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diff --git a/34548.txt b/34548.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..97720c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/34548.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12402 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The African Colony, by John Buchan + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The African Colony + Studies in the Reconstruction + +Author: John Buchan + +Release Date: December 2, 2010 [EBook #34548] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AFRICAN COLONY *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Rachael Schultz and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Transcriber's Note + + Greek text has been transliterated and is indicated ~like + this~. Footnotes are marked with a number in brackets + (e.g., [1]) and appear at the end of their respective + chapter or section. Punctuation has been standardized + throughout the text and the oe ligatures removed. For + details on typographical corrections, please refer to the + note at the end of the text. + + + + + THE AFRICAN COLONY + + STUDIES IN THE RECONSTRUCTION + + + + + BY + + JOHN BUCHAN + + + + + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS + EDINBURGH AND LONDON + MCMIII + + + + + TO THE + + HONOURABLE + + HUGH ARCHIBALD WYNDHAM, + + IN MEMORY OF + + OUR AFRICAN HOUSEKEEPING. + + + + + "The greatest honour that ever belonged to the greatest + Monarkes was the inlarging their Dominions, and erecting + Commonweales."--Captain JOHN SMITH. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + INTRODUCTORY ix + + + PART I. + + THE EARLIER MASTERS. + CHAP. + I. PRIMITIVE SOUTH AFRICA 3 + + II. THE GENTLEMEN-ADVENTURERS 18 + + III. THE GREAT TREK 33 + + IV. THE BOER IN SPORT 49 + + V. THE BOER IN ALL SERIOUSNESS 58 + + + PART II. + + NOTES OF TRAVEL. + + VI. EVENING ON THE HIGH VELD 79 + + VII. IN THE TRACKS OF WAR 93 + + VIII. THE WOOD BUSH 113 + + IX. ON THE EASTERN VELD 129 + + X. THE GREAT NORTH ROAD 146 + + XI. THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICAN SPORT 168 + + + PART III. + + THE POLITICAL PROBLEM. + + XII. THE ECONOMIC FACTOR 189 + + XIII. THE SETTLEMENT OF THE LAND 255 + + XIV. THE SUBJECT RACES 284 + + XV. JOHANNESBURG 311 + + XVI. CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS 325 + + XVII. THE POLICY OF FEDERATION 348 + + XVIII. THE ARMY AND SOUTH AFRICA 368 + + XIX. THE FUTURE OUTLOOK 386 + + + INDEX 400 + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +On the last day of May 1902 the signature at Pretoria of the +conditions of peace brought to an end a war which had lasted for +nearly three years, and had among other things destroyed a government, +dissolved a society, and laid waste a country. In those last months of +fighting some progress had been made with the reconstruction--at least +with that not unimportant branch of it which is concerned with the +machinery of government. A working administration had been put +together, new ordinances in the form of proclamations had been issued, +departments had been created and the chief appointments made, the gold +industry was beginning to set its house in order, refugees were +returning, and already political theories were being mooted and future +parties foreshadowed. But it is from the conclusion of peace that the +work of resettlement may fairly be taken to commence. Before that date +the restrictions of war limited all civil activity; not till the +shackles were removed and the civil power left in sole possession does +a fair field appear either for approval or criticism. + +It is not my purpose to write the history of the reconstruction. The +work is still in process, and a decade later it may be formally +completed. Fifty years hence it may be possible to look back and +discriminate on its success or failure. The history when it is written +will be an interesting book. It will among other matters deal with the +work of repatriation, one of the most curious and quixotic burdens +ever borne by a nation, and one, I believe, to which no real parallel +can be found. It will concern itself with the slow and difficult +transference from military to civil government, the renascence of the +common law, the first revival of trade and industry, the restitution +of prisoners, and the return of refugees--all matters of interest and +novel precedents in our history. It will recognise more clearly than +is at present possible the problems which faced South Africa at the +time, and it will be in the happy position of judging from the high +standpoint of accomplished fact. But in the meantime, when we have +seen barely eighteen months of reconstruction, history is out of the +question. Yet even in the stress of work it is often sound policy for +a man to halt for a moment and collect his thoughts. There must be +some diagnosis of the problem before him, the end to which his work is +directed, the conditions under which he labours. While it is useless +to tell the story of a task before it is done, it is often politic to +re-examine the difficulties and to get the mind clear as to what the +object of all this strife and expense of money and energy may be. +Ideals are all very well in their way, but they are apt to become +very dim lamps unless often replenished from the world of facts and +trimmed and adjusted by wholesome criticism. + +Such a modest diagnosis is the aim of the present work. I have tried +in the main to state as clearly as I could the outstanding problems of +South African politics as they appear to one observer. I say "in the +main," because I am aware that I have been frequently led against my +intention to express an opinion on more than one such problem, and in +several cases to suggest a policy. I can only plead that it is almost +impossible to keep a statement of a case uncoloured by one's own view +of the solution, and that it is better to give frankly a judgment, +however worthless, than to allow a bias to influence insensibly the +presentation of facts. For such views, which are my own, I claim no +value; for facts, in so far as they are facts, I hope I may beg some +little attention. They are the fruit of first-hand, and, I trust, +honest observation. Every statement of a case is, indeed, a personal +one, representing the writer's own estimate rather than objective +truth, but in all likelihood it is several degrees nearer the truth +than the same writer's policies or prophecies. South Africa has been +in the world's eye for half a century, and in the last few years her +problems have been so complex that it has been difficult to separate +the permanent from the transitory, or to look beyond the mass of local +difficulties to the abiding needs of the sub-continent as a whole. +Colonial opinion has been neglected at home; English opinion has been +misunderstood in the colonies. It may be of interest to try to +estimate her chief needs and to understand her thoughts, for it is +only thus that we can forecast that future which she and she alone +must make for herself. + +Every one who approaches the consideration of the politics of a +country which is not his own, and in which he is at best a stranger, +must feel a certain diffidence. On many matters it is impossible that +he should judge correctly. What seems to him a simple fact is +complicated, it may be, by a thousand unseen local currents which no +one can allow for except the old inhabitant. For this reason an +outside critic will be wrong in innumerable details, and even, it is +probable, in certain broad questions of principle. But aloofness may +have the qualities of its defects. A critic on a neighbouring hill-top +will be a poor guide to the flora and fauna of the parish below; but +he may be a good authority on its contours, on the height of its hills +and the number of its rivers, and he may, perhaps, be a better judge +of the magnitude of a thunderstorm coming out of the west than the +parishioner in his garden. The insistence of certain South African +problems, familiar to us all, has made any synthetic survey difficult +for the South African and impossible for the newspaper reader at home. +We have forgotten that it is a country with a history, that it is a +land where men can live as well as wrangle and fight, that it has +sport, traditions, charm of scenery and weather; and in its politics +we are apt to see the problems under a few popular categories, rather +as a war of catchwords than the birth-pangs of a people. I have +attempted in the following pages to give this synthesis at the +expense, I am afraid, of completeness of detail. It is my hope that +some few readers may find utility even in an imperfect general survey +as a corrective and a supplement to the many able expositions of +single problems. + +The title begs a question which it is the aim of the later chapters to +answer. South Africa is in reality one colony, and it can only be a +matter of years till this radical truth is formally recognised in a +federation. But some explanation is necessary for the fact that most +of the book is occupied with a discussion of the new colonies and with +problems which, for the present, may seem to exist only for them. At +this moment the settlement of the Transvaal and the Orange River +Colony is the most vital South African problem. On their success or +failure depends the whole future of the sub-continent. They show, not +in embryo, but in the strongest light and the clearest and most mature +form, every South African question. On them depends the future wealth +of the country and any marked increase in its population. They will be +forced by their position to be in the van of South African progress, +and to give the lead in new methods of expansion and development. We +are therefore fortunate in possessing in the politics of these +colonies an isolated and focussed observation-ground, a page where we +can read in large clear type what is elsewhere blurred and written +over. I do not suppose that this fact would be denied by any of the +neighbouring colonies; indeed the tendency in those states is to +manifest an undue interest in the affairs of the Transvaal, and to see +often, in matters which are purely local, questions of far-reaching +South African interest. On the ultimate dominance of the Transvaal +opinion naturally differs, and indeed it is a point not worth +insisting on, save as a further argument for federation. If South +African interests are so inextricably intertwined, it is clearly +desirable to have a colony, whose future is obscure but whose wealth +and power are at least potentially very great, brought formally into a +union where each colony will be one unit and no more, rather than +allow it to exist in isolation, unamenable to advice from sister +states and wholly self-centred and unsympathetic. It is sufficient +justification for the method I have employed if it is admitted that +the Transvaal question is the South African problem in its most +complete and characteristic form. + +A word remains to be said on the arrangement of the chapters. I have +tried to write what is a kind of guide-book, not to details, but to +the constituents of that national life which is now in process of +growth. The reader I have had in mind is the average Englishman who, +in seeking to be informed about a country, asks for something more +than the dry bones of statistics--_l'homme moyen politique_, who wants +a _resume_ of the political problem, some guide to the historical +influences which have been or are still potent, an idea of landscape +and national character and modes of life. He does not ask for a +history, nor does he want a disquisition on this or that question, or +a brief for this or that policy, but, being perfectly competent to +make up his own mind, he wants the materials for judgment. The first +part consists of brief historical sketches, dealing with the genesis +of the three populations--native, uitlander, and Boer. The history of +South Africa, with all deference to the learned and voluminous works +of Dr Theal, can never be adequately written. Her past appears to us +in a series of vanishing pictures, without continuity or connection. I +have therefore avoided any attempt at a consecutive tale, as I have +avoided such topics as the War and the negotiations preceding it, and +treated a few historical influences in a brief episodic form. In the +second part the configuration of the land has been dealt with in a +similar way. A series of short sketches, of the class which the French +call "_carnets de voyage_," seemed more suitable than any attempt at +the work of a gazetteer. I am so convinced of the beauty and +healthfulness of the land that I may have been betrayed into an +over-minute description: my one excuse is that in this branch of my +task I have had few predecessors. + +The third part is highly controversial in character, and is presented +with grave hesitation. Many books and pamphlets have informed us on +those years of South African history between the Raid and the Ultimatum, +and a still greater number have discussed every phase and detail of the +war. Another book on so hackneyed a matter may seem hard to justify. It +may be urged, however, that the question has taken a wholly different +form. Of late years it has been complicated by a division of opinion +based not only on political but on moral grounds, an opposition in +theories of national duty, of international ethics, of civic integrity. +South African policy before the war and during the actual conduct of +hostilities was by a considerable section of the English people not +judged on political grounds, but condemned or applauded in the one case +on moral pretexts and in the other on the common grounds of patriotism. +The danger of making the moral criterion bulk aggressively in politics +is that the criticism so desirable for all policies is neglected or +perfunctorily performed. Matters which, to be judged truly, must be +tried by the canons of the province to which they belong, are hastily +approved or as hastily damned on some wholly alien test. But with the +end of the war and the beginning of civil government it seems to me that +this vice must tend to disappear. Whatever our judgment on the past, +there is a living and insistent problem for the present. Whatever the +verdict on our efforts to meet the problem, it must be based on +political grounds. We are now in a position to criticise, if not +adequately, at least fairly and on a logical basis. But the old data +require revision. The war has been a chemical process which has so +changed the nature of the old constituents that they are unrecognisable +in a new analysis. I am encouraged to hope that a sketch of the +political problem as it has to be faced in South Africa to-day will not +be without a certain value to those who desire to inform themselves on +what is the most interesting of modern imperial experiments. It is too +often assumed in England that the real difficulties preceded war, and +that the course of policy, though not unattended with risks, is now +comparatively clear and easy. It would be truer to say that the real +difficulty has only now begun. I shall be satisfied if I can convince +some of my readers that the work to be done in South Africa is +exceedingly delicate and arduous, requiring a high measure of judgment +and tact and patience; that it is South Africa's own problem which she +must settle for herself; and above all, that while the result of success +will be more far-reaching and vital to the future of the English race +than is commonly realised, the consequences of failure will be wholly +disastrous to any vision of Empire. + +To my friends in South Africa I owe an apology for my audacity in +undertaking to pronounce upon a country of which my experience is +limited. Had I not always found them ready to welcome outside +criticism, however imperfect, when honestly made, and to hear with +commendable patience a newcomer's views, however crude, I should have +hesitated long before making the attempt. I have endeavoured to give a +plain statement of local opinion, which is expert opinion, and +therefore worthy of the first consideration, and, though there are +phases of it with which I am not in sympathy, I trust I may claim to +have given on many matters the colonial view, when such a view has +attained consistency and clearness. But my chief excuse is that while +local opinion is still in the making, and politics are still in the +flux which attends a reconstruction, the outside spectator may in all +modesty claim to have a voice. It may be easier for a man coming fresh +to a new world to judge it correctly than for those ex-inhabitants of +that older world on whose wreckage the new is built. + + + + +PART I. + +THE EARLIER MASTERS + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +PRIMITIVE SOUTH AFRICA. + + +There are kinds of history which a modern education ignores, and which +a modern mind is hardly trained to understand. We can interest +ourselves keenly in the first vagaries of embryo humankind; and for +savagery, which is a hunting-ground for the sociologist and the +folk-lorist, we have an academic respect. But for savagery naked and +not ashamed, fighting its own battles and ruling its own peoples, we +reserve an interest only when it reaches literary record in a saga. +Otherwise it is for us neither literature nor history--a kind of +natural event like a thunderstorm, of possible political importance, +but of undoubted practical dulness. Most men have never heard of +Vechtkop or Mosega, and know Tchaka and Dingaan and Moshesh only as +barbarous names. And yet this is a history of curious interest and +far-reaching significance: the chronicle of Tchaka's deeds is an epic, +and we still feel the results of his iron arguments. The current +attitude is part of a general false conception of South African +conditions. To most men she is a country without history, or, if she +has a certain barbarous chronicle, it is without significance. The +truth is nearly at the opposite pole. South Africa is bound to the +chariot-wheels of her past, and that past is intricately varied--a +museum of the wrecks of conquerors and races, joining hands with most +quarters of the Old World. More, it is the place where savagery is +most intimately linked with latter-day civilisation. Phoenician, +Arab, Portuguese, Dutch, and English--that is her Uitlander cycle; and +a cynic might say that she has ended as she began, with the Semitic. +And meantime there were great native conquests surging in the interior +while the adventurer was nibbling at her coasts; and when we were busy +in one quarter abolishing slavery and educating the Kaffir, in another +there were wars more bloody than Timour's, and annihilation of races +more terrible than Attila ever dreamed of. We see, before our faces, +"the rudiments of tiger and baboon, and know that the barriers of +races are not so firm but that spray can sprinkle us from antediluvian +seas." + +To realise this intricate history and its modern meaning is the first +South African problem. No man can understand the land unless he takes +it as it is, a place instinct with tradition, where every problem is +based upon the wreckage of old strifes. And to the mere amateur the +question is full of interest. The history of South Africa can never be +written. The materials are lost, and all we possess are fleeting +glimpses, outcrops of fact on the wide plains of tradition, random +guesses, stray relics which suggest without enlightening. We see races +emerge and vanish, with a place-name or a tomb as their only memorial; +but bequeathing something, we know not what, to the land and their +successors. And at the end of the roll come the first white masters of +the land, the Dutch, whom it is impossible to understand except in +relation to the country which they conquered and the people they +superseded. We have unthinkingly set down one of the most curious +side-products of the human family as a common race of emigrants, and +the result has been one long tale of misapprehension. It is this +overlapping of counter-civilisations, this mosaic of the prehistoric +and the recent, which gives South African history its piquancy and its +character. It is no tale of old populous cities and splendid empires, +no story of developing civilisations and conflicting philosophies; +only a wild half-heard legend of men who come out of the darkness for +a moment, of shapes warring in a mist for centuries, till the curtain +lifts and we recognise the faces of to-day. + +Two views have been held on the subject of the present native +population. One is that it represents the end of a long line of +development; the other that it is the nadir of a process of +retrogression. The supporters of the second view point to the growing +weakness of all Kaffir languages in inflexions and structural forms, +while in the Hottentot-Bushman survival they see a degeneration from +a more masculine type. It is impossible to dogmatise on such a +matter. Degeneration and advance are not fixed processes, but recur +in cycles in the history of every nation. The Bushman, one of the +lowest of created types, may well be the original creature of the +soil, advancing in halting stages from the palaeolithic man; himself +practically a being of the Stone Age, and prohibited from further +progress by an arid and unfriendly land, and the advent of stronger +races. Of the palaeolithic man, who 200,000 years ago or thereabout +made his home in the river drifts, we have geological records similar +to those found in the valleys of the Somme and the Thames. On the +banks of the Buffalo at East London, in a gravel deposit 70 feet +above the present river-bed, there have been found rude human +implements of greenstone, the age of which may be measured by the +time the river has taken to wear down 70 feet of hard greenstone +dyke.[1] From the palaeolithic it is a step of a few millenniums to +the neolithic man, who has left his relics in the shell-heaps and +kitchen-middens at the mouth of the same stream--who, indeed, till a +few generations ago was an inhabitant of the land. The Bushman was a +dweller in the Stone Age, for, though he knew a little about metals, +stone implements were in daily use, and, with his kinsmen the Pigmies +of Central Africa, he represented a savagery compared with which the +Kaffir races are civilised. It is his skull which is found in the +shell-heaps by the river-sides. He was a miserable fellow, a true +troglodyte, small, emaciated, with protruding chest and spindle legs. +He lived by hunting of the most primitive kind, killing game with his +poisoned arrows. He had no social organisation, no knowledge of +husbandry or stock-keeping, and save for his unrivalled skill in +following spoor and a rude elementary art which is shown in the +Bushman pictures on some of the rocks in the western districts, he +was scarcely to be distinguished from the beasts he hunted. A genuine +neolithic man, and therefore worthy of all attention. In other lands +his wild contemporaries have gone; in South Africa the elephant, the +rhinoceros, and the buffalo survive to give the background to our +picture of his life. He himself has perished, or all but perished. +The Dutch farmers hunted him down and shot him at sight, for indeed +he was untamable. His blood has probably mixed with the Hottentot and +the Koranna; and in some outland parts of the Kalahari and the great +wastes along the lower Orange he may survive in twos and threes. + +Originally he covered all the south-west corner of Africa, but in time +he had to retire from the richer coast lands in favour of a people a +little higher in the scale of civilisation. The origin of the +Hottentots is shrouded in utter mystery, but we find them in +possession when the first Portuguese and Dutch explorers reached the +coast. They, too, were an insignificant race, but so far an advance +upon their predecessors that they were shepherds, owning large herds +of sheep and horned cattle, and roaming over wide tracts in search of +pasture. They had a tribal organisation, and a certain domesticity of +nature which, while it made them an easy prey to warrior tribes, +enabled them to live side by side with the Dutch immigrants as +herdsmen and house-servants. The pure breed disappeared, but their +blood remains in the Cape boy, that curious mixed race part white, +part Malay, part Hottentot. Both Bushman and Hottentot, having within +them no real vitality, have perished utterly as peoples: in Emerson's +words, they "had guano in their destiny," and were fated only to +prepare the way for their successors. + +For the rest the history of primitive South Africa is a history of the +Bantu tribes but for one curious exception. In the districts now +included in the general name of Rhodesia, stretching from the Zambesi to +the Limpopo, we find authentic record of an old and mysterious +civilisation compared with which all African empires, save Egypt, are +things of yesterday. Over five hundred ruins, showing in the main one +type, though a type which can be differentiated in stages, are hidden +among the hollows and stony hills of that curious country. Livingstone +and Baines first called the world's attention to those monuments, and Mr +Bent, in his 'Ruined Cities of Mashonaland,' provided the first working +theory of their origin. Since that date many savants, from Dr Schlichter +to Professor Keane, have elaborated the hypothesis, for in the present +state of our knowledge a hypothesis it remains. In those ruins, or +Zimbabwes, to use the generic Bantu name, three distinct periods have +been traced, and a fourth period, when it is supposed that local tribes +began to imitate the Zimbabwe style of architecture. The features of +this architecture are simple, and consist chiefly of immense thickness +of wall ornamented with a herring-bone, a chess-board, and in a few +instances a diaper pattern, enclosures entered by narrow winding +passages, and in some cases conical towers similar to the Sardinian +_nauraghes_. The discoveries by excavation have not been many, mainly +fragments of gold and gold-dust, certain bowls of soapstone and wood +ornamented with geometrical patterns and figures which may represent the +signs of the zodiac, some curious figures of birds, stone objects which +may be _phalli_, and rude stones which may be the sacred _betyli_. It is +difficult to judge of the purpose of the buildings. Some suggest forts, +some temples, some factories, some palaces: perhaps they may be all +combined, such as we know the early Ionian and Phoenician adventurers +built in a new land. + +From the remains themselves little light comes, but we have a certain +assistance from known history. In early days, before the Phoenicians +came to the Mediterranean seaboard, their precursors, the Sabaeo-Arabians +or Himyarites of South Arabia, were the great commercial people of the +East. There was undoubtedly a large trade in gold and ivory with Africa, +and all records point to somewhere on the Mozambique coast as the port +from which the precious metal was shipped. The only place whence gold in +great quantities could have come is the central tableland of Rhodesia, +from which it has been estimated that the ancient output was of the +value of at least 75 millions. The temple of Haram of Bilkis, near +Marib, as described by Mueller, has an extraordinary resemblance both in +architecture and the relics found in it to the Great Zimbabwe. According +to Professor Keane, the Sabaeans reached Rhodesia by way of Madagascar, +and he finds in the Malagasy language traces of their presence. Ophir he +places in the south of Arabia, the emporium to which the gold was +brought for distribution; Tarshish, the port of embarkation, he +identifies with Sofala; and he finds in Rhodesia the ancient Havilah. +Others place Ophir in Rhodesia itself. According to the Portuguese +writer Conto, Mount Fura in Rhodesia was called by the Arabs Afur, and +some see in the names of Sofala and the Sabi river a reference to Ophir +and Sheba. Etymological proofs are always suspicious, save in cases like +this where they are merely supplementary to a vast quantity of +collateral evidence. When the Phoenicians succeeded to the commercial +empire of the Sabaeans, they took over the land of Ophir, and to them the +bulk of the Zimbabwes are to be attributed. Those later Zimbabwes and +the Sardinian _nauraghes_, which are almost certainly Phoenician in +origin, have many points of resemblance. The traces of litholatry and +phallic worship are Phoenician, the soapstone birds may be the vultures +of Astarte, and the rosette decorations on the stone cylinders are found +in the Phoenician temple of Paphos and the great temple of the Sun at +Emesa. + +Such are a few of the proofs advanced on behalf of a hypothesis which +is in itself highly probable.[2] It is not a history of generations +but of aeons, and we cannot tell what were the fortunes of that +mysterious land from the days when the Phoenician power dwindled +away to the time when the Portuguese discovered the gold mines and +framed wild legends about Monomotapa. The most probable theory is that +the old Semitic settlers mingled their blood with the people of the +land, and as the trade outlets became closed a native tribe took the +place of the proud Phoenician merchants. In the words of Mr Selous, +"the blood of the ancient builders of Zimbabwe still runs, in a very +diluted form, in the veins of the Bantu races, and more especially +among the remnants of the tribes still living in Mashonaland and the +Barotsi of the Upper Zambesi." The Makalanga, or Children of the Sun, +whom Barreto fought, were in the line of succession from the +Phoenicians, as the Mashonas are their representatives to-day. In +Mashona pottery we can still trace the decorations, which are found on +the walls of the Zimbabwes: the people have something Semitic in their +features, as compared with other Bantu tribes; they know something of +gold-working, a little of astronomy, and in their industries and +beliefs have a higher culture than their neighbours. Their chiefs have +dynastic names; each tribe has a form of totemism in which some have +seen Arabian influences; and in certain matters of religion, such as +the sacrifice of black bulls and the observation of days of rest, they +suggest Semitic customs. So, if this hypothesis be true, we are +presented with a survival of the oldest of civilisations in the heart +of modern barbarism. The traveller, who sees in the wilds of +Manicaland a sacrifice of oxen to the Manes of the tribe, sees in a +crude imitation the rites which the hook-nosed, dark-eyed adventurers +brought from the old splendid cities of the Mediterranean, where with +wild music and unspeakable cruelties and lusts the votaries of Baal +and Astarte celebrated the cycle of the seasons and the mysteries of +the natural world-- + + "Imperishable fire under the boughs + Of chrysoberyl and beryl and chrysolite + And chrysoprase and ruby and sardonyx." + +When the Portuguese first landed in East Africa the chief tribe with +which they came in contact was the Makalanga in Mashonaland, ruled by +the Monomotapa. But before their power waned they had seen that nation +vanquished and scattered by the attacks of fiercer tribes from the +north, particularly the Mazimba, in whose name there may lurk a trace +of the Agizymba, a country to which, according to Ptolemy, the Romans +penetrated. For the last four centuries native South Africa has been +the theatre of a continuous _voelkerwanderung_, immigrations from the +north, and in consequence a general displacement, so that no tribe can +claim an ancient possession of its territory. We may detect, apart +from the Mashonas, three chief race families among the Bantus--the +Ovampas and people of German South Africa; the Bechuanas and Basutos; +and the great mixed race of which the Zulus and the Kaffirs of Eastern +Cape Colony are the chief representatives. All the groups show a +strong family likeness in customs, worship, and physical character. +As a rule the men are tall and well-formed, and their features are +more shapely than the ordinary negro of West Africa or the far +interior. They have a knowledge of husbandry and some skill in +metal-working; they have often shown remarkable courage in the field +and a kind of rude discipline; and they dwell in a society which is +rigidly, if crudely, organised. The Custom of the Ancients is the main +rule in their lives, and such law as they possess owes its sanction to +this authority. The family is the social unit; and families are +combined into clans, and clans into tribes, with one paramount chief +at the head, whose power in most instances is despotic, as becomes a +military chief. In some of the tribes, notably the Bechuana-Basuto, we +find rudiments of popular government, where the chief has to take the +advice of the assembled people, as in the Basuto _pitso_, or, in a few +cases, of a council of the chief indunas. The chief's authority as +lawgiver is absolute, but his judgments are supposed to be only +declaratory of ancient custom. Socially the tribes are polygamous, and +sexual morality is low, though certain crimes are reprobated and +severely punished. The prevailing religion is ancestor-worship, joined +with a rude form of natural daemonism. The ordinary Bantu is not an +idolater like the Makalanga, but he walks in terror of unseen spirits +which dwell in the woods and rivers,--the ghost of his father it may +be, or some unattached devils. Ghost feasts are made at stated times +on the graves of the dead; and if the ghost has been whimsical enough +to enter the body of an animal, that animal must be jealously +respected. Each tribe has its totem--the lion, or the antelope, or the +crocodile--from which they derive their descent, one of the commonest +features of all primitive societies. There seem traces of a vague +belief in a superior deity, who makes rain and thunder and controls +the itinerant bands of ghosts--a great ghost, who, if properly +supplicated, may intercede with the smaller and more troublesome herd. +But abstractions are essentially foreign to the Bantu mind, and his +modest Pantheon is filled with the simplest of deities. + +No priesthood exists, but it is possible for a clever man to learn +some of the tricks of disembodied spirits and frustrate them by his +own skill. In this way a class of sorcerers arose, who dealt in big +medicine and strong magic. They profess to make rain and receive +communications from the unseen, to cure diseases and give increase to +the flocks, to expound the past and foretell the future. This powerful +class is jealous of amateurs, and does its best to remove inferior +wizards; but they are always liable to be annihilated themselves by a +powerful chief, who is more bloodthirsty than superstitious. +Undoubtedly some of these sorcerers acquire a knowledge of certain +natural secrets; they become skilled meteorologists, and seem to +possess a crude knowledge of hypnotism. They are also physicians of +considerable attainments, and certain native remedies, notably a +distillation of herbs, which is used for dysentery in Swaziland, have +a claim to a place in a civilised pharmacopoeia. This rough science is +the only serious intellectual attainment of the Bantu, outside of +warfare. They have a kind of music which is extremely doleful and +monotonous; they have a rude art, chiefly employed in the decoration +of their weapons; but they have no poetry worthy of the name; and +their only literature is found in certain simple folk-tales, chiefly +of animals, but in a few cases of human escapades and feats of +sorcery. The lion is generally the butt of such stories, and the +quick wit of the hare and the knavery of the jackal are held up to the +admiration of the listeners.[3] + +Such are the chief features of Bantu life, and so lived the natives of +South Africa up to the early years of last century. But about that +time a certain Dingiswayo, being in exile at Cape Town, saw a company +of British soldiers at drill, and, being an intelligent man, acquired +a new idea of the art of war. When he returned to his home and the +chieftainship of the little Zulu tribe, the memory of the soldiers in +shakos, who moved as one man, remained with him, and he began to +experiment with his army. He died, and his lieutenant Tchaka succeeded +to the command of a small but well-disciplined force. This Tchaka was +one of those born leaders of men in battle who appear on the stage of +history every century or so. He perfected the discipline of his army, +armed it with short stabbing spears for close-quarter fighting, and +then proceeded to use it as a wedge to split the large loose masses +which surrounded him. It was a war of the eagle and the crows. +Neighbouring tribes awoke one morning to find the enemy at their +gates, and by the evening they had ceased to exist. A wild flight to +the north began, and for years the wastes north and east of the +Drakensberg were littered with flying remnants of broken clans. All +the great deeds of savage warfare--the killing of the Suitors, the +fight in the Great Hall of Worms, Cuchulain's doings in the war of the +Bull of Cuailgne--pale before the barbaric splendours of Tchaka's +slaughterings, the Zulus became the imperial power of South-East +Africa, and their monarch's authority was limited only by the length +of his impis' reach. By-and-by his career of storm ceases. We find him +ruling as a severe and much-venerated king, arbitrary and bloodthirsty +but comparatively honest; a huge man, with many large vices and a few +glimmerings of virtue. He was succeeded by his brother, the monstrous +Dingaan, who was soundly beaten by the Boers in one of the most heroic +battles in history; he in turn gave way to his brother Panda, a figure +of small note; and the dynasty ended with Cetewayo and the blood and +terror of Isandhlwana and Ulundi. + +After Tchaka the man who looms largest in the tale of those wars is +Mosilikatse, the founder of the Matabele. The Zulu conquests placed +terrible autocrats on the throne, and the marshal who incurred the +king's displeasure had to flee or perish. To this circumstance we owe +the Angoni in Nyassaland and the empire of Lobengula. About 1817 +Mosilikatse with his impi burst into what is now the Orange River +Colony, driving before him the feeble Barolong and Bechuana tribes, +and established his court at a place on the Crocodile River north of +the Magaliesberg, where a pass still bears his name. He began a career +of wholesale rapine and slaughter, till, as Fate would have it, he +came in contact with the pioneers of the Great Trek. Some hideous +massacres were the result, but he had to deal with an enemy against +whom his race could never hope to stand. The Boers, under Uys and +Potgieter, drove him from his kraal, impounded his ill-gotten cattle, +and finally, in a great battle on the Marico River, defeated him so +thoroughly that he fled north of the Limpopo and left the country for +ever. From the little we know of him he was a cruel and treacherous +chief, inferior in strength to Tchaka, as he was utterly inferior to +Moshesh in statesmanship. But the men he led had the true Zulu +fighting spirit, and in the Matabele, under his son Lobengula, we have +learned something of the warriors of Mosilikatse. + +A throne which, as with the Zulus and their offshoots, had no strong +religious sanction, must subsist either by continued success in battle +or a studious statesmanship. Tchaka is an instance of the first; +Moshesh, the founder of the Basuto power, is a signal example of the +second. The Basutos were driven down from the north by the Zulu +advance, and found shelter in the wild tangle of mountains which +cradle the infant Orange and Caledon rivers. Moshesh, who had no +hereditary claim to a throne, won his power by his own abilities, and +on the mountain of Thaba Bosigo established his royal kraal. The name +of the "Chief of the Mountain" is written larger even than Tchaka's +over South African history, and to-day his people are the only tribe +who have any substantive independence. Alone among native chiefs he +showed the intellect of a trained statesman, and a tireless patience +which is only too rare in the annals of statesmanship. The presence of +French missionaries at his court gave him the means of instruction in +European ways, and he was far too clever to have any prejudice against +so startling a departure from the habits of his race. He watched the +dissensions of the rival white peoples, and quietly and cautiously +profited by their blunders. He made war against them as a tactical +measure, and after an undoubted victory increased his power by making +a diplomatic peace. He left his tribe riches and security, and the +history of Basutoland since his day is one long commentary on the +surprising talents of its founder. How far the credit is his and how +far it belongs to his advisers we cannot tell; but we can admire a +character so liberal as to accept advice, and a mind so shrewd that it +saw unerringly its own advantage. There is none of the wild glamour of +conquest about him, but there is a more abiding reputation for a far +more intricate work; for, like another statesman, he could make a +small town a great city--and with the minimum of expense. + +With the death of Moshesh the history of South Africa becomes almost +exclusively the history of its white masters. It is an old country, as +old as time, the prey of many conquerors, but with it all a patient +and mysterious land. Civilisations come and go, and after a millennium +or two come others who speculate wildly on the relics of the old. In +some future century (who knows?), when the Rand is covered with thick +bush and once more the haunt of game, some enlightened sportsman, +hunting in his shirt after the bush-veld manner, may clear the +undergrowth from the workings of the Main Reef and write a chapter +such as this on the doings of earlier adventurers. + + + [1] An interesting sketch of the palaeolithic remains in South + Africa is contained in two essays appended to Dr Alfred + Hillier's 'Raid and Reform' (1898). + + [2] The chief authorities on this curious subject are Mr + Bent's 'Ruined Cities of Mashonaland,' Dr Schlichter's + papers in the 'Geographical Journal,' Professor Keane's + 'Gold of Ophir,' and Dr Carl Peters' 'Eldorado of the + Ancients.' Mr Wilmot's 'Monomotapa' contains an + interesting collection of historical references from + Phoenician, Arabian, and Portuguese sources; and in 'The + Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia,' by Messrs Hall and Neal, + there is a very complete description of the ruins + examined up to date (1902), and a valuable digest of the + various theories on the subject. + + [3] There is an account of Bantu life in Dr Theal's + 'Portuguese in South Africa.' The same author's 'Kaffir + Folk-lore' and M. Casalis' 'Les Bassoutos' contain much + information on their customs and folk-lore; while Bishop + Callaway's 'Nursery Tales of the Zulus,' M. Jacottet's + 'Contes Populaires des Bassoutos,' and M. Junod's + 'Chants et Contes des Baronga' and 'Nouveaux Contes + Ronga' are interesting collections of folk-tales. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE GENTLEMEN-ADVENTURERS. + + +The world's changes, so philosophers have observed, spring from small +origins, though their reason and their justification may be ample +enough, and exercise the learned for a thousand years. A sailor's +tale, a book in an old library, may set the adventurer off on his +voyages, and presently empires arise, and his fatherland alters its +history. The world moves to no measured tune; everywhere there are +sudden breaks, paradoxes, high enterprises which end in smoke, and +pedestrian beginnings which issue in the imperial purple. All things +have their ground in theory, and by-and-by a dismal post-mortem +science will discover impulses which the adventurer never dreamed of. +Few lands, even the most remote, are without this variegated history, +and the crudest commercial power is built up on the _debris_ of +romance. South Africa, which is to-day, and to most men, a parvenu +country, founded on the Stock Exchange, has odd incidents in her +pedigree. Eliminate all the prehistoric guesses, strike out the Dutch, +and the Old World has still had its share in her fashioning. Europe +may seem only yesterday to have finally sealed her conquest, but she +has been trying her hand at it for five hundred years. And the result +of the oldest struggle has been a curious story of failure--often +heroic, seldom wise, but always fascinating, as such stories must be. +It is associated with one of the smallest, and to-day the least +enterprising, of European peoples; and it has issued in Portugal's +most notable over-sea possession. Every nation has its holy land of +endeavour--England in India, France in Algiers, Russia in Turkestan. +Such was South Africa to Portugal; much what Sicily was to the +Athenians, the place linked with all her hopes and with her direst +misfortunes. + +Happily the adventure was not without its chroniclers. The Dominican +friar, dos Santos,[4] has sketched for us the empire at its zenith, +and de Barros, the Portuguese Secretary for the Indies, has piously +narrated its beginnings. But the matter-of-fact histories disguise the +real daring of the exploit. The chivalry of Europe in its most +characteristic form was carried 8000 miles from home to an unknown +land; civilisation of a kind, a Christian church, a code of honour, +the rudiments of law and commerce, and the amenities of life, were +planted on a narrow malarial seaboard by men who had taken years in +the voyage, and had scarcely a hope of return. It is said that a great +part of courage lies in having done the thing before, but there was no +such ingredient in the valour of those adventurers. Risking all on a +dream, they set off on their ten-year excursions, holding an almost +certain death as a fair stake in the game. The tenth who survived set +themselves cheerfully to transform their discoveries into a national +asset. They colonised as whole-heartedly, if not as wisely, as any +nation in the world. And in spite of the narrowest and most pragmatic +of cultures, they proved themselves singularly adaptable. The +Portuguese gentlemen, for whom the Cancioneiros were sung, became +Africans in everything but blood, adopting a new land under their old +flag, and doing their best to Christianise and colonise it. It was not +their fault that the unalterable laws of trade and the destinies of +races shattered in time the fabric at which they had laboured. + +In 1445, the year in which Diniz Dias is reported to have rounded Cape +Verd, the Portuguese were the most daring seamen in Europe. Dwelling +on a promontory, they naturally turned their eyes southward and +westward, when peace and a moderate wealth gave them leisure for +fancies. Those were the days of the foreglow of the Renaissance. +Constantinople had not yet fallen, but the spirit of inquiry was +abroad, and a fresh wind had blown among scholastic cobwebs. The +Church had her share in the revival. A belated missionary, or, as it +may be, commercial, zeal stirred the ecclesiastical powers. Fresh +lands might be won for the Cross, and fresh moneys to build new abbeys +and endow new bishoprics. The merchants of Lisbon and Oporto saw gold +in every traveller's tale, and gladly risked a bark on a promising +undertaking. There lived, too, at the time a sagacious prince, Henry +the Navigator, the son of Joao I. and Philippa of Lancaster, himself +an amateur of colonisation, who set the fashion for courtiers and +citizens. So the young Portuguese squire, trained in the pride of his +caste, his mind nurtured on chivalrous tales, fired readily at the +strange rumours, and found a peaceful life among his vineyards no +satisfying career for a man. To him the white sea-wall of the harbour +was the boundary of the unknown. Out in the west lay the Purple +Islands of King Juba, the forgotten Atlantis, the lost Hesperides, +and dim classical recollections from the monastery school gave +authority to his fancies. There were but two careers for a gentleman, +arms and adventure, and the latter was for the moment the true magnet. +To him it might be given to find the Golden City, the Ophir of King +Solomon, or to penetrate beyond the deserts to where Prester John[5] +ruled his wild empire in the fear of God. And all the while in Europe +men were wrangling over creeds and syllogisms, questioning the powers +of the Church, grumbling over dogmas, dying for a few square miles of +territory. What wonder if to high-bred, high-spirited youth Europe +seemed all too narrow--especially to youth in that south-west corner +cut off by the sierras from the world? What mattered desperate peril +so long as it had daylight and honour in it? So with hope at his prow +and a clear conscience the adventurer set out on his travels. + +The first object of Portuguese enterprise was Bilad Ghana, the modern +Senegal, which they knew of from Arab geographers. The land route +across the Sahara was closed to them, so they were compelled to reach +it by sea. It was Henry's dream to make the country a Portuguese +dependency, and Christianise it under the iron rule of the Order of +the Knights of Jesus Christ,--one of those schemes in which the +crusading spirit and a hunger for new territory are subtly blended in +the common fashion of the Age of the Adventurers. It was currently +believed that the Senegal River rose from a lake near the source of +the Nile, and would thus enable the Portuguese to join hands with the +Christian monarch of Abyssinia. A special indulgence was obtained from +the Pope for all who fought under the banner of the Order of Christ. +And so, blessed by the Church, a series of slave-raids began, which +were slowly pushed farther south till Cape Verd was reached, and the +great turn of the coast to the east began to puzzle the sea-captains. +Henry died in 1460, having added, as he believed, a vast territory to +the Portuguese Crown, called by the name of Guinea, which is Bilad +Ghana corrupted. That the future interests of its discoverer might be +properly cared for the new land was divided into parishes, whose +chaplains were bound to say one weekly mass for the Iffante's soul. By +the time of the death of Affonso V. in 1481 the Portuguese had passed +the Niger Delta, discovered the island of Fernando Po, and reached a +point two degrees south of the equator. In 1484 Diego Cam reached the +mouth of the Congo, and next year set up a marble pillar at Cape Cross +to mark his occupation. Another year and Bartolomeo Diaz touched at +Angra Pequena, pushed round the Cape, keeping far out to sea, to Algoa +Bay; and on returning discovered that Cabo Tormentoso which his king +christened Cabo da Boa Esperanza, the first earnest of the hope of the +new road to the Indies. Portugal had taken rank as the first of +seafaring powers, and, in Politian's words, stood forth as "the +trustee of a second world, holding in the hollow of her hand a vast +series of lands, ports, seas, and islands revealed by the industry of +her sons and the enterprise of her kings." Politian asked that the +great story might be written while the materials were yet fresh, but +unfortunately Portugal was richer at that time in sea-captains than in +men of letters. + +On July 8, 1497, Vasco da Gama, the greatest of the world's sailors, +left Lisbon on the greatest of all voyages. The circumnavigation of +Africa was imposed upon the Archemenid Sataspes as a "penalty worse than +death," but to those adventurers death itself was an inconsiderable +accident. Five years before Columbus had made his first journey, an +enterprise not to be named in the same breath as da Gama's. On Christmas +day, having safely passed the Cape, he came to a land of green, +tree-clad shores, which he piously christened Natal. He pushed on past +the Limpopo and the Zambesi delta to Mozambique, where he found an Arab +colony, and to Mombasa, where the chief street still bears his name. He +reached Calicut safely on May 20, 1498, ten months and twelve days after +leaving Lisbon; and two years later he returned home with one-third of +the crew he had sailed with. The Grand Road was now defined; thenceforth +it was a trade-route to which commerce naturally turned. No more +romantic voyages were ever undertaken, for in those forlorn latitudes +Christian and Muslim, East and West, met in war and peace, and creeds +and ideas clashed in the strangest disorder. In the expedition of 1500 +under Pedro Alvarez Cabral two men were set ashore at Melinda, north of +Mozambique, to look for Prester John, and history is silent on the fate +of the unfortunate gentlemen. In da Gama's second voyage Nilwa was +captured and the Portuguese East African empire began. A fierce +enthusiast was this same da Gama, for, meeting with a great ship of the +Sultan of Egypt, filled with Muslim pilgrims, he looted it from stem to +stern, and sent every pilgrim to Paradise. + +After da Gama came Affonso d'Albuquerque, who seized Goa, and +established his country's hold on the Malabar coast, and pushing on +captured Malacca, the richest of the Portuguese trading stations. He +swept all alien navies from the Eastern seas, and established on a +sound basis of naval supremacy a great commercial empire. Nothing less +than the conquest of Turkey would satisfy him. He dreamed of allying +himself with Prester John, and establishing himself on the Upper Nile; +and again of raiding Medina, carrying off Muhammad's coffin, and +exchanging it for the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. He captured Hormuz +on the Persian Gulf, and with it the enormous trade between India and +Asia Minor; and he was on the eve of leading an expedition against +Aden, which he saw to be the key of the Red Sea, when he was struck +down at Goa, and died, like the great seigneur he was, clothed in the +robes of his knightly order. Against his expressed wish he was buried +at Goa, for the Portuguese believed that, as long as the bones of +their intrepid leader lay there, their Empire of the East would stand. +So died the foremost of his countrymen, one who may rank with Olive as +the greatest of Christian viceroys. + +Meantime the East African power had been fully established. Sofala and +Mozambique, the chief cities of the coast, had fallen to the +Portuguese, and their eyes turned to what they believed to be the +fabulously rich hinterlands, where Solomon had won his gold and ivory, +and Arab traders had for centuries found their hunting-ground. The +Monomotapa, the chief or emperor of the Makalanga, whose Zimbabwe was +situated somewhere in what we now know as Mashonaland, took the place +of Prester John in their imagination. They pushed up the Zambesi, +founding trading stations on the way, which still survive. They found +Ophir in every Bantu name, and began that long series of meaningless +wars of conquest which in the end shattered their dream of empire. +Gold-seeking has never been an enterprise blessed of Heaven; and the +Portuguese were more unlucky than most adventurers. They found +themselves involved in desperate wars; fever and poison carried off +their leaders; and the grandees, like Barreto and Homem, who in +cuirasses and velvets held indabas with Makalanga chiefs, got little +reward for their diplomacy. Soon the horizon narrowed, boundaries were +defined, and the colonist sat down in the coast towns to make a living +by legitimate trade. + +The chief commercial importance of South-East Africa to the Portuguese +was as a port of call on the great trade-route to the Indies. The +skins, ivory, and gold, which the country produced, could never vie +with the organised exports of Goa and Calicut. So Mozambique and +Sofala became rather depots than supply-grounds, at which the great +ships anchored and refitted; points of vantage, too, in the endless +bickerings with Arab traders. There was a modest commerce with the +interior, with Tete as the chief depot, and Masapa, Luanze, and Bukoto +as the up-country stations. Each inland Portuguese trader was also a +diplomat. Through him the presents passed from the Portuguese king to +the savage "emperors," and, situated as he might be at Masapa, on the +very edge of the mountain Fura and the forbidden Makalanga country, +his duties were often most delicate and hazardous. The trade as a +whole was neither productive nor well managed. The whole empire was +undermanned. Portugal was colonising Brazil and West Africa at the +time she was sending out her adventurers to the East, and the little +kingdom in Europe could not long endure the strain. The sons she sent +forth rarely returned; and the estates at home fell out of cultivation +for lack of men. Meantime stronger and more fortunate races were +appearing in the Eastern waters. The Englishmen Newbery, Candish, and +Raymond began the rivalry, and the formidable Dutch followed next, +with their northern vigour and commercial aptitudes. In 1595 the first +of Linschoten's books was published, and opened up a new world for +Dutch enterprise. The Dutch East India Company soon wrested from +Portugal her Indian possessions, and in a little her East African +ports were mere isolated stations, much harassed by the Netherland +fleets, and the Grand Road had become a thing of the past. + +But, as commerce declined, a new epoch in the Portuguese history +began. The disappearance of trade was followed by the advent of one of +the most heroic missionary brotherhoods in history. The Jesuit +Gonsalvo de Silveira was the pioneer, and a year after he landed in +Africa he was murdered by the Makalanga chief. Some fifty years later +the Dominicans joined the Jesuits, and till the beginning of the +eighteenth century laboured at their quixotic task. Now and then a +chief's son was baptised and attained to some degree of civilisation, +but the mass of the people, living among fierce tribal wars, cared +little for curious tales of peace. There was no ostentation with those +Bishops of This or That _in partibus infidelium_. No churches remain +to tell of their work. They lived simply in huts, and died a thousand +miles away from their kin, so that their very names are forgotten. In +our own day travellers in the Zambesi valley have come to kraals where +the people called themselves Christians, and showed a few perverted +rites in evidence, the one relic of those forgotten heroes. A few +incidents, however, have remained in men's minds. Luiz do Espirito +Santa, a prior of Mozambique, on being taken into the presence of the +Monomotapa and ordered to make obeisance, stiffened his back, and +replied that he did such homage to God alone; for which noble saying +he was duly murdered. The Shining Cross, which Constantine saw, +appeared also to the friar Manoel Sardinha when he led his forces +against the Makalanga. In 1652 the Monomotapa Manuza was received into +the Church, an event which was the occasion for a great thanksgiving +service at Lisbon, at which the king Joao IV. attended in state. His +son, Miguel, entered the Dominican order, was given the diploma of +Master of Theology, and died a vicar of the convent of Santa Barbara +in Goa. This barbarian Charles V., the greatest South African chief of +his time, may well be remembered among the few mortals who have +voluntarily renounced a crown. + +And so the empire, having shipwrecked on a dream of gold and a land +where men could not live,[6] dwindled down to isolated forts and +stations, and the strenuous creed of the pioneers was softened into +the bastard contentment of the disheartened. Miserably and corruptly +governed, forgotten by Europe, they forgot Europe in turn, and a +strange somnolent life began of half-barbaric, wholly oriental +seigneurs, ruling as petty monarchs over natives from whom they were +not wholly distinct.[7] Instead of holding the outposts of European +culture, they sank themselves into the ways of the soil which their +forefathers had conquered. Round Tete and Inhambane and Sofala there +grew up great country estates, held on a kind of feudal tenure, where +the slack-mouthed grandee idled away his days. Set among acres of +orchards and gardens, those dwellings were often noble and sumptuous. +Thither came belated travellers, gold-seekers, shipwrecked seamen, +wandering friars, men of every nationality and trade, and in the prazo +of a de Mattos or a de Mira found something better than the mealie-pap +they had been living on in native kraals. Sitting on soft couches, +drinking good Madeira, and looking at a copy of a Murillo or a +Velasquez on the walls, they may well have extolled those oases in the +desert. The grandee had his harem, like any Arab sheikh; he dispensed +death cruelly and casually among his subjects; but as a rule he seems +to have had the virtue of hospitality, and welcomed gladly any +traveller with tales of the forgotten world. Fierce Bantu wars have +left few traces of those pleasant demesnes; but to the new-comer the +land where they once existed has still a quaint air of decadent +civilisation. Coming down from the high tableland of the interior, +which is the most strenuous land on earth, through the mountain glens +which, but for vegetation, might be Norway, one enters a country of +bush and full muddy rivers, a country of dull lifeless green and a +pestilent climate. But as one draws nearer the coast, where glimpses +of gardens appear and white-walled estancias, and rivers spread into +lagoons with spits of yellow sand and Arab boatmen, and, last of all, +the pale blue Indian Ocean stretches its sleepy leagues to the +horizon, there comes a new feeling into the scene, as of something +old, not new, decaying rather than undeveloped, which, joined with the +moist heat, makes the place + + "A land + In which it seemed always afternoon, + All round the coast the languid air did swoon, + Breathing like one that hath a weary dream." + +The tale of this empire, crude and melancholy as it is, provides an +instructive commentary on current theories of colonisation. From Tyre +and Sidon down to the last Teutonic performance, there is surely +sufficient basis to generalise on; but no two theorists are agreed +upon the laws which govern those racial adventures. The only approach +to a dogma is the theory that to colonise is to decentralise--that +before a vigorous life can begin over-sea the runners must be cut +which bind the colony to the homeland. France fails, we say, because a +Frenchman away from home cannot keep his mind off the boulevards; he +is for ever an exile, not a settler. Britain succeeds because her sons +find a land of their adoption. But the converse is equally important, +though too rare in its application to be often remembered. No race can +colonise which cannot decentralise its energy; but equally no race can +colonise which can wholly decentralise its sentiment and memory. +Portugal failed for this reason chiefly, that the Portuguese forgot +Portugal. Few peoples have been so adaptable. The white man's pride +died in their hearts. They were ready to mix with natives on equal +terms.[8] Now concubinage is bad, but legitimate marriage with +half-castes is infinitely worse for the _morale_ of a people. And +since Nature to the end of time has a care of races but not of +hybrids, this tolerant, foolish, unstable folk dropped out of the +battle-line of life, and sank from conquerors to resident aliens, +while their country passed from an empire to a vague seaboard. "A +people scattered by their wars and affairs over the whole earth, and +home-sick to a man," wrote Emerson of the English, and it is the trait +of the true colonist. It is as important to remember "sweet Argos" as +it is to avoid a womanish _heimweh_. For a colony is a sapling, bound +by the law of nature to follow the development of the parent tree. A +parcel of Englishmen on the Australian coast have no significance +without England at their back, to give them a tradition of manners and +government, to be their recruiting-ground, to hold out at once a +memory of home and an ideal of polity. Wars of separation may come, +but a colony is still a colony: it may have a different colour on the +map, but its moral complexion is the same; politically it may be a +rival, spiritually it remains a daughter. + +The country, too, was wretchedly governed. The Portuguese viceroy, +often some impoverished noble, was in the same position as the Roman +proconsul, and had to restore his fortunes at the expense of the +provincials. Local administration was farmed out to local magnates, +another part of the crazy decentralisation which led to catastrophe. +There is more in bad government than hardship for the private citizen. +It means the weakening of the intellectual and moral nerve of the race +which tolerates it. Sound government is not, as revolutionary +doctrinaires used to think, the outcome of the grace of God and a +flawless code of abstractions. It means a perpetual effort, a keen +sense of reality, a constant facing and adjusting of problems. And it +is one of the laws of life that this high faculty is inconsistent with +extreme luxury and ease. A great governor may be one-fourth voluptuary, +but he must be three-parts politician. "Je n'aime pas beaucoup les +femmes," was one of Napoleon's self-criticisms, "ni le jeu--enfin rien; +je suis tout a fait un etre politique." The thin strain of old-world +tradition was useless in men who were sheikhs, adventurers, grandees, +but never statesmen. + +But the ultimate source of weakness was economic. The settlements +were unproductive in any real sense. The empire was a chain of forts +and depots, and on no side was the ruling power organically connected +with the soil. A colony should be built up of farmers and miners and +manufacturers, having for its basis the productive energy of the land. +To exploit is not to colonise, and on this side there is the most +urgent need for decentralisation. The Portuguese lost their European +culture, but they remained adventurers and aliens. Their traders +bargained for produce, but they never went to the root of the matter +and organised production. They had no ranches or plantations, only +their trading-booths. Like the Carthaginians, they carried their +commerce to the ends of the earth, and left the ends of the earth +radically unaffected by their presence. People repeat glibly that trade +follows the flag, and that commerce is the basis of empire. And in a +sense it is true, for an empire without commercial inter-relations and +a solid basis of material prosperity is a house built on the sand. But +if the maxim be taken in the sense that commerce is in itself a +sufficient imperial bond, it is the most fatal of heresies. The Dutch, +in their heyday, had an empire chiefly of forts and factories; and what +part has the Dutch empire played in the destinies of mankind? No race +or kingdom can endure which is not rooted in the soil, drawing +sustenance from natural forces, increasing by tillage and forestry, +pasturage and mining and manufacture, the aggregate of the world's +production. And the need is as much moral as economic. The trader pure +and simple--Tyrian, Greek, Venetian, Dutch, or Portuguese--is too +cosmopolitan and adventitious to be the staple of a strong race. He has +not the common local affections; he is not knit close enough to nature +in his toil. To wrest a living from the avarice of the earth is to form +character with the salt and iron of power in it. India, it is true, is +a partial exception; but India is a unique case of a long-settled +subject people ruled wisely by a race which has sufficient breadth and +vitality in its culture to spare time for the experiment. It is to +colonies, which must always form the major part of an empire, that the +maxim applies; for the former is a native power under tutelage, while +the latter is the expansion of the parent country beyond the seas. And +this expansion must be more than commercial. The colony must be founded +in the soil, its people with each generation becoming more indigenous, +and its wealth based on its own toil and enterprise; otherwise it is +but such a chain of factories as the Portuguese established, which the +proverbial whiff of grape-shot may scatter to-morrow. + + + [4] There is an English abbreviation of dos Santos in + Pinkerton's 'General Collection of Voyages and + Travels.' The original work was printed at Evora in + 1609. + + [5] The Portuguese geographers divided Central Africa into + Angola in the west, the kingdom of Prester John in the + north (Abyssinia), and the empire of Monomotapa + (Mashonaland) in the south. The real Prester John was a + Nestorian Christian in Central Asia, whose khanate was + destroyed by Genghis Khan about the end of the twelfth + century; but the name became a generic one for any + supposed Christian monarch in unknown countries. + + [6] Purchas wrote, "Barreto was discomfited not by the Negro + but by the Ayre, the malignity whereof is the same sauce + of all their golden countries in Africa." + + [7] One missionary wrote, "They have already lost the + knowledge of Christians and thrown away the obligations + of Faith" (Wilmot, 'Monomotapa,' p. 215). + + [8] Among the Baronga, the Bantu tribe who live around Delagoa + Bay, there are some ancient folk-tales, derived from + Portuguese sources, in which the heroes have Portuguese + names, such as Joao, Boniface, Antonio. One tale about + the king's daughter, who was saved from witchcraft by + the courage of a young adventurer called Joao, is a form + of the story of Jack and the ugly Princess, which + appears throughout European folk-lore. Cf. M. Junod's + 'Chants et Contes des Baronga,' pp. 274-322. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE GREAT TREK. + + +Every race has its Marathon into which the historian does not inquire +too closely who has a reverence for holy places and a fear of +sacrilege. It may be a battle or a crusade, a creed, or perhaps only a +poem, but whatever it is, it is part and parcel of the national life, +and it is impossible to reach the naked truth through the rose-coloured +mists of pious tradition. A Sempach or a Bannockburn cannot be +explained by a bare technical history. The spirit of a nation was in +arms, the national spirit was the conqueror, and the combatants appear +more than mere flesh and blood, walking "larger than human" on the +hills of story. This phenomenon has merits which it is hard to +exaggerate. It is the basis for the rhetorical self-confidence which is +essential to a strong race. It is a fountain from which generous youth +can draw inspiration, an old watchword to call the inert to battle. If +the race has a literature, it helps to determine its character; if the +race has none, it provides a basis for fireside tales. The feeblest +Greek at the court of Artaxerxes must have now and then straightened +himself when he remembered Salamis. Without such a retrospect a people +will live in a crude present, and, having no buttress from the past, +will fare badly from the rough winds of life. + +To the Boer the Great Trek is the unrecorded but ever-remembered +Odyssey of his people. He has a long memory, perhaps because of his +very slowness and meagreness of fancy. His life was so monotonous that +the tale of how his fathers first came into the land inspired him by +its unlikeness to his own somnolent traditions. Besides, he had a +Scriptural parallel. The persecuted children of Israel, in spite of +the opposition of Pharaoh, had fled across the desert from Egypt and +found a Promised Land. The Boer sense of analogy is extremely vivid +and extremely inexact. Here he saw a perfect precedent. A God-fearing +people, leaving their homes doubtless at the call of the Most High, +had fled into the wilds of Amalek and Edom, conquered and dispossessed +the Canaanites, and occupied a land which, if not flowing with milk +and honey, was at least well grassed and plentifully watered. How keen +the sense of Scriptural example was, and how constantly present to the +Boer mind was the thought that he was following in the footsteps of +Israel, is shown by one curious story. The voortrekkers, pushing out +from Pretoria, struck a stream which flowed due north, the first large +north-running water they had met. Moreover, it was liable to droughts +and floods recurring at fixed seasons. What could it be but the great +river of Egypt? So with immense pious satisfaction they recognised it +as the Nile, and the Nyl it remains to this day. + +The thought of a national exodus comes easily to the Aryan mind,--an +inheritance from primeval Asian wanderings. And in itself it is +something peculiarly bold and romantic, requiring a renunciation of +old ties and sentiments impossible to an over-domesticated race. It +requires courage of a high order and a confident faith in destiny. +Perhaps the courage needed in the case of the Great Trek was less +than in most similar undertakings, because of the cheering Scriptural +precedent and the lack of that imagination which can vividly forecast +the future. The past history of the Boer, too, prepared him for +desperate enterprises. Made up originally of doubtful adventurers from +Holland, hardihood grew up in their blood as they pushed northwards +from the seacoast. The people of the littoral might be, as Lady Anne +Barnard found them, sluggish and spiritless; but the farmers of +Colesberg and Graaff-Reinet were in the nature of things a different +breed. The true Dutch blood does not readily produce an adventurer, +but it was leavened and sublimated by a French Huguenot strain, scions +of good families exiled for the most heroic of causes. The coarse +strong Dutch stock swallowed them up; the language disappeared, the +Colberts became Grobelaars, the Villons Viljoens, the Pinards +Pienaars; but something remained of _elan_ and spiritual exaltation. +Harassed from the north by Griqua and Hottentot bandits, and from the +east by Kaffir incursions, they became a hardy border race, keeping +their own by dint of a strong arm. The quiet of the great sun-washed +spaces entered into their souls. They grew taciturn, ungraceful, +profoundly attached to certain sombre dogmas, impatient of argument or +restraint, bad citizens for any modern State, but not without a +gnarled magnificence of their own. They were out of line with the +whole world, far nearer in kinship to an Old Testament patriarch than +to the townsfolk with whom they shared the country. All angles and +corners, they presented an admirable front to savage nature; but they +were hard to dovetail into a complex modern society. They would have +made good Ironsides, and would have formed a stubborn left wing at +Armageddon, but they did ill with franchises and taxes and paternal +legislation. + +I will take two savage tales from their history to show what manner of +men they were in extremity. A certain Frederick Bezuidenhout, a farmer +in the Bruintje Hoogte, and by all accounts a dabbler in less reputable +trades, was summoned on some charge before the landdrost of the +district, and declined to appear. A warrant was issued for his +apprehension, and a party of soldiers sent out to enforce it, whereupon +Bezuidenhout took refuge in a cave, and was shot dead in its defence. +The fiery cross went round among his relatives; overtures, which were +refused, were made to the Kaffir chiefs, and Jan Bezuidenhout, the +brother of the dead man, swore to fealty a band of as pretty outlaws as +ever dwelt on a border. The insurrection failed; thirty-nine of the +insurgents were captured, and five were hanged, and Jan Bezuidenhout +himself was shot in the Kaffir country by an advance party of the +pursuit. Such is the too famous story of Slachter's Nek. The tale of +Conrad de Buys[9] and his doings is wilder but more obscure. A man of +great physical strength and the worst character, he was the leader of +the sterner desperadoes on the Kaffir border. Through living much in +native kraals he had become little better than a savage. He was mixed +up in Van Jaarsveld's insurrection, and by-and-by his private crimes +exceeded his political by so much that he was compelled to flee into +the northern wilds. This first of the voortrekkers is next heard of on +the banks of the Limpopo, living in pure barbarism, with a harem of +Kaffir wives and an immense prestige among his neighbours. The emigrant +party under Potgieter, on their return from Delagoa Bay, found +somewhere in the Lydenburg hills two half-breeds who called this +ruffian father and acted as interpreters. Conrad peopled the Transvaal +with his children, whom he seems to have ruled in a patriarchal +fashion, forming a real Buys clan, who still hang together at Marah, in +Zoutpansberg. In the Pietersburg Burgher camp during the war there was +a Buys location, who strenuously urged their claim to be considered a +white people and burghers of the republic. + +Such was one element in the race of border farmers--a substratum of +desperate lawlessness. But there were other elements, many of them +noble and worthy. Their morals were less bad than peculiar; their +lawlessness rather an inability to understand restrictions than an +impulse to disorder. They had their own staunch loyalties, their own +strict code of honour. They had the self-confidence of a people whose +dogmatic foundations are unshaken, and who are in habitual intercourse +with an inferior race. In a rude way they were kindly and hospitable. +They had a courage so unwavering that it may be called an instinct, +and the bodily strength which comes from bare living and constant +exertion. "Simple" and "pastoral" used to be words of praise. During +the late war they became a sneer; but it is well to recognise that +while they may comprise the gravest faults they must denote a few +sterling virtues. + +When Pieter Retief left Graaff-Reinet in 1837, he issued an ingenious +proclamation which contains his justification of the Great Trek. He +complains of the unnecessary hardships attending the emancipation of +the slaves, the insecurity of life and property caused by the absence +of proper vagrancy laws, and the disaster certain to attend Lord +Glenelg's reversal of British policy on the Kaffir border. Retief was a +man of high and conscientious character, and his profession of faith is +valuable as showing the view of current politics held by the better +class of the voortrekkers. They did not defend slavery--Retief +expressly repudiates it; but they objected to the method of its +abolition, and the lack of precautions for future public safety which +the event demanded. Lord Glenelg's withdrawal from the eastern border +to the boundary of the Keiskama and Tyumie rivers, as fixed by Lord +Charles Somerset in 1819, appeared to them a flagrant piece of +weakness which sooner or later must make life on that border +impossible. They saw no hope of redress from the imperial Government, +which seemed to be dominated by philanthropic hysteria. It is a grave +indictment, and worth examination. The slavery question stands in the +foreground. The ocean slave-trade was suppressed in 1807, and the +English abolitionists had leisure to turn their minds to South Africa. +The first progressive enactment came in 1816, when the registration of +slaves and slave-births was made compulsory in every district. In 1823 +a series of laws were passed restricting slave labour on the Sabbath, +giving slaves the right of owning property, and limiting the +punishments to which they were liable. In 1826 officials were +appointed in country districts to watch over slave interests, and see +that the protective enactments were carried out. The famous Fiftieth +Ordinance of 1828 gave the Hottentots the same legal rights as the +white colonists. Meanwhile for years a great missionary agitation for +total abolition had been going on, which was powerfully supported by +the Whig party in England. The Dutch saw clearly the trend of events, +and, in what is known as the "Graaff-Reinet proposals," attempted to +procure gradually the emancipation which they realised was bound to +come. They proposed, unanimously, that after a date to be fixed by +Government all female children should be free at birth, and, by a +majority, that all male children born after the same date should also +be free. I cannot find in these proposals the insidious attempt to +defeat the movement which some writers have discerned: they seem to +me to be as fair and reasonable an offer as we could expect a +slave-holding class to make. But the British attitude is also +perfectly clear. Slave-holding had been condemned as a crime by the +national conscience, and there could be no temporising with the evil +thing. Here, again, a certain kind of education was necessary to +appreciate the point of view. The farmers of Graaff-Reinet had not +listened to the harangues of Wilberforce and Fowell Buxton; Zion +Chapel and its all-pervading atmosphere of mild brotherly love were +not within the compass of their experience. England was right, as she +generally is in policies which are inspired by a profound popular +conviction; but she could hardly expect men of a very different +training to fall in readily with her views. In any case the working +out of the policy was attended by many blunders. The Emancipation Act +took effect in Cape Colony from the 1st of December 1834. L1,200,000 +seems a rather inadequate compensation for 35,000 slaves, and as each +claim had to be presented before commissioners in London, the farmer +had perforce to employ an agent, who bought up his claims at a +discount of anything from 18 to 30 per cent. + +The losses from emancipation were chiefly felt in the rich agricultural +districts of the colony, such as Stellenbosch, Ceres, and Worcester; the +border farmers were not a large slave-owning class, and the lack of +cheap labour did not trouble them. But emancipation meant a general +dislocation of credit all over the country. A man who in 1833 was +counted a rich man was comparatively poor in 1835, and this _peripeteia_ +had a bad effect on the whole farming class. It was rather the spirit of +the Act which the Boers of Graaff-Reinet complained of,--the theory, to +them ridiculous, that the black man could have legal rights comparable +with the white, and the sense of insecurity which dwellers under such a +_regime_ must feel. The average Boer was an arbitrary but not an unkind +slave-master; he regarded his slaves as part of his _familia_, an +enclosure to which the common law should not penetrate. To be limited by +statute in the use of what he considered his chattels, to find hundreds +of officious gentlemen ready to take the part of the chattels on any +occasion against him, were pills too bitter to swallow. Emancipation +produced vagrants, and he asked for a stringent vagrancy law which his +landrosts could administer. England, refusing naturally to take away +with one hand what she had given with the other, declined to expose the +emancipated slave to the arbitrariness of local tribunals. Well, argued +the farmers, our slaves, being free, have become rogues and vagabonds; +they may plunder us at their pleasure and England will take their part: +it is time for us to seek easier latitudes. + +But the chief factor in Dutch dissatisfaction was undoubtedly Lord +Glenelg's limitation of the eastern border line. There is something to +be said for the view of that discredited, and, to tell the truth, not +very wise statesman. The Boer was a bad neighbour for a Kaffir people. +He was always encroaching, spurred on by that nomadic something in +his blood--a true Campbell of Breadalbane, who built his house on the +limits of his estate that he might "brise yont." A buffer state was +apt to become very soon a Boer territory. Better to try and establish +a strong Kaffir people, who might attain to some semblance of national +life, and under the maternal eye of Britain become useful and +progressive citizens. So reasoned Lord Glenelg and his advisers, +missionary and official. Unfortunately facts were against him, the +chimera of a Kaffir nation was soon dispelled, and ten years later Sir +Harry Smith, a governor who did not suffer from illusions, made the +eastern province a Kaffir reserve under a British commissioner. The +frontier Boer, however, was not in a position to share any sentiment +about a Kaffir nation. He saw his cattle looted, his family compelled +to leave their newly acquired farm, and a long prospect of Kaffir +raids where the presumption of guilt would always be held to lie +against his own worthy self. Above all things he saw a barred door. No +more "brising yont" for him on the eastern border. Expansion, space, +were as the breath of his nostrils, and if he could not have them in +the old colony he would seek them in the untravelled northern wilds. + +There were thus certain well-defined reasons for the Great Trek in +contemporary politics which, combined with distorted memories like +Slachter's Nek, made up in Boer eyes a very complete indictment +against Pharaoh and his counsellors. But the real reason lay in his +blood. Had the British Government been all that he could desire, he +would still have gone. He was a wanderer from his birth, and trekking, +even for great distances, was an incident of his common life. A +pastoral people have few vested interests in land. There are no +ancient homesteads to leave, or carefully-tended gardens or rich +corn-lands. Their wealth is in their herds, which can be driven at +will to other pastures. The Boer rarely built much of a farm, and he +never fenced. A cottage, a small vegetable-yard, and a stable made up +the homestead on even large farms on the border. There was nothing to +leave when he had gathered his horned cattle into a mob, yoked his +best team to his waggon, and stowed his rude furniture inside. With +his rifle slung on his shoulder, he was as free to take the road as +any gipsy. He was leaving the country of the alien, where mad fancies +held sway and unjust laws and taxes oppressed him. He was bound for +the far lands of travellers' tales, the country of rich grass and +endless game, where he could live as he pleased and preserve the +fashions of his fathers unchanged. He would meet with fierce tribes, +but his elephant-gun, as he knew from experience, was a match for many +assegais. There was much heroism in the Great Trek, but there was also +for the young and hale an exhilarating element of sport. To them it +was a new, strange, and audacious adventure. No predikant accompanied +the emigrants. The Kirk did not see the Scriptural parallel, and to a +man preferred the treasure in Egypt to the doubtful fortunes of +Israel. + +The first party consisted of about thirty waggons, under the +leadership of Louis Trichard and Jan van Rensburg. They travelled +slowly, the men hunting along the route, and outspanned for days, and +even weeks, at pleasant watering-places. The main object of those +pioneers was to ascertain the road to Delagoa Bay; so they did not +seek land for settlement, but pushed on till they came to Piet +Potgieter's Rust, a hundred miles or so north of Pretoria, which they +thought to be about the proper latitude. Here the party divided. Van +Rensburg and his men went due east into the wild Lydenburg country on +their way to the coast, and were never heard of again. Trichard waited +a little, and then slowly groped his way through the Drakensberg to +Portuguese territory. The band suffered terribly from fever; their +herds were annihilated by the tsetse fly, of which they now heard for +the first time; but in the end about twenty-six survivors struggled +down to the bay and took ship for Natal. So ended the adventure of the +path-finders. The next expedition was led by the famous Andries +Potgieter, and came from the Tarka and Colesberg districts. The little +Paulus Kruger, a boy of ten, travelled with the waggons to the country +which he was to rule for long. Potgieter settled first in the +neighbourhood of Thaba 'Nchu on the Basuto border, and bought a large +tract of land from a Bataung chief. Farms were marked out, and a few +emigrants remained, but the majority pushed on to the north and east. +Some crossed the Vaal, and finding a full clear stream coming down +from the north, christened it the Mooi or Fair River; and here in +after-days, faithful to their first impression, they planted the old +capital of the Transvaal. Potgieter with a small band set off on the +search for Delagoa Bay, but he seems to have lost himself in the +mountains between Lydenburg and Zoutpansberg. On his return he found +that Mosilikatse's warriors had at last given notice of their +presence, and had massacred a number of small outlying settlements. So +began one of the sternest struggles in South African history. + +Potgieter gathered all the survivors into a great laager at a place +called Vechtkop, between the Rhenoster and Wilge rivers. The +precaution was taken none too soon, for one morning a few days later +a huge native army appeared, led by the chief induna of Mosilikatse. +The odds, so far as can be gathered, were about a hundred to one, but +the little band was undaunted, and Sarel Celliers, a true Cromwellian +devotee of the Bible and the sword, called his men to prayer. Then +forty farmers rode out from the laager, galloped within range, spread +out and fired a volley, riding back swiftly to reload. They did good +execution, but forty men, however bold, cannot disperse 5000, and in a +little the Matabele were round the laager, and the siege began. The +defence was so vigorous that after heavy losses the enemy withdrew, +driving with them the little stock which formed the sole wealth of the +emigrants. + +The glove had been thrown down and there could be no retreat. Midian +must be destroyed root and branch before Israel could possess the +land. After a short rest Potgieter and Gerrit Maritz began the war of +reprisals. With a commando of over 100 men and a few Griqua followers, +they forded the Vaal, crossed the Magaliesberg, and arrived at +Mosilikatse's chief kraal at Mosega. The farmers' victory was +complete. Over 400 of the Matabele were slain, several thousand head +of cattle secured, and the kraal given to the flames. Potgieter +returned to found the little town of Winburg in memory of his victory, +and, with the assistance of Pieter Retief, to frame a constitution for +the nascent state. But Mosilikatse still remained. He had not been +present at the _debacle_ of Mosega, and while he remained on the +frontier there was no security for life and property. New recruits had +come up from the south, including the redoubtable family of Uys, the +horses were in good condition, all had had a breathing-space; so a new +and more formidable expedition started in search of the enemy. They +found him on the Marico, and for nine days fought with him on the old +plan of a charge, a volley, and a retreat. Then one morning there was +no enemy to fight; a cloud of dust to the north showed the line of his +flight; Mosilikatse had retired across the Limpopo. Whereupon the +emigrants proclaimed the whole of the late Matabele territory--the +Transvaal, the Orange River Colony, and a portion of Bechuanaland--as +theirs by the right of conquest. + +So runs the tale of the Great Trek,--rather an Iliad than an Odyssey, +perhaps, and a very bloodthirsty Iliad, too. To most men it must seem +a noble and spirited story. Whatever the justice of the emigrants' +grievances, they conducted themselves well in their self-imposed +exile. Potgieter and his men were indeed rather exceptional specimens +of their race, and they were strung to the highest pitch by Christian +faith and the unchristian passion of revenge. They relapsed, when all +was over, to a somewhat ordinary type of farmer, which seems to bear +out the general conception of the Boer character--that, while it is +capable of high deeds, it is powerful by sudden effort rather than by +sustained and strenuous toil. The experiment which began so well +should have ended in something better than two bourgeois republics. +There are some who see in the tale nothing more than an unwarranted +invasion of native territory, and a cruel massacre of a brave race. No +view could be more unjust. The Matabele had not a scrap of title to +the country, and had not dwelt in it more than a few years. The real +owners, if you can talk of ownership at all, were the unfortunate +Bataungs and Barolongs, whom the emigrants befriended. The Matabele +were indeed as murderous a race of savages as ever lived, and their +defeat was a moral as well as a political necessity. It is well to +protect the aborigine, but when he is armed with a dozen assegais and +earnestly desires your blood, it is safer to shoot him or drive him +farther afield. That the Boers were guilty of atrocities in those +fierce wars is undoubted, and, if some tales be true, unpardonable. +But there are excuses to be made. When a man has seen his child +writhing on a spear and his wife mutilated; when he reflects that he +stands alone against impossible odds, and has a keen sense, too, of +Scriptural parallels,--he may be forgiven if he slays and spares not, +and even gives way to curious cruelties. Revenge and despair may play +odd pranks with the best men: _tout comprendre c'est tout pardonner_. + +What, then, is the proper view to take of this footnote to the world's +history, this Marathon of an unimaginative race? It is possible to see +in it only an attempt of a half-savage people to find elbow-room for +their misdeeds. The voortrekkers, it has been said, fled the approach +of a mild and enlightened modern policy, invaded a land which was not +theirs, slaughtered a people who had every right to resist them, and +created for themselves space to practise their tyranny over the +native, and perpetuate their exploded religious and political creed in +a retrograde society. It is easy to say this, as it is easy to explain +the doings of the Pilgrim Fathers as a flight from a too liberal and +tolerant land to wilds where intolerance could rule unchecked. With +the best will in the world to scrutinise Dutch legends, the Great Trek +seems to me just that legend which can well support any scrutiny. For +it was first and foremost a conflict between civilisations. There were +strong and worthy men among the voortrekkers, as there were estimable +people among their opponents. The modern political creed, based on +English constitutionalism, stray doctrines of the French Revolution, +and certain economic maxims from Bentham and Adam Smith, is, in spite +of minor differences, common to the civilised world. This was the +creed which was forced upon the Border Dutch, and, having received no +education in the axioms on which it was based, they unhesitatingly +rejected it, and clung to their old Scriptural feudalism. When two +creeds come into conflict, the older and weaker usually goes under. +But in this case the men on the losing side were of a peculiar temper +and dwelt in a peculiar country. They took the bold path of carrying +themselves and their creed to a new land, and so extended its lease of +life for the better part of a century. Let us take the parallel of the +American Civil War. The North fought for the cause of the larger civic +organism and certain social reforms which were accidentally linked to +it. The South stood for the principle of nationality, and for certain +traditions of their own particular nationality. Roughly speaking, it +was the same conflict; but the Southern creed perished because there +was no practicable hinterland to which it could be transplanted. Had +there been, I do not think its most stubborn opponents would have +denied admiration to so bold an endeavour to preserve a national +faith. + +The Great Trek set its seal upon the new countries. The Orange River +Colony and the Transvaal are still in the rural places an emigrant's +land. The farmhouse is the unit; the country dorps are merely jumbles +of little shanties to supply the farmers' wants. The place-names, with +the endless recurrence of simple descriptive epithets like Sterkstroom +or Klipfontein, or expressions of feeling like Nooitgedacht or +Welgevonden, still tell the tale of the first discoverers. There is +no obscurity in the nomenclature, such as is found in an old land +where history has had time to be forgotten. Any farm-boy will tell you +how this river came to be named the Ox-Yoke or that hill the Place of +Weeping. It has made the people a solemn, ungenial folk, calculating +and thrifty in their ways, and given to living in hovels which suggest +that here they have no continuing city. Perhaps, as has been said, no +performance, however stupendous, is worth loss of geniality; and the +finer graces of life have never had a chance on the veld. There is +gipsy blood in their veins, undying vagabondage behind all their +sleepy contentment. The quiet of the old waggon journeys, when men +counted the days on a notched stick that they might not miss the still +deeper quiet of the Sabbaths, has gone into the soul of a race which +still above all things desires space and leisure. It is this gipsy +endowment which made them born warriors after a fashion; it is this +which gives them that apathy in the face of war losses which +discomfits their sentimental partisans. Britain in her day has won +many strange peoples to her Empire; but none, I think, more curious or +more hopeful than the stubborn children of Uys and Potgieter. + + + [9] In Lichtenstein's 'Travels in South Africa' (1803-6) + there is an interesting and comparatively favourable + account of Buys in his Cape Colony days. