Republic to Her Majesty's Government will bear interest at the rate of 32 per cent., from the date of the ratification of this Convention, and shall be repayable by a payment for interest and Sinking Fund of £6 os. 9d. per 100 per annum, which will extinguish the debt in twenty-five years. The said payment of £6 os. 9d. per 100 shall be payable half-yearly, in British currency, at the close of each half-year from the date of such ratification: Provided always that the South African Republic shall be at liberty at the close of any half-year to pay off the whole or any portion of the outstanding debt.

'Interest at the rate of 31⁄2 per cent. on the debt standing under the Convention of Pretoria shall as heretofore be paid to the date of the ratification of this Convention.

ARTICLE 7.—All persons who held property in the Transvaal on the 8th day of August, 1881, and still hold the same, will continue to enjoy the rights of property which they have enjoyed since the 12th April, 1877. No person who has remained loyal to Her Majesty during the late hostilities shall suffer any molestation by reason of his loyalty; or be liable to any criminal prosecution or civil action for any part taken in connection with such hostilities; and all such persons will have full liberty to reside in the country, with enjoyment of all civil rights, and protection for their persons and property.

ARTICLE 8.-The South African Republic renews the declaration made in the Sand River Convention, and in the Convention of Pretoria, that no slavery or apprenticeship partaking of slavery will be tolerated by the Government of the said Republic.

ARTICLE 9.-There will continue to be complete freedom of religion and protection from molestation for all denominations, provided the same be not inconsistent with morality and good order; and no disability shall attach to any person in regard to rights of property by reason of the religious opinions which he holds.

ARTICLE 10.—The British Officer appointed to reside in the South African Republic will receive every assistance from the Government of the said Republic in making due provision for the proper care and preservation of the graves of such of Her Majesty's Forces as have died in the Transvaal; and, if need be, for the appropriation of land for the purpose.

ARTICLE II.-All grants or titles issued at any time by the

Transvaal Government in respect of land outside the boundary of the South African Republic, as defined in Article 1, shall be considered invalid and of no effect, except in so far as any such grant or title relates to land that falls within the boundary of the South African Republic; and all persons holding any such grant so considered invalid and of no effect will receive from the Government of the South African Republic such compensation, either in land or in money, as the Volksraad shall determine. In all cases in which any Native Chiefs or other authorities outside the said boundaries have received any adequate consideration from the Government of the South African Republic for land excluded from the Transvaal by the first Article of this Convention, or where permanent improvements have been made on the land, the High Commissioner will recover from the native authorities fair compensation for the loss of the land thus excluded, or of the permanent improvements thereon.

ARTICLE 12.-The independence of the Swazis, within the boundary line of Swaziland, as indicated in the first Article of this Convention, will be fully recognised.

ARTICLE 13.-Except in pursuance of any treaty or engagement made as provided in Article 4 of this Convention, no other or higher duties shall be imposed on the importation into the South African Republic of any article coming from any part of Her Majesty's dominions than are or may be imposed on the like article coming from any other place or country; nor will any prohibition be maintained or imposed on the importation into the South African Republic of any article coming from any part of Her Majesty's dominions which shall not equally extend to the like article coming from any other place or country. And in like manner the same treatment shall be given to any article coming to Great Britain from the South African Republic as to the like article coming from any other place or country.

These provisions do not preclude the consideration of special arrangements as to import duties and commercial relations between the South African Republic and any of Her Majesty's colonies or possessions.

ARTICLE 14.-All persons, other than natives, conforming themselves to the laws of the South African Republic (a) will have full liberty, with their families, to enter, travel, or reside in any part of the South African Republic; (b) they will be entitled to hire or

possess houses, manufactories, warehouses, shops, and premises; (c) they may carry on their commerce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to employ; (d) they will not be subject, in respect of their persons or property, or in respect of their commerce or industry, to any taxes, whether general or local, other than those which are or may be imposed upon citizens of the said Republic.

ARTICLE 15.-All persons, other than natives, who established their domicile in the Transvaal between the 12th day of April, 1877, and the 8th Angust, 1881, and who within twelve months after such last-mentioned date have had their names registered by the British Resident, shall be exempt from all compulsory military service whatever.

ARTICLE 16.—Provision shall hereafter be made by a separate instrument for the mutual extradition of criminals, and also for the surrender of deserters from Her Majesty's Forces.

ARTICLE 17.—All debts contracted between the 12th April, 1877, and the 8th August, 1881, will be payable in the same currency in which they may have been contracted.

ARTICLE 18.—No grants of land which may have been made, and no transfers or mortgages which may have been passed between the 12th April, 1877, and the 8th August, 1881, will be invalidated by reason merely of their having been made or passed between such dates.

All transfers to the British Secretary for Native Affairs in trust for natives will remain in force, an officer of the South African Republic taking the place of such Secretary for the Native Affairs.

ARTICLE 19.—The Government of the South African Republic will engage faithfully to fulfil the assurances given, in accordance with the laws of the South African Republic, to the natives at the Pretoria Pitso by the Royal Commission in the presence of the Triumvirate, and with their entire assent (1) as to the freedom of the natives to buy or otherwise acquire land under certain conditions; (2) as to the appointment of a commission to mark out native locations; (3) as to the access of the natives to the courts of law; and (4) as to their being allowed to move freely within the country, or to leave it for any legal purpose, under a pass system.

ARTICLE 20.—This Convention will be ratified by a Volksraad

of the South African Republic within the period of six months after its execution, and in default of such ratification this Convention shall be null and void.

Signed in duplicate in London this 27th day of February, 1884.

(Signed) HERCULES ROBINSON. (Signed) S. J. P. KRÜGER.

(Signed) S. J. DU TOIT.

(Signed) M. J. SMIT.

APPENDIX IX.

LORD METHUEN'S REPORT ON THE BATTLE OF

MAAGHERSFONTEIN.

THE following summary of Lord Methuen's despatch, from the pages of the Daily Telegraph of March 17th, should be read in connection with the Chapter on the Battle of Maaghersfontein :

In a despatch dated February 15th, Lord Methuen describes the action of Maaghersfontein, or Majesfontein. He explains that the enemy had intrenched a very strong position running north-west, and including a three-mile long kopje on the north.

"So long as this kopje, named Majesfontein, remained in possession of the enemy, I did not feel justified with my small force in marching up the Modder River, for my line of communication would have been in danger, and my transport could only carry five days' provisions. Had I marched round by Jacobsdal to Brown's Drift, I should have had to fight my way across the river in the face of a mobile force consisting of 16,000 men."

Lord Methuen hoped to crush the enemy at one blow by attacking the Maaghersfontein Kopje, and for two hours on December Ioth the kopje was bombarded with all the guns, including the naval 4.7 inch. The General describes in detail his anticipation that great destruction would be done, especially by lyddite, and ordered the Highland Brigade, supported by all the guns, and with their right and rear protected by the Guards' Brigade, to assault the southern end of the kopje, consisting of a high hill, after midnight the following morning. The first misfortune was the accidental discharge of two rifles and the flashes from a lantern, "which gave the enemy pretty timely notice of the march." General Wauchope arranged all the details of the advance. “The brigade was to march in mass of quarter columns, the four battalions keeping touch, and if necessary ropes were to be used