WITH

THE BOERS IN THE TRANSVAAL,

CHAPTER I.

a A P B B 1ST 0 B Y.

Earlf Cape History-Forefathers of the Boers-Bettlement of the Dutch East IndiaCompany-Extension of Oolony-Dissatisfaotion of the Bettlel'l-Mocla of Life-English Rule-Restoration of Dutch Rule-Improved Government 8ystem­Recapture by and Pinal Oession to Great Britain-Native Troubles, 1811-12­Eastern Frontier fixed a.t Great Fish River-u Blaghters Nek tI RebellioJ!­Commencement of British IlI).migration-Politioal Condition-Btroggles fO!'Liberty-High-handed Proceedi.Dgs of Lord Q. Bomerse~-Fint Royal Oom­mission-Its ReooD1Jl1endations.

THE descendants of the early mixed Dutch population of theCape now inhabit and ~re spread over a large proportion of thewhole of South Africa; thron~hout the Cape Colony, especiallyin the more retired pOl'tions, the population is mostly of thatorigin. In Natal ther~ is still a small portion, now, 40wever,rapidly amalga.mating with the English; but for the realsample of the early U Voor-trekkers" we have to ~o to theOrange Free St~te and the U Transvaal Republic," where wefind them the principal inheritors of the land-pving thereonin the same rough, simple, uneducated and solitary mannerthat was so great a characteristic of their forefathers, and oneof the principal causes of their voluntary exodus into thewilderness, beginning in 1888 and lasting u:Q.til 1852. Fromtime to time there have been various names applied to thesemen, J:1\~cp. as Dutch Boers, .!.fribnders, and Dutchmen; but

2 With the .Boers 'z"n the Transvaal.

these titles are all more or less misleading or incorrect. Itmust not be forgotten that although originally the Cape ofGood Hope was a Dutch settlement, established purely forthe advancement of the exclusive rights of trade of the DutchEast India Company, which owned and governed it, yeteven previous to its first capture and final cession to GreatBritain, its popUlation, then very mixed, was lal"gely reinforcedby events in Europe arising out of the persecution of theProtestants. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685,by Louis XIV., and the religious persecution of the WaldensBsin Piedmont and the Italian Alpine districts, drove hundredsof families of all classes in life to seek homes in other andmore tolerant lands. The Dutch Government then generouslystepped forward, seized the opportunity, and offered them anasylum. Many of these exiles afterwards emigrated to theCape, introducing a new element of success and addition tothe industrial resouroes of the country, viz. vine culture, thefirst vineyard in Constantia being planted in 1688, and theymaterially helped to found the basis upon which the presentsuccessful Cape Colony has arisen. So tliat it will easily beunderstood that the introduction of the French Huguenots,Flemings, Germans, Moravians, Piedmontese, Savoyards andothers, gave fresh vigour to the enfeebled mercantile settle­ment, and entirely altered the character and nationality of itsinhabitants. The new-comers brought with them their loveof freedom, simple habits, and religious ideas, which soonbegan to clash with the selfish monopoly, and autocraticsystem of Government then pursued by the different DutchGovernors. Upon their spread inland they still kept togetheras far as possible in national communities; so that in timedistl'icts became either entirely French, Dutch, or German, asthe case might be, while the nationality of the early pure Dutchinhabitants, being mixed, both with the natives, and later onwith the English, after their arrival in the colony, soonbecame lost or amalgamated. Before, however, the close ofthe last century the different languages or dialects had becomeless used and spoken, and a kind of Dutch patois, now termedAfrikander Dutch, was and is now, in the o. F. State and

Extension of the Colony. 3

Transvaal, almost universally spoken by the inhabitants, andused in connection with all but official business. Moreover,although some traces of a national feeling in favour of theFatherland may have lingered, the late Jud~e Watermeyer,himself of Dutch extraction, says that "substantially everyman in the colony, of every hue, was benefited when theincubus of the Dutch East India Company was removed andthe colony came under British government.tt

For a long time after its final capture by the English andthe close of the Dutch Government, the Cape remainedpurely a military and naval station; but its limits were beinggradually extended by its inhabitants, until at last they cameinto contact with several powerful native tribes on theeast and north, creating a series of disputes about the pro­prietorship of the soil, which have broken out periodicallyduring this century as the white race advanced, and havelasted with gradually increasing severity and force until thepresent time. And this was not all; for slavery in all itsworst forms was legally recognized by the Dutch Government(the first cargo of slaves from Guinea being brought to theCape in 1658, and the last in 1807), and eventually producedruptures between the two races. Later on, its abolition bythe English in 1884 confirmed the previous bitter feelingsagainst the more civilized system of government then intro­duced, and led to an enormous increase in the numbersof those dissatisfied ones who "trekked" further into theinterior, out of range of any official restraint, where theywere able to enjoy that nomadic life which was so suitedto them, obtaining sustenance by killing the game, everywhereplentiful at that time, and living upon the produce of theirhorses, cattle and sheep. This kind of life had also itsdrawbacks; for, owing to the steady increase in their flocks,the scarcity of water and constant droughts, it became neces­sary for these pastoral patriarchs to "trek" still furtheraway. Thus they became totally unaccustomed to any otherrestraining influence than their own wishes and requirementsnecessitated. Most of them, however, had been brought upin all the strictness of the Protestant, Lutheran, Calvinist,

B 2

4 With the Boers in the Transvaal.

or Dutch Reformed Churches; and, being deeply read inthe simple teaching of the Bible, were able .to maintain 8.

fair amount of civilization, which, however, decreased as theyounger generations spra.ng up, uneduca.ted and devoid of anyvisible examples.

The following extract from a comprehensive work on SouthAfrican History and Geography, written by Mr. G. M. Theal,and published by the Lovedale Press, a South African MissionaryInstitution, brings out very clearly the mode of life then existingamong the inhabitants, and will still apply to the more remoteportion of the Transvaal Boers:- II In Cape Town and itsJleighbourhood, the ordinary comforts and conveniences of lifewere obtainable, and were enjoyed by most of the whites; butDn the lone farms in the interior, comfoJ.'f;, as it is understoodnow-a-days, was an unknown word. The hovels in which thegraziers lived seldom contained more than two rooms, andfrequently only one,"-in which, I may add, the whole familyof perhaps two or three generations lived;-c'they were destituteof the most ordinary furniture. The great waggon-chest, whichsprved for a table as well as a receptacle for clothing, a coupleof camp stools, and a cartel or tw~wooden frames with anetwork of strips of raw hides stretched across them-wel'e theonly household goods possessed by many. Orockeryware, soliable to be broken in long land journeys, they could not reason­ably be expected to have had; but it is difficult to accountfor their being without such common and useful articles as%Dives and forks. A great portion of their clothing was madeof the skins of animals; their blankets, like those of the natives,were kaross8s of skins. They lived in this manner, not fromnecessity, but through choice and custom. Many of them werevery wealthy in Hocks and herds, but, having become aooustomedto a nomad life, hey considered &S a super:fiuity everything thatcould not easily be removed in a waggon from place to placewithout damage. A gun, ammunition, and a waggon werethe only produots of mechanical skill that were absolutelyindispensa.ble to a gra~ier; with these he could provide himselfwith every other necessary. Some coUon goods for shirts andclothing. for females, hats, coffee and sugar, were almost the

English Rule. 5only other articles he ever thought of purchasing. Poverty, inthat sense of the word which implies a lack of the means ofsustaining life, was unknown throughout the colony. Everywh~te person had food in abundance, and might have had moreof the comforts of lile if their use had been known or theirwant felt. The people of the interior were rude, ignorant, andsometimes cruel. The last of these qualities was the effectpartly of their holding human beings in slavery, and partly fromtheir having had for a long period the native races of thecountry at their mercy, without any check from the Govern­ment."

Notwithstanding all the efforts of successive Governments toprovide for their civil and religious wants, by taking in the districtsinhabited by them-thus enlarging the colony-by appointingmagistrates and clergymen to minister to their requirements,they improved very little until the transfer of government to theEnglish in 1795. The Dutch inhabitants, for the most part,then made the best of circumstances, and accepted the changein government, accompanied &s it was by most libera.l promisesfor the future-with the exception of a. portion in the moreremote districts. In Graaf-Reinet, which district was establishedas a magistracy in 1796, many of the Burghers refused to takethe oath of allegiance, joined those of Swellundam, ejected theirLanddrosts, and rose in open rebellion. This necessitated thefirst advance of British troops into that part of the country toawe the refractory and install the new magistrate in his office.Sir John Barrow accompanied this force, and afterwardspublished his well-known work on South Africa, which was thefirst book written on the subject, and obtained much attentionand popularity at the time, while giving much publicity toSouth African affairs. Border quarrels with the natives,brought on principally by cattle thefts and retaliation, butending in victory to neither side, were constant throughout thefirst seven years during which the English Government heldthe Cape; and finally a sort of patched-up peace was made withthe Kaffir tribes and Hottentots, just previous to the executionof the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, by which the colony revertedto its oliginal owners. During the British occupancy, however,

6 Wi'th the Boers -in the Transvaal.

over £1,000,000 sterling had been"spent on defensive and other.purely military works, which materially assisted the onwardprogress of the colony. The first thing done by the new DutchGovernor Janssens, was to journey throughout the colony,visiting the frontiers, settlers, and native chiefs, listening totheir grievances, and striving earnestly to provide for theirremedy in the future j and this was the earliest and first steptaken in the right direction towards a juster, truer, and moreliberal treatment of both the white and black inhabitants of theCape Colony.

The improved administration thus begun had little time givenit to develop, as upon war breaking out again in Europebetween England and France, the importance of such a stationfor naval and military purposes was so great that a fleet andcomplement of soldiers was sent out to recapture it. This wasdone by General Sir D. Baird, after a gallant though uselessdefence made by General Janssens at the head of his Dutchforces and native allies. The capitulation was confirmedshortly afterwards, and in 1806, the Cape again came underBritish government, and has remained so ever since. Thetotal population at that time was about 62,000, exclusive ofKaffirs, divided as follows :-21,000 whites, 26,000 sla.ves, and15,000 HoUentots j with a revenue of under .£100,000. CapeTown alone had about 1,200 houses, inhabited by 5,000 whites,and 10,000 slaves. Mr. Noble, in his work, says, with referenceto this period :_U The Cape of Good Hope for some years afterthis continued to be regarded by the British Government asmerely a temporary possession by conquest i but the achieve..ments of the allied forces in Europe having secured a permanentpeace, in 1814, a convention wa.s then agreed to, between thePrince, Sovereign of the restored and United Netherlands, andHis Majesty the King of Great Britain, by which, in considera.tion of certain charges provided by the latter for the defence ofthe Low Countries, and their settlement in union with Holland,the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, together with Demerara,Essequibo, and Berbice, was ceded in perpetuity to the BritishCrown. The colony thus definitively became a. sharer in theimportance of the mother country, and in the benefits of her

Easte1'n Frontier. 7commercial power." Things, after this, went on quietly anilslowly, but progressively, the presence of a large military forcenecessitating a heavy expenditure, and producing a correspondingamount of agricultural industry and commercial activity. Theoondition of the towns improved rapidly, but the larger andmore scattered rural population was still far behind in educa­tional and social advantages. Being in isolated positions, andfar away from one another, the young people of both sexes hadlittle or no communication with others than those in their ownimmediate family circle, so they necessarily grew up without aknowledge of even the rudiments of education, with selfishviews, and bigoted and narrow-minded opinions. As these alsomarried and had families it became necessary for them to leavethe paternal home and "trek" away still further, with theshare of oattle, &c., given them for a start by their relations,as is oustomary among them. As the eastern border of thecolony had been fixed at the Fish River in 1118, and theoountry beyond swarmed with Kaftirs (many of whom weresettled even to the west of the border or within Cape territory),there w'as little inducement for these men to go eastward.Consequently, as a vast expanse of country more suited to pastoralpursuits, and less thickly populated with natives, layaway tothe nortb, they chose that direction and soon began to establishthemselves over the then almost imaginary northern border line.To do away with or lessen cattle-thieving and border quarrels,steps were taken by the Government, on the recommendationof Colonel Collins, in 1809, to drive out all the Kaffirs, thenliving in the colony, over the Fish River, and to compel themto remain there. A force to effect this object was oollected,oonsisting of some military and some Burghers, the formerunder Colonel Graham, and the latter under Mr. Stockenstrom,the first English Landdrost of Graaf Beinet. The end in viewwas attained, though with the loss, through treachery, of Mr.Stockenstrom and several Burghers; and for some time after­wards a chain of forts, about a mile apart, defended the FishRiver border and kept the Kamrs in check, Grahamstownbecoming the advanced bead quarters of the military.

