request; whereupon the land between the Putisani, the Caledon River, and the Drakensberg shall cease to form part of the territory of the Orange Free State; and the boundary line mentioned in Art. 1, instead of running along the centre of the Caledon River to where the Putisani falls into it, along the centre of the Putisani to its source in the Drakensberg, and from thence along the Drakensberg, shall thereafter be taken to run along the centre of the Caledon River to its source in the Drakensberg.

ART. 7. The French missionary establishments, Mequatling and Mabolele, shall be maintained for the reasonable purposes of the mission, and the missionaries and natives residing on them shall be subject to such regulations as shall from time to time be made by the Government of the Orange Free State for the proper management of the same; and 1,500 morgen of land, or such addition of ground as the Volksraad of the said State may consider necessary and practicable, shall be assigned to each of the said establishments. The French Missionary Society, however, or their representatives, shall be entitled at any time to give them up as such, and to dispose of the same should they consider it advisable to do so.

ART. 8. There shall be free intercourse, personal and commercial, between the white inhabitants residing in the Orange Free State on the one side, and Basutoland on the other side, subject to such laws and regulations now in force or to become in force in the two countries respectively.

ART. 9. No natives residing in Basutoland shall be allowed to enter or pass through the territory of the Orange Free State, and no natives residing in the Orange Free State shall be allowed to enter or pass through Basutoland, otherwise than in conformity with such conditions and regulations as are now in force or may hereafter be enacted by the Volksraad of the Orange Free State, and by or in the name of the British Government respectively.

ART. 10. It is stipulated between the two contracting parties that from both sides criminals shall be delivered, upon the terms which shall be agreed upon hereafter, between the Government of Her Britannic Majesty on the one part, and the Government of the Orange Free State on the other part, and which shall constitute the subject of a special convention, as soon as the Government of Basutoland shall have been constituted.

ART. II. It is stipulated between the two contracting parties that the manner in which thefts of cattle and other property are to be proved, the manner in which the spoor of stolen cattle is to be traced, the manner in which compensation for thefts is to be claimed and to be obtained, and all other

matters connected therewith, shall form the subject of a separate agreement, to be entered into from time to time between the Government of Her Britannic Majesty and the Government of the Orange Free State, or such Commissioners as may be appointed by them for the said purpose.

ART. 12. His Excellency the High Commissioner agrees to submit to arbitration the claim of the Orange Free State to compensation for thefts committed and other damage done by the Basutos to the inhabitants of the Orange Free State, and the claim of the Basutos to like compensation since the date of the proclamation of his Excellency the High Commissioner, by which the Basutos have become British subjects, should the Volksraad of the Orange Free State desire such arbitration.

ART. 13. In the same manner his Excellency the High Commissioner agrees to arbitration with regard to the claim of the Orange Free State to compensation for the abandonment of the land situate between the boundary line mentioned in Art. 1 of the Treaty of Peace between the Orange Free State and the Chief Moshesh, dated 3rd April 1866, and that mentioned in Art. 1 of the present Convention, and in the case provided for by Art. 6 for the abandonment of the land situate between the Putisani, the Caledon River, and the Drakensberg.

ART. 14. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to set aside or invalidate the Convention entered into on the 23rd February 1854, between Sir George Russel Clerk, Her Britannic Majesty's Special Commissioner, and the representatives delegated by the inhabitants of the Orange River Territory, nor any part of the same, nor shall the Proclamation of his Excellency the High Commissioner, dated 12th March 1868, be held to have been a violation of said Convention.

ART. 15. Nothing in the preceding Articles contained shall be held to prevent the acceptance by the Volksraad of the Orange Free State of the proposals made to the Commissioners of the said State by his Excellency the High Commissioner on the 5th day of February 1869, as the same are set forth in the schedule hereto annexed. And if such proposals shall be accepted by the said Volksraad, then the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 13th of the preceding Articles shall be deemed to have been cancelled, and the several Articles contained in the said proposals shall be taken to be Articles of this Convention.

ART. 16. The present Convention, subject to the confirmation and ratification of the Government of Her Britannic Majesty on the one part, and of the Government of the Orange Free State on the other part, shall be carried immediately into execution, without waiting for the exchange of ratifications

which shall take place in Cape Town, in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, within six months from this date.

Thus done and signed at Aliwal North, in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, this 12th day of February, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-nine. (Signed)

SCHEDULE.

P. E. WODEHOUSE.

J. H. BRAND.

H. A. L. HAMELBERG.

C. J. A. DE VILLIERS.
J. J. VENTER.

A. J. BESTER.

I. The border between the Free State and Basutoland shall be that recognised before the war of 1865.

2. All persons to whom the Government of the Free State shall, before the 1st day of April 1868, have sold or granted farms lying between the line in the preceding article mentioned, and the line described in a letter from the High Commissioner to the President, of the 14th April 1868, and who shall have complied with the conditions of the sale or grant, shall, subject to the stipulations herein-after contained, receive titles for the same from the British Government. All instalments remaining under the conditions of sale shall be paid to the Free State.

