Page:South Africa (1878 Volume 2).djvu/333

 the cow." For the full understanding of this it must be known that no Kafir, no Zulu, no Basuto can bear the idea of selling his cattle. And then the Boers of the Free State who had settled upon Basutoland, would have it that they owned the land. There came days of terrible fighting between the Basutos and the Boers,—and of renewed fighting between the Basutos and other tribes. One can imagine that they should again have been driven by famine to that cannibalism of which Mr. Bowker saw the recent marks. They were at a very low ebb at Thaba Bosigo, being at last almost eaten up by President Brand, and the Boers. Then they asked for British intervention, and at last, in 1868, Sir Philip Wodehouse issued a proclamation in which he declared them to be British subjects. A line of boundary was established between them and the Orange Republic, giving the Orange Republic the "Conquered Territory" which they still call by that objectionable name, but leaving to the Basutos the possession of a rich district which seems to be sufficient for their wants. The Orange Republic, or Free State, did not at all like what was done by the British. Their politicians still insisted that Great Britain was precluded by treaty from concerning itself with any native tribe north of the Orange River. It tried to make the most of its position,—naturally enough. Perhaps it did make the most of its position, for it now holds the peaceable possession of a great portion of the land of its late enemies, and no longer has a single hostile nation on its borders. We may say that the possibility of a hostile nation has passed away. Nothing can be more secure than the condition of the