was laid. By 1865 the ostrich-the wildest of birds-had been tamed but not domesticated; but in 1869 Mr Arthur Douglass of Albany perfected his artificial incubator, and under the stimulus of this invention, the export of ostrich feathers rose in a single year from 17,000 lbs. to 28,000 lbs.

The missionaries, too, were at work. Moffat was established at Kuruman, Livingstone was exploring regions beyond the reach of his enemies the emigrant Boers, and demanded at this early period the free navigation of the Zambesi. And in 1841 the Kafir College of Lovedale, perhaps the most important individual agency for civilisation in South Africa, was founded by Govan.

All this time the earth was waiting to reveal her treasures. The ample stores of coal in the Transvaal and Natal remained unharvested; the golden reefs of the Randt Basin were as yet untouched by the prospector's hammer; the diamonds of Kimberley lay close packed in the blue earth of their volcanic pipes in a despised corner of the Free State. In a word, the Cinderella of the Empire had not yet been visited by her fairy godmother.

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CHAPTER III.

SIR BARTLE FRERE AND CONFEDERATION.

T the end of the period 1806-1854, the Imperial Government had arrived at two conclusions with regard to the future administration of South Africa. In the first place they had decided to restrict their administration to the limits of the Cape Colony, Natal, and British Kaffraria. In the next, they had determined to give to the colonists a larger share in the management of their affairs, and in 1853 a Parliament, with two representative chambers, was established at Capetown. It is with this last decision that we must connect the appointment of such a governor as Sir George Grey ;a governor, that is to say, who was qualified not by military experience, but by a capacity for administration, in part natural and in part acquired during the discharge of the duties of that office in South Australia and New Zealand.

The period of Sir George Grey's administration, lasting from 1854 to 1862-for he was recalled and reinstated— is remarkable in many respects. We will select two. He originated a method of dealing with the Kafirs which was at once more effective and more humane (Note 9), and he formed a remarkable forecast of the future history of South Africa. In condemning the policy of non-intervention, and the consequent dismemberment of South Africa, he foresaw two important movements—that the Bantu would one day be tempted by the separation and apparent weakness of the Europeans to contest the

supremacy of race, and that, in the event of a second conflict between the Imperial Government and the Dutch population, the strength of the resistance to be encountered would be measured, not by the conditions of the Dutch within the colony, but by those of their more strenuous and independent kinsmen. Sir George Grey not only foresaw these dangers, but he suggested appropriate remedies. He recognised the danger of leaving the growing Zulu people in utter barbarism, and he therefore recommended that European residents and magistrates should be introduced among them as well as among the Kafirs. He recognised that the attitude of the whole Dutch population in South Africa would be determined by that of the independent States, and he therefore proposed to bring back these States within the sphere of Imperial control by uniting them to the British Colonies in a federal tie (Note 10). Had these suggestions been carried out, England might have been saved the disaster of Isandlhwana and the disgrace of Majuba Hill.

As it was, the Imperial Government maintained their policy of non-intervention with fair consistency for the next fifteen years. During this period, partly owing to the improved methods of dealing with the Kafirs, introduced by Sir George Grey, and partly owing to the weakening of the warlike Amakosa clans-the Gaikas and Galekas-by the extraordinary self-destruction which took place in the year 1857, there was no outbreak on the eastern border (Note 1). During this period, too, the colonists made slow but steady progress, the sort of progress which is typified by the ox-waggon, the national vehicle of South Africa. But though this progress was slow, it was real enough to justify the Imperial Government in contemplating the extension to the Cape Colony of that full parliamentary freedom which they had already granted fifteen years ago to the Pacific Colonies and in 1869 Sir Henry Barkly was appointed

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Governor and instructed to carry through the measures necessary for the introduction of responsible government. The new constitution was at length proclaimed on the 29th of November 1872. But before this date an event had occurred which very materially altered the attitude of England to South Africa. This event was the discovery of diamonds in 1869, and the subsequent establishment of the diamond industry at Kimberley in 1870. The non - intervention policy was at once abandoned. 1871, British authority was proclaimed over the diamond fields, together with a large district to the north of the Orange and the Vaal Rivers, and the new territory was named Griqualand West. By this action the Imperial Government were brought into conflict with both of the Boer States. The Government of the South African Republic protested that the proclamation of British authority over so much of Griqualand West as was north of the Vaal River was a contravention of the third Article of the Sand River convention

"Her Majesty's Assistant Commissioners hereby disclaim all alliances whatever, and with whomsoever, of the coloured tribes to the north of the Vaal River."

The Free State Government declared that the actual diamond fields, the district enclosed between the fork of the Vaal and Orange Rivers, was part of their territory, and had in fact been part of the original "sovereignty" as proclaimed by Sir Harry Smith in 1848.

The dispute with the South African Republic was referred to arbitration. A commission was appointed, over which Mr Keate, the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, presided. The Keate Award was in favour of the Imperial Government. The Volksraad thereupon repudiated the engagement to abide by the result of that award which had been made on its behalf by President Pretorius, and Pretorius resigned. The matter was then left in abeyance, and the question of the delimitation of the south

west boundary of the South African Republic was not finally settled until the provisions of the convention of London were enforced by the Bechuanaland expedition of 1885. To the Free State Government it was replied that the land in question had been acquired by purchase from a Griqua chief, Waterboer by name; and the Free State protested and withdrew. Subsequently, however, a land court was established in Griqualand West, and the claims of individual owners were subjected to legal scrutiny. It was then discovered that the title of Waterboer to the diamond fields was bad; for all claims to land based upon grants made by Waterboer were rejected by this Court. President Brand then proceeded to London, to lay his case before the Colonial Office. It was a simple case. The Imperial Government had based their right to the diamond fields upon Waterboer's grant. It had been held by a British Court of Justice that Waterboer's title to the land was bad, and therefore, since no vendor can give his purchaser a better title than that which he himself possesses, the title of the Imperial Government was equally bad. Then the Colonial Office produced a new argument. They reverted to the position which England had held in South Africa before the Sand River and the Bloemfontein conventions. They declared that the Imperial Government, as the supreme authority in South Africa, had the right to interfere in the affairs of these otherwise independent communities when the safety or well-being of South Africa as a whole required such interference. At the same time Lord Carnarvon, who was then Colonial Secretary, recognised that the Free State had a grievance, and he arranged a compromise. Ultimately a sum of over £100,000 was paid to the Free State Government by way of compensation.

Now, although this principle, that the responsibility of England as paramount power must be accompanied by