Cape, Natal, Free State, and Transvaal all having equal rights and local
self-government. He knows well enough the inner causes of the present
evils. "But now," he said, "we can only leave it to God. If it is His
will that the Transvaal perish, we can only do our best."

At Zandspruit, the scene of the old Sand River Convention, the whole
Boer camp crowded to the station to greet the national hero, and he was
at once surrounded by a herd of farmers, shaking his hands and patting
him warmly on the back. It was a respectful but democratic greeting. The
Boer Army--if for a moment we may give that name to an unorganised
collection of volunteers--is entirely democratic. The men are nominally
under field cornets, commanders, and the General. But they openly boast
that on the field the authority and direction of officers do not count
for much, and they go pretty much as they please. The camp, though not
in the least disorderly, was confused and irregular--stores, firewood,
horses, cattle, and tents strewn about the enormous veldt, almost
haphazard, though the districts were kept fairly well separate.
Provisions were plenty, but the cooking was bad. It took three days to
get bread made, and some detachments had to eat their meat raw. I think
there were not more than 10,000 or less than 7,000 men in the camp at
that time, but the commandeered trains crawled up every two or three
hours with their new loads.

By a piece of good fortune we succeeded in crossing the frontier in an
open coal-truck. The border-line runs about six miles north of Majuba
and Laing's Nek, the last Boer village being Volksrust, and Charlestown
the first English. The scenery changes rapidly; the high, bare veldt of
the Southern Transvaal is at once left behind, and we enter the broad
valley of Natal, sloping steadily down to the sea and becoming richer
and more tropical as it descends. All regular traffic had stopped three