CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



95 



ment with President Kriiger was modified. In 

 the final settlement the independence of the 

 Swazis was reaffirmed in regard to all affairs in 

 which natives only are concerned, which will re- 

 main under the control and management of the 

 Swazi Government. Over the white settlers 

 there shall be a joint administration. A court 

 of justice will be established to decide cases, 

 criminal and civil, in which whites are concerned 

 according to the Roman Dutch law, and to in- 

 quire into the validity of concessions concerning 

 which there are disputes. All lawfully acquired 

 rights will be recognized by the Joint Govern- 

 ment Committee and by the Court of Justice. 

 The Government of the South African Republic 

 undertakes not to interfere to the north or north- 

 west of the Republic, and to support by its in- 

 fluence the establishment of order and govern- 

 ment by the British South Africa Company. 

 The British Government recognizes the right 

 acquired by the South African Republic by con- 

 cession of the King of Swaziland to construct a 

 railroad through Swaziland toward the sea, to 

 continue it to the sea at Kosi Bay, and to obtain 

 at that point a piece of land ten miles in radius, 

 special provision being made to prevent the ter- 

 minus at Kosi Bay from falling under the sov- 

 ereignty or control of a foreign power. Provision 

 is made for the entrance of the South African 

 Republic into the customs union convention 

 with the Cape, Orange Free State, and Bechu- 

 analand, failing which the agreement as to Kosi 

 Bay becomes void. The joint government of 

 Swaziland is to continue for three years, and 

 then by tacit consent, subject to termination on 

 six months' notice ; but if the South African 

 Republic enters the customs union the arrange- 

 ment is for an unlimited time. The convention 

 was signed on Aug. 2, 1890. Swaziland has an 

 area of 8,000 square miles, and is surrounded 

 on three sides by the South African Republic. 

 Between it and the sea is Portuguese territory 

 and the territories of two chiefs in the Momba 

 range, over which the Portuguese Government 

 has claimed suzerainty, and beyond them the 

 coast district of independent Tongaland. It has 

 a population of (53,000. Of this number 9,000 

 are fighting men. The people are a happy, in- 

 dolent race of savages. The country is a health- 

 ful elevated region, reputed to be remarkably 

 rich in minerals and in agricultural capabilities. 

 White people, most of them burghers of the 

 South African Republic, but acting usually in 

 the interest of British speculators, obtained, or 

 pretend to have obtained, from the late king con- 

 cessions not merely of all the mineral rights and 

 the best grazing lands in the country, but mo- 

 nopolies of transport and of taxation and licenses 

 for trading. During the negotiations between 

 the British and Transvaal governments Bunu. 

 the infant son of Umbandine, was installed as 

 king, with his mother as regent. Government 

 was administered by a temporary triumvirate, 

 consisting of the queen and representatives of the 

 two powers, Col. Martin acting for Great Britain 

 and Judge Esselen for the Transvaal. The con- 

 vention was spoken of by President Kriiger in 

 the Volksraad as a temporary arrangement that 

 would give place later to the annexation of Swa- 

 ziland to the South African Republic. The 

 Raad, in ratifying the instrument, reserved the 



claims of the Republic to Swaziland as soon as 

 the native government should be firmly estab- 

 lished and questions of property rights settled. 

 The Portuguese Government protested against 

 the convention as incompatible with prior treaty 

 arrangements between itself and the South Af- 

 rican Republic;. The people of Natal objected 

 to. the employment of the Swaziland question as 

 a lever to force the Transvaal into the customs 

 union to the detriment of their trade. At pres- 

 ent goods entering the Transvaal pay 6 per cent, 

 duty to Natal and 5 per cent, to the Republic; 

 whereas under the customs union convention the 

 duties payable on goods imported through Cape 

 Colony, now 25 per cent, altogether, will be low- 

 ered to 15 per cent., while those borne by goods 

 entering by way of Natal or Delagoa Bay must 

 be raised to the same figure. 



Zululand. A British protectorate was pro- 

 claimed in May, 1887, over the territory that 

 was restored to Cetewayo in 1883, with the ex- 

 ception of about one third forming the New Re- 

 public. The country is administered by a resident 

 commissioner, at present M. Osborn, under the 

 supervision of the Governor of Natal. It in- 

 cludes the territory that was formerly called the 

 Zulu Reserve, and has a total area of 8,900 square 

 miles, with about 50,000 inhabitants. The na- 

 tives pay a hut tax of 14s. per annum. They 

 raise cattle and Indian corn for export. The 

 revenue in 1888 was 32,874, and the expenditure 

 34,095. The chief, Dinizulu, son of Cetewayo, 

 and the latter's brothers, Tshingana and Unda- 

 buko, who were convicted of treason in April, 

 1889, for attempting to disturb the British ar- 

 rangements in Zululand, were deported to St. 

 Helena in February, 1890. 



Bechuan aland. Including the Crown colo- 

 ny, 45,000 square miles in extent, with a popula- 

 tion of 44,135 souls in 1885, the protectorate of 

 Bechuanaland has a totr.l area of 162,000 square 

 miles. The Crown colony extends along the west- 

 ern frontier "of the South African Republic from 

 the northern limit of Cape Colony as far as 

 Molopo river, while the protectorate extends be- 

 yond the river westward as far as 22 of east 

 longitude, and northward to 20 of south lati- 

 tude. The country produces Indian corn and 

 cattle, and tobacco has been planted recently. 

 The revenue obtained from a hut tax of 10s. and 

 10s. on each wife of a native was 15,750 in 

 1888-'89, which was increased by a parliament- 

 ary grant to 89,017, while the expenditure was 

 61,663. The administrator is Sir Sidney G. A. 

 Shippard. There is a force of 500 border police, 

 of whom 400 patrol the protectorate. 



Matabeleland. The Matabeles are the peo- 

 ple who, under Moselicatse, were defeated by 

 Chaka, the Zulu king, then conquered the Trans- 

 vaal territory, and when they were driven thence 

 by the Boers, about 1840, settled in the region 

 north of the Limpopo. They are ruled by Mo- 

 selicatse's son Lobengula, an able tyrant, who has 

 conquered Mashonaland and laid under tribute 

 all the Makalakas and other tribes south of the 

 Zambesi, and some beyond. His territory extends 

 from Khama's country, called the British Bech- 

 uanaland Protectorate, on the west to the Portu- 

 guese coast district of Sofala on the east. The 

 country of the Mashonas lies between the Portu- 

 guese boundary and Lobengula's own country. 



