owd of British subjects
shouldered aside the escorts provided by the Government, took the
horses from the carriage, and drew it down to the hotel. In the
course of the journey an individual mounted the box-seat of the
carriage with the Union Jack fastened on a bamboo, and in the
excitement of the moment allowed the folds of England's flag to
gather round the President. His Honour rose very excitedly and struck
at the flag with his walking-stick; but in blissful ignorance of what
was going on behind him the standard-bearer continued to flip his
Honour with the flag until the hotel was reached. There it was
understood that the President would leave the carriage with the High
Commissioner, and under this misapprehension those who had drawn
the carriage down left their posts and joined the cheering crowd
the carriage with neither horses nor men to move him, and there he
was obliged to wait until a number of burghers were called up,
who drew his Honour off to his own house. The affair was wholly
unpremeditated and almost unobserved at the time, but it was
unfortunately construed by the President as a deliberate insult,
and it increased, if possible, his dislike for the Uitlander.

The difficulty of dealing with a man of Mr. Kruger's nature and
training was further illustrated by another occurrence in these
negotiations. During a meeting between the President and the High
Commissioner in the presence of their respective staffs the former
became very excited and proceeded to speak his mind very openly to
his friends, referring freely to certain matters which it was
undesirable to mention in the presence of the British party. Mr.
Ewald Esselen, the late State Attorney, wrote in Dutch in a very
large round schoolboy hand, 'Be careful! There is an interpreter
present,' and handed the slip of paper to the President. The latter
stopped abruptly, looked at the slip of paper, first one way and then
another, and after a long pause threw it on the table saying, 'Ewald,
what does this mean? What do you _write_ things to me for? Why don't
you _speak_ so that one can understand?'

Early in 1895 efforts were made by the Dutch officials in
Johannesburg and a number of private individuals to induce the
President to visit the place again, when it was thought that a better
reception would be accorded him than that which he had experienced on
his visit in 1890. Mr. Kruger steadily refused for some time, but was
eventually persuaded to open i