230 SOUTH AFRICA. 



may possibly bear the foregoing remarks in mind, 

 as the prosperity of individuals here hinges 

 entirely on that of these mining centres and the 

 commerce they engender. 



British capital is already invested to an enormous 

 amount in these mining industries and in the com- 

 merce they have initiated, but there is plenty of 

 room for an indefinite amount of increased invest- 

 ments if only means could be found to induce, 

 or compel, the Transvaal autocracy to modify its 

 intense animosity to Britons and their interests, 

 originating, or at any rate intensified, by the fact 

 that Paul Kruger and his burghers are indebted 

 to English generosity for their present position 

 and for every shilling they own, and are, for no 

 other reason than the fact that they are under the 

 greatest obligation to her, determined to verify 

 the old adage that an obligee is usually not only 

 ungrateful but hostile to the benefactor. 



The present Transvaal situation is about as 

 follows: 



A flourishing mining centre has been established 

 by Britons and other Europeans (Uitlanders), and, 

 if unchecked in its prosperous course, a largely 

 increased population of these detested Gibeonites 



