86 



BECHUANALAND. 



given aid and succor to the English troops in 

 the Transvaal war. Their quarrel with the 

 old allies of the Boers dated from that period. 

 It was therefore their adherence to the English 

 that led to their destruction. The British party 

 in South Africa and the moneyed class wished 

 to have Bechuanaland opened to white settle- 

 ment in a more regular way, and not seized by 

 trekkers, or partitioned out among filibuster- 

 ing " volunteers." The question of the trade 

 route came up and furnished a powerful addi- 

 tional motive for interference. The best route 

 to the Zambesi and the interior of Africa from 

 the Cape goes through Bechuanaland. Exac- 

 tions of 40 per wagon are levied along the 

 Transvaal route. If Bechuanaland fell into the 

 hands of the Boers, the commerce of Cape 

 Colony with the interior would be hampered 

 by these tolls. The settlement of the Germans 

 on the coast directly opposite created appre- 

 hensions of a greater danger. If Germany 

 should, extend her annexations inland, and per- 

 haps form a political combination with the 

 Transvaal State, and purchase Delagoa Bay, or 

 annex St. Lucia Bay, a barrier might be thrown 

 across the continent that would effectually 

 shut out England and Cape Colony from the 

 trade of southern Central Africa. The railroad 

 already completed brought goods a distance of 

 500 miles from the coast to within 100 miles 

 of the frontier of Cape Colony. The Be- 

 chuanaland route is remarkably favorable for 

 the extension of the railroad in the direction 

 of the Zambesi. Notwithstanding the risks 

 and losses and great expense of wagon-car- 

 riage, British commerce has already penetrated 

 as far as Lake Ngami. The trade of Cape 

 Colony with the interior, before the incursions 

 of white robbers and freebooters, was valued 

 at about a million and a half pounds sterling 

 per annum ; but since the systematic outrages 

 of the filibusters began, wide tracts of fertile 

 land have become a desert, and the business of 

 the trade-route has greatly dwindled. The 

 prospect is the more inviting, because certain 

 districts at the farther confines of Bechuana- 

 land, and in Matabeleland beyond, are known 

 to be rich in gold. It was the uncomfortable 

 proximity of the Germans that gave rise to the 

 effective demand of the Cape Colonists that 

 Bechuanaland should be annexed and the 

 trade-route secured. In meeting their wishes 

 the British Government was able to fulfill its 

 duty to its old allies, and see that the tribes 

 that had been its friends should not be wiped 

 put for their fidelity. But in its native policy 

 it found, as usual, little sympathy at the Cape. 

 The Dutch party had the upper hand in the 

 Government, and they were not willing that 

 their Transvaal kinsmen should be punished, 

 and that the principle of imperial intermed- 

 dling should prevail. The annexation of Bechu- 

 analand, with the certainty that it would ulti- 

 mately be transferred to Cape Colony, the im- 

 provement of the trade-route, and the opening 

 of the country to settlement, were desirable 



object* to Cape Colony. The English Govern- 

 ment was unwilling that the colony should 

 carry them out unless a restoration of their 

 lands was made to the Bechuanas, but was 

 willing to accomplish the task at its own ex- 

 pense, so as to be able to regulate the native 

 question. The Warren expedition was fitted 

 out in November and December, 1884, and 

 entered Bechuanaland in January, 1885. This 

 expedition was understood in Cape Colony and 

 the Transvaal to be a direct menace to the 

 South African Republic. The Rev. Mr. Mac- 

 kenzie, who was first sent out as agent for the 

 Cape Government upon its proclamation of a 

 protectorate over Bechuanaland, had aggra- 

 vated the situation by taking a course hostile 

 to the Boers and offensive to the Dutch. The 

 bankrupt state of the Cape treasury prevented 

 the Colonial Government, which was con- 

 trolled by the Afrikander-Bond or Dutch 

 party, from taking effective steps to establish 

 an administration in the annexed territory. 

 The English party, which went by the name 

 of the Empire League, urged the transfer of 

 the task to the imperial authorities. Prepara- 

 tions were made for sending an English force 

 to establish order. To avert this, or secure 

 possession of the coveted lands beforehand, 

 the Boer interlopers in Bechuanaland attacked 

 the natives anew. Mr. Bethell, the English 

 Resident in Stellaland, was killed in defending 

 them, and Mr. Mackenzie fled to escape a simi- 

 lar fate. The Cape Ministry sent out Mr. Cecil 

 Rhodes in his place. The latter was a person 

 in sympathy with the Afrikander party and 

 agreeable to the Boers. The history of the 

 disturbances in Bechuanaland, of the establish- 

 ment of the republics of Stellaland and Land 

 of Goshen, and of the circumstances leading 

 to annexation, is related in the "Annual Cy- 

 clopedia" for 1884. 



The Rhodes Settlement While Sir Charles 

 Warren with his volunteer force was on his 

 way from England, the Cape Government ob- 

 tained permission to settle amicably, if pos- 

 sible, the differences with the Stellalanders 

 and Goshenites. Mr. Upington made the tour 

 of Stellaland, Goshen, and Bechuanaland. By 

 promising that those who occupied 'farms of 

 which they held titles from the native chiefs 

 would not be disturbed, and by menacing 

 them with the troops under way, he reassured 

 the Boers, who ceased their disorders and 

 offered their submission to the Cape Gov- 

 ernment. Order was restored when Gen. 

 Warren landed in Cape Colony. In Decem- 

 ber, 1884, Mr. Rhodes negotiated a settlement 

 in detail with Mr. Van Niekerk, acting on be- 

 half of the Stellalanders. Sir Charles Warren 

 approved the main features, according to which 

 the farmers were to remain in possession of 

 their land. Not satisfied, however, with hav- 

 ing come out on a useless errand, and spurred 

 on by the Empire League, an element in Eng- 

 land that was hostile to the Boers, he insisted, 

 on the ground that the Cape Government was 





