Streams and what he hoped to make of them, is indicated by the events which took place after he became Prime Minister. At this period, then, Mr. Cecil Rhodes, who was still under forty years of age, occupied the following positions of enormous power and influence: First, he was Prime Minister of the Cape. As such he was dependent upon the support of the Dutch voters, and hence his policy must be shaped as regards internal affairs so as to please them, even at 439 440 CECIL J. RHODES. the expense of the prejudices of the remaining white population; and as regards South African politics in the larger sense he must so shape his plans as to convince both the Dutch party and all others that Cape Colony was being kept in her position as the premier colony of South Africa, To secure the latter aim it would be necessary so to shape events as, on the one hand, to increase the influence of the Cape Colony by expansion of her territory, and, on the other hand, to ob- tain by conventions of some kind commercial privileges that would maintain her position and add to her wealth. In the next place Mr. Rhodes, as the most influential member of the British South Africa Chartered Company, carried upon his shoul- ders virtually the entire responsibility for opening up and settling the vast territories placed at his disposal by the British Government. He had practically complete power of attorney put into his hands, so that he could act even on the most important matters without waiting for advice or consent of the Board of Directors in London. Now in this high office it was his duty first of all of course to occupy the new terri- tories without war, to devise the administration under which they were to be placed, to select the men upon whom the responsibility of founding a nation must be laid. He must also, in order to do this successfully, induce many settlers to enter and hence must find ready means of access to the country both cheap and rapid and as short as possible. How could he carry this through without awakening the jealousy of the Cape Colony and yet without hindering the develop- ment of his new dominion? He was also called upon to determine how he must meet the possibility of a great movement of Boers from the Transvaal into some portion of Charterland. In addition to these two great positions Mr. Rhodes, it must be remembered, w r as recognized as one of the most powerful personalities in the world of South African capitalists. Only those who are students of social economic conditions in detail are aware of the ramified and extensive power possessed by a man who holds under control any large portion of the capital of a country. Mr. Rhodes was of course the head of the great diamond "Trust" at Kimberley. He was also a director in the great company called "The Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa, Limited," the center of whose operations is at Jo- CECIL J. RHODES. 441 haimesburg. Now capitalism had its problems to present to him just as Cape Colony and the Chartered Company had their problems. He could no more shirk decisions regarding the development of events in the realm of capitalism than he could avoid the ever insistent voices demanding from him consideration and action as Prime Minister of Cape Colony and as virtual ruler of Rhodesia. Seldom has it been given to any man to occupy positions so various, so powerful and at certain points so hostile to one another. He was a man of unspeakable boldness who sought, and a man of undeniable power who obtained these positions. The supreme test of his worth as a man and a statesman must be found in the history of his dis- charge of these remarkable offices. That Mr. Rhodes acted with energy rs to say that it was Mr. Rhodes who acted. But did he act with wis- dom? Did he display the insight of a true master of men? Did he manifest the unselfishness of the true ruler of men? Did he present to the world either the inexhaustible resourcefulness and subtle skill of Disraeli, or- the majestic moral fervor and broad human sympathies of Gladstone, or did he attempt to found a new empire in South Africa, a new United States, by manifesting the glorious unselfishness of George Washington? In the end it must be acknowledged that Mr. Rhodes will receive his place in the esteem of his fellow men not for the mere boldness of an idea, nor the mere energy of a will, but for the character and wisdom with which that will has sought to move through all inter- vening obstacles and entanglements to the attainment of its distant goal. Mr. Rhodes professed, probably sincerely enough, that he desired to work towards a federation of South Africa under the British flag emphasized federation when in South Africa and the flag when in London. In the year 1890 he found himself attempting to drive three coaches at once, and the story of the following nine years tells us whether he showed himself a driver skilful and powerful enough to attain a federated South Africa under the British flag, without bring- ing any dishonor upon his own name or a catastrophe upon his country. The first effort of Mr. Rhodes was directed towards the Transvaal and it seemed to him that the desire of the Transvaal for the possession of Swaziland afforded to him the desired opportunity. Accordingly, as 442 CECIL J. RHODES. the result of the conference which we have referred to above, Sir Henry Loch, acting of course with, if not for, Mr. Rhodes, proposed to the Transvaal that if they would have their way with Swaziland first of all, they must promise not to enter Mashonaland or Matabeleland, thus closing their power of territorial enrichment northwards, and, secondly, they must agree to enter into a customs union which had already been formed between Natal and the Cape Colony and w r as intended to in- clude all the South African states and colonies. It is little to say that the Transvaal declined these proposals, the latter of which they resented with great bitterness as being equivalent to a proposal that they should give up their commercial self-government. Rather ought it to be said that the Transvaal Government were astonished and angered. They knew at once that while the messenger who brought these terms to Pretoria belonged to Sir Henry Loch's staff the mes- sage which he conveyed had been conceived in the brain of Mr. Rhodes. From that hour it may be said fairly that Mr. Kruger and his Govern- ment have suffered from "Rhodes on the brain" and that not without reason. They felt at once that this strong will was determined on the one hand to limit their power and on the other hand to drag them step by step into a federation, which meant into the British Empire, At this very event, we may venture the judgment, that Mr. Rhodes's mind showed its severe limitations. He attempted to deal with a government as he had been accustomed to deal with financiers. The essence of financial negotiations consists in bargainings which ignore or are supposed to ignore all appeals to the deepest sentiments of men. All that is at stake in a financial transaction is usually the question whether A shall control this business or B. If B can make proposals whose final issue A does not appreciate and can persuade A on short- sighted consideration to accept them, that brings a financial or business triumph, and B shows himself the master of the occasion. In this work of course Mr. Rhodes had proved himself already to be a genius of the first order. But statesmanship is infinitely more than that. The man who touches statecraft is putting his fingers upon the deepest interests and passions of human nature. A word which the clumsy diplomatist imagined to be innocent looking and suggestive only in one direction will send the blood coursing through a thousand indignant hearts. a * 1* ofl IS o y> 31 53 . ttl S * CD o * ma B a) Qf *JO S -g'S O 2> W 3 a is P OJ(D " p-3 - 5 to * S S |- fc -S: W O o SB ar et S l" Is CECIL J. RHODES. 445 Moreover in statecraft those who are sensitive lest they be attacked, as the Boers have habitually been, fonn the habit of seeing in every proposal all manner of possible issues that may be fatal to their national honor or existence. Now in this opening negotiation the Prime Minister of the Cape Colony showed himself quite unable to forecast the influence of his seemingly clever proposals upon the future inner thoughts and feelings of the Transvaal Government. He failed to appreciate the determination of the Transvaal not to enter a South African Customs Union, and he failed to foresee that the people at Pretoria would know at once that the effort to confine their ambitions northward came not from Cape Tow r n but from Rhodesia. And such failure is not statesmanship. Mr. Rhodes returned from his first visit to Mashonaland in the year 1890 through the Transvaal. When he approached Pretoria Mr. Rhodes was met by an official who rode up to ask if these were the wagons of "President Rhodes." An invitation was immediately delivered from the Transvaal Government proposing that he and his friends should be the guests of the Government during their stay at Pretoria. A little further on the party were met by state carriages and driven to the hotel amidst loud cheering from the inhabitants. The morning after his arrival Mr. Rhodes drank coffee w r ith President Kruger and had a frank conversa- tion with him. The two great Sou.th African rivals parted with mutual expressions of pleasure at the personal acquaintance thus formed, and 1 the parting guest was escorted with due honor for some distance by a regiment of Transvaal soldiers. CHAPTER VI. MR. RHODES AND' THE JAMESON RAID. DURING the years 1892-1894 Mr. Rhodes was chiefly concerned with Charterland. His duties as Prime Minister were indeed important enough, but as bearing upon his personal life they sink into insignificance when compared with the importance attaching to his relations through the Chartered Company with events in Rhode- sia. He was of course deeply concerned with the outbreak of the first war and exceedingly active in the negotiations which succeeded the establishment of peace with Matabeleland. Then for the first time he had to undertake the actual work of organizing his administration. It may be well to state here one striking feature of Mr. Rhodes's character, namely, his lavish use of money in the promotion of his great schemes. Mr. Stead in his latest appreciation of his favorite Imperialist has insisted with much emphasis upon calling Mr. Rhodes "an imperial socialist." By this he does not mean that Mr. Rhodes believes in any specific theories of organizing capitalism upon a national basis, but that he thoroughly believes in the responsibility of all capitalists to the entire community for the use of the wealth which they had received from or through the community. Hence he spends his money very freely, we are told, in the advancement of the causes which he has at heart. For example, he has spent many thousands of pounds in experiments with a view to discovering the agricultural methods best adapted to South Africa in its various parts. In Kimberley he has devoted large sums out of the funds of the De Beers Company to the beautifying of the town and the building of a residential neighborhood for the employees of the company, called Kenilworth. He" has enormous wealth at his disposal and is always spending it, but very little comparatively upon personal pleasure or the satisfaction of his private tastes. In the meantime Mr. Rhodes was not blind to events occurring in the Transvaal, nor was President Kruger unwatchful of the movements 446 CECIL J. RHODES. 447 of Mr. Rhodes. JVlr. Statham, the biographer of Paul Kruger, describes the President's attitude of mind throughout this period towards Mr. Rhodes in an exceedingly vivid manner. He says, "This is the picture that has to be placed before the mind as expressing the situation in the Transvaal from the middle of 1890 to the present day Mr. Rhodes ever on the alert to assail and overthrow the independence of the Republic, with Mr. Kruger ever on the alert to defend it." (Paul Kruger, by Regi- nald Statham, p. 212.) Possibly Mr. Statham, with his accustomed ease of interpreting events has read the later mood of Mr. Kruger in the period succeeding the Raid into his attitude of mind preceding that event. During the year 1894 Mr. Rhodes as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony gave much attention at once to the chief trade problems of South Africa and the prospect of Federation. He had come to believe that it was through the former that the latter might be reached. We have seen that as early as 1890 he made definite proposals to Mr. Kruger re- garding the adhesion of the Transvaal to the Customs Union of South Africa. In spite of the rebuff which he then received he held to his purpose, as if it were clear to his mind that the Transvaal could be persuaded to enter into such a union without the fear of losing its independence. Mr. Rhodes accordingly, in 1894, persevered with nego- tiations for the establishment of a commercial union and also, what was no less important, a railroad union throughout South Africa. He pro- fessed that this object could be secured while each State kept its own flag and cherished its own national sentiments. His eye was fixed upon the distant goal of a United States of South Africa, and he believed that the straight road thither would be traversed by consolidating the material interests of all the communities involved. We have already seen that in holding this theory, Mr. Rhodes evidently discounted the in- tensity of the anti-British feeling in the Transvaal and the degree of suspiciousness with which every proposal was there considered which even looked as if it might ultimately lead to an assimilation of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State with the British Empire. In fact, Mr. Rhodes seemed to believe that the cherished purpose of Mr. Kruger and his sympathizers, of founding a Dutch Republic throughout South Africa, and driving Britain entirely off that portion of the continent, 448 CECIL J. RHODES. was a purpose which could be defeated, a hope which could be starved, by gradually drawing the Transvaal into a substantive Federation with the other States of South Africa upon a commercial basis. He was met at every point by the unbending determination of the dreamers con- cerning an Afrikander independence, to avoid every step that would even look like a temporary acquiescence in the presence of British authority. No argument of Mr. Khodes could persuade Mr. Kruger to adopt any of his plans and Mr. Khodes was driven to seek some other way of reaching the consummation of his plans. It is not easy as yet to state the time at which, or the steps by which, Mr. Rhodes first became involved in the plot at Johannesburg. Mr. Fitzpatrick asserts very boldly that during the agitations preceding the year 1895 the leading capitalists at Johannesburg had no desire even to consider the possibility of a revolution. Their aim was to obtain redress of their wrongs wholly by constitutional means. They labored accordingly with great persistence and patience by the use of public meetings and petitions and personal deputations, to influence President Kruger in the direction of reform. When they found that ordinary constitutional means failed in their hands they resorted openly and con- fessedly to the use of bribery. Mr. Reitz in his pamphlet entitled "A Century of Wrong," quotes letters from at least one of the wealthier men at Johannesburg in which he openly affirms that this was the only means left them to employ. In spite of the expenditure of many thou- sands of pounds the desired reforms were not realized. Accordingly in 1895 when they realized that the party which supported President Kru- ger and the Volksraad was a fixed majority, fixed in its hostility to the Johannesburgers, the necessity of employing violent measures began to be discussed even by those who hitherto had most disliked the idea. What part Mr. Rhodes took in the earlier considerations of a revolu- tionary plan it is impossible to say. His brother, Colonel Francis Rhodes, was in Johannesburg, Mr. Lionel Phillips represented Mr. Alfred Beit, the great German capitalist of the firm of Wernher, Beit & Co., and it was through these men that the two non-resident capital- ists exerted their influence. The men on the spot were of course the real plotters without whom the outsiders would have been powerless. It is authoritatively asserted that while the idea of a revolution gradually CECIL J. RHODES. 449 grew up in Johannesburg into a fixed purpose in the minds of many individuals and no one can claim to be its originator, the idea of bring- ing help from without had its birth in the brain of Mr. Rhodes. To him it seemed a natural and an easy thing to send 1,500 men from Rhodesia into Johannesburg when the crisis had arrived, when the outbreak had taken place, when the Boers were hurrying to surround the struggling city. Mr. Rhodes's plan evidently was this, that first of all, the Johan- nesburgers should provide themselves with an abundance of arms and ammunition so that the town could endure a siege for a reasonable time, that as soon as the fort at Pretoria was captured and its military strength destroyed, word should be sent to Cape Town that Johannes- burg had risen and was in desperate need of intervention from without. The Boers, it was understood, would of course attack the city. . As soon, therefore, as the news of the event reached Mr. Rhodes he would inform the High Commissioner, who would at once hurry into the Transvaal to make peace. Mr. Rhodes, of course, would go, too. In the meantime the latter would send word to Dr. Jameson, who would immediately ride across country from the western border of the Transvaal to succor the men, women and children who were surrounded by Boer com- mandos. It was calculated, Mr. Fitzpatrick tells us, that to cut his way through and to make his aid effective, Dr. Jameson would need at least 1,500 men. The early part of 1895 Mr. Rhodes spent in England and there opened negotiations for the annexation of South Bechuanaland to the Cape Colony and of North Bechuanaland to Rhodesia. These acts were neces- sary in order to give Mr. Rhodes power to move the troops under his authority in Rhodesia southwards to a point from which they could swiftly and suddenly strike at Johannesburg. During the ensuing months Mr. Rhodes was in constant telegraphic communication with London regarding the various steps which were necessary to lead up to the great consummation. At first he had in London as his confidential correspondent, Dr. Rutherfoord Harris. Many of the early telegrams are destroyed, but most of those belonging to the months of November and December have been preserved and were presented before the Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1897. One of the earliest telegrams refers to the fact that Mr. Chamberlain 450 CECIL J. RHODES. had resolved upon an active Imperial policy in order to secure a South African federation. Mr. Chamberlain had, of course, been in correspond- ence with President Kruger over the closing of the drifts, that is, the fords across the river between the Orange Fr.ee State and the Trans- vaal. This, Mr. Chamberlain insisted, was being directed against the free entrance of commerce from Cape Colony and hence was a breach of the London Convention of 1884. Mr. Rhodes had been at one with him in the endeavor to crush Mr. Kruger on this point and w r as not unwill- ing to see Mr. Chamberlain send President Kruger an ultimatum, as indeed he did. But Mr. Chamberlain, before he did undertake the re- sponsibility of sending an ultimatum had the cleverness to insist that he must have the open consent and co-operation of the Dutch party in the Cape Colony. Mr. Rhodes as the Parliamentary leader of that party consulted his followers, who w r ere so incensed at the time by President Kruger's manifested hostility to Cape interests that they agreed, in the event of war taking place, that Cape Colony would bear half the ex- pense. Now, Mr. Rhodes w r as willing enough to have fought President Kruger on those conditions, when the Colony would not only bear part of the responsibility but would also share the distribution of benefits; but Mr. Rhodes had no liking for the idea that Great Britain should undertake any direct strong dealings with the Transvaal, which should increase the prestige in South Africa of the Colonial office or the "Im- perial factor" without adding to the strength of Cape Colony or, say, Mr. Rhodes. Dr. Harris's cablegram was therefore intended to rouse Mr. Rhodes to push his Jameson plan. In this month of November an interesting figure appears in the midst of these masculine negotiations and plottings in the person of Miss Flora Shaw, a well-known correspondent of the London Times, who, from the entire tone of the telegrams which refer to her or which she herself sent, appears quite evidently to have acted as the London agent of the British South Africa Chartered Company. Her appearance on the scene alike through the cablegrams and when she appeared as a witness before the Parliamentary committee has undoubtedly added a touch of color and piquancy to the entire series of events. On November 6th Mr. Rhodes sent the following most important telegram to Dr. Harris: "As to English flag they must very much CECIL /. RHODES. 451 misunderstand me at home. I of course would not risk everything as I am doing except for British flag." This telegram taken in conjunction with subsequent events to which we shall refer indicates that Mr. Rhodes at this stage in the London-Cape Town-and-Johannesburg con- spiracy found himself in a very critical position. As an avowed Im- perialist he of course desired that the British flag should fly over all South Africa. Now, as the leader of the Cape Colony Dutch party he did not dare to say this, while, as co-operating with the Colonial Office he did not dare to assume even the appearance of hesitation thereupon; but, still further, he knew that the leaders at Johannesburg had made up their minds very firmly to remain loyal to the Transvaal flag. Mr. Hays Hammond, indeed, at one stage of the proceedings made the com- mittee stand up and swear allegiance to the Transvaal. The leaders at Johannesburg were by no means unanimous in favor of Great Britain. Many of the most powerful men in the movement averred that they would not lift a finger to bring the Transvaal under British control. Mr. Rhodes was therefore in a very perplexing position. In the tele- gram quoted above he practically assures those with whom Dr. Harris was negotiating that he is working for the British flag, but when a deputation hurried in the month of December from Johannesburg to Cape Town in order to assure themselves on that very point, Mr. Rhodes undoubtedly gave them to believe that there was no reason to fear that the result of a successful revolution would bring the Transvaal within the British Empire. But this is anticipating. While the earlier extant telegrams were being sent backwards and forwards in the month of November a deputation consisting of Messrs. Leonard and Phillips went to Cape Town from Johannesburg in order to have a clear and explicit understanding with Mr. Rhodes. They read to him the draft of their "Declaration of Rights." When they came to that part of the document in which the policy of fre,e trade in South African products among all South African states and colonies was in- sisted on, Mr. Rhodes energetically declared that that was for him the kernel of the movement. All the rest would come in time he said. "We asked him how he hoped to recoup himself for his share of expense in keeping Jameson's force on the border, which should be borne by us jointly. He said that seeing the extent of his interest in the country, 452 CECIL J. RHODES. he would be amply repaid by the improvement in the conditions which it was intended to effect." Subsequent telegrams between Mr. Rhodes and London show how hard he was negotiating with the Colonial Office for the immediate possession, before a certain fixed date, of the strip of land in Bechuana- land which w T as to be placed under his authority for railway purposes and along which he would have the right to move his police southwards. At last, the burdened Imperialist and conspirator at Cape Town saw the end approaching. In the third week of November Mr. Rhodes sum- mons Dr. Harris from London to South Africa, saying that Dr. Jameson had visited .Johannesburg and had made everything right. He intimates also that arrangements are under way by which when the event takes place Mr. Alfred Beit and the High Commissioner and the Prime Min- ister himself shall immediately proceed to Johannesburg. On Novem- ber 26th Dr. Harris sends a "very confidential" cablegram in which he very clearly indicates that at the Colonial Office there was considerable apprehension lest the Johannesburg committee should carry out their undertaking "without assistance from the British South Africa Com- pany and also independent of the British flag." Dr. Harris drives this home by saying, "It would have serious effect on your position here." He adds the peculiarly interesting statement, "Flora suggests 16th December celebrate Pretoria," which being interpreted means that Miss Shaw had suggested that the great Boer anniversary known as Din- gaan's Day should be fixed as the appropriate date for the overthrow of the Boer Government at Pretoria ! But the important part of the tele- gram is that which indicates a fear awakened in London somehow r lest the reformers at Johannesburg, if they. succeeded, should do so in entire independence of outside help. This would, of course, establish the Transvaal forever on a firm republican' basis with its own flag, and the British Government knew, as President Kruger ought to have known, that the real independence of the Transvaal would be more secure in that event than before. Obedient to instructions from Mr. Rhodes Dr. Harris left in the end of November in order to share with Mr. Rhodes the triumphal entry of the Imperialist party into the Transvaal. From that date the telegrams from London to Cape Town are sent by Miss Shaw, who reveals in them a laudable journalistic ambition, a sense of CECIL J. RHODES. 453 the importance of the European newspaper world in the shaping of public sentiment regarding the approaching events in the Transvaal. The most daring and deadly of her messages was that dated December 17, 1895, which contained the following words: "Chamberlain sound in case of interference European powers but have special reason to believe wishes you must do it immediately." Historical or literary critics will of course forever be unable to read anything out of that sentence other than the plain fact that, whether through one or more intermediaries, Mr. Rhodes was in actual correspondence with Mr. Chamberlain regarding the entire transactions. On December 27, Dr. Harris sends a message to Miss Shaw in which he says that there are divisions in Johannesburg. It was at this very date that the Johannes- burg reformers found themselves once more roused to deep suspicions regarding the ultimate purpose of Mr. Rhodes. They had sent off Messrs. Leonard and Hamilton on Christmas Day to Cape Town to hold one more interview with Mr. Rhodes. On Sunday the 29th the deputa- tion sent back a telegram to Johannesburg saying, "We have received perfectly satisfactory assurance from Cecil Rhodes, but a misunder- standing undoubtedly exists elsewhere. In our opinion, continue prep- arations, but carefully, and without any sort of hurry, as entirely fresh departures will be necessary in view of changed condition. Jameson has been advised accordingly." This telegram proves that Mr. Rhodes had not fully settled the suspicions of the deputation from Johannes- burg, that somehow or other behind his protests of loyalty to them they saw signs of positive interference from some other quarter and had de- cided that there must be an entire revision of the plans of the revolution. Hence their anxiety to prevent Dr. Jameson from undertaking any rash enterprise. Mr. Fitzpatrick tells us that at once at Johannesburg they began to alter their plans, one main feature of their new proposals being that they should avoid the invasion of the Transvaal by an armed force. Instead of this they thought of bringing in a large number of soldiers under the disguise of mechanics and merchants. This they thought could be speedily done. In this way, or ever the suspicions of the Government at Pretoria were aroused, they would have in Johan- nesburg as many military men as they needed for its effective defence. While Mr. Rhodes was in this extraordinary predicament, Dr. Jame- 454 CECIL J. RHODES. son suddenly broke away from all his engagements, overthrew all the plans of his coadjutors both in Cape Town and Johannesburg, plunged with less than 500 men into the Transvaal and into disaster. It was probably the most crushing blow which Mr. Rhodes had ever experi- enced. When Mr. W. P. Schreiner, a member of his cabinet, went to see him, the Prime Minister was indeed in darkness. It is said that he manifested the utmost distress; he could only moan as if with living pain, "Poor old Jameson, twenty years we have been friends, and now he goes in and ruins me. I cannot hinder it. I cannot go and destroy him.". Nevertheless his courage soon returned. IJe telegraphed to Miss Shaw on December 30th as follows : "Inform Chamberlain that I shall get through all right if he supports me, but he must not send cables like he sent to the High Commissioner in South Africa. To-day the crux is. I will win, and South Africa will belong to England." The following day Mr. Rhodes sent another telegram to London urging that the High Commissioner should at once be sent to Johannesburg. He still hoped that on his arrival there he would have a splendid reception, that the city might be strong enough to hold out against the Boers and the posi- tion still be turned to the advantage of England. These desperate tele- grams show that Mr. Rhodes did not realize how completely Dr. Jame- son's movement had taken the Johannesburgers by surprise, how utterly unprepared they were to engage in active warfare, and how unwilling they would be to carry on a fierce struggle if persuaded that the end must be the handing over of the Transvaal to Great Britain. This was not statesmanship. It is very difficult indeed to understand Mr. Rhodes's failure to grasp the situation throughout these transactions, difficult also to defend his conduct in relation to them. In the first place, of course, he had mani- festly and egregiously blundered; his attempt to drive three or four coaches at once had ended in a terrible collapse. He could not at the same time be faithful to England and the Bond party and his friends at Johannesburg and his responsibilities in Rhodesia. It must be frank- ly stated that all who highly value the elevation of the standard of honor amongst public men, all who earnestly desire to see great capital- ists and great statesmen dealing with their responsibilities in a spirit of sincerity and truth, as well as in breadth of mind and largeness of CECIL J. RHODES. 455 vision, must be profoundly thankful that Mr. Rhodes's scheme of com- plicated political immoralities failed before the eyes of the whole world. It is impossible, of course, not to pity the man who spent his dark hours in that beautiful house near Cape Town overwhelmed by the sense of personal defeat and disgrace; but sympathy with the human sufferer is perfectly compatible with joy over the facts which caused the suffer- ing. It is impossible not to admire the splendid courage with which he immediately laid hold upon life and went forth to pursue his vast de- signs; but this admiration is compatible with a deep satisfaction that wrongdoing on a most comprehensive scale had been exposed to the condemnation of the conscience of all men. The first steps which Mr. Ehodes took when he found that the move- ment in the Transvaal was a complete failure, were to resign his office as Prime Minister of Cape Colony and to put the resignation of his post as managing director of the Chartered Company into the hands of the Directors. Needless to say, when he took the former step he realized that he had once for all lost the confidence of the Dutch party in the Cape Colony with whom he had been working for more than ten years. Before he became Prime Minister he had voted steadily for the plans presented in the Cape Parliament to forward the purpose and strengthen the spirit of the Dutch population. And after he became Prime Minister he pursued the same course, with the difference that now he was pub- licly responsible even for the introduction of such bills to the considera- tion of the country. The law r s which affected the sale of liquor were so altered as to add to the wealth of the Dutch districts and to the misery of native peoples, and Mr. Rhodes supported these. An effort was made to pass a law prohibiting the sale of liquor in certain native districts and Mr. Rhodes was the only man of English descent who voted against it. A law was passed which very seriously altered the basis of the franchise. It did indeed recognize equality of treatment of both black and white, but resulted in taking the franchise from thousands of black men who had enjoyed it as well as from a few white men, the "poor whites" so well-known in South Africa. This was one of the most power- ful strokes ever delivered by the Dutch party in South Africa against the influence of the British spirit in the Cape Colonial Legislature; for it was a notorious fact that the constituencies which contained large 456 CECIL J. RHODES. numbers of native voters steadily sent anti-Dutch representatives to the Parliament and many of them were represented for long years by the best members of the House. Mr. Ehodes supported that piece of pro- Dutch and anti-English legislation. When the well-known Glen Grey Act w r as introduced which again dealt with native problems, Mr. Rhodes once more led in a proceeding which represented a Dutch rather than an English sentiment. Mr. Rhodes has indeed in some directions shown great wisdom in his treatment of the exceedingly difficult and, indeed, tremendous questions regarding the control and uplifting of the native races in South Africa; but he has also in other directions been respon- sible for legislation and even for administration which, while it no doubt pleased the supporters of the Afrikander Bond, displeased no less surely those who regarded these problems from the typical English point of view. Through this long course of sympathetic action with them Mr. Ehodes had apparently won the complete trust of the Dutch party. They had at times in return for all these favors followed him in his attempts to wring privileges from the unwilling hands of President Kruger, especially when these would benefit Cape Colony. But now when the Raid had exposed all to view, and they found that Mr. Rhodes had used his position at Cape Town to plot for the overthrow of the Dutch oligar- chy in the Transvaal, his allies rose in unmitigated and undying wrath against him. In fact, the man who had for many years been proclaimed without much reason as the unifier of the two races did at this time strike the heaviest blow against that union and drove the races further apart than they had ever been since 1835. In the year 1897 Mr. Rhodes returned to England to give evidence before the Select Committee regarding the Jameson Raid. He began his journey from Rhodesia, travelled to Beira, thence by boat to Durban and Pt. Elizabeth. At Pt. Elizabeth he was in one of the strongest centers of British loyalists in South Africa, and here he was received with the greatest enthusiasm. He ended his speech with the significant assertion: "I do not propose to close my public career and I am still determined to strive for the closer union of South Africa." From Pt. Elizabeth to Cape Town Mr. Rhodes's progress was something after the style of a triumphal procession. In one of his speeches during this CECIL J. RHODES. 457 return journey he used an expression which has ever been regarded as one of the most cynical that could be uttered by a man in his position. When speaking of his going to London and the sentiment of Great Brit- ain which he would have to encounter, he spoke of it as an "unctuous righteousness" with which he must take account. The phrase is one of the most offensive which can be applied to any man or community. It was not only ludicrous when used by Mr. Rhodes in his circumstances, it was a revelation to the whole world of an apparent incapacity to look upon the situation from the moral standpoint. To him it appeared as if the indignation of Englishmen at his conduct proceeded from a super- ficial and hypocritical profession of righteousness, which to his eye, perhaps, held concealed a desire that he had succeeded. It looks as if Mr. Rhodes has never been able to realize that even although his plan had succeeded, multitudes of his fellow citizens, if they had discovered the story, which indeed success might have hidden forever from view, would have felt deeply disgraced. He apparently has no feeling for the judgment of the civilized world that men holding the high positions which he and his coadjutors occupied committed a great crime against the honor of their own country in having deliberately undertaken the Jameson plan. When Mr. Rhodes appeared before the Select Committee he took up a position which, while puzzling to many at the time, it is impossi- ble not to admire. He said to a friend before the inquiry began that it was not his intention to betray the part which the Colonial Secretary had taken in the plot. "He has stuck to me," Mr. Rhodes said to this friend, "how can I go and give him away?" Mr. Rhodes accordingly adopted the very effective plan of declining to answer all those ques- tions which he could not answer truthfully without letting the real facts regarding the Colonial Office leap into public light. He rather endured the scorn which the Committee heaped upon him, and he very bravely faced the personal obloquy which was increased by his concealment of the facts/ He even allowed the inquiry to be completed and the final Report, which so completely condemned his conduct and blackened his name, to be drawn up and to be presented to the House of Commons. From that day to this he has remained absolutely silent on the whole matter. In spite of the frequent and prolonged discussions in the House 458 CECIL J. RHODES. and in the newspapers and by the general public, he has held very firmly and steadfastly to the policy which he announced before the inquiry began. He will not Butter one word to relieve himself of any portion of the burden of blame by laying it upon those who were higher in office than himself. Mr. Chamberlain did his best, when the Report was presented before the House, to shield his former coadjutor, and his deliverer, from the worst form of public condemnation. In spite of his agreement with the Report which so thoroughly condemned Mr. Rhodes, he stood up to deny that the personal honor of Mr. Rhodes had been in any wise traduced. If by the words "personal honor" he meant that Mr. Rhodes had not aimed at the mere making of money or had not stooped to the utterance of lies, he may have been right, though many doubt. Perhaps Mr. Rhodes would not have undertaken his tremendous task merely to add to his bank account. But if the phrase "personal honor" is extended beyond these ideas to the observance of the duties and responsibilities of high office and the avoidance of concealed and treacherous uses of public office even for public ends, it is hard to say that Mr. Chamberlain's words can be defended. At the same time Mr. Chamberlain was undoubtedly saved awhile by the loyal silence of Mr. Rhodes. CHAPTER VII. MR. RHODES SINCE THE RAID. WHEN the Johannesburg plot had become a fiasco, when Mr. Rhodes had ceased to be Prime Minister and when he had re- signed his position as Managing Director of the Chartered Company he yet remained the most powerful Director of that Company, and one of the most powerful men in South Africa. He immediately left the Cape Colony and proceeded to Buluwayo where he undertook the carrying out of variousi practical schemes for the development of Rhodesia. In a short while, however, he was summoned by his fellow Directors to England. He made a hurried journey and had interviews not only with the Directors of the Company but with Mr. Chamberlain. Much had to be done in reorganizing the directorate and the work of the Company, for it was soon seen that one or two of the Directors, includ- ing the Duke of Fife, by reason of their high station could no longer compromise themselves and others by remaining on that board. He also had interviews with Mr. Chamberlain. Finding that no practical steps were to be taken in England soon, he started again for Rhodesia, reaching Africa at Beira and traveling into his own country from that point. Not long after his arrival the terrible rebellion of the Matabele took place, when many of the whites, men, women and children, were massacred. Mr. Rhodes entered in the month of May with a relief force from Mashonaland and reached Bulu- wayo, the capital, in June. He was present at several of the engage- ments which took place. After a number of these had been fought it became evident to Mr. Rhodes that with the comparatively small forces at his disposal General Carrington would be unable to bring the war to a speedy close. He accordingly proposed that he himself should try to arrange matters with the native chiefs who had retired to the Matop- po Hills and occupied practically impregnable positions there. It was a brave deed, and it greatly impressed not only the English but the natives who beheld it. Mr. Rhodes walked into the presence of the 459 460 CECIL /. RHODES. leading induna or chief of the Matabele. After a preliminary discussion Mr. Rhodes suddenly and peremptorily asked, "Is it peace or war?" The induna lifting his stick and holding it high above his head ex- claimed, "This is my gun, I throw it at your feet." Other indunas fol- lowed his example and it was peace. When Mr. Rhodes had further ex- plained the situation, when he had heard their grievances and prom- ised to redress them one of the indunas summed the matter up thus: "It is good, my father, you have trusted us, and we have spoken. We are all here to-day and our voice is the voice of the nation. We are the mouths and ears of the people. We give you one word. It is peace. The war is over. We will not break our word; we have spoken." From that day the Matabele chiefs have kept their word, as, on the other hand, from that day they have been more kindly treated and more intelligently ruled. There seems every prospect under the new method of govern- ment which has been instituted, and which places adequate checks by means of direct Imperial officers upon the legislation and administration of the Chartered Company, that the Matabele may never again have complaints serious enough to cause a rebellion and may be gradually led into the ways of civilization. Mr. Rhodes selected for himself a farm at the foot of the Matoppo Hills, where he built a strange residence. It looks like a series of native huts exceptionally well built and connected with one another so as to form the rooms of one house. Here Mr. Rhodes is apt to retire when formal and fashionable functions are going on at Buluwayo, which he does not desire to attend. It was in 1897, as we have seen, that Mr. Rhodes returned to England to give evidence before the Select Committee. Since then Mr. Rhodes has been principally occupied with the devel- opment of Rhodesia and with his scheme for connecting Cape Town with Cairo by means of both a telegraph line and a railroad. In the further- ance of this tremendous scheme he has paid one or two visits to Europe. On one of these he made a famous journey to Brussels and thence to Berlin in order to negotiate with the King of Belgium and with the German Emperor regarding a certain portion of the line which in order to pass from one British boundary to another must cross either the Congo Free State, which is under Belgian control, or German East CECIL L RHODES, 463 Africa. He succeeded in obtaining a concession from the German Gov- ernment which enables him to proceed with the Trans-Continental Telegraph which will so soon connect North Africa with South Africa. It is said that Mr. Rhodes has deeply felt the neglect of Sir Alfred Milner to consult him during the negotiations of last year. Like every- one else he believes that the war ought to have been avoided, but like the very great majority of English people who know South Africa well, he believes that the Boer Government have for years been working towards a great war that should cast British authority entirely from South African shores. He therefore is inclined to believe that unless negotiations had succeeded which would have gradually given the pro- gressive party in the Tra'nsvaal the upper hand and so broken Mr. Kruger's dream, the war was inevitable. As soon as the war broke out Mr. Rhodes, with characteristic audac- ity, went to Kimberley. How much preparation he had made for a siege of that town no one at present knows. His arrival there directed, of course, the attention of the Boers with greater joy and determination towards the task of capturing it. Mr. Rhodes, it is said, despatched a message announcing that he was as safe in Kimberley as in Picadilly. Subsequent events may have sometimes shaken his belief in that asser- tion. There can be no doubt that his presence in Kimberley has proved of enormous value to the citizens, while, on the other hand, it may have doubled the efforts of the Boers to conquer the place. He has met with great energy the task of controlling the large native population who were shut up in the town by the Boer army and whom the latter would not allow to leave. It has been said that Mr. Rhodes set them to work to lay out a new suburb, to open new streets and plant trees. One of the avenues, the world has heard, will be named Siege Avenue. Shortly after the siege ended the annual meeting of the De Beers Company took place, and at this meeting Mr. Rhodes made a remarkable speech. He announced that once more the Company had made the enor- mous sum of 2,000,000 profits (about f 10,000,000). He further made public the remarkable fact that arrangements had been made between the De Beers Company and the Chartered Company by which the De Beers Company will own all the diamond mines that may be discovered 464 CECIL J. RHODES. in any territory where the Chartered Company extends its operations. He then once more referred to his favorite idea eoncerning the two great classes of people, namely, those who amass and spend their wealth with- out imagination and those who make it the servant of their imagination. The unimaginative, by which he means those who form no large and unselfish ideals, simply use their money upon themselves and their families and leave it to their children. The imaginative class of share- holders in the De Beers Company will dwell upon the thought that a hundred years hence the mines which it still controls shall still be send- ing forth their treasures into the world, enriching South Africa and other regions and contributing through an indefinite period to the building up of civilization. Referring to tke war, he declared that the two Dutch States were not Republics but oligarchies, and roundly assert- ed that they had been long conspiring to subjugate British South Africa. Each Government consists simply of a political gang who deceive the poor and ignorant Dutchmen by appealing to their patriotism and urg- ing them to war, while dividing the spoils of the administration among themselves and their friends. He made the remarkable statement which, coming from Mr. Rhodes, seems to be as significant concerning his own past as concerning those whom he accused. He asserted that the Afrikanders, meaning the Dutch, had been working for independ- ence for twenty years and made the statement, which will no doubt astonish some, while it is no surprise to those who know South Africa, that Mr. Reitz, the former President of the Orange Free State, the pres- ent Secretary of the Transvaal, the very one who conducted the nego- tiations with Mr. Chamberlain all last year, said: "Years ago I vowed that my only ambition in life was to drive England out of Africa." Then rising to his climax, Mr. Rhodes said: "We have done our duty in pre- serving and protecting the greatest commercial asset in the world Her Majesty's flag." The survey of Mr. Rhodes's character and career which we have made will suffice, no doubt, to convince every reader that in him we have one of the most remarkable and powerful personalities of our day. The breadth and boldness of his plans must be universally acknowledged even by those who dislike them. The strength of purpose, the untiring enthusiasm with which he seeks to realize them are indisputable. CECIL J. RHODES. 465 He knows how to spend money lavishly on enterprises which bring him no personal return but which serve to further the social and politi- cal objects which he has in view. He has spent thousands of pounds in attempting to find a cure for the phylloxera which destroys the vines of South Africa. He has spent money in experiments upon stock raising with a view to the development of the best forms of stock farming in Cape Colony, Rhodesia and other parts of South Africa. He is no miser, nor is he niggardly in his business methods. Mr. Rhodes has also shown to the world that he knows how to stand by his friends even at great cost to himself. He has refused to desert those who had failed or disappointed or even betrayed.him. He knows also in some directions how not to forgive, w r hich shows that he is not completely generous. The side of Mr. Rhodes's career which seems most open to criticism and has been most severely condemned by close students of his work and influence, is that which concerns the methods which he is willing to employ and the treatment of his fellowmen which he thinks necessary and justifiable in order to attain his ends. On the whole, it must be not without regret acknowledged that he is, in his estimate of the honor of men, a cold cynic. He not only believes but acts upon the belief that men can be bought and that it is right to buy them, that men can be manipulated in the political as well as in the commercial world, and he has manipulated them or attempted to do so freely and constantly. His fatal policy of establishing prematurely a colonial imperialism was really born of his inveterate idea that men can. be manipulated. For, in South Africa, this policy necessitated at once the pretence to the Dutch party that they were in control of the affairs of South Africa and to the British Government the pretence that by leaving all South African affairs to the Cape Colony, Imperial interests would? be best served. The entire story of the Raid is, of course, the story of manip- ulation. One of the questions uppermost in the minds of many when they think of the close of the present war is with regard to the future of Mr. Rhodes. Everyone feels that much will depend upon the position which he is about to occupy as a political factor in South Africa. Many won- der what share he will have, directly or indirectly, in determining the policy of the British Government henceforth in South Africa. BOOK III. STEPHANUS JOHANNES PAULUS KRUGER. CHAPTER I. THE EARLIER LIFE OF MR. KRUGER. THE ordinary notion that the Dutch of South Africa are a homo- geneous race derived from Holland is a mistaken one. As a matter of fact, Holland was in the seventeenth century an asylum for European refugees of different nationalities. Thither Spanish Jews had been fleeing from earlier times, and thither the French Huguenots crowded for shelter from their persecutors. There also the persecuted Puritans of England found a resting place and freedom to worship their God as they saw right. The Dutch East India Company profited as a commercial organization by this influx of strangers and foreigners. Their officers entered into negotiations from time to time through their government with these homeless people, and proposed that they should volunteer for service of the Company in South Africa. No doubt the splendid climate, the natural beauty, and the remoteness from hostile attack of the new southern world at the Cape of Good Hope were all persuasivety described to them. The result was that South Africa re- ceived many Germans and French as well as at a later time large num- bers of English and Scotch people as immigrants and settlers. In the beginning of the eighteenth century in the year 1713 there were sent out by the Dutch East India Company, amongst others, one Jacob Kruger, who came from Berlin, and who, having settled in South Africa, there married and had eighteen children. From him, therefore, have descended most of the long, list of Krugers who inhabit Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, and other parts of South Africa. Large families seem to be one feature of the Kruger connection, for in- termediate between Jacob and the President there was another who had twelve children, while President Kruger himself has sixteen. The father of the President was one Caspar Jan Hendrik Kruger, who was born in 1796. He married into the family of Steyn, so that the two Presidents of the Dutch Republics at this time are able to claim some kind of blood relationship with one another. The hero of our sketch, Stephanus Johan- 469 470 THE EARLIER LIFE OF MR, KRUGER. nes Paulus Kruger, was born at the little town of Colesberg, on October 10, 1825. This town, which has for long been in the Colony, a little south of the border of the Orange Free State, has attained fame in the course of the present war. Mr. Reginald Statham, who has written the fullest biography of President Kruger, says that Paul Kruger was not the eldest of the family, and adds, curiously, "He had at least a sister, some six years older than himself." When young Paulus was about ten years of age his family "trekked." First they passed north into the Orange Free State; there in a short time they, with their large company, came into con- tact with Moselekatse, and Paulus, as a young boy, had his first taste of actual war. When the small band of fifty white men were surrounded in their laager by many thousands of fierce and ruthless savages, they were assisted energetically by their wives and daughters, who cleaned and loaded their guns and in other ways helped those who were actively fight- ing. It is not at all unlikely that at this time young Paul himself handled a gun and did his best to shoot down some of the dusky warriors who rushed upon them. He early became noted for great physical strength and untiring activity, and must have displayed considerable ability, judging by the early promotion which he received. No doubt his educa- tion was scantily snatched up at rare intervals as Ms elders tried to teach him the simple rudiments of reading and writing. He learned enough to read his Bible, and, as is well known, that book has formed the sustenance of his intellectual as well as spiritual life throughout his career. When he was about seventeen years of age he received the ap- pointment of assistant Veldt-Cornet and three years later he was made Veldt-Cornet. About this time he was placed in charge of a commando, who proceeded to the northwest to attack various Bechuana tribes. Paul Kruger, like most of his countrymen, ^married while still a very young man. His wife belonged to the family of Steyn, of which the President of the Orange Free State is a member. This young wife died before long. Some time thereafter he married her niece, who still lives and who has had sixteen children. She is said to be a woman of remark- able gifts, but is forced by the customs of her people to live in obscurity. She seldom appears in public, is not allowed by her husband to discuss politics, is prevented by tradition even from sitting down at dinner with him. It is said that on one occasion he restrained her from engaging in THE EARLIER LIFE OF MR. KRUGER. 471 a political discussion with, the remark that if she listened to all that people were saying about politics, she would just be led away like the Outlanders. Nevertheless, Mrs. Kruger is known to possess a tender heart, and if only the conditions of domestic life amongst the Boers had been more civilized, if they had allowed as much, freedom even as Eng- land and America enjoyed in the seventeenth century, she would have won the affections and the personal admiration of the people. At the time when a large part of Johannesburg was destroyed by the great dynamite explosion and many lives were lost, Mrs. Kruger could not restrain her feelings of compassion, even though she knew enough to know that her husband had no love for Johannesburgers. "Oh, it hurts my heart to think of it," she said ; "it hurts my heart to think of it." So seriously did this calamity of the foreigners affect her, that she became ill with grief and fretting. She, like many Boer ladies, has had naturally considerable experience in treating cases of illness and has gained a certain skill in the use of simple medicines. These are chiefly made from plants, and as a herbalist she has some reputation amongst her people. It is said that the only time when she has her own way with the President is when he is ill. Then it has been her lifelong custom to shut him up in his room in solitude and dose him with her simples and mixtures till his mighty constitution reasserts itself. Eurnor has it that some of the Holland officials at Pretoria were, w r hen they first came, induced to put their ailments under the care of the President's wife. The experience was peculiar. When, therefore, one of them now T -a-days tries to escape work by pleading ill-health the President comes down on him by saying, " Ja, ja, you must have a little of my wife's senna." This is said usually to produce an immediate recovery of health, and Oom Paul chuckles as he sees his victim go off to his work. But Mrs. Kruger possesses in a curious intensity the conservative instincts of the Doppers. She cares for nothing new. To her, as to her husband, the advent of the multitude of foreigners and foreign ways is a perplexity and a pain. She will have nothing to do with the idea of progress and the instruments of civilization. When the railroad reached Johannesburg she was urged to go down to see the first train arrive. "No, my child," she said, "I have grown to be an old woman without seeing these things; why should I look at them now?" Her domestic cares 472 THE EARLIER LIFE OF MR. KRUGER. . occupy her entirely, of which the chief one naturally is the task of pre- paring the daily meals. These are always simple but always abundant. The President, while a good eater, is remarkably abstemious in the mat- ter of alcohol. Coffee he drinks in large quantities and he smokes to- bacco incessantly ; but alcohol he uses with great care, and drunkenness he absolutely loathes. One day a government clerk was slightly the w T orse of liquor, entered the executive chamber and came too close to the Presi- dent looking for a paper. The latter turned upon him in an immediate passion. "Go out of the room, sir," roared the old lion, "you stink !" A peculiar little incident of Dopper bigotry and domestic tyranny is told of the President in connection with the rigid custom held by their sect that while worshipping God women must have their heads covered. This applies even to the act of worship in the saying of grace before and after meals. Two of the President's granddaughters, bright girls who had been educated in Europe and felt themselves emancipated from some of these notions, did not wear their hats for the opening grace at a dinner which was attended by their grandfather, the President. When it came to the closing grace he turned and said, " Ja, ja, you put on your hats, the lot of you." The command was, of course, obeyed; but, alas! so eman- cipated were they that their hats were not even in the room, and the poor women wore table napkins for the occasion as an improvised head- dress. In or about the year 1850 there came a crisis in the inner life of young Paul Kruger. The story goes that under the sway of deep religious in- terest he left his home without explanation and remained out among the hills night and day for some days. When he came back the battle was fought, he had entered upon the life of faith from which he has never since swerved. While belief in the existence of God and his actual Providence is held firmly by practically all of the Boers of the Transvaal, it is by no means all to whom this belief becomes a living fact of the soul and a means of personal religious experience. It must therefore be held that the reality and force of this event in his life helped very largely to give that strength of purpose, that lofty patriotism, that profound con- fidence in the favor of God which have characterized President Kruger throughout his career. The form of piety which is dear to Paul Kruger is that which many describe by the word "mystic." By this it is meant THE EARLIER LIFE OF MR. KRUGER. 