CHAPTER XVII.

SECOND OR PRESENT WAR.

A wily savage-An intelligent native-Mapoch and the sheriff-Murder of Bell-The new police-The outbreak-Evacuation of Fort Weeber-The fever of 1878-Massacre at Masselleroom-Fort Mamalube.

ON Sir Theophilus Shepstone's first arrival in Pretoria he had received a message from Secocoeni, which more than anything proves that the Republic had entirely succeeded in overcoming this chief's resistance. It was delivered by Makoropetse, and ran thus: "Great chief, come and save me; the Boers are killing my people, and I know not for what." Subsequently, in consequence of some contradiction having arisen as to the proper meaning of certain articles in the peace contract, a joint commission of English and Dutch was sent to the chief. As English commissioners there went Captain Clarke, R.A., supposed to be peculiarly inti mate with Kafir ways, having been for three years resident magistrate in Natal; and a Mr Haggard, now in Government employment in the Transvaal. Secocoeni told them "that he had no crops,-that he had lost fourteen of his own family and 2000 of his people;" in fact, that he lay helplessly at the feet of the Republic. This statement is to be found in the Blue-books. Secocoeni, with his wily savagery, pretended to welcome the British as his fathers and saviours; whilst he really, knowing that he was on his last legs, only sought to humbug them into giving him what we should never have given him-too long a rest, so that he might recruit his forces in place of making complete submission. Hence the present war.

After the annexation, at the end of April 1877, Captain Clarke, who had been appointed Commissioner in the northeast, was so satisfied that the Kafirs could be possessed of but the most friendly feelings towards his Government, that he caused the volunteers to be disbanded without obtaining any guarantees for the maintenance of peace by Secocoeni, or for the payment of the war indemnity. Fort Burgers, the most advanced position in the north-east, was virtually evacuated, there being only left in it an assistant native commissioner, with his orderly. Fort Weeber, the advanced position on the west side of the Lulu Mountains, was abandoned to an assistant native commissioner, with his flag. Nothing possibly could have been more fatal than the extraordinary and utterly groundless faith that Captain Clarke and his employers had in the promises of the Bapedi nation, and their pretended veneration for the British flag. They would not believe the Dutch and other officials who told them to expect war as soon as the enemy had got food, so they persisted in a total dismissal of the irregulars. How these volunteers to whom I have referred were treated on their disbandment has been dealt with elsewhere. It is enough to say that the disbandment was completed on the 18th of June 1877. The cannons and muskets, with all war material, were sent off to Pretoria, two hundred miles from any possible enemy, and the border line of the north-east was left more utterly defenceless than it had ever been.

Before going on to deal with the few important transactions of the succeeding eight months, I may as well here remark that the Republic had been faithfully served by many tribes living within and without the border, chiefly Mapoch, Masselleroom, Zebedela, and the Amaswazi. Mapoch constantly furnished men for labour and for the field; while the Amaswazi sent at least one Commando to help the Boers. On peace being finally concluded, and before the forts had been abandoned, the farmers went back to live in the farms between Lydenberg and the extreme border, not to the extent of occupying all the farms, but at all events going into the profitable and improving occupation of some seventy of them. The Waterfall River valley was to a great extent reoccupied, Mr Parker of Lydenberg and others

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making expensive improvements. Many houses were rebuilt that were burnt during the war; and an English family, named Wainwright, went to live on a new acquisition of theirs in the Origstadt valley, which I have previously mentioned as being a place abandoned by the Boers because of its unhealthiness.

In the beginning of August last year, even the Commissioner found that Secocoeni was endeavouring to avoid payment of the indemnity, and that while professing extreme friendship for the British Government, he had yet only sent in 170 head of poor and sickly beasts in fulfilment of his contract. Besides this, messengers had been noticed passing from Zululand to Secocoeni, and vice versa.

Signs that the peace would likely be disturbed became noticeable very soon after the disbandment of the volunteers. They evacuated Fort Burgers, leaving it, as I have mentioned elsewhere, in charge of Mr George Eckersley and an orderly, on the 13th of June, on the 18th of which month they were paid off in Lydenberg. On the 20th, Captain Diedricht heard through native sources and reported that Masselleroom had taken cattle from Pogwani and Logrillo, British subjects living close to Fort Weeber. Captain Clarke, with Mr Schultz, had to go there and patch up matters, which they succeeded in doing after such a fashion as soon led to a renewal of hostilities.

