It was a wise man who said that in any matter where it is
necessary to obtain the goodwill of a population you should win over the
women; that done, you need not trouble yourself about the men.
Though the country was thus overflowing with political intrigues,
nothing of the kind went on in the Commissioner's camp. It was not he
who made the plots to catch the Transvaalers; on the contrary, they made
the plots to catch him. For several months all that he did was to sit
still and let the rival passions work their way, fighting what the Zulus
afterwards called the "fight of sit down." When anybody came to see him
he was very glad to meet them, pointed out the desperate condition of
the country, and asked them if they could suggest a remedy. And that was
about all he did do, beyond informing himself very carefully as to
all that was going on in the country, and the movements of the natives
within and outside its borders. There was no money spent on bribery, as
has been stated, though it is impossible to imagine a state of affairs
in which it would have been more easy to bribe, or in which it could
have been done with greater effect; unless indeed the promise that some
pension should be paid to President Burgers can be called a bribe, which
it was certainly never intended to be, but simply a guarantee that after
having spent all his private means on behalf of the State he should not
be left destitute.
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