He saw the way to become at last absolutely free to give shape to his dreams of conquest, and to hold under his sway the vast continent which he had insensibly come to consider as his private property.

And by this I do not mean Rhodesia only--which he always spoke of as "My country"-- but he also referred to Cape Colony in the same way.
With one distinction, however, which was remarkable: he called it "My old country," thus expressing his conviction that the new one possessed all his affections.

It is probable that, had time and opportunity been granted him to bring into execution his further plans, thereby to establish himself at Johannesburg and at Pretoria as firmly as he had done at Kimberley and Buluwayo, the latter townships would have come to occupy the same secondary importance in his thoughts as that which Cape Colony had assumed.

Mr.Rhodes may have had a penchant for old clothes, but he certainly preferred new countries to ones already explored.

To give Rhodes his due, he was not the money-grubbing man one would think, judging by his companions.