BECHUANALAND. 



87 



without the means to administer the terri- 

 tory and preserve order, that the protectorate 

 should be placed under the direct control of 

 the Crown, and completed his arrangements 

 to march a force of 10,000 men into Bechuana- 

 land to hold the country and chastise disorder- 

 ly Boers. 



The Warren Expedition. Maj.-Gen. Sir Charles 

 Warren was appointed to lead the expedition 

 into Bechuanaland, which was brought under 

 the direct administration of the Crown, "to 

 remove the filibusters from Bechuanaland, to 

 restore order in the territory, to reinstate the 

 natives on their lands, to take such measures 

 aa may be necessary to prevent further depre- 

 dation, and, finally, to hold the country until 

 its further destination is known." A part of 

 his force, which consisted entirely of volun- 

 teers, was raised in England, and a part in Cape 

 Colony after his arrival there. The English 

 Parliament voted 750,000 for the expedition. 

 As soon as he entered Bechuanaland Gen. War- 

 ren proclaimed martial law and assumed the 

 direction of the entire administration of the 

 country. The persons in possession of the 

 farms of Stellaland were friendly to the Eng- 

 lish, and desirous of annexation to Cape Colo- 

 ny. Those hostile to Great Britain had joined 

 the Goshenites in the north. The latter were 

 not in possession of the farms they claimed in 

 Montsioa's territory. Those who had entered 

 upon the occupancy of the land were most of 

 them afterward driven out by the Baralong. 

 They kept up a form of state organization 

 and issued their edicts from Eooi Grond, on 

 the confines of the Transvaal, whence raids 

 were conducted against the Bechuanas. The 

 British were prepared to recognize the titles 

 of the Stellaland farms, which were in effect- 

 ive possession, many of them acquired by pur- 

 chase, and a considerable proportion owned 

 by English or Anglo-Dutch people ; hence the 

 willingness of these burghers to accept British 

 rule. The Goshen Republic it was intended 

 to suppress, and to cancel all land-titles in that 

 district. The Stellalanders agreed through 

 their constituted authorities to offer no imped- 

 iment to the passage of troops through Stella- 

 land to Goshen. In the autumn of 1884, Mr. 

 Van Niekerk and the other Stellaland leaders 

 urged Sir Hercules Robinson to assume the ad- 

 ministration of their district at once, as they 

 were unable to carry on the government, for 

 lack of funds. The Government of the repub- 

 lic managed to contract a debt of 11,000. 

 Sir Charles Warren was well received at Vry 

 burg. He entered into communication with 

 the Transvaal Government, which professed 

 to act in co-operation with him. Within two 

 months an organized force of 1,000 men was 

 collected at Vryburg. The Boer farmers were 

 driven out, and the head of their government, 

 Van Niekerk, was arrested on a charge of mur- 

 der. The former British agent in Bechuana- 

 land, Mr. Mackenzie, was taken along by Sir 

 Charles Warren as his adviser. A rupture soon 



occurred between the Deputy High Commis- 

 sioner and the administrator who succeeded 

 Mackenzie, Mr. Rhodes, the nominee of the 

 Cape Ministry. Mr. Rhodes resigned on ac- 

 count of the arrest of Niekerk. To the pro- 

 tests of Mr. Kruger, the Transvaal representa- 

 tive, on behalf of the Stellaland and Goshen 

 republics, Sir Charles Warren replied : " I do 

 not know what you mean by the government; 

 I only know of a band of robbers who call 

 themselves administrators of a country belong- 

 ing to the Queen." In the same tone Sir Her- 

 cules Robinson replied some time before to 

 representatives of the Transvaal authorities, 

 who sought to have the new republics included 

 in the terms of the convention of 1884: "If 

 the British Government were to amend the 

 convention in consequence of the unprincipled 

 action of freebooters, which the Transvaal Gov- 

 ernment have taken no pains to prevent, we 

 should be making ourselves consenting parties 

 to the grievous wrong which has been inflicted 

 on our allies Montsioa and Mankaroane, and 

 offer an encouragement to the recurrence of 

 such disgraceful proceedings in the future. 

 Once let it be seen that Transvaal subjects 

 can, unchecked by their own Government, 

 plunder the natives across the Transvaal bor- 

 der of their lands, and, having done so, then 

 secure by annexation salable titles for their 

 stolen farms as well as the other advantages 

 of a settled form of government, then free- 

 booting will become a trade and a precedent 

 the effect of which will not be limited to the 

 four Bechuanaland chiefs whose cases are now 

 under consideration." The Cape Premier, Mr. 

 Upington, pleaded the case of the volunteers, 

 of Massouw and Moshette in public speeches, 

 describing them as "mercenary soldiers" such 

 as the English had often employed in their 

 own wars. 



The Trial of Niekerk. The arrest as a common 

 murderer of the head of the Stellaland Re- 

 public, who had been recognized as such by 

 Mr. Mackenzie as well as Mr. Rhodes, created 

 a great excitement throughout South Africa. 

 Taken in conjunction with other acts of the 

 Deputy High Commissioner, it was supposed 

 to indicate a policy strongly antagonistic to the 

 Dutch and hostile to their interests. Mr. Nie- 

 kerk and Commandant Celliers were brought 

 to trial for the murder of James Honey, an 

 Englishman. Honey had been charged, in a 

 proclamation, with treason, cattle-stealing, and 

 other crimes, and warned not to re-enter Stel- 

 laland on pain of death. He braved this proc- 

 lamation of the head of the Government, and 

 was arrested and taken into the Transvaal for 

 trial. The Transvaal court refused to try the 

 case, on the ground of want of jurisdiction. On 

 the way back he was shot by his conductors, 

 in February, 1883. During the trial of Niekerk 

 the two guards were found, and one of them 

 turned state's evidence. Arrests were made 

 of persons to be tried by the same tribunal, 

 composed of military officers, on the charge of 



