atives of the different tribes on that side,
the Boers' land-hunger continuing to be one of their strongest passions.
The High Commissioner wrote, "If Montsioa and Mankoroane were now
absorbed, Banokwani, Makobi and Bareki would soon share the same fate.
Haseitsiwe and Sechele would come next. So long as there were native
cattle to be stolen and native lands to be taken possession of, the
absorbing process would be repeated. Tribe after tribe would be pushed
back and back upon other tribes or would perish in the process until an
uninhabitable desert or the sea were reached as the ultimate boundary of
the Transvaal State."[16]

The Manifesto presented by the Transvaal delegates to the English people
convinced no one, and its tone was calculated rather to beget suspicion.
The following is an extract from that document:

"The horrible misdeeds committed by Spain in America, by the Dutch in
the Indian Archipelago, by England in India, and by the Southern
planters in the United States, constitute an humiliating portion of the
history of mankind, over which we as Christians may well blush,
confessing with a contrite heart our common guiltiness."

"The labours of the Anti-slavery and Protection of Aborigines Societies
which have been the means of arousing the public conscience to the high
importance of this matter cannot be, according to our opinion,
sufficiently lauded and encouraged."

The manifesto then goes on to meet the charges concerning slavery and
ill-treatment of natives brought against the Transvaal by a flat denial.
"They may be true," they say, "as to actions done long ago, and they
humbly pray to the Lord God to forgive them the sins that may have been
committed in hidden corners. Believe us, therefore, Gentlemen, when we
say that the opposition to our Government is caused by prejudice, and
fed by misunderstanding. If you leave us untrammelled, we hope to God
that before a new generation has passed, a considerable portion of our
natives in the Transvaal will be converted to Christianity; at least our
Government is preparing arrangements for a more thorough Christian
mission among them."

A public Meeting was held at the Mansion House, called by the Lord
Mayor, Sir R. Fowler, at which the Right Hon. W.E. Forster, referring to
the Sand River and the other Conventions said: "can anything be more
grossly unfair and unjust than on the one hand, to hand over these
native people to the Transvaal Government, and on