y
into the region north of the Orange River, later spreading east as far
as the coast in what is now "Natal," the whole region then bearing the
significant title: "The Orange Free State."

{176}

In the terms of the purchase, in 1814, not a word had been said about
this _Hinterland_, the vast region stretching indefinitely towards the
north; and here was the germ of all the trouble that was to come.
Through an oversight there existed a serious flaw in the British title,
which would severely tax statesmanship, diplomacy, and perhaps strain
national morality to the breaking point. Had this people the right, or
had they not the right to plant a State bearing a foreign flag, which
should effectually bar the path to the north? Should the English
Government allow a people fiercely antagonistic to itself to build up
an unfriendly State on its border? Such were the questions which arose
then, and which have been variously answered since, depending upon the
point of view.

If the question had been what _would_ happen, there would have been
greater unanimity in the replies! And, it must be acknowledged,
however uncertain the claim to this disputed region, that the interests
of civilization were more to be subserved by {177} British than by
Dutch Sovereignty in South Africa.

The policies of these two people were absolutely opposed; and it was
upon the question of the emancipation of the slaves, at the time of the
Emancipation Act, in 1835, that the final rupture and secession took
place. These slaves constituted a large part of the property of the
Boers; and great was their indignation when they were compelled to
accept from the British Government a compensation for their property so
far below their own appraisal of its value that it seemed to them a
confiscation.

Then it was that they resolved to break away from their oppressors, and
go where they could make their own laws, and follow their own ideals of
right and wrong. And so they turned their backs upon the scene of
their long toil.

In this strange exodus not the least important person, though
unobserved then, was a sturdy little fellow ten years old,
energetically doing his part in rounding up the cattle and flocks as he
trudged along beside the {178} huge oxcarts. His name was Paul
Stephanus Kruger. And this little man also took his first lesson in
military exploits when one hundred and thirty-five Boer farmers, by
ingenious use of horses and rifles, put