Again, for some years, peace reigned, and was only broken

8 With the Boers in the Transvaal.

by an attempt at rebellion in 1815, brought about by 8 party ofDutch Burghers in a quarrel of one of them, Bezuidenhout,with his Hottentot servant. The interference of a field comet,their own appointed local officer, was resisted, and the escortaccompanying him was fired upon by Bezuidenhout, who wasthereupon quickly shot. His relatives assembled to urge andcarry out reprisals, and tried to obtain the aid of the nativesagainst their so-called tyrants. The officer in command ofthe nearest military station promptly arrested the ringleader,H. Prinsloo, and martial law was proolaimed. The insurgents,however, assembled in arms, but finding the native chiefs wouldDot assist them, and seeing the strong preparations made bythe military for their punishment, the leaders Hed, while theirfollowers laid down their arms and appealed for mercy. Someof the latter were pardoned, but over thirty were tried for hightreason, in Uitenhage, and five of them were found guilty andexecuted. Their names were Hendrick Prlniloo, CorneliusFaber, Abraham Bothma, Stephanus Bothma, and Theunis deKlerk. The others were transported or banished, and thus endedthe U Slaghters Nek" rebellion. But the bitter feelings thencreated have borne fruit ever since. In 1820, a scheme wasproposed by Lord Charles Somerset, the then Governor, toinduce English emigrants to :6.ll up the border districts orneutral ground (then recently evacuated by the Kaffirs), byfree land grants; and the British Government having voted£50,000, just after the close of the great war with NapoleonBonaparte, large numbers being unemployed at the time,there were nearly 100,000 applications, of which only about5,000 were accepted and the persons sent out. These settlers,consisting of English, Scotch, and Irish, after many trials andvicissitudes, succeeded in finally establishing themselves, andto their energy and perseverance that part of the country nowcalled the Eastern Province owes its present proud positionof being first and foremost in agriculture, commerce, andenterprise.

Between 1820 (in which year the Royal observatory wasfounded) and 1884, when the first great Kaffir war broke out,some civil and judicial reforms were carried out; the liberty

High-handed Proceedt:ngs. 9

of the Press was secured after a hard struggle-with which thename of John Fairbairn is indelibly connected-and nativeaffairs were placed on 0. different basis. But all this was asnothing, as against the system of absolute despotism ofGovernment carried out by Lord Charles Somerset, whichquickly provoked the love of liberty and spirit of grumblinginherent in the English nation. In these struggles for moreliberty and a less oppressive system of government, the morerecent English colonists were joined by their Dutoh brethren.Mr. FairbaiJ..n, in describing the condition of the colony in1827, paid the following high tribute to the character of the CapeDutoh population :-" For industry, loyalty, filiaJ attachment,and all the features and virtues of 0. rising community, theywould stand high in comparison with any nation on record.Their love of freedom aJso is strong and unquenchable, andtheir notion of it is simple and just; they despise declamation,and seldom, if ever, use the 'Word' liberty.' But, speak tothem of security to person and property,-of the power ofchecking 0. bad and foolish Government by a popular assembly,-of aiding the judge in the discovery of truth, and standingbetween the accused and the rancour and blindness of 0.

political bench,-of regulating the taxes by the local knowledgeof those who have to pay them,-and you will at once perceivethat, without having read, they have the law of liberty writtenin their hearts."

Similar language has been more recently used by theTransvaaJ Boers in their declarations, during the struggle forindependence, and shows that the same feelings exist amongthem now as formerly. Public feeling at that time ran sohigh that steps were taken to call together public meetings forthe consideration and expression of their grievances, in order tomake them more fully known to the Government. But ahigh-handed proolamation was issued by the Governor in 1822,notifying that public meetings for the discussion of offioial andpolitical subjects were contrary to the ancient laws, and anycontravention thereof would be severely punished. He alsoresuscitated a number of old laws of the Dutch East Indio.Company; including one prohibiting all trade with Kaffirs.

10 Wz"th the Boers z"n the Transvaal.

But the most important, and that which produced the worsteffect, undoubtedly, was one which prevented any of thecolonists or their servants from going about the country with­out an Dfficial pass, under penalty of being arrested and throwninto prison. This was an invasion of the rights of the sub­ject, such as has been rarely heard of or exercised in 80 so­called free country; and its outcome was not long in showingitself. Not being able to meet together to discuss matterspublicly, the colonists got up a memorial addressed to EarlBathurst, which came before the House of Commons and re­sulted in a Royal Commission being formed, consisting ofthree independent members, Messrs. Bigge, Colebrook, andBlair, who visited the country and concluded their report in1826. Some of the recommendations contained therein andsubsequently carried out were :-The separation of the colonyinto two provinces, the Western and Eastern; the appointmentof 80 chief magistrate on the frontier, uniting in his hands thecivil and military power in connection with the treatment ofthe border natives; the appointment of a supreme and circuitcourts; the abolition of all monopolies; the appointment ofcivil commissioners instead of landdrosts, several districtsbeing sub-divided and new magistrates established; and,finally, the English language was ordered to be exclusivelyused in all official proceedings and documents. As far back as1828, all documents issued from the Colonial Office had beendrawn up in English, as also were all official notices in thecolony, after 1825; but the order for the employment of theEnglish language exclusively in judicial acts and throughout thecolony did not take effect until the year 1827.

CHAPTER II.

OAPE mSTOBY-Continued.

Pirat Lighthouse Bond Newspapers-First CommiBsioner-GeneraJ, Mr. StackeDatrom-Treaty with Ngaika-Second Kafiir War, 1818-Eastern Border extended tothe KeiBkamma River-Kat River Hottentot Settlement-Border Raids andReprisalll-New Native System introduced-Discontent of the Farmers-ThirdKaBir War, 1884-86-Energy of Colonel (Sir H.) Smith-Fingoea located.between Fish and Keiskamma Rivers-Country Bonnexed np to Kat River­Abolition of Slavery-Beginning of Race Hatred-Aylward's Plea for earlyBoer Independence-Native Wars, 1846-8, 1850-3, 1876-7.

THE first lighthouse at Green Point was erected on thecoast of South Africa in 1824, and the same year saw thepublication of the first Cape newspaper, The Sooth A.fricanCommerciaZ A.dvertiser, in Dutch and English, by Mr. Greig,of Cape Town, under the joint supervision and editorship ofMessrs. Fairbairn and Pringle. The former of these gentlemenwas an able writer, brilliant speaker, and humane philanthropist j

while the latter was also an able writer, a poet of no meanmerit, and a. personal friend of Sir Walter Scott. He was alsothe first librarian to the South African Public Library, thebeginning of which was formed in 1761, though it was Dotmade much use of, as a public institution, until the year 1800,on the publication of the first Government Gazette, whichoccurred towards the close of the first British occupation.From this time commences a new era in South African history.Mr. (afterwards Sir) Andries Stockenstrom, who had beenofficially connected with the government of the border colonistsand natives all his life, and who had an intimate knowledge ofthe peculiarities of both the Boers and Ko.ffirs, was the firstCommissioner-General appointed to take charge of the Borderunder th~ recommendations of the Royal Commission. Butthe anomaly of the position was soon made manifest j as, owingto his disa.pproval of the system hitherto in vogue of military

12 With the Boers in the Transvaal.

patrols and Burgher reprisals, and his being totally at variancewith the ideas of his immediate superior, the Governor, itseemed impossible for the civil and military powers to worktogether.

The state of affairs on the border with the natives was nowbecoming critical; and from the time of Lord Charles Somerset'sacknowledgment of Ngaika as the supreme chief of the Amascosatribes in Kamrland, in 1817, troubles commenced, first betweenNgaika and other Amascosa chiefs, who refused to acknowl~dge

his supremacy, and in which we supported Ngaika; and thenbetween the Border colonists and the whole of the nativescombined. A cattle dispute led to 8r combined attack of nativesupon Ngaika., who was defeated with great loss, and compelledto fly to the mountains. The Colonial Government then cameto his assistance, sent 4,000 troops under Colonel Brereton in1818, routed the enemy under Ndlambe, reinstated Ngaika,and captured 20,000 head of cattle, half" of which were givento Ngaika, and the rest divided as compensation among thoseBoers and colonists along the Border whO had suffered fromthe Kamr raids. Shortly afterwards the beaten tribes re-unitedinvaded the colony under their celebrated prophet chief,Makanna (the Lynx). They cleared the district of its inhab­itants and their stock, penetrated as far as Uitenhage, andeven attacked the garrison town, Grahamstown, with suchbravery as to render the issue doubtful but for the reinforce­ments of Hottentots and guns which came up, and succeeded indriving off the invaders. This severe lesson frightened thecolonists so much that they determined to follow up their slightadvantage while they were able. An enormous combined forceof military, Burghers, and native allies was poured into Kamr­land, breaking up the power of the various tribes, and capturing80,000 head of cattle. This closed the second Kaffir war,after which the boundaries of the colony were again extendedeastward of the Chumie and Keiskamma Rivers, the countrybetween them and the Fish River being neutral, and to remainunoccupied; advanced posts were established in Forts Beaufortand Wiltshire, now the centre of British Kaffraria. Lord C.Somerset again visited the frontier and interviewed Ngaika,

Hottentot Settlement on Kat Rz"ver. 13

who agreed, though unwillingly, a year afterwards to thesettlement of the neutral territory. It was also proposed tolooate some Sootoh Highlanders on the Kat River, and someother settlers on the Ibeka. These plans, however, were nevercarried out; but the country did not remain long unoooupied,both whites and blaoks soon moving into it. Among the latterwas Maoomo, the eldest son of Ngaika., who was allowed tooooupy the very key of Kaffirland without interference by theGovemment for some time, until his attaoking and plunderingpropensities overoame his feelings of respeot for the militarypower. His tribe, in the course of a squabble with some loyalTambookies, captured their cattle and murdered many of themen. After this, of COUlse, he was driven out of the tract ofland in 1829, and retreated, vowing vengeanoe against thewhite race. Six months afterwards the old chief, Ngaika, died,leaving his U great son," Sandilli, a minor, under the regenoyof Macomo, who was only the U right-hand Bon." But in thisway the latter gained an enormous inorease of power, and con­solidated the tribes wherever possible.

