During the early years of the German occupation the seat of Government was at Otjimbingue, where Dr. Goering, the Imperial Commissioner, had a handful of soldiers to assist him in the work of administration. In 1890 K. von François was appointed Commissioner and Military Commander, and as the few troops in the country had been reinforced, he proceeded to seize the territory around Windhoek, and two years later the first settlers from Germany arrived to make their homes at Windhoek, destined to be the new capital. François set about the task of subjugating the natives in typical Prussian fashion, and apparently adopted a policy of colonisation by the Mauser. In 1893 he stormed the stronghold of Hendrik Witbooi, the Hottentot leader, and the country was forthwith plunged into prolonged and costly wars. Even after Witbooi’s defeat other tribes carried on a most harassing guerilla campaign. In 1902 the Bondelswaarts rose, and in the following year the Hereros revolted. The farms of white settlers were devastated, and men and women were cruelly murdered, but, significantly enough, British and Boer farmers were not molested. In 1904, General von Trotha, who had done his utmost to suppress the rising, greatly exasperated at the failure of many of his “drives,” entered on a campaign of extermination. He issued a proclamation in which it was stated that “within the German border every Herero, with or without a rifle, with or without cattle, will be shot.” The record of the period which followed is a most sanguinary one. Thousands of Hereros were destroyed, and thousands more were driven out into the parched desert wastes, where they died of thirst, and where for several years after long lines of white bones lay bleaching in the sun, marking the track the stricken people had tried to follow across the wilderness. In “Peter Moor,” a narrative of the campaign written by a German soldier, some significant sidelights are thrown on the methods adopted in this campaign. Dealing with one incident the writer describes the foodless, waterless condition of the country, and how the soldiers stealthily surrounded a party of the enemy, men, women and children; and he proceeds: “We then led the men away to one side and shot them. The women and children, who looked pitiably starved, we hunted into the bush.” It is said that no less than 40,000 Hereros were destroyed in these wars. Probably very few natives would have been left alive in the country had von Trotha been permitted to continue his work of destruction, but the repeal of his famous proclamation was ordered by Bismarck, and he was superseded by Herr von Lindequist in 1905. Von Lindequist issued a general amnesty to the Hereros, and wisely set aside reserves for those who surrendered. This conciliatory policy had an instant effect on the Hereros; but the Hottentots continued the struggle until 1907. The land of the Hereros was appropriated by the Government and made fiscal domain.