TURKEY. 



749 



the Amazwazies, another of the native tribes, 

 and a considerable force was organized to pro- 

 ceed against Secocoeni. Early in July an at- 

 tack was made by the allies upon the Caftre 

 fortress at Johannesstadt. The Amazwuzies 

 stormed the fort with bravery, and would have 

 achioved a complete success, but that the 

 Boers, who were to have supported them by 

 advancing from another side, did not come up. 

 On the 27th of July an attempt was made to 

 storm the headquarters of Secocoeni, but the 

 allied chief Mupaslella led a part of the force 

 of the Government into an ambuscade, where- 

 by they suffered great loss. For this, Mapas- 

 lella and some of his officers were put to 

 death, his village was destroyed, and 5,000 huts 

 were burned and 169 of his people slaughtered. 

 The course of events turned to the advantage 

 of Secocoeni. By the end of August the force 

 of the Government was reported to be sub- 

 stantially annihilated. The survivors fled to 

 Pretoria. A position was maintained at Steel 

 Poort, with the help of mercenary troops 

 under General Van Schlickmann. These troops 

 have been charged with committing outrages 

 against the women and children of the natives, 

 the effect of which was not beneficial to the 

 cause of the Government. A movement was 

 made, led chiefly by the English in the diamond- 

 fields, to call for the intervention of the Eng- 

 lish authorities at Natal, but it was not coun- 

 tenanced by the Volksraad, which met early 

 in September. About this time Cetchwayo, 

 the Zooloo king, announced to the Govern- 

 ment of Natal that he could no longer restrain 

 his people, and threatened to move upon the 

 Transvaal with a force of nearly 40,000 men, 

 and a general rising of the natives seemed im- 

 minent. Happily these apprehensions were 

 not fulfilled. On the 17th of November Gen- 

 eral Van Schlickmann's forces attacked a minor 

 fortress belonging to Secocoeni, but were twice 

 repulsed, and General Van Schlickmann was 

 killed. After this engagement Secocoeni's peo- 

 ple assumed a bolder attitude. The course of 

 events in the Transvaal country was observed 

 with solicitude by the people and governments 

 of the neighboring English colonies, for they 

 apprehended that, if the natives succeeded in 

 overcoming the Boers, the other European set- 

 tlements would be exposed to the peril of gen- 



eral attacks; and there were, besides, many 

 British subjects in the territory of the republic 

 whose interests and rights were injuriously af- 

 fected by the hostilities. Nevertheless, the of- 

 fers made by the English to assist, by negotia- 

 tion or otherwise, were not received favorably 

 by the Transvaal authorities. A peace was con- 

 cluded with Secocoeni on February 5, 1877, he 

 agreeing to pay an indemnity of 2,000 cattle, 

 to submit to all the laws of the country, and 

 to obey all the decrees of the Government re- 

 garding himself and his people. Quiet has 

 also been restored among the Zooloos. 



TURKEY, an empire in Eastern Europe, 

 Western Asia, and Northern Africa. Reign- 

 ing sovereign, Sultan Abdul-Hamid II., born 

 September 22, 1842 ; succeeded his elder broth- 

 er, Sultan Murad V., August 31, 1876. (See 

 ABDITL-HAMID.) The heir-presumptive to the 

 throne is Mehemet Reshad Effendi, the brother 

 of the present Sultan, born November 8, 1844. 



The area and population were as follows, ac- 

 cording to the latest estimates : 



The empire is divided into vilayets, under 

 governors-general (valis). They are subdivided 

 into sanjaks (districts) under governors (mu- 

 tessartfs), and these into cazas (circles) under 

 lieutenant-governors (kaimalcama), and the lat- 

 ter into nahiyes (communes). The mayors of 

 villages are called mvMitars. The boundaries 

 of the vilayets are constantly undergoing 

 changes, which, however, do not generally 

 affect the boundaries of the sanjaks, but con- 

 sist in the transfer of one or several sanjaks 

 to another vilayet, or in their erection into in- 

 dependent vilayets. In 1876* European Tur- 

 key was divided into the following vilayets: 





* See Behm and Wagner, BevdUkeruny der ffrde, lv., p. 114. 



