South Africa and the Boer-British War Part 2

The Relief of Kimberley--The Turn of the Tide of War Against the Boers.

Difference in Positions of Roberts and Buller--A White Man's War--Each Step Carefully Considered--A Remarkable Cavalry Movement--Kimberley Relieved--Roberts and Buller in Co-operation--Roberts' Public Utterances--What a Military Specialist Says--The Spion Kop Affair--The Kop Retaken by the Boers

CHAPTER XI.

Cronje's Surrender and the Occupation of Bloemfontein.

Cronje Hard Pressed--Cronje Capitulates--Cronje and Roberts Meet--The Detailed Report of Roberts--Kruger Willing to Compromise--From Modder River to Bloemfontein--Kruger and Steyn's Address to Lord Salisbury--Lord Salisbury's Answer--The British Cordially Greeted in Bloemfontein--The Press on Mediation

Official List.

of the Royal Canadian Soldiers Gone to South Africa

NOTE.--Official lists of Second and Third Contingents not being complete at time of issuing FIRST VOLUME, they will be inserted in full in SECOND VOLUME.

Ill.u.s.trations.

The Ill.u.s.trations in this volume have NO FOLIOS. There are 64 FULL PAGES of PLATES, and 448 pages of reading matter, making a total of 512 pages.

Glossary of Boer Terms.

That the readers of this volume may understand the meaning of certain Boer names and words which the author has found it necessary to use, we append the following glossary of those most frequently employed:

Aarde ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . Earth, ground Afgang ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Slope Baas ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Master Beek ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Brook Berg ... ... . Mountain (the plural is formed by adding en) Boer ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Farmer Boom ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Tree Boschveldt ... ... ..... An open plain covered with bush Broek ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Marsh, pool Buitenlander ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Foreigner Burg ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... A town Burgher ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... A citizen Commandeer ... ... ... ... ... ... . To levy troops Commando ... ... ... ... ... ... A body of armed men Daal ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . A valley Dorp ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . A village Drift ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . A ford Dusselboom ... ... ... ... ..... Pole of an ox wagon Fontein ... ... ... ... ..... A spring or fountain Gebied ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... District Hout ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Wood, timber Inspan ... ... ... . To harness or tether horses or cattle Jonkher ... ... ... ..... Gentleman of the Volks Raad Karroo ... ... . A geographical term for a certain district.

In Hottentot, a "dry place"

Kerel ... ... ... ... ... ..... A chap, or fellow Klei ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Clay Kloof ... ... ... ... ... ... . A valley or ravine Kop, or Kopje ... ... ... ... A hill or small mountain Kraal ... ... ... ... A place of meeting, headquarters Kruger ... ... ... The family name of present president of South African Republic Krantz ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... A precipice Laager ... . A fortified camp, but often applied to any camp, fortified or not Landdrost ... ... ... ... ... ... . Local governor Loop ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . Course, channel Modder ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Mud Mooi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Pretty Nachtmal ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Lord's Supper Nieuwe ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... New Oom ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Uncle Pan ... ... ... ... ... Bed of a dried-up salt marsh Poort ... ... ... ... ... A pa.s.sage between mountains Raad ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Senate Raadsher ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Senator Raadhuis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . Senate hall Raadzael ... ... ... ... ... ... . Parliament house Rand ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Edge, margin Rooinek ..... Term of contempt applied to British by Boers Ruggens ... ... ... ... ... . A barren, hilly country Schantze ... ... A heap of stones used to protect a marksman against opposing rifle fire Slim ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . Cunning, crafty Sluit ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . A ditch Spruit ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Creek Staat ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... State Stad ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . A town or city Transvaal ... ... ... ... ... ... Across the valley Trek ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . A journey Trekken ... ... ... ... . To travel, or pull away from Uit ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Outside Uitspan... ... ... ... ... ... To unharness, to stop Uitlander ... ... ... ... ... An outsider or newcomer Vaal ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Valley Veldt ... ... ... ..... A prairie, or treeless plain Veldtheer ... ... ... ... ... The general in command Vley ... ... ... ... ... ... . A prairie-like meadow Volks Raad ... ... ... House of commons or representatives Voortrekkers ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Pioneers Vrow ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . Housewife Wit.w.a.terstrand ... ... ..... The edge of the White Water Zuid ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... South

The correct p.r.o.nunciation of Boer words is very difficult to a speaker of the English tongue, hence the attempt to give it in above glossary is omitted. The language is as peculiar to South Africa as the jargon French of lower Louisiana is to that country and even more unlike Holland Dutch than the Creole dialect is unlike Parisian French. While the Boer speech was primarily Dutch, it has been so modified by isolation from the mother country for more than two centuries, and by contact with the native African tribes, and by the influx of French, Spanish and Maylay elements, that a native Hollander is scarcely able to understand it, even when written, and to speak it, as the Boers do, he finds impossible.

PART I.

OF VOL. I.

EARLY HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF

SOUTH AFRICA

BY

J. CASTELL HOPKINS

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL SIR WILLIAM GATACRE, GENERAL LORD KITCHENER, THE HON. FREDERICK W. BORDEN, Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence, GENERAL JOUBERT Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch Forces.

Died at Pretoria, March 27th, 1900.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WILLIAM BRYANT, KINGSTON, CANADA, and Batt. Royal Fusiliers, Imperial Army, in South Africa.

VICTORIA CONTINGENT FOR THE TRANSVAAL, Troops marching through Melbourne on Oct. 28th, 1899, _Photo by Bishop, Prahran_.