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE BOER IN SPORT. + + +It is a fair working rule of life that the behaviour of a man in his +sports is a good index to his character in graver matters. With +certain reservations the same holds true of a people. For on the +lowest interpretation of the word "sport," the high qualities of +courage, honour, and self-control are part of the essential equipment, +and the mode in which such qualities appear is a reflex of the +idiosyncrasies of national character. But this is true mainly of the +old settled peoples, whose sports have long lost the grim reality in +which they started. To a race which wages daily war with savage nature +the refinements of conduct are unintelligible; sport becomes business; +and unless there is a hereditary tradition in the matter the fine +manners of the true hunter's craft are notable by their absence. + +It is worth while considering the Boer in sport, for it is there he is +seen at his worst. Without tradition of fair play, soured and harassed +by want and disaster, his sport became a matter of commerce, and he +held no device unworthy in the game. He hunted for the pot, and the +pot cast its shadow over all his doings. His arms were rarely in the +old days weapons of precision, and we can scarcely expect much +etiquette in the pursuit of elephant or lion in a bush country with a +smooth-bore gun which had a quaint trajectory and a propensity to +burst. The barbarous ways which he learned in those wild games he +naturally carried into easier sports. Let us admit, too, that the Boer +race has produced a few daring and indefatigable hunters, who, though +rarely of the class of a Selous or a Hartley, were yet in every way +worthy of the name of sportsmen. I have talked with old Boers from the +hunting-veld, and in their tales of their lost youth there was a +fervour which the commercial results of their expeditions did not +explain. But the fact remains that to an Englishman the Boers, with a +few exceptions, are not a sporting race--they are not even a race of +very skilful hunters. They came to the land when game was abundant and +they thinned it out; but the manner of this thinning was as prosaic as +the routine of their daily lives. + +One advantage the Boer possessed in common with all dwellers in new +lands--he was familiar from childhood with gun and saddle, and had to +face the world on his own legs from his early boyhood. In this way he +acquired what one might call the psychological equipment of the +hunter. Any one who has hunted in wild countries will remember the +first sense of strangeness, the feeling that civilisation had got too +far away for comfort, which is far more eerie than common nervousness. +To this feeling the Boer was an utter stranger. It was as natural for +him to set a trap for a lion before returning at nightfall, or to go +off to the hunting-veld for four winter months, as it was to sow in +spring and reap in autumn. And because it was an incident of his +common life he imported into it a ridiculous degree of domesticity. On +his farm he shot for the pot; on his winter treks with stock to the +bush-veld and the wilder hunting expeditions for skins and horns he +carried his wife and family in his buck-waggon, built himself a hut +in the wilds, and reproduced exactly the life of the farm. It was easy +to reproduce anywhere, for it was simplicity itself. Mealie-meal, +coffee, and some coarse tobacco were his supplies, and fresh meat when +game fell to his gun. So it is not to be wondered at if hunting became +to him something wholly destitute of romance and adventure, an affair +like kirk and market, where business was the beginning and the end. + +But besides the Boer who farmed first and hunted afterwards, there was +the Boer who hunted by profession. The class is almost extinct, but in +outlying farms one may still meet the old hunter and listen to his +incredible tales. Some were men of the first calibre, the pioneers of +a dozen districts, men of profound gravity and placid temper, who +rarely told the tale of their deeds. But the common hunter is above +all things a talker. Like the Kaffir, he brags incessantly, and a +little flattery will lead him into wild depths. He lies to the +stranger, because he cannot be contradicted; he lies to his friends, +because they are connoisseurs in the art and can appreciate the work +of a master. Boer hunting tales, therefore, should be received with +extreme caution. They would often puzzle an expert lawyer, for they +are full of minute and fallacious particulars, skilfully put together, +and forming as a rule a narrative of single-hearted heroism. I have +listened to a Boer version of a lion-hunt, and I have heard the facts +from other members of the same party; and the contrast was a lesson in +the finer arts of embroidery. But this society had its compensations. +Those men live on the outer fringe of Boerdom; they have no part in +politics and few ties to the civilised society of Pretoria; and the +result is that race hatred and memory of old strifes have always had +a smaller place in their hearts. Without the virtues of their +countryman, they are often free from his more unsocial failings. + +It is as a big-game hunter that he has acquired his reputation, and by +big game he meant the lion and the elephant, animals which he had to +go farther afield and run greater risks to secure. The old race of +elephant-hunters were a strong breed, men in whom courage from long +experience had become a habit; and certainly they had need of it with +their long-stocked cumbrous flint-locks, which might put out a man's +shoulder in the recoil. They knew their business and took no needless +risks, for elephant-hunting is a thing which can be learned. Save in +thick bush, there is little real danger; and if the hunter awaits a +charging elephant, a point-blank shot at a few yards will generally +make the animal swerve. Mr Selous, whose authority is beyond question, +has drawn these men as they appeared to him in Mashonaland--skilful +shikarris, but jealous, uncompanionable, often treacherous as we count +honour in sport; and Oswell's story is the same. The lion, which, in +spite of tales to the contrary, remains one of the two most dangerous +quarries in the world, was a different affair to them. There was +little commercial profit from shooting him, and they had no other +motive to face danger. Nor can we blame them, for a charging lion to a +man with an uncertain gun means almost as sure destruction as a +shipwreck in mid-ocean. The Boer hunter shot him for protection, +rarely for sport. Very few of the lions killed on the high veld fell +to rifles; a trap-gun set near a drinking-place was the ordinary way +of dealing with them. Mr Ericsen, the most famous of Kalahari +pioneers, who brought many herds of Ovampa and Damara cattle across +the desert, used to tell this story of Boer prowess in lion-hunting. +He was travelling with a party of Boer hunters, and one night a lion +killed one of the oxen. The men were in a fury, and urged Mr Ericsen +to follow, bragging that each of them was prepared to tackle the beast +single-handed. Mr Ericsen said that he was no hunter, but promised to +let them have his dogs and natives to follow up the spoor in the +morning. But when the morning came the party had silently dispersed, +mortally afraid lest they should be expected to fulfil their promises. +In the long list of South African big-game hunters the names are +mostly English,--Gordon-Cumming, Byles, Hartley, Oswell, Sharpe, +Selous, Francis, John Macdonald,--and the reason does not wholly lie +in the inability and disinclination of the Boer to bring his deeds +from the rhetoric of talk to the calmer record of print. + +At other four-footed game, from the buffalo to the duiker, the Boer +was generally a fair shot, in some cases a good shot, but very rarely +a great shot. Reputation in marksmanship was very much a matter of +accident. A happy fluke with them, as with natives, might make a +reputation for life, though the man in question shot badly ever +afterwards. The number of Boer marksmen of the first rank could be +counted on the ten fingers. On the other hand, the nature of their +life produced a very high average. The Boer boy shot from the day he +could hold a rifle, and there were few utter failures among them. To +be sure, it was not pretty shooting. His first business was to get the +game, and if he could do it by sitting on a tree near the stream and +killing at twenty yards, he did it gladly. When he went hunting he +reflected that his cartridges cost him 3d. apiece, and were all that +stood between him and starvation; so very naturally he became as poky +a shot as the English gamekeeper who is sent out to kill for the +table. If a hunter took out 500 cartridges and brought back 120 head +of game, he was reckoned a good man at his work. To this, of course, +there were exceptions, such as old Jan Ludig, who once in Waterberg +shot five gnu (who travel in Indian file) within seven miles. The name +of Mr Van Rooyen, too, familiar to all Matabele hunters, shows what +the Dutch race can produce in the way of marksmanship and veld-craft. +In one branch of the chase they were consummate masters. The Boer +method of stalking is an art by itself, for it is really a kind of +driving, by showing oneself at strategic points till the game is +forced into suitable ground. In open country they also followed with +great success the method of riding down. Mounted on a good shooting +pony, the hunter galloped alongside a herd till he was within +reasonable distance; then in a trice he was on the ground, had +selected his animal, and fired--all within a few seconds. This was a +risky game for a large party, owing to the very rude etiquette which +prevailed on the subject of shooting in your neighbour's direction; +and I have heard of many seriously wounded and even killed by their +companions' shots. Still another way was to ride alongside an animal +and shoot him from the saddle at a few paces' distance. This was +called "brandt" or "burning," and required a firm seat and a very +steady eye. + +Birds were thought little of, except by some of the more advanced +farmers and by sportsmen from the towns. The country is full of many +excellent sporting birds: guineafowl, quail, francolin, duck, geese, +and several kinds of partridge and bustard; but though a few farmers +shot wildfowl on their dams, the average Boer was a poor shot with a +gun, and when he did use one he liked to take his birds sitting. A +hunter might kill a bird neatly with a rifle, which he would miss at +shorter range with a shot-gun. This fashion is quickly passing. Many +farmers possess excellent guns of the latest pattern; and I have known +Boers who could hold their own with credit in Norfolk or Perthshire. +As shooting is becoming more of a sport and less of a business, +etiquette is growing up; and the Boer is learning to spare does and +ewes and take pleasure in hard shots, where his father would have +slaughtered casually and walked long and far to spare his cartridges. +The new order is bringing better manners, but nothing can restore the +noble herds of game which fell unlamented and unnoted under the old +_regime_. + +Other sports were scarcely considered. He rarely fished, leaving the +catching of yellow-fish, tiger-fish, and barbel to the Kaffirs; and +when he did, his rod and tackle were neolithic in their simplicity. I +have never seen a Boer rod which had any of the proper attributes of a +rod, and he used to profess scorn for a man with a greenheart or a +split-cane as for one who would stipulate for an elegant spade before +digging potatoes. Sometimes in a village or among neighbouring farmers +flat-races would be got up; but the Boer pony was bred more for +endurance than for speed, and a small selling-plate meeting was about +the limit of his horse-racing. I have never seen or heard of a Boer +steeplechase. On the other hand, he had a wonderful skill, as our army +discovered, in riding at full speed over a breakneck country,--a skill +due, perhaps, more to veld-craft than to horsemanship. Hunting big +game on horseback taught him, as part of the business, to leave much +to his horse; and his horse rarely played him false. Whether he was +clattering down a stony hillside, or dodging through thick scrub, or +racing over veld honeycombed with ant-bear holes, he rode with a loose +rein and full confidence in his animal. It is difficult to frame an +opinion on his horsemanship. His long stirrups, the easy "tripple" of +his horse, and his loose seat make him a type of horseman very +different to our cavalryman or Leicestershire master of hounds. But, +loose as he sits, he can stick on over most kinds of country, and he +is a natural horsemaster of the first order. A Boer knows by instinct +how to manage his horse: he never frets him; he rarely ill-treats him; +and he can judge to a mile the limits of his endurance. + +As a sportsman, then, the Boer is scarcely at his best. He has shown +himself dull, sluggish, unimaginative, capable of both skill and +endurance, but a niggard in the exercise of either, unless compelled by +hunger or hope of gain. Unlike most races, it is in his sports that he +shows his most unlovely traits, and that flat incomprehensible side of +his character which has puzzled an ornamental world. The truth is that +he is, speaking broadly, without imagination and that dash of adventure +which belongs to all imaginative men. The noble spurs of the +Drakensberg rose within sight of his home; but he would as soon have +thought of climbing a peak for the sport or the scenery as of dabbling +in water-colours. A dawn was to him only the beginning of the day, a +mellow veld sunset merely a sign to outspan; and I should be afraid to +guess his thoughts on a primrose by the river's brim, or whatever is +the South African equivalent. His religion made him credulous, but his +temperament transformed the most stupendous of the world's histories +into a kind of Farmer's Almanac, and Eastern poetry became for him a +literal record of fact. A friend of mine, travelling with a Boer hunter +in the far north, called his attention to the beauty of the starry +night, and, thinking to interest his companion, told him a few simple +astronomical truths. The Boer angrily asked him why he lied so +foolishly. "Do not I read in the Book," he said, "that the world stands +on four pillars?" And when my friend inquired about the foundation of +the pillars, the Boer sulked for two days. But there is one trait which +he shared with all true sportsmen, a love of wild animals. To be sure, +the finest reserves of buck were made by new-comers, such as Mr van der +Byl's park at Irene and Mr Forbes's at Athole, in Ermelo, both +unhappily ruined by the war. But many veld farmers had their small +reserves of springbok or blesbok, and permitted no hunting within them. +Some did it as a speculation, being always ready to lease a day's +shooting to a gun from Johannesburg, and many for the reason that they +sought big farms and complete solitude--to pander to a sense of +possession. But in all, perhaps, there was a strain of honest pleasure +in wild life, a desire to encircle their homes with the surroundings +of their early hunting days. In which case, it is another of the +anomalies which warn us off hasty generalisations. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE BOER IN ALL SERIOUSNESS.[10] + + +The Boer character has suffered by its simplicity. It has, as a rule, +been crudely summed up in half a dozen denunciatory sentences, or, in +the case of more curious students, it has been analysed and defined +with a subtlety for which there is no warrant. A hasty condemnation is +not the method for a product so full of difficulty and interest, and a +chain of laborious paradoxes scarcely enables us to comprehend a thing +which is pre-eminently broad and simple. The Boer has rarely been +understood by people who give their impressions to the world, but he +has been very completely understood by plain men who have dwelt beside +him and experienced his ways in the many relations of life. It is easy +to dismiss him with a hostile epigram; easy, too, to build up an +edifice of neat contradictions, after the fashion of what Senancour +has called "le vulgaire des sages," and label it the Boer character. +The first way commends itself to party feeling; the second appeals to +a nation which has confessedly never understood its opponents, and is +ready now to admit its ignorance and excuse itself by the amazing +complexity of the subject. Sympathy, which is the only path to true +understanding, was made difficult by the mists of war, and, when all +was over, by the exceeding dreariness of the conquered people. There +was little romance in the slouching bearded men with flat faces and +lustreless eyes who handed in their rifles and came under our flag; +National Scouts, haggling over money terms, and the begging tour of +the generals, seemed to have reduced honour to a matter of shillings +and pence, and dispelled the glamour of many hard-fought battlefields. +There is a perennial charm about an _ancien regime_; but this poor +_ancien regime_ had no purple and fine gold for the sentimental--only +a hodden-grey burgess society, an unlovely Kirk, and a prosaic +constitution. + +And yet the proper understanding of this character is of the first +political importance, and a task well worth undertaking for its own +sake. Those men are for ever our neighbours and fellow-citizens, and +it is the part of wisdom to understand the present that it may prepare +against the future. To the amateur of racial character there is the +chance of reading in the largest letters the lesson of historical +development, for we know their antecedents, we can see clearly the +simple events of their recent history, and we have before us a +product, as it were, isolated and focussed for observation. Nor can +sympathy be wanting in a fair observer,--sympathy for courage, +tenacity of purpose, a simple fidelity to racial ideals. No man who +has lived much with the people can regard them without a little +aversion, a strong liking, and a large and generous respect. + +In any racial inquiry there are certain determinant factors which form +the axioms of the problem. In the case of a long-settled people these +are so intricate and numerous that it is impossible to disentangle +more than a few of the more obvious, and we explain development, +naturally and logically, rather by the conscious principles which the +race assimilated than by the objective forces which acted upon it from +the outer world. But in the case of a savage or a backward nation, the +history is simple, the ingredients in racial character few and +intelligible. The wars of the spirit and the growth of philosophies +are potent influences, but their history is speculative and recondite. +But the struggle for bare life falls always in simple forms, and +physical forces leave their mark rudely upon the object they work on. +In this case we have a national life less than a century long, a mode +of society all but uniform, a creed short and unsophisticated, an +intelligible descent, and a country which stamps itself readily upon +its people. Origin, history, natural environment, accidental modes of +civilisation, these are the main factors in that composite thing we +call character. We can read them in the individual: we can read them +writ large in a race which is little more than the individual writ +large. In complex societies the composition is a chemical process, the +result is a new product, not to be linked with any ingredient; the +soul and mind of the populace is something different in kind from the +average soul and mind of its units. But in this collection of hardy +individualists there was no novel result, and the type is repeated +with such scanty variations that we may borrow the attributes of the +individual for our definition of the race. + +Descent, history, natural environment have laid the foundation of the +Boer character. The old sluggish Batavian stock (not of the best +quality, for the first settlers were as a rule of the poorest and +least reputable class) was leavened with a finer French strain, and +tinctured with a little native blood. Living a clannish life in +solitude, the people intermarried closely, and suffered the fate of +inbreeders in a loss of facial variety and a gradual coarsening of +feature. Their history was a record of fierce warfare with savage +nature, and the evolution of a peculiar set of traditions which soon +came into opposition with imported European ideas. They evolved, +partly from the needs of their society and partly from distorted +echoes of revolutionary dogma, an embryo political creed, and in +religion they established a variant of sixteenth-century Protestantism. +Their life, and the vast spaces of earth and sky amid which they lived, +strengthened the patriarchal individualism in their blood. The whole +process of development, so remote from the common racial experience, +produced in the Boer character a tissue of contradictions which resist +all attempts at an easy summary. He was profoundly religious, with the +language of piety always on his lips, and yet deeply sunk in matter. +Without imagination, he had the habits of a recluse and in a coarse way +the instincts of the poet. He was extremely narrow in a bargain, and +extremely hospitable. With a keen sense of justice, he connived at +corruption and applauded oppression. A severe moral critic, he was +often lax, and sometimes unnatural, in his sexual relations. He was +brave in sport and battle, but his heroics had always a mercantile +basis, and he would as soon die for an ideal, as it is commonly +understood, as sell his farm for a sixpence. There were few virtues or +vices which one could deny him utterly or with which one could credit +him honestly. In short, the typical Boer to the typical observer +became a sort of mixture of satyr, Puritan, and successful merchant, +rather interesting, rather distasteful, and wholly incomprehensible. + +And yet the phenomenon is perfectly normal. The Boer is a representative +on a grand scale of a type which no nation is without. He is the +ordinary backward countryman, more backward and more of a countryman +than is usual in our modern world. At one time this was the current +view--a "race of farmers," a "pastoral folk"; but the early months of +the war brought about a reversal of judgment, and he was credited with +the most intricate urban vices. Such a false opinion was the result of a +too conventional view of the rural character. There is nothing Arcadian +about the Boer, as there is certainly nothing Arcadian about the average +peasant. A Corot background, a pastoral pipe, and a flavour of +honeysuckle, must be expelled from the picture. To analyse what is +grandiloquently called the "folk-heart," is to see in its rude virtues +and vices an exact replica of the life of the veld. "Simple" and +"pastoral," on a proper understanding of the terms, are the last words +in definition. + +Let us take an average household. Jan Celliers (pronounced Seljee) +lives on his farm of 3000 morgen with his second wife and a family of +twelve. His father was a voortrekker, and the great Sarel was a +far-out cousin. Two cousins of his mother and their families squat as +bywoners on his land, and an orphan daughter of his sister lives in +his household. The farmhouse is built of sun-dried bricks, whitewashed +in front, and consists of a small kitchen, a large room which is +parlour and dining-room in one, and three small chambers where the +family sleep. Twelve families of natives live in a little kraal, +cultivate their own mealie-patches, and supply the labour of the farm, +while two half-caste Cape boys, Andries and Abraham, who attend to the +horses, have a rude shanty behind the stable. Jan has a dam from +which he irrigates ten acres of mealies, pumpkins, and potatoes. For +the rest he has 500 Afrikander oxen, which make him a man of substance +among his neighbours, including two spans of matched beasts, fawn and +black, for which he has refused an offer of L30 apiece. He is not an +active farmer, for he does not need to bestir himself. His land yields +him with little labour enough to live on, and a biscuit-tin full of +money, buried in the orchard below the fifth apricot-tree from the +house, secures his mind against an evil day. But he likes to ride +round his herds in the early morning, and to smoke his pipe in his +mealie-patch of a late afternoon. He is not fond of neighbours, but it +is pleasant to him once in a while to go to Pretoria and buy a +cartload of fancy groceries and the very latest plough in the store. +As a boy Jan was a great hunter, and has been with his father to the +Limpopo and the Rooi Rand; but of late game has grown scarce, and Jan +is not the fellow to stir himself to find it. Now and then he shoots a +springbok, and brags wonderfully about his shots, quite regardless of +the presence of his sons who accompany him. These sons are heavy +loutish boys, finer shots by far than Jan, for they have that +infallible eyesight of the Boer youth. They, too, are idle, and are +much abused by their mother, when she is wide awake enough to look +after them. The daughters are plump and shapeless, with pallid +complexions inside their sun-bonnets, and a hoydenish shyness towards +neighbours. Not that they see many neighbours, though rumour has it +that young Coos Pretorius, son of the rich Pretorius, comes now and +then to "opsitten" with the eldest girl. Jan believes in an Old +Testament God, whom he hears of at nachtmaals, for the kirk is too far +off for the ordinary Sabbath-day's journey; but he believes much more +in a spook which lives in the old rhinoceros-hole in the spruit, and +in his own amazing merits. He is sleepily good-natured towards the +world, save to a Jew storekeeper in the town who calls himself on the +sign above his door the "Old Boer's Friend," and on one occasion +cheated him out of L5. But Jan has also had his triumphs, notably when +he induced a coal prospector to prospect in an impossible place and +leave him, free of cost, an excellent well. When war broke out Jan and +three of his sons, sorely against their will, went out on commando. +Two of the boys went to Ceylon, one fell at Spionkop, and Jan himself +remained in the field till the end, and came back as proud as a +peacock to repatriation rations. His womenfolk were in the Middelburg +Burgher camp, where they acquired a taste for society which almost +conquered their love for the farm. At any rate, it was with bitter +complaints that they sat again under a makeshift roof, with no +neighbours except the korhaan and a span of thin repatriation oxen. +Jan did not enjoy war. At first he was desperately afraid, and only +the strangeness of the country and the presence of others kept him +from trekking for home. By-and-by he found amusement in the sport of +the thing, and realised that with caution he might keep pretty well +out of the way of harm. But in the guerilla warfare of the last year +there was no sport, only stark unrelieved misery. Sometimes he thought +of slipping over to the enemy and surrendering; often he wished he had +been captured and sent to Ceylon with his boys; but something which he +did not understand and had never suspected before began to rise in his +soul, a wild obstinacy and a resolve to stand out to the last. Once in +a night attack he was chased by two mounted infantrymen, and turned to +bay in a narrow place, shooting one man and wounding the other badly. +He did his best for the sufferer before making off to the rendezvous, +an incident which has appeared in the picture papers (Jan is depicted +about eight feet high, with a face like Moses, whereas he really is a +broken-nosed little man), and which shows that he had both courage and +kindness somewhere in his slow soul. But he gladly welcomed peace; he +had never cared greatly for politics, and had an ancestral grudge +against the Kruger family; and when he had assured himself that, +instead of losing all, he would get most of his property back, and +perhaps a little for interest, he became quite loyal, and figured +prominently on the local repatriation board. He takes the resident +magistrate out shooting, and has just sold to the Government a +fraction of his farm at an enormous profit. + +Such is an ordinary type of our new citizens. If we look at him the +typical countryman stands out clear from the mists of tortuous +psychology. It is an error, doubtless, to assume that the primitive +nature is always simple; it is often bewilderingly complex. An +elaborate civilisation may produce a type which can be analysed under +a dozen categories; while the savage or the backwoodsman may show a +network of curiously interlaced motives. But the man is familiar. We +know others of the family; we have met him in the common relations of +life; he stands before us as a concrete human being. + +His most obvious characteristic is his mental sluggishness. Dialectic +rarely penetrates the chain-armour of his prejudices. He has nothing +of the keen receptive mind which, like a sensitive plant, is open to +all the influences of life. His views are the outcome of a long and +sluggish growth, and cling like mandrakes to the roots of his being. +He makes no deductions from ordinary events, and he never follows a +thing to its logical conclusion. His blind faith requires a cataclysm +to shake it, and to revise a belief is impossible for him save under +the stress of pain. Death and burning towns may reveal to him a +principle, but unless it is written large in letters of blood and fire +it escapes his stagnant intelligence. Change is painful to all human +creatures, but such coercion of change is doubly painful, since he has +no scheme of thought into which it can fit, and it means, therefore, +the upturning of the foundations of his world. But the countryman, +while he holds tenaciously his innermost beliefs, has a vast capacity +for doing lip-service to principles which he does not understand. He +sees that certain shibboleths command respect and bring material gain, +so he glibly adopts them without allowing them for a moment to +encroach upon the cherished arcana of his faith. Hence comes the +apparent inconsistency of many simple folk. The Boer had a dozen +principles which he would gladly sell to the highest bidder; but he +had some hundreds of prejudices which he held dearer (almost) than +life. His principles were European importations, democratic political +dogmas, which he used to excellent purpose without caring or +understanding, moral maxims which bore no relation to his own ragged +and twisted ethics. The mild international morality which his leaders +were wont to use as a reproach to Britain seems comically out of place +when we reflect upon the high-handed international code, born of +filibustering and Kaffir wars, which he found in the Scriptures and +had long ago adopted for his own. His political confession of faith, +which the framers of his constitution had borrowed from Europe and +America, with its talk of representation and equal rights and +delegated powers, contrasted oddly with the fierce individualism which +was his innermost conviction, and the cabals and "spoils to the +victor" policy which made up his daily practice. His religion had a +like character. In its essentials it was the same which a generation or +two ago held sway over Galloway peasants and Hebridean fishermen; but +the results were very different. The stern hard-bitten souls who saw +the devil in most of the works of God, and lived ever under a great +Taskmaster's eye, had no kinship with the easy-going sleek-lipped Boer +piety. The Boer religion in practice was a judicious excerpt from the +easier forms of Christianity, while its theory was used to buttress his +self-sufficiency and mastery over weaker neighbours. His political +creed may be stated shortly as a belief in his right to all new +territories in which he set foot, his indefeasible right to control the +native tribes in the way he thought best, a denial of all right of the +State to interfere with him, but an assertion of the duty of the State +to enrich him. To these cardinal articles liberty, equality, and +fraternity were added as an elegant appendage before publication. So, +too, in his religion: God made man of two colours, white and black, +the former to rule the latter till the end of time; God led Israel out +of Egypt and gave to them new lands for their inalienable heritage; +any Egyptian who followed was the apportioned prey of the chosen +people, and it was a duty to spoil him; this beneficent God must +therefore be publicly recognised and frequently referred to in the +speech of daily life, but in the case of the Elect considerable +latitude may be allowed in the practice of the commandments,--such may +fairly be taken as the ordinary unformulated Boer creed. But, as the +statement was too short and bare, all the finer virtues had to be +attached in public profession. + +A countryman lives in a narrow world which he knows intimately, but +beyond is an unexplored region which he knows of by hearsay and +fears. He is not naturally suspicious. Among his fellows he is often +confiding to a fault, and a little acquaintance with a dreaded object +will often result in a revulsion to contempt. The Boer has in a +peculiar degree this characteristic of rural peoples. He has an +immense awe of an alien Power while he does not know it, but once let +it commit itself to some weakness, and the absence of all mental +perspective changes the exaggerated awe into an equally exaggerated +condescension. This truth is written clear over the whole history of +England in Africa. A lost battle, a political withdrawal, a wavering +statesman, have had moral effects of incalculable significance. The +burgher who opposed us with terror and despair became at the first +gleam of success a screeching cock-of-the-walk, and this attitude, +jealously fostered, obscured the world to him for the rest of his +days. In our threats he saw bluster, in our kindness he read +weakness, in our diplomacy folly; and he went out at last with the +fullest confidence, which three years of misery have scarcely +uprooted. This is one side of the parochial mind; the other is the +suspicion which became his attitude to everything beyond his beacons. +It is not the proverbial "slimness"; that graceful quality is merely +the rustic cunning which he thought the foundation of business, a +quality as common on Australian stock-runs and Scottish sheep-farms. +His suspicion was his own peculiar possession, born of his history +and his race, and, above all, of his intercourse with native tribes. +He did not give his confidence readily, as who would if he believed +that the world was in league against him? New ideas, new faces, new +inventions were all put on his black list. Like Mr By-ends, he found +his principles easy and profitable, and was resolved to stick to +them. Two forces, however, tended to undermine his distrust. One was +his intense practicality. If his principles ceased to be profitable, +he was prepared, against the grain, to consider emendations. The +second was his crude pleasure in novelties, the curious delight of a +child in a mechanical toy. A musical box, a portrait of Mr Kruger +which, when wound up, emitted the Volkslied, or the latest variety of +mealie-crusher, were attractions which he had no power to resist. + +At the root of all his traits lies a meagre imagination. In religion +he turns the stupendous tales of Scripture into a parish chronicle, +with God as a benevolent burgomaster and Moses and the prophets as +glorified landrosts. In politics no Boer since President Burgers saw +things with a large vision, and his rhetorical dreams were folly to +his countrymen. The idea of a great Afrikander state, very vigorously +held elsewhere in South Africa, had small hold on the ordinary +population of the Republics, save upon sons of English fathers or +mothers, half-educated journalists, and European officials. In the +wars which he waged he saw little of the murky splendour which covers +the horrors of death. The pageantry of the veld was nothing to him, +and in the amenities of life he scarcely advanced beyond bare physical +comfort. He had neither art nor literature. If we except Mr Reitz's +delightful verses, which at their happiest are translations of Burns +and Scott, he had not even the songs which are commonly found among +rural peoples. His nursery tales and his few superstitions were +borrowed from the Kaffir. On one side only do we discern any trace of +imaginative power. Somehow at the back of his soul was the love of +the wilds and the open road--a call which, after years of settled +life, had still power to stir the blood of the old hunter. He was not +good at pictorial forecasts, but he had one retrospect stamped on his +brain, and this hunger for old days was a spark of fire which kept +warm a corner of his being. + +The typical countryman he remains, typical in his limitations and the +vices which followed them. The chief was his incurable mendacity. +Truth-speaking is always a relative virtue, being to some men an easy +habit, and to others of a livelier fancy a constant and strenuous +effort. The Boer is not brutal, he is eminently law-abiding and sober, +and kindly in most of the relations of life. He has the rustic +looseness in sexual morals, and in the remoter farmhouses this +looseness often took the form of much hideous and unnatural vice. But +the cardinal fault, obvious to the most casual observer, is a contempt +for truth in every guise. Masterful liars, who have held their own in +most parts of the world, are vanquished by the systematic perjury of +the veld. The habit is, no doubt, partly learned from the Kaffir, a +fine natural professor of the art; but to its practice the Boer +brought a stolid patience, an impassive countenance, and a limited +imagination which kept him consistent. He bragged greatly, since to a +solitary man with a high self-esteem this is the natural mode of +emphasising his personality on the rare occasions when he mixes with +his fellows. He lied in business for sound practical reasons. He lied +at home by the tacit consent of his household. The truest way to +outwit him, as many found, was to tell him the naked truth, since his +suspicion saw in every man his own duplicity. But because he is a true +countryman, when once he has proved a man literally truthful he will +trust him with a pathetic simplicity. There were Englishmen in the +land before the war, as there are Englishmen to-day, whose word to the +Boer mind was an inviolable oath. + +So far I have described the average Boer failings with all the +unsympathetic plainness which a hostile observer could desire. But +there is a very different side to which it is pleasant to turn. If he +has the countryman's faults strongly developed, he has also in a high +degree the country virtues. Simplicity is not an unmixed blessing; but +it is the mother of certain fine qualities, which are apt to be lost +sight of by a sophisticated world. He could live bare and sleep hard +when the need arose; and if he was sluggish in his daily life it was +the indolence of the sleepy natural world and not the enervation of +decadence. Because his needs were few he was supremely adaptable: a +born pioneer, with his household gods in a waggon and his heart +turning naturally to the wilds. The grandeur of nature was lost on +him; but there is a certain charm in the way in which he brought all +things inside the pale of his domesticity. His homely images have +their own picturesqueness, as when he called the morning star, which +summoned him to inspan, the _voorlooper_, or "little boy who leads out +the oxen." It is the converse of sublimity, and itself not unsublime. +His rude dialect, almost as fine as lowland Scots for telling country +stories, is full of metaphors, so to speak, in solution, often coarse, +but always the fruit of direct and vigorous observation. In short, he +had a personality which stands out simply in all his doings, making +him a living clear-cut figure among the amorphous shades of the indoor +life. + +Wild tales and judicious management from Pretoria succeeded in +combining him temporarily into a semblance of a state and a very +formidable reality of an army; but at bottom he is the most dogmatic +individualist in the world. His allegiance was never to a chief or a +state, but to his family. The family was generously interpreted, so +that distant relations came within its fold. This clannishness has not +been sufficiently recognised; but it is a real social force, and of +great importance to a survey of Boer society. In the country farms, +with their system of bywoners, a whole cycle of relations lived, all +depending upon the head of the household for their subsistence. When +sons or daughters married they lived on in the homestead, and as their +children grew up and married in turn they squatted on a corner of the +farm. The system led to abuses, notably in the ridiculous subdivision +of land and the endless servitudes and burdens imposed on real estate; +but it relieved the community of any need for orphanages and +workhouses. The Boer's treatment of orphans does him much credit. +However poor, a family would make room for orphaned children, and +there was no distinction in their usage. It is a primitive virtue, a +heritage from the days when white folk were few in numbers: a little +family in the heart of savagery, bound together by a common origin and +a common fear. + +But his chief virtue was his old-fashioned hospitality. A stranger +rarely knocked at his gates in vain. You arrived at a farmhouse and +asked leave to outspan by the spruit. Permission was freely granted, +and in a little girls came out with coffee for the travellers. An +invitation to supper usually followed, and there is no better fare in +the world than a chicken roasted by a Boer housewife and her home-made +sausages. Then followed slow talk over deep-bowled pipes, and then +good-night, with much handshaking and good wishes. And so all over +the veld. The family might be wretchedly poor, but they dutifully and +cheerfully gave what they had. In the early months of peace it was a +common thing to come on a Boer family living in a hut of biscuit tins +or a torn tent, with scanty rations and miserably ragged clothes. But +those people, in most cases, set the little they had gladly before the +stranger. The Boer, who will perjure himself deeply to save a +shilling, will part with a pound's worth of entertainment without a +thought. + +And, as a host, he has a natural dignity beyond praise. A placid life, +backed by an overwhelming sense of worth, is a fine basis for good +manners. Boastfulness and prejudice may come later, but the first +impression is of an antique kindliness and ease. The veld has no +nerves, no uneasy consciousness of inferiority, least of all the +cringing friendliness of the low European. The farmer, believing in +nothing beyond his ken, makes the stranger welcome as a harmless +courier from a trivial world. No contrast can be more vivid than +between the nervous, bustling cosmopolitans who throng the Rand and +the silent veld-dwellers. The Boer type of countenance is not often +handsome; frequently it is flat and expressionless, lustreless grey +eyes with small pupils, and hair growing back from chin and lip. But +it is almost always the embodiment of repose, and in the finer stock +it sometimes reaches an archaic and patriarchal dignity. The same +praise cannot be given to the _jeunesse doree_ of the Afrikander +world, who acquired the smattering of an education and migrated to the +towns. Ignorant, swaggering, mentally and bodily underbred, they form +a distressing class of people who have somehow missed civilisation and +hit upon the vulgarity of its decline. They claim glibly and falsely +the virtues which their fathers possessed without advertisement. Much +of the bad blood and spurious nationalism in the country comes from +this crew, who, in partnership with the worst type of European +adventurer, have done their best to discredit their nation. The true +country Boer regards them much as the silent elder Mirabeau and +Zachary Macaulay must have regarded their voluble sons--with +considerable distrust, a little disfavour, and not a little secret +admiration for a trick which has no place in his world. + + * * * * * + +Understanding is the only basis of a policy towards this remarkable +section of our fellow-citizens--understanding, and a decent abstinence +from subtleties. We used to flatter our souls that we created our +Empire in a fit of absent-mindedness, and in all our troubles convinced +ourselves that we were destined to "muddle through." But there are +limits to this policy of serene trust in Providence, and it is rather +our duty to thank God we have taken so few falls, and brace our minds +to forethought and prudence. The Boer is the easiest creature in the +world to govern. He is naturally law-abiding, and he has an enormous +respect for the accomplished fact. True union may take long, but the +nominal amalgamation which is necessary for smooth government already +exists. We must understand how slow he is to learn, how deep his pride +is, how lively his suspicions. Spiritually he will be a slow pupil, but +with proper care politically he may be a ready learner. He has a +curiously acute sense of justice, which makes him grumble at +compulsion, but obey, and end by applauding. He is also quick to +realise what is competent and successful in administration. He will +give everything a fair trial, waiting, watching, and forming his slow +mind; and if a thing is a practical fiasco, he will laugh at it in the +end. The practical is the last touchstone for him. He is not easily +made drunk with the ideals of ordinary democracy; an efficient +government, however naked of adornments, will always command his +respect, and the fool, though buttressed with every sublime aspiration, +will find him adamant. To a government which can estimate the situation +soberly and face it manfully he is a simple problem. But he will be a +hard critic of weakness, and when once his laggard opinions are formed +it will be a giant's task to shake them. The war has broken his old +arrogance, and he now waits to make up his mind on the new _regime_. We +shall get justice from him from the start--laborious justice and +nothing more. If we fail, all the honesty of purpose on earth will not +save us; for to the Boer good intentions may preserve a man's soul in +another world, but they cannot excuse him in this one. There is much +practical truth in Bunyan's parable when he makes Old Honest come "from +the town of Stupidity," which town "lieth four degrees _beyond_ the +City of Destruction." + +If the Boer is once won to our side we shall have secured one of the +greatest colonising forces in the world. We can ask for no better +dwellers upon a frontier. If the plateaux of our Central and East +African possessions are to be permanently held by the white man, I +believe it will be by this people who have never turned their back +upon a country which seemed to promise good pasture-land. Other races +send forth casual pioneers, who return and report and then go +elsewhere; but the Boer takes his wife and family and all his +belongings, and in a decade is part of the soil. In the midst of any +savagery he will plant his rude domesticity, and the land is won. With +all her colonising activity, Britain can ill afford to lose from her +flag a force so masterful, persistent, and sure. + + + [10] The word "Boer" is used in this chapter to denote the + average country farmer in the new colonies, and not the + educated Dutch of the towns. + + + + +PART II. + +NOTES OF TRAVEL + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +EVENING ON THE HIGH VELD. + + +We leave the broken highway, channelled by rains and rutted by +ox-waggons, and plunge into the leafy coolness of a great wood. Great +in circumference only, for the blue gums and pines and mimosa-bushes +are scarcely six years old, though the feathery leafage and the +frequency of planting make a thicket of the young trees. The rides +are broad and grassy as an English holt, dipping into hollows, +climbing steep ridges, and showing at intervals little side-alleys, +ending in green hills, with the accompaniment everywhere of the spicy +smell of gums and the deep rooty fragrance of pines. Sometimes all +alien woodland ceases, and we ride through aisles of fine trees, +which have nothing save height to distinguish them from Rannoch or +Rothiemurchus. A deer looks shyly out, which might be a roebuck; the +cooing of doves, the tap of a woodpecker, even the hawk above in the +blue heavens, have nothing strange. Only an occasional widow-bird +with its ridiculous flight, an ant-heap to stumble over, and a clump +of scarlet veld-flowers are there to mark the distinction. Here we +have the sign visible of man's conquest over the soil, and of the +real adaptability of the land. With care and money great tracts of +the high-veld might change their character. An English country-house, +with deer-park and coverts and fish-ponds, could be created here and +in many kindred places, where the owner might forget his continent. +And in time this will happen. As the rich man pushes farther out from +the city for his home, he will remake the most complaisant of +countries to suit his taste, and, save for climate and a certain +ineradicable flora and fauna, patches of Surrey and Perthshire will +appear on this kindly soil. + +With the end of the wood we come out upon the veld. What is this +mysterious thing, this veld, so full of memories for the English race, +so omnipresent, so baffling? Like the words "prairie," "moor," and +"down," it is easy to make a rough mental picture of. It will doubtless +become in time, when South Africa gets herself a literature, a +conventional counter in description. To-day every London shopboy knows +what this wilderness of coarse green or brown grasses is like; he can +picture the dry streams, the jagged kopjes, the glare of summer, and +the bitter winter cold. It has entered into patriotic jingles, and has +given a _mise-en-scene_ to crude melodrama. And yet no natural feature +was ever so hard to fully realise. One cannot think of a monotonous +vastness, like the prairie, for it is everywhere broken up and varied. +It is too great for an easy appreciation, as of an English landscape, +too subtle and diverse for rhetorical generalities--a thing essentially +mysterious and individual. In consequence it has a charm which the +common efforts of mother-earth after grandiloquence can never possess. +There is something homely and kindly and soothing in it, something +essentially humane and fitted to the needs of human life. Climb to the +top of the nearest ridge, and after a broad green valley there will be +another ridge just the same: cross the mountains fifty miles off, and +the country will repeat itself as before. But this sameness in outline +is combined with an infinite variety in detail, so that we readily take +back our first complaint of monotony, and wonder at the intricate +novelty of each vista. + +Here the veld is simply the broad green side of a hill, with blue +points of mountain peeping over the crest, and a ragged brown road +scarred across it. The road is as hard as adamant, a stiff red clay +baked by the sun into porphyry, with fissures yawning here and there, +so deep that often it is hard to see the gravel at the bottom. A +cheerful country to drive in on a dark night in a light English cart, +but less deadly to the lumbering waggons of the farmer. We choose the +grass to ride on, which grows in coarse clumps with bare soil between. +Here, too, are traps for the loose rider. A conical ant-heap with odd +perforations, an ant-bear hole three feet down, or, most insidious of +all, a meerkat's hole hidden behind a tuft of herbage. A good pony can +gallop and yet steer, provided the rider trusts it; but the best will +make mistakes, and on occasion roll over like a rabbit. Most men begin +with a dreary apprenticeship to spills; but it is curious how few are +hurt, despite the hardness of the ground. One soon learns the art of +falling clear and falling softly. + +The four o'clock December sun blazes down on us, raising hot odours +from the grass. A grey African hare starts from its form, a meerkat +slips away indignantly, a widow-bird, coy and ridiculous like a +flirtatious widow, flops on ahead. The sleepy, long-horned Afrikander +cattle raise listless eyes as we pass, and a few gaudy butterflies +waver athwart us. Otherwise there is no sound or sight of life. +Flowers of rich colours--chrysanthemums, gentians, geraniums--most of +them variants of familiar European species, grow in clumps so lowly +that one can only observe them by looking directly from above. It is +this which makes the veld so colourless to a stranger. There are no +gowans or buttercups or heather, to blazon it like a spring meadow or +an August moorland. Five yards off, and nothing is visible but the +green stalks of grass or a red boulder. + +At the summit of the ridge there is a breeze and a far prospect. The +road still runs on up hill and down dale, through the distant +mountains, and on to the great pastoral uplands of Rustenburg and the +far north-west. On either side the same waving grass, now grey and now +green as the wind breathes over it. Below is a glen with a gleam of +water, and some yards of tender lawn on either bank. Farmhouses line +the sides, each with its dam, its few acres of untidy crop land, and +its bower of trees. Beyond rise line upon line of green ridges, with a +glimpse of woods and dwellings set far apart, till in the far distance +the bold spurs of the Magaliesberg stand out against the sky. A thin +trail of smoke from some veld-fire hangs between us and the mountains, +tempering the intense clearness of an African prospect. There is +something extraordinarily delicate and remote about the vista; it +might be a mirage, did not the map bear witness to its reality. It is +not unlike a child's conception of the landscape of Bunyan, a road +running straight through a mystical green country, with the hilltops +of the Delectable Mountains to cheer the pilgrim. And indeed the land +is instinct with romance. The names of the gorges which break the +mountain line--Olifants' Poort, Crocodile Poort, Commando Nek--speak +of war and adventure and the far tropics beyond these pastoral +valleys. The little farms are all "Rests" and "Fountains," the true +nomenclature of a far-wandering, home-loving people. The slender +rivulet below us is one of the topmost branches of the great Limpopo, +rising in a marsh in the wood behind, forcing its way through the +hills and the bush-veld to the north, and travelling thence through +jungles and fever-swamps to the Portuguese sea-coast. The road is one +of the old highways of exploration; it is not fifty years since a +white man first saw the place. And yet it is as pastoral as Yarrow or +Exmoor; it has the green simplicity of sheep-walks and the homeliness +of a long-settled rustic land. In the afternoon peace there is no hint +of the foreign or the garish; it is as remote as Holland itself from +the unwholesome splendours of the East and South. + +No landscape is so masterful as the veld. Broken up into valleys, +reclaimed in parts by man, showing fifty varieties of scene, it yet +preserves one essential character. For, homely as it is, it is +likewise untamable. There are no fierce encroachments about it. A +deserted garden does not return to the veld for many years, if ever. +It is not, like the jungle, the natural enemy of man, waiting for a +chance to enter and obliterate his handiwork, and repelled only by +sleepless watching. Rather it is the quiet spectator of human efforts, +ready to meet them half-way, and yet from its vastness always the +dominant feature in any landscape. Its normal air is sad, grey, and +Quakerish, never flamboyant under the brightest sun, and yet both +strenuous and restful. The few red monstrosities man has built on its +edge serve only to set off this essential dignity. For one thing, it +is not created according to the scale of man. It will give him a home, +but he will never alter its aspect. Let him plough and reap it for a +thousand years, and he may beautify and fructify but never change it. +The face of England has altered materially in two centuries, because +England is on a human scale,--a parterre land, without intrinsic +wildness. But cultivation on the veld will always be superimposed: it +will remain, like Egypt, ageless and immutable--one of the primeval +types of the created world. + +But, though dominant, it is also adaptable. It can, for the moment, +assume against its unchangeable background a chameleon-like variety. +Sky and weather combine to make it imitative at times. Now, under a +pale Italian sky, it is the Campagna--hot, airless, profoundly +melancholy. Again, when the mist drives over it, and wet scarps of +hill stand out among clouds, it is Dartmoor or Liddesdale; or on a +radiant evening, when the mountains are one bank of hazy purple, it +has borrowed from Skye and the far West Highlands. On a clear steely +morning it has the air of its namesake, the Norwegian fjelds,--in one +way the closest of its parallels. But each phase passes, the +tantalising memory goes, and we are back again upon the aboriginal +veld, so individual that we wonder whence arose the illusion. + +A modern is badly trained for appreciating certain kinds of scenery. +Generations of poets and essayists have so stamped the "pathetic +fallacy" upon his soul that wherever he goes, unless in the presence +of a Niagara or a Mount Everest, he runs wild, looking for a human +interest or a historical memory. This is well enough in the old +settled lands, but on the veld it is curiously inept. The man who, in +Emerson's phrase, seeks "to impress his English whim upon the +immutable past," will find little reward for his gymnastics. Not that +there is no history of a kind--of Bantu wars, and great tribal +immigrations, of wandering gold-seekers and Portuguese adventurers, +of the voortrekker and the heroic battles in the wilds. But the veld +is so little subject to human life that had Thermopylae been fought in +yonder nek, or had Saint Francis wandered on this hillside, it would +have mastered and obliterated the memories. It has its history; but it +is the history of cosmic forces, of the cycle of seasons, of storms +and suns and floods, the joys and sorrows of the natural world. + + "Lo, for there among the flowers and grasses + Only the mightier movement sounds and passes; + Only winds and rivers, + Life and death." + +Men dreamed of it and its wealth long ago in Portugal and Holland. +They have quarrelled about it in London and Cape Town, fought for it, +parcelled it out in maps, bought it and sold it. It has been subject +for long to the lusts and hopes of man. It has been larded with +epithets; town-bred folk have made theories about it; armies have +rumbled across it; the flood of high politics has swept it. But the +veld has no memory of it. Men go and come, kingdoms fall and rise, but +it remains austere, secluded, impenetrable, "the still unravished +bride of quietness." + +As one lives with it the thought arises, May not some future +civilisation grow up here in keeping with the grave country? The basis +of every civilisation is wealth--wealth to provide the background of +leisure, which in turn is the basis of culture in a commercial world. +Our colonial settlements have hitherto been fortuitous. They have +fought a hard fight for a livelihood, and in the process missed the +finer formative influences of the land. When, then, civilisation came +it was naturally a borrowed one--English with an accent. But here, as +in the old Greek colonies, we begin _de novo_, and at a certain high +plane of life. The Dutch, our forerunners, acquired the stamp of the +soil, but they lived on the barest scale of existence, and were without +the aptitude or the wealth to go farther. Our situation is different. +We start rich, and with a prospect of growing richer. On one side are +the mining centres--cosmopolitan, money-making, living at a strained +pitch; on the other this silent country. The time will come when the +rich man will leave the towns, and, as most of them are educated and +all are able men, he will create for himself a leisured country life. +His sons in turn will grow up with something autochthonous in their +nature. For those who are truly South Africans at heart, and do not +hurry to Europe to spend their wealth, there is a future, we may +believe, of another kind than they contemplate. All great institutions +are rooted and grounded in the soil. There is an art, a literature, a +school of thought implicit here for the understanding heart,--no +tarnished European importation, but the natural, spontaneous fruit of +the land. + +As we descend into the glen the going underfoot grows softer, the +flinty red clay changes to sand and soon to an irregular kind of turf. +At last we are on the stream-bank, and the waving grasses have gone. +Instead there is the true meadow growth, reeds and water-plants and a +species of gorgeous scarlet buck-bean; little runnels from the +farm-dams creep among the rushes, and soon our horses' feet are +squelching through a veritable bog. Here are the sights and sounds of +a Hampshire water-meadow. Swallows skim over the pools; dragon-flies +and bees brush past; one almost expects to see a great trout raise a +sleepy head from yonder shining reach. But there are no trout, alas! +none, I fear, nearer than Natal; only a small greenish barbel who is a +giant at four to the pound. The angler will get small satisfaction +here, though on the Mooi River, above Potchefstroom, I have heard +stories of a golden-scaled monster who will rise to a sea-trout fly. +As we jump the little mill-lades, a perfect host of frogs are leaping +in the grass, and small bright-eyed lizards slip off the stones at our +approach. But, though the glen is quick with life, there is no sound: +a deep Sabbatical calm broods over all things. The cry of a Kaffir +driver from the highroad we have left breaks with an almost startling +violence on the quiet. The tall reeds hush the stream's flow, the +birds seem songless, even the hum of insects is curiously dim. There +is nothing for the ear, but much for the eye and more for the nostril. +Our ride has been through a treasure-house of sweet scents. First the +pines and gum-trees; then the drowsy sweetness of the sunburnt veld; +and now the more delicate flavour of rich soil and water and the +sun-distilled essences of a thousand herbs. What the old Greek wrote +of Arabia the Blessed might fitly be written here, "From this country +there is a smell wondrous sweet." + +Lower down the glen narrows. The stream would be a torrent if there +were more water; but the cascades are a mere trickle, and only the +deep green rock-pools, the banks of shingle, and the worn foot of the +cliff, show what this thread can grow to in the rains. A light wild +brushwood begins, and creeps down to the very edge of the stream. +Twenty years ago lions roamed in this scrub; now we see nothing but +two poaching pariah dogs. We pass many little one-storeyed farms, each +with a flower-garden run to seed, and some acres of tangled crops. +All are deserted. War has been here with its heavy hand, and a broken +stoep, empty windows, and a tumbled-in roof are the marks of its +passage. The owners may be anywhere--still on commando with Delarey, +in Bermuda or Ceylon, in Europe, in camps of refuge, on parole in the +towns. Great sunflowers, a foot in diameter, sprawl over the railings, +dahlias and marigolds nod in the evening sunshine, and broken +fruit-trees lean over the walks. Suddenly from the yard a huge +aasvogel flaps out--the bird not of war but of unclean pillage. There +is nothing royal in the creature, only obscene ferocity and a furtive +greed. But its presence, as it rises high into the air, joined with +the fallen rooftrees, effectively drives out Arcady from the scene. We +feel we are in a shattered country. This quiet glen, which in peace +might be a watered garden, becomes suddenly a desert. The veld is +silent, but such secret nooks will blab their tale shamelessly to the +passer-by. + +The stream bends northward in a more open valley, and as we climb the +ridge we catch sight of the country beyond and the same august lines +of mountain. But now there is a new feature in the landscape. Bushes +are dotted over the far slope, and on the brow cluster together into +something like a coppice. It is a patch of bush-veld, as rare on our +high-veld as are fragments of the old Ettrick forest in Tweeddale. Two +hundred miles north is the real bush-veld, full of game and fevers, +the barrier between the tropical Limpopo and these grassy uplands. +Seen in the splendour of evening there is a curious savagery about +that little patch, which is neither veld nor woodland, but something +dwarfish and uncanny. That is Africa, the Africa of travellers; but +thus far we have ridden through a countryside so homely and familiar +that we are not prepared for a foreign intrusion. Which leads us to +our hope of a new civilisation. If it ever comes, what an outlook it +will have into the wilds! In England we look to the sea, in France +across a frontier, even in Russia there is a mountain barrier between +East and West. But here civilisation will march sharply with +barbarism, like a castle of the Pale, looking over a river to a land +of mists and outlaws. A man would have but to walk northward, out of +the cities and clubs and the whole world of books and talk, to reach +the country of the oldest earth-dwellers, the untamable heart of the +continent. It is much for a civilisation to have its background--the +Egyptian against the Ethiopian, Greek against Thracian, Rome against +Gaul. It is also much for a race to have an outlook, a far horizon to +which its fancy can turn. Even so strong men are knit and art is +preserved from domesticity. + +We turn homeward over the long shoulders of hill, keeping to the track +in the failing light. If the place is sober by day, it is transformed +in the evening. For an hour the land sinks out of account, and the sky +is the sole feature. No words can tell the tale of a veld sunset. Not +the sun dipping behind the peaks of Jura, or flaming in the mouth of a +Norwegian fiord, or sinking, a great ball of fire, in mid-Atlantic, +has the amazing pageantry of these upland evenings. A flood of crimson +descends on the world, rolling in tides from the flagrant west, and +kindling bush and scaur and hill-top, till the land glows and pulsates +in a riot of colour. And then slowly the splendour ebbs, lingering +only to the west in a shoreless, magical sea. A delicate pearl-grey +overspreads the sky, and the onlooker thinks that the spectacle is +ended. It has but begun; for there succeed flushes of ineffable +colour,--purple, rose-pink, tints of no mortal name,--each melting +imperceptibly into the other, and revealing again the twilight world +which the earlier pageant had obscured. Every feature in the landscape +stands out with a tender, amethystine clearness. The mountain-ridge is +cut like a jewel against the sky; the track is a ribbon of pure beaten +gold. And then the light fades, the air becomes a soft mulberry haze, +the first star pricks out in the blue, and night is come. + +Here is a virgin soil for art, if the art arises. In our modern +history there is no true poetry of vastness and solitude. What there +is is temperamental and introspective, not the simple interpretation +of a natural fact. In the old world, indeed, there is no room for it: +a tortured, crowded land may produce the aptitude, but it cannot give +the experience. And the new lands have had no chance to realise their +freshness: when their need for literature arose, they have taken it +second-hand. The Australian poet sings of the bush in the rococo +accents of Fleet Street, and when he is natural he can tell of simple +human emotions, but not of the wilds. For the chance of the seeing eye +has gone. He is not civilised but de-civilised, having borrowed the +raiment of his elder brother. But, if South African conditions be as +men believe, here we have a different prospect. The man who takes this +country as his own will take it at another level than the pioneer. The +veld will be to him more than a hunting-ground, and the seasons may be +viewed from another than a commercial standpoint. If the art arises, +it will be an austere art--with none of the fatuities of the +picturesque, bare of false romance and preciosities, but essentially +large, simple, and true. It will be the chronicle of the veld, the +song of the cycle of Nature, the epic of life and death, and "the +unimaginable touch of time." Who can say that from this land some dew +of freshness may not descend upon a jaded literature, and the world be +the richer by a new Wordsworth, a more humane Thoreau, or a manlier +Senancour? + +Once more we are in the wood, now a ghostly place with dark aisles and +the windless hush of evening in the branches. The flying ants are +coming out of the ground for their short life of a night. The place is +alive with wings, moths and strange insects, that go white and +glimmering in the dusk. The clear darkness that precedes moonrise is +over the earth, so that everything stands out clear in a kind of +dark-green monochrome. Something of an antique dignity, like an +evening of Claude Lorraine, is stealing into the landscape. Once more +the veld is putting on an alien dress, till in this fairyland weather +we forget our continent again. And yet who shall limit Africa to one +aspect? Our whole ride has been a kaleidoscope of its many phases. Hot +and sunburnt, dry grasses and little streams, the red rock and the +fantastic sunset. And on the other side the quiet green valleys, the +soothing vista of blue hills, the cool woods, the water-meadows, and +the twilight. It is a land of contrasts--glimpses of desert and +barbarism, memories of war, relics of old turmoil, and yet essentially +a homeland. As the phrase goes, it is a "white man's country"; by +which I understand a country not only capable of sustaining life, but +fit for the amenities of life and the nursery of a nation. Whether it +will rise to a nation or sink to a territory rests only with its +people. But it is well to recognise its possibilities, to be in love +with the place, for only then may we have the hope which can front and +triumph over the many obstacles. + +The first darkness is passing, a faint golden light creeps up the sky, +and suddenly over a crest comes the African moon, bathing the warm +earth in its cold pure radiance. This moon, at any rate, is the +peculiar possession of the land. At home it is a disc, a ball of +light; but here it is a glowing world riding in the heavens, a +veritable kingdom of fire. No virgin huntress could personify it, but +rather some mighty warrior-god, driving his chariot among trampled +stars. It lights us out of the wood, and on to the highroad, and then +among the sunflowers and oleanders of the garden. The night air is +cool and bracing, but soft as summer; and as we dismount our thoughts +turn homeward, and we have a sudden regret. For in this month and at +this hour in that other country we should be faring very differently. +No dallying with zephyrs and sunsets; but the coming in, cold and +weary, from the snowy hill, and telling over the peat-fire the +unforgettable romance of winter sport. + +_December 1901._ + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +IN THE TRACKS OF WAR. + + +I. + +We left Klerksdorp in a dust-storm so thick and incessant that it was +difficult to tell where the houses ended and the open country began. +The little town, which may once have been a clean, smiling place, has +been for months the _corpus vile_ of military operations. A dozen +columns have made it their destination; the transport and supplies of +the whole Western Army have been congested there, with the result that +the town lands have been rubbed bare of grass, the streets furrowed +into dust-heaps, and the lightest breeze turned into a dust-tornado. +Our Cape carts rattled over the bridge of the Schoon Spruit--"Caller +Water," as we might translate it in Scots, but here a low and muddy +current between high banks--and, climbing a steep hill past the old +town of Klerksdorp, came out of the fog into clearer veld, over which +a gale of wind was blowing strongly. The desert was strewn with empty +tins, which caught the sun like quartz; stands of barbed wire were +everywhere on the broad uneven highway; little dust devils spouted at +intervals on to the horizon. The place was like nothing so much as a +large deserted brick-field in some Midland suburb. + +There is one feature of the high veld which has not had the attention +it deserves--I mean the wind. Ask a man who has done three years' +trekking what he mostly complains of, and he will be silent about food +and drink, the sun by day and the frost by night, but he is certain to +break into picturesque language about the wind. The wind of winter +blows not so unkindly as persistently. Day and night the cheek is +flaming from its buffets. There is no shelter from scrub or kopje, for +it is a most cunning wind, and will find a cranny to whistle through. +Little wrinkles appear round blinking eyes, the voice gets a high +pitch of protest, and a man begins to walk sideways like a crab to +present the smallest surface to his enemy. And with the wind go all +manner of tin-cans, trundling from one skyline to another with a most +purposeful determination. Somewhere--S.S.W. I should put the +direction--there must be a Land of Tin-cans, where in some sheltered +valley all the _debris_ of the veld has come to anchor. + +About ten o'clock the wind abated a little, and the road passed into a +country of low hills with a scrub of mimosa thorn along the flats. The +bustard, which the Boers have so aptly named "korhaan" or scolding +cock, strutted by the roadside, a few hawks circled about us, and an +incurious secretary-bird flapped across our path. The first water +appeared,--a melancholy stream called Rhenoster Spruit,--and the +country grew hillier and greener till we outspanned for lunch at a +farmhouse of some pretensions, with a large dam, a spruit, and a good +patch of irrigated land. The owner had returned, and was dwelling in a +tent against the restoration of his homestead. A considerable herd of +cattle grazed promiscuously on the meadow, and the farmer with +philosophic calm was smoking his pipe in the shade. Apparently he was +a man of substance, and above manual toil; for though he had been back +for some time there was no sign of getting to work on repairs, such as +we saw in smaller holdings. Fairly considered, this repatriation is a +hard nut for the proud, indolent Boer, for it means the reversal of a +life's order. His bywoners are scattered, his native boys refuse to +return to him; there is nothing for the poor man to do but to take +pick and hammer himself. Sooner or later he will do it, for in the +last resort he is practical, but in the meantime he smokes and ponders +on the mysteries of Providence and the odd chances of life. + +In the afternoon our road lay through a pleasant undulating land, with +green patches along the streams and tracts of bush relieving the +monotony of the grey winter veld. Every farmhouse we passed was in the +same condition,--roofless, windowless, dams broken, water-furrows +choked, and orchards devastated. Our way of making war may be effective +as war, but it inflicts terrible wounds upon the land. After a campaign +of a dozen bloody fights reconstruction is simple; the groundwork +remains for a new edifice. But, though the mortality be relatively +small, our late methods have come very near to destroying the +foundations of rural life. We have to build again from the beginning; +we have to face questions of simple existence which seem strange to us, +who in our complex society rarely catch sight of the bones of the +social structure. To be sure there is hope. There is a wonderful +recuperative power in the soil; the Boer is simpler in habits than most +countrymen; and it is not a generation since he was starting at the +same rudiments. Further, our own settlers will have the same +beginnings, and there is a chance of rural communities, Boer and +British, being more thoroughly welded together, because they can +advance _pari passu_ from the same starting-point. But to the new-comer +the situation has a baffling oddness. It seems strange to be doling out +the necessaries of life to a whole community, to be dealing with a +society which must have been full of shades and divisions like all +rural societies, as a featureless collection of units. Yet it is +probable that the Boers themselves are the last to realise it. The +people who crowded to the doors of the ruined farms as we passed +were on the whole good-humoured, patient, and uncomplaining. They +had set about repairing the breaches in their fortunes, crudely but +contentedly. At one farm we saw a curious Arcadian sight in this +desert which war had made. Some small Boer children were herding a +flock of sheep along a stream. A little girl in a sunbonnet was +carrying a lamb; two brown, ragged, bare-legged boys were amusing +themselves with a penny whistle. To the children war and reconstruction +alike can only have been a game; and hope and the future are to the +young. + +From Klerksdorp to Wolmaranstad the distance is some fifty miles, and +it was almost nightfall before we descended with very weary cattle the +long hill to our outspan. The country was one wide bare wold, the sky +a soft glow of amber; and there was nothing between amber earth and +amber sky save one solitary korhaan, scolding in the stillness. I do +not know who the first Wolmarans may have been, but he built a stad +very like a little Border town--all huddled together and rising +suddenly out of the waste. The Makasi Spruit is merely a string of +muddied water-holes, but in the darkness it might have been the "wan +water" of Liddel or Yarrow. We camped in one of the few rooms that +had still a roof, and rid ourselves of the dust of the road in an old +outhouse in the company of a facetious monkey and a saturnine young +eagle. When we had warmed ourselves and dined, I began to like +Wolmaranstad, and, after a moonlight walk, I came to the conclusion +that it was a most picturesque and charming town. But Wolmaranstad, +like Melrose, should be seen by moonlight; for in the morning it +looked little more than a collection of ugly shanties jumbled together +in a dusty patch of veld. + + +II. + +On the 12th of August, in the usual dust-storm, we started for +Lichtenburg. There is no highroad, but a series of wild cross-country +paths merging constantly in farm-roads. No map is quite reliable, and +local information is fallacious. The day being the festival of St +Grouse, we shot conscientiously all morning with very poor success. +The game was chiefly korhaan, and he is a hard bird to get on terms +with. About the size of a blackcock, and as slow on the wing, he looks +an easy mark; but if stalked, he has a habit of rising just out of +range, and repeating the performance till he has lured you a mile from +your waggon, when he squawks in triumph and departs into the void. The +orthodox way is to ride round him in slowly narrowing circles--a ruse +which seems to baffle his otherwise alert intelligence. The country +was rolling veld dotted with wait-a-bit thorn-bushes; the farmhouses +few but large; the roads heavy with sand. In one hill-top farm, well +named Uitkyk, we found an old farmer and his son-in-law, who invited +us to enter. The place was in fair order, being out of the track of +columns, tolerably furnished, and with the usual portrait of the +Reverend Andrew Murray on the wall. The farmer had no complaints to +make, being well-to-do and too old to worry about earthly things; but +the son-in-law, a carpenter by trade, was full of his grievances. The +neighbourhood, being in ruins, was crying for his services, he said, +but there was no material in the country to work with. Building +material was scarce in Johannesburg and Pretoria; how much scarcer it +must be in Wolmaranstad! This just complaint was frequent on our +journey; for the Transvaal, served by its narrow-gauge single-line +railways choked with military traffic, is badly equipped with the +necessaries of reconstruction, and many willing workmen have to kick +their heels in idleness. + +We outspanned at midday near some pools of indifferent water, which our +authorities had enthusiastically described as an abundant water-supply. +There was a roofless farm close by, where a kind of hut of biscuit-tins +had been erected, in which a taciturn young woman was nursing a child. +There was also a boy of about sixteen in the place who had coffee with +us, and took us afterwards to stalk korhaan with a rifle. He was newly +home from commando, full of spirit and good-humour, and handled +longingly the rifle which the law forbade him to possess. All afternoon +we passed roofless farmhouses crowded with women and children, and in +most cases the farmer was getting forward in the work of restoration. +Dams and water-furrows were being mended, some kind of roof put on the +house, waggons cobbled together, and in many cases a good deal of +ploughing had been done. The country grew bleaker as we advanced, +trees disappeared, huge wind-swept downs fell away on each side of the +path, and heavy rain-clouds came up from the west. The real rains begin +in October, but chill showers often make their appearance in August, +and I know nothing more desolate than the veld in such a storm. +By-and-by we struck the path of a column, ploughed up by heavy +gun-carriages, and in following the track somehow missed our proper +road. The darkness came