IN THE TORRID SUDAN
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
Well on to two decades ago it was my fortune,
after much wandering in " New South Africa "
or what then was the " newest " South Afi-ica—to
write on the manifold problems which at that time
confronted the student and politician there, and to
hazard a conjecture as to their ultimate solution
which, sooner than even the most sanguine, and
more satisfactorily than the most optimistic could
have possibly ventured to hope for, has in this year come to pass.
The uniting of the " States of South Africa " has become an accomplished fact. The mutual respect
caused by the demonstration to each combatant of
the sterling qualities of the other was born during
a period of three years' warfare which put to the
test every attribute of manhood on either side, and
formed the basis for a junction of interests. But more than this : with the removal of irreconcilable
and unstatesmanlike factors—both Boer and British
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