By permission of The Berlin Photographic Co., New York

Copyright, 1902, by Photographische Gesellschaft HIS MAJESTY KING EDWARD VII DISTRIBUTING THE WAR MEDALS TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN VOLUNTEERS (From the painting by Ernest Crofts, R. A.)

[1902 A.D.]

serve the purpose for which they were designed. In the past the mobile columns, of which there were over sixty in the field, had always been bound to the railway for supply; now convoys could be pushed out to them along whatever blockhouse line they touched.

In January Bruce Hamilton continued his successful night marches, and late in the month General Ben Viljoen was captured in the Lydenburg district. The only set back was the descent which Beyers made upon Pietersburg, breaking into the concentration camp and carrying off a number of ablebodied refugees. Early in February Lord Kitchener commenced his first drive at Wolvehoek, and it was so successful that it was evident that the key to the situation had been found. As a mark of its success it drove the enemy still in the field to desperation, and for the rest of the winter were chronicled alternate successes and disasters. A British convoy was captured in the Colony; the 28th Mounted Infantry were overwhelmed at Klip Drift; the Scots Greys were roughly handled; De la Rey captured Von Donop's convoy. But against this could be set off the capture of a whole commando by Colonel Park, A.D.C., the capture of Hans Grobler's commando by Colonel Colin Mackenzie, and a successful drive in the northeast of the Orange River Colony which resulted in six hundred prisoners. March was perhaps the most important month in the last stage of the war. It opened with another success to De la Rey, who captured Paris' column and Lord Methuen; but, for the rest, the great drive in the western Transvaal proved to the Boers the futility of any attempt to prolong the struggle. On March 23rd the representatives of the Boer government came into Pretoria, six weeks were spent in negotiation, and then a monster meeting of delegates, under the presidency of General Kemp, was held at Vereeniging.

PEACE

As a result of this conference a peace was ratified at Pretoria on May 31st, and the South African War was a history of the past. The terms of peace may be condensed into the following points: (1) surrender of all burghers in the field, with all arms and munitions of war; (2) all burghers duly declaring themselves subjects of King Edward VII to be repatriated; (3) no burghers who should surrender to be deprived of either their liberty or property; (4) no proceedings to be taken against burghers for any legitimate acts of war during the period of hostilities; (5) the Dutch language to be taught in public schools on the request of parents, and to be allowed in courts of law; (6) sporting rifles to be allowed upon the taking out of licences; (7) the military administration to be superseded by civil administration as soon as possible, the civil administration to lead up to self-government; (8) the question of the native franchise not to be considered until after the introduction of self-government; (9) landed property not to be subjected to any special tax to defray the cost of the war; (10) a commission to be formed to facilitate the repatriation of the burghers. A grant of £3,000,000 to be given as compensation for the destruction of farms. These terms were signed on behalf of the British government by Lord Milner and Lord Kitchener; on behalf of the Orange Free State by Messrs. J. Brebner, C. R. de Wet, C. Olivier, and Judge J. B. M. Hertzog; on behalf of the Transvaal government, by Messrs. S. W. Burger, F. W. Reitz, Louis Botha, J. H. De la Rey, Lucas Meyer, and Krogh.

In the whole war the British lost 5,774 killed and 22,829 wounded, while the Boers lost about 4,000 killed. The number of Boer prisoners in the hands of the British at the end of the war was about 40,000. †

NATAL

[1497-1886 A.D.]

The country which forms the colony of Natal was discovered by Vasco da Gama, who sighted the bluff headland at the entrance to the bay forming the present port at Durban, on Christmas Day in 1497, and so named the country Terra Natalis. From that date little is recorded until the survivors of the crew of the Dutch ship Stavenisse, wrecked on the coast in 1686, gave their report of the country and its inhabitants. In 1721 the Dutch formed a settlement, but it was soon abandoned. Subsequently, about 1810, it would seem that Chaka, chief of the Amazulu, swept with his warriors through the whole of Natal and the adjoining territories, destroying all males, and making booty of the cattle and women. One tribe, the Amatuli, however, after offering resistance to the invader, retreated into the dense bush near the bluff and were amongst the few aborigines when the British took possession of the country. In 1824 Lieutenant Farewell and about twenty companions landed in Natal with the view of colonising it, and for that purpose entered into a treaty with Chaka. Some four years after their arrival, however, Chaka was murdered by his brother Dingaan, and the settlement was broken up. In 1835 another British officer, Captain Allen Gardner, got permission from Dingaan to introduce missionaries into the country, and at once formed the township of Durban, at the port where there were still a few English settlers. In 1837 several Dutch farmers made an exodus from the Cape Colony, and one of their leaders, Peter Retief, with the assistance of the reverend Mr. Owen, who had been for some time a resident missionary at Dingaan's own head kraal, obtained from Dingaan a cession of the whole territory of Natal. Immediately after the conclusion of the treaty Retief and his followers were treacherously murdered, and the attempt was made to extirpate the Boers throughout the length and breadth of the land. The latter with their firearms eventually proved more than a match for their numerous assailants, and joining Mpanda, who had rebelled against his brother Dingaan, utterly routed Dingaan's army on the banks of the White Umvolozi in 1840, and drove him to the Amaswazi country, where he was shortly after assassinated. Natal became a British colony on August 8th, 1843, and, owing no doubt to the fame of the security and protection to be found under the British flag, large accessions were at once made to the native population by refugees from the several surrounding tribes. Since 1843 the colony has made rapid progress; the native tribes as a rule have been loyal, and, although occasional reports from Zululand have alarmed the colonists, it has very seldom been found necessary to send out the volunteer forces on commando. Any tendency to insubordination on the part of the resident natives has always been quickly suppressed, and a spirit of disaffection has never become general. In 1879 the colony became the base of operations against the Zulu king, and in 1881 it was for a short time invaded by the Transvaal Boers in connection with the fighting which arose out of the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877.9

