This decision was accepted by all parties at the time, but it has not resulted in the maintenance of peace. The principal chief, Montsioa, is an old ally and staunch friend of the English, a fact which the Boers are not able to forget or forgive, and they appear to have stirred up rival chiefs to attack him, and to have allowed volunteers from the Transvaal to assist them. Montsioa has also enlisted some white volunteers, and several fights have taken place, in which the loss of life has been considerable. Whether or no the Transvaal Government is directly concerned it is impossible to say, but from the fact that cannon are said to have been used against Montsioa it would appear that it is, since private individuals do not, as a rule, own Armstrong guns.[13] [13] I beg to refer any reader interested in this matter to the letter of "Transvaal" to the _Standard_, which I have republished in the Appendix to this book. Amongst the questions remaining for the consideration of the Commissioners was that of what compensation should be given for losses during the war. Of course, the great bulk of the losses sustained were of an indirect nature, resulting from the necessary and enormous depreciation in the value of land and other property, consequent on the retrocession. Into this matter the Home Government declined to enter, thereby saving its pocket at the price of its honour, since it was upon English guarantees that the country would remain a British possession that the majority of the unfortunate loyals invested their money in it. It was, however, agreed by the Commission (Sir H. de Villiers dissenting) that the Boers should be liable for compensation in cases where loss had been sustained through commandeering seizure, confiscation, destruction, or damage of property. The sums awarded under these heads have already amounted to about £110,000, which sum has been defrayed by the Imperial Government, the Boer authorities stating that they were not in a position to pay it. In connection with this matter I will pass to the financial clauses of the Report. When the country was annexed, the public debt amounted to £301,727. Under British rule this debt was liquidated to the extent of £150,000, but the total was brought up by a Parliamentary grant, a loan from the Standard Bank, and sundries to £390,404, which represented the public debt of the Transvaal on the 31st December 1880. This was further increased by moneys advanced by the Standard Bank and English Exchequer during the war, and till the 8th August 1881, during which time the country yielded no revenue, to £457,393. To this must be added an estimated sum of £200,000 for compensation charges, pension allowances, &c., and a further sum of £383,000, the cost of the successful expedition against Secocoeni, that of the unsuccessful one being left out of account, bringing up the total public debt to over a million, of which about £800,000 is owing to this country.