The Interregnum Under The British Flag   

In the meanwhile, in March 1879, Sir Theophilus Shepstone had been replaced by Sir Owen Lanyon, a man absolutely unfitted for this difficult post. As a soldier, Sir Owen, of course, had no knowledge of civil administration; and, moreover, he was totally unacquainted with the manners, language and nature of the Boers.

After our return to the Transvaal, our deputation called a mass meeting to report on the results of our mission. This meeting was held on the 10th of January 1879, at Wonderfontein. About 3,000 Boers assembled and more would undoubtedly have come, if many had not been prevented from attending the meeting by the swollen state of the rivers and by the prevailing horse-sickness, which always rages at its worst at that season of the year.

Meanwhile, Sir Bartle Frere had distributed among the burghers an open letter to myself and Joubert in which he said, among other things, that he hoped that we would make it clear to the people that the annexation was irrevocable. At the meeting, after first thanking the burghers for their numerous attendance and for the welcome which they had given the deputation, I exhorted them to remain unanimous and to allow no discord or differences of any kind to come between them, as only unanimity, obedience and combined efforts would enable them to regain their freedom.

In the meanwhile, Sir Garnet Wolseley had been sent to South Africa with special powers. He was appointed High Commissioner beside Sir Bartle Frere with special instructions to settle Zulu and Transvaal matters.

This is the man who uttered the famous phrase:

"So long as the sun shines, the Transvaal will be British territory; and the Vaal River shall flow back to its sources before the Transvaal is again independent!"

At about that time, Sir Garnet was engaged in suppressing Secucuni, an enterprise in which he at last succeeded with the aid of his greatly superior force.

After the Kleinfontein meeting, the Committee announced that a new meeting would be held at Wonderfontein. This caused Sir Garnet Wolseley to issue a proclamation in which he pointed to the danger to which those who attended the meeting would expose themselves, their families and property. He also threatened to punish all such persons for high treason.

This proclamation, however, was quite ineffective, for five to six thousand persons attended the meeting, which was held at Wonderfontein on the 10th of December. The burghers were enthusiastic in the highest degree. They thought that the time had now certainly come to begin the war; but, while rejoicing at the unanimity that prevailed among the burghers, I thought it my duty to address one more word of warning to them.

I pointed out to them that England was a powerful nation, and expressed the fear that many of them, once the war had broken out, would become discouraged and go back to their farms. It was not safe to decide on war at this moment of excitement.

Late that night, I walked through the camp to listen to the conversations which the burghers were holding at their camp-fires. I was anxious to ascertain how my warning had been taken. Many of the remarks that fell upon my ears were very characteristic. For instance, I heard one man say:

"I think Kruger is betraying us."

"No," said another, "I will never believe that of him, for he has done too much for us and he is still working too hard that he should be accused of such a thing."

" But," replied the first, "if he doesn't intend to betray us, why won't he let us shoot the Englishmen?"

"Ay," said the other, "I think his plans are wrong, but I won't believe that he's betraying us."

Very well satisfied with my observations, I returned to my tent and thanked God that my people were so firmly determined to recover their independence.

Source: Paul Kruger - His Memoirs