Read Online At the Fireside--Volume 1 by Roger Webster - Free Book Online
Authors: Roger Webster
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fellow adventurers over the distribution of the land and booty. Honey apparently tried to incite the Koranna against them and they decided to have their revenge. They captured him after a struggle and set off back home. It was an extremely hot day when they came upon the spring in the kloof and they went to rest the horses and quench their thirst.
Honey also begged for water. They loosened the riem around his wrists and, as he knelt to drink, one of his captors shot him in the back of the head. Honey toppled slowly over into the stream, staining it red with his blood. The commando then threw his saddle down beside his body and rode away.
African herd boys who found the body reported their find to the authorities and the matter was referred to Sir Charles Warren. As a result Sarel Petrus Celliers, the former commander of Massouwâs mercenaries, was arrested along with Gert van Niekerk and others, but owing to lack of evidence, all were later released. However, the story does not end there. According to local legend, shortly after the tragedy, a strange thing happened. To the amazement of the Africans living around Manthe, the eye of the spring began to recede gradually down the kloof until, a year later, it was fully sixty metres away.
The locals swore that Honeyâs ghost haunted the place and that every year, on the anniversary of the murder, a shot could be plainly heard in the area. âThe spirit that inhabited the springâ, they told their children, âwas very angry because the blood of the white man had defiled his waters. So he went to live in another place.â
We leave Scotty himself now and take a brief look at what was happening in that area and how it was affected by larger political events. In July 1882 a peace treaty was drawn up between the Transvaal Government and chief Mankaroane, in terms of which a large portion of Batlaping land was taken away and used to establish the Republic of Stellaland, with Vryburg as its capital. In July 1883, amid great jubilation, the Republic was foiinally proclaimed by freebooter Gert van Niekerk and its flag â a white star on a green background â was ceremoniously hoisted. Stellaland and Goshen were now nominally independent states, with the Transvaal exercising a vague and ill-defined suzerainty over them.
This was Rhodesâ worst nightmare, as the famous Missionary Road seemed likely to be incorporated into the Transvaal and his âCape to Cairoâ dream was fading fast. So imminent was the danger that Rhodes urged Her Majestyâs Government to annex Bechuanaland to forestall the designs of the Germans in South West Africa and the Transvaalers to the east.
The man selected to help maintain peace and order in this unruly area was the Reverend John Mackensie. Mackensie was a zealous political missionary and took very little trouble in hiding his virulently anti-Boer sentiments. The new Commissioner arrived in July 1884 and took strong action immediately. He accepted Montsioa as a British subject, declared the area a British Protectorate, then promptly lowered the one-star flag and raised the Union Jack â all on his own authority. The freebooters went wild. They wanted to lynch him, and there was also huge resentment in the Transvaal Republic. Their Commissionerâs action took the British Government completely by surprise and they decided on a complete reversal of policy. They rapped him over the knuckles, ordered the lowering of the British Flag, the raising of the one-star and had him recalled, replacing him with none other than Cecil John Rhodes himself
Rhodes arrived in Vryheid and, early one morning, went to Niekerksrest on the banks of the Harts River, where he met Van Niekerk, De la Rey and other Stellaland leaders. The Boer mood was very ugly. De la Rey particularly was spoiling for trouble, saying, âBlood must flow, blood must flowâ. But Rhodes knew exactly how to handle this kind of situation.
Honey also begged for water. They loosened the riem around his wrists and, as he knelt to drink, one of his captors shot him in the back of the head. Honey toppled slowly over into the stream, staining it red with his blood. The commando then threw his saddle down beside his body and rode away.
African herd boys who found the body reported their find to the authorities and the matter was referred to Sir Charles Warren. As a result Sarel Petrus Celliers, the former commander of Massouwâs mercenaries, was arrested along with Gert van Niekerk and others, but owing to lack of evidence, all were later released. However, the story does not end there. According to local legend, shortly after the tragedy, a strange thing happened. To the amazement of the Africans living around Manthe, the eye of the spring began to recede gradually down the kloof until, a year later, it was fully sixty metres away.
The locals swore that Honeyâs ghost haunted the place and that every year, on the anniversary of the murder, a shot could be plainly heard in the area. âThe spirit that inhabited the springâ, they told their children, âwas very angry because the blood of the white man had defiled his waters. So he went to live in another place.â
We leave Scotty himself now and take a brief look at what was happening in that area and how it was affected by larger political events. In July 1882 a peace treaty was drawn up between the Transvaal Government and chief Mankaroane, in terms of which a large portion of Batlaping land was taken away and used to establish the Republic of Stellaland, with Vryburg as its capital. In July 1883, amid great jubilation, the Republic was foiinally proclaimed by freebooter Gert van Niekerk and its flag â a white star on a green background â was ceremoniously hoisted. Stellaland and Goshen were now nominally independent states, with the Transvaal exercising a vague and ill-defined suzerainty over them.
This was Rhodesâ worst nightmare, as the famous Missionary Road seemed likely to be incorporated into the Transvaal and his âCape to Cairoâ dream was fading fast. So imminent was the danger that Rhodes urged Her Majestyâs Government to annex Bechuanaland to forestall the designs of the Germans in South West Africa and the Transvaalers to the east.
The man selected to help maintain peace and order in this unruly area was the Reverend John Mackensie. Mackensie was a zealous political missionary and took very little trouble in hiding his virulently anti-Boer sentiments. The new Commissioner arrived in July 1884 and took strong action immediately. He accepted Montsioa as a British subject, declared the area a British Protectorate, then promptly lowered the one-star flag and raised the Union Jack â all on his own authority. The freebooters went wild. They wanted to lynch him, and there was also huge resentment in the Transvaal Republic. Their Commissionerâs action took the British Government completely by surprise and they decided on a complete reversal of policy. They rapped him over the knuckles, ordered the lowering of the British Flag, the raising of the one-star and had him recalled, replacing him with none other than Cecil John Rhodes himself
Rhodes arrived in Vryheid and, early one morning, went to Niekerksrest on the banks of the Harts River, where he met Van Niekerk, De la Rey and other Stellaland leaders. The Boer mood was very ugly. De la Rey particularly was spoiling for trouble, saying, âBlood must flow, blood must flowâ. But Rhodes knew exactly how to handle this kind of situation.
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