"`In the conduct which was pursued towards the Kafir nation by the
colonists and the public authorities of the colony, through a long
series of years, the Kafirs had ample justification of the late war;
they had to resent, and endeavour justly, though impotently, to avenge a
series of encroachments; they had a perfect right to hazard the
experiment, however hopeless, of extorting by force that redress which
they could not expect otherwise to obtain, and the claim of sovereignty
over the new province must be renounced. It rests upon a conquest
resulting from a war in which, as far as I am at present enabled to
judge, the original justice is on the side of the conquered, not of the
victorious party.'"
"Mark that!" cried Conrad, starting to his feet when Hans had finished,
and speaking loud, as if he were addressing the assembled colony instead
of the amazed members of his own family,--"mark that: `_the claim of
sovereignty over the new province must be renounced_.' So it seems that
the Kafirs are not only to be patted on the back for having acted the
part of cattle-lifters for years, but are to be invited back to their
old haunts to begin the work over again and necessitate another war."
He stopped abruptly, as if to check words that ought not to be uttered.
There was a momentary silence in the group as they looked at each other.
It was broken by Conrad saying to his youngest son, in a voice of
forced calmness--
"Go, lad, get me a fresh horse. I will rouse the Dutch-African farmers
all over the colony. The land is too hot to hold us. We cannot hope to
find rest under the Union Jack!"
We can sympathise strongly with the violent indignation of the honest
Dutchman, for, in good truth, not only he and his kindred, but all the
people of the colony, were most unjustly blamed and unfairly treated by
the Government of that day. Nevertheless Conrad was wrong about the
Union Jack. The wisest of plans are open to the insidious entrance of
error. The fairest flag may be stained, by unworthy bearers, with
occasional prostitution. A Secretary of State is not the British
nation, nor is he even, at all times, a true representative of British
feeling. Many a deed of folly, and sometimes of darkness, has unhappily
been perpetrated under the protection of the Union Jack, but that does
not alter the great historical fact, that truth, justice, fair-play, and
freedom have flourished longer and better under its ample folds than
under any other flag that flies on the face of the whole earth.
But Conrad Marais was not in a position to consider this just then. The
boy who is writhing under the lash of a temporarily insane father, is
not in a position to reflect that, in the main, his father is, or means
to be, just, kind, loving, and true. Conrad bolted a hasty supper,
mounted the fresh steed, and galloped away to rouse his kindred. And he
proved nearly as good as his word. He roused many of them to join him
in his intended expatriation, and many more did not need rousing. Some
had brooded over their wrongs until they began to smoulder, and when
they were told that the _unprovoked_ raid of the Kafir thieves was
deemed justifiable by the Government which _ought_ to have protected
their frontier, but had left them to _protect themselves_, the fire
burst into a flame, and the great exodus began in earnest. Thus, a
second time, did Conrad and his family, with many others, take to the
wilderness. On this occasion the party included Hans and Charlie
Considine, with their families.
There was still wanting, however, that last straw which renders a burden
intolerable. It was laid on at the time when slavery was abolished.
The Abolition Act was carried into effect on the 1st December 1834, at
which time the accursed system of slavery was virtually brought to an
end in the colony, though the slaves were not finally freed from all
control till 1838. But the glory of this noble work was sullied not a
little by the unjust manner in which, during these four years, the
details relative to the payment of compensation to slave-owners were
carried out. We cannot afford space here to go into these details.
Suffice it to say that, as one of the consequences, many families in the
colony were ruined, and a powerful impulse was given to the exodus,
which had already begun. The leading Dutch-African families in
Oliphant's Hock, Gamtoos River, along the Fish River, and Somerset, sold
their farms--in many cases at heavy loss, or for merely nominal sums--
crossed the border, and bade a final adieu to the land of their fathers.
These were followed by other bands, among whom were men of wealth and
education, from Graaff-Reinet, Uitenhage, and Albany, until a mighty
host had hived off into the far north. Through many a month of toil and
trouble did this host pass while traversing the land of the savage in
scattered bands. Many a sad reverse befell them. Some were attacked
and cut off; some defended themselves with heroism and passed on,
defying the Kafirs to arrest their progress, until at last they reached
the distant lands on which their hearts were set--and there they settled
down to plough and sow, to reap and hunt and build, but always with arms
at hand, for the savage was ever on the watch to take them at a
disadvantage or unawares.
Thus were laid the foundations of the colony of Natal, the Orange Free
State, and the Transvaal Republic.
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Note 1. The war of 1884-6 cost the Treasury 800,000 pounds, and the
colonists lost in houses, stock, etcetera, 288,625 pounds.