The clearance of this country, and the necessity for plaoingsome buffer between the Ka.:ffirs and whites, gave Mr. Stook­enstrom the ocoasion and power to carry out a soheme whiohhad previously ooourred to him, of settling the scattereddesoendants of the original Hottentot tribes in looations in thatdistrict; and, the Government sanction being obtained, thesoheme was soon carried out. The abolition of the semi-slaverylaws for the Hottentots in 1828, although at the time muohcondemned and :regretted by the farming portion of the com·munity, was eventually of great benefit to the country. Largenumbers of Hottentots had just been released, and the chanceof settling themselves in a free life, and under the guidanoe ofcivilizing influences, was eagerly seized by many. To thenumber of neady 5,000, they were soon settled down on theKat River, and beoame an orderly and industrious portion ofthe colony, and valuable allies in the native wars whioh occurredin suocession in 1819, 1828, 1829, and 1880; until in 1851,when, to the surprise and horror of the colonists, these men,who had been always well treated by the English, joined the

14 Wl,tk tke .Boers 1:n Ike Transvaal.

Kaftirs, and were beaten with them, when their lands wereforfeited and given up to European families. In those earlierNative wars Burgher "commandoes" were constantly calledout. to assist the military, causing dissatisfaction among thefarmers, and heavy losses to their herds, homes, and businesses.After 1881 the Commissioner-General for Frontier AfFairs, Mr.Stockenstrom, again set himself against these border raids and" commandoes," as being both injurious to the colonists andunsettling to the natives. On one occasion he refused hissanction to the military entering Kaftirland with troops onanother" commando." This brought matters to a Clisis j andas his views did not coincide with those of the Government, ormeet with their approbation-though strongly supported byall the Boer and colonial farmers-he applied for leave to visitEngland, and while there his office was abolished. Duringthis period a tribe of Kaftirs, under Lyall, had occupied, likeMacomo, on sufferance during good conduct, a portion of theKat River settlement j but they were again forcibly removedbeyond the Chumie and Keiskamma Rivers.

Matters remained in statu quo until, in 1884, Sir B. Durbanwas appointed Governor. Acting under instructions fromhome, he commenced a policy of friendly intercourse andconciliation with the various frontier chiefs, and desired toenter into treaties with them, and appointed men of high tact,knowledge, and standing as resident agents among them.But, while he was carrying out these schemes, the Gaika tlibesunited, to the number of about 20,000, under the chiefcommand of Macomo and Lyall, invaded the country withoutany warning, and spread devastation along the Albany andSomerset Border Districts. The missionaries were the onlypeople not attacked by them, although ,many had narrowescapes. The Governor at once ordered Colonel (afterwardsSir Harry) Smith to the frontier, and this officer's wonderfulfeat, in journeying 600 miles from Cape Town to Grahamstownin six days, is still remembered both by natives and colonists.The military garrisons in the country had, unfortunately, beenconsiderably reduced during preceding years j but everyavailable man was sent to the front, and all the Burghers were

Colonel H. Smz"th's Energy.

placed under arms, while martial law was proclaimed, and theGovernor himself went forward to the scene of action. Avigorous attack was made on the principal points of theenemy's country, resulting in a complete victory and terms ofpeace being sued for by some of them. These were notaccepted, and the whole country waR scoured by the troops,who released and brought away with them over 15,000 Fingoes,the remnants of sonie early Kaffir tribes dispersed by theconquests of Charka and Moselekatze in the north and north­east, and held in subjection and a kind of absolute slavery bythe Amascosa tribes. In five months things were settled, andHintza, the last chief who held out, surrendered, and under­took to deliver 50,000 head of cattle and 1,000 horses, to giveup for punishment the murderers of some traders, and to givetwo hostages (his own son and brother) for the due fulfilmentof the treaty terms. Hintza himself accompanied ColonelSmith's party despatched to receive the cattle. But, havingpreviously sent secret instructions to form an ambush anddrive the cattle out of reach, he was shot, while endeavouringto escape, after a series of adventures well described byGeneral Bissett in his book entitled U Sport and War; or,Fighting and Hunting in South Africa." His son Sarili wasthen raised to the chieftainship, and concluded a treaty ofpeace with the British. The country of the defeated tribes,up to the Kat River, was annexed to the Cape, and Britishresidents were appointed over the various divisions andlocations. The resGued Fingoes, to the number of nearly17,000, were then. located between the Fish and KeiskammaRivers; and they have remained there ever since, provingfaithful subjects, orderly servants, and useful allies in themore recent wars. Colonel Smith was appointed the firstBritish Chief Commissioner of the new province, and the seatof government was established at King Williams Town.

From this time the questions with regard to slavery, and thebetter treatment of the native tribes, became national ones,and were brought strongly before the Home Government; andafter much inquiry they terminated in the total emancipationof slaves throughout the whole of the British dominions on

16 With the Boers zn the Transvaal.

December 1st, 1884. This led to a consequent dissatisfactionand migration of the Dutch portion, and the trial of manynew systems of native policy. From the year 1808, when theEnglish Parliament had passed a law abolishing the foreignslave trade, it was seen that the total abolition of slavery wasmerely a question of time. The price of slaves--once thesupply was stopped-rose very high, notwithstanding that thecargoes of the slavers captured by British men-of-war werebrought to the Cape, and the rescued slaves were apprenticedfor a term of fourteen years to those colonists who desired toavail themselves of the opportunity and applied for them;while the position of the Hottentots, under the oppressivelaws then proclaimed for their government, was little betterthan that of the slaves themselves, until those laws wereabrogated in 1828, whereby all persons of colour, not Kaffirs orslaves, were placed on the same footing as the white people.The policy of this was shown by the successful establishmentof the Kat River Settlement before referred to. Hithertothere had been little, if any, race hatred or national jealousyexhibited by either the foreign or English colonists towardsthe others, except when the use of the English language wasuniversally enforced, and the conduct and strictness of thenew courts of law pressed, as they thought, hardly upon them.But at the first sign of the intention of the British Govern­ment to take steps, first to alleviate the condition of the slaves,and then for their emancipation, such & strenuous resistancewas offered to the scheme that, in the then disturbed state of thecountry, it was thought unadvisable to enforce the law framedin 1880, appointing guardians to the slaves, and regulatingthe punishment which it would be lawful to inflict upon them;and intimation was sent to the Governor, Sir Lowry Cole, tothat effect. However, owing to the renewed exertions ofphilanthropists at home-prominent among whom were LordBrougham, Rev. Dr. Philips, and Mr. Fowell Buxton-a lawwas passed in 1888, whereby all slaves should become free onthe 1st of December, 1884, throughout the whole of the Britishdominions (thus anticipating by nearly thirty years the AmericanSlave Abolition Law). But it was further provided, in the

Plea for Boer Independence. 17

interests of their masters, that they should be entitled to retainthe slaves as apprentices for four years longer-upon properapplication being made. In consideration for this deprivationof their vested rights, and the confiscation of money value, asum of £20,000,000 was voted willingly by the Parliament ofGreat Britain by way of compensation. Valuers were appointedby the Government, and in the Cape Colony alone nearly40,000 were released, and appraised at £8,000,000, or about£80 each. Of this, £1,200,000 was paid, the rest beingunclaimed or in many cases refused.

This period may be regarded as the actual starting pointfrom which begins the hist.ory proper of the Emigrant BoerEl.Their plea for being independent and free subjects, even atthat time, is so ably and plausibly given from their own pointof view by their admirer and champion, Mr. Aylward, in his"Transvaal of To-day," that it merits reproduction. Hesays :-" In 1888, a large number of farmers found themselves,without any desire on their parts to become British subjects, inthe position of 'accidents of territory' ceded to the British bythe Dutch. The sovereignty over the LAND on which theydwelt was undoubtedly vested in the European Govemment ofHolland; but it is an important question whether the cessionof territorial sovereignty can really be held to include thetransfer of people as serfs from one Government to another. Aserf is undoubtedly a pel"SOn attached, and owing certain servi­tude to the soil on which he is born. I know of no law,human or Divine, by which the rights of the Dutch inhabitantsto remove from the soil transferred to the sovereignty ofEngland can be denied. Therefore, if anyone of those'subjects by cession' desired to remove himself, with hisbelongings, to the Dutch East Indies, there could be noobjection to his doing so; nor, because he fell under Britishdominion by the cession of the Cape territory, could he havebeen prevented fl."om returning to other Dutch territory and tohis Dutch allegiance. I hold that he had only become aBritish subject in relation to his occupation of British territory,and that it was perfectly open to him to cease to be a subjectby quitting that territory. It is certain that if the Emigrant

18 With tke Boers z"n the Transvaal.

Boers had passed on, in their flight from British rule, to landssubject to the authority of other states they would have againbecome foreign subjects, and would no longer have been com­pelled to own an allegiance to England. But the land towhich the Boers retired did not happen to belong to any recog­nized or constituted authority. They fled from what theyrightly or wrongly oonsidered to be misrule, into 'the desolateplaces of the earth,' where no man was master. • TheBoers did not want to be British subjects. They found, whateven Englishmen to-day are complaining of, as an inconvenience,if not an evil threatening their very existence. They said theywere badly protected as against the aborigines of the country­a set of thieving savages, whose conduct on the frontier in1878 seems to differ very little from what they were guilty ofin 1884. The Boers knew that the territory then actuallyunder British rule in South Africa was limited; and, gatheringtogether their flocks and herds, they proceeded to march out ofit to 'ft'esh fields and pastures new.' It must never be saidthat any hatred of civilized government, as such, led to thisstep. This would be a base calumny on the character of 0.

body of men whose motives were as pure as those that actuatedthe' Pilgrim Fathers '-Englishmen who left England forconscience sake."

The Cape Colony itself was again engaged in 1846-8 inanother great Kaffir war, entitled the War of the Axe, from itsarising through a native having stolen an axe, and beingbrought down as a prisoner manacled to a Hottentot. Theguard was attacked by Kaffirs, who, not being able to undothe manacles, and being eager to release the Kaftir, cut offthe Hottentot's arm, and left the poor wretch to bleed to death.This again was followed by a fifth war in 1850, which lasteduntil 1858-in which year a new Constitution was granted tothe Cape-and by the more recent campaigns of 1876-7against the Gaikas and Galekas. With the other events andrapid progress of the Cape Oolony between 1885 and 1880 wehave nothing furtner to do.

CHAPTER ITI.

NAT A L F 0 U N D :m D.

