y concerned such a step would appear as a confession of
weakness, of infirmity of purpose, and of disregard for solemn
pledges and obligations, which would destroy all respect, all wish
to belong to a Government which could so behave."

In writing to Sir M. Hicks Beach, in December 1879, Sir Bartle gave
his personal impression of the feeling in Pretoria at the time of
the annexation:--

"When our power of enforcing the law and upholding the authority of
Government were at the lowest, in April last, ... experienced men
at Pretoria gave me, through Colonel Lanyon, the following estimate
of the strength of parties in the malcontent camp. The educated and
intelligent men of influence, who advocated the most extreme
measures, or were prepared to acquiesce in them, were reckoned at
not more than eight. Three, or perhaps four, were men of property
in the Transvaal; the rest foreign adventurers, with no property
and little weight beyond that due to their skill as political
agitators. Their unflinching and uncompromising followers in the
Boer camp were not reckoned at more than eighty. The disaffected
waverers who, according to circumstances, would follow the majority
either to acts of overt resistance to Government and lawless
violence, or to grumble and disperse, 'accepting the inevitable,'
were reckoned at about eight hundred at the outside. The rest of
the camp, variously estimated as containing from sixteen hundred to
four thousand in all, but probably never exceeding two thousand
five hundred present at one time, were men brought to the camp by
intimidation, compulsion, or curiosity, who would not willingly
resist the authority of Government, and would, if assured of
protection, prefer to side with it."

Viewed in the light of later events, these opinions are extremely
interesting and cannot be disregarded.

[Illustration: OFFICER of the 16th LANCERS.

Photo by Gregory and Co., London.]

Before passing on, it is necessary to state that during the period
from 1878 to 1879, the native chief Sekukuni--Cetchwayo's dog, as
the blacks called him--had become obstreperous. He had been engaged
in raids into the Transvaal--raids of the same character as those
which, as has been already mentioned, had helped to bring about the
collapse of the Republic. Colonel Rowland's expedition, which
started in November 1878 for the sup