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Ingmar Bergman,
Cinematic Philosopher
Books by Irving Singer

Ingmar Bergman, Cinematic Philosopher: Reflections on His

Creativity
Cinematic Mythmaking: Philosophy in Film (forthcoming)
Philosophy of Love: A Partial Summing-Up (forthcoming)
Three Philosophical Filmmakers: Hitchcock, Welles, Renoir
Sex: A Philosophical Primer, expanded edition
Feeling and Imagination: The Vibrant Flux of Our Existence
Sex: A Philosophical Primer
Explorations in Love and Sex
George Santayana, Literary Philosopher
Reality Transformed: Film as Meaning and Technique
Meaning in Life:
The Creation of Value
The Pursuit of Love
The Harmony of Nature and Spirit
The Nature of Love:
Plato to Luther
Courtly and Romantic
The Modern World
Mozart and Beethoven: The Concept of Love in Their Operas
The Goals of Human Sexuality
Santayana’s Aesthetics
Essays in Literary Criticism by George Santayana (editor)
The Nature and Pursuit of Love: The Philosophy of Irving Singer
(edited by David Goicoechea)
Ingmar Bergman,
Cinematic Philosopher
Reflections on His Creativity

Irving Singer

The MIT Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
( 2007 Irving Singer

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any

form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopy-
ing, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permis-
sion in writing from the publisher.

MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for

business or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail
[email protected] or write to Special Sales Depart-
ment, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142.

This book was set in Palatino on 3B2 by Asco Typesetters, Hong

Kong, and was printed and bound in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Singer, Irving.
Ingmar Bergman, cinematic philosopher : reflections on his creativity
/ Irving Singer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-19563-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Bergman, Ingmar, 1918–2007—Criticism and interpretation.
I. Title.
PN1998.3.B47S56 2007
791.4302 0 33092—dc22 2007000645

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of Charles Brenton Fisk
Contents

Preface ix

General Observations 1

1 Magic, Myth, and the Return to Childhood 29

2 Religious Quandaries and the Nature of Love 101

3 Ambiguities of the Human Condition 163

Epilogue 207

Notes 225

Index 233
Preface

Since this is a book of reflections on Ingmar Bergman’s

creativity, it seems fitting to begin with a statement that
he himself made about its frequent emergence out of a
‘‘seed’’ in his experience:

Most of my films have grown—from some small incident, a

feeling I’ve had about something, an anecdote someone’s
told me, perhaps from a gesture or an expression on an
actor’s face. It sets off a very special sort of tension in me, im-
mediately recognizable as such to me. On the deepest level,
of course, the ideas for my films come out of the pressures of
the spirit; and these pressures vary. But most of my films be-
gin with a specific image or feeling around which my imagi-
nation begins slowly to build an elaborate detail. I file each
one away in my mind. Often I even write them down in note
form. This way I have a whole series of handy files in my
head. Of course, several years may go by before I get around
to transforming these sensations into anything as concrete as
x Preface

a scenario. . . . My films grow like a snowball, very gradually

from a single flake of snow. In the end, I often can’t see the
original flake that started it all.1

Writing about the origin of Cries and Whispers,

Bergman describes a persistent but wholly isolated im-
age that kept coming back to him for more than a year
without his knowing why: ‘‘over and over: the room
draped all in red with women clad in white. That’s the
way it is: Images obstinately resurface without my
knowing what they want with me; then they disappear
only to come back, looking exactly the same.’’2 In
several interviews he has said that the creativity in his
directing of film or theater relies mainly upon his mo-
mentary intuitions rather than any fixed or premedi-
tated reasoning.3
The book you are beginning to read might seem to
run counter to that approach. It is written as an investi-
gation by a philosopher into both the meaningfulness
and the technical expertise that pervade Bergman’s film
production. I do not see any contradiction between my
procedure in this and his description of his ‘‘intuitions.’’
They are the spontaneous flourishing of many years of
maturation in his art form, many years of trial and error
in molding creative possibilities that lend themselves to
cinematic treatment. Reason, or even meditation, enters
Preface xi

into that, albeit in the oblique and beneficial manner

that art allows and sometimes requires. I view Bergman
as a kindred spirit, and as one who is philosophical in
the expanded use of this term that I invoke in the
general observations that follow.
My book is a kaleidoscope, a shifting conglomera-
tion of insights and speculations that hew closely to my
own experience of the forty-odd Bergman movies I dis-
cuss. Throughout my text no pretense of completeness
exists, and at times my remarks may even seem to lack
order or coherence. That is because the themes and
motifs that I study often occur as scattered, and greatly
diverse, components of Bergman’s films. The structure
in my endeavor is not determined by the chronology of
the different movies, or any exhaustive account of their
individual narratives, or even their detailed relation to
Bergman’s personal life as distinct from his aesthetic
and cinematic development. As I learned from Proust’s
pervasive methodology, the contextual flow of one’s
thought can yield a harmonic pattern that may be as
important as any systematic assertions one might offer.
Those who want a more conventional kind of intro-
duction to Bergman’s career can easily find it elsewhere.
I have tried instead to make a presentation that yields a
portrait of the filmmaker as an evolving artist, with the
many modulations that involves. The chapters are a
xii Preface

running commentary on the meanings and techniques

that have elicited interpretive ideas of mine through
which I could respond to them. At the same time, my
remarks are not purely subjective or impressionistic.
The judgments I formulate, both critical and factual,
always lend themselves to confirmation or rebuttal.
Eliciting a reaction pro or con is indigenous to the com-
munication I wish to establish.

I have dedicated the finished product to the memory of

Charles Fisk, the renowned builder of pipe organs in
the baroque style, not only because he shared Berg-
man’s love of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, but
also because I feel that if he had lived long enough he
could have appreciated and understood, more fully
than most others, its great contribution to the flowering
of Bergman’s genius. Among the people who have read
early drafts and encouraged me in this work, I single
out Richard A. Macksey and Josephine Fisk Singer.

I. S.
General Observations

In a book he published in 1972, John Simon states:

‘‘Ingmar Bergman is, in my most carefully considered
opinion, the greatest film-maker the world has seen
so far.’’1 Since then the world has seen much more evi-
dence of Bergman’s extraordinary talent as director,
screenplay writer, and sometimes producer of unmatch-
able movies in various genres. His novels, partly auto-
biographical; his critical statements; and his own stage
plays as well as the many others he directed also con-
tribute to his massive output. Almost single-handedly
he created a renaissance of Nordic cinema that has
exceeded even the work of Victor Sjöström and Mauritz
Stiller, his heroes in early film production in Sweden.
Nowadays, despite their reputation, their movies are
largely forgotten or ignored. Bergman’s will continue to
grow in worldwide importance for many decades.
2 General Observations