while we were yet far from our outspan, +crawling up a great hill, which seemed endless. At the top a fine sight +awaited us, for the whole country in front seemed on fire. A low line +of hills was tipped with flame, and the racing fires were sweeping into +the flats with the solid regularity of battalions. A moment before, and +we had been in Shelley's + + "Wide, grey, lampless, deep, unpeopled world"; + +now we were in the midst of light and colour and elfish merriment. To +me there is nothing solemn in a veld-fire--nothing but madness and +fantasy. The veld, so full at other times of its own sadness, the + + "Acerbo indegno mistero della cose," + +becomes demented, and cries an impish defiance to the austere kings +who sit in Orion. The sight raised our spirits, and we stumbled down +the long hillside in a better temper. By-and-by a house of a sort +appeared in the valley bottom, and a dog's bark told us that it was +inhabited. To our relief we found that we had actually struck our +outspan, Korannafontein, having approached it from the opposite side. +The Koranna have long since gone from it, and the sole inhabitant was +a Jew storekeeper, a friendly person, who assisted us to doctor our +very weary horses. The ways of the Jew are past all finding out. +Refuse to grant him a permit for himself and goods, and he says +nothing; but he is in occupation months before the Gentile, unless +that Gentile comes from Aberdeen. Our friend had his store stocked, +and where he got the transport no man knows. He spoke well of the +neighbourhood, both of Boer and native. The natives here, he said, are +civilised. I asked him his definition of civilisation. "They speak +Dutch," he said,--an answer worth recording. We camped for the night +behind what had once been the wool-shed. The floor of the tent was +dirty, and, foolishly, I sent a boy to "mak skoon." He made "skoon" by +digging up dust with a shovel and storing it in heaps in different +corners. About midnight the rain fell heavily, and a little later a +great wind rose and put those dust-heaps in circulation. I awoke from +dreams of salmon-fishing with a profound conviction that I had been +buried under a landslip. I crawled hastily through a flap followed by +a stream of dust, and no ventilation could make that tent habitable, +so that in the morning we awoke with faces like colliers, and throats +as dry as the nether millstone. + +From Korannafontein to Lichtenburg is something over forty miles, so +we started at daybreak and breakfasted at a place called Rhenosterput, +where some gentleman sent a Mauser bullet over our heads to remind us +of his presence. The country was downland, very full of Namaqua +partridge and the graceful spur-winged plover, a ranching country, for +the streams had little fall and less water. At midday we outspanned at +a pretty native village called Rooijantjesfontein, with a large church +after the English village pattern, and a big dam lined with poplars. +The life of a commercial missionary, who bought a farm when land was +cheap and had it cultivated by his congregation, is a pleasant one: +he makes a large profit, spends easy days, and returns early to his +native Germany. It is a type I have little patience with, for it +discredits one of the most heroic of human callings, and turns loose +on society the slim Christian native, who brings Christianity and +civilisation alike into discredit. We were now out of the region of +tracks and on the main road to Lichtenburg, and all afternoon we +travelled across the broad shallow basin of the Hartz River with our +goal full in view on a distant hill-top. Far off on our right we saw a +curious sight--a funeral waggon with a train of mourners creeping +slowly across the veld. The Boers, as we heard from many sources, are +exhuming the dead from different battle-fields, and bringing them, +often from great distances, to the graveyards on their own homesteads. +An odd sombre task, not without its grandeur; for to the veld farmer, +as to the old Roman, there are Lares and Penates, and he wishes at the +last to gather all his folk around him. + + +III. + +Lichtenburg, as I have said, stands on a hill-top, but when one enters +he finds a perfect model of a Dutch village. The streets are lined with +willows and poplars, and seamed with water-furrows, and all the +principal buildings surround a broad village green on which cattle were +grazing. Seen in the morning it lost nothing of its attractiveness; and +it dwells in my memory as a fresh clean place, looking over a wide +upland country,--a place where men might lead honest lives, and meet +the world fearlessly. It has its own relics of war. The court-house +roof and walls are splashed with bullets, relics of Delarey's fight +with the Northumberland Fusileers. General Delarey is himself the +principal inhabitant. He owns much land in the neighbourhood, and his +house stands a few miles out on the Mafeking road. From this district +was drawn all that was most chivalrous and resolute in the Boer forces; +and the name of their leader is still a synonym with lovers of good +fighting men for the finest quality of his race. + +The Zeerust road is as bad going for waggons as I have ever seen. It +runs for miles through a desert where the soil is as black as in +Lancashire, and a kind of coaly dust rises in everlasting clouds. We +started late in the day, so that sunset found us some distance from +water, in a featureless country. We were to outspan at the famous +Malmani Oog--the eye of the Malmani; but a fountainhead is not a good +goal on a dark night to ignorant travellers. Shortly after dusk we +rode on ahead to look for the stream. Low slopes of hills rose on all +sides, but nowhere could we see a gleam or a hollow which might be +water. The distance may have been short, but to a hungry and thirsty +man it seemed endless, as one hill after another was topped without +any result. We found a fork in the road, and took the turn to the left +as being more our idea of the way. As it happened we were trekking +straight for the Kalahari Desert, and but for the lucky sound of a +waggon on the other road might have been floundering there to-day. We +turned aside to ask for information, and found we were all but at the +Oog, which lay in the trees a hundred yards off. The owner of the +waggon was returning to Lichtenburg with a sick wife, whom he had +taken to Zeerust for a change. He had been a road surveyor under the +late Government, had served on Delarey's staff, and had been taken +prisoner. A quiet reserved man with dignified manners, he answered our +questions without complaint or petulance. There is something noble in +travel when pursued in this stately leisure. The great buck-waggon, +the sixteen solemn oxen lumbering on, the master walking behind in the +moonlight, have an air of patriarchal dignity, an elder simplicity. I +suppose fifteen to twenty miles might be a good day's march, but who +shall measure value by miles? It is the life for dreams, for roadside +fires, nights under the stars, new faces studied at leisure, good +country talk, and the long thoughts of an unharassed soul. Let us by +all means be up and doing, setting the world to rights and sounding +our own trumpet; but is the most successful wholly at ease in the +presence of great mountains and forests, or men whose lives share in +the calm cycle of nature? + +The night in tents was bitterly cold, and the morning bath, taken +before sunrise in the springs of Malmani, was the most Arctic +experience I have ever met. We left our drivers to inspan and follow, +and set off down the little stream with our guns. There are hours +which live for ever in the memory--hours of intense physical +exhilaration, the pure wine of health and youth, when the mind has no +thoughts save for the loveliness of earth, and the winds of morning +stir the blood to a heavenly fervour. No man who has experienced such +seasons can be other than an optimist. Dull nights in cities, +heartless labours with pen and ink, the squalid worries of business +and ambition, all are forgotten, and in the retrospect it is those +hours which stand up like shining hill-tops--the type of the pure +world before our sad mortality had laid its spell upon it. It is not +pleasure--the word is too debased in human parlance; nor happiness, +for that is for calm delights. Call it joy, that "enthusiasm" which is +now the perquisite of creeds and factions, but which of old belonged +to the fauns and nymphs who followed Pan's piping in the woody hollows +of Thessaly. I have known and loved many streams, but the little +Malmani has a high place in my affections. The crystal water flowed +out of great reed-beds into a shallow vale, where it wound in pools +and cataracts to a broad ford below a ruined mill. Thence it passed +again into reed-beds fringed with willows and departed from our ken. +There was a bamboo covert opposite full of small singing birds; the +cries of snipe and plover rose from the reed-beds, and the fall of +water, rarest of South African sounds, tinkled like steel in the cold +morning air. We shot nothing, for we saw nothing; the glory of the +scene was all that mortal eye could hold at once. And then our waggons +splashed through the ford, and we had perforce to leave it. + +We took a hill road, avoiding the detour by Malmani Drift, and after +some hours in a country of wooded glens, came into the broad valley of +the Klein Marico. The high veld and its scenery had been left far +behind. Something half tropical, even in this mid-winter, was in the +air of those rich lowlands. After the bleak uplands of Lichtenburg it +was pleasant to see good timber, the green of winter crops, and +abundant runnels of water. The farm-houses were larger and in fair +repair,--embowered, too, in orange-groves, with the golden fruit +bright among the glossy leaves. Blossom was appearing in every +orchard; new and strange birds took the place of our enemy the +korhaan; and for the first time on our journey we saw buck on the +slopes. The vale was ringed with stony tree-clad hills like the +Riviera, and in the hot windless noon the dust hung in clouds about +us, so that, in spite of water and greenery, my impression of that +valley is one of thirst and discomfort. Zeerust[11] is a pretty +village close under the hills, with tree-lined streets,--a prosperous +sleepy place, with no marks of the ravages of war. The farmers, too, +are a different stock from the high-veld Boers; they get their living +more easily, and in their swarthy faces and slouching walk one cannot +read the hard-bitten spirit which inspired the men of Botha and +Delarey. They seemed on good terms with their new masters. We attended +a gymkhana given by the South African Constabulary, and the Dutch +element easily predominated in the crowd which watched the races. A +good-humoured element, too, for the men smoked and criticised the +performances in all friendliness, while their womenkind in their +Sunday clothes thronged to the marquees for tea. + + + [11] Zeerust is a type of the curious truncated Boer + nomenclature, being a corruption of Coetzee's Rust. + + +IV. + +The Rustenburg road runs due east through a fine defile called Klein +Marico Poort, and thence in a country of thick bush for twenty miles +to the ford of the Groot Marico. We started before dawn, and did not +halt for breakfast till the said ford, by which time the sun was high +in the heavens and we were very hot, dusty, and hungry. Lofty wooded +hills rose to the north, and not forty miles off lay the true +hunting-veld, with koodoo, water-buck, and hippopotamus. Bird life was +rich along the road--blue jays, rollers, and the handsome malicious +game-bird which acts as scout to the guinea-fowl, and with his harsh +call informs them of human presence. The farms were small and richly +watered, with laden orange-groves and wide ruined verandahs. The +people of Zeerust had spoken with tears in their eyes of the beautiful +condition of this road, but we found it by far the worst in our +travels. It lay deep in sand, was strewn with ugly boulders, and at +one ford was so impossible that we had to make a long detour over +virgin veld. The Great Marico, which, like all streams in the northern +watershed, joins the Limpopo, and indeed forms its chief feeder, is a +muddy tropical water, very unlike the clear Malmani. Beyond it the +country becomes bare and pastoral again, full of little farms, to +which the bulk of the inhabitants had returned. It was the most +smiling country we had seen, for bush-veld has an ineradicable air of +barbarism, but a green open land with white homesteads among trees is +the true type of a settled country. Apricot blossom lay like a soft +haze on the landscape. The young grass was already springing in the +sheltered places, the cold dusty winds had gone, and a forehint of +spring was in the calm evening. + +We spent the night above the Elands River, a very beautiful full +water, almost on the site of the battle. The Elands River fight seems +to have slipped from the memory of a people who made much of lesser +performances; but to soldiers it is easily the Thermopylae of the war. +Five hundred or so of Australians of different regiments, with a few +Rhodesians, were marching to join another force, when they were cut +off at Elands River by 3000 Boers. They were invited to surrender, and +declined. A small number took up a position beside the stream; the +remainder held a little ridge in the centre of the amphitheatre of +hills. For several days they toiled at dug-outs--terrible days, for +they were shelled continually from the whole rim of the amphitheatre. +One relieving force from the west retired in despair; a relieving +force from the east was deceived by false heliograms, and went away, +believing the work accomplished. Then came the report that they had +surrendered; and then, after some fifteen days, they were found by +Lord Kitchener, still holding the forlorn post. It was a mere +sideshow, but to have been there was worth half the clasps in the +campaign. More shells were fired into that little place than into +Mafeking, and the courage of the few by the river who passed up water +in the night to their comrades is beyond praise. The Colonials will +long remember Elands River. It was their own show: without generalship +or orders, against all the easy traditions of civilised warfare, the +small band followed the Berserker maxim, and vindicated the ancient +dignity of arms. In the morning we went over the place. The dug-outs +were still mostly intact, and in a little graveyard beneath rude +crosses slept the heroic dead. + +A few miles farther on and the summit of a ridge was reached, from +which the eye looked over a level valley to the superb western line of +the Magaliesberg. Straight in front was the cleft of Magata's Nek, +beyond which Rustenburg lay. The western Magaliesberg disappoints on +closer acquaintance. The cliffs prove to be mere loose kranzes, the +glens are waterless, the woods are nothing but barren thorn. But seen +from afar in the clear air of dawn, when the darkness is still lurking +in the hollows and the blue peaks are flushed with sunrise, it is a +fairyland picture, a true mountain barrier to an enchanted land. Our +road swung down a long slope to the Coster River, where we outspanned, +and then through a sandy wilderness to the drift of the Selons. From +this it climbed wearily up to the throat of the nek, a dull tract of +country with few farms and no beauties. The nek, too, on closer view +has little to commend it, save the prospect that opens on the other +side. The level green plateau of Rustenburg lay before us, bounded on +the north by a chain of kopjes, and on the south by the long dark +flanks of the Magaliesberg as it sweeps round to the east. A few miles +and the village itself came in sight, with a great church, as at +Wakkerstroom, standing up like some simple rural cathedral over the +little houses. Rustenburg was always the stronghold of the straitest +sect of the Boers; and in the midst of the half-tropical country +around, this sweep of pasture, crowned with a white kirk, had +something austere and Puritan in its air,--the abode of a people with +their own firm traditions, hostile and masterful towards the world. +The voortrekker having fought his way through the Magaliesberg passes, +outspanned his tired oxen on this pleasant upland, and called it his +"city of rest." And it still looks its name, for no orchards and +gardens can make it otherwise than a novelty in the landscape--sober, +homely, and comforting, like some Old Testament Elam where there were +twelve wells of water and three-score and ten palm-trees, or the +"plain called Ease" wherein Christian "walked with much content." + + +V. + +We took up our quarters at a farm a little way south of the town in +the very shadow of the mountains. It was a long, low, rambling house +called Boschdaal, with thick walls and cool passages. All around were +noble gum-trees; a clear stream ran through the garden, which even at +this season was gay with tropical flowers; and the orchard was heavy +with oranges, lemons, and bananas. A little conical hill behind had a +path made to its summit, whence one had a wide prospect of the +Magaliesberg and the whole plateau. There were sheer cliffs in the +background, with a waterfall among them; and between them and the +house were some miles of park-like country where buck came in the +morning. The rooms were simply but pleasantly furnished; the walls a +forest of horns; and the bookcases full of European classics, with a +great abundance of German story-books for children, telling how wicked +Gretchen amended her ways, or little Hans saved his pennies. +Altogether a charming dwelling-place, where a man might well spend his +days in worthy leisure, shooting, farming, gardening, and smoking his +pipe in the evening, with the sunset flaming over the hills. + +We spent two nights in Rustenburg, visiting in the daytime a horse +depot to which a number of brood mares had been brought for winter +grazing, and paying our respects to a neighbouring chief, Magata, who +lives in a _stad_ from which many town councils might learn a lesson +of cleanliness and order. The natives are as rich as Jews from the +war, owning fine spans of oxen and Army Service Corps waggons, and +altogether disinclined to stir themselves for wages. This prosperity +of the lower race must be a bitter pill for the Boer to swallow, as he +drives in for his rations with a team of wretched donkeys, and sees +his former servants with buck-waggons and cattle. We watched strings +of Burghers arriving at the depot, and at night several fires in the +neighbouring fields told of their outspans. Most of them were polite +and communicative: a very few did their business in sulky silence. +There was one man who took my fancy. Originally he must have been +nearly seven feet high, but a wound in the back had bent him double. +He had long black hair, and sombre black eyes which looked straight +before him into vacancy. He had a ramshackle home-made cart and eight +donkeys, and a gigantic whip, of which he was a consummate master. A +small boy did his business for him, while he sat hunched up on his +cart speaking hoarsely to his animals, and cracking his whip in the +air,--a man for whom the foundations of the world had been upset, and +henceforth, like Cain, a dweller apart. + +On the third morning we started regretfully, for Pretoria was only two +days distant. This was the pleasantest stage in our journey: the air was +cool and fine, the roads good, water abundant, and a noble range of +mountains kept us company. This is the tobacco-land of the Transvaal, +whence comes the Magaliesberg brand, which has a high reputation in +South Africa. There are no big farms but a great number of small +holdings, richly irrigated and populous--the stronghold of Mr Kruger in +former times, for he could always whistle his Rustenburgers to his will. +Now and then a pass cleft the mountain line on our right, and in the +afternoon we came in sight of the great gap through which the Crocodile +River forces its passage. Farther east, and at a higher altitude, lay +Silikat's Nek, which is called after Mosilikatse. It was approaching +sunset as we crossed Commando Nek, which is divided from Crocodile Poort +by a spur of mountain, and looked over the Witwatersberg rolling south +to the Rand and the feverish life of cities. High up on a peak stood a +castellated blockhouse, looking like a peel tower in some old twilight +of Northumbrian hills, and to the left and right the precipitous cliffs +of the Magaliesberg ran out to the horizon. At the foot of the pass we +forded the Magalies River, a stream of clear water running over a bed of +grey-blue stones, and in another half-hour we had crossed the bridge of +the Crocodile and outspanned on the farther bank. + +The rivers unite a mile away, and the cleft of the Poort to which the +twin streams hurried stood out as black as ink in the moonlight. Far +up on the hillside the bush was burning, and the glare made the gorge +like the gate of a mysterious world, guarded by flames and shadows. +This Poort is fine by daylight, but still not more than an ordinary +pass; but in the witching half-light it dominated the mind like a wild +dream. After dinner we set out over the rough ground to where a cliff +sank sheer from the moonlight into utter blackness. We heard the +different notes of the two rivers--the rapid Magalies and the sedater +Crocodile; and then we came to the bank of the united stream, and +scrambling along it found ourselves in the throat of the pass. High +walls of naked rock rose on either hand, and at last, after some hard +walking, we saw a space of clear star-sown sky and the land beyond the +mountains. I had expected a brawling torrent; instead, I found a long +dark lagoon sleeping between the sheer sides. In the profound silence +the place had the air of some underground world. The black waters +seemed to have drowsed there since the Creation, unfathomably deep--a +witch's caldron, where the savage spirits of the hills might show +their faces. Even as we gazed the moon came over the crest: the cliff +in front sprang into a dazzling whiteness which shimmered back from +the lagoon below. Far up on the summit was a great boulder which had a +far-away likeness to an august human head. As the light fell on it +the resemblance became a certainty: there were the long locks, the +heavy brows, the profound eyes of a colossal Jove. Not Jove indeed, +for he was the god of a race, but that elder deity of the natural man, +grey-haired Saturn, keeping his ageless vigil, quiet as a stone, over +the generations of his children. Forgotten earth-dwellers, Mosilikatse +and his chiefs, Boer commandos, British yeomanry,--all had passed +before those passionless eyes, as their successors will pass and be +forgotten. And in the sense of man's littleness there is comfort, for +it is part of the title of our inheritance. The veld and the mountains +continue for ever, austerely impartial to their human occupants: it is +for the new-comer to prove his right to endure by the qualities which +nature has marked for endurance. + +_August 1902._ + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE WOOD BUSH. + + +Some thirty miles east of Pietersburg, the most northerly railway +station in the Transvaal, the Leydsdorp coach, which once a-week +imperils the traveller's life, climbs laboriously into a nest of +mountains, and on the summit enters an upland plateau, with shallow +valleys and green forest-clad slopes. Twenty miles on and the same +coach, if it has thus far escaped destruction, precipitously descends +a mountain-side into the fever flats which line the Groot Letaba and +the Letsitela. The Leydsdorp road thus cuts off a segment of a great +irregular oblong, which is bounded on the south by the spurs of the +Drakensberg, which the Boers call the Wolkberg or Mountain of Cloud, +and on the north divided by the valley of the Klein Letaba from the +Spelonken. It is a type of country found in patches in the de Kaap +mountains, and in parts of Lydenburg; but here it exists in a +completely defined territory of perhaps 700 square miles, divided +sharply from high veld and bush veld. The average elevation may be +5000 feet, and, though cut up into valleys and ridges, it preserves +the attributes of a tableland, so that on all sides one can journey +to an edge and look down upon a wholly different land. But the +geographical is the least of its distinctions. The climate has none +of the high-veld dryness or the low-veld closeness, but is humid and +sharp and wholesome all the year round. Mists and cool rains abound, +every hollow has its stream, and yet frost is rarely known. Its +vegetation, the configuration of its landscape, the soil itself, are +all things by themselves in South Africa. Fever, horse-sickness, and +most cattle diseases are unknown. It is little explored, for till +quite lately the native tribes were troublesome, and only the poorer +class of Boer squatted on its occupation farms, and, though a +proclaimed gold-field for some years, the uitlander who strayed there +had rarely an eye for its beauty. The unfortunate man who took his +life in his hands and journeyed by coach to Leydsdorp forgot the +landscape in the perils of the journey, and in all likelihood forgot +most things in fever at the end of it. It remained, therefore, a +paradise with a few devotees, a place secret and strange, with a beauty +so peculiar that the people who tried to describe it were rarely +believed. A delight in the Wood Bush is apt to spoil a man for other +scenery. The high veld seems tame and monotonous, the bush veld an +intolerable desert, and even the mountain glories of the Drakensberg +something crude and barbarous after this soft, rich, and fascinating +garden-land. + +The mountains come into view a little way from Pietersburg, but there +are many miles of featureless high veld to be covered before the +foothills are reached. It was midsummer when I first travelled there, +and the dusty waterless plains were glazed by the hot sun. The Sand +River, filled with acres of fine sand, but not a drop of moisture, was +not a cooling object in the scene, and the dusty thorn scrub offered +no shade. But insensibly the country changed. Bold kopjes of rose-red +granite appeared on the plain, and at a place called Kleinfontein the +road turned sharply south, and we were confronted with a noble line +of crags running out like a buttress from the mountains. At Smith's +Drift the road swerved east again, and a long valley appeared before +us running up into the heart of the hills. A clear stream came down +it, and the sides were dotted in bush-veld manner with redwood and +sikkelboom and syringa, and a variety of thorns, of which the Kaffir +waak-en-beetje and the knopjes-doorn were the prettiest. Occasionally +the dull green of the olivienhout appeared, and when the bush ceased +aloes raised their heads among the rocks. Everywhere the mimosa was in +bloom, and the afternoon air was laden with a scent like limes. +Towards the top the valley flattened out into upland meadows, little +farms appeared dotted on the hillsides, and the yellow mimosa blossom +on the slopes was so indistinguishable from gorse that in the +half-light I could have sworn I was among Cumberland fells, and not on +the edge of the tropics and 300 miles from the sea. We assisted a Boer +farmer to slay a pig, had coffee afterwards with his family, and slept +the sleep of the just on a singularly hard piece of ground under a +magnificent sky of stars, being roused once to give a drink to a +belated member of the S.A.C. + +Shortly after dawn next day we toiled to the top of a long hill, and +entered the Wood Bush. A high blue ridge--the Iron Crown mountain +behind Haenertsburg--rose before us, which changed with the full +light to a dazzling green, studded in the kloofs with patches of dark +forest. Glimpses of other forest-crowned hills appeared in the +turnings of the path; and when we had exhausted the horizon we had +time to look at the roadside. It was a perfectly new country. The +soil was as red as Devonshire, the steep sides oozed with little +runnels of water. Thickly grassed meadows of the same dazzling yet +delicate green fell away to the little hollows, where copses took +their place, and now and then a small red farm showed in a group of +alien gum-trees. It was so novel as to be almost unbelievable. And +then in the meadows little shrubs like dwarf hazels appeared, which +on closer view showed themselves as tree-ferns,--old gnarled veterans +and young graceful saplings. The herbage, too, was gay with flowers, +as gay as an English meadow save that for daisies there were patches +of tall arums and lilies, and for buttercups a superb golden-belled +campanula. I am no botanist and am not ashamed of it, but on that +morning I regretted a wasted youth and many unprofitable hours given +to the classics. By-and-by we descended on the little township of +Haenertsburg, a cluster of rondhavels and the tents of an S.A.C. +post. On leaving we crossed a torrent, the Bruderstroom, which later +becomes the Groot Letaba and flows through miles of feverish deserts +to join the Olifants and thence to the Limpopo. It was a true +highland stream, with deep dark-blue pools, and great swirls of icy +grey water sweeping round crags or stretching out into glistening +shallows. On the high veld it would be dignified by the name of +river, and be shorn and parcelled into a thousand water-furrows. But +here it was but one of many, for every hollow had its limpid stream +slipping out of sight among the tall grasses. + +Beyond Haenertsburg the Iron Crown mountain comes into full view, with +its green sides scarred and blackened in places with the works of +gold-seekers. To the left rose the crags of the Wolkberg, and far +behind the blue lines of the Drakensberg itself. To the north the true +Wood Bush country appeared, an endless park laid out as if by a +landscape gardener, with broad dales set with coppices, and little +wood-covered hills. "A park-like country," is the common travellers' +phrase for the bush veld; but there the grass is rank and ugly, the +trees isolated thorns, and the whole land flat and waterless. Here was +a true park, like Chatsworth or Windsor, so perfectly laid out that one +could scarcely believe that it was not a work of man. For surely a park +is properly man's work, a flower of civilisation, which nature aids but +rarely contrives. Yet when she does contrive, how far is the result +beyond our human skill! For an exception the mountain-tops were free +from mist; the land lay bathed in a cool morning light, and the scent +of a thousand aromatic herbs--wormwood, southernwood, a glorified +bog-myrtle, musk, and peppermint--rose from the wayside. Bracken was as +plentiful as on a Scots moor, and the old familiar fragrance was like a +breath of the sea. We breakfasted in a water-meadow, where a spring of +cold water stole away through a forest of tree-ferns, arums, giant +orchises, and the tall blue agapanthus. As we smoked our morning pipes +and watched a white eagle and a brace of berghaans circling in the +blue, I vowed that here at last had been found the true Hesperides. + +A few miles on and we were on the farther edge. At a place called +Skellum Kloof the road dips sharply over the crest, and down three +break-neck miles to the Groot Letaba. Behind lay the green garden-land; +in front, a hundred miles of broken country, fading in the far distance +into misty flats. The little range of the Murchison hills ran out at +right angles; away to the north the peaks of Majajie's mountains, with +the Spelonken beyond, blocked the horizon. As far as the eye could see, +the faint blue line of the Rooi Rand, the Portuguese border, was just +distinguishable from the sky, with the fingers of the little Lebombo +breaking the thin line to the south. One forgot the weary miles of +swamp and fever that lay between, and saw only a glorious sunlit plain, +which might have been full of clear rivers and vineyards and white +cities, instead of thorn and Kaffir huts and a few ugly mining +shanties. The Wood Bush on its eastern side is a series of soft green +folds, with the superb evergreen forest in every kloof. At first sight +the woods look like hazel copses, and you plunge gaily in to your +disaster. Below Skellum Kloof is a little wooded glen, into which I +descended for water, and at one time there were doubts of my ever +emerging again. The place was matted with monkey-creepers, mosses, huge +ferns, and a thick undergrowth around the trunks of great trees. +Yellowwoods, 200 feet high, essenwood, sneezewood, stinkwood, most of +them valuable timber-trees, and all with a glossy dark foliage, rose +out of the jungle to the confusion of the poor inhabitant below. I +noticed some giant royals, some curious orchids, and quantities of +maidenhair fern and the graceful asparagus creeper. But soon I noticed +little beyond the exceeding toilsomeness of the passage. Every step +had to be fought for, the place was hot to suffocation, and I was in +mortal fear of snakes. Also, I had no desire to meet a bushbuck ram, +than whom no fiercer fellow for his size exists, at close quarters in +his native haunts. I kept down-hill, listening for water, and +by-and-by rolled over a red scaur into an ice-cold pool, which was the +only pleasing thing in the forest. Happily in returning I struck a +native path, and reached open country in greater comfort. Two boys who +had been sent to find me--Basutos, and, like all Basutos, fools in a +thick wood--succeeded in getting lost themselves, and had to be +searched for. + +Hereabouts, when my ship comes home, I shall have my country house. +There is a piece of flat land, perhaps six acres square, from which a +long glen runs down to the Letaba. There I shall have my dwelling. In +front there will be a park to put England to shame, miles of rolling +green dotted with shapely woods, and in the centre a broad glade in +which a salmon-river flows in shallows and falls among tree-ferns, +arums, and bracken. There may be a lake, but I am undecided. In front +I shall have a flower-garden, where every temperate and tropical +blossom will appear, and in a sheltered hollow an orchard of +deciduous trees, and an orange plantation. Highland cattle, imported +at incredible expense, will roam on the hillsides. My back windows +will look down 4000 feet on the tropics, my front on the long meadow +vista with the Iron Crown mountain for the sun to set behind. My +house will be long and low, with broad wings, built of good stone and +whitewashed, with a thatched roof and green shutters, so that it will +resemble a _prazo_ such as some Portuguese seigneur might have dwelt +in in old times. Within it will be cool and fresh, with stone floors +and big fireplaces, for the mists are chill and the winds can blow +sharply on the mountains. There will be good pictures and books, and +quantities of horns and skins. I shall grow my own supplies, and make +my own wine and tobacco. Rides will be cut in the woods, and when my +friends come to stay we shall drive bushbuck and pig, and stalk +tiger-cats in the forest. There will be wildfowl on my lake, and +Lochleven trout in my waters. And whoever cares to sail 5000 miles, +and travel 1500 by train, and drive 50 over a rough road, will find +at the end of his journey such a palace as Kubla Khan never dreamed +of. The accomplishment is difficult, but not, I trust, impossible. +Once upon a time, as the story goes, a Dutchman talked with a +predikant about the welfare of his soul. "You will assuredly be +damned," said the predikant, "and burn in hell." "Not so," said the +Dutchman. "If I am so unfortunate as to get in there, I shall +certainly get out again." "But that is folly and an impossibility," +said the predikant. "Ah," said the other with confidence, "wait and +see: I shall make a plan." _Ek sal 'n plan maak_--this must be my +motto, and I shall gratefully accept all honourable suggestions. + +The country is full of wealth--mines, agriculture, forestry, and +pasturage. The presence of payable gold, both in quartz and banket, is +undoubted, and some improvement in the roads, possibly a light +railway, and the completion of the Selati line may provide for the +rise of Haenertsburg from a very little dorp into a flourishing +township. There is magnificent pasturage for stock, for cattle +diseases are few and horse-sickness is unknown. It has been said that +one acre in the Wood Bush will carry an ox, and though this is an +exaggeration, it is certain that the rich herbage will maintain three +or four times the head of stock which can be run on the high veld. The +grass in spring is very early, and in the worst part of winter the +forests can be resorted to, so that hand-feeding is almost unknown. +The grass is sour veld, but any extensive pasturing would soon bring +it into the sweet veld class. Once it were properly grazed down, it +would be also a natural sheep country of high value. The soil is a +clayey red loam, and the moist climate provides perfect conditions for +most seed crops. Tobacco would thrive well--as well perhaps as on the +lower slopes along the Groot Letaba, where Mr Altenroxel produces +excellent pipe tobacco and a respectable cigar. It is a paradise for +vegetables, and all hardy fruits and a few sub-tropical ones could be +made to flourish in the rich straths. It is a land for small holdings, +save for a few larger farms on the hill-tops, and here might arise a +community of British settlers, making a new England out of a country +which already possesses the climate of the West Highlands and the +configuration of a Sussex park. + +At Skellum Kloof we descended from the uplands to an elevation of +about 2000 feet, a type of scenery half-way between the wholesome high +veld and the pernicious flats of the Lower Letaba. I take that descent +to be all but the worst in the Transvaal, second only to the appalling +cliff over which the road from Lydenburg drops to the Olifants. The +grades are so steep that with a waggon it is necessary to outspan all +animals but the two wheelers, and lock the wheels tightly. With a +two-wheeled Cape cart to attempt it is to court destruction. Just at +the foot is an awesome corner, and then a straight slope to the +Letaba, a stream about the size of the Spean and not unlike it. There +is a fine salmon pool below the ford, in which I swam circumspectly, +being in dread of stray crocodiles. The valley has nothing of that raw +unfinished look so common in South African landscapes. The peaks rise +in noble contours from long stretches of forest and Kaffir tillage. As +we crossed, the mist drooped over the hills and we ascended the far +side to our camp in a heavy persistent rain. The whole country was +full of crying waters, and but for the clumps of wild bananas and the +indescribable African smell, we might have been climbing to a +Norwegian saeter after a long day's fishing. + +All night it rained in torrents, and next morning--New Year's +Day--dawned in the same driving misty weather. We could not see twenty +yards, and the long sloppy grass and thick red mud of the roads made +bad going even for Afrikander ponies. We sent our heavy transport +back, and, carrying little more than a dry shirt and a toothbrush, +struck down a track which follows the eastern ridge of the valley. The +vegetation was as dense as any jungle, and swishing through the reeds +and ducking the low branches of trees soaked us to the skin in a few +minutes. But in spite of discomfort it was a fascinating ride. The +heavy tropical scents which the rain brought out of the ground, the +intense silence of the drooping mists and water-laden forests, the +clusters of beehive Kaffir huts in the hollows, all made up a world +strange and new to the sight and yet familiar to the imagination. This +was the old Africa of a boy's dream, and there is no keener delight +than to realise an impression of childhood. Yet, though the air blew +sharp, there was something unwholesome in it. Fever lurked in the +comely glens, and the clear reaches of the Letaba were not the honest, +if scanty, waters of the high veld. The pungent penetrating smell of +the herbs we trod underfoot had an uncanniness in it as if all were +simples and antidotes--a faint medicinal flavour like the ante-chamber +of a physician. + +Krabbefontein, which we reached at mid-day, is a very beautiful +clearing in the woods on the left bank of the river and at the foot +of the Machubi glen. Mr Altenroxel, the owner, farms on a large +scale, and has long been famous for his tropical produce. The +luxuriance of the growth is so great as almost to pass belief. +Gum-trees grow from 10 to 15 feet in a year; and we saw a bamboo +fully 50 feet high whose age was under two years. Huge drying-sheds +for tobacco, numerous well-built outhouses and cottages, wholly the +work of natives, and a few rondhavels made up the farm-steading. The +time was past for apricots, but the orchard was full of grenadillas, +finest of South African fruit, and kei apples; grapes were plentiful; +and in a field of pines we destroyed the remnants of our digestion. +The owner remained on his farm throughout the war, growing his own +supplies, which included tea, sugar, and coffee. His tobacco is the +finest brand of Transvaal pipe-tobacco I have smoked, and he exports +to the towns boxes of light-flavoured but pleasant cigars, making +everything on the farm except the labels. I have rarely seen native +workers so intelligent and industrious, and the whole place leaves an +impression of strenuous and enlightened toil. In the bungalow we ate +our New Year's dinner, washed down by excellent German beer, carried +many miles across the hills. If the conversation at table approached +the domain of fact at all, the neighbourhood is full of uncanny +things. A disgusting variety of tarantula, whose bite means death in +half an hour, has his home around the tobacco-sheds; puff-adders +abound; and the week before our visit a black mamba had attacked and +killed a young Dutch girl. We heard, too, many tales of the eastern +hunting-veld, and in the huge dark spaces beyond the rafters we saw +the shadowy trophies of former hunting trips. + +At daybreak next morning, in a thick drizzle, we started to reascend +the mountains. A Kaffir set us on our way, and soon the hills closed +in and we were in the long glen of Machubi. Machubi was a Kaffir chief +with whom the Boers waged one of their many and most inglorious little +wars. When his people were scattered he took refuge in the thick +forest at the head of the river which bears his name. After my +experience of that kind of forest I do not wonder that the Boers +preferred not to fight a hand-to-hand battle in its tangled depths. +So, after their fashion, they hired an impi of Swazis, who sat around +the wood for three weeks, and ultimately slew the chief--not, however, +before he had accounted in single-handed combat for three of his +enemies. Mr Altenroxel possesses the old warrior's skull, which, +except for the great thickness at the crown of the head, is finely +shaped, and all but Caucasian in its lines. For this glen of Machubi I +have nothing but praise: high bush-clad mountains, grey corries, +streaked with white waterfalls, a limpid hill-stream, and in the flats +green patches of Kaffir tillage. But the road--which once was a +coach-road!--is pure farce. If there is a peculiarly tangled piece of +scrub it dives into it, a really awkward rock and it ascends it, an +unfordable reach of an easy stream and it makes straight for it, a +swamp and it leads you into the deepest and direst part. We had +constantly to dismount and coax our ponies down and up impossible +steeps. My little African stallion as a rock-climber was not at his +best, and I had some awkward positions to get him out of. One in +particular remains in my memory. A very deep river could only be +crossed by standing on a stone, leaping to an old log, and thence with +a final sprawl to the farther bank. I turned my reins into a halter, +went in front, and tried to coax my pony. When at last he did it he +all but landed on my chest, and I made the acquaintance of the +hardness of every one of his bones before I got him out of the valley. + +The road climbs a spur in the fork of two streams, and as one ascends +and looks up the narrow twin glens, the old exquisite green of the +true Wood Bush takes the place of the sadder colours of the lowlands. +The heads of the glens have the form of what are called in the north +of England and Scotland "hopes," rounded green cup-shaped hollows; +only here all things are on a larger scale, and the evergreen forest +takes the place of birch and juniper in the corries. The road wound +through wood and bracken, now coming out clear on a knoll, and now +sinking to the level of some little stream. The mist which had covered +the mountains was clearing, and one after another the green summits +came forth like jewels against the pale morning sky. The tropical +scents ceased, the sun shone out, and suddenly we were on the neck of +the pass with a meadow-land country falling away from our feet. It was +still hazy, but as we breakfasted the foreground slowly cleared. +Little white roads sped away over the shoulders of hill; a rushing +stream appeared in a hollow with one noble waterfall. Still the +landscape opened; wood after wood came into being, glistening like +emeralds in the dawn; long sweeps of pasture, each with its glimpse of +water, carried the eye to where the great Drakensberg, blue and +distant, was emerging from the fleecy mists of morning. Once more we +were in the enchanted garden-land. + +It is easy to describe the awesome and the immense, but it is hard +indeed to convey an adequate impression of exceeding charm and +richness. Hard, at least, in dull prose. A line of gleaming poetry, +such as Herrick's-- + + "Here in green meadows sits Eternal May," + +or Theocritus's-- + + ~pant' osden thereos mala pionos osde d' oporas~, + +will convey more of the true and intimate charm than folios of +elaborated description. The main feature of the place is its sharp +distinction from the common South African landscape. The high veld +with its vast spaces, the noble mountain ravines, the flats of the +bush veld, have all their own charm; but the traveller is plagued with +the something unfriendly and austere in their air, as if all thought +of human life had been wanting in their creation. They are built on a +scale other than ours; man's labour has in the last resort no power to +change them. They remain rough, unfinished, eternally strange, a +country to admire, but scarcely to adopt and understand. But this +garden-ground is wholly human. Natura Benigna was the goddess who +presided at its creation, and no roughness enters into the "warm, +green-muffled" slopes, the moist temperate weather, and the limpid +waters. It is England, richer, softer, kindlier, a vast demesne laid +out as no landscape gardener could ever contrive, waiting for a human +life worthy of such an environment. But it is more--it is that most +fascinating of all types of scenery, a garden on the edge of a +wilderness. And such a wilderness! Over the brink of the meadow, four +thousand feet down, stretch the steaming fever flats. From a cool +fresh lawn you look clear over a hundred miles of nameless savagery. +The first contrast which fascinates the traveller is between the +common veld and this garden; but the deeper contrast, which is a +perpetual delight to the dweller, is between his temperate home and +the rude wilds beyond his park wall. + +What is to be the fate of it? There is no reason why it should not +become at once a closely settled farming country. If the Pietersburg +line is looped round between Magatoland and the Spelonken and brought +south to meet a line from Leydsdorp, this intervening plateau will +have a ready access to markets. The place, too, may become a famous +sanatorium, to which the worried town-dwellers may retire to recover +health from the quiet greenery. Country houses may spring up, and what +is now the preserve of a few enthusiasts may become in time the Simla +or Saratoga of the Transvaal. How much, I wonder, will the new-comers +see of its manifold graces? Any one can appreciate the mellow air, the +restful water-meadows, the profound stillness of the deep-bosomed +hills. These are physical matters, making a direct appeal to the +simpler senses. But for the rest? It is the place for youth, youth +with high spirit and wide horizon, sensitive to scenery and weather, +loving wild nature and adventure for their own noble sakes. How much, +I wonder, will they see of it all--the people who have the purse to +compass health resorts and the constitutions to need them? For here, +as in all places of subtle and profound beauty, there is need of the +seeing eye and the understanding heart. + + "We receive but what we give, + And in our life alone does Nature live; + Ours is her wedding garment, ours her shroud! + And would we aught behold of higher worth + Than that inanimate cold world allowed + To the poor loveless, ever-anxious crowd, + Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth + A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud + Enveloping the earth." + +I do not think that the place will ever become staled. The special +correspondent will not rhapsodise over it--he will find many places +better worthy of his genius; the voice of the halfpenny paper will +not, I think, be heard in that land. Its appeal is at once too obvious +and too subtle: too obvious in its main features to please the common +connoisseur, too subtle and remote for the wayfaring man to penetrate. +It will remain, I trust, the paradise of a few--a paradise none the +less their own because towns and hotels and country houses may have +sprung up throughout it. To such it will always appear (as it appeared +to us when we took farewell of it from the summit above Haenertsburg +and saw the hills and glades sleeping in the mellow afternoon) an +old-world Arcadia, a lost classic land which Nature with her artist's +humour has created in this raw unstoried Africa. + +_December 1902-January 1903._ + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ON THE EASTERN VELD. + + +Machadodorp, that straggling village called after a Portuguese +commander, is the most easterly outpost of the high veld. A few +miles farther and there is a sheer fall into narrow mountain glens, +down which the Elands River and the Delagoa Bay Railway make the +best of their way to the lowlands. North lies the hill country of +Lydenburg, to which the traveller may come in a coach after a day of +heart-breaking hills and neck-breaking descents. But south for a +good hundred miles sweeps the high veld in a broad promontory from +Machadodorp to the Pongola, and on the east to the Swaziland border. +It is the highest part of the great central tableland, and a very +bleak dwelling-place in winter; but in summer and autumn it has a +full share of the curious veld beauty. In particular, being in the +line of the Drakensberg, you can come to its edge and look over into +the wild tangle of glens which lie between you and the Lebombo +hills. Also it is the lake district of South Africa, being full of +tarns of all sizes from Lake Chrissie, which is a respectable sheet +of water, to the tiniest reed-filled pan. It is the coldest, +freshest, and windiest part of the land, a tonic country where the +inhabitants are rarely ill, and few doctors can make a living. + +The journey to the first outspan from Machadodorp on the Ermelo road +is a little monotonous, for you are not yet on the ridge of the high +veld, the grass is rank, and the landscape featureless. You are +pursued, too, by an unfinished railway, the Machadodorp-Carolina line, +and if there is an uglier thing than the raw scar made by earthworks +and excavations and uncompleted culverts, I do not know it. The line +is being taken over by Government, and the sooner it is laid the +better, for at present the richest farming population in the Transvaal +are some sixty miles from a rail-head. At the fine stone bridge of the +Komati you enter a more pleasing country, with a glimpse to the east +of a gap in the hills through which the river enters the broken +country. The Komati here is a slow high-veld stream creeping through +long muddy pools with the slenderest of currents, but some eight +miles down it is a hill torrent. This is one of the paradoxes of the +high-veld rivers. Elsewhere it is in their cradle that streams have +their "bright speed"; here the infant river must be content to creep +like a canal, and lo! when it is almost full grown, it finds itself +hurled in cataracts down a mountain valley. Who, seeing the Olifants +near Middelburg, can ever believe that it is the same stream which +swirls round a corner of the berg north of Ohrigstad; or, watching +the sluggish Umpilusi crawling through the high veld, find any +kinship between it and the Swaziland salmon-river? It is a romantic +career--first a chain of half-stagnant pools, then a cataract, and +then a full-grown river, rolling its yellow waters through leagues of +bush and jungle to the tropical ocean. + +From Everard's store, which is a pleasant outspan among trees, the +road climbs steeply to the ridge of the country. A tremendous sweep +of veld comes into view, stretching to the west in hazy leagues till +the eyes dazzle with the soft contours and infinite lines, and in the +east barred at a great distance by a faint blue range, the Ingwenya +Mountains. The first pan appeared, no larger than an English mill-dam, +and overgrown with reeds which made a patch of darker green against +the veld. One had the sensation of being somewhere on the roof of the +world, for on every horizon but one the land sloped to a lower +altitude, and even on the east the mountains seemed foreshortened, +like the masts of a vessel just coming into sight at sea. Presently a +little white dorp, Carolina, appeared some miles away on the left, +with that curious look of a Pilgrim's Progress village which so many +veld townships possess. Then miles on miles of the same green +downland, the road now sinking into little valleys with a glimpse of +farm-steadings, and now holding the ridge in the centre of the +amphitheatre. As the autumn evening fell, and the soft lights bathed +the landscape, it became a spectral world, a Tir-an-Oig, in which it +was difficult to believe that this rose-coloured slope was not a dream +or that purple clump of trees a mirage. Little lochs appeared, some +olive-green with rushes, some cold and black with inky waves lapping +on dazzling white shores. Water, in Novalis' quaint fancy, is as the +eye to a landscape, the one thing generally lacking in the blind +infinity of the veld. Strings of wild-geese passed over our heads, and +from the meadow bottoms there came the call of ducks and now and then +the bark of a korhaan. Curious echoes arose as we passed, for there is +something in the geological structure of the country which makes it +full of eerie noises. And then, as darkness closed down, a long piece +of water appeared, beyond which rose a little hill with two woods of +blue gum and a light between them. A nearer view showed a trim +cottage, with Kaffir huts around it, the beginnings of a garden, and, +even in the dusk, a glimpse of long lines of crops stretching down to +the lake. It was the homestead of Florence, which stands on the apex +of a large block of Crown land, and is used as the headquarters of the +land commissioner of the eastern district. + +From Florence to the Swaziland border is some fifty miles as the crow +flies, so at dawn our horses were saddled, and, with a mule-cart for +provisions, we set out towards the remote hills. The morning had begun +in a Scots mist, but by ten o'clock the sky was cloudless, and the +intense blue of the lakes, the white shores, and the many patches of +marl on the slopes caught the sun with a bewildering glare. The water +in the pans is generally brackish, but some few are fresh, and one in +particular, about four miles long, has wooded islets and a bold white +bluff like a chalk cliff. The names are mostly Scots--Blairmore, +Ardentinny, Hamilton,--for the land was first bought and settled by a +Glasgow company. They are almost all stock farms, with little +irrigation except along the Umpilusi; and many are fenced, efficiently +enough, with slabs of stone for uprights. On one farm, Lake Banagher, +we rode past a herd of some 300 or 400 blesbok and springbok, which +are preserved by Mr Schalk Meyer, the owner. About noon we came into +the shallow vale of the Umpilusi, and left it again for a high ridge, +whence all afternoon we had a view of rolling country to the south, +with the Slaangaapies mountains on the horizon. The great hills in the +north of Swaziland were faint but clear, though we were still too high +ourselves to see them to advantage. The country began to change, the +valleys became almost glens, a great deal of tumbled rock appeared +overgrown with bush and bracken, and everything spoke of the +beginnings of a mountain country, which, strangely enough, we were +approaching from above. In the late afternoon we came to large belts +of trees around a ruined farmhouse, and as the sky was beginning to +threaten we outspanned for the night. We were not more than half a +dozen miles from the Swazi border and in full sight of it--a chain of +little kopjes with a hint of faint mountains behind. + +The farmhouse was an odd place seen in that stormy dusk. Thick woods +of blue-gum and pine surrounded it, and below, also hemmed in by +trees, was a lush water-meadow. The house had been a substantial stone +building, but it was stripped to the walls, every scrap of woodwork +having been used by the troops for fuel. The broken stoep was +overgrown with moon-flowers, whose huge white blossoms gleamed +uncannily in the shadows. We pushed through the wood and the overgrown +paddock to a neglected orchard, where the fruit-trees had lost all +semblance of their former selves, and struggled vainly among creepers +and high grasses, and thence to the meadow where a little reddish +stream trickled through the undergrowth. Owls flitted about like the +ghosts of the place, and this relic of war with its moated-grange +melancholy had a depressing effect on our spirits. We gladly sought +our camp in an old barn on higher ground, where a blazing fire +restored us to cheerfulness. The rain never fell, and the morning +dawned grey and misty, so that when we set out for the border we had +little hope of a view. We passed some Swazi kraals, and got directions +from their picturesque occupants. The men are active and tall, and +their wives with their curious head-dresses are better to look at +than the sluttish native women of the central districts. They are +beautiful dancers, and the performance of a body of Swazis in war +costume is a thing to remember. The country began to be extremely +rocky, and tree-ferns and other specimens of sub-tropical vegetation +appeared in the hollows. One glossy-leaved bush bore a berry about the +size and shape of a rasp, called by the natives "infanfaan," which had +an agreeable sub-acid flavour. A little hill, looking as if it were +made of one single gigantic boulder, appeared on the right, and with +some scrambling we got our horses to the foot of it. This was Bell's +Kop, a famous landmark, and beyond and below was Swaziland. + +The morning had cleared, and though the horizons were misty, we saw +enough to reward us. The ground fell sharply away from our feet to a +green glen studded with trees, down which a white road wound. A hill +shut the glen, but over the hill and at a much lower altitude we saw +the strath of the Umpilusi, with the river running in wide sweeps with +shores of gravel, not unlike the Upper Spey as seen from the +Grampians. Beyond were tiers of broken blue hills, rising very high +towards the north, where they culminate in Piggs' Peak, but fading +southward into a misty land where lay the Lebombo flats. The grey soft +air had an intense stillness, a kind of mountain melancholy, but far +to the south there was a patch of sunlight on the green hills above +Amsterdam. It is a type of view which can be had in all parts of the +Drakensberg, from Mont aux Sources frowning over Natal to the +Spelonken looking down on the plains of the Letaba--a view to me of +infinite charm, for you stand upon the dividing line between two forms +of country and two climates, looking back upon the endless prairies +and their fresh winds and forward upon warm glens and the remote +malarial tropics. + +From Bell's Kop we fetched a wide circuit, going to Amsterdam, which +was not more than fifteen miles from where we stood, by Florence and +Ermelo, a journey of over 100 miles. The afternoon ride was something +to remember, for the day had cleared into a bright afternoon with cool +winds blowing, and the green ridges had a delicate pastoral beauty, as +of sunlit sheep-walks. When we forded the Umpilusi its sluggish pools +were glowing with the fires of sunset. Cantering in the hazy twilight +of the long slopes was pure romance, and the sounds from a Kaffir +kraal, the slow mild-eyed oxen on the road, and the wheeling of wild +birds had all the strangeness of things seen and heard in a dream. I +know no such tonic for the spirits, for in such a scene and at such a +time the blood seems to run more freely in the veins, the mind to be +purged from anxious indolence, and the whole nature to become joyous +and receptive. Much comes from the air. There is something in those +spaces of clear absolute ether, eternally wide, fresh as spring water, +pure as winds among snow, which not only sustains but vitalises and +rejuvenates the body. There is something, too, in the life. Fine +scenery is too often witnessed by men when living the common life of +civilisation and enjoying the blessings of a good cook and a not +indifferent cellar. But on the veld there is bare living and hard +riding, so that a man becomes thin and hard and very much alive, the +dross of ease is purged away, and body and mind regain the keen temper +which is their birthright. + +We outspanned at a Boer farm and dined with the family off home-made +bread, _confyt_, and tea. They were very hospitable and friendly, and +discussed the war and current politics with all freedom. The walls +were adorned with numerous portraits of _British_ generals; and the +farmer, who had been in Bermuda, displayed with much pride the +carvings with which he had beguiled his captivity. One of the sons +read assiduously a Dutch translation of one of Mayne Reid's novels, +and when he could tear himself from the narrative contributed to the +talk some details of his commando-life under Ben Viljoen, for whom, in +common with most of the younger Dutch, he had a profound admiration. +These people are a strange mixture--so hospitable, that the traveller +is ashamed to go near a Boer farm, seeing the straitness of their lives +and the generosity with which they give what they have; and yet so +squalid that they make little effort to better their condition. This +particular farmer owned four large farms, worth in the present market +not less than L20,000; the sale of one or a part of one would have +given him ample means to buy stock and start again. But he was content +to go on as he was, running up a long bill with the Repatriation depot, +and grumbling at the high prices for stock compared with what he had +been used to pay. The result was that, though he had been back for nine +months, I saw no living thing on that farm but a few chickens, six +goats, and a spavined horse. + +We made the last stage to Florence shortly after sunrise, and arrived +at the homestead in time for breakfast. The twenty odd miles to Ermelo +were the easy journey of an afternoon. We passed the ruined township +of Chrissie, with a roofless kirk and some flourishing plantations of +firs. The lake itself lay over some meadows, a pear-shaped piece of +water, very shallow, and at its greatest perhaps some six or eight +miles round. Yet in spite of its shallowness there is ample depth for +a small centre-board; and when the railway is completed and Chrissie +becomes a summer sanatorium, there is no reason why a modest kind of +yachting should not be enjoyed. For the rest it is a bare road, with +outcrops of coal appearing here and there, and the infant Vaal to be +crossed, a very mean and muddy little stream. You come on Ermelo with +surprise, dipping over the brow of a barren ridge and seeing a +cheerful little town beneath you. It suffered heavily in the war, +being literally levelled with the ground, but when we passed most of +the houses had been cobbled together and new buildings were arising. +It lies in a rich mineral tract, and is also the centre of a wide +pastoral district, so with improved communications it may very well +become a thriving country town. Whoever laid it out showed good +judgment in the planting of trees; and in that bare land it is +pleasant to come on such a village in a wood. My chief recollection of +Ermelo is of a talk with a deputation of neighbouring farmers on the +subject of cattle diseases. One admirable old man explained his +perplexity. "Formerly," he said, "we used to be told that all diseases +came from on High. Now we are told that some are from on High and some +are our own fault. But which is which? Personally," he concluded, "I +believe that Providence is a good deal to blame for them all." + +About noon the following day we set out for Amsterdam. The first part +of the road is monotonous, for it follows a straight line of +blockhouses in a bleak featureless country. We crossed the inevitable +Vaal again, a little larger and perhaps a little dirtier, but not +appreciably more attractive. Sometimes we came to a flat moor like +Rannoch with faint blue mountains beyond it, but the common type was a +succession of ridges without a shade of difference between them. The +weather had broken, and dust-coloured showers pursued us over the face +of the heavens, till, as we came in sight of the considerable hill of +Bankkop, the whole sky behind us had darkened for a wet evening. As we +came down from the height, where the colour of the roads told of coal, +and entered a green marshy valley, the storm burst on us,--a true +African rain which drenches a man in two minutes. We sought shelter in +a farmhouse, or rather in a blockhouse in the stackyard, for there was +little left of the house except a shanty which the owner had restored +for his present accommodation. All evening it rained in solid sheets, +and to dinner, a meal cooked under difficulties, the Boer farmer came +and talked to us, sitting on a barrel and telling stories of the war. +He had the ordinary tale--against the war at the start, compelled to +fight, had remonstrated with Louis Botha on his conduct of the Natal +campaign, and, grumbling greatly, had followed his leader till he was +caught and sent to Ceylon. The Boer discipline must have been a +curious growth, and, when we realise the intense individualism of the +fighting men, we begin to see the greatness of the achievement of +Botha and Delarey in keeping them together at all. Our friend was +living in squalid penury, but he was drawing enough in mineral options +on his farm to have restocked it and lived in comfort, if he had +pleased. There is no doubt in my mind, after such experiences, as to +what would have been the wisest and kindest form of repatriation for +landowners, had we had the courage to adopt it,--compulsory sale of a +portion of the farm, and out of the capital thus supplied the farmer +could have bought what he wanted at reasonable prices from Government +depots. Such a method would have given the Government more good land, +which it urgently wants; it would have saved the endless credit +accounts which in the long-run will give trouble both to Boer and +Government; and it would have saved the pauperisation into which the +Boer is only too ready to sink. There would, of course, have been many +exceptions in the case of the very poor and landless classes, but for +the landholder it would have been not only the most politic but in his +eyes the most intelligible plan. + +I shall never forget the night spent in that blockhouse. Every known +form of vermin--fleas, bugs, mosquitoes, spiders, rats, and, for all I +know, snakes--came out of the holes where they had fasted for months +and attacked us. I lay for hours swathed in a kaross, my face +tingling, watching through the open square of door a melancholy moon +trying to show herself among the rain-clouds, and wishing I had had +the wisdom to sleep on the wet veld rather than in that chamber of +horrors. Sheer bodily weariness induced a few uneasy hours of sleep, +but the first ray of dawn found me thankfully arising. We breakfasted +in haste, inspanned hurriedly, and were on the road an hour after +sunrise. A long ascent brought us to the ridge of those hills of which +Bankkop and Spitzkop are part, an extension of the Drakensberg from +Wakkerstroom across the veld to the Swazi border. Then we passed over +some very flat meadows to another ridge, from which we had a clear +view of the Slaangaapies mountains to the south, and before us to the +north-east the long green range of hills above Amsterdam. It was a +curious picture for the Transvaal, a line of hills with regular glens +and soft contours unbroken by rock or tree, and at the foot in a wood +a few white cottages--a reminiscence of Galloway or Tweeddale; and +one can well understand how the Scots settlers, who founded the place +and gave it its first name of Robburnia after their national poet, saw +in the landscape a picture of their home. We skirted the village on +the left, and found the farm where we were to outspan. Here heroic +measures were taken to get rid of the results of the blockhouse. A +large tub was filled with hot water, and a bottle of sheep-dip was +emptied into it. In this mixture we wallowed, and emerged from it +scarified but clean. + +The farm was the property of a Scots gentleman, who in six months had +made new water-furrows, built himself a comfortable house, put over +200 acres under crops, and was running a fair head of stock on the +hills. In the afternoon we rode with him to Mr Forbes' farm of Athole, +some three miles off, which is perhaps the largest private landed +estate in one piece in the country. It runs to some 60,000 acres, a +huge square tract between two streams, from which is obtained a fine +prospect of the Swaziland hills. Mr Forbes, who owns much land across +the border, is one of the two or three living Englishmen who know the +Swazis best, having for fifty years or more traded, farmed, and mined +in their country. Before the war Athole was a great game-preserve, +with 3000 blesbok, 2000 springbok, as well as reed-buck, impala, the +two rheboks, and a few klipspringer. Now some odd springbok along the +stream are almost all that remain. But when Mr Forbes first came to +the place eland, koodoo, and hartebeest were the common game, and one +could kill a lion on most farms. Of the original Scots settlers, who +gave the name of New Scotland to the district, a few still remain, and +their farms can be told far off by the neat strips of plantation which +make the place like a hillside in Ayrshire. The land was acquired +very cheaply from the Government,--one farm, if tales be true, going +for a pair of boots, and another for a keg of whisky. The Boers +themselves bought the whole tract from the Swazi border to Ermelo, and +from the Komati in the north to the Pongola in the south--perhaps 3000 +square miles--from the Swazi king for 150 oxen and 50 blankets. As at +that time an ox was worth about 30s., it was not a high price, and the +Boers still further improved the bargain by declining to pay the +blankets. When Mr Forbes came to the place he was visited by a +deputation of Swazi chiefs to discuss the subject, and to save trouble +gave them the blankets from his own stores. + +In Amsterdam next morning I was taken for a prospector, and played the +part for a considerable time, to the confusion of an ex-official of +the place, who wished to profit by my knowledge, but could make +neither head nor tail of my answers. It is a sleepy little town, with +not more than half a dozen houses lying pleasantly in gardens, with +mountain streams on all sides and pastoral green hills to the east and +north. South, where lay our road, are swelling moorlands, flanked by +the Slaangaapies and the Swazi hills, and crossed at frequent +intervals by clear grey streams. The first of these is the Compies, a +few miles from the village, and a more naturally perfect trout-stream +I have rarely seen. There were deep blue pools, and long shallow +stretches, and little rapids in whose tail one should have been able +to get a salmon. When trout become thoroughly acclimatised in the +Transvaal, and the proper waters are stocked, he will be a happy man +who owns a mile or two of the Compies. As if to intensify the +atmosphere of fishing, it began to rain heavily and a cold mist blew +up from the south. The long grass became hoar with rain-drops, and the +innumerable veld watercourses found their voices after months of dry +silence. Still more lipping grey streams, and then the rain ceased as +suddenly as it had come, and in a deceptive gleam of sunlight we came +into Piet Retief. It is a long, straggling, dingy village lying on two +ridges. The mountains on all sides are too far off to be a feature in +one's view of it, and save that it is one of the backdoors to +Swaziland, there is little of interest for the traveller. At the +entrance you pass a monument to Piet Retief, of which only the +pedestal is completed--a poor tribute to a great man. + +After lunch the rain began again in real earnest, and there was +nothing for it but to loiter through the afternoon in waterproofs and +hope for a dry morrow. It is not the most cheerful of places, but seen +through the pauses of the driving wrack it had a wild charm of its +own. In particular the Slaangaapies mountains, a dozen miles off, when +by any chance they were visible for a moment, stood out black and +threatening, with white cataracts seaming their sides and murky +shadows in their glens. The Dutch name means "Snake-monkeys," but the +natives call them beautifully "The Mother of Rains." The inhabitants +of the district are almost the lowest type in the Transvaal,--poor, +disreputable, half-bred, despised by their neighbours and neglected by +the late Government. The progressive element in the district is +represented by a German colony, who were originally placed there by +the wily Boer as a buffer against the natives, but who throve and +multiplied and now own the best farms in the district. The most +interesting thing I saw in the place was a large Boer hound, with the +hair on the ridge of his back growing in an opposite direction to the +rest of his coat. Now this type is rare, and, when found, makes the +finest hunting dog in the world, for he will tackle a charging lion, +and, indeed, fears nothing created. I had often been advised if I came +across such a dog to buy him at any price, but in this case his Dutch +owner utterly refused to sell, and I had to depart in envious gloom. + +Before daybreak next morning, in a mist which clothed the world like a +garment, so that we walked in fleecy vapour, we set off on the sixty +miles' journey to Wakkerstroom. The first half is through an +exceedingly dreary land. We crossed the Assegai, a finely named but +inglorious stream, chiefly remarkable for its rapid flooding, and then +for a score of miles we ascended and descended little sandy hills, and +saw on each side of the road as far as the edge of the mist the same +endless coarse herbage. In fine weather there is the wall of +Slaangaapies to give dignity to the landscape; but for us there was +only a bank of cloud. Before our mid-day outspan the sky cleared a +little, and huge stony blue hills appeared on our left, with bush +straggling up their sides and stray sun-gleams on their bald summits. +We outspanned for lunch at Vanderpoel's store, which is a couple of +huts in a perfectly flat dusty plain with a fine ring of hazy +mountains around it. The day became exceedingly hot, still cloudy, but +with a dazzle behind the mists which it hurt the eye to look at,--the +kind of weather which makes the cheeks flame and tires the traveller +far more readily than a clear sun and a blue sky. Again the same hills +and dales, but now with a gradually increasing elevation, till when we +came to a fine stream falling over a precipice into a meadow and +looked back, we saw the Slaangaapies as if from a neighbour hill-top. +A curious little peak appeared on the right, with what the Dutch call +a _castrol_ or saucepan on its head, a perfectly round ring of +kranzes which presented the appearance of an extinguisher dropped +down suddenly on the summit. It is a common sight in this part of the +Berg, where the great original chain of cliffs has been broken and +hills lie tumbled about like the _debris_ of greater mountains. + +At Joubert's Hoogte the road emerges from the glens, and the south +opens up into a mazy tangle of hills. It is one of the noblest views +in the country; but for us the mist curtailed the perspective, while +it greatly increased the mystery. Shapes of mountains floating through +a haze have far more fascination for the lover of highlands than a +long prospect to a clearly defined horizon. Below lay the broad woody +valley of the Upper Pongola, shut off in the east by the spurs of the +Slaangaapies. The far mist was flecked with little sun-gleams, which +showed now an emerald slope, now the grey and black of a cliff, and +now a white flash of water. The air had the intense stillness of grey +weather and great height; only the neighing of our horses broke in +upon what might have been the first chaos out of which the world +emerged. Thence for a few miles we kept on the ridge till we dipped +into the hollow of a stream and slowly climbed a long pass where the +road clung to the edges of precipitous slopes and wriggled among great +rocks. The mist closed down, and but for the feeling in the air which +spoke of wider spaces, we could not have told that we had reached the +top of Castrol's Nek, the gate of the South-Eastern Transvaal. A +Constabulary notice plastered on a weather-worn board was another sign +that the place was a known landmark. As soon as we passed the summit +the country grew softer. The shoulders of hills seemed greener, and +along the little watercourses bracken and a richer vegetation +appeared. The evening was falling, and as we slipped down the winding +road the white mist faded into deeper and deeper grey, till at last we +emerged from it and saw a clear sky above us and hills standing out +black and rain-washed against the yellows of sunset. By-and-by in the +centre of the amphitheatre of mountains a dozen lights twinkled out, +and in a little we were off-saddling very weary horses in the pleasant +town of Wakkerstroom. + +_March-April 1903._ + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE GREAT NORTH ROAD. + + +The romance which is inseparable from all roads belongs especially to +those great arteries of the world which traverse countries and +continents, and unite different zones and climates, and pass through +extreme variations of humankind. For in them the adventurous sense of +the unknown, which is found in a country lane among hedgerows, becomes +an ever-present reality to the most casual traveller. And it is a +peculiarity of the world's roads that this breath of romance blows +most strongly on the paths which point to the Pole-star. The AEmilian +Way, up which the Roman legions clanked to the battlefields of Gaul +and Britain, or that great track which leads through India to the +mountains of the north and thence to the steppes of Turkestan, +captures the fancy more completely than any lateral traverse of the +globe. A way which passes direct through the widest extremes of +weather, and is in turn frozen and scorched or blown in sand, has an +air of purpose which is foreign to long tracks in the same latitude, +and carries a more direct impress of the shaping and audacious spirit +of man. Of all north roads I suppose the greatest to be that which +runs from the Cape to Egypt, greatest both for its political meaning, +the strangeness of the countries to which it penetrates, the +difficulties and terrors of the journey, and, above all, for the fact +that it is a traverse of the extreme length of a vast and mysterious +continent. It has been associated in the south with the schemes of a +great dreamer, and in the north with the practical work of a great +soldier and a great administrator. Between these two beginnings we all +but lose trace of it in wilds of sand and swamp, the dense forests, +the lakes and the wild mountains of Equatorial Africa, penetrated at +rare intervals by native paths and old hunters' tracks. But to the eye +of faith the road is there, marching on with single purpose from one +railway head on the veld to another in the Soudanese desert. The men +who travel it are hunters and prospectors, a few soldiers, a chance +official, and once and again an explorer: but they travel only short +stages, and there are few indeed who, like my friend Mr E. S. Grogan, +carry their staff and scrip from end to end of it. To the amateur, +like the present writer, who goes a little way on it, the thought of +this majestic Way gives dignity to the ill-defined sandy track in +which he may be floundering, and makes each northern horizon seem like +the hill-tops of the Apennines, somewhere behind which, as the pilgrim +is confident, lie the towers and pinnacles of Rome. I would recommend +as a panacea for cold and comfortless nights on the road that the mind +of the traveller should occupy itself with a projected itinerary. He +will see the Road running as a hunter's path from the Limpopo to the +Zambesi--through thorn scrub and park-land and stony mountain. Then he +will travel up the Shire by Nyassaland and on by Tanganyika to +Ruwenzori and the lakes; and if he is not asleep by the time he has +seen the sun rise on Albert Nyanza and fought his way through the +Dinkas and the mosquitoes of the Nile swamps, then he must be an +unquiet man with an evil conscience. + +Only a little section of the road runs through the Transvaal. The +practical road has indeed been diverted at De Aar in Cape Colony, +and in the shape of a railway runs to Rhodesia and the neighbourhood +of the Victoria Falls. But to the pilgrim this is a palpable +subterfuge, for the straight highway goes through the Transvaal, +taking the form of a railway as far as Pietersburg, and then +becoming the Bulawayo coach-road for some eighty miles, till it +plunges sheer into the bush as a hunter's road and makes for Main +Drift on the Limpopo. It is a type of the vicissitudes which the +Great Road is made to suffer,--railway, admitted highroad, hunter's +path, native track, no road, and then a chain of waterways till it +becomes a river, and meets the railway again after 3000 miles of +obscurity. With a profound respect for the road, I am constrained to +admit that it makes bad going, that it is insufficiently provided +with water, that there are no signposts or inns or, for the matter +of that, white habitations, that lions do the survey work and wild +pigs the engineering, and that it is apt to cease suddenly and leave +the traveller to his own devices. But for the eye of Faith, that +wonderful possession of raw youth and wise old age, it is as broad +and solid as the Appian Way; the wheels of empire and commerce pass +over it, and cities, fairer than a mirage, seem to rise along its +shadowy course. + +Our starting-point was the Repatriation depot at Pietersburg, a large +white-walled enclosure, with row upon row of stables and sheds and +in the centre a cluster of thatched white dwelling-houses. It has the +air of an Eastern caravanserai, for convoys come in and go out all +day long, and the news of the Road is brought there by every manner +of traveller. Apart from Government work with its endless trains of +ox and mule waggons, it is the starting-place for all sorts of +prospecting and hunting parties, and farmers from seventy miles round +ride in for stock or supplies. If a lion is killed or gold found or a +man lost anywhere in the north, word will be brought in to the depot +by some Dutch conductor, so that the place is far better supplied +with news of true interest than your town with its dozen newspapers. +For the essence of news is that it should be vital to one's daily +interests, and tidings of a massacre in China is less stimulating to +the mind than word of a neighbour's windfall or disaster. I can +conceive no more fascinating life than to dwell comfortably on the +edge of a savage country from which in the way of one's business all +news comes first to one's ears. To control transport is to be the +tutelary genius of travel, and in a sense the life of the wilds takes +its origin from the little caravanserai which sends forth and +welcomes the traveller. + +The high veld continues for some thirty miles north of the town +before it sinks into bush and a humbler elevation. It is ordinary +high veld--bleak, dusty, and in August a sombre grey; but on the +east the blue lines, which are the Wood Bush and the Spelonken +mountains, and in the far west the thin hills about the Magalakween +valley, remind the traveller how near he is to the edge of the +central plateau. Ten miles out a crest was reached, and we looked +down on a long slope, with high mountains making gates in the +distance, and a sharp little hill called Spitzkop set in the +foreground. It was a cool hazy day, and in the west the kopjes +seemed to swim in an illimitable sea of blue. The land is all part +of Malietsie's location, and patches of tillage and an occasional +cluster of huts gave it a habitable air. The native girls wear thick +rings of brass round their necks, which gives them a straight figure +and a high carriage of the head, pleasant to see in a place where +people slouch habitually. Malietsie's is one of those Basuto tribes +which are scattered over the North Transvaal--not the best type of +native, for they are credulous and idle in their raw state, and when +Christianised and dwelling near mission-stations, incorrigibly lazy +and deceitful. They are also inordinately superstitious. I found +that no one of my boys, who were mostly from Malietsie's, would stir +ten yards beyond the camp after dark. At first I thought the reason +was dread of wild beasts, but I discovered afterwards that it was +fear of spooks, particularly of one spook who rolled along the road +in the shape of a ball of fire. It is a tribute to the greatness of +the North Road that it should have a respectable ghost of its own. In +a little we passed the last store, kept by an old Scotsman, who gave +us much information about the district. He talked of the Road, the +River, and the Mountain, without further designation, which is a +pleasing habit of country folk, who give the generic name to the +instances which dominate their daily life. The Limpopo was the River, +the Zoutpansberg the Mountain, because no other river or mountain had +a local importance comparable with these, just as to a Highland +gillie his own particular ben is "the hill," just as to Egypt the +Nile is not the Nile but "the River." He measured distance, too, by +the Road: this place was so many miles down the road, that water-hole +so many days' journey up. + +We inspanned again in the evening, and in a little turned the flanks +of Spitzkop, and coming over a little rise saw a wide plain before us +densely covered with dwarf trees. The long line of the Zoutpansberg +comes to an abrupt end in a cliff above the Zoutpan. On the west the +huge mass of the Blaauwberg also breaks off sharply in tiers of fine +precipices. Between the two is a level, from fifteen to twenty miles +wide, which is the pass from the high veld to the north. It is a broad +gate, but the only one, for to the east the Zoutpansberg is impassable +for a hundred miles, and on the west beyond the Blaauwberg the +Magalakween valley is a long circuit and a difficult country. The +great mountain walls were dim with twilight, but there was day enough +left to see the immediate environs of the road. They had a comical +suggestion of a dilapidated English park. The road was fine gravel, +the trees in the half light looked often like gnarled oaks and +beeches, and the coarse bush grass seemed like neglected turf. It is a +resemblance which dogs one through the bush veld. You are always +coming to the House and never arriving. At every turn you expect a +lawn, a gleam of water, a grey wall; soon, surely, the edges will be +clipped, the sand will cease, the dull green will give place to the +tender green of watered grass. But the House remains to be found, +though I have a fancy that it may exist on a spur of Ruwenzori. As it +was, we had to put up with a tent and a dinner of curried korhaan, and +during the better part of a very cold night some jackals performed a +strenuous serenade. + +The next morning dawned clear and very chilly, the mountains smoking +with mist, and the dust behind our waggons rising to heaven in +sharply outlined columns. However cold and comfortless the night, +however badly the limbs ache from sleeping on hard ground, there is +something in the tonic mornings which in an hour or so dispels every +feeling but exhilaration. Water-holes have been made for the +post-cart at lengthy intervals, but between there is nothing but rank +bush, with flat trees like the vegetation in a child's drawing +produced by rubbing