473 that he believes not only in the light of the Scriptures without him, but in an immediate and direct shining of the spirit of God inwardly upon his own heart. He is in direct communion with the eternal Jehovah who communicates his will to him and directs his life. This, of course, is eminently a Christian doctrine, but it is held by Christians ordinarily with other views of Scripture which prevent certain elements in it from becoming dangerous. Many of the most famous fanatics of the East have believed themselves to be thus illumined with the immediate light of God, have believed themselves to be the direct instruments of God, have believed themselves to be guaranteed by him against error and against defeat. Something of this fanatical type of mysticism has ever charac- terized Paul Kruger. He can look back over a most remarkable life, tracing it from the time when at ten years of age with a small company of brave men he resisted the onslaught of the Matabele hordes to the hour when the Almighty put Dr. Jameson into his hand. Through that long life of exciting events how many battles with fierce native tribes has he fought, how many hair-breadth escapes has he made! It is said that he has never been wounded except once by accident w T hen his own gun shot his thumb away. And yet his clothing has been pierced over and over again with bullets. Indeed, so remarkable have been his escapes that some of the natives think him to be possessed of a charmed life. Moreover, Mr. Kruger, from the time when at thirty years of age he be- gan his career as an agitator and leader of the Doppers, has seen all his great schemes successfully carried through and his highest personal am- bitions achieved. Little wonder is it if, with the intensity of his faith, the boldness of his plans and the remarkable success of nearly all his undertakings, he has come to regard himself as under a peculiar and direct Providence which guarantees to him the Tightness of all his pur- poses and the certainty of success in their pursuit. This, of course, is a noble kind of life, presenting on one side a remarkable beauty and thrilling attractiveness to every one in whom religious instincts are quick. But his future biographers will ask themselves whether or not the grim old President, so sure that he is always right and that the Almighty God will prove it before the eyes of a sceptical world ; so sure that his people are the Israelites and the Kaffirs the Canaanites and the land is intended for the Israelites by the living God; so sure that all Outlanders are as 474 THE EARLIER LIFE OF MR. KRUGER. Egyptians and Assyrians and all their intrigues and their conventions like attacks of the wolf on the fold has been misled by the very intensity and vividness of these convictions. Undoubtedly the hold which the President has upon his people through his Dopper constituency explains in part the obstinacy of his opposition to all proposals of generous deal-/ ings with the Outlanders. Undoubtedly also that unwillingness to take advice, to yield to the criticism of proposals even by fellow countrymen like Joubert, is in part due to the strength of his faith that what he sees to be right is the command of God, and that God is pledged to support him in the doing of it. CHAPTER II. MR. KRUGER AND TRANSVAAL POLITICS. DURING these years Mr. Kruger formed one allieince which though primarily of a religious or ecclesiastical nature has proved to be of the utmost political importance. The Transvaal Boers, while all belonging to the Dutch Reformed Church, fell into discussion over matters of doctrine and practice, which ended in the division of their church into at least three portions. One of these, which comprises the most rigid and conservative elements, is called the Dopper Church. The Doppers have for their distinctive outward feature the simplicity of their service. Like the Scotch Presbyterians two generations ago or the Irish Presbyterians of this very day, they believe only in using the Psalms of David or paraphrases of Scripture in their public worship, and allow, of course, no instrumental music. President Kruger early became and has ever since remained a Dopper. Naturally this party would include many of the most earnest and the mostdetermined men of the country, for those who adopt and maintain conservative positions in religion are usually those have have profound convictions and will make sacrifices for them. The "forward" parties include many of the same spirit, but generally sweep along w r ith them all those whom Bunyan has called Mr. Pliable and Mr. Worldly Wiseman. Mr. Kruger owes a large part of his political success in the Transvaal to his unbending fidelity as a Dopper. That party have kept him to the front, have worked for him constantly, have used every fluctuation of public fortune, religious enthusiasm or political controversy as an opportunity of keeping their favorite candidate to the front. During the years which succeeded the real formation of the Trans- vaal Republic in 1864, Mr. Krnger's public life was mainly spent in military operations against native tribes. He was by no means uni- formly successful, for the natives gradually learned how to baffle the well-known tactics of the Boers, and Mr. Kruger was more than once discomfited. As Commandant-General, he was perfectly familiar with 475 476 MR. KRUGER AND TRANSVAAL POLITICS. the wicked ways in which the border Boers inveigled native chiefs into treaties and agreements, and then found reasons for "punishing" them. He was instrumental in helping to organize the commandos which, as the better Boers themselves at last bitterly complained, went every year against some tribe or another like Zulu regiments on annual raids! In any case, he must be held responsible for what went on while he was Commandant-General. This responsibility will include even the cruel practice of carrying off wagon-loads of native children, whom the Boers called "orphans," and dividing them as "apprentices" among the farmers. Of course, those who condemn Mr. Kruger for his undoubted share in all these painful transactions must remember, on the other hand, that they are in keeping with the traditions of his people, and that they are covered by the religious views which Mr. Kruger and his people have held concerning Boers, natives and land respectively. During the early years of the South African Republic, from 1852 to 1864, there was continual strife between the leaders of different bands. Partly they were separated by political ideals, partly also by political jealousy and personal rivalry. Several men were ambitious of being the leaders of the people and several townships were ambitious of becoming the center or capital of the new Republic. The story of these years of mutual discord leading at various times to active war is a very miserable and sordid one indeed. Throughout them Paul Kruger was one of the most active spirits. While not yet himself a. candidate for the presi- dency, he intervened more than once with great vigor under the authority of his office as Commandant, and succeeded in compelling those who were opposed to his faction to desist from their plans. One of the most curious incidents in this period of his life is that connected with an attempted invasion of the Orange Free State. There has always been and is now a very strong and sometimes openly active opposition between the Boer inhabitants of the Orange Free State and the Boer inhabitants of the Transvaal. In those early days the hostile sentiments were quite as powerful as at any later date. The Free Staters seem to have felt them- selves insulted by certain actions of Pretorius^ the would-be President of the Transvaal x when he was on a visit to Blomfontein. They prac- tically expelled him from their borders, and this was resented not only by Pretorius but by many other Transvaalers, and amongst them was MR. KRUGER AND TRANSVAAL POLITICS. 477 Paul Kruger. An invasion of the Orange Free State was planned and was being carried out, a battle was impending, when the unwilling hosts resolved to attempt another way of settling their difficulties.. The Trans- vaalers sent out young Paul Kruger under a flag of truce to beg the Free Staters for peace. A commission was appointed consisting of twelve representatives from each side to deal with the matters of dispute and arrange for their settlement. Among these representatives we again find the name of Paul Kruger. These things occurred in 1857. In the following year Mr. Kruger was despatched to the far north for the purpose of attacking a native tribe in that region. He was successful in this expedition, but on his return found himself again involved in military operations which were in- tended to restrain those of his own race who were hostile to his party. He at this time learned the secret, not only of active warfare, but of political agitation and rebellion against the "powers that be," a lesson which proved valuable to him at various periods of his later career. When in the year 1870 President Pretorius, with whom Mr. Kruger had been for many years politically and officially identified, incurred the wrath of the Transvaalers by accepting arbitration over the Bechu- analand borders, one of .his most strenuous and indignant opponents was his Commandant-General, Paul Kruger. Pretorius was compelled to resign and a successor was looked for. It had become evident to the people of the land that they were unable to cope with foreign diplomacy and were unable to meet the increasing complications of internal admin- istration which the growth of the white population placed upon their shoulders. They decided therefore to look for a man whose education and ability pointed him out as likely to lead them into a course of rapid national development. Hardly in history can one find a more pathetic juncture than this, at which a people whose hearts are filled with a pas- sionate love of independence confessed their incapacity for self-govern- ment. The passion was mighty and struggled like a giant, blind and bound with thongs, under the tasks imposed upon it. But in vain. The tasks were not those which sheer passion and brute force could perform, and this nation of farmers practically confessed that they needed another kind of equipment than that which hitherto they had thought to be neces- sary and sufficient. They therefore looked outside of their number and 478 MR. KRUGER AND TRANSVAAL POLITICS. found, as they imagined, a fit man, a man of European training, of great oratorical gifts, of powerful intellect, in Thomas F. Burgers. Many of them, and, of course, Paul Kruger among them, were by no means pleased at this appointment, but they were unable to offer any strenuous opposition. The fact of their incapacity stared them in the face. Paul Kruger was not a man to lie down under what he felt to be in a certain measure a personal criticism and a personal disgrace ; for, next to their late President, he and Mr. Joubert were the most prominent citizens of the country, and the bringing in of an outsider as their Presi- dent was the condemnation of the actual leaders of the land. Quietly but steadily Paul Kruger's opposition to Burgers was brought to bear upon his policy and his operations. Unquestionably Kruger disliked the ap- parent irreligion of Burgers; he sincerely believed that the blessing of Almighty God must be withdrawn from their country for the very reason that an "unbeliever" had been chosen to rule them. He felt that they had departed from the Lord even as Israel did when ungodly kings ruled at Jerusalem or Samaria. It could be with no courageous heart or high spirit that Kruger would go forth to war. even for his country while the country was under the ban of the King of Kings. Now, if Mr. Kruger had kept this despair to himself Burgers might have succeeded in winning the alle- giance of many whose allegiance he lost. But Mr. Kruger from the first has been a born agitator, always "agin the Government," like the prover- bial Irishman, until he had the Government in his own hands. Accord- ingly his dislike of President Burgers broke early into active opposition to the schemes which the President proposed. An active propaganda was created among the Doppers and through them among others against the unbelieving head of the nation. When in 1874 President Burgers made his journey to Europe on behalf of his country, full of enthusiasm, of large plans, of bright expectations, he left the Government in the hands of Paul Kruger, the Vice-President, and Piet Joubert, the Com- mandant-General. He could not have done worse for his own position and the success of his schemes. The two men who acted on his behalf proceeded to undo what little he had already accomplished. They para- lyzed the offices which he had created, used their position to spread dis- like of his ambitious and far-reaching schemes. So successful were they in this, most people will call it treacherous, work, that when he returned u- or o I or (U B H O i E Q R -< i i o o H or u CO 03 O MR. KRUGER AND TRANSVAAL POLITICS. 481 he found himself in a most unenviable position. The people whom he had aroused were now in despair, and the very operations for which he had borrowed money no one would undertake. His railroad plans fell through and the material which he had bought in Europe was allowed to lie at the coast unused to go to destruction. When the war broke out against the native tribe under Secocoeni, President Burgers resolved to put himself at the head of the Boer forces. This, no doubt, he did with the hope of winning their confidence, of inspiring them with courage, of completely identifying himself with their interests. It was in vain. The agitators against him argued that no war could be blessed in which this unbeliever was their commander. All heart and vigor was taken out of his forces. When on meeting a vigorous resistance from the natives the Boers turned to flee, Burgers was overwhelmed with grief and shame, he even shouted to them to shoot him, rather than desert him. It was in vain. The Transvaal citizens, who detested more than most things defeat at the hands of native tribes, had been taught in recent days to detest even more than that the leadership of this President. About this time people began to think in the Transvaal of the expira- tion of President Burger's term of office, and of the election of a new President which must then take place. By this time Paul Kruger had come to occupy a position of such influence in the country by means of his prolonged and persistent agitations, that he was evidently marked out as the candidate whom the conservative citizens must support in 'opposition to President Burgers. Mr. Kruger allowed his name to be put forward as a candidate for the Presidentship, and for months the country was absorbed in preparations for this contest. Paul Kruger had this advantage, that he could go about more freely among the citizens than the President ; that he could stimulate criticism and organize oppo- sition which in political matters is always easier than to maintain a suc- cessful defence. When Shepstone, the British Commissioner, arrived in the country towards the end of 1876 he found the population distracted over this keen and prolonged contest. Months must yet elapse before the election, but already the struggle had reached a white heat of passion. It became evident that the two parties in the country were both deeply in earnest. They were so full of resentment against each other, so full of intense 482 MR. KRUGER AND TRANSVAAL POLITICS. and sincere dislike for each other's policy, that the day of the election might easily bring the dawn of a civil war. In fact, the Boers themselves were preparing their minds for such a result. Here the Progressives were determined not to come under the domination of the retrogressive Doppers, and there the Doppers were heart and soul devoted to the task of destroying the power of the ungodly Progressives. Mr. Eider Haggard has preserved for the delectation of the world at large a specimen of the arguments employed by one of the most powerful newspapers supporting President Kruger's candidacy. This paper although published in Cape Colony exercised at this time enor- mous influence in the Transvaal by uniting that form of religious faith which the Doppers loved with the most intense form of what is called "Afrikander" patriotism. In one of its articles this newspaper accounts for the weakened and degraded condition of the Transvaal country by an appeal to the experience of Israel. "Look at Israel, while the people have a godly king, everything is prosperous, but under a godless prince the land retrogrades, and the whole of the people must suffer. Bead Lev. chapter 26, with attention, etc. In the day of the Voortrekkers (the Boer farmers), a handful of men chased a thousand Kaffirs and made them run; so also in the Free State (Deut, 32: 30; Josh. 23: 10; Lev. 26: 8). But mark, now, when Burgers became President; he knows no Sabbath, he rides through the land in and out of town, he knows n'ot the church and God's service (Lev. 26: 2, 3), to the scandal of pious people. And he formerly was a priest, too. And what is the consequence? No harvest (Lev. 26: 16), an army of 6,000 men runs because one man falls (Lev. 26: 17)," etc. Then the writer passes to advocate the claims of Paul Kruger as the successor of Burgers, and amongst other reasons the following are given : "Because there is no other candidate. Because our Lord clearly points him out to be the man, for why is there no other candidate? Who arranged it this way? Because he himself announces in his reply that he is incompetent; but that his ability is from the Lord. Because he is a warrior. Because he is a Boer." Then Mr. Kruger is compared to Joan of Arc. This article proceeds to advise the candidate whom God has chosen that since the Lord gave him the heart of a warrior he must deliver tlio land from the Kaffirs. This evidently was oneof the arguments which told MR. KRUGER AND TRANSVAAL POLITICS. 483 most in the Transvaal in favor of Mr. Kruger, for the fear of the Kaffirs was heavy upon the Boer heart at that time, and he who had been prom- inent in all their wars, both civil and foreign, for a quarter of a century, was felt to be a man, if any was in the land, who could arise and drive them out. But the editor of this paper was evidently aware that what, after all, the Transvaal needed was a man of wider training than even Paul Kruger had received, and his article adverts to the day, therefore, when, his warrior's task being done and the country made safe from the Kaffirs, he would acknowledge that he is no statesman and would turn round in the spirit of supreme patriotism and self-denial, asking his people to choose a President better fitted for statecraft than himself! The very heat and strength with which Kruger's agitation was car- ried on increased the confusion of voices in the land, prevented the Transvaal people from arising with indignation at the intrusion of Shep- stone, prevented them from standing loyal in this humiliating crisis to their actual President and their actual Government. Undoubtedly the fierceness of this candidacy and the grounds upon which it was based, helped largely to spread that feeling of weakness and dismay through the land which so astonished Shepstone and convinced him that this people had proved themselves incapable of self-government. He may have been wrong. It may be that in the very party led by Mr. Kruger, which was creating this temporary low tide, lay the forces which, when the time came, would carry the people forward into a vigorous future. But to the searching eyes alike of the Boers and their government, as well as of the keen-witted and calm-souled Shepstone, no such promise seemed to be contained in the circumstances which were before them. It must be remembered that at this very time Mr. Kruger held office under the President whom he was denouncing, a relation which once more throws into relief the incapacity of the Boers at that time for intelli- gent self-government and the peculiar conception of duty and personal honor which Paul Kruger has throughout his life cherished and acted upon. When, therefore, in April, 1877, the British Government assumed the reins of power, while Joubert immediately declined to serve under a government which he hated, Paul Kruger retained his office. But now there was substituted for his former opponent, President Burgers, a new opponent in the person of the Queen's representative. CHAPTER III. MR. KRUGER AND THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. IN THE month of May, 1877, within a few weeks therefore after the act of annexation by Shepstone, Mr. Kruger, accompanied by Dr.Jorissen, a Hollander of considerable ability and education who identified him- self completely with Transvaal interests, proceeded to England to carry the protest against annexation to the highest authorities. Shepstone wrote, saying, "I do not think that either of them wishes the act of annex- tion to be cancelled; Dr. Jorissen certainly does not." They paid a visit to Kimberley and there met a Mr. J. D. Barry, who wrote to Sir Bartle Frere that the two delegates did not "have much faith in their mission." He adds a strong corroboration of Shepstone's remark by saying, "Dr. Jorissen thinks that the reversal of Sir Theophilus's act would not only be impossible, but a great injury to the country." The delegates were well received in London, were taken as his guests by Lord Carnarvon to his country house; but he firmly told them that there could be no re- versal of the act of annexation. They returned immediately to the Trans- vaal, and to their work under the British Government. Mr. Kruger, how- ever, clung to his .hope of a restored self-government and watched with his characteristic shrewdness and employed with his determined will, every event which seemed capable of use in that direction. In the follow- ing year (1878) Mr. Kruger once more made the long journey to Cape Town and the long voyage to London. He was accompanied by his life- long rival, Mr. Pieter Joubert, with Mr. Bok as secretary. This time they could claim that they were sent by a formal meeting which had been convened on April 4th and by whose authority they once more carried the Boer protest to the British Government. The answer which they received was the same with which they had been met before. They were told that the Queen's sovereignty could not now be withdrawn. Mr. Kruger made the return journey through Natal and found him- self there at the very time when Sir Bartle Frere was preparing for the war against Zululand. Naturally the Boer leaders were not at all unwill- 484 THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 485 ing to see the British win in the approaching fight, since the victory would mean the destruction of the power which for some years now had threatened the Transvaal. They therefore frankly and heartily gave all the advice Sir Bartle Frere asked of them. Frere was kept a considerable time in that region, and it was not until May, 1879, that he was able to make his long contemplated visit to the Transvaal. Then the agitation in the country had been carried on with such persistence, had been met by the British authorities with such weakness, that it had assumed portentous proportions. Sir Bartle Frere was invited to meet with the Boers, and lie found them encamped at a place called Kleinfontein. Here they had actually gathered some thousands of men. The scene is described very vividly and in striking detail by the biographer of Sir Bartle Frere. The high-souled representa- tive of the Queen carried himself with splendid courage, and with his un- failing wisdom and irresistible tact when he met men face to face. His mingled firmness and courtesy produced due impression, and there can be no doubt that ere his conference with them was over he had gained the warm respect and even the trust of most of those Boer leaders. They wished him, and Mr. Kruger especially urged it, to present their views to the British Government and strove hard to persuade him to support them with his own personal approval. The latter he of course explained frankly that he could not give, but he agreed to forward to his Govern- ment a statement of the views which they themselves should approve as adequately representing what they had urged upon him, and promised that he would at any rate urge upon the Government the importance of considering these views. This was done and the document which he drew up was signed by five of the Boers, including M. W. Pretorius, who acted as chairman of the conference, and Mr. Kruger. At the same time Sir Bartle Frere presented his own views, in which he strongly urged that the Transvaal be retained, expressing the conviction that large numbers of the Boers were forced into this movement by the leaders and that most of the ills of which they complained were due to faults in the policy of the British Government since they occupied the land. Frere remained at Pretoria for about a fortnight, and during that time found that the agitation was becoming dangerous. The more rest- less and reckless of the Boers bad repeatedly to be restrained by Mr. 486 THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. Kruger and the more prudent section, from making an immediate attack upon the representatives of the Queen at Pretoria. During his stay Frere had repeated meetings with the leaders, and there is the best evidence that he made a most favorable and powerful impression upon them. Mr. Kruger, in fact, is reported to have said, "The people and committee have all conceived great respect for your Excellency, because your Excellency is the first high official of Her Majesty who has laid bare the whole truth; and that esteem will not easily be lost whatever more you may say, for the people have seen for themselves in writing what your Excellency has said." Among the ordinary folk Frere made him- self at home and won the hearts of many of them. His religious character became known and increased their faith in his wisdom and his sincerity. "As for this Governor of yours," one Boer said, "from all I hear he might be a 'regt Dopper,' " which may be translated, "A right godly Boer." No higher compliment can be conceived as coming from a follower of Mr. Kruger. In the following year, 1880, it became known to Mr. Kruger and his friends that a strong effort was being made to carry through the scheme of confederation of the South African states and colonies, and that a conference was proposed which would be held at Cape Town to deal with the matter. The Prime Minister at Cape Town, Mr. Gordon Sprigg, was in sympathy with- the movement, and his ministry was understood to be acting in that direction. These facts led Mr. Kruger to make one more long journey on behalf of his country. He went to Cape Town along with Mr. Joubert and Dr. Jorissen and there spent some time with the double object of arousing a stronger sympathy among the Dutch people and of defeating the proposal to hold a conference on confedera- tion. In these purposes he was signally successful. Frere was still in the country, but nearly everybody was aware that, since the Liberal party had returned to office in London, his days of Governorship were num- bered. Mr. Kruger had in fact in recent days been greatly encouraged by the accession of Mr. Gladstone to power. A little group of determined Radicals in England, who made it their life's aim to undo all that had been done by their pet aversion, Lord Beaconsfield, were working steadily towards the retrocession of the Transvaal. Mr. Gladstone, it is true, affirmed after his accession to office that a reversal of the annexa- THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 48T tion could not take place; but the Radicals referred to steadily per- sisted in their pressure upoij the Prime Minister and steadily encouraged Mr. Kruger to carry on his agitation. It was to one of these, Mr. Leonard Courtney, M. P., who may claim the distinction of having had much to do with securing the war of independence and the act of retrocession, that Mr. Kruger reported the success of his mission to Cape Town. "It is a satisfaction to us," he said, "candidly and without reservation, to inform you that the conference proposal has failed through our efforts." Mr. Kruger appears to have become aware at this time that Frere had lost influence in London and would be removed before long, and this encouraged him as much as any other circumstance connected with his mission. In December of that year, 1880, the prolonged, careful, persistent and shrewd machinations of Mr. Kruger reached a head. There gathered at Paardekraal some thousands of Boers who proceeded in the most open fashion once more to organize their Government. They assumed as a logical and practical starting-point that their Volksraad had never been dissolved, and that therefore it could assemble once more and pick up the threads which it had dropped on April 11, 1877. Mr. Kruger accord- ingly appeared in his former capacity as Vice-President, Mr. Joubert as Commandant-General, while Dr. Jorissen resumed his place as State Attorney from which he had been so ignominiously removed on the ground of legal incompetency by the hated British. Of course there was no President, but the work was carried on practically by those who have just been named, and as all were working with unanimity for one end this difficulty was not keenly felt. It was considered politic to move to Heidelberg where their assembled force would occupy a position of great strategic importance between Pretoria, and Natal. The story of the war which immediately broke out need not be repeated here. Throughout its course, Mr. Kruger was active. He was present at headquarters most of the time and was of course deeply con- cerned when the armistice was arranged, as also in the negotiations on which the Convention of Pretoria was founded. Throughout these negotiations he made his own contribution of shrewdness and determina- tion, and helped to win the diplomatic victory which must be recorded as having been gained by the Boers in addition to their military triumphs, As 488 THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. soon as the Convention was agreed to by the negotiators, the Volksraad was summoned and Mr. Kruger presented the Convention, not without some apprehension that his people would disapprove of its provisions. In fact he had considerable difficulty in obtaining their consent to it. They felt that this was not the independence which they had enjoyed down to the year 1877. They were undismayed by the facts that once more, with the suddenness almost of a cyclone, land values had gone down, capital had begun to leave the country and commercial collapse was before them. Their eyes were upon their ideal. Their memories were faint already regarding the condition of affairs in 1876; they were conscious now and proud of having beaten the British, of having prac- tically no powerful native tribes left to threaten them; they were pos- sessed of all the enthusiasm which belongs to the beginnings of a great national movement. It appeared to them therefore humiliating that a British Resident should, in terms of this Convention, live at Pretoria to control their dealings with foreign nations and with all native peoples; humiliating to be told that the right of Great Britain was reserved to march her troops through the Transvaal if occasion demanded such a. step; humiliating to be told that thus they were forced to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Queen. But Mr. Kruger had had enough of uncer- tainty and of war. He knew that the British Government had gone as far as at the time it could, and that a rejection of its terms might lead to the renewal of hostilities. He himself also had enough knowledge of the world to appreciate the magnanimity of Mr. Gladstone, a magnan- imity which his people did not then understand and have never since been able to regard as anything but the submission of a conquered man. His people believed that they had actually smitten the British power hip and thigh, as Israelites smote their enemies of old. To them the great- ness of Great Britain was but a vague and distant rumor. All these circumstances led Mr. Kruger eagerly to desire and passionately to urge that the Convention should be immediately approved. And at last it was approved, but with the very bold assertion that this was done "for the time and provisionally," in order to submit the articles of the Conven- tion to a practical test. Mr. Kruger found himself carrying a crushing load. The Boers in- deed were once more a self-governing people, but they found themselves THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 489 in the unenviable position of having still the debt upon their shoulders, a people still unwilling to pay taxes, and a country whose commerce was once more reduced to the bare necessities of life. The busy streets of Pretoria became deserted and overgrown with vegetation, and the public works began speedily to decay. Nevertheless the leader of this people carried himself with great courage and fixity of purpose. In the year 1883 the first election of a President took place. The candidates were Mr. Kruger, representing the Doppers, or conservative element, and Mr. Joubert, representing the progressives. Thq former was elected by 3,431 votes to 1,171. CHAPTER IV. MR. KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY. AS SOON as he was in the President's chair, Mr. Kruger began to work for the amendment of the Pretoria Convention. He arranged for another Deputation to Great Britain. Once more was he most courteously received in London; once more was he successful in winning from the British Government the greater part of the desires which he placed before them on behalf of his people. The British Resident was removed, the debt was reduced, and other benefits were granted, in return for which Great Britain asked and received absolutely nothing. She retained indeed authority over the foreign treaties of the Transvaal; she insisted, in the negotiations leading to the Convention, that she occupied such a, relation to the Transvaal that the Convention could not be regarded as a treaty between two contracting powers, but as a statement of the conditions under which a grant of privileges was conveyed by the Queen to those who had been her subjects. It must ever be remembered in the discussions of the relation of Great Britain to the Transvaal that this position has been constantly maintained since 1852. Great Britain stands in a relation to the Boers so peculiar that all agreements made with them are in the nature of gifts made to them along with the statement of conditions on which these gifts are made. Even the ever compliant Earl of Derby put that position very clearly before Mr. Kruger and his companions at the very beginning of their negotiations in London in November, 1883. President Kruger had other objects in view in making this trip to Europe besides the winning of a new Convention from Europe. He desired especially to come to terms with the Portuguese Government regarding certain railroad concessions which, when really adjusted, would put the Transvaal in a more favorable position for establishing railway connections between Pretoria and Delagoa. Bay. He accordingly asked authority under the new Convention from Lord Derby, or rather Lord Derby offered to him the assurance that he geed have no difficulty 490 MR. KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY. 491 in making such arrangements as he found necessary in the interest of his country, even although the new Convention had not yet been ratified. It was pointed out that no such agreement with a foreign power would be binding before ratification, but that he could rely upon Lord Derby's willing and active assistance in making any such agreement on the basis of the Pretoria Convention. It was therefore with a good deal of gratitude, mixed with consider- able regret, that President Kruger bade farewell to London and entered upon a continental tour. He proceeded to several of the European capitals and was everywhere received with due honor and kindliness. At Amsterdam of course his arrival was celebrated with especial interest and enthusiasm., Here perhaps the most important event was his dis- covery of a young man who had just taken his doctor's degree at the University, who was willing to engage himself as, to begin with, private secretary to President Kruger, and who has since proved himself a most faithful, enthusiastic and powerful supporter and diplomatist of the Transvaal Government. This was Dr. Leyds. From Amsterdam Presi- dent Kruger went to Berlin, thence to Paris, from Paris to Lisbon, where he secured the arrangements which he desired with the Lisbon govern- ment, and returned to South Africa in triumph. Beyond all doubt the negotiation of the London Convention and the successful carrying out of his visits to the European capitals gave to President Kruger a position in South Africa that had been reached by no other South African states- man, not excepting Sir John Brand. He had proved himself the most powerful and sagacious, the most self-respecting and determined diplo- matist. He returned to his own land with fresh prestige and the opportunity for making a brilliant career. The Dutch world of South Africa looked up to him with new confidence and a feeling even of rev- erence, even as Israel unto Moses. He had proved that he could now do more than lead filibustering expeditions against native tribes, that he could do more than sweep his Dopper constituencies into line to support his political schemes, that he could do more than present a bold front to British representatives in South Africa. Avowedly ignorant of the world, narrow in spirit, inexperienced in statecraft, he yet showed him- self able to cope in distant lands with the very authorities and wielders of European power. 492 MR. KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY. We have mentioned one reason for regret which, he carried back with him to Pretoria. There was only one side of the Convention which proved a bdtter disappointment to his Volksraad, as it had been to himself. This was the fact that Great Britain actually manifested firm- ness enough to put down on the map a western boundary for the Trans- vaal. Hitherto such a thing had been practically unknown or in serious dispute. It was like closing a large window of a house and asking people to live with the same freedom as they had before. The Transvaal Boers with their land-hunger had always been accustomed to look out upon Bechuanaland as through an open window. The idea, of having a boun- dary line seemed like shutting them into an unnatural darkness. The idea that Montsioa, with whom they had picked one quarrel after another, should now be beyond their reach under the Queen's protection, and that the lands of Mankoroane, whose territory they had already begun to seize in the usual way, should be proclaimed as a part of a new British pro- tectorate! These were indeed occasions of deep grief and despair at Pretoria. So deep, that the Volksraad seemed almost to forget all the other ills from which they had suffered and which Lord Derby had simply swept away because they asked him to do so. The Boer mind could not grasp the fact that they had been treated with a generosity which no other European country could possibly have been per- suaded to show to them. They took all that they had got, and then nursed bitterness in their souls over the one fact that they were now compelled to have a western boundary and to respect the rights of the native tribes beyond. It needed indeed a very strong speech from President Kruger himself to persuade the Volksraad that they must accept that part of the Convention. They were inclined to berate the Government in the usual terms of Boer vituperation against British rulers; but President Kruger, fresh from his triumph in Europe and fresh from his kindly intercourse with the members of the British Gov- ernment, could not endure this. He accordingly rose to explain that the British Government was not to blame, that they would have given him all that he asked, yea, that he might have had all Bechuanaland and the road into the interior, not even the British people were to be maligned in this matter, their disappointment was wholly due to the MR. KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY. "intrigues" of two "liars," namely, Mackenzie the missionary, and Sir Hercules Robinson, the High Commissioner! President Kruger now had his hands full. It was his task to re- organize affairs so far as was necessary upon a new basis within the Transvaal itself. But this work of development was interrupted suddenly by the disturbances which broke out on the western border. Parties of Boers had in the previous two years extended their settlements into the ver^ r region now proclaimed as a British protectorate. They had formed two republics. While they formed these two republics and while they continued to maintain them even after the Convention had been ratified by the Volksraad, most of them were actually domiciled within the Trans- vaal. Repeated remonstrances were addressed to Pretoria, but all in vain. In one way or another excuses were found by President Kruger for taking no action. Van ^Tiekerk and his company, who called them- selves the "Stellaland administration," lived, as was well known, near the Hart River within the Transvaal, and they crossed the line freely even after Stellaland had been proclaimed by a Deputy-Commissioner of the Queen as British territory. His followers actually attacked Vry- burg itself, terrorising and assaulting the leading loyalists there. Yet there was no redress. The insincerity of President Kruger's dealings in this matter within a few months of his visit to London, is shown by nothing more clearly than the treaty which he attempted to make and a proclamation of annexation which he issued with reference to the lands of Montsioa on which one of the new republics (Goshen) had been formed. The excuse for this inexcusable transaction was that Montsioa wished the protection of his Government, which had never been true and never could be. But upon this excuse he based a. conditional annexa- tion, announcing that the territory w r as now brought under the protection of his Government "subject to the 4th article of the London Convention." It is impossible to regard this event, which General Joubert saw at once to be a. blunder in diplomacy and which he repudiated by resigning his office under President Kruger, as anything else but a contemptuous assumption that Great Britain would never be in earnest about anything in South Africa. The President found this to be a profound error. There were some things which even Great Britain could not endure, limits to the power of acquiescence possessed even by a Colonial Secretary. The 494 MR. KRUGER'S FIRST PRESIDENCY. answer to this bold challenge of President Kruger was the Warren ex- pedition. President Kruger had already succeeded in bringing influence to bear at Cape Town which resulted in the resignation of the first Dep- uty-Commissioner for South Bechuanaland (John Mackenzie). He now attempted in the most serious w r ay to prevent the Warren expedition from coming, and, when it came, to prevent it from being of any service. He had skilfull allies in this work at Cape Town in the persons of the Afrikander Bond leaders and even of the Governor himself, the same Sir Hercules Robinson, who had become plastic under their hands. Mr. Reginald Stathani, the biographer of Paul Kruger, whose work is inac- curate at various important points, actually has the courage to write concerning the Warren expedition that it was completely muzzled and was withdrawn at the earliest possible moment. The fact is that no mili- * tary expedition was ever so successful in at once attaining all the ends for which it was sent, and doing so without one battle. The Boers were thoroughly cowed all along the western border by this display of British determination and by the brilliant generalship and the brilliant diplo- macy of Sir Charles Warren. Mr. Stathani says that "in the end Bechu- analand became a British colony." This was the very purpose of the expedition and was fully secured by it, for when Sir Charles in a leisurely fashion concluded his work, he left behind him an Administrator who had already begun his active service in Bechuanaland. During this expedition, an interview was arranged between President Kruger and Sir Charles Warren which took place a short way within the Transvaal territory at Fourteen Streams. Probably at no time in his life before had President Kruger found himself so unable to obtain new concessions or compromises as on this occasion. He and his Government were openly and undeniably in the wrong and all his efforts to assert him- self, to humble the expedition and render it abortive, were in vain. In this very year, 1885, the most rapid development of the gold mining system in the Transvaal began. It was these developments which with- drew the attention of the Boers from the people beyond their borders and concentrated it upon internal problems. For a number of years gold miners had already proved themselves the bane of the Transvaal Govern- ment. East of Johannesburg there had grown up the community called Barberton where the first important gold mines were found. That had MR. KRUGERS FIRST PRESIDENCY. 495 been one of the centers of disaffection and the source of annoyance for several years before the annexation. When the extraordinary gold deposits were discovered under the arid ridges of the Witwatersrand the Transvaal entered upon the most extraordinary period of history ever encountered by any people. Hitherto the chief gold districts of the world have been discovered beyond the verges of European civilization. The gold miners who have rushed in have found themselves in regions where they at once formed the community and created the government. But in the Transvaal there already existed a nation of farmers whose old system of legislation and administration was adapted to a rustic popula- tion. Upon them in their primitive mode of life there came at once the possession of unexpected and unmeasured wealth and the task of meeting a peaceful invasion more difficult to thrust back than British soldiers, and more terrible to contemplate even than a British Resident. CHAPTER V. PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. THERE can be no doubt that the place which President Kruger is to occupy in the estimation of posterity will be determined by the way in which he has met the conditions created in the Transvaal by the gold mines. The story can not be fully, still less can it be impar- tially told, until some more years have elapsed and the passions of the hour have been stilled; but the day is coming when historians will turn over the archives of the Boer Government and trace the course of legisla- tion which President Kruger has steadily initiated from the year 1885 to the year 1899. There, and in the records of various public companies, as well as in the despatches which have passed between Great Britain and the Transvaal the whole story is forever recorded of the capacity or incapacity of Mr. Kruger to meet the invasion of the Transvaal by the Outlanders in response to his own invitation. First of all of course, in sheer justice to President Kruger, the his- torian will concentrate attention on the tumultuous life created by the arrival in a constant stream of tens of thousands of Europeans and Americans. They will tell how these spread themselves over one farm after another, scratching the ground for gold, making bargains with bewildered and astounded farmers for the purchase of their lands, and floating companies without number, many of which enriched the founders and ruined countless investors. He will tell how some of these farmers became enormously rich who until that year had been, as regards the possession of cash or a bank account, notoriously or even distressingly poor. He will tell how it was that President Kruger sold some of his own land for 100,000 (about $500,000). He will record the fact that in a few years the Outlanders owned more than half the land of the Transvaal. But he will turn to another side of the story. He will describe the inevitable panic which came in 1888 when company after company collapsed and the whole work of development had to be begun over 496 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. 497 again on a sound financial and an honorable commercial basis. He will then tell the story of the arrival of experienced organizers and engineers who formed strong syndicates and adopted the most modern methods of mining, adapting these to the unique conditions found on the Eand. He will tell how this beginning of a healthier life in the Johannes- burg community led to the rapid building up of a splendid city. He will tell how the very nature of the gold deposits, demanding the high- est financial and engineering as well as organizing skill, brought to the country from England and America and Australia men of the highest education and experience; how they brought as subordinate officers of their companies hundreds of younger men, to whom this city was to become a permanent home and who proceeded to build com- fortable residences and lay out lovely gardens on the dreary arid ridges of the Rand. He will tell the story of the arrival of scores of thousands of black people from every direction who, pouring into the service of the miners, found themselves in the midst of a life utterly strange, full of excitement, offering temptations only to evil and opportunities un- dreamed of for intoxication and crime. In view of these extraordinary conditions, the historian will inevit- ably be driven to ask himself, how did the strenuous and shrewd Pres- ident of the Republic meet the perplexing problems thrust upon him and his farmer associates in the Government, of the country? The final judgment of President Kruger's worth as a man, as a patriot, and as a statesman will depend upon the answer to that question. Before we attempt to forecast the lines along which, as it seems to us, the answer will certainly come into view, let us pause to consider with deepest sympathy the position of this man. We must recall his birth in a frontier village, his early years passed in a continual series of wagon journeys and native fights, his young manhood given over to the care of cattle and warfare, now with rival sections of his own race, and anon with the aboriginal inhabitants of the land. We must recall the fact that during these very years when a far cleverer man than he was President, himself Vice-President and Joubert Commandant-Gen- eral, the Government of the Transvaal notoriously and indisputably collapsed. It proved itself unfit to govern 50,000 white people, almost all of whom were farmers, and the native chiefs among and around 498 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. them. We must remember that the fire of patriotism in these people was kept alive by two passionate desires, the desires namely to control the native tribes and to be uncontrolled by the British Government. We must recall the fact that throughout the period of four years after the annexation President Kruger burned with this fire of patriotism, and that in 1881 the Government of the Transvaal, which had once more been given to the farmers themselves, rested mainly, almost en- tirely, upon the insistent will of this one man and the concentration of his life upon one idea. We must recall also the fact that during the four or five years succeeding the restoration of the independence the Boer Government did practically nothing in the way of reorganiza- tion of public w r orks. In fact the earlier years of President Kruger's administration boded no good to his career; in 1884 poverty once more began to stare them in the face and signs of disaffection were not awanting. But from the year '85 onw r ards President Kruger and his Government were confronted by a situation unparalleled in the history of any white community. They found themselves in charge of European cities whose natural problems w r ere severely intensified by the influx of lawless and irresponsible natives. What were the farmers to do with these people? What was President Kruger to do with them? Was his mind large enough in grasp, his heart deep enough in sym- pathy, his imagination broad enough to see that the safety of his Republic lay along a certain line of conduct, and that another road which opened before him must lead to destruction? As we have said above this question can only be answered by looking at the actual course of legislation and the actual effect of the Boer administration upon the happiness of their own cities and the pros- perity of their own country. The defenders of President Kruger's administration make it as their strong point that, while he himself desired throughout to act generously towards the Outlanders, to grant them all the reasonable demands which they made, he was restrained by the conservatism of his farmers. They who are his strong supporters would have rebelled, it is said, if they had seen him proceed suddenly to the passing of measures which accorded rights to the Outlanders that would place them in a superior political position to the rustic population who hitherto had ruled the land. The difficulty in the w r ay PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. 499 of carrying through this theory, that President Kruger has really been a broad-minded statesman working under the appearance of nar- rowness in deference to his constituents, arises from three facts. First, that a considerable party led by Joubert have always been opposed to the narrower measures of Mr. Kruger. If he had lost the support of some he would have gained, it would seem, the powerful support of his former rival by progressive legislation. In the second place, most of the legislation for which he is responsible actually and positively im- posed restrictions upon the Outlanders which did not exist when they began to arrive. It was surely within his power to have refused to initiate this class of legislation instead of being as he was the untiring originator of it all. And in the third place, it is, we believe, amply proved that a considerable amount of the legislation which he did persuade the Raad to enact was rendered useless by the method of administration which he employed. So much was this the case that a large part of the bitterness of the Outlanders was caused by the repeated disappoint- ments which they experienced when they found that legislation which the President had promised them, when hard pressed by their demands and their arguments, proved utterly unreal when it was put into prac- tice. Either the Government was incompetent to make and administer effective legislation or President Kruger was forced, or imagined him- self forced, to deceive the Outlanders time after time in order to get rid of their importunity and preserve his unyielding position at the same time. A very impressive illustration of the difficulties and temptations which fell like a thunderbolt upon Mr. Kruger and his associates can be found by a mere glance at the history of the financial position of the Transvaal. In the year 1874 the revenue of the country was just about 50,000 (about f 250,000), and the expenditure about 45,500 (about $225,- 000). In the year 1882 the revenue had risen to about 180,000 (about 1900,000), while the expenditure only reached about 115,000 (about $570,000). In the year 1886 the relation of the revenue and expendi- ture maintained the same healthy appearance, for in that year while the income was nearly 200,000 (nearly f 1,000,000) the expenditure was little more than 150,000 (about $750,000). This was the year when the gold mines at the Witwatersrand were opened and Johannesburg was r>00 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. established. In the following year the income had reached the sum of nearly 640,000 (considerably more than $3,000,000); the expenditure still fell far behind the income, amounting to somewhat more than 590,000 (less than $2,900,000). Another great leap was taken in the year 1894, another again in 1897. In the year 1899 the Budget esti- mates placed the revenue at the enormous figure of 4,087,852 (about $20,000,000), while the expenditure was estimated at 3,951,234 (about $19,350,000). A still more astonishing and suggestive range of thought is opened up by a glance at the growth of the fixed salaries paid by the Transvaal Government to its officials. In 1886 the salaries amounted to a little more than 50,000 (about $250,000). In the year 1893 they had risen to 360,000 (about $1,700,000). In 1899 the Budget estimate of the sal- aries amounted to the astonishing figure of 1,216,000 (about $6,000,000). That is to say the salary list had been multiplied in thirteen years to a sum twenty-four times what it was at the beginning of that period. Now the white population upon whose interests these officials expend their lives had during that period been little more than doubled. To put it in another way, the Transvaal is inhabited by somewhere near 200,000 white people, men, women and children. The salaries paid to the Gov- ernment officials, apart from all other expenses incurred in directing the affairs of that population, amounted to about $6,000,000 last year; if applied to the United States population of 70,000,000 the same scale of official salaries would reach the sum of $2,000,000,000. The significance of these figures is enormous when we remember that after the recovery of their independence the Boers finally decided to secure in the work of administration the aid of men of European training and preferably of Hollander birth and education. These men went out to the Transvaal into the service of President Kruger's government, or went out on his invitation to form commercial syndicates of various kinds, without any deep love for the country which was not their native country or for the farmers who constituted its ruling population, but who were one and all beneath themselves in culture and experience. They went there to make their fortunes, and large numbers of them have done so. They accepted office and entered upon their work of administration in the same spirit exactly PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. 501 and for the same purpose that another set of Hollanders went to the gold mines. The real inward history of all the commercial troubles and the legislative struggles in the Transvaal for the last twelve or fifteen years can not be told unless the historian grasps and knows in detail the facts concerning the prolonged rivalry between the men who were seeking to make their fortunes by means of the gold mines and ordinary commercial enterprises, and the other set of men who were seeking to make their fortunes by means of Government concessions or monopolies and the use of governmental appointments. It is a sordid and despicable story, but the conscience of the world when it knows the facts will con- demn most thoroughly, not the men who frankly sought wealth by the ordinary means of open individual competition, but the men who sought it through the hypocrisy of public service and the method of govern- mental monopolies. Who would expect that President Kruger could hold his own or even begin to see daylight amidst the darkness of these enormous financial transactions and commercial rivalries? To him the very language employed in the very laws which he was supposed to initiate, to administer and to defend was a new language, and the economic conditions which he was expected to control and direct were such as he had only heard of or only seen superficially when he visited the capitals of Europe and which he had always despised as a religious man, feared as a politician, and hated as a farmer. Well might he in the utter confusion of his mind often cry out, "Who is sufficient for these things?" As a matter of fact President Kruger in his capacity as President has been* a man possessed and driven by one sole political idea, namely, that of the independence of his county. By this he meant simply at first the freedom of the Transvaal from British control. For this he has sacri- ficed all else. In order not to be under British rule he put his official appointments into the hands of Outlanders from Holland. In order to prevent all possibility of British influence he shut the door of the fran- chise in the faces of all British and American citizens, keeping it wide open for Hollanders who came to be officials of his Government, or could prove that they had been of service to the State. Even South Africans from Cape Colony and Natal, and at times even from the Orange Free State, were treated by him with a jealousy not evidently cherished 502 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. towards those whom he had adopted and rested upon as advisers of the State. Thus his passion for the independence of the Transvaal was swiftly changed into the determination to maintain the supremacy of one race within the Transvaal. The main legislative and administrative problems which have haunted President Kruger's recent years arose from three directions. First, the organization and government of Johannesburg, second, the treatment of the Outlanders, especially those who spoke English, in matters of the franchise and education, third, the development of com- mercial undertakings by means of government concessions or monopo- lies. The evidence appears to be abundant that in all three directions President Kruger became the miserable victim of the official class whom, he had created, who misled him with their advice, played upon his fear of British interference, involved him in responsibilities w T hich made him the supporter of their dishonorable proceedings. In fact the man who had shown himself brave on the battlefield, noble in his passion for patriotism in that war of independence, shrewd when dealing with British diplomatists about simple matters like a boundary line or the payment of a debt, was utterly swamped by the onrush of complex financial and administrative problems which he had neither the train- ing nor perhaps the brains to comprehend. But he brought into this life if not a new capacity, at any rate the old tenacity; an idea once seized by him is seized forever, it apprehends him and holds him as its servant henceforth. Let us see how this can be illustrated in somewhat of detail. First then did President Kruger encounter the municipal problems of Johannesburg in an adequate manner? It must be remembered that Johannesburg has grown in ten years to be a city of more than 100,000 people. More than half of these are Europeans, most of them men of great energy, large numbers of them highly educated and powerful per- sonalities. Hundreds of them knew far more of municipal affairs than President Kruger, with whom the last word regarding the history and condition of their city always remained. After considerable trouble Mr. Kruger was induced to grant a municipality to the citizens. Natu- rally one would expect this to mean that the citizens as a whole should elect their own council and this council should direct under general PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. 