In the more than sixty years of his career, Bergman

not only went through different periods in his creativ-
ity, as most artists do, but also developed continuously
from beginning to end. Not all geniuses or highly pro-
ductive people are of that sort. Many flash across the
sky or suddenly destroy their talent in a burst of energy
like the supernovae that they are. Though Bergman
escaped this peril, his newer films have sometimes been
misconstrued by people who don’t realize how original
and how varied they tend to be. Other viewers remain
unaware of the integral and organic progression that
exists from Bergman’s earliest films to others that are
fairly recent. As I argue in my text, his final motion pic-
tures constitute highly advanced resolutions of themes
that preoccupied him throughout the preceding years.
In that respect they serve as a model for what artists in
any field may hope to attain, if only they persevere and
the world allows them to continue unabated.
For those whose progress is as gradual and as subtle
as Bergman’s was, this great endurance can also be a
disadvantage. Film audiences, particularly reviewers
who have little time to reflect on their experience at the
movies, are prone to assume that the master is merely
rehashing insights and techniques with which he has
already regaled us. If we wish to savor what Bergman
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
ruggedness and steepness of the descent may be gathered by the
fact that I had all 14 ponies belonging to the party driven slowly, and
allowed to pick their path down, and the only one which
accomplished the descent without a heavy, fall was my own pony,
which I led, and indicated to him where he should put his feet.
While we were near the Inhlobane I rode many miles to the
eastward and to the north of the mountain searching for the body of
my friend Robert Barton, but was no more successful than were the
25 natives whom I employed for three weeks for the same purpose.
Uhamu came to visit me at Tinta’s Kraal. He naturally did not tell me,
but I learned from others, that both he and Mnyamane, who were
the most powerful chiefs, were oppressing their lesser brethren.
Mnyamane had then taken 400 cattle from Sirayo, and 600 from his
people, on the ground that it was his fault the Zulu dynasty had
been destroyed.
We had arranged that the Empress should reach the Ityatosi
some days before the sad anniversary, the death of her only son,
June the 1st. When we arrived there we were troubled by the
intrusive action of a lady correspondent of an American newspaper,
who endeavoured with much persistence to obtain “copy” for her
paper. I sent for the head man of the kraal,—and it is remarkable
how the natives trust any Englishman whom they know,—and after
an explanation of the case, he signed a witnessed deed of a lease of
all his land on a radius of 2 miles from the spot where the Prince fell.
We explained the law of trespass, and after giving the Zulus some
blankets they formed a long line, and clasping hands danced away,
showing how they would resist passively the approach of any one
who endeavoured to go on the property.
I have already described, by Chicheeli’s help, how he killed
Robert Barton. We were able to give the remains a Christian burial.
When we arrived at the Ityatosi I sent out for all the men who had
been engaged in the attack on the reconnoitring party when the
Prince lost his life, and while waiting for them to assemble,
Lieutenant Bigge and I rode to the Inhlazatze Mountain, with the
double purpose of returning Mr. Osborne’s call, who had waited on
the Empress when she entered Zululand by crossing the Blood River,
and also because I wanted to confer with him about the lease I had
taken of the land around Sobuza’s kraal, the spot where the Prince
was killed. Leaving at 1 a.m. we were able to spend several hours
with Mr. Osborne, and got back in time for dinner, the ponies doing
the 74 miles without any sign of distress.
I had long wanted to know the truth of the story of the death of
Masipula. When we were marching on Ulundi the previous year I
was out in advance of the column reconnoitring and when sitting
under a tree the interpreter said, “The last time I was under this tree
I said good-bye to Masipula, Umpande’s Prime Minister;” and he told
me this story. During the later years of Umpande’s long reign the
position in Zululand was somewhat analogous to that in the days of
our Regency, when George the Third was no longer capable of
managing the affairs of the nation. Masipula felt it his duty to check
Cetewayo continually in his desire of raising more regiments, and
when the king died, Cetewayo delayed until he was crowned by
Shepstone, and then sent a message to Masipula, “The King is
dead.” The meaning of this intelligence thus formally delivered was,
“As you were his minister so many years, you ought to die.” Masipula
not accepting the hint, sent back a message that he greatly
regretted Umpande’s death; and Cetewayo waited patiently for
another three months, and finding that Masipula would not take the
hint, sent for him. He told my informant he knew that Cetewayo
would kill him, and the Englishman asked, “Then why go? Ride over
the border into Natal, and live there.” The old chief drawing himself
up proudly, observed, “And do you think that, after being his father’s
minister so long, I would refuse to obey the son’s orders?”
I asked Mr. Osborne, “Can you tell me whether Cetewayo
poisoned or strangled Masipula? for I have heard that he had his
beer poisoned, and another story that, after receiving him, in the
evening he sent men into the kraal assigned to him, and that when
the executioners entered, Masipula placed his head in the noose
which was already in the rope. Tell me if you can, was he poisoned,
or strangled?” Mr. Osborne was a cautious man, and his solitary life
among the Zulus perhaps increased this habit, although within 40
miles of us not any one except Captain Bigge and our orderlies could
speak English, he dropped his voice, and in a low tone answered me
in a monosyllable, “Both”; and added, the poison not having taken
effect as quickly as was expected, the ex-Prime Minister was
strangled.
While we were encamped on the Ityatosi, near Seobuza’s kraal, I
had prolonged interviews with 18 Zulus, whom I examined
separately, and from them obtained a detailed account of the
surprise of the reconnoitring party of the 1st June in the previous
year, in which the Prince Imperial fell, the natives later putting
themselves in the exact positions they held that afternoon. There
were between 30 and 36 Zulus who took part in the attack.
The Patrol having rested on a hill to the north of the river,
descended at three o’clock to Seobuza’s kraal, and the Zulu scouts
who were watching it hastily assembled all the men within reach.
These crept up the bed of the river, and were close at hand
concealed in a mealie field, when a friendly Zulu, who was acting as
guide, and was killed a few minutes later, informed the British officer
in command that he had seen Zulus near, and then it was that the
party was ordered to mount. The Zulus purposely waited until this
moment, realising that it would be the most favourable moment to
attack, and fired a volley. The horse of one of the white escort was
shot, and he was immediately assegaied. That of another soldier fell
in an ant-bear hole, and the rider was stabbed before he could rise.
The rest of the party, except the Prince, galloped hard to the ridge,
not drawing rein until they reached some rocks 820 yards from the
kraal, when one of them looked round, and they then rode away, still
fast, but not at the headlong speed at which they had started. The
Zulus in pursuit ran first after the two white soldiers who were on
the flanks, three or four men, headed by Zabanga, following the
Prince. His horse had jumped just as he was mounting, and his
sword fell out of the scabbard. He was very active, and was vaulting
on his horse in motion, when the wallet on the front of the saddle
broke away, and he fell to the ground, being at this time only 60
yards behind the fugitives. There were seven men who actually
fought the Prince. When Langalabalele, pursuing the fugitives, first
210
saw Zabanga he was running away from the Prince, who was
rushing at him. Zabanga, crouching in the grass, threw an assegai at
him. The first assegai stuck in the Prince’s thigh, and withdrawing it
from the wound, he kept his foes at bay for some minutes. In the
native’s words, “He fought like a lion; he fired two shots, but without
effect, and I threw an assegai at him, which struck him, as I said at
the time, but I always allowed Zabanga’s claim to have killed him,
for his assegai hit the Prince in the left shoulder, a mortal wound. He
fought with my assegai, and we did not dare to close with him until
he sank down facing us, when we rushed on him.”
On the 1st of July I drove the Empress and Lady Wood from
Maritzburg to the foot of the Inchanga Mountain, where at the
terminus of the railway a train was waiting. The road was
engineered down the side of the mountain, and the Empress liking
to travel fast, I let the horses canter most of the way down. I was
always nervous when driving Her Majesty, and when I handed my
wife into the train, I said, “Now my personal responsibility is over I
shall not mind if the train goes off the line.” We had indeed a narrow
escape; when I had assisted the ladies out of the carriage I handed
the reins to a Sergeant of the Army Service Corps, who was waiting
to take the team back. He had gone only half a mile at a steady trot
when the connecting rod which fastens the forecarriage to the after
part of the “Spider” snapped in two. If this had happened half an
hour earlier, when we were cantering down the mountain road, the
Empress and Lady Wood would have had a severe accident.
After giving a personal report of the journey to Her Majesty, for
which purpose Lady Wood and I received a command to Osborne, I
211
resumed my work at Chatham.
This gave much interesting occupation, and an opportunity I had
long desired of reducing the number of useless sentries who wasted
their time in many places in the garrison.
 The Commissary-General at the War Office corresponded with
me at this period, and later, on the question of my succeeding him,
which he desired. I had been successful in providing food and
transport in 1878–79, and now, being anxious for the efficiency of
his Department, in the absence of any specially qualified officer in it,
he wished that I should succeed him. He proposed this to me on
several occasions, once when writing with reference to the
confidential reports I had furnished on officers who had served
under me during the Zulu War, concerning which he wrote: “I take
this opportunity of stating, with reference to the reports you have
sent me, that no more faithful or honest descriptions of officers’
characters have ever reached me.”
 CHAPTER XXXVI
1881—THE LAND OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS

Preliminaries to Rebellion—Modelled on Hampden’s conduct—To

South Africa—Dutchmen from Cape Colony deprecate resistance
to Government—Death of Sir George Colley—An appreciation.

S OUTH Africa, sometimes named “The land of Misfortune,” may be

more aptly termed “The land of Misunderstandings.” The
problem of ensuring good government in a vast country inhabited by a
few dominant white men, in the midst of warlike native races, has
always been difficult.

Many Governors and Generals have been recalled by a dissatisfied

Home Government, mainly because it did not understand the local
conditions of the country, and twenty-five years ago the solution of the
Zulu question, instead of solving the Boer-British difficulties, brought
their opposing interests into sharper antagonism.
In 1880, before the gold industry had been developed, Mr. Kruger
and his friends worked against Confederation, mainly, I believe, from
the wish, after regaining their independence, to be left alone. The
successes of 1881, and the accumulation of vast wealth from gold
mines turning the farmer’s head, encouraged him later to strive for the
mastery in South Africa.
The proclamation annexing the Transvaal, in 1877, promised as
much Self-government as the circumstances of the country permitted.
Sir Bartle Frere confirmed this pledge, and the Boers hoped on for its
fulfilment, though the nominated Assembly of officers, and other
Britons, in November 1879, in nowise satisfied their aspirations.
 The answer brought back by the Deputation to the Colonial Minister
in London showed the Boers they had little to hope for by peaceful
measures; but, as Kruger and Joubert told me in May 1881, the step
which eventually determined their resort to arms was the perusal of a
despatch from the Administrator, published in The Times, arguing with
perfect honesty of purpose, the people must be contented, since taxes
had never been so satisfactorily collected. “These English cannot
understand our love of freedom,” they said, and the prearranged
refusal to pay taxes by Bezeidenhout, at Potchefstroom, for which he
was indemnified in advance, was the first overt act of rebellion,
following the precedents of Eliot, Hampden, and Pym in the early
Parliaments of Charles I.
The British Authorities, determined to strengthen Pretoria, called in
two-thirds of the Lydenburg garrison. The Boers waylaying it on the
20th December, demanded it should retrace its steps. The Senior officer
refused to do so, and was extending for action when the Boers opened
fire from cover, destroyed or captured the detachment.
Major-General Sir George Colley had succeeded Sir Garnet Wolseley
as High Commissioner for East South Africa, but had been requested to
regard his authority in the Transvaal as dormant, to be exercised only
in case of necessity.
Unfortunately Sir Bartle Frere, the strongest Governor South Africa
has ever seen, was no longer at Cape Town. First the Conservatives,
later the Liberals, had retained him as the keystone of the much-
desired Confederation. He had left Cape Town in September 1880, and
his successor, Sir Hercules Robinson, only arrived at the end of January
1881. On the 25th December the Acting Governor in Cape Town cabled
a resolution of the Cape Legislature, urging Lord Kimberley to send a
special Commissioner to the Transvaal to avert hostilities. Lord
Kimberley replied on the 30th December that “the moment was not
opportune.”
Throughout January 1881 Mr. Brand strove strenuously for
concessions to the Boers, telegraphing on the 10th and 12th to Lord
Kimberley, and many messages passed between Brand and some of the
British Authorities in South Africa.
 On the 23rd January, General and High Commissioner Sir George
Colley wrote to Mr. Joubert calling on him to dismiss his followers, and
undertaking to submit any representations the Boers might wish to put
forward. Although the hostile camps were within 4 miles, Joubert’s
refusal to disperse unless Annexation was cancelled, dated 27th
January, was not received until 15th February. On the 28th January,
Colley attacked Joubert in position on Lang’s Nek, in Natal, and was
repulsed.
On the 28th January, Lord Kimberley telegraphed to Mr. Brand,
through the Free State British Consul, “Inform President, that if armed
opposition ceases forthwith Her Majesty’s Government will thereupon
endeavour to form such scheme as they believe would satisfy all
enlightened friends of the Transvaal community.”
On the 3rd February, in telegrams passing between Mr. Brand and
Sir George Colley, he learnt of Lord Kimberley’s message to Brand of
the 26th January, and, asking Sir Hercules Robinson, received a copy of
it, and next day begged Mr. Brand “to give every publicity to it.”
On the 5th February, Mr. Joubert wrote to Sir George Colley
protesting against the attack of the 28th January, made before he had
had time to reply to Sir George’s letter of the 23rd; but Joubert, at the
same time using the Free State Territory, sent troops round the British
flank, and stopped the post on the 7th February, on the Ingogo River, 7
miles south of Colley’s camp at Mount Prospect. The General tried to
reopen the Newcastle road next day with 5 companies and 2 guns; was
heavily attacked; retained his position until sunset, when the Boers
drew off, and after dark Sir George Colley fell back on Prospect Camp.
Although the Boers held the ground next morning for a short time, the
engagement reopened the communication a few days later.
On the 4th January I received a note from the Military Secretary
asking me in the name of the Commander-in-Chief if I would return to
South Africa to serve under Sir George Colley, to whom I was one
senior in the Army List, and requesting me to go to London to discuss
the question. I agreed to go out on the Adjutant-General’s observing,
“Your Rank, Pay, and Allowances will be the same as at Chatham.”
 In a “Letter of Service” received on the 6th, it was stated that I was
going out as a “Colonel on the Staff.” This I declined by telegraph,
recalling the previous day’s conversation, and was again ordered to the
War Office. Though the Adjutant-General predicted I should repent it, I
maintained my decision. In the result a fresh “Letter of Service” was
handed to me, with the rank of Brigadier-General, which I had held at
Chatham, and also when I left the Colony eighteen months earlier, after
having commanded in two campaigns and five fights a strong brigade
of all Arms.
Lord Kimberley sent for me and explained his views of the question
of the Zulu and Swazi States after the Annexation should be annulled,
which he gave me to understand he already accepted in principle. I
took leave of Her Majesty the Queen, who was very gracious to me, on
the 7th January, and sailed on the 14th, reaching Cape Town on the
7th February.
We heard on the 8th, at Cape Town, of the action on the Ingogo;
and the mail steamer being delayed, I transhipped into a transport,
reaching Durban on the afternoon of the 9th. I left immediately,
arriving at Government House early next morning, where I was kindly
received by Lady Colley, with whom I had danced at her first ball. I
found a letter from Sir George Colley, dated the 4th February, couched
in graceful terms, as follows:—“I was right glad to hear you were
coming out, and thought it very generous of you to be ready to serve
under a junior and less experienced officer. I propose to give you half
the troops, to relieve Lydenburg.”
The situation had changed since he wrote, and so I left Maritzburg
in the evening, sleeping a few hours at Estcourt, as the tracks were
heavy and the mules had much difficulty in pulling the cart. I stopped
on the 14th at Ladysmith, after travelling from daylight till 9 p.m. for
two hours, to clear up some work about which the Colonial Secretary
had telegraphed to me, and then drove on through the night, arriving
at the Biggarsberg at daylight, where I received a letter from Sir
George Colley, dated Mount Prospect, 16th February. He had heard I
was coming up, and warned that a Force was on my left, estimated to
be from eight to fifteen hundred men, adding he did not know the
position it was supposed they intended to hold.
 I found on the Biggarsberg two infantry Battalions, and two
Squadrons of Cavalry, but the Senior officer had taken no military
precautions. Having ascended the top of the mountain, and assured
myself there was no enemy in the immediate neighbourhood, I left
orders for the troops to march after an early dinner, and went out at
nine o’clock with a small escort of 15th Hussars, to reconnoitre. I could
212
see no signs of the Boers on our side of the Drakensberg Mountain,
and turned eastwards in the afternoon, arriving on the Biggarsberg-
Newcastle track at sunset.
I approached the rise overlooking the Ingagane River, cautiously as
a matter of habit, and it was well I did so, for just below me there was
a party of 200 Boers pillaging a public-house on the north bank. They
had cleared the building, destroying all the liquor, and were leaving. As
they never looked back, I was able to ford the river and follow them
until it was clear where they intended to cross the Drakensberg into the
Free State. None but the leaders knew why Joubert declined to attack
us.
When I returned late to the camp I sent for the Commanding
officers, and told them that I had seen a Boer Patrol; and while I had
no reason to suppose that a large body was close at hand, yet even a
small number of mounted men might hold the Ingagane position and
render our crossing difficult. They had made one march, so I asked if
they would prefer to make a night march to get to the bank, and cross
with the first streak of dawn, or wait and take the chance of the Boers
occupying it. They unanimously preferred to march, as we did at 1 a.m.
We began to cross at daylight, but the water had risen since the
previous evening, and as single men could not resist the current, we
were obliged to form a chain to ensure getting them over in safety. We
moved on to the Horn River, 7 miles, and the difficulties of the track
may be understood from the fact that our last waggon did not get into
213
camp until 10 p.m., the oxen being on the trek-tow twenty hours.
Next morning, preceding the troops, I went early to Newcastle, and
had the pleasure of meeting Sir George Colley, who had ridden through
the previous night from Prospect Camp. I told him Lord Kimberley’s
views on the steps to be taken after the Annexation was annulled, and
Sir George protested in a telegram dated the 19th February, against
any division of the country.
On the 8th February, Lord Kimberley had telegraphed to Sir George
Colley, “If the Boers cease from armed opposition, Her Majesty’s
Government will be ready to give all reasonable guarantees as to their
treatment after submission, and that scheme will be framed with a view
to permanent friendly settlement of difficulties.”
On the 13th February, Sir George telegraphed the purport of a
letter from Mr. Kruger asking for a Royal Commission, which he was
confident would give Boers their rights, adding, if Annexation were
upheld they would fight to the end. On the 16th, Lord Kimberley,
understanding Colley was shut up in Prospect Camp, telegraphed to
me, “Inform Kruger that if Boers will desist from armed opposition, we
shall be quite ready to appoint Commissioners with extensive powers,
and who may develop scheme referred to in my telegram of 8th inst.
And that if this proposal is accepted you are authorised to agree to
suspension of hostilities on our part.”
I had not answered this telegram, hoping to hand it personally to
Sir George, as I did when we met. Sir George replied that day to Lord
Kimberley, “Latter part of your telegram to Wood not understood.
There can be no hostilities if no resistance is made; but am I to leave
Lang’s Nek, in Natal territory, in Boer occupation, and our garrisons
isolated, and short of provisions, or occupy former, and relieve latter?”
Lord Kimberley replied the same day,—“It is essential that garrisons
should be free to provision themselves and peaceful intercourse
allowed, but we do not mean that you should march to the relief of
garrison or occupy Lang’s Nek, if arrangement proceeds. Fix reasonable
time within which answer must be sent by Boers.”
I ascertained, in the course of conversation, that Sir George had no
information of the Left Flank and Rear of the Boer position, and
suggested that I should go as far as was necessary to see if there were
any considerable number of troops in the Wakkerstroom district.
He demurred somewhat to the risk, but eventually, after proposing
to come himself, to which I objected on the principle that two valuable
eggs should not go in one basket, allowed me to proceed; and at 11
p.m. on the 19th, I left Newcastle, and crossing the Buffalo with 100
Hussars, we proceeded to a hill overlooking Wakkerstroom, and
ascertained there was no large Force of the enemy in that direction.
When I returned next evening, after a ride of 60 miles, Sir George
told me he wished me to go back to Maritzburg and expedite the
transport of provisions, of which there were at Newcastle only thirteen
days’ supply. I received two telegrams in succession from Dutchmen
living near Fort Beaufort, who had served with me in 1878, requesting
me to transmit to the Boer leaders then on the Nek, the opinion of the
Fort Beaufort district Dutchmen that they ought to submit, when no
doubt they would get all they wanted from the British Government. I
sent the telegram to Sir George Colley with a note saying I was anxious
to assist him, and not engage in any correspondence myself with the
Boer leaders. He thanked me warmly, saying he fully appreciated my
loyal desire to help him, and mentioned that he thought it was best to
let Mr. Brand deal with all such communications. I left Newcastle at 3
a.m. on the 22nd, but was detained several hours on the Ingagane, as
the change of mules had strayed and ours were too exhausted to do a
double stage; but later, we were fortunate in the weather, and next
day, by driving from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m., got to Maritzburg.