Causes of the Great II Trek "-Over the Orange River-Contaot with Natives­Government Steps to prevent the Exodus-Boers trek to Natal-Emigra.nts'Proclamation-Conflicts with Zulus-Hardships and Exploits of Boel'lt'-TheirProclltmation of Independence-Death of Dingaan and Coronation of Umpanda-British Interference and Authority claimed-Arrival of Captain Jervis andTroops-Major Charteris on the Condition of the Boers-Troops Withdrawn­Captain Jervis's Farewell Address-Boer Independen.ce Re-procla.imed-Repub­lican Government Established-Town. Laid Out-Reassertion of BritishSovereignty-Captain Smith's Arrival with more Troops-Firat CollisioD. betweenBoers and British-The:Military Besieged-Mr. King's Journey with Despatches-Relief sent fro~Cape under Colonel Cloete-Dispersal and Submission ofBoers-Lenient Terms given-Acceptance of Conditions-Natal ProclaimedBritish Colony-Retirement of the Dissatisfied Boers over Berc-

THE primary causes of the great BOCl' exodus fl'om the CapeColony can be briefly summarized, and arose principally fromthe manner in which the Home and Cape Governments treatedthe natives from time to time :-lst. In connection with thelaws relating to Hottentots being allowed to leave their mastersen masse, and settle down on locations, or under missionaries,and other laws interfering with or restraining the treatment ofhousehold servants; 2nd. In the liberation of all their slaveson the 1st of December, 1834, which deprived their masters ofwhat they had always looked upon as valuable property; and,occurring as this did, in the middle of a harvest season-theslaves mostly leaving on the day of their liberation, and few ofthe farmers having applied to keep them for the further tel'ID offour years' apprenticeship, as allowed by the law-the masterswere left in a helpless condition, and their agricultural andpastoral pursuits brought suddenly to a standstill; and, Srd.Owing to the unsatisfactory manner in which the nativequestion was settled after the war of 1834, during the Lieu-

a 2

20 Witn the Boers in the Transvaal.

tenant-Governorship of Sir Andries Stockenstrom, who advocatedthe fi.rm operation of the Glenelg treaties, in which moreliberty was given to the Kaffirs, and less protection to theColonists against the plundering propensities of their moresavage neighbours. Even in 1825, many of the border farmershad penetrated the country beyond the Orange River, thenthinly inhabited by a mixed race called the Griqnas, descendedfrom the aboriginal Cape Hottentots, and by the remnants ofthose native tribes who, flying from the persecntion of thepowerful northern nations, had settled down wherever theyfound water, pasture, and game, sufficient to keep themselvesand their few cattle. The nomad Bushmen, the original in­habitants of the soil, were either obliged to leave it, beingrobbed of all they possessed by the stronger nations, soughtthe protection of the new-comers, or relapsed entirely into awild life, being hunted and killed wherever and wheneverfound.

It was into this country that the farmers first began to drivetheir herds for better pQ.stllrage q,nd water in the seasons ofdrought that frequently occurred in the northern Cape districts.They gradually began a trade with the natives, and in conrseof time acquired land by purchase, or leased it from theGriquas on easy terms. The Government at once tried toprevent this migration. Orders were given for all Colonialsto return, and Stockenstrom went over the Orange Riveramong them himself to see that the Government instructionswere carried out. But everything that was done was unavailingto stop the spread of these hardy and determined pioneers,who, finding tha.t there was no law to prevent them, stillcontinued hiring land or sending their cattle to graze, andmaintained their rights. Then came the rumours of discontentat the probable emancipation of the slaves, and other causes ofdislike to the Government. Large parties, having heard ofthe Natal conntry to the east, started fl'om Uitenhage andother parts on exploring tours. The Commandant of theFrontier, Colonel Somerset, then the Chief Commissioner, andthe Governor, all tried to remove the discontent which existed,and allay the consequent excitement, but to no purpose. The

Boers Trek to Natal. 21

Attorney-General, Mr. Olophant, when appealed to for repressiveand prohibitory legislation, simply referred the Government tothe old Dutch proclamations. " But," he said, U the class ofpersons under consideration eviaently mean to seek theirfortunes in another land, and to consider themselves nolonger British subjects, so far as the colony of the Cape ofGood Hope is concerned. Would it, therefore, be prudent orjust, even if it were possible, to prevent persons, discontentedwith their condition, trying to better themselves in whateverpart of the world they please? The same sod of removaltakes place every day from Great Britain to the United States.Is there any effectual means of arresting persons determinedto run away short of shooting them as they pass the boundaryline? I apprehend not; and if so, the remedy is worse thanthe disease. The Government, therefore, if I am correct in myconclusions, is, and must ever remain, without the power ofeffectually preventing the evil-if evil it be."

Mr. Noble says on the same subject :_U Wise measures onthe part of the Government at that time might have directedand led the movement, and introduced among the tribesbeyond the limits of the colony a more civilized colonization,the influence of which would soon have extended to the centreof Africa. But, unfortunately, nothing was done. The emi­grants were laughed at for crossing the boundary C for freedomand grass,' or spoken of as 'professional squatters,' who inthe boundless interior saw scope for the indulgence of theirnatural propensities." U The Frontier Boer," wrote the ablestwriter of that day, U looks with pity on the busy hives ofhumanity in cities, or even in villages; and, regarding withdisdain the grand, but to him unintelligible, results of com­bined industry, the beauty and excellence of which he cannotknow, becauJie they are only intellectually discerned, he tossesup his head like the wild horse, utters a neigh of exultation,and plunges into the wilderness."

One party under the command of Piet Uys started withfourteen waggons from Uitenhage in 1884, and succeeded infinding a pass over the Drakensberg, by which they reachedDU1'ban, in Natal, where they found a small English trading

22 W-i'tlt the Boers -in the T1'ansvaal.

settlement. After remaining there a short time, shootingelephants &nd other large game, which then abounded, onhearing of the KafJir war at the Cape they returned home. In1835-86, the exodus increased, until large detachments,having sold their farms and dead stock for what they wouldfetch, and taking with them only their waggons, horses, oxen,and sheep, began their march from almost all the easterndistricts into the interior and to the north-east. The earlieremigrants went away under the guidance of an old Albanyfarmer, Louis Trichard, and were quickly followed by anotherparty under Gert Mantz from Graaf-Reinet, and by a numberof fa,milies under the leadership of Uys, Landmann, andRudolph. They met with kindness and sympathy from theEnglish settlers all along their route, who expressed muchregret at their departure.

A prominent-ClVoortrekker "-figure is now introduced onthe scene, in the person of Mr. Pieter Retief, descended froma good old Huguenot family, born and bred in the Paad,whence he moved to the eastern frontier, and there dwelt fortwenty years in high estimation. He held the official positionof Field Commandant of his district, and was the monthpieceof the discontented Boers, whose needs he represented con­stantly and straightforwardly to the authorities. No attemptsbeing made to. redress their grievances, he also joined theothers, but, before crossing the boundary, he addressed amanifesto to the Government, declaring their motives intaking such a step, and the relations which they wished to takenp with the Colony and any native tribes they might meetwith. In this document, signed by him Ie by authOlity of thefarmers," he stated :-" We quit this colony under the fullassurance that the English Government has nothing more torequire of us, and will allow us to govern ourselves without itsinterference in the future. We propose, in the course of ourjourney, and on arliving in the country in which we shallpermanently reside, to make known to the native tribes ourintentions, and our desire to live in peace and friendly inter­course with them. We are resolved, wherever we go, that wewill uphold the first principles of liberty; but while we shall

Conjlicts with Zulus. 23

take care that no one shall be held in a state of slavery, it isour determination to maintain such regulations as may suppresscrime, and preserve proper relations between master andservant." This was followed by a declaration of the reasonswhich induced their course of action (which I have given atthe beginning of this chapter); but there is little doubt thatmany were induced to join the exodus from false rumours,which were circulated by interested parties, and certainlyinfluenced the more uneducated among them. Others lookedforward to finding a better country to the north, from thedescriptions given by those who had been there; while, lastly,there were many l'eligious bigots of the advanced " Dopper "type, who likened their exodus to that of the Israelites, andwho hoped in time to reach the "promised land" spokenabout in the Bible. It will be best, at this portion of thehistory of the emigrant Boers, to follow the steps of those whopenetrated into Natal; to show what difficulties they had tocontend with, both from the nature of the country and from theZulus; and to follow them throughout their short stay there,their quarrel with the English, and the subsequent settlementof some of them, and the return of the others to the Transvaaland Orange Free State.

The first small party which penetrated into Natal wa.sfollowed in 1836 by a second and larger one, under the leader­ship of Gert !\Iaritz and Pieter &tief, a combination of whosenames was given to the present capital and seat of governmentin Natal, Pietermaritzburg. They soon came in contact withDingaan, at that time King of the Zulus, a tribe who haddepopulated Natal, and finding an English settlement on thecoast and fearing disputes about land, they determined toproceed into Zululand for the purpose of obtaining a cession ofland direct from the King himself. Upon their arrival,Dingaan promised them what is now Natal, upon condition oftheir making a neighbouring native chief, Sikonyella, restorea large number of cattle stolen from the Zulus. This theysucceeded in doing, and they brought back, from beyond theDrakensberg, sixty horses and seven hundred oxen. .A treatywas then prepared by !\Ir. Owen, an English missionary, who

24 W£tk the Boers in the Transvaal.

had resided for some time near the King's royal kraal atUmgungunhlova, when Retief and his party were feasted fortwo days, and this treaty was formally proclaimed. TheDutchmen were then invited to make 0. farewell visit to theKing within the enclosure occupied solely by bis own huts,and to leave their arms outside, 0.8 was customary. To thisRetief incautiously acceded, and after they had partaken ofsome native beer, a~d had a short "indaba," they were setupon by several thousands of Dingaan's armed soldiers, placedin ambush, and nearly all slain. Dingaan followed up thismassacre by sending parties of his wan,iors over the Tugelainto Natal, and they attacked, without warning, all the smallparties of Dutchmen carelessly encamped in various directions.They completely surprised and slew to a man one large partyon the Blaukranz river, and then spread southward. But theother Boers were warned in time, converted their waggons intostrong laagers and beat the Zulus off, while the small Englishsettlement in the Bay sent a small party of whites and nativeallies across the Tugela to cause a diversion: but they wererepulsed with loss, and upon the Zulus advancing to theattack of Durban those left took refuge in a ship in the Bay.

Shortly afterwards 400 more Boers came over the Drakens­berg, and another advance was made into Zululand, endingin defeat and the loss of their most gallant leader, P. Uys,and his no less gallant son. But in December following,having been further strongly reinforced, a party of 550 well­armed and mounted men, under Andries Pretorius and CarlLandmann, crossed the Tugela and gave battle to the Zuluforces of Dingaan, estimated at 12,000 men, near the Umsla­toosi river, and after a severe fight defeated them entirely,killing over 2,000, and driving back with them into Natalover 5,000 head of cattle. They burned the King's kraaldown to the ground, Mld established themselves in confidencein Pietermaritzburg, Durban, and other places, feeling con­scious that they had effectually broken, at any rate for manyyears, the fighting power and will of the Zulu nation. Abrother of Dingaan, named Umpanda, living at that time as arefugee in Natal, then made advances of friendship towards

Dzngaan and Umpancla.

the Dutch; and at last an alliance, offensive and defensive,was entered into between them. A combined force was sentagainst Dingaan, who was again defeated and had to fly for hislife, being shortly afterwards killed by a tribe to the northwith whom he had taken refuge. Umpanda was immediatelyproclaimed supreme chief of the Zulus in 1840, by AndriesPretorius, before a large assemblage of Boers and natives onthe banks of the River Umvoloosi. The Boers then reservedto themselves the greater portion of the whole territory fromthe Black Umvoloosi to St. John's river, and assumed para­mount authority even over Umpanda himself. As an indemnityfor their previous losses they received from him 86,000 head ofcattle, of which 14,000 were delivered to those of their friendswho had come over the Drakensberg only to help them, whilethe remaining 22,000 were taken into Natal and divided betweenthemselves and those who had claims for losses caused by theZulu nation. The whole of the terlitory thus claimed theyintended making into an independent Republic, under the nameof the "Zuid Afrikansche Maatschappij," and arrangementsto forward this object were quickly projected and carried out.This scheme did not, however, find favour with the Capeauthorities, who still considered the Boers as emigrant Britishsubjects, and who had already begun to attach some importanceto the settlement at Durban established by Lieut. Farewelland Mr. H. Fynn in 1828. The Imperial Government alsorefused to permit the erection of any independent governmentsby its subjects in any part of South Africa; so that in 1888,when the news arrived at the Cape of the bloodshed and devas­tation, and the consequent reprisals which had followed on the"Retief Massacre," Sir George Napier despatched a militaryforce to Natal to look after British interests. He also issueda rather hastily-worded proclamation as to the "unwarrantableacts" of the emigrant Boers, and directed all arms and am­munition to be seized, and all trade stopped, except such as hadthe Government license. This caused more angry feelings anddiscontent, both of which were fanned into flames by the sym­pathy shown by many of the Cape colonists for their unfor­fortunate self-expatriated countrymen.