503 legislative limitations or precautions the internal affairs of the city, that they should manage their own sanitation, their own street cleaning, etc. As a matter of fact, according to the system established at Johan- nesburg, it was secured that the majority of the council should be repre- sentatives of the small Boer element in the city and practically crea- tures of the national executive. Still more the mayor of the city was not elected by the citizens but appointed by the Government, that is, by President Kruger; and the mayor had the right of absolute veto upon all their resolutions and ordinances. The result of this legislation was to get the actual control into the hands of those who on every matter obeyed the will of the President and Executive Government of the State. Various most miserable com- plications arose with regard to sanitary affairs, the enforcing of local laws, the police control of vile black criminals and innumerable other matters which caused discomfort and dispeace in the city, and which those who were in authority were in reality unfit to cope with and to put right. It would be absolutely unfair to blame President Kruger for all the failures in the municipal government of Johannesburg. New cities which grow rapidly must ever have domestic problems of organization laid upon them which they will find it perhaps impossible to undertake. That which however strikes one in reading the history of the Johannesburg municipality is the absence of trust, or, rather, the continual influence of distrust which President Kruger openly mani- fested towards the citizens long before the year 1895. He would not allow the Government to give them the opportunity for bringing their city under modern methods of municipal organization. The system of municipal government whick he allowed was chiefly inadequate because of its dependence upon himself through the relation of its chief officials to himself. But to turn in another direction let us inquire how President Kruger dealt with the question of the franchise. It must be remem- bered that in 1881, w T hen matters were being discussed at the Pretoria Convention, the question was raised as to how the foreigners were being treated and would be treated. President Kruger made a statement which was accepted as a pledge and as a sincere description of his policy, or the spirit of his policy, for the rest of his life. He said that 504 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. .- all foreigners were treated with generosity when they came into the Transvaal, and that they became full burghers or citizens at the end of one year. In the year 1882 it is true that the law had already been modified and Great Britain had made no objections. At that time foreigners could become naturalized and enfranchised citizens at the end of a five years' residence, this residence to be proved by registration in the books of the Veldt-Cornet, a local official in each district. Great difficulty was of course found in complying with this law where Veldt- Cornets, as was so often the case, were uneducated men who did not know how T to keep books. In the following year, 1883, President Kruger made his famous visit to London, and in April of 1884, while still in London, he issued through the press his famous announcement that the Transvaal Government welcomed foreigners, promised them generous and fair treatment, even desired them to come in for the development of the gold industry. He had, just six weeks before, signed the Conven- tion, in which he bound himself to accord to British citizens in all their undertakings justice and fair dealing. Of course no stipulations were made about the franchise because no one dreamed at the time, and President Kruger less than anybody else probably, that anything so unjust in fact, and so untrue to the spirit of the Convention, could possibly be undertaken as the franchise legislation which began in the year 1890. From the year mentioned onwards the laws regarding naturalization and enfranchisement in the Transvaal have undergone repeated alteration. Until last July, 1899,* these alterations all tended to complicate the matter for Outlanders, to make the possession of the franchise so difficult and the steps to it so disagreeable that the majority of foreigners were unable or unwilling to fulfill the conditions. The result was a law, which, of course, President Kruger introduced, de- fended and urged before the Volksraad, and for which his main argu- ment was that it would preserve the independence of his people. This law we have described elsewhere. In brief it may be stated that it demanded the oath of allegiance, which secured naturalization, two years after registration on the books of the Veldt-Cornet This naturali- zation placed a man under all the obligations of citizenship, including that which in the Transvaal has ever been the most prominent and to foreigners the most disagreeable, namely, the liability to military ser- PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. 505 vice. Every citizen was bound to fight against any one whom the Commandant-General described as enemies of the Republic. A week therefore after taking the oath of allegiance any citizen of Johannes- burg was liable to be sent off with rifle and cartridge-belt to the bor- ders, to attack some native tribe with whom a quarrel had been picked and whose lands were to be divided amongst the younger sons of Dutch farmers. At the end of ten years after the oath was taken the Outlander, who was not yet a full citizen it must be remembered, might apply for the franchise; his application must be supported by two-thirds of the burghers of his neighborhood, must come before the President and his Executive Council and be by them approved ere the full rights of citi- zenship could be confirmed!! Of course it was absolutely uncertain whether the President would give the franchise to any individual even after ten years of waiting for the right. If the individual were an influential man of a progressive type his chances were small indeed. It was in 1893 that this law received its greatest development and most strenuous conditions. It w r as introduced as usual suddenly into the Volksraad and was passed rapidly over all opposition. Some of the most intelligent men spoke with intense earnestness against the pro- posal, but they spoke in vain. It is reported that one of the Boers, when the debate was closed and the law was carried, exclaimed: "Now our country is gone! Nothing can settle this but a fight and there is only one end to the fight. Kruger and his Hollanders have taken our independence more surely than ever Shepstone did." (Fitzpatrick, The Transvaal from Within, P. 77.) Mr. Fitzpatrick, the most detailed historian of this critical period on President Kruger's life, says that the passing of this measure revealed for the first time to the entire com- munity Mr. Kruger's unbending hostility towards the Outlanders. Many of them and many of his own citizens had not hitherto lost hope that the day of reconciliation would come, that under pressure he would yield and accord them their real rights; but the passing of this law compelled, through a wider area than before, the conviction that Mr. Kruger would never yield, that he was determined rather to use every means for preventing the Outlanders from becoming citizens of the Transvaal. "It might be said that within an hour the scales dropped 506 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. from the eyes of the too credulous community, and the gravity of the position was instantly realized." (Fitzpatrick, Ibid.) It is of the utmost importance, in order to do justice to the facts, that we should keep in clear view the very pitiable position in which President Kruger found himself at this time. He did not understand the spirit of the British and American immigrants, but he hated them. He took for granted that when they became citizens they would unite their political energies to bring the Transvaal under the British flag. He feared that if they became citizens, and outnumbered the Boer voters, they would prevent the development of the great Afrikander ideal which looked towards the establishment of a Dutch Kepublic throughout South Africa. Of course these things could never happen. There is abundant evidence that all who would have forsaken their British citizenship in order to become Transvaal burghers would have remained true to their oath of allegiance; in fact, it is practically cer- tain that they would have been as determined to maintain their inde- pendence and self-government as President Kruger himself. But then President Kruger had avowedly denounced and could not understand them. Moreover, he had surrounded himself with the class of men already referred to, the Hollander official class, who were now making fortunes out of enormous salaries and innumerable government con- cessions. It was they who nourished his poor fear, who embittered his reiterated cry, "The independence of my people." To them the whole matter was a mere selfish contest, it was capitalist against capi- talist, fortune-seeker against fortune-seeker. They were in the happy position of being officials and therefore appointed by the President and Ms Executive to enjoy the full privileges of citizenship. They did not wait twelve years, they were exempt as an official class from military burdens, and they kept poisoning the heart of the now aging, bewil- dered but stubborn President against men of far higher attainments and quite as lofty characters, who were eager to be as faithful citizens as they. Here, therefore, again perhaps through no fault of character, President Kruger as a statesman was a failure. President Kruger took one step in the year 1890 which seemed to promise the beginning of new days for the Outlanders and was, there- fore, cordially welcomed by them. This was the institution of a second PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. 507 legislative chamber or Lower House. This House was avowedly created for the sake of the mining cities. The members were chosen by all who had been naturalized, and all who had been naturalized for a certain brief period and were thirty years of age, were eligible for membership in it. It was created for the purpose of superintending the affairs of the mining population and especially the industrial inter- ests thereof. This, Mr. Kruger's friends urged, was a very great step; it was taken with a view on one hand to conciliate the Outlanders and to do them justice, and on the other hand to prepare his own suspicious and conservative Boer population for the inevitable day when the for- eigners must possess full powers of citizenship in the country. Such a measure was of course most wise and statesmanlike; and if it had been faithfully carried out it would have redounded to the lasting credit of President Kruger. But that which his critics assert and which his friends are unable thoroughly to demolish is, that the Second Volks- raad was never allowed to become an efficient source of legislation even on the matters placed within its power. A few enactments took place no doubt, but it is alleged that the most important were invariably rejected. The whole legislation of this Second Raad was subject to rejection by the First Raad, in which the Outlanders were not repre- sented. On the other hand, it is alleged that enactments were freely passed by the First Vplksraad without the criticism or approval of the Second House which dealt with the very sphere ostensibly placed under the care of the latter. If these allegations be true, and they are well supported, then President Kruger was not statesmanlike but cunning in the creation of this Second House. It gave him the appear- ance of magnanimity, while in reality he retained all the former power in his own hands. A similar accusation is made in relation to the important matter of education among the Outlanders. Laws were passed which imposed heavy taxes, mainly upon the Outlanders, for the support of a public system of education. But the application of the taxes was so directed that the Outlanders could only have the service of inferior and inef- ficient teachers. The result was that they had to raise very large sums by private subscription in order to secure a reasonable education for their children. PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUTLANDERS. It was suggested above that the three directions in which the success or failure of President Kruger as a ruler must be tested were the con- trol of the municipalities, the political treatment of the Outlanders, and the development of the commercial interests of the country in general. Under the third class must be placed the difficult and dubious matters connected with the granting of concessions by the Transvaal Government. By a concession is of course meant here a monopoly in the old and hateful sense of the term, a contract according to which the Government guaranteed to an individual or a company the sole right to deal in certain articles of commerce and protection from attempted competition. For this privilege the monopolist paid nothing. There can be no doubt that these concessions were given into the hands of individuals or syndicates, all of whom were political supporters of President Kruger and his policy! The most important of these concessions is undoubtedly that bear- ing upon the development of the railway system. Of course a railway system is peculiar and the entire subject of the treatment of railways an exceedingly difficult one. Yet it can be openly said that seldom in the history of railway legislation has there been a monopoly more arbitrary in its beginnings, more dangerous in its development than that created by President Kruger. To begin with, President Kruger was opposed 'to all railways until he found the pressure too heavy upon him. He was induced and was able to induce his burghers to agree to the making of a railway along the Eand, connecting the various mines together, only after some genius thought of describing it not as a rail- way but as a "steam-tram." The rulers of the Transvaal who feared a railway considered a steam-tram a safe development. But the entire rail- way system of the country was put in 1887 into the hands of a company called the Netherlands Railway Company, most of whose shareholders were and are Europeans. The distribution of votes among shareholders was so arranged that out of 112 votes 76 were held by Hollanders, who, therefore, held complete control of the policy of the company. The story of the building of the railway upon which this company entered is a very peculiar one, into the details of which we cannot enter here. Enormous sums of money were spent with apparently little result in the extension of the railway to Pretoria, Protests were repeatedly PRESIDENT KRUG'ER AND THE OUTLANDERS. 500 made to President Kruger, explanations attempting to show that the country was being cheated were urged upon his attention, but all in vain. The story spread over the country that the Hollanders should control the railway and not men of English or American birth. He refused to believe that the country suffered in any way, and in spite of the most elaborate expositions of fraud practised upon him, stub- bornly remained loyal to the managers of the company. In connection with the building of a railway called the Selati Railway an instance of corruption is told by Mr. Fitzpatrick ("The Transvaal From Within," p. 69 f.) which can hardly be beaten by similar events in any other country. The company was backed by the Government. It "arranged with the contractors to build the line at the maximum cost allowed in the concession, 9,600 per mile (about $48,000). Two days later this contractor sublet the contract for 7,002 per mile (about $35,000). As the distance is 200 miles the Republic was robbed by a stroke of the pen of 519,000 (more than two and one-half million dollars)." This kind of thing has gone on elsewhere, but nowhere else is successful swin- dling like this considered anything but a proof of the incapacity or the wickedness of those who hold supreme power. Nowhere else is it defended as patriotism! There appears to be no doubt that this Netherlands Company, whose shareholders and managers were as much Outlanders as any of the gold miners or the business men of Johannes- burg, obtained a grasp upon the commercial life of the community which resulted in great injustice and widened the breach between the Government and the Outlanders. So extensive was the influence of the Netherlands Company that Mr. Fitzpatrick, the thoroughly compe- tent and evidently trustworthy historian of this period, puts the matter in the following very strong way: "As the holder of an absolute monopoly, as the enterprise which has involved the State in its national debt, and as the sole channel through which such money has been ex- pended, the company has gradually worked itself into the position of being the financial department of the State; and the functions which were elsewhere exercised by the heads of the Government belong here, in practice, entirely to this foreign corporation." Another concession which President Kruger was drawn into grant- ing is the notorious dynamite monopoly. Everyone will understand that 510 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE OUT LANDERS. an enormous amount of dynamite is needed constantly in mining opera- tions. A company was formed, to which a monopoly was given for what pretended to be the domestic manufacture of dynamite in the Transvaal. The possession of this monopoly was of course made the occasion for charging a much higher price than could have been charged if there had been competition. It is true that another company had, up to the year 1890, made very heavy charges, but it must be remembered on the one hand that no railways were in existence at that time and that there was no competition. The Outlanders only claimed, as it would seem, that the creation of a Government monopoly prevented the very competition which was necessary to reduce the price of dynamite to a reasonable figure. It has been asserted that the resultant loss to the Witwatersrand mines alone, which is due to the excessive price charged for dynamite, amounts to 600,000 per annum (nearly f 3,000,- 000). A large amount of agitation naturally expended itself upon the effort to have this monopoly abolished, but here as elsewhere President Kruger stood faithfully by his allies and political supporters. One curious reason which he gave in self-defence was that "the independ- ence of the country" was at stake even in the granting or withdrawing of this monopoly. The reason for this is that a dynamite manufactory is also a powder manufactory, and his suggestion was that he must have that retained within the country in order to have a base for supplying the Republic with powder. The curious fact is that the materials for making the powder and dynamite are not found by any company in the Transvaal, and this monopoly company itself has to import all the materials from abroad! Either President Kruger was himself kept by his advisers in deep ignorance of a fact so important as this, which makes his argument look like nonsense, or he grasped at it as a mere excuse for maintaining a position upon which he had deter- mined on entirely different grounds. This monopoly system was extended to a large number of materials alike for industrial purposes and even for the feeding of the people. CHAPTER VI. PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. THE daily pressure of all the wrongs or legal injustices which were steadily inflicted upon the Outlanders under President Kruger's administration could not but create an ever deepening and widen- ing sense of wrong. If no one of them was enough to justify a revolution, their accumulation may w r ell have become intolerable. Time after time representations were made to thePresident by individual citizens of vari- ous nationalities, by a committee of capitalists, and at last by a large association w r hich worked under the name of the Reform Committee. President Kruger continued to meet them with uncompromising hos- tility. He carried out to the bitter end the policy which he announced at an early period when a deputation from Johannesburg came before him to protest against a certain measure. The President rose sud- denly in a passion and blurted out the blunt truth and exposed his desperate policy by saying: "Protest! Protest! What is the good of protesting? You have not got the guns. I have." To the bitter end President Kruger has acted upon the theory that he has the guns, and when he found that he did not have enough, as we shall see, he pro- ceeded to get more. Matters reached a climax, as we have fully related elsewhere, in the 'year 1895, when the Jameson Raid took place. Throughout that year the Outlanders had with unceasing persistence attempted to win some amelioration of their circumstances from him. One by one the leading men of the city were forced to confess that they had no hope of reform at his hands. They accordingly resolved upon a revolution from within. The taunt has been hurled at them, even by Sir H. M. Stanley, that they w^ere unwilling to fight for their rights and liberties; and, undoubtedly, Dr. Jameson and his friends after their fiasco persuaded the world that the Johannesburgers had failed at the pinch and acted in a cowardly-fashion. This accusation is profoundly unjust. The citizens of Johannesburg w r ere arming themselves, were organizing for actual warfare; they did stand ready to shed their blood 511 512 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. in order to overturn a government which they now found from pro- longed experience to be hopelessly corrupt and determinedly unjust. Dr. Jameson with his impatient self-will, anxious to be the Clive of this decade and of South Africa, anxious to be on the spot when heroic glory should make him great forever, threw all their projects into ruins. For them the hardest part of their experience came not merely when he and the other British officers overthrew all their plans and made them fools before the world, but when they turned round upon them, the citizens of Johannesburg, and heaped upon them the unspeakable re- proach of cowardice. No doubt Dr. Jameson and his officers did in this way, by professing contempt for the Johannesburgers, win a little grace for themselves in the eyes of President Kruger, but they added no honor to their own names in the eyes of the world. The Reformers, happily for Dr. Jameson, suffered and suffered severely rather than expose him. President Kruger's conduct when the Raid occurred, was character- ized by a great vigor and patriotic indignation. It was one of the great hours of his life. He stood forth before the world as the victim of the most vile conspiracy imaginable. An Emperor blessed him and decent citizens of all civilized lands sympathized in their souls with him. He knew well how to use this opportunity to the utmost advan- tage, and nothing could exceed the shrewdness, the determination and the success with which he carried through the negotiations ensuing upon the Raid. Throughout, his aim was to stand before the world as a deeply-wronged man who was displaying at every step an unlimited magnanimity. When Dr. Jameson and his officers surrendered to General Cronje they received from him in writing the assurance of their personal safety. When they got to Johannesburg this condition was ' ignored and they were treated as men who were entirely at the mercy of President Kruger. This of course was not the case. But it enabled President Kruger to be magnanimous, to claim first that they were at his mercy, and then show them mercy. In relation to the Reform Committee in Johannesburg his attitude was somewhat the same, although manifested through a longer period, in which he kept his victims in fearful and harrowing suspense. Poor Sir Hercules Robinson hurried from Cape Town to Johannes- burg to act as the adviser of both parties. He had the unpleasant task PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. 513 of facing the Transvaal Government in the capacity of a Governor whose own subordinates had deceived him and had attempted to carry through a huge conspiracy without his knowledge. He therefore stood before Mr. Kruger and his sympathizers without dignity and without clearness of conscience. He found that Mr. Kruger had determined only to treat with the reformers after they had surrendered. The President threatened to use force, if it were necessary, to compel them to make an unconditional surrender. There can be no doubt however that when Sir Hercules Robinson persuaded the reformers to give themselves up, he led them to understand that not a hair of their heads should be touched. One of the powerful arguments which he was able to bring to bear was that Jameson and his companions were in serious danger so long as the reformers maintained an attitude of resistance. For Sir Hercules did not know that Cronje had guaranteed their personal safety. It w^as therefore for the sake of Dr. Jameson and with the assurance of their own personal safety that the reformers finally resolved to surrender themselves to the Government. Then proceeded a. long series of events in every one of which Presi- dent Kruger was personally concerned, connected with the trial, the condemnation, the appeal, the imprisonment and at last the liberation of the prisoners. As Mr. Fitzpatrick tells the story, President Kruger does not come out of these events w T ith his reputation for sincerity and probity of heart enhanced; rather does it seem as if he had been deter- mined on the one hand to put the blame very heavily upon the Outland- ers, whom his soul detested, and on the other hand to get as much out of them as the circumstances would allow of cash and of glory. He took every step to have them condemned. He even allowed them, con- trary to the agreement with Sir Hercules Robinson, contrary to all modern notions of justice, to be tried before a foreign judge imported for the occasion. This judge allowed them to plead guilty without knowing the system of law under which they were pleading, and when they pled guilty, he accepted their plea and then placed their case under the law which involved the sentence of death. Having thus secured their legal condemnation to capital punishment President Kruger then, after prolonged consideration, magnanimously changed their sentence to a fine and mulcted each of the four leaders to the extent of 25,000 (about 514 PRESIDENT KRVGER AND THE RAID. |125,000). President Kruger then wished them to sign a document ex- pressing their profound sense of his magnanimity; but they declined on the ground that they were paying for their liberty in cash. The other reformers were condemned to imprisonment and then, after a period of miserable and undignified haggling were released on certain terms. Two men, Messrs. Sampson and Davies, feeling that they had been cheated, utterly refused to sign any petition for the amelioration of their sentence, on the ground that bare justice would acquit them under the terms of their surrender. When all the rest were released these two unfortunate men w r ere kept in a vile imprisonment, all whose details were daily adjusted by their keeper so as to crush their spirits, for thir- teen months. Every week one of the leading newspapers of the Cape announced, "To-day Messrs. Sampson and Davies complete the week of their imprisonment in Pretoria jail for the crime of not signing a petition." Of course there is another side to all this. Undoubtedly the reform- ers had suffered and undoubtedly their pleas for reform had been stead- ily and unjustly wrecked. But undoubtedly also President Kruger, believing himself to be the legal ruler of the land, had every right to re- sent an insurrection and above all to resent the crime of an alliance with Dr. Jameson and the crime of the Raid itself. There was abundant and good reason for a burning indignation on the part of President Kruger, and so far as he believed in the collusion of the British Government and the scheme of Mr. Ehodes, he had the best grounds for indignation and resentment against them. If therefore he had dealt severely with those who attacked his Government and threatened the independence of the country he would have received the approval of the world in general. But on the other hand, no one who has read the details of his treatment of the whole case can admire his spirit or approve his methods. After the Raid it might be well expected that the life of the Trans- vaal should begin over again. No ruler of a republic anywhere ought to have allowed such an event to occur without strenuous investi- gation into the causes which had produced that catastrophe and the resolve to remove them. But let it be remembered that, if the Raiders dishonored themselves, they no less revealed to the world the inward dishonor and failure of the Transvaal Government. Any government PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. 515 which cannot make laws and carry on an administration to the satis- faction of intelligent and honorable citizens such as those of Johannes- burg, is condemned before all the world for incapacity and injustice. Undoubtedly then an inquiry was to be expected which should thor- oughly investigate the entire course of events which had produced this shame, and reveal the open sore of the Transvaal to the entire civilized world. After much pressure President Kruger was induced to appoint through his Executive an "Industrial Commission of Inquiry." Evi- dently the President imagined at this time that his Government had been perfectly honorable and perfectly efficient, and that if such an inquiry were held it would prove to the world that the entire responsi- bility rested upon the greed, wickedness and disloyalty of the Outland- ers. The Industrial Commission included a member of the Executive, Mr. Schalk Burger, the Government railway commissioner, Mr. J. S. Schmidt, the Government Minister of Mines, Mr. Christian Joubert, the state mining engineer, Mr. Schmitz-Dumont, and the first special judi- cial commissioner at Johannesburg, Mr. J. F. De Beer. A financial adviser was appointed in the person of the manager of the National Bank, and advisory members were in addition elected by the Govern- ment. This Commission was therefore appointed from the very circles that had detested and hated the citizens of Johannesburg. Some of them had avowedly avoided every opportunity of becoming acquainted with those citizens, and confessed that they had no trust in them. No commission, therefore, could have proceeded to its work with more prejudice and partiality than this one. The commissioners sat in Johannesburg for several months, inquiring into the details of every complaint which the citizens made. They did this with the utmost thoroughness and conscientiousness, and when the work was completed presented their Report, which was afterwards printed by the Chamber of Mines in a volume of more than 700 pages. The result of their inquiry was to create an almost complete change of opinion in the minds of these representatives of the Government. Their report, or rather the change of mind which it implied, is one of the most startling evidences of a most extraordinary situation. Pre- toria, it must be remembered, is only about thirty miles distant from Johannesburg, and the Government at Pretoria had now for ten years 516 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. been ruling Johannesburg and carrying on a continual controversy with its citizens. This Report shows that the official Government at Pre- toria simply had not known the population with w r hich they were dealing nor understood the problems which they were discussing. If, therefore, President Kruger is, as, alas! he must be, along with his Government, condemned for inefficiency and injustice, a large part of it must be put down to ignorance of the facts* of the case. In its conclusions the Commission advised the Government, in order to prevent the closing down of the mines which seemed inevitable, to co-operate with the mining industry. It urged that the Government should so "alter its fiscal laws and systems of administration as to meet the requirements of its principal industry." Above all the report asserted as follows, "Your Commission entirely disapprove of conces- sions, through which the industrial property of the country is hampered."' They report that the wages paid to white men were not excessive and that therefore the necessaries of life should be imported free of duty and conveyed to the mines as cheaply as possible in order that the white laborers might establish their homes in the Republic. It had been proved, the Commission said, that the "liquor law was not carried out properly, and that the mining industry had real grievances arising from that fact." The Commission urged that food stuffs should be imported free of duty inasmuch as "it is impossible to supply the population of the Republic from the produce of local agriculture." As to the dyna- mite monopoly the decision of the Commission was another great tri- umph for the Outlanders. They proved that on every case imported from 40 to 45 shillings ($10 to $11) went as clear profit to the sharehold- ers of the company. Even the tariffs of the Netherlands Railway Company were roundly and finally condemned as excessive. Finally they recommended what the Outlanders had long desired, a fairly rep- resentative and competent local board for the care of the city and mining industry. In a word, it may be said that, in this year succeeding the Jameson Raid, a Commission appointed by President Kruger did actually and surely justify almost all the complaints which for years the Outlanders had been urging in vain, and for urging which they had been denounced by the President as disloyal to the Republic. PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. 517 What then did President Kruger do after he had received the report of his own Commission? It is of interest to know that while the Com- mission was sitting in Johannesburg Dr. Leyds, the most important member because most able and acute of President Kruger's Hollander officials, was in Europe, pushing the interests of the Republic at various capitals. When he heard of the report of the Commission he hastened to Pretoria and the result of the pressure which he and others brought to bear upon the President was that almost nothing resulted in the way of practical reformation. For a time it seemed as if no honorable gov- ernment could possibly be prevented from doing something substantial, but this Government was prevented. While the Outlanders for a time hoped, their hopes were crushed as soon as the President and the Volks- raad met for practical consideration of the matters in hand. As a result, the world would hardly believe it, but as a result practically nothing was done. The President called Mr. Schalk Burger a traitor for signing such a treaty, and set himself with great determination to prevent any attempt at serious or thoroughgoing amelioration of the scandals, which his own Commission had exposed to public view. PRESIDENT KRUGER'S LAST STAND. These events constituted the second last of the various opportuni- ties which have been afforded President Kruger to become a reforming ruler in his beloved land. From that year, 1897, to 1899, matters went from worse to worse. The Outlanders found themselves still hampered in their com- merce and industries, low-grade mines were incapable of being worked owing to the heavy burdens imposed by indirect taxation in innumer- able directions. High-grade mines paid, and some of them, of course, paid handsomely. The amount of gold taken out of the mines increased year by year until enormous figures were reached. It was calculated that this year (1900) the output of gold from these mines would have placed the Transvaal in the third place among the gold producing coun- tries of the world. Nevertheless the wrongs of the citizens, were not removed. It was in the spring of 1899 that the Outlanders once more took pub- lic and powerful action in relation to their wrongs by encouraging the 518 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. British citizens to draw up a petition to the Queen, imploring her inter- vention on their behalf. It was sought to prevent the signing of this petition in any careless or fraudulent way that should afterwards dis- credit it, with the result that, while it has been impeaohed, every im- peachment has been met on oath by credible witnesses who have sup- ported the genuineness of practically all the signatures. President Kruger immediately saw the very great importance of this petition and caused another to be drawn up and presented to him by another section of Outlanders, protesting against the petition to the Queen. But the latter the British Government could not ignore. The result of the negotiations which passed was the conference* at Bloemfontein between President Kruger and Sir Alfred Milner, in June, 1899. President Kruger was evidently surprised by the attitude which Sir Alfred Milner assumed. Its very moderation perplexed him. It is true that the President firmly and consistently held that the proposals of Sir Alfred Milner regarding the franchise could not be adopted by his Government; but he was evidently puzzled by the fact that Sir Alfred Milner utterly declined to discuss the particular grievances complained of by the Outlanders, with a view to their rectification. The Governor asserted that only one matter could be discussed as a practical problem between the two governments. This was the question of the franchise. The President acted on his life-long passion for bargain-making by attempting to name certain matters outside those at present in dispute, on which it seemed to him that the British Government could make concessions to him in return for concessions in the direction proposed by Sir Alfred Milner. If he could return to Pretoria and point to some definite gains which he had made for the country, either in territory or otherwise, that would give him great power over his burghers in pro- posing modifications of the franchise law. To all such proposals the Governor brought his frank and final answer that the question of justice to British citizens was not a matter which the British Govern- ment could deal with in a bargaining spirit, nor was it his opinion that President Kruger ought to make the rendering of justice to the inhabi- tants of his own country a subject for commercial dealing with another Government. President Kruger objected to the proposal of Sir Alfred Milner that he should grant naturalization and the franchise at the PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. 519 same time, as is done in all other countries, and that this should take place at the end of five years' residence on the ground "that it would be virtually to give up the independence of my burghers." "In the Re- public," he explained, "the majority of enfranchised burghers consider they are the masters. Our enfranchised burghers are probably about 30,000, and the newcomers may be from 60,000 to 70,000, and if we give them the franchise to-morrow, we may as well give up the Republic. I hope you will see clearly that I shall not get it through with my people." To this the answer of Sir Alfred Milner was an exceedingly moderate and fair one, namely, that he did not ask for a law which should at once result in swamping the Dutch burghers with foreign voters. This proposal would be repugnant to the mind even of the British Government. Ultimately he proposed to the President that for the new citizens a limited number of constituencies should be granted, so that they might have, say, four seats out of twenty-eight in the First Raad. His purpose was not that the foreigners should at once usurp the Government, which would manifestly be a hard thing to demand, but, as he said, that they should be able to discuss the interests of their constituents inside the Volksraad. "It is obvious," Sir Alfred Milner said, "that you could not let in the whole crowd, without character or anything I do not ask it but you want such a substantial measure that in elections of members of the Volksraad the decision of the new industrial population should have reasonable consideration. They have not got it now, and when the questions that interest them come before the Volksraad it is too evident that they are discussed from an outside point of view. The industrial population are regarded as strangers. I have not the least doubt that the laws that are made appear best to the people that make them, but it is the universal opinion of free and progressive nations that laws are best made by people who have to obey them, and not by people outside. It would make all the difference in the world if, when laws are discussed affecting the new population, some representatives of the new population should be present to explain the views and wishes of that population from the inside, not from the outside." After several prolonged conferences, during which President Kruger plaintively, and, it is said, even with tears, urged that he could not 520 PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. modify the franchise law, he actually produced a proposed law drawn out in such fullness of detail and with such care that it is impossible not to believe that he and his associates had it in their pockets all the time. In this law the franchise was to be granted at the end of seven years, but naturalization with the oath, as before, at the end of two years. No definite provisions were made for new constituencies and the operation of the law was surrounded with so many perplexing and minute conditions as to make it practically certain that very few Out- landers would ever be able to fulfill them; while even after fulfilling the conditions, they would be still in the precarious position of depend- ing upon the decision of the supreme government as to whether they should receive the franchise or not. The main objects urged against this scheme by Sir Alfred Milner were that it would not become immediately operative and that its conditions made the effect of its operation entirely uncertain. Besides, it would not create the opportunity for the presence of representatives of the Outlanders in the First Raad, which is the only house having real effective control even over the mining interests of the country. He accordingly could not encourage the idea that the British Government would consider this law as sufficient. His own proposal he had put forward in no bargaining spirit, simply as affording a reasonable opportunity for securing an exceedingly small but reaji representation in the First Eaad. His proposals must therefore be considered as an irreducible minimum. Less than that which he pro- posed would do absolutely nothing to relieve the acute situation in the Transvaal itself. In reading the discussions at Bloemfontein it is difficult to decide whether one must admire most the shrewd persistence with which Pres- ident Kruger strove to make a bargain over any degree of acquiescence which might be wrung frym him, or the clear-headed firmness with which Sir Alfred Milner seized and held fast the simple proposition which he refused to modify by subtraction or addition, and which very few thoughtful people anywhere will describe as anything but fair and reasonable. When the conference broke up with mutual expressions of personal regard, and regret at the failure of their discussions, President Kruger returned immediately to Pretoria for the purpose of there introducing PRESIDENT KRUGER AND THE RAID. to the Volksraad and pressing rapidly into statute law the very scheme which Sir Alfred Milner had so elaborately discussed and pronounced to be unsatisfactory. With that incident the personal history of Presi- dent Kruger so far as public records have made it known comes to a termination. All further negotiations were carried through by means of the diplomatic officials under him. The last that we see of him is as he stands in the Volksraad in July, 1899, urging upon his obedient burghers the necessity of passing this new franchise law in spite of protests not only of the Governor in Cape Town, but even of his own Dutch sympathizers in the Colony and the Free State. Sturdily he stands to the last, speaking in his rapid and often incoherent way, bursting at times into terrific passionate exclamations, compelling the burghers who have feared and trusted him for so many years once more to take a step whose meaning they could not understand, to pass a law whose details not the clearest head in the Transvaal could thoroughly interpret and whose working no man living could forecast. Sturdily he stands creating confusion even in the laws of his country that he may create confusion in the minds of his enemies,enforcing his will even upon the burghers under the conviction that in this way only can he at the same time appease the insistent rage of Great Britain and retain the mastery of the country in the hands of his own people. Perhaps it may not be inappropriate to conclude this sketch of President Kruger by quoting the words which he uttered to Sir Alfred Milner on the morning of June 1, 1899, when he said, "You can follow our history from the time we left the Cape Colony; we have never been the attacking party, but always the defending, and even against the weakest barbarians we never were the first to attack unless they had committed offences, such as murder and other things. We follow what God says: 'Accursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark' (beacon); and as long as your Excellency lives you will see that we shall never be the attacking party on another man's land." BOOK IV. THE BRITISH BOER WAR, 1899-1900. PART I. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR. CHAPTER I. THE TRANSVAAL AND SOUTH BECHUANALAND. AS WE have seen elsewhere, the Sand River Convention of 1852, which granted independent self-government to the Transvaal Boers, did not name any boundaries of the territory which was to be considered theirs. Moreover, the British at that time imagined that they could, and consequently decided to, confine their possessions and responsibilities in South Africa south of the Orange River. Accordingly they pledged themselves to form no treaties or alliances with native tribes north of the Vaal River. We have seen already how impossible it was to avoid complications w r ith the Basutos and with the Griquas. Nev- ertheless Great Britain did on the whole keep that part of her convention with the Boers very faithfully indeed, and practically no dealings had she with native tribes beyond her northern borders until after the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877. That event brought her into immediate contact with those tribes on the east and northeast which had menaced the Boers so seriously, as we have seen. It was also with- out her wish and entirely contrary to her cherished policy that Great Britain became involved also by this event in relations with the tribes of South Bechuanaland relations w r hich reflected credit upon her policy of faithfulness to her convention with the Boers, and deep dis- credit for unfaithfulness to the natives as we shall see. In the year 1877 she was involved in the far east with difficulties among both the Zulus and the Kaffirs. New T s of these difficulties spread with great rapidity and in exaggerated form westward. Some local irritations among the natives of Griqualand and the borders of Cape Colony served as a hot-bed into which the suggestions brought from the east fell like seed of a noxious plant. The tale-bearers told the chiefs whom they could reach in Bechuanaland that the white people were about to be driven out of the country; that if they arose and fought vigorously they could stem the hitherto irresistible tide of invasioij. These suggestions and evil temptations found too ready acquiescence 525 526 THE TRANSVAAL AND SOUTH BECHU AN ALAND. among some of the lesser chiefs and some of the more ambitious spirits; but there were others who, not in vain, had lived close to Christian mis- sionaries for forty years, and they hesitated, or straightforwardly con- sulted the missionaries of their district. The advice which they re- ceived was, of course, the wisest advice to have nothing to do with fighting or bloodshed, still less with any attempt to resist the coming of whites into the country. In spite of pacific influences, however, the bitterness increased. There were many whites of a lawless type in that country now, and many complications had arisen in the mutual relations of native chiefs; indeed, the quarrelings among the chiefs as to supremacy in this district and in that, had been fomented by interested white people, whether Boer farmers or English traders. In fact the country was rapidly de- scending into anarchy. Ancient tribal traditions, customs and laws, which hitherto had preserved civil order, were rapidly losing their power, and no central authority had arisen on whom the various sec- tions of this troubled race could rest. Matters were brought to a head when in the spring of 1878 an English farmer and his family, by the name of Burness, not far from the border of Cape Colony, were cruelly murdered. This created great excitement far and wide, and instant demands were made upon the chief of the district for the capture and punishment of the murderers. These demands served still further to rouse many of the secretly disaffected natives, and bodies of their war- riors began to move in this direction. News reached Kimberley and Cape Town that the famous missionary station at Kuruman, where sev- eral missionary families and a number of traders lived, was in danger of immediate attack, and it was at once determined that these people must be delivered from their danger. The High Commissioner tele- graphed from Cape Town to Kimberley that help must be immediately sent. In the meantime at Kuruman all the white people had taken refuge in the strongly built and capacious premises of the Moffat Institution, whose head was the Kev. John Mackenzie. A small party of volunteers left Kimberley for the relief of the station, but they were unexpectedly attacked and defeated by a regiment of natives. The news of this native victory, hugely exaggerated, still further aroused the confidence of the THE TRANSVAAL AND SOUTH BECHUANALAND. 527 people. It served, however, to arouse also the English military authori- ties, and Col. Lanyon, afterwards Sir Owen Lanyon, Administrator of the Transvaal, and Col. Warren, R. E., now Lieut. General Sir Charles Warren, G. C. M. G., proceeded from Griqualand to the succor of the European families. No real attack was made upon Kuruman by the natives, and no battle took place there. Col. Warren, an adept in South African methods both of warfare and native administration, soon dis- persed the bands of Bechuana warriors and set to work on the pacifica- tion of the country. Strange to relate, the advent of British administration was wel- comed with real gratitude and enthusiasm by these poor natives of Bechuanaland. To them the name of the Queen had for many years been a name of hope and confidence. They had repeatedly expressed their longings to come under the government of the great and good Queen, "the white Queen," whose officials were famed for their justice and kindly dealings with native dependants. More than one chief had petitioned repeatedly to be taken under the British Crown. It is in- deed recorded that one man at this very period actually offered to replace the cattle stolen by his brother from some Griquas, saying, "If we are to be regarded as people and as subjects of the Queen, I for my part wish to enter with a white heart." Sir Charles Warren personally won their admiration and love, and as long as he, with strangely mingled severity and kindness, justice and gentleness, strove to bring a new order out of their terrible anarchy, they were full of the happiest expectations. High authorities gave every reason to believe that Eng- land would never again leave this region to the terrible dangers in which it had recently been involved. The High Commissioner fully approved of the occupation of the country by the military forces till definite arrangements could be made for its civil government. This territory was a wide and rich one, extending from the Orange River north to the Molopo, from the Langberg Hills, west of Kuruman, to Lichtenburg on the east, a place which is now far w r ithin the limits of the Transvaal, but which at that time was beyond its government. The first sign of weakness and danger came when, in April, 1879, the Secretary of State for England sent out from London a weak and hesi- tating message regarding the future of the region. His Government 528 THE TRANSVAAL AND SOUTH BECHUANALAND. shrunk, evidently, from what they called the "assumption of such in- creased responsibilities," and yet hesitated to give the scheme entirely up in case something should yet come out of that premature dream of a South African Confederation which had already worked such mischief in South African history. Warren left in ill-health in October, 1879, and immediately difficul- ties began. The Cape authorities, into whose hands the responsibilities fell, lacked either the power or the heart to carry out the broad-minded and generous scheme of government which already was being put into operation. As a matter of fact, they neither desired nor were fitted to do it. The police, who had been so helpful in the province of Bechu- analand were gradually withdrawn, and as they were withdrawn the usual bands of lawless Boers and English began to stream in upon the most promising farm lands of the unfortunate and defenseless natives. The latter could not now fight because they were under the British Government! And the British Government did not guard their inter- ests because it was not sure whether it wanted increased responsibili- ties! Mr. Mackenzie tells us that on one journey in that year he met 40 or 50 white men armed and mounted invading the country with their wagons, carrying plows, spades and other instruments. On his report- ing what he had seen, police were sent who brought these men back. It was found that they were an organized band of men under a specu- lative land-agent who had arranged to go out and seize farms wherever they found them, begin to till the soil, and employ this agent whenso- ever a land court should be appointed to hear and adjudicate upon claims in that part of the country. One of these men escaped the clutches of the police, "and was found by them, after complaint had been lodged by a native farmer, plowing at one end of this native man's field, while the native was plowing at the other." It was not until April of 1881 that all of the police were finally re- moved from Bechuanaland-. This country had thus been for three years under British occupation, peace had been brought to it by British offi- cials, law and order were being established, the native chiefs were grateful to be the Queen's subjects, and there was every prospect of an orderly and honorable development of the territory if only the Home Government had not been guilty once more of the crime of retrocession. I ce cr w K E H o or S c THE TRANSVAAL AND SOUTH BECHUANALAND. 529 This act, which in some instances may have been prompted by honor- able enough motives, as in the case of the Transvaal in 1881, 'has been repeated over and over again by Great Britain in South Africa where the motives were not honorable. Retrocession in South Africa has usually represented, not a sense of honor towards peoples for whom independence was a better condition than subjection to British rule, but pusillanimity in the face of responsibilities. These needed only to be faced bravely in order to be carried easily, but when shirked in this manner they have brought a terrific retribution with unfailing regularity. In the year 1881, when the Transvaal received again its independ- ence, a considerable portion of this Bechuanaland territory, which for administrative reasons had been placed under the British administrator at Pretoria, was not separated again from the Transvaal. It consti- tuted one of those free gifts which the British bestowed upon the Boer Government at that time. As soon as the Boer Government had begun its work after that date, and it was apparent that the British authorities had been withdrawn again from Bechuanaland, difficulties among the natives once more increased. This time the main charge brought against them was that of cattle lifting and quarrelsomeness. Two chiefs (Moshette and Massouw), who were included within the Trans- vaal territory, found that part of their little dominion was on one side of the border, and part on the other. These chiefs were indignant when they found themselves subject to the Transvaal Boers, and in one in- stance proceeded actually to remove the beacons put up as boundary marks. The Boers interpreted this to mean that they did not wish a part, but the whole of their territory to be placed within the Transvaal ! In the rivalries between native chiefs those who were within the Trans- vaal territory were induced to accept the aid of Boer volunteers in at- tacks upon their rivals beyond the border. This was interpreted to mean that the Boers protected them and stood in the position of super- iors. Of course these raids of the Boers, even when acting as volunteers under native chiefs, were not unknown to the higher authorities at Pre- toria. Indeed several of them were members of the Volksraad. These were compelled, after the matter was officially brought under the notice o30 THE TRANSVAAL AND SOUTH BECHU AN ALAND. of the Transvaal government to resign their places, but no further punishment was imposed. Not in name but in reality all the raidings which took place on the southwest border during that and the following three or four years were carried on under the full cognizance, although without the formal approval of the Transvaal government. The dif- ficulty of the situation for the independent chiefs was increased by the fact of their readiness to obey the English High Commissioner who warned them against making war and whose authority prevented white men from enlisting as volunteers in their support. Two chiefs, namely, Montsioa of Mafeking, and Mankoroane of Taungs, had, during the war of independence of the Transvaal, proved themselves very loyal, even against strong temptation, to the British government; and when this fact was brought to the notice of the High Commissioner and the Secre- tary of State in London their consciences began to move in the matter. But that which finally awoke righteous indignation was the treach- erous conduct of certain of these Boer intriguers and marauders to- wards the first of these two chiefs. They persuaded Montsioa and his rival within the Transvaal border to sign a treaty of peace which had been drawn up by the Transvaal volunteers. After this had been signed another was proposed to Montsioa in which he was made to say that he absolutely declined the British government and desired to come under the government of the South African Republic. Although fully threatened with immediate war if he refused, he did refuse utterly to sign this most unrighteous document. Seeing him so stubborn one of the Transvaal volunteers affixed the cross to Montsioa's name, and thereafter this document was given out as a treaty by which this native chief gave himself up to the South African Republic. Thoroughly consistent with these proceedings and their traditional methods was the attempted formation of two Boer "republics" outside the Transvaal border, and within Bechuanaland, one of which was named Stella-land and the other Goshen. The story of these little "re- publics" and of the trouble which they gave must be told later. CHAPTER II. THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. WE MUST now transfer ourselves to the atmosphere of England. The years during which the disturbances above described were taking place in South Africa were the years when what has been called "Little Englandism" held powerful sway over the colonial policy of the government. Some of those whose names have been asso- ciated with this movement, such as Mr. John Morley, were never guilty of the extreme positions which were assumed and defended by others. The more moderate men held the opinion that Great Britain had already undertaken in various parts of the world responsibilities large enough for her energy and her resources. They advocated therefore a policy which may be characterized as the avoidance of further expansion. But they were brought into public action alongside of men who went further; men who, in the madness of the moment, as it now seems, and reasoning from the mere abstract conception that every country ought to rule itself (which is true if it is fit to do so), concluded that Great Britain ought to resign her dependencies and confine her energies entirely to home politics and the development of domestic prosperity. These extremists brought their w T iser friends into the same reproach which their own policy deserved and w r hich was at once described and stigmatized as "Little Englandism." John Bright, the great Tribune of the people, the man of peace and a democrat of democrats, found it necessary, in one of his last greatest speeches from the public platform, to disclaim all sympathy with the notion that England had no right or responsibility in India. Speaking in tones made solemn with religious fervor and deep conviction he urged that England would involve herself in a most dreadful responsibility if she left India to find her own way henceforth unaided, unguided and uncontrolled. The "Little Englanders" succeeded in doing damage in only one direction, namely, in South Africa; but there the damage they did was very great and its bitter results are being experienced now. It was 531 532 THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. very largely their influence which helped to make men silent who would otherwise have spoken out on South African problems; it was their influence which, without instructing, quieted the public con- science, dulled the public interest in South African affairs. It was not that they succeeded in persuading England as a whole to give up South Africa, but that they restrained her hand when she was, in the name of duty, about to stretch it out for the protection of dependent races. This restraint was enforced in the name of liberty for those people, in the name of economy in the use of public moneys, and in the name of everything else that is good and which was only the more certain to be destroyed by the very policy suggested. In South Africa it was the sight of England once more avowing responsibility to-day and retreating from it to-morrow, which produced the greatest bitterness. The colonists were once more aghast at being forsaken when they had, as they supposed, received promises and pledges of a clear and a noble policy. As at the time when the Orange Free State was given up, at the time when the independence of the Transvaal w r as a second time declared, so now, when Bechuanaland, after three years of British rule, was abandoned to the misrule of dis- organized native tribes and to the depredations of organized Boer and English "filibusters," many colonists even of English blood and, of course, still more of Dutch blood, who had believed in and loved and hoped for the British control of those regions, at sight of her base deser- tion of unquestionable responsibilities, turned round in bitterness of soul and avowed themselves henceforth the enemies of "the Imperial factor" in South Africa. Lest the story of the following paragraphs should be misunderstood there must be introduced by a quotation from the writings of one man who at that period had done as much as any other for South Africa, and who may yet do more than even he has done for that region. This is Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Warren, who, in an article in the Con- temporary Review for November, 1899, and when speaking of the very period under discussion, used the following words: "Fortunately there was one in South Africa who had sufficient ability, personal weight, and knowledge of the subject to bring before the public, both in South Africa and Great Britain, the true position THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. 