Often during the long evenings, especially when I was suffering from depression of spirits, I used to argue with Mr.Keeley about the war and whether it was necessary.

It seemed to me then we were not justified in letting loose such a millstream of wretchedness and of destruction, and that the alleged wrongs of a large white population--who, in spite of everything, seemed to prosper and grow rich apace--scarcely justified the sufferings of thousands of innocent individuals.

Mr.Keeley was a typical old colonist, one who knew the Boers and their character well, and I merely quote what he said, as no doubt it was, and is, the opinion of many other such men.

He opined that this struggle was bound to come, declaring that all the thinking men of the country had foreseen it.

The intolerance of the Boers, their arrogance, their ignorance, on which they prided themselves, all proclaimed them as unfit to rule over white or black people.