26 W£th the Boers -in tlte Transvaal.

Only 100 men of the 72nd, under Captain Jervis, were sentround to Durban, with ten artillerymen and one officer, thecivil and military power being deputed to Major Charteris,R.A., whose instructions were to use no force unless attacked.On his arrival most of the Boers were away fighting Dingaan,and the few English settlers had surrounded themselves byrefugee Kaffirs, who worked for them, and gladly lived undertheir protection. Major Charteris quickly returned to theColony overland, leaving Captain Jervis in command; and inhis report to the Government he said :_U The Boers in thesecamps had built huts for themselves, a few of them weretolerably comfortable, but, generally speaking, there existedevery indication of squalid poverty and wretchedness; and itwas deplorable to see many families who, a short time pre­viously, had been living in ease and comrort in the Colony,now reduced to poverty and misery. They bore up againstthese calamities with wonderful firmness, however, and, withvery few exceptions, showed no inclination to return. Theyconsidered themselves as unjustly and harshly treated by theColonial Government while under its jurisdiction, and allthey now desired from it was to leave them to their ownresources, and not molest them again. This spirit of disliketo the English sway was remarkably dominant amongst thewomen. Most of these, who formerly had lived in affiuence,but were now in comparative want and Bubject to all the incon­veniences accompanying the insecure state in which they wereexisting, having lost moreover their husbands and brothers bythe savages, still rejected with scorn the idea of returning tothe Colony. If any of the men began to droop, or losecourage, they urged them on to fresh exertions and kept alivethe spirit of resistance within them."

Friendly feelings were, however, maintained, principallythrongh the tact and moderation of Captain Jervis, until theclose of 1839, when the Government withdrew the troops,being ordered to send the 72nd home. In a letter addressedto the Landdrost Boos of Durban, on his departure, inter alia,Captain Jervis concluded as follows :-" It now only remainsfor me to wish 'You, one and all, as a community every

Republican Government Established. 27

happiness, sincerely hoping that, aware of your strength, peacemay be the object of your councils; justice, prudence, andmoderation be the law of your actions; that your proceedingsmay be actuated by motives worthy of yon as men andChristians; that hereafter your arrival may be hailed as abenefit, having enlightened ignorance, dispelled superstition,and caused crime, bloodshed, and oppression to cease i andthat you may cultivate those beautiful regions in quiet andprosperity, ever regardful of the rights of the inhabitantswhose country you have adopted, and whose home you havemade your own." The withdrawal of the troops and this vale­dictory address, combined with the knowledge that the HomeGovernment did not wish to extend its South Aflican colonies,made the Boers believe fully that the country was abandonedto their governance. They at once installed themselves in thedeserted Government buildings at the Bay, fired a salute,hoisted their colours, and again pl'oclaimed the H Republic ofNatal," with great rejoicing-which was, alas! soon turnedinto sorrow at the action of the Cape Governor.

A form of government, after the example of Holland, wasinaugurated, such as was then in force at the Cape, exceptingin matters of a local nature, and a Council, or II Volksraad,"was established. The members of the Council, being anxiousto have their independence officially admitted and recognized,sent & memorial, praying for the same, to the Cape Governor,who answered it in the negative. The leaders of the peoplethen reiterated their demands, stating that they were DutchSouth Africans by birth; that at once, after leaving the Cape,they had proclaimed theh· independence, and, consequently,were no longer British subjects, and would remain in thecountry they had conquered, under their pl'esent system ofgovernment. The arrival at Natal about this time of a vesselfrom Holland with supplies, and the unauthorized statementsof the captain and supercargo, that the King of Holland wouldprotect and assist them in the fOl'mation of their Republic, ledthe Boers to consider the advisability of resisting any attemptsat annexation. After some negotiation another military force,consisting of 250 men and two guns, was sent up from the

28 Witk tke Boers z"n the Transvaal.

Cape overland to regain possession of Natal, and at the same...time to awe some unruly Kaflir tribes ~n route. The command ofthis force was entrusted to Captain (afterwards General) Smith,of the 27th Regiment. On the arrival of the troops at Durban,in May 1842, Captain Smith received an order from the Boersto withdraw from their territory, U as they were no longerBritish subjects, but under the protection of Holland." TheBoers, having been reinforced from the inland districts, formedan intrenched camp at the Congella, three miles from theBritish position, and showed signs of a vigorous resistance.Captain Smith then snmmoned them to disperse, and while hewas arranging to attack their camp by night, eleven days afterthe arrival of the soldiers, the Boers commenced hostilitiesthemselves by capturing sixty oxen belonging to the troops.This was immediately followed up, on Captain Smith's part,by the projected night attack, resulting in complete failure,owing to the Boers being previously informed of the plan-howis not known-and forming an ambuscade. After this, theBritish troops were completely hemmed in at the fort, theBoers capturing the guns and some prisoners in the town, whowere sent up to Pietermaritzburg. A messenger was, however,found-Mr. Richard King-who swam his horse across theBay at night, and, after unheard-of adventures, reached thefrontiers of the Cape, a distance of 600 miles, in ten days,with despatches announcing the desperate position of CaptainSmith's small but brave garrison.

Arrangements were immediately made to forward help. Asmall schooner, the Oonch, then lying in Algoa Bay, wasdespatched to their relief, with all the available troops underColonel Hare, and succeeded in reaching the beleaguered campwithin a month from the departure of the messenger sent torequest assistance. H.M.S. Southampton was also sent upwith more troops under Colonel Cloete, and arrived onlytwenty-four hours after the Oonch. Abont a fortnight afterthe beginning of the siege the Mazeppa, a local vessel, hadmanaged to slip her cable and get away to sea-under firefrom the Dutch fort at the point-and transferloed the womenand children from the British camp to Delagoa Bay, in I"each

D£sjJersal and Submz"ssion of Boers. 29

of any of H.M. ships of war. In the meantime the besiegedwei" falling short of pro'Visions, but gallantly made severalsorties against the Boer camp, fighting with great pluck. Bythe 18th June the garrison-already diminished by deaths andsickness, though not desponding-were reduced to biltong(dlied horse-flesh), rice, biscuit dust, and forage com, withexecrable water. Six days afterwards they were cheered atperceiving rockets from the sea, and again on the nightfollowing. The reinforcements, to the number of 700, weresoon landed, and the Boers, although they fired on the openboats entering the narrow harbour-channel-a fire soon silencedby a few shells from the Southampton-made no other stand,but retired at once to Maritzburg, whence, upon ColonelCloete's advance, they sent a deputation to meet him, andoffered terms of submission. On the 5th of July Colonel (after­wards Sir Josias) Cloete, having offered a free pardon to all buttheir leaders, accepted their submission in Pietermaritzburg, andgranted a general amnesty to all, with the exception of A. W.Pretorius, J. Prinsloo, J. J. Burgher, and M. N. S. Van Breda,only the former of whom was afterwards included in theamnesty. The principal portion of the troops was then re­embarked in the Southampton, and Captain Smith was againleft in command.

By the terms of peace the Boers were allowed to return totheir homes, with their horses and arms, and no confiscation ofproperty should take place, while their existing civil govern.ment system was also left pro tem.; but the command over theport was kept in the hands of the military. Colonel Cloete'sleniency was approved by the Home Government, who hopedthereby to turn the steadfast hatred, hitherto manifestedagainst the British Government by the Boers, into a certainamount of gratitude and loyalty. At the end of 1842, the thenSecretary of State, Lord Stanley, informed the Boers thatHer Majesty could not be insensible to their good qualities, Dorto the past hardships which they had undergone; and, in con­sideration thereof, had been pleased to bury in oblivion all pasttransactions, and invited an expression of their wishes for thefuture government of the country, subject only to the follow-

30 With the Boers in the Transvaal.

ing conditions :-1, That there should not be, in the eye ofthe law, any distinction of colour, or disqualification whatever,founded on mere distinction of colour, origin, language, orcreed; but that the protection of the law, in letter and in sub­stance, should be extended impartially to all alike. 2, That noaggression should be made upon the natives. And, 8, Thatslavery, in any shape or under any modification, was absolutelyunlawful. The Hon. Henry Cloete, brother of ColonelCloete, was sent round as Commissioner, to consider andsatisfy the claims of the Boers. He was supported by a smallescort of the 45th Regiment, as there was still some irritationamong the people, and much excitement consequent on thearlival of a deputation ofarm~d Boers from beyond the Drakens­berg, who were awaiting his arrival under the impression thatthe Government was going to claim all the territory np to theOrange River. However, upon his explaining that the Drakens­bel"g range of mountains was to be the northern boundary, thatwas accepted as a basis of settlement, and they then withdrew,accompanied by many who still did not desire to live underBritish rule; while the rest, including Andries Pretorius,Stephanus Maritz, D. Poortman, P. M. Zeitsman, and J. N.Boshoff, acting on behalf of the Volksraad, accepted the termsoffered, and on the 8th August, 1848, Natal became annexed tothe British Crown.

Refugee natives from Zulnland and elsewhere began to flockin from all parts under the protection of the whites. Theirnumbers increased yearly from 8,000, when the English firstsettled in the Bay, to 80,000 or 100,000 in a few years; andat present amount to nearly half-a-million. The natives havecontinued to live peacefully up to the present time-with a fewminor exceptions-under a system of government organizedand superintended by the Shepstones-a family which came out,with many others of colonial note, in 1820, and which hassince given many useful members to the colonial service.

The history of Natal may thus fitly be summed up ashaving been for many years the home of a peaceful andprimitive people, who were ruthlessly cc eaten up" by theZulu hordes under Charka. Then, early in the nineteenth

Natal a Brz"tis/z Colony. 31

century, the Dutch established a small trading settlement, atwhat is now DUl'ban, which was, however, soon abandoned.They were followed by an English band of traders, in 1828, who,with the scattered remnants of the surrounding native tribesand Zulu refugees, remained there quietly for nearly thirteenyears, only to be succeeded by another seven years of varyingfortune, attendant upon the immigration of the Boers andtheir numerous conflicts with the Zulu nation, and then withthe more civilized power of Great Britain. Finally, thecountry became a British colony, by prOClamation, "for thepeace, protection, and salutary control of all classes of mensettled in and surrounding this important portion of SouthAflica."

32 l¥z'th the Boers 1,n the Transvaal.

CHAPTER IV.