the pencil across the paper. Animal life was rich +along the road--numerous small buck, a belated jackal or two, the +graceful black-and-white birds which country people call "Kaffir +queens," korhaan, guinea-fowl, partridge, quantities of bush crows, +and an endless variety of hawk and falcon. We left the Road and made +a long detour over sandy tracks to visit the Zoutpan, from which the +hills get their name, the most famous of Transvaal salt-pans. It is +about three miles in circumference, and consisted at this season of +caked grey mud, with little water-trenches and heaps of white salt on +their banks. A wise law of the late Government forbade the alienation +of salt-pans, but for some unknown reason a concession was given over +this one, and instead of being the perquisite in winter of the _arme +Boeren_ it is managed by a Pietersburg syndicate, and as far as I +could judge managed very well. The work is done by natives from the +mountains who live round a little stream which flows from the berg to +the pan, and forms the only fresh water for miles. The day became +very hot, and the glare from the pan was blinding to unaccustomed +eyes. As we returned to the main road, the noble mass of the +Blaauwberg was before us, one of the finest and least known of South +African mountains. That curious fiasco, the Malapoch war, was fought +there, and Malapoch's people still live in its corries. To a +rock-climber it is a fascinating picture, with sheer rock walls +streaked with fissures which a glass shows to be chimneys, and I +longed to be able to spend a week exploring its precipices. To a +mountaineer South Africa offers many attractions, for apart from what +may be found in isolated ranges, there are some hundreds of miles of +the Drakensberg with thousands of good climbs, and above all the +great north-eastern buttress of Mont aux Sources, which to the best +of my knowledge has never been conquered. + +In the afternoon the country changed, the bush opened out, timber +trees took the place of thorn, and long glades appeared of good winter +pasture. There was a great abundance of game, and for the first time +the paauw appeared, stalking about or slowly flapping across the +grass. He is a fine bird to shoot with the rifle, but a hard fellow +for a gun, for it is difficult to get within close range; and as a +rule at anything over thirty yards he will carry all the shot you care +to give him. This park-land lasts for about ten miles, and then at +Brak River it ends and a dense thorn scrub begins, which extends +almost without interruption to the Limpopo. There we found our relays +of mules, and on a dusty patch near the mule-scherm we outspanned for +the night. We were nearing the country of big game. A lion had been +seen on the Bulawayo road the day before, a little north of the +station; and it was a common enough thing to have them reconnoitring +the scherm. As soon as darkness fell the cry of wolves began, that +curious unearthly wail which is one of the eeriest of veld sounds. +Most forcible reminder of all, a hunting party ahead of us had lost a +man, who, after wandering for six days in the bush, while his +companions gave him up for dead, had come out on the Road and been +found by the man in charge of our relays. It was a miracle that he +had not lost his reason or perished of thirst and fatigue, for he had +neither food nor water with him, and only a little cloth cap to keep +off the tropical sun. An old Boer from Louis Trichard, trekking with +oxen, camped beside us; and after dining delicately off guinea-fowl I +went over to his fire to talk to him. He was a typical back-veld +Boer--a great hunter, friendly, without any sort of dignity, a true +frontier man, to whom politics mean nothing and his next meal +everything. He told me amazing lion stories, in which he always gave +the _coup de grace_, and displayed incredible courage and skill. He +showed me with pride a .400 express bullet which he kept wrapt up in +paper--whether as a charm or a souvenir I do not know, for his own +weapon was an ancient Martini. His one political prejudice concerned +the Jews, whose character he outlined to me with great spirit. They +were the opposite of everything implied in the term "oprecht"; but I +am inclined to believe that, like many of us, he secretly believed +that all foreigners were Jews, and in hugging the prejudice showed +himself a nationalist at heart. + +The coach-road runs due north to Tuli and Bulawayo, but the Road itself +takes a slight bend to the east and follows the course of the mythical +Brak River. For miles this stream does not exist--there is not even the +slightest suggestion of a bed; and then appears a dirty hole full of +greenish, brackish water, and we hail the resurrected river. It is +necessary for the traveller to know where such holes lie, for they are +the only water in the neighbourhood; and though the Road keeps close to +them, there is nothing in the dense thorn bush which lines its sides to +reveal the presence of water. I have never seen bleaker bush-land. All +day long, through hanging clouds of dust, we crept through the +featureless country, the Zoutpansberg and Blaauwberg behind us growing +hourly fainter. For the information of travellers, I would say that the +first water is at a place called Krokodilgat, the second at a place +called Rietgaten, and that after that the Road bends northward away +from the river, and there is no water till Taqui is reached. The dust +of the track was thick with the spoor of wild cats, wolves, the blue +wildebeest, and at rare intervals of wild ostrich. As night fell the +bush became very dead and silent, save for the far-away howl of a +jackal,--a dull olive-green ocean under a wonderful turquoise sky. We +encamped after dark in a little wayside hollow, where we built a large +fire and a massive scherm or enclosure of thorns for the animals. There +was every chance of a lion, so I retired to rest with pleasant +anticipations and a quantity of loaded firearms near my head. But no +lion came, though about two o'clock in the morning the mules grew very +restless, and a majestic figure (which was indeed no other than the +present writer's), armed with a .400 express, might have been seen +clambering about the top of the waggon and straining sleepy eyes into +the bush. + +We started at dawn next morning, as we had a long journey before +water. The thorn bush disappeared and gave place to a more open +country, full of a kind of wormwood which gave an aromatic flavour to +the fresh morning air. Then came a new kind of bush, the mopani, a +wholesome green little shrub, with butterfly-shaped foliage. The +leaves of this tree would appear to be for the healing of the nations, +for a decoction of them is regarded both as a preventive against and a +cure for malaria; and a mopani poultice is a sovereign cure for +bruises. Among the spoor on the track was that of a large lion going +towards Taqui. There were also to our surprise the spoor and +droppings of oxen. When about eleven o'clock we reached the large pits +of whitey-blue brackish water which bear that name, we found the +reason of both. A shooting party encamped there had had their cattle +stampeded in the night, and early in the morning a Dutch hunter who +accompanied them had gone out to look for them, and found an ox +freshly killed by a lion not a quarter of a mile from the camp. He +followed the lion, and wounded him with a long-range shot. When we +arrived the search for the lion had begun, and he was found stone-dead +a little way on, with his belly distended with ox-flesh and the bullet +in his lungs. He was a very large lion, measuring about ten and a-half +feet from tip to tip, rather old, and with broken porcupine-quills +embedded in his skin. A trap-gun was set, and two nights later a very +fine young black-maned lion, about the same size, was found dead a +hundred yards from the trap, with a broken shoulder and a bullet in +his spine. The remainder of the story shows the Providence which +watches over foolish oxen. All were recovered save one, which died of +red-water. They went straight back the road they had come; and though +the country-side was infested with lions, wolves, and tiger-cats, they +reached the mule-scherm at Brak River in safety. + +From Taqui the road climbs a chain of kopjes where it is almost +overarched with trees, so that a covered waggon has difficulty in +getting through. From the summit there is a long prospect of flat bush +country running to the Limpopo, with a bold ridge of hills on the +Rhodesian side, and far to the east the faint line of mountains which +is the continuation of the Zoutpansberg to the Portuguese border. The +bush was dotted with huge baobabs, the cream-of-tartar trees which so +impressed the voortrekkers in Lydenburg. At this season the branches +were leafless, but a good deal of fruit remained, which our native +boys eagerly gathered and munched for the rest of the journey. The +fruit has a hard shell, and is filled with little white kernels like +the sweetmeat called Turkish Delight. They have a faint sub-acid +flavour, but otherwise are rather insipid. Their properties are highly +salutary, and they are used to purify bad water and to keep the +hunters' blood clean in the absence of vegetable food. Their enormous +trunks, often forty feet in circumference, are not wood but a sort of +fibrous substance, so that a solid rifle bullet fired from short range +will go through them. The baobab is indeed less a tree than a gigantic +and salutary fungus; but in a distant prospect of landscape it has the +scenic effect of large timber. An old Boer in the hunting party we had +passed had given us an estimate of the distance to the next water; +but, as it turned out, he was hopelessly wrong. It is nearly +impossible to get a proper calculation of distance from country-people +in South Africa. They are accustomed to calculate in hours, which of +course vary in every district according to the nature of the road and +the quality of the transport. Six miles an hour is the usual +allowance; but when a Dutchman tries to calculate in miles he gets +wildly out of his bearings. The hours method still sticks in their +mind; and one man solemnly informed us that a certain place was six +miles off for horses and ten for mules. + +We outspanned for the night without water, and with the accompaniment +of scherm and camp fires. Next morning we came suddenly out of the +bush to a perfect English dell, where a little clear stream, the +first running water we had seen, flowed out of a reed-bed into a rock +pool. There were a few large trees and quantities of a kind of small +palm. Under the doubtful shade of a baobab we breakfasted, and then +went up the stream with our rifles to look for game. There was the +usual superfluity of birds, but we saw no big game except a few +bush-hogs. The stream ceased as suddenly as it began, and we followed +up a dry sandy bed all but overgrown with a thorn thicket. A mile or +so up we came on another pool, which was evidently the drinking-place +of the bush, for the edges were trodden with the spoor of pig and +monkey and a few large buck. Pig drink during the day, but the large +game come to the water early in the morning or very late in the +evening, and in the heat of mid-day go many miles into the bush. It +was a hot business ploughing along in the deep sand, and I was very +glad to return to the rock-pool and a bath on a cool slab of stone. +It is a good bush-veld rule to follow the advice of Mr Jorrocks and +sleep where you eat, and in the shade of the waggon we dozed till the +cooler afternoon. The evening trek was in the old thorn-country, +perfectly featureless, silent, and uninhabited. Since Malietsie's +location we had seen no Kaffirs except our own and the post-runners, +and we were told that this whole tract of land is almost without +natives. Even the water-holes, some of which are large and permanent, +have failed to attract inhabitants. I am reminded of a story which +has no application, but is worth recording. It was told to a burgher +camp official by an old and deeply religious Boer, who was greatly +pained at the experience. He fell asleep, he said, one night and +dreamed; and, lo and behold, he was dead and at the gates of +Paradise. An affable angel met him and conducted him to a place +where people were playing games and laughing loudly, and were +generally consumed with energy and high spirits. "This," said his +guide, "is the Rooinek heaven." "No place for me," said the dreamer; +"these folk do not keep the Sabbath, and their noise wearies me." +Then he came to another place where there was much beer and tobacco, +and roysterers were swilling from long mugs and smoking deep-bowled +pipes to the strains of a brass band. "Again this intolerable row," +said my friend, "though the tobacco looks good--clearly the German +paradise." The next place they came to was a town where thin-faced +men were running about buying and selling and screeching market +quotations. My friend would not at first believe that this was +Paradise at all, but his informant said it was the corner reserved +for virtuous Americans. "Take me as soon as possible to the paradise +of my own folk," said the dreamer; "I am tired of these uitlander +heavens." And then it seemed to him he was taken to a very beautiful +country place, with rich green veld, seamed with water-furrows, and +huge orchards of peaches and nartjes, and pleasant little houses with +broad stoeps. The soul of my friend was ravished at the sight. +Clearly, he thought, the Boers are God's chosen folk, and he was +about to select his farm when a thought struck him. "But where are +all our people?" he asked. "Alas!" said the affable angel, dropping a +tear, "it pains me to tell you that they are all in the Other Place." + +Our evening outspan was below the kopjes where the copper mines lie, +and a few tracks in the veld and an empty tin or two gave warning of +human habitation. These copper mines, which are about to be thoroughly +exploited by Johannesburg companies, are old Kaffir workings, and, +possibly, from some of the remains, Phoenician. The scenery suddenly +became very peculiar,--English park-land, but with a tint of green +which I have never seen before, a kind of dull metallic shade like some +mineral dye. There were avenues of tolerably high trees, and a sort of +natural hedgerow. The grass was short and rich, and but for the odd hue +not unlike a home meadow. There were also a number of wood-pigeons of +the same metallic green, so that the whole place was a symphony in a +not very pleasing colour. Early next morning, leaving our transport +behind, we set off for the Limpopo, which is about eight miles off. The +thorn thickets appeared again, and the heat as we descended into the +valley became oppressive. The altitude of the river is about 1500 feet, +which is a descent of nearly 3000 feet from the high veld, and even in +winter time the heat is considerable, for the soil is a fine sand, and +no breeze penetrates to the wooded valley. I had seen the Limpopo a +wild torrent in the passes of the Magaliesberg, and I had seen it a +broad navigable river at its mouth; so I was scarcely prepared for the +bed of dazzling white sand which here represented the stream. Main +Drift is about a quarter of a mile wide, with a bed of bulrushes in the +centre, and except for a thin trickle close to the Rhodesian shore it +is as dry as the Egyptian desert. But twelve miles higher up it is a +full stream with rapids and falls, crocodile and hippo, and some miles +down it is a stagnant tropical lagoon. The water is there, but buried +below Heaven knows how many feet of rock and sand. Those mysterious +African rivers which disappear and return after many miles have a +fascination for the mind which cares for the inexplicable. The valley +is there, the bulrushes, the shingle, the water-birds, but no +river--only a ribbon of white sand, or a few dusty holes in the rock. +And then without warning, as the traveller stumbles down the valley, +water rises before him like a mirage, and instead of a desert he has a +river-side. There is little kinship between the torrent which rushes +through Crocodile Poort and this arid hollow, but the great river never +loses itself, and though it is foiled and swamped and strained through +sand it succeeds in the end, like Oxus in the poem, in collecting all +its waters, and pours a stately flood through the low coast-lands to +the ocean. Ploughing about in the dry bed under the tropical noontide +sun was dreary work, and put us very much in the position of Mr Pliable +in the Slough of Despond, when he cried, "May I get out again with my +life, you shall possess the brave country alone for me." We saw a +number of spur-winged geese, which for some reason the Boers call wild +Muscovy, and a heron or two sailing down the blue. A little up stream +there was a lagoon in the sand flanked on one side by rocks--a clear +deep pool, where a man might bathe without fear of strange beasts. +Wallowing in the lukewarm water, the glare exceeded anything I have +known--blue water, white rock, and acres and acres of white sand +between hot copper-coloured hills. + +As we left the river we said farewell to the Road. It showed itself on +the Rhodesian side climbing a knoll past a cluster of huts which had +once been a police station, but had been relinquished because of the +great mortality from fever. Thereafter it was lost among bush and a +chain of broken hills. It cared nothing for appearances, being sandy +and overgrown and in places scarcely a track at all, for it had a +weary way to go before it could be called a civilised road again. +There was something purposeful and gallant in the little trail +plunging into the wilds, and with regret we took our last look of it +and turned our faces southwards. + +Our way back lay mostly through dense bush-land, and in the days of +hunting and the evenings round the fire I saw much of the life and +realised something of the fascination of this strange form of country. +It has no obvious picturesqueness, this interminable desert of thorn +and sand and rank grass, varied at rare intervals by a raw kopje or a +clump of timber. The sun beats on it at mid-day with pitiless force, +and if it was hot in the month of August, what must it be at midsummer? +The rivers are sand-filled ditches, and the infrequent water is found +commonly in brack lagoons; but, dry as it is, it has none of the +wholesomeness of most arid countries, generally forming a hotbed of +fever. An aneroid which I carried to give a flavour of science to our +expedition, put its average elevation at between 1500 and 2000 feet. +Agriculture is everywhere impossible, though some of the better +timbered parts might make good winter ranching country. But, apart from +possible mineral exploitation, the land must remain hunting veld, and +indeed is favourably placed for a large-game preserve. The very +scarcity of water makes it a suitable dwelling-place for the larger +buck, who drink but once a-day; and the difficulty of penetrating such +a desert will be an effective agent in preservation. A man walking +through it sees nothing for days beyond the dead green of thorn bush, +till he comes to some slight ridge and overlooks a round horizon, a +plain flat as mid-ocean, crisped with the same monotonous dwarf trees. +Hidden away round water-holes there are glades and drives with a faint +hint of that softness which to us is inseparable from woodland scenery, +but they are so few that they only increase by contrast the sense of +hard desolation. The bush is very silent. Its dwellers make no noise as +they move about, till evening brings the cries of beasts of prey. The +nights in winter are intensely cold, with a sharpness which I found +more difficult to endure than the honest frost of the high veld. The +noons are dusty and torrid, and the thirst of the bush is a thing not +easily coped with. But in three phases this desert took on a curious +charm. That South African landscape must be bleak indeed which is not +transformed by the mornings and evenings. For two hours after sunrise a +chill hangs in the air, light fresh winds blow from nowhere, and the +scrub which is so dead and ugly at mid-day assumes clear colours and +stands out olive-green and rich umber against the pale sky. At twilight +the wonderful amethyst haze turns everything to fairyland, the track +shimmers among purple shadows, and every little gap in the bush is +magnified to a glade in a forest. I have also a very vivid memory of a +view from one of the small ridges in full moonlight. It was like +looking from a hill-top on a vast virgin forest, a dark symmetrical +ocean of tree-tops with a glimpse of ivory from an open space where the +road emerged for a moment from the covert. + +There is little danger in hunting here unless you are happy enough to +meet a lion and so unfortunate as not to kill with the first shot. But +it is very arduous and hot, the clothes become pincushions of thorns, +face and hands are scratched violently with swinging boughs, and a +man's temper is apt to get brittle at times. In thick bush one can +only hunt by spoor, and it is a slow business with a grilling sun on +one's back and a few obtuse native boys. The native is usually a good +tracker, but he is an unsatisfactory colleague because of the +difficulty of communicating with him. For one thing, even in a +language which he understands, he does not seem to know the meaning of +the note of interrogation. If he is asked if a certain mark is a black +wildebeest's spoor, he imagines that his master asserts that such is +the case, and politely hastens to agree with him, whereas he knows +perfectly well that it is not, and if he understood that he was being +asked for information, would give it willingly. The difficulty, too, +of hunting by a kind of rude instinct is that when this instinct is at +fault he is left utterly helpless, and has no notion of any sort of +deductive reasoning. If a native is once lost he is thoroughly lost, +though his knowledge of the country may enable him to keep alive when +a white man would die. I found also that my boys had so many errands +of their own to do in the bush that it was difficult to keep them to +their work. They scrambled for baobab fruit; they hunted for wolves' +and lions' dung, from which they make an ointment, smeared with which +they imagine they can safely walk through the bush at all seasons. The +supreme danger of this kind of life is undoubtedly to be lost away +from water and tracks. It is a misfortune which any man may suffer, +but for any one with some experience of savage country, who takes his +bearings carefully at the start and never gets out of touch with them, +the danger is very small. In this country there is always some +landmark--a kopje, a big tree, and in some parts the distant ranges of +mountains--by which, with the sun and some knowledge of the lie of the +land, one can safely travel many miles from the camp. For a man on a +good horse there is no excuse, here at any rate, for losing himself; +for a man on foot heat and fatigue and the closeness of the bush may +well drive all calculations out of his head. Apart from other +terrors, a night in those wilds is likely to be disturbed from the +attentions of beasts of prey, and a man who has not the means of +making a scherm or a fire will have to spend a restless night in a +tree. To be finally and hopelessly lost is the most awful fate which I +can imagine. It is easy to conjure up the details, and many uneasy +nights I have spent in such dismal forecasts. First, the annoyance, +the hasty pushing through the scrub, believing the camp to be just in +front, and lamenting that you are late for dinner. Then the slow +fatigue, the slow consciousness that the camp is not there, that you +do not know where you are, and that you must make the best of the +night in the open. Morning comes, and confidently you try to take your +bearings; by this time others are seeking you, you reflect, and with a +little care you can find your whereabouts and go to meet them. Then a +long hot day, without water or food, pushing eternally through the +dull green scrub, every moment leaving confidence a little weaker, +till the second night comes, and you doze uneasily in a horror of +nightmare and physical illness. Then the spectral awaking, the +watching of a giddy sunrise, the slow forcing of the body to the same +hopeless quest, till the thorns begin to dance before you and the +black froth comes to the lips, and in a little reason takes wing, and +you die crazily by inches in the parched silence. + +I have said that the bush is without human inhabitants, but every now +and then we found traces of other travellers. A dusty pack-donkey +would suddenly emerge from the thicket, followed by two dusty and +sunburnt men, each with some prehistoric kind of gun. Sometimes we +breakfasted with this kind of party, and heard from them the curious +tale of their wanderings. They would ask us the news, having seen no +white man for half a-year, and it was odd to see the voracity with +which they devoured the very belated papers we could offer them. They +had been east to the Portuguese border and west to Bechuanaland and +north to the Zambesi, pursuing one of the hardest and most thankless +tasks on earth. The prospector skirmishes ahead of civilisation. On +his labours great industries are based, but he himself gets, as a +rule, little reward. Fever and starvation are incidents of his daily +life, and yet there is a certain relish in it for the old stager, and +I doubt if he would be content to try an easier job which curtailed +his freedom. For, if you think of it, there is an undercurrent of +perpetual excitement in the life, which is treasure-hunting made a +business: any morning may reveal the great reef or the rich pipe, and +change this dusty fellow with his tired mules into a nabob. Among the +taciturn men who crept out of the bush every type was represented, +from Australian cow-punchers to well-born gentlemen from home, whose +names were still on the lists of good clubs. One party I especially +remember, three huge Canadians, who came in the darkness and encamped +by our fire. They had a ramshackle cart and two mules, and the whole +outfit was valeted by the very smallest nigger-boy you can imagine. It +did one good to see the way in which that child sprang to attention at +sunrise, and, clad simply in a gigantic pair of khaki trousers and one +side of an old waistcoat, lit the fire, made coffee for his three +masters, cooked breakfast, caught and harnessed the mules, and was +squatting in the cart, all within the shortest possible time. The +Canadians had been all over the world and in every profession, but of +all trades they liked the late war best, and made anxious inquiries +about Somaliland. They were the true adventurer type,--long, thin, +hollow-eyed, tough as whipcord, men who, like the Black Douglas, would +rather hear the lark sing than the mouse cheep. After making fierce +inroads on my tobacco, and giving me their views on the native +question and many incidental matters, they departed into the Western +bush, one man cracking the whip and whistling "Annie Laurie," and the +other two, with guns, creeping along on the flanks. I took off my hat +in spirit to the advance-guard of our people, the men who know much +and fear little, who are always a little ahead of everybody else in +the waste places of the earth. You can readily whistle them back to +the defence of some portion of the Empire or gather them for the +maintenance of some single frontier; but when the work is done they +retire again to their own places, with their eyes steadfastly to the +wilds but their ears always open for the whistle to call them back +once more. + +_August 1903._ + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICAN SPORT. + + +The great days of South African sport are over, and there is no +disguising the fact. Open any early record, such as Oswell or +Gordon-Cumming, and the size and variety of the bag dazzles the mind +of the amateur of to-day. Then it was possible to shoot lion in Cape +Colony and elephant in the Transvaal, and to find at one's door game +whose only habitat is now some narrow region near the Mountains of the +Moon. Turn even to the later pages of Mr Selous, and anywhere north of +a line drawn east and west through Pretoria, there was such sport to +be had as can now be found with difficulty on the Zambesi. The absence +of game laws and the presence of many bold hunters have cleared the +veld of the vast herds of antelope which provided the voortrekker with +fresh meat, and the advance of industry and settlement have driven +predatory animals still farther afield. From the Zambesi southward ten +or twelve species of antelope may still be found in fair numbers, but +the nobler and larger kinds of game, the giraffe, the koodoo, the +black wildebeest, the two hartebeests, and the eland, are scarce save +in a few remote valleys. The white rhinoceros is almost extinct and +the ordinary kind uncommon. The hippopotamus, which is not a sporting +animal, is still found in most tropical rivers; wild pigs--both +bush-hog and wart-hog--are plentiful in the northern bush; but the +graceful zebra is rapidly disappearing. Lion are still fairly easy to +come on unawares anywhere north of the Limpopo, and in the mountains +and flats of the north-eastern Transvaal. A few troops of elephant may +exist unpreserved in the region between the Pungwe and the Zambesi, a +few in Northern Mashonaland, with perhaps one or two in the Northern +Kalahari. The war, on the whole, has been on the side of the wild +animals, for though large herds of springbok and blesbok were +slaughtered by the troops on the high veld, the native, that +inveterate poacher, has been restrained from his evil ways by +lucrative military employment, so that the northern districts are +better stocked to-day than they were five years ago. But the fact +remains that South Africa is no longer virgin hunting-veld. The game +is disappearing, and, unless every care is taken, will in a few years +go the way of the American buffalo. If we are to preserve for South +Africa its oldest inhabitants, and keep it as a hunting-ground for the +true sportsman, we must bestir ourselves and act promptly. In this, as +in graver questions, an intelligent forethought must take the place of +the old slackness. + +Such a policy must take two forms,--the establishment of good laws for +the preservation of game and the regulation of sport, and the formation +of game-reserves. The best course would have been to declare a rigid +close time for five years, during which no game other than birds and +destructive animals should be killed, save in the case of damage to +crops. The administrative difficulties, however, in the way of such a +heroic remedy were very great, and the code of game laws, now in force +in the Transvaal, seems to mark the limit of possible restriction. +Under these power is given to declare a close season--a valuable +discretionary power, since the season varies widely for different kinds +of game--during which no game may be killed, and also to preserve +absolutely any specified bird or animal in any specified district up to +a period of three years. This would permit the absolute preservation of +such animals as the springbok and the blesbok in certain parts of the +country where they are scarce, without interfering with sport in other +localities where they are plentiful. The ordinary shooting licence for +birds and antelope is fixed at L3 for the season; but certain rarer +animals have been made special game, and to hunt these permission must +be obtained in writing from the Colonial Secretary and a fee paid of +L25. The chief of these are the elephant, hippo, rhinoceros, buffalo; +the quagga and the zebra; the two hartebeests, the two wildebeests, the +roan and the sable antelope, the koodoo, eland, giraffe, and tsessabe. +The wild ostrich and that beautiful bird the mahem or crested crane +(_Chrysopelargus balearica_) are also included. Provision is made +against the sale or destruction of the eggs of game-birds and the sale +of dead game in the close season. Under this law the ordinary man, on +the payment of a small sum, has during the season the right to shoot +over thirty varieties of game-birds and over a dozen kinds of buck, as +well as wild pig and lion and tiger-cats, if he is fortunate enough to +find them, on most Crown lands and on private lands when he can get the +owner's permission,--a tolerably wide field for the sportsman. But +restrictive laws are not enough in themselves; it is necessary to +provide an equivalent to the sanctuary in a deer-forest, reserves +where wild animals are immune at all seasons. The late Government +established several nominal reserves, notably on the Lesser Sabi +River and in the extreme eastern corner of Piet Retief which adjoins +Tongaland; but no proper steps were taken to enforce the reservations. +The new Government has strictly delimited the Sabi preserve and +appointed a ranger; and certain adjoining land companies between the +Sabi and the Olifants have made similar provisions for their own land. +But one reserve in one locality is not enough. The true principle is +to establish a small reserve and a sanctuary in each district. Part of +the Crown lands in Northern Rustenburg, in Waterberg, in Northern and +Eastern Zoutpansberg, and especially in the Springbok Flats district, +might well be formed into reserves without any real injury to such +agricultural and pastoral development as they are capable of. If the +greater land companies could be induced to follow suit--and there is +no reason why they should not--an effective and far-reaching system +of game preservation could be put in force.[12] Finally, something +must be done at once to stop native poaching, more especially the +depredations of the wretched Kaffir dogs. Officers of constabulary, +land inspectors, as well as all owners and lessees of farms, should +have the power to shoot at sight any dog trespassing on a game-preserve +or detected in the pursuit of game. An increased dog-tax, too, might +stop the present system of large mongrel packs which are to be seen in +any Kaffir kraal. A stringent Vermin Act, which is highly necessary for +the protection of small stock like sheep and goats, would also help to +prevent the slaughter of buck by wild dogs and jackals. + +But for the big-game hunter, in the old African sense, there is little +or nothing left. The day of small things has arisen, and we must be +content to record tamely our sport in braces of birds and heads of +small buck, where our grandfathers recorded theirs in lion-skins and +tusks and broken limbs. Big game there still is, but they are far +afield, and have to be pursued at some risk to horse and man from fly +and malaria. The lion, as I have said, is still fairly common in the +district between Magatoland and the Limpopo, in the continuation of +the Zoutpansberg east to the Rooi Rand, down the slopes of the +Lebombo, and in the flats along the Lower Letaba, Olifants, and +Limpopo. He is frequently met with in most parts of Rhodesia, though +his habits are highly capricious, and while a tourist one day's +journey from Salisbury may see several, a man who spends six months +hunting may never get a shot. Portuguese territory is still a haunt of +big game, though the natives are doing their best to exterminate it, +for the thick bush and the pestilent climate between the Lebombo and +the sea will always make hunting difficult; and the Pungwe and its +tributaries still form, at the proper season, perhaps the best +shooting-ground south of the Zambesi. The elephant cannot be counted a +quarry; and any man who attempts to kill an elephant in South Africa +to-day deserves severe treatment, save in such preserves as the Addo +Bush and the Knysna forest in Cape Colony, where they are rapidly +becoming a nuisance. A few head of buffalo still survive, in spite of +rinderpest, in the extreme Eastern Transvaal, as well as in Portuguese +territory; and the eland, that noblest and largest of buck, is found +along the Portuguese border. Report has it that in some of the +Drakensberg kloofs between Basutoland and Natal a few stray eland may +also be found. The beautiful antelopes, sable and roan, the exquisite +koodoo, the blue wildebeest and the two hartebeests, roam in small +herds on the malarial eastern flats, and a few giraffe are reported +from the same neighbourhood. The gemsbok, with his lengthy taper +horns, has long been confined to the remote parts of the Kalahari. + +A big-game expedition will, therefore, in a few years' time still be a +possibility in Central South Africa, and with judicious management it +may long remain so, for those who can afford the time and the not +inconsiderable expense. The best place must remain the country between +the Lebombo and the Drakensberg, and north from the Olifants to the +Limpopo. Eastern Mashonaland, the Kalahari, and the Pungwe district +will be available for those who care to go farther afield. The venue +must be chosen according as a man proposes to hunt on horse or on foot. +Both forms of sport have their attractions. On the great open flats of +the Kalahari and Rhodesia no sport in the world can equal the pursuit +of big game with a trained horse--the wild gallop, stalking, so to +speak, at racing speed, the quick dismounting and firing, the pursuit +of a maimed animal, the imminent danger, perhaps, from a charging +buffalo or a wounded lion. This horseback hunting is, as a rule, +pursued in a healthy country, every moment is full of breathless +excitement, and success requires a steady nerve and a sure seat. But +stalking on foot in thick bush makes greater demands on bodily strength +and self-possession. The country is rarely wholesome, and in those +blazing flats a long daylight stalk will tire the strongest. There is +more need, too, for veld-craft, and an intimate knowledge of the habits +of game; and when game is found, there is more need for a clear eye and +a steady pulse, for a man hunting in veldschoen and a shirt is pretty +well at the mercy of a mad animal. But in both forms of sport there is +the same lonely freedom, the same wonderful earth, and the same homely +and intimate comforts. No man can ever forget the return, utterly +tired, in the cool dusk, which is alive with the glimmer of wings, and +the sight of the waggon-lantern and the great fire at which the boys +are cooking dinner. A wash and a drink--indispensable after a hot day +lest a man should overstay his appetite; and then a hunter's meal, +which tastes as the cookery of civilisation seldom tastes. There is no +reason why a hunter should not live well, far better than in any South +African town, for he can count on fresh meat always, and, if he is +fortunate, on eggs and fish and fruit. And then the evening pipe in a +deck-chair, with the big lantern swinging from a tree, the great fire +making weird shadows in the forest, and natives chattering drowsily +around the ashes. Lastly, to an early bed in his blankets, and up again +at dawn, with another day before him of this sane and wholesome life. + +The chief dangers in African hunting, greater far than any from wild +animals, are the chances of malaria and the possibility of getting +lost. In many trips the first may be absent, but for a keen man it is +often necessary to time his expeditions when the grass is short or +when he has a chance of having the field to himself, periods which do +not always coincide with the healthy season. It is not for anyone to +venture lightly on a long hunting trek. But, granted a sound +constitution, decent carefulness in matters such as the abstinence +from all liquids save at meals, and from alcohol save before dinner, +and the rigorous use of a mosquito-curtain, can generally bring a man +safely through. The system can be fortified by small and regular doses +of quinine, and the camp should be pitched, whenever possible, in some +dry and open spot. These may seem foolish precautions to an old hunter +whose body has been seasoned with innumerable attacks, but it is wise +for one who has not suffered that misfortune to take every means to +avoid it. To be lost in the bush is an accident which every man is +horribly afraid of, and which may happen any day even to the most +cautious, unless he has gone far in the curious lore of the wilds. +There are men, of course, who are beyond the fear of it, chosen +spirits to whom a featureless plain is full of intricate landmarks, +and the sky is a clearer chart than any map. But the common traveller +may walk a score of yards or so from the path, look round, see all +about him high waving grasses somewhere in which the road is hidden, +go off hastily in what seems the right direction, walk for a couple of +hours and change his mind, and then, lo! and behold, his nerve goes +and he is lost, perhaps for days, perhaps for ever. The ordinary +procedure of a hunting trip, tossing for beats in the morning and then +scattering each in a different direction, gives scope for such +misfortunes. The safest plan is, of course, never to go out without a +competent native guide; and, where this precaution is out of the +question, the next best is to rely absolutely on some experienced +member of the party who can follow spoor, sit down once you have lost +your bearings, and wait till he finds you. A time is fixed after +which, if a man does not return, it is presumed that he is in +difficulties, and a search party is sent out; and naturally it saves a +great deal of trouble if a man does not confuse the searchers by +constantly going back on his tracks. If the hunter is on horseback he +can try trusting his horse, which is said--I have happily never had +occasion to prove the truth of the saying--to be able on the second +day to go back to its last water. The whole hunting veld is full of +gruesome tales of men utterly lost or found too late; and most hunting +parties in flat or thickly wooded country come back with a wholesome +dread of the mischances of the bush. + +For the man who has little time to spare there remain the smaller +buck. And such game is not to be lightly despised. The commonest and +smallest are the little duiker and steinbok, shy, fleet little +creatures which give many a sporting shot and make excellent eating. I +suppose there are few farms in any part of South Africa without a few +of them, and in some districts they are nearly as common as hares on +an English estate. The springbok, a true gazelle, is more local in his +occurrence, though large herds still exist in Cape Colony and parts of +the Orange River Colony. Fair-sized herds are to be found, too, in the +western district of the Transvaal and in certain parts of Waterberg +and Ermelo. The blesbok is rather less frequent, though he used to be +common enough, but there are numerous small herds in various parts of +the country. These four varieties are the stand-by of South African +shooting: other buck are to be sought more as trophies than in the +ordinary way of sport. The water-buck, with his handsome head, and +extremely poor venison, is common along all the sub-tropical and +tropical rivers, but to shoot him requires a certain amount of +trekking. So with the reed-buck, who haunts the same localities, +though he is still found in places so close to the high veld as the +southern parts of Marico and the Amsterdam district in the east. The +beautiful impala, with his reddish coat and delicately notched +antlers, is the commonest buck in the Sabi game-preserves, and extends +over most of the bush veld, as well as parts of Waterberg and a few +farms in the south-east. The klipspringer is found on all the slopes +of the great eastern range of mountains, and is very common on the +Natal side of the Drakensberg. He is a beautiful and difficult quarry, +having a chamois-like love of inaccessible places, and being able to +cover the most appalling ground at racing speed. The vaal rhebok and +the rooi rhebok are found in small numbers in the same localities, and +the latter is also fairly common in the wooded hills around Zeerust. +Both the bush-pig and the wart-hog are plentiful in the bush veld, and +on the slopes of the eastern mountains. Finally, the bush-buck, one of +the most beautiful, and, for his size, the fiercest of all buck, is +widely distributed among the woods of Cape Colony and Natal, and in +the belts of virgin forest which extend with breaks from Swaziland to +Zoutpansberg. Living in the dense undergrowth, he has been pretty well +out of the way of the hunter who killed for the pot. He is an awkward +fellow to meet at close quarters in a bad country, for, when wounded, +he will charge, and his powerful horns are not pleasant to encounter. +There have been several cases of natives, and even of white men, who +have died of wounds from his assaults. His elder brother, the inyala, +does not, so far as I know, appear south of the Limpopo. + +The favourite South African method of shooting such game as the +springbok is by driving him with an army of native beaters down wind +against the guns. In an open country buck can be stalked on horseback +or ridden down in the Dutch fashion of "brandt." Elsewhere stalking on +foot is the only way, a difficult matter unless the hunter knows the +habits and haunts of the game. South African shooting seems hard at +first to the new-comer, partly from the difficulty of judging +distances in the novel clearness of the air, partly from the shyness +of game, which often makes it necessary to take shots at a range which +seems ridiculous to one familiar only with Scots deer-stalking, and +partly from the extraordinary tenacity of life which those wild +animals show,[13] limiting the choice of marks to a very few parts of +the body. But experience can do much, and in time any man with a clear +eye and good nerve may look for reasonable success. As has been noted +in a former chapter, the best shots in the country, with a few +exceptions, are to be found among English immigrants and Colonists of +English blood. It is a kind of shooting which seems incredible at +first sight to the ordinary man from home. I have known such a hunter +to put a bullet at over 100 yards through the head of a korhaan, a +bird scarcely larger than a blackcock: a feat which might be set down +to accident were it not that the same man was accustomed to shoot +small buck running at 200 yards with remarkable success. I should be +very sorry to wage war against a corps of sharpshooters drawn from old +African hunters. + +There remain the numerous game-birds of the country. The finest is, of +course, the greater paauw, but he is not very common in the Transvaal +itself, though frequent enough in Bechuanaland, Rhodesia, and some +parts of the northern bush veld. But of the bustard family, to which +the comprehensive name of korhaan is applied, there are at least four +varieties, two of which are very common. The bustard is an easy bird, +save that he carries a good deal of shot, and has a knack of keeping +out of range unless properly stalked or driven. The Dutch word +"patrys," again, covers at least eight varieties of the true +partridge, and if we include the sand-grouse (called the Namaqua +partridge), of two or three more. None of the South African partridge +tribe are equal to their English brothers; but there is no reason why +the English bird should not be introduced, and thrive well, and indeed +experiments in this direction are being made. There are three birds +which the Dutch call "pheasant," two of them francolins and one the +curious dikkop--birds which have few of the qualities of the English +pheasant, but which are strong on the wing, offer fair shots, and make +excellent eating. Quail are found at certain seasons of the year in +vast quantities, and give good sport with dogs; but to my mind the +finest South African bird, excepting of course the greater paauw, is +the guinea-fowl, which the Dutch call by the quaint and beautiful name +of _tarentaal_. There are two varieties, fairly well distributed--the +ordinary crested (_Numida coronata_) and the blue-headed (_Numida +Edouardi_). In parts of the bush veld they may be seen roosting at +night on trees so thickly that the branches are bent with their +weight. When pursued in broken country, what with dodging among stones +and trees and his short unexpected flight, the guinea-fowl offers some +excellent shooting, and as a table-bird he is not easy to beat. +Wildfowl are an uncertain quantity on the uplands, though very common +nearer the coast. They do not come to the rivers, but, on the other +hand, they frequent in great numbers farm dams and the pans and lakes +of Standerton and Ermelo. What the Dutch call specifically the "wilde +gans" is the Egyptian goose; but several other varieties, including +the spur-winged, are to be found. There are some ten kinds of duck, +but it would be difficult to say which is the commonest, as they vary +in different districts. The Dutch call a bird "teel" which is not the +true teal, but the variety known as the Cape teal (_Nettion capense_), +though there is more than one kind of proper teal to be met with. +There is a black duck, a variety of pochard, a variety of shoveller, +and a kind of shell-duck which is known as the mountain duck +(_bergeend_). Wild pigeons exist in endless quantities; and I must not +omit the pretty spur-winged plover, which cries all day long on the +western veld, or that most cosmopolitan of birds, the snipe. Along the +reed-beds of the Limpopo, in the bulrushes which fringe the pans in +Ermelo, by every spruit and dam, you may put up precisely the same +fellow that you shoot in Hebridean peat-mosses or on Swedish lakes, or +along the canals of Lower Egypt. The little brown long-billed bird has +annihilated time and space and taken the whole world for his home. + +There is need of some little care lest we drive the wild birds +altogether away from the neighbourhood of the towns. They are still +plentiful, but, if over-shot, they change their quarters; and people +complain that whereas five years ago they could get excellent shooting +within three miles of their door, they have now to content themselves +with a few stragglers. It is for the owners of land to see that its +denizens are properly protected, for the disappearance of big game is +an awful warning not to presume on present abundance. Some day we +may hope to see the country farmer as eager to preserve his game as +he is now to destroy it. There needs but the pinch of scarcity and +the growth of a market value for shooting to turn the present +free-and-easy ways into a perhaps too rigorous protective system. + +There remain two sports which are still in their infancy in the +country and deserve serious development--the keeping of harriers and +angling. I say harriers advisedly, for though it would be better to +stick to drafts from foxhound packs because of the greater strength +and hardiness of the hounds, yet the sport can never fairly be +dignified by the name of fox-hunting. The quarries will be the hare, +the small buck, and in certain districts the jackal. The veld in parts +is a fine natural hunting-ground, and the hazards, which will be +wanting in the shape of hedges and banks, will exist very really in +ant-bear holes and dongas. As the fencing laws take effect there will +be wire to go over for those who have Australian nerves. The +Afrikander pony is an animal born for the work, and once harrier packs +were established there is every reason to believe that the Dutch +farmers would join in the sport. The only two reasons I have ever +heard urged against the proposal are--first, that hounds when brought +out to South Africa lose their noses; and, second, that it would be +hard to get a good scent in the dry air of the veld. The first is true +in a sense, but only because a draft brought out from home is usually +set to work at once and not acclimatised gradually to the change of +air. There is no inherent impossibility in keeping a dog's nose good, +as is shown by the many excellent setters and pointers that have been +imported. In any case, if the master of harriers breeds carefully he +ought in a few years to get together a thoroughly acclimatised pack. +As for the matter of scent, there is no denying that it would not lie +on the ordinary hot dry day, but this only means that it will not be +possible to hunt all the year round. I can imagine no better weather +than the cool moist days which are common on the high veld in autumn +and early spring, and even in summer the mornings up to ten o'clock +are cool enough for the purpose. South African hunts must follow the +Indian fashion, and when they cannot get whole days for their sport +make the best of the early hours. + +Fishing, I am afraid, has been in the past a neglected sport. The Boer +left it to the Kaffir, and the uitlander had better things to think +about. Had the land possessed any native fish of the type of the +American brook-trout or the land-locked salmon, perhaps it would have +been different; but in the high-veld streams the only notable fish are +two species of carp, known as yellow-fish and white-fish, which run +from 2 lb. to 6 lb., and the barbel, which may weigh anything up to 30 +lb.[14] There are also eels, which may be disregarded. I do not think +these South African fish are to be despised, for though they may be +dead-hearted compared with a trout or a salmon, they give better sport +than English coarse fish, and the barbel is quite as good as a pike. +The ordinary bait is mealie-meal paste, a locust or any kind of small +animal, a phantom minnow, and even a piece of bright rag. I have known +both kinds of carp take a brightly coloured sea-trout fly, and give +the angler a very good run for his pains. But the great South African +fish is the tiger-fish, confined, unhappily, to sub-tropical rivers +and malarial country. He is not unlike a trout in appearance, save for +his fierce head, which suggests the _Salmo ferox_. In any of the +eastern rivers--Limpopo, Letaba, Olifants, Sabi, Crocodile, Komati, +Usutu, Umpilusi--he is the chief--indeed, so far as I could judge, the +only--fish, and he is one of the most spirited of his tribe. He will +readily take an artificial minnow, and also, I am told, a large salmon +fly, but the tackle must be at least as strong as for pike, for his +formidable teeth will shear through any ordinary casting line. His +average weight is perhaps about 10 lb., though he has been caught up +to 30 lb., but it is not his size so much as his extraordinary +fierceness and dash which makes him attractive. When hooked he leaps +from the water like a clean salmon, and for an hour or more he may +lead the perspiring fisherman as pretty a dance as he could desire. If +any one is inclined to think angling a tame sport, I can recommend +this experiment. Let him go out on some river like the Komati on a +stifling December day, when the sky is brass above and not a breath of +air breaks the stillness, in one of the leaky and crazy cobles of +those parts. Let him hook and land a tiger-fish of 20 lb., at the +imminent risk of capsizing and joining the company of the engaging +crocodiles, or, when he has grassed the fish, of having a finger +bitten off by his iron teeth, and then, I think, he will admit, so far +as his scanty breath will allow him, that an hour's fishing may +afford all the excitement which an average man can support. + +So much for the fish of the country. But Central South Africa affords +a magnificent field for the introduction and acclimatisation of the +greatest of sporting fish. Ceylon and New Zealand have already shown +what can be done with the trout in new waters, and in Cape Colony and +Natal the same experiment has been made with much success. The high +veld is only less good than New Zealand as a home for trout. To be +sure, there is no snow-water, but there is the next best thing in +water whose temperature varies very little all the year round. The +ordinary sluggish spruits are of course unsuitable, but the mountain +burns in the east and north are perfect natural trout-streams, with +clear cold water, abundant fall, gravel bottoms, and all the feeding +which the most gluttonous of fish could desire. The Transvaal Trout +Acclimatisation Society, founded in Johannesburg in 1902, has +established a hatchery on the Mooi River above Potchefstroom, and is +making the most praiseworthy efforts, by the creation of local +committees, to excite a general interest in the work throughout the +country. It will still be some years before any trout-stream can be +stocked and thrown open to anglers; but there is no reason why in time +there should not be one in most districts. The Mooi and the Klip +rivers near Johannesburg, the Magalies and the Hex rivers in +Rustenburg, the Upper Malmani in Lichtenburg, every stream in +Magatoland and the Wood Bush, the torrents which fall from Lydenburg +into the flats, and all the many mountain streams which run into +Swaziland from the high veld, may yet be as good trout-waters as any +in Lochaber. The rainbow and the Lochleven trout will be the staple +importation; but in some of the larger streams experiments might be +made with the American ouananiche and the Danubian huchen. It is +difficult to exaggerate the service which might thus be rendered to +the country. If in the dams and streams within easy distance of the +towns a sound form of sport can be provided at reasonable cost, the +first and greatest of the amenities of life will have been introduced. +At present on the Rand there are no proper modes of relaxation: most +men work till they drop, and then take their jaded holiday in Europe. +Yet how many, if they had the chance, would go off from Saturday to +Monday with their rods, and find by the stream-side the old healing +quiet of nature? + +There is a future for South African sport if South Africa is alive to +her opportunity. It is a country of sportsmen, and sport with the +better sort of man is a sound basis of friendship. Game Preservation +Societies are being started in many districts, and when we find the two +races united in a common purpose, which touches not politics or dogma +but the primitive instincts of humankind, something will have been done +towards unity. The matter is equally important from the standpoint of +game protection. The private landowner can do more than the land +company, and the land company can do more than the Government, towards +ensuring the future of sport. Many Dutch farmers have preserved in the +past, and a general extension of this spirit would work wonders in a +few years. Vanishing species would be saved, banished game would +return, and our conscience would be clear of one of the most heinous +sins of civilisation. As an instance of what can be done by private +effort, there is a farm not sixty miles from a capital city where at +this moment there are impala, rooi hartebeest, koodoo, and wild +ostrich. + +There are few countries in the world where sport can be enjoyed in +more delectable surroundings. The cold fresh mornings, when the mist +is creeping from the grey hills and the vigour of dawn is in the +blood; the warm sun-steeped spaces at noonday; the purple dusk, when +the veld becomes a kind of Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon, +full of fairy lights and mysterious shadows; the bitter night, when +the southern constellations blaze in the profound sky,--he who has +once seen them must carry the memory for ever. It is such things, and +not hunger and thirst and weariness, which remain in a man's mind. For +the lover of nature and wild things (which is to say the true +sportsman) it is little wonder if, after these, home and ambition and +a comfortable life seem degrees of the infinitely small. And the +others, who are only brief visitors, will carry away unforgettable +pictures to tantalise them at work and put them out of all patience +with an indoor world--the bivouac under the stars on the high veld, or +some secret glen of the Wood Bush, or the long lines of hill which +huddle behind Lydenburg into the sunset. + + + [12] In other parts of British Africa the policy of reserves + has received full recognition. In East Africa there are + two large reserves, one along the Uganda Railway and + the other near Lake Rudolf. In the Soudan there is a + vast reserve between the Blue and the White Niles, and + most of the best shooting-ground throughout the country + is strictly protected. + + [13] The eland is the one conspicuous exception. + + [14] A Transvaal friend informs me that my classification, + though the one commonly in use, is quite inaccurate. The + yellow-fish and the white-fish are not carp but species + of barbel, and what I have called barbel is another + variant of the same family, called by the Dutch + "kalverskop," or "calf's-head," from its shape. There is + no true carp, though the Dutch give the name of "kurper" + to a very curious little fish about four inches long + which is common in streams flowing into the Vaal. The + other chief varieties are the coarse mud-fish and the + cat-fish, which latter is often mixed up with the + barbel. It is to be hoped that some local ichthyologist + will give his attention to the native fishes--a very + interesting subject, and one at present in the most + unscientific confusion. + + + + +PART III. + +THE POLITICAL PROBLEM + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE ECONOMIC FACTOR. + + +After a three years' war, and at the cost of over 200 millions, +Britain has secured for her own children the indisputable possession +of the new colonies. In earlier chapters an attempt has been made to +sketch roughly the historical influences which may help to shape the +future and to describe the actual features of the land which charm and +perplex the beholder. We have now to face the direct problems into +which the situation can be resolved, and in particular that question +of material wellbeing which is the most insistent, because the most +easily realised, for both statesman and people. The economic factor in +the politics of a country is always a difficult matter to discuss, for +it is made up of infinite details, some of them purely speculative, +all of them hard to disentangle. If a business man were to do what he +never does, and sit down to analyse calmly his position, he would have +to go far beyond balance-sheets and statements of profit and loss. He +would be compelled to look into the social and economic conditions +under which he lived; he would have to estimate rival activities and +forecast their development; the money market, rates of exchange, the +nature of the labour supply, the effect of political and social +movements, even such matters as his own bodily and mental health, and +his standing among his fellows, would properly make part of the +inquiry. With the private individual the analysis would be ridiculous, +because the component parts are too minute to realise; but with a +nation, where the lines are broader, some stock-taking of this kind is +periodically desirable. But in spite of, or because of, the complexity +of the inquiry, the human mind is apt to complicate it needlessly by +running after side-issues and losing sight of the main features of the +problem. The economic position of a country embraces in a sense almost +every detail of human life; but there is no reason why the mass of +detail should be allowed to get out of focus and obscure the synthesis +of the survey. Provided we remember that the economic factor is not +correctly estimated by looking only at revenue and expenditure, +imports and exports, and fiscal provisions, we may safely devote our +energies to steering clear of the labyrinth of secondary detail in +which the ordinary statistician would seek to involve us. + +In the following pages it is proposed to confine the survey to what +appear to be the main features of a complex question. It would be vain +to embark on speculations as to the payable ore in the ground, market +forecasts, suggestions for new industries, and the many hints towards +a reformed fiscal system with which local and European papers have +been crowded. It is sufficient to note the existence of such +questions; the materials for a true understanding of the South African +economy are not to be found in them. In particular it is proposed to +avoid needless statistics, which, apart from the fact that they are +often inaccurate and partisan, are the buttress of that particularist +logic which is the foe of true reason. Two questions may be taken as +the general heads of our inquiry: first, Wherein consists the wealth +of the land, actual and potential? and, secondly, How best may that +wealth be maintained and developed for the national good? + + +I. + +The cardinal economic fact is the existence of gold--gold as it is +found in no other country, not in casual pockets and reefs, but in +quantities which can for the most part be accurately mapped out and +valued months and years before it is worked; gold which is mined not +as an adventure, but as an organised and stable industry. The Main +Reef formation extends for sixty-two miles, from Randfontein to +Holfontein,[15] but three-fourths of the gold mined has been produced +in the central section, which is only some twelve miles long. In 1886 +the district was proclaimed a public gold-field, and since that day +ore worth nearly 100 millions sterling has been extracted. The +development took place in spite of difficulties which vastly increased +the working costs. The dynamite and railway monopolies, the heavy +expense of the transit of machinery from the coast, the absence of +subsidiary local industries to feed the gold industry, forced the work +into the hands of a small circle of rich firms who could provide the +large capital and face the heavy risks of a new enterprise. It is +clear, therefore, that mining on the Rand, while a notable enterprise, +has necessarily been a slow one, since the two natural factors, the +amount of gold in the soil and the labour of working it, have been +complicated by many artificial hindrances. The past is not the true +basis for estimating the future of the industry; the proper premises +for a forecast are the two natural factors--the quantity of gold in +the earth and the normal cost of winning it. It is the first that +concerns us at present. + +All estimates must be merely conjectural, and can be used only with +the greatest caution. But in the multitude of conjectures there may be +such a consensus of opinion as to ensure us a fair certainty that this +or that is the view of those who are best fitted to judge. Mr Bleloch, +in a calculation based on the report of the most eminent engineers, +values the amount of gold still in the Rand at 2871 millions sterling, +showing a profit to the companies concerned of over 975 millions. If +we put the life of the Rand at one hundred years, which is a mean +between conflicting estimates, we shall have an average, allowing for +reserve funds, of 8 millions to be paid yearly in dividends to +shareholders. In 1898 twenty-six companies paid dividends amounting to +over 4 millions: therefore, on Mr Bleloch's figures, we can promise at +least one hundred years to the Rand of twice the prosperity of 1898. +These figures include the deep levels, but do not take into account +any of the Rand extensions, in which the Main Reef has been traced for +over 300 miles. It is certain that in the direction of Heidelberg and +Greylingstad gold in payable quantities exists for not less than +seventy miles, and it is at least probable that a similar extension +exists in the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp districts in the west. So +much for the peculiar "banket" formation of the Rand, which must +remain the type of stable gold-mining,--stable, because the element of +uncertainty over any group of properties is reduced to a minimum, and +the high organisation necessary and the large initial outlay produce a +community less of rivals than of fellow-workers. Quartz reefs and +alluvial deposits are found in many parts of the country. In Lydenburg +and Barberton, where the earliest gold mines were sunk, several +producing companies are at work; and this type of mining will develop +equally with the Rand under a system which abolishes monopolies and +assists instead of discouraging enterprise. In the northern districts, +around the Wood Bush and the Zoutpansberg ranges, there are quartz and +alluvial mining, and indications of "banket" formation, and in the all +but unknown region adjoining Portuguese territory, if tales be true, +there may be gold in quantities still undreamed of. + +No figures are reliable, all estimates are disputed, but from the very +contradictions one fact emerges--that there is gold enough to give +employment to a greatly increased mining population for at least fifty +years, and to decentralise the industry and create large industrial +belts instead of one industrial city. Nor is gold the only mineral. +From Pretoria to Piet Retief run coal-beds, many of them of great +richness and good quality, covering an area of more than 10,000 square +miles. It has been calculated that 60,000 million tons are available. +The quality of the coal in the undeveloped beds lying to the south of +Middelburg is, in the opinion of experts, equal to the best British +product. Iron-ore is abundant in many parts, particularly in the +coal-bearing regions of the east. Lead has been worked near Zeerust, +and there are good grounds for believing that copper in large +quantities exists in Waterberg and in the tract between Pietersburg +and the Limpopo. Diamond pipes are found in several places in the +region due east of Pretoria, where the new Premier Mine seems to +promise a richness not equalled by Kimberley; and it is probable that +places like the Springbok Flats and the western parts of Christiana +are highly diamondiferous. Sapphires have been found in the west, and +diamonds and spinels are reported from the northern mountains. Few +countries have a soil more amply mineralised; but the sparse +population, mainly absorbed in the quest of one mineral, has done +little to exploit its wealth. Mining, save for gold and coal, is still +in the Transvaal a thing of the future. The agricultural and pastoral +wealth is dealt with in another chapter. But we may note an asset, +which is wholly undeveloped, in the cultivation and protection of the +natural wood of the north and east, and the planting of imported +trees. Timber in an inland mining country is a valuable product, and +on the soil of the high veld new plantations spring up like mushrooms. +Ten feet a-year is the common rate of growth for gums, and in the +warmer tracts it is nearer twenty. Many indigenous South African +trees, which a few years ago, under an unwise system of timber +concessions, were disappearing from most places save a few sequestered +glens in the north, might under proper care become a lucrative branch +of forestry. Current estimates, rough and inaccurate as they must be, +are the fruit of a very general conviction, which on the broadest +basis is amply supported by facts. There is sufficient natural +wealth--mineral, pastoral, and agricultural--to provide a sound +industrial foundation for the new States. It is only on the details of +its exploitation that experts differ. + + * * * * * + +In any calculation of natural wealth there is another factor to be +noted which controls production and dictates its method. Whatever the +natural riches of a country may be, climate and situation must be +weighed in their practical estimate. A diamond pipe at the South Pole +and acres of rich soil in Tibet are practically as valueless as a fine +anchorage on the Sahara coast or a bracing climate in Tierra del +Fuego. In the new colonies we have throughout three-fourths of their +area a climate where white men can labour out of doors all the year +round. The remaining fourth is less pestilential than many places in +Ceylon, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula, where Europeans live and work. +There are certain very real climatic disadvantages--frequent +thunderstorms, hailstorms in summer when fruits and crops are +ripening, rains concentrated over a few months, a long, dusty, +waterless winter. But these are difficulties which can be surmounted +for the most part by human ingenuity, and at the worst they place no +absolute bar on enterprise. From the standpoint of health the climate +is nearly perfect, inducing a vigour and alertness of body and mind +which in the more feverish life of cities may ruin the nerves and +prematurely age a man, but in all wholesome forms of labour enable +work to be done at a maximum pressure and with the minimum discomfort. +In valuing, therefore, the natural assets of the new colonies, we need +write off nothing for climatic hindrances. The situation is a more +doubtful matter. They pay for their freedom from the low heats of the +coast by the absence of private outlets for trade and the consequent +difficulties which all people must meet who have to hire others to do +their shipping and carrying. It is not the difficulty of Missouri or +Ohio or other inland states in one territory, but of separate peoples, +with interests often conflicting, who have to submit to weary customs +and railway arrangements before their outlet can exist. This is one, +perhaps the only, genuine natural limitation which all schemes of +economic development must take account of. + +The country is not new, and therefore in sketching its natural wealth +we do not exhaust the preliminaries of the question. There are +ready-made industrial conditions to be considered which may modify our +estimate of the initial equipment. Such are the commercial structures +already built up in the great commercial centre, which for this +purpose represents the new colonies; the nature and future of the +labour supply; the existing markets; the already prepared means of +transit. The gold industry, as was to be expected from its nature, +has fallen into the hands of a few houses. Eight great financial +groups control the wealth of the Rand: the Eckstein group alone has +interests which might be capitalised at 70 millions; the Consolidated +Gold-fields at about 30 millions. The reason for this state of +affairs is obvious. Gold-mining in the Rand fashion is a costly +business, and altogether beyond the reach of the small man: claims +were bought up by the financiers who were first in possession, and, +since they were able to hold and develop, the entry of other +financial houses has been blocked. But the great mining firms do not +confine their activity to gold. They own millions of acres of land +throughout the country, and many valuable building sites in the +towns. Originally, doubtless, land was bought purely as a mining +speculation, but they are not slow, in the absence of minerals, to +make out of it what they can. These Rand houses are the bugbear of a +certain class of politician. The Rand is closed to the small man, so +runs the cry; a system of trusts is being created; in a little while +the country will be under the iron heel of a financial ring. It is +assumed that the mining firms will turn their attention to ordinary +commerce, and oust the independent trader and cultivator and the +small manufacturer. Certain trading experiments by some of the chief +houses, and an attempt to grow food-supplies for their own employees, +give a certain support to the forecast. + +If the Trust system in its American form were ever to become a reality +in South Africa, the obvious and infallible checks against too wide an +expansion would arise there as elsewhere. A trust can only exist in +full strength under its originators. There can be no apostolic +succession in trust management; the second or the third generation +must be on a lower scale, and the great fabric will crumble. A huge +combination can only be maintained by perpetual energy and ceaseless +labour, and, like the empire of Charlemagne, it will dwindle under a +successor. A trust can be created but not perpetuated. No group of +directors, no paid manager, can maintain the nicety of judgment and +the sleepless care which alone can preserve from decay an artificial +structure imposed upon an unwilling society. But in the case of the +new colonies there are special reasons which make this development +highly improbable. A trust flourishes only on highly protected soil, +and Free Trade must long be predominant in the Transvaal. Again, while +there can never be a trust in gold, the market being unlimited and +beyond any possibility of control, gold-mining must remain the chief +interest for any group of firms who desired to establish a trust in +other commodities. Now gold-mining is one-third an industry and +two-thirds a scientific inquiry. An ordinary trust is concerned less +with production than with the control of the markets and the methods +of distribution. But all progress in Rand mining depends on nice and +speculative scientific calculation. To reduce the working costs by +improved appliances, so that ore of a low grade may become payable, is +so vital a matter with every great firm which is concerned in +gold-mining, that the commercial or trust side, which must be +concerned not with gold but with other forms of production, is not +likely to be given undue prominence. Human capacity is limited, and no +man or body of men can meet these two very different classes of +problems at the same time. The experiments of mining firms in other +trades have been due far more to the immense cost of imports and the +absence of subsidiary industries than to a Napoleonic desire for +consolidation. There is room, abundant room, in the Transvaal for +ironworks and factories, for the private trader and the independent +farmer; and the bogey of the great houses resolves itself in practice +into little more than a stimulating example in progressive business +methods. + +The foregoing remarks do not, however, touch the question whether or +not the gold industry is to remain a preserve of a few groups. If it +is, there can be little real objection. The market for gold can never +be controlled like the diamond-market, and there is small fear of a +gold-mining De Beers dictating to the world. Moreover, the great +groups are not static but mobile, constantly dividing and subdividing, +throwing off subsidiary companies and adding new ones, no more +monopolists than the cotton-spinners of Manchester or the shipbuilders +of Glasgow. The fact remains that they own most of the mining rights +in the country, and all development must lie very much in their hands. +The owner of the minerals on a farm in Potchefstroom is at liberty to +form a company and work them himself. But the case will be uncommon, +since the bulk of the mineral rights are already absorbed, and, on +the Rand system of mining, an unknown adventurer would have difficulty +in raising the large initial capital. It is only in this sense that +there is any meaning in the charge of monopoly. A more real grievance +is that a great house will often buy up claims throughout the country +and leave them unworked till it suits its pleasure, thereby hindering +industrial development. This, in a sense, is true, but the reason is to +be found mainly in the difficulty of development under recent +conditions,--conditions which, for the matter of that, would have +pressed far more hardly on the small man than on the rich firms. So far +as the gold industry is concerned, the plaint of the humble citizen on +this score is a little ridiculous. He asks an impossibility, and in his +heart admits the folly of the request. + +It is time that the anti-capitalist parrot-cry were recognised in its +true meaning. On the Rand it is not the wail of a downtrodden +proletariat or of the industrious small merchant whose occupation is +gone. It is the dishonest agitation of a speculating class who find +their activity limited by the strenuous and rational policy of the +great houses. I would suggest as a fair parallel the outcry of small +and disreputable publicans in a rising town where it has been found +profitable to open good restaurants and decent hotels. Without capital +the Transvaal is a piece of bare veld; with capital wrongly applied it +is a hunting-ground for the adventurer and the bogus-promoter. The +gold industry depends on capital, because only capital combined with +intelligence and patience could have raised it from a speculation to +an industry. But facts are the most eloquent form of apologetics. At +the moment over 30 millions have been spent on development by +producing companies, leaving out of account the large administrative +and office expenses. How much has been spent in the same way on mines +which have not reached the producing stage it is impossible to say, +but the figure must be very large. To start an ordinary deep-level +mine costs nearly a million before any profits are made. Surely it is +right to see in an organisation which is prepared to face such an +outlay some qualities of courage and patience. It is possible that the +great houses may find themselves in conflict with the best public +opinion on certain matters before the day is done; but it is well to +recognise that the very existence of an industrial population is due +to capital wisely and patiently used by the strong men who were the +makers of the country. + + * * * * * + +Last in our calculation of assets comes the existing or accessible +machinery of exploitation and production--the labour supply, the means +of transit, the available markets. The first is a complicated matter +on which it is hard to dogmatise. For some months it has been the most +strenuously canvassed of South African problems. On its solution +depends without doubt not only the future prosperity but the immediate +insolvency of the country. And at the same time, being bound up more +than other economic questions with far-reaching political interests, +its solution has become less a commercial adjustment than a piece of +national policy. As was to be expected in this kind of discussion, the +true issues have been habitually obscured. The antithesis is not +between labour and no labour, but in one aspect between the cheap, +unskilled native and the dear, more highly skilled white; and in +another between a limited supply, which means the curtailment of +enterprise, and an unlimited supply, even of a lower quality, which +would allow full development. Again, the antithesis is not absolute, +as has been often assumed: the true solution may lie in a compromise, +a delicate cutting of the coat to suit the particular cloths employed +in its making. + +It is almost entirely a mining question. In most other industries the +work can be done by white men with the assistance of a few natives. In +agriculture, as things stand at present, sufficient native labour can +be procured, and under an improved system of taxation the supply might +be largely increased, within limits. The demand in agriculture should +diminish rather than increase, save in the tropical and sub-tropical +regions, where native labour is always plentiful. On the high veld a +single farmer, if he ploughs with oxen, wants a boy as a voorlooper +and another to use the whip; but this and similar work may well be +performed in time by his own sons or by white servants. Railway +construction will draw heavily on the supply, but its requirements +are, after all, limited and small in comparison with the immense needs +of the mines. For in the latter a very large number of employees is +necessary, the bulk of the work is unskilled, and the conditions under +which it must be performed are frequently such as to deter the +ordinary European. The case is not quite that of labour in the West +Indian plantations with which it has been compared, but there are +many points of resemblance. The labour, on the current view, must be +cheap; it must exist in large quantities; and the work is bound in +certain respects to be hard and unpleasant--not perhaps harder than +coal-mining in England, but, taking into account the superior average +of comfort in the new colonies, indubitably more unattractive to the +local workman. + +Before the war some 90,000 natives were employed in the Witwatersrand +mines. The average cost was from 1s. 6d. to 2s. a-day, food and +lodging being provided; but the expense of acquiring the labour +considerably raised the actual price per man. The old method was by a +system of touts, who were paid as much as L5 a-head for their +importation. The system led to great abuses, chicanery, needless +competition false promises, which often cut off the supply in a whole +territory. To meet the difficulty the Witwatersrand Native Labour +Association was formed, whose duties were to recruit native labour and +distribute it equitably to the mines within the association. Its +agents were paid by salaries instead of by results, and the various +native locations in the Transvaal, Swaziland, and Portuguese territory +were exploited by them. But with all its efforts the mines were +inadequately supplied. The 90,000 natives barely sufficed to maintain +the _status quo_, and there was no margin for new development. The war +scattered the accumulated supply. The local natives grew rich in +military service, and declined to leave their kraals. Those imported +from a distance returned to their homes, and the whole work of +collection had to begin again. In October 1902, which may be taken as +a fair date to estimate the condition of things after the war, only +31,000 natives were at work, one-third of the former staff. By May +1903, after herculean efforts, the supply had increased to a little +over 41,000. + +The problem is, therefore, a very serious one. To return to the old +state of things the present supply must be doubled; to provide for any +adequate progress it must at the lowest estimate be multiplied by ten. +Any wholesale increase to the mining wealth of the country must come +from the exploital of the deep level and the low-grade properties. The +working costs per ton of ore run from 17s. 6d. to 30s.; on the Rand +the average is about 27s.[16] But the ordinary low-grade mines produce +ore worth little more than 18s. to 20s. a-ton. To make their +development possible the working cost must be reduced to 15s.