533 into which the British government had drifted, and the deplorable posi- tion into which the British colonies had been forced, and who was untiring in his efforts on behalf of the Empire. "It is not too much to say that the Empire is indebted to John Mackenzie, the Kuruman missionary, the successor of Moffat and Liv- ingstone, for stemming single-handedly the tide of the 'giving up policy' and bringing round public opinion to a sense of the duty of the Empire as the paramount power. "The history of these times and the account of the action taken by John Mackenzie have yet to be written; in Britain's days of difficulty men have always risen fitted for the occasion, and on no more mo- mentous occasion was a true son of Britain required than in the dark days of South Africa, the years 1881 to 1884. He was not merely a missionary- speaking for the South African natives as such he would have had less effect on public opinion; but he took a high aim as a true Imperialist, and asked for fair play for all, British, Dutch and natives. "It was no local cry of 'Africa for the Afrikanders,' nor was it a narrow-minded proposition to tread down the Dutch under the British, but he took the broad view that all who were fitted for the position were fellow subjects of Great Britain, and he lectured on the matter in the Cape Colony to the Dutch and English, Boers and British Afrikanders, and won the hearing and suffrages of many." When Mr. Mackenzie reached England, in the summer of 1882, he immediately set himself to the task of swinging round the opinion of the country on this, to him and to South Africa, all-important question. He had by no means an easy task. Almost everyone of importance to whom he went spoke in utter discouragement. Said one to him, "Mackenzie, if you say a good word for South Africa you will get in- sulted. They won't hear a word on its behalf in England they are so disgusted with the mess that has been made." Another, a very influen- tial journalist, said: "I assure you we are not going to try it again after the one fashion or the other; neither after what you would pro- pose, nor what any other would propose. We are out of it and we mean to remain so." He was told by yet one more, a leading politician and one who was supposed to know South African affairs intimately, "that 531 THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. the public could not be got to sanction any scheme of government in South Africa which would demand an increase of responsibility and an extension of territory." He affirmed that no one could gain the hearing of the public with such proposals to make. The missionary statesman was, how r ever, a stern and persistent son of Scotland, and nothing- daunted he gradually gathered together and helped to organize a num- ber of leading men in London, who for nearly ten years worked with the utmost sympathy and intimacy with him. To them and to their work are largely due some of the most important developments which have taken place in South African history of recent years. Amongst these must be named the late Mr. W. E. Forster and his son, Mr. Arnold-Fors- ter, Sir T. F. Buxton, Sir R. N. Fowler, the late Earl Grey, Mr. F. W. Chesson and Mr. Arthur H. Loring. Mr W. T. Stead lent prompt aid to the cause in his evening paper, the Pall Mall Gazette Public meetings were held in various parts of the country from London to Edinburgh, and speeches were made by men who were intimate with the facts and enthu- siastic in favor of a forward movement. The result was that within a few months a very great amount of information was put before the public and the subject was much discussed in newspapers; as a consequence, numerous converts to the new ideas were made even among officials of high and of long standing. A great change was wrought in the British conception of the relation of Great Britain as the paramount power to the natives of South Africa. By a strange and wonderful Providence which had allowed this mis- sionary to have his furlough in this year 1882 it was in the very next year that the Transvaal Government decided to open negotiations with London for the alteration of the Pretoria Convention of 1881. By an- other coincidence of events Sir Hercules Robinson, Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner for South Africa, was also in London. It was in June of this year (1883) that the Transvaal Government first proposed to send a deputation to reconsider the Convention. The Earl of Derby, who was at this time Secretary for the Colonies, agreed to re- ceive the deputation and fixed the month of November as the earliest date at which the meetings would take place. It was one of the significant facts connected with the whole case that the Government of the day had appointed to the responsible position of Colonial Secretary such a man THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. 535 as the Earl of Derby in recent years had become. Whatever the causes of his misfortune were, he was known to have fallen into an attitude of mind the very opposite of intense, progressive and energetic. He was a most curious individual, easy apparently in disposition and carrying the heaviest load of responsibility as lightly as a feather. From such a one no vigorous grasp of the protean problems of a region not considered particularly interesting was to be expected. But he had now to feel the force of a resurgent wave of public feeling and opinion. He was un- doubtedly greatly strengthened in his subsequent negotiations with the Transvaal delegates by the fact that Sir Hercules Robinson himself had become an enthusiastic convert to the plans advocated by Mr. Mackenzie. The negotiations began with a personal interview on Nov. 7, 1883. The deputation consisted of President Kruger, Mr. S. J. Dutoit, superin- tendent of education, and Mr. N. J. Smit, a member of the Volksraad. They were requested to submit in writing the proposals which they had to make regarding the revision of the Convention. In doing so the depu- tation did not shrink from criticising the Convention of 1881 as a whole, in regard to its general purpose, as well as in most important particu- lars. It has sometimes been urged that the earlier Convention had not been ratified by the Volksraad; but in this document the deputation themselves asserted that it was ratified although they said, "under com- pulsion, to prevent further bloodshed." The negotiations began with a request from Lord Derby that the Transvaal delegates should put into writing an outline of those matters regarding which they desired a change in the relations of the two coun- tries. With this the delegates immediately complied and submitted a document in which they boldly demanded that the Pretoria Convention of 1881 should be completely abrogated and that the Sand River Conven- tion of 1852 should be made the basis of a new Convention. The motives for this need not be dwelt upon as they became transparent in the course of the negotiations which we must describe. The substance and sum total of the demands of the deputation may be stated in the words, Complete independence of Great Britain and complete control of South Africa north of Cape Colony. Inasmuch as the majority of the inhabitants of Cape Colony are Dutch this proposal, if it had been accepted, would apparently have led very speedily to the 53G THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. establishment of that dream which had begun to take definite shape and form in the minds of the Boers, of an Afrikander or Dutch Republic that should embrace the entire territories of South Africa within its boun- daries. Lord Derby very firmly but clearly decided that there was no possi- bility of going back to the Sand River Convention. "It is not possible," he said, "to entertain the suggestion that that Convention has now any vitality, or that, if it could be revived, it would meet the requirements of the present case. That Convention, like the Convention at Pretoria, was not a treaty between two contracting powers, but was a declaration made by the Queen, and accepted by certain persons at that time her subjects, of the conditions under which, and the extent to which, Her Majesty could permit them to manage their own affairs without inter- ference." Lord Derby asserted in consequence that if any agreement was now to be reached it must be through a fresh series of negotiations whose results should be embodied in a "new instrument." The first of the four sets of proposals made by the delegates had re- gard to the western boundary of the Transvaal. They urged that the boundary line as fixed by the Pretoria Convention had been a source of endless trouble; it had occasioned "robbery, murder and countless dis- turbances." It was urged that some of the tribes had repudiated the line, and had even refused to allow the beacons erected upon it to re- main. This was due, of course, as we have explained above, to the fact that their territories were split in two, part being placed within the Transvaal and part without. "The lawful territorial chiefs," it was said, "have refused to accept this boundary; have even formally and repeat- edly protested against it, because they did not wish to be shut out from the protection afforded to them by the Republic." A man must be a South African, or at any rate know somewhat intimately the atmos- phere of native thought and feeling around the Transvaal borders re- garding the Boers, after fifty years of trekking and fighting, fully to appreciate the humor of this argument. It could only have been seri- ously formulated and defended in London, 6,000 miles away from the poor native chiefs whose opinions were being discussed, and whose terri- torial rights were being determined without a single one of them being allowed to be witness in his own behalf or to urge his own rights. THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. 537 When asked to make a definite proposal regarding this boundary the delegates put no limit to their boldness. They demanded that the whole of South Bechuanaland should be placed within their territories, nam- ing as the outside limit of their country, a straight line drawn from the most westerly point of Lake Ngami to the northernmost point of the Langeberg. A glance at the map will show that this line would fall west of Kuruman; in fact they demanded that the entire interior of South Africa should be placed within their boundary lines. In this case Great Britain would have been shut out from all possibility of ex- pansion northward, her trade route would have been closed, and she would have ceased to be the paramount power in South Africa. In favor of their claims the Boers submitted a long historical state- ment regarding their relations to the native tribes in Bechuanaland, a statement which can only fill with amazement those who know the facts of the case. Tribes were named as in subjection to them in whose ter- ritory not a single Boer had ever settled, and against whom they had gained no victories. One chief (Montsioa) already referred to was most specially discussed, the history of whose relations to the Boers is one of the most pathetic of all. His father had rescued the pioneer Boers from destruction at the hands of the Zulu-Matabele savages; had been treated as their ally and friend. During Montsioa's own day the Boers had proposed to fix the boundary line between his territory and theirs, and this had been done. At a later time, alas, it was against him and his authority that they had turned. They discovered an obscure man, named Moshette, whom they had exalted as paramount chief, and whose battles they had fought as volunteers against Montsioa, the true chief. It was Montsioa also who had repeatedly petitioned the British Govern- ment for protection from the Boers. He was one of the chiefs whose valuable and central territory the Boer delegates now claimed as theirs, on the ground of conquest and occupation. No less baseless, but much more ridiculous, were the claims to the territory of Sechele, the friend of Dr. Livingstone, and the territory around Kuruman, where Scottish missionaries had settled for three- quarters of a century. To all these claims Lord Derby made a very firm answer, which as much astonished as it disappointed the Transvaal deputation. Lord 538 THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. Derby was now able to say "that there is a strong feeling in this country in favor of the requests of these chiefs that their independence may be secured if they cannot come under British rule." In his own proposals, with the usual spirit of compromise which has marked British dealings with the Boers from first to last, he agreed to add to the recog- nized territories of the Transvaal the lands of Moshette and of Massouw. These two men had allowed Boer volunteers to fight their unrighteous battles, to settle in their country, and it was perhaps a fair retribution that they should lose their independence in this fashion. Lord Derby further, and to prevent any more argument on the matter, stated that a British resident or commissioner was about to be appointed who would have these very regions under his direction. This was the first notice which the deputation had received of the significant change in the attitude of the British Government, which had been produced by the agitations of Mr. Mackenzie and the South African committee. It was with considerable reluctance that President Kruger and his associates found themselves contemplating this unexpected development in their South African relations, and they strove hard to adduce reasons and to prophesy events with a view to arrest the proposed advance of British authority inland upon Bechuanaland. But Lord Derby was in this matter fully advised from day to day, and his position was confirmed by the advisers whom he consulted and by the strong adhesion of the High Commissioner for South Africa, Sir Hercules Robinson, to the new policy. The second matter with which the delegation was concerned was that of the suzerainty. This word had occurred only in the preamble of the Pretoria Convention of 1881. It was a word hitherto unknown to international law or to any of the relations of the British Empire. Its significance was defined in the articles of the convention. It was especially defined by the presence of a British Resident at Pretoria through whom all the correspondence of the Boer Government with any other Government had to pass, and to whom all new laws regulating the government of natives within the Transvaal had to be submitted. The deputation urged that the presence of this Resident at Pretoria rather hindered than facilitated the work of government. They found that this way of corresponding with foreign powers was roundabout and THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. 539 complicated, and further they urged that since only through the British Resident were they able to communicate with native chiefs outside of the Republic, it "had led to a great increase of cattle thefts by the Kaffirs." That is to say, the 'Transvaal Government professed to be hindered in its administration of justice on its own borders, and in the enforcement of the law against cattle stealing, by the presence of a British Resident who was appointed to co-operate with them in all such measures! The third matter of complaint was that inasmuch as all new regula- tions regarding the native inhabitants of the Transvaal had to be approved by the British representative, the interests of these natives also were rather injured than conserved by this method, for, they urged, "milder and at the same time more satisfactory measures could be taken, if we were at liberty to at once make provision suitable to every emergency than if a previously sanctioned law has to provide generally for every possible occurrence." The result of the prolonged negotiations was that the British Govern- ment agreed to withdraw its Resident and to grant full power to self-gov- ernment to the South African Republic, which now was for the first time formally recognised under that title. A British officer would be ap- pointed to reside at Pretoria, or elsewhere within the South African Republic, to "discharge functions analogous to those of a consular office." The independence of the Transvaal, which was thus granted without being in any article asserted or defined, was at one important point seriously and finally curtailed. The fourth article decides as follows: "The South African Republic will conclude no treaty or en- gagement with any state or nation other than the Orange Free State, nor with any native tribe to the eastward or westward of the Republic, until the same has been approved by Her Majesty, the Queen." This article it is which in the eyes of international law deprives the Transvaal Government of the possession of full international sovereignty. It does stand in all the important relations which it may occupy to all other governments, European or South African, except one only, or even to native tribes, in a relation of real dependence upon the British crown. Other articles there were which dealt with the relations of the Boer Government henceforth to their own citizens. The presence of these 540 THE LONDON CONVENTION, i articles in this convention beyond all question makes the Transvaal Government responsible to Great Britain for their fulfilment, and the British Government responsible if they should be steadily ignored and broken. According to the eighth article,' "The South African Republic renews the declaration made in the Sand River Convention, and in the Convention of Pretoria, that no slavery or apprenticeship partaking of slavery will be tolerated by the Government of the said Republic." The ninth article provides for complete religious liberty. The fourteenth article is one whose importance is very great in view of the controversies which have arisen regarding the position of Outlanders in the Trans- vaal, controversies which culminated in the ultimatum of October 9, 1899. The last of the four matters with which the delegates asserted that they were much concerned was that of the debt which the Transvaal Government owed to Great Britain. This debt had been incurred dur- ing the time of British occupation, partly through the payment of the original national debt of the country, amounting to 128,352, or about three-quarters of a million dollars, partly through the expenses of gov- ernment during the years of occupancy over and above the income derived from taxation in that disturbed period, partly through the war against Secocoeni. The total amount of the debt at the date of this delegation was 380,856 (about f 1,900,000). The delegates com- plained of various things, but at last secured the remission of the deficit incurred during the British administration of the country, amounting to 127,000, 6,000 more were struck off for no clear reason, and the debt was determined to be from that date forward 250,000 (about $1,250,000), on which interest was to be paid at 3^ per cent. When one reads the Pretoria Convention of 1881 and then the articles drawn up at the London Convention and agreed to in 1884, one is amazed at the extraordinary success of the Transvaal delegates. Either their diplomacy was remarkable in its cleverness, or the British Government were acquiescent in the extreme. Whatever the cause is, the fact is that on every important point the Transvaal delegation got their way except on one. It is true that there is in this Convention no definite statement that Great Britain shall have no right of further interference with the internal government of the Transvaal; that seems to have THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. 541 been taken for granted, but is not stated, except in so far as those mat- ters of internal government are concerned which were specifically named in these articles. The one object which the delegation had very largely failed to secure was evidently regarded by them as of supreme importance. The tone in which they afterwards discussed the Convention revealed their deep dissatisfaction, as if the main proposal of the delegates had failed. There can be no doubt that they had set their hearts upon obtaining possession of Bechuanaland. That one plan was a key to the future of their history. If realized it would have made the Transvaal at once and without dispute the paramount power in South Africa, more im- portant than Natal or the Orange Free State or even Cape Colony, more important than the Imperial authority itself. Having failed to secure this hope the delegates found their country still less than Cape Colony in importance, and less than the Orange Free State in power. The Convention not only fixed the boundaries so as to leave the road into the interior open to Great Britain, but in the second article it bound the Government of the South African Republic to "strictly adhere to the boundaries defined," and to "do its utmost to prevent any of its inhab- itants from making any encroachments upon lands beyond the said boundaries." A faithful adherence to these articles would compel them immediately to withdraw their citizens who had gathered on the western borders, and to compel those who had settled beyond the boundaries, and forsooth had set up two new Boer republics in Bechuanaland, to retire to their own country, leaving the Bechuana tribes unmolested. It is true that these petty republics had not been mentioned by the delegates, who did not .dare to recognize their exist- ence in London, nor by the British Government, who officially knew only of native tribes and their rights. But the moral obligation was beyond doubt laid on the Transvaal to exert its influence immediately to put an end to these encroachments and these attempts at new repub- lics. How was it that this scheme of the delegates was thus successfully disappointed? We have already referred to the presence of the Rev. John Mackenzie and of Sir Hercules Robinson, the High Commissioner for South Africa, in London at this time. The High Commissioner was of course a party 542 THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884. to the Convention, and he indeed it was who signed it on behalf of Great Britain. When the negotiations began a letter was submitted from Monkoroane, one of the leading chiefs in Bechuanaland, whose territory was at stake. In this letter he said that having been prevented by the Acting Governor at Cape Town from coming personally to London, he desired to appoint Mr. Mackenzie as his official representative, and he claimed the right to be represented in this discussion. The British Government, without adducing any good reason, but very probably from a desire not to offend President Kruger at the out- set, declined to receive any representative from this or any other chief, but at the same time avowed their willingness to receive and consider any representations which might be made on his behalf. In spite of this restriction upon his official authority, Mr. Mackenzie was kept by Lord Derby and Sir Hercules Robinson in constant consultation with them. He was a man of indubitable, and indeed of widely known, in- tegrity and purity of character. He was also more thoroughly and intimately acquainted with the history, politics and customs of the na- tive tribes in Bechuanaland than any other living man. His advice therefore was given with all regard for justice and fairness towards both the Boers and the Bechuanas. He did not conceal his convictions that the claims of the Transvaal delegates were absolutely without foundation in history or in justice. He no less openly avowed his con- viction that the native tribes had most sacred rights within their own territories which the British Government were bound in honor to recog- nize and to conserve. His whole energy was therefore given to the preservation of these native tribes in their own rights, and at the same time to keeping open to British influence and if possible bringing under British control the great road leading through this region into the heart of the continent. It was then Sir Hercules Robinson and this missionary, whose work together in London succeeded in enlightening the British Government as to their responsibilities and duties in relation to Bechuanaland. That this fact was perfectly well known to the Boers themselves is evi- dent from the violent and passionate speech which President Kruger allowed himself to make when the Convention was being discussed by the Volksraad at Pretoria. The Raad accused the British Government THE LONDON CONVENTION, 1884, 543 of injustice, and President Kruger defended the Government by blam- ing those whom he called "traitors and intriguers, of whom Mr. Macken- zie was one." He explained "that Her Majesty, the Queen, was bound to receive and accept as final the advice of her officials, and these officials were dependent upon information received from others." "At present the Government went on the lies of liars. If it had not been for Mr. Mackenzie and the High Commissioner I should have been all right. These liars had stirred up the people to stand in the way of the Government, and therefore the deputation had approached the people with their memorandum. The whole ministry had listened to them with attention; that was a fact, and so His Honor did not blame Her Majesty nor Her Majesty's Government." He claimed that the liars and intriguers whom he had mentioned were the reason that every- thing was not settled as they wished. "The High Commissioner and Mackenzie were the origin of the opposition experienced." This quota- tion is made not only to show the lengths to which the powerful and shrewd President can go in traducing the character of honorable men who have differed from him, but as showing the vast importance which in 1884 the Transvaal Government attached to the possession of Bech- uanaland. CHAPTER III. THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH BECHUANALAND. AT THE close of the conference with the Transvaal delegates which resulted in the London Convention of 1884, the Earl of Derby an- nounced to President Kruger and his associates that the British Government had now undertaken to establish the authority of the Queen in Bechuanaland, and that they had appointed Mr. John Mackenzie as deputy commissioner. On the Government side this step was taken on the very strong advice of Sir Hercules Robinson, Governor of Cape Colony, who had for some time been in close correspondence with Mr. Mackenzie and who knew of the administrative work he had done in former years under Colonel Warren and at the invitation of Sir Bartle Frere. Mr. Mackenzie has described the unwillingness with which he gave up his missionary work. He had already more than once declined similar invitations, but on this occasion it seemed to him to be the path of duty that he should attempt to guide the affairs of a territory which he knew so well, all of whose chiefs trusted him and were ready to accept his advice and follow his directions. He had the promise of a force of not less than 200 police, a number which was deemed amply sufficient to enable him to assert the Queen's authority and manifest her determina- tion to take over South Bechuanaland once for all. As soon as the news of this appointment was telegraphed to Cape Town replies came that the appointment had been received with great disfavor. The disfavor was, however, confessedly confined to the Trans- vaal Government and its sympathizers in the Afrikander Bond at Cape Town. Mr. Mackenzie probably hardly realized at that time the extra- ordinary power which the Bond was about to exert, and the efforts which the Boer leaders were about to make at Cape Town to render the recent decision of the British Government regarding Bechuanaland of none effect. He went out relying thoroughly upon the consistent sup- port of his friend, Sir Hercules Robinson, and his own past experience of unfailing friendliness both with natives and with Boers whensoever 544 GEN. SIR A. HUNTER GEN. SIR CORNELIUS F. CLERY MAJ.-GEN. SIR WILLIAM GATACRE LT.-GEN. SIR F. W. E. FORESTIER WALKER THE TRANSVAAL AND SOUTH BECHUANALAND. 545 he came into personal dealings with them. It was with high hopes and the best wishes of .the best friends of South Africa that this missionary statesman sailed from the shores of England in the spring of 1884. He proceeded as speedily as possible northwards, going by ox wagon from Kimberley into Stellaland and Goshen. When once in Bechuanaland he very soon discovered that hostile influences were at work behind him in Cape Town, and to his amazement found that even the chief whom he trusted was not acting upon the promises made in London. He was hampered by the lack of police and the refusal of the Governor to supply him with police, and was actually left to go into the hostile camps of the tiny Boer Republics practically alone to represent the Queen's author- ity, proclaim the Imperial protectorate over Bechuanaland, and begin the work of administration. Single-handed and unarmed he met the leaders of both Kepublics. A striking scene took place in Stellaland when the people persuaded him to let them haul down their own flag on which, by the by, there was represented a fish with a spear through it, the fish being the sacred emblem of the native tribes of that district and the spear announcing what the Stellalanders intended to do to them and in its place to raise aloft the Union Jack. There were innumerable complications and troubles with regard to. the so-called Administration of Stellaland, the occupants of office, pay- ment of salaries, the settlement of land claims created by the existence of this Republic for two or three years. After dealing with these in the temporary and tentative fashion which was alone possible, the Deputy Commissioner went north to Rooi Grond. Here the Boers were fiercer and more defiant than at the southern point, and no one can fail to wonder at the daring of the little band of English representatives who rode right up to a point within 300 yards of the Boer laager, w^here the Boers were seen riding about on their swift horses, fully armed and able in ten minutes to make an end of those who came in the name of the Queen. The British party lept from the saddle, sent their horses out of their own reach to the water, and waited till representatives of the Boers approached them. When challenged to say what their presence meant, Mr. Mackenzie announced that he had come in the name of the Queen to proclaim the British protectorate. "In replying," he says, "I stood 546 THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH BECHU 'AN 'ALAND. up and showing them my commission, informed them that my business would not need a long time to accomplish. This was my commission from Her Majesty's High Commissioner. Its purport was that Her Majesty's authority was established in Bechuanaland, and in the Baro- long country as a part of that; that fact I now announced to them in reply to their message and as my answer. 'But we were not told to listen to anything- of that sort,' they said, moving off. 'That may be,' I answered, 'you are the judges of your own conduct; but it is my duty to reply to your message, and my reply is what 3 r ou have heard, that the Queen's authority is established, and the management of affairs is in my hands.' By this time they had turned their horses' heads and were moving off, evidently not wishing to hear too much." Throughout his journey through Bechuanaland the Deputy Commis- sioner was received with the utmost enthusiasm and joy by the native chiefs. They felt absolute confidence in the Government which had now stepped in and had sent him as their representative. Throughout his journey, alas! he was also pursued by the feeling, which was in- creased with almost every telegram he received from Cape Town, that the attitude of the High Commissioner towards himself had changed and that he was not receiving the support which w r as due to him. Ac- cordingly he returned to Cape Town in order to come to an understand- ing with those without whom he could not act. Mr. Mackenzie soon discovered that the High Commissioner, whose deputy he was, would not longer act with him, and laid the blame upon the Transvaal Govern- ment and their S3 7 mpathizers at Cape Town. The obvious answer from Mr. Mackenzie's side was, of Bourse, that since he had been appointed to undo the bad work done by the subjects of the Transvaal Government and with the connivance of that Government, the last thing that could be expected was that he, or any other man, appointed to do that work and attempting to carry it out, would be approved by them. Neverthe- less, although he had the right to hold his ground and to appeal even to the Earl of Derby for the fulfilment of explicit promises made to him, he decided to resign his office, and allow those who thought they could bring order out of chaos to do so. Nowhere was this resignation received with more keen disappoint- ment and dismay than in Stellaland itself. The Stellalanders, in fact, THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH BECHU AN ALAND. 547 sent in a petition expressing to the High Commissioner their desire that Mr. Mackenzie should be reinstated in his former office, and promising to afford every material assistance in their power in the support of his administration. The petition was of course opposed by the more de- termined of the Boer party, who then said that they would rather await the arrival of Sir Charles Warren. Nevertheless, the petition was signed by a majority of the actual land owners in Stellaland, and of those who signed no less than ninety-two were Boer farmers! Need- less to say, this petition received absolutely no attention from those who were determined that nothing less than a military expedition should convince them of England's determination to hold and govern South Bechuanaland. It was retained in his own hands by Mr. Rhodes for three months, and was sent to London only four months after its first receipt in Cape Town. When the Stellalanders found how their petition had been treated, and that Captain Bower and others accused them of disloyalty, they sent to Sir Charles Warren and demanded a judicial inquiry into the value of the petition. Out of the 171 names, it was found that seventy-four were land owners, ninety-two were per- manent residents, and only four were temporary residents or travelers. One signature was disallowed. Sir Charles Warren in view of this petition made a special report to the Imperial Government, asserting that it was a matter of very great significance that in spite of the coer- cion of the Boer faction ninety-four farmers had signed this petition. "I am convinced," he 'said "that if Mr. Mackenzie had had fair play he w r ould have settled this territory at the time he came up without a stronger force than 200 police." Mr. Cecil J. Rhodes was appointed from Cape Town -to act in Mr. Mackenzie's place in Bechuanaland. Mr. Rhodes immediately at- tempted to conciliate the Stellalanders and in this was assisted by Cap- tain Bower, who was believed by many to be the real tool among Im- perial officials of the Afrikander Bond at this time, and a man whose strong will had swung round the weaker will of Sir Hercules Robinson, forcing him to give up the plans which he had seen so clearly and adopted so heartily in London a few months before. A visit to Bechu- analand was also made a little later by the Ministers of the Cape Col- ony. Mr. Rhodes even went the length of signing an agreement with 548 THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH BECHUANALAND, the Stellalanders which revoked the proclamation made by his prede- cessor and recognized the Stellaland Republic as an actual govern- ment within the Imperial protectorate of Bechuanaland. Mr. Rhodes in fact formed an agreement with the Stellalanders in September of that year (1884) which practically handed over the government of that region to the Boer freebooters, whose chief and able leader was a Mr. Van Niekerk, and who lived in territory then known to be within the Trans- vaal. Mr. Van Niekerk immediately used the power put into his hands to quell loyalty to the British and to stimulate the desire for annexation to the Transvaal. He actually caused a petition to be made to himself and his fellow Governors, imploring them to apply to Pretoria for protec- tion and government. At about the same time, as the result of a visit of General Joubert to the other Boer Republic called Goshen, though with- out his approval as to time and manner, a formal proclamation was made by President Kruger and the Executive at Pretoria by which, in the interests of humanity and for the sake of native chiefs, Goshen was taken into the Transvaal and under their control. The proclamation was so ill-timed that even General Joubert condemned it as breach of a treaty. This proclamation, as well as even the consideration of the pro- posal regarding Stellaland, constituted a distinct and grave breach of the London Convention, which had only been signed by President Kruger himself a few months before. Needless to say, the proclama- tion was at once withdrawn when that step was demanded in the month of October by the Imperial Government. During that time a movement had taken place in Cape Colony which thoroughly aroused the Imperial authorities. In the meantime neither Mr. Rhodes, nor Captain Bower, nor the Cape Ministers, succeeded in doing anything; they only increased the complications in Bechuanaland. It looked as if once more the British Government must retire from that territory, and as if, after all, the Transvaal Government would gain, by brow-beating at Cape Town and in Bechuanaland, what they had failed to secure by fair diplomacy in London. It looked to many people as if Bechuanaland would soon be- come a part of the Transvaal. Once more, therefore, Mr. Mackenzie set out upon the process of educating the public mind. This time it was Cape Colony he had to THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH BECHU AN ALAND. 519 educate. He began at Cape Town and lectured. His pronouncements were received with the utmost enthusiasm. He did not inveigh against the Dutch as such; he always won their ear when he had the chance of speaking to them candidly on the real principles on which the Gov- ernment of South Africa could be peacefully conducted. He met the same experience when he traveled from one town to another throughout Cape Colony. Enthusiasm was awakened throughout the land for the establishment of British authority in Bechuanaland, and the result came in the overthrow of the Ministry at Cape Town, which had acted as the tool of the Transvaal and had stood in the way of British sovereignty, and in the loud demand of the Colony for a military expedition. The demand for an expedition was coupled with the suggestion that Colonel Warren should be its commander. The Colonial demand was so loud, so determined and so enthusiastic that the British Government at last awoke to activity and sent out the famous^ Warren expedition, which consisted of about 5,000 men. This expedition cost nearly 1,000,000 (about $5,000,000) of money and was sent to do what every intelligent man in South Africa, and Sir Charles Warren himself believed that Mr. Mackenzie could have done a year before with 200 police. It was a heavy price to pay for weak mindedness at Cape Town and dilatoriness in London. The Warren expedition on which Mr. Mackenzie served as a Civil Commissioner, proceeded from Kimberley up the western border of the Transvaal as far as Shoshong. It made treaties with all the native chiefs, who were enthusiastic once more over the establish- ment of the sovereignty of the good Queen. The Boer freebooters dis- appeared over the borders, or submitted with as much grace as possible to the establishment of the British authority. The result of the expedi- tion was the formal creation of the Crown Colony of South Bechuana- land. A brief reference should not be omitted to the remarkable and inter- esting meeting which took place on the border of the Transvaal at a spot called Fourteeh Streams, between President Kruger and Sir Charles Warren. The General had consented to hold this conference within the Transvaal, inasmuch as a law of the Transvaal forbids its President from leaving the country without the special permission of the Volksraad, and the Volksraad was not at this time in session. 550 THE SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH BECHU AN ALAND. Accompanying Sir Charles Warren were Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Mackenzie, and some of his staff, together with 200 soldiers. President Kruger appeared with Mr. Leyds, Mr. de Villiers and others, together with fifty members of the State Artillery. The conference was interesting for the firmness with which Sir Charles denounced the freebooters, especially those in the case of Goshen, who had lived on the Transvaal side of the border and attacked British subjects on the other. President Kruger made a remarkable effort to prevent Sir Charles from taking his entire force north with him, proposing that they two, the President and the General, should ride to Goshen together,. marking off the boundary line and accompanied by twenty-five soldiers apiece. This clever suggestion would have destroyed the entire moral effect intended to be produced upon the country by the appearance of the military expedition, and Sir Charles Warren firmly declined the proposal. The President had abso- lutely no excuse to offer for the action of the freebooters, and his attempt to argue that the Transvaal Government was not responsible for them was exceedingly weak and quite insincere. It is to be noted that the President met both Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Mackenzie with frankness and cordiality, and that he urged against the latter and his work no argu- ment of a personal nature, but simply the technical one that he had appeared in Bechuanaland and established the protectorate before the Volksraad had ratified the London Convention. As Mr. Mackenzie him- self observed, this criticism reduced the Boer objections to his appoint- ment to the one fact that he represented in a sincere and thorough-going manner the proposal that Great Britain should directly and actually control the Government of Bechuanaland. CHAPTER IV. THE OUTLANDERS OF THE TRANSVAAL. THE TRANSVAAL. DURING the seventies it became known that gold was to be found here and there in the Transvaal and mining work began at two or three centers. But it was not until the year 1885 that the extraordinary richness of the gold mines near Pretoria was discov- ered. About thirty miles south of Pretoria, amid very bleak and bar- ren scenery, beside a little stream called the Witwater (the white water) there is a long, low ridge or "Rand'' which has been found to con- tain, packed within its soil, one of the richest gold deposits ever dis- covered. When the rich reefs were found and work began there was a rush to the place which in a very few years transformed the waste land into a huge city of 100,000 people. The Boer government had already been troubled in mind at the in- crease of immigration caused inevitably by the mining developments. Political questions had immediately arisen which divided the citizens into two parties. The one led by Kruger represented the unbending Tories, the unreasoning conservatives of the country. To them the advent of foreigners in such numbers was nothing but a disturbing fact with which they could not bring themselves into any kind of har- mony. They saw that if they granted equal rights of citizenship on former terms to all who arrived the government would speedily pass out of their own hands. The other party was led by Joubert, the fa- mous commander-in-chief of the Transvaal army. He is a man of much wider travel, better read and more open minded. He has always main- tained that the foreigners must be welcomed and must receive a rea- sonable political status in the country where they make their homes. In the contest between these two parties Kruger has hitherto won at the polls, and his unbroken victories, even when gained by a mere 551 552 THE OUTLANDERS OF THE TRANSVAAL. majority, Lave sufficed to bring the Transvaal government into the ter- rible position in which this year it finds itself. A large number of the original citizens of the Transvaal have made the most of the opportunities which the economic changes in their country made possible. Many of them sold their farms at prices which, if to-day they seem small, at the .time of the sale brought them more in cash than they ever dreamed of possessing. The growth of the great city and of the smaller centers has opened markets for their farm pro- duce larger than they ever saw in the past. Some of the leading citi- zens have profited enormously by some of the business arrangements which the Government has seen fit to make. Even if the dynamite monopoly, concerning which owners of the mines have made such loud complaints, is a monopoly not held by the Government itself, yet individual members of the Government have large interests in it. The political difficulties have been increased in one way by the fact that Johannesburg is not like the other mining camps which have sprung into existence in other regions. The gold is found underground in a hard soil almost like rock, which needs to be crushed with ma- chinery ere the minute particles of gold which are distributed through it with amazing regularity can be extracted. This one fact has neces- sitated the use of capital from the very beginning in the development of these mines. The town accordingly has grown up largely through the arrival of great numbers of people who came to take up the positions of wage-earners and salaried officials, intelligent, enterprising, hard- working, educated men in the service of the large corporations. While therefore the city does contain elements of life and character which are to be expected in every such miscellaneous community, there is also a strength and steadiness belonging to it hitherto unknown amid ordinary mining populations in the earlier stages of their history. While numbers of these immigrants are shiftless adventurers and many of them of positively bad character, and while much of the city life is reckless and wild, spending itself in gambling and self-indulgence, the fact must be universally recognized that very large numbers also are people of high character, of far higher education and training than the Boers, people who represent the best foresight, energy and radi- calism of the world. THE OUTLANDERS OF THE TRANSVAAL. 553 Here then are the conditions plain and obvious of a very difficult political complication. If these foreigners had even formed a strong minority of the whole population their presence would have presented many thorny problems to the inexperienced rulers; but when with rapid strides the foreign population approached and equaled, and then far outstripped the numbers of the Boers the situation became aggra- vated. If again, the Boer government had exercised their proverbial shrewdness by satisfying the foreigners in every reasonable demand concerning their commercial projects and their domestic happiness, these foreigners might have lived many years without finding any just ground of complaint against their masters. Unfortunately the Trans- vaal government have fallen into some very serious blunders of admin- istration and these blunders have produced a feeling of chronic irri- tation and driven men to think of the changes that would follow if only they could exercise the franchise. The ordinary grounds of com- plaint are said to be that the great city is ruled and its municipal affairs conducted by incompetent officials, that while the majority of the white inhabitants of the country speak English their children are not allowed to be taught in the English language in the schools which their parents are taxed to support, that the methods in which indi- rect taxation is arranged and in which the enjoyment of Govern- ment concessions is upheld, lay an inordinately heavy burden upon the income of the citizens. The same policy seems to, be pursued by the Dutch ruling minority of the Transvaal which is pursued by the Dutch ruling majority in the House of Assembly of Cape Colony; namely, that of arranging that the taxation shall fall more heavily upon the inhabitants of the towns and cities than upon the farming population. But no one in Cape Colony dreams of appealing to Great Britain, simply because the minority are represented in their parlia- ment. Further it is asserted that foreigners do not receive justice at the hands of the Transvaal courts, and that the Volksraad (national legislature) has the power by passing a mere resolution at any time and under any circumstances to alter the law of the land, the judges having no power to question the authority of such a resolution even in the light of the constitution of the republic. Many complaints are made regarding, for example, the treatment of the natives, the arrange- 554 THE OUTLANDERS OF THE TRANSVAAL. ments for transportation, and other matters which bear more or less directly upon the commercial prospects of the community. The posi- tion may be briefly summed up as Mr. W. T. Stead has put it, "The South African Republic was in the position of the inverted pyramid; the majority of the population, possessing more than half the land and nine-tenths of the wealth, and paying nineteen-twentieths of the taxes, had practically no share in its administration and no voice in its legis- lature." When the pressure upon the Government became severe President Kruger was always able to use one argument which he appears to have found convincing and effective. He warned his followers that if the foreigners had the franchise they would wrest the Government from the Boers and hand over the country to Great Britain. It is here that, as it would seem, President Kruger's far-famed shrewdness absolutely deserted him. Nothing can be more certain concerning such a matter than that, if the foreigners had received the franchise, even with safe- guards intended to preserve the pre-eminence of the Dutch element in the country, the republic as then constituted would have been as strongly anti-British and as little likely to submit to the authority of the Queen's government as President Kniger himself. Here Joubert has had the open eye and Kruger has been blind. There were others, however, who were not blind and who were prepared to give another turn to the course of events in the Transvaal than that contemplated either by Kruger or by the invading host against whom he fought. In the year 1895 the citizens of Johannesburg decided that their wrongs had reached the point which made a revolu- tion necessary. Accordingly, a number of the leading spirits of the city resolved to prepare for such an event. They felt, however, their incom- petence to carry the matter through against the armed Boer citizens who would be immediately brought against them. Accordingly they looked round to discover some helper from the outside. They appealed to the Right Honorable Cecil J. Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes at that time was the most composite political personage on the wide earth. He was a member of the Privy Council of Queen Victoria; he was Prime Minister of Cape Colony with his seat of authority in the south at Cape Town; he was also managing director of the British South Africa Chartered THE OUTLANDERS OF THE TRANSVAAL. 555 Company, which means that he was practically the administrator of the vast territory ruled by that company to the north of the Transvaal; he was also chairman of the De Beers Diamond Mining Company at Kim- berley, which means that he was at the head of the largest money pro- ducing industry in Cape Colony; he was at the same time one of the leading capitalists of the gold mining industry in the Transvaal. As a capitalist he was personally interested in the development of Johan- nesburg, as administrator of Rhodesia he had military forces under his control, as Prime Minister of Cape Colony he had the ear of the High Commissioner of South Africa and of the British government in London. He knew personally and intimately many of the men engaged in the conspiracy at Johannesburg. He saw that if their insurrection placed them in power they would form a stronger independent State than Britain had to deal with in the present Boer government. Accordingly, it seemed to him not only in the interests of the revolution but in the interests also of the parties ruling in South Africa that he, as represen- tative of the British, should place the new Government of the Transvaal under deep and permanent obligations to himself. Mr. Rhodes made the momentous resolution to help the revolution. His action may be judged from different points of view. If the proposed insurrection was wrong, his action was wrong. If it was right, the Tightness of his action depends partly upon the relative strength of the motives which led to his decision, and partly on the question of his fidelity to other authorities under whom he was placed. As to his motives, no man can judge; as to his integrity as an occupant of a number of public offices, much may be said. Mr. Rhodes endeavored to put himself in the right in this direction by communicating at once with the Colonial Office in London. Now in London the Colonial Secretary was Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, one of the most striking figures in the history of British politics during the last twenty years. Mr. Chamberlain, a former Radical of the most advanced type, is a member of a Conservative government. He holds his position as leader of that portion of the Liberal party which revolted from Mr. Gladstone on the question of Irish Home Rule. It is largely through the influence of himself, and of his companions in this revolt, that the Conservative party has held sway so long in Great Britain. 556 THE OUTLANDERS OF THE TRANSVAAL. He has used his position of extraordinary influence with consummate skill and with inscrutable modifications of his Radical conscience. Presumably one of the chief ambitions of Mr. Chamberlain's life as Colonial minister has been to distinguish his period of office by some great and striking deeds of Imperial splendor. It was his duty of course to keep himself thoroughly aware of everything that occurred which might affect in any way the prosperity of any British colony. Hence it was his simple duty to welcome any information that might be given to him concerning prospective revolutions in the Transvaal. Nor was he bound by any consideration to make this information known outside his office. If he were informed that this revolution was inevit- able and that it might be turned to a profitable account for the other colonies of South Africa, and for South Africa as a whole, he was not bound to publish his knowledge. But it is strongly suspected, indeed Mr. Stead's pamphlets have made it practically certain, that Mr. Cham- berlain took another step of a more serious nature. When Mr. Rhodes proposed to him, through a trusted messenger, that assistance from a British territory should be given to the revolutionists at Johannesburg, Mr. Chamberlain seems to have acquiesced in the proposal, or, at least, to have agreed not to prevent it. Of course the forces directly under the control of the British government, of the War Office in London, could not be so employed. But Mr. Rhodes, as administrator of Rhod- esia, was also master of a large force of efficient volunteers in that region, whose skill and valor had already been amply proved. CHAPTER V. THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. THE principal difficulty which confronted those who desired to use .the Volunteers of Rhodesia for the deliverance of Johannesburg consisted in the distance which separated the former from the lat- ter place. Mr. Rhodes and his friends conceived that this little difficulty could be easily surmounted by the very simple and, to them, obvious and most desirable plan of placing north Bechuanaland, the country of King Khama, under the administration of the British South Africa Company and annexing South Bechuanaland to Cape Colony. This would not only add an enormous and valuable territory to the posses- sions of the Company, but it would give the Company the right to move their police to the southern limits of their extended domain. When they were thus removed to the south they would be within about 150 miles of Johannesburg, which was supposed to be an easy striking distance. But at this very time King Khama and two other chiefs were making a notable visit"to England to prevent this very transaction from being carried out. The chiefs were received with very considerable popular enthusiasm, were very pleasantly entertained by some of the highest personalities in the country, and their earnest protest against the proposal to give them indirect instead of direct imperial protection warmed the hearts of England. Accordingly, Mr. Chamberlain was unable to gratify the desire of his friends^ But this proposal was not made to Mr. Chamberlain in the coarse and open way of saying that Mr. Rhodes desired the control of the territory near Johannesburg, where he could place his police. The reason given to Mr. Chamberlain for the annexation of Bechuanaland to Rhodesia was a much better one than that. It was that the British South Africa Company desired to make a railway from Cape Town right up through the heart of the country into Rhodesia. They could not be expected to build this railway through Bechuanaland as long as Bechuanaland was neither a real colony nor the property of 557 . 