To have a pronounced decision in conformity with this would have produced a revolution. Moreover, blacks and whites were on an equality in the eyes of the law, but the whites firmly set their faces against purchase of claims by natives, and to have attempted to carry out this principle against the will of 5000 determined diggers, well armed and accustomed to deeds of violence, would have required a small army.

In the Free States, six miles distant, there was no such difficulty. There no native could hold land or other property. All blacks can be sent to the field cornet and receive a round dozen or so on vague charges and unsupported assertion, a justice which the diggers complained could not be meted out on British soil. Many wished that the British flag should be hauled down, for one with "Why should not every man whop his nigger?'

Moreover, niggers who were allowed to work for themselves at the poor or worthless mines used to work for masters at the richer ones, secreting diamonds there, carrying them off to the poorer mines and pretend to find them.

In the spring of 1875 the discontent of the diggers grew dangerous. They proposed either to join the Free State Republic, where every man could thrash his nigger as he liked, or to haul down the British flag and form a Republic on their own principles. They formed a Diggers' Association and held secret meetings.

It is said that in April these would-be rebels numbered from 600 to 700 men, all armed, and formed into companies, battalions, and squadrons of cavalry. They drilled openly under German and Irish Fenian officers.

They resisted the arrest of a man, who was sent to gaol for purchasing arms without a licence, and a scene occurred in front of the public offices, which, by mere accident, did not end in bloodshed.

The Lieutenant-Governor then thought it was high time to interfere. The uncertainty at Cape Town regarding the real

XIX.] EXPEDITION AGAINST DIGGERS' REPUBLIC,

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state of affairs caused some delay in sending up the troops, but the Governor finally requested me to dispatch a force.

I directed that it should consist of 250 infantry, 40 mounted infantry and two Armstrong guns, with 25 Royal Artillery

men.

Having no cavalry at my command, and no horses, my first care was to supply the deficiency, by mounting 40 men of the 24th Regiment, and to purchase horses for them and for the two guns.

These measures caused some amusement at the time, as it was supposed by those who were ignorant of military affairs, that infantry soldiers could never be turned into cavalry.

My experience has always shown me that picked officers and men from foot regiments can in a very short time be turned into mounted riflemen of the very best desciption.

In the meantime very reliable information was received that the associates had procured two Armstrong guns, and that they had stated their intention of meeting the Imperial troops on the river Modder, and disputing the passage.

This was the exact state of things when I left Cape Town on May 25th. The Governor, placing the most serious responsibilities upon me, at the same time gave me the fullest latitude of action in confidential instructions. The distance we had to

march was about 700 miles.

The most direct route from Cape Town is through the Karoo, a tract of country covered with very little else than stones, with scarcely any water, and no wood except the Karoo bushes. The accounts which I received from those who were considered the most intelligent men in Cape Town were appalling. It was said that I could not move troops through this district, that they would die by the road of starvation and want of water, and that the expedition would collapse.

I always found that there were two parties at the Cape, one who declared that there was no danger or difficulty in any

undertaking whatever, and the other who magnified every molehill into a mountain.

It is true that a march of 700 miles through a wild country requires prudence, especially when economy has to be studied. Of course, anything can be done with money, the difficulty being to do it when your means are limited.

The usual and much the least costly mode of conveyance of the supplies of a force in South Africa is by bullock waggons. They proceed easily at the same rate as the men can march, but in the present case, two obstacles presented themselves to this mode of conveyance. No bullock could live in the

Karoo for want of grass to eat and water to drink. It was requisite that the troops should move quickly, their presence being required immediately at the Diamond Fields, and twenty or thirty miles had frequently to be got over in the day, otherwise the troops would have had no water.

The difficulty was to obtain transport. As soon as it was known that we desired mule waggons, the prices rose to a most exorbitant height. Finally, however, we made arrangements for 10 mule waggons with 10 mules in each for the first party of 100 men, and 23 waggons with an equal proportion of mules for the second party of 230 men. Each waggon was hired at about 77. 10s. per day, the mules to be fed by the owners. When the high rate of freight is considered, the bargain was by no means a bad one. Each waggon was calculated to carry

6000 lbs. weight besides forage.

For the conveyance of myself, staff, servants, and baggage, I hired a spring waggon with eight horses and a cart with four horses.

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CHAPTER XX.

START FOR THE DIAMOND FIELDS.

On the morning of the 25th of May we arrived at Wellington, seventy miles distant, going ourselves that distance by rail.

The line of railway was progressing very satisfactorily, the colony being rich and the money readily forthcoming. The sale of spirits to the black man as well as to the white was sad to witness. Fights, in which the English navvies took an active part, continually occurred. The Dutch Boers could not understand who these strong men were, or from whence they came. They said they had heard of many countries, but to what country did the navvies belong? What a terrible nation they must be!

For conducting each of our waggons two men were required; one to hold the reins and work the break, the other to use the whip, by means of which alone the horses are guided. It exactly resembles a seventeen-foot salmon rod, and is used with all the practised dexterity of a first-rate fly-fisher; its pointed thong of hide being, by the skill of the driver, placed exactly on the selected tender spot of any of the eight horses of the team. To the waggon was attached a little boy, whom we called Flibberty Gibbet, who was curiously dressed. Beneath an old English tall pot he wore a coarse red nightcap, with a yellow border. His face was black, his coat dark red, he had short blue breeches and shining black legs, hardly distinguishable from black silk stockings.

At Wellington we found the waggon packed and waiting for

N

us, and placing our light baggage in it, we were soon upon our road to the interior.

The first part of the road immediately on leaving Wellington is up a very high mountain, by a gorge called Baine's Kloof. There a large body of convicts were employed for some years in cutting a passage through the rocks, and have accomplished a very satisfactory result. The railroad now in progress circles round the mountain through which this road is made, joining it in the valley beyond. When finished, this piece of work will probably be allowed to go to ruins.

This was the fate which was predicted by the landlord of the small inn at Darling, immediately below. He was considering what repairs he should execute on his house, so that it might last the exact time required, before the railway was finished so far, when, as he stated, he should "skedaddle.”

Arrived at Darling, we outspanned horses for a short rest, and subsequently trotting merrily along, we reached Worcester, forty miles from Wellington, by 7 P.M.

During our journey shelter was not unfrequently refused. When it was granted, 17. was generally demanded for the use of the mud floor of a cabin for the night, with a small amount of firewood.

At Constable we came to a sort of oasis in the desert Karoo. The landlord had let four waggons to the service, receiving 327. per day for them with their thirty-two mules, but including their feed and the payment of the drivers.

The feelings with which some of the Dutch Boers regarded the expedition were singular enough. They pitied the soldiers, who they said were destined never to return, as they would all be killed by the Dutchmen of the Free State and the Transvaal. We endeavoured to explain to them that it was not our intention to go into the Free State, or near the Transvaal, but nothing could make them believe us. As far as truth is concerned, morality in South Africa is at the