Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/255

 THE ORANGE FREE STATE. 197 Mituted between the two rivers. But the fugitives from British jurisdiction were still followed by the Knglish authorities, and in 1H4S the BritiHh sovereignty was otftcially proclaimed in the country lying north of the Orange. The Boers resistefl, and, as in Natal, had at first the advantage of their assailants. But being incapable of prolonging the struggle with the Knglish forces and their Griqua allies, they were compelled either to submit or seek fresh settlements elsewhere. Some, refusing to accept the British supremacy with the condition of abolishing slavery and treating the natives as freemen, continued the exodus in the direction of the north, crossed the Vaal, and founded the new republic of Transvaal. Others remained in the country, where they became the dominant white element. But by extending their authority over this new colonial domain, the Knglish at the same time accepted the unfortunate inheritance of the wars that had already broken out with the Basutos and other natives. The consequence was a heavy and increasing unnuul charge on the Imj>erial Government, which caused dissatis- faction at home and a strong feeling of opposition to the policy of annexation. Thus it happened that the supreme power offered to restore their political autonomy to the Dutch Boers of the sovereignty, on the simple condition of a formal promise not to reintroduce slavery. The Boers gladly accepted this condi- tion, and in l8o4 the Orange Free State was reconstituted. Since that time the republic has prospered to a remarkable degree, the population alone having increased fivefold during the last thirty years. The Boers of the Free State. The Boers, who enjoy political dominion in the Orange Free State, are the descendants of zealous Calvinists, and most of them still profess the religion of their fathers. But other Christian denominations, such as the Anglican, Wesleyan, and Roman Catholic, are all represented, chiefly by the British settlers in the countrj', and a few native converts. Possessing for two centuries no book except the Bible, the South African Dutch communities, Afrikanders as they call them- selves, are fond of comparing their lot with that of the " chosen people." Going forth, like the Jews, in search of a "promised land," they never for a moment doubted that the native populations were specially created for their benefit. They looked on them as mere " Canaanites, Amorites, and Jebusites," doomed before- hand to slavery or death. With the exception of the single Ba-Rolong tribe, which, through their hatred of the Basutos, hud become the allies of the Dutch, all the Bantu and Hottentot peoples dwelling within the territory of the republic liave been either exterminated or expelled by these South African " Puritans." They turned the land into a solitude, breaking all political organisation of the natives, destroying all ties of a common national feeling, and tolerating them only in the capacity of " apprentices," another name for slaves. Doubtless the blacks are at present even more numerous than the whites within the limits of the State, but they are for the most part Kafirs, Bechuanus, Hottentots. St. Helena half- castes, and other recent immigrants, badly paid and badly treated. They are for-