* * * * *
During the night, 26th to 27th, Sir George Colley occupied the
Majuba Mountain, thinking the Boers intrenching its lower slopes were
about to forestall him on the summit. I heard from him at breakfast-
time; he was on the mountain; but in the afternoon we had an
alarming telegram, followed by a succession of similar messages; one
announcing Sir George’s death, urged that unless the 15th Hussars and
an Infantry Battalion moved up to Prospect at once, the camp there
would be in a critical position. I recalled the troops who had already
started, for the effect of their move would have been to leave the
ammunition, and the twelve days’ supplies at Newcastle, with 250 sick
and wounded, guarded by 100 men, in order to put 700 more men into
Prospect Camp, where there were already 1200 soldiers, and would
also have added a march of 17 miles and one more difficult river,
through which the supplies would have to be dragged.
At 8 p.m. I asked the Chief Justice to come to Government House,
and was sworn in as Acting Governor of Natal and Administrator of the
Transvaal. I could not rest, as telegrams were brought to me every
half-hour, but managed to get away at 5.30 a.m. on the 28th. Though
we started before daylight, the track was so greasy that it was dark
before we reached Estcourt, only 50 miles away. There I received a
fresh bundle of telegrams, which kept me up till midnight, and
Walkinshaw called me again before 4 a.m. That night we slept at the
Biggarsberg, and as an officer there had telegraphed to me that a
Dutchman had been watching for the post cart, asking if I was on it, I
took on an escort of six men. I saw no Boers, however; and as the
team could not pull the cart, I rode the horses of the escort in turn, to
Newcastle, where I arrived on the 3rd March. Next day I visited
Prospect in a deluge of rain, which made the track so greasy that the
horses could with difficulty keep on their feet at a walk; and on the 6th,
when I again rode up, it took us five hours to travel about 20 miles.
I wrote to my wife, “Colley is gone: the best instructed soldier I
ever met.” In 1877 I wished him to take the Staff College, when I
thought it was to be offered to me, solely because I thought he would
214
make a better Commandant. Except by Lord Wolseley, and one or
two others, Sir George’s long and valuable life is unappreciated, and
forgotten in its culminating and dramatic disaster. For him success was
impossible, no smaller mind would have attempted to achieve it with
the totally inadequate means at hand. He did not know what it was to
fear, and rated others by his own undaunted heart. He had suddenly to
face a rebellion carefully prepared in a vast country, which he was to
rule only in case of emergency; and until the end of November, when
the Administrator of the Transvaal telegraphed for troops, all that
officer’s reports had been reassuring.
Colley was justified, in a military sense, in moving on the 26th. The
hill he occupied is in Natal. The forty-eight hours, to which his letter of
the 21st had limited his offer “to suspend hostilities,” had long since
elapsed; and, moreover, as he telegraphed on the 10th to Mr. Brand, he
could not “allow any communication with the Boers to affect his military
operations” while they were trying to starve out the British garrisons.
 CHAPTER XXXVII
1881—AFTER MAJUBA

The Military situation compels inaction—Ambiguous

telegrams from the Cabinet—Piet Joubert asks me to
meet him—Lord Kimberley approves of my doing so—
His instructions—I urge Military action—Walkinshaw’s
endurance—The Boers disperse—Boer flag at
Heidelberg—Pretoria—A painful journey.

T HE following was the Military position of the frontier when I

arrived at Newcastle: at Prospect there were 1200 Infantry and
a few Mounted Infantry. All the troops had been engaged once; about
two-thirds, twice, and all three engagements had ended in a
withdrawal of the British troops. In the camp at Prospect there were six
weeks’ rations for men, and at Newcastle twelve days’, with six days’
forage. Although we were so short of forage, no horses had been
allowed to graze for two days, for fear of a raid by the Boers, still over
25 miles distant. I found of two and a half Squadrons of Cavalry, one
Squadron was kept continuously on outpost duty. These I withdrew,
replacing them by six scouts, only farther out than the Squadron had
gone.

Rain had fallen for ten successive days, and on one occasion for
twenty hours without ceasing, causing the Incandu River at Newcastle
to rise 7 feet in one day.
 The Colonial Secretary urged me to bring the troops back to
Newcastle, and asked to have the Natal Police moved back to Colenso.
The Inniskilling Dragoons, a battery and a half Royal Artillery, and the
83rd Regiment were marching up country, but did not arrive till twenty-
three days later, when, although the Dragoons led their horses all the
way, they had only a hundred of them fit for work, in spite of the fact
that they had taken eighteen days to cover 140 miles. The tracks,
called roads, in Natal were indeed almost impassable, but by leaving
their waggons the troops could have arrived a week earlier.
There was no necessity for an immediate advance, except as
regards Potchefstroom. Sir George Colley had been very anxious for
that Garrison. He wrote on the 15th January: “Unless I can in some
way relieve the pressure on Potchefstroom before the middle of next
month, that Garrison and its guns must fall into the Boers’ hands,” and
this anxiety induced his movement on the 28th January. Although he
had not the power to ensure success, he kept the Boer forces occupied,
and it should be remembered to his credit that none of the garrisons
fell.
I received simultaneously the two following telegrams:

“Secretary of State for War to Sir Evelyn Wood,

Brigadier-General.
“1st March 1881.
“Although Sir F. Roberts is going out with large
reinforcements, we place full confidence in you, and do not
desire to fetter your military discretion.”

* * * * *

“Lord Kimberley to Sir Evelyn Wood.

“1st March.
“When did Sir George Colley communicate to Kruger the fact
that the British Government would appoint Commissioners with
 extensive powers for the friendly settlement of all difficulties,
and what answer was given?”

