BECHUANALAND. 



85 



the Baralongs, whose territory is inclosed in 

 the Orange Free State and was protected by 

 treaty with Great Britain, he quarreled with 

 his brother Sepinaar for the succession. They 

 referred the dispute to the arbitration of Presi- 

 dent Brand, of the Free State, who decided in 

 favor of Sepinaar. In consequence of the mur- 

 der of the latter in 1884, the Free State an- 

 nexed the territory. Samuel, upon his expul- 

 sion, issued a proclamation as chief, warning 

 off all intruders from his territory, and then 

 established himself on lands granted him by 

 the Basutos. 



In June, 1885, a commission of the Free 

 State Volksraad reported that in inter-tribal 

 conflicts Basutos had been driven across the 

 border, as in the cases of Jonathan and Joel ; 

 that cattle belonging to burghers had frequent- 

 ly been stolen by Basutos, and, on one occa- 

 sion, openly seized by Lerothodi; that Free 

 State traders have to pay double licenses, and 

 that the danger of disturbances on the border 

 can only be prevented by the establishment of 

 British authority on a steadfast basis, or the 

 withdrawal of the British protection, leaving 

 the Orange Free State to regulate its relations 

 with the Basuto chiefs directly, as it was ac- 

 customed to do before the Basutos were de- 

 clared British subjects by the treaty of Aliwal 

 on Feb. 12, 1869. 



BKim \\ALAi\I), a British protectorate in 

 South Africa, the country of the western 

 Ohuan Caffres, extending along the western 

 frontier of the Transvaal from Griqualand West 

 to Lake Ngami, and separated from the Hot- 

 tentot lands on the Atlantic coast by the Kala- 

 hari Desert. The protectorate extends to 22 

 south latitude, and includes an area of about 

 170,000 square miles. The southernmost dis- 

 trict is the land of the Batlapin tribe, whose 

 chief is Mankaroane, with his capital at Taungs. 

 North of them are the Baralong, with Mont- 

 sioa for their chief, having his seat at Mafe- 

 king. Beyond them are the Bangwaketse, 

 under the aged chief Gasseitsiwi, living at 

 Kanya. North of them is the country of Se- 

 chele, chief of the Baquena tribe, with Molo- 

 pololo for his capital ; and farther north the 

 Bamangwato, whose chief, Khame, resides at 

 Shoshong. The country of this chief, 80,000 

 square miles in extent, was not included in the 

 protectorate as finally established. The Ba- 

 katla tribe, ousted from the Transvaal, live on 

 the lands of the Bangwaketse and Baquena. 



The Cape Government, with the approval of 

 the home authorities, proclaimed a protector- 

 ate over Bechuanaland in 1884. As difficul- 

 ties arose which prevented it from becoming 

 effective, the Imperial Government assumed di- 

 rect authority over the territory. 



The proclamation of imperial protection and 

 British jurisdiction over Bechuanaland was 

 published on Jan. 27, 1885. The limits of the 

 new colony were officially defined as "that 

 part of Africa situate west of the boundary 

 of the South African Republic, north of the 



Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, east of the 

 20th meridian of east longitude, and south of 

 the 22d parallel of south latitude." It is a sa- 

 lubrious region, consisting for the most part of 

 a plateau, with an elevation of from 4,000 to 

 6,000 feet above the sea. Except in the south- 

 ern portion, where the trees have been cut to 

 furnish fuel for the steam-engines in the dia- 

 mond-mines, the country is well wooded. The 

 bottom-lands contain rich soil, producing good 

 crops of Indian corn, wheat, and millet. The 

 plains are generally covered with grass, and are 

 said to be the best pasture-land in South Af- 

 rica. The water-supply is deficient at certain 

 seasons, but by sinking wells water can always 

 be obtained. 



Encroachments of White Settlers. The Bechu- 

 anas were formerly rich in oxen and sheep, 

 while the plains furnished them an unceasing 

 supply of food in the enormous droves of 

 hartebeests, giraffes, wildebeests, elands, and 

 various kinds of deer. The invasion of white 

 men, and inter-tribal conflicts, fomented by 

 whites, have reduced their pastoral wealth 

 and diminished their own numbers by famine. 

 Freebooting whites have robbed them of their 

 cattle. For many years fugitives from justice 

 and lawless adventurers from the Dutch re- 

 publics and Cape Colony have found a refuge 

 in Bechuanaland. Wars between the chiefs 

 were instigated by these adventurers, who en- 

 gaged on the different sides as "volunteers," 

 receiving for their services each man a " farm " 

 of from 4,000 to 6,000 acres. Lancf specula- 

 tors furnished stores and ammunition, and 

 took the farms thus acquired by the freeboot- 

 ers. An exceptionally protracted and relent- 

 less conflict, in which Massouw and Moshette 

 were leagued against Montsioa and Mankaro- 

 ane, was coincident with a new wave of ex- 

 tension among the trek-Boers. Large numbers 

 of volunteers, some of British but most of 

 Dutch-African origin, took part on both sides. 

 From the lands of the defeated Baralong and 

 Batlapin chieftains were carved out the re- 

 publics of Stellaland and Goshen. Various 

 reasons for British intervention were given. 

 The Transvaal Government was taken to task 

 for allowing its citizens to drive the natives 

 from their lands and set up states across the 

 border under its auspices in violation of the 

 spirit of the treaties with England. Rude an- 

 swers were returned to the English represen- 

 tations. The bitter feelings of the Transvaal 

 war were revived in England, and between 

 the two white races in South Africa. A de? 

 mand was raised for the chastisement of the 

 Boers, to wipe out the defeats of the Transvaal 

 war. The Boers boasted that the English 

 troops, who could not stand up against their 

 splendid marksmanship at Majuba, were afraid 

 to face them again. The expelled Bechuanas 

 were dying from starvation, and their suffer- 

 ings appealed, not only to English philan- 

 thropy, but to the English national pride, be- 

 cause the chiefs Montsioa and Mankaroane had 



