as long as themselves; old men, who
had surely earned by a life of hardship and exposure an immunity from
such calls, jumped on their horses and rode without hesitation and
without provision to fight for their independence.

There were, however, unfortunately, matters connected with the war
which gave birth to a bitter and aching desire for revenge.
Bronkhorst Spruit and the murder of Captain Elliott were among the
earliest. Another was the shooting of Dr. Barbour (who was killed
instantly) and Mr. Walter Dyas (wounded) by their escort under
circumstances similar to those of the Elliott murder, with the
exception that in this case the prisoners had been released on foot
and in daylight, and were then shot down.

But there were others too. There was the murder of Green in
Lydenburg, who was called to the Boer camp, where he went unarmed and
in good faith, only to have his brains blown out by the Boer with
whom he was conversing; there was the public flogging of another
Englishman by the notorious Abel Erasmus because he was an Englishman
and had British sympathies; and there were the various white flag
incidents. At Ingogo the Boers raised the white flag, and when in
response to this General Colley ordered the hoisting of a similar
flag to indicate that it was seen, a perfect hail of lead was poured
on the position where the General stood; and it was obvious that the
hoisting of the flag was merely a ruse to ascertain where the General
and his staff were. There was the ambulance affair on Majuba, when
the Boers came upon an unarmed party bearing the wounded with the red
cross flying over them, and after asking who they were and getting a
reply, fired a volley into the group, killing Surgeon-Major Cornish.
under Commandant Cronje were guilty of actions contrary to the usages
of civilized warfare. They are matters of history, and can easily be
verified. Reference is made to them elsewhere in this volume in
connection with Commandant Cronje's action on another occasion.

And so the war left the country, as wars will, divided into two
parties, with feelings towards each other that are deplorable enough
in themselves, and not easily allayed. The curtain was rung down, and
the scene was lost to the view of the world, but the play went on all
the same behind the curtain. And this is what the new Government said
to the world on August 8, 1881, when they took over the
administration of the country:

To all inhabitants, with