And on the 3rd March, Lord Kimberley ordered me to inquire

whether an answer would be sent to me; and again, on the 4th March,
asked for a reply.
Most of the Ministry, possibly, but certainly a majority of the Nation,
would have been better satisfied if I could have consulted my own
wishes, and driven the Boers from the Nek before the Transvaal was
given back. With the troops then at hand, however, success against a
well-posted enemy, four times as strong, was unattainable. Before the
reinforcements arrived the dominant will of the Premier decided the
215
question.
On the 3rd March, Mr. Brand telegraphed to me, stating he had
written to Kruger to urge him to suspend hostilities, and begged me, as
one formerly on friendly terms with some of the Boers, to contribute to
a peaceable settlement. I replied thanking Mr. Brand, and endorsing his
sentiments for our Boer friends, said I would gladly abstain from a
forward movement till the 10th March, if the Boers made a similar
promise.
I telegraphed Brand’s message and my reply to Lord Kimberley, and
he next day replied approving my message. When sending a copy of
my telegram I added, “Referring to the above, please consider with this
my telegram to Brand. I suggest I wait for a day or two, as I shall not
be ready for another week, and then I must act if Potchefstroom is to
be saved. When I move, I am confident, with God’s blessing, of
success.”
I received late, on the 4th March, a communication from Mr. Piet
Joubert, enclosing a telegram from Mr. Brand, and asking would I meet
him? I replied, I would meet him on the 6th; and while informing Lord
Kimberley, added, “My constant endeavour shall be to carry out your
orders; but considering the disasters we have sustained, I think the
happiest result will be that after a successful action, which I hope to
fight in about fourteen days, the Boers should disperse without any
guarantees, and then many now undoubtedly coerced will settle down.”
Later in the day I telegraphed: “Joubert is coming to meet me. Shall
follow strictly the lines of your instructions.”
I rode out about 17 miles to O’Neill’s, an empty farm at Prospect,
on the afternoon of the 5th, and was deciphering telegrams till 9 p.m.,
when I asked Walkinshaw for my eye-douche, the rose of which could
not be found; and I desired him somewhat impatiently to call me at 4
a.m., at which hour he held a jug over my head. “What’s the use; you
left the rose behind?” “It’s here.” “Where was it?” “On the mantelpiece.”
It was only months later I learned he had ridden to Newcastle and
back, 34 miles, swimming twice the Ingogo River, in fording which an
officer and some men had been lost on the 8th February.
I met Mr. Joubert and three Boer leaders on the 6th March, and at
their request, in order to allow time for Mr. Kruger, who was then near
Rustenberg, to reply to Sir George Colley’s communication, agreed to
an armistice for eight days, i.e. to midnight on the 18th March. The
Boers undertook to pass eight days’ supplies to the invested garrisons,
and inform them of the Truce, which was to count only from the arrival
of the supplies. I telegraphed this arrangement to Mr. Brand, and
begged him to ensure the faithful transmission of the news to
Potchefstroom, which he undertook the same day to do.
I telegraphed to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and for
War: “Want of food prevents advance for about ten days. Ingagane and
Incandu are impassable. I have therefore lost nothing in suspending
hostilities, and gained eight days’ food for the garrisons most in want.”
Next day the Cabinet approved my action, not only in the Political, but
also in the Military point of view.
On receipt of this message I replied to Lord Kimberley, 8th March:
“Do not imagine I wish to fight, I know the attending misery too well;
but now you have so many troops coming, I recommend decided
though lenient action, and I can, humanly speaking, promise victory.
Colley never engaged more than six companies; I shall use twenty, and
two Cavalry regiments, in directions known only to myself, and I
undertake to enforce dispersion.”
That same day Lord Kimberley, telegraphing with reference to my
telegram of the 5th March, in which, while suggesting an amnesty for
leaders, I urged, “The happiest results will be after a successful action,
which I hope to fight in about fourteen days,” replied, “There will be
complete amnesty.... We will now appoint Commissioners for friendly
communications to Boers.” Later in the day he telegraphed, “Prolong
Armistice as needful.”
On the 11th March, in referring to my telegram of the 9th, showing
the food supplies in the garrisons, I asked if the Armistice was to be
prolonged, stating, “The situation on military grounds scarcely justifies
prolongation, certainly not beyond the 18th March.” And in reply I
received orders “To prolong the Armistice, and inform the Boers, if they
desisted from armed opposition, a Royal Commission, consisting of Sir
Hercules Robinson, Sir Henry de Villiers, and yourself, will be appointed
to consider the giving back of the Transvaal, subject to British
Suzerainty, a Resident at Capital, and provisions for guarding native
interests, Mr. Brand being present as representing the Friendly State.”
On the 12th March, Lord Kimberley telegraphed: “In order to
enable me to answer questions in Parliament, inform me whether
suggestions for Armistice proceeded from you or Joubert, or from
whom?” I might have replied briefly, “From you. See your telegram of
216
16th February.” Although Mr. Kruger on the 16th March, in the
conference under Lang’s Nek, claimed the credit of the Armistice, as
being the result of his letter of the 12th February to Sir George Colley.
However, appreciating Lord Kimberley’s difficulties in the Houses of
Parliament, I replied: “Mount Prospect, 14th March. Whole history of
Armistice. 3rd March, Brand appealed to me, as former friend of Boers,
to stop bloodshed, by arranging temporary cessation of hostilities. 4th
March, Sent my answer to you. 5th March, You approved. 3rd March,
Brand appealed to Joubert to meet me to arrange armistice. 4th March,
Joubert sending me Brand’s message; asks how far I will co-operate so
(sic) he wishes to stop his patrols. 5th March, I offered to meet him on
the 6th.”
During the next few days I had much discussion with some of the
Boer leaders, who were, however, unable to give definite opinions on
217
many points, as Mr. Kruger, whom they all regarded as their chief,
was still absent. I wrote to Lady Wood on the 15th March: “Buller, who
went with me to meet Joubert yesterday, thinks the Boers will go on
fighting. I think they will not, if we concede all that Lord Kimberley has
telegraphed.”
His Lordship had sketched roughly to me before I left London his
views regarding the Government of the territories inhabited mainly by
Natives after the retrocession of the Transvaal, but his views were not
in accordance with the wishes of the Boers, who subsequently, in
consequence of the recommendation of two of the Royal
Commissioners, obtained what they wanted.
I told the Boers plainly on the 15th that the Government would not
consent to the recall of our garrisons until the country was handed over
by a Royal Commission, and on this point, which had been represented
as one of paramount importance, they gave way. We talked for hours
on the 16th, and I telegraphed that evening to Lord Kimberley as
follows: “After eight hours’ talk I am confirmed in the opinion
expressed in my telegram of the 5th instant, namely, ‘Considering the
disasters we have sustained, I think the happiest result will be that
after a successful action which I hope to fight, the Boers should
disperse without any guarantees.’ On the 19th, the Boers who were in
telegraphic communication through the Free State with Parliamentary
and other supporters in London, abated their tone considerably, and in
writing that night to my wife I said, “Buller now thinks they will not
fight; if they do, we shall beat them.”
On the 20th, Lord Kimberley replied to my telegram of the 16th as
follows: “I have not heard from you the result of your communication
to the Boers relative to my telegram of the 17th inst. We rely upon you,
unless Military Necessity requires immediate action, to give us time to
consider points on which you may not be able to come to agreement
with the Boers.”
On the 21st March the Boers accepting Lord Kimberley’s terms,
including any separation of land in the interests of the natives which
the Royal Commission might consider necessary, agreed to disperse;
and while informing Lord Kimberley, I telegraphed to the Secretary of
State for War asking him to see the telegram, and added, “If
authorised, can advance 24th, but may be delayed by rivers.” On the
22nd, Lord Kimberley approved of the conditions under which the
Boers undertook to disperse; and on the 24th nearly all their waggons
had moved off, about 1,800 remaining on the Nek to receive me as I
descended from the Majuba with the Boer leaders, who had ascended
to show me the respective positions of the contending forces on the
27th February.
At a breakfast given to me on the Boer position there were three
young couples who were to have been married six months earlier, but
the girls, like all the Boer women, declined to have anything to say to
lovers or husbands until Peace was made, and it was, I believe, mainly
owing to the influence of the women that the spirit of the Rebellion