3. It shall be open to the British Government in any case in which special circumstances may render it necessary to do so, to withhold the title and resume the possession of any such farm, on condition of granting to the purchaser or grantee a farm of equal value or compensation in money.

4. All the said farms that have become forfeited for nonfulfilment of the conditions of sale or grant shall revert to the British Government, and any such forfeited farms shall be available for the purpose of the preceding Article; and such of the said farms as shall not be applied to such purposes shall be sold, and of the proceeds of sale two-thirds shall be paid to the Government of the Free State.

5. The obligation of personal residence on the part of the purchaser or grantee or his substitute shall be abolished, and the quitrent payable for every such farm shall be at the rate of five pounds per annum for each thousand morgen.

6. The British Government shall, in consideration of the above-stated arrangement, pay to the Government of the Free State, over and above all sums accruing under the preceding Articles, the sum of fifty thousand pounds sterling on or before the day of next; and in default of such payment, and until the same shall be made,

pay annually the sum of three thousand pounds, commencing from the day on which the first payment of quitrent shall become due under the preceding Article.

5th February 1869.

(Signed)

P. E. WODEHOUSE.

Subject to the regulations to be hereafter made, it is agreed: 1. Whenever the spoor of stolen cattle or horses is traced across the boundary line to Basutoland, the officer of the British Government stationed nearest to the place where the theft was committed, shall, upon receiving report thereof, be bound to aid the owner of the stolen property, or the person acting on his behalf, in tracing the spoor until the stolen cattle or horses are discovered in Basutoland, or until the spoor is lost, and further to give every aid and assistance which may lead to the discovery and punishment of the thief, and the recovery and restitution of the stolen property. Information shall be given by the Agent of the High Commissioner from time to time to the authorities of the Orange Free State of the names and place of residence of the officers on the border.

2. If the spoor of any stolen cattle or horses shall be traced across the boundary line to the Orange Free State, it shall be reported to the nearest field-cornet of the Orange Free State, who shall be bound to afford every assistance in tracing the spoor and discovering and apprehending the thief, in order that he may be dealt with according to law, and that the stolen property may be recovered and restored.

ALIWAL NORTH, 12th February 1869.

Parl. Papers, S. Africa, C.O. (42), 1884, p. 96.

No. 171. SETTLEMENT OF THE DIAMOND FIELDS

DISPUTE.

[In 1866 and the years following, diamonds were discovered by Europeans along the banks of the Orange River, the Modder, and the Vaal, not far from the points where these rivers meet. Some of the land on which digging was soon commenced fell within Free State territory, but parts were also claimed by the South African Republic. A third claimant was Waterboer, a Griqua chief. The claims were submitted to arbitration. The Orange Free State declined to present its case before the court, holding that its claim was incontestable, as the territory fell within boundaries previously agreed upon by the

British authorities. The case of the other Republic was badly presented, and the result was that the claims of Waterboer were established. He was immediately taken over with his people as British subjects, his territory becoming a Crown colony under the name of Griqualand West. A few years later actions were brought before court by two sets of claimants to certain farms in Griqualand. One set based their claims on grants made by Waterboer, another set on grants made by the Orange Free State. The judge rejected Waterboer's grants; whereupon the President of the Free State went to England to renew the claims of his country. The present document shows the agreement arrived at.]

LONDON, July 13, 1876.

Memorandum of Agreement between the Right Honourable the EARL OF CARNARVON, Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, representing Her Majesty's Government, and his Honour PRESIDENT BRAND, for the Orange Free State, who, having met and fully communicated with each other for the purpose of arriving at an understanding with regard to the Frontier Line between the British and the Orange Free State Territories, and as to the sum to be paid by Her Majesty's Government to the Orange Free State in full settlement of all claims with respect to the Diamond Fields and the question of Sovereignty over the lands hitherto in dispute, hereby agree as follows:

1. The frontier shall be known and recognised hereafter (subject to the provisions in paragraph No. 2) by a line drawn from Rama (Fountain), passing through David's Graf (close above the junction of the Riet and Modder rivers) to the beacon standing on Tartantal Kop (and marked by De Villiers on the map referred to hereafter), thence by a straight line at right angles to the line from David's Graf to the summit of Platberg, and from the point where the two lines join, thence to the summit of Platberg, thence in a straight line to the point marked G on the said map, on the River Vaal, including the whole of the places known as the Diamond Fields.

2. The boundary line given shall be drawn so as to leave within the Free State territory the farm belonging to Gideon Joubert, and the four farms occupied by Commandant Dolf Erasmus, according to the boundaries of the said farms as registered in the Registry of Deeds Office at Bloemfontein, on the 27th October 1871, but verified and certified by examination, and by marking of beacons, to be made on the spot by two experts, approved by the Right Honourable the Earl of Carnarvon and his Honour President Brand.

3. The map now in the hands of the Right Honourable the Earl of Carnarvon, drawn by Mr. Jonas de Villiers, of the Free State, and signed in duplicate by the Right Honourable