Transvaal

When in 1864 M. Pretorius again became president the Trans vaal was suffering from the depression which at that time affected the whole of South Africa, and it had trouble with the Zulus, with the Bechuana, and with the powerful tribes in the Zoutpansberg. Schoemansdal (named after Com.-gen. Schoeman) in the Zoutpansberg, was then the most important settlement of the district. In 1867 Schoemansdal and a considerable portion of the district were abandoned on the advice of commandant-gen eral Kruger, and Schoemansdal was burnt to ashes by natives. It was not until 5869 that peace was patched up, and the settle ment arrived at left the mountain tribes in practical independence.

Meanwhile the public credit and finances of the Transvaal had gone from bad to worse. The paper notes, issued since 1865, had been constituted by law legal tender for all debts, but in 1868 their power of purchase was only 3o% compared with that of gold, and by 187o it had fallen as low as 25%. Civil servants, who were paid in this depreciated scrip, suffered considerable distress. The revenue for 1869 was stated as £31,511; the ex penditure at L30,836.

Territorial Disputes.

While the situation was very sombre there came the discovery of diamonds in Griqualand and of gold at Tati, and again the claims of the Transvaal to territorial ex pansion were put forward. Following the discoveries at Tati. Pretorius, in April 1868, issued a proclamation extending the Transvaal frontiers on the west and north so as to embrace the gold field and all Bechuanaland. The same proclamation ex tended Transvaal territory on the east so as to include part of Delagoa bay. The eastern extension claimed by Pretorius was the direct sequel to endeavours made shortly bef ore by a Scotsman from Natal (Alex. McCorkindale) to develop trade along the Maputa river. But it was also part of the old desire of the Transvaal Boers to obtain a seaport, a desire which had led them as early as 186o to treat with the Zulus for the possession of St. Lucia bay. That effort had, however, failed. And now the proclamation of Pretorius was followed by protests on the part of the British high commissioner, Sir Philip Wodehouse, as well as on the part of the consul-general for Portugal in South Africa. The boundary on the east was settled by a treaty with Portugal in 1869, the Boers abandoning their claim to Delagoa bay; that on the west was dealt with, partially, in 1871.

Disputes on the Bechuana border had been constant; they be came again prominent by the discovery of alluvial diamonds in the strip of land between the Vaal and Harts rivers, to the sovereignty of which there were rival claims. A little later the famous dry diggings on the De Beer and other farms were dis covered. They were south of the Vaal and to them the Orange

Free State laid claim. But there was a rival claimant in the Griqua chief, Nicholas Waterboer, and since 1862 the Griqua claims had been urged by his agent David Arnot, a clever Cape Colony attorney, who in the end bluffed all his opponents. The various claims including those of the Barolong Bechuana to land north of the Vaal where, as at Bloemhof, Transvaal authority was in fact exercised, were submitted to the arbitration of R. W. Keate, lieutenant-governor of Natal. His award was made in Oct. 1871, and was admittedly just on the evidence produced. It gave Waterboer all he claimed—though he had no title what ever to the diamond fields—and the Barolong, an area which the Transvaal actually held. Now Waterboer, before the arbitration court met, had offered his territory to Great Britain and it was known to all the parties that the offer would be accepted. Ac cordingly a few days after the publication of the Keate award, Sir Henry Barkly, the high commissioner, took over as British territory Waterboer's land (see GRIQUALAND). This included the triangular piece of land above the confluence of the Vaal and Harts rivers, in which diamonds had first been found. As to the land awarded to the Barolong, no steps were taken to enforce the Keate award ; the Transvaal Boers remained in possession of Bloemhof and all the farms they held—and disputes with the Bechuana continued.

President Burgers.

The award caused a strong feeling of resentment among the Transvaal burghers and led to the resigna tion of President Pretorius and most of his executive. The burghers now cast about to find a man who should have the necessary ability, as they said, to negotiate on equal terms with the British authorities should any future dispute arise. They asked President Brand of the Free State if he would come over and rule them. Brand declined, telling the Transvaalers—greatly perturbed though he was by the loss of the Kimberley diamond fields—that their true interests lay in friendship with, not in hostility to, Great Britain and the British. Having failed with Brand, the Boers invited the Rev. Thomas Francois Burgers, a member of a well-known Cape Colony family and a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church known to be of "liberal" views in theological matters, to allow himself to be nominated. Burgers accepted the offer, and in 1872 was elected president. About this time gold reefs were discovered in the Zoutpansberg district near Marabastad, and a few gold seekers from Europe and Cape Colony began to prospect the northern portions of the Transvaal. The miners and prospectors did not, however, exceed a few hun dred for several years.