t be given to complete this view of the
circumstances in which the conference met. It was written on May 9th,
1899--that is to say, on the day on which Mr. Hofmeyr proposed to Lord
Milner that he should accept President Steyn's good offices to arrange
the conference with President Krueger. It is addressed to President
Steyn, and, translated, runs as follows:

"DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
"GOVERNMENT OFFICES, PRETORIA.
"_May 9th_, 1899.

"DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,--

"I am sorry that I could not earlier fulfil my promise as to the
ammunition. The reason of it is that his honour the
Commandant-General [General Joubert] was away, and I could
consequently not get the desired information earlier.

"The General says that he has 15 to 20 (twenty) million Mauser
and 10 to 12 million Martini-Henry cartridges, and if needed will
be able to supply you with any of either sort.

"On that score your Excellency can accordingly be at rest.

"The situation looks very dark indeed, although nothing is as yet
officially known to us. I trust that some change may still come
in it through your proposed plan. The copies _re_ dynamite will
be sent to you at the earliest opportunity. With best greeting,

"Your humble servant and friend,
"P. GROEBLER."[69]

[Footnote 69: The original of this letter is now in the
possession of Mr. E. B. Iwan Mueller, by whom it was published
in his work, _Lord Milner and South Africa_. The translation
is that of the Department of Military Intelligence.]

The Cape nationalists had asked the Republics to "play for time,"
because they believed that, with the return of the Liberal party to
power in England, it would be possible to achieve the aims of their
policy without the risk of a conflict in arms. The Republics were
"playing for time," but in another sense. They were waiting until
their military preparations were sufficiently complete to allow them
to defy the British Government.

[Sidenote: The Bloemfontein conference.]

It was in these circumstances that the High Commissioner met President
Krueger in conference at Bloemfontein (May 31st--June 5th). He was
accompanied only by his staff: Mr. G. V. Fiddes (Imperial Secretary),
Mr. M. S. O. Walrond (Private Secretary), Colonel Hanbury Wil