558 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. a colony. Confessedly, this was the form in which the proposals regard- ing Bechuanaland were presented to the Colonial Secretary. By a stroke of genius on the part of some one it was proposed at a critical point in the negotiations that if Bechuanaland as a whole could not be given to Mr. Rhodes, at least a narrow strip along the western border of the Transvaal might be so given, through which the railway might be built. When this proposition was made to Khama he received it with uncon- cealed delight. King Khama is probably almost as shrewd as President Kruger, and it may be taken for granted that his smile of delight was due not merely to the fact that he was escaping thus the unpleasant domination of Mr. Rhodes and his company, but that now he would have, as it were, a "buffer state" between him and the much-dreaded Boers. He had often in the past been made to fear lest the Boers should insist on taking part of his territory within the Transvaal, if now a narrow strip of territory intervened all along his eastern boundary be- tween himself and the Transvaal this fear would be forever stilled. King Khama's complacency enabled Mr. Chamberlain to grant to Mr. Rhodes this important territory for his railway. The other part of the plan was quietly secured through the Cape Legislature when Mr. Rhodes was a Prime Minister; the story of this annexation of an unwilling people to the Cape Colony is told elsewhere. Mr. Rhodes and Dr. Jame- son immediately began to use Bechuanaland as the "jumping-off ground" from which they could most rapidly and unexpectedly, as they thought, reach Johannesburg. In the city of Johannesburg the reformers were carrying on their constitutional agitation for amendment of the laws of the land and improvement of administration. At the same time they were ripening their plans for a revolution. The plan which they formed was one which at first promised to be easily carried through and certain of suc- cess. One million raunds of ammunition and 5,000 rifles and three Maxim guns were to be smuggled into Johannesburg. In addition it was thought that there would be about 1,000 rifles in the hands of pri- vate owners already in the city. This seemed to promise that a very strong force of men, amounting to nearly 10,000, might be rapidly armed and prepared for action. That which, however, gave most encourage- ment to the conspirators, was the fact that at this time the fort at THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 559 Pretoria was very poorly guarded by about 100 men, and was Known to contain a large amount of ammunition, besides rifles and supplies. One of the conspirators says, "The surrounding wall of the fort, a mere barrack, had been removed on one side in order to effect some additions; there were only about 100 men stationed there, and all except half a dozen could be counted on as being asleep after 9 p. in. There never was a simpler sensational task in the world than that of seizing the Pretoria fort fifty men could have done it. * * * It w r as designed to seize the fort and the railway on the night of the outbreak and, by means of one or two trains, to carry off as much of the material as possi- ble and destroy the rest." Again he says, "Without doubt the Pre- toria arsenal was the key of the position, and it is admitted by Boer and alien alike that it lay there unguarded, ready to be picked up, and that nothing in the world could have saved it except what did." (FitzPatrick.) That which did save it was Dr. Jameson. From the beginning of the movement we are told that some of the Reformers in Johannesburg deeply dreaded the attempt to co-operate with the forces of the British South Africa Company. That was the one feature of their plan which they feared to be unwarranted by prospects of success and likely to in- troduce an element of wrongdoing that would be their undoing. And as it turned out they were right. But the majority seemed confident that if Dr. Jameson could arrange to have 1,500 men on the border who were ready to rush to the- assistance of Johannesburg as soon as the insur- rection began, the arrival of his force would produce a great effect both upon the conspirators and the Boer Government, and would virtually force the latter to give in at once to the inevitable and render justice to the Outlanders. The date arranged with Dr. Jameson was Saturday, January the 4th, and it was planned to issue public announcements summoning a mass meeting for Monday, the 6th, in order to deceive the authorities. In the meantime a manifesto was issued on behalf of the Keformers which was written and signed by their chairman, Mr. Charles Leonard. As Mr. Leonard, a former member of the Cape Legis- lature, is a man of high education and honorable character as well as great eloquence, and his manifesto contains a frank and full statement of the grievances under which the Outlanders felt themselves to be 560 ' THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. suffering, and of the reasons which led them to form their conspiracy, and inasmuch as this document was composed, first of all, not to defend the Reformers before the world, but to state their grievances and ex- plain their motives to the Transvaal Government itself, it is necessary to give here some account of its contents. Mr. Leonard says that the constitution of the National Union, as the reform association was called, was very simple. "They set three objects before them: first the maintenance of the independence of the Republic, second the securing of equal rights, and third the redress of grievances." The Union had recently made various attempts at improvement of the conditions which were felt to be so oppressive. They had been deeply disappointed that in the recent election of new members for the First Volksraad the progressive party had received no great increase of strength. They had recently presented a petition signed by 38,000 per- sons which sought to obtain the franchise. As the result of the petition they were called unfaithful for not naturalizing themselves. But naturalization (which included the taking of the oath after two years of residence) meant only that they should give up their original citizen- ship and get nothing in return except liability to military service and other disabilities. One member of the Volksraad had openly challenged the petitioners to fight for their rights, and no one in the house had reproved the challenge. This was the sole result of the honest endeavors of the Outlanders to secure fair legislation, and an improvement in the administration of the affairs of the country. Not only were they ex- cluded from the franchise, but even their children, born in the Trans- vaal, were by law deprived of the rights of citizenship unless their father took the oath of allegiance. The taxation policy of the govern- ment was open to severe criticism in that (a) a much greater amount was levied from the people than was required for the needs of govern- ment; (b) it was either class taxation pure and simple, or by the selec- tion of subjects, though nominally universal, it was made to fall upon the shoulders of the Outlanders; (c) the necessaries of life were unduly burdened." In the midst of this severe criticism of the Transvaal Government a tribute is paid to the "small band of enlightened men in the Volks- raad who have earnestly condemned the policy of the Government and THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 561 Warned them of its danger," but President Kruger is spoken of in terms of utmost severity. It is asserted that "there was no true responsibility to the people, none of the great appointments of State were controlled by Ministerial officers in the proper sense, the President's will was vir- jtually supreme. He had been the author of every act directed against the liberty of the people. It was well that President Kruger should be known for what he is. Contradiction was challenged of the statement that no important act had found a place on the Statute books during the last 'ten years without the stamp of President Kruger's approval upon it; nay, he was the father of every such act. He had expressly supported every act by which the right of acquiring the franchise had been progress! vely restricted, by which taxation had become at last almost confined to the Outlanders, and by which the rights of the Press and of public meetings had been attacked." "The judges of the High Court had been the sole guardian of their liberty, and on the whole did their work ably, but they were under- paid, their salaries insecure, and the most undignified treatment had been meted out to, them on more than one occasion. Trial by jury was, so far as the Outlanders were concerned, an unreality, *ince in every case, however grievous, they could be tried only before a jury of Trans- vaal burghers." The manifesto also described the extraordinary amount of extravagance and corruption which characterized the administration whose income had risen within recent years so far beyond its natural legitimate expenditure. In this connection it was asserted that the public credit had been pledged to the support of the Netherlands railway company, that enormous sums were expended in ways which practically secured them for foreigners, who had come from Holland to become officials of the Government. It is asserted that the presence of these Hollanders had angered a large proportion of the Boers themselves; but that President Kruger and his party stuck obstinately to their policy of employing Hollanders for those departments of service which needed educated experts, and made them their special pets. Examples are given of the way in which in connection with railways, customs, and govern- ment concessions heavy sums of money were extorted from the public for the benefit of this class of men. The manifesto does not complain that the direct taxation of the mines is too heavy, but that the indirect 562 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. taxation, imposed through the excessive charges of the railway com- panies and the excessive custom duties, conferred no conceivable benefit upon the community, and served to pass large sums of money into the pockets of officials and their relatives. No well audited account of these sums could be obtained by the public. The most monstrous hardships it is alleged result to consumers through the trading policy of the Gov- ernment which is cleverly described as "protection without production," since it was not intended for the purpose of nurturing manufacturing within the Transvaal. The Government was openly accused of having twice entered into competition with traders who had paid their licence and rents before that competition was instituted. On one occasion, when grain was scarce, the Government were petitioned to suspend the duties, which were very high, in order that the laborers on the mines might be fed. The Government refused on the ground that it could not suspend duties without the permission of the Volksraad; but within a few days it was found that the Government had granted a concession to one favored individual to import grain free of duty and to sell it in competition with the merchants who had paid duty. The story of the famous and notorious dynamite concession is also openly told. In brief, it is asserted that the holders of the monopoly are entitled to charge about $18 a case for dynamite, while if there were no concessions it could be bought for $6. One member of the Government had been for years challenged to deny that he had enjoyed a royalty of fifty cents on every case of dynamite sold, and the challenge has never been taken up. The last four paragraphs of this historic manifesto are so important in their revelation of the experience of those who were behind the re- form movement that they must be given word for word. "HATRED OF THE SAXON. "There is no disguising the fact that the original policy of the Gov- ernment is based upon intense hostility to the English-speaking popu- lation, and that even against the franchised burgher of this State there is the determination to retain all power in the hands of those who are enjoying the sweets of office now, and naturally the grateful crowd of relations and friends and henchmen ardently support the existing regime; but there are unmistakable signs, and the President fears that the policy which he has hitherto adopted will not be sufficient to keep THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. g63 in check the growing population. It seems the set purpose of the Gov- ernment to repress the growth of the industry, to tax it at every turn, to prevent the working classes from settling here and making their homes and surrounding themselves with their families; and there is no mistaking the significance of the action of the President when he ] opposed the throwing open of the town lands of Pretoria on the ground that 'he might have a second Johannesburg there/ nor that of his speech upon the motion for the employment of diamond drills to prospect Gov- ernment lands, which he opposed hotly on the ground that 'there is too much gold here already/ > "THE POLICY OF FORCE. "We now have openly the policy of force revealed to us. Two hun- dred and fifty thousand pounds is to be spent upon the completion of a fort at Pretoria, one hundred thousand pounds is to be spent upon a fort to terrorize the inhabitants of Johannesburg, large orders are sent to Krupp's for big guns, Maxims have been ordered, and we are even told that German officers are coming out to drill the burghers. Are these things necessary or are they calculated to irritate the feeling to breaking point? What necessity is there for forts in peaceful inland towns? Why should the Government endeavor to keep us in subjection to unjust laws by the power of the sword instead of making themselves live in the heart of the people by a broad policy of justice? What can be said of a policy which deliberately divides the two great sections of the people from each other, instead of uniting them under equal laws, or the policy which keeps us in eternal turmoil with the neighboring States? What shall be said of the statecraft, every act of which sows torments, discon- tent, or race hatred, and reveals a conception of republicanism under which the only privilege of the majority of the people is to provide the revenue, and to bear insult, while only those are considered Republicans who speak a certain language, and in greater or less degree share the prejudices of the ruling classes? "A STIRRING PERORATION. "I think this policy can never succeed, unless men are absolutely bereft of every quality which made their forefathers free men; unless we have fallen so low that we are prepared to forget honor, self-respect, and our duty to our children. Once more, I wish to state again in un- mistakable language what has been so frequently stated in perfect sin- cerity before, that we desire an independent republic, which shall be a true republic, in which every man who is prepared to take the oath of allegiance to the State shall have equal rights, in which our children shall be brought up side by side as united members of a strong com- 564 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. monwealth; that we are animated by no race hatred, that we desire to deprive no man, be his nationality what it may, of any right. "THE CHARACTER OF THE UNION. "We have now only two questions to consider: (a) What do we w r ant? (b) How shall we get it? I have stated plainly what our grievances are, and I shall answer with equal directness the question, 'What do we want?' We want: (1) The establishment of this Republic as a true Republic; (2) a Grondwet or Constitution which shall be framed by competent persons selected by representatives of the whole people and framed on lines laid down by them a Constitution which shall be safeguarded against hasty alteration; (3) an equitable franchise law, and fair representation; (4) equality of the Dutch and English lan- guages; (5) responsibility of the Legislature to the heads of the great departments; (6) removal of religious disabilities; (7) independence of the courts of justice, with adequate and secured remuneration of the judges; (8) liberal and comprehensive education; (9) efficient civil ser- vice, with adequate provision for pay and pension; (10) free trade for South African products. That is what we want. There now remains the question which is to be put before you at the meeting of the 6th January, viz., How shall we get it? To this question I shall expect from you an answer in plain terms according to your deliberate judg- ment. "(Signed) Charles Leonard, "Chairman of the Transvaal National Union." The conspirators at Johannesburg were alarmed toward the end of December from two directions. From the opening words of the Man- ifesto it is evident that the design of the reformers was by no means to bring the Transvaal State under the British Government, as the secretary of the Union himself has insisted. The reform party in Johan- nesburg included not only enthusiastic Britishers but men of other nationalities and of other sympathies, and they could only work together on the condition that they did not seek to bring the Transvaal under the Queen. The objects they had in view were purely remedial legislature and just administration within the Transvaal itself. "It had been re- peatedly and emphatically stated that the object was not to deprive the Boers of their independence, or the State of its autonomy, but to alter the system of government in such a way as, first to obtain betterment of the economic conditions which affected everyone, and afterwards to THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 565 introduce a policy more in accordance with the general .South African sentiments." (FitzPatrick.) During the concluding weeks of preparation various sections of the Outlander community still made efforts to persuade President Kruger to adopt a better line of policy towards them. On one occasion he was interviewed by men who are described as not "by any means at one with the reformers, but the leading members of which still urged the neces- sity for reformation." The President, addressing them, laid down this principle, "Either you are with me in the last extremity or you are with the enemy; choose which course you will adopt." He then challenged them to call a meeting for the purpose of repudiating the Manifesto, "Or," he said, "there is final rupture between us." His interviewers declared that on the Manifesto the entire city of Johannesburg was absolutely agreed, and the President significantly replied, "Then I shall know how to deal with Johannesburg." In America much interest must be excited by the fact that on one of the last days of the year 1895, President Kruger received a deputation of Americans from Johannesburg. They are described by the secretary of the National Union as men of the highest position and influence in the community. They believed that peaceful measures had not yet been exhausted, and that the Government must surely yield if confronted with the serious consequences that would inevitably result from their policy of repression and oppression. He listened to all that they ad- vanced and then told them that "it was no time to talk when danger was at hand, that was the time for action." The deputation urged that the whole danger lay in the President's own policy, and assured him that if he adopted a liberal attitude towards them the people of Johan- nesburg would prove themselves a most law-abiding and loyal com- munity. The President answered merely by the question: "If a crisis should occur, on which side w T ill I find the Americans?" The answer was, "On the side of liberty and good government, always." The Presi- dent replied, "You are all alike, tarred with the same brush; you are British in your hearts." It does not seem to have occurred to the reformers to make this a permanent condition of their relations to Mr. Rhodes, and it was about Christmas time when some event (Mr. Stead says it was a message 566 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. directly or indirectly from Mr. Chamberlain), occurred, which alarmed the reformers -and compelled them to send representatives to Cape Town to protest against the idea that the revolution was to be brought about under the British flag. While these messengers were away, alarming news came from the direction of Dr. Jameson, who had gathered with nearly 500 police under the command of Sir John Willoughby on the western border of the Transvaal at Pitsani and Mafeking. Dr. Jameson seemed to be in haste, and to be threatening an invasion before he had received the signal from Johannesburg. Immediately two messengers were sent to Dr. Jameson himself, and demands made upon Mr. Khodes that he should communicate with Dr. Jameson in order to prevent any such wild and fatal movement. Their efforts were all in vain, for Dr. Jameson, impelled by some impulse which to this hour is inexplicable even to his friends, on Sunday, December 29, started for Johannesburg. Before starting he read to his police a letter which had been put into his hands weeks before by the leader^ of the movement in Johannesburg, but which he represented as having just reached him.. This famous letter, signed by five men, describes in the first part the wrongs which the Outlanders felt that they were suffering, and sums up the policy of the Transvaal by asserting that "every public aet betrays the most posi- tive hostility, not only to everything English, but to the neighboring states." It goes on to describe the failure of all efforts at constitutional agitation, and asserts that the policy of the Government had made an armed complication inevitable. Then it goes on to speak as follows: "What we have to consider is, what will be the condition of things here in the event of a complication? Thousands of unarmed men, women and children will be at the mercy of the well-armed Boers, while property of enormous value w T ill be in the greatest peril. We cannot contemplate the future without the greatest apprehension. We feel that we are justified in taking any steps to prevent the shedding of blood, and to insure the protection of our lives." "It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call upon you to come to our aid, should a disturbance arise here." They expressed the confidence that Dr. Jameson would help, and guaranteed any expense that he might incur in doing so. Looked at in the light of after events, this letter seems very ridicu- THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 567 lous, and Dr. Jameson's action upon it unfaithful, both to the men whom he deceived by reading it and to the men who had given it to him on a certain understanding which he was about to ignore. The two forces started and met speedily within the Transvaal bor- ders. There is evidence which is gradually accumulating that the Boer Government were not without knowledge of what was about to happen, and the rapidity with which their forces were gathered and the skill with w r hich all their plans were carried out indicate careful forethought as well as clever execution. Starting on the evening of December the 29th from the Pitsani camp, the commander met the other column next morning at the village of Malmani. The combined forces numbered about 494 men. The smallness of the number constituted another breach of his contract on the part of Dr. Jameson, inasmuch as the agreement was that he have 1,500 men, and many had expressed dissatisfaction when he said some w T eeks before that he might not be able to get more than 1,000. He now started with less than one-third of the number originally arranged for. From Malmani the movements of this extraor- dinary band of soldiers, constituted one exciting adventure after another. They hurried on the Monday through a narrow pass at the Lead Mines, and learned afterwards that only three hours later several hundreds of Boers assembled in that pass who would, without doubt, have been able to prevent them from advancing further. Some hours later Dr. Jame- son received a letter from the commandant-general of the Transvaal, demanding the reasons for this extraordinary movement. Dr. Jame- son answered in terms of the letter which he had read to the force. On the next day, Tuesday, the 31st, a mounted messenger overtook them and presented a letter from the High Commissioner at Cape Town, ordering Dr. Jameson and Sir John Willoughby to return at once to their respective posts. They declared that now to comply with these instructions was an impossibility. Their horses were jaded; they could not go back "over the road, where there was absolutely no food for men or horses; a large force of Boers was know^n to be behind them, who would attack them, and, further, they presumed that by this time Johannesburg had risen and must be defended. On the 31st they captured a lieutenant of the Boer volunteers, who was released at Dr. Jameson's request. On the morning of New Year's Day a second letter 568 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. arrived from the High Commissioner, which also failed of its purpose. All this time the troop was pressing forward on its long march and striving to make for Kmgersdorp, which is only a few miles out from Johannesburg. As they approached this place they discovered that the number of the Boer forces opposed to them was rapidly increas- ing. The invaders were now becoming exhausted from lack of food and sleep, and they were disappointed in one place after another to find no provisions. The raiders had until now avoided any offensive attack upon the Boers, but found themselves forced on the afternoon of New Year's Day to open fire upon those who defended the approach to Krugersdorp. An attempt to outflank the enemy on the left was checked, and gradually they were compelled to move towards the right. This was exactly w r hat the Boers desired, those who were in front of them and on the left thus compelled them to move towards a certain point, where further resistance on the part of the invaders would speed- ily be rendered impossible. The night was spent by them in great weari- ness and in great danger. At dawn on the morning of January 2 the final battle began. They were driven even further into the trap which had been cleverly planned for them. At last they found themselves in a hollow through which the road led round a hill. The hill was held by the Boer forces, who now practically surrounded the entire company of raiders. Seeing at last that further resistance was hopeless, and would result only in a useless spilling of blood, Willoughby, with Jame- son's permission, sent word to the commander, Cronje, that he would surrender on the guarantee of a safe conduct out of the country being given to every member of the force. The commander replied in writing by guaranteeing the lives of all, provided that they laid down their arms and paid all expenses. So ended one of the most foolish and one of the most disastrous un- dertakings known to modern history. Dr. Jameson 'and the British officers who acted with him were marched with their men to Pretoria, a band of disgraced men, who had invaded a foreign territory in time of peace on their own accord, and indeed against authoritative instruc- tions from all to whom they were responsible, or with whom they had to do. One need not pause to describe the excitement which was felt THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 569 throughout the world at this extraordinary fiasco. All Europe and America were filled with indignation. Mr. Chamberlain, it is true, tele- graphed immediately to Pretoria repudiating the raiders and disown- ing any responsibility on the part of Great Britain for their action; and the High Commissioner at the Cape immediately set himself with great energy to make what reparation was possible to the injured State. Mr. Rhodes, it is said, was crushed for a time by the blow, able only to moan that his friend Jameson had ruined him. To add to the compli- cations the German Emperor sent his famous telegram of sympathy io President Kruger, and this action more than anything else caused the recoil in England. There, to start with, amazement and anger were predominant at Dr. Jameson's action, but these feelings were speedily revised when that telegram was published, and Dr. Jameson gradually became the hero of a certain "jingo" section of the public in England. After the raid had taken place it could be said that no one con- cerned in the whole of the events was in the right; but for the world at large Dr. Jameson had put Great Britain very much in the wrong, and made President Kruger and his government stand as the insulted and injured party. Up to that time no one could have been found who would have seriously defended the policy of the Boer Government. Beyond all doubt President Kruger and his clique of advisers from Holland had been carrying out a policy which no citizen of a free and democratic country could possibly approve. This policy had avowedly injured all of the Outlanders except those groups of Outlanders who came from Holland and who were appointed to official positions or re- ceived Government concessions. It must be clearly understood that while accusations are made, of a more or less indefinite kind, of corrup- tion against President Kruger and members of his Government, it is the Hollanders, brought to the Transvaal during the years of its pros- perity, who obtained much influence as advisers of Kruger, and who themselves received enormous pecuniary profits from the policy which they induced him to adopt. If the attempts to overthrow the oligarchy at Pretoria, consisting as it did of narrow-minded patriots and foreign mercenaries, had pro- ceeded from the citizens of Johannesburg and had been carried through by them under the flag of the country, the world would, beyond doubt, 570 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. have seen once more that they were fighting the old battle for free- dom, which in ancient times was fought in Holland and England, and during the last century in America. The advanced peoples of the world would have said that it served Kruger right for attempting to rule his country in the nineteenth century on antiquated principles, which no modern citizen can defend. But now, Dr. Jameson had attacked the country from without, himself being a foreigner and a British citizen, had attempted to overthrow the Government of the Transvaal, there being at the time no actual in- surrection or disturbance in that country. The right now and at that point was on the side of Mr. Kruger. Inasmuch as the world immedi- ately judged that the British Government must have had a hand in the matter this sympathy was of course deepened, and resentment against the brutal Briton was aroused. It only remained for President Kruger and his Holland advisers, of whom at that time Dr. Leyds was chief, to recognize the real limits of this foreign sympathy and to shape his policy so as to retain it perma- nently by deserving it. The world would judge him by the policy he adopted alike toward the raiders from without and the would-be reform- ers within his country. No less closely would his treatment of the Out- landers be considered in the light of these events. President Kruger proceeded to act with a shrewdness and determination which elicited the admiration as well as the disapproval even of those who became the victims of his policy. Says one of them: "In reviewing the whole of the circumstances of the raid, not the most biased and most interested of persons can withhold a tribute of admiration to the President's pres- ence of mind, skill and courage in dealing with circumstances already without precedent; and in quiet moments, when recalling all that has happened, if human at all, His Honor must, indulge in a chuckle now and then, to think how completely he jockeyed everybody." First let us see how he dealt with the citizens of Johannesburg. The difficult matter here was to obtain possession of distinct evidence con- cerning the individuals who were leaders in the attempted rebellion. Many of these men were generally known to be leaders of reform, but incriminating material had not yet fallen into the hands of the Boers. They had indeed, as it turned out, found a dispatch box belonging to THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 571 one of the officers of Dr. Jameson's force, which he had most foolishly and inexplicably carried with him on the raid. This box contained a copy of the famous letter to Dr. Jameson, and other documents, besides telegrams and letters which revealed the whole story to President Kruger. But still only a few names of Johannesburg citizens were in this way incriminated. A Government commission was appointed con- sisting of two judges and a member of the executive, who met with the leaders of the committee in order to discuss the way out of the compli- cations in which they found themselves. Mr. Lionel Phillips was spokesman for the reformers, and he, after understanding that the ne- gotiations were carried on in good faith and with a view to peace, de- scribed their plans in full. The member of the executive at a certain point urged that they had no proof that the movement was one gener- ally approved by the citizens of Johannesburg, as they only knew the names of a few of the leaders. In order to prove to him that the move- ment was a popular one, in which a large proportion of the citizens were personally responsible, Mr. Phillips agreed to give a full list of those who had been active in the matter. The list which was obtained in this way was the only basis upon which the Government were able to proceed in the indictment of individuals. The list was ultimately made up of sixty-four names. In order to show how widespread was the in- terest it is important to note that among these sixty-four who were convicted twenty-three were Englishmen, sixteen were South Africans, nine were Scotchmen, six Americans, two Welshmen, one Irishman, one Australian, one Hollander, one Bavarian, one German, one Cana- dian, one Swiss and one Turk. It afterwards appeared that those who were most stubborn in their opposition to the Government were the men of South African birth, who considered that in being treated as they had been in South Africa itself they had been in a sense robbed of their birthright. The indictment consisted of four counts, of which the first was the most important. It asserted that "all and each or one or more of them (the accused) wrongfully, unlawfully and with a hostile intention to disturb, injure or bring into danger the independence or the safety of the Kepublic, treated, conspired, agreed with and urged Leander Starr Jameson, an alien^ residing without the boundaries of this Kepublic, to come into the territory of this Kepublic at the head 572 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. of and with armed and hostile troops, there to make a hostile invasion and to march through to Johannesburg aforesaid." In the second count they were accused of actively assisting Dr. Jameson during the invasion and attempting to arouse the people to stand by him. The third count accused them of importing and distributing weapons and ammunition and in organizing a military corps. The fourth accused them of having taken in hand the government of Johannesburg as they had actually done during the days of the disturbance. After much consideration it was finally agreed that the four leaders only should be asked to plead guilty of the first count, while the re- mainder of the prisoners should plead guilty to the less important ac- cusations. These four leaders were Colonel Francis Ehodes, Messrs. Lionel Phillips, George Farrar and John Hays Hammond. At the time tnat it was decided that these four should plead guilty to the first of the counts in the indictment, it had not been decided whether they were to be tried under statute law, which allowed alternative penalties for their crime, or Roman-Dutch law, which only allows of capital punish- ment. After they had pled guilty the judge, a Mr. Gregorowski, who had been imported for the occasion from the Orange Free State, decided to bring their case under Roman-Dutch law, and passed sentence of death upon those four men, Mr. Hammond, the American, receiving his sentence last of all. The other prisoners Were condemned to suffer two years of imprisonment, or to pay a fine of 2,000 (about $10,000) each, and thereafter to be banished from the state for three years. Much criticism has been made upon the judge for allowing the men to plead before they knew the law under which they were to be tried, as also for accepting a plea of guilty to a charge involving capital punish- ment contrary to the universal practice of all law courts in South Africa. The ensuing scene has been described by one of the partici- pants as follows: "The bearing of the four men won for them universal sympathy and approval, especially under the conditions immediately following the death sentence, when a most painful scene took place in court. Evi- dences of feeling came from all parts of the room and from all classes of people; from those who conducted the defence and from the Boers who were to have constituted the jury. The interpreter translating THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. 573 the sentence broke down. Many of the minor officials lost control of themselves, and feelings were further strained by the incident of one man falling insensible." At the end of twenty-four hours it was announced to the prisoners that the death sentence would be commuted by the clemency of the President. Various accounts have been given of the painful days that followed when the prisoners were kept shut up under disgraceful sanitary con- ditions, uncertain as to the fate that actually lay before them. Nego- tiations were opened first by the Government, and the conduct of these negotiations if they occurred as there is no reason to doubt, as Mr. Fitz- patrick has described them, ten'd to show that the poor President was striving on the one hand to humiliate the prisoners, and on the other to stand in an attitude of magnanimity before the world at large. The efforts to make the prisoners sign petitions were repeated, and in the meantime their treatment was intended to make, .prison life as hateful as possible that they might adopt any means of escape from it. Two of the men stood out, absolutely refusing to sign even the most mod- erate petition, and they were compelled to serve their full term of im- prisonment. The others obtained release upon payment of their fines, but it is alleged that their release came only after President Kruger found that his treatment of them was rousing all South Africa against him, and that even his fellow Dutchmen in Cape Colony and the Orange Free State were in large numbers angered at his policy. In fact resolutions were passed in more than two hundred towns in South Africa, including" many towns in the Orange Free State, in criti- cism of Kruger's attitude, and the mayors of these towns began flocking to Pretoria to enter their protest in person. It was not for some time after these protests began to arrive that President Kruger dealt with the case of the four men who had been sentenced to death (negotiations were opened to see what they would propose), the prisoners were made to understand that the offer of a considerable sum of money would prob- ably obtain their release, and after much hesitation and dislike of the proceeding, they agreed to offer 10,000 (about f 50,000) apiece. The President and his advisers thought that some mistake must have been made and that instead of |200,000 for the four they must have meant 574 THE STORY OF THE JAMESON RAID. $200,000 from each. The matter was finally referred to the judge who had passed the death sentence, and he determined that instead of death these men should pay 25,000 ($125,000) per head. The prisoners, in agreeing to this, stated in plain terms that they looked upon it as a sim- ple bargain; that they were not accepting any favor, but paying their way out of prison. On June llth, after about six weeks of imprison- ment, the fines were paid and the prisoners were released. All the pris- oners were bound by a promise that they would not meddle in politics for at least three years. Out of the Johannesburgers, it appears then, that the Government of the Transvaal received the sum of 212,000 (about $1,060,000) in fines for their attempted revolution. CHAPTER VI. THE COLONIAL OFFICE AND THE RAID. WE HAVE already seen that The Raid in the earlier stages of the plot which Dr. Jameson brought to an unexpected and ignominious conclusion, Mr. Chamberlain, the Colonial 1 Secretary in London, had been more or less definitely consulted. So far as he seems to have known and approved of it, it consisted simply in this, that since the Jbhannesburgers were determined to create a revolution and fight for their rights, even as a member of the Volksraad had actually challenged them to do, it would be not unfitting that a force belonging, not to the -British Gov- ernment directly, but under the control of the rulers of Rhodesia, should be ready to go to the assistance of those citizens when requested to do so. In fairness to Mr. Chamberlain it should be understood clearly that at the very time when these negotiations were on foot he was already engaged in a very serious controversy w r ith the Transvaal Government on another matter. We have seen that a railway company owned by Hollanders had obtained almost entire control over the financial system of the Transvaal. Their power in fixing freight charges over the three main lines was unrestricted by any law. It was part of their policy to develop the trade which brought goods over the longest lines, namely those from Natal and Delagoa Bay. They proceeded accordingly to raise the freight charges on the railway which brought goods from Cape Colony and the Orange Free State. So far did they carry this discrim- ination as to charge 8^d (17 cents) per ton per mile on the Cape Colony Free State line from the Vaal River to Johannesburg, a distance of only fifty miles, as against a rate of about 3d. (6 cents) charged on the otner two lines. "In addition to this they threw all kinds of obstructions in the way of traffic conducted over the first-named or Southern line. The Cape Colony and Orange Free State traders adopted a plan of un- loading the train where it crossed the Vaal River, placing the goods on wagons and carrying them over the remainder of the journey by road. 575 576 THE COLONIAL OFFICE AND THE RAID. For this purpose they employed "drifts" or fords, which had been long in use and which only the growth of the railway system threatened to bring into disuse. President Kruger, urged by the Holland Outlanders with whom he was working, resolved to close these drifts, but was sud- denly confronted by the fact that he could only do so by breaking one of the articles of the London Convention. The Dutch traders in the southern states were themselves aroused against Kruger, but especially against the Hollanders who were his advisers, and who as a class were no more beloved by the ordinary Boers in the Transvaal or anywhere else than the Outlanders in general. When the drifts were closed, Dutch anger in the Colony and Free State was very bitter. So bitter was it, that Mr. Chamberlain actually sent the Transvaal Government an ultimatum. President Kruger, of course, gave in, when he found that he had gone against the sympathy of his Dutch coadjutors in the south. Now, it was at this very time that Mr. Ehodes's proposals were made to Mr. Chamberlain. His position then was this, that the Transvaal had striven in this instance to break an explicit article of the Convention of 1884, as in relation to the Outlanders they were defying the spirit of both Conventions as well as promises made outside the Conventions. While dealing with these matters, it was to his own official interest rather to favor than to hinder a movement at Johannesburg which would help to bring a solution to all these prob- lems. If it was likely to encourage the movement at Johannesburg he seems to have felt that it would not be very wrong to wink at the pro- posals regarding Dr. Jameson. But as soon as the Raid took place in the wild and wicked form which Dr. Jameson gave to it, it became evident that that was neither what Mr. Rhodes had proposed, nor he, Mr. Chamberlain, had approved. Therefore on receipt of the news he immediately telegraphed to the High Commissioner, to President Kruger, to Dr. Jameson, that the Raid was repudiated by the British Government. It is certain that he had kept the knowledge of his plans within a very small circle in London, and above all that he had not divulged them to his Queen. When, therefore, it became known that Dr. Jameson and his companions were being sent home for trial in London, when it became clear that the House of Com- THE COLONIAL OFFICE AND THE RAID. 577 mons must appoint a committee to investigate the whole affair, what attitude was Mr. Chamberlain to assume? It was one of th'e most trying positions in which any public man has ever been placed, one in which it needed the clearest conscience and the purest heart as well as the firmest will to guide a man unerringly. He had many things to con- sider. There was the credit of his Sovereign, who, it is understood, had given her word that her Government had not planned the Jameson Raid; there was the honor of a British statesman to maintain, of whom it is generally understood that whether his policy be clever or not, it shall not be mean and shall not break international law ; there was the stand- ing of his party to consider and the effect which might be produced upon its fortunes, if the whole story were made public; there were the interests of many prominent officials at stake whose tenure 'of office would undoubtedly be rendered impossible by the publication of the full truth; and, lastly, let us hope in his own mind least of all, there w r as his own career to consider, the career of one of the most ambitious and forceful statesmen of recent British history. What was Mr. Chamber- lain to do? The House of Commons appointed its Committee in the summer of 1896. It did not begin its work until the beginning of February, 1897, inasmuch as many of the individuals who were to be examined and most of the material to be dealt with were in South Africa and preliminary arrangements were necessary. The Committee consisted of fifteen mem- bers, fncluding nine on the Government, that is, the Conservative side, and six from the side of the Liberals. It held twenty-nine sittings, at which it examined witnesses and then proceeded to make its report, which was finally approved on July 13th, 1897. Mr. Chamberlain had made the fatal resolve which rendered the investigations of the com- mittee practically of no effect. He in no way assisted the committee to obtain the really important material; he did not enter the witness box except on two occasions for a few moments to weaken some dam- aging evidence given by certain witnesses; he contented himself with the public affirmation he had made that he neither knew of nor approved the Jameson Raid. Mr. Rhodes was in the witness box for five days and a half, and we are told that he answered 2,126 questions. All these answers were rendered practically valueless by the fact that when any 578 THE COLONIAL OFFICE AND THE RAID. question was put the true answers to which would incriminate Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Rhodes simply declined to answer. He refused to commit perjury by lying, he refused also to betray the Colonial Secre- t&ry by telling the truth. Mr. Chamberlain could, of course, satisfy his conscience by saying that he did not know what Dr. Jameson intended to do and never would have approved of what he did do. The actual Raid in the time and circumstances of its actual accomplishment was a matter which he could with a clear conscience repudiate. But beyond all doubt his silence meant much more; it meant the concealment of the fact that the plan of Mr. Rhodes and Dr. Jameson and the Johannes- burg citizens had been known to him and had not received his condem- nation and disapproval. Nothing can ever be said which can clear Mr. Chamberlain from the severe blame of those who hold that he ought not to have approved of the plan in the first instance, and that he ought to have confessed his complicity in the crucial hour which came to him. There were various facts in the case which rendered the work of the Committee of investigation not only exceedingly delicate but very diffi- cult. In the first place, Mr. Chamberlain himself was on the Committee. It was undoubtedly a matter of form that when any serious occurrence took place in the Department of the Colonies the Colonial Secretary should be the leading investigator of the trouble. But while official traditions and order demanded his presence on this committee, Mr. Chamberlain undoubtedly ought to have refused to act. From the be- ginning of the controversy regarding the Raid he stood in the position of an accused party, and, indeed, that which was the most serious ele- ment in the whole case for the British Government, was the extent of the alleged complicity of the Colonial Office in the plot which Dr. Jame- son crushed. The other members of the committee representing the Conservative party were unlikely to push beyond the lead which would be given them by Mr. Chamberlain himself. Representing the Liberals there were some very strong men on the committee, including Sir William Harcourt and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. The former is a trained and most astute lawyer, thoroughly versed in the arts of gathering evidence and examining witnesses; and the latter is noted for the shrewdness of his mind and the independence of his judgment. Besides these, the Liberals were represented by the redoubtable Mr. THE COLONIAL OFFICE AND THE RAID. 579 Henry Labouchere. He lias had much experience in ferreting out the truth concerning many questionable enterprises in England and else- where. He has from the first most bitterly opposed the Chartered Com- pany and denounced the whole policy and spirit of Mr. Rhodes. Neither is he a lover of Mr. Chamberlain. But Mr. Labouchere lacks breadth of mind and statesmanship, and so largely did Mr. Rhodes bulk in his view that he did not see clearly, at the time, what the real and deepest problem before the w^orld was. The consequence of all these and other circumstances was that the Committee spent almost its entire time in investigating most minutely and thoroughly the actual events connected with the Raid itself, and the connections therewith of Mr. Rhodes and his friends. The committee did not get the length of probing the deepest question, that regarding the complicity of the Colonial Office. If this had been merely an over- sight the Committee would not have received the disapproval which now hangs over its name. Unfortunately there seems to be evidence that at last the leaders on both sides were driven to face the worst, and they collapsed. There was one man whose evidence would almost certainly have brought the truth to light inasmuch as he had acted as an inter- mediary in the negotiations. This was Mr. Rhodes's London lawyer, Mr. Hawkesley. When he came to the witness box it was evident that he neither desired, like Mr. Chamberlain, to hide the whole story, nor had Mr. Rhodes's reasons of a personal nature for refusing to answer the incriminating questions. Only a few questions were put to him, when suddenly a motion for adjournment was made and immediately carried. What happened before the committee reassembled in the following week no one knows. There are strong grounds for believing that the leaders of the Liberal party were told of some fact which closed their mouths, and made them acquiesce in an immediate and hurried stoppage of the investigations. Various surmises have been made as to what this fact was. The most commonly accepted and most probable suggestion is that they were informed that the telling of the whole story would bring a stain upon the honor of the Crown. Not that any member of the Royal family was involved in the plot or knew of it, but that the highest Royal guarantee had been given that the British Government was not involved in this guilt. Whether this is so or not it would seem 580 THE COLONIAL OFFICE.AND THE RAID. that some feeling of loyalty to some interest which they considered supreme sealed the lips even of the leaders of the Opposition. When the committee drew up its report it had done a great deal of real and valuable work, and on that it based its judgment. The Raid was unequivocally repudiated. Most of all did it con- demn the conduct of Mr. Rhodes; in terms of the utmost sever-, ity was his share in the plot described and denounced; all others were likewise condemned who had been associated with the plot as British subjects and officers. But a remarkable event occurred when this report was presented to the House of Commons. There Mr. Cham- berlain made a speech, in the course of which he uttered the astounding statement that Mr. Rhodes's personal honor had not been aspersed by the findings of the Committee. There were private members of the House who, though puzzled, were prepared to follow the lead of those whom they trusted as the heads of their respective parties, but whose minds utterly refused to accept both the findings of the committee con- cerning Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Chamberlain's astounding and virtual with- drawal of those findings in his speech. One of them (Mr. Albert Spicer) rose and put the dilemma, which was present to many minds, clearly and tersely before the House. The effect of this and many other pro- tests was to produce a strange silence among the leaders of both sides and the report of the committee was adopted by the House, the large majority of whom felt that they were voting in the dark upon a ques- tion on which they longed to have full light. Mr. Chamberlain has since those events occupied what is in the minds of the country at large an uncertain, and must be to his own mind an uncomfortable, position. He has on many occasions denounced the Jameson Raid and laid the blame of succeeding complications with the Transvaal upon that event. In answer to all challenges he has simply denied that he knew of or approved of the Raid, which is true in the sense described on an earlier page. But when challenged to pro- duce certain documents which would tell the truth, he has within the last few months declined to do so on the ground that his challengers were not men who had a right to make such a demand, and he has had the courage, if not rather the bravado, to hand the challenge over to Sir William Harcourt and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, saying that THE COLONIAL OFFICE AND THE RAID. 581 if they as leaders of the Opposition make this demand he will produce the documents referred to. Mr. Chamberlain did this knowing full well that these two leaders were already pledged by their previous acts not to betray him by any such act. Great Britain has yet to reckon with Mr. Chamberlain's whole con- duct of tii8 relations of his country to the Transvaal, since the time when he first heard of the proposed revolution at Johannesburg. If he had openly avowed his knowledge of the conspiracy and publicly stated the reasons for the steps which he had taken he might have lost his present office, but he would have retained the honor and trust of large sections of the public. If he had done so, his successor in the Colonial Office could have dealt with the further proceedings and policy of Presi- dent Kruger and his Hollander advisers and officials in an entirely differ- ent manner from that which has been possible. The British repudia- tion of the plottings of the conspirators could have been made with a clear conscience, and at the same time all attempts of the Transvaal to arm itself and raise a great army could have been forbidden and pre- vented. But, as it was, Mr. Chamberlain, by remaining in office, gave the entire power to President Kruger. Mr. Chamberlain could not for- bid him, knowing what he knew and what President Kruger knew, and President Kruger could and would have defied Mr. Chamberlain if he had tried to remonstrate about the military ambitions and developments of the Transvaal Kepublic. The British authority was, from the time of the Raid, paralyzed not only by the absurd and wild action of Dr. Jame- son nor by the deeply-laid scheme of Mr. Rhodes, but above all and through all by the suspected complicity of the Colonial Office itself in these nefarious and dishonorable proceedings. CHAPTER VII. THE TRANSVAAL AFTER THE RAID. THE occurrence as we have described it caused a large number of fresh complications. The Transvaal government was naturally thrown into a mood of permanent, suspicion. President Kruger knew enough of the internal history of the Johannesburg plot and its connection with the Colonial Office in London to convince him that Mr. Chamberlain had made a serious effort to rob the Transvaal of its independence. If the allegations against Mr. Chamberlain are true, as they seem to be, the President had abundant reason for resentment and suspicion. The event, even as he saw it, was calculated to open up before him two entirely different paths, one of which only could it have been safe and wise for him to pursue, and the other of which must lead him into fresh difficulties. He chose the latter. If his far-famed shrewdness had not deserted Kruger he must have seen that his treatment of the Outlanders had been far too selfish and short-sighted, that his policy with them had goaded them into uncontrollable anger, that they had won the sympathy of nearly all the citizens of the democratic countries who became aware of their social and political conditions in the Trans- vaal. If, pursuing this line of argument, President Kruger had listened to the leaders of his own fellow citizens, like General Joubert, who belonged to the progressive party, he must have concluded that the future peace of his country and the safety of its independence could only be secured by granting citizenship to the huge population of foreigners under reasonable terms, and making concessions to them on the other matters in regard to which they felt themselves unjustly treated. This was the p>lan which the President most unfortunately rejected. He may have been moved to some extent by the usual prejudice which every leader of a party in any country feels against openly giving way and adopting the policy advocated by the leaders of the opposing party* 583 THE TRANSVAAL AFTER THE RAID. To have yielded on these points would have been to confess that in all their previous discussions General Joubert and his followers had been right. Most probably Kruger was impressed by the conviction that these foreigners would not become loyal citizens of the South African Republic, and might, as he has so often urged that they would, speedily outvote the Boers at the polls, oust them from leadership, eventually make them a mere struggling minority in their own country, and per- haps even resign their independence by accepting a formal connection with the r.ritish Empire. But then the very quarrel between the leaders at Johannesburg and Mr. Ehodes which had precipitated the Jameson Ilaid, ought to have made it clearer still to President Kruger that the betrayal of their independence was not in the least likely to become part of the policy of the Outlanders if they should govern the Trans- vaal. The other fear of course was a very hard one to face. Undoubtedly in time the Outlanders will outnumber and outvote the Dutchmen in the Transvaal. This is in the nature of things absolutely inevitable. That which President Kruger, as probably every one now feels, might have very well arranged for was that the conditions of the franchise should be such as to give the Outlanders a real representation and a real legislative influence in the Volksraad, while securing that for a number of years at any rate they should be unable to obtain a majority of the votes in that house. The fairness of this plan was obvious even to Sir Alfred Milner, who openly said that he had no desire to demand from President Kruger terms of franchise for the Outlanders which should at once give them the majority in their legislative assembly. Driven then by these fears, President Kruger, with his executive, resolved not merely to withhold any privileges which the Outlauders had sought, but to devise repressive measures which should make a repetition of their conspiracy impossible. The adoption of this plan led to a series of transactions which have undoubtedly very seriously aggravated the internal social conditions of the Transvaal. A system of espionage was set up in Johannesburg by which every Outlander was treated as a possible conspirator. Public meetings for the agitation, even in an open and orderly manner, of their wrongs and their pleas were forbidden or dispersed, The mines and the homes of the citizens 584 ' THE TRANSVAAL AFTER THE RAID. of Johannesburg were searched from time to time for arms and ammu- nition or incriminating matter of any kind. The Dutch burghers were drilled and trained for war on a more extensive scale than ever, and for this purpose European officials were hired and brought to the country. Large and larger supplies of guns and ammunition were imported, most of them being carried through British territories. Forts were built at Pretoria and Johannesburg. At the latter place the fort was so built as to command the town itself and cannons were placed there with their threatening muzzles pointed at the city. Along with these unconcealed and formal measures of a threatening order, there inus.t of course be reckoned the less palpable but none the less dispiriting and irritating influences exerted by the new social and political relations set up