GBEAT EXODUS NORTHWARDS.

The Migration Northwards-Conflict with Moseleka.tze-Potchefstrom Founded­Further U TrekkiDg"-Boer Collision with Griqoa.&-SwaaTt Koppie's Bngage­ment-Peace Patched up-The Natal Exodus-Reasons tberefor a.nd Stepst&ken-Pretorius' Journey to the Cape-His Letter and A.ctions-Sir H. Smith'.Arrival-Meeting with Boers -Conciliatory Promisee-His Manifesto-A.rmedOpposition-Boers drive out British from Orange River Territory-The Battleof Boompla.t-Subseqoent Steps-Pacification of Oountry-Dutch ReformedChurch :Mission to Boers.

WHILE the stream of emigration had been directed to thenorth-east, resulting in the settlement of Natal, as shown inthe previous chapter, others and larger ones flowed straightnorthward, settling down as fancy dictated or the look of thecountry justified, in the enormous tracts of pasture landsbetween the Orange and Vaal Rivers j others even going beyondthe Vaal, in the then unknown country to the north and north­east. These parties were composed principally of thoseBoers from the Cape who were determined not to remain anylonger under the oppressive British rule j but partly also ofothers, who had been more or less concemed in previousantagonism to the Govemment, and included many whosepositions as leaders had marked them out for special punish­ment by the authorities, and whose lives and properties weretherefore considered as being unsafe while within the reachof the law. The total number of emigrants who thusvoluntarily left the Cape Colony, during the years 1885-86, wasvariously estimated at from 5,000 to 10,000. But from whatI have since leamed from many of the men themselves ortheir descendants, I think the higher estimate is the morecorrect, if we include those who colonized Natal. If we con­Bider the number of the white population of the Cape, in 1806,

Conflict with Afostlekatze. 33

which was about 21,000, and that ascertained by the census of1865, viz., nearly 200,000, we may fairly estimate the numberin 1835 to have been, at the outside, about 100,000. Of thesea tenth part willingly expatriated themselves, giving up com­parative riches and comfort for poverty and hardships of everydescription. The history-first attempted by Aylward-ofthese brave, hardy, and simple people, who have done every­thing for the opening up and colonization of South Aflica,when more fully written and brought before the other nationsof the world, will rank as equal, for perseverance, endurance,pluck, and adventures, with any other similar movement,either in Amelica or elsewhere; and will gain the respect, ifnot the admiration, of all. While, with the exception of afew dark deeds,-nothing in comparison with what has occurredand still happens in America, Asia, and the Australasiangroups-their simple method of life, religious character, primi­tive Government, and constant struggles against both whiteand black neighbours and the forces of nature, will comparefavourably with the history of any other pioneering or coloniz­ing attempts, either of ancient or modern days.

But to return to the exodus northwards :-The first partieshad but little difficulty with the natives between the Orange andVaal Rivers, consisting of only scattered remnants of valioustribes, Bushmen, Griquas, Basutos, Baralongs, Bechuanas,:M:antatus, and Korumas, who bad been destroyed, scattered, orsubjected by Moselekatze, the powel"ful Zulu chief who hadseceded from Charko. some ten yea.rs previously, and hadestabliHhed the Amatabele nation for himself. The swa.y ofthis chief then extended from the Vaal River to the Limpopo;but since the establishment of the Orange Free State andTransvaal, his son and successor, Lo Benjala, has only heldcommand over the district between the Limpopo and theZambesi. Moselekaf,ze soon heard of the advance of thewhite men, and attacked them on several occasions with variedfortune. In 1838, a large force of Boers, collected togetherfrom all parts, crossed the Vaal and attacked one of Mosele­katze's principal towns. Having beaten the natives andrecaptured the cattle, &c., previously taken from them, they

34 ~V£tk tke Boers in the Transvaal.

retired to the Sand River. There, having seen the necessityof combined action and a settled form of ~overnment, Retiefand othel' leaders established a. state on the old Dutch system,concluded treaties with the surrounding tribes, and finallysettled down in scattered communities all over the Modder,Vet, and Sand River districts, establishing the seat of govern­ment at Bloemfontein, where they were joined from time totime by others.

Another large party, which, under Potgieter and Uys, had goneinto Natal to help the other Boers then fighting the Zulus,returned after the death of Uys, and crossed the Vaal River in1888. Finding the country aba.ndoned by Moselekatze, theysettled themselves over the border, founding the town ofPotchefstrom or Mooi River Da:rp. But when a proclamationreached them from Governor Napier; stating that they were notyet relea"ed from their allegiance to the Crown, and that alloffenoes oommitted by British subjects, up to 25° of southlatitude, were punishable in the Cape Colony Courts, theyabandoned the Potchefstrom district, "trekked" furtheron again, and founded new settlements at Zoutpansberg andLeydenbepg, whence they opened up communioations with thePortuguese settlements on the east coast, and for a time wereleft in peace. The Boers who had settled down in the OrangeRiver territory rented or bought lands fpom the Griqua andBasuto chiefs-who, being the strongest, ~laimed paramountauthority over their respective districts-but they were soonbrought face to face with numerous difficulties a~d troubles,caused by many disputes about land with the natives, andresulting in an actual collision between the Griqua chief, AdamKok, and a few of the more headstrong and foolish Boersunder men named Mocke and Diederickse. They were advisedand encouraged in this resistance to the native pretensions bymany of those who had returned from Natal to the north,after breaking the power of two such powerful chiefs asDingaan and Moselekatze.

The Boers expressed their determination to drive out theDatives, and one thing led to another until Adam Kok at lastapplied to the Britifilh authorities for help and protection. Mr.

Boer Collislon w£th Grz"quas. 35

Menzies, one of the judges of the Supreme Court, then sittingat Colesberg, accompanied the magistrate to remonstrate withthe Boers, and a little way over the boundary they were metby the party under Mocke. After a stormy interview, JudgeMenzies declared that, in Her Majesty's name, he took posses­sion of all the country lying south of 25° south latitude andeast of 220 east longitude. This act served temporarily as acheck to the Boers, but it was disallowed by the Government,and no further steps were taken, except that some troops weremoved up and stationed at Colesberg to watch the course ofevents. Later on, Colonel Hare, then in command of thetroops and also Lieutenant-Governor, issued a proclamation,stating his intention of enforcing the submission of everyBritish subject beyond the boundary, and offering a freepardon to all who at once submitted, except the actualleaiJ,ers.A conference being held, many submitted, and others stated thereasons of their discontent, complaining that the Griquas andother natives Wel"e allowed greater libel1iy of self-governmentthan was granted to themselves. No more active steps weretaken by the Boers till 1848, after treaties of peace wereentered into by the British authorities with Adam Kok, chiefof the Griquas, and Moshesh, chief of the Basutos, similar tothe treaty concluded in 1884 with another Griqua chief,Waterboer. Subsequently, war broke out between the Boersand Griquas about the rights of the former to punish theirGriqua servants-a right denied by Adam Kok-tbe Griquatown of Philipolis was attacked by a Boer commando, andseveral men shot and cattle captured. The Government ofCape Colony then again interfered, and sent up a force ofcavalry to co-operate with the infantry at Colesberg. ColonelRichardson, who was in command-finding that the negotia­tions between the Boel"S and the magistrate at Colesberg, bothfOl" the delivering up of the men who hud shot the natives andfor the return of the captured cattle, were unsuccessful­marched up his troop of the 7th Dragoon Guards, with CapeMounted Rifles, and some of the 91st Foot, attacked the Boercamp suddenly at Zwart Koppies, thirty miles to the north ofPhilipolis, and completely dislodged them from their rocky

D 2

36 Wz'th the Boers -in the Transvaal.

position, pursuing them across a plain, where, but for theunusual mercy shown them, they would have been all cutdown. That night most of the fugitives sent in their sub­mission, stating that they had no intention of taking up armsagainst the British, and that their quarrel was entirely withthe Griquas, who had recently assumed an insolent attitudetowards them, after their treaty of peace had been madewith the Colonial Government. There was doubtless a greatdeal of truth in this, as after events have proved, and as ourrecent more intimate knowledge of the natives has shown.Every allowance ought therefore to be made for the actiontaken by the Boers. The leaders, however, declined to submit,and retired still further to the northward, with a strongerdetermination than ever not to come aga.in under British rule.The principal of these were Mocke, Steyn, Du Plooy, and Rok.

The Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir P. Maitland, setout at once for the border, accompanied by Mr. Porter, theAttorney-General. Having held several conferences with Boers,Griquas, and Basutos, he finally arranged to divide the landsto be held by the natives-entitled Inalienable, from thoseof the Boers, called .Alienable-giving the latter leases forpayment of a quit rent, out of the proceeds of which theexpenses of a British Resident were to be defrayed, the balancegoing to the chiefs of the tribes in whose districts the landslay. This worked well enough as a general rule; but therewere many Boers settled on lands which were declared tobe part of the II Inalienable " districts; and as it would nothave been just to order their immediate removal, a fortyyears' lease was granted them. But they were bound to leavetheir farms entirely, without compensation of any kind, atthe expiration of their leases. As, however, the Boers hadbuilt on, improved, ploughed, enclosed, and irrigated theirproperty, this settlement was unjust to them, and was thecause of much future trouble. An important event nowoccurred which led to the second collision between the Boersand the British, and finally to the freedom of the Orange FreeState.

In Natal, previous to its being constituted a separate Govern-

The Natal Exodus. 37ment in 1845, those Boers that remained became very unsettledin consequence of the large influx. or Zulu refugees, and theuncertainty then existing as to the future intentions of theBritish Government. Their Volksraad passed a resolutionrequiring the Zulus to move out of the Colony within fourteendays, and applied to the military commandant, Major Smith,for assistance in carrying out this difficult and certainly hastymeasure. In answer to their request, the British commandantstated his inability to comply with their demands, and ad­vised them to wait until the new Government was established.This they were disinclined to do; and by the time a Consti­tution was granted to Natal, the farmers had again begun toII trek." Many steps were taken to prevent further discontentand the continuance of the exodus. Land grants were madeeasy and of enlarged proportions, and other laws were relax.ed;but to little permanent good, as the effect thus produced wasmore than counterbalanced by the report of a Commissionappointed to regulate the control of the large number of nativesthen settled in Natal.

Sir T. Shepstone, the chief Political Resident at Fort Peddie,among the Fingoes, Dr. Stanger, the Surgeon-General, Lieut.Gibb, R.E., and two American missionaries, Lindley andAdams, formed the Commission; and they drew up a plan, basedon the scheme proposed by Mr. Cloete, whereby the nativesshould be placed on and confined exclusively to reserves oflocations in different districts, and be solely under the controlof responsible European magistrates. This scheme requiredmoney; but none was forthcoming from England, where EarlGrey's policy was the reduction of Colonial expenditure. Thisleft matters in the same unsatisfactory state, and effectuallycrippled the hands of Mr. T. Shepstone, the Secretary ofNative Affairs, who, in one of his reports after a slight out­break, very candidly and justly wrote :_U By neglecting toinvest money in the profitable occupation of improving "-thenatives-" we have .been forced to lavish it in the unproductive,miserable, me1ancholy work of repression; and the necessityfor this last kind of expenditure will increase in the exactproportion in which we continue to neglect the fh'st."

