128 Recollections of Adventures 



to the supervision of a British Resident, but no laws 

 can be carried out if repugnant to them ; and with 

 the natural increase of the population, an agrarian 

 trouble may at any time develop, as the habitable 

 portion of their mountainous country is being tramped 

 out, becoming crowded and too small for them and 

 their stock. Before the last Boer war General Piet 

 Joubert said to me " the Basutos will prove the factor 

 which will bring the Englishman and Boer together 

 in self defence." I have had enough of war in South 

 Africa, and devoutly hope that the day is far distant 

 when a serious native uprising will be required to 

 cement the union of the white races in South 

 Africa, which, since Joubert's has been accomplished 

 politically. 



I have lived in South Africa, since 1850 with 

 interludes of travel in Europe, Asia, America and 

 Australasia, but I shall always have a soft corner in 

 my heart for the trustful, patient, docile native, 

 both Zulu and Bechuana, or Bantu of the Transvaal. 

 I have gone through anxious times with them, many 

 have been with me for about forty years, many have 

 grown up on my properties, and on the whole I have 

 found them infinitely pleasanter to get on with than 

 the lower class of white people. It is only when 

 they get spoiled and ruined by contact with the 

 lower stratum of civilisation ; or have been taught 

 indiscreetly by ill-advised, but probably well- 

 meaning missionaries, that they become unreliable, 

 impudent and often hateful. I have an affection for 

 my old natives. I know their weaknesses and their 

 good qualities. My difficulty is to get anyone who 

 will take the trouble to understand them and treat 

 them sympathetically but with firmness, justice and 

 judgment. 



