XXXV.-Life in the Colonies and in England Compared, Fevers. Delagoa XLVIII.-Imperial Federation and Colonial Neutrality, XLIX.-Imperial Federation in its relation to Party Politics, PREFACE. I CANNOT conceal from myself that in undertaking to write a book, however modest in character, upon South Africa, I have addressed myself to a by no means light or inconsiderable task. Not only does almost every topic treated of in these pages offer an open battle-field for controversy, but, moreover, the fiercest conflicts-in which the slain can be counted by thousands and tens of thousandshave already been waged upon these very fields; although but few of the contentions involved have as yet been decided so decisively as to make it possible for any particular faction to claim the victory. I have, therefore, abstained, whenever my duty would allow me to do so, from pronouncing arbitrary or conclusive opinions upon the vexed questions-social and political-with which I have been called upon to deal. My object, if didactic at all, is only so in that I hope to throw a little light upon the difficult problems connected with these-by no means least important-dependencies of our great Empire. Upon these matters, albeit South Africa has occupied a very prominent place in the minds of Englishmen for some years past, our countrymen are singularly uninformed; and such information as they have gleaned during the enactment of recent events, is, to say the least of it, a little mixed. I am ambitious of lifting aside the veil, which somehow or other enshrouds South Africa and its affairs, and in a chatty and readable manner I hope to have written a book which will not only instruct, but amuse. "That young man has no ordinary share of vanity," I can fancy I hear the gentle reader exclaim. Without pleading guilty to the soft impeachment, I will, in the manner of all persons who attempt to exculpate themselves, further criminate myself by giving the grounds for the faith which is in me. First, then, let me observe that I claim for my little work a right to be considered unique, in a certain sense, in its method of treatment of South African contemporary history. The idea popularly obtains in England, that South Africa is a place for missionaries, troublesome niggers, big mountains, big fights, and adventures in sport and in travel, and for these things alone. This impression has its origin in the fact, that nearly all visitors to the colonies who have subsequently written upon their experiences, have dwelt upon the foregoing matters, with all the adventitious colouring they could call to their aid, to the exclusion of the quieter and more everyday aspect of life, which most narrowly affects the future progress, and present well-being of the colonists themselves. Whenever an exception to this rule has cropped up, as it did, perhaps, in a certain measure, in the case of Anthony Trollope, and in that of Anthony Froude, and possibly in a few other instances, the work has been attributable to a distinct motif; and a suspicion of partisanship has marred the utility of the book. Morcover, I have as yet to learn that any writer has considered it to be worth while to go down into the bye-ways and hedges of colonial life and experience, and by beginning on the lowly rounds of the ladder, endeavour to get a peep into every cranny, nook, and corner of the inner life of our fellow-subjects in the Cape dominions, by taking a good look into every window as he ascends to the house-top. This preparatory initiation should surely serve to help to explain much that a more complete survey from a higher altitude might be expected to unfold. It is some time since I left South Africa. On my return, I delivered in different parts of London several lectures upon what I had seen and heard there. Since those days, I have had time to reconsider many crude and immature opinions then propounded. The substance of a few of the earlier pages of this work has already appeared in the columns of a journal devoted to the interests of sociology. Chapters 13, 24, 28, 29, 39, and 56 have also in a certain, though very limited, measure seen the light before, as leading articles or letters in the Natal Mercury, the Cape Times, and the Colonies and India. The various articles which have appeared in this country from my pen, have met, on the whole, with so flattering a reception from the colonial press, no less than from the organs of South Africa, issued in this country, that I have been encouraged to publish my thoughts in a more comprehensive, substantial, and permanent form; the leading journal of South Africa, the Cape Argus, having expressed itself in terms which quite put the seal upon my resolve. I cannot but feel, however, that in writing a brief résumé of the various phases of life and manners which came under my notice during my sojourn in "Afric's sunny climes," that I labour under considerable disadvantages. The public palate has been sadly pandered to, with reference to Africa, and I fear it may refuse to be satisfied with anything tame or common-place about the great continent. A halo of romance, more or less justified by facts, always hangs around a new and comparatively unknown country. Africa has supplied a theme to countless writers, travellers, and others; and the very incompleteness of the ascertained data concerning it, has left ample room for the exercise of a taste for poetical effusions and superlative imaginations. Much that has been written by gifted writers has evolved from their inner consciousness. I have no wish to point to any particular transgressor of the kind foreshadowed. Many of my readers will be able, mentally, to supply this omission for themselves. In competing for popular favour with such as these, I am, in this day of sensationalism, decidedly handicapped. It would be easier for me to follow in the footsteps of some of my predecessors, and to allow my imagination to run riot. I might also dress in new clothes, and spice with fresh condiments, the experiences of others. Thus a book full of interesting and exciting situations might be produced. I do not fear, and I am quite willing to endure, the consequences of this abstention. In eschewing the devious paths open to me, I ask my readers to believe, that all I have attempted to achieve, and all I desire to achieve, is to make as clear and attractive as possible, certain important facts and details connected with the general conditions of the colonies. In doing this, I have adhered strictly to my actual experience. When I have drawn upon that of others, I have, by statement or implication, acknowledged that I have done so. I have indulged in no apocryphal |