the different South African States, British and Dutch, into one whole, in which neither race should be the lord of the other, but in which the most powerful element should be his own Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, whose population consisted of both races in about equal proportions. This problem Rhodes-far in advance of his time in his vision of the possibilities of colonial or, as we should now term it, 'Dominion' self-government within the Empire-saw as one to be solved by the colonists themselves, and not by what he called 'the Imperial factor'; but he knew full well that it was only under the protecting ægis of the British fleet that this or any other great colonial problem could be settled, and he was the last man in the world to lose sight of the addition of strength which its succesful solution would bring to the Empire as a whole.

The aggressions of bands of freebooters from the Transvaal against certain of the Bechuana tribes afforded every reason for intervention in the affairs of Bechuanaland. Rhodes tried hard, but in vain, to get the Cape Government to take action. They sat in apathy under the shadow of Table Mountain. On this occasion, however, the Imperial factor' stepped in; and as the result of the Warren expedition of 1884-85, Bechuanaland was taken under British protection and the first stage of the road to the North, at any rate, was saved from foreign occupation. The bulk of the work, however, was still to do, and as the "eighties' wore on Rhodes' race with time and with the ambition of rival Powers for the occupation of the North became more and more severe. In and after 1886, the discovery of the goldfields of the Witwatersrand had resulted in the transformation of the out-at-elbows Republic of the Transvaal into a comparatively wealthy and important State; and the eyes of the Transvaal Boers, with their inherited instinct for pushing ever further into the wilderness, were turning to the lands across the Limpopo. Their ambitions in this direction were undoubtedly receiving encouragement from Germany, which Power hoped, as their protector and patron, in effect to realise its own ambition of extending its authority from East to West. Rhodes had little time to lose. The problem was to obtain a foothold in the country of LoBengula. Direct interven

tion in Matabeleland by the Cape Colony was not at the moment to be hoped for. As for the British Government, it had indeed, early in 1888, obtained through its representative, the Rev. J. S. Moffat, LoBengula's signature to an agreement of perpetual friendship' with the Sovereign of Great Britain, by which LoBengula bound himself not to enter into a treaty with any other power without the consent of Great Britain. But a policy of merely excluding others could not suffice, and could not have been permanently maintained.

British intervention must, as Rhodes knew, justify itself by genuine development of the territory and by promoting the interests and improving the lot of its inhabitants. It was not to be expected that the British Government would assume the responsibilities and incur the expense which the active prosecution of these objects would call for; nor in Rhodes' mind, with the views he held of the part which ought to be played by his own Colony in these matters and which he hoped that it might one day be willing to play, was it to be desired that the British Government should so intervene. There remained the traditional agent of Imperial expansionthe gold-seeker, the merchant adventurer.

One result of the gold discoveries of the Witwatersrand had been to create a prevalent belief that similar fields, rich beyond the dreams of avarice, awaited the prospector in Matabeleland, and to the east of it, in Mashonaland, where the periodically raided and ravaged subject tribes of LoBengula cowered in fear of the Matabele assegais. A new El Dorado, it was thought, lay beyond the Limpopo. if only LoBengula would admit the miner to draw the treasure from the earth. LoBengula was besieged by concession-hunters; but, being in his way a statesman as well as a savage chief, he was not readily disposed to bring upon his people the troubles which he foresaw from the irruption of a horde of gold-diggers subject to no control they would be likely to recognise. Here was Rhodes' opportunity. He was able and ready to seize it; for already, though only thirty-five years of age, he had amassed a huge private fortune and had secured that the Articles of Association of De Beers Consolidated Mines, the great diamond-mining company in which, through his efforts, all the principal

interests in Kimberley were amalgamated, should be so drawn that the funds of that corporation were available to help towards the realisation of his dreams. Moreover, Rhodes was now a man whose word carried weight and authority in Downing Street. Consequently, when he sent his emissaries to seek concessions from LoBengula they were men of very different type from the concession-hunters who had preceded them, and LoBengula could feel that undertakings given on Rhodes' authority would be respected, and that white men entering the country on his service would be subject to his control. In the result, and in spite of all the intrigues of opposing interests, LoBengula, on Oct. 30, 1888, granted to C. D. Rudd, Rhodes' partner, to Rochfort Maguire, who had been Rhodes' friend since Oxford days and a Fellow of All Souls' College, and to Matabele' Thompson, a concession conveying the monopoly of the mineral rights throughout his territory. This, known as the Rudd Concession, was the original basis of the British South Africa Company.

