they could not realise
it. The Bible spoke of slavery, and that was good enough for them.

"Well, my boys, we now come to the last trek. England took over the
Orange Free State, and the Boers only gave it up after a stern conflict
at Boomplaats, in which they were beaten. With Pretorius, their leader,
they took their wagons and horses, and pushed on in a northerly
direction till they were beyond the 25th degree south latitude. Here
they settled once more, and those hardy pioneers, amongst whom I believe
was President Kruger, are the oldest white inhabitants of this the South
African Republic. At last they were in a country all their own. They
chose the members of their Volksraad, and promptly scattered to lay out
their farms, and commence that life of simple ease for which their
hearts had longed.

"At the same time, too, the English Government handed over the Orange
Free State to the settlers there, and the two young Republics started
into being, the one with Mr Boshof as president, and the other with
Pretorius.

"There you have the history of our neighbours. But before passing on to
tell you about the first Boer war, in which I myself took a part, I must
mention that the Basutos, who have their country wedged as it were into
the Free State, had constant conflicts with the Boers. They are now
happy and contented under our own rule, but they bear an undying hatred
for their neighbours which at any time may lead to further troubles.

"And now, my boys, to get to more recent times, that is to say, the past
twenty years or so. We have, as I have endeavoured to show you, two
Boer republics adjacent to one another, and only sparsely populated.
South of them are Cape Colony and Natal, also populated by Dutchmen and
blood relations of the Boers, while amongst them are many British
settlers.

"I have told you how our neighbours dealt with their native servants.
Now that they had been given their independence they were free to do as
they liked, save that slavery would not have been permitted. But, to
the Boer, native labour is everything. His one aim and object in life
is to live at peace with all the world, to possess vast stretches of
country which shall be all his own, and in the heart of which he may
bury himself away from the world, troubling only to till by means of
native servants sufficient land to supply his wants, and devoting
himself to the rearing of cattle. His daily routine of life since
independe