the question, and a serious one, too. When
the Free State burghers were called to the border, and war was
actually declared, they feared that they would return to their homes
only to find that their wives and children had been murdered, their
cattle stolen, and their property burnt to the ground. This new and
terrible danger came from Basutoland. The Basutos have a grudge
against the Boers, and they were only waiting an opportunity to wipe
out that grudge for ever. They are a warlike race, they are well
supplied with arms, and their horsemanship is notorious. They like the
Englishman, but they look upon the Boer as something to wipe off the
face of the earth. Of course, their discrimination between English and
Dutch when the time comes for them to take action, if it ever does
come, will not save the Englishmen in the Free State.

The Basuto question may not have escaped the notice of the Volksraad
in their anxiety to assist their brethren in the Transvaal, but their
action would seem to indicate that it had. Had they been wise, they
would have left their sister country to settle its own affairs, and
have looked nearer home for something to do; but this view, although
now too late, may already have engaged their attention.

Apart from the Government of the country, it may be interesting to
reflect upon the opinions of the burghers themselves, i.e., the Dutch
burghers. The majority of the young men originally favoured the action
of the Volksraad. They had not tasted war; they had only heard about
it; and their contempt for the English race generally suggested a
trial. Their enthusiasm was undoubtedly great, and the idea of lending
a helping-hand to another country evidently fascinated them. But their
elders have now come to look upon interference as bad policy, and they
dread the possibility of handing over their possessions to the wily
Basuto. The feelings of the Free State Boers towards their English
friends were scarcely so vindictive as in the Transvaal, but perhaps
that is because there are no gold mines in the Free State.

CHAPTER V

It must not be supposed that the intelligent Boer is non-existent;
but, as I have said, he is in the minority. He reads the newspapers,
and he has a great deal to say on both sides. He has very few personal
prejudices; his whole concern is concentrated in a desire to further
the progress of the country. His mind is developed; he does not regard
the Englishman as an interlop