Having secured it, and having arranged with certain other parties who had obtained trading concessions from LoBengula for the fusion of their interests, Rhodes and his associates proceeded to approach the Crown for a Charter of incorporation for a company to acquire and work these concessions. Their proposals were well received; and the following extract from a letter of May 16, 1889, written by direction of Lord Knutsford, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to the Foreign Office shows what was in the mind of the British Government at the time :

'I am also to enclose a copy of a letter from Mr C. J. Rhodes, of the Cape Colony, and two other gentlemen who, as representing the holders of what is called the Rudd Concession from LoBengula, state that they have arranged with Lord Gifford's Company to co-operate in any such scheme as that proposed. In fact, it is understood that the combination, of which Lord Gifford and Mr Rhodes are the leaders, hope to be able to unite most if not all the existing British interests in the Protectorate and the countries to the northwards.

'I am to observe that, in consenting to consider this scheme in more detail, Lord Knutsford has been influenced

* Parliamentary Paper C. 5918, No. 88.

by the consideration that if such a Company is incorporated by Royal Charter its constitution, objects, and operations will become more directly subject to control by Her Majesty's Government than if it were left to these gentlemen to incorporate themselves under the Joint Stock Companies Acts, as they are entitled to do. In the latter case, Her Majesty's Government would not be able effectually to prevent the company from taking its own line of policy, which might possibly result in complications with Native Chiefs and others, necessitating military expenditure and perhaps even military operations. The example of the Imperial East African Company shows that such a body may to some considerable extent relieve Her Majesty's Government from diplomatic difficulties and heavy expenditure. In Lord Knutford's judgment such a company as that proposed for the Bechuanaland Protectorate, if well conducted, would render still more valuable assistance to Her Majesty's Government in South Africa.

'At present nothing could be more unsatisfactory than the condition of things existing in that quarter. Every year large grants have to be obtained from Parliament nominally in aid of civil expenditure, but almost altogether swallowed up in the maintenance of a semi-military police force, whilst the peace of the country is by no means as well assured as it ought to be, and fresh demands are being made on Her Majesty's Government for further expenditure on an increase of the police and telegraph construction, pronounced to be absolutely necessary for the safety of the country.'

Shortly afterwards, on July 13, 1889, the formal petition of Rhodes and his friends for the Charter was submitted to the Crown. It set forth :

"That the existence of a powerful British Company, controlled by those of Your Majesty's subjects in whom Your Majesty has confidence, and having its principal field of operations in that region of South Africa lying to the north of Bechuanaland and to the west of Portuguese East Africa, would be advantageous to the commercial and other interests of Your Majesty's subjects in the United Kingdom and in Your Majesty's Colonies.

"That Your Majesty's Petitioners desire to carry into effect divers concessions and agreements which have been made by certain of the chiefs and tribes inhabiting the said region, and such other concessions, agreements, grants, and treaties as Your Majesty's Petitioners may hereafter obtain

within the said region or elsewhere in Africa, with the view of promoting trade, commerce, civilisation, and good government (including the regulation of liquor traffic with the natives) in the territories which are or may be comprised in such concessions, agreements, grants, and treaties as aforesaid.

'That Your Majesty's Petitioners believe that if the said concessions, agreements, grants, and treaties can be carried into effect, the condition of the natives inhabiting the said territories will be materially improved and their civilisation advanced, and an organisation established which would tend to the suppression of the slave trade in the said territories, and to the said territories being opened to the immigration of Europeans, and to the lawful trade and commerce of Your Majesty's subjects and of other nations.'

The Charter itself, which was dated Oct. 29 in the same year, recited the intentions of the petitioners as above expressed, and announced that the Crown, 'being satisfied that the intentions of the petitioners are praiseworthy and deserve encouragement, and that the enterprise in the petition described may be productive of the benefits set forth therein,' constituted and incorporated the British South Africa Company.

The documents thus bear witness to the threefold object which Rhodes had set before himself: to establish British ascendency in South Central Africa, to develop the potential wealth of that part of the world, and to raise the lot of its native inhabitants. The subsequent history of the Company will show the extent to which. this purpose has been achieved. Avowedly the Company's Charter was copied from earlier models: avowedly Her Majesty's Government granted it because by this means it was thought that British influence could best be extended over the regions of Africa concerned with the minimum of risk, responsibility, and expense to the Crown. Once more as in earlier centuries the merchant adventurer had been called in to do for his country work which his country might have been supposed to be willing to do for itself.

The British South Africa Company was floated with an original capital of 1,000,000l.; but it was not born without travail and heavy labour. The original feat of obtaining the Rudd Concession was a remarkable achievement Vol. 241.-No. 478,

F