The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-06-06
ENGLAND's SOUTH AFRICAN DOMINION.


1t will probably be surprise to many
of our readers to learn that the colonies
of Great Britain in Africa comprise an
area of country as great as France, Ger.
many, Belgium and Holland united. The
history of these colonies is something
unique. The chief of them is Cape Col
Ony, which occupies the southern extrem.
ity of the great African peninsula. II
was first settled by the Dutch, who occu.
pied it for $50 years. In 1875 the Eng.
lish forces were called in to quiet an in
surrection, and then refused to 90 out
again. 1t was finally ceded to England
in 1915 as part of her spOils from the
great breakup consequent upon the Ma
poleonic wars. The Dutch settlers did
not like the English government They
had made slaves of the native Africans,
and when, in 1888, these slaves were
fOrcibly emancipated, the settlers left by
thousands and for three or four wears
wandered about beyond the British from
tiers, seeking suitable lands for a new
settlement where they might organize a
republic. They finally settled in Natal,
territory some hundreds of miles up
the west coast. Here, however, they did
not escape the stretched-out arm of Brit
ish authority. Sir Geo. Napier, the gov
ernor of Cape Colony, still claimed them
as British subjects, and sent troops to
look after them in their new homes.
They resisted, but were finally overcome,
and in 1S43 Natal was proclaimed Brit
ish territory. This was the genesis of
the colony of Natal, since more famous
as the bishopric of Colenso than for any
thing else.
But the oppressed Dutch cOlonists
were not yet satisfied. They made new
emigration. This time striking west,
they passed inland, crossed mountain
range, and located beyond the river Vaal
whence the name Of the colony, Trans
vaal-Occupying large and fertile coun-
try lying west of the district now inhab-
tied by the Zuius, and sometimes called
Aqluland. Here at last, in 1852, they
carried out their favorite and longeher-
ished idea of founding republic. But
1t was not destined to be of long dura-
ton. They were surrounded by numer-
Gus fierce and warlike tribes of natives.
with whom they lived in an almost per
petual state of war. Their gallantry
was conspicuous, but it could not avail
against overwhelming numbers They
were finally reduced nearly to annihila-
ton when they called in the aid of the
British, and in October, 1876, Sir Theoph-
illus Shepstone, by proclamation, formal
~
became part of the British empire
The annexation of Transvaal became
the immediate occasion of the war with
the Zulus. The Zulus are the heredita-
ry enemies of the Dutch Beers. AT one
time the Transvaal forces took tremen-
dous vengeance on the Zulus. The lat
ter had treacherously murdered seventy
men who had gone to restore some cat
tie to the Zulu King, wherupOn Pretori-
Gus, the President of Transvaal, lead a
band of 600 men across the Tugela river,
attacked the Zulus, put them to route,
and slew 1900 of them. The Zulus are
the most Warlike of the native tribes.
They are tall and well formed, black,
but with Abyslnian rather than negro
features, and came originally from the
north. Their king, CettewayO, is man
of much shrewdness and force of charac-
ter, a perfect despOt over his people, and
a military chieftain of no small renOwn.
His army numbers 10000 we'll drilled
troops-armed with assegais (short spears)
and English rifles. He was upon the point
of making raid into Transvaal for the
purpose of washing the spears" of his
troops When the country was transferred
to the British. The restraint put upon
him by the English authorities was dis
tasteful. He gradually conceived the
idea that he could rally all the native
tribes and drive the whites out of the
country. Sir Bartle Frere, the English
high commissioner, believing that an at
tack by the Zulus upon the English was
only question of time, demanded the
disarmament of the Zulu army, and sent
an ultimatum to that effect to the king.
Cettewayo refused to disband his army
aud Lord Chelmsford at once put Brit
ish force in motion to invade Zululand
and attack the Zulus. The terrible mas
sacre at Insandlana was about the first
intimation the outside world had of what
was going on in South Africa. OF course
now that the British are in for it, there
is nothing to do but to fight 1t out, but
the experience they have already had
shows that they hare no holiday job on
hand