ied for a grant of
the Chief Justiceship. What chance the unfortunate native had in such
a condition of things can be imagined. The Transvaal bought up all
the concessions necessary to make government of the country
absolutely impossible, except with their cooperation. The secret
service fund of the Republic provided means for making the
representatives of the Swazi nation see things in a reasonable light,
so that when the time came to investigate the title to concessions
and to arrange for the future administration of the country the
result was a foregone conclusion. The judge appointed by the Imperial
Government on the Special Joint Commission to inquire into the
concessions and matters in general let some light on the manner in
which these concessions were acquired and granted, by pertinent
questions to the concessionaires and interpreters. He asked, for
instance, 'Do you swear that you interpreted this document verbatim
to the king?'--'Yes.' 'Will you kindly tell to the Court what is the
or how you interpreted and explained the significance of the
"survey," "mint," "revenue," and "townships" concessions?'

The picture of the obese and drunken chief surrounded by fawning
harpies was a shameful and disgusting one. One example is sufficient
to show how the thing was done. A concession for gambling was applied
for. The man who interpreted knew a smattering of 'kitchen' Kaffir,
and his rendering of the 'monopoly for billiards, card playing,
lotteries, and games of chance' was that he alone should be allowed
to '_tchia ma-ball_ (hit the balls), _hlala ma-paper_ (play the
papers), and _tata zonki mali_ (and take all the money).' The poor
drunken king nodded sleepily to the first two clauses, but to the
bald proposition of taking all the money, which he _could_
understand, he violently objected. The concession was, however,
subsequently granted on the representations of a more tactful
interpreter.

A very flagrant breach of the spirit of the London Convention, and a
very daring attempt at land-grabbing, was the proposed last will and
testament of the Swazi King Umbandine, which provided that the
governing powers should be assigned to Mr. Kruger as executor of the
King and trustee and administrator of the country. His project was
defeated; but the aim of the Boer Government was ultimately achieved,
nevertheless, and Swaziland has now been handed over to the control
of the Republic in spite of the prayers and protestations