At the conclusion of the first Boer War in 1881, the chief engagements of which were fought in the northern extremity of Natal, Sir Evelyn Wood was commander-in-chief of her majesty's forces. He was also appointed for a short time administrator of Natal, and on his departure for England, after a final arrangement for the cession of the Transvaal, he was succeeded by Colonel (afterwards Sir Charles) Mitchell as administrator. In 1882 Sir Henry Bulwer was sent to Natal with the full title of governor, and in 1886 was succeeded by Sir Arthur Havelock. The feeling of the colonists after

[1886-1889 A.D.]

the retrocession of the Transvaal was extremely bitter. The treaty of retrocession was never regarded in Natal as anything but a surrender.

The Zulu power which had always been a menace to Natal as well as the Transvaal, was broken in 1879 by British forces. After the settlement intestine quarrels arose among the petty chiefs, and in 1883 some Transvaal Boers intervened, and subsequently, as a reward for the assistance they had rendered to one of the combatants, demanded and annexed eight thousand square miles of country, which they styled the New Republic. A strong feeling was once more aroused in Natal. The New Republic was nevertheless allowed to remain, and in 1887 the British consented to the territory being incorporated with the Transvaal.

In 1884 the discovery of gold in De Kaap Valley, and on Mr. Moodie's farms in the Transvaal, caused a considerable rush of colonists from Natal to that country. Railways were still far from the Transvaal border, and Natal not only sent her own colonists to the new fields, but also offered the nearest route for prospectors from Cape Colony or from Europe. Durban was soon thronged; and Pietermaritzburg, which was then practically the terminus of the Natal railway, was the base from which nearly all the expeditions to the gold fields were fitted out. Two years later, in 1885, gold was also discovered at the Witwatersrand, and the tide of trade which had already set in with the Transvaal steadily increased.

For many years Sir John Robinson led a party in Natal which agitated for a responsible form of government. In 1893 a bill in favour of this change was introduced into the legislative council, and passed. The British government gave their consent to the bill, and the Constitution Act of 1893 became law. Sir John Robinson, K.C.M.G., was the first colonial secretary and premier under the new constitution, and Mr. Harry Escombe, Q.C., the first attorneygeneral. In the same year Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson was appointed governor of the colony. In 1898 Natal entered the customs union already existing between Cape Colony and Orange Free State.

In May, 1899, the Natal government began to suspect the nature of the military preparations that were being made by the Boers, and their apprehensions were communicated to the high commissioner, Sir Alfred Milner, who telegraphed on May 25th to Mr. Chamberlain, informing him that Natal was uneasy. In July the Natal ministry learned that it was not the intention of the imperial government to endeavour to hold the frontier in case hostilities arose, but that a line of defence considerably south of the frontier would be taken up. This led to a request on their part that if the imperial government had any reason to anticipate the breakdown of negotiations, such steps may be at once taken as may be necessary for the effectual defence of the whole colony." Sir W. P. Symons, the general commanding the British forces in Natal in September, decided to hold Glencoe. On the arrival of Sir George White from India, he informed the governor that he considered it dangerous to attempt to hold Glencoe, and urged the advisability of withdrawing the troops to Ladysmith. The governor was strongly opposed to this step, as he was anxious to protect the coal supply, and also feared the moral effect of a withdrawal. Eventually Sir A. Hunter was consulted, and stated that in his opinion, Glencoe being already occupied, "it was a case of balancing drawbacks, and advised that, under the circumstances, the troops be retained at Glencoe." This course was then adopted.

On October 11th, 1899, war broke out. The first act was the seizure by the Boers of a Natal train on the Free State border. On the 12th Laing's Nek was occupied by the Boer forces, who were moved in considerable force