THE WARLIKE BASUTOS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11239, 7 December 1899, Page 6

THE WARLIKE BASUTOS.

4SRICVS FINEST AND BRAVEST NATIVE TRIBE.

Mm people thoroughly conversant with the situation in South Africa now believe that thereat tribe of the Ba.utosvnllse.ze the Fes opportunity to wreak vengeance on he Boers, and wipe out many old grudges. The Basutos are among the finest and most intelligent of the African native races. Durin, half a century they suffered injusto, tyranny, and cruelty at the hands nf the Dutch "in the Transvaal and Orange Free State. Not unnaturally, the Basutos nata the Boers in the most, vindictive spirit. Lerothodi (pronounced Loriton), the paramount chief of the Basutos, is believed to be loval to the British. His son, with 150 natives has sought protection from the Boers under the British Hag. Should the Basutos rise they will form a formidable enemy. Lerothodi can put 50,000 well-armed, wellmounted, fearless and reckless men in the field. Half of these would be armed with rifled the rest with battle-axes and assegais. Lerothodi is a brave and skilled leader, as he has proved on more than one occasion. The Basutos as a race have many admiraUe traits. Of all the barbarian tribes in South Africa they are probably the pick, being for a savage race, thrifty, industrious, and enterprising. They are never so happy as when cultivating their mealies and com, the agricultural districts of Basutoland being cut up into numberless patches of wellcultivated ground. The produce of Basutoland in 1892 was valued at a quarter of a iv ,ion pounds sterling. So rich and productive is the soil that no part of the world could surpass Basutoland as a wheat-produc-ing area if the industry were earned on under the gimlan-e of expert farmers well supplied with modern implements. One fact that stamps the Basuto as a superior savage is the comfortable, rational domestic life he leads. Many Basutos at the present time live in well-built, substantial houses, though the majority still cling to the huts of their rude forefathers. Basutoland is a nigged country. For the most part it is a jumbled mass of great bleak mountains, reminding one of the Alps without the snow and ice of Switzerland. These mountains are believed to hide vast mineral wealth; but the Basutos discourages the prospector and miner. In fact, no white man is allowed in the country unless he can show some good reason for being there. The miner and prospector would hardly be considered to have "good reason;" hence the mineral resources of Basutolitnd are practically unworked. Another remarkable provision of the Government is that no person, black or white, shall own land. They may obtain permission to occupy and cultivate it. and build houses or huts on it; but all land in ihe territory is held on tho Communal principle. Every traveller in Basutoland comes home with weird stories of the mountain caves. Many of these were once the homes of great chiefs. Soai, the last Bushman chief, lived in a cave within a few miles of the village of Tiakenels. The. man to whom the Basutos owe their social superiority—if one may apply such a term to a savage race— the other South African tribes was Moshesh, undoubtedly the most sagacious barbarian chief the country has produced. He it was who organised the Basutos as a nation; he consolidated neighbouring tribes, and by war and diplomacy widened the borders of his country. He abolished witchcraft and the atrocities of" smclling-ont." Although he has been dead 30 years, the memory of Moshesh is to this day held in the greatest reverence by the Basutos, and when the chiefs and councillors meet in solemn conclave and a knotty joint arises, they ask themselves. "What would Mosliesh have done under similar circumstances?"

Nearly half a century agn the British sent a ]innitiv(! expedition numbering 2000 men against Mosliesh. A party of the 12th Lancers became separated from the main body, wore surprised by an ovenrhelminpj host of Basiitos, and 27 of the little hand were slain. Presently one of the other British columns was confronted by a number of well-mminted men. some carrying lances, and wearing white caps. They were thought to he members of General Catlicarl's escor,t. Before it was discovered that they were Basutos wearing some nf the uniforms of the Lancers they had killed, several soldiers fell into their hands. Eventually the Basutos were overcome and severely punished, and it was the intention of the British troops to resume the attack in a day or two, but in the meantime Mosliesh wrote to General Cathcart. saying: "1 entreat peace from you. Yon'have shown your power; you have chastised ; let it be enough. I pray you let me no longer be considered an enemy to the Queen." The chief's .submission was accepted. But the troubles of the Basutos were not over. A succession of disastrous wars with the newly-established Free State extended from 1858 to 1868. Mosbesh saw his people being annihilated, his lands annexed, and ruin staring him in the face. With characteristic sagaeity, he made overtures to the High Commissioner to have the Basiitos enrolled as British subjects. He craved this boon in the pathetic message: —

"That I and my people may rest and live under the large folds of the flag of England before I am no more." The High Commissioner (Sir Philip Wodehouse), on March 12. 1868. yielded to Mosliesh s entreaties, and the Basntos were saved from the threatened annihilation. Basntoland has now a sort of Home Rule under the Imperial Government, represented by the High Commissioner and an Administrator