104 



CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



lations, hindrance to persons in the execution^ of 

 their duty, or advocacy <>i' force or violence. The 

 police cau outer meetings where more than 5 

 p.-rsons are assembled, and disperse them if 

 they think tin- object to be contrary to the 

 public pi-ace. Persons taking part in seditious 

 meetings are liable to imprisonment for two 

 years. Processions can only take place with the 

 consent of the authorities. 'To preserve the legis- 

 lative power in their own hands, the Boers 

 made a ne\v franchise law which shuts out per- 

 sons horn in the country from the full burgher 

 right, unless their fathers also were natives of 

 I lie Transvaal or naturalized citizens. 



Swaziland. A convention relating to the 

 future government, of Swaziland, that was signed 

 in November. 1893, by representatives of Great 

 Britain and of the South African Republic, did 

 not receive the signature of the quefen regent, 

 who fell under the influence of certain indunas 

 and dreamed of the restoration of Swazi inde- 

 [KMidence. The mother of King Ungwam de- 

 sired to see him mount the throne like his 

 ancestors, steeping his assegai in blood. The 

 convention of 1N90, vesting the Government in a 

 mixed Boer, British, and Swazi commission, re- 

 mained in force till June, 1894, the queen having 

 withheld her consent to the establishment of the 

 jurisdiction and administration of the South 

 African Republic by an organic proclamation. 

 As the queen and her council still remained ob- 

 durate, the convention on June 28, 1894, was 

 Continued by agreement for six months longer. 

 The area of Swaziland is 6,150 square miles, and 

 the population consists of 60,000 natives and 

 1,500 whites. 



German Southwest Africa. The British 

 having refused to cede Walfish Bay, the seaport 

 of Damaraland, the German Government has re- 

 solved to construct a harbor at the mouth of the 

 Swakop river. The area of the German pos- 

 sessions is estimated at. ;>.">0,000 square miles, and 

 the population at 200.000. The northern parts 

 are adapted for raising cattle, and trekkers- 

 British and Boers, are settling in Damaraland, 

 and in both the German and the English parts 

 of Ngamiland, and some German emigrants in 

 the vicinity of Angra Pequena. Hendrik Wit- 

 boii, the rebellious Hottentot chief, who has re- 

 ceived aid from the foes of German colonization, 

 sei/ed ami destroyed the settlement of Kubub, 

 near Liiderit/ Bay, while Major von Francois 

 with his 300 soldiers was stationed far away near 

 Windhoek. Major Leutwein, who subsequently 

 -.-ded .-is Imperial Commissioner, carried on 

 a vigorous campaign against Witboii. Thechief 

 w;is driven out of his stronghold of Hoornkranz 

 arly in the year, but he returned and fortified 

 it afresh. When Major Leutwein appeared be- 

 fore the works with a strong body of troops 

 in May, Witboii asked for peace, and it was 

 offered to him on condition that he surrender 

 his arms and reside on a reservation that should 

 be as>ii;ned to him. These terms were refused 

 by the former lord of the country, but both par- 

 ties agreed to an armistice till Aug. 1. When 

 tin's term was up the (;ermans. re-enforced from 

 Europe, took the field, and on Aug. 27 stormed 

 Witboii's stronghold, losing 9 killed and 11 

 wounded, and followed up the retreating Hot- 

 tentots toward the south till Sept. 4. 



British South Africa. The British South 

 Africa Company obtained a royal charter on 

 Oct. 29. 1889, granting the right to administer 

 the countries declared to be within the British 

 sphere of influence in 1888, including Mashona- 

 land, Matabeleland, the region north and west of 

 the Bechuanaland protectorate, including Kha- 

 ma's country. The plateaus of Mashonaland and 

 Matabeleland are fertile, and are crossed by rich 

 gold reefs which were worked in the time of the 

 Romans. Matabeleland has an area of about 

 125,000 square miles. The Matabele nation has 

 been estimated at 200,000 souls. The pure 

 Matabele, descendants of Zulu Kaffirs, are war- 

 like, furnishing the best regiments of Lobengu- 

 la's army, which was supposed to be 15,000 or 

 20,000 strong in 1893. The rest, descended from 

 slave women taken from the indigenous tribes, 

 are industrious agriculturists. 



Conquest of Matabeleland. Lobengula, 

 King of the Matabele, was always anxious to 

 avoid war with the whites, whom he had allowed 

 to settle in the part of his dominions called 

 Mashonaland. He relied on a letter from the 

 Queen of England, assuring him that, if he would 

 agree to the concession which had been acquired 

 by the British South Africa Company, he should 

 iii no sort be damnified. This was the Rudd 

 concession, granted in 1888. When the charter 

 was granted to the British South Africa Com- 

 pany, on Oct. 29, 1889, Lord Knutsford advised 

 him to allow the concessionnaires to conduct min- 

 ing operations, but assured him that no one 

 could exercise jurisdiction without his permis- 

 sion. The treaty gave the chartered company 

 no right to occupy land except in cases where 

 mining was carried on by permission of the 

 King. Yet the company treated it as a terri- 

 torial cession, taking possession of a large part 

 of Mashonaland, the native chiefs of which were 

 compelled, under duress, to cede their lands to 

 the company. The company had deceived itself 

 as to the value of the territory it had seized, and 

 was in danger of bankruptcy unless it could ob- 

 tain possession of the neighboring country of 

 Matabeleland, which was found to be much 

 richer in gold as well as in all other natural re- 

 sources. The settlers were eager for an oppor- 

 tunity to wipe out the Matabele. An ample 

 supply of war material, especially of Maxim 

 machine guns, was provided, and the Bechuana- 

 land border police was strengthened in view of 

 the prospective war. Lobengula was able to re- 

 strain his young warriors, who strictly observed 

 his standing order never to injure a white man 

 or his property under any provocation. As soon, 

 however, as the warlike preparations of the 

 chartered company were completed, its agents 

 did not seek long for a pretext for opening hos- 

 tilities. The Mashonas, who had grown more 

 lawless after being freed from the rule of Lo- 

 bengula, annoyed both the English and the 

 Matabele by cattle-stealing. The white settlers 

 were obliged sometimes to punish them, and on 

 one occasion the forces of the chartered com- 

 pany bombarded a village and slew a large num- 

 ber of its inhabitants. In consequence of many 

 complaints of thefts Lobengula was invited in 

 July, 1893, to send an impi to chastise the 

 Mashonas. When his men had executed his 

 commands with customary barbarity, they were 



