But Moshesh though he was not a Christian was a great Chief, and gradually under him the Basutos became a great tribe. Probably their success arose from the fact that the land on which they lived was fertile. The same cause has probably led to their subsequent misfortunes,--the fertility of the land having offered temptation to others. Their mountains and valleys became populated, and,--as the mountains and valleys of a still uncivilized race,--very rich. But there arose questions of boundaries, which so often became questions of robbery. I have already told how Maroco the Chief of the Baralongs at Thaba ’Ncho held that the land he occupied was his by right of purchase, and how Moshesh had declared that he had never sold an inch of his land. Moshesh was very fond of allegory in his arguments. The Baralongs were certainly living on land that had belonged to the Basutos; but Moshesh declared that, “he had lent them the cow to milk; they could use her; but he could not sell the cow.” For the full understanding of this it must be known that no Kafir, no Zulu, no Basuto can bear the idea of selling his cattle. And then the Boers of the Free State who had settled upon Basutoland, would have it that they owned the land. There came days of terrible fighting between the Basutos and the Boers,--and of renewed fighting between the Basutos and other tribes. One can imagine that they should again have been driven by famine to that cannibalism of which Mr. Bowker saw the recent marks. They were at a very low ebb at Thaba Bosigo, being at last almost eaten up by President Brand, and the Boers. Then they asked for British intervention, and at last, in 1868, Sir Philip Wodehouse issued a proclamation in which he declared them to be British subjects. A line of boundary was established between them and the Orange Republic, giving the Orange Republic the “Conquered Territory” which they still call by that objectionable name, but leaving to the Basutos the possession of a rich district which seems to be sufficient for their wants. The Orange Republic, or Free State, did not at all like what was done by the British. Their politicians still insisted that Great Britain was precluded by treaty from concerning itself with any native tribe north of the Orange River. It tried to make the most of its position,--naturally enough. Perhaps it did make the most of its position, for it now holds the peaceable possession of a great portion of the land of its late enemies, and no longer has a single hostile nation on its borders. We may say that the possibility of a hostile nation has passed away. Nothing can be more secure than the condition of the Orange Republic since Great Britain has secured her borders. There was a convention at Aliwal North, and the boundary line was permanently settled on March 12, 1869.