be- tween the Boers as individuals and the Outlanders as individuals. As their national income increased beyond all their previous dreams, and increased through the taxation of the very citizens whom they suspected and repressed, and as their own commercial or military power waxed stronger the Boer citizens were tempted to adopt offensive manners and to make contemptuous speeches to the men whom they considered to be enemies w r ithin their power. We must not of course blame the Boers too much for a sentiment which every race, alas, has shared towards its subject peoples in similar circumstances; yet, on the other hand, it is only fair to acknowledge that all these circumstances could not but create still deeper feelings of unjust treatment in the hearts of the Outlanders. The bitterness of the Outlanders was aggravated by a series of events which ought to have removed it. In 1897 President Kruger was at last persuaded to appoint a commission to investigate the complaints of the citizens of Johannesburg. The Report of the Industrial Commission shows that the appointees of Mr. Kruger sat for several months exam- ining witnesses at Johannesburg, and that to their own utter surprise and confusion they were compelled to announce that the complaints of the Outlanders which the Government had so scorned and trampled upon were justified! Everyone who asserts that the Johannesburgers had no real wrongs and were driven on, like silly sheep, by a few capitalists to revolution in 1895 and to the petition to the Queen in 1899 ought to know that their wrongs were in 1897 pronounced by President Kruger's THE TRANSVAAL AFTER THE RAID. 585 own commission to be both real and serious. The question whether they were serious enough to warrant the actions taken is one which may be safely left to their ow r n common sense. The Keport of the Industrial Commission was received by President Kruger with his accus- tomed indignation of heart and vigor of language. He called a mem- ber of his Executive Council who served on the commission, disloyal, for agreeing to its report. The practical results of this commission appear to have been practically nothing. Mr. Reitz appears to prove that on one set of matters, viz., the Liquor Law, the Pass Law and Gold Thefts, some progress was made. But on all other matters even he gives no evidence that the Government made a serious attempt to fulfill the demands made in the report of its own commission. ("A Century of Wrong," pp. 61-65. Cf. Fitzpatrick, "The Transvaal from Within," pp. 302-312.) It is often brought as a matter of reproach against the citizens of Johannesburg that they were reformers in the interests of capitalism. Capitalists, it is urged, were those who stimulated their agitation and the hope they had in view was simply the increase of their profits as gold seekers. This of course is an assertion which can not be denied. A large part of the difficulty created in the Transvaal was caused by the desire of men for wealth, and the passion of wealthy men for still more wealth. But unless we are going to condemn utterly the pur- suit of wealth in any degree or form the mere assertion that the reform- ers were pursuing wealth does not necessarily carry with it the con- demnation of their agitation. It does lay it open, unfortunately for human nature, to grave suspicion. The Boers have steadily asserted and believe that the impelling force behind the whole agitation was Mr. Rhodes, whose ambition has been, they say, to obtain control of the Transvaal as well as of Rhodesia. His control of the Transvaal would be reached through the huge company entitled the Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa, which owns an enormous share of nearly all the large mining companies in the Transvaal. They felt persuaded that if the Outlanders received the franchise they would necessarily be under the dictation of Mr. Rhodes, as the Boers themselves were under the dictation of Mr. Kruger. Now whether Mr. Rhodes as an individual has cherished any such designs or not, and no one who appreciates 586 THE TRANSVAAL AFTER THE RAID. his courage has any right to say that his ambition has had any limits even in this direction the question of the justice of the Outlanders' position in relation to President Kruger's Government remains to be determined. It is asserted that recently the taxes in the Transvaal amounted to f 110 per capita annually, while in England they amount to $15. Further, the miners have proved that they were compelled to spend 75 per cent of their net profits in the payment of taxes. In 1897 the dividends which were paid amounted to 2,727,000 (about f 13,000,000) while the collected revenue of the Government for the same year was 3,956,000 (about $19,500,000). In the year 1898 for the first time the dividends paid to the shareholders equalled the taxes paid by the mining industries to Mr. Kruger's Government. Mr. J. Hays Hammond, the eminent consulting engineer of Johannesburg, in his report of October 23d, 1899, estimated that if they had good government in the Transvaal the value, to the gold miners of the resulting direct and indirect benefits would represent the value of about 6 shillings ($1.50) per ton of crushed ore and speaks of that as a conservative estimate. On the preceding year's tonnage this would mean an increase of about 2,600,000 (about $12,800,000) in annual dividends. Of course it does look as if, and it is the case that, in a controversy regarding facts like these the Outlanders are fighting partly for an in- crease of wealth. Their claim that the Transvaal Government has robbed them of a large share of their profits does not awaken the sympathy of the average man when he believes that the profits were enormous even as things went. But surely there is another point of view. A govern- ment does not exist arbitrarily to restrict the productivity of its people, nor arbitrarily to limit the profits which they are to enjoy from their productive labors. The real agony of the situation in the Transvaal is just here, that the Outlanders found so large a portion of the produce of their labors going into the hands of an official class, whose labors as officials were vastly over-paid, and into Government monopolies, which were unfair and exercised a restrictive influence upon the coun- try's development. In fact it would appear that it is the old struggle between the productive and the parasitic classes. In this case the parasites were those who received the enormous wealth represented in the indirect taxes imposed by the governmental system of the Trans- THE TRANSVAAL AFTER THE RAID. 587 vaal. The productives were represented by those whose genius and power were obtaining gold from the mines and attempting to fill the Transvaal with manufactured goods from all the countries of the world. If the Transvaal Government had paid reasonable salaries even though large, if they had made the monopolies government monopolies, and shown in thoroughly audited accounts that the large profits went to the Government, if the ever-increasing revenues of the country amount- ing to many millions had been spent visibly and reasonably upon building railways to help the poverty stricken farming districts, or to build much needed bridges and roads and much needed school houses and even parish churches, if it had been used to appoint educators and honorable magistrates for 700,000 black people; if, that is to say, the 75 per cent of net profits mentioned above as paid in taxes of all kinds by the gold miners, had been spent honorably by the Government for the good of the country the whole world would have approved of the motive actuating President Kruger, would have seen that in the end the money so spent would return to the miners themselves in the form of innumerable blessings, the world would have said that for once we had in President Kruger a man so religious and so patriotic as to see that every farthing of even heavy taxes w r as spent upon the true elevation of the entire people under his rule. Instead of all that, what we do actually find is that nearly all the money which was thus gathered from the productive class has been spent partly in bloated salaries, partly in unearned premiums to the shareholders of monopolies, partly in the formation of the Transvaal into a military camp, partly in a large secret service fund whose extent and operations may never be determined. Surely the productive class had a legitimate right to protest against a taxation which, while it did not impoverish them, enriched a parasitic class and left the country after all struggling in a bad position socially and economically. It is evident that under these conditions, while the output of a few mires did rapidly increase, the development of commerce as a whole was seriously hindered. Capitalists were unwilling to invest their money in a region which resembled a suppressed volcano. Some people may of course argue that the people were making enough money as it was, and of some of them it is no doubt true. But no intelligent 588 THE TRANSVAAL AFTER THE RAID. man can jmagine that in a commercial community the people will be content if, when they see plans of commercial development upon which they could easily enter and which would add to the population of the country-, its general wealth and power, they find also that arbitrary restrictions are placed upon their efforts to carry out these plans. It ought in all fairness to be observed that these transactions, especially the development of the Republic's military resources and efficiency, were not interfered with by the British government even although it was only against her or her colonies that this military force could be exerted. It is perfectly safe to say that there is no other country in the world which would have allowed this development to go on unchecked. Neither Russia, nor German} 7 , nor France would have patiently endured these circumstances for a single year. During these years Mr. Chamberlain made several speeches in which he showed that he appreciated the continued gravity of the situation and yet desired by all means to avoid any approach to a war. For example, on February 14, 1896, Mr. Chamberlain declared that Great Britain had always sought to secure the sympathy and support of the Dutch in South Africa, and had shown her willingness to make sacri- fices of territory and even of prestige for that end. He said: "We are constantly reminded of the fact that our Dutch fellow citizens are in a majority in South Africa, and I think I may say for myself as for my predecessor, that we are prepared to go as far as Dutch sentiment will support us. It is a very serious thing, a matter involving most serious considerations, if we are asked to go to war in opposition to Dutch sentiment." On the 8th of May, 1896, Mr. Chamberlain in the House of Commons used the following clear and emphatic language: "In some quarters the idea is put forward that the Government ought to have issued an ultimatum to President Kruger an ultimatum which would have certainly been rejected, and which must have led to war. Sir, I do not propose to discuss such a contingency as that. A war in South Africa would be one of the most serious wars that could possibly be waged. It would be in the nature of a civil war. It would be a long war, a bitter war, and a costly war. As I have pointed out, it would leave behind it the embers of a strife which I believe generations would hardly be long enough to extinguish. To go to war with President THE TRANSVAAL AFTER THE RAID. 589 Kruger in order to force upon him reforms in the internal affairs of his State, with which successive Secretaries of State standing in this place have repudiated all right of interference, that would have been a course of action as immoral as it would have been unwise." Yet again^ on \ March 28, 1897, when Sir Alfred Milner was about to leave for his position as High Commissioner for South Africa and Governor of Cape Colony, Mr. Chamberlain used the following language: "The problem before us and before him is not an insoluble problem. For what is it? It is to reconcile and persuade to live together in peace and good will two races whose common interests are immeasurably greater than any differences which may unfortunately exist. . . . " The Outlanders could not long . avoid the utterance of protests against the treatment that they received. During the winter of 1898-99 affairs became rapidly complicated and embittered. A small event will in such circumstances create great excitement. Sjjuch, an event was the murder of a man Edgar in December, 1898. In itself, this event was not likely in ordinary times to create any public feeling of a political nature, but it was like a spark of fire in a mass of the most combustible material. It led to the holding of a demonstration, and the arrest of Messrs. Webb and Dodd, two of the leading protestors. This Mr. Dodd is one of two brothers from the north of England, men of the lower middle class, not capitalists, not firebrands, but intelligent and earnest men who have been accustomed to the political freedom of their home land, and who, by public w r ork and preaching of the Gospel, seek, whether at home or abroad, to help their fellow-citizens. In January, 1899, a large open meeting of Outlanders was held in the amphitheater, at which speeches were being delivered when the police interfered and dispersed the gathering. The excitement grew and took shape at last in the sending of a petition to the Queen, signed by 21,684 British subjects, which was forwarded through Sir Alfred Milner. President Kruger at this time made several public addresses, none of which indicated any serious desire to solve the problems at issue, but he welcomed a counter petition to the address to the Queen which was presented to himself and signed by 9,000 Outlanders. CHAPTER VIII. THE AFRIKANDER BOND, AND THE PRESIDENTS' HOPE. I. THE full significance of the South African organization known as the Afrikander Bond has yet to be measured. When all its spirit and policy, its various efforts and influences since its founda- tion in 1881 are reckoned up, one of the most important chapters in the recent history of South Africa will then be written. This Bond or Association is composed almost entirely of Dutch people living in South Africa, According to the terms of its. 'consti- tution all Afrikanders, that is, all persons born in South Africa of European descent, are eligible for membership; but as a matter of fact exceedingly few have become members who are not of Dutch or Dutch- French descent. The Bond was formed in the year 1881 at the very time when the success, or apparent success, of the Transvaal war of independence had awakened Dutch enthusiasm throughout the country. That was also the very time when the Imperial Government was delib- erately loosening its grasp elsewhere in South Africa. "Politicians," it has been said, "went from town to town in England advocating the desertion of South Africa, retaining only the Cape as a coaling station, thus constituting another Gibraltar in the southern seas. Who can wonder at the direct result in South Africa the formation of the Afrikander Bond? The Anti-English people thought of a Republic, and prepared for it; the English and loyal colonial population ground their teeth, and remained silent and downcast, as colonists who were de- serted by the Mother country. A few Cape politicians of English race were perhaps the most rabid against the old country. They, rightly or wrongly, nursed a sense of personal desertion, and shrieked rather than said that they would never trust England again. Young English col- onists left the country in cases where that could be done. Older men set to work to learn the Dutch language, and be prepared for future possibilities. And yet the great body of Cape Colonists, of whatever 590 THE AFRIKANDER BOND. 591 extraction, were far from being disloyal to England." (J. Mackenzie, Austral- Africa, Vol. 1, pp. 396.) The same writer again says, "The most cruel drag upon the progress of the Cape, upon its Legislature, and especially upon the efforts of the most enlightened and most reliable Cape politicians, is the uncertain and vacillating policy of England towards South Africa. This was the real cause of the formation of the Afrikander Bond and its subsequent increase in membership. The people were taught to believe that England was about to abandon South Africa; and the leaders of the movement pleased themselves and their hearers with the idea that they would then form themselves into a Republic under their own flag." These words were written from per- sonal and intimate knowledge of the facts so long ago as 1887. The Afrikander Bond is not confined to Cape Colony or to any one part of South Africa. Dutch sympathisers with it may become mem- bers of it wherever they live in South Africa. It has affiliated branches in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State as well as in Cape Colony. As the principles of this Bond are not generally known and are of immense importance in the interpretation of recent South African his- tory its platform must be given in its own words: "(1) The Afrikander National Party acknowledges the guidance of Providence in the affairs both of lands and peoples. "(2) They include under the guidance of Providence the formation of a pure nationality and the preparation of our people for the estab- lishment of a United South Africa. "(3) To this they consider belong, (a) the establishment of a firm union between all the different European nationalities in South Africa, and (b) the promotion of South Africa's independence (zelfstandigheid). "(4) They consider that the union mentioned in Art. 3 (a) depends upon the clear and plain understanding of each other's general interest in politics, agriculture, stock-breeding, trade and industry, and the acknowledgment of everyone's special rights in the matter of religion, education and language, so that all national jealousy between the different elements of the people may be removed, and room be made for an unmistakable South African national sentiment. "(5) To the advancement of the independence mentioned in Art. 3 (b) belong: (a) that the sentiment of national self-respect and of patriot- ;i2 7777- AFRIKANDER BOND. ism towards South Africa should above all be developed and exhibited iu schools, and in families, and in the public press; (b) that a system of voting should be applied which not only acknowledges the right of numbers, but also that of ownership and the development of intelli- gence; and that is opposed as far as possible to bribery and compulsion at the polls; (c) that our agriculture, stock-breeding, commerce and industries should be supported in every lawful manner, such as by a conclusive (doeltreff'ende) law as regards masters and servants, and also by the appointment of a prudent and advantageous system of protec- tion; (d) that the South African colonists and states either each for itself or in conjunction with one another shall regulate their own native affairs, employing thereto the forces of the land by means of a satisfactory burgher law, and (e) that outside interference with the domestic concerns of South Africa shall be opposed. "(6) While they acknowledge the existing Governments holding rule in South Africa, and intend faithfully to fulfill their obligations in regard to the same, they consider that the duty rests upon those Governments to advance the interests of South Africa in the spirit of the foregoing articles; and, whilst on the other hand they watch against any unnecessary or frivolous interference with the domestic or other private matters of the burgher, against any direct meddling with the spiritual development of the nation, and against laws which might hinder the free influence of the Gospel upon the national life, on the other hand, they should accomplish all the positive duties of a good Government, among which must be reckoned: (a) In all their actions to take account of the Christian character of the people. (b) The maintenance of freedom of religion for everyone, so long as the public order and honor are not injured thereby. (c) The acknowledg- ment and expression of religious, social and bodily needs of the people in the observance of the present weekly day of rest. (d) The applica- tion of an equal and judicious system of taxation. (e) The bringing into practice of an impartial and, as far as possible, economical admin- istration of justice. (f) The watching over the public honor, and against the adulteration of the necessaries of life, and the defiling of ground, water or air, as well as against the spreading of infectious diseases. GROUP OF OFFICERS, SECOND CONTINGENT CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLES, AT TORONTO en a a o a o K O a? o a o K H K O o or x THE AFRIKANDER BOND. 593 "(7) In order to secure the influence of these principles, they staml forward as an independent party, and accept the co-operation of other parties only if the same can be obtained with the uninjured main- tenance of these principles." It is evident, of course, that much of this document is most praise- worthy in its spirit. But South Africans are bound to read behind some even of the religious affirmations a meaning which would not be placed upon the same words in America or England; such as the elastic clause in (6) (b), which safeguards religious freedom by adding "so long as the public order and honor are not injured thereby." Many will think at once of the blacks, and the persistence with which, for so long, the Boers opposed all mission-work among them, for "the public order and honor." The weight of all such documents is to be found not in the matter-of-course details or the aims and statements of aims which are the commonplace of all modern political associations and creeds, but in the distinctive affirmations which mark out the purpose and policy of this specified organization and give the reasons for its being. To begin with, it is important to remark that the Afrikander Bond took the place of an older Association which existed to further many of the social aims described in these Articles of the Bond. The new ele- ment, the intense "Afrikanderism," expressed in words about "pure nationality," "independence" and "interference from without," came from the new spirit wakened by the retrocession of the Transvaal. People in Britain and America should realize once for all that, through- out South Africa when men of any party speak of "Afrikanderism" or the spirit of the Bond, they refer to the meaning underlying the phrases just quoted. Further be it noticed that those who are members of it are described as the Afrikander National Party. They, qnder the guidance of Providence, aim at the creation of what is called "a pure nationality" and the use of such means as will secure a United South Africa. (The phrase "pure nationality" is a very peculiar one, often used by Afrikander Bond speakers. What does it mean?) In order to secure a United South Africa they affirm that two things- are necessary, the first is a mutual understanding and union between the different European nationalities; the second is the "promotion of South African independence." Under Section 5 (e) it is again affirmed that 594 THE AFRIKANDER BOND. the advancement of its independence includes opposition to outside interference with the domestic concerns of South Africa. These clauses are vague, and can only be interpreted for us by the actual life and work of the Association. They may mean merely that the Bond Party desire South African Hoipe Rule under the British flag. But, as we shall see, subsequent events show that for many members of the Bond they have meant much more. Our judgment 'of the righteousness of the Association which has this distinctive and definite aim must depend upon several considera- tions. In the first place the Association includes the Dutch citizens of two states, namely, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, which have been, as regards internal affairs, completely independent of the Imperial Government. Further it is of importance to notice that while Sir John Brand was President of the Orange Free State, he opposed the formation of the Bond, but that since his death the heads, the Presi- dents, of both of these independent states have been members of the Afrikander Bond. Further, it is to be remarked, that it has its head- quarters at Cape Town in a colony whose self-government is as com- plete as that of an Australian colony, or the Dominion of Canada, or England herself, a colony which is treated as a part of the British Empire, enjoying a full and real internal Legislative and Executive administration. If then the object of the Bond has been to secure a greater independence than these two Dutch states and the South Afri- can Colonies already enjoy, that can mean one thing only, which is the cutting of the last tie between England and South Africa. There are not many who after recent developments will be able to resist the con- clusion that this has been and is the policy and ultimate aim of the Afrikander Bond. What then are we to think of the action of Presi- dent Kruger and President Steyn, who for years have been members of the Bond, have cherished this policy and sought, through the Bond, to advance this aim? One of the founders of the Bond was Mr. F. W. Reitz, afterwards, for a short time, President of the Orange Free State, and now State Secre- tary of the Transvaal. He seems to have been active in securing mem- bers for the Bond, and among others, approached Mr. Theodore Schreiner, brother of the present Prime Minister. When Mr. Schreiner THE AFRIKANDER BOND. 595 objected that the Bond aimed ultimately "at the overthrow of the British power and the expulsion of the British flag from South Africa," Mr. Reitz said, "Well, what if it is so?" When Mr. Schreiner expostu- lated saying, "You don't suppose that that flag is going to disappear from South Africa without a tremendous struggle and fight?" Mr. Reitz answered, "WeU, I suppose not; but even so, what of that?" It is this very Mr. Reitz who last year (1899) discussed the question of Suze- rainty with Mr. Chamberlain and who, as he tells us, did not base his claim to self-government on the Conventions of 1881 and 1884, "but simply on the ground of its (the South African Republic) being a sov- ereign international state." ("A Century of Wrong," by F. W. Reitz, pp. 58.) It is the same astute lawyer and eloquent writer who closes this pamphlet with the following paragraphs: "May the hope which glowed in our hearts during 1880, and which buoyed us up during that struggle, burn on steadily! May it prove a beacon of light in our path, invincibly moving onwards through blood and through tears, until it leads us to a real Union of South Africa. "As in 1880, we now submit our cause with perfect confidence to the whole world. Whether the result be Victory or Death, Liberty will assuredly rise in South Africa like the sun from out the mists of the morning, just as freedom dawned over the United States of America a little more than a century ago. Then from the Zambesi to Simon's Bay it will be 'Africa for the Africanders.' " Here then we have the most authoritative interpretation of that famous phrase, which has been universally accepted in South Africa as the unofficial motto of the Afrikander Bond. Mr. Reitz tells us that the hope of throwing Great Britain out of South Africa has been strong in their hearts since 1880. Shortly after its creation the Afrikander Bond showed at once its determination to influence events and the direction which that influence would take. In October, 1883, it sent to the British Government a petition expressing the deep sympathy of "many thousands of Her Majesty's faithful subjects, mostly of Dutch extraction, residing in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope," "with their compatriots of the Trans- vaal State." The object of the petition was to beg humbly that the Imperial Government would grant the requests about to be made by 596 THE AFRIKANDER BOND. President Kruger and other members of the deputation which was being sent to London at that time, and whose proposals and success we have described elsewhere. Practically they asked the Imperial Gov- ernment to give the deputation everything they wanted, "most particu- larly" in connection with the boundaries on the west and southwest of the Transvaal State. It was a clever effort to influence the Govern- ment with the idea that they would please, as they of course did please, the Dutch in Cape Colony by agreeing to make the Transvaal practically the most powerful State in South Africa. It was the Afrikander Bond more than any other force which in the years 1884-1885 opposed every effort that was being made to estab- lish the British Protectorate of South Bechuanaland, and through its subservient ministry at Cape Town strove to obtain some credit and some life for the petty Boer Republics which were being formed within that territory. It was the Bond with its machinations in the interests of the Transvaal Republic which twisted the High Commissioner around its little finger, and so weakened the Imperial policy that it required the Warren Expedition of 1885 and the expenditure by Great Britain of several millions of dollars to put matters right in South Bechuana- land. It was the influence of the Bond which, through a weak Gov- ernor, tried to defeat this very expedition by attempts to thwart the plans and limit the authority of Sir Charles Warren, even after he had landed with his troops on South African soil-. Mr. Bryce, in his interesting work, "Impressions of South Africa," has expressed the opinion that during the years between its formation and the Jameson Raid the Afrikander Bond tended to lose its anti- English spirit and he attributes this partly to the influence of Mr. Rhodes, who at the same time received the support of the Bond and maintained his reputation as a strong Imperialist, "eager to extend the range of the British power over the continent." It may be said here that as a matter of fact Mr. Rhodes was for a long time more famous as an Imperialist in England than in South Africa, and better known in South Africa than in England as a co-worker with the Afrikander Bond and promoter of its policy. But it is not the case that the Afrikander Bond allowed its main aim and pur- pose to fade during those years. There is abundant evidence that THE AFRIKANDER BOND. ' 597 the course of 'political events in Cape Colony was quietly but con- stantly shaped during those years by the Bond, and that the legislation which it promoted tended steadily towards the aggrandisement of the power of the Dutch in Cape Colony and the prevention of Imperial growth in South Africa. Mr. Bryce ought surely to have allowed some weight to the fact that during those years the Bond party at the Cape held the reins of power and that its powerful and astute leader, Mr. Hof- meyr, held the nomination of the Prime Minister in his own hands. The Bond was not idle one year and its persistent influence moved events ever towards one goal. As a matter of fact a great deal of legislation even under Mr. Rhodes was helpful to the Bond in its main purposes. Most of all this appeared perhaps in the legislation by which large sections of the native community in Cape Colony were actually disfranchised. It was not and could not be proved that the natives misused their privilege; on the contrary it is a matter of history that many of the best educated and most powerful members of the Cape Legislature, were sent up from constituencies where the native vote predominated. These constituen- cies almost invariably supported men of high character and broad edu- cation and sterling English sympathy, while they refused to be repre- sented by Dutchmen of a pronounced type. Whatever excuse, therefore, might be made for the act of disfranchisement, the real effect of it was to weaken the Imperial party in the Cape Legislature and to strengthen the political grasp of the Bond upon the colonies. Does any one in South Africa doubt that the Bond leaders foresaw this effect? The existence of the Bond does also explain the policy of Mr. Rhodes with regard to what was called the "Imperial Factor" in South African affairs. Mr. Rhodes of course felt and sincere!}' believed that the best w r ay to secure Imperialism was to denounce the Imperial Factor, as he did; that the best way to attach the Cape Dutch to England was to give way to the policy of the Afrikander Bond, as he did. Perhaps he seemed to see a way through his policy to the strengthening of Imperial- ism over South Africa as a whole, and the gradual consolidation of all South African states into a great dominion under the British flag. But whatever his aim was, his policy has undoubtedly failed. If Mr. Rhodes had felt that his policy was succeeding he would not 598 THE AFRIKANDER BOND. have run the risk of that final defeat which it certainly met by his alliance with the citizens of Johannesburg and his organization of the plan that degenerated suddenly into the Jameson Raid; if his relations as Prime Minister of Cape Colony with the Afrikander Bond at Cape Town, and thereby with President Kruger, had remained friendly, if he had seen that on this way his peculiar Imperialism was certain to suc- ceed, he would have found some other means of persuading President Kruger without the exertion of force. Most persons will believe that in 1895 Mr. Rhodes had found that the Afrikander Bond would not help him to secure from President Kruger the alleviation of the condi- tions of the Outlanders. The influence of the Bond was very marked in relation to the pro- posal to send peasant farmers from Great Britain to Bechuanaland to develop valuable unoccupied territories in that Colony. The Bond's voice at once shouted that this was "English interference" in South Africa! But at the same time President Kruger was inviting settlers to come from Belgium and Holland to the Transvaal, and winking at the efforts of his own subjects to "interfere" with Bechuanaland affairs, and the Bond uttered no protest. In relation to the development of the Cape Colonial railway system the influence of the Bond appeared over and over again. For years the railway into the northern portion of the Colony failed to reach Kimberley, the largest town in South Africa at that time. The reason for this laxity of the Government was undoubtedly that Kimberley was a city of "outlanders," and that the large amount of trade which would flow along the line of the railway, if it were completed, would enrich the farmers of various nationalities in Cape Colony, but as long as the railway was uncompleted, it would go mainly to the enrichment of the Orange Free State and the southern part of the Transvaal. So also when* proposals were made for the Trunk line from Kimberley north- ward through Bechuanaland, the same anti-British influence served for long to hinder the realization of this project. The steady effect of each movement of the Bond during these years at Cape Town, be it remembered was to strengthen the Boer Republics and to restrain the development of the British colonies. No one who studies the history of Cape politics since 1881 can doubt THE AFRIKANDER BOND. 599 that the real ruler of many crises in legislation and in Imperial policy at Cape Town was President Kruger. If this be so our appreciation of his shrewdness, his far-sightedness, his cunning, his indomitable will must be immeasurably deepened. The policy described in the constitution of the Afrikander Bond, and explained by Mr. Reitz, one of the founders, accounts for the enor- mous and successful efforts to enlarge the military resources both of the Transvaal and of the Orange Free State. Before the Jameson Raid proposals were already being made to build larger forts in the Transvaal, and already some steps had been taken to make it stronger as a military power. In more recent years the Orange Free State has been importing ammunition, employing foreign officers and preparing itself for war. All this w^as being done in times of perfect peace and by two co-operating countries which never actually could fight with any other than the British Empire or its colonies or dependencies in South Africa, The world has only now discovered with amazement how far this conspiracy for war had gone during the last ten years. The Afrikander Bond made it possible, combined with the wealth of the mines and the grandmotherly placidity of England. The purpose behind the organization of the Bond is the same that has urged President Kruger in his unbending opposition to the enfran- chisement of the Outlanders. If they t had been enfranchised on the terms which were in operation when they were invited into the country and when the last Convention (1884) was made with Great Britain, the Afrikander Bond would have been paralyzed, and the Afrikander dream forever dissolved. Those who hold that this war is the outcome of a plan deliberately formed years ago and silently but sturdily pur- sued during the interval, will now read another meaning behind the passionate words of President Kruger in his Conference with Sir Alfred Milner at Bio mfontein and in his dealings with the reformers' com- mittees from Johannesburg. His one cry was "the independence of my people," or "of my burghers." By this he meant, of course, in the first place, the power of his 30,000 Boer voters to control the 750,000 natives of the Transvaal, as well as the 60,000 Europeans who were fitted to qualify to vote within his own country. That form of "inde- pendence" he had undoubtedly hungered to preserve. But was there 600 THE AFRIKANDER BOND. no deeper meaning in his cry? Was not that independence of which the Constitution of the Afrikander Bond speaks also in his mind, the settlement for which he had been working so skillfully, so patiently, so successfully for nearly twenty years? If he gave the franchise to the Outlanders he would not only give them justice, he would make the presence of Great Britain in South Africa finally secure. What has been said regarding the actual influence of the Afrikander Bond in the history of South Africa and the policy cherished by its founders and leaders must not be taken as inevitably leading to the condemnation of Mr. Kruger. ; Those who hold tliat the Boers had a sacred right, if they saw the chance, to fight for the overthrow of the British power and the establishment of a Boer Republic throughout South Africa, will of course hold that the Afrikander Bond was an obvious and legitimate means for furthering that end. In that case President Kruger had a right to plot against England ; had a right to re- fuse the franchise to the Outlanders, since the granting of it would de- stroy his great ambition ; had a right to influence legislation and polic\" in general at Cape Town through Mr. Hofmeyr and his fellow-w r orkers; had a right to spend millions of dollars received in taxation for the Gov- ernment of the country, in building up the splendid and efficient army system w r hich to-day is causing such trembling in England and amaze- ment throughout the world; had a right, as he proposed to President Brand in 1887, to subsidize the Orange Free State Government so lavishly in order to induce it to form the closest possible alliance with the Transvaal. But if those who sympathize with President Kruger's purpose ap- prove also his employment of the Afrikander Bond for that purpose, they cannot blame those who on the other hand call that treachery and believe that England had a right to employ all means for defeating that purpose. Those who believe that it would be best for South Africa, even for the Boers, much more for the vast native populations, to be controlled by Great Britain than to be under a so-called Boer "Re- public," will be inclined to condone all that England has done to defeat the Afrikander Bond. But they will have little indeed to condone; they will grieve rather that the Imperial Government has been so blind, so deaf to the advices of her friends, so unwilling to form a masterful THE AFRIKANDER BOND. 601 counter-policy and to carry it out with vigorous consistency. They will assert that Britain has only blundered when she has tried to act, and only vigorously acted too late when she was driven to it by the most portentous events. II. The subjedf discussed above is of such importance as to warrant restatement in another form and in answer to the direct question : Has there been among prominent individuals in the Transvaal, Orange Free State and Cape Colony a conspiracy to drive Great Britain out of South Africa? It is of course generally recognized that if such a conspiracy has existed, Great Britain would stand instantly justified before the whole world, even if she had forced on the present war. But ludicrous demands are made regarding the proof of such a conspiracy. Incrimi- nating documents are asked for, quotations from speeches are demanded in which any such conspiracy is explicitly confessed or described by the conspirators! Now it must be remembered that not all conspirators give themselves away so easily as those concerned in the Jameson Raid. It is a familiar fact in South Africa that the Afrikander Bond, like most large organizations, has comprised members of diverse natures and purposes. There has been a section of the Bond who infinitely prefer be- ing protected from London to being ruled from Pretoria, and who have shown during this war that they are loyal to Great Britain. Even if they would be glad to see the Union Jack thrown into the sea they at least do not wish Mr. Kruger to run up the new flag, and they do not think a change would be safe yet. These members have been interested in the Bond as Dutchmen who saw in it an engine for gaining political and commercial advantages for their own race in Cape Colony, quite irre- spective of more general or Imperial problems. Mr. Hofmeyr's careful speeches would indicate that he belongs to that section, although many doubt his sincerity. But those supporters and even leaders of the Bond who avowed themselves loyal have yet to explain how they, en- dured association with those others, like Mr. Reitz and Mr. Steyn and above all Mr. Kruger, who saw in the Bond an engine for realizing that hope which Mr. Reitz has now at last so openly interpreted to the world, "Africa for the Africanders." The question whether this war is really the outcome of a conspiracy 002 THE AFRIKANDER BOND. when put in the light of historical fact resolves itself into three ques- tions. First, Has or has not the Afrikander Bond, or a section of it, confessedly been preparing the way for the last twenty years for driv- ing out Great Britain and establishing a Dutch Government in South Africa? The evidence seems to be abundant and in its kind most con- vincing, that the answer to the question must be in the affirmative. South African newspapers whether hostile or friendly to this purpose teem with proof that throughout these years, that has been generally accepted as the ultimate aim of a certain section of the Dutch people who used the Bond as their means of communication and constant in- spiration. Second, If it is thus proved that the Presidents of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal were in organized affiliation with one another and with citizens of Cape Colony to further this plan, is that affiliation to be called a conspiracy' or not? To this there surely can be only one answer. This is conspiracy. The very man who stood out before the world as the indignant victim of a conspiracy at Johannesburg, was actually then and had been for years discussing with the head of a neighboring State and with British citizens in a British Colony the ways and means of securing "Africa for the Africanders!" Third, Has this conspiracy taken practical shape in actual and con- certed preparations for the war which should drive the British flag out of South Africa? This also must be answered very confidently in the affirmative. Preparations had begun before the Jameson Raid, but that event undoubtedly hastened and encouraged the work. The simple facts are that the Orange Free State and the Transvaal have been for years buying war material, and drilling their citizens, forming artillery regiments under European officers. Now there is no other country against which they could possibly fight except Great Britain; for, even if the Transvaal had attacked Portugal, Britain would have intervened. The jnost earnest and extensive operations date from 1896. The Raid created the very atmosphere in which the work could be pushed with- out interference from Great Britain (for obvious reasons), and with the approval of many Dutch citizens in the Colonies who, hitherto hindered by caution, were aroused to a white heat of indignation by that mon- strous wrong. THE AFRIKANDER BOND. 603 Mr. Keitz has himself cited the strongest proof that after the Raid the conspirators saw and seized their unexpected opportunity. The paper which Mr. Reitz has called "The Organ of the Africander Party" said in 1896, "This is truly a critical moment in the existence of Afri- kanders all over South Africa. Now or never! Now or never the foun- dation of a wide-embracing nationalism must be laid. The iron is red hot, and the time for forging is at hand." The writer of those words then passes to an utterance which has a vital importance. He says that the Colonial Dutch in Natal and Cape Colony have been brought into close sympathy with the Republics, and that the longed for union is at hand. "The partition wall has disappeared." It is the great hour when all Dutchmen can be united. "Never has the necessity for a policy of a Colonial and Republican Union been greater; now the psy- chological moment has arrived; now our people have awakened all over Africa; a new glow illuminates our hearts: let us now lay the foundation stone of a real United South Africa on the soil of a pure and all-comprehensive national sentiment." (Mr. Reitz's "A Century of Wrong," p. 50.) From that date the Governments of the two Republics have con- sentaneously pushed their preparations. And the result of their steady labors was that last summer, as Mr. Chamberlain asserted, the Trans- vaal had been turned into a military camp. This then is what is meant by a conspiracy in South Africa. The two Presidents have resolved to drive Britain out of South Africa, out of her own colonies which are as much part of the Empire as Canada, or Australia. Behind all the strenuous resistance of the Outlanders' claims since 1890, behind the claims of Mr. Reitz, in 1899, that the South African Republic is a "sovereign international state," behind the alliance of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, behind the diplomatic correspondence of the last ten years, and of last year, there has been this steady purpose. The world sees to-day that for years the conspiring Presidents have been preparing an army, trained and armed, to conquer Natal and Cape Colony, to annex them to the Dutch Re- publics (as has actually been done!), and thus to establish a Boer gov- ernment "from the Zambesi to Simon's Bay." The two main arguments urged against the belief that President 604 THE AFRIKANDER BOND. Kruger and President Stern have been deliberately preparing for a war whose result should be that which we have described above are as fol- lows: First, it is said that the enormous expenditure of money "by President Kruger upon military preparations dates from the Jameson Raid and is based upon his fear lest Great Britain should invade the Transvaal. This argument loses nearly all its force from the fact that the Raid enabled President Kruger to push on a purpose already long cherished more boldly and more rapidly than had been possible before. As a matter of fact he had received before all the world the strongest assurance possible that whatever individual officers had guiltily" at- tempted, Great Britain as a country and a Government repudiated the accusation that she desired to subdue the Transvaal. No assurances more solemn or more public could have been given than those which Great Britain gave. These assurances were confirmed by the fact that she made no protest while she watched President Kruger arming him- self to the teeth. Nor did she direct any protest against the sudden military activity which broke in upon the Arcadian peace of the Orange Free State. Great Britain has never shown any inclination to invade the territories of civilized and competent governments without just cause, and it is impossible for candid people to suppose that she would have begun with the Transvaal. Moreover President Kruger, if his desire was supremely and simply to ward off a British invasion while doing justice within his borders to all the people of his laud, must have seen that the independence of the Transvaal as a self-governing na- tionality would be more secure than ever if he admitted all these Out- landers into full citizenship. For on the eve of the revolution at Johan- nesburg the American, Mr. Hays Hammond, made the committee stand up and swear allegiance to the Transvaal. Moreover the revolution was largely wrecked by the repeated negotiations which resulted from the fear lest Mr. Rhodes should attempt to hoist the Union Jack if Mr. Kruger's government was overthrown. No stronger bulwark could he have raised against a British invasion than a generous franchise! But the President knew on the other hand that the same Outlanders would finallv stamp out the conspiracy in which he and Mr. Steyn and Mr. fteitz were engaged. What President Kruger then decided to do was both to resist any possible British invasion and to retain the power of THE AFRIKANDER BOND, 605 the Government in the hands of those whom he calls "my burghers." (The conference with Sir Alfred Milner at Bloemfontein last June made this perfectly clear.) Was this purpose connected or was it not con- nected with that other "hope" which he confessedly has cherished for many years and which his own State Secretary has so eloquently ex- pounded? Let him who thinks it possible, believe that President Kruger has kept separate compartments of his mind unconnected with one another, in which he has pondered and planned, in the first, his resist- ance of the claims of the Outlanders; in the second, the maintenance of a Boer oligarchy in the Transvaal; in the third, the establishment of a Boer Government over all South Africa, and in the fourth, the build- ing up of a strong military system in the Transvaal and the Free State. If he succeeded in thinking of these various aims of his without refer- ence to one another and without making the one in any wise subservient to the other, he is a man more remarkable than anyone has yet supposed him to be. These four things he has done or tried to do, and they belong to one another. Second, it is urged that the Boers cannot possibly have looked for- ward to a successful war with Great Britain and that therefore they have never cherished or prepared for the mad design of confronting Great Britain in a final struggle for the mastery of South Africa. In the first place this view is contradicted flatly by the very boasts of the Boers themselves. There can be no doubt whatsoever that, alike in the Trans- vaal and in the Orange Free State, it was freely used as an argument for war, that they could and would conquer the British forces. It is well known that the Boer representatives in Europe and elsewhere have made it their constant boast that Great Britain was engaged in what must prove a disastrous struggle. That is to say, the evidence simply abounds that the Boers when they began this war believed that they w r ould win. Further, this point is strengthened by the fact that the Boers had hitherto found Great Britain always unwilling to'make great military exertions in relation to South Africa. More than once she has spent a large sum of money on .an expedition and then quietly given up its fruits. They had seen her compel the Orange Free State unwillingly to accept independence; they had seen her eagerly throw Bechuanaland and other large territories into the hands of the Dutch Government at 606 THE AFRIKANDER BOND. Cape Town; they had seen her in the face of humiliating defeat restore self-government to the Transvaal itself; they had seen her three years later give up what now the world sees to have been powers of inesti- mable value over the Transvaal, without asking a single benefit in return, giving nearly all that was asked because President Kruger pled that it would enable him to govern his country better. The Boers had therefore every reason for supposing that Great Britain would only put a moderate army in the field. At the beginning of this war President Kruger and Mr. Steyn calculated, and knew well, that with 60,000 men moving rapidly and entrenching thoroughly they could resist 80,000 or even 100,000 British soldiers. It had not been heard of in the history of the world, we must remember, that any country would or could send 200,000 soldiers on a voyage of 6,000 miles upon any war, however im- portant. This had never been heard of, and it is safe to say the Boers did not dream it to be possible. Conscious then of their own recent training and thorough equipment in arms and ammunition the Boers felt that they were quite a match for any army which it seemed in the least reasonable to suppose that Great Britain would send. Lastly, it must be carefully remembered that last summer the Trans- vaal Government found themselves face to face with the supreme choice in all their history. It was perfectly evident to them that if the Boer element should become a minority in the Transvaal the dream of "Africa for the Afrikanders" in the Boer meaning of that cry wduld be at an end. The Government would pass into the hands of Europeans, the majority of whom, while they would not betray the independence of the country, would always refuse to engage in a terrible war against Great Britain in order to realize a Boer ideal with which they had no sym- pathy. It came therefore to be seen that the Dutch people of South Africa must either this year or within a short period choose between giving the franchise to the Outlanders or entering upon the supreme contest. It.would have been better for the Transvaal if she could have waited until Great Britain were elsewhere entangled in military affairs, when it is to be presumed she would have been less able to concentrate all her attention and all her forces upori South Africa. But the insist- ence of Mr. Chamberlain and of Sir Alfred Milner pressed the choice home upon the Presidents of the Transvaal and the Free State and made THE AFRIKANDER BOND. 607 it impossible for them to avoid action any longer. They must either begin to lose their grasp of power or win it once for all on the battle- field. President Kruger and President Steyn chose the latter. It is not, of course, necessary to prove the reality of the Boer con- spiracy, as we have described it, by adducing evidence that the Dutch of the Cape Colony have been organized for active war. Happily many thousands of them would infinite!}- prefer their present form of full self- government to the unknown something that Mr. Kruger and Mr. Steyn and Mr. Leyds and Mr. Reitz would fain substitute for it. But, that many individual Dutchmen in the Cape Colony h,ave been ready to stand by the conspirators when their day came has been well known in the Colony. All that the real conspirators at Bloemfontein and Pretoria needed was the moral assurance that as the federal armies occupied colonial territory the farmers in the latter would join their ranks. And as events have shown, they have not been disappointed. If Britain had not sent an army larger than the conspirators ever thought possible, large portions of the colonies would have been occupied and more of the Cape Dutch would have joined them. Then a terrible civil war, from which the Cape natives could not have been kept out, would have deluged the colonies in blood. Many bare facts have been set forth in this chapter. If they carry fairly and clearly the interpretation here put upon them, then the con- clusion is obvious that Great Britain is fighting not really for a matter of internal legislation at Pretoria, but for her own colonies, her own life, against a gigantic and an almost successful conspiracy headed by President Kruger, Mr. Reitz, Dr. Leyds, President Steyn and some others. CHAPTER IX. DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. THINGS were evidently reaching a crisis and some kind of inter- vention on the part of Great Britain rapidly became inevitable. Accordingly, on May 5th, Sir Alfred Milner telegraphed a dispatch to London which thoroughly startled the British authorities. The following are the most important sentences from that dispatch: "The right of Great Britain to intervene to secure fair treatment of the Outlanders was fully equal," he said, "to her supreme interest in secur- ing it. They were our subjects; only in very rare cases had they been able to obtain any redress by the ordinary diplomatic means. The true remedy was to strike at the root of all these evils. The case for inter- vention was overwhelming. The spectacle of thousands of British sub- jects kept permanently in the position of political Helots, constantly chafing under undoubted grievances, and calling vainly to Her Majesty's government for redress, steadily undermines the influence and reputa- tion of Great Britain and the respect for the British government within the Queen's dominions. A mischievous propaganda in favor of making the Dutch Republic the paramount power in South Africa was pro- ducing a great effect upon a large number of our fellow colonists. Thou- sands of the Cape Dutch were being drawn into disaffection. Nothing could put a stop to this propaganda, except some striking proof of the intention of Her Majesty's government not to be ousted from its position in South Africa. This could be done by obtaining for the Outlander a fair share in the government of the country." Some phrases in this paragraph have been very severely criticised, but the paragraph puts the case very powerfully from the point of. view of those who believe that the treatment of the Outlanders was entirely unworthy of a civilized government. One of the most important points in Sir Alfred Milner's message is undoubtedly that which refers to the effect being produced upon the Dutch in Cape Colony by the condition of 608 W o K H E O CO o H O w u or DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. 609 affairs in the Transvaal. Many, both in the colonies and in England, have formed the very strong opinion that the unchecked military ag- grandisement of the Transvaal and its sturdy residents, in the very midst of British colonies and dependencies, had quickened in the minds of many Dutchmen in other parts of South Africa the feeling that it would not be impossible to make the Transvaal the leading power in South Africa. This was, as our history may have shown, not the first time that the dream of an absolute, sovereign and internationally recog- nized independence seemed on the point of becoming a practical possi- bility for the Boer republics of South Africa. This seems to be clearty indicated in Sir Alfred Milner's dispatch, and many feel that one so careful as he is would never risk a momentous statement of that nature unless his evidence was fairly complete and convincing. He says "thousands of the Cape Dutch are being drawn into disaffection," and he proposes to counteract this by obtaining for the outlanders a fair share in the government of the country. When it became apparent that the Governor had assumed such a position and had evidently begun to form a clear policy regarding the further procedure of Great Britain in South Africa, the influential men of the Afrikander Bond at the Cape began to intervene. Mr. Hof meyr, the most powerful personality in the. Dutch party at Cape Town, pro- posed to Sir Alfred Milner that he should hold a conference with Presi- dent Kruger at Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State. President Steyn of the Free State became- an intermediary and wel- comed the proposed convention, which finally took place, beginning on May 31st and concluding on June 5th, 1899. Before we attempt to describe the negotiations concerning the fran- chise which began at this time and which became very complicated, it may be well first to describe the conditions of naturalization and fran- chise as they have existed until this year in the South African Republic. The country is governed by two legislative chambers, each consisting of twenty-seven members. The lower chamber has practically no power at all, as any law which is passed has no authority until it is passed by the first chamber, while the first chamber can pass laws absolutely on its own initiative and without reference to the lower house. Citizens are only eligible who have fixed property and who profess the Protestant G10 DIPLOMACY AND' THE ULTIMATUM. religion. The electors whose representatives constitute these two chambers are themselves divided into two groups. The first chamber is elected by the first-class burghers. These comprise all male white resi- dents who were living in the republic before May 29th, 1881, or who took an active part in the war of independence in 1881, the native war in 1894, the attack upon Jameson's troops in 1895-6, and all other military expeditions and battles of the republic, and children of such persons from the age of sixteen. The second-class burghers who elect the second chamber comprise the naturalized male alien population and children from the age of sixteen. The process of becoming a full citizen or first-class burgher is divided into two stages, first that of naturaliza- tion, which may be obtained after two years' residence, after registra- tion on the district books, taking the oath of allegiance and paying the sum of two pounds ($10.00). Those who have passed through naturali- zation may, after tw T elve years, receive the franchise, but only by special resolution of the President and Executive. The sons of aliens, born in the republic, if they register at sixteen years of age, may become natur- alized at eighteen, and receive the rights of first-class burghers after ten years more by special resolution. The President and the Commandant-General are of course elected by the first class burghers only. Consideration of these conditions makes it clear that no man can become an enfranchised citizen of this republic within fourteen years of his settlement in the country, and even then his enfranchisement de- pends upon a special resolution of the Government itself. That is to say, in a country comprising something like 100,000 foreigners about 30,000 retain the privilege of choosing out of the remainder those who shall become voters. At this point it may be well to glance at certain statements which are made on each side of this bitter controversy between the Boer gov- ernment and the British, regarding the relation of the Outlanders to the franchise. It is urged on behalf of the Boer government that every country has the right to make its own laws of naturalization and deter- mine the conditions of the franchise, that these foreigners were not invited and their presence was not even desired by the Boers to whom the country belonged, that, therefore, if they fopnd the conditions of life there to be distasteful it was always open to them to leave; it is DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. 