38 With the Boers £n the Transvaal

Finally, the Dutch farmers determined to "trek," as theyconsidered the native element too treacherous and powerful tobe relied upon for the future peace and safety of the Colonyin the hands of the Government, unless backed up with a largemilitary force. But before leaving to join their relatives in theOrange Free State and Transvaal, they deputed Mr. AndriesPretorius, their former head and representative in the NatalVolksraad, personally to see the new Governor and High Com­missioner at the Cape, to explain these grievances and appealfor their l"edress. Pretonus accordingly proceeded overlandthrough the Orange Free State; and, on his way, he met abody of emigrants at Winburg. under Commandant Kok, whodecided also to send a deputy, Mr. C. Du Plooy, to the Governorwith him. Upon their arrival at Grahamstown, Sir HenryPottinger, the new Governor, absolutely refused to see them,even after their long tedious journey, and in spite of the criticalstate of affairs throughout South Africa, asserting that whatthe Deputies had to state should be submitted in writing. Thiswas done in a memorial recapitulating all their previousgrievances, to which was added a more recent one, whichoccurred at Bloemfontein, where the British Resident had dis­armed many of the emigrants, and thus deprived them of theirchief means of support and defence. Finding that even thenno redress could be obtained from the Governor, Mr. Pretonusissued a series of letters to the publio through the medium ofthe press, wlitten most ably, eloquently, and moderately. Hesaid, in conclusion :-" I resume my journey to Natal to­morrow with a heavy heart. The object for which I bravedevery difficulty, and left my wife and family almost unprotectedfor a considerable period, I have not obtained, and have thusperformed a long journey to no purpose; and I go back to myconstituents to inform them that I have neither seen nor spokento the Lion of the Colony, Sir Henry Pottinger; that I havenot received a proper answer to my written representations­the document purporting to be such appearing to me unsuitable,and the remarks contained in it so irrelevant, that it is im­possible for me to conjecture what bad results may be theconsequence when it becomes known amongst us. I return, I

Sz"r H. Sm£th's A rrz"val. 39

say, to abide the time when I shall surely see realized all Ihave said about murder, robbery, and the firebrand; perhapsto sacrifice my life. But I have the satisfaction of knowingthat I raised my voice against misrule, the fruits whereof willbe clearly seen when it shall be too late to go back."

How moderate and true these utterances were, recent eventsand the course of the last twenty years have shown. On thereturn of Pretorius to Natal desperate proceedings were proposedby some; but all determined to "trek." Another new Governorthen turned up, Sir Harry Smith, well known and previouslyliked by many colonists. He soon put things a little straightin the Colony, and came up quietly to the Border, where hehad a series of interviews with the native chiefs and the Boers,arranging affairs satisfactorily for all parties, at any rate protem. He then travelled over the Berg to Natal, and at theTugela he met Pretorius and his fellow-countrymen, who hadalready started for the Vaal River. The miserable condition inwhich he found them-it being the height of the wet season­their friendly feelings towards himself, and calm statementof their various complaints, aroused in him a strong feeling ofadmiration and pity; and he determined to do what he couldto alleviate their condition and induce them to return to thehomes they had founded with many vicissitudes in Natal. Hepromised them legal titles to their lands, appointing a Com­mission, on which was their own leader, Pretorius, to carry thisout and receive applications; granted an amnesty for allpolitical offences; ordered the removal of the natives beyondcertain boundaries; organized a police force; legalized marriagesduly contracted between them, though without the presence ofany authorized minister, and not in conformity with the Capelaws (which are very strict on the subject of inheritance),and promised to promote education and the erection of schoolsand churches. These measures, thankfully accepted at thetime, were not however sufficient to restrain many of themore embittered among them. Within a month of Sir H.Smith's return to Cape Town, he learnt, much to his regret,that Pretorius had left Natal, thrown in his lot with the morediscontented of the Boers in the Orange Free State and Trans-

40 W£th thc Boers zn the Transvaal.

vaal, and determined to oppose by force the further encroach­ments of the British. This step received such an amount ofsupport, that the news thereof produced regret for the presentand fear for the future in the minds of the more sensibleamong the Cape Colonists. A Commission of the DutchChurch Synod was sent up to visit and advise the Boers; andSir H. Smith published 80 manifesto which attracted muchattention at the time, being of 80 semi-pathetic and religiousnature, ending with threats of the utmost severity. Its circu­lation, however, combined with the appointment of magistratesto the new distIicts of Bloemfontein, Winburg, and Caledon,smoothed matters over in that part of the Orange Free State.It was different, however, further north, where the most dis­satisfied of the Boers dwelt. They held meetings, claimed thecountry between the Vet and Vaal Rivers as having been pur­chased by Potgieter in 1888 from the chief Makwana for somecows; and finally, at 80 large meeting held at Potchefstrom,adopted certain resolutions which were sent to the High Com­missioner.

The leaders at that time were Pretonus, Kruger, Potgieter,Bothes, Prinsloo, Kok, and Steyn. They also issued a countermanifesto, and tried to unite some native allies against theprobable military operations then threatened. In this docu­ment they stated that no faith could be placed in Sir H. Smith'spromises; that the Government was only extending itsrule to make soldiers of them; that it was useless to :flyfurther north, where fevers had killed so many of them, andsickness thinned their cattle; and they appealed to the womento send their husbands and sons to fight for their country andfaith; and concluded with 8 threat of forfeiture of lands tothose who did not join them. For some time Sir H. Smithwould not credit the importance of the reports of MajorWarden, the British Resident at Bloemfontein; nor yet of acommunication made by Sir A. Stockenstrom of the warlikeplans of Pretorius and others. But in the meantime, Pretoriushad commenced the contest, making his head-quarters atWinburg, and began to expel all the British officers and in­habitants from the tenitory north of the Orange River. Two

Battle of BoomjJlaats. 41

hundred men joined him from beyond. the Vaal, but Potgieterhimself did not accompany them. On the 17th July theyappeared before Bloemfontein, their numbers having beenincreased on the road to nearly 500. They encamped abouttwo miles off, and sent a letter to the Resident demanding hisretirement from the country with the British forces, which onlyamounted to less than 100 men, including civilians anddeserters from the Boers. The Magistrate, being also encum­bered with over 200 women and children, badly provisioned,and with a number of refugee natives, accepted the termsoffered-to evacuate with all their property-and proceeded toColesberg. Similar terms were accepted by the Magistrates atWinbllrg and Caledon.

When this news reached Sir H. Smith, at Cape Town, hesent up troops to the Orange River, and issued a proclamationoffering £2,000 reward for the apprehension of A. W. PretOlius,who was declared a rebel; and he himself quickly reachedColesberg, where he awaited the concentration of troops. Herehe received a message from Pretorius, as "Chief of the wholeUnited Emigrant Force," desiring to speak with him; but theGovernor declined to see or treat with "rebels in arms." Theriver was crossed and an advance made at once by the troops,consisting of two companies each of the 45th, 91st, and RifleBrigade; two troops of Cape Mounted. Rifles, and two field guns,or altogether about 700 men. A number of Griquas, underWaterboer and Adam Kok, and some loyal Boers joined themon the march. No opposition was encountered until the 28thAugust, 1848. The Boers were then found strongly posted atBoomplaats. They were under the command of Pretorius, GutKruger, Andries Stander, and engaged the British force in asevere conflict, lasting nearly three hours, and resulting intheir ultimate defeat and flight, but only after having inflictedsevere losses on the military; who lost one officer and eightmen killed, and six officers and thirty-nine men wounded. TheBoers left forty-nine dead on the field, the number of woundednot being known. Pretorius, with a few relatives, fled out ofthe Orange Free State and aCI'OSS the Vaal River. Two onlyof the Boer force were taken prisoners, a Cape farmer, DI'eyer,

42 With the Boers in the Transvaal.

and Quigley, a deserter from the 45th Regiment. They weretried, convicted, and shot, at Bloemfontein, and were buried inthe exact spot where Major Warden signed the capitulation of thetown to Pretorius. Sir H. Smith rode on to Winburg, all oppo­sition having ceased, and the people coming forward readilyto take the oath of allegiance. Two of the Boer commanders,Paul Bester and Gut Kruger, were pardoned, and heavy fineswere inflicted on all those who were known to have taken apart in the rebellion, the money, which amounted to over£10,000, being applied to defray the expenses of the troopsthrough having had to cross the Orange River. Subsequently,on the 8th September, Sir Harry Smith proc~aimed the OrangeFree State as R. British Sovereignty, with a salute of twenty-oneguns, and reinstated Major Warden and the other Hritishofficials. He granted the inhabitants a liberal government;and, knowing their peculiar character and religious ideas, hegave them the fullest possible liberty, and encouraged andassisted a mission to them from the Dutch Reformed Churchat Cape Town. This mission was undertaken by the ReverendsDr. Robertson and Fame, who even penetrated as far as theMagaliesberg, to the north of the Vaal, where Pretorius andothers had founded the beginning of the Transvaal Republic.The effect of this mission has thus been stated by Noble:­U Their communication with the exiles in the Transvaal had amost beneficial infiuence: they held religious services withthem, baptized and married many, both young and old, andadministered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the cele­bration of which had never been witnessed by the emigrantssince they had commenced their wild and wandering life.Some of the people showed a keen jealousy of any inteli·erencewith them in political matters, and even formed a very strongprejudice with respect to the signatures required from such asdesired to have their marriages registered, imagining that theywere thereby, in some degree, made British subjects. But,generally, they gave a hearty reception to the mission, andexpressed their appreciation of the friendship and interestmanifested in their condition and prospects by their colonialfetlow-countrymen.' ,

43

CHAPTER V.

ORANGB FREE STATE SETTLEMENT.

The Events in 185O-The BasntolJ-Embroilment of the British Residents-EarGrey's Policy-Removal of Sir Ho Smith-Arrival of Commissioners Boggeand Owen-){eeting with Transvaal Boers-Sand River Convention-Row withBasutos-Bir George Cathcart and his Policy-The Berea Fight-M08heah andSir George-A.handonment of Territory-Sir George Clerk'. Work- Free StateConvention-Removal of Griqu&lJ-Basuto and Free State Wars-Annexationof Basntoland-Boundary Disputea-Waterboer's Griqaa Territory-DiamondsFound-Griqualand was annexed-BoshoW, first President, lucceeded blBrando

OF the progress of the Orange Free Sta.te, during six years,while it remained under British rule, until the final relinquish­ment of the territory to the Boer inhabitants, in 1854, I canonly give a shOlot resume in this chapter; but in a later one Ishall have more to say of its rapid advance under PresidentBrand's term of office, its present position and prospects, andits inhabitants, as I found them in 1881. While the whitepopulation in the Orange River Sovereignty, after the eventsjustrecorded, had settled down into a peaceful life, hostilities un­fortunately broke out in 1850 between the native tribes, whichled to important results, and indirectly to the abandonment ofthe territory. Moshesh, the consolidator of the Basuto nation,and its most powerflll and able chief-the only chief who evermade a successflll stand against the all-powerful Charka andhis Zulus-claimed authority over the lands occupied by theM'anlatees, Korannas, Baloalongs, and Bastards, small tribesliving in his vicinity. He welcomed the advent of missionariesand traders among his people, and through his just and care­ful government gained a large following, increased by refugeesfrom other tribes, and the respect of all. The President, un­fortunately, became mixed up in these matters, and assisted

44 Wz'th the Boers in the Transvaal.

the smaller tribes in their attempts at independence, callin~

out the Boers and Griquas to his aid against Moshesh, who, ofcourse, retaliated on the surrounding natives. The Basutos,being victorious in most of their forays, at last became involvedin war with the British; but the Burghers, called upon by thePresident, refused to muster and arm against Moshesh orinterfere at all in the native quarrels. They could not under­stand why, if it were necessary to interfere at all, the militarycould not do it without their help. During this period of dis­turbance, Sir H. Smith had the Kaffir war of 1850-1 on hishands and could do little to help. The Governor of Natal,however, Sir B. Pine, sent up two companies of the 45th Regi­ment and 700 Zulus across the Drakensberg, which gave alittle increased confidence. But that did not last long, asMajor Warden found himself in no position to attack Moshesh,who had 10,000 good men to back him, in a difficult country;and, combined with this, the Zulus became impatient and re­turned to their homes; while, out of 1,000 Burghers called out,only seventy-five answered to the call.

