tribes, or the Kafir, has practically ousted the aboriginal
yellow-skinned natives of South Africa--the Bushmen and
Hottentots), but the "coloured people," or half-castes.

Lord Milner himself declared in the House of Lords (July
31st, 1906) with reference to Mr. Churchill's statement that
the question had not been raised, to the best of his belief,
by the Boer commissioners; and that in any case there was
nothing in the Vereeniging Agreement to prevent the Crown
Colony administration of the new colonies from legislating in
respect of "coloured persons." [And _a fortiori_ in respect
of British Indians.] His words were: "The English text of the
treaty says 'natives' and does not say 'coloured people.' I
think that in the Dutch version the word 'naturellen' was
used. I venture to say that nobody familiar with the common
use of language in South Africa would hold either that
'natives' included coloured people, some of whom very much
more resemble whites than natives, or that 'naturellen'
included 'kleurlingen,' which is the universally accepted
Dutch word in South Africa for coloured people."]

[Sidenote: The last debates.]

[Sidenote: Accepting the inevitable.]

With the departure of the Boer commissioners from Pretoria the final
stage of the protracted negotiations had been reached, but it still
required three days of discussion (May 29th-31st) before the assembly
at Vereeniging could be brought to accept the inevitable. On the
morning of the 29th the delegates assembled in the tent provided by
the British military authorities, and a report of the proceedings of
the peace conferences at Pretoria, drawn up by the Boer commissioners
on the preceding evening, was read. Mr. Schalk Burger, as Acting
President of the South African Republic, then announced that the
meeting was called upon to decide which of three possible courses
should be taken--to continue the war, to accept the British terms, or
to surrender unconditionally.[341] The rest of the morning sitting,
and part of the afternoon sitting, were occupied by the delegates in
questioning the commissioners as to the meaning of the various
Articles in the Terms of Surrender. According to the understanding
between the Boer commissioners and the British authorities, the
Surrender Agreement should have been