40 THE ■ TWENTY-FIRST WAR : IN THE TRANSVAAL. 



and Sir Garnet Wolseley, having taken the chief command, advanced 

 into the Ashantee country. 



There was the usual slaughter by the Catling gun when oppor- 

 tunity afforded, especially at the Battle oi Amoaful; and eventually 

 Coomassie was reached, bombarded, and destroyed; and General 

 Wolseley, havingwon his "famous Victory," marched back again, bring- 

 ing with him spoils which realised ;^9,ooo, and King Koifee's Umbrella 

 as the principal trophy to lay at the feet of Her Majesty the Queen : a 

 Victory, which cost England the lives of many brave men, and 

 ;^i, 000,000 sterling to achieve ! 



THE TWENTY-FIRST WAR: IN THE TRANSVAAL. 



1877. 



The Transvaal has passed through many and great difficulties, and 

 the South African Republic has had a rough struggle for existence. 



There have been fierce and bloody wars between the Dutch of the 

 Transvaal and the Kaffirs for existence, in which acts of savage 

 cruelty were followed by bitter retaliation. 



There was an attempt to unite the two Republics under one 

 Government, but England interfered, and declared that such pro- 

 ceedings would annul the Conventions of 1852 and 1854. 



There was a dispute with the Criquas, and England broke the 

 Sand River Treaty. 



There had been internal dissensions, for the land was rich, and 

 of great extent, and the people few, and there was not that 

 patriotism which induces men to make great sacrifices for their 

 common country. 



Then, there were internal wars with Secoceni, and frontier wars 

 with Cetywayo, and the English Government interfering; so that 

 there is no doubt the Transvaal has passed through great difficulties, 

 and, to make matters worse, the English Government, professing that 

 it feared something might happen which would endanger the English 

 possessions at the Cape, sent, in 1877, Sir Theophilus Shepstone 

 to investigate the state of affairs, and to advise the Boers. 



There had been a clamour for annexation from the English 