MAJOR DUNCAN STUART, LONDON, ONT., With B Co., 1st Canadian Contingent in South Africa]

CHAPTER I.

Early Scenes of Settlement and Struggle.

[Sidenote: The Dark Continent]

From the date of its discovery by Bartholomew Diaz, in 1486, until the first Dutch settlement by Van Riebeeck, in 1650, the Cape of Good Hope was simply a finger post on the route to India--a convenient and temporary anchorage for Portuguese, Dutch, English, Spanish and French s.h.i.+ps. And around its stormy and rock-bound headlands had pa.s.sed the richly laden s.h.i.+ps of the English and Dutch East India Companies for half a century before the latter founded its pioneer establishment.

Henceforward, however, the sh.o.r.es of Table Bay, with its towering and mountainous ma.s.s of granite sheltering the Castle of the Dutch Governor and the tiny settlement of Cape Town, was to be the scene and centre of a gradual colonization, of continuous struggle with innumerable natives, of peculiar trade conditions and curious governing experiences, of capture by the English and of varied experiments in British government.

[Sidenote: The First Settlement]

The first Dutch settlement was really a station for supplying the pa.s.sing s.h.i.+ps of the Dutch East India Company. No idea of territorial extension was present in the minds of those who proceeded to erect a fort and to barter with wandering natives. They knew nothing of the vast interior of the Dark Continent and its two or three hundred millions of black or brown population, its merciless wars and campaigns, its savage customs and cruelties, its vast lakes and rivers and mountains and rolling plains. They were equally unaware that about the time of their own establishment in the south, under the protecting shelter of the vast square ma.s.s of Table Mountain, a tribe of dark-skinned natives, called the Bantu, had swarmed down upon the far eastern coast and were preparing to overrun from their home in Central Africa all the great region of barren upland and rolling veldt and level Karoo plain known now by the common name of South Africa. The tiny settlements of the Dutch were thus unconsciously preparing for a future in which the persistent pressure of millions of Bantu, or Kaffirs, from the north and east upon the white colonies of the south was to make history of a most prolonged and painful character.

[Sidenote: The Old-Time Natives]

At first little was seen of the natives excepting members of a degraded coast tribe whom the Colonists called Bushmen and who lived more like animals than human beings. A little higher in the scale were the Hottentots, who, in large numbers, formed a fringe of wandering tribes along the whole of the southern part of the continent. Fighting continually amongst themselves, trading occasionally with the white men and stealing cattle wherever possible from the gradually extending settlement, these natives proved a source of much trouble to the pioneers.

[Sidenote: The Dutch East India Company]

Between 1652 and 1783 the European population of the Cape increased to about twenty-five thousand persons, in comparison with an increase of four millions in the English population of the thirteen American Colonies during much the same period. But conditions were different and the character of the settlers still more so.

The Dutch East India Company ruled with despotic power, and its regulations read like a product of romantic imagination.

Slaves were, of course, permitted and encouraged, and, in 1754, the penalty of death was fixed for any slave raising his hand against his master, and that of a severe flogging for any who loitered outside the church doors during service time.

[Sidenote: How the French Huguenots were Received]

The French Protestants, or Huguenots, who came out in 1688-90, were welcomed as settlers, but were very soon shown that no ideas of racial equality pervaded the Dutch mind. A schoolmaster was imported expressly to teach the children the language of the dominant race. No separate communities were allowed, and the French were carefully mixed amongst the Dutch and other settlers. Requests for distinct church organization were stigmatized as impertinent, and the use of the language was forbidden in official or public life. By the middle of the eighteenth century it had entirely died. Sumptuary laws of the most extraordinary character prevailed. Any person seeing the Governor approach had to stop his carriage and get out of it. No one lower in rank than a merchant could use a large umbrella, and only the wives and daughters of those who were, or had been, members of the Council could do so. The trade monopoly of the Company was so rigorous that Colonists were entirely debarred from external commerce, and were dependent upon officials for the sale and price of their products.

They had not the most elementary self-government, and at the end of the eighteenth century did not possess a printing press. Cut off from all literature, having nothing but the Bible and a metrical version of the Psalms, they developed a type of character unique in itself and productive of most serious consequences.

[Sidenote: The System of "Loan Leases"]

Nor was permanency of settlement encouraged by the Dutch authorities. From 1705 to 1770 the Government issued what were termed "loan leases," or licenses to occupy land in the interior for grazing purposes upon the payment of a small rental and with a right to re-a.s.sume possession at any time retained by the Government.

Combined with changes in the seasons and the pasturage, and the desire to obtain better locations, this system encouraged the formation of that peculiar characteristic called "trekking," which has marked the pages of South African history with so much bloodshed and trouble. It also brought the wandering farmers, or Boers, into contact or conflict with the wandering natives. Even the Dutch officials at Swellendam and Stellenbosch complained at last of a plan under which the farmers "did not scruple to wander about hither and thither several days'

journey from their loan farms;" and finally, in 1770, the system was abolished. Meantime a region larger than the British Isles had been taken from the Hottentots and their cattle driven away from the best gra.s.s-land available for their use, and which had been theirs for centuries. The natural result of cattle-stealing which ensued upon the part of the natives was punishment by the Colonists in the form of war; in the holding of captured children as apprentices or slaves; and in the occasional application of torture to individual savages.

[Sidenote: Successive Racial Importations]