‘Of course, you know, I don’t mean who is against him in principle, I mean how many Boers (or Afrikanders as you prefer to call them) fought against Jameson.’
‘Oh, why did you not say so then? Well, I will draw it as mild as possible,’ said Steve, with some sarcasm, which he could hardly conceal, ‘so as to save your feelings; for if I were to give you the exact number, you would not believe me and would think I was trying to bluff you. Well, there were no more than one hundred Boers actually fighting against Jameson and his band at the Battle of Doornkop.’
‘Bah! you must think I am a green ’un. Do you think I will believe that one hundred Boers could defeat eight hundred drilled English troops, and armed with artillery too? Tell it to the marines.’
‘Oh, so you do call them English troops?’ asked Steve.
‘Well, of course, they are not Imperial troops actually, but they are mostly Englishmen, and have been drilled and disciplined by English officers, and on the English principle, but are not British troops.’
‘Oh, I see, that means, of course, that if they had succeeded, and had subjugated the Transvaal with the assistance of Johannesburg, they would have been English or even Imperial troops, and would have been honoured and owned by England; now that they have been defeated, of course, they are only an irresponsible band of British subjects, for whom and whose deeds nobody is responsible. I have even heard that some Englishmen assert that Jameson’s men are really mostly Afrikanders, that is because they have been defeated.’
‘But, Steve,’ said Harrison, ‘do you really mean to say that one hundred Boers actually defeated Jameson?’
‘I will swear that no more than one hundred Boers took part in the Battle of Doornkop; that would be on the safe side, for I know that there were less,’ said Steve. ‘Of course, there were nearly or fully a thousand Burghers in the vicinity of Krugersdorp, but they were all too far away to take part in the fight. Some parties of them were guarding the various roads, so that if Jameson did escape at Doornkop he would have been pulled up at some other spot. Others again were watching the road to Johannesburg, so that if Johannesburg did send any help to Jameson, they would have had somebody to look after them before they could join forces with the invaders. And lastly, as a matter of fact, a party of Burghers was preparing to take Jameson by storm, and was only prevented from doing so by Jameson’s hoisting the white flag and surrendering.’
‘Very interesting and spicy indeed,’ remarked Hastings in an ironical, unbelieving way.
‘Yes, indeed, and in spite of the spice, hardly to the taste of some people,’ retorted Steve.