was maintained.
It is remarkable that none of us ever heard either Boer leader
boast, or even speak in a tone of exultation, of their successes. This
was not the case with the young men, but the leaders on every
occasion ascribed the result of their struggles to the intervention of the
Almighty. Mr. Brand asserted that another check to our arms would
have brought into the field all the young Dutchmen of South Africa. As
I telegraphed to Lord Kimberley, “A check, humanly speaking, was
impossible;” and in spite of Brand’s experience, assuming one occurred,
I could endorse his opinion only as regards the Free State men, of
whom there were about 300 on the Lang’s Nek position on the morning
of the 24th March.
I had much interesting conversation with Mr. Joubert during the
intervals of the negotiations. He was by far the most far-seeing and
moderate of the Boer leaders. I was told on the 24th, when the Boers
were dispersing, that Joubert had had considerable trouble to obtain
the assent of the different Commandoes (detachments) to Lord
Kimberley’s conditions, many of the leaders objecting strenuously to
any interference with the power of the Boers to deal with the Natives.
Joubert did not tell me, but I learnt while on the Nek, that the evening
before it was decided to accept the British terms, Joubert, after a long
discussion, said, with some heat, and decision, “I advise you to accept
these terms, which are liberal; and if you refuse them, you had better
nominate another Commandant-General, for I do not mean to fight.”
 When talking to him alone I said, “You dislike our reservations
about Native territories. Why not stand out, and let us have another
fight?” “Oh,” he replied, “I do not want any more bloodshed.” “Well, as
you are not quite satisfied with the terms, why not fight again; you say
you have won three times?” “Yes, but we shall not win again now, and
I am in favour of a peaceful settlement.”
On my return to Newcastle I received the following telegram: “22nd
March. Her Majesty’s Government desire to convey to you their high
sense of your conduct in the recent proceedings, and the skill and
judgment you have shown throughout in your communications with the
Boer leaders.”
I had heard from Lord Kimberley on the 1st April that he thought it
desirable I should go to Pretoria and explain the Situation, and replied I
had already placed relays of horses, and was starting on the 3rd April.
I travelled in a “Spider” drawn by two Artillery horses, and at
Paarde Kop, a few miles out of Prospect, the driver having dismounted
to adjust some harness, left the horses’ heads, and they started off
while I was in the carriage. The man made a determined effort to stop
them, and catching the rein, was dragged a hundred yards, when the
horses breaking into a gallop he let go. As the Spider bounded over an
ant-bear heap I was tossed out, falling on my spine on the off horse’s
head. Very little damage was done to the carriage, and in a short time
we were again on the track.
When I reached Heidelberg at sunset on the 4th, I found the Boer
flag flying over the Court House in the market square, and going up to
speak to the sentry, who did not understand English, he showed such
decided intention of shooting me if I interfered with the flag, that I
went back to the hotel, and sending for Messrs. Pretorius and Smidt,
desired them to have the flag hauled down. To this they demurred, and
attempted to argue the point. Eventually bidding them good-night, I
said, “You have got several hours to think about it, but if at 6 a.m. to-
morrow—now, please compare your watches—that flag is flying, I shall
pull it down with my own hands, and assuming the same man is on
sentry he will shoot me. This will be unpleasant for my family, but
honestly speaking I think it will be a gain for England. You gentlemen
believe, and rightly, Mr. Gladstone has great power with the British
Public, but not even he will be able to give you back your country if you
are so foolish as to shoot a Governor, who dies insisting on your
carrying out the terms under which you dispersed from Lang’s Nek.
There cannot be two Governments in the country at one moment.”
At daylight next morning I looked out from my window and saw the
218
flag was flying, and exactly at six o’clock, telling Walkinshaw what I
was about to do, I walked across the square to the flag-staff. As I
approached it, saying a little prayer, for I thought that my last moment
had come, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the guard hauled
down the flag, and Smidt coming out, admitted that his argument of
219
the previous evening had been fallacious.
I left Pretoria on the 8th, sleeping at Heidelberg that night, where I
met the Boer leaders, who apologised for Cronje’s dishonourable
conduct in withholding the terms of the armistice from the
Potchefstroom Garrison, and they begged to be absolved from any
complicity in the act, which they desired should be undone as soon as
possible by the surrender being cancelled, and the Arms and
Ammunition returned. This was done, and a Garrison replaced for a
short time.
I was more injured in my fall than I realised at the time, and in the
next two or three days the irritation set up in the spine was so severe
as to make my feet swell to an enormous size. I had necessarily to ride
about at Pretoria, and thus made myself worse; and when leaving
Heidelberg on the return journey was in such agony that I could travel
only propped up with pillows and rugs, with my feet higher than my
body. When I was lifted out of the Spider at Standerton, and the doctor
asked me to turn over, I said, “That is impossible; you must turn me.” I
had lost all power of movement. Rolling me over, he injected some
morphia close to the back-bone, and in a few minutes, saying, “Oh, this
is Heaven,” I slept soundly many hours in succession, for the first time
since the accident.
I vexed the High Commissioner somewhat by my persistence in
urging him to come up to Natal and open the Commission. He probably
thought I was unreasonable in not estimating sufficiently the
importance of his Constitutional position, as regards the Ministers of
the Cape, who at this time, as indeed was often the case, were
uncertain how long they would hold office. On the other hand, Lord
Kimberley wishing me to persuade the Boer leaders to provide for our
current expenditure, was asking what arrangements I proposed as to
Revenue and Expenditure of the Government during the interval before
they got Self-government. I pointed out that we could hope to get
nothing out of the country, and for that reason I wanted the interval
shortened, and had therefore been urging the High Commissioner to
come up as soon as possible. I explained to him, and to Lord
Kimberley, that as the entire expenditure for the purposes of governing
the Transvaal was only one-twelfth of the military expenditure, which
could not be reduced without the troops being sent away, we had every
reason for giving over the country as soon as possible. In the
meantime the young Boers who had not seen the troops assembled in
the North of Natal, were somewhat impatient with their leaders, and
220
inclined to get out of hand.
I had plenty of occupation before the High Commissioner arrived,
for I held daily conferences with the Boer leaders for the purpose of
bringing to justice the murderers of Major Elliot, Paymaster, who was
shot while crossing the Vaal River, into which the Boers forced him and
his companion, Captain Lambart; and the case of Doctor Barbour, who
was murdered under somewhat similar circumstances, a few hundred
yards inside the Free State boundary. There was no doubt of the
identity of the murderers in either case, but to obtain a conviction was
unusually difficult, as martial law had not been proclaimed. Sir Henry
de Villiers, my colleague, the Chief Justice of Cape Colony, advised me
that to try the men by court-martial would be to create ex post facto
legislation, and with the prevailing feeling in the Transvaal, trial by
Boers for such deeds would have been useless.
The Free State judge who tried Barbour’s murderers, in spite of the
evidence given by Mr. —— that he saw —— fire at Barbour, advised the
jury: “If you are not certain that —— shot Mr. Barbour, you should give
the prisoner the benefit of the doubt,” and so they did. Similarly, Major
Elliot’s murderers were acquitted, in spite of Captain Lambart’s
evidence, who escaped only by diving like a duck in the Vaal River.
 When not inquiring into such and somewhat similar cases of
outrage, not, however, involving loss of life, I spent many hours,
averaging 16 daily, in considering the affairs of Zululand, where the
system of dividing up the country amongst a number of Chiefs had
become unsatisfactory. Several Chiefs complained of acts of oppression
by Usibebu, and Mnyamane complained of oppression at the hand of
Uhamu. In the opinion of Lord Kimberley the terms of settlement had
not contemplated any interference on the part of the British, so in
telegraphing to him on the 13th April I said, “All these Chiefs have
asked me to inquire into the matters in dispute, and to give a decision
which they bind themselves to carry out, but I am not certain how you
will regard my giving any decision. Shall I do so, or let the Chiefs fight
it out?” Next day His Lordship told me to decide the matter, which I did
221
four months later.
 CHAPTER XXXVIII
1881—A ROYAL COMMISSION

