ON THE EVE OF THE WAR (1900)

Publisher's pictorial cloth binding.

viii + 147pp. With illustrations and a map showing the route pursued by the travellers.

The author was a British parliamentarian who travelled extensively through South Africa "On the Eve of the War" i.e. September 1899 - January 1900. He notes that race feeling in South Africa was high and even though he was received with great politeness by the Free State authorities there was great tension. He proceeded to the Transvaal and had an interview with President Kruger as late as September 25, 1899. He states that the impression left upon him after his audience "was that the President intended war, but had not yet made up his mind about declaring it, as he was not sure that he was perfectly ready."

The cover of the book is decorated with a coloured design on a khaki background, which was the work of the Hon. Mary Margaret Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst. She had many interests, one being archaeology, and during her excavations at Aswan thirty-two of the Tombs of the Nobles were uncovered which for a period afterwards were known as the "Cecil Tombs".