-17s. +Improved machinery may do something, but the first necessity is cheap +labour. But where are the natives to come from? The efforts of the +Native Labour Associations have not succeeded in showing that the need +can be met from any of the old supply grounds. New taxation and the +spending of their war savings may drive some of the Transvaal natives +to the mines; but as the total native population of the colony is only +about three quarters of a million, the whole working male force, which +may be taken at one in ten, would not meet the demand. In addition to +this we have the fact that no taxation would reach more than one-half +of the population, and that of this half three-quarters is probably +unfit for mining work. The total native population south of the +Zambesi is at the present moment a little over 6 millions. Supposing +this field were worked to the uttermost, we should still scarcely meet +the demands likely to arise within the next five years for the gold +industry alone; and such exhaustive exploitation is beyond the wildest +dream of any Chamber of Mines. + +The case may be stated thus. With all assistance from local taxation +and from the amended organisation of the Native Labour Association, +Africa, south of the Zambesi, will be unable to afford the unlimited +supply of native labour which is the _sine qua non_ of mining progress. +It would therefore appear that a new ground of supply must be sought. +By those who admit this (and as will appear later, there are some who +do not) three solutions have been advocated, none of which is +unattended with difficulties. The first is to find a recruiting-ground +in the vast district between the Zambesi and the White Nile, a region +more densely populated by the aborigines than any other part of Africa. +This scheme has been urged by Sir Harry Johnston with all the weight of +his unrivalled experience. The advantages of the solution are numerous. +Those natives live directly or indirectly under British sway. They are +unsophisticated, and the old rate of wages would mean undreamed-of +wealth to them. Moreover, the experiment would be of a certain +assistance to Central Africa, for on their return home with their wages +money would be put into circulation, the standard of living would rise, +taxes would be easier to collect, and Government and governed would +mutually profit. On the other hand, there are very many reasons against +the proposal. Uganda and Nyassaland, to take the two chief instances, +are in need of labour for their own development, and will strenuously +resist its exportation. Their nascent civilisation will be dislocated +if they are made the hunting-ground of labour agents. Nor is it clear +that the Central African native is suited for mining purposes, since +both in constitution and the food he lives on he differs from his +southern kinsman, and, in the opinion of many good authorities, his +transplantation to the high veld would mean a swollen death-rate. +Overtures have also been made to Northern and Southern Nigeria, but the +answer from those territories is still more hopeless. It is too early +to pronounce on the future of the Central African scheme. A fair _prima +facie_ case can be made out for its success, and the result of the +first experiments has not been wholly discouraging. But in any case it +is certain that from this source no unlimited or permanent supply can +come. A modicum, perhaps gradually increasing, may be secured, and in +this day of small things we can be thankful for any increase in native +African labour. But great care is necessary in its working. There must +be no hint of coercion; the native must be vigilantly looked after from +the day he leaves his kraal to the day he returns at the end of his +twelvemonth's service,--for the districts must be nursed, and it is on +the report of the first batches that the success of the enterprise +depends. The transport will cost money, but it is doubtful if it will +work out at more per head than the old premium for importation. + +The second solution has roused a storm of opposition, and its adoption +would mean the overthrow of the old economics of the mining industry. +It is proposed to use Kaffirs only in the deepest levels and in work +unsuited for white men (for which the present supply will suffice), +and in all other tasks to employ white labour. The white workman on +the Rand under present conditions will be more than four times as dear +as the native, costing 8s. 6d. as against the Kaffir's 2s. a-day. Many +arguments to justify the expense have been brought forward, of which +the weakest is that the white man can do four times the Kaffir's work. +In many branches of unskilled labour he can barely compete with him. +The real argument is concerned with the more general aspects of the +problem. In a highly organised industry there is bound to be a higher +maximum efficiency and regularity from a staff of white employees, who +are working intelligently to better themselves and have certain +political and social interests at stake in their labour. On political +grounds, again, it is most desirable, for apart from relieving the +strain on congested home districts, it would provide a feeding-ground +for South African development, a material wherewith to colonise the +wilds of the north. The sons of the white men would go out to farm and +mine for themselves; and in two generations, when the Rand has become +a normal industrial centre, we should have that interchange of +population between town and country which is one of the buttresses of +civilisation. + +The white labour movement has roused bitter opposition, partly from +the mining houses, and to some extent from white workmen on the Rand, +who wish to make a monopoly of their position. Many of the arguments +against the scheme need not detain us. There is no objection to white +and black labour working side by side, any more than there is an +objection on a tropical fruit-farm to a white man digging an orchard +and a Kaffir carting manure for it, or on board ship to a white mate +and a black cook being part of the same crew. The white man will have +the presence of his fellows, the chance of advancement, and a higher +wage to support his self-respect, which must be a brittle article +indeed if it requires further strengthening. Nor is there much +justification for the fears of those who see in white labour the +beginning of endless labour troubles, culminating in the tyranny of +the working man. The situation would be the same as in any other +industrial city--as in Manchester, Sheffield, or Glasgow, where the +bulk of the population are industrial employees. Strikes and lock-outs +will come, but it is better to have in an English city a free and +vigorous English population, than to bolster up the chief industry by +an exotic labour system. Besides, there is always the Kaffir as a +counterfoil, a very strong argument to inspire moderation in the +labourer's demands. White labour remains the ideal, the proper aim of +all right-thinking men; but for the present it is more or less an +impossibility. It simply does not meet the economic difficulty. Unless +the Mines are content to make the _gran rifiuto_, curtail production, +and play a waiting game,--a decision, as we shall see, quite as +ruinous to the country as to the shareholder,--cheap labour under +present conditions is a sheer necessity. One argument on economic +grounds has been brought forward for white labour, which runs somewhat +as follows: Expansion and development depend upon an unlimited +labour-supply; white labour gives such an unlimited supply,--therefore +it would pay to give four times the present wage and secure expansion +rather than keep to the old scale and stagnate. Supposing a mining +group to have a capital of ten millions, of which four are sunk in +working mines, three held in reserve, and three invested in good but +undeveloped claims. The present state of things allows of a dividend +of 40 per cent on the first four millions; white labour would reduce +the dividend to 20 per cent. But if white labour allowed the exploital +of the unworked claims, so that a dividend of 20 to 25 per cent could +be paid on the other six millions, it would be good business for the +firm. It would, but it is not the problem before us. The argument +assumes that the new properties are of the same class as those at +present paying dividends, whereas they are in the main of so low a +grade or demand such an immense initial outlay that, so far from +showing a profit with dear labour, they would be the ruin of their +promoters. + +The third proposal is to introduce Chinese[17] labour under short-time +contracts and a rigorous supervision. Its supporters argue with much +reason that the Chinaman has been found useful as a deep-level miner; +that he is thrifty, intelligent, law-abiding, and tolerably clean; +that, supposing 200,000 Chinamen were employed in the mines, it would +still mean not less than 40,000 white workers, so that white labour +would increase in a liberal ratio; that a proper compound system and a +strict limit to the term of engagement would secure the country +against the economic dangers which threaten Australia and the United +States. It is not yet certain that this ample supply of Chinese labour +can be obtained, the matter being in process of investigation; but +there is this to be said for the proposal, that it is the only one +which touches directly the needs of the situation. The others are +counsels of perfection, ends of policy on which all are agreed; this +alone offers an immediate satisfaction to a very pressing want. The +only argument which can be brought against it is not economic[18] but +political,--that its use would endanger the success of those very +aims on which all are agreed. The Chinese are the born interlopers of +the world. Whatever care we take there will be a leakage: a Chinese +population, more feared, apparently, for its virtues than its vices, +will grow up in the cities, the small trades will be shut to +Europeans, the whole standard of life for the masses will be lowered, +and the moral and social currency of the nation debased. The real +case, therefore, of the opponent of Chinese labour, is that it is not +possible to carry out the proposed plan; that we cannot import men on +a fixed contract and deport them at the end of it; that we cannot +build our compound walls so high as to prevent a leakage into the +outer world; that, in short, the law is too weak to do its duty. There +is no difference between any of the disputants on the danger of +letting the labour loose in the country; but the one side maintains +that with proper precaution this peril can be averted, the other that +it is like the sea when it has found an entrance into a sea-wall, a +little trickle which inevitably becomes a deluge. It is not a very +convincing contention, though we can respect the honest political +instincts which support it; indeed, there is a touch of that familiar +fallacy, the "thin-end-of-the-wedge" argument, which opposes an +undoubtedly beneficent reform because of its possible maleficent +extension. The conflict is between an instant economic need and a +potential political danger, and, with all desire to move cautiously, +the wisest course would seem to be to meet the one, and trust to the +good sense and courage of the people to avert the other. The problem +of alien labour is indeed becoming a familiar one to many Crown +Colonies. The Colonial Office has been asked to sanction the +importation of Chinamen to Ashanti, and the Rhodesian Immigration +Ordinance of 1901 made the enterprise legal for Southern Rhodesia.[19] +In the Transvaal there is a unique field for an experiment on sane and +politic lines, and for the creation of a sound administrative +precedent for other colonies to follow. There is a result, too, which +may reasonably be hoped for from the provision of cheap labour which +would be of direct political value. It would enable some of the +smaller properties throughout the country to be worked at a profit, +and so might in time redeem the gold industry from the capitalist +monopoly, which it must remain under present conditions, and create a +class of small mine-owners, on the analogy of the small coal-owners in +England. + +There is one final argument against imported labour which demands a +short notice, for it has been used by many serious men who are not +given to captious objections. If we take the original capital of most +mines we shall find that it has been extensively watered, and that +even on the nominal capital there is a huge appreciation. A mine, to +take an extreme instance, begins with a capital of L50,000 in L1 +shares; subsequently the shareholders receive eleven L5 shares for +every L1 share, making the present nominal capital L2,750,000. The +quotation of those L5 shares is, say, L10-7/8, making the total +capital value L5,981,250. A gold output which, under present +conditions, is not sufficient to pay a fair dividend upon this +capitalisation, would be amply sufficient to pay a dividend on the +nominal capital, and more than sufficient to pay 500 per cent on the +original capital. The question, therefore, of dividend-paying is out +of all relation to the actual margin of profit on the working of a +mine. The deduction is that the companies have themselves to blame, +and must face a depreciation in their shares; and the unfortunate +investor who has bought L5 shares at L10, believing a return of 4 per +cent on his capital certain, must console himself with the reflection +that every man must pay for his folly. This argument is final against +any _ad misericordiam_ plea of the companies, but it does not touch +the heart of the question. The working of the large over-capitalised +properties is one thing, and the development of low-grade properties, +on which large sums have been spent and for which no profits have yet +been earned, is quite another. The old well-established mines can +afford to fight their own battles, and for the matter of that, in +spite of their heavy expenditure out of capital during the war, are +mostly paying dividends even under present conditions: the new +properties, on which the future of the country depends, are not, as a +rule, over-capitalised, and, as we have seen, the margin of profit is +so small on each ton of ore, that the question is reduced to its bare +essentials--Is it possible to mine ore worth twenty shillings at a +cost under a pound? But even as concerns the richer companies the +argument is scarcely valid, for it leaves out of account that not +inconsiderable factor, the credit of the country. It is so essential +that new capital should be attracted for the twenty different needs of +development, to which any Government loan can only be a trifling +contribution, that anything which tends to shake the confidence of the +world in the commercial structure of South Africa is the gravest +danger. Is it certain, too, that that much-abused epithet of "_bona +fide_ investor" is not applicable to the men who bought high-priced +securities, not as a speculation, but as a modest investment? + +It is often said by opponents of imported labour that its introduction +will scarcely have taken place before an agitation will be begun for +its withdrawal. So far from being an argument against the experiment, +this is precisely the strongest which could be urged in its favour. If +the desire of the country is for white labour, then the Chinaman can +be tried with little danger. The mine-owners will find in time that +work on a time contract by alien labourers is far from satisfactory, +and when other circumstances permit they will no doubt readily adopt +that system of free competitive labour which only a white industrial +class can create. Had there been any chance of the experiment being +tried with complete popular approval, then the danger would have been +considerable, for the Chinaman might easily have spread from mining to +all industries and trades; but since it will be made in spite of an +influential opposition, and will be jealously watched by unfriendly +eyes, it seems inevitable that when it has played its part it will be +willingly dispensed with. By refusing to accept the experiment we are +doing our best to frustrate all hopes of a white population by +cramping the development of the country at its most critical time and +making a livelihood impossible for many of the existing white working +men. When mines are shut down because of a lack of underground +labourers, what becomes of the Englishmen who work above ground? It is +a significant fact that many white miners, who were formerly the most +bitter opponents of imported labour, are now its strenuous advocates, +since they and their class are beginning to feel the pinch. + +But if the importation of Asiatics is undertaken, it should be on a +very clear understanding and with a very distinct object in view. +The thing is far too dangerous at the best to be made the domain of +unconsidered experiments. The ideal of white labour in the long-run +must be preserved; and we must take jealous care that by the +creation of a foreign labouring class the way is not barred to that +industrialisation of the native races on which the future of South +Africa so largely depends. A maximum might be fixed by law--say +300,000 unskilled labourers, which could be increased if necessary +by later enactments; and in so far as the maximum could not be +attained by white and black labour, Chinese might be imported as a +complement. The complement would, let us hope, rapidly decrease as +new machinery lessened the amount of labour required, and the native +districts of Africa were more fully exploited. All imported labour +would be subject to rigorous conditions as to compounds, length of +contract, and ultimate repatriation--conditions which any ordinary +police could enforce without difficulty. At the same time, the Native +Labour Association should be made a Government department. As a +private organisation it is not more efficient, and it is certainly +less respected, than a Government department would be. What is wanted +in all proper recruiting is the prestige of the Crown. Natives, who +have been often deceived by touts, and regard the offers of the Labour +Association agents as so many idle words, would be ready enough to +listen to proposals made under the guarantee of the paramount chief. +It is a risky game for a Government to embark in private business; but +the Native Labour Association is not a business, but a department, +conducted on the lines of a Government department, but without its +prestige. Under the Crown its organisation would remain intact, but +its status would be raised and its efficiency centupled. + + * * * * * + +The railway system, immature as it is, has worked wonders for the +country. With few lines, and those single and narrow gauge, with +exorbitant rates of transit and a frequently ineffective organisation, +it has still above all other factors made development possible. In +former days, when heavy mining machinery had to be brought by waggons +from Kimberley or Natal or Delagoa Bay, a mine required to be rich +indeed before it could be worked at a profit, enterprise was costly +and perilous, and the result was the stagnation of all activities save +that one where enterprise was a primal necessity. Under the late +Governments one line ran through the two States, from Norval's Pont to +Pietersburg, with small branch lines in the Orange Free State to +Winburg and Heilbron, and in the Transvaal to Springs and Klerksdorp. +The Natal line was continued from Charlestown to join the trunk line +at Elandsfontein, and the Delagoa Bay line from Komati Poort to +Pretoria, with a little branch to Barberton and the beginnings of a +branch to the Selati gold-fields. The Transvaal had thus three direct +outlets to the coast; the Orange Free State two, for a branch ran from +the Natal line at Ladysmith to the little eastern town of Harrismith. +Two broad necessities of railway policy therefore awaited the new +Government. The existing system must be perfected and interconnected, +new routes to the coast created to relieve the present strain, the +railways of adjoining colonies brought into touch with each other, so +as to make one general and consistent South African system. But more +important than the perfecting of existing arrangements must be the +tapping of the rich and remote districts. Occasionally both needs may +be exemplified in one line, but, roughly speaking, they are separate +branches of railway policy, undertaken on different grounds and in +many cases organised and financed on different methods. The experience +of the United States, where railways were regarded as the cause and +not the consequence of development, and pushed boldly into desert +places which in a few years, through their agency, became centres of +industry and population, is a safe guide, within limits, for South +Africa, provided that the wealth to be exploited is really there, and +railway extension does not cripple other works of equal necessity. + +Of the first class we have three chief examples. One--from Machadodorp +to Ermelo--is already partially constructed. The second will run +from Springs east to some point on this line, and so provide a +direct route for the Johannesburg traffic from Delagoa Bay and avoid +the awkward circuit by Pretoria. A further extension is projected by +which the Springs-Ermelo line will be continued through Swaziland to +Delagoa Bay and a complete alternative through route created. The +third is the extension of the present Klerksdorp branch to Fourteen +Streams, which would provide a shorter route from the Transvaal to +the Cape, an infinitely shorter route from the Transvaal to Rhodesia, +and would at the same time bring the coal districts of the country +within reach of the diamond industry of Kimberley. In the second +class there is no limit to the number of possible and desirable +railways. The most important is, perhaps, the grain line, from +Bloemfontein to Johannesburg by Ficksburg, Bethlehem, and Wilge +River, which would bring the great wheat-producing tracts of the +Conquered Territory within easy reach of the chief market. Next comes +the now completed Rand coal line from Vereeniging to Johannesburg. +Another coal line is projected from Witbank on the Delagoa Bay line +to Springs, which would bring the produce of the chief Transvaal +collieries directly to the Rand and relieve the congested line +between Elandsfontein and Pretoria. Of equal importance in the +long-run is a line from Krugersdorp by Rustenburg to some point, such +as Lobatsi, on the Rhodesian railway, which would open up a district +famous for its fruits and tobacco, and give the pastoralists of +Bechuanaland, as well as of the more distant Rhodesia, a straight +line to Johannesburg. Other lines of the same class are those from +Belfast or Machadodorp to Lydenburg, from Nelspruit to Pilgrims' +Rest, and from Basutoland to Bloemfontein. Lastly, and lastly only +because of its greater difficulty, the line should be continued north +from Pietersburg along the Sand River, brought east between the +Spelonken and the Magatoland mountains, past the little township of +Louis Trichard, and then turned south across the basin of the Klein +and the Groot Letaba to Leydsdorp, where it could join the completed +Selati railway from Komati Poort. + +The Railway Extension Conference held at Johannesburg in March 1903 +sanctioned the immediate construction of most of the lines mentioned +above, and recommended the others as objects to aim at when sufficient +funds were at the disposal of the Government. As the share of the +Guaranteed Loan allocated for railway extension is only some five +millions, and as the proportion of any railway surplus which can be +devoted to the purpose is, as we shall see later, strictly limited, it +is highly desirable to make use of private enterprise so far as +possible in new constructions, providing always for an efficient State +oversight and an ultimate expropriation. The Klerksdorp-Fourteen +Streams and the Krugersdorp-Lobatsi railways have already been +arranged for on this principle, and it is probable that the experiment +will be adopted in many of the smaller development lines. It is +reasonable that a rich company, owning lands or mines, or requiring +for its own purposes some special railway connection, should, if it +desires a new line, undertake the financing of it. But at the same +time the principle of the ultimate State ownership of all railways +should be strictly adhered to, for the very good reason that in the +railways we have the chief security for development loans, and the +most productive of all the State assets. In few countries in the world +is the expenditure on construction and maintenance so small, so that +under present conditions they yield a handsome return on capital +outlay. The Netherlands and the Pretoria-Pietersburg railways have +been acquired from their former owners, and the incomplete Selati and +Machadodorp-Ermelo lines will shortly follow. If we take the price +paid, with the addition in the latter case of the outlay necessary for +completion, as the capital value, we shall find that the net receipts, +even after the large reductions in rates which have been made and must +be maintained, show a generous percentage of profit.[20] It will be +explained later what part this important asset is called upon to play +in the finance of the new colonies. So much for the main lines; but a +system of light railways, constructed at small expense, is vital to +the mineral and agricultural exploitation of such districts as Bethel, +Lichtenburg, Wolmaranstad, and Waterberg, in the Transvaal and the +southern part of the Orange River Colony. In a flat upland country, +where animal transport for some years to come will be precarious and +expensive, where the roads are still unsuitable for steam haulage, and +where coal is cheap, perfect conditions exist for an extensive +light-railway development. + +Railway extension, then, is one of the first demands of the country: +it is comparatively easy to achieve, and most of the necessary capital +has already been found for it. But the omnipresent labour difficulty +appears here as elsewhere, not indeed with the magnitude of the mining +problem, but with an equal insistence. To carry out the programme +sketched above in any reasonable time, say three years, some 40,000 +natives will be required. At the present moment the number employed is +scarcely 5000, and 10,000 is the limit which the railways may recruit +in South Africa by an agreement with the Chamber of Mines. Many +natives, such as the Basutos, will work on railways when they will not +go underground; and the agreed limit is fair enough to both parties. +But the balance cannot be secured without seriously trespassing upon +the supply grounds of the mines. The Uganda railway was built with +imported labour, and it seems inevitable that the Central South +African railways must follow suit. The limited funds at their +disposal, and the difficulties in the way of the country's absorbing +at the moment large numbers of unskilled workmen, make the employment +of white navvies alone impossible. The railways, indeed, furnish a +fine experimenting-ground for the importation of indentured foreign +labour under a short-time contract and a condition of repatriation. +The number they require is small: 10,000 will tide them over all +immediate needs; the nature of the work enables a complete supervision +to be exercised; and while it is still doubtful whether alien labour +can be secured for the mines, experience has shown that for surface +railway work the supply is certain. In the congested districts of +India and China the small cultivator, to whom land is the object of +his life, will gladly leave his home for one or two years if he can +return with the money to buy a plot of ground; and when the return +home is the cause of the setting out there will be no trouble in +repatriation. + + * * * * * + +The premier market, now and for many years, must be the Rand. Its +great industrial population and the higher scale of living make it the +natural market for all native agricultural and pastoral products. So +much so that the farmers in the eastern province of Cape Colony, in +spite of heavy railway rates, found it profitable to send the bulk of +their produce thither. This is at once the advantage and misfortune of +the country: advantage, in having an accessible market which it will +take years to glut; misfortune, in that the merits of the market to +the country producer mean costly living to the industrial inhabitants. +The difficulty will no doubt adjust itself; for if, as all believe, +the new colonies take many steps towards feeding themselves, and in +consequence the prices of necessaries fall, new and nearer markets +will arise in different parts of the country, and a genuinely +self-supporting provincial society will be organised. New mining +centres in the north and east, possibly, too, in the west, may bring +new townships into being; old and semi-decayed dorps will revive; and +that novelty in the new colonies, towns like Brighton or Cheltenham, +which exist purely for residence, may yet be found at Warm Baths for +winter, or on the shores of Lake Chrissie for the summer heats. The +Rand, again, will be the chief market for the subsidiary industries +which must arise,--for coal and iron, for manufactured articles and +dressed produce. It is too early in the day to talk in any serious +sense of exports. The Transvaal, at any rate, will be for long a +consumer rather than a producer among the nations of the world. + +The tremendous cost of living is the subject of the chief complaints +among new-comers to South Africa. Before the discovery of gold the +Transvaal was a cheap country to dwell in. A bullock which now costs +L20 could be bought for L5; and a native, who now draws L3 or L4 per +month in wages, was then very well content with 5s. Now there is +hardly anything which is not scarcer and dearer in South Africa than +in almost any other part of the globe. The causes of this high cost +are partly natural and partly artificial; but all, I think, are +terminable. The demands of the gold industry, the long distance from +ports, the sparse rural population, are obvious natural causes, all of +which tend to modification and mutual adjustment. The artificial +causes are three: the cost of ocean freightage, the high railway +rates, and the monopoly in the hands of a small mercantile class. The +first can never be reduced below a fairly high figure, and in the loud +complaint of "shipping rings," which is in the mouth of most traders, +there is a little unfairness. It is too often the cloak which they +use to cover their own extortions. But reductions will certainly be +made, and in any case the chief force of the grievance, so far as +necessaries are concerned, will decline with the growth of local +production. Railway rates have already suffered a substantial +decrease, and will be further reduced down to a certain point, which +for the present is determined by the fiscal needs of the country. For +railway rates are a form of taxation: the railways are the chief +revenue producer, and to lower the rates too far would be merely +robbing Peter to pay Paul--a form of relief which would need to be +balanced by some new form of taxation. The chief efficient cause of +the expense of living is undoubtedly the exorbitant monopoly of local +merchants. It is no exaggeration to say that anything sold at 100 per +cent profit is to the ordinary trader a form of charity: legitimate +business begins for him at 120, or thereabouts. No class is so +clamorous about its interests, so ready to identify its profits with +national wellbeing, and claim a monopoly of the purer civic emotions. +But no part of the economic situation is so radically unsound. The +Polish Jew and the coolie make a profitable living throughout the +country, not because the white population have no prejudice against +them, but because they are driven to their stores by the comparative +reasonableness of their prices. This cause, as I have said, is +artificial and terminable. The influx of a large population will +increase the area of competition, and reduce profits to a normal +basis. And this, again, depends on the prosperity of the mines; so +that we are brought round to the starting-point of all South African +economics. Once this result were achieved its benefits would react +on the mines, for with the decrease of the cost of living wages would +go down, and what is at present an ideal--an increase in the area +over which white labour can be employed--would come within the sphere +of practical politics. + +The economic situation of the two colonies is therefore composed of a +number of perplexing oppositions. The one certain fact is the great +hidden wealth. But to make those riches actual there must be labour, +and, over and above any question of imported and indentured workmen, +to secure labour there must be reasonable cheapness in the necessaries +of life and work. Customs tariffs, railway rates, general taxation, +must all be calculated on a modest scale. But, on the other hand, if +the country is to advance to that civilisation which is its due, money +must be spent freely by the State on productive and unproductive +enterprises; and in addition to such services, which are the basis of +the Guaranteed Loan, there is the War Debt, 30 millions of dead-weight +round the neck of a struggling people. To pay the interest on debts +and to provide money for day-to-day needs there must be revenue, and +so there comes a point where direct and indirect charges, whatever the +demands of the situation, simply cannot be reduced further if the +mechanism of Government is to continue in action. Heroic persons +advocate heroic remedies, such as the cessation of all enterprise in +favour of mining progress, or the renunciation of certain charges in +favour of cheap living. In one sense all politics are a gamble; but +there are limits beyond which statesmanship cannot go in the way of +staking everything on a chance, and yet hope to justify itself in the +eyes of the world in the event of failure. The real problem for the +statesman is not how to plunge wildly--it requires little skill to do +that--but how to adjust with nice discrimination. To preserve an +adequate revenue, while at the same time giving ample play to the +forces of production, is, in a word, the only policy which contains +the rudiments of ultimate success. + + + [15] The latest information available on the subject of the + Transvaal gold mines will be found in the exhaustive + report prepared for Mr Chamberlain by the mining + engineers, and published at Johannesburg in 1903. + + [16] The following are some of the working costs of the mines. + Low costs: Geldenhuis Deep, 22s.; Geldenhuis Select, + 17s. 6d.; Geldenhuis Main Reef, 17s. 4d.; Meyer and + Charlton, 18s. 2d.; Simmer and Jack, 20s. 7d. High + costs: City and Suburban, 29s. 1d.; Bonanza, 27s. 6d.; + Robinson Deep, 30s. 2d. The Robinson-Randfontein group + have ore of a gold value of 34s. 9d. per ton, and a + profit of 2s. over the working cost. The Bonanza has ore + worth L5 a-ton. + + [17] Imported labour reduces itself in practice to Chinese or + Japanese. Even supposing that the Indian Government + consented to the strict form of indenture necessary for + mining purposes, the political danger of introducing + coolie labour into a country which already contains a + considerable coolie population would be very great. + + [18] An argument often used in this connection is that the + employment of Asiatic labourers, repatriated at the end + of their contract, would mean that a very large sum of + money annually left the country. But the same thing will + happen if native African labour is brought from Central + or Western Africa or Somaliland. It is happening at + present with the natives from Portuguese territory, who + form 90 per cent of the existing labour-supply. + + [19] I have said elsewhere that there are few South African + problems which are not long-descended. The first + proposal to introduce Chinese labour was made by Jan van + Riebeck, the first Governor of Cape Colony, about the + year 1653. He urged the scheme with great persistence, + but home opinion proved too strong for him. + + [20] The cost of the acquisition of the present railway + systems was roughly 14 millions. This does not, of + course, represent an accurate statement of capital + outlay, as in the Orange Free State considerable sums + were spent out of State revenue. But even if we put the + figure at the outside limit of 20 millions, the net + profits are still more than 10 per cent of the capital + value. + + +II. + +The foregoing is a rough survey of the assets with which the new +colonies start on their career. As in all beginnings, a multitude of +questions protrude themselves. Every politician has his own nostrum, +every interest its own pressing demands. But the main questions are +simple, at least in their outlines, and it is permissible to +disentangle from the web the chief threads of economic policy. Three +postulates there must be before a solvent and progressive nation can +be founded. In the first place, life must be made possible,--life on +the various scales which a civilised society demands. In the second +place, industries--the gold industry and the host of subsidiaries +which must follow--should be given free scope for development by +enlightened legislation, and the removal of burdens from the raw +material of progress. Finally, a sufficient revenue must be secured +to meet the vast reproductive expenditure which the country demands. +To reconcile these three needs, which in practice often appear +contradictory, is the task of the new Government. + +Taking the three axioms as our guide, we have to consider the two +questions in all administration--the raising of revenue and the +apportionment of expenditure. Our inquiry into revenue must be chiefly +concerned with the Transvaal. The Orange River Colony is for the +present prosperous, and its future solvency seems assured. With a +certain income of half a million, and an expenditure of a little +less, its fiscal problem is simplicity itself. But the Transvaal +presents the case of a country with great potential wealth, which must +borrow heavily to elicit its prosperity. Certain revenue-producing +charges must be cut down to make life on a proper scale possible, but +revenue must also be raised to make this life possible. It is the old +story of Egypt--taking out of one pocket to put into the other, with +somewhere behind the transaction an economic Providence to enhance +values in the exchange. Such a policy is based upon a faith in the +land, which by its productive power provides a natural sinking fund to +wipe off encumbrances. Loans can be raised at 4 per cent, because the +country repays a hundredfold. + +The main items, exclusive of railways, which in the financial year +1902-3 made up the revenue of the Transvaal, were customs revenue at +upwards of two millions, mining revenue at half a million, stamp and +transfer duties at L720,000, taxes on trades and professions and post +and telegraphs at a quarter of a million each, and native revenue at a +little over L300,000. The total revenue was about L4,700,000. The +estimated revenue for 1903-4 has been put at L4,500,000, made up of +customs at L1,800,000, mining revenue at L750,000, post and telegraphs +at L360,000, taxes on trades and professions at L200,000, native +revenue at L500,000, stamp and transfer duties at L700,000, and +L200,000 for miscellaneous items. Since the object of the present +inquiry is to estimate the financial position of the country, it is +necessary in the first place to take the various sources of revenue +one by one, and estimate their value and their defects. Several may at +once be omitted. Post and telegraphs barely pay for their working +expenses, and cannot be counted upon as a source of revenue. Stamp +and transfer duties, stand licences and rent, and the bulk of the +miscellaneous items, are for the present static figures, or vary +within narrow limits, and it is improbable that they will be altered +so as to greatly increase their present revenue during the next few +years. Revenue questions for the Transvaal are concerned with two +items which far excel all others in importance--mining revenue and +customs. There is a third, and the largest of the three, railway +profits; but, as will be explained later, this item has been excluded +from the separate budgets of the two colonies. + +The old mining revenue was mainly indirect. A tax on profits was +indeed imposed by the late Government in February 1899, but war broke +out before there was time to organise its collection. The real burden +lay in the dynamite monopoly, which at its worst increased the price +of explosives by L2 the case, and at its best by about 30s. The mines +required an annual supply of 300,000 cases, which meant an annual +charge, beyond the cost of material, of L450,000. The average net +profits on the annual production of gold may be put at L6,000,000, +which, with a 5 per cent profit tax, would return L300,000 a-year. +Had the Boer _regime_ continued, the mining industry would have +contributed in the form of imposts something between L600,000 and +L750,000 per annum (for a reduction of 10s. in the dynamite charge +had been promised on the eve of the war). From the standpoint of the +mines the whole sum was an impost, but only the yield from the profit +tax would have found its way into the Exchequer. + +The present charges on the mining industry consist of the prospectors' +and diggers' licences, the 10 per cent tax on profits, imposed by +Proclamation No. 34 of 1902, and the cost of native passes, which was +formerly paid by the native himself, but is now borne by the employer. +The mining industry will therefore on its present basis pay from half +a million upwards in profit tax, about L120,000 for native passes, and +about L50,000 in licences. It is difficult to see how this taxation +could be fairly increased. To add, for example, a charge of 20s. per +case to explosives would be to tax the means of production,--a fatal +heresy,--to keep some of the smaller mines out of the profit-making +class, and in the long-run to harm the Exchequer itself. The true +policy is not to hamper the earning of profits by excessive charges, +but to enlarge by judicious encouragement the area over which profits +are made. It is of the first importance that European capital should +be attracted to, and not scared away from, the country. Under the +present system the Government receipts will advance _pari passu_ with +any increase in the prosperity of the mines, and to secure the +ultimate gain one may well be satisfied to forego a larger immediate +return. + +There is a fourth source of revenue from mining enterprise which may +be roughly described as windfalls. The Government has a moral right, +which no one denies, to profit by new discoveries, and in any case, as +a large landowner, it will be interested as an immediate participant. +The provisions of the old Gold Law have been so often discussed in +print that it is sufficient here to give the briefest sketch of them. +Legislation by the late Government on precious minerals began as +early as 1858, and continued in a long series of resolutions and +counter-resolutions till the somewhat confused position of affairs +was simplified and regulated by the famous law, No. 15 of 1898. The +basis of this law is to be found in the principle that to the owner +belonged the ownership of minerals found under his land, but to the +State the right of regulating their disposal. It attempted to give to +both owner and State a fair share of the proceeds, while at the same +time the prospector and discoverer received a moderate reward for +their enterprise. There can be no question about the validity of the +three rights; the only dispute is concerned with their relative +proportions. Besides the matter of share, there is one other question +of great importance--how far it is permissible for an owner to refuse +to allow the exploital of minerals under his land. + +I take the last question first. Under the old law the owner of private +property could prospect without a licence on his own land, and could +give authority to any licensed person. If minerals were found, the +State President, subject to certain compensation, could throw open the +land as a public diggings. State land could be prospected and +proclaimed in exactly the same way. But if the owner of private land +refused to prospect himself or allow others to prospect, the State +could not interfere to compel the exploital of his minerals. Much has +been said of the right of the public in the shape of the prospector to +go anywhere in his search; but no such _right_ has ever existed or can +exist. The whole question is one of policy. It is clearly not the +interest of the State to leave the chief source of its wealth +unworked; nor in any real sense is it the interest of the private +owner. But it would be an intolerable burden to a farmer to be +subjected to constant trespass by any prospector who cared to take out +a licence. We must, however, clearly distinguish between Crown and +private land, so far as the steps towards the discovery of the +minerals are concerned. Crown land, under strict conditions, should be +free to any licensed prospector; but, as the settlement of Crown land +by agricultural tenants is a vital part of Government policy, +provision must be made for ample compensation to such a tenant for +disturbance caused by prospecting. Such provision should refer not +only to unproclaimed or hereafter to be proclaimed Crown land, but +should be brought to cover areas such as Barberton, Lydenberg, and the +Wood Bush, which have been long working gold-fields. If compensation +and security is not provided, some of the most valuable agricultural +and pastoral lands in the country will be incapable of white +settlement, and their only occupants will be the Kaffir, the coolie, +and the bywoner, who have no interest in creating permanent homes. It +is undesirable to tie up minerals, but it is equally undesirable to +tie up agricultural wealth. People have talked of proclamation as if +it were an inviolable contract between the Crown and the public, to +which no new conditions could be added. There is neither legal nor +historical justification for this view. It is right for the Crown, +having given permission to the public to go upon its lands for a +particular purpose, to impose from time to time conditions under which +the permission may be exercised. On private lands the case is +different. No owner of a private farm who is in beneficial occupation +of it (when he is not, the land should be treated for this purpose as +Crown land) should be compelled to allow prospecting unless he has +already himself prospected or given authority to others. To enact +otherwise would be to make a freehold title little more than a farce. +But in order to prevent a reactionary or indolent owner from tying up +valuable minerals for an indefinite time, when there are reasonable +grounds for believing that such minerals exist, the Commissioner of +Mines should have the power to give notice to the owner that he must +prospect or allow others to do so, and, if he still refuses, to issue +to the public a small number of prospecting licences on the property. +When prospecting has taken place, and, after an investigation by the +Government, minerals are found to exist in payable quantities, the +area, subject to all rights of compensation, should be proclaimed a +public digging. + +Under the old law the discoverer, if his discovery were made at least +six miles distant from a locality already worked, was entitled to mark +off six claims which he could work without payment of licence-moneys. +He had also the ordinary public right of pegging off not more than +fifty claims in the proclaimed area, and fifty additional claims on +payment of reduced licences. The only real reward to the prospector +for his trouble and expense was the six free claims--hardly a +sufficient inducement to undertake laborious, and often costly, +enterprises. The Gold Law Commission recommended that the discoverer +should receive one-thirtieth of the proclaimed area, provided that in +no case such one-thirtieth exceeded thirty claims. This seems a +reasonable but not extravagant honorarium to the pioneer. He would be +entitled to the first selection, and would hold his claims free of +licence-moneys till they reached the producing stage. + +The owner, under the old law, was entitled to reserve a _mynpacht_, +equal to one-tenth of the proclaimed area, for which he paid either +10s. per morgen per annum or 2-1/2 per cent of his gross profits. He +was also entitled to mark off a _werf_ or homestead area, on which +prospecting was forbidden; and on this, too, he could claim a +_mynpacht_ from the State. He was entitled to a certain number of +owner's claims, which could not exceed ten. He was entitled, before +proclamation, to grant to other persons a certain number of claims +called _vergunnings_. Finally, he was entitled to share equally with +the Government in all licence-moneys on claims, and to receive a share, +varying from one-half to three-fourths, of all licence-moneys on +stands. This system gave the owner about one-sixth of the whole +proclaimed area,--an extravagant share, and one complicated by the +curious rights into which it was divided. Such unmeaning complexity +must be abolished, and one form of title--claim licences--substituted. +_Werf_ and _vergunning_ claims should be done away with, and the owner, +as the Commission recommended, be allowed to peg out one-seventh of the +proclaimed area, which should take the place of _werf_, _mynpacht_, +_vergunnings_, and owner's claims. The Commission has also recommended +that, while the owner should retain half of the proceeds of licences, +the Crown should have the right, without consulting him, to remit or +reduce the licence-moneys in what appear to be deserving cases. + +The State, under the old law, received all licence-moneys on claims +and stands situated on State lands, and half the licence-moneys from +claims and stands on private lands. It received also certain payments +from the owners of _mynpachts_. This in itself should provide for a +considerable revenue. But in addition the Crown should have the right +of sale of claims in proved districts, where the ground has a certain +value. The former method, in places where pegging was out of the +question, such as along the Main Reef, was to hold a claims' lottery, +a method which was neither rational nor lucrative. The sale by +auction of claims in proved districts would bring in a large +additional revenue and do no injustice to the prospector. But in all +places yet unproved the public should be free to peg out claims and +try their fortune. It is important, also, to revise the present system +of licence-moneys, so as to make the licences small during the +prospecting and non-producing period, and raise them when mining +actually begins. Under the old law all licences were L1 per claim per +month, a payment which bore heavily upon the poor prospector who was +still labouring to prove his claim. Prospectors' licences were issued +at 5s. per month on private land and 2s. 6d. on Government land. The +Commission recommended the abolition of prospectors' licences, and the +substitution of one general licence to search for minerals, on which a +stamp duty of 2s. 6d. per month should be charged. When minerals are +found and a public digging has been proclaimed, licence-moneys of 2s. +6d. per claim per month should be paid on Government land, and 5s. on +private land till the producing stage is reached. After that date the +old licence of L1 would come into force. + +The Transvaal Legislature will shortly be called upon to consider a +new Gold Law based on the report of the Commission, of which I have +sketched the chief features. Of almost equal importance, in the light +of recent discoveries, is the new Diamond Law, where substantially the +same questions of principle are involved. Owner, discoverer, and State +should have a fair share of profit--but especially the State. We are +none too well off in the ordinary course of things to be able to +afford to neglect our windfalls. A serious and permanent increase of +revenue can come only from a gradual increase of producing activity; +but, apart from permanent needs, many occasions will arise for capital +expenditure in reproductive works which are vital to progress. A +windfall is a development loan without guarantee or interest or +sinking fund to burden the mind of the Exchequer. + + * * * * * + +The other direct taxes are so few and unimportant that they may safely +be neglected. But it is necessary to face the question of adjustment +and new taxation, for the time may come when it may be expedient to +lower many of the existing duties and to revise thoroughly railway +rates, and it is desirable to have alternative proposals to meet the +decline of revenue which will follow. It may be desirable, for +instance, to abolish wholly the present charge on dynamite, as it most +certainly will be necessary to lower still further the cost of transit +on the railways. But new taxation must be imposed with the greatest +caution. The present population of the Transvaal pays in indirect +taxes L10 a-head as against L2 at home; the field for direct taxation +is therefore strictly circumscribed. To certain taxes the road is +barred. A land tax, however light, would bear heavily upon the +impoverished rural districts, and in any case is impossible under the +Terms of Surrender. An income tax would make life unbearable if the +limit of exemption were low, and if the limit were high the yield +would be inconsiderable. A general profit tax on the earnings of both +companies and individuals may become feasible in time, but we must +first await the return of normal conditions of life. One way may be +found in increased native taxation, a matter which, as it is bound up +with other questions of native policy, is discussed in another +chapter. But the object of all new taxation must be to strike at the +untaxed and unproductive elements in society, for reasons quite as +much political as economic. On this ground two taxes seem just and +desirable, though there are certain obvious difficulties to be +surmounted before they can be levied. The first is a tax upon +unoccupied lands, a quite possible and equitable tax which would meet +with little real opposition. Land companies in the Transvaal alone +possess some 12 million acres, the bulk of which has been bought for +supposed mineral values. Not 10 per cent of the land is occupied, and +nearly 50 per cent is capable of occupation of some kind. Quite apart +from revenue considerations, a tax which would compel settlement, or, +failing that, would drive some of the more obstinate companies to put +good land in the market, would be sound policy. What applies to the +companies would apply to the private landowner who has his half-dozen +farms, and lives in a corner of one of them. _Latifundia_ bid fair to +be among the curses of the land, unless proper measures are taken to +check them in time; and if this is done, the land troubles of the +Australian colonies and their confiscatory legislation will be saved +to South Africa. The machinery would be simple. A permanent commission +would have to be established (the judicial committee of the Central +Land Board, provided for in the Settler's Ordinance, could do the +work). Each owner of unoccupied land would be summoned before it to +state his case. He might show that three-fourths of his land was at +the moment incapable of occupation, in which case he would only be +assessed on the remainder. The tax might be an _ad valorem_ tax of 2 +or 3 per cent. A day might be fixed, say eighteen months from +assessment, when the tax would come into operation. In case owners +proved refractory and preferred to pay the tax, it might be increased +on a sliding scale till settlement became compulsory. There would be +no hardship to company or individual, since only land for which a +white occupier could be found would be assessable for the purpose. The +second tax is of equal importance but far greater complexity. The most +difficult person to reach in taxation is the holder for the rise, the +speculator who is nothing else, the great class which toils and spins +not and grows fat on the energy of others. The basis of his activity +is the quotation of shares, and a tax to affect him must be in +relation to such market values. You cannot introduce a too cumbrous +machinery without acting in restraint of legitimate trade, quite apart +from the fact that most of the business is done with bearer shares +which pass through fifty hands before registration. But it might be +possible--it is a problem for a revenue expert to decide--to affect +this class indirectly and curtail its activity by a tax on the profits +of companies based on the average quotation for the preceding year. At +the best it would be only a half measure, for it would be limited to +dividend-paying companies, and the energies of the middleman are +chiefly exercised on companies whose profits are still wholly +speculative. But with all deductions there seems to be a chance of +revenue in such a tax, and a certain general economic value. The tax, +again, would be limited to new issues, for in the case of old issues, +even when the shares stand at 1000 per cent premium, a high dividend +may represent a very moderate dividend on the capital of the investor +who bought in when shares were high. If the dividend of a new issue +justified a high quotation, the quotation would be high in spite of +the tax, but the existence of the tax would tend to keep down the +speculative quotation to some reasonable relation to former dividends. +If dividends declined, and the quotation fell, the tax would go +automatically out of existence. Such a tax, if possible, would not +yield in normal years a great revenue, but it would have certain +salutary and permanent effects. It would touch companies only in a +high state of prosperity. It would indirectly touch the man who buys +not for dividends but to realise by taking away in some part the basis +of his speculations. It would exercise a steadying influence upon the +market, and prevent, at least in one class of security, fictitious +rises. But as a means of revenue its position would be really that of +a windfall, for it would enable the Crown to profit largely out of any +period of great financial excitement. A boom, so eagerly desired by +all but in many of its results so maleficent, might be delayed by its +agency; and if it came, as no doubt it would in spite of any ingenious +taxation, and share values became blindly inflated irrespective of +past or present dividends, the Government would perform that rarest of +feats, and derive an honest profit from the vices of the multitude. + + * * * * * + +The Transvaal, till the other day, was the only important South +African state not included in the Customs Union. Its customs law was +No. 4 of 1894, amended by Ordinance 22 of 1902. The basis was an _ad +valorem_ tax of 7-1/2 per cent on all goods brought across the border, +with an addition of 20 per cent to the valuation price for the purpose +of the tax in the case of goods directly imported from over-sea. The +purpose of this provision is obvious, since to goods bought at the +coast the cost of over-sea freightage and handling is added in +reaching the price on which the tax is assessed. But to this general +duty there were two important exceptions. There was a lengthy free +list, which included, in addition to goods imported for Government +use, all live stock, books, tree, flower, and vegetable seeds and +plants, tools and effects of immigrant mechanics, fencing material, +mining and agricultural machinery, cement, and unmanufactured woods. +There was also a list on which, in addition to the general 7-1/2 per +cent, special duties were charged. Beer paid 3s. per gallon, dynamite +9d. per pound, gunpowder 6d. per pound, spirits from 14s. to L1 per +imperial gallon, manufactured tobacco 3s. per pound, leaf-tobacco 2s. +per pound (when brought from over-sea), wine from 4s. to 12s. 6d. per +gallon. The tariff was therefore moderately protectionist. Most +articles necessary for the great industries were free; articles of +common use were subject only to the _ad valorem_ duty; while articles +of luxury, and especially all fermented liquors, were subject to a +fair but not excessive special tax. + +The difficulty was that the tariff was not a fair guide to the real +taxation of imports. The Transvaal has no seacoast; all her imports +have to be landed at the ports of other colonies or states, and +carried to her borders by alien railways. Moreover, all the seaboard +colonies, as well as the Orange River Colony, were banded together in +a Customs Union, from which she was excluded. A tariff hostility was +therefore smouldering on, which gave acute annoyance to the Transvaal +importer. I will take two instances of purely predatory imposts. The +coast colonies levied a so-called transit due of 3 per cent on +dutiable articles for the Transvaal, a due which was the same in +principle as the levies which the barons of the Rhine used to make +from the harmless merchants passing through their borders. Again, in +the case of the Orange River Colony, the only inland colony in the old +Customs Union, the duties were collected at the coast ports, and a +collecting charge was made, which was simply another form of the +transit due. At one time the charge was as high as 25 per cent of the +duties collected; but on the petition of the Orange River Colony it +was afterwards reduced to 15 per cent. How far such a rate was from +representing the real cost of collection is shown by the fact that the +Transvaal duties were collected by the coast colonies from the +occupation of Pretoria to the end of 1901 at a charge of only 2-1/2 +per cent. + +The Transvaal had thus a tariff in itself reasonable, but she was +embarrassed by her isolation. It was obviously desirable that she +should enter into the Customs Union, which would then comprise the +whole of South Africa, for if federation is ever to become a serious +policy it is well to begin by throwing down economic barriers. But +economics have an awkward way of overriding all other considerations, +and the entrance of the Transvaal into the Union could only be a +matter of hard business--give and take on both sides. The interest of +the two parties was on this matter far apart. The coast colonies are +agricultural and pastoral, and their ports are forwarding depots. They +are frankly protectionist, and their customs have always been their +chief source of revenue. The Transvaal is industrial, and for the +present a free-trader; she must have cheap food, cheap raw material, +cheap necessaries. While at the moment customs form the largest item +in her revenue, it does not overshadow all others, and in time it is +probable that it will sink to a second place. The question was, +therefore, What of her present tariff would the Transvaal relinquish +to meet the wishes of the Union, and what compensating advantages +could she expect from her membership? + +The Bloemfontein Conference of March 1903 prepared a Customs +Convention, which has since been ratified by the several states, and +the old Customs Union has been amended and extended to include the +whole of British South Africa. How far has this act improved the +economic position of the Transvaal? In the first place, there is one +solid gain, the abolition of the transit dues, estimated at between +L250,000 and L300,000 per annum. There is, too, a gain in the mere fact +of union, and the freedom which it gives from the incessant bickerings +of conflicting tariffs. Since her duties are collected by the coast +colonies at the moderate charge of 5 per cent, a saving may also be +effected by the reduction of the customs establishment on her borders. +The benefit which she has conferred in return is the opening of her +markets without restraint to the products of British South Africa, an +opening which should amply repay the coast colonies for the reduction +in the protective tariff from over-sea. The actual tariff charges are +in the nature of an elaborate compromise. To take first the case of the +simple food-stuffs. In 1898, under the old Transvaal tariff, imported +flour paid in duty L26,955, and imported mealies L16,290. Under the old +Union tariff they would have paid respectively L114,068 and L69,332--a +difference of over 400 per cent. The old Union rate was 2s. per 100 lb. +for grain and 4s. 6d. per 100 lb. for flour, while the old Transvaal +rate was an _ad valorem_ duty of about 9 per cent. It was impossible +that either party could accept the other's rate, so the present +solution of 1s. for grain and 2s. for flour may be taken as a +satisfactory compromise, which an industrial country could support. It +must be further remembered that all food-stuffs produced elsewhere in +South Africa enter free, and that the cost of bread under the new +system will be if anything reduced. Article XV. of the Convention gives +the Transvaal a further power in times of scarcity to suspend the duty +on food-stuffs altogether, and give a bonus to imports of the same +class produced in the neighbouring colonies. The ordinary manufactured +article, which in a non-manufacturing country plays as large a part in +the cost of living as bread, is also reduced for the purchaser. It pays +an _ad valorem_ duty of 10 per cent, which at first sight seems higher +than the old rate of 7-1/2, which with other charges worked out in +practice at about 9. But 2-1/2 per cent must be deducted on account of +the 25 per cent preferential rate for British goods, and with the +abolition of the transit dues the actual duty will work out at between +7 and 8 per cent. Raw material and the necessaries of industry remain +much where they were under the old tariff, which was highly favourable +to them; but the charge on dynamite has been reduced from 9d. a-pound +to 1-1/2d., which is a reduction of over 30s. on the 50-lb. case. + +A mere comparison of tariffs does not show the real cheapening of the +necessaries of life; for to get at the practical effect, the abolition +of the transit dues, the reduction of railway rates, amounting to at +least L300,000 per annum, and the preference rate on British goods, +must all be considered. Under the old tariff and railway rates every +100 lb. of flour from Port Elizabeth to the Transvaal paid 9d. to the +Transvaal in duty. The freight was 6s. 2d., so that it paid altogether +in charges 6s. 11d. Under the Convention the same quantity of flour +will pay 2s. in duty and 3s. 9d. in railway rates, so that, in spite +of the higher duty, the charge is only 5s. 9d.,--a saving to the +Transvaal consumer of 1s. 2d., and a gain to the Transvaal treasury of +1s. 3d. There are many instances of a similar kind. Ordinary groceries +will be reduced by about 3 per cent, paraffin by 1s. 6d. a case, +grease by 2s. 6d. per 100 lb., cement by 2s. 9d. a cask. Tea and +coffee, on the other hand, show a slight increase. In one branch there +is a very marked increase, and an exception to the inter-colonial free +trade, which is the basis of the Convention. Each party to the Union +is entitled to levy on the importation of spirits distilled in and +from the produce of places within the Union a duty equal to any excise +duty which it may levy on spirits made within its own borders. In the +Transvaal there is no excise, for the manufacture of spirits is wholly +forbidden. It is of the most urgent importance to keep fermented +liquors out of reach of the native population, and to suppress all +illicit traffic. The importation of Portuguese spirits has been +stopped by treaty, and it was clearly impossible for the Transvaal to +consent to the importation of spirits on easier terms from the other +British colonies. The concluding paragraph of Article XVII., +therefore, provides that "where a prohibition exists in any colony or +territory of the Union against the manufacture of spirits for sale, it +shall be lawful for such colony or territory to levy on spirits +produced within the Union a custom duty not exceeding that levied on +similar spirits produced outside the Union." The duty in force is +therefore from 15s. to L1 per imperial gallon in addition to the 10 +per cent _ad valorem_ rate; which, it has been calculated, is an +increase on the former cost of from 4s. to 6s. per case. + +The new Union is therefore almost wholly in the favour of the new +colonies. The cost to the consumer is lessened, but the revenue does +not lose appreciably, since charges, formerly diverted by the coast +colonies, now go to its coffers. The coast colonies, in an admirable +spirit of statesmanship, have consented to surrender a part of their +revenue in order that the chief industrial market of South Africa +might be open to their people--an example of that policy of foregoing +certain revenues on a narrow basis for the sake of a possible revenue +in a wider field which is of the essence of good government. The +preference given to British goods, while still further reducing rates +in favour of a large class of imports, is also a step towards +federation, which does not, as such experiments are apt to do, +militate in any serious way against local commerce. The one person who +might complain is the farmer of the Transvaal, who sees his markets +thrown open to the old grain-lands of Cape Colony; but if the long +railway journey which his rivals have to face is not a sufficient +handicap to enable him to hold his own, then we need not lament his +fall. Vital as agricultural progress is, it cannot hope for protection +at the expense of industrial prosperity. + + * * * * * + +The normal expenditure of the Transvaal may be taken roughly at +L3,600,000. This figure is exclusive of debt charges, or any capital +outlay on development which may be met out of revenue. It represents +merely the day-to-day cost of the administrative machine. As revenue +is enlarged the expenditure will follow suit; but it is unlikely that +the proportion of costs to receipts, which is roughly three to four, +will ever increase. On the contrary, it might be considerably reduced +by a more complete administrative decentralisation. At present there +are a number of isolated departments--Native Affairs, Lands, +Mines--with local representatives wholly independent of each other, +and responsible only to the heads of their departments. The resident +magistrate, who is really an administrative official, since the legal +work is done by the assistant magistrate, and who as a rule is not a +lawyer, has a very narrow control over a few subjects like local +government and public health. The system is wasteful both of money and +energy, for the isolated departments often overlap unconsciously; and +since there is no local check, the tendency is for the head of a +department to increase his local staff and to vie with other heads in +securing large estimates. It also means that a constant inspection has +to be kept up from headquarters, and each department supports a force +of travelling officials. The Indian precedent might be followed with +advantage, and real heads of districts established, who would have a +control, direct or indirect, over all administrative work. They should +be responsible for the efficient and economic working of their +district, prepare their local estimates and reports, and answer for +their work only to the Governor and Council. The great departments +would exist as before, but their local staffs would be much reduced +in number, so far as such staffs were administrative and not +intrusted with expert work. Experts, such as inspectors of machinery, +customs officers, and veterinary surgeons, would remain directly +responsible to their own departments, though over these also the +district administrator would exercise a general supervision. In this +way a very considerable saving would be effected in salaries, the +unnecessarily large force of travelling inspectors could be reduced, +and the friction which inevitably attends the working of isolated +and independent officials in any district would be saved by the +establishment of responsible heads,--deputy administrators, whose +business it would be to supervise all district Government work, and +control all local expenditure. + + +III. + +The natural assets of the country and the existing fiscal system have +been roughly sketched in the foregoing pages. It remains to consider +what burden these two factors in collaboration are called upon to bear. +In view of the peculiar situation of the new colonies, the necessity of +a loan for development is sufficiently obvious. The country was +desolated by war. Large sums were necessary for compensation to +loyalists and for the repatriation of the Dutch inhabitants. The +backward system of our predecessors had left public works ill provided +for in most places, particularly in the country districts. If the +wealth of the provinces, mineral and agricultural, was to be exploited, +and the existing industries granted reasonable facilities for progress, +a heavy expenditure was imperative for railway extension. If the rural +parts were to be developed and their population leavened with our own +countrymen, considerable sums must be expended on settlement, and on +such reproductive schemes as forestry and irrigation. Finally, certain +heavy liabilities awaited the incoming Government. To buy out the +existing railways and repay certain military debts and advances from +the Imperial Treasury, fully 14 millions were required. The old debt of +the Transvaal, amounting to 2-1/2 millions, which carried 4 per cent +interest, must be paid off, and the capital required for the repayment +made part of a new loan at an easier rate. The liabilities and needs +of the country stood therefore as follows: An advance by the Imperial +Government to cover the estimated Transvaal deficit of 1901-2, +L1,500,000; the old debt of the Transvaal, L2,500,000; compensation to +loyalists in Cape Colony and Natal, L2,000,000; the acquisition of the +railways and the repayment of the existing railway debt, L14,000,000; +repatriation[21] and compensation in the new colonies, L5,000,000; +railway extension, L5,000,000; land settlement, L3,000,000; various +public works, L2,000,000,--a total of L35,000,000. This is the sum +comprised in the famous Guaranteed Loan. + +But this figure, large as it is, does not exhaust our burden. During +the year 1901 and 1902 the question of the contribution of the new +colonies to the imperial war debt was keenly discussed both in South +Africa and in England. Some fixed the payment likely to be required at +as much as L100,000,000; others argued that the new colonies were +likely to have so many burdens of their own that they could not be +called upon to contribute at all. Moderate men on both sides saw that +some contribution was equitable, but asked that it should not be fixed +so high as to cripple development. There were various proposals, such +as the ear-marking of certain sources of revenue and all windfalls, or +the allocating of a certain proportion of any annual surplus; but such +schemes were liable to the objection from the side of the Imperial +Government that there was no certainty in the contribution, and from +the side of the new colonies that there was no finality in the +liability. The settlement which Mr Chamberlain announced in his speech +at Johannesburg in January 1903 was, perhaps, the best possible in +the circumstances. The contribution was fixed at L30,000,000, to be +raised in three years by contributions of L10,000,000 per annum. The +first 10 millions at 4 per cent were underwritten without commission +by the great financial houses of the Rand, and there is no reason to +doubt that if they are called to make good their guarantee, it will +prove a profitable investment. It is difficult to overestimate the +merit of an arrangement which tends to bind the great houses to a +closer interest in the general development of the country. The War +Loan was secured wholly upon the Transvaal, but there is a contingent +liability on the Orange River Colony to pay a further sum of +L5,000,000 out of the Government share of any discoveries of precious +stones and metals. + +We have, therefore, to face a total debt of L65,000,000, of which 35 +millions at 3 per cent are a charge upon both colonies, and 30 +millions at 4 per cent upon the Transvaal alone. It is a heavy +responsibility for a white population of a few hundreds of thousands, +face to face with a labour problem. That the world at large believes +in the future of the country is shown by the way in which the +Guaranteed Loan was taken up, the first 30 millions having been +subscribed more than thirty times over. On this loan the interest +charge, with 1 per cent sinking fund, will amount to an annual +payment of L1,400,000: in three years time the War Loan, unless (which +is probable) it can be issued at a lower rate than 4 per cent, will +mean an annual charge of L1,200,000, with no sinking fund allowed. We +have therefore in front of us a possible annual payment of L2,600,000, +with a slight increase in the future when a sinking fund is provided. +The payment, large in itself, was made more difficult by the +circumstances of the two colonies. The larger loan is secured on both, +but while the Orange River Colony had a fair claim to a considerable +part of the proceeds, it was clearly impossible that she should pay a +share of the charge proportionate to her receipts. If she shared in +the loan only to the extent of the annual contribution which on her +small revenue she could afford, many important public works both of +land settlement and railway extension would have to be abandoned. +Joined with this general administrative difficulty, there was a +departmental one connected with the railways. The main line through +the Orange River Colony had acquired, as one of the main feeders of +the Transvaal, a purely fictitious value, and the Orange River Colony +profited greatly by the receipts. But to have within one system two +types of line, one a through line simply, the other connected directly +with the great centres of production and consumption, and to have +those two types of lines used as revenue-producing agents for two +different administrations, was to make a consistent railway policy +impossible. The country of the through line, whose fictitious value +produced a very real revenue, would reclaim against reduction in rates +for the benefit of the other. + +Both difficulties have been met by a very ingenious scheme. The +Inter-Colonial Council of the two colonies, created by Order in +Council of 20th May 1903, is significant in many ways, notably as the +first overt step towards federation; but for the present we may look +upon it purely as a financial expedient. Two important departments, +common to both colonies, were placed wholly under the administration +of the Council--the Central South African Railways and the South +African Constabulary; and a number of minor common services, such as +surveys and education, were added, and power was given to the two +legislatures to increase the number when they saw fit. A Railway +Committee of Council forms the permanent controlling authority in all +railway matters. All net profits of the railways in each year are +assigned to Council to form its revenues. Out of these it has to meet +the expenditure of the Constabulary and the minor common charges, as +well as the annual charge and management costs of the Guaranteed +Loan.[22] + +The financial duties of the Council are therefore twofold. It has the +entire administration of the Loan in its hands, it provides for its +apportionment among the different services, and it undertakes the +payment of its charges. It has also to meet the administrative +expenditure of the common departments intrusted to it, and for this +purpose it receives the net profits of the chief revenue-producing +asset of the two Governments. The first duty is comparatively simple. +A body composed of official and unofficial representatives of the two +parties to the Loan can allocate speedily and equitably without the +constant strife and jealousy which would attend the interference of +two different publics. But the second duty, which is concerned with +the annual inter-colonial budget, constitutes the index or barometer +of the new colony finances. The Budget for 1903-4 shows the following +figures: on the revenue side, L2,350,000 from the net railway +receipts; on the expenditure side, L1,441,000 for the service of the +Guaranteed Loan,[23] L1,520,000 for the Constabulary, and about +L70,000 for minor common services. This leaves a deficit of about +L680,000, which, according to the term of the Order in Council, will +be met by contributions from the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony +in proportion to their customs receipts--roughly, L600,000 from the +first, and L80,000 from the second. + +Let us take the revenue side of the Budget first. The position of the +railways is anomalous. They are virtually a taxing-machine, and in +this respect the most effective of Government properties. The normal +position of a Government railway should be that of an institution +worked for the public benefit, the receipts being little in excess of +the working costs plus a moderate interest on the capital involved. In +this railway system the net profits, as we have seen, are estimated +for next year, allowing for the half-million decrease from the +reduction of rates, at L2,300,000. No doubt it is economically unsound +to levy a tax of such magnitude on what is virtually a necessity of +life and a constituent of production. But bad economics may be sound +statesmanship, if they are recognised as unsound--a temporary +expedient to obviate a more serious difficulty. Railway profits are +the buttress of inter-colonial finance: without them there is no +satisfactory provision for the debt charges, and some form of direct +taxation, which would interfere far more effectively with nascent +industries, would be the only resort. The rates have been already +reduced so as to provide, along with the new customs tariff, for a +very real decrease in the cost of living. They will be still further +reduced, always keeping a limit in view which is calculated on fiscal +needs. To so adjust the rates that industrial and rural development +will not be hindered, and at the same time to provide an adequate +revenue, presents a very pretty problem in railway finance. It is the +problem in the customs; it is the problem in direct taxation; it is +the essence of the economic problem of the country. But with all +reductions there is a good chance of railway revenue increasing. The 5 +millions of the Loan which go to development will in a year or two +bear fruit. It is difficult to see how the net profits can ever fall +below L2,100,000, while it is not unreasonable to hope that in a few +years they may rise to L2,500,000 or L3,000,000. + +But while the revenue side is likely to increase, the expenditure side +of the Budget will inevitably decline. When the full loan is raised +the annual charge will be L1,408,000, a stationary figure till the +loan is redeemed. The Council is a genuine _Caisse de la Dette_; its +revenues are charged in the first instance with the loan charges, and +the liability of the separate colonies to make up any deficiency +distributes the weight of the debt equitably among the parties to it. +The danger of a _Caisse_, that it tends to check general prosperity by +a too arbitrary appropriation of revenue, is avoided by the very +strict conditions of the Council's power and the nature of its +constitution. The minor common services will not increase, and they +may very probably decrease, as such branches as surveys and permits +shrink to normal limits. The large item of 1-1/2 million for the +Constabulary will be lowered in future to about L1,200,000, which, on +the present establishment, must be regarded as a final figure. We may, +therefore, take L2,500,000 as the average expenditure in two years' +time, which, if railway receipts increase to a like figure in the same +time, would make the Inter-Colonial Budget balance. + +In the meantime the Transvaal is able to pay any contribution which +may be required from her. But in two years all or the greater part of +the War Loan will have been raised, and she may have to face a maximum +annual charge of L1,200,000, which contains no provision for any +sinking fund. In these circumstances, on her present revenue she could +pay nothing towards any inter-colonial deficit: she might even have to +ask for a contribution. There is every probability that such help +could be given, and an automatic system of adjustment might be framed +by which any inter-colonial surplus could go to pay the charges or +assist in the creation of a sinking fund for the War Loan. This is of +course on the most unfavourable assumption,--that the War Loan has to +be raised at 4 per cent, that the present industrial depression +continues, and that the Transvaal gets no increase of revenue from +that prosperity which she has a right to expect. It is far more +probable that the Council will be free to devote any surplus it may +show to the development of the common services, for which the Loan +provision cannot in the long-run be found adequate. + + + [21] This figure does not cover the expense of repatriation. + There was a free gift for the purpose of L5,000,000 by + the Imperial Government. + + [22] The Council is composed of the High Commissioner and + Governor (President), the two Lieutenant-Governors, the + Commissioner of Railways, the Inspector-General of the + South African Constabulary, two official members for + each colony, nominated by the Lieutenant-Governors, two + unofficial members for each colony, elected by the + unofficial members of the two legislatures, and two + members nominated by the Secretary of State. + + [23] These figures require a word of explanation. Only 30 + millions of the loan have been issued, so the charge for + interest and management should only be L1,208,000; but + as the loan year began in May and the financial year for + the budget began in July, interest and management + charges for fourteen months were included. + + +IV. + +It is idle to deny that the present is a period of financial strain. +The new colonies are solvent, but the margin is narrow. Like +everything else in South Africa, their finances are on a needle-point, +and require strenuous intelligence and constant economy. I have taken +the railway profits and customs receipts as incapable of falling below +their present level; but it is to be remembered that the past year is +not a fair basis for prophecy, since the country has been in process of +reconstruction, and the heavy importations for the purpose have swollen +receipts in both departments. If industrial progress is still +retarded, both figures will sink enormously, and the whole system of +finance sketched in the preceding pages will require revision. If, on +the other hand, progress is assured, both figures will increase +largely, since, while this basis is high as compared with the present +situation, it is low compared with any real prosperity. In this case +the strain will be of short duration. _Ce n'est que le premier pas qui +coute._ Industrial development lies at the root of all things. The +Transvaal can only hope for a large permanent increase of revenue from +the licences and profit tax paid by the mining industry and from +Customs receipts drawn from a wider basis of population. Unless this +increase comes she may be unable to meet her own war debt, or to +contribute anything to an inter-colonial deficit. Inter-colonial +revenues, too, can only expand from the same cause, for mining +prosperity is at the bottom of railway profits. The State finances +depend upon mining development, and mining development depends on +labour: this is the true statement of the problem, and all others are +involved in a vicious circle. And this is as it should be. On the +great industry of the country the chief burden must lie. + +There is, of course, the possibility of windfalls. From the Crown +share of gold and diamond properties very large sums of money may +from time to time flow to the Exchequer. But it is the part of a +prudent finance minister to base his forecasts on the normal only, +and to accept windfalls as gifts of Providence, to be used for +special purposes. It may be necessary to draw upon this source of +income to meet the debt charges; but, should this misfortune be spared +us, then we have in such windfalls the nucleus of a reserve fund for +development. There is need, as we have seen, of a capital outlay on +development far beyond that provided for in the Guaranteed Loan. +Railway extension alone, before we have done with it, will need not 5 +millions, but 10, and, in cases where new lines are built by private +companies, we shall have to face sooner or later a considerable +expenditure on expropriation. Public works, when all the loan moneys +have been spent, will still be badly provided for. It may be necessary, +too, to spend money in expropriating land for public parks, for game +preserves, for public buildings, for new townships,--expenditure which +in the first instance will fall upon the Government. So, too, with +other schemes,--irrigation, the search for artesian water, the +establishment of colleges and technical schools, and all the thousand +activities of government in a new country, which will grow quickly and +develop early a multitude of needs. Lastly, land settlement in the two +colonies, if it is to serve the social and political purpose which is +its chief justification, demands more than the 3 millions allotted to +it. Such expenditure is in the fullest sense an investment, since the +bulk of it will be returned in time to the Exchequer with a reasonable +interest. It is proposed that, in so far as repayments of capital from +settlers are concerned, such repayments should form a special fund, +which can go out again in fresh advances and further purchases of +land. In this way a permanent fund for settlement will be created, and +the project will not be dependent upon a share of any annual surplus. + +The economic problem of the new colonies finds a parallel in Egyptian +reconstruction in more ways than the analogy of the _Caisse de la +Dette_. There is the same undeveloped wealth in the country, the same +heavy bondage of debt, the same demand for reproductive expenditure. +To cut down the cost of living and the restraints on production, and +at the same time to provide money for development and for the charges +of an unproductive debt, is the threefold South African problem, as it +was the Egyptian. Solvency here, as there, is to be found in an +equipoise, and requires a nice and discriminating statesmanship rather +than any heroic cutting of knots. In most respects the Egyptian +difficulty was far the greater, for there the cast-iron debt +regulations and the endless European surveillance frustrated at every +turn the efforts of her statesmen. But one danger was absent. In Egypt +patience and diplomacy, faith in the country and in the work of time, +were so obviously the only cards to play, that, while there were many +temptations to lose heart and abandon the struggle, there was no +inducement to try short cuts and forsake the true path of policy for +those showy and unconsidered measures which in the rare event of their +success are called heroic. In South Africa the amateur financier is so +abroad in the land that we may look to find many odd nostrums +advocated to ensure prosperity. The kind of discussion which arose +over the labour difficulty is a guide to what we may expect in the +realm of high finance. But in both the one and the other the real +problem is plain once the obscuration caused by conflicting interests +is cleared away by a little common-sense. + +The great questions of economics in relation to state growth are +always simple. If high finance means anything it is the power of +adding two and two together. Complicated financial adjustments belong +to a lower plane: the great financier may have no aptitude in reducing +results to a decimal. But there is this distinction, that whereas in +the intricate calculations of secondary finance the figures are mere +counters, the elaboration of accepted data, in the higher and simpler +finance they are symbols. To the statesman they are the gauge of +prosperity or decline, and behind them stand the millions of workers, +the miles of crops, the floods and droughts and pestilences, the rise +and fall of industries, the ore in the mine, the web in the factory, +the cattle in the stockyard. The yield of a land tax is to him not a +figure but a symbol, and in using it he has regard not only to its +formal place in estimates and returns, but to its political meaning. +It is, if you like, the quality which in other spheres constitutes +the distinction between statesmen and high permanent officials, +between economists and statisticians, between all leaders and all +subordinates. In the finance of a country which is still in process +of reconstruction, this power, so uncommon and so inestimable, of +getting behind figures to facts, and keeping the hand on the pulse of +national progress, is the only guarantee of ultimate success. In this +light the prospects of the new colonies give good reason for hope. +The budget of to-day, formally regarded, shows a delicate equipoise, +in which a pessimist might find material for dark forebodings; but it +is only the symbol of that stress of re-creation which must precede +an ample prosperity. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE SETTLEMENT OF THE LAND. + + +I. + +To the Boer the land was the beginning and end of all things: a town +was only a necessary excrescence, an industry an uitlander whim. A land +policy is therefore one of the first burdens which attend our heritage. +Happily we are not seriously impeded by the wreckage of systems which +have failed. The Boer Government had no land legislation, and the few +laws, such as the Occupation Law of 1886, which touched on the +question, were less statutory enactments than administrative +resolutions. The Boer farmer, or his father, secured his land when the +country was unoccupied, and he had merely to arrange the boundary +question with friendly neighbours. He held it on freehold title, with +no reservation of quit-rent to the Government. When the existing +population had thus been settled, the balance of unoccupied country +fell to the State; and this was further parcelled out by grants to +poor burghers, doles for war service, establishment of native +reserves, and in the wilder districts by the system of occupation +tenure. But in spite of all grants a considerable portion remained +State territory--over 44,000 square miles in the Transvaal, of which +at least 19,000,000 acres are unsurveyed. In the Orange River Colony +the State lands are smaller, not exceeding, with all recent purchases, +1,400,000 acres. The land question in the two colonies is therefore of +the simplest: the best farms, including most of the rich pockets of +alluvial land, are the freehold possession of a small number of Dutch +farmers; the balance is the more or less encumbered perquisite of the +State. + +The condition of agriculture in the two colonies was primitive in the +extreme, a truth quite independent of the question whether such +elementary methods were not the only possible. The first comers were +pastoralists and nothing more, coming as they did from the great +pastoral regions in the north of Cape Colony. The average farm was +laid out for stock, and was rarely less than 6000 acres. On the old +estimate eight acres was required for each head of horned cattle and +two for each sheep. The Boer was not an advanced stock-farmer in any +sense of the word. He found certain diseases indigenous to the country +which he did not seriously attempt to cope with. He rarely fenced his +stock-routes and outspans or endeavoured to improve the carrying +capacity of the land by paddocking. The high veld in winter is burned +brown by sun and wind and nipped by frosts, so that it gives little +sustenance to stock; but the rich vegetation in summer should have +provided, by means of ensilage, ample feeding for the winter months. +This simple device was never used, and when the grass failed the Boer +trekked with his herds to his low-veld farm, whence he frequently +brought back the seeds of disease in his animals. In the quality of +his stock he was equally backward. In the Afrikander ox he had the +makings of one of the hardiest and strongest draught animals in the +world. In the Afrikander pony he had the basis of a wonderful breed of +riding-horses, to whose merits the late war has sufficiently +testified. He never seriously tried to improve one or the other. +Stallions of wretched quality were allowed to run wild among his +mares, and he had no system of culling to raise the quality of his +herds. The market for his beef and mutton was small and uncritical, so +that the amassing of animals became with him rather the sign visible +of prosperity than a serious professional enterprise. + +At first the Boer did little more than till a garden. On each farm +there was a certain water-supply, and around the spruit or fountain a +pocket of alluvial land. The ordinary soil, both in the Transvaal and +the Orange River Colony, is, with some remarkable exceptions, poor and +easily worked out; but those alluvial patches are so rich as to be +practically inexhaustible. The Boer and the Kaffir shared one gift in +common, an infallible eye for good country, though there was this +difference between them that the Boer chose the heavy river-side lands, +while the Kaffir, who was a shallow cultivator, preferred as a rule the +lighter slopes where he could pick with ease. In 1885 the Boer farmer +did little more than irrigate his garden; but the increase in the +population of the towns, and the growth of a market for cereals, +fruits, and vegetables, made him extend his irrigation farther, so that +in a few years the whole of his alluvial pocket was under water. +Formerly he had been a pure pastoralist; now he became also an +agriculturist, and after his fashion a narrow-minded one, for +irrigation, which was his first successful experiment, was at once +exalted by him into an axiomatic law. The Kaffir, who in his way is a +skilful farmer and an experimentalist on a far wider scale, believed +in dry lands; but the Boer confined himself to his irrigation and his +summer and winter crops. Two views have been promulgated on the Boer +method. One is, that it is the true and only type possible in the +country, discovered after long years of intelligent experience. The +Boer, it is said, is unprogressive, because he knows the limitations +under which he works, and all new-comers who have begun by trying new +methods have sooner or later fallen into line with the old inhabitants. +The supporters of this view point to the scarcity of English farmers in +the land who have made a success of their farms on any other than the +Boer methods. There seems to be no real justification for this opinion. +The Boer has no settled principles of farming; he is an experimentalist +in practice, whatever he may be in theory. We have seen that he began +as a pastoralist, advanced to be also a gardener, and is now a +cultivator of lands under irrigation. In some twenty years, had he +been allowed to develop unchecked, he would doubtless have come round +to the Kaffir view of the dry lands. Fifteen years ago the country +store-keeper stocked only the old single-furrow wooden plough: to-day +on Boer farms you may see double-furrow steel ploughs, disc ploughs, +disc cultivators, not to speak of such elaborate farm machinery as +aermotors, reapers and binders, steam chaff-cutters, and in some few +cases steam-ploughs. The more progressive Boers have changed utterly +their methods of orchard-management, and at the present moment they +are reconsidering their methods of tobacco-growing. The point is +important, because if the Boer has really found out long ago the +limitations of the soil and the only principles of farming, then so +far from deserving the name of unprogressive he has shown himself +eminently wise. But the theory of Boer stability is a chimera. He +changes every year in his attitude towards the soil,--changes +unwillingly, it may be, but certainly; and though a few dogmas take a +long time to alter, they alter in the end. It is equally incorrect to +argue from the absence of successful immigrant farmers on progressive +lines. They were few in number, because in a country where the rural +population was mainly hostile, the new-comers who began by farming +ended as a rule by drifting to the towns. But, to cite one case, +mealies have been grown on dry lands on the American plan with great +profit to the farmer; and the German tobacco-planters in the north +have shown how profitable fruit and tobacco growing can become, if +conducted on principles rather than on tradition. + +But it is as great a mistake to regard the Boer farmer as utterly +without capacity. He had no need to bestir himself. He lived simply +and supplied his own modest needs. He saw his farm going up in price +through the general appreciation of land values, and he sold a bit now +and again and increased his herds; or he might receive a large sum for +the option on the minerals under the soil. He was cheated by the +country store-keeper, and he rarely attempted to reach distant +markets. The old vicious system of allowing natives to farm on his +land in return for a certain amount of compulsory labour--a system +unchanged by that abortive piece of law-making, the Plakkerswet--made +him unthrifty and improvident. He had no labour bill to cast up, no +financial position which wanted investigation at each year's end. +Hence the difficulty of framing any accurate forecast of the prospects +of farming in the new colonies: there are no statistics to follow, no +scale of values for land or produce. But the Boer had an empirical +science of his own. He knew exactly the capacity of his irrigated +land, though he never thought of formulating his knowledge. He had +many rough and effective precautions against blight and disease, and +he had a kind of gipsy veterinary skill. He was not industrious, but I +think he must be allowed the credit of having done his best for the +land on his own principles. He was a great buyer of new farm +machinery, partly perhaps out of curiosity, and on this point at least +his conservatism was not consistent. Some of his methods were based on +common rural superstitions--for example, he always sowed, if possible, +at the full moon. His habit, too, of seeking a theological explanation +of all misfortunes was destructive of energy. When the locusts or the +_galziekte_ came he lit his pipe and said it was the will of God, a +visitation which it would be impious to resist. Hardly, perhaps, the +proper attitude for success in this modern world, but under his +peculiar conditions he never felt its folly. It is impossible to +believe that the Boer has done justice to the country, but we may +readily grant him skill and good sense in the narrow world in which he +dwelt. + +The land problem in the new colonies is partly political and partly +economic, and on the solution of the latter branch of the question +the former largely depends. There are urgent reasons why an English +population should grow up on the land; but unless this population +can make a profitable living it would be folly to encourage its +immigration. On this economic question it is impossible to dogmatise. +Data, as I have said, are lacking and have never existed. At the best +we can frame some sort of tentative answer--a hope rather than a +promise; and we are justified in this course because those who attack +the policy have no better argument to offer. + +Before the war the ordinary farmer sold his stock and his produce at +fair prices in his country town. The bulk of it, together with the +produce which the more enterprising farmers sent direct, went to +Johannesburg, where on the whole high prices were maintained. So good +were the prices that the farmers of the eastern and western provinces +of Cape Colony found it profitable, notwithstanding customs and heavy +railway freights, to make Johannesburg their chief market. But in +spite of all local production, Johannesburg was not fully supplied. +Food-stuffs in large quantities had to be imported from abroad. In +1898 agricultural produce, raw and manufactured, to the value of +nearly L2,500,000 was imported into the Transvaal. Arguing on these +facts, many have predicted a rosy future for all branches of South +African farming. What has been imported, they say, can be grown; the +mining industry will advance, and agriculture will follow with equal +steps. But such rudimentary hopes can scarcely be held to exhaust a +very complicated and delicate problem, to which some answer must be +suggested before any needs of policy can be thought of. There are two +questions to be met: How far is the land capable of intensive and +sustained production? and, granting the capacity, what guarantee is +there of profitable markets? + +The soil of the new colonies, as I have said, is sharply divided into +alluvial pockets and dry lands,--the former highly cultivated, the +latter, except for Kaffir locations, mainly neglected. But since for +one alluvial acre there are a hundred dry morgen, the progress of the +country may be said to depend upon the dry lands. It follows that +pasturage must remain the staple form of farming. The bulk of the dry +lands are light and thin in soil, and the natural humours of the ground +have been much exhausted by the unthrifty habit of veld-burning. But in +spite of all drawbacks it is a country of abundant summer grass, both +sweet veld and sour veld, which is capable of great improvement by any +proper system of paddocking and depasturing. Large quantities of veld +grass might be cut for winter fodder, and roots and forage crops could +be grown in summer for the same purpose. Farms, which at present carry +an ox to every eight acres and a sheep to every two, might be made +capable of supporting a vastly greater stock. But there are certain +drawbacks to stock-farming peculiar to the country, the chief being the +number of diseases indigenous and imported. At the present moment to +bring in valuable stock to most districts of the new colonies is a +dangerous experiment. Horses die of horse-sickness, sheep of scab and +anthrax, cattle of rinderpest, red-water, and the immense variety of +_ziektes_ from _galziekte_ to _gielziekte_. Before the new colonies can +advance to the rank of great pastoral lands which is their right, +vigorous methods must be taken to stamp out diseases wherever they +appear, and to take precautions against their recurrence. The country +must be fenced, stock-routes and outspans must be established and +guarded, and a stringent Brands Act must be passed to give security to +the stock-owner in a country where stock is notoriously prone to +vanish.[24] + +Given good laws, adequately administered, the Transvaal and the Orange +River Colony may well become countries of large and prosperous +stock-farms. Here, it has been argued, the matter ends. Agriculture +must confine itself in most cases to the growth of domestic supplies +and winter forage. I cannot, after a careful examination of most parts +of the country, bring myself to accept this view. Much may be done by +irrigation to increase the area of land under water. Sir W. Willcocks' +Report[25] proposes to give to South Africa 3,000,000 acres of +perennially irrigated land at a cost of about L30,000,000; but as he +argues for the undertaking on the basis of certain doubtful land +valuations, this large estimate may have to be considerably modified. +Unirrigated land, he says, varies from 2s. 6d. to L3 per acre: +irrigation costs from L7, 10s. to L15 per acre; and the price of good +irrigated land runs from L20 to L100. On this reasoning there is room +for a handsome profit, but the argument is based rather on fictitious +market values than on the intrinsic normal producing power of the +soil. At the time when Sir W. Willcocks' Report was written--the last +year of the war--land values were inflated, and the prices of produce +grown under water were extremely high. In the average year for which +we must provide little irrigated land will be worth to the farmer more +than from L5 to L10 per acre, and certain irrigation schemes which, on +Sir W. Willcocks' showing would return a profit, would in reality +spell ruin to their promoters. Irrigation is necessary on a certain +scale for a reason which we shall discuss later; and in many cases it +could be effected at a moderate cost. But expensive irrigation works +for agriculture alone are, I believe, of doubtful wisdom in almost +every part of the country. What is of infinitely greater importance +is the procuring of water in the dry tracts by tanks, wells, and, if +possible, by artesian bores. Vast stock districts in Waterberg and +Lichtenburg would have their value quadrupled if a permanent supply of +water, even for stock purposes only, could be procured. The Australian +method of tank-sinking has already been followed with success in the +Springbok Flats, and it is at least possible that artesian water may +be found. Everywhere the soil contains water at a low depth, which +percolates through the porous rock, and is brought to a stand by +dykes of harder stone. Hence has arisen the old African fiction of +underground rivers, which is true to the extent that no man has far +to dig before he finds water. It is rather with such tank- and +well-sinking that a water expert should deal, and with the regulation +of the present ridiculous apportionment of water rights. No serious +work can be done in this department till the State assumes the right +of distributing water, and has it in its power to prevent the +riparian owner from following an obstructive course to the detriment +of his neighbours. Irrigation in a few cases should be followed, and +a greater portion of land brought under water in the interests of +mixed farming; but it is in another direction that we must look for +the sheet-anchor of South African agriculture. + +The rainfall of the new colonies is generally well distributed. +Copious rains fall from September to April, and then come the four dry +and windy months of winter. On irrigated lands summer and winter crops +are grown; on dry lands a summer crop only. But the Boer believed that +the crops which he could grow on dry lands were very limited, and he +habitually grew mealies, potatoes, lucerne, and tobacco under water. +It is, of course, a great advantage to reap two crops a-year; but if a +man can get two crops from 5 acres only and one crop from 500, this +one crop, on ordinary principles of common-sense, should command his +chief attention. Deducting the greater expense for labour, the one +crop is still thirty or forty times as important as the other two. +This is roughly the agricultural problem of the dry lands. They have +never been really exploited. The Kaffir has picked at the edges; a few +progressive farmers have made good profits by growing mealies and +tobacco dry on the American plan. But it was much easier to potter +about with a water-furrow than to attempt to plough the dry and +unbroken flats. Dry-land farming is therefore pioneer farming, and +pioneering with a good hope of success. Granted the markets, there is +no reason why great tracts should not be ploughed from end to end, and +a huge crop of cereals and roots raised yearly. Steam-ploughing and +every labour-saving device will be necessary, for this is farming on +the grand scale. The outlook is made brighter when we realise that +those despised dry lands are some of the richest in the country. The +famous Standerton black soil, the environs of Middelburg, part of the +Bloemhof and Klerksdorp districts, and, above all, the Springbok +Flats,[26] where there may be half a million acres of the richest +black soil 12 feet deep, and another half million acres of excellent +red soil--such are a few instances of lands which await an early +development. + +There is still another aspect of this problem which concerns a small +group of semi-tropical products--fruits, tobacco, rubber, coffee, +and, possibly, cocoa. There are tracts which have proved themselves to +be as highly fitted for such crops as any in the world. They are +crops, too, for which the acreage required is small, and whose value +is so high in proportion to bulk that the freightage does not +seriously detract from profits. Given, again, the market, and there is +no reason why the present yield should not be centupled. + +The market--that is the rock on which arguments divide. The rosy hopes +of the market to be furnished by the Transvaal which some minds +entertained during the war have given place with many to an equally +fantastic pessimism. I do not propose to provide a tabulated statement +of costs and prices. I have seen such statements arrive by the +clearest reasoning at opposite conclusions. But it is worth while to +consider soberly what are the market prospects in the future for the +farmer of the new colonies. A comparison of imports gives little +assistance. In the year 1902 the raw agricultural produce imported +into the Transvaal, all of which might be locally produced, was worth +over 2 millions sterling; and the imports of manufactured and +partially manufactured produce, the bulk of which might be produced +and manufactured locally, came close on another million. These figures +may be taken as below normal, since supplies for the army of +occupation are not included, and at the same time the number of +inhabitants in the towns and natives in the mines were largely below +the ordinary figures. On the other hand, little agriculture existed, +and practically all supplies for the existing population, such as it +was, had to be brought from the adjoining colonies or from over-seas. +On this basis, therefore, there is a considerable and highly +profitable market for the limited agriculture and pastoral enterprise +of the country. But in framing any forecast two new factors must be +taken into consideration. If the towns are to develop, the cost of +living must be greatly reduced; which means in the first instance that +all ordinary food-stuffs must be imported free of duty and at cheap +railway rates. Again, when all the Boer farmers have been resettled on +their lands and a multitude of new-comers occupy Crown farms, the +local agricultural output will be very largely increased. The farmer, +who at the moment can sell his garden stuff, his crops of potatoes, +mealies, and forage, and his stock at a good profit, will find himself +faced by over-sea produce, grown wholesale under the most favourable +conditions, and sold at a price with which he cannot compete and live. +This is, I think, a true forecast--for the small improvident farmer. +The man who grows mealies on a large scale with labour-saving +appliances, or who has a well-managed stock-ranch, will make a profit +on wholesale dealings. In agriculture and pasturage, as in other +activities, Providence is on the side of the bigger battalions, and +the small man who grows on an expensive scale will be pushed out by +the large man who grows economically. Prophecy is an intricate task, +especially on land questions, but it seems clear that the only class +who will not have to dread to some extent a change in present +conditions, a cheapening of the means of life, and the influx of a +large agricultural population, will be the wholesale farmers and +pastoralists, who follow the methods of over-sea producers and enjoy +the advantage of living at their customers' doors. + +But this does not exhaust the question. Is, then, the small holder of +100 or 200 acres, or the owner of a mixed farm of 1000 acres, to +become extinct in the land? It depends entirely on themselves. In +districts such as Waterberg, Zoutpansberg, and Barberton, the holder +of 50 acres under water will be able to put vegetables and fruit on +the Rand market a fortnight before any other grower in the world. His +price is assured beyond doubt; and if he may find little profit for +six months in the year, he is in no worse case than many prosperous +market-gardeners in Kent and Surrey. It is here that the value of +irrigation appears. Such a small holder, again, may be able to make a +profit from dairying all the year round, provided local creameries are +established, and he goes the proper way about it. So, too, with mixed +farming, of which the essence is that one product can be set off +against another. If a farmer finds cereals unproductive, he can put +part of his land into pasture; it is unlikely that the price of meat +will fall below a paying point, granted the expected industrial +development. In addition there are certain crops, such as tobacco, +where the profits, even allowing for a large decline in present +prices, are great, the freightage small, and the market worldwide. The +aim of mixed farming is to provide an elaborate system of alternate +schemes, which between them will preserve a fairly permanent average +of profit. + +The basis of all farming prosperity is the growth of the mining +industry and the creation of new industries. Any attempt to protect +farming by tolls or imposts is foredoomed to a miserable failure. +Sink, if necessary, farming considerations altogether for the moment; +look only to mining development, if need be; abolish the old market +prices and ruin the old local producer: it is all good policy, and in +the long-run the true agricultural interest. When the present +fictitious basis is got rid of, the true and lasting agricultural +prosperity may begin. There seems no reason to doubt that in the +future there will be a sound local market for the large producer, for +the favourably situated small holder, and for the judicious farmer of +mixed land. Nor is there any reason why in time a considerable export +trade should not be established. As the great produce-exporting +countries of the world grow more populous, South Africa may yet play +its part in feeding Europe. With improved internal communications, +and thousands of miles of fine pasture land, there is no reason why, +a fortnight nearer Europe than Australia, she should not take her share +of the frozen-meat traffic of the world. In tobacco, again, to take +only one instance, a very considerable export trade may arise. The soil +is well suited; the rough leaf, grown on the most unscientific method, +is as good as anything produced by Virginia and Borneo. The large +tobacco-growers, or the small holders attached to a tobacco-factory, +may very well find a profitable outlet for their wares abroad, and the +English manufacturers discover a new producing ground in a British +colony with which to resist the attacks of transatlantic combines. + +The farming prospects in the new colonies, even if stripped of all +fanciful stuff, are sound and hopeful. There may come bad times for +all. The ordinary market-gardener will for a certainty find himself +poorly off five years hence; and all classes may have their periods of +stress and despair. Such visitations are part of the primeval curse +upon tillers of the soil. The New Zealand and Australian pastoralists +had sunk very low before the discovery of cold storage saved the +situation. The Ceylon planters, after the coffee blight, seemed on the +brink of ruin, when the introduction of tea-growing more than restored +their former prosperity. An immunity from farming risks can no more +be guaranteed in the new colonies than in other countries. The real +question is, Can they offer the settler no greater risks than he has +to face elsewhere, and at least a fair chance of greater prosperity? +On a reasonable survey of the case, I think it will be found that they +can. + +With this clearing of the ground we can turn with an open mind to the +political question. The secular antithesis of town and country is as +marked here as elsewhere, and the political problem varies accordingly. +In the country we have to create in a large measure from the +foundation; we have to meet and nullify the prevailing apathy, and +undertake as a Government many tasks which would elsewhere be left to +private enterprise. There the wounds of war gape more widely, and have +to be healed by more cunning simples. People have spoken as if the +towns were the sole factor in the case. Make the towns prosperous and +wholly British, it has been said, and the land is ours. The towns are +the loyal units; as they advance in prosperity the rural districts will +sink out of account; and rightly, for their wealth is small, their +population hostile, and their future barren. "Twenty years hence," +wrote in 1896 an observer as clear-sighted as he was hopeful, "the +white population is likely to be composed in about equal proportions +of urban and rural elements. The urban element will be mainly mining, +gathered at one great centre on the Witwatersrand, and possibly at +some smaller centres in other districts. The rural element, consisting +of people who live in villages or solitary farmhouses, will remain +comparatively backward, because little affected by the social forces +which work swiftly and potently upon close-packed industrial +communities, and it may find itself very different in tone, temper, +and tendencies from its urban fellow-citizens."[27] So we find one +class of mine-owners arguing that any attempt to settle the country +districts is a work of supererogation, and urging the Government to +concentrate all its efforts on the promotion of their own industry, +declaring that from their prosperity every blessing will flow forth to +the rural parts. It is impossible to contemplate with equanimity the +result of merely letting things alone. No industrial development would +ever compensate for it, for the unleavened Dutch rural districts would +become centres to collect and focus and stereotype the old unfaltering +dislike. A hard-and-fast division between town and country is always +to be feared; but when the barrier is between white men, and is built +up of race, wealth, and civilisation, it can only be a dire calamity. +We cannot rear up for our children a race of helots, and by our very +exclusiveness solidify for all time an irreconcilable race division. +If we preserve such an enemy within our bounds, and just beyond our +gates, the time may come when a few isolated townships will represent +Britain in South Africa. To prevent this cleavage, urban and rural +development should advance with equal steps. The two races will be +joined not by any trivial sentimental devices, but by the partnership +of Dutch and British farmers in the enlightened development of the +land. + +There is another and a profounder reason for this introduction of +British blood. The day may come when the South African, splendid as +has been his loyalty and many his sacrifices, may go the way of most +colonists, and lose something of that close touch with the +mother-country which is necessary in the interests of a federated +empire. It is always the temptation of town-dwellers, with their busy +life and their own engrossing interests, and the tremendous mixture of +alien blood in the country may serve to hasten this result beyond the +ordinary rate of colonial progress. But the country settler is a +different person. He retains a longer and simpler affection for the +country of his birth. An influx of such a class would consolidate +South African sentiment, and, when self-government comes, protect +imperial interests better than any constitutional guarantee. This is +the class which has the true stake in the country, deriving its life +from the nurture of the earth, striving with winds and weather, and +slowly absorbing into the fibre of its being those influences which +make for race and patriotism. + +South African agriculture, as the shrewdest observers have long +foreseen, could never be improved until there arose a political reason +for its improvement. The reason for the experiment has arrived, and +its basis is in existence. In the inheritance of Crown lands which +remains from the mismanaged estate of the late Government, and in the +long lists of ex-irregulars and others who sought land, there was the +raw material of settlement. It is no case for flamboyant prophecies. +The certain difficulties are as great as the probable advantages. But +to shrink from those difficulties is to have towns where British ideas +of government, can be realised and outside vast rural districts, +suspicious, unfriendly, potentially dangerous; to neglect a golden +opportunity of increasing the British element in South Africa; and to +turn the back upon farming, which must always be the most permanent +asset of any nation. The determinant fact in the case is that the +alternative is so black that all risks must be faced rather than +accept it. With such considerations in mind, the Government put forth +a scheme of settlement, with the examination of which the remainder of +this chapter is concerned. It is not my business to write the history +of the Crown Colony administration, and therefore no time need be +given to the many difficulties which faced the scheme, the mistakes +made, and the hopeful results attained in certain cases. It is the +problem itself which demands attention, and the adequacy or inadequacy +of the policy which has been framed to meet it. Land settlement is +from its very nature a slow business, with tardy fruits: twenty years +hence we may be in a position to judge by results. But in the meantime +it is possible, when the data are known, to ascertain whether a policy +is on _a priori_ grounds adapted to meet them. + + + [24] A Fencing Act, a Stock-Route Act, and a Brands Act on + the most progressive lines have been prepared for the + Transvaal. An excellent Fencing Act, badly + administered, has always existed in the Orange River + Colony, and a Brands Act, inferior to the Transvaal + measure, has been passed in that colony. But it is the + effective administration of the Acts which is of + importance. + + [25] Parliamentary Paper C.D. 1163. + + [26] My friend, Colonel Owen Thomas, had some samples of + Transvaal soil analysed, and the report was very + discouraging. To set against this, a sample of Springbok + Flats soil was pronounced by a distinguished English + expert, to whom it was sent, to be one of the richest + specimens of virgin soil he had seen. + + [27] Bryce, Impressions of South Africa, 3rd edition, p. 451. + + +II. + +The Crown lands of the Transvaal, as I have said, amount to upwards of +29 million acres, the Crown lands of the Orange River Colony to under +1-1/2 million. So far as the latter colony is concerned, land +settlement is rather in the nature of estate management. The lands are +too small for any serious political purpose, nor would the most +extended settlement make much impression upon the solid Dutch rural +community. But in the Transvaal the Crown in several districts is by +far the largest landowner, and in others it holds the key of the +position. Take a Transvaal map coloured according to ownership, and +red is easily the master colour. A solid block of it occupies the +north-east corner; large islands of it appear in the western and +eastern borders; and the centre is plentifully dotted. Save in the +little known north-east those lands are generally pasture, and in too +many cases dry and arid bush-veld. In the Standerton district, and in +parts of Rustenburg, Potchefstroom, and Bloemhof, there are tracts of +good irrigated or irrigable lands; while in Barberton, Lydenburg, +Zoutpansberg, and Marico there are considerable districts well watered +and well suited for tropical and sub-tropical products. Taken as a +whole, however, only a small portion of the Crown holding is suitable +for early settlement--say 2-1/2 million acres within the next three +years. But there is a wide hinterland for development, and in +settlement, as in empire, a hinterland is a moral necessity. There must +be an open country to which the sons of farmers, in whom the love of +the life is born, can trek as pioneers, otherwise there is a futile +division into smaller holdings, or a more futile exodus to the towns. +Besides, there should be room for the townsman--the miner, the artisan, +the trader--to feel that there is somewhere an open country where he +can invest his savings if he has a mind for a simpler life. As railways +spread out into new districts, land will become agricultural which is +now pasture; and, as the pastoral industry develops and herds are +formed and diseases are mastered, the ranchman will occupy large tracts +of what is now the unused hunting-veld. + +The Government scheme aims at making a beginning with this +settlement--a beginning only, for no government has ever been able to +reconstruct alone, and the bulk of the work must be done by private +enterprise. If 2000 farmers from England and the colonies can be +settled in the rural parts before the day of stress arrives, then the +work has been fairly started. A nucleus will have been formed to which +the years will add, an element which will both leaven the slow and +suspicious rustic society and provide a make-weight against the +parochialism of the great towns. A country party is wanted which can +look beyond the dorp and the mine-head, and view South African +interests broadly and soberly. Such a party must be common to both +town and country, but it cannot be built up wholly from either. It +must, in the first instance, be a British party; but if this British +party is to become a South African party, it must stand for interests +common to both races and to all classes. The formation of this +leavening element cannot be left to time and chance, but must be aided +by conscious effort. The land is largely unproved, and full of dangers +to crops and stock. The new-comer must therefore be treated gently, +and helped over the many stiles which confront him. He will usually be +a man of small means, and his limited capital must be put to the best +use, and eked out with judicious Government advances. He should have +few payments to make during his early years, when payments will +necessarily come out of capital. Above all, the acquirement of the +full freehold in his land on reasonable terms, and within a reasonable +time, should be kept constantly before him as an encouragement to +thrift and industry, for the sense of freehold, as the voortrekkers +used to say, "turns sand into gold." Much of the Crown lands will never +be suitable for any but the largest stockholders. These it is easy to +deal with as a mere matter of estate-management; but the political +purport of the scheme is concerned with intensive settlement, with the +small holder and the mixed farmer of moderate means, who can provide a +solid colony of mutually supporting and progressive Englishmen. + +The Transvaal "Settlers' Ordinance" of 1902 is based upon the mass of +legislation which embodies the settlement schemes of the Australasian +colonies. The usual method in such experiments has been to begin in +desperate fear of the settler, tying him up with cast-iron rules, and +ruining him in a very few years. Then the pendulum swings back, and +settlement is made easy and profitable, the old safeguards are +abolished, and the land becomes full of rich squatters and companies, +who fatten on State munificence through the numerous dummy settlers in +their pay. Finally, after long years a compromise is effected, and +that shy creature, the _bona-fide_ settler, is sought for far and +near. By this time it is probable that the thing has got a bad name, +and men whose fathers and grandfathers lost money under former +schemes, are chary of trusting themselves again to the tender mercies +of a land-owning State. This, or something like it, has been the +experience of the Australasian colonies. Either land was given out +indiscriminately and a valuable State asset cheaply parted with, or +the conditions of tenure were such as to ruin the small holder and put +everything in the hands of a few rich syndicates. The land laws of +Australia and New Zealand form, therefore, a most valuable precedent. +We have their experiments before our eyes, and can learn from their +often disastrous experience. + +Settlement in New South Wales, to take one instance, was begun partly +as a Treasury expedient and partly as an election cry. Under the Act +of 1867 a settler was allowed to peg off, as on a mining area, a +claim not exceeding 320 acres, without any attempt at a previous +valuation and survey. The result was a wild rush, where nobody +benefited except the blackmailer, who seized the strategic points of +the country, such as water-holes, and had to be bought out at a fancy +price. It does not surprise one to learn that of settlers under this +scheme not one in twenty remains to-day. By subsequent Acts the +maximum acreage was increased; but in any case it was an arbitrary +figure, and it was not till 1895 that it was left within the widest +limits to the discretion of the Minister of Lands. Areas proved too +small, since no provision could be made for the increase of stock and +the necessary fall in prices which attended settlement. In valuation +the extraordinary plan was adopted of giving a uniform capital value +of L1 per acre to all land. The country being unproved, values were +absolutely unknown, nor was any provision made for revaluation. The +result was that the settler struggled along till he was ruined and +his holding forfeited, when the holding lapsed to the State, which, +being unable to find a new tenant, was compelled to let it remain +vacant, having accomplished nothing but the needless ruin of the +first man. The "Settlers' Ordinance" has endeavoured to avoid laying +down any rules which experience has not tried and tested. The +determination of the size of any holding is left to the land +officials, without defining any area limits. A holding which proves +too small may be increased on appeal, and the boundaries are at all +times made capable of adjustment. Holdings are first surveyed and +valued, then gazetted for application, and finally publicly allotted, +after full inquiry into the case of each applicant, by a Central +Board. The division and valuation of farms, in the absence of +reliable data, is a work of great nicety and difficulty. The country +contains within its limits many districts which differ widely in +soil, vegetation, and climate. It is therefore impossible, in +deciding on the size of holdings, to follow any arbitrary rule; and +to restrict survey to a maximum and minimum acreage would be fatal. +The only method is to ascertain from local evidence the carrying and +producing capacity of similar land, and so frame the boundaries of a +farm as to provide on such figures a reasonably good living for the +class of settler for whom it is intended. The danger of putting too +high a price on land is not less great. If the current market price +is taken it will in most instances be overvalued, and in any case it +is a method without any justification in reason. The best solution is +probably the plan at present in use. Schedules have been prepared for +the different types of holding, in which the profits are calculated, +using as a guide the present price of stock and imported produce at +the coast to ensure against the inevitable fall in prices. Taking +such estimated profits as a basis, the valuation is so fixed as to +give the settler, after all living expenses, annual payments to +Government, probable loss of stock, and depreciation of plant have +been written off, a clear profit of 12 per cent on his original +capital. From this figure some further deductions may fall to be made +for such disadvantages as unhealthiness of climate and excessive +distance from the conveniences of civilised life. In the absence of +more scientific data this seems to form as fair a basis in valuation +as any man can expect. + +But if early Australasian legislation erred in rigour, it also erred +in laxity. The settler was often the nominee of a syndicate or a large +run-holder, and before the 1895 Act a class of professional selectors +existed. This system of _latifundia_ brought its own punishment. The +run-holder ruined the small selector. To pay the instalments on his +many selections he had recourse to the banks, which speedily ruined +him and took over his holdings. The banks in their turn ruined +themselves, chiefly through being obliged to pay instalments on land +valued at L1 per acre, of which the actual value for stock was less +than 5s. Again, the settler was compelled to improve the land at the +rate of so many shillings per acre within a given time. This led to +cheap fictitious improvements by which the letter of the law was +satisfied and the spirit evaded. The "Settlers' Ordinance" has certain +stringent provisions to prevent such frustration of the true aims of +settlement. Subletting or transfer of any sort, except with Government +consent, is strictly forbidden till the tenant has acquired the +freehold. Residence for at least eight months in the year, unless a +special dispensation is granted, is required during the same period. +The settler is compelled to build a satisfactory house and to fence +his holding within a given time. He is compelled to occupy it solely +for his own benefit, to cultivate according to the rules of good +husbandry (whatever that may mean), and the decision of the local Land +Commissioner is the test by which he is judged. He is encouraged to +improve by the potent fact that the Government will advance pound for +pound against his improvements. But there are certain elastic +provisions to temper the rigour of such restrictions. The Commissioner +of Lands is given a very wide dispensing power with regard to most +conditions. Partnerships are allowed; settlers may reside together in +a village community; and the residence conditions may be temporarily +fulfilled by a wife or child, to allow a settler in hard times to make +money by his labour elsewhere. Special relief is provided during +periods of disease or drought by the cessation or diminution of the +annual payments, and by advances in excess of the ordinary limits. + +The Ordinance has been framed on experimental lines, leaving much to +the discretion of local officials (subject to an appeal to the Central +Board and thence to the High Court), and hesitating to dogmatise on +details which are still unproved. But in spite of much which is +empirical, one or two root principles are maintained. One is that a +fair chance must be given to all to acquire the freehold, without +which magic possibility the best men will not come forward. Another, +and perhaps the most important of all, is that the payments to +Government shall be so arranged as to be scarcely felt during the +early years when they are paid out of capital, and to rise to any +considerable sum only when the holding is producing a revenue. The two +chief forms of tenure are leasehold and purchase by instalments over a +period of thirty years. The common form of lease is for five years, +with a possible extension for another two, and the rental may be at any +rate (not exceeding 5 per cent) which the Commissioner of Lands thinks +suitable. This method will enable back-country to be taken up, to +start with, at a nominal rent; and it will also allow a settler on an +unimproved stock-farm to devote the bulk of his capital to the +necessary stocking and improvements. At the end of the lease, or +without any preliminary lease, the settler can begin to purchase his +holding on the instalments system. By a payment of L5, 15s. per cent +per annum on the gazetted valuation, principal and interest (which is +calculated at 4 per cent) will be wiped off in thirty years. But a +settler is permitted any time after ten years from the date of his +first occupation to pay up the balance and acquire the full freehold. +In the case of preliminary leaseholders who take up a purchase +licence, the licence, so far as the ten years' period is concerned, is +made retrospective so as to date from the first day of the lease. + +Such is a rough outline of the Government proposals. They aim only at +making a beginning, and it is to the large private owner and the land +company that we must look for the completion of the work. South +African agriculture can never be a Golconda like the Canadian +wheat-lands of the West. But it is of inestimable value to the +country in providing a background to the immense temporary mining +development--a permanent asset, which will remain to South Africa's +credit when the gold-mines of the Rand are curiosities of history. In +itself it is a sound investment, offering no glittering fortunes but +a steady and reasonable livelihood. No people can afford to develop +solely on industrial lines and remain a nation in the full sense of +the word, for in every commonwealth there is need of the rural forces +of persistence to counteract the urban forces of change. All +settlement is necessarily a leap in the dark, but, so far as a +proposal can be judged before it is put into practice, the present +scheme offers good chances of success. There seems little doubt that +it will receive full justice. The war spread the knowledge of the +country to every cranny of the Empire. English and Scottish farmers' +sons, Australian bushmen, Indian planters, farmers from New Zealand +and Ontario, having fought for three years on the veld, have fallen +in love with it and are willing to make it their home. No more +splendid chances for settlement have ever offered; for when the +wastrels have been eliminated there remain many thousands of good +men, from whom a sturdy country stock could be created. There can be +no indiscriminate gifts of land as in some colonies. The land is too +valuable, the political purpose too delicate and urgent, the need of +nice discrimination in selection and careful fostering thereafter too +imperative, to allow farms to be shaken up in a lucky-bag and +distributed to the first comers. The best men must be attracted, and +assisted with advice and loans to the measure of success which is +possible. It is the soundest form of political speculation, if done +with sober and clear-sighted purpose. The young men from home and the +colonies, to whom South Africa is a memory that can never die, turn +naturally towards it in search of a freer life and a larger prospect. +On the model farms which are being established in each district the +proverbial "younger sons of younger sons" will be given a chance of +learning the requirements of the land, and so starting work on their +own account with intelligence and economy. Some day--and may we all +live to see it!--there will be little white homesteads among trees, +and country villages and moorland farms; cattle and sheep on a +thousand hills where now only the wild birds cry; wayside inns where +the thirsty traveller can find refreshment; and country shows where +John Smith and Johannes Smuts will compete amicably for the King's +premiums. And if any one thinks this an unfounded hope, let him turn +to some such book as Ogilby's 'Itinerarium Angliae,' where he will +find that in the closing years of the seventeenth century the arable +and pastoral land in England scarcely amounted to half the area of +the kingdom, and the most fruitful orchards of Gloucestershire and +Warwick were mere heath and swamp, and, as it seemed to an acute +observer, doomed to remain so. + +Settlement, indeed, is but one, though the most important, of the land +problems. An enlightened agricultural department, working in +conjunction with local societies, can do much to unite the two races +by conferring benefits which are common to both. The introduction of +pedigree stock to grade up the existing herds is a necessity which any +Boer farmer will admit. So, too, are stringent regulations for the +prevention of disease, experiments in new crops, field trials of new +machinery, and a provision for some form of agricultural training. +Central creameries and tobacco-factories would work wonders in +increasing the prosperity of certain districts. Something of that +tireless vigilance and alert intelligence which has made the +Agricultural Bureau of the United States famous, a spirit which brings +into agriculture the procedure and the exact calculation of a great +business house, is necessary to meet the not insuperable difficulties +which now deter the timid, and to give farming a chance of development +commensurate with its political importance. It is only another case in +which a South African question stands on a razor-edge, a narrow line +separating ample success from a melancholy failure. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE SUBJECT RACES. + + +No question is more fraught with difficulties for the home philosopher +than this, but there is none on which practical men have made up their +mind with such bitter completeness. The root of the trouble is that +England and South Africa talk, and will continue to talk, in different +languages on the matter. The Englishman, using the speech of +conventional politics, seems to the colonist to talk academic +nonsense; while the South African, speaking the rough and ready words +of the practical man, appears as the champion of brutality and +coercion. The difficulties are so real that one cannot but regret that +they are complicated by verbal misunderstandings. There is no real +divergence of views on the native question: the distinction is rather +between a seriously held opinion and a slipshod prejudice. "Exeter +Hall" is less the name of a party than of an attitude, as common among +the robust colonists as ever it was among the mild pietists of +Clapham. It consists in a disinclination to look simply on facts, to +reason soberly, and to speak accurately,--a tendency to lap a question +in turgid emotion. The man who consigns all native races to perdition +in round terms, and declares that the only solution of the difficulty +is to clear out the Kaffir, is as truly a votary of Exeter Hall as the +gentle old lady to whom the aborigine is a model of primeval +innocence, whose only joy is the singing of missionary hymns. + +Out of the confusion of interests and issues two main problems emerge +which may form useful guides in our inquiry. One is economic. What +part are the native races to play in the labour-supply and the +production of South Africa? what is to be their tenure of land? what +is to be their economic destiny in face of the competition of modern +life and the industrial development of the country? The second is the +moral question, of which the political is one aspect. A coloured race +living side by side with a white people furnishes one of the gravest +of moral cruces. The existence of a subject race on whatever terms is +apt to lead to the deterioration in moral and mental vigour of its +masters. Perpetual tutelage tends to this result; full social and +civic rights, on the other hand, lead to political anomalies and, too +often, to the lowest forms of political chicanery. A doctrinaire +idealism is fraught with dire social evils; but an obstinate +maintenance of the "practical man's" _status quo_ is apt to bring about +that very degeneration which justifies the doctrinaire. How to +reconcile freedom of development for the native by means of spontaneous +labour, education, and social rights with the degree of compulsion +necessary to bring them into line with social and industrial needs, or, +to put it shortly, how to keep the white man from deterioration without +spoiling the Kaffir,--this is the kernel of the most insistent of South +African problems. + +The native races south of the Zambesi present a curious problem to the +student of primitive societies. All, or nearly all, of kindred race, +they are not autochthonous, and the date of their arrival in the +country can in most cases be fixed within the last five centuries. +Five centuries do not give a long title to a country, as savage titles +go, but even this period must be cut down in most cases, since the +wars of the great Zulu kings scattered the other races about as from a +pepper-box, with the result that few tribes save the Zulus, some of +the Cape Colony Kaffirs, the Swazis, and small peoples like the +Barolongs, can claim an occupation title of more than a hundred years. +This state of affairs, so rare in our dealings with savage peoples, +has, politically, both merits and defects. The absence of the +autochthonous hold of the soil and of long-settled immovable +traditions of tribal life makes the native more malleable under the +forces of civilisation. It is easier to break up the tribes and to +acclimatise the Kaffir to new localities and new conditions. But this +lack of a strong, settled, racial life makes it fatally easy for him +to fall a victim to the vices of civilisation, and to come upon our +hands as a derelict creature without faith or stamina, having lost his +old taboos, and being as yet unable to understand the laws of the +white man. This process of disintegration has been going on for a +century, and the result is a clearly marked division. We have the +tribal natives, who are still more or less strictly under the rule of +a chief, and subject to tribal laws sanctioned and enforced by the +Governments. The native population of the Transkeian territories in +Cape Colony, such as the Pondos, the Amaxosas, and the Tembus; +Bechuanaland, with the people of Khama, Bathoen, Sebele, and Linchwe; +Basutoland; Zululand; the northern and eastern parts of the Transvaal +under such chiefs as Magata, 'Mpefu, and Siwasa; Swaziland; and the +Matabele and Mashona tribes of the vast districts of Northern and +Southern Rhodesia are the main instances of this first class. The aim +of the different Governments has always been to keep the tribal +organisation intact, and, after eliminating certain tribal laws and +customs which are inconsistent with the ideas of white men, to give +their sanction to the remainder. Basutoland is a Crown colony; the +Transkeian territories are a native reserve; Bechuanaland is a native +protectorate; in Rhodesia a number of native chiefs control large +tracts of land under the Chartered Company's administration. Elsewhere +the tribes live in Government reserves, or in certain cases in +locations situated on private land. Between Pretoria and the Limpopo +there are dozens of small chieftains and chieftainesses, with tribes +varying in numbers from a hundred to several thousands. The second +class, the detribalised natives, are to be found scattered over the +whole country, notably in the western province of Cape Colony, and in +the vicinity of all South African towns. They live as a rule in +locations under municipal or Government supervision. In many cases +such locations are far larger than those of a small chief; but their +distinguishing feature is that they are governed solely by the law of +the country or by municipal regulations framed for the purpose, and +owe no allegiance to any chief or tribal system. + +It is obvious that for purposes of policy this distinction cannot +maintain its importance. The rule of the chief is being rapidly +undermined by natural causes, and no taking thought can bolster it up +for ever. Education, too, and the closer settlement of the country by +white men, are rapidly breaking down tribal customs and beliefs, +which, as a rule, have more vitality than the isolated sentiment of +allegiance. For us the real distinction is between the natives who +can be kept in large reserves or locations, whether tribal or +otherwise, and the floating native population, which is every day +growing in numbers. Sooner or later we must face the problem of the +overcrowding of all reserves, and the consequent efflux of homeless +and masterless men. The needs of progress, too, are daily tending to +change the tribal native into the isolated native attached to some +industry or other. Politically the question is, How far and on what +lines the large reserves and locations can be best maintained, and +what provision can be made for incorporating the overflow, which +exists now and will soon exist in far greater numbers, on sane and +rational lines in the body politic? + + * * * * * + +Such being the main requirements of the problem, it remains to +consider the forms in which they present themselves to the ordinary +man. For the working aspect of a question is generally very different +from the form it takes in an academic analysis. The translation into +the terms of everyday life is conditioned by many accidental causes, +so that to one section of the community the labour problem is the sole +one, to another the educational, to a third the social. It is +important to realise that all are part of one question, and that no +single one can be truly solved unless the whole is dealt with. This +incompleteness of view, more than any other cause, has complicated the +native question, and produced spurious antagonisms, and policies which +are apparently rival, but in reality are complementary. + +The first is the grave difficulty which must always attend the +existence of a subject race. Slavery is the extreme form of the +situation, and in it we see the evils and dangers on a colossal scale. +A subject population, to whom legal rights are denied, tends in the +long-run to degrade the value of human life, and to depreciate the +moral currency,--a result so deadly for true progress that the +consensus of civilised races has utterly condemned it. The denial of +social and political rights is almost equally dangerous, since, apart +from the risks of perpetual tutelage in a progressive community, there +follows necessarily a depreciation of those political truths upon +which all free societies are based. Many honest men have clearly +perceived this; but after the fashion of headstrong honesty, they have +confused the issues by an inaccurate use of words. Legal rights must +be granted, and since the law is the child of the fundamental +principles of human justice, legal equality should follow. Social and +political rights also must be given; but why social and political +equality? The most embittered employer of native labour does not deny +that the black man should share certain social privileges, and be made +to feel his place in the political organism, but he rightly denies +that rights mean equality of rights; while his doctrinaire opponent, +arguing from exactly the same premises, claims a foolish equality on a +misunderstanding of words. The essence of social and political +equality must be a standard of education and moral and intellectual +equipment, which can be roughly attributed to all members of the +community concerned. But in this case there can be no such common +standard. Between the most ignorant white man and the black man there +is fixed for the present an impassable gulf, not of colour but of +mind. The native is often quick of understanding, industrious, +curiously logical, but he lives and moves in a mental world incredibly +distant from ours. The medium of his thought, so to speak, is so +unique that the results are out of all relation to ourselves. +Mentally he is as crude and naive as a child, with a child's curiosity +and ingenuity, and a child's practical inconsequence. Morally he has +none of the traditions of self-discipline and order, which are +implicit, though often in a degraded form, in white people. In a word, +he cannot be depended upon as an individual save under fairly vigilant +restraint; and in the mass he forms an unknown quantity, compared with +which a Paris mob is a Quaker meeting. With all his merits, this +instability of character and intellectual childishness make him +politically far more impossible than even the lowest class of +Europeans. High property or educational qualifications for the +franchise, or any other of the expedients of Europe, are logically out +of place, though they were raised to the possession of a fortune and a +university degree; for the mind is still there, unaltered, though it +may be superficially ornamented. Give the native the full franchise, +argues one class of observer, and he will in time show himself worthy +of it, for in itself it is an education. On a strictly logical view it +would be as reasonable to put a child on a steam-engine as driver, +trusting that the responsibility of his position would be in itself an +education and would teach him the necessary art. + +Social and political equality will seem to most men familiar with the +subject a chimera, but social and political rights the native must +have, and in most cases has already obtained. But unless such rights +are carefully adjusted the absolute cleavage remains. We have two +races, physically different, socially incapable of amalgamation: if we +make the gulf final, there is no possibility of a united state; if we +bridge it carelessly, the possibility is still more distant. We may +scruple to grant rights, such as the political franchise, which are +based in the last resort on a common moral and intellectual standard; +but we can grant rights which are substantive and educative and +capable of judicious extension. The Glen Grey Act, as we shall see, +made a valuable experiment in securing to the native the social status +which attends individual tenure of land. Some form of representation +might be devised, by which a chief might have a voice on a district +council, or a representative elected by an industrial location assist +in local government. Such measures, joined with a rational system of +education, will leave the door open for the extension of rights till +such time as the native has finally shown whether he is worthy of +equality or condemned by nature to rank for ever as a subject race. +There are men, able men with the courage of their opinions, who see no +hope in the matter, and who would segregate the natives in a separate +territory under British protection. The chief objection to this policy +is that it is impossible. The native is in our midst, and we must +face the facts. We have a chance to solve a burning question which no +other nation has had, since, as in the United States, the matter has +either been complicated by initial slavery, or, as also in the +States, a thoughtless plunge has been made into European doctrines of +liberty, equality, and fraternity. If we patiently and skilfully +bring to bear upon the black man the solvent and formative influences +of civilisation, one of two things must happen. Either the native +will prove himself worthy of an equal share in the body politic; or, +the experiment having been honestly tried, he will sink back to his +old place and gradually go the way of the Red Indian and the +Hottentot. For it is inevitable that civilisation, if wisely applied, +must either raise him or choke him,--raise him to the rank of equal +citizenship, or, by its hostility to his ineradicable qualities, +prove a burden too heavy to support. + +The second is the ever-recurring problem of labour. In an earlier +chapter the economic aspect of the question has been discussed; for the +present we have to face that aspect which is connected with a native +policy. The Kaffir is fundamentally an agriculturist, and when his +lands are well situated he reaps enough for his simple existence with a +minimum of labour. If he is rich enough to have several wives, they do +the necessary picking and hoeing, and their lord and master sits in the +shade of his hut and eats the bread of idleness. This was well enough +in the old hunting and fighting days, when the male folk lived a +strenuous life in the pursuit of game and the slaughter of their +neighbours. But with civilisation close to their gates, the old system +means a degraded somnolent life for the man, and the continuance of a +real, though not necessarily unpleasant, form of slavery for the woman. +And this in a country which is crying aloud for labour and development! +To be sure, the foregoing is not a complete picture of all Kaffir life, +but it is true of the larger reserves and the wealthier kraals. To most +men it is an offence that the native, who is saved by British power +from insecurity of life and limb, should be allowed to remain, by the +happy accident of nature, an idler dependent only on the kindness of +mother earth, multiplying his kind at an alarming rate, and untouched +by the industrial struggle where his sinews are so sorely needed. The +Kaffir owes his existence to the white man; in return he should be +compelled to labour for hire and take his proper place in a world which +has no room for his vegetating habits. He holds his land by our favour, +he is protected from extinction by our arms, he enjoys the benefits of +our laws; and he must pay for it all, not only in taxes but by a +particular tax, a certain quantity of labour. This mode of argument +sounds so serenely reasonable that one is apt to miss the very +dangerous political doctrine which underlies it. Stated shortly, it +runs thus. Compulsory labour without payment is to be reprobated like +all forms of _corvee_, but if we pay what we regard as a fair price and +make the compulsion indirect, then we get rid of such an objection. +This doctrine involves two principles which seem to me to be subversive +of all social order, and in particular of that civilisation which they +profess to support. The Kaffir would be placed outside the play of +economic forces. His wages would be arbitrarily established on an +artificial basis, unalterable save at the will of his white masters. In +the second place, compulsion by high taxation is not indirect +compulsion, but one of the most direct forms of coercion known to +history. To constrain a man indirectly is to use unseen forces and +half-understood conditions which, being unrealised, do not impair his +consciousness of liberty; but this is not the method which is proposed. +A white man, it is argued, suffers want if he does not work. Well and +good,--so does the Kaffir; but the work which he does, unless he is +rich enough to have it vicariously performed, is different in kind from +the work which others want him to do, and hence the trouble arises. To +force a man, black or white, to enter on labour for which he is +disinclined, is to rank him with beasts of burden, and prevent him, as +an industrial creature, from ever attaining the conscious freedom which +labour bestows. The old truth, so often misapplied, that a man who does +not work shall not eat, is a statement of economic conditions to which +those who quote it in this connection would seek to do violence. + +But such truisms do not exhaust the question. It is not the Kaffir who +chiefly matters, for in his present stage of development he might be +as well off one way as another; it is the white man's interests which +must decide. If the whole of Kaffirdom were sunk in a state of +feminine slavery and male indolence, violence might be done to +political axioms with some show of reason; but the Kaffir is emerging +from his savagery and has shown in more ways than one a capacity for +industrial development. But, taking the Kaffir on the lowest plane, +what is to be the effect on the white population of South Africa if +forced labour is to stereotype for ever a lower race, to which the +free selection of labour, the first requisite of progress, is denied? +"The safety of the commonwealth," wrote John Mackenzie, "absolutely +demands that no hatches be battened down over the heads of any part of +the community." At the back of all the many excellent cases which have +been made out for compulsory labour by high taxation, there lie the +immediate needs of the great gold industry--needs which it is now clear +can never be met in South Africa alone by any native legislation. An +instant industrial demand is apt to blind many good men for the moment +to those wider truths, which on other occasions they are ready enough +to assent to. The case has been further prejudiced for most people by +the bad arguments used on the native side, and the intolerable cant +with which obvious truths have been sicklied over. We need not concern +ourselves with the so-called degradation of Kaffir manhood implied in +compulsory labour, for such self-conscious manhood does not exist; but +we are very deeply concerned with the degradation of white manhood, +which will inevitably follow any of the facile solutions which are +cried in the market-place. If by violent methods economic laws are +checked in their play, a subject race in a low state of civilisation is +checked on the only side on which development can be reasonably looked +for. The harder and lower forms of toil will fall into Kaffir hands for +good; the white population will become an aristocracy based on a kind +of slave labour; and with the abolition of an honest hierarchy of work, +degeneration will set in with terrible swiftness. It is a pleasing +dream this, of a community of cultivated white men above the needs of +squalid or menial toil, but on such a dream no free nation was ever +built. The old tribal system is crumbling, and in a hundred years or +less we shall see the Kaffirs abroad in the land, closely knit to all +industries and touching social and political life at countless points. +If they are a portion, however small, of the civic organism, there is +hope for the future; but if they are a thing apart, denied the +commonest of all rights, and remaining in their present crude and +stagnant condition, they will be a menace, political and moral, which +no one can contemplate with equanimity. There are, indeed, only two +entirely logical policies towards the native. Either remove him, bag +and baggage, to some Central African reserve and leave him to fight his +wars and live as he lived before the days of Tchaka, or bring him into +close and organic relation with those forces of a high civilisation +which must inevitably mend or end him. + +There is a third chief aspect in which the native problem presents +itself to the ordinary man. The Kaffir, south of the Zambesi, already +outnumbers the white man by fully five to one, and he increases with +at least twice the rapidity. Most native reserves and locations are +overcrowded, the Kaffir is being driven on to private land as an +unauthorised squatter, and the floating population in and around the +towns is daily increasing. What is to be the end of this fecundity? +Living on little, subject apparently to none of the natural or +prudential checks on over-population, there seems a real danger of +black ultimately swamping white by mere gross quantity. In any case +there will soon be a grave economic crisis, for, unless prompt +measures are adopted, a large loose vagabondage will grow up all over +the land. It is to be noted that this danger is the converse of the +two problems we have already discussed. They referred to the +stereotyping of the Kaffir races as a settled agricultural people out +of line with industrial progress; this concerns the inevitable +break-up of the old agricultural condition by mere excess of +population and the difficulty of dealing with the overflow. This +complementary character which the problems assume is one of the most +hopeful features of the case. Natural forces are bringing the Kaffir +to our hands. The _debacle_ of his old life is turning him upon the +world to be formed and constrained at our pleasure. The field is clear +for experiment, and it behoves us to make up our minds clearly on the +forms which the experiment must take. + + * * * * * + +To recapitulate the results of the preceding pages. The central +problem is how to bring the native races under the play of civilising +forces, so that they may either approve themselves as capable of +incorporation in the body politic, or show themselves eternally +incapable, in which case history would lead us to believe that they +will gradually disappear. To effect this vital experiment, no rigid +economic or social barrier should be placed between them and the white +inhabitants. Since the old tribal organisation is breaking up, the +ground is being rapidly prepared for the trial. It is our business, +therefore, to consider how best the system of tribes and reserves can +be maintained, so long as there is in it the stuff of life, and what +new elements can be introduced which will make its fall more safe and +gradual; and, in the second place, to devise ways and means for +dealing with the rapidly increasing loose native population, for +replacing the former tribal traditions with some rudiments of +civilised law, and for leaving an open door for such development as +may be within their capacity. It will be convenient to look at ways +and means under three heads. There is, first, the general question of +taxation, which is common to all. There is, secondly, the problem of +the larger reserves, and the maintenance, so far as is desirable, of +the old rural life, with the kindred questions of land tenure, of +local government, of surplus population, and of labour. And, finally, +there is the problem of the class which in the last resort is +destined to be most numerous, the wholly non-tribal and unattached +natives, whose mode of life must be created afresh and controlled by +Government. This is the most difficult problem, since such natives +are peculiarly exposed to the solvents of white civilisation, and +everything depends upon the method in which the solvents are used. + +The native is, for the most part, under special taxes. In certain +parts of Cape Colony and Natal the fiscal system is in practice the +same for black and white, but for the purposes of this inquiry the +native who has adopted the white man's life may be disregarded. In +Cape Colony the hut tax is 10s. per annum, whether the hut is situated +on private or Crown lands, and on locations within municipalities a +similar municipal tax is paid. In Natal the hut tax is 14s., in +Basutoland L1, in Rhodesia 10s., and in the Transvaal and Orange River +Colony 10s. under the old _regime_. In Natal, the Orange River Colony, +the Transvaal, and Rhodesia, there was also a native pass law, under +which certain sums were charged on travelling passes, varying from 6d. +in the Orange River Colony to 2s. per month in the mining areas of the +Transvaal. It is unnecessary to go into the numerous details of native +taxation, which within narrow limits are constantly varied, but it is +worth while to look at two instances which may be taken as the extreme +types of such taxation, the Transvaal under the former Government and +the districts of Cape Colony subject to the Glen Grey Act. In the +Transvaal the natives for the most part are tribal, and the system of +taxation was based on tribal considerations; but the bulk of the +revenue under the Pass Law came from the large fluctuating population +of natives at work on the mines. Under the old Government the ordinary +native paid 10s. as hut tax, L2 as capitation fee, with sundry other +charges for passes, &c., which brought the whole amount which might be +levied up to fully L4. The tax was loosely collected, but on the whole +the taxation per head was reasonably high. One of the first acts of +the new administration was to consolidate all native taxes in one +general poll tax of L2, with a further charge of L2 per wife for +natives who had more than one. The pass fee was also charged upon the +employer in districts where it fell to be levied. The net result, +therefore, is that for a native, who is the husband of not more than +one wife, the sum payable yearly is about L3, made up of the poll tax +and the registration fee. A native may have to pay more than the old +Government exacted, but if he pleases he can pay less. In the +districts under the Glen Grey Act individual ownership of land is +encouraged, and the native who has attained to such tenure is +practically in the position of a white citizen--that is, he pays no +hut tax or poll tax, and his contributions to revenue consist in the +payment of such rates as his district council or the Transkeian +General Council may levy. For the native who holds no land either on +quit-rent or freehold title, there is a labour tax of 10s. per annum, +which he can avoid by showing that he has been at work outside the +district for a period of three months during the previous year, and +from which he can gain complete exemption by showing that at some time +he has worked for a total period of three years. Such a tax is not a +compulsory labour tax, but should rather be regarded as a modification +of the hut tax, which can be remitted as a bonus on outside labour. + +The contrast between the two forms of taxation is obvious, the one +being a special and peculiar type, the other a modification of the +general fiscal system of the colony. It is to the latter type that all +systems of native taxation must tend to approximate. There are certain +obvious objections to the hut tax, of which the chief is that it leads +to overcrowding and bad sanitation, and prevents young men from +building huts of their own; and perhaps it would be well if, +following the new Transvaal precedent, all native taxes were +consolidated into one comprehensive poll tax. But, speaking generally, +natives are not heavily taxed[28] having regard to their wage-earning +capacity, though hitherto the Customs have been unduly hard upon their +simple commodities. In the Transvaal, for example, there is little +doubt that the native population could bear for revenue purposes in +most years a poll tax of L3 per head. This might be reduced in case of +natives in industrial employment, in consideration of the fact that +such natives contribute otherwise to revenue through the Pass Law. It +is one of the ironies of this South African problem that increased and +reasonable taxation for revenue purposes will continue to be +identified in many minds with compulsory labour through high taxation. +The two things are as wide apart as the poles. The native, in return +for protection and good government, is required to pay a certain sum +per annum calculated solely on fiscal needs and his earning capacity. +That is the only basis of native taxation; but when the sum has been +fixed, it may be expedient as a matter of policy to reduce the tax in +the case of natives working under an employer, partly because such +natives contribute to the Exchequer in another way, and partly as a +bonus to encourage outside labour. But the general form of taxation +might well be altered, slowly and cautiously, as the time ripened. The +hut tax might be gradually transmuted into a form of rent which, as in +the Glen Grey districts, could be lowered as a bonus on outside +labour, and the extension of local government might provide for the +rating of locations and reserves on some system common to all +districts. Taxation may have an educative force, and to ask from the +native a contribution for something of which the purpose is apparent +and the justification obvious, is to bestow on him a kind of freedom. +It is the first step to taxation with representation to provide that +taxation should be accompanied by understanding. + + * * * * * + +The second question is that of existing reserves and the possibility +and method of their maintenance. In the case of many the problem is +still simple. Basutoland, the chief tribes of the Bechuanaland +Protectorate and Southern Rhodesia, Swaziland, Zululand, the races of +the north and north-eastern Transvaal, and a considerable part of the +Transkeian territories, will find for many years protected tribal +government suitable to their needs. Tribal customs and laws, in so far +as they are not _contra bonos mores_, are recognised by the protecting +Governments, and given effect to by any white courts which may have +jurisdiction in the district. The old modes of land tenure, the +succession to the chieftainship, the tribal religion, if any exists, +should be given the sanction of the sovereign Power till such time as +they crumble from their own baselessness. The disintegrating forces +are many and potent. Taxation will compel the acquisition of wealth +other than in kind, and will therefore strengthen existing trade, and, +if gradually modified in character till it approach a rating system, +will replace the tribe by the district as a local unit. The growth of +population will compel a certain overflow, which must either be +accommodated on new land under special conditions, or must go to +swell the general industrial community. Education, the greatest of +all disintegrators, is loosening slowly the old ties, and is +increasing the wants of the native by enlarging his mental horizon. +Outside labour, whether undertaken from love of novelty or from sheer +economic pressure, leaves its indelible mark on the labourer. The +Kaffir who has worked for two years in Kimberley or Johannesburg may +seem to have returned completely to his old stagnant life, but there +is a new element at work in him and his kindred, a new curiosity, a +weakening of his regard for his traditional system. Agriculture +itself, which has hitherto been the mainstay of his conservatism, is +rapidly becoming a force of revolution. Formerly no self-respecting +native would engage in cultivation, leaving such tasks to his women; +but a native who would not touch pick or hoe is ready enough to work a +plough, if he is so fortunate as to possess one. The growth of wealth +and a spirit of enterprise among the tribes leads to improved tillage, +and once the native is content to labour himself in the fields, his +old scheme of society is already crumbling. + +But, in addition to natural solvents, there is one which we might well +apply in our own interest against the time when the tribal system +shall have finally disappeared. Any form of political franchise, +however safeguarded, is in my opinion illogical and dangerous. It is +inequitable to create barriers which are themselves artificial, but it +is both inequitable and impolitic to disregard natural barriers when +the basis of our politics is a presumed natural equality. But it may +be possible to admit the Kaffir to a share in self-government without +giving any adherence to the doctrine involved in a grant of a national +franchise. Local government is still in its infancy all over South +Africa, but the common type is some form of urban or district council. +The questions which such councils discuss do not involve high +considerations of statescraft, but simple practical matters, such as +roads and bridges, sanitary restrictions, precautions against stock +diseases, and market rules. Supposing that in any district there +exists a tribe or a location sufficiently progressive and orderly, I +see no real difficulty in bringing the chief or induna sooner or later +directly or indirectly into the local council. It is a matter on +which it is idle to dogmatise, being one of the many questions on +which South Africa must say the last word, and being further +dependent on the status of the natives in each district; but on a +nominated or elective council a native, or a white member with +natives in his constituency, might do valuable work in assisting with +matters in which natives were largely concerned. A native who cannot +reasonably be asked to decide on questions such as fiscal reform or +military organisation, may be very well fitted to advise, as a large +stock-holder, on precautionary measures against rinderpest. If such a +step is ever taken--and the present exclusive attitude of South +Africa is rather a sign of the growing solidarity of the community +than an index of a permanent conviction--an advance of enormous +import will have been made in that branch of native education in +which we are almost powerless to move directly, namely, his training +as a responsible citizen. + +As the tribal system breaks down from whatever cause, the tribesmen must +do one of three things--either settle on the land on new conditions, or +live permanently in the service of employers, or swell the loose +population of town and country. The second course does not concern us, +being a matter for the private law of master and servant. But in each of +the other courses the State is profoundly interested. For the sake of +the future it is necessary to have the existing reserves thoroughly +examined, for, since the fluctuations of native populations are very +great, many are too small for their present occupants and a few are too +spacious. Majajie's location in Zoutpansberg, and one or two of the +reserves on the western border of the Transvaal, may be quoted as +instances of tribes which have shrunk from the original number on +which the grant of land was based. In such cases the land might +reasonably be curtailed, since it is still Crown land held in trust +for the natives' use, and not private land purchased by the chiefs +themselves. But it is more usual to find locations far too narrow, and +the result in many parts is that a certain number of natives who have +been compelled to leave their old reserves are farming private lands +on precarious and burdensome terms, or are squatting on Crown lands +with no legal tenure at all. A law of the late Transvaal Government +(No. 21 of 1895) made it illegal to have more than five native +households on one private farm; but this law, like many others which +conflicted with the interests of the governing class, was quietly +allowed to become a dead letter. There are men to-day who have a +hundred and more native families on a farm, paying often exorbitant +rents either in money or in forced labour, and liable to be turned +adrift at a moment's notice. The old Boer system was to allow natives +to squat on land in return for six months' labour; but this mode of +payment is never satisfactory with a Kaffir, who soon forgets the +tenure on which he holds his land, regards it as his own, and makes +every attempt to evade his tenant's service. The whole position is +unsatisfactory, the master being cumbered with unwilling and often +worthless labour, the tenant subject to a capricious rent and a +permanent possibility of eviction. In the interests of both white and +black it is desirable to end this anomaly. Some form of the Squatters' +Law might be re-enacted and enforced, a farmer being allowed a +reasonable number of native families, who give work for wages and pay +a fair rent for their land. The balance might well be accommodated as +tenants on such portions of Crown land as are suitable for Kaffirs and +incapable of successful white settlement. Such lands exist in the +parts where the native population is densest, as in the northern and +eastern districts of the Transvaal. The situation affords an +opportunity for the Government policy towards outside labour. If the +rent per holding were fixed at some figure like L10 (which is less +than many natives pay to private owners) it might be reduced to L5, if +a certain proportion of the males of a household went out to labour +for a part of the year in the towns or in some rural employment other +than farming. Such a policy would give immediate relief to the really +serious congestion in many districts, would establish a better system +of native tenure, and would pave the way for a closer connection +between the industrial native and the country kraal. + + * * * * * + +The wholly detribalised native is a more important problem, because he +represents the type of what the Kaffir will in some remote future +become--a man who has forgotten his race traditions, and has become an +unpopular attache of the white community. Towards other natives our +policy must be only to maintain an amended _status quo_, but for him +we must make an effort at construction. It is no business of mine to +frame policies, but only to sketch, roughly and imperfectly, the +conditions of the problem which the constructive statesman (and South +Africa will long have need of constructive statesmen) must face. +Individual tenure of land--and by this is not necessarily meant +freehold, even under the Glen Grey restrictions as to alienation, for +a long lease may be more politic and equally attractive[29]--and the +spread of education and commerce will work to the same effect in the +rural districts as industrial employment in the towns. But for the +present the towns furnish the gravest problem--how to make adequate +provision for the increasing native population, which is neither +living permanently in the households of white masters nor working in +the mines under a time contract. It is desirable to have locations for +natives, as it is fitting to provide bazaars for Asiatics, since the +native should be concentrated both for administrative and educational +purposes. Those municipal locations, which already exist in many +towns, will have to be taken vigorously in hand. Something must +replace the biscuit-tin shanties where the native, ignorant of +sanitation, lives, under more wretched conditions, what is practically +the life of a country kraal, and with the reform of their habitations +a new attraction to industry will exist for the better class of +Kaffir. It is a common mistake to class all natives together, a +mistake which a little knowledge of South African ethnology and +history would prevent. Many have highly developed instincts of +cleanliness, and much race pride, and will not endure to be huddled in +squalid locations with the refuse of inferior tribes. Given decent +dwelling-places, education on rational lines, and after a time, +perhaps, a share in municipal government, might lay the foundation of +a civic life and an industrial usefulness far more lasting than can be +expected from casual labourers brought from distant homes for a few +months' work, and carried back again. + +South Africa has in her day possessed one man who desired to look at +things as they are, a murky and distorted genius at times, but at his +best inspired with something of a prophet's insight. The fruit of Mr +Rhodes' native administration was the Glen Grey Act, which still +remains the only attempt at a constructive native policy. It is hard +enough to govern, but sometimes, looking to the iron necessities in +the womb of time, it is wise to essay a harder task, and build. We +must keep open our communications with the future, and begin by +recognising the fundamental truths, which are apt to get a little +dimmed by the dust of the political arena. The first is that the +native is psychologically a child, and must be treated as such; that +is, he is in need of a stricter discipline and a more paternal +government than the white man. South Africa has already recognised +this by the remarkable consensus of opinion which she has shown in the +prohibition of the sale of intoxicants to coloured people. He is as +incapable of complete liberty as he is undeserving of an unintelligent +censure. The second is that he is with us, a permanent factor which +must be reckoned with, in spite of the advocates of a crude Bismarckian +policy; and because his fortunes are irrevocably linked to ours, it is +only provident to take care that the partnership does not tend to our +moral and political disadvantage. For there is always in the distance a +grim alternative of over-population resulting in pauperism and anarchy, +or a hard despotism producing the moral effects which the conscience of +the world has long ago in slave systems diagnosed and condemned. There +are three forces already at work which, if judiciously fostered, will +achieve the experiment which South Africa is bound to make, and either +raise the Kaffir to some form of decent citizenship, or prove to all +time that he is incapable of true progress. Since we are destroying the +old life, with its moral and social codes and its checks upon economic +disaster, we are bound to provide an honest substitute. The forces +referred to are those of a modified self-government, of labour, and of +an enlightened education. The first is an experiment which must be +undertaken very carefully, unless our case is to be prejudiced from the +outset. I have given reasons for the view that a political franchise +for the native is logically unjustifiable; but on district councils and +within municipal areas the native, wherever he is living under +conditions of tolerable decency and comfort, might well play a part in +his own control. It may be doomed to failure or it may be the beginning +of political education, but it is an experiment we can scarcely fail to +make. In labour, short of a crude compulsion, every means must be used +to bring the Kaffir within the industrial circle. We shall be assisted +in our task by many secret forces, but it should be our business so to +frame our future native legislation as to place a bonus on labour +outside the kraal. The matter is so intimately bound up with the +wellbeing of the whole population that there is less fear of neglect +than of undue and capricious haste. + +A word remains to be said on native education. In this province there +is much need of effective Government control, since in the past the +energies of educationalists have tended to flow in mistaken channels +or be dissipated over too wide an area. The native is apt to learn in +a kind of parrot fashion, and this aptitude has misled many who have +devoted their lives to his interests. But in the present state of his +culture what we are used to call the "humanities" have little +educational importance. At the best the result is to turn out native +pastors and schoolmasters in undue numbers, unfortunate men who have +no proper professional field and no footing in the society to which +their education might entitle them. It is a truth which the wiser sort +of missionaries all over the world are now recognising in connection +with the propagation of Christianity--that the ground must be slowly +prepared before the materialist savage mind can be familiarised with +the truths of a spiritual religion. Otherwise the result is a glib +confession of faith which ends in scandal. The case is the same with +what we call "secondary education." The teaching of natives, if it is +to produce any practical good, should, to begin with, be confined to +the elements and to technical instruction. The native mind is very +ready to learn anything which can be taught by concrete instances, and +most forms of manual dexterity, even some of the more highly skilled, +come as easily to him as to the white man. When the boys are taught +everywhere carpentry and ironwork and the rudiments of trade, and the +girls sewing and basket-making and domestic employments, a far more +potent influence will have been introduced than the Latin grammar or +the primer of history. The wisest missionary I have ever met had a +station which was a kind of ideal city for order and industry, with +carpenters' and blacksmiths' shops, a model farm, basket-making, +orchards, and dairies. "By these means," he said, "I am teaching my +children the elements of religion, which are honesty, cleanliness, and +discipline." "And dogma?" I asked. "Ah," he said, "as to dogma, I +think we must be content for the present with a few stories and +hymns." + + + [28] It is proposed to assimilate native taxation in Southern + Rhodesia to the system now in vogue in the Transvaal, + and impose a poll tax of L2, with a tax of 10s. for + each extra wife. In the Orange River Colony it is + proposed to raise the hut tax to L1. + + [29] The question of native ownership of land in the new + colonies is not very clear. In the Transvaal land was + generally held in trust for natives by the Native + Commissioners; but apparently half-castes could own + land, and Asiatics under certain restrictions. In the + Orange River Colony ownership by Asiatics is forbidden; + but certain native tribes, such as the Barolongs in + Maroka, and the Oppermans at Jacobsdaal, as well as + half-castes and the people known as the Bastards, were + allowed freehold titles, subject to certain restrictions + on alienation. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +JOHANNESBURG. + + +It is a delicate matter to indulge in platitudes about a city. For a +city is an organism more self-conscious than a state, and a personality +less robust than an individual. Comments which, if made on a nation, +would be ignored, and on an individual would be tolerated, awaken angry +reprisals when directed to a municipal area. The business is still more +delicate when the city concerned is not yet quite sure of herself. +Johannesburg is a city, though she has no cathedral to support the +conventional definition, or royal warrant to give her dignitaries +precedence; but she is a city still on trial, sensitive, ambitious, +profoundly ignorant of her own mind. Her past has been short and +checkered. She has done many things badly and many things well; she has +been the target for universal abuse, and still with one political party +fills the honourable post of whipping-boy in chief to the Empire. Small +wonder if her people are a little dazed--proud of themselves, hopeful +of her future, but far from clear what this future is to be. + +At first sight she has nothing to commend her. The traveller who drags +his stiff limbs from the Cape mail sees before him a dusty road, some +tin-roofed shanties, with a few large new jerry buildings humped +above them: a number of straggling dusty pines and gums, a bit of bare +hillside in the distance, and a few attenuated mine chimneys. +Everything is new, raw, and fortuitous, as uncivilised and certainly +as ugly as the desert ridge on which an old Bezuidenhout planted his +homestead. The chief streets do not efface the first impression. Some +buildings are good, but the general effect is mean. The place looks as +if it had sprung up, like some Western township, in a night, and as if +the original builders had been in such a desperate hurry to get done +with it that they could not stop to see that one house kept line with +its neighbours. It is a common South African defect, but there is here +no _mise-en-scene_ to relieve the ugliness. Looking at Pretoria from +the hills one sees a forest of trees, with white towers and walls +rising above the green. The walls may be lath and plaster, but the +general effect is as pretty as the eye could wish. For Johannesburg +there is no such salvation. Looked at from one of her many hills, the +meanness and irregularity are painfully clear. She has far more trees +than Pretoria, but she is so long and sprawling that the bare ribs +have pushed aside their covering. An extended brickfield is the first +impression: a prosperous powder-factory is the last. + +Yet in her way she has many singular beauties. Doubtless in time to +come she will be so great that she will contain more cities than one +in her precincts, and there may well be a residential quarter as fine +as any in Europe. The Rand is a long shallow basin with hilly rims, +within which lie the mines and the working city. The southern rim +shelves away into featureless veld, but the northern sinks sharply on +a plain, across forty miles of which rise the gaunt lines of the +Magaliesberg. What fashionable suburb has a vista of forty miles of +wild country, with a mountain wall on the horizon? Below on the flats +there are many miles of pine woods, valleys and streams and homesteads, +and the Pretoria road making a bold trail over a hill. In winter the +horizon is lit with veld-fires; in summer and spring there are the wild +sunsets of the veld and soft mulberry gloamings. The slope behind shuts +out the town and the mine chimneys, and yet the whole place is not +three miles from Market Square. Whatever happens, nothing can harm the +lucky dwellers on the ridge. Though the city creep ten miles into the +plain beneath, there is still ample prospect; and not all the fumes +from all the industries on earth can spoil the sharp vigour of the +winds blowing clean from the wilds. + +But the place has not yet found itself. The city proper is still for +the future; for the present we have a people. What the real conception, +current in England, of this people may be it is not easy to tell, the +whole matter having been transferred to party politics, and presented, +plain or coloured, to partisan spectators. So we are given every +possible picture, from that of Semitic adventurers nourishing the fires +of life on champagne, to that of a respectable and thoroughly +domesticated people, morbidly awake to every sentiment of Empire. +"Judasburg," "the New Jerusalem," "the Golden City," and a variety of +other pet names, show that to the ordinary man, both in and out of +parties, there is something bizarre and exotic about the place. And yet +no conception could be more radically false. Johannesburg is first and +foremost a colonial city, an ordinary colonial city save for certain +qualities to be specified later. You will see more Jews in it than in +Montreal or Aberdeen, but not more than in Paris; and any smart London +restaurant will show as large a Semitic proportion as a Johannesburg +club. For a "Golden City" it is not even conspicuously vulgar. For one +fellow in large checks, diamonds, and a pink satin tie, you will meet +fifty quietly dressed, well-mannered gentlemen. A man may still be a +beggar to-day and rich to-morrow, but less commonly and in a different +sense. The old mining-camp, California-cum-Ballarat character of the +gold industry on the Rand has utterly passed away. Gold-mining has +ceased to be a speculation, and has become a vast and complicated +industry, employing at high salaries the first engineering talent of +the world. The prominent mine-owner is frequently a man of education, +almost invariably a man of high ability. In few places can you find men +of such mental vigour, so eagerly receptive of new ideas, so keenly +awake to every change of the financial and political worlds of Europe. +The blackguard alien exists, to be sure, but he is rarely felt, and the +hand of the law is heavy upon him. That Johannesburg is made up wholly +of adventurers and Whitechapel Jews is the first piece of cant to clear +the mind of. + +The second is the old slander that the people think of nothing but the +market, are cowardly and selfish, indifferent to patriotism and +honour. It says little for Englishmen that they could believe this +falsehood of a place where the greater part of the inhabitants are +English. The war meant dismal sufferings for the artisan class, who +had to live in expensive coast lodgings or comfortless camps; and it +is to the credit of Johannesburg that she stood nobly by her refugees. +The old Reform movement was not a fortunate enterprise, but there was +no lack of courage in it; and even those who may grudge the attribute +can scarcely deny it to the same men at Elandslaagte and Ladysmith. +There have been various sorts of irregular regiments--many good, some +bad, one or two the very scum of the earth; but no irregular soldiers +showed, from first to last, a more cool and persistent courage than +the men who for years had sought to achieve by persuasion an end which +required a more summary argument. The truth is that the Johannesburger +has suffered by being contrasted, as the typical townsman, with the +Boer, as the typical countryman. Dislike the particular countryman as +we may, we have at the back of our minds a feeling that somehow, in +George Eliot's phrase, an unintelligible dialect is a guarantee for +ingenuousness, and that slouching shoulders indicate an upright +disposition. It is Johannesburg's misfortune that this anomalous +contrast should be forced on us. It is as if a sixteenth-century +peasant, without enterprise, without culture, wholly un-modern and +un-political, believing stoutly in a sombre God, were living side by +side with a race of _intellectuels_, scientists, and successful +merchants. Whatever reason or, as in this case, patriotism may say, +most men have a sneaking fondness for the peasant. + +In every community which is worth consideration we find two forces +present in some degree--the force of social persistence and the force +of social movement. Critics of Johannesburg would have us believe that +the second only is to be found, and in its crudest form: the truth is +that, considering the history of the place and its novelty, the first +is remarkably strong. The point is worth labouring at the risk of +tediousness. It must be some little while before a mining city shakes +off the character of a mining camp. Men will long choose to live +uncomfortably in hotels and boarding-houses, looking for their reward +on their home-coming, discomfort none the less unpleasant because it +is tempered with unmeaning luxury. To its inhabitants the place is no +continuing city,--only a camp for the adventurer, who, when he has +made the most of it, returns to enjoy the fruits of his labour in his +own place. And then, after many years, there suddenly comes a day when +a man here and a man there realise that they have lost the desire to +return: they like the place, settle down, and found a home. Whenever +there is any fair proportion of this class in a mining city, then we +have a force of social persistence. The tendency is found in every +class of society. At one time the miner from Wales or Cornwall saved +his earnings and returned home; now he has his wife out and settles +for good. There is also a large commercial class, traders and small +manufacturers, who belong as thoroughly to the place as the South +African born. And with the more educated classes the same thing is +true. The price of building sites in the suburbs and the many pretty +houses which have arisen show that even for this class, which was most +nomadic in its habits, domesticity has become a fact. + +This, then, is the cardinal achievement of Johannesburg, an unparalleled +achievement in so short a career. She has in a few years changed +herself from a camp to a city, acquired a middle class and a decent +artisan class,--both slow and difficult growths,--and shown a knack of +absorbing any species of alien immigrant and putting them on the way +to respectable citizenship. She has but to point to this solid +achievement as a final answer to the foolish calumnies of her enemies. +The mines are her staple industry, but the mines, so far as she is +concerned, are an industry and not a speculation; and she is creating +a dozen other industries of quite a different character, and may well +create a hundred more. She has become a municipality, with all the +traits, good and bad, of a nourishing municipality at home. She has +become colonial, too,--as colonial, though in a different way, as +Melbourne or Wellington. Formerly she was a mixture of every European +capital plus a little of the Dutch dorp: now she is English in +essence, the most English of all South African towns. + +The future of the chief municipality of South Africa cannot be without +interest, for most problems will concern her first, and receive from +her their colour and character, and, possibly, their answer. She must +continue to represent one of the two foremost interests, and though it +is idle to distinguish political interests by their importance when +both are vital, yet we can admit that Johannesburg has for the moment +more obvious difficulties in her problems, and that her answer will be +more stormily contested. So far her development has been continuous. +The difficulties which she met with from the Kruger _regime_ were a +blessing in disguise, being of the kind to put her on her mettle. But +the present stage in her history is more critical. Formerly the +question was whether she was to remain a foreign cesspool or rise to +the status of an English city. Now it is whether she will go the way +of many colonial cities, and become vigorous, dogmatic, proud, +remotely English in sentiment, consistently material in her outlook, +and narrow with the intense narrowness of those to whom politics mean +local interests spiced with rhetoric; or, as she is already richer, +more enlightened, and more famous than her older sisters, will advance +on a higher plane, and become in the true sense an imperial city, with +a closer kinship and a more liberal culture. The question is a subtle +and delicate one, as all questions of spiritual development must be. A +year ago much depended on the attitude of England. Johannesburg had +suffered heavily in the war. Time and patience were needed to repair +the breaches in her fortunes, and to permit her to advance, as she +must advance, if the Transvaal is to become a nation. She was rightly +jealous of her reputation and future prosperity. If taxation was to be +crudely imposed, if her just complaints were to be met with the old +nonsense about a capitalists' war, if she was to be penalised for her +most creditable industry, then there was a good prospect of a serious +estrangement. There was no issue on the facts. She never denied her +liability, and she was willing to pay cheerfully if a little common +tact were shown in the handling. A man who may have his hand in his +pocket to repay a debt will withdraw it if his creditor tries to +collect the money with a bludgeon. Happily the crisis has passed. A +scheme of war contribution was arranged which, while still bearing +heavily, almost too heavily, on the country in its present transition +stage, is yet a small sum if contrasted with the lowest estimate of +her assets. But much still depends on the attitude of England. A +little sympathy, a little friendliness, a modest diminution of +newspaper taunts, some indication that the home country sees and +appreciates the difficulties of its daughter, and is content to trust +her judgment: it is not much to ask, but its refusal will never be +forgotten or forgiven. For Johannesburg in this connection represents +the country on its most sensitive side, and acts as a barometer of +national feeling. + +In this imperfect world there can be no development without attendant +disorders. A dead body is never troublesome, but a growing child is +prone to exasperate. A young city which is perfectly reasonable and +docile deserves to be regarded with deep mistrust, for it is likely to +continue in a kind of youthful sensibility till it disappears. +Ferment is a sign of life, and the very crudeness of the ideals which +cause the ferment is a hopeful proof of vigour. Municipalities since +the beginning of time have been the home of aspirations after +self-government, however ill-suited they may have been to rule +themselves. At this moment the Transvaal is a Crown colony, which is +to say that a mode of government devised for subject races is being +applied for a time to a free and restless British population. The +justification is complete, but we need not be shocked when we find +Johannesburg chafing at her fetters. The less so when we reflect that +in one aspect she is a colonial city, full of the exaggerated +independence of the self-made. The fastidiousness which comes from +culture and tradition, the humour which springs from unshaken +confidence, must necessarily be absent in a municipality which is +still diffident, still largely uneducated. Politics must begin with +the _schwaermerisch_ and the vapid,--"that vague barren pathos, that +useless effervescence of enthusiasm, which plunges with the spirit of +a martyr into an ocean of generalities." Embryo cities are drunk with +words, with half-formed aspirations and vague ideals; wherefore the +result must be sound and fury and little meaning till by painful stages +they find themselves and see things as they are. So far this unrest has +taken two forms--a continuous and somewhat unintelligent criticism of +the Administration, and an attempt by means of numerous associations to +give voice to popular demands in the absence of representative +institutions; and the beginnings of a labour party. The first is as +natural as day and night. Many grave matters, chiefly financial, are +being decided above Johannesburg's head, and it is reasonable that she +should wish to state her own case. This is her strong point: the +weakness of her position is that it is also a criticism of a +reconstruction which is still in process, still in that stage when the +facts are far more clearly perceived by the man on the watch-tower than +by the crowd in the streets below. A pawn in a game is not the best +authority on the moves which lead to success. Patience may be a +distasteful counsel, but why should she disquiet herself when all +things in the end must be in her hands? "The people," to paraphrase a +saying of Heine, "have time enough, they are immortal; administrators +only must pass away." But we cannot complain of this critical activity, +however misplaced. It is a sign of life, and is itself the beginnings +of political education. The second form of agitation is less reasonable +and more dangerous, though perhaps less dangerous here than anywhere +else in the world. There must exist on the Rand, in mines, railways, +and subsidiary industries, a large white industrial population; and the +imported agitator will endeavour to organise it in accordance with his +interests. There is little theoretical justification for the movement. +There are no castes and tyrannies to fight against in a country which +is so new and self-created. The great financial houses will not develop +into Trusts on the American model; and even if they did, the result +would have small effect on the working man, either as labourer or +consumer. There are dozens of false pretexts. The working man of the +Rand may try, as he has tried in Australia, to stereotype his monopoly +and prevent the influx of new labour; or he may use the necessary +discomforts of a transition stage as a lever to raise his wages; or the +idle and incompetent may grumble vaguely against a capitalism which has +been built up by their abler brothers. The pretexts are light as air. +He lives in a free society, and within limits can secure his comfort +and independence beyond a chance of encroachment. But unhappily it does +not require a justification in reason to bring the labour agitator into +being. That type, so well known in Australia, has already appeared, the +unreasoning obstructionist, who, armed with a few platitudes and an +entire absence of foresight, preaches his crude gospel to a class which +is already vaguely unsettled by the intricacies of the economic +problem. There is almost certain to be an attempt to organise labour on +Australian lines, and to create a party like the Sand Lot agitators in +San Francisco, in order to do violence to the true economic interests +of the land on behalf of a prejudice or a theory. Yet I cannot think +that there is more in the prospect than a temporary inconvenience. No +labour party can be really formidable unless it is based on profound +discontents and radical grievances; and the annoyances of the +Johannesburg proletariat are, as compared with those of Europe, like +crumpled rose-leaves to thorns. There is too strong a force of social +persistence in the city to suffer it ever to become the prey of a +well-organised gang of revolutionaries; and if such a force exists, the +experience of Victoria in its great railway strike of 1903 would seem +to show that in the long-run no labour war can succeed which tends to a +wholesale disorganisation of social and industrial life. + +But if Johannesburg shows a certain unrest, she also reveals a +curious solidarity--the strength of narrowness and exclusion, which is +partly natural and due to the struggle for self-conscious existence, +and partly accidental and based on a profound disappointment. Her +citizens believed that the end of the war would begin a golden age of +unprecedented prosperity. Money was to flow into her coffers, her +population to grow by many thousands each year, and she herself was to +stand out before an envious world as a type of virtue rewarded. She +miscalculated the future, and the facts left her aghast. Conservative +estimates, a few years back, put the value of the gold output in 1902 +at between 20 and 30 millions: the actual figures during the first +year of peace show little over 10 millions--a reduction on the output +of 1898. Hence the almost hysterical concentration of interest on the +one great industry. Men who in other matters are remarkable for their +breadth of view, are to be found declaring that everything must be +made subordinate to mining development,--not in the sense in which the +saying is true, that the prosperity of the country depends in the +first instance on the mines, but in the quite indefensible sense that +any consideration of other things, even when there is no conflict +between them and the mining interest, is a misapplication of energy +which should go to the greater problem. It is fair to argue against a +programme of public works which might draw native labour from the +mines, because, unless we cherish the goose, there will be no golden +eggs to pay for our programmes. But to condemn schemes of settlement +which are no more a hindrance to the gold industry than to the +planetary system, is to show a nervous blindness to graver questions, +which is the ugliest product of the present strain and confusion. This +trait, however, cannot be permanent; and we may look to see the gold +industry in time, when its own crisis is past, become that enlightened +force in politics which the ability of its leaders and the weight of +its organisation entitle it to be. For the other form of narrowness, +which consists in the limitation of citizenship, there is ample +justification in present circumstances. A new city must begin by +drawing in her skirts and showing herself, perhaps unwarrantably, +jealous and sensitive. More especially a city which has hitherto been +rather a fortuitous gathering of races than a compact community, is +right in straining after such compactness, even at the cost of a +little injustice. The only danger lies in the perpetuation of this +attitude when its justification has gone. + +The fault of Johannesburg, to sum up, lies for the moment in a +certain narrow hardness of view: her hope is in the possession of +rich elements unknown in most new cities; while her greatest danger +lies in the fact that she cannot yet honestly claim those elements as +her own. She is apt to judge a question from a lower point of view +than the question demands--to take up a parochial standpoint in +municipal affairs, a municipal standpoint in national affairs, a +national standpoint in imperial questions. In spite of her many +splendid loyalties, she will find it hard to avoid the assertive +_contra mundum_ attitude which seems inseparable from flourishing +colonial cities--a dogmatism natural, but unfortunate. On the other +hand, her history and her present status give her a chance beyond +other new cities. She starts on her civic career already rich, +enterprising, the magnet for the first scientific talent of the world. +A fortunate development might give her a cultivated class, true +political instincts, and the self-restraint which springs from a high +civilisation, without at the same time impairing that energy which she +owes to her colonial parentage. The danger is that her ablest element +may continue alien, treating the city as a caravanserai, and returning +to Europe as soon as its ambition is satisfied. So far the intellect +has not been with the men who have made the place their home, but, +subject to a few remarkable exceptions, with the men who have never +concealed their impatience to get away. If she fails to make this +class her citizens, then, whatever her prosperity, as a city she will +remain mediocre. Nothing can deprive her of her position as the +foremost market; but if she is to be also the real capital of South +Africa, she must absorb the men who are now her resident aliens. There +are signs, indeed, that the process has begun in all seriousness. As +she becomes a more pleasant dwelling-place, many who find in the +future of the country the main interest of their lives will find in +Johannesburg the best field of labour for the end they desire. And the +growth of such a leisured class, who take part in public life for its +own sake and for no commercial interests, will not only import into +municipal politics a broader view and a healthier spirit, but will do +much to secure that community of interest between town and country by +which alone a united South Africa can be created. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS. + + +The constitutional requirements of a country are never determined +solely by its political needs. Some account must be taken of its prior +history, for theories of government are apt to sink deep into the mind +of a people and to become unconsciously a part of its political +outlook. No form of education is less conscious or more abiding in its +effects. It may even happen that the fabric which such theories +created has been deliberately overthrown with the popular consent, but +none the less the theories are still there in some form or other to +obtrude themselves in future experiments. It is always worth while, +therefore, in any reconstruction to look at the ideas of government +which held sway before, whether in the shape of a professed creed or +in the practical form of institutions. The constitutional history of +South Africa is not long, and it is not complex. In Natal and Cape +Colony we possess two specimens of ordinary self-governing colonies. +Natal, which began life as a Crown colony, subject to the Governor of +the Cape, was granted substantive independence by charter in 1856, and +in 1893 was given representative government. It possesses a nominated +legislative council of nine members, and an elective legislative +assembly of thirty-nine members, elected on an easy franchise. Cape +Colony also began as a Crown colony, and followed nearly the same +path. Her legislative council was created in 1850, and by an +ordinance of this legislature in 1872, ratified by an Act of the +Imperial Parliament, she obtained full representative institutions. +Her council and her house of assembly are each elected and on the same +franchise. In these two colonies we have, therefore, types of +colonial autonomy--that is to say, an unfettered executive and +freedom to legislate subject to the consent of the Governor and the +Crown in Council, a limitation which is daily becoming more of a +pious fiction. In Southern Rhodesia we have a specimen of that very +modern experiment, government by a commercial company. It is a +provisional form, and has been made to approximate as far as is +reasonably possible to a Crown colony. The executive power is in the +hands of the company's officials, subject to an indirect control by +the Imperial Resident Commissioner, the High Commissioner, and +ultimately by the Crown. There is a legislative council, partly +nominated by the company and partly elected, and all legislation is +contingent upon the sanction of the imperial authorities. Lastly, +there are the native states, the Crown colony of Basutoland, and the +protectorates of Bechuanaland, North-West Rhodesia, and Swaziland, +all of which are directly or indirectly under the authority of the +High Commissioner. So far there is no constitutional novelty--Crown +colonies advancing to an ordinary type of self-government, or +remaining, provisionally or permanently, under full imperial control. + +There remain the late Governments of the Republics, which to the student +of constitutional forms show certain interesting peculiarities.[30] +These constitutions were framed by men who had no tradition[31] to +fall back upon, if we exclude the Mosaic law, and no theories to give +effect to--men who would have preferred to do without government, had +it been possible, but who, once the need became apparent, brought to +the work much shrewdness and good sense. The Natal emigrants in 1838 +had established a Volksraad, but the chief feature in their scheme was +the submission of all important matters to a primary public assembly, a +Homeric gathering of warriors. By the time the Sand River and +Bloemfontein Conventions were signed and the two republics became +independent, the people were scattered over a wide expanse of country, +and some form of representation was inevitable. At the same time, it +had become necessary to provide for a military organisation coextensive +with the civil. In the Transvaal transient republics had arisen and +departed, like the changes in a kaleidoscope. Around both states there +was a native population, actively hostile and potentially dangerous. +Some central military and civil authority was needed to keep the +country from anarchy. But if the farmers were without political +theories, they had a very vigorous sense of personal independence; so +the doctrinal basis of the new constitution lay in the axiom that one +burgher in the State is as good as another, and that the people are the +final repository of power. In this at least they were democratic, +though from other traits of democracy they have ever held aloof. + +The _Constitutie_ of the Orange Free State was rigid--that is, it +could be altered only by methods different from those of ordinary +legislation: in the Transvaal _Grondwet_, on the other hand, there +was no provision for change at all, and reforms, when necessary, were +made in the ordinary legislative manner. The _Constitutie_ created one +supreme legislature, the Volksraad, elected by the qualified white +population. The President was elected by the whole people, though the +Volksraad, like the Roman consuls, reserved the power to make +nominations, which were generally accepted. The Volksraad had not only +supreme legislative power, but, while formally independent of the +President and the executive, it could reverse any executive Act, +except the exercise of the President's right of pardon and the +declaration of martial law. It was limited only by its own charter, +which forbade it to restrict the right of public meeting and petition +(one of the few Bill of Rights elements in this constitution), and +bound it to promote and support the Dutch Reformed Church. The +Transvaal _Grondwet_ began by making the Dutch Reformed Church an +established national Church (a provision repealed later), and +declaring that "the people will not tolerate any equality between +coloured and white inhabitants in Church or State." No man was +eligible for a seat in the Volksraad unless he was a member of a +Protestant Church.[32] In the Transvaal, as in the Orange Free State, +the Volksraad was the supreme legislative authority, but when any law +was proposed the people were given the opportunity of expressing their +opinion in a mild form of the referendum. The President was elected by +the whole people and acted as chief of the executive, though +responsible to the Volksraad, which could dismiss him or cancel his +appointments. He could sit and speak in the Volksraad, but had no +vote. The chief military authority was the Commandant General, who was +elected by all the burghers, and under him there was a long hierarchy +of district commandants and field-cornets. The local administrative +officer for civil matters was the landdrost or district magistrate. It +is unnecessary to consider the Second Volksraad, which was an +ineffective advisory body elected on a wider franchise, a mere sop to +the Cerberus whose hundred tongues were clamouring for representation. +But there was one curious development of considerable historic +interest. In cases of urgency the Volksraad could pass laws without +reference to the people at large, but such an enactment was called a +resolution (_besluit_) as contrasted with a law (_wet_), and was +supposed to have only a provisional force. But the habit grew of +calling most matters "specially urgent," and allowing the old popular +referendum to fall into desuetude. + +The common feature of both constitutions was the immense nominal powers +of the legislatures. Nominally they had the right to make all +appointments, to veto the President's action, and to say the last word +in all questions of revenue and expenditure. But certain facts wrought +against this legislative supremacy. The members came from districts +widely apart, and there was no serious attempt to form groups or +parties; the President could sit and speak in the Volksraad, and he +might be elected as often as he could persuade the people to elect him. +The way was paved for the tyranny of a strong man. In the Orange Free +State, that country of mild prosperity and simple problems, the system +worked admirably; but in the Transvaal, when burning questions arose, +the republican methods for all serious purposes broke down, and were +replaced by a dictatorship. There remain, however, certain doctrines +from the old _regime_ which will have to be reckoned with under the +new. The supremacy of the legislature is not one, for no Boer cared +much for the dogma, and Mr Kruger ruled on the simple maxim, "L'etat +c'est moi." But the democratic principle of equality among citizens is +one cherished belief, and another is the absolute disqualification of +all coloured races.[33] The Boer is not a parliamentarian in the +ordinary sense, and he did not grieve when his Volksraad was slighted +and made impotent; but he likes his representative to go to Pretoria, +as a sort of tribute to his importance, and, if he is to vote, he +demands to vote on an equal basis with all. He was attached to his +local administration with its landdrost system, and any change which +bore no relation to the old plan might begin by confusing and end by +souring him. + +We have therefore to face two existing constitutional traditions--among +the British from the Cape or Natal or over-seas, the old love of +colonial self-government; among the Boers, at least in the Transvaal, a +kind of ingenuous republican independence, quite consistent with a +patient tolerance of absolutism, but not so easy to adapt to the +gradations of our representative system. Hence in many ways the Boer is +far more likely to remain patient for years under a Crown colony +Government than the English or colonial new-comer. He does not +particularly want to vote or interfere in administration, so long as +he has no personal grievance; but it might annoy him to see the +franchise denied to him and given to his cousin who was a little richer +or better educated, when he remembered the old _Grondwet_ doctrines of +equality, and it would certainly exasperate him to learn that any +native had been granted a civic status beyond him. + + * * * * * + +Such being the constitutional history, we may turn to the present. The +term Crown colony is used so loosely that very few of its many critics +could define the peculiar features of this form of government. "One of +the greatest of all evils," wrote Lord Durham in the famous Report +which has become the charter of colonial policy, "arising from this +system of irresponsible government, was the mystery in which the +motives and actual purposes of their rulers were hid from the +colonists themselves. The most important business of government was +carried on, not in open discussions or public acts, but in a secret +correspondence between the Governor and the Secretary of State." This +feature, more than any other, tends to dissatisfaction. The Crown +colony system is necessarily a secret one. The newspapers, till +blue-books are issued, are informed only as much or as little as the +authorities may think good for them; and the natural critics of all +administration have the somewhat barren pleasure of finding fault with +a policy after it has become a fact. There is no safety-valve for the +escape of grievances, no official channel even for sound local advice. +It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if it seems an intolerable +burden to men full of anxiety about the methods by which they are +governed. + +The Crown colony system is not new to Africa. It existed for years in +the Cape and Natal; it still exists in its most rigid form over +native states, and at its worst it does not spurn public opinion in +the fashion of the Kruger _regime_--it simply neglects it. The name is +really a misnomer, for it is no part of the English colonial system. +The American Revolution is sometimes described as the revolt of an +English people from Crown colony government, but in those days the +thing was not in existence. It is fundamentally the method invented to +govern a race which is incapable of free representative institutions, +or to tide over a temporary difficulty. The Governor is absolute, +subject to the conditions of his appointment and the instructions +accompanying his letters-patent. He may be assisted by a council, but +it is his privilege, on reasons shown, to override his council. He is +the sole local fountain of executive and legislative power. But if he +is absolute in one sense, he is strictly tied in another. The methods +of his administration are subject to certain regulations issued by the +Colonial Office. The Secretary of State must approve his appointments, +and all important administrative acts, as well as all legislation. +Further, in serious questions the Home Government exercises a general +oversight of policy before the event, and the Governor in such +matters is merely the mouthpiece of the Cabinet. It is in itself a +rational system, and works well under certain conditions. In a +serious crisis, when large imperial issues are involved, and when +local policy is but a branch of a wider policy, it is highly +important that this day-to-day supervision should exist; and in a +case where speed is essential, Crown colony methods, though slow +enough in all conscience, are rapidity itself compared with the +cumbrous machinery of representative government. + +The necessity of treating the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony +temporarily as Crown colonies was beyond argument. Reconstruction began +in the midst of war, when the material of self-government was wanting. +It goes on amidst unsettled and dimly understood conditions, where +certain facts of policy stand out in a strong light and all else is +shadow. It involves many financial transactions in which the Home +Government is deeply interested; and it is natural that a close +administrative connection should be thought desirable. It comes at the +end of a costly war, and it is right that England should have a direct +say in securing herself against its repetition. The racial problem is +still too delicate to submit to the arbitrament of popular bodies; and +if it were settled out of hand there might remain an abiding cause of +discontent. The time is not ripe for self-government, the country has +not yet found herself, having but barely awakened from the torpor of +war and begun to set her house in order. Again, there are factors to be +borne in mind in re-creating the new colonies which extend far beyond +their borders. It is impossible to imagine that due consideration could +be given to them by the ablest elective body in the world, called +together in the present ferment. Above all, what is to be done must be +done quickly. The wants of the hour are too urgent for delays. There +must be some authority, trusted by the British Cabinet, capable of +determining the needs of the situation, and giving summary effect to +his decision. + +On this all thinking men in the new colonies are agreed. I do not +suppose that any of the more serious critics of the expedient would +be prepared to propose and defend an alternative. But irritation +remains when reason has done its best, and it is not hard to see the +causes. One is the natural disinclination of Englishmen to be ruled +from above, a repulsion which they feel even when arguing in its +favour. Another is the secrecy of Crown colony government, to which I +have already referred. It is painful to find matters of vital +importance to yourself decided without your knowledge, even when you +have the fullest confidence in the deciding power. There is also, +perhaps, a little distrust still left in South Africa of the British +Government,--not of particular Ministers, but of the vague entity +behind them--a distrust which has had in the past such ample +justification that it is hard to blame it. The colonial mind, too, is +averse to English officialdom, even when represented by the several +highly competent men who have shared in the present administration. +Red-tape, which in its place is most necessary and desirable, seems to +lurk in the offices of men who are in reality trying hard to deal with +facts in the simplest way. A certain amount of formal officialdom is +necessary in all government. There must be people to keep an office in +order, to make a fetich of etiquette, to insist on a stereotyped +procedure, and to see the world dimly through a mist of "previous +papers." It is a useful, but not very valuable, type of man, and we +cannot wonder that a South African, who imagines that such a one has, +what he rarely has, an influence in grave decisions, should view with +distrust the form of government which permits him. It is a mistake, +but one based on an honest instinct. + +Self-government is the goal to which all things hasten, and critics of +the present administration check their complaints at the thought of +that beneficent day. Meanwhile it is our business to set things in +order so that the chosen of the people, when they enter into their +inheritance, may find it swept and garnished. Representative +institutions should not spring full grown from an Order in Council, +like Athene from the brain of Zeus: if they do, there is apt to be a +painful crudeness about their early history. The way should be +prepared by gentle means, for, after all, it is a country in which the +bulk of the residents have had no experience of governing themselves. +The experiment has so far been tried in two ways. The municipalities +represent the highest level of intelligence and political training; in +municipal affairs, therefore, it is safe to begin at once with +representation. The first town councils were for all practical +purposes Government departments, nominated by Government and assisted +on their difficult career by Government supervision. But a nominated +town council is an anomaly even within a Crown colony, since a town +council is not concerned with high politics but only with the +administration of the area in which its citizens choose to dwell, and +any owner of property has a right to a voice in determining the ways +in which his property shall be safeguarded. The basis of any municipal +franchise is the payment of rates, which imply the ownership of +property; and questions of race, loyalty, even of education, have no +logical place in what is simply a practical union for the protection +of proprietary interests and the care of the amenities of civilised +life. The question of elective municipalities is therefore a simple +one, and as soon as a municipal law could be put together, the system +was inaugurated. This is not the place to examine the type of +municipal franchise adopted in the Transvaal, which is a skilful +compendium of various colonial precedents. But on one matter, the +coloured and alien vote, there was manifested a vigorous tendency to +conservatism and exclusion. As I have said, this is a province where +racial distinctions have no logical place. If a black man is a +ratepayer he has the citizen's right to vote. Nor can we on purely +rational grounds confine this franchise to British subjects. But the +country thought differently. As the municipal was her only form of +representation, political considerations crept in unawares, and the +result, while logically indefensible, has a certain practical +justification. For in a time of reconstruction a community is apt +rather to narrow than enlarge its boundaries, feeling above all things +the need of a compact front against the unknown. In time, no doubt, +the true theory of municipal franchise will reassert itself, and if, +when the time comes, a constructive policy towards the subject races +has also come into being, the delay will have been not in vain. + +A more important step towards self-government was the creation of +nominated legislative councils for both colonies, which held their +first meetings in the early part of 1903. In the Transvaal there were +sixteen official members representing the different Government +departments, and fourteen non-official members selected from +representative Englishmen and Boers in the country. In the Orange +River Colony there were six official members and four non-official. +Some of the new measures which concerned more deeply the people of the +colonies were kept back on purpose for the opinion of the new +councils. Such were the new gold and diamond laws, the municipal +franchise law, and the ordinances governing the disposal of town +lands. So far the expedient has promised well; an outlet has been +created for public opinion, though for the present such opinion cannot +carry with it practical force; and the procedure of Government has +ceased to be a state secret, and is patent to any one who has the +curiosity or the patience to attend the council's debates. It is +interesting to observe how the unofficial members already appear in a +quasi-representative capacity, and are beginning to attach themselves +to particular districts, for which, so far as airing grievances and +obtaining information go, they perform most of the duties of an +elected member. There is no reason why such members should not be +elected instead of nominated, and in this way provide a trial for the +form of franchise on which autonomy is to be based. There are many +obvious difficulties in any franchise for the new colonies, and it +would be well for such difficulties to be realised and faced while the +whole matter is still mainly academic, and errors are not yet attended +with practical disaster. + + * * * * * + +The franchise for the new colonies is the constitutional problem which +is of the most immediate importance. It will not be wise to delay the +era of self-government long, for between the most elastic Crown colony +and the narrowest free colony there is an inseparable gulf, and though +it may be said justly that with an elective legislature the colonies +have something very like freedom, the one thing needful will still be +lacking. It is not enough to put the oars into their hands; we must +cut the painter before they are truly free. There is one postulate in +all franchise discussions which is likely to be vigorously attacked. +The franchise must be based in the first instance upon the principle +of giving adequate representation to all districts and every interest; +but, once this has been recognised, the second principle appears--of +providing for the supremacy of the British population. That saying of +Dogberry's, "An two men ride of a horse, one must ride behind," is a +primary law not only of equitation but of politics in the treatment of +a conquered country. For conquered it is, and there is little use +disguising it: we have not been fighting for the love of it or for +fine sentiment, but to conquer the land and give our people the +mastery. The last word in all matters must rest with us--that is, with +the people of British blood and British sympathies. Both men must be +on the horse, or, apart from parable, each race must have fair and +ample representation. To deny this would be to sin against sound +policy. But not to take measures to see that our own race has the +casting vote is to be guilty of the commonest folly. "An two men ride +of a horse, one must ride behind." + +Whoever denies this principle may spare himself the trouble of reading +further, for it is proposed to treat it as axiomatic. The first type +of franchise need not be permanent: a day may come when it will be +needless to consider the distinction of Dutch and British. But as it +was right and politic on the conclusion of war to disarm our +opponents, so it is right and politic in the first franchise to put no +weapon of offence into their hands. The primary adjustment of the +franchise and the primary distribution of seats must be made with this +clear end in view--to secure a working majority for the British people. +It is obvious that the words "British population" are vague, and +include many odd forms of nationality, but the thing itself is simple, +the class whose interests and sentiment are on the British side, who +seek progress on British lines. It does not follow that the majority +of the Dutch will go into opposition, but it is ordinary prudence to +keep on the safe side. Such a policy involves no distrust of the Dutch +population, but is the common duty of those who for a certain period +must, as conquerors, take the initiative in administration, and, as +bearing the responsibility, preserve an adequate means of control. + +The terms of the franchise are a more difficult matter. In Cape Colony +citizenship and a low property qualification are the chief conditions. +In Southern Rhodesia, whose franchise law is an especially clear and +sensible code, an oath of loyalty is accepted in lieu of technical +citizenship, and an easy educational test is demanded--the ability of +a voter to sign his name and write his address and occupation. In +Natal there is a sharp distinction drawn between Europeans and all +others. To them the only tests are citizenship, and the ownership or +occupation of property of a certain value, or the receipt of a certain +amount of income. The native is practically disqualified by a law +denying the franchise to any person subject to special courts or +special laws, and though a means of escape is provided, the conditions +are too complex even for more intelligent minds than the native. It is +an ingenious but not wholly satisfactory device. Asiatics are excluded +by the law which denies votes to natives, or descendants in the male +line of natives, of any country which does not enjoy the blessings of +representative government; and though in their case also there is a +way of escape, it is almost equally difficult. The root distinction +between types of franchise lies in the method employed to exclude an +undesirable class, whether a direct one, by disqualifying in so many +words, or an indirect, by setting one standard of qualification for +all, to which, as a matter of fact, the undesirable class cannot +attain. The balance of argument is, on the whole, on the side of the +second method, which has been adopted in Cape Colony and Rhodesia, +though, perhaps, with too low a standard. But the first method, if +followed more frankly than in Natal, has something to be said for it. +There is no reason why the better class of Indians should not vote, if +their race is considered fit to mix on equal terms with English +society elsewhere; but to my mind there is a very good reason why the +native should not vote--at least, not for the present. The easy way of +securing this result is the old method of the Transvaal _Grondwet_, +which said shortly, "There shall be no equality between black and +white." It is the way, too, which, under the Conditions of Surrender, +would have to be adopted in any trial franchise put into force before +self-government. I am not sure whether it is not the most philosophic +as well as the simplest way, for it denies the native the franchise +not for a lack of property or educational qualification, but for +radical mental dissimilarity. In any case it is a matter which must be +left for the people of the colony to settle for themselves. But for +all others, while the property basis of the franchise should be low, +there are grounds for thinking that a reasonably high educational test +should be added. The lower type of European and the back-veld Dutchman +have in their present state no equitable right to the decision, which +the franchise gives, on matters which they are unable to come within a +measurable distance of understanding. The fact that the fool may have +a vote at home is no reason for exalting him to the same level in a +country which is not handicapped by a constitutional history. Some +form of British citizenship, obtainable by a short and simple method, +must also be demanded if the land is to remain a British colony. + +Once the franchise has been determined there remains the division of +constituencies. The axiom has already been explained which appears to +govern this question. But in the absence of anything approaching +correct census returns it is difficult to suggest, even tentatively, a +distribution of seats. The fairest way to secure the representation of +all interests seems to be to divide constituencies into three types. +First, there are the large towns, which for the present, to take the +Transvaal, may be limited to Johannesburg and Pretoria. These would be +given members according to their population. Second, come groups of +country burghs, such groups as the Northern Burghs, with Nylstroom, +Warm Baths, Piet Potgieter's Rust, and Pietersburg; and the Eastern +Burghs, with Middelburg and Belfast, Lydenburg and Barberton. Here, +too, members would be allotted according to population, though the +number of voters required to form a constituency should be fewer. +Lastly, there would be the country districts, substantially the present +fourteen magisterial divisions, and there the numbers of a constituency +would be still smaller. That it is fair to differentiate in favour of +the counties against the burghs, and in favour of the burghs against +the large towns, will appear on a brief consideration. The interests of +the different constituencies in a city, at least in a new city, are +practically identical. In the country burghs the interests vary, but +still within narrow limits. In the counties, on the other hand, there +is often a very wide variation. The dwellers in Barberton have wholly +different problems and grievances from the dwellers in Bloemhof or +Standerton. But while this principle is right, the former axiom must be +kept in mind, that, provided fair representation is granted to all, the +constituencies must be so arranged as to ensure British predominance. +Certain counties will, I believe, be on the whole British in +time--Bloemhof, Marico, Zoutpansberg, possibly Waterberg, possibly +Lydenburg, undoubtedly Barberton. The burghs, too, will yield on the +whole a British voting population. In all likelihood, therefore, our +purpose will be secured by the division of constituencies which I have +suggested, even allowing for a differentiation in favour of the rural +districts. Figures are still impossible in the absence of a census, but +on the roughest estimate there may be in the Transvaal at the present +moment a Boer population of 100,000, with a voting proportion of +30,000, and a British population of perhaps 150,000, with a voting +proportion of 50,000 or upwards. In the Orange River Colony before the +war the voters' roll showed just over 17,000, and if we put the vote on +an enlarged franchise at 20,000, we may be near the mark. The position +of the latter colony will not change greatly in the next decade, but +the Transvaal may easily in a few years show a million inhabitants and +more. With a population thus constantly increasing and liable to great +local fluctuations, redistribution may soon become a vexed question and +a source of political chicanery. It would be well if the endless +friction which attends redistribution courts and commissions could be +saved by some automatic system under which sudden local inequalities +could be speedily and finally adjusted. + + * * * * * + +The greatest constitutional calamity which could befall South Africa +would be for the Dutch in the new colonies to go as a race into +opposition. I have said that they are not born parliamentarians, and +that, to begin with at least, they will be a little strange to the +forms and methods of English representative government. But they are +a strong and serious people, and if they desire, as a race, to form +an opposition, they will learn the tactics of a parliament as readily +as their kinsmen have done in the Cape. It will be difficult to form +out of so practical and stable a folk such an opposition as the +Nationalist party in Ireland; but if they have real grievances to +fight for, it is conceivable that the Dutch people might be organised +into as solid a voting machine as the Irish peasantry under the +control of the Land League and the Church. Attempts will doubtless be +made to bring this about. Certain institutions will spare no pains to +secure so promising a recruit in their policy of emphasising every +feature in the South African situation which tends to disunion. On +the other hand, certain of the natural leaders of the Dutch people, +who have acquired the spurious race-hatred which intriguers and +adventurers have built up during the past twenty years, in a +desperately discreet and orthodox manner may work to the same end. +But fortunately there are signs that the party division, when it +comes, will be lateral and not vertical. It is a phenomenon often +observed in a long war, that a day of apathy sets in, differences +arise in a party, and one section begins to dislike the other far +more than it hates the common enemy. This phenomenon, which in war +spells disaster, is salutary enough in civil politics. In both races +there are signs of divisions, and on each side there is a party +unconsciously drawing nearer to their old opponents. The majority of +the Dutch have little rancour, except against each other; to many +the Bond is as much an object of suspicion as, let us say, Mr +Chamberlain. The old nebulous Pan-Afrikander dreams were in no way +popular with the Transvaal Boer, who would have been nearly as much +annoyed at being harassed with an Afrikander federation as at being +annexed to Natal. Besides, he is not a good party man, being too +sincere an individualist. Intrigue of the carpet-bag and secret-league +variety he will never shine in, and he does not desire to, though apt +enough at a kind of rustic diplomacy. There is, further, a party ready +made for him. He is frankly anti-Johannesburg, a pure agrarian. +Already the anomalous labour party of the Rand are making overtures to +him, and with loud declamations on his merits strive to attract his +sympathies. On certain matters he may join them, but it will be an odd +union, and not a long one. Town and country will never long remain in +conjunction, and there are few items, indeed, of a labour programme to +which he would subscribe. + +It is difficult to draw with any confidence the political horoscope of +the new colonies. Certain eternal antitheses will exist,--Capital and +Labour, Rand and Veld, Progress and the staunchest of staunch +Conservatisms,--but none of them seem likely to coalesce so as to form +any permanent division of parties. It is as easy to imagine Rand +capitalists and country Dutch united on certain questions as Boer and +Labour. Possibly the old distinction of Liberal and Tory in some form +or other will appear in the end. It is said that the colonies are +aggressively Liberal; but these are different from other colonies, and +the groundwork of Conservatism already exists. We have a plutocracy +and a landed aristocracy. We have also in the legal element a class, +in its South African form, peculiarly tenacious of the letter of the +law. We have an established kirk in all but name, and a racial +tradition of resistance to novelty. With the growth of a rich and +leisured population, and of social grades and conventions, there will +come a time when politics may well be divided between those who are +satisfied with things as they are, and those who hunger for things as +they cannot be--with, of course, a sprinkling of plain men who do +their work without theories. We shall have the doctrinaire idealist, +doubtless, to experiment on the labour and native questions; and in +place of having politics based on interests, we may have them based in +name and reality on creeds and dogmas, which is what English +constitutionalism desires. All such developments are just and normal, +and in any one the land may find political stability. + +There is one contingency alone which must be regarded with the +greatest dread--the growth of a South African party, which is South +African because anti-British. The war raised colonial loyalty to a +height; but such loyalty is like a rocket, which may speedily expire +in the void in a blaze of brightness, or may kindle a steady flame if +the material be there. We must remember that we have in the Dutch a +large population to which the British tie means nothing; a large and +important class, in the cosmopolitan financiers, who may be covertly +hostile to British interests; and even in some of the most sterling +and public-spirited citizens men who, if the Dutch Government had +allowed them, would have surrendered their nationality and become +citizens of the republics. South African loyalty, splendid as it is, +is rather fidelity to British traditions than to that overt link which +constitutes empire. You will, indeed, hear the true theory of colonial +policy well stated and strongly defended; but it must not be +forgotten that in South Africa it is still somewhat of an exotic +plant, and wants careful tending before it can come to maturity. +Unadvised action on our part may nip the growth, and give a chance for +a party which might declare, to adopt the words of the old loyalists +of Lower Canada, that it was determined to be South African even at +the cost of ceasing to be British. A too long or too straitly ordered +tutelage might do it, or a harsh dictation on some local question of +vital interest, or the continuance of the old calumnies about the +Rand, the old vulgar sneer at the colonial-born. It is well to +remember that while the land is a Crown colony it is one only in name, +and that all the tact and discretion which we use in dealing with +self-governing colonies should be used in this case also. + +Such a party may arise, but there is no reason in the nature of things +for its existence. South African and British are not opposites. As I +understand the theory of colonial government, England stands towards +her colonies as a parent who starts his sons in the world, wishing +them all prosperity; and though in after-years he may exercise the +parental right of giving advice, he will not attempt to coerce the +action of those who have come to years of maturity. The tie is +strongest when it is not of the letter but of the spirit. At the same +time it is well to preserve certain outward and visible signs of +descent,--well for the fatherland, better for the colonies, who draw +from that fatherland their social and political traditions and their +spiritual sustenance. At the moment South Africa is in a transition +stage. Her public opinion is scarcely formed on any subject; she is +full of vague aspirations, uneasy yearnings, and half-fledged hopes. +She will develop either into the staunchest of allies in any imperial +federation, or the most recalcitrant and isolated of colonies. She has +enough and to spare of good men who desire nothing more than that the +African nation, when it comes, should be a British people, and if she +is trusted whole-heartedly, she will not betray the trust. She will +even accept advice and reproof in proper cases, for, unless we drive +her to ingratitude, she is not ungrateful for the blood and treasure +which Britain has spent on her making. But she is like a young +well-bred colt, whose mouth may be easily spoiled by over-bitting, and +whose temper will be ruined by the bad hands or too hasty temper of +its trainer. + +Two important constitutional questions remain. One is the great policy +of Federation, which looms as a background behind all sporadic +constitutional forms. The second concerns that part of the imperial +forces which is to be stationed in South Africa--a matter which is not +only an army question but one deeply affecting colonial interests. To +these the two succeeding chapters are devoted. + + + [30] Mr Bryce, in his 'Studies in History and Jurisprudence,' + vol. i. pp. 430-467, has a valuable examination of the + old Transvaal and Orange River Colony constitutions. + + [31] Stray dogmas from the French Revolution had undoubtedly + some share in the ferment preceding the Great Trek, but + I cannot think that the voortrekkers carried any such + baggage with them to the wilderness. + + [32] The original _Grondwet_ declared that no Roman Catholic + Church, nor any Protestant Church which did not teach + the Heidelberg Catechism, should be admitted within the + Republic. + + [33] There was no reason _in law_ under the old Orange Free + State Government why a native should not have the + municipal franchise through ownership, and an Asiatic + through occupation of town property. But in practice--a + practice deduced from the spirit of the + _Constitutie_--no such voters were registered. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE POLICY OF FEDERATION. + + +No South African problem is more long-descended than the question of +Federation. It was a dream of Sir George Grey's in the mid-century, +and it was a central feature in the policy of Sir Bartle Frere--that +policy which, after twenty years of obscuration, is at last seen in +its true and beneficent light. Nor was it held only by English +governors. Local statesmen in Cape Colony saw in it a panacea for the +endless frontier difficulties which tried their patience and their +talents. The ultra-independent colonist, in whose ears "Africa for the +Afrikanders" was beginning to ring, seized upon it as a lever towards +a more complete autonomy. Men like Mr Rhodes, to whom Africa was an +empire and its people one potential nation, looked on it as the first +step towards this larger destiny. Every student of political history +for the last fifty years, considering the physical situation of the +different states and the absence of any final dividing line between +them, confidently anticipated for South Africa, and under more +favourable conditions, the development which Australia has already +reached. But the movement shipwrecked on the northern republics. Old +grievances and jealousies set the Transvaal and the Orange Free State +in arms against the prospect, and, since the essence of federation +is full mutual consent, the project failed at the first hint of +serious opposition. Now all things are changed. The social and +constitutional difficulties which would obviously arise from the +inclusion of independent or all but independent states in a federation +of colonies have disappeared with the independent states themselves. +Now at last all South Africa save the Portuguese and German seaboards +is under one flag. + +The chief barriers have gone, but the need for federation is as +insistent as ever. A common flag is a strong tie, but it does not in +practice prevent many local jealousies and petty oppositions. Disunion +is only justifiable among colonies of equal standing when there is +some insuperable physical barrier between them or some radical +disparity of interests. Providence is so clearly on the side of the +larger social battalions, that an isolated state, though within a +colonial system, is at a disadvantage even in matters concerning its +own interests. The nationalism which rejoices in local distinctions, +however recent in origin, is admirable enough in its way, and ought to +be preserved; therefore the complete merging of several units in one +is always to be regretted, even when justified by grave needs. The new +state will never or not for a long time acquire the consistency and +proud self-consciousness of the destroyed units. But federation shows +another and a better way. The parts are maintained in full national +existence, but in so far as their interests transcend their own +boundaries they are united in one larger state. There is another +advantage, often pointed out by American writers on the subject, +which concerns a country like South Africa, whose boundaries cannot +yet be said to be finally delimited. North of the Zambesi there is a +vast vague region, partly under the High Commissioner, partly +included in British Central Africa, which in time will become +separate colonies, with interests wholly different from the states of +the south. To add a new tract and a novel population to a state is +always a difficult matter, for the existing _regime_ may be most +unsuited for such extension. But it is easy to include a new colony +in a federation. In Mr Bryce's words, federation "permits an +expansion, whose extension and whose rate and manner of progress +cannot be foreseen, to proceed with more variety of methods, more +adaptation of laws and administration to the circumstances of each +part of the territory, and altogether in a more truly natural and +spontaneous way than can be expected under a centralised government. +Thus the special needs of a new _regime_ are met by the inhabitants +in the way they find best; its special evils are met by special +remedies, perhaps more drastic than an old country demands, perhaps +more lax than an old country would tolerate; while at the same time +the spirit of self-reliance among those who build up these new +communities is stimulated and respected."[34] + +The need for federation in the case of South Africa is made greater by +the fact that there are one or two burning questions common to all her +states which cannot be satisfactorily settled save by joint action. +Foremost stands the native problem. If there is not some sort of +geographical continuity of policy in the treatment of natives, all our +efforts will be unavailing. The natives of South Africa may be +regarded, among other things, as a great industrial reserve; and if +the policy outlined in another chapter is to be followed, different +labour laws and different methods of taxation may work incalculable +harm. If extravagant inducements to work are held out in the +Transvaal, it will not be long before the labour market is ruined +elsewhere. If an improvident system of taxation exists in Natal, it +may unsettle and discontent other native populations, since it is +highly probable that in the future natives will be less tied to +localities, and will move through the whole country in search of work. +The mining authorities have long recognised the necessity of a single +policy, as is shown by such institutions as the Chamber of Mines and +the Native Labour Association; and it would be odd if in political +questions, where the need is equally urgent, the same truth should be +neglected. In connection with natives the control of the sale of +intoxicants is another matter of South African importance. It is a +matter on which South Africa is now practically at one; but there are +limits to the prescience of local legislation and local officials, +and it may easily happen that an inadequate law inadequately +administered in one colony may undo most of the good that an +energetic administration is attempting in another. If identity of +policy, again, is indispensable in relation to the subject races, the +same identity is most desirable in those inter-racial questions +between white men which will long have their place in South African +politics. An unwise treatment of the Dutch population in the Cape +will infallibly react on the new colonies. Any one who knows the way +in which Cape precedents in this connection are quoted in the +Transvaal, just as Transvaal precedents were quoted before the war in +the Cape, will recognise the difficulty which the present disunion +creates. In educational matters, such as the proportion of time +devoted to the teaching of the Dutch language, while every colony +must necessarily decide for itself, there is great need of one +controlling authority to supervise and direct. There is, again, the +question of permit law and the exclusion of undesirables, and the +kindred matter of the position of the imperial forces. A lax permit +law in one colony nullifies all the strictness of its neighbours. +Army questions--whatever the future position of the South African +force--will always have an intercolonial significance, for the +different troops are under one commander-in-chief, they will meet for +training and manoeuvres, and they are part of one general scheme of +imperial defence. In some questions an attempt at co-operation has +already been made,--in railway conferences and customs unions,--but +it is obviously a clumsy method which proceeds from conference +agreements to ratification by the several legislatures; and many +important and difficult questions will go on arising from day to day +which will be decided in quite different ways by local authorities, +to the confusion of all and the increase of unnecessary distinctions. +Lastly, there are a number of lesser matters, of which veterinary and +game regulations may be taken as the type, whose treatment, to be +satisfactory, must be governed by a common principle and in the hands +of a common executive. + +Such are a few of the practical reasons for federation. There is a +deeper reason based on the future of our colonial system. South Africa +at the present moment is deeply cleft by gulfs of race, fiscal policy, +imperial attachment. There will always be within her bounds a party, +not perhaps a very important or very intelligent party, made up of +those to whom the British tie is galling and the tradition of kinship +mere foolishness. If the present particularism is allowed to remain +unreformed, it may easily happen that in this colony or that some turn +of the political wheel may give such a party an authoritative voice, +and the result may be the beginning of endless misunderstandings, and +in the end the creation of an impassable gulf. It is because South +Africa as a whole is so unswerving in her loyalty that it is wise to +create some united authority representing the whole land, and looking +at this great question from a high standpoint, which can provide +against the parochialism of a party and the accidental caprice of a +state. This feeling is strong among the English inhabitants of the new +colonies, and is, I believe, destined to grow in width and strength +throughout the country, when the fever of reconstruction is at an end +and South Africa has leisure to meditate on her political future. + +If we examine present conditions we can discern, to borrow the common +metaphor of writers on federation, both centripetal and centrifugal +tendencies. To begin with, the constitutional framework exists. The +head of a federation is already at hand in the High Commissioner, in +whom is vested the government of all South Africa apart from the +self-governing colonies. It was the custom formerly to combine this +office with the governorship of the Cape: for the moment it is joined +with the governorship of the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony. +With the present narrow definition of the High Commissioner's duties, +it is right that this should be so; but there is no constitutional +reason why he should not be a separate official. It has never been a +popular office with self-governing colonies, who dislike the idea that +the governorship should have in one of its aspects powers over which +the colony has no control; but this objection could not arise to the +head of a federal government. By the letters patent of 1900 the High +Commissioner is invested with the control of the South African +Constabulary in the new colonies and the administration of the Central +South African railways, and he is empowered to call together +conferences of the self-governing colonies for the discussion of +common problems. Here is already existing the administrative machinery +of a federation. The rock on which many federal enterprises have split +is the election of the supreme head, and in most systems it is the +weakest point. But South Africa is saved this part of the problem. She +has a supreme federal office, which has existed for more than twenty +years, and with the slightest alteration of functions the High +Commissionership could be transformed into a Federal Viceroyalty. + +South Africa, again, is for all practical purposes a geographical +whole. The vast tableland which makes up nine-tenths of it has +almost everywhere uniform climatic conditions, and the strips of +coast land have among themselves a comparatively uniform character, +so that two types may be said to exhaust its geographical and +climatic features. There is no distinction so radical as between the +Atlantic states and Texas or between Nebraska and the Pacific +seaboard. This physical harmony prevents any natural cleavages, such +as impassable mountain-ranges or large navigable rivers; and it +imposes upon the inhabitants uniformity in modes of travel, and in +the simpler conditions of life. If we look at the people of the +several states we find a common nationality--or rather a common +admixture of nationalities. The English proportion may be much higher +in Natal and the eastern province of Cape Colony, the Dutch in the +western province and the Orange River Colony; but everywhere there is +the same divided race, and in consequence kindred political problems. +There is, further, one supreme Imperial Government for all, one +constitutional tradition to provide, as it were, a background to local +politics and a basis for federation. There are common dangers from +invasion, against which all the colonies are protected by one navy. +Subject to minor local differences, there is a common structure +observable in the constitutions of the several self-governing colonies +to which the Transvaal and Orange River Colony will no doubt in time +approximate. Many of the most vital problems are the same for the +whole of South Africa,--the control and the civilisation of the +natives, the amalgamation of the two white races, the conservation of +water, the protection against pests and stock diseases. Two of the +most important administrative departments have already a common basis, +if they are still far from complete union. All South African railway +systems, now that the old Beira line has been relaid, have the same +gauge, their rolling stock is interchangeable, officials pass readily +from one system to another, and by means of railway conferences +attempts have been made to arrive at a common understanding on railway +policy. Finally, all South Africa is now united in one Customs Union. + +But if the centripetal elements,[35] which make for federation, are +numerous and potent, disjunctive and centrifugal forces also exist, +though they create no difficulties which a patient statesmanship could +not surmount. The obvious historical and racial differences between +the colonies may be neglected, for, though on one side a force of +separation, they are in another and more important aspect an agency +for union, since they create a problem which in some form or other +every colony has to meet. The primary disruptive force is economic. +The interests, the material interests, of the population of each +colony are widely different. In Cape Colony, on the whole, the farming +interest predominates, though there, again, there is an internal +distinction between the aims of the vine-growing and agricultural +south-west and the pastoral north and east. Natal, so far as it is not +a huge forwarding agency, is also based on agriculture. The Orange +River Colony, though it has a respectable mining interest, is, and +will doubtless remain, pre-eminently a pastoral state. The development +of Rhodesia is not yet quite apparent, but it is probable that it will +end by having a mining and a farming interest of about equal strength. +But the Transvaal is overwhelmingly industrial both in population and +prospects. In time, no doubt, Transvaal agriculture will play an +important part, but the main asset of the colony must long be found +in her mines, and the subsidiary industries created by them, which +will be left as a legacy when the reefs are worked out to the last +pennyweight. That is to say, in South Africa there are three colonies +where the predominant interest is agricultural,--one in which the +mining and farming interests are likely to be evenly matched, and one, +the richest and therefore not the least important, in which the mining +interest casts all others into the shade. It is obvious that economic +policy will vary greatly in each, even in those general matters which +would naturally fall under the survey of a federal government. The +bias of the agricultural colonies is towards protection; the absolute +necessity of Rhodesia and the Transvaal is free trade or a near +approach to it. The industrial population of the Rand must have food +at a reasonable price, else the labour bill will wipe off the profits +of the mines, and to secure this cheap food, taking into consideration +the long railway freights, entry at the coast free of duty is desired. +So too with the raw material of mining: any taxation of such imports +is directly inimical to the prosperity of South Africa's foremost +industry. On the other hand, the coast farmers have good grounds to +complain. They look to the Rand for their market, and unless they are +to be secured from the competition of lands like the Argentine, where +food-stuffs can be grown almost as a waste product, they will grumble +against any rebate of coast duties. + +The deadlock might be final were it not for the geographical position +of the Transvaal. Had she a port of her own she might well decline any +federation, and continue to import on her own terms, leaving the other +colonies to make the best of it. But, as things stand, she has to +bring in most of her imports through ports in the coast colonies, and +for a large part of the distance over their lines of railway. Were +this, again, a full statement of the case, the Transvaal might be at +the mercy of the other colonies, and be compelled to accept their +terms or starve. But fortunately the Transvaal, while not in a +position to dictate absolutely, has a card of her own by which she can +command reasonable treatment. She can import by the much shorter line +from Delagoa Bay, and she is contemplating the construction of an +alternative line to the same port. These two lines, when completed, +will make her virtually independent of the coast colonies, provided--a +provision which there seems no reason to doubt--a good understanding +is maintained with Portugal. Clearly some _modus vivendi_ must be +arrived at if there is not to be an endless friction, which can only +result in inconvenience to the interior colony and great financial +loss to the coast.