“May I ask, where is Robben Island?”

“It is an island a few miles from the mainland, close to Table Bay, upon which the Cape Town is built.

“Mokanna remained there about a year, when, having made his intentions known to some Caffres who were confined there with him, he contrived out of the iron hoops of the casks to make some weapons like cutlasses, with which he armed his followers, rose upon the guard and overpowered them; he then seized the boat, and with his Caffres made for the mainland.  Unfortunately, in attempting to disembark upon the rocks of the mainland, the boat was upset in the surf, which was very violent; Mokanna clung some time to a rock, but at last was washed off, and thus perished the unfortunate leader of the Caffres.”

“Poor fellow,” said Alexander; “he deserved a better fate and a more generous enemy; but did the war continue?”

“No; it ended in a manner every way worthy of that in which it was begun.  You recollect that the war was commenced to support Gaika, our selected chief of the Caffres, against the real chiefs.  The Caffres had before been compelled to give up their territories on our side of the Fish River; the colonial government now insisted upon their retiring still further, that is, beyond the Keisi and Chumi rivers, by which 3,000 more square miles were added to the colonial territory.  This was exacted, in order that there might be a neutral ground to separate the Caffres and the Dutch boors, and put an end to further robberies on either side.  The strangest part of the story is, that this territory was not taken away from the Caffre chiefs, against whom we had made war, but from Gaika, our ally, to support whom we had entered into the war.”

“Well, it was even-handed—­not justice, but injustice, at all events.”

“Exactly so; and so thought Gaika, for when speaking of the protection he received from the colonial government, he said, ’But when I look upon the large extent of fine country which has been taken from me, I am compelled to say, that, although protected, I am rather oppressed by my protectors.’”

“Unjust as was the mode of obtaining the neutral ground, I must say that it appears to me to have been a good policy to put one between the parties.”

“I grant it; but what was the conduct of the colonial government?  This neutral ground was afterward given away in large tracts to the Dutch boors, so as again to bring them into contact with the Caffres.”

“Is it possible?”

“Yes; to men who had always been opposed to the English government, who had twice risen in rebellion against them, and who had tried to bring in the Caffres to destroy the colony.  Neither were the commandoes, or excursions against the Caffres, put an end to:  Makomo, the son of Gaika, our late ally, has, I hear, been the party now attacked.  I trust, however, that we may soon have affairs going on in a more favorable and reputable manner; indeed, I am sure that, now the government at home have been put in possession of the facts, such will be the case.