Earl Grey, after hearing of these things, sent a despatch toSir H. Smith, saying, that as the consent of the BritishGovernment had only with reluctance been given to the an­nexation of the Orange Free State, and the inhabitants did notseem to wish for, or continue to support, the British authority,he recommended that, at the close of 1851, the Sovereigntyshould ultimately be abandoned; and then continued :_U Ifyou are enabled to effect this object, you will distinctly under­stand that any wars, however sanguinary, which may afterwardsoccur between the different tribes and communities, which willbe left in a state of independence beyond the colonial boundary,are to be considered as affording no ground for your interference.Any inroads upon the colony must be promptly and severelypunished, but, after the experience which has been gained as tothe effect of British interferenoe in the vain hope of preservingpeace among the barbarous or semi-civilized inhabitants ofthese distant regions, I cannot sanction a renewal of similarmeasures." U Therefore," says Noble, u the old and warmly­cherished policy of England, based on the great and noble

Earl Grey's Polley. 45

principle that she was responsible for the conduct of her sub­jects towards the aboriginal races among whom they settIed­C the protector of the weak, the civilizer of the barbarian, and thepreacher of righteousness to the heathen '-was thus suddenlyreversed. It had been maintained for years, at no small costof blood and treasure; but it threatened, if pursued further, toindefinitely enlarge the demands on the revenue and militaryforce of the Kingdom. To prevent any future complications,the officers representing the Crown were interdicted, in terms asexplicit as could be employed, from making or sanctioning anyextension, however small, of Her Majesty's dominions in SouthA.frica." If such views had only prevailed at the time of theannexation of the Transvaal, and even upon other occasions,both previously and subsequently, much British blood, treasure,and reputation would, I venture to think, have been saved.This first act of abandonment was considered by every one inSouth Africa, both white and black, to have been, not only So

mistake injurious to the colonial interests of the Empire,. butcertainly a confession of great weakness, unworthy of GreatBritain. What she then sm'ank from undertaking has sincebeen successfully accomplished by the Burghers of the FreeState alone, without an organized military force: so thatMoshesh was forced to sue for peace, and claim for his tribe ofBasutos British protection, from utter extermination at thehands of these few thousand Boers. Tempora mutantur /

In fulfilment of this new policy, Sir Harry Smith was re­called, Major Warden was dismissed from the post of Adminis­trator of the Orange River Territory, and two Commissioners,Major Hogge and Mr. C. M. Owen, were instructed to proceedto the Distriot to inquire into matters, with full authority toact as they thought best. In the course of the inquiry theyfound that Moroko, chief of the Baralongs, by the agreementmade by the former British Resident, had clearly been entitledto protection, as well as the Boers, who had been plunderedpromiscuously by all. The difficulty was, how to get compen­sation out of Moshesh, who had retired to his mountainfastnesses, and sent messages that he did not want to fight theBritish, but only desired his rights from the natives, and to

46 Wz'th the Boers in the Transvaal.

be protected from encroachments. The Commissioners, aftermuch deliberation, considered that it would be necessary tovindicate the authority of the British; and the new Governorand Commander-in-Chief, Sir George Cathcart, agreed to mal'chup a large force against Moshesh, so soon as he had broughtto a satisfactory conclusion the Kaffir war then progressing. Inthe meantime, while the Commissioners remained in Bloem­fontein striving to settle matters there satisfactorily, messengerscame to them from Pretorius and the Boers over the Vaal, tonegotiate for peace and the friendship of the British, as against

.the natives and the rebellious efforts of those in the Sovereigntywho were trying to excite others to rise again. This wasthought to be a favourable opportunity to re-establish goodfeeling between the Boers and the British-in which case theycould despise the Blacks; wherefore the sentences of outlawrywere cancelled, and a meeting was alTanged; which took placenear the Sand River, and resulted in a Convention beingentered into on behalf of Her Majesty, allowing the Boers tothe north of the Vaal to establish an independent governmentof their own, upon certain conditions. The Convention wasapproved of by the Governor and the Home Authorities, whohoped that the freedom at last granted the emigrant Boerswould conduce to peace and good order among themselves, andfriendship with the Imperial Government. The following isthe record of the proceedings :-

"Minute of a meeting held on the farm of Mr. P.A. Venter,Sand River, on Friday, the 16th day of January, 1852, betweenHer Ma.jesty·s Commissioners, Major W. S. Hogge and C. M.Owen, appointed to settle the affairs of the East and North­East boundaries of the Cape Colony, on the one part; and thefollowing deputie.s of the emigrant Boers, living north of VaalRiver, on the other hand-A. W. J. Pretorius, Comdt.­General; H. S. Lombard, Landdrost; H. F. Joubert, Comdt.­General; G. F. Krieger, Commandant, and twelve others.

"1. The Assistant Commissioner sguarantee in the fullestmanner, on the part of the British Government, to theemigrant farmers beyond the Vaal River, the right to managetheir own affairs, and to govern themselves aecording to their

Sand River Conventlon. 47

own laws, without any interfel'ence on the part of the BritishGovernment; and that no encroachment shall be made by thesaid Government on the territory beyond, to the north of theVaal River, with the further assurance that the warmest wishof the British Government is to promote peace, free trade, andfl'iendly intercourse with the emigrant farmers now inhabiting,or who may inhabit, that country; it being understood thatthis system of non-interference is binding upon both parties.

u 2. Should any misunderstanding hereafter arise as to thetrue meaning of the words, 'The Vaal River,' this question, inso far as it regards the line from the source of that river, overthe Drakensberg, shall be settled and adjusted by Commis­sioners chosen by both parties.

u 8. Her MajestY'J!I A~sistant Commissioners hereby disclaimall alliances whatever and with whomsoever of the colourednatiolls to the north of the Vaal Riverr

u 4. It is agreed that no slavery is or shall be permitted orpractised in th~ country to the porth of th~ V,.,al River by theemigrant farmel's.

"5. Mutual facilities and liberty shall be aft'orded to tradersand travellers OJl, both sides of the Vaal River: it being under­stood thQ,t every waggon containing firearms, coming from thesouth side of the Vaal River, shall produce a oertificate signedby a British magistrate, or other functionary, duly authorizedto grant such, and which shall state the quantities of sucharticles ~oJl~ained in said waggon to the nearest magistratenorth of the Vaal River, who shall act in the case as theregulations of the emigrant farmers direct. It is agreed thatno objections shall be made by any Blitish authority againstthe emigrant Boers :purchasing their supplies of ammunitionin any of the British colonies and possessions of South Africa;it being mutually understood that all trade in ammunitionwith the native tlibes is prohibited, both by the BritishGovemmellt and the emigrant farmers on both sides of theVaal River.

u 6. It is agreed that, so far as possible, all criminals andother guilty pal,ties who may fly from justice either way acrossthe Vaal River shall be mutually delivered up, if such should

48 With the Boers tOn the Transvaalo

be required; and that the British courts, as well as those ofthe emigrant farmers, shall be mutually open to each other forall legitimate processes, .g,nd that summonses for witnessessent either way across the Vaal River shall be backed by themagistrates ·on each side of the same respectively, to compel theattendance of such witnesses when required.

u 7. It is agreed that certificates of marriage issued by theproper authorities of the emigrant farmers shall be held validand sufficient to entitle children of such marriages to receiveportions accruing to them in any British colony or possessionin South Mrica.

"8. It is agreed that any and every person now in possessionof land, and residing in British territory, shall have free rightand power to sell his said property, and remove unmolestedacross the Vaal River and vice versa; it being distinctlyunderstood that this arrangement does not comprehend criminalsor debtors without providing for the payment of their just andlawful debts."

At the end of that year, 1852, the Govemor found himselfin a position to' move towards the Orange River Territory, inwhich a new Resident, Mr. Green, had been managing mattersfairly well; but he had never been able to check the constantwarfare going on between the Basutos on the one hand, andthe Baralongs and the Burghers on the other. Mosheshhad repeatedly promised amends and restitution of cattle, butnever fulfilled any of his promises. The arrival of 2,000troops (450 cavalry, a battery of artillery, and the restinfantry) at Plaatberg, with the General, brought matters toa crisis. An immediate demand for 10,000 head of cattleand 1,000 horses, to be delivered to the British Resident inthree days, met with no response, altho~gh Moshesh hadcome in on the day after the demand was maae, and promisedcompliance. As only 8,500 were sent in on the day appointed,an advance was made in three columns on Thaba Bossigo.They found the Basutos prepared for war, and, after severalblunders made by the commanders of two of the columns,they were suddenly assailed by a large force of the enemy ina difficult place, and at a critical time, and were compelled

A bandonment of Territory. 49

to retire with heavy loss. The other column did little better;but they at length repulsed the enemy and bivouacked on thefield, marching back next da.y with some captured guns andcattle to the camp at Caledon River, with the intentionof resuming the war next day. That morning, however,Moshesh sent a letter under a flag of truce, asking for peace,and saying that as they had captured some cattle, he hopedthey would be satisfied and give them as compensation tothe Boers. The letter was written in English by a son,Nehemiah Moshesh, who had been educated at the Cape,and spoke and wrote English well. Under the then circum­stances, and knowing the mitica! state of the whole of thecountry, Governor Cathcart decided to grant the terms, andmake the best of a bad bargain. A proclamation was there­fore issued, declaring peace with the Ba.sutos, declining anyinterference in the future on the part of the Government withnative affairs, and giving the Burghers full power to protect,secure and recover their property after the fashion of thecolonial U commando" system. The Governor had seen enoughto convince him that the Government must either abandonthe Orange River Territory at once, or keep a force of 2,000men there permanently, and organize a proper system ofgovernment. In consequence of his reports, the Home Govern­ment decided to relinquish the sovereignty at once, and sentout Sir G. R. Clerk, an eminent Indian statesman, for thatpurpose. On his arrival at Bloemfontein, in August 1858, heinvited the inhabitants to elect delegates to meet together andarrange the basis of a Convention for their separation. Thiswas bitterly opposed by all the English residents and a numberof farmers, as well as by the Cape Colony people. Twodelegates were even sent home to appeal against this decisionof abandonment. This was of no avail, as even Sir G. R.Clerk's opinion was in favour of it; and at last SeVel"al of theleading Burghers came forward to assist the Special Commis­sioner-U Not," they said, U because they regarded the BritishCrown with any antipathy; their discontent arose solely withthe mismanagement of Her Majesty's servants." And at anassembly of the delegates at Bloemfontein on the 28rd of Feb-

E