Charles Dickens’ story of the Fleet Prison paralleled—I ask

permission to leave Royal Commission, but am refused
—Gallop after wild ostrich—A jail delivery in Pretoria—
Visit to the Inhlazatse, and Lotiti—My Dissent to the
Report of the Royal Commission—Hotel at Beumbei—
Delagoa Bay.

A LTHOUGH I had delegated to the Colonial Secretary much of the

routine work of the Colony of Natal, I had to take action on
some cases, and in writing to Lord Kimberley on the 31st May I
mentioned that in 1878 I had met in the Colony a magistrate who was
then, I thought, inefficient; that in 1880, when I next saw him, he had
sunk still lower, and was in 1881 a drunkard; and on inquiry I found the
Colonial regulations were so framed as to practically check any action
on the Governor’s part, and I was advised by the Colonial Secretary to
leave the matter alone. Eventually, however, the magistrate’s conduct
became so flagrant that I assembled a Committee of inquiry, and the
result indicated that Charles Dickens, in Pickwick, need not have drawn
on his imagination for “Jemmy” or “Number 20,” confined in the Fleet
Prison. There was one person in the jail of the little town where the
magistrate resided, who was taken out every night by a constable to
the hotel that he might play billiards with the magistrate, and on
several occasions the prisoner brought the constable back at night
drunk. The jailer was always ordered to wait up until the game was
finished; but as it was frequently protracted till past midnight, he
eventually warned the prisoner that unless he came in at reasonable
hours he would lock him out!

