hich they may have been
contracted.

ARTICLE XVIII.

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 Native Affairs.

ARTICLE XIX.

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 XX.

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. KRUGER,
[Signed] S.J. DU TOIT,
[Signed] N.J. SMIT.

RATIFICATION BY VOLKSRAAD.

_August 8, 1884._

The Convention was ratified on August 8, 1884 by the Volksraad in a
resolution as follows: "The Volksraad having considered the new
Convention concluded between its deputation and the British Government
at London on 27th February 1884, as likewise the negotiations between
the contracting parties, which resulted in the said Convention, approves
of the standpoint taken by its deputation that a settlement based upon
the principle of the Sand River Convention can alone fully satisfy the
burghers of the Republic. It also shares the objections set forth by the
deputation against the Convention of Pretoria, as likewise their
objections against the Convention of London on the following points:--

"1st. The settlement of the boundary, especially on the western border
of the Republic, in which the deputation eventually acquiesced only
under the express