I at that time heard a conversation which is of no little interest. Makropetse, one of Secocoeni's "Indunas," or counsellors, was talking, as Kafirs will, about the power of his master. A resident of Lydenberg said to him: "The English are not like the Boers; they have soldiers who live only to fight, and can send regiment after regiment to support their flag, the presence of which, Captain Clarke knows, hanging over the Steelport Fort, has as much influence as a thousand men." The old Kafir laughed, and said, "If Secocoeni read the newspapers, he might, no doubt, be afraid of the tales Englishmen write about their own strength and glory; but he would feel much more afraid of a hundred wild dogs than of millions of paper soldiers."

While such were the Kafir opinions, all aid was refused to the defenceless inhabitants of Lydenberg, and those who

spoke of the growing discontent of even the European inhabitants of the country were bullied or snubbed into silence. It became very noticeable that corn in large quantities was being bought up by Secocoeni. The Rev. Mr Merenski took a very prominent part in supplying the common enemy with provisions. In defiance of public opinion and private remonstrance, he sent them on one occasion no less than eight waggon-loads of bread-stuffs. Gunpowder and gun smuggling began again to be an active branch of trade; but as the Lydenberg officials had no troopers at their disposal, even this could not be interfered with, because no war was going on, and seizures could only be made with proper effect when the smugglers had transgressed the border-line.

It was also well known to the Commissioner that the chieftainess Legolani was, in the direct interest of Secocoeni, endeavouring to harry the small tribes under British protection in her neighbourhood. Now it must be remembered that this woman Legolani-or Masselleroom, as she is indifferently called-had during the previous war been entirely submissive to, if not an active ally of, the Republic. It is therefore quite evident that her change of feeling was not uninfluenced by the fact that the border had been left denuded of its armed guardians. Sir Theophilus Shepstone visited Lydenberg in August and September, and himself sent for Secocoeni's messengers, and gravely warned them that any infraction of the peace, or neglect to fulfil the conditions on which peace had been granted, would bring a black cloud over Kafirland. Mr George Eckersley, the acting Native Commissioner of Fort Burgers, warned his Excellency that war might be expected after the coming harvest.

Later on, whilst Sir Theophilus was still on the border, Eckersley, Erasmus, and myself reported that Secocoeni had detached a portion of his tribe to the strong places north and east of Origstadt, and that a Commando of his people were taking positions at Mamloon, close to Hell Poort, in the Drakensberg.

His Excellency, no doubt from sufficient motives, said that he had Secocoeni under his nail-that all was well.

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He also directed the 170 cattle to be sent back to the chief with the following message: "Put the 2000 cattle you owe Government together, and pay them to Captain Clarke without any further delay." Makropetse and the Indunas. replied "that Shepstone was their great father, and his child Secocoeni would be glad to hear his message."

Having thus, as he imagined, settled everything satisfactorily, Sir Theophilus started for the Utrecht border, taking with him his escort, and Captain Clarke, his Special Commissioner for Lydenberg district, who was desirous to proceed to Natal to raise a force of Zulu armed constabulary, and for other purposes.

The day after their departure from Lydenberg, it was reported at the office of the Landdrost that three British subjects had been murdered at Mapoch's. Now, as I have said before, Mapoch had during the previous war been a faithful ally of the Dutch Government. His location is far inside the border-line, being almost on the main road from Middleburg to Lydenberg, and situated on undoubted Transvaal territory.

The Landdrost of Lydenberg, Mr George Roth, a man of eighteen years' official experience, who had succeeded to Mr Cooper on his dismissal the previous year, sent a sub-sheriff to demand the murderers from Mapoch-but, in the absence of Captain Clarke, very properly, with instructions not to be provoked into any hostilities. The sub-sheriff duly arrived at the chief's place, and there were given to him three persons supposed to be guilty in the matter. But on his attempting to leave the village, and proceed with his prisoners to Lydenberg, a mob of Kafirs handed arms to them, and threatened the escort. Seeing that a fight would become unavoidable if he persisted in taking the men, he again sought the assistance of the chief, who endeavoured to soothe him with much talk, and eventually sent him away unharmed, but without being able to accomplish his mission. Thus, under British Government, for the first time Mapoch found himself in a position to resist the law because it was not supported by mounted forces. On the 11th of September, Mr Winterbush and the acting field-cornet of Waterfall complained that the Kafirs had threatened their labourers, and