611 further urged that many of the British Outlanders openly avowed their dislike for that part of the conditions of naturalization which demanded not only the oath of allegiance to the Transvaal government, but the forswearing of their previous allegiance to Queen Victoria, that if they did not wish to give up their British citizenship they could not complain at having no vote among Transvaal citizens and that no country would admit as citizens those who avowed that they retained their allegiance to another power; it was still further urged that in spite of the actual trouble which had arisen between these Outlanders and the Boer gov- ernment the British authorities had no right to interfere, inasmuch as by the London convention they had bound themselves not to take any part or assume any authority in the internal affairs of the Trans- vaal government, and further that in the article by which the Boers promised fair and equitable treatment to British subjects this question of the franchise was not included in the list of matters named. These, no doubt, are felt to be by their advocates powerful arguments against the attitude assumed by Great Britain; but, on the other hand, no less powerful counter arguments are adduced which may be sum- marized briefly as follows : In the first place, it is urged that the Outlanders are in the Trans- vaal by exactly the same right as the Boers themselves. The Boers arrived about the year 1850; the gold seeking Outlanders began to arrive in small numbers from about the year 1875, and in still larger numbers from the year 1885. At this present date, therefore, some of the Outlanders have been half as long in the Transvaal as the oldest Dutch inhabitants, and many of them have been quite as long in the country as a third of the Dutch who possess the vote. The Boers entered the country because it suited them and their purposes in life, the Out- landers entered for the same reasons, and the motives of the former can hardly be said to have excelled those of the latter in any high degree. Still further it is urged under this point, that when President Kruger and his fellow delegates were in England, in the end of 1883, some capi- talists approached the President and asked him whether if they pro- ceeded to invest their money in the Transvaal in the development of mines their work would be welcomed and supported. It is said that the President turned with something like indignation upon them and asked 012 DIPLOMACY AXD THE ULTIMATUM. them what kind of people they thought that he and his people were. Of course they would be welcomed, he assured them. It was after this interview and in the light of this strong assurance that men who had held back proceeded to invest their capital in the projects which so speedily transformed the face of history in that republic. President Kruger published his open invitation to foreigners to settle in the Transvaal in the London Times in April, 1884! In the second place it is urged by the supporters of the British that when the earliest Outlanders arrived in the Transvaal, encouraged by Kruger himself, and sheltered, as they imagined, by the London con- vention, the terms of naturalization and franchise were simple and reasonable. When, however, President Kruger and his party found that the Outlanders were invading the country by tens of thousands instead of by scores as hitherto, they took alarm at the prospect of so speedily losing their grasp on the reins of government and accordingly altered the terms of the franchise and naturalization. Under the terms of the new law no foreigner could become naturalized before he had been two years in the country. At the time of naturalization he must take the oath, thus becoming a loyal citizen of the Transvaal, and ceasing to be a citizen either of Great Britain or of any other country. But even when he had become thus naturalized he could not receive the franchise for other twelve years and, at the end of the twelve years, only as the upper chamber of the Volksraad passed favorably upon the case. This means that a would-be citizen of the Transvaal must for- swear his previous citizenship for the bare chance that at the end of twelve years he might be elected into the list of electors. It is urged that this method was invented in order to make the process of becoming citizens of the South African Republic as hard and repellant as possible, and that it is a poor trick of argument by which the Outlanders who shrank from this prolonged suspense are reproached for being unwilling to take the oath on these conditions. It is urged in the third place that the methods employed to keep British subjects and other foreigners in a condition of dependence and subordination towards the Dutch minority were in defiance of that article of the London convention by which these subjects were prom- ised fair treatment. It is true that the franchise was not mentioned DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. 613 among those matters in which this fair treatment was to be manifested; but it is felt by the supporters of the British that inasmuch as, at the time of the convention, the conditions of the franchise were perfectly reasonable, and there was no prospect of their alteration, and, inas- much as the possession of the franchise underlies the whole life of freedom and prosperity enjoyed by the leading European countries, the practical denial of this franchise constitutes a real instance of unfair discrimination against these foreigners in the government of that coun- try, and therefore is a real breach of that spirit of justice and equity which was intended to find expression and security in that article of the London convention. Those who feel that the weight of the argument lies with the points above stated on behalf of the Boers will of course conclude that in the present quarrel Great Britain is fundamentally wrong; while those who feel that most weight attaches to the set of argu- ments last described will feel that President Kruger is defending not his land against a foreign invader, but rather his party against a victory of the majority of the civilized inhabitants of his own country. Sir Alfred Milner, as we have seen above, made up his niind that the first thing to do was to obtain some one concession from President Kruger which should lead to the gradual removal of the other wrongs from which the Outlanders undoubtedly suffered. In a country fairly governed under a parliamentary system the fundamental condition of freedom, justice and progress is the possession by the people and the unhindered exercise by them of the franchise. Sir Alfred accordingly decided not to urge any immediate decision on any other matters however important, but to strive for the granting of the franchise to the Outlanders. It must be evident from perusal of the conditions described above that it was practically impossible for any but a very small minority of the Outlanders to obtain the franchise. If only President Kruger would agree to an alteration of the conditions which should give the Outlanders hope of progress, and some feeling of legislative influence without the danger of their outvoting the Boers, the worst of their political grievances would be removed and the way paved for the further gradual removal of the rest in years to come. Accordingly the Governor proposed to Mr. Kruger that he should allow 614 DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. the Outlanders the full franchise after a residence of five years in the country and that Johannesburg, although containing more adult whites than all the rest of the country, should have four seats in the Volksraad out of twenty-seven. The venerable President could not, of course, and perhaps was hardly expected to agree to this liberal policy all at once. After considerable hesitation he was persuaded to propose another scheme. Accordingly he introduced the following scheme: The Outlanders should receive the full franchise seven years after their arrival in the country, and five years after their naturalization. That seemed a very great effort to meet Sir Alfred Milner half way. But, alas! attached to this was a long list of conditions which so complicated the matter that it was certain many years must pass before more than a very few Outlanders could possibly possess the franchise. Even the first stages of naturalization required a complicated system of registra- tion and the fulfillment of vaguely stated conditions difficult of inter- pretation and application. Five years after naturalization the granting of the franchise would in every case be dependent upon the fulfilment of the many other conditions, such as continuous registration, continuous residence, and after all the Volksraad must vote in every case. It is perfectly evident that the shrewd and wily President was striving to give as little as possible while seeming to give much. When he was discussing some of the other matters outstanding between the Transvaal and the British government he fell back once more upon a principle on which the Boers have from the beginning acted in relation to the British government, namely, that matters in dispute could be settled if Great Britain would grant a quid pro quo, generally in the form of an extra slice of territory taken from adjacent native chiefs. On this occasion the President hinted that he could not face the burghers unless he could point to something which had been given to them. He chiefly desired the gift of Swaziland, a magnificent county on his eastern border, which would give him access to the sea; he also pressed for a treaty of arbitration, without, however, naming any details. It was in vain. Sir Alfred stuck close to his principle that his proposal was not that the Boers should give anything to Great Britain, but peace and justice to their own people, and that they could only do this by giving the franchise on conditions which would satisfy DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. 615 the Outlanders without overwhelming the Boers and ousting them from power. Sir Alfred, at the same time, scrupulously avoided the appear- ance of interfering with the internal affairs of the Transvaal beyond making his suggestions regarding the franchise. The Conference ended without any definite, result. President Kruger returned to Pretoria to introduce the Bill which Sir Alfred Milner had pronounced to be inadequate to meet the case. Even strong sympa- thizers with the Transvaal Government felt that he must modify the numerous, absurd and perplexing conditions attaching to the Bill. Ulti- mately Mr. Kruger did make considerable alterations. But this policy of his had produced a bad impression. It suggested that he was not acting sincerely, that even now he was trying to give without giving, to appease the Imperial Government without making any real and effective change in the position of the Outlanders. If President Kruger was insincere, Mr. Chamberlain appeared to be no less irritating by the positive tone of certain public utterances in which he managed to con- vey the impression that he was determined at all costs to make the Transvaal Government give way to his demands. Neither of these two diplomatists aided the cause of peace by his course of conduct. For in diplomacy both insincerity and bluntness may seem to hinder the solu- tion of a difficulty and to hasten an international catastrophe. After the conference at Bloemfontein the Transvaal Government made another effort to persuade Great Britain to agree to a scheme of arbitration. The proposals sketched by Mr. Reitz were, however, very vague just at jthe important points. For example, he proposed in one article "that no matters or differences of trifling importance shall be submitted to arbitration," and a little later "that each shall have the right to reserve and exclude points which appear to it to be too import- ant to be submitted to arbitration!" This idea of an arbitration scheme was not absolutely ruled out of consideration by Sir Alfred Milner. But he clung with pertinacity to his one principle of action, that the griev- ances of the Outlanders must be remedied first. A calmer atmosphere would then be created which would be more favorable to the devising of a scheme of arbitration. On July 20 the Bill proposed by President Kruger was passed the Yolksraad after sundry important alterations had been GIG DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. made. It offered the Franchise seven years after notice had beet given of the intention to become a citizen, and five years after the oath of naturalization had been taken. A man was still liable to spend five years after he had given up his former citizenship without enjoying the privileges of his new citizenship. And even then, he w r as still left dependent upon the decision of the State Attorney or the Executive Council as to whether any "legal obstacle appears" to his reception into full burghership of the first class. At a later date in the same month, it was resolved to grant five seats in all, out of thirty-one, or four out of thirty-two, to the mining communities of Barberton and Johannes- burg. The exact number was uncertain. On July 27, Mr. Chamberlain sent a long and important despatch, in which he attributed the responsibility for "party feeling and race hatred," which the Government of the South African Republic had deplored, to the policy of that very Government itself, in that it "alone, of all the States of South Africa, has deliberately placed one of the two w r hite races in a position of political inferiority to the other." The British Government is responsible and under obligation to take action in this matter for three reasons, he says, and these are of great import- ance for understanding the attitude of Great Britain. First, he names, "the ordinary obligations of a civilized power to protect its subjects in a foreign country against injustice;" second, "the special duty arising in this case from the position of Her Majesty as the paramount power in South Africa .; third, the exceptional responsibility arising out of the Conventions which regulate the relations between the Government of the South African Republic and that of Her Majesty." Mr. Chamberlain points out that when the Conference was held preliminary to the Pre- toria Convention of 1881, Mr. Kruger pledged his country to give "equal protection for everybody" and "equal privileges." He explicitly said on that occasion, "We make no difference so far as burgher rights are con- cerned." The British Government had every reason, even in granting the London Convention of 1884, to believe that "the conditions of equity be- tween the white inhabitants of the Transvaal" would continue. On the contrary, they had been completely reversed. In dealing with the new Franchise Law, Mr. Chamberlain points out that there is still much uncertainty regarding certain of its provisions as well as regarding DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. 617 the real effect of its operation upon the righteous claims of the Out- landers. He therefore proposes that a joint-commission should be formed, consisting of delegates from each Government, to discuss the working of the law and report the result of their consultation and submit their recommendations. The object of this proposal was, on August 2, ex- plained to the Transvaal Government by Sir A. Milner as being to discover whether the Outlander population would "be given immediate and substantial representation" under the new law. It was manifestly useless to attempt a solution of the problem by means of a law which would leave the actual and pressing bitterness to last several years longer in hope that it would gradually die down. If, as the British Government maintained, these citizens had been treated unjustly, then, it was felt the remedy of their ills should be at once and definitely effective. The announcement of this proposal of a joint Commission of Inquiry produced alarm at Pretoria, and steps were at once taken to make new proposals. The British agent at Pretoria held very earnest conferences with the State Attorney of the Transvaal Government. He urged that the situation was most critical, and that the British Government could not now take any steps backward. Their actions hitherto constituted pledges to the Outlanders that they would secure attention to their demands. The result of these conversations at Pretoria came in a remarkable scheme from the Transvaal Government, which was made on August 15. According to this new plan, Mr. Reitz, the State Secre- tary, proposed "a five years' retrospective franchise," ten representatives from the goldfields constituencies in a house of thirty-six members, equality of the new with the old burghers in election of the State Presi- dent and the Commandant-General. The Transvaal Government further expressed willingness "to take into consideration friendly suggestions regarding the details of the Franchise Law." It is safe to say that if this proposal had been made in June for it is practically the equiv- alent of Sir A. Milner's minimum demands, and even goes further the negotiations would have then ended peaceably and the Outlanders would by this time have had a substantial share in the government of the country. But alas! the proposals came when both sides had been roused; when people were openly talking about war; when the pride 618 DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. of both countries had been aroused. In such circumstances diplomacy is more than an affair of cold words and clear-cut paragraphs. The words take the color of the atmosphere, and the paragraphs pulsate with confused and confusing suggestions and suspicions. The Transvaal Government made the proposals described above, with three most im- portant conditions attached. On these conditions they kept their eyes fixed, and determined to shape their course solely by Mr. Chamberlain's reply to them. The first of these conditions was as follows: "(a) That Her Majesty's Government will agree that the present intervention shall not form a precedent for future similar action, and that in future no interference in the internal affairs of the Republic will take place." Mr. Chamberlain's answer to this was, of course, that the British Gov- ernment hoped that by "the fulfilment of the promises made and the just treatment" of the Outlanders, no intervention would be rendered necessary; but inasmuch as the Colonial Secretary had avowedly taken all his action in intervening "under the Conventions/* it would have been virtually confessing that he had no right to intervene now if he gave the absolute promise never to do so again. He held that the Conventions covered this case, and would compel similar action if a similar case recurred. Besides, the British Government had held that in this instance they were protecting their subjects from injustice in a foreign country, and no civilized power could divest itself of the ordin- ary obligation to do so. The second condition was: "(b) That Her Majesty's Government will not further insist on the assertion of the suzerainty, the controversy on the subject being allowed tacitly to drop." This referred to a long discussion in long despatches earlier in the year in which Mr. Reitz had very ably argued that Great Britain had now no form of suzerainty over the Transvaal, referring to the London Convention (1884) and Lord Derby's assertion that "suzerainty" had been withdrawn ; Mr. Chamberlain claiming that he agreed with the same, Lord Derby's speech in the House of Lords, that, while the word was dropped, the substance was retained. Mr. Reitz had at last founded his claim regarding the absolute non-existence of suzerainty upon this one fundamental assertion, that the South African Republic, independ- ently of the language of any or all Conventions, is a "sovereign, interna- tional State," All this Mr. Chamberlain had then most strenuously cle- DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. 619 nied, and he could not now in August agree even to the appearance of modifying his position on that fundamental question. The third con- dition (c) was that a plan of arbitration should be at once set on foot, to come into operation as soon as the proposed Franchise Bill should become law. To this Mr. Chamberlain heartily agreed. He added, unfortunately, an irritating paragraph about "other matters of difference" which would have to be settled concurrently with those now under discussion, and which were not proper subjects for reference to arbitration. Mr. Reitz of course concluded naturally that the rejection of even one of the conditions which he had described as essential, amounted to rejection of the entire proposal, and involved recurrence to the discus- sions which preceded it. The Transvaal Government considered that the proposal had lapsed, but was surprised, it "could never have antici- pated that the answer of Her Majest3^'s Government to their proposal would be unfavorable." It now proposed to go. back to Mr. Chamber- lain's plan of, appointing a joint-commission to consult regarding the operation of the seven years' Franchise Law, which was now passing into actual operation. But this, in a despatch dated September 9, the Colonial Secretary declined to do. This is undoubtedly one of the steps at which his procedure is most open to criticism. It looks as if the pro- posal which he made on August 19 he might have accepted when it was made to him again on September 9. He gave two reasons for declining to retrace any steps in the controversy: first, that he was now convinced that the law as passed would not "secure the immediate and substantial representation" of the Outlanders, and needed no commission now to consult over the matter; and, second, that the Transvaal Government, having "themselves recognized that their previous offer might be with advantage enlarged, and that the independency of the South African Republic would be thereby in no way impaired," progress ought to be made in that direction. Mr. Chamberlain therefore now suggested that the Transvaal Government might- repeat this last offer of a five years' franchise (the Bloemfontein minimum) without the conditions attached! This despatch produced a very strong protest from Mr. Reitz, who, arguing the matter in detail, wished to show that his Gov- ernment had in their last proposal gone beyond the line of safety to their Republic; but they had undertaken the risk in order to maintain peace, 620 DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. lie further argued that the British Government had no right to propose that they should agree to the five years' franchise without the con- ditions which to their minds alone made the concession safe; and he re- turns to the proposal made by the Imperial Government for a conference by Joint Commission while deprecating the "making new proposals more difficult for this Government, and imposing new conditions." He con- cludes with a strong and pathetic plea for a return to the idea of "a Joint Commission as first proposed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies in the Imperial Parliament, and subsequently proposed to this Govern- ment and accepted by it." To this Mr. Chamberlain replied on September 22 in a very import- ant despatch, practically the last which the rush of events allowed him to send. He most solemnly assured the Transvaal Government that the British Government had "no desire to interfere in any way with the independence of the South African Republic, provided that the con- ditions on w r hich it was granted are honorably observed in the spirit and in the letter, and they have offered as part of a general settlement to give a complete guarantee against any attack upon that independ- ence." He repeats that the British Government had claimed no rights of interference in the internal affairs of the Transvaal, except those con- ferred by the Conventions and those possessed by every neighboring Government for the protection of its subjects and its adjoining pos- sessions. The despatch concluded with the announcement that as the protracted negotiations of nearly four months had failed, the British Government felt "compelled to consider the situation afresh and to formulate their own proposals for a final settlement of the issues which have been created in South Africa by the policy constantly followed for many years by the Government of the South African Republic." During the weeks which preceded this communication there had been passing between the respective Governments other very important despatches regarding the movements of troops which were taking place. So early as the month of June, the inhabitants of Johannesburg were aware of active movements among the Boers which indicated a prepara- tion for war. So loud and boastful was the talk and so definite the steps taken by the Boers that, while some Outlanders called it "bluff" and did not believe President Kruger would actually fight, others DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. 021 believed the war to be then inevitable and made arrangements for the removal of their families. As the British Government only maintained comparatively small garrisons in South Africa, it became expedient to strengthen those quietly. This work was going on, on a small scale, in July. There was as yet no attempt to throw an army in South Africa which would be capable of invading the Transvaal. That would have been a serious and unfriendly measure, inconsistent with the attitude of the Government even up to Mr. Chamberlain's last despatch as quoted above. But it was the plain duty of the Government to strengthen its defensive position at those points which were most exposed to attack. These were Natal and the portion of Cape Colony near, and including, Kimberley. On August 15th President Steyn of the Orange Free State telegraphed to Sir Alfred Milner to inquire if it was true that Imperial troops were being placed on the southern borders of the Free State. The answer of course was that the "report was entirely unfounded." Sir Alfred added, "I, on my part, receive many reports, which seem to be of a much more substantial character, with reference to the importation of large quantities of munitions of war into the Orange Free State and the general arming of the burghers." This, he said, would warrant "a defensive movement" on the part of the British Government, but none such was in contemplation. To this President Steyn made a curious reply, in which he first denied that unusual military movements or pur- chases were going on in the Free State, and then explained that the "war ammunition" which had been placed in possession of the burghers was intended to reassure the people "against sudden attacks either from natives or from freebooters, numerous reports of which were, and are, in circulation!" The President adds: "I trust, nevertheless, that Your Excellency and Her Majesty's Ministers do not attach any credence to the rash and malicious reports which are brought into circulation prin- cipally by a certain section of the press that designs exist for making an attack on the adjacent British Colonies. I wish to give Your Excel- lency the assurance that such reports are devoid of all foundation." On September 19th Sir Alfred Milner wired to President Steyn to ex- plain that the movement of a regiment to Kimberley and to guard the Orange River Bridge was "in no way directed against the Orange Free State, nor is it due to any anxiety as to the intention of the latter." He 622 DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. adds that, while the Imperial Government still hoped for a peaceful settlement with the Transvaal, they did, in case of disappointment, ex- pect the Free State to preserve a strict neutrality. In return they would "give formal assurances that in that case the integrity of the territory of the Orange Free State will under all circumstances be strictly respected." President Steyn replied in a letter of distrust and resentment. Because Kimberley and the railway line which needed to be protected were near the Free State western border he felt that the movement of troops there might be considered by his burghers as a menace to this state. "If unwished-for developments should arise there- from, the responsibility will not rest with this Government." Still later it was explained that the movements of British troops had been made necessary by the policy of the other Government which had trans- formed the Transvaal "into a permanent armed camp." During the months of August and September extensive and active preparations for war were being made in the Transvaal. The "com- mandeering" of money and property from Outlanders was insisted on. It w r as only after a formal protest from the British Agent at Pretoria that the Transvaal Government desisted from forcing British citizens to take up arms against their own Government. As the weeks passed the excitement grew. At last the order went out that all foreigners must leave the country except those who received formal permission to remain. The railways became congested as crowds of civilians w r ere packed into all kinds of cars and trucks for their long and miserable journey. The Boers showed themselves merciless. All uncertainty was ended when, in the month of October, 1890, Mr. Reitz sent the ultimatum of the Transvaal Government to Sir Alfred Milner. The despatch begins by reciting the history of the controversy, denying the right of Great Britain to intervene with regard to the political standing of her citizens in the Transvaal since that was not named in Article 14 of the London Convention. Then it complains of "an increase of troops on a large scale", which were stationed on the borders of the Republic. This had created "an intolerable condition of things," which the Transvaal Government, for the sake not only of that Republic, but also of all South Africa, desired to end as soon as possible. It makes four demands: (a) that every dispute be settled by arbi- DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. 623 tration; (b) that troops on the borders of the Republic "be instantly withdrawn;" (c) that all reinforcements which had arrived since June 1, 1899, "be removed from South Africa within a reasonable time;" (d) that troops then'on the high seas be not landed in South Africa. An answer was demanded within forty-eight hours. The writer of this knew that the answer could only be war. Mr. Chamberlain answered next day, October 10, informing the Transvaal Government that the conditions demanded by it were such as Her Majesty's Government deemed it impossible to discuss. SUMMARY OF CAUSES OF THE WAR. The preceding chapters of this Book have aimed at presenting to the reader a survey of the forces which have combined to produce this war. First we have on the one side the hatred and dread of the British Gov- ernment by the Boers of the Transvaal, and on the other the irritating and self-complacent vacillations of British policy. No responsible statesman gave to Great Britain a clearly outlined South African policy which could command the general assent of the country. Second, we have as a consequence of these vacillations the feeling of the Boer Government that they could with impunity ignore the provis- ions of the London Convention, especially as to the extension of their borders and commercial relations w r ith the neighboring Colonies. "Third, we have the misgovernment of the Outlanders by the Trans- vaal, a misgovernment which has no reasonable defenders anywhere in enlightened countries. Fourth, we have the confused and blundering policy and the embit- tering influence of Mr. Rhodes, who began by trampling on the true imperialists of South Africa and ended by walking all over the most sacred affections of his own allies, the Dutch. His part and lot in the Raid spread a permanent cloud over all South Africa. Fifth, we have the confessed "hope" of Mr. Reitz and the official organ of the Afrikander Bond that the day would certainly come for the disappearance of the British flag from South Africa, a "hope" which simply cannot have been unconsidered when the two Presidents in collusion built up the military system on which the world gazes with astonishment and admiration to-day. This "hope" fired the zeal of 024 DIPLOMACY AND THE ULTIMATUM. military development, united the two Republics more closely, prevented justice to the Outlanders, who would have defeated it, and strengthened the claim of international sovereignty. Sixth, we have the claim of Great Britain that under the Conventions she had a right to intervene, not in the ordinary self-government of the Transvaal, but when that Government was so mismanaged as to con- stitute a sore injustice to British citizens within the Transvaal and a disturbance to the peace and prosperity of the neighboring Colonies and dependencies of Great Britain. On the other hand we have the claim of the Transvaal Government to be a sovereign international state, a claim which she pushed to the last and which Britain absolutely disallowed. Seventh, we have the distrust of Mr. Chamberlain which President Kruger has cherished ever since he found reason to suspect that the former had beeji privy to the Johannesburg revolution and the Jameson invasion. Beyond all doubt this distrust did very deeply taint and embitter on both sides all the negotiations of all last summer. It had also since 1895 prevented Great Britain from peremptorily forbid- ding the two Republics to make military preparations which could only be directed against herself. Eighth, we have the alliance of the two Republics, which now appears to have been understood as binding the Free State to fight with the Transvaal whenever the latter alleged that its independence was threat- ened. This alliance dragged the Free State, with which Great Britain had absolutely no ground of dispute and no actual dispute, into the des- perate act of invading the Colonies of Natal and Cape Colony. THE BOERS IN THE TRENCHES AT THE TUGELA FACING GENERAL BULLER This picture enables one to understand the complete invisibility of the Boers while fighting, soldiers have returned home wounded in three or four places who 'declare that they have never seen their opponents. British LIEUT.-GEN. SIR CHARLES WARREN G. C. M. G. LIEUT.-GEN. J. D. P. FRENCH A WAGON BREAKDOWN IN A DRIFT BOOK IV. THE BRITISH BOER WAR, 1899-1900. PART II. THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR CHAPTER I. THE INVASION OF NATAL. THE union of the Orange Free State with the Transvaal Republic for the purpose of carrying on this war increased the difficulties of the British, not only by adding thousands of soldiers to the Boer army, but by vastly extending the frontier, which must be at- tacked or defended. If we consider these two States as one, a glance at the map will show how many hundreds of miles comprise the bound- ary line between them and the British possessions. Along the western border we have first Bechuanaland in the north and the Cape Colony from Mafeking down to the Orange Free State". For the southern border we have from near the point where the Kimberley railroad crosses the Orange River right across to Basutoland. From the northeastern bor- der of Basutoland the boundary line extends northwards to the tip of the Natal triangle at Majuba Hill, then eastwards and northwards until the Portuguese territory is reached, a little south of Lorenzo Marquez, near Delagoa Bay. Along the western and northern borders the country may be described in general as consisting of what in America we call prairie lands, which may either be perfectly flat for many long miles or change into a rolling country. This is true of a good part of the southern border of the Orange Free State, but as one goes eastward towards Colesberg and Aliwal North the country be- comes much more hilly. Here and there on these prairie lands are scat- tered strange and characteristic eminences, which often rise quite soli- tary and steep from the level plain and which are known in South Africa as "kopjes." These afford, of course, most valuable shelter for troops, are easily fortified and not easily captured. North of Basutoland there stretches between Natal and the Boer States a long and magnificent range of mountains. These are rugged and steep, some of the peaks rising to many thousands of feet in height. These are crossed at certain points by passes, through which the main roads of communication have been made. 627 628 THE INVASION OF NATAL. Obviously a border like the one last described can be easily fortified and rendered almost impregnable against many thousands of the best trained troops. One of the first questions, therefore, which the world asked when the war was announced by the sending of the Boer ultima- tum to London was, at what point or points in this very extensive border will the invasion, or invasions, be likely to occur? Closely connected with this and with the general problem was the inquiry as to the number of soldiers whom the Boers could muster for their desperate struggle. Estimates varied according to the basis of calculation which was adopted. Some maintained that they could not reach more than 30,000, while a few other extremists put in a number as high as 100,000 men. The latter estimate was avowedly based upon the presumption that the Dutch farmers of Cape Colony could be counted upon to rise in a mass and join their brethren of the north. The safest and most accurate calculation based itself upon the fact that Kruger told Sir Alfred Milner at Bloemfontein that he had only 30,000 burghers exercising the vote. As the total Dutch population of the Transvaal is about 80,000, and the total white population of the Orange Free State is about the same, viz., 80,000, it is safe to calculate that the Free Staters would not put into the field more than the same number of men, namely, about 30,000. This total of 60,000 must undoubtedly be increased by the addition of several thousand foreign volunteers in the Transvaal, and of Boer volunteers from the colonies, which would bring up the total nominal force of the Boers to something near 70,000. But from that must be subtracted all those whom official duty, old age, sickness and other events must have prevented from entering upon active warfare. Further there must be subtracted at least a few thou- sand of the Free Staters who must be retained on their eastern border to watch all movements in Basutoland, prepared to meet a possible invasion by the fierce native Highlanders whom the Dutch have so much cause to dread. If from these and other causes we subtract 15,000 men, we are left with 55,000 as the utmost possible number of soldiers whom the Boers can obtain to send into the field for actual fighting. These 55,000 men are of course, almost all of them, citizen soldiers, men whose ages vary from sixteen to sixty or more, and who have left their farms and their firesides to fight for what they feel to be THE INVASION OF NATAL. . 629 the cause of liberty and justice. Already signs not a few have appeared that many of them have entered upon the war with very little idea either as to the merits of the cause they are defending, or the character of the enemy against whom they are going. Their appearance on the battlefield is a pathetic fact, one that has stirred the blood and drawn forth the sympathy of -innumerable citizens of other lands, not even excluding that England against whom they fight. Whether their cause in the main be right or wrong these Boers as individuals have attracted the deepest interest of open-minded and intelligent men and women throughout the world. The plan adopted by the Boers very soon showed itself to consist in a simultaneous advance on the British territory at three or four dif- ferent points. The first and most important attack, that which absorbed by far the largest part of their forces, was made upon Natal. Another small force, estimated at various numbers from 3,000 to 5,000, was directed against Mafeking, the northernmost town in Cape Colony. Another larger force of at least 5,000 was sent to invade the very im- portant town of Kimberley. Several other commandos crossed the border at several points between Kimberley and Basutoland, their object being to occupy some of the northern colonial towns, to reach and interfere with railway communication from the south, and to destroy the bridges across the rivers. Even before the war began it was known that the Boers were ar- ranging their forces for the prompt and vigorous invasion of Natal, accordingly the British authorities had been most earnestly urged to hasten sufficient troops to that colony to resist such an invasion. The Boers had three reasons very probably for concentrating their most powerful attack upon this region. In the first place Natal is rich, its farm lands are prosperous, and an enemy who should suddenly descend upon it would find it comparatively easy to support his soldiers by loot- ing among the inhabitants. In the second place Natal has a very small proportion of Boers among its inhabitants; accordingly the invading army would not feel that they were fighting against kinsmen or robbing fellow Afrikanders for the support of the troops. In the third place, Natal is on the sea coast, and if the final victory, 630 THE INVASION OF NATAL. as man}- of the Boers expected, should be theirs they would be able to make a very strong claim for an extension of their territory to the sea-coast. This long cherished and deep-felt ambition would give them at once a status among the nations which they never can possibly reach while they exist even as an independent and self-governing com- munity surrounded on every side by British territory. The British authorities who had not been idle although they had not entered with any conspicuous vigor upon the task of gathering troops in South Africa, had sent a few regiments in response to the appeal of the Natal government to Durban, and these, under the com- mand of a brilliant Indian soldier, Sir George Stewart White, had been massed for the most part at the town of Ladysmith, which is about 135 miles from the sea-port of Durban. The importance of Lady- smith arises from the fact that at this point tAVO main roads from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal meet and become one road to Pieterrnaritzburg and Durban. If the General decided to prevent the junction of the Free Staters and the Transvaalers it must be at this point. In order to do this he sent forward about four thousand men to occupy the town of Dundee, about thirteen miles farther north. This section of his force was placed under General Sir William Penn Symons, who made a camp for it between Dundee and the railway junction at Glencoe. These were the men who first felt the full brunt of the force which the Transvaal sent into Natal. The Boer's plan of campaign was very wisely conceived, and if only it had been as thoroughly carried out the small British force might very speedily have been destroyed. The general plan arranged for an in- vasion of Natal by three columns. The western column was to go from the Orange Free State, passing through Van Reenens Pass and the Tintwa Pass. This column consisted of Free State and Transvaal sol- diers intermixed. The main central column was commanded by General Joubert himself, assisted by General Erasmus. It came through the pass known as Laing's Nek, almost under the shadow of sad Majuba Hill, and through Mt. Prospect, where Sir George Colley had his camp before the fatal battle in which he fell, eighteen years ago. Another force under General Lucas Meyer invaded the Transvaal by a road cross- ing the border farther east. The two last columns concentrated on the THE INVASION OF NATAL. 631 town of Newcastle, which they occupied, then they moved southwards upon Glencoe. Their movements were rapid but not well timed, the result being that at the critical moment when their leading force came in contact with the garrison at Glencoe it had not met and was unsup- ported by the largef force on which its movements depended for success. The First Battle of the War. On October 20, 1899, General Yule announced from Dundee that the first battle of the war had been fought and won by the British. To the east of the town of Dundee there rises a steep hill at a distance of more than 5,000 yards. The hill itself, which is variously named Dundee Hill, Smith's Hill and Talana Hill, is nearly 1,000 feet in height from the level of the camp. It stands close to a road which enters Dundee from the east. It was evidently the purpose of General Joubert to have one portion of his force approach on this road and occupy the hill, while he coming on the straight road from the north should attack the left flank of the British force. On Thursday afternoon and evening, October 19th, the British became aware that actual fighting had begun. Their pickets throw r n out at some distance from the town discovered the movements of stealthy Boer skirmishers in the valley, and from time to time through the night shots were interchanged. It was not until the daylight of Friday morning, October 20th, had dawned that General Sir W. Penn Synions and his troops discovered the true state of matters. The Boers had during the previous evening and night carried out a most daring and effective movement. They had dragged some heavy guns to the top of that hill and were there gathered in force, apparently sure that they were safe from capture. They an- nounced their triumphal movement in a very startling way by firing a shell right over the town of Dundee, which lay between them and the camp. That was the first intimation which General Symons had of their clever maneuver and their powerful position. A number of shells were fired, which fell harmlessly outside the camp. One only exploded on an open space within the camp without doing much damage. Against the glow of the morning sky dim figures of many men could be descried on the hill-top, moving hurriedly about. No one knew or 632 THE INVASION OF NATAL. could guess what their numbers were, nor how many guns they had dragged to the hill top. Accordingly the British forces had to begin with their artillery, whose firing was intended not merely to silence the guns, but if possible to reveal the strength of the enemy. For some time the battle consisted of an artillery duel, which resulted, however, in the silencing of the Boer guns. An eye witness says that the British shells, fired with remarkable precision, broke into little balls of white smoke, as it seemed from a distance, right among the enemy. Under cover of this accurate artillery fire the infantry moved forward towards the foot of the hill. -Those chosen for this daring and momentous work were the King's Royal Rifles, the Dublin Fusileers and the First Royal Irish Fusileers. These moved out in open array in order to present as small a mass at any one point for the Boers to aim at as possible. Having reached the foot of the hill they began to climb, pausing as they moved up to fire at the Boers, who were raining down rifle balls upon them. Scrambling and pushing up the hard and stony steep they reached a wall running round the hill, said to be about half way from the summit of the hill. In spite of the heavy artillery fire and the steady rifle shooting of the British the Boers returned again and again to the outer edge of the hill and fired with terrific effect upon the men who were storming their citadel. In the meantime General Symons moved with his staff to the right of his advancing force and there waited for his chance to charge round the hill. Another battery had been moved leftwards to the north of the hill in order to intercept the re-enforcements which Joubert, who was only a few miles off with thousands of soldiers more, was sending hurriedly forward. This battery opened fire with such effect as, to arrest for a time the advance of the new troops. It was long after mid-day, after seven or eight hours of incessant fighting, that the British infantry were about to make their last dash from the cover of the wall which protected them awhile to the top of ( the bravely defended hill. They went with a will. Many of them dropped, shot dead or wounded by the Boers, just as they reached the crown of the hill, but the thoroughly disciplined and seasoned regulars of the British army could not be thrown into confusion by the fall of their comrades. With their own irresistible cheer and rush they threw THE INVASION OF NATAL. 633 themselves upon the now disordered forces of the Boers, who were hur- rying downwards to reach their horses and take to flight. As the fugi- tives approached the level they were attacked by the squadrons that had been sent round both the right and the left of the hill, some mounted infantry on the left chasing them until they were met by re- enforcements that were hastening to their succor. One of these squad- rons, as afterwards became known, having pushed too far in its eager- ness, found itself surrounded by the enemy and all were taken prisoners. The Boers had evidently no idea that they would be driven so quickly from the hill, for not only their guns, but also a large number of their wagons and supplies, fell into the hands of the British. At first it was imagined that this reverse would throw the Boers into despondency, so complete and by the Boers so evidently unexpected, was the victory which had been gained. The event did not, however, produce this result, although it would appear from news that subse- quently leaked out that the Boers were surprised at the terrific force of the British charge. The battle of Majuba Hill was actually reversed. But the result was insignificant in this case as compared to the other, for here the defeated Boer force w r as able to fall back immediately upon the main forces from the north and from the northeast, which had now united and were moving southwards in seemingly countless numbers. On the other hand the victory gave great hope undoubtedly to the vic- tors. They found themselves opposed by people acknowledged to be among the bravest men and the best rifle shots in the world, and alike the officers and privates had proved themselves possessed of a swift energy and a steel-like courage. From the point of view of military tactics this victory, while it could not prevent, would undoubtedly for a brief time check the advance of General Joubert. This check interfered with the original plans for concentration with the Orange Free State forces upon Ladysmith. The victory at Dundee made possible the next victory at Elandslaagte. The latter again in turn made possible the hurried retreat of the forces from Dundee, and the union with the main body of the British troops at Ladysmith. The victory of the British was bought at a, heavy price in that General Symons fell, mortally wounded. He lay for a few days in a hospital in Dundee, and received every attention that was possible, 634 THE INVASION OF NATAL. but the wound was in a vital part and no recovery was possible. He died on Monday afternoon after his army had left the camp, and was laid to rest close to the little Episcopal church on Tuesday morning without the usual military honors; no guns were fired, no military dis- play took place. A few medical officers and a few civilians, with the English clergyman, surrounded his grave. The command of the troops at Glencoe passed into the hands of General Yule. The Second Battle. In the meantime another battle had been fought farther south. Sir George White, with 4,000 or 5,000 men, occupied a camp close to the town of Ladysmith, whose importance we have already pointed out. His eyes were directed chiefly towards the west, whence he expected to hear of the arrival of the large forces from the Orange Free State, but he discovered that a few miles north of his camp railway communication with Glencoe had been cut off. A scouting party discovered that a Boer force had captured the railway station at Elandslaagte, seized a train loaded with provisions for Glencoe, and was intrenching itself in a very strong position on a hill several hundreds of feet high and about a, mile and a half southeast of the railway station. This force had evidently taken the direct and shorter route from Newcastle in the far north instead of going round by Glencoe and Dundee. Its object was to cut off communication between the two British camps and find a strong position where the Boer troops could gather for the purpose of inter- cepting any attempted British retreat from the north or advance from the south. Sir George White immediately saw the enormous import- ance of driving this force from the position which they had occupied. Accordingly the morning of the 21st was occupied in moving his troops out to the scene of the expected battle. It was not until about half-past three o'clock in the afternoon that the train conveying his heavy guns and infantry soldiers reached a spot opposite the hill on which the enemy were entrenched. The latter occupied with their guns two small hills which formed spurs on each side of the central "kopje." On the latter the main force of the Boers was placed. As soon as the Boers caught sight of the THE INVASION OF NATAL. 635 British guns they opened fire upon the train. Their attack was briskly returned. The British prepared to take their heavy guns across the open ground between the railway and the Boer's strong- hold. This was done by making short, rapid dashes forward and stop- ping to shell the Boer guns into silence. Every time they were silenced another swift move forward was made. The Boers on their side fought with a courage which woke the surprised admiration of the gallant General opposed to them. The extraordinary precision of the British guns scattered them from their guns time after time, but as soon as the forward movement of their foes began the Boers returned and trained their guns once more upon the advancing artillerymen. The Boers sent out from each side of the hill mounted infantry, intending with them to attack each flank of the British troops, but they were met with equal courage and did not succeed in turning the flank of the enemy. At last, when dusk was settling over the fearful scene, the moment had come for which the British were all along preparing. The signal was given for those men to move forward who had been chosen to undertake the desperate work of charging up the steep face of that crag and driv- ing the Boer riflemen from their place. Among the well known regi- ments represented in this storming party were the Gordon Highlanders who so recently had sent their name around the world once more, ring- ing with the glory of the charge up the heights of Dargai. in India. It is said that after this charge against the Boers they confessed that the capture of Dargai was child's play compared with that of the hill of Elandslaagte. The Boers do not appear to have expected that their enemy would reach the top of the hill. The withering fire from above made the British two or three times waver for a moment, but each time recovering themselves they resumed the rush forwards and upwards. When they were among the enemy the struggle was over, for the Boers are practically defenseless when it comes to a hand to hand encounter with soldiers drilled to perfection in the use of the bayonet, sword and lance. When the Boers took to flight it was already dark and the lancers charged through and through their ' routed ranks, sending the poor, bewildered men flying in every direction. The Boers lost in this battle the furniture of their camp, some horses and two guns. The train 636 THE INVASION OF NATAL. of supplies which they had captured was recovered as well as nine English prisoners. But for them the most serious loss was in the death of General Kock, one of their most famous leaders, besides a nephew of General Joubert. The British also took prisoner a German of the name of Schiel, to whom is given much of the credit for having drilled the Boer soldiers in the use of large guns. Such a battle could not be fought without severe loss on the side of the attacking party, who, throughout these movements, were exposed both to the cannon and rifle shooting of the enemy. In each of these early battles the world was amazed at the very large proportion of British officers who were shot or wounded. This was said to be due to two causes; the first being that every officer wears a sword and is otherwise clearly distinguished in his uniform from the soldiers under him; the second being that when in charges, made across exposed places the soldiers are ordered to lie down in shelter behind a hillock or a bush, the officer remains on his feet, exposed practically alone to the attention and fire of the enemj 7 . The British learned a les- son from these battles which they quickly put into practice in this very war, for Lord Methuen, commanding the force that advanced to the relief of Kimberley, ordered his soldiers to strip themselves of distinctive features in their uniforms and in the charges which his regiments made it was at once noticed that the proportion of, officers struck was very much smaller. A prisoner taken at one of his battles reported that cer- tain men were set apart by the Boers, whose work it was to deliberately pick out the British officers, and aim at none but them. The result of the brilliant attack at Elandslaagte was to drive the defeated force northwards again, to restore railway communication with Glencoe and make possible that retreat of General Yule which the enormous forces of General Joubert and their repeated and threatening- attacks upon the camp at Glencoe made absolutely necessary. The Retreat of General Yule. If, as has been calculated, General Joubert had brought with him from the north not less than 15,000 men with heavy guns it is quite evident that the 3,000 or 4,000 British soldiers at Glencoe were in emi- THE INVASION OF NATAL. 