ut their laws; but practically theirs is only the
law of the strongest. The Bechuanas could never understand the changes
which took place in their commandants. "Why, one can never know who is
the chief among these Boers. Like the Bushmen, they have no king--they
must be the Bushmen of the English." The idea that any tribe of men
could be so senseless as not to have an hereditary chief was so absurd
to these people, that, in order not to appear equally stupid, I was
obliged to tell them that we English were so anxious to preserve the
royal blood, that we had made a young lady our chief. This seemed to
them a most convincing proof of our sound sense. We shall see farther on
the confidence my account of our queen inspired.

The Boers, encouraged by the accession of Mr. Pretorius, determined at
last to put a stop to English traders going past Kolobeng, by dispersing
the tribe of Bakwains, and expelling all the missionaries. Sir George
Cathcart proclaimed the independence of the Boers, the best thing that
could have been done had they been between us and the Caffres. A treaty
was entered into with these Boers; an article for the free passage of
Englishmen to the country beyond, and also another, that no slavery
should be allowed in the independent territory, were duly inserted, as
expressive of the views of her majesty's government at home. "But what
about the missionaries?" inquired the Boers. "YOU MAY DO AS YOU PLEASE
WITH THEM," is said to have been the answer of the "Commissioner". This
remark, if uttered at all, was probably made in joke: designing men,
however, circulated it, and caused the general belief in its accuracy
which now prevails all over the country, and doubtless led to the
destruction of three mission stations immediately after. The Boers, four
hundred in number, were sent by the late Mr. Pretorius to attack the
Bakwains in 1852. Boasting that the English had given up all the blacks
into their power, and had agreed to aid them in their subjugation by
preventing all supplies of ammunition from coming into the Bechuana
country, they assaulted the Bakwains, and, besides killing a
considerable number of adults, carried off two hundred of our school
children into slavery. The natives under Sechele defended themselves
till the approach of night enabled them to flee to the mountains; and
having in that defense killed a number of the enemy, the very first
ever slain in this country by Bechuanas, I received the cred