Government consisting of Messrs. Marais and Malan; these gentlemen
showed their authority from the Government, and were duly accredited.
They are both progressive Boers and highly respected by the
Uitlanders. They stated that they had come with the olive branch, that
the Government had sent them to the Reform Committee to invite a
delegation of that Committee to meet in Pretoria a Commission of
Government officials, with the object of arranging an amicable
settlement of the political questions. They emphatically asserted that
the Government would meet the Reform Committee half-way--that the
Government was anxious to prevent bloodshed, &c. That they could
promise that the Government would redress the Uitlander grievances
upon the lines laid down in the Manifesto, but that of course all the
demands would not be conceded at once, and both sides must be willing
to compromise. The Reform Committee met to consider this proposal,
and after long discussion decided to send a deputation to Pretoria.
These gentlemen leave with Messrs. Malan and Marais on a special train
to-night for Pretoria.

Johannesburg is quiet as ever was country town. The streets deserted.
Nothing to suggest a city girt around by a cordon of soldiers, and yet
such it is.

At midnight my husband ran in for a moment to see how we had stood the
strain of the day.

'Is the news from Jameson really true?' I asked, still hoping it was
rumour.

'I am afraid so.'