ING TO NATIVES. NATIVE MARRIAGE
LAWS. THE PASS SYSTEM. MISPLACED GOVERNMENTAL TITLES,--REPUBLIC,
EMPIRE, ETC.

The Boer policy towards the natives did not undergo any change for the
better from 1881 and onwards.

At the time of the rising of the Boers against the British Protectorate,
which culminated in the battle of Majuba Hill and the retrocession of
the Transvaal, a number of native chiefs in districts outside the
Transvaal boundary, sent to the British Commissioner for native affairs
to offer their aid to the British Government, and many of them took the
"loyals" of the Transvaal under their protection. One of these was
Montsioa, a Christian chief of the Barolong tribe. He and other chiefs
took charge of Government property and cattle during the disturbances,
and one had four or five thousand pounds in gold, the product of a
recently collected tax, given him to take care of by the Commissioner of
his district, who was afraid that the money would be seized by the
Boers. _In, every instance the property entrusted to their charge was
returned intact_. The loyalty of all the native chiefs under very trying
circumstances, is a remarkable proof of the great affection of the
Kaffirs, and more especially those of the Basuto tribes, who love peace
better than war, for the Queen's rule. I will cite one other instance
among many of the gladness with which different native races placed
themselves under the protection of the Queen.

In May, 1884, in the discharge of his office as Deputy Commissioner in
Bechuanaland, and on behalf of Her Majesty, the Queen, Mr. Mackenzie
entered into a treaty with the chief, Montsioa, by which his country
(the Barolong's country) was placed under British protection, and also
with Moshette, a neighbouring chief, who wrote a letter to Mr. Mackenzie
asking to be put under the same protection as the other Barolong.[30]

Mr. Mackenzie wrote:[31]--"Whatever may have been the feelings of
disapproval of the British Protectorate entertained by the Transvaal
people, I was left in no manner of doubt as to the joy and thankfulness
with which it was welcomed in the Barolong country itself.

"The signing of the treaty in the courtyard of Montsioa, at Mafeking, by
the chief and his headmen, was accompanied by every sign of gladness and
good feeling. The speech of the venerable chief Montsioa was very
cordial, and so cheerful in its tone as to show that he hoped and
believed that the country wo