637 nent danger of being crushed. On Saturday, after the battle of Dun- dee Hill, the Boers again began to gather within the range of the camp. On Sunday they shelled the British camp throughout the day, making it necessary for General Yule to exercise a ceaseless vigilance in moving his troops and keeping them out of danger. On Monday it was decided to make a speedy retreat upon Ladysmith. It must have been very hard for the General to decide that he must leave the wounded, including General Symons, behind him. He must consent to lose his stores of pro- visions and resign~the custody of his prisoners, but these were facts which he faced with as good courage and grace as possible. Later in the afternoon the long and hazardous march began. The most exciting part probably was reached long after dark as they came to a narrow pass through the Biggarsberg Mountains, \vhich is six miles long and could be very easily defended by a small force. To add to the misery of the* situation a very heavy rain fell throughout the night, and the unfortu- nate soldiers had to tramp or ride mile after mile in the dark, cautiously, anxiously, drenched with rain and no doubt depressed in spirit by the mere fact that they were retreating. General Yule was wise and careful enough not to choose the direct road but to make a detour eastwards, which considerably increased the length of his march, but put him beyond the reach of any forces which might attack him from the east. Sir George White heard of the retreat and the direction taken, and at once determined to cover the retreat by moving some part of his force northwards so as to prevent the Boers from trying to intercept General Yule. On Tuesday, October 24th, he discovered the enemy seven miles out in a strong position west of the road. The firing consisted entirely in the use of artillery, in which the British proved themselves superior, and the enemy retired westwards. On the Wednesday General White found that his army from the north had reached the Sunday's Kiver, and was resting there for awhile. It was not until noon on Thursday, Octo- ber 26th, that General Yule's army marched into Ladysmith, after another night of heavy rain. The men were worn out but in good spirits, and no doubt thoroughly thankful that their enterprise had not received any check. Up to this point in these operations it w^s evident that the Boers, while defeated in single battles, had yet on the whole succeeded in so 63$ THE INVASION OF NATAL. far as having now driven the north column in upon Ladysmith, they were able to gather their own various columns together unmolested, and to make plans for surrounding and bombarding the British force in the camp at Ladysmith, as also for carrying on their invasion of Natal southwards along the railway line towards Pietermaritzburg and Durban. These operations were carried on with considerable skill and with great rapidity of movement. The Boer forces streaming in from the Orange Free State and moving in still larger numbers from the north began completely to surround Ladysmith and to occupy the southern road connecting it with Colenso and Pietermaritzburg. It is not yet perfectly clear why Sir George White settled down in this place. No situation could have been found more open to attack, for the town lies in a hollow and is surrounded in every direction with the charac- teristic kopjes of South Africa. One reason given is that there had been collected at Ladysmith an enormous amount of stores both of provi- sions and ammunition, which were far too valuable to be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy. Another and more probable theory is that Sir George White had been as ill-informed as the rest of the British generals at that time regarding the real strength of the enemy, both in numbers and in armament. Otherwise he surely would have kept moving southwards, occupying one vantage point after another and presenting to the Boer forces a stern and successful resistance, such as they have since presented to the British. If he had crossed the Tugela and en- trenched himself on the south banks he might have for a long time pre- vented their crossing and kept his communications open southwards and seawards. The unwelcome fact had soon to be accepted by the British that Sir George White was surrounded in Ladysmith and that a prolonged siege had begun. THE SIEGE OP LADYSMITH. During the earlier movements of the Boers Sir George White showed great enterprise and activity, and made a number of successful sorties which were daily hailed throughout the British world as striking vic- tories, presaging a speedy termination of the war. Pride was tempered., however, and hope was somewhat clouded by one or two unfortunate THE INVASION OF XATAL. , 639 incidents. The chief of these was undoubtedly the disaster at Nichol- son's Nek on Monday, October 30th. As a part of a general attack upon all the enemy's important positions Sir. George White sent a force of 1,200 men to occupy a point of vantage known as Nicholson's Nek. The troops carried the usual amount of ammunition and had with them wag- ons hauled by mules bearing larger guns and reserve supplies of ammu- nition. It is said that the Boers succeeded in stampeding the mules by rolling down rocks upon them and that they were startled in any case by the sudden shock of rifle fire. They left the troops dismayed and de- nuded of part of their reserves. When morning dawned the column were fiercely attacked but held their own, expecting reinforcements to arrive speedily. These for some reason or another were not sent and the men at last surrendered. The whole story is still clouded in mystery. Why they could not retreat earlier is not known. Whether or not their ammu- nition was really exhausted is not yet absolutely certain. It is even affirmed that the surrender was due to an error on the part of a subor- dinate officer who, finding himself out of sight of the rest, with only a few companions, imagined himself to be isolated and raised the white flag which committed the entire force to the laying down of their arms. The real incidents have yet to be discovered which made it possible for the Boers without much expenditure of life to take about 1,200 officers and men as prisoners to Pretoria. In other directions also Sir George White's forces were on this disastrous day driven back. When the news of Nicholson's Nek reached the European world all generous hearts were stirred to admiration by the form in which Sir George White made the report. Instead of blaming his men or his subordinate officers, he gal- lantly took the entire responsibility for the misfortune upon himself, asserting that the disaster was due to a miscalculation, for which he was alone responsible. It was a fortunate event that the very day before the road to the south was finally closed the naval guns from H. M. S. Powerful arrived at Ladysmith, which were subsequently of such enormous importance to the beleaguered army. These guns being magnificently manned and able to carry an explosive shell with great accuracy of aim a distance of 8,000 yards, proved indispensable. Sir George White was then able to keep the big guns of the Boers at a very great distance; and that gave 640 THE- INVASION OF NATAL. him considerable range of territory within which to operate his troops, to preserve their health and to feed their horses. Without these guns they would have been more closely hemmed in and the siege would un- doubtedly have ended in disaster. During the early part of November the British made several small fights, attacking suddenly and with great force one position after an- other even at a distance of several miles from the town. They were of course unable to hold these permanently, and the positions which they captured were, as a rule, speedily reoccupied by the enemy. On Novem- ber 9th the Boers made their first combined effort to overwhelm the British forces. In every direction they were successfully repulsed. Humane arrangements had been made between the opposing Generals for the placing of the Ladysmith hospital three miles down on the south- ward road where the wounded, and the women and children also, were placed in safety. During this period General White selected several camps, which he thoroughly entrenched and which proved to be im- pregnable against every assault. The Boers, as we have said, moved southwards. Their movements were rapid and, being unopposed, they speedily covered a considerable amount of territory to the intense alarm of all Natal. Colenso they found practically undefended, and at last they reached the neighborhood of Estcourt. While they were moving towards the latter town there occurred the famous incident of the armored train. From Estcourt there sallied forth on the railroad an armored train filled with one company of the Dublin Fusiliers and one company of the Durban Volunteers. There went with them the correspondent of a London newspaper and son of the late Lord Randolph Churchill, Mr. Winston Churchill. When they had proceeded almost as far as Chieveley the train was suddenly attacked by a force of Boers who succeeded in throwing one car off the rail. A number of British immediately leaped to the ground and under the energetic direction of their officers and the enthusiastic help of Mr. Churchill, proceeded to cut off the engine and the other car; these hur- ried back to Estcourt. It was impossible, however, to take all the men back, and there were left behind two killed, ten wounded and fifty-six who became prisoners. Amongst the prisoners was Mr. Churchill. They were taken immediately to Pretoria, where they still remain all THE BATTLE OF SPION KOP This picture shows the British carrying their dead and wounded comrades down the hill during that terrific struggle. HAULING THE GUNS UP COLES HOP The men of "B" Company, Essex Regiment, thirty men to each rope, ninety in all, dragging up the guns to the top of Coles Kop, 1,400 feet above the plain. THE INVASION OF NATAL. 641 except the enterprising newspaper correspondent. The story of his romantic escape is not yet fully known. It is said, however, that after reading John Stuart Mill on "Liberty" he resolved to seek his own. He obtained a disguise, scrambled over the enclosing fence or wall, walked through Pretoria to the railroad; thence partly by long night marches and partly by using a freight car he succeeded in reaching Portuguese territory, and from Delagoa Bay returned to Durban. It is said that if he had waited one day longer he would have received an order for his discharge from General Joubert, who did not wish to retain a news- paper correspondent as a prisoner. On November 23d the Boers were at Estcourt striving to do for General Hildyard what they had already done for Sir George White. He however proved himself too strong to be isolated. With the help of a supporting force from Weston he drove the Boers back and cleared the road once more as far as Frere. The swiftness of the Boer movements, the comparative immunity which they had enjoyed thus far in their invasion of Natal, roused the most intense excitement not only through- out that colony, but throughout the British Empire. It became evident to all that the Boer army was much more powerful than anyone outside the secrets of the two Republics had ever guessed. Anything in the way of victory seemed for a time to be possible to them. The inhabitants of Pietermaritzburg were panic-stricken and began to prepare themselves for a vigorous defence of the capital city of Natal. General Sir Redvers Buller, who had been appointed Commander of the entire forces in South Africa and who, during the month of Novem- ber, had remained mainly at Cape Town directing his forces northwards to repel the invasion of Cape Colony as well as eastwards to meet the in- vasion of Natal, soon saw that the latter was at the time the most serious problem. In the beginning 1 of December he sailed for Durban and speedily moved to the front. He recognized at once that the situation was extremely grave and dangerous. He resolved not to leave the development of the British defence and the counter attack in Natal to any of his subordinate generals, but to undertake it himself. This deci- sion was undoubtedly a brave one, for it involved General Buller in so close a study of local events in Natal that he was unable to direct affairs powerfully and intelligently in the other distant scenes of invasion and 642 THE INVASION OF NATAL. Battle. His original plan, it is said, had been that which Lord Koberts with slight modifications has now carried out, namely, to invade the Orange Free State from the south with a large army and make straight for Bloemfontein. If he had had enough troops at his disposal, both to withstand any further invasion of Natal and to initiate the invasion of the Free State, he would undoubtedly have carried out that plan. He had to choose, however, between the enormous risk of the successful occupation of the whole of Natal by the Boers and the delay of his original plan by bringing enough troops into Natal to drive the Boers back. He chose the latter course and his decision will probably be felt by all men to have been in the circumstances wise if not indeed obvious and inevitable. At the end of the first week of December General Buller had reached the Frere camp and began operations by moving northwards towards Ladysmith. In the meantime Sir Qeorge White still maintained con- siderable activity. On the night of December 7th he sent out his force eastwards to attack a strong position occupied by the Boers on Lom- bard's Kop. This was a fierce struggle and it ended in victory for the British general. A similar and very successful sortie was made in another direction on December 10th. Of course he lost men, both in killed and wounded, on all these occasions. The British newspapers faithfully printed the names of all who were' cut off by death or wounds or capture, and painfully added up each week the sad and disastrous totals. One of the humorous features of the war has been the extraordinary habit of the Boers of minimizing their losses to a ridiculous extent. The telegrams from Pretoria have usually announced, even after a severe fight, that while the British lost many the Federal forces lost perhaps one killed and two wounded, or four killed and eight wounded. The numbers announced have seldom passed ten or a dozen. The outside world hanot been deceived by the monotonous repetition of these trivial numbers. Most probably their real purpose was not to attempt a de- ception of Europe and America, but to keep the crushing truth from the people of the Transvaal. The Boers, of course, are citizen soldiers who have gone from their farms to this bitter war; and the story of heavy losses would produce a strong reactionary feeling throughout the THE INVASION OF NATAL. 643 homes that heard of loss after loss. President Kruger would have a new war of a new kind to meet within his own territories, if the women and children were told that their fathers and husbands and brothers were falling by hundreds on distant and bloody battlefields. One of the most dismal and, indeed, harrowing features of the war comes into view when one reflects that the organization of the Boer armies prob- ably makes it hard for them to announce in their home newspapers the names of those who are slain or left wounded in distant hospitals. There is a day of terrible despair coming to the Transvaal when its women wake up to the fact that the fearful truth has been hidden from them, and that thousands are bereaved instead of the mere scores that have been reported. The week ending Saturday, December 15th, was one of the darkest in the entire history of the war for Great Britain and all British sym- pathizers. In that one week three great reverses took place which, while they did not materially improve the position of the Boers, dis- turbed the self-confidence of Great Britain and opened for the first time the eyes of the Government to the enormous task which she had assumed. After the defeat of Lord Methuen, elsewhere described, and after the disaster to General Gatacre, the British turned with strong confidence to the movements of General Sir Redvers Buller. It was known that he had taken under his personal charge the large army which now confronted General Joubert on the Tugela at Colenso, only thirteen miles from Ladysmith. It seemed to those war experts and others who regard events from a distance of 6,000 miles a practical certainty that General Buller would be able to carry the positions of the enemy and bring relief to Ladysmith.; The consternation of the world was supreme, therefore, when news came that the British forces had sustained a serious reverse. As the details of the reverse became known its moral significance seem to grow larger and more portentous. It was early on Saturday, December 15th, that General Buller began the attack. The enemy had been for several weeks patiently employed in dragging their guns to advantageous positions and in digging exten- sive intrenchments for their troops. The British seem to have been unaware, even when the battle began, of the position of some of these intrenchments. On the north side of the Tugela the main Boer positions 644 THE INVASION OF NATAL. were established on the face of the hills which were crowned by their guns. East and west their lines extended, in a semi-circle eight miles long, not following the windings of the river very closely, but on the east coming pretty close to the British right. General Barton, with a brigade consisting of four battalions of English, Welsh, Scotch and Irish, re- spectively, was placed here. On the extreme left General Hart's bri- gade, composed mainly of Irish regiments, moved westwards for the purpose of reaching a certain ford, know r n as Bridle Drift. If he could carry that he would turn the enemj-'s right flank as General Barton on the other wing was intended to turn their left. The entire British front measured about six miles. Each wing was supported by heavy guns and in the center on a little hill where stood General Buller and his staff there were placed the naval guns. The battle began about 6 o'clock in the morning. For some time the enemy made no reply to the heavy guns and few of them showed themselves anywhere along the hillsides. At last, how r ever, when the British approached the, river, especially near Colenso, both musketry and heavy guns opened fire. The Boers, however, who lined the river banks remained concealed. Tempted, it is not known yet by what idea, Colonel Long on the right rushed his guns forward beyond his infantry supports. He was allowed to approach until within 600 yards . of the river banks, when sud- denly the Boers sprang to their feet and opened a terrific fire with their Mauser rifles. The drivers and horses were mowed down and the guns had to be abandoned. Several thrilling incidents took place in the at- tempts of the riders and officers to recover some of these field pieces. The only son of Lord Roberts, Lieutenant Roberts, volunteered to make the effort, took with him several companions and tried to haul one of the big guns aw r ay. He was hit and died of his wound not long after. While this was happening on the right General Hart's Irish regi- ments were encountering an opposition as sudden and as terrific on the far left. In spite of the slaughter which took place in their ranks the Irishmen rushed through the river, a few of them drowning in the attempt, and occupied the north banks. If they could have been effectu- ally supported at this time they might have held their own, but as it was they were compelled to withdraw. These two disasters of course made the advance of the center impossible and it became evident to- THE INVASION OF NATAL. G45 wards noon that the elaborate attack of General Buller had ended in disaster. The losses were very serious in men and in guns. While the Boer armies had in this engagement made no headway and revealed no power of successfully attacking the British forces or carrying the invasion of Natal any further, the reverse was most serious because of the effect which it would produce through- out South Africa, encouraging the Dutch to a more hopeful opposition, and depressing the entire British force, and chiefly, of course, the already disappointed troops in Ladysmith. It was not accurately known how much ammunition Sir George White possessed, nor how long his pro- visions would hold out He himself continued to send forth cheerful messages announcing successful sorties in one direction or another, and promised to hold out indefinitely, even for months, if necessary. On January 6th, General Joubert made his supreme effort to reduce General W T hite's army by force. The attack seems to have been elab- orately planned and threatened at one time to be successful. The strug- gle was undoubtedly one of the three or four fiercest which occurred during the first five months of the war. The Boer Commander concen- trated a large part of the troops which held the hills on the Tugela against General Buller, in a movement northwards upon the southern camps of General White. The chief objective points were two camps lying side by side, known as Caesar's Camp and Wagon Hill. The former was reached by the enemy who moved silently and quickly about 3:00 o'clock in the morning^ At 9:00 General White was able to send a message to General Buller that fighting still continued while every- where he had succeeded in holding the enemy off. At mid-day another message was sent which showed that the Boers were conscious of being engaged in a supreme effort. Although driven back they moved for- ward again in great numbers both from the south and north. General White bore witness in his last message that the enemy had pushed their attack with the greatest courage and energy, and the last words which the heliograph could convey that night were the ominous words "Hard Pressed." The Boer armies were determined to capture the intrenchments of Wagon Hill which would bring them close to the main camp and so make their final victory practically certain. Three times during the awful hours 646 THE INVASION OF NATAL. of that long, long day did the enemy charge the intrenchments and drive the British soldiers from them. And three times did the latter, under Colonel Ian Hamilton, return to the attack and drive the enemy back again. One position, which General White did not name, was occupied throughout the day by the enemy, but, as darkness was fall- ing, the soldiers of the Devonshire regiment, led by Colonel Park, ad- vanced against this point. A very heavy rain storm was falling, which thickened the air and made progress very difficult. Nevertheless they charged home with great dash and gallantry and recovered the lost ground. The newspapers had some thrilling stories of the incidents of that day, for during these attacks and counter attacks there must have been heroic deeds as well as ghastly scenes. General White's troops must have fought with a courage of despair throughout those crushing eighteen hours. The impression of the British Commander w r as that the Boers had lost much more heavily than he did, but the usual Transvaal telegram announced that after 15 hours of fighting and facing the withering fire of six batteries and being driven back at all points, they had four killed and 15 wounded! It was reported that the soldiers of the Free State were those who suffered most in this battle. It is easy to criticise after the event, and the Boer Commanders no doubt have their own sad experiences from the war experts who decide at a distance w r hat ought and what ought not to have been done. Some have, it seems, published their theories that General Jou- bert committed a great mistake in making this effort; that it disheart- ened his own men by showing them their inability to attack an enemy even after having held him for two months in a close investment. But General Joubert has quite enough to say on the other side. The very fact that General White felt the strain so severely and that he tele- graphed at one point that he had little hope of holding out, that he w r as "hard pressed," proves that General Joubert while he did fail and did reap the unfortunate fruits of failure, yet had undertaken no foolish and hopeless adventure. During the month of February General Buller made one effort after another to cut into the enemy's lines and deliver the beleaguered army in Ladysmith. Having received the addition of the fifth division, under Lieutenant-General Sir Charles W T arren with 10,000 men, he attempted THE INVASION OF NATAL. 047 to attain his purpose by making a wide movement to the west. First he captured a drift, called Potgieter's Drift, higher up the river than Colenso, and crossed some of his troops at that point. In the mean- time Sir Charles. Warren moved still further west until he reached a ford under a high hill called Spion Kop. His movements here were of course not unopposed by the enemy, who rapidly spread their forces among the hills on the north side of the river westward as far as the British went. Some of General Warren's troops had to cross the river under fire, but they succeeded in doing so and drove the enemy back from the immediate neighborhood of the river. On January 24th Gen- eral W T arreu sent a portion of his troops to attack Spion Kop. Bravely they mounted under the galling fire and when they reached the top they sent the Boers flying down the three sides of the hill. All night they remained there. Efforts were made to secure suitable spots for the implacement of the heavy guns but these could not be dragged up the steep slope. The soldiers strove to dig intrenchments and only par- tially succeeded. This was of course hard work, as they were exposed to a shell-fire from the tops of the neighboring hills to which they could not reply. Under cover of this fire the Boers moved again up the ascent on the south side and firing with accuracy and rapidity they compelled the British to withdraw after a fierce and desperate struggle. General Buller at once saw that this made further advance at that point impossible and he retired with his troops across the river. Once more the British people throughout the world had their ardor damped and their hopes darkened by reverse. Undaunted, General Buller tried again and again to secure a footing on the north side of the Tugela. Every time that he won some point which promised to cut into the enemy's lines, he was compelled to withdraw from it. Gradually he moved his experiments eastwards until, towards the end of February, having driven the enemy back from the ground which they had occupied on the south side of the river during a temporary retirement to re-or- ganize his troops, he once more resumed his way towards Ladysmith. The experts hazarded the guess, and not without reason, that General Buller made these persistent efforts, even when there seemed not much hope of success, under injunctions from Lord Roberts to keep the enemy thoroughly and actively employed. For Lord Roberts had now massed 648 THE INVASION OF NATAL. a large army at De Aar Junction and Modder River, and was preparing for the remarkable turning movement by which he suddenly changed the whole direction and complexion of the war. General Buller was aided in his further attempts to reach Ladysmith by this success in 4 the central scene of war. For the Boer Generals were compelled to deplete their armies in Natal in order to defend the Orange Free State. Day after day General White's men saw the long trains of wagons and troops moving westwards on the road to Van Reenen's Pass. By this time the long confinement, the miserable food and the unsanitary con- ditions had so reduced the energy of the unhappy men that they had no chance of making any attack. They could only wait, ready only for self-defence, but eager for the arrival of their long desired deliverers. In the last week of February General Buller announced that he had dis- covered a ford below the waterfall, had moved some troops across at that point and captured the impending height called Pieter's Hill. The Boers were intrenched in sufficient numbers here to make the battle a long one, lasting for several days, and a fierce one, costing many lives. The British had to press painfully up the hills, making for themselves shel- ters with the innumerable stones and behind the rocks which covered the bare steep sides of the hills. Day and night some of them served in such exposed positions, but at last the height was cleared of the enemy and the road into Ladysmith was under command. In the meantime, as it afterwards turned out, the people in Lady- smith, hearing the British guns drawing closer and closer, watched with chagrin the long line of retreating Boers as they moved westwards towards Van Reenen's Pass. In vain they longed to harass their retreat, for their animals had either been killed for food or were too weak to haul the guns, and the Boers moved beyond their range, steadily and safely. General Buller immediately sent forward Lord Dundonald with his cavalry to explore the road into Ladysmith, fearful lest still the enemy might hold some unknown point of vantage on the way. Carefully they felt along the w r ay while the day ended and darkness deepened. They moved over hill and valley, rocky road and grassy slope as quickly as possible until suddenly pulled up by the challenge of a British picket, "Who goes there?" The thrilling answer was "Ladysmith relief army." A storm of thunder and lightning broke upon the scene, giving strange THE INVASION OF NATAL. 649 fitful and lurid light to the events which took place as the relieving cavalry moved on towards the town. As the news spread rapidly from camp to camp cheer after cheer arose from the half frantic and worn out heroes of the siege. When Sir George White and his staff rode out to meet their deliverers it is said that all were deeply affected. It seemed too good to grasp at last, this which they had hoped for for long, long weeks, which seemed often to approach only again to recede; which had tantalized them with promise and with disappointment. Even the little children were excited, gathering in groups enthusiastic and joyful. It is said that General White passing some of these shouted to them cheerily, "Plenty of sugar and jam now. No more siege rations." The relieving army were saddened and depressed by the appearance of the soldiers whom they saw in the camps around Ladysmith, white- faced, hollow-eyed, weakened men. The story of their experience during the last few weeks must have contained most harrowing details. They are said to have been living on half a pound of meal a day with horse or mule flesh added. More people died of sickness than were killed by the .rifles or shells of the Boers. Latterly there was no means of restoring the vitality of any upon whom disease had fastened its" fangs; to lie down sick meant to die. Among those who died of typhoid fever was the brilliant correspondent, George W. Steevens. The news of the relief of Ladysmith, following as it did the story of the relief of Kimberley and the surrender of General Cronje at Paarcle- berg, awoke enthusiasm throughout the British army and, indeed, throughout the British Empire. Even hostile Europe, jealous of Brit- ain's power, Europe anxious to see Britain humbled, yet dreads to see what she would like to see. For Britain humbled or the British Empire crushed would mean an alteration so profound in international relations throughout the world, that not the wisest political seers can foretell what would follow; no nation would be as it was before and no nation knows in advance what such a disaster to Great Britain would mean to itself. Hostile Europe breathed a sigh of relief and began to say less about intervention. In South Africa the relief of Ladysmith meant the deliverance of Natal. Those portions of Natal which were annexed to the Transvaal and ruled by the Boers for four months, were speedily reoccupied and the colony begun to resume its natural ways again. CHAPTER II. INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. THE united armies* of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were not content with the invasion of Natal, they had reasons also for at once crossing the frontiers into Cape Colony. This they did at various points. In the far west they attacked the town of Mafeking where Colonel Baden-Powell had been busily fortifying his position, which he defended with less than a thousand men. Another column attacked Kimberley, beginning the. siege only three or four days after the declaration of war and quickly making the investment complete. Other forces invaded the Cape Colony from the southeastern corner of the Orange Free State, making for Aliwal North and pushing on even as far as Queenstown. Various commandos were sent across the bor- ders at different points and these proceeded to occupy such places as Vryburg, Taungs, Barkly West, near Kimberley, and Kuruman, the famous mission station. In some of these places only a feeble resistance was presented to the invaders, indeed at several of them the Dutch sym- pathizers were so strong as to compel the loyalists to submit as cheer- fully as possible and allow the enemy to take possession. Kuruman, where a British Resident lives, was besieged for a considerable time and held out with great patience and courage. The beleaguered force was, however, too small and untrained to make a successful defence possible. Wherever the Boers obtained possession of a town or a dis- trict they at once manifested their ultimate purpose by proclaiming its annexation. Evidence is accumulating that in some places where the loyalists fled from their farms, the farms were at once occupied by others who no doubt expected, if their armies triumphed, to hold them as their permanent property. Great confusion was created in these districts by the fact that through these months the territories were treated as practi- cally under the Government of the Federal forces, and that not merely for military but even for civil purposes. 650 THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. G51 THE SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY. Kimberley, just before the attack of the enemy, received for its de- fence a British regiment, commanded by Colonel Kekewich. As soon as war appeared to be imminent the civic authorities began to prepare for the attack which they knew would inevitably be made upon the great diamond town. To add at once to the interest and the complications of the situation Mr. Cecil Khodes hastened from Cape Town to Kimberley and at once made up his mind to remain there to the end. His presence undoubtedly did something to encourage a certain section of the citizens, and he appears to have put great energy into the work of restraining the native population. It has been reported that he set large bands of natives to the task of laying out a new suburb for the town. This * consisted in making- streets and planting trees. One of the avenues the world knows already is to be called "Siege Avenue." Undoubtedly it needed a strong hand and the possession of money to control the thousands of black people who were locked up in the city when the siege began. Most of these did not belong to the town and were there simply as mining laborers on contract for a definite period. If they had got out of hand through the pressure of famine or danger of any other kind it would have been a serious matter for the entire population. At one time it is said that the Boers were asked whether they would allow some thousands of these to pass through their lines, but they, naturally, thinking of their own interests and of the increasing difficul- ties which the presence of the natives made for the inhabitants, abso- lutely refused the request. The town of Kimberley stands on a flat plain and the military author- ities set to work at once to make the best of their position. They had the immense advantage of being able to use the huge heaps of debris from the mines for purposes of fortification, and for making bomb-proof refuges for the women and children. Upon these artificial heights searchlights were placed which not only served to reveal attempted movements of the enemy, but also to flash messages to the British forces under Lord Methuen, some twenty miles away. The citizens provided a large number of volunteers, both for medical service and for active warfare. These, at the very beginning of the trouble, showed them- (552 . THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. selves possessed of all the qualities necessary to make a volunteer force effective. On their first trial summons, by means of signal bells and whistles, they rushed from their homes and businesses to their respective places of rendezvous, astonishing and delighting the Colonel in com- mand with their quickness and courage. In addition to internal means of defence, extensive defences were erected all round the town by means of barb-wire fences, which in this war have been over and over again proved to be so baffling to an enemy. The fighting at Kimberley was less exciting than anywhere else. The forces were not able to make effective sorties on more than one or two occasions, while the Boers w r ere, of course, unable to cross the open plain and come within a distance which would make hard fighting possible. The outside world, therefore, was only able to hear, from time to timo, that all was well, and yet that the distress of the inhabitants was in- creasing week by week as food decreased and as the supplies of water became precarious. The w T omen and little children w r ere, it seems, sent down into the mines or into passages excavated in the debris heaps while active bombardment was proceeding. Altogether 120 people, most of whom were natives, have been reported as killed in the course of the operations. As soon as General Buller was able to gather his troops at Cape Town he sent forward a strong force under General Lord Methuen to undertake the relief of Kimberley. With remarkable rapidity he col- lected his troops on the Orange River, which he was allowed to cross near Hopetown, and then to begin his movements northwards. His first battle was onthe ridges of Belmont. On the morning of November 23rd he sent his troops against the enemy, who were intrenched on the first ridge. He had the good fortune to command a naval brigade, which rendered here as at Ladysmith most important service with their guns. But the brunt of the battle was borne by his infantry, whom Lord Methuen sent in frontal attack to capture one after another of three ridges in succession. Each time his own men suffered severely but swept up the steep ascent and, bayoneting the enemy, drove them back with irresistible force and most brilliant courage. The Boers, as Lord Methuen confessed, fought both with courage and skill, so bravely in- deed that it was evident if they had had time to intrench themselves THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. 653 more thoroughly the British losses would have been far greater. In three days he had moved forward to another station on the railway line called Graspan, and here on the 25th, at 6 o'clock in the morning, he began his second battle. It was calculated that about 2,500 Boers with six guns and two machine guns were ready to meet him. Once more the fighting was desperate, but once more the Boer forces were compelled to retire. A minor fight at Honey Nest Kloof completed the opening of the railroad to the Modder River. Once across the Modder River it seemed as though Lord Methuen would speedily be able to reach Kimberley, which was only about twenty miles farther north. He was allowed to cross and found himself confronted by the enemy who occupied a long high kopje, at Magersfontein. Lord Methuen made up his mind "on December llth to carry this new position, and was naturally tempted to do it in somewhat the same way as that which had proved so successful on former occasions. His attack was evidently very carefully planned. The enemy before him were intrenched on their heights, and it was his object to turn their left wing so as at once to cut off their retreat to the Orange Free State and to open the direct road to Kimberley. The form of his attack which ended in disaster has been ever since that fatal day a subject of con- stant discussion and criticism. Criticism concentrates itself upon the use which he made of his magnificent Highland brigade, which was under the command of General A. G. Wauchope, one of the ablest and most popular officers in the British army. The fighting began with an attempt to surprise the enemy on the British right by a forward march before daybreak. The Highlanders were sent forward with a view of reaching the trenches and using their bayonets before the Boers could leap to their feet and use their Mauser rifles. Various war correspond- ents have described in a most thrilling manner the experiences of that strange and awful morning. Some of the soldiers lost their way in the dark; the main body moved straight forward, but through some acci- dent gave warning to the enemy, who immediately turned the search- light upon them. There stood disclosed to the Boer soldiers the High- landers moving in close formation a very short distance away. It was the work of a moment for the defenders of the trenches to leap to their feet and pour in upon the almost solid mass of blinded, startled, dis- 654 THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. ordered men a terrific and annihilating rifle fire. Scores of Highlanders fell and amongst them their magnificent and inspiring leader himself. Even as he lay, with bullets in him, he cheered on his brave fellows. It is said, and the incident has added largely to the intense feeling of the public throughout the civilized world, that General Wauchope deprecated the movement upon which he was sent, and as they set out in the dark to attack an enemy they could not see and whose strength they -did not know, he protested to his men that they must not blame him for the mad adventure. However that be, mad adventure it un- doubtedly was.. When daylight broke gradually upon the wide ex- tended battlefield it was to show that some miles to the left Lord Methuen had sent his cavalry, his mounted infantry and a battery, and that they were doing their best to get at the enemy on their side. All day long the battle raged, time after time the Highlanders were sent forward to attack the enemy in their trenches and among the trees where they lay hidden. It was a fearful thing to watch the baffled men go back at the word of command in open formation, moving forward without being able to see the enemy, to watch them as they came near the dreaded line and began to fall one by one. Those who survived moved on with short rushes or cast themselves on the ground, until at last the bravest heart rebelled against the useless and maddening sacri- fice and turned to move slowly to the starting point, looking over his shoulder sternly yet fearfully every moment as if to see what was hap- pening, or if anything was moving among the horrid trees that concealed the secret of death. Lord Methuen summed the day's work up when he announced that the attack had failed and that his loss was great. Next day he was compelled to retire and moved back to his camp on the Modder River. He had succeeded in taking some prisoners, who told him that his enemies had also lost heavily under the searching fire of shrap- nel and the shock of lyddite shell. The news of this reverse struck horror and shame to the hearts of the British everywhere. It was the first of a series of most humiliat- ing reverses. It was still hoped that Lord Methuen might be able to develop some form of attack which would turn the enemy's flank and enable him to reach his destination, and as news came at intervals, time after time, of movements made by certain of his cavalry forces west- THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. 655 wards even as far as Douglas the hope of a general advance was always reawakened. Nevertheless the weeks and months passed and Lord Methuen was unable to make another effort, beyond continuing long range firing upon the trenches of the Boers. In the meantime the latter made their mountain like a fortress. They made tunnels and deep, wide trenches through which their men and even their guns- were moved with great rapidity unseen by their enemy. It would appear that General Cronje, who here commanded the Boers, was so sure of victory that he allowed his people to bring women and children in their wagons and these lived with the army through all the weeks until the 14th of February. The result of these reverses in Great Britain was the arousing of the entire nation and all its colonies to fresh and extraordinary exer- tions. It was resolved at once to send out 50,000 more men with full equipment, and to dispatch Field-Marshal Lord Roberts as Commander- in-Chief, with Lord Kitchener as his Chief of Staff. The appointment of these two brilliant Generals was received with great enthusiasm throughout the British Empire, and was considered by the Boer leaders as a great compliment to their armies, their skill and their prowess. Lord Roberts is peculiarly beloved throughout the British army and is usually spoken of by his soldiers as "Bobs" or even as "Little Bobs." He was born in India, where his father was in service before him, and he himself spent 41 years in India, whose history he has described in two large, important and fascinating volumes. He was one of the younger heroes of the mutiny, when he displayed undaunted courage; and he earned the Victoria Cross while yet a young Lieutenant. His pro- motion was steady and he passed from grade to grade until he reached his present position of supremacy in the military world of the British Empire. He was noted from the beginning not only for his brilliant ability as an officer but for his geniality and wisdom as a man. He is at once a stern fighter, a genius in strategy and a diplomatist of the first order. His appointment to South Africa was almost coincident with the news of the death of his son at the battle of Colenso, and he himself is far on towards 70 years of age. But at the call of his country he accepted the huge responsibility laid upon him and proceeded speed- ily to the Cape. 65G THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. Lord Kitchener was in the Soudan of course and there received his appointment by telegram. With the promptitude and energy of his unique personality he started immediately and was able to join the ship on which Lord Roberts sailed, when it called at the island of Madeira. Lord Kitchener's portrait has been once for all clearly and almost startlingly set forth in George W. Steevens' rapid but powerful sketches entitled "With Kitchener to Khartoum." Lord Kitchener is yet under 50 years of age and has spent nearly all his military life in Palestine and Egypt. He is beyond all others the organizing genius of the British army. Mr. Steevens shows that the subjugation of the Soudan was due to Lord Kitchener's extraordinary power of organization. Patiently, silently he prepared all the steps necessary not only for smashing the terrific Dervish army, but also for henceforth holding the Soudan. He it is upon whom Lord Roberts relies for attending to every detail in the vital department of transport. No stronger combination could have been found by any country than that which is presented in the brains of these two men, and the events in South Africa which immediately followed their arrival on the scene of operations fully vindicated their appointment in combination. Lord Roberts as soon as he arrived began to show T his power as a diplomatist. He selected his body guard from colonial troops, he issued a proclamation announcing at once the firm determination of Great Britain to win in the struggle against an enemy who had invaded her territories, but also announcing the clemency of the British authorities, their desire to injure no one unnecessarily, to conduct the war humanely and even to treat rebels with consideration if they should surrender. He has made several other proclamations which have all tended to as- suage bitterness and to create confidence in the integrity of Great Britain. He delivered a remarkable speech to the Highland Brigade which suffered so terribly at the battle of Magersfontein. In this speech he said that the Highlanders had made him; that he had never yet fought without having Highlanders as a portion of his force, and that he relied upon them most thoroughly to aid him in this struggle. No appeal could possibly have been more thrilling and eloquent than that which he thus addressed to his trusted Highland troops, smarting from their sore experience at Magersfontein. There can be little doubt that every THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. (357 man of them would willingly rush into any struggle at the command of Lord Roberts. It may be said that the Highland Brigade was by this time placed under the command of General Hector Macdonald, another of the most popular heroes of the British army. He began his career as a private soldier, the son of a poor farmer in the north of Scotland. He early distinguished himself for his intrepidity and was marked out by Lord Roberts for advancement. His extraordinary courage 'as well as his power as a leader of men won for him his promotion and appoint- ment as a commissioned officer. He has fought in many wars and seen many desperate fights. It is said that on one occasion he was one of two men who out of a little company of nineteen alone survived a terrific fight on an exposed position. He was on Majuba Hill also on- that fatal day and resisted to the last. It is said that one Boer who approached him was knocked down with his fist, and another was about to shoot him when a third, a wounded Boer, threw up his gun, saying, "Do not shoot him, for this is a brave man." He was in the Soudan campaign under Lord Kitchener, and there again he fully maintained the reputation which has earned the sobriquet of "Fighting Mac." Several weeks passed during which the two Generals were busy with preparations necessary to reorganize the scattered forces as well as to educe out of the confusion some unity of plan and purpose. During this period Lord Roberts remained at Cape Town. At last early in February it was announced that he had gone to the front, and men's hearts all over the world beat quicker as they read the news. He pro- ceeded to the Modder River, where he had without any display gathered a large army. He summoned to his side General French, who had dis- tinguished himself by his cavalry operations in the Colesberg district, and gave into his charge a large cavalry brigade, which immediately proved to be of immense power. He sent occasional parties westward and allowed General Oonje to believe that the fight would be continued on the lines marked out by Lord Methuen, that his main purpose was to move directly on the railway line towards Kimberley, probably to pass on towards Mafeking. But on February 13th he began a series of swift movements in an easterly direction, which fairly startled both the enemy and the entire world that was keenly watching developments. 658 THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. General French was sent forward with a large force of cavalry to cross the Modder River at a drift considerably to the east. This force was followed. up by others, which were accompanied by Lord Roberts him- self and his staff. He moved his headquarters camp to Jacobsdahl, from which the enemy had been driven. He was now in the Orange Free State and the inhabitants were surprised to find that the British soldiers did not loot their homes and help themselves to everything in their stores. On the contrary perfect order prevailed., At every shop- door a British sentry was posted and no one was allowed to take any- thing except for payment. In the meantime the advance troops had made their way forward. General French swept one small party after another from before his path and then with a sudden dash struck north- westward, and before the enemy realized or could defeat his purpose he was at Kimberley, and the besieged town was relieved! General Cronje had no doubt made up his mind for a very fierce battle and was determined to occupy the positions which he had made so strong at Magersfontein, but when the news came that Lord Roberts' army was on the left cutting him off from the Orange Free State and that General French had started for Kimberley it became evident that his position was desperate indeed. Hurriedly, on that dark night, the active and energetic Boer commander gathered all his forces together and struck out eastward. His convoy was hauled by slow T -going oxen which hampered his movements exceedingly. Through the dark they pushed on and on, the tired oxen lashed and lashed again to make them drag their weary steps. It is said that they were compelled to cover during that night and the next day no less a distance than thirty miles, an ox-wagon journey that can hardly have been excelled in all South African history. General Cronje slipped through between the rear of General French's force and the advance guard of Lord Roberts's main army. It is said that the latter were detained by a drift which was deeper than they expected to find it, and that if this had not been the case the gap which allowed General Cronje to pass through would never have existed. At Kimberley, of course, rejoicings filled the air with great shouts and songs of triumph. The beleaguered inhabitants had for some time suffered great distress from lack of food. Thev had been reduced to -THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. 659 horseflesh, at which it is said the women and children fairly sickened. Nevertheless the town itself remained as a whole in good health, there being but little fever and the water supply having been maintained. Lord Roberts made a hurried visit to the town, where he at once authori- tatively set some tilings right that evidently had been confused by an attempted struggle for authority between the Colonel in command and certain civilians. Mr. Rhodes held a meeting of the De Beers Com- pany, at which he spoke with enthusiasm and high hope of the issue and results of the war, and asserted that "the greatest commercial asset in the world" is "Her Majesty's flag." In the meantime Lord Roberta's army was in pursuit of the Boer army, who were overtaken on the Modder River, where they had seized the banks and intrenched themselves near Paardeberg. Lord Roberts speedily surrounded them and attempted reinforcements were beaten off in detail by General French's swift and resistless cavalry. For the first time the Boer commanders found themselves confronted on open ground with cavalry forces as mobile as their own. In every direc- tion in which they moved they were outwitted and their advance was checked. General Cronje held out for ten days while "all the world wondered." His people burrowed holes in the banks of the river, where they took refuge beyond the reach of danger. General Roberts placed his guns so as to command the entire Boer camp, which at first measured about a mile square. By night and day a terrific bombardment took place, which must have resulted in the deaths of many, but which prob- ably produced more terror than actual destruction of human life. It was said that General Cronje himself desired to surrender but was restrained by his younger men. On the other hand some of the pris- oners afterwards declared that he ought to have surrendered sooner than he did, and that holding out had meant a needless sacrifice of life and needless misery to his people. There were women and children in considerable numbers in that terrible camp throughout all the fierce and crushing terrors of those da} T s. No doubt General Cronje was encour- aged to hold out by the hope that reinforcements would be able to reach him and as he heard the sounds of fighting from time to time he was led on day after day by this hope. At last on the night of the 26th, some of Lord Roberts's troops, which included the Canadian volunteers, G60 THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY, reduced the distance between them and the camp from 600 to 200 yards. This was done by brilliant work on the part of the Canadians during the night, and they held their position, where they had intrenched them- selves, the next day with magnificent determination. This seemed to take the heart out of General Cronje and his advisers. On the morning of February 27th the Boer General sent a letter to Lord Roberts in which he stated that he surrendered unconditionally. Lord Roberts then demanded that he himself must appear at the British camp and that his forces must lay down their arms and come out of their laager. This accordingly was done. The General walked out and was met by his victorious enemy with great courtesy and kindness, his first words being, "I am glad to see you, sir. You are a brave man." The dejected Boer leader asked for kind treatment, and also asked that wherever he was to be sent his wife and grandson, his private secretary and others might be sent with him. All his requests were promptly complied with, and he was conveyed to Cape Town under the charge of a Major-General, who handed him over to the General-in-Command at that place. The pris- oners, who numbered nearly 4,000, were sent in detachments in the same direction. Needless to say, this event produced immense joy throughout Great Britain, while the Boers and their friends everywhere appreciated the significance of the disaster to their interests. The fact that the surrender occurred on the anniversary of the battle of Majuba Hill could not fail, of course, to awaken various feelings according to the character to men. Perhaps those who make war their profession and to whom military pride is very dear, may in some measure be forgiven for their joy over the fact that in this w r ay Majuba had been, as they would say, avenged. Nevertheless, there are multitudes of Britons to whom thoughts of vengeance even in connection with the war are for- bidden, and who deprecate the suggestion that Great Britain is seeking to recover any honor that she lost on that distant and fateful day. The surrender of General Cronje hastened the departure of the troops from around Ladysmith. It struck dismay to the hearts, especially of the inhabitants and soldiers of the Orange Free State. They now saw a considerable part of their own Republic occupied by the British THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. 661 armies, with no prospect of any army being rallied strong enough to drive them back. It became evident that henceforth the question was not whether the Boer armies could conquer the British colonies, but how soon the British armies could complete the invasion of the Orange Free State and over- whelm the Transvaal. THE SIEGE OF MAFEKING. One of the most striking and picturesque portions of the entire story of the war is undoubtedly the siege of Mafeking. This town is on the extreme north of the Cape Colony, close to the borders of the Transvaal, and on the railway between Kimberley and Buluwayo, about 200 miles north of the former town. In the end of September it was occupied by Colonel R. S. Baden-Powell. He could only muster less than a thousand men fit for war. Knowing that this was one of the points which the Boers would be sure to attack immediately, Colonel Baden- Powell set to work to prepare for that event. He knew that the siege might be a long one if his communications with the south were cut off. He accordingly gathered in all the provisions that he could, as well as cattle, and proceeded to fortify the place as thoroughly as possible. He selected the sites for his forts and connected them with the center of the town by means of telephone wires. He erected a bomb-proof shelter on a central spot for himself and his staff. He also caused bomb- proof shelters to be dug in the ground in various parts of the town. He selected a place as the women's laager where the wives and children of the inhabitants could be gathered, which would be marked off somewhat from the rest of the tow T n, so that the Boers could recognize it and avoid deliberately shelling it. For a time he tried to keep command of the railroad by means of his armored train. When at last the road, both southwards and northwards, was cut off it is said that he laid rails round the town so that his armored train could carry help to any part where it was suddenly needed. When the Transvaal troops arrived they met with a warm reception, but inasmuch as they were several thousand strong and were well armed both with rifles and big guns, they were able gradually to drive the Colonel's soldiers back upon their lines of defence and to hold them G62 THE INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. there for the ensuing five months. Throughout that long period Mafe- king was without reinforcement of any kind. It was left to Colonel Baden-Powell himself to discover methods for keeping his numerous and ingenious and aggressive enemy at bay. While thus planning with great resourcefulness for his successive efforts to dishearten the foe, he was compelled also to discover ways of keeping up the hearts of the besieged. The civil population as well as the military required to be kept in good humor and of good courage. It will stand to the honor of his name for many years to come that he has succeeded so brilliantly in both directions. His cheery messages have amused and surprised and thrilled all readers. He has succeeded from time to time in getting dis- patches through the lines of the enemy; no doubt this was done most frequently by means of native carriers who in the dark could slip silently through the pickets of the Boer force, carrying in the corner of a skin, or in the bowl of a pipe, or in the handle of a spear a little roll of paper with the precious words upon it which the world hungered to hear. Colonel Baden-Powell has frequently made sorties against the enemy, in some of which he has signally succeeded and others of which have been disheartening failures. It is said that at first he used to send his men out at night to attack the Boers in their trenches. The latter in the earlier days were surprised and lost heavily in this way, but they learned to take precaution against these tricks and latterly they were seldom if ever attempted. One night, as the story goes, 24 hours after one of these sorties had been made, a red light was sent out of the town and placed on a spot about the middle of the plain, where, as soon as it was suddenly uncovered, it at once attracted the attention of the enemy. The latter thereupon spent the remainder of the night in expending a vast amount of ammunition where there was no enemy. Towards the end of February Lord Roberts sent a message to Mafe- king to say that reinforcements would be hurried as soon as the relief of Kimberley had been effected. But in the beginning of March the news was published of the extreme distress into which the gallant little garrison and the patient population of this town had come. They were now limited almost entirely to horseflesh. Other food was ex- tremely scarce and could only be doled out in the smallest quantities THE INVASION- OF CAPE COLONY. 663 day by day. The little graveyard received constantly its additions from little children and frail women as well as from brave soldiers who fell. Some of the children died simply of exhaustion, others were killed by shells which the enemy frequently sent into the women's laager; many of the natives who moved freely about the town were also shot. Alto- gether the prospect was dreary and oppressive; even the soldiers were now on such short rations that physical energy had to be husbanded with the utmost care. The day of aggressive and lively sorties was past, the utmost that could be hoped for being that they would have force enough to resist a direct attack of the enemy.