On the 7th May, Sir Henry de Villiers arrived, and assisted in

endeavouring to persuade the Triumvirate, as I had been trying to do
since the 29th April, to institute a searching inquiry into the murder of
Major Elliott and some other Europeans. This was a work of much
difficulty, as the Boers were unwilling to admit, although the victims
were dead, that they had been killed under unjustifiable circumstances.
Next day the High Commissioner, Sir Hercules Robinson, arrived,
and on the 8th the Royal Commission was formally opened. It was
obvious that the views of Sir Hercules and myself differed on many
essential points. It appeared to me also that Sir Henry Villiers wished to
set up a form of Government incompatible with the paramount
authority of England, whereas I appeared to him to be unwilling to
repose that confidence in his fellow-countrymen which he felt. After a
fortnight’s close attention to the work of the Royal Commission I called
on the President, for whom I had hired a farm outside Newcastle as a
residence, and informed him I should like to withdraw from the work
imposed on me. He laughingly explained that he had had a similar
suggestion from Sir Henry that morning.
Many of the subjects under consideration were new to my
colleagues, and required, therefore, more consideration from them than
it was necessary for me to give who had been in that part of South
Africa for nearly two years previously; and while they were thus
engaged, by laying on horses I was enabled to inspect the Garrisons at
Wesselstroom, Utrecht, and battalions encamped along the line of
communication, going as far as the Biggarsberg, and Ladysmith.
On the 1st June the High Commissioner and Sir Henry started in a
carriage, I remaining behind for a few days to do some military work
which had fallen in arrears during our sittings, which extended from
seven to eight hours daily. By riding up with relays of horses I was able
to cover the distance much quicker than was possible in a spider.
It was my misfortune, while maintaining cordial relations with my
brother Commissioners, to differ entirely with them in many matters
brought before us, and I protested against my colleagues telling the
Boers that we were waiting at Newcastle for Lord Kimberley’s reply to
the reference we had made on the question of boundaries. I pointed
out to Sir Henry de Villiers, who had told them in conversation why we
were waiting, that the fact of our moving up to Pretoria must show the
Boers that the British Government had accepted the advice of the
majority of the Commission, against mine, which, as the Boers knew,
was antagonistic to their views. My brother Commissioners had
222
telegraphed on the 1st June to the following effect: “The Boers say
that they left the Boundary question with the Royal Commission for the
sake of peace at the Nek, in full confidence that they would lose
nothing by doing so. The leaders do not now wish to retract, but they
point out that the people would not acquiesce.” My brother
Commissioners for these reasons recommended that we should give
back the whole of the Transvaal, including the country adjoining Native
States. I dissented, maintaining we had carried concessions to the
utmost limit, and pointed out that the Boers admitted I had told them
distinctly on the Nek that I would do my utmost to prevent their ruling
any territory bordering on Native territories.
At the same time I pointed out to the Secretary of State for War
the inconvenience of the Natal frontier when any question of a Military
offensive is contemplated, explaining it had every possible defect,
without one compensating advantage.
On receipt of this decision against my recommendations I
telegraphed to Lord Kimberley: “When peace was made my views on
the most important question, that of the Boundary, were well known
here, and were, as I thought, the views of the Government, as
expressed in your telegram of the 17th March. These opinions are so
entirely opposed to those of my colleagues, which you have since
approved, that I am induced to represent to you that as the Border
Natives look to me for protection, and may possibly regard my future
action with suspicion if I continue to serve in the Commission, I am
compelled in justice to you to suggest for your decision whether your
policy might not be better carried out by withdrawing me from the
Commission, and allowing me to devote all my time to Natal, the Army,
and the Zulu settlement. My chief colleague, with whom my relations
are cordial, wishes me to remain, and advises me not to ask you, but I
have no fear of your misunderstanding my motives.”
To this telegram the Government replied on the 9th: “We
appreciate your motives in suggesting retirement from Commission, but
cannot accept your offer. We attach much importance to the retention
of your services on Commission, your retirement from which cannot fail
to have prejudicial effect on prospects of peaceful settlement. Our
agreement with majority on Boundary question does not imply any
diminution of our confidence in you.”
My position was indeed unfortunate, for some even of my soldier
friends in London failed to realise that an officer’s first duty is
obedience. I had, however, one great consolation, the continued
support of the Sovereign. The Queen had certainly felt acutely, not only
the decision taken by the Government, but particularly the
circumstances under which it was carried out; but her gracious
kindness was continued to me personally. Her Majesty had telegraphed
at the end of February, desiring that I should not risk my life
unnecessarily, and while I was at Pretoria, in announcing Lady Wood’s
safety after a confinement, intimated her intention of being godmother
to the child.
On the 12th June, about 25 miles outside Pretoria, my Aide-de-
camp and I enjoyed some good runs after a herd of wild ostriches,
which we chased with hunting whips merely for the pleasure of a
gallop, for when the birds could run no farther we left them to recover
their breath. I do not know whether it is the habit of the ostrich in all
places, but these were not difficult to run down, inasmuch as, after
running at speed for a mile, say from East to West, they would turn
and go back in a parallel line, and thus two men by judiciously nursing
their horses could overtake them.
From the 13th of June to the end of July I sat six days a week
discussing with the Triumvirate and their advisers the many and varied
questions incidental to giving back the Government of the Transvaal.
I was anxious to agree with my colleagues on Public grounds, and
one of my military advisers urged me to do so for personal reasons, but
 223
I felt bound to record my Dissent to the recommendations
formulated by Sir Hercules Robinson and Sir Henry de Villiers.
The Chief of the Staff, Sir Redvers Buller, took nearly all the routine
work off my hands, but I continued to pay attention to questions of
army training, as I foresaw they might have great importance in the
future.
I used the privilege accorded to me by the Secretary of State of
addressing him personally, in trying to provide for the eventuality which
occurred in 1899. I thought it would arise much sooner from the Boer
State becoming bankrupt, as I had not foreseen the finding of gold
mines. I wrote, 31st May: “It may be well to record in the War Office
that when you send out the next Expedition to this country, all the
Cavalry and Artillery should come from India. English horses require at
least three months easy work after a sea voyage.”
I had urged the importance of training Mounted Infantry, from
1874, and wrote to Mr. Childers on the 18th July 1881: “I desire to urge
on your attention that the —— were surprised —— from having no
Mounted men. I advocated, before I left this country in 1879, that in
every battalion there should be some Mounted men to act as scouts.” I
shall shortly submit to H.R.H. a scheme for maintaining in peace time
about twenty-five horses per battalion, and to instruct a succession of
young soldiers in each company—say for four months, to ride
sufficiently well to act as scouts.”

* * * * *
Three Zulus came down from the interior, sent by their chief
Umzila, for having been concerned in the killing of a Boer. The Chiefs
message was to the effect that he believed the men were guiltless, and
had acted merely in self-defence, but as he trusted in the justice of the
English he had sent them in to be tried. The situation was peculiar, for I
personally had no confidence that they would be accorded a fair trial
after we had left the country, and as they had walked 200 miles under
the impression the British were to remain in the country I caused the
interpreter to explain to them the actual position, coupled with the
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