[36] + +This chief centrifugal force, divergence of economic interests, +becomes, therefore, in practice a powerful centripetal force, the +chief lever of federation. Some kind of harmony must be attained; the +only question is whether this agreement is to be partial and temporary +or thorough and final. Federation, while on its practical side a +familiar policy to all classes in South Africa, is still in its +political aspect a little strange to men's minds, smacking somewhat of +constitutional doctrinairedom. When we are dealing with self-governing +colonies, there can be no question of imposing it as a mandate from +above: to be effective and permanent it must come from within, a +proposal based on a national conviction. There was, indeed, a time in +the last year of the war when Cape Colony lay in the throes of +disruption, and her wisest citizens were weary of the vagaries of her +politics; when Natal was acquiescent, and when the new colonies were +still a battlefield. It seemed to many that then a federation might +have been imposed with the consent of most thinking men. But the +moment passed; local politics were restored to their old activity, and +the opportunity for imperial interference was gone. A federal movement +must therefore advance slowly and circumspectly, and be content with +small beginnings, lest any hint of coercion should drive the units +still farther apart. + +There is no argument so convincing as success, and a satisfactory +federation in miniature would go far to prepare the way for the larger +scheme. Fortunately we have one sphere where experiments towards +federation can be given a fair trial. The Transvaal and the Orange +River Colony are under one governor and the same system of government. +Though they have many points of difference, they have also many common +problems which are even now dealt with by one central authority. The +South African Constabulary in the two colonies is one force under one +Inspector-General. The Central South African railways, which control +the whole railway system, are under one Railway Commissioner and one +General Manager. Education is under one Director of Education. In +addition to this departmental union, the two colonies are subject to +one common debt, the Guaranteed Loan. The War Debt lies for the +present wholly on the Transvaal;[37] but the loan for reconstruction +is devoted to purposes common to both, and they are jointly and +severally liable for its interest and redemption. If the Orange River +Colony were to pay its fair share of the interest--having regard to +the capital expenditure apportioned to it--it would be bankrupt +to-morrow. It must either pay a great deal less than its due, or some +arrangement must be arrived at by which there is no fixed apportionment +of either interest or capital, but the whole debt is administered +jointly, and charged upon certain common properties. + +The method adopted has been fully explained in another chapter. Here +it will be sufficient to point out the federal consequences of the +arrangement. If the railways, the South African Constabulary, and all +common services are to be charged to one common budget, and subjected +to a common administration, then some kind of common council must be +established with a share of both legislative and executive powers. It +would be necessary to give this council, or some committee of it, the +final decision in railway administration, to grant it power to operate +upon railway profits, and to make grants for the services of the loan, +and for other services placed under its authority, without reference +to the councils of the separate colonies. Such powers have not been +unknown in constitutional history, and Austro-Hungary furnishes an +instructive precedent. There we find a common executive, not +responsible to either of the two Parliaments, for such common +interests as foreign affairs, the army, and imperial finance. On most +matters connected with these common interests the separate Parliaments +legislate; but the voting of money for common purposes and the control +of the common executive is placed in the hands of the famous +Delegations, which are appointed by the two Parliaments. The position +is, therefore, that there is a common Ministry for Finance, War, and +Foreign Affairs, controlled by the Delegations, and working on funds +voted and appropriated by the Delegations. This power of appropriation +without ratification by the separate colonies is the essence of the +new council, which is thus, to continue the parallel, a compound of +the Delegations and the Common Ministry of Austro-Hungary. Certain +funds are ear-marked for its use, and its deficits, if any, will be +met by contributions, in certain fixed proportions, from the +treasuries of the two colonies; while its surplus, if it is ever +fortunate enough to have one, will be divided, in whole or in part, +between the two colonies, going as a matter of fact to assist in +meeting the charges of the War Debt. It has an administrative control +over all existing common services, and any other which may be +subsequently put under its charge by the local legislatures. + +Such a council obviously falls far short of a true federation. It is +primarily a financial expedient to provide a simple and effective +machinery for administering somewhat complicated finances. But it is a +step, and a considerable step, in the right direction. Its executive +functions are concerned with truly federal matters; and its powers of +acting alone in questions of administration, and of voting and +appropriating funds without reference to the separate legislatures, is +a recognition of the central doctrine of federation. Indeed at the +present moment the two new colonies have a _de facto_ federal +government. The grant to the new council of legislative powers on +matters of common interest, and the corresponding limitation of the +powers of the separate legislatures, would establish a complete _de +jure_ federation. There is no reason why this goal should not soon be +reached. The two colonies are bound together by many ties,--above +all, by that most stringent bond, a common debt. For three years they +have been administered by one governor. Though there may be symptoms +of local jealousy in both, there can be no real popular objection, as +there is no logical reason, against their federation. + +But while the new colonies present a simple problem, the extension of +the policy to the self-governing colonies requires delicate and +cautious handling. If the limited federation be a success, it will +have the power of a good example, especially since there are many +throughout South Africa to seize and emphasise the lesson. Meantime +other agencies are at work for union. The Bloemfontein Conference of +March 1903, which, in addition to settling a customs' tariff and +recommending a preferential policy for British goods, passed +resolutions on certain questions, such as native affairs, of wide +South African interest, is the type of that informal advisory union +which may well come into being at once. The appointment, further, of a +South African committee to investigate some of the more vexed and +obscure details of native policy, is another step in the same +direction. The new colonies, which contain the chief motive force for +South Africa's future, must give the lead. They hold in their hands +the guide-ropes, for federation may be said to depend upon the +development of two problems--the racial and the economic; and both +reach their typical form in the new colonies. In these questions are +involved the chief grounds of separation and the chief impulses towards +union, and according as the new colonies settle them within their own +bounds will arise the need and desire for a more comprehensive +settlement. + +The type of federation which South Africa may adopt will, no doubt, +vary considerably from most historical precedents. It should in +certain respects be more rigid, since, apart from a few outstanding +troubles, there are no permanent differences between the parts. In +certain respects, too, it should be more elastic, for a federated +South Africa would be not only a substantive state, but a member of a +greater system, and some of the old free colonial traditions which +pertain to that system should be left to the federated units. It is a +vain task at this stage to attempt the outlines of a scheme, since the +foundations are not yet fully apparent. Needs which are now in embryo +will be factors to be reckoned with when the time is ripe, and perhaps +some of the forces which seem to us to-day to dominate all else will +have disappeared or decreased in strength. There is a wealth of +historical precedent for South African statesmen to follow; for, apart +from the United States and sundry European parallels, there are two +types of federation within the colonial system--the Dominion of Canada +and the recently created Australian Commonwealth. Between them these +two cases provide a most complete parallel for South Africa. In Canada +there was a distinction of races not less marked than Dutch and +English. There was, further, an imperfectly explored hinterland which +the colonists looked to bring by degrees under the same constitution. +In Australia there were grave intercolonial disputes on railways and +customs and a wide divergence of economic interests. A keen jealousy +was felt by the smaller for the larger states, and the scheme of +federation had to be delicately framed to adjust state pride with +federal requirements. On the whole, the difficulties which the +framers of the federal constitution had to face in Canada and +Australia were greater than we find in South Africa: in the United +States, immeasurably greater. But often the probability of federation +stands in inverse ratio to the ease with which it can be effected, +and the very simplicity of this South African problem may delay its +settlement. There are, however, forces which must between them hasten +the end. One is the economic disparity, at least as great as in +Australia and greater than in Canada, which makes itself felt so +constantly in the daily life of the inland colonies, that they may +find themselves compelled to push the matter in spite of the apathy +of the coast. The other is the very real national sentiment which is +growing to maturity in the country. The war has welded the English +inhabitants into something approaching a nation. Having suffered so +deeply, they are the less prone to local jealousies and the more +attached to the ideal of imperial unity. + +A scheme of South African federation, as has been said, will have to +differ materially from any of the existing types. Though details are +premature, certain principles may be accepted as essential. The first +concerns the subjects relegated to the Federal Government. In the +United States these are, roughly, foreign affairs, the army and navy, +federal courts of justice, commerce, currency, the post office, certain +general branches of commercial law, such as copyrights and patents, an +oversight of the separate states to protect the inhabitants against any +infringement of the fundamental rights granted by the constitution, and +taxation for federal purposes. Several of these functions are needless +in a federation of English colonies. Foreign affairs and army and navy +questions assume a different form from what they present in a wholly +separate community; and since there is no _Grondwet_ known to English +constitutional law, there is no need for an oversight of the separate +states in case of its infringement. That is already provided for by the +ultimate right of the British Crown to annul legislation which may +conflict with the chartered rights or limitations of a colony. But +there are certain powers, not referred to in the American scheme, +which are essential to a modern system. Railways, telephones, and +telegraphs should come under the purview of the national Government, +as also all customs tariffs and all bounties which may be granted on +production. Powers must be given to the national Government to take +over the existing debts of the separate states, and in times of +financial distress to come to their assistance. On judicial and legal +questions--the nature of the federal courts, the mechanism of appeal, +the branches of law which are suitable for federal jurisdiction--it is +impossible to speak; as it is premature to attempt an outline of the +constitution of the federal Government, the form of its legislation, +the functions of its executive. Such questions require long and +careful consideration on the part of the South African colonies, and +may happily take their colour, when the time arrives, from some +accepted scheme of imperial federation. Two points only may be noted +as even now obvious desiderata of policy. In Canada the state +governors are appointed by the federal Ministry; in Australia they are +nominated by the Crown in the same way as the Governor-General. +Experience has shown that the Australian method is the superior one, +since it allows a state governor and his ministers to communicate +directly with the imperial Government, and so preserve a formal +independence which is at once harmless and grateful to state pride. It +is impossible to doubt that the Australian precedent should be +followed in South Africa. The second point concerns the method of +effecting federation. The Canadian scheme was based on resolutions +drafted by a conference of delegates at Quebec. They were approved by +the legislatures of the provinces, embodied in a bill drafted by a +committee of Canadian statesmen, and passed by the imperial Government. +Federation was thus, as in the United States, the work of conferences +and legislatures alone. Australia, recognising that this was a question +which deeply concerned the population of the colonies, followed a +better plan. The federal constitution, after passing through a long +period of conferences and examinations by state legislatures, was +submitted to a direct popular vote, and a certain majority was +prescribed for it in each state. Such a federation, secured by the +consent of a whole people, has a stability against future attacks and +captious emendation which belongs to no scheme sanctioned only by a +legislative body. For though popular representation is in theory a +representation for all things, yet a matter so vital in its application +and so far-reaching in its issues deserves to be made the subject of a +special mandate. + +I have said that foreign affairs and army and navy questions do not, +under the ordinary practice of the colonial system, have much +connection with colonial governments, and therefore may be left out of +most federal proposals. But though the technical last word may never +lie with the Federal Government, yet a South African federation would +have genuine foreign interests, and would keep a watchful eye on the +movements of the colonising Powers of Europe. Had there been a +federation, there would have been no German acquisition of Damaraland, +nor would we have found imperial authorities refusing the offer of +Lourenco Marques for a trifling sum. No colonist can ever quite +forgive those memorable blunders, which prevented British South Africa +from having that geographical unity from the Zambesi to the Cape which +its interests demand. Thirty years ago it would have been easy for +Britain to proclaim a Monroe doctrine for South Africa--for that +matter of it, for East Africa also. The opportunity has passed, but a +strong national Government could still exercise great influence on +foreign affairs, and prevent encroachment upon Portuguese territories +by that Power which twenty years ago saw in Africa material for a new +German Empire and has never forgotten its grandiose dreams, as well as +keep an eye upon that dangerous mushroom growth, the Congo Free State, +and check its glaring offences against civilisation. Army and navy +questions belong, in their broadest sense, to schemes of imperial +federation, a discussion of which here would be out of place; but +since there is already in South Africa a large military force under +one commander-in-chief, certain army questions arise which may find +their proper answer only in federation, but which even now require a +provisional settlement. According as we treat the matter, it may +become a unifying or a violently disjunctive force, a step towards +federation or a movement towards a wider disintegration. The bearing +of the army question on South African policy is the subject of another +chapter. + + + [34] American Commonwealth, vol. i. p. 465. + + [35] The grounds of Australian federation are a useful + parallel for South Africa. I give Mr Bryce's list + ('Studies in History and Jurisprudence,' vol. i. p. + 478): "The gain to trade and the general convenience to + be expected from abolishing the tariffs established on + the frontiers of each colony; the need for a common + system of military defence; the advantages of a common + legislature for the regulation of railways and the + fixing of railway rates; the advantages of a common + control of the larger rivers for the purposes both of + navigation and irrigation; the need for uniform + legislation on a number of commercial topics; the + importance of finding an authority competent to provide + for old-age pensions and for the settlement of labour + disputes all over the country; the need for uniform + provision against the entry of coloured races + (especially Chinese, Malays, and Indian coolies); the + gain to suitors from the establishment of a High Court + to entertain appeals and avoid the expense and delay + involved in carrying cases to the Privy Council in + England; the probability that money could be borrowed + more easily on the credit of the Australian Federation + than by each colony for itself; the stimulus to be given + to industry and trade by substituting one great + community for six smaller ones; the possibility of + making better arrangements for the disposal of the + unappropriated lands belonging to some of the colonies + than could be made by those colonies for themselves." + + [36] A provisional _modus vivendi_ has been found in the new + Customs Union. See p. 238. + + [37] There is a contingent liability on the Orange River + Colony to pay a sum of L5,000,000, as its special + contribution, from any profit which may fall to its + Government from the discovery of precious minerals. See + p. 245. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE ARMY AND SOUTH AFRICA. + + +The foremost political lesson of the late war was the solidarity of +military spirit throughout the Empire. But this cohesion is only in +spirit, and the actual position of colonial forces is that of isolated +units, connected in no system, and subject to no central direction. +For a student of military law, or that branch of it which concerns the +relation of military forces to the civil power, a survey of the +British colonies has much curious interest. Speaking generally, since +1868 there have been no imperial forces in any self-governing colony, +since we have acted on the principle that when a colony became +autonomous the defence of its borders, except by sea, must be left to +its own government. Colonial troops are, therefore, militia and +volunteer, who take different forms according to the needs of the +colony. In some the militia, or a part of it, is to all intents a +regular force, performing garrison duty and acting as a school of +instruction for the other auxiliary forces. In Canada, for example, +there were in 1902 a troop of cavalry, a troop of mounted rifles, two +batteries of field artillery, two companies of garrison artillery, and +a battalion of infantry, in which the men were enlisted for three +years' continuous service. In New South Wales, to take one state of +the Australian Commonwealth, provision was made for a permanent +force, which included a half-squadron of cavalry, three companies of +garrison artillery and one field battery, a company of infantry and +various supplementary services, with men enlisted for five years. In +New Zealand the enlistment for the permanent force, which consists of +artillery and submarine miners, is for eight years, three of which +may be passed in the reserve. Next comes the militia proper on the +home model, where the men are partially paid and are subject to a +certain amount of annual training. Lastly there is a wide volunteer +organisation, stretching from fully organised companies of infantry +and mounted rifles down to small local rifle clubs. In certain +colonies where there is an aboriginal or unsettled population, such +as Canada, Cape Colony, and Natal, there is also a permanently +embodied police force, which may rank with the permanent militia as a +sort of colonial regulars. All such forces are under the full control +of the Colonial Governments, whether, as in the Australian Commonwealth +and Canada, under the Federal Ministry of Defence, or, as in Cape +Colony, under the department of the Prime Minister. An imperial officer +may be lent, as in Canada and Australia to-day, for the command of the +colonial force, but as soon as he enters upon his command he becomes a +servant of the Colonial Government. To that Government alone belongs +the power of raising new forces, of changing the status of existing +troops, of ordering their distribution, of regulating their rates of +pay, and of lending them for service beyond the colony. A strong +general officer commanding may have great influence in all such +decisions, but technically he is merely an adviser who receives his +orders from the local authorities. + +This is one chief type of the organisation of our over-sea imperial +force. The other is furnished by India. There we have a native Indian +army, and a large number of imperial troops, all of whom are under the +authority of the commander-in-chief in India, who in turn is under the +control of the Indian Government. When imperial troops are stationed +in any other part of the Empire they are commanded by an officer who +is directly subject to the War Office; but in India, as soon as a +battalion lands it takes the status of the local forces and passes +under the authority of the local government. The War Office retains +certain powers, but for all practical purposes the Indian command is +wholly decentralised. + +South Africa affords the spectacle of a confusion of the two types. It +is made up partly of Crown colonies and dependencies and partly of +self-governing states. At this moment it is occupied by imperial troops +whose numbers, for the purpose of this argument, may be put at 30,000. +Such troops are stationed in Cape Colony and Natal as well as in the +new colonies, and the command has been unified and vested in one +commander-in-chief, who is subject only to the War Office and has no +responsibility to the local governments. We have, therefore, the +anomalous case of an autonomous colony occupied by imperial troops, a +policy which is out of line with English practice. When self-government +is given to the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony, the South +African general will command what will be neither more nor less than an +alien army of occupation. At the same time, wholly apart from the +regular forces, there are police troops in Natal, Cape Colony, the new +colonies, and Rhodesia; and a large number of volunteer regiments, who +are directly under the control of the local governments. The South +African military organisation is thus split in two by a deep gulf, and +unless some method of union is found, we shall be confronted with a +system alien to the tradition of our colonial policy and in itself +clumsy and unworkable. But this question is intimately bound up with +others--the desirability of the retention of imperial troops, the +organisation of such troops in relation to the imperial army, indeed +the whole question of that branch of imperial federation which is +concerned with the defence of the Empire. It involves certain problems +of military reform which are violently contested by good authorities. +In this chapter it is proposed, as far as possible, to consider the +matter of the South African army solely from the standpoint of South +African politics, referring to the military aspect only in so far as +may be necessary at points where South African politics are merged in +wider schemes of imperial unity. + +The first question concerns the policy of keeping imperial troops in +South Africa at all. The size of the force depends, of course, on the +duties which it is intended to perform, but for the retention of some +troops there seems to be every justification. Few people believe that +there is much likelihood of another outbreak, but after a war of the +magnitude of that which we have recently gone through it would seem +scarcely provident to leave the peace of the country solely to the +care of the police. In a country, again, where British prestige is a +plant of recent growth, it is well to provide the moral support of +regular battalions. If useful for no other purpose, they serve as a +memento of war, a constant reminder of the existence of an imperial +power behind all local administration. We have also to face the fact +that we have committed ourselves to some kind of occupation force by +undertaking a large preliminary expenditure on cantonments, which will +be money wasted if the scheme is dropped. For this purpose we have +spent between two and three millions, and unless we are to be held +guilty of causeless extravagance, we must abide by the plan to which +this outlay has committed us. + +The original scheme was for a garrison force. For this purpose 30,000 +men are too many if our forecast be correct, and far too few if it be +wrong. Half the number would be ample for any peace establishment, and +we may be perfectly certain that as soon as self-government is +declared in the new colonies there would be many attempts to cut down +the number or do away with the force altogether. Alien garrison troops +will be always unpopular, and, as has been said, they are foreign to +British policy with regard to autonomous colonies. A force on the +garrison basis would find itself with little to do, the general +commanding would be exposed to the jealousy of the colonial troops, +and involved in constant difficulties with the colonial governments, +and, save in the unlikely event of a rebellion, would have no very +obvious justification for the existence of his command. + +If South Africa is to remain a station for any considerable number of +imperial troops, some mode of co-operation must be discovered with the +local governments. This co-operation would be possible between the +colonial administration and a garrison force; but it would be +infinitely more satisfactory if the whole status of the imperial +troops were changed. For a garrison establishment makes it difficult, +if not impossible, not only to bring the general commanding into +touch with the governments, but to bring the local troops into line +with the regular, and both unions must be accomplished before any +satisfactory settlement can be given to the problem. The simplest +solution was to treat the South African force, not as a garrison, but +as part of the regular army on the home establishment, sent there for +the purpose of training, and liable to be utilised at any moment for +active service in any part of the Empire. There are certain objections +to the scheme, plausible enough though not insuperable, from the +military standpoint; but for the present we may limit our argument to +those points which concern South Africa, and those difficulties which +spring from the nature of the country--difficulties which are far more +real to the soldiers who are directly concerned than the wider +question of the present scheme of military organisation. + +The advantages are sufficiently obvious. There are few finer +manoeuvring grounds in the world than the great Central South +African tableland. There is sufficient cover to make scouting possible +and not enough to make it easy, and the intense clearness of the air +and its singular acoustic properties will train a man's senses to a +perfection unknown in other armies and impossible to acquire in the +restricted areas of a populous country. The soldier will have to face +the rudiments of war in a far more difficult country than he is likely +to be used in. He will learn to shoot, or rather to judge ranges +correctly under unwonted conditions, which is rarer and more vital +than mere accurate marksmanship. He will learn the real roughness of +campaigning in long manoeuvres; and from the same cause regiments +will acquire that elasticity and cohesion which come from constant +working together. If we except enteric, caused by bad sanitation, +which has been the curse of the war, but is not a speciality of the +country, the veld is almost exempt from diseases. Life there will not +only train the senses and the intelligence, but will give health and +physical stamina. A year of such training will make a man of the young +recruit from the slums of an English city. Physique is the final +determinant in war, and with our present system of recruiting and +training there is no guarantee for its existence. Lastly, our soldiers +trained on the veld will become natural horse masters, which few even +of the cavalry are at present. They will learn that care of their +horses which every Boer has as a birthright, that simple veterinary +skill and common-sense whose lack has cost us so many millions. South +Africa is a natural horse-breeding country, and in co-operation with +Government stud-farms a breed of remounts could be got which would +unite the merits of the Afrikander pony with the weight and bone +required for army work. Instead of having to ransack foreign countries +for our horses, we should breed all we wanted for ourselves under the +eye of our imperial officers, and breed them too in a place which is +the best centre in the Empire for distribution to any possible seat of +war. + +The objections to the scheme are partly of sentiment and partly of +technical difficulties. South African service, it is said, is at +present unpopular. Our army has recently concluded a long and arduous +war, fought under conditions of extreme discomfort. Small wonder if +troops who have been kicking their heels for eighteen months in remote +blockhouses should have little good to say of the pleasures of the +life. For the officers there have been dismal quarters, a cheerless +dusty country, heavy expenses, little sport, and no society; and the +lot of the men, though relatively less hard, has been equally +comfortless. The proper answer to such a contention is to ignore it. +It is the objection of the non-professional officer, and cannot be +entertained. The forces in South Africa are sent there for training, +not for garrison life, and if the place is a good training-ground, the +question of congenial society and interesting recreation has nothing +to do with the matter.[38] But there is no reason why South African +life for the future should be unattractive. An English society is +rapidly arising, English sports are becoming popular, the cantonments +can easily be made comfortable homes, and there are a thousand ways, +such as the allotting to each soldier who desires it a small patch of +land to cultivate, in which the men can be made to feel an interest in +the country. For the officers there is a sporting hinterland as fine +and as accessible as the Pamirs to the Indian sportsman. Living is +undoubtedly more costly, and there will have to be special allowances +for South African service; but with a proper canteen system, such as +existed during the war, the cost of luxuries might be kept low enough +for all. There is a future, too, for the reservist which he cannot +look for at home. Even as an unskilled workman he can command wages +which are unknown in England; and the men who, at the end of their +three years' service, would join the South African reserve, would be +young enough to begin civil life in whatever walk they might choose. + +The chief technical difficulties, exclusive of sea-transport, which is +outside our review, are the extra cost, the difficulty of recruiting, +and the delays in bringing reservists from home in case of active +service. The last will be met in a little while by the creation of a +South African reserve; but in the meantime there are many ways in +which it might be surmounted. Battalions might be brought up to +fighting strength by the inclusion of men from local forces. It would +be an easy matter to introduce into the terms of enlistment of the +South African Constabulary a condition of foreign service, and to keep +from 1000 to 2000 men in readiness. It would be possible also to +enlist 1000 men of the Transvaal volunteer force for special foreign +service, paying to each man a bonus of L12 per annum. The real +solution of this difficulty is bound up, as we shall see later, with +the whole theory of a colonial army; but even on the present system it +is easy to provide a working expedient. The question of extra +cost--for each man would require an extra 6d. per day, or L9, 2s. 6d. +per annum--is answered by pointing out that such a force being on the +home establishment would do away with the necessity of linked +battalions, and would effect a saving of twenty-four battalions and +six regiments of cavalry, so that even if the extra cost were 50 per +cent, the total saving would far outbalance it.[39] The recruiting +difficulty is unlikely to be a serious one. We may lose to the army a +little of the loose fringe of half-grown boys from the towns,--stuff +which, as history has shown, can be transformed into excellent +fighting men, but which at the same time does not represent the last +word either in moral or physical qualities. But many of the best of +our young men, whose thoughts turn naturally to the colonies, would +gladly seize the chance of three years' service there, in which they +would gain experience of the new lands, and be able to judge, when +their turn came for entering reserves, which line of life promised +most. No Emigration Bureau or Settlement Board would be so effective +an agency in bringing the right class to the country. But, further, +such a system would throw open to us the vast recruiting-grounds of +our colonies. It is difficult for one who has not been brought face to +face with it to realise the military enthusiasm which the war has +kindled not only among the more inflammable, but among the coolest and +shrewdest of our younger colonists. They know--none better--the joints +in our armour; but they have paid generous tribute to the solidarity +of spirit, the gallantry of our leaders, the unbreakable constancy of +our men. A few fanciful war correspondents have done a gross injustice +to our colonial soldiers by painting them as a race of capable +braggarts, who laughed at our incompetence in a game which they +understood so vastly better. It is safe to say that in the better +class there was no hint of such a spirit; and the way in which +irregular horse, with fine records of service, have traced the source +of victory in the last resort to the stamina of the British infantry, +does credit both to their judgment and their chivalry. They have +become keen critics of any organisation, looking at war not only with +the eyes of fighting men but of professional soldiers. All the details +of the profession are of interest to them, and an imperial force in +South Africa could draw largely both for officers and men upon the +local population. The benefit of such a result, both to the colonies +and to ourselves, is difficult to over-estimate. A common profession +would do much to smooth away the petty differences which are always +apt to widen out gulfs. The army would become a vast nursery of the +true imperial spirit, and a school to perpetuate the best of our +English traditions; and would itself gain incalculably by the infusion +of new and virile blood, and the weakening of prejudices, both of +class and education, which at present are a grave menace to its +efficiency. + + * * * * * + +If the imperial Government accept the retention of a South African +Army Corps as part of the home establishment, it is worth while +considering how best this new departure in army policy can be used to +further the interests of South Africa herself, and those wider +imperial interests which are daily taking concrete shape and casting +their shadow over local politics. Leaving for a moment the question of +imperial forces, we find in South Africa a local military activity +which, though less completely organised than in some of the older +colonies, is yet well worth our reckoning with. The war brought into +being a large number of irregular corps, most of which have now +disappeared. In Cape Colony the permanent force is the Cape Mounted +Rifles, which has an average strength of 1000 men, enlisted for five +years, and sworn to "act as a police force throughout the colony, and +also as a military force for the defence of the colony." Since the war +the town guards and district mounted troops, the former limited to +10,000 and the latter to 5000 men, have been placed on a permanent +footing. They are loosely organised volunteer forces, enlisted for no +fixed period, and bound to serve in the one case in the neighbourhood +of the towns, and in the other within their own districts. There are +also a number of ordinary volunteer corps, composed chiefly of mounted +infantry, and field and garrison artillery, and a number of mounted +rifle clubs for local defence. All types of corps included, there are +probably not less than 20,000 men undergoing some kind of military +training and pledged to some form of service in Cape Colony alone. +Natal presents a very similar picture. Her regulars are the Natal +Police Force, with a strength, including the Zululand Police, of +between 500 and 600 men, enlisted for three years, and including both +mounted and foot divisions. There is a considerable volunteer force, +with artillery, infantry, and mounted rifles, two companies of naval +volunteers, and a number of rifle clubs with a strength of over 2000. +We may put the defensive strength of Natal, which, considering her +size, is remarkable, at a little under 5000 men. The British South +African Police, which is stationed in Southern Rhodesia, has a +strength of a little over 500, and the Southern Rhodesia Constabulary +and volunteers increase the forces of that district to nearly 2000 +men. In the new colonies the chief force is the South African +Constabulary, with a nominal strength of 6000 men, of which two-thirds +are stationed in the Transvaal. It is an expensive force, each man +costing on an average L250 per annum; but there is reason to believe +that the figure may soon be reduced to L200, or even less. In the +Transvaal a volunteer force has been organised of nine regiments. No +ultimate strength has been fixed, but 10,000 may be taken as a fair +estimate. In April 1903 the force numbered fully 3000, and as the +country becomes more populous there is little reason to doubt that the +maximum will be reached.[40] + +There is thus a force of over 40,000 men engaged in local defence +throughout South Africa, and of this the 8000 police are for all +practical purposes regular troops. At the present moment the command +of this force is split up among the different colonial governments and +is wholly dissociated from any connection with the command of the +imperial regulars. We have seen that the situation is full of grave +difficulties for the regulars themselves, since there is no place in +colonial policy for an alien garrison force. But the strongest +argument in the present system lies not in the difficulties which it +involves but in the advantages which it forgoes. We have in South +Africa a population which, to use Napier's famous distinction, is not +only bellicose but martial, with a natural aptitude for soldiering and +a keen interest in all details of military organisation. Until the +regular command is brought into line with the local forces this genius +will expend itself on casual volunteering, and when we next call for +colonial aid we shall have the same haphazard units, instead of +colonial regiments drilled and manoeuvred on one system and forming +a part of some regular division. The arguments for a federation of +the whole South African command are difficult to meet, and there is +little danger of opposition from the local governments. The danger +lies in the fact that it would necessarily involve some reconstruction +of our whole military system, and military conservatism is slow to +depart from the traditions of the elders. + +If imperial defence means anything it must include the provision +in every great colonial unit, in Canada, Australia, South +Africa,--particularly in South Africa,--of a force on the lines of +the Indian army, with an elastic organisation, embracing both imperial +regulars and local troops. Granted the sanction of the imperial +Government, there is no special difficulty in the machinery required +to create it. If South Africa were federated it would be simplicity +itself. All that would be wanted would be to bring the general officer +commanding the imperial troops, since his command has been unified, +into relation with the Federal Ministry of Defence, and unite in his +person the functions which Sir Neville Lyttelton now exercises in +South Africa and those which at present belong to Lord Dundonald in +Canada. But, pending federation, we must have recourse to one of those +intercolonial representative bodies which form the thin end of the +federal wedge. The general commanding would be given the command of +local forces by an act of the local legislature, subject in all +questions of policy, finance, and organisation to the authority of an +intercolonial committee of defence.[41] Each colony would elect two or +more representatives, on the lines of the present Intercolonial +Council of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony; the council thus +formed would be empowered by the legislatures which elect it to decide +what share of the cost was to be borne by the separate colonies, to +arrange for combined manoeuvres, to supervise appointments, and, in +case of local wars, to decide what force should be sent to the front, +and in the event of an imperial war, to say what local forces should +be lent for service. The general commanding would be responsible to +the War Office for moving imperial troops, subject to its direction, +and for the internal discipline and organisation of the imperial +divisions. There would, thus, be clearly defined limits of authority +for both the imperial and local Governments, and at the same time +every inducement to co-operation. In so far as he was in command of +the whole of the South African forces, the general commanding would be +subject in South African matters to the defence committee; while, in +so far as he was in command of imperial troops, he would take his +orders on imperial questions, such as a foreign war, from the Home +Government. The present officers in command of colonial police and +volunteers would, of course, come under his authority precisely on +the same basis as officers of regulars. + +The advantages of such a scheme are many, both from the standpoint of +policy and of military efficiency. It would please the colonies, who +would have an army of their own, drilled on regular lines and +affiliated to the imperial army, and at the same time would feel that +they had a share in the control of the forces and the military policy +of the Empire. It would ensure the efficiency of local troops, and +would prepare them for co-operation with the regulars,--not the clumsy +partnership of troops tagged on to a division which cannot use them, +but the true co-operation which follows on absorption in a larger unit +with which they have been trained. It would provide an easy means for +the transfer of colonial officers to imperial regiments, and would act +as a magnet for colonial recruiting. In the case of local wars, as I +have said, the whole force would be ready to take the field under the +orders of the general commanding. In the case of a foreign war the +imperial Government would direct the distribution of the regulars, and +it would be for the committee of defence to say what local troops +should be lent for foreign service.[42] Beyond this, the only duties +of the War Office would lie in the selection of staff officers and the +general commanding--a matter in which the concurrence of the colonial +governments might be obtained as a matter of courtesy. On the +financial side it is probable that the scheme would considerably +lessen the burden of defence. The only way in which the colonies can +ever be expected to contribute to the cost of imperial defence is by +providing armies and navies of their own. To pay for that which does +not directly concern you is a form of tax, and so hostile to the +letter and spirit of our colonial traditions. But if local governments +are given a direct interest in an imperial army in which their own +troops are subsumed, and whose policy they largely control, I do not +think they will be ungenerous. There is no reason why they should not +meet the cost of the general and his staff, and contribute part, if not +the whole, of the extra pay which the regular troops in the South +African command must receive, and the bonus to the volunteer corps +which are held ready for foreign service. Such payments, once the +federation were effected, would no doubt come as a spontaneous offer. +Decentralisation and centralisation are, by way of becoming catchwords, +repeated without understanding to justify the most diverse schemes. But +every true policy must include both, since in certain matters it is +well to decentralise, and in others unification is imperative. Such a +scheme as has been sketched combines the sporadic colonial forces in +one effective unit of organisation, and at the same time relieves the +tension at imperial headquarters by relegating detailed administration +to the local authorities, who are best fitted to supervise. + +The military is, as a rule, the most difficult aspect of a federation, +but in our circumstances it is likely to be the simplest. We have a +federal nucleus in the imperial command, and a strong impulse in the +fact that the local volunteer and police forces have already served +side by side with regulars in the field, and are inspired with a +military spirit which may soon disappear unless fostered and utilised. +A federation of local forces exists in Canada and in the Australian +Commonwealth; a union of the imperial forces exists in South Africa. +The problem is to federate the local forces in advance of a political +federation, and to unite them with the imperial command in a system +which, though a new departure in military policy, contains no detail +which has not been somewhere or other already conceded. If the scheme +in itself is worth anything, the practical difficulties are small. It +is unlikely that the colonial governments will offer any opposition; +and so far as South African interests are concerned, the foundations +would be laid of a true federation. From the point of view of imperial +politics the step would have an even greater significance, for a type +would be created of a new army organisation which would provide for a +federated imperial defence; and the precedent having once been +created, the other colonies would readily follow suit. + + + [38] The final answer to this objection would be the + reorganisation of the militia--the only force for home + defence--and the release of the present regular army + for service over-sea. + + [39] I have thought it unnecessary to recapitulate in detail + the financial argument used by advocates of this policy. + Roughly it is as follows: The present Army Corps system + provides for 78 battalions at home, 66 in India, and 12 + in South Africa--a total of 156. The proposed system + provides for 42 at home, 24 in South Africa, and 66 in + India--a total of 132. There is thus a saving of 24 + battalions, besides 6 regiments of cavalry. + + In figures, 24 battalions at L64,000 = L1,536,000 + And 6 cavalry regiments at L45,000 = L270,000 + ---------- + A total of L1,806,000 + + Including supplementary expenses, the total reductions + would be over L2,000,000. + + [40] The details of the force may be of interest. In April + 1903 it consisted of two regiments of the Imperial Light + Horse, one regiment of the South African Light Horse, + one regiment of the Johannesburg Mounted Rifles, one + regiment of the Scottish Horse, one regiment of the + Central South African Railway Volunteers, one regiment + of the Transvaal Light Infantry, one regiment of + Transvaal Scottish, one regiment of Railway Pioneers, a + medical staff corps, and a headquarters' staff. The + names of some of the most famous irregular corps are + thus perpetuated. A new regiment--the Northern + Rifles--has recently been formed at Pretoria. + + [41] A committee of defence has been formed in Natal, + consisting of the officers commanding the imperial and + the local forces and representatives of the local + government. + + [42] This scheme would involve a departure from the present + military organisation on the basis of army corps. We + cannot expect to get an army corps for each colonial + district, and the advantages disappear if such + reinforcements are to be distributed to make up the + strength of the army corps drawn from the whole Empire. + The unit must be smaller--something in the nature of a + division of, say, three brigades with one brigade of + mounted troops. In South Africa we could have several + divisions of regulars and several of local troops. The + system would have the merit of harmonising with the + organisation of the army in India, where reinforcements + are most likely to be required. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE FUTURE OUTLOOK. + + +The problems discussed in the foregoing chapters have been concerned +chiefly with the new colonies, for it is to them that we must look +for the motive force to expedite union. They must long continue to +be the most important factor in British South Africa, partly from +their accidental position as the late theatre of war, and more +especially from their wealth, the intricacy of their politics, the +high level of ability among their inhabitants, the splendid chances +of their future, and the delicacy of their present status. Union, if +it comes, will come chiefly because of them; and in any union they +will play a great, if not a dominant, part. Whither they pipe, South +Africa must ultimately follow. But this is not because there can be +any differentiation in value between the states, since all are +self-subsistent and independent, but because in the new colonies the +problems which chiefly concern South Africa's future are already +naked to the eye and focussed for observation. The Transvaal will be +important because within it the fight which concerns the whole +future of the African colony will be fought to a finish. It will add +to the problem some features which concern only itself, but the +general lines it shares with its neighbours. The economic strife, +the amalgamation of races, the native question, the movement towards +federation, with all its many aspects, and, last but not least, the +intellectual and political development of its citizens,--this is the +problem of the Transvaal, and in the gravest sense it is the problem +of South Africa's future. + +In the preceding pages the separate questions have been briefly +considered. But here we may note one truth which attaches to them +all--the settlement of no single one is easy. Each will defy a supine +statesmanship, and in each failure will be attended with serious +disaster. Patience and a lithe intelligence can alone ensure success, +and it is doubtful if that happy Providence which has now and then taken +charge of our drifting and muddling will interfere in this province to +save us from the consequences of folly. Every question stands on a +needle-point. Mining development--if the wealth of the country is to be +properly exploited--must continue as it has begun, utilising the highest +engineering talent, and straining every nerve to extend the area over +which profits can be made. The labour question requires tact and +patience, prescience of future interests, a recognition of the needs of +the complex organism of which it is but one aspect. The native question +shows the same narrow margin between success and failure, and demands a +degree of forethought and statesmanship which would be an exorbitant +requirement were it not so vital a part of the social and economic +future. Agriculture and settlement can only be made valuable by a close +study of facts, and an intelligence which can correctly estimate data +and bring to bear on them the latest results of experimental science. +Finally, in its financial aspects the problem has a near resemblance to +the most complicated of recent economic tasks, the re-settlement of +Egypt. Burdened with a heavy debt, the country is speculating on its +future and living on its capital. For the next few years it will in all +likelihood achieve solvency; but the margin may be small, and the result +may be secured only by the retention of certain revenue-producing +charges at an unnatural figure. A considerable part of the debt will be +applied to services which will make a good return in time, but for a +little while revenue may barely cover disbursements. In finance, above +all other provinces, there is need of a severe economy, coupled with a +clear recognition of the country's needs and a judicious courage. It is +a gamble, if you like, but with sleepless and ubiquitous watchfulness +the odds are greatly in our favour. The very forces which fight against +us, the complexity of economic and social interests, will become our +servants, if properly understood, and will solidify and preserve our +work, as the house fashioned of granite will stand when the building of +sandstone will crumble. The shaping force of intelligence remains the +one thing needful. Of high and just intentions there can be little +doubt, but in the new South Africa we are more likely to be perplexed by +the fool than the knave. Will the result, as Cromwell asked long ago, be +"answerable to the simplicity and honesty of the design"? Neither to the +one nor the other, but to that rarer endowment, political wisdom. + +So much for administrative problems. A country whose future is staked +upon the intelligence of its Government and its people is an +exhilarating spectacle to the better type of man. England has +succeeded before on the same postulates and in harder circumstances. +But there are certain subtler aspects of development, where the same +high qualities are necessary, but where the end to be striven for is +less clear. There is the fusion of the two races, an ideal if not a +practical necessity. As has been said, a political union already +exists after a fashion. There seems little reason to fear any future +disruption, for on the material side Dutch interests are ours, and all +are vitally concerned in the common prosperity. Administrative +efficiency will make the Boer acquiesce in any form of government. But +that which Lord Durham thought far more formidable, "a struggle not of +principles but of races," may continue for long in other departments +than politics, unless we use extraordinary caution in our methods. The +very advance of civilisation may militate against us by vivifying +historical memories and rekindling a clearer flame of racial +resentment. The Dutch have their own ideals, different from ours, but +not incompatible with complete political union. Any attempt to do +violence to their ideals, or any hasty and unconsidered imposition of +unsuitable English forms, will throw back that work of spiritual +incorporation which is the highest destiny of the country. They have a +strong Church and a strong creed, certain educational ideas and social +institutions which must long remain powers in the land. And let us +remember that any South African civilisation must grow up on the soil, +and must borrow much from the Dutch race, else it is no true growth +but a frail exotic. It will borrow English principles but not English +institutions, since, while principles are grafts from human needs, +institutions are the incrusted mosses of time which do not bear +transplanting. It is idle to talk of universities such as Oxford, or +public schools like Winchester, and any attempt to tend such alien +plants will be a waste of money and time. South Africa will create her +own nurseries, and on very different lines. If we are burdened in our +work with false parallels we shall fail, for nothing in the new +country can survive which is not based on a clear-sighted survey of +things as they are, and a renunciation of old formulas. Let us +recognise that we cannot fuse the races by destroying the sacred +places of one of them, but only by giving to the future generations +some common heritage. "If you unscotch us," wrote Sir Walter Scott to +Croker, "you will find us damned mischievous Englishmen," and it will +be a very mischievous Dutchman who is coerced into unsuitable English +ways and taught sentiments of which he has no understanding. When a +people arise who have a common culture bequeathed from their fathers, +and who look back upon Ladysmith and Colenso, the Great Trek and the +Peninsular War, as incidents in a common pedigree, then we shall have +fusion indeed, a union in spirit and in truth. Nothing which has in it +the stuff of life can ever die, and there is something of this +vitality in the Dutch tradition. Our own is stronger, wider, resting +on greater historical foundations, and therefore it will more readily +attract and absorb the lesser. But the lesser will live, transformed, +indeed, but none the less a real part of the spiritual heritage of a +nation where there will be no racial cleavage. The consummation is not +yet, and, maybe, will be long delayed. It will not be in our time; +perhaps our sons may see it; certainly, I think, our grandchildren +will be very near it. Such a development cannot be artificially +hastened, and all that we can do is to see that no barriers of our own +making are allowed to intervene. Meantime we have a _de facto_ +political union to make the most of. + +What manner of men are the citizens of this new nation to be? They +will have the vigour which belongs to colonial parentage, the +freshness of outlook and freedom from old shibboleths. But they +should have more. They start as no colony has ever started, with the +echoes of a great war still in their ears, with a highly developed +industry and the chances of great wealth, and with a population +showing as high a level of intelligence as any in the world. The +nature of their problem will compel them to remain intellectually +active, and as the eyes of the world are on them they will have few +temptations to lethargy. They may take foolish steps and be beguiled +into rash experiments, but I do not think they will stagnate. And for +this people so much alive there is the chance of an indigenous +culture, born of the old, when they have leisure to make it theirs, +and the freshening influences of their new land and their strenuous +life. South Africa cannot help herself. She must play a large part in +imperial politics; her views on economic questions will be listened to +by all the world; a political future, good or bad, she must accept and +make the most of. But behind it all there is the prospect of that +intimate self-development, that progress in thought, in the arts, in +the amenities of life, which, like righteousness, exalteth a nation. +The finest of all experiments is to unite an older civilisation with +the natural freshness of a virgin soil, and she, alone among the +colonies which have ever been founded, has the power to make it. Not +only is it a new land, but it is Africa, a corner of that mysterious +continent to which the eyes of dreamers and adventurers have always +turned. The boundaries of the unknown are shrinking daily, and where +our forefathers marked only lions and behemoths on the map, we set +down a hundred names and a dozen trading stations. The winds which +blow from the hills of the north tell no longer of mystic interior +kingdoms and uncounted treasures. We know most things nowadays, and +have given our knowledge the prosaic form of joint-stock companies. +But the proverb still justifies itself.[43] Africa is still a home of +the incalculable, not wholly explored or explorable, still a +hinterland to which the youth of the south can push forward in search +of fortune, and from which that breath of romance, which is the life +of the English race, can inspire thinkers and song-makers. Girdled on +three sides by the ocean, and on the fourth looking north to the +inland seas and the eternal snows of Ruwenzori--I can imagine no +nobler cradle for a race. I have said that a structure built with +difficulty is the most lasting. Her complex problems will knit +together the sinews of intelligence and national character, and the +great commonplaces of policy, so eternally true, so inexorable in +their application, will become part of her creed, not from lip-service +but from the sweat and toil of practical work. If to these she can add +other commonplaces, still older and more abiding, of civic duty, of +the intellectual life, of moral purpose, she will present to history +that most rare and formidable of combinations, intellect and vitality, +will and reason, culture guiding and inspiring an unhesitating gift +for action. + +There is already a school of political thought in South Africa, a +small school, and thus far so ill-defined that it has no common +programme to put before a world which barely recognises its existence. +It owes its inspiration to Mr Rhodes, but its founder left it no +legacy of doctrine beyond a certain instinct for great things, a fire +of imagination, and a brooding energy. Its members are very practical +men, landowners, mine-owners, rich, capable, with nothing of the +ideologue in their air, the last people one would naturally go to for +ambitions which could not be easily reduced to pounds sterling. But +they are of the school: at heart they are pioneers, the cyclopean +architects of new lands. It is one of South Africa's paradoxes that +there should exist among successful and matter-of-fact men of business +a hungry fidelity to ideals for which we look in vain among the +doctrinaires who do them facile homage. And they are also very +practical in their aims. Mr Rhodes never desired a paper empire or +that vague thing called territorial prestige. What filled his +imagination was the thought of new nations of our blood living a free +and wholesome life and turning the wilderness into a habitable place. +He strove not for profit but for citizens, for a breathing-space, a +playground, for the future. The faults of his methods and the +imperfections of his aims, which are so curiously our own English +faults and imperfections, may have hindered the realisation of his +dreams, but they did not impair that legacy of daimonic force which he +left to his countrymen. You may find it in South Africa to-day, and if +you rightly understand it and feel its hidden movements you will be +aghast at your own parochialism. It is slow and patient, knowing that +"the counsels to which Time hath not been called Time will not +ratify." But with Time on its side it is confident, and it will not +easily be thwarted. + +Excursions in colonial psychology are rarely illuminating, lacking as +a rule both sympathy and knowledge; but on one trait there is a +singular unanimity. The two chief obstacles to imperial unity, so runs +a saying, are the bumptious colonial and the supercilious Englishman. +I readily grant the latter, but is the first fairly described? A +colonist is naturally prone to self-assertion in certain walks of +life. If he creates an industry alone and from the start in the teeth +of hardships, having had to begin from the very beginning, he is apt +to lose perspective and unduly magnify his work. If he owns a bakery, +it is the finest in the world, at any rate in the British Empire. He +compares his doings with his neighbours' within his limited horizon, +and he is scarcely to be blamed if he brags a little. His bravado is +only ridiculous when taken out of its surroundings, and at the worst +is more a mannerism than an affection of mind. But on the intellectual +side he is, in my judgment, conspicuously humble, a groper after the +viewless things whose omnipotence he feels dimly. To the home-bred man +history is a commonplace to be taken for granted; to the colonist who +has shaped a workaday life from the wilds, it is a vast mother of +mystery. Traditions, customs, standards staled to us by the vain +emphasis of generations, rise before him as revelations and shrines of +immortal wisdom. What to us is rhetoric is to him the finest poetry; +and for this reason in politics he is prone to follow imaginative +schemes, without testing them by his native caution. Our somewhat +weary intellectual world is a temple which he is ready to approach +with uncovered head. It is not mere innocence, but rather, I think, +that freshness of outlook and optimism which he gathers from his new +land and his contact with the beginnings of things. Truth and beauty +remain the same: it is only the symbols and the mirrors which grow +dim with time; and to the man who is sufficiently near to understand +the symbols, and sufficiently aloof to see no flaw or tawdriness, +there is a double share of happiness. The superficial assurance, the +"bumptiousness" of the saying, is surely a small matter if behind it +there is this true modesty of spirit. + +A national life presumes union, but South African federation is simply +a step to a larger goal. It may be objected that in the foregoing +chapters the cardinal problem is treated as less the fusion of the two +races than the development of South Africa on certain lines within our +colonial system. Such has been the intention of the book. The Dutch +have accepted the new _regime_; they will fight, if they fight, on +constitutional lines under our aegis and within our Empire, and in a +sense it may be said that racial union on the political side already +exists. But the further political development of the country, as +self-consciousness is slowly gained--that, indeed, is a matter on +which hang great issues, good or bad, for the English people. Because +the furnace has been so hot, the metal will emerge pure or it will not +emerge at all. A new colony, or rather a new nation, will have been +created, or another will have been added to the catalogue of our +infrequent failures, and the loose territorial mass known as South +Africa will become the prey of any wandering demagogue or aspiring +foreign Power. Our late opponents will take their revenge, if they +seek it, not by reviving the impossible creed of Dutch supremacy, but +by retarding South Africa from what is her highest destiny and her +worthiest line of development. Her future, if she will accept it, is +to be a pioneer in imperial federation: a pioneer, because she has +felt more than any other colony the evils of disintegration, the vices +of the old colonial system, the insecurity of government from above, +and at the same time is in a position to realise the weakness of that +independence which is also isolation. This is not the place to enter +upon so vast a question. To many it is the greatest of modern +political dreams. Without it imperialism becomes empty rhetoric and +braggadocio, a tissue of dessicated phrases, worthy of the worst +accusations with which its enemies have assailed it. Without it our +Empire is neither secure from aggression nor politically sound nor +commercially solvent. Within it alone can any true scheme of common +defence be realised. Moreover, it is the glamour needed to give to +colonial politics that wider imaginative outlook which England enjoys +in virtue of a long descent. Colonial politics tend to become at times +narrow and provincial; in a federation they would gain that larger +view and ampler pride which a man feels who, believing himself to be +humbly born, learns for the first time that he is the scion of a +famous house. Their kinship, instead of the long-remembered sentiment +of a descendant, would become the intimate loyalty of a colleague. And +home politics also would lose the provincialism, equally vicious, if +historically more interesting, which lies somewhere near the root of +our gravest errors, and in relinquishing a facile imperialism find an +empire which needs no rhetoric to enhance its splendour. + +But before South Africa can become an ally in federation she must +make her peace with herself. If it is difficult to exaggerate the +need for untiring intelligence in the making of this peace, it is +even harder to over-estimate the profound significance which her +success or failure in the task of self-realisation has for the +prestige of our race. Our colonial methods are on trial in a sphere +where all the world can watch. And while our aim is a colony, the +means must be different from those which we have hitherto used in our +expansion. A nascent colony was neglected till it asserted itself and +appeared already mature on the political horizon. But in the growth +of this colony England must play a direct part, since for good or for +ill her destinies are linked with it, and supineness and a foolish +interference will equally bring disaster. There is one parallel, not +indeed in political conditions, but in the qualities required for the +shaping of the country. If we can show in South Africa that spirit of +sleepless intelligence which has created British India, then there is +nothing to fear. For, as I understand history, India was made by +Englishmen who brought to the task three qualities above others. The +first was a wide toleration for local customs and religions--a desire +to leave the national life intact, and to mould it slowly by those +forces of enlightenment in which sincerely, if undogmatically, they +believed. The second was the extension of rigorous justice and full +civil rights to every subject, a policy which in the long-run is the +only means of bringing a subject race into the life of the State. +Last, and most vital of all, they showed in their work a complete +efficiency, proving themselves better statesmen, financiers, jurists, +soldiers, than any class they had superseded. This efficiency is the +key-note of the South African problem, so far as concerns British +interests. If the imperial Power shows itself inspired with energy, +acumen, a clear-eyed perception of truth as well as with its +traditional honesty of purpose, South Africa will gladly follow where +it may lead. But she will be quick to criticise formalism and +intolerant of a fumbling incapacity. + +_Sed nondum est finis._ We stand at the beginning of a new path, and +it is impossible to tell whither it may lead, what dark fords and +stony places it may pass through, and in what sandy desert or green +champaign it may end. Political prophecy is an idle occupation. +American observers on the eve of the French Revolution saw England on +the verge of anarchy and France a contented country under a beloved +king. Even so acute a writer as de Tocqueville assumed that America +would continue an agricultural country without manufactures, and that +the fortunes of her citizens would be small. If philosophers may err, +it is well for a humble writer to be modest in his conclusions. In +the past pages an effort has been made neither to minimise the +difficulties nor to over-estimate the chances of South African +prosperity. "Whosoever," said Ralegh, "in writing a modern history +shall follow truth too near the heels, it may haply strike out his +teeth." I can ask for no better fate than to see all my forecasts +falsified, the dangers proved to have no existence, the chances shown +a thousandfold more roseate. But whatever may be the destiny of this +or that observation, there can be no dispute, I think, upon the +gravity of the problem and the profound importance of its wise +settlement. And when all is said that can be said it is permissible +to import into our view a little of that ancestral optimism which has +hitherto kept our hearts high in our checkered history, for optimism, +when buttressed by intelligence, is but another name for courage. +There is an optimism more merciless than any pessimism, which, seeing +clearly all the perils and discouragements, the hollowness of smooth +conventional counsels and the dreary list of past errors, can yet +pluck up heart to believe that there is no work too hard for the +English race when its purpose is firm and its intelligence awakened. +With this belief we may well look forward to a day when the old +unhappy things will have become far off and forgotten, and South +Africa, at peace with herself, will be the leader in a new and +pregnant imperial policy; and the words of the poet of another empire +will be true in a nobler and ampler sense of ours, "They who drink +of the Rhone and the Orontes are all one nation." + + + [43] "Out of Africa comes ever some new thing" is generally + quoted in the Latin of Pliny, but it is probably as old + as the first Ionian adventurers who sailed to Egypt or + heard wild Phoenician tales. It is found in Aristotle: + ~Legetai tis paroimia hoti aei pherei Libye ti kainon~ + (Hist. Anim., viii. 28). + + + + +INDEX. + + + Agricultural Bureau of the United States, the, 283. + + Agricultural prospects in South Africa, 267-270. + + Altenroxel, Mr H. S., 121-124. + + Amsterdam, 134, 139-141, 177. + + Angling in South Africa, 55, 182-184. + + Angoni, the, 15. + + Arabs, the, 4, 8, 23, 29. + + Army in South Africa, the, 368-385; + value of training ground, 373; + necessity of reorganisation on new model, 375, 376, 381-385. + + Assegai River, the, 143. + + Athole, 57, 140, 141. + + Australia, land legislation in, 276-279; + labour party in, 321; + federation of, 363-365; + local forces in, 368, 369. + + Austro-Hungary, parallel with, 360, 361. + + + Baines, Mr, 8. + + Bantu races, the. See Kaffir. + + Barberton, 214, 228, 274, 341, 342. + + Barnard, Lady Anne, 35. + + Barolongs, the, 15, 45, 286, 306. + + Baronga, the, 30 n. + + Barreto, 25, 27 n. + + Basutoland, 11, 12, 16, 17, 216, 286, 326. + + Bataungs, the, 43, 45. + + Bechuanaland, 11, 12, 15, 286, 326. + + Belfast, 341. + + Bell's Kop, 134. + + Bent's 'Ruined Cities of Mashonaland' quoted, 8, 10. + + Bethel, 218. + + Bezuidenhout, Frederick, 36. + + Bilad Ghana, discovery of, 21. + + Birds of South Africa, 54, 178-181. + + Blaauwberg, 152, 153. + + Bleloch, Mr W., quoted, 192. + + Bloemfontein, 216. + + Bloemfontein Conference of March 1903, the, 362. + + Bloemhof, 265, 341, 342. + + Boers, the, origin of, 35; + as hunters, 49-54; + horsemanship of, 55; + character of, 58-76; + farming methods of, 256-260; + political attitude of, 343-345, 389, 390. + + Boschdaal, 108. + + Botha, General, 105, 138. + + Brak River, the (Zoutpansberg), 153, 154. + + Bruderstroom, the, 116. + + Bruintje Hoogte, 36. + + Bryce, Mr James, quoted, 271 n., 326 n., 350, 355 n. + + Buffalo River, the, 5. + + Bushmen, the, 5, 6. + + Byles, Mr, 53. + + + Cabral, Pedro Alvarez, 23. + + Calicut, 23, 25. + + Callaway, Bishop, his works, 14 n. + + Cam, Diego, his discovery of the Congo, 22. + + Canada, nature of federation of, 363, 365; + local forces in, 368. + See Durham, Lord. + + Cape Colony, native taxation in, 298; + constitution of, 325; + franchise in, 339; + local forces in, 369, 378, 379. + + Cape of Good Hope, discovery of, 22. + + Carolina, 131. + + Casalis, M., 14 n. + + Castrol's Nek, 144. + + Celliers, Sarel, 44, 62. + + Cetewayo, 15. + + Climate, 195. + + Coal, 193. + + Commando Nek, 82, 110. + + Compensation, to slave-owners in Cape Colony, 39, 40; + to loyalists in Cape Colony and Natal, 244. + + Compies River, 141. + + Congo Free State, 367. + + Conquered territory, the, 216. + + Constabulary, the South African, 105, 115, 246, 249, 376. + + _Constitutie_ of Orange Free State, the, 327-329. + + Conto, Portuguese writer, quoted, 9. + + Copper-mining, 159, 193. + + Coster River, the, 107. + + Cost of gold-mining, 203 n. + + Cost of living in new colonies, 220, 221. + + Crocodile Poort, 82, 110-112, 161. + + Crocodile River, 15. See Limpopo. + + Crown Colony administration, nature of, 331-334. + + Customs Union, the South African, 235-241, 355. + + + da Gama, Vasco, 23, 24. + + d'Albuquerque, Affonso, 24. + + Damaraland, German acquisition of, 366. + + de Barros, 19. + + de Buys, Conrad, story of, 36, 37. + + Decentralisation, colonial, 29; + administration in Transvaal, 242, 243. + + Delarey, General, 88, 102, 138. + + de Silveira, Gonsalvo, 26. + + Diamonds, 193, 194. + + Dias, Diniz, 20. + + Diaz, Bartolomeo, 22. + + Dingaan, 3, 15. + + Dingiswayo, 14. + + do Espirito Santa, Luiz, 27. + + Dominicans in East Africa, the, 26, 27. + + dos Santos, 19. + + Drakensberg Mountains, the, 43, 113, 144, 173, 177. + + Durham, Lord, his Report on Canada, 331, 389. + + Dutch East India Company founded, the, 26. + + Dutch, the. See Boers. + + + Education, 309, 389. + + Egypt, 7, 84; + comparison of South Africa with, 224, 253, 388. + + Elands River (Lydenburg), 129. + + Elands River (Rustenburg), 106. + + Ericsen, Mr, 52, 53. + + Ermelo, 57, 137. + + Expenditure of Transvaal, the normal, 241. + + + Federation, Imperial, 395, 396. + + Federation of South Africa, the, 347, 348-367; + advantages of, 350-353; + tendencies towards, 353-355; + tendencies against, 355-358; + the first steps towards, 359-363; + nature of, 364-367. + + Forestry in the Transvaal, 194. + + Fourteen Streams, 215. + + Franchise in the new colonies, axioms which govern, 338; + types of, 339, 340; + division of constituencies, 341, 342. + + Francis, Mr, 53. + + Frere, Sir Bartle, 348. + + Fura, Mount, 9, 25. + + + Game laws in Transvaal, 169-171. + + Game reserves, 170, 171, 185. + + Glenelg, Lord, his Kaffir policy, 38, 40. + + Glen Grey Act, the, 298, 299, 307. + + Goa, 24, 25. + + Gold, how found in Transvaal, 191-194; + quartz and alluvial, mining for, 193; + nature of industry, 196-200. + + Gold Law Commission, Report of, 227-231. + + Gordon-Cumming, Mr, 53, 168. + + Graaff-Reinet, 3, 7, 40. + + Greylingstad, 192. + + Grey, Sir George, 348. + + _Grondwet_, the Transvaal, 328, 340. + + Guaranteed Loan, the, 216, 222, 244-250, 360. + + + Haenertsburg, 115, 116, 120. + + Hall and Neal, Messrs, their 'Ancient Ruins of + Rhodesia,' 10 n. + + Harrier packs, 181. + + Harrismith, 214. + + Hartley, Mr, 50, 53. + + Havilah, 9. + + Heidelberg, 192. + + Henry the Navigator, Prince, 20-22. + + High Commissionership, functions of, 353. + + Hillier, Dr A., quoted, 6 n. + + Himyarites. See Sabaeans. + + History of South Africa, difficulties in way of, 4. + + Hottentots, the, 6, 7. + + Huguenot strain in the Boers, the, 35, 60. + + + India, 208 n., 370. + + Ingwenya Mountains, the, 131. + + Inhambane, 28. + + Inter-Colonial Council, the, 246-248, 359-362. + + Irene, Mr van der Byl's park at, 57. + + Iron ore, 193. + + Irrigation, 263, 268. + + + Jacottet, M., his works on folk-lore, 14 n. + + Jesuits in East Africa, the, 26, 27. + + Jew, the, 100, 154, 313. + + Johannesburg, 311-324; + description of, 311, 312; + false ideas of, 314, 315; + force of social persistence in, 315-317; + critical position of, 317; + present stage of development, 319; + labour party in, 320; + solidarity of spirit in, 322. + + Johnston, Sir Harry, 204. + + Joubert's Hoogte, 144. + + Junod, M., his works on folk-lore, 14 n., 30 n. + + + Kaffir races, the, 5, 11; + religion and law of, 12; + folk-lore of, 13, 30 n.; + superstitions of, 150, 164; + as hunters, 164; + as farmers, 265, 292; + their political future, 284-310; + taxation of, 298-301; + education of, 309. + + Kalahari, the, 102, 169, 173. + + Keane, Professor, 8, 9, 10 n. + + Kirk, the Dutch, 42, 328, 389. + + Klerksdorp, 93, 192, 215. + + Komati Poort, 214, 216. + + Komati River, the, 130, 141. + + Korannafontein, 99. + + Koranna tribe, the, 6, 99. + + Krabbefontein, 122, 123. + + Kruger, Paul, 43, 69, 110, 317, 330. + + + Labour party in the Transvaal, the, 319-321. + + Labour question in the Transvaal, the, 200-214; + nature of labour on mines, 201; + Kaffir labour, 202; + Central African labour, 204, 205; + white labour, 205-208; + Asiatic labour, 208-212; + labour for the railways, 218, 219; + compulsory labour, 292-295. + + Lake Banagher, 132. + + Lake Chrissie, 136, 137, 220. + + Land settlement in South Africa, 244; + sums alloted for, 252, 255-283; + extent of Crown land, 256, 273, 274; + political importance of settlement, 270-273; + Government scheme of, 274-280; + comparison with Australasian precedents, 276-279. + + Lebombo flats, the, 134. + + Lebombo hills, the, 118, 172. + + Legislative Councils of Transvaal and Orange + River Colony, the, 336, 337. + + Letaba River, the, 113, 117-124. + + Letsitela River, the, 113. + + Leydsdorp, 113, 114, 216. + + Lichtenburg, 97, 100, 101, 218, 264. + + Lichtenstein, his 'Travels in South Africa,' 36 n. + + Limpopo River, the, 7, 36, 45, 63, 106, 147, 150, + 156, 160, 161, 172, 287. + + Linschoten, publication of his works, 26. + + Livingstone, 8. + + Lobengula, 15, 16. + + Louis Trichard, 154. + + Lydenburg, 37, 43, 121, 129, 186, 216, 274, 341, 342. + + + Macdonald, John, 53. + + Machadodorp, 129. + + Machadodorp-Carolina railway, the, 130, 215, 217. + + Machubi, 124. + + Mackenzie, John, quoted, 294. + + Magalakween River, the, 149. + + Magaliesberg, the, 15, 44, 82, 107-112, 160, 312. + + Magata, 9, 286. + + Magata's Nek, 107. + + Magatoland, 172, 184. + + Main Reef formation, extent of, 192. + + Majajie's location, 117, 304. + + Makalanga, the, 10, 11, 12, 24-27. + + Makasi Spruit, the, 96. + + Malapoch, 152. + + Malietsie's location, 150. + + Malmani Oog, 102-104. + + Manicaland, 11. + + Manuza, 27. + + Marah, 37. + + Marico, river and district, 15, 45, 106, 177, 274, 342. + + Maritz, Gerrit, 44. + + Market, nature of, 219, 261, 266, 267. + + Mashonaland, 10, 11, 169, 286. + + Mazimba, the, 11. + + Middelburg, 193, 341. + + Missionaries, 101, 309. + + Monomotapa, 10, 11, 24-27. + + Mont aux Sources, 134, 153. + + Mooi River, the, 43, 87, 184. + + Mosega, 3, 44. + + Moshesh, 3, 16, 17. + + Mosilikatse, 15, 16, 43-45, 112. + + Mountaineering in South Africa, 153. + + Mozambique, 23, 25. + + Municipal government in Transvaal, 335. + + Murchison Hills, the, 117. + + _Mynpacht_, 229, 230. + + + Natal, discovery of, 23; + native taxation in, 298; + constitution of, 325; + franchise in, 339; + local forces in, 369, 379. + + Native Labour Association, the, 202, 213, 351. + + Natives. See Kaffirs. + + Nauraghes, the Sardinian, 8, 9. + + Neolithic age, traces of, 6. + + Netherlands railway, the, 217. + + New Scotland, 140, 141. + + Nomenclature, Dutch, 47, 48, 82. + + Nyl, the river, 34. + + Nylstroom, 341. + + + Occupation farms in Transvaal, 255. + + Ogilby's 'Itinerarium Angliae' quoted, 282. + + Olifant's Poort, 82. + + Olifant's River, 121, 172, 173. + + Ophir, 9, 21. + + Orange River Colony, the, 176; + railway system of, 217 n., 246; + financial position of, 223, 224, 248; + taxation of natives in, 298; + census of, 342. + + Oswell, Mr, 53, 168. + + Ovampas, the, 11. + + + Palaeolithic age, traces of, 5. + + Panda, 16. + + Parties in the Transvaal, probable division of, 344, 345. + + Phoenicians, the, 4, 8, 160. + + Pietersburg, 113, 114, 148, 214, 216, 341. + + Piet Potgieter's Rust, 42, 341. + + Piet Retief, 142, 143. + + Pongola River, the, 129, 141, 144. + + Portuguese in East Africa, the, 4, 7, 11; + their age of discovery, 19-24; + their African empire, 24-32. + + Potchefstroom, 87, 192, 274. + + Potgieter, Andries, 43, 44. + + Prazos, the Portuguese, 28, 119. + + Prester John, 21, 24. + + Pretoria, 42, 312, 341. + + Pretoria-Pietersburg railway, the, 217. + + Pungwe River, the, 169. + + + Railway Extension Conference, the, 216. + + Railway system in South Africa, the, 214-219, 246; + revenue of, 249. + + Reitz, Mr F. W., his songs, 69. + + Repatriation, 94, 95, 109, 136, 138, 139, 149, 244. + + Retief, Pieter, 37, 38, 142. + + Revenue of Transvaal, the, 224-241; + mining revenue, 225. + + Rhodes, Mr C. J., his native policy, 307; + his policy of federation, 348; + his influence on South African politics, 392, 393. + + Rhodesia, 7, 8-10, 161, 173, 210, 215, 326, 379. + + Rooijantjesfontein, 100. + + Rooi Rand, the, 118. + + Rustenburg, 82, 107-110, 171, 216, 274. + + Ruwenzori, 147, 392. + + + Sabaeans, the, 8, 9. + + Sabi game preserve, 171. + + Sabi River, the, 9. + + Sand River, the (Zoutpansberg), 114, 216. + + Sardinha, Manoel, 27. + + Schlichter, Dr, 8, 10 n. + + Schoon Spruit, the, 93. + + Scriptural parallels, the Boer sense of, 34. + + Selati railway, the, 120. + + Selons River, the, 107. + + Selous, Mr, quoted, 10, 50, 52, 53, 168. + + Sharpe, Sir A., 53. + + Slaangaapies mountains, the, 132, 141-143. + + Slachter's Nek, story of, 36, 41. + + Slave question in Cape Colony, the, 38-40. + + Smith, Sir Harry, 41. + + Sofala, 24-28. + + Somerset, Lord Charles, 38. + + Spelonken, the, 113, 149. + + Springbok Flats, 171, 264, 265 n. + + Springs-Ermelo railway, the, 215. + + Squatters' law, the, 304, 305. + + Standerton, 265, 341. + + Stock diseases, 262; + prevention of, 262 n. + + Swaziland, 129, 132-135, 177, 215, 286, 326. + + + Taqui, 155, 156. + + Tarshish, 9. + + Taxation in Transvaal, 225, 226; + of unoccupied lands, 232, 233; + of share quotations, 234. + + Tchaka, 3, 14-16. + + Tete, 28. + + Thaba Bosigo, 16. + + Thaba 'Nchu, 43. + + Theal, Dr, his work, 14 n. + + Tobacco-growing, 110, 269. + + Transvaal, estimated population of, 342. + + Trek, the Great, 15, 33-48. + + Trichard, Louis, 42, 43. + + Trout Acclimatisation Society of the Transvaal, 184. + + Trusts, possibility of, in South Africa, 197-199. + + + Umpilusi River, the, 132, 134. + + Usutu River, the, 183. + + Uys, the family of, 44, 48. + + + Van Rensburg, Jan, 42, 43. + + Van Riebeck, Jan, 210 n. + + Van Rooyen, Mr, 54. + + Vechtkop, 3, 43. + + Veld, nature of, 80; + bush veld, 87; + veld fires, 99; + quality of soil of, 257, 265. + + _Vergunnings_, 230. + + Volksraad, the, of the Orange Free State, 328; + of the Transvaal, 328; + second, 329. + + Volunteer forces in South Africa, the, 379, 380 n. + + Voortrekkers, the. See Trek, the Great. + + + Wakkerstroom, 108, 145. + + War debt, the, 222, 244-250, 318. + + Warm Baths, 220, 341. + + Waterberg, 171, 218, 264, 342. + + _Werfs_, 229, 230. + + Willcocks, Sir W., his Report on Irrigation, 263. + + Wilmot, Mr A., his 'Monomotapa,' 10 n., 28 n. + + Winburg, 44. + + Wolkberg, the, 113, 116. + + Wolmaranstad, 96, 97, 218. + + Wood Bush, the, 113-128, 149, 186, 228. + + + Zambesi River, the, 7, 10, 147, 168, 172, 177, 296, 350, 367. + + Zeerust, 102-105, 177. + + Zimbabwes, the, 7-11. + + Zoutpansberg, 37, 43, 150-154, 156, 171, 274, 342. + + Zulus, the, 11, 14, 15. + + +THE END. + + +PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's Note + +The following changes were made to the original text: + + Page 23, "Muslin" changed to "Muslim" (with Muslim pilgrims) + Page 280, "other" changed to "another" (for another two) + Page 376, L restored to Footnote 39 (L270,000) + +All other inconsistencies in spellings and hyphenations were retained +as printed in the original text. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The African Colony, by John Buchan + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AFRICAN COLONY *** + +***** This file should be named 34548.txt or 34548.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/5/4/34548/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Rachael Schultz and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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