"The Boers were forced to retire, but only to face more troubles. To
live in idleness and ease is not to make the wherewithal with which to
support a government. Their public money ran out, their coffers were
empty, and hordes of natives pressed upon their borders.

"In this predicament, when only 12 shillings 6 pence remained to their
credit, the British Government stepped in again, for we could not afford
to allow the Zulus to become possessed of land close to our colonies,
and on April 12th, 1877, Sir Theophilus Shepstone annexed the Transvaal.
Troops were despatched against Sekukuni, and he was beaten; and to
follow it up, we entered upon hostilities with the Zulus, the hereditary
foe of the Boers, and after some terribly trying work, broke the power
of the notorious Cetewayo. Rorke's Drift and Ulundi are names which
will never be forgotten at home, and Isandhlwana will for ever be spoken
of with bated breath.

"After annexing the country we garrisoned the different towns, and all
went well for a time. But, though the better-educated Boers had looked
kindly at our government, the ignorant, narrow-minded, and pig-headed
peasants thought only of their independence. Once the much-feared Zulus
had been crushed, their debts paid, and their finances put in order,
they forgot their gratitude to us, and longed to be free again. And,
mind you, my boys, they did not shout or brawl about it. They worked
sullenly and in secret, as a result of which they determined upon revolt
against their English masters.

"They elected a provisional Boer Government, with Kruger, Joubert, and
Pretorius at the head, and opened their rebellion by attacking a convoy
and escort of our soldiers from Lydenburg to Pretoria at Bronkers
Spruit.

"It was a detestable affair. They ordered Colonel Anstruther, who was
in command, to halt and turn back. He persisted in obeying his orders,
and in a moment, from the hills around, the Boers poured in a terrific
fusilade, picking off officers first and men last like so many sheep.
The remainder they took prisoners, compelling them to take the places of
the slaughtered oxen and drag the wagons to Pretoria.

"To cap all this they foully murdered Captain Elliot, one of two
officers to whom they had given permission to leave the country, and
whom they drove into the river Vaal when in flood, pouring volleys into
them as they struggled in the water.

"And now to tell you of my own part in the affair,"