At last, when all hope was at an end, and but a hundred and fifty were left of his party, Dr. Jameson surrendered, and he and the remnant of his men were taken prisoner and conveyed to Pretoria.
Great excitement was felt in both Cape Colony and England. Nobody wanted to take the blame for the raid, but every one felt that if Dr. Jameson had succeeded instead of having failed, England would have added the Transvaal to her possessions, and said as little about it as possible.
Dr. Jameson having failed, matters were very different.
President Krüger demanded to know why England had allowed an armed force to enter the territory of a country with which she was at peace, and wished to know by whose authority the raid was made.
England at once declared that she had had no hand in the matter, and asked that Dr. Jameson and the rest of the prisoners might be sent to her, to be dealt with according to her laws.
After some delay President Krüger agreed to do this, and the remnant of the famous raiders was shipped to England.
On their arrival they were tried for breaking the laws, and the officers and Dr. Jameson were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, varying from five to fifteen months.
This ended the matter as far as Dr. Jameson was concerned--but not for the Government.
The Boers presented a claim to the British Government for damages sustained by them from the raid. Their claim is for $8,000,000.
They ask three millions for material damage, which means the cost of the men and arms they used to defeat the raiders, and five millions for "moral and intellectual damage," which means wounded feelings and general annoyance.
There was much amusement in the British Parliament when the claim was made, and the members laughed heartily at the idea of moral and intellectual damage.
In the same way that we manage these matters in our Senate, the affair was referred to a committee.
This committee has to inquire into the matter, see if the claim is a just one, and whether England ought really to pay money to the South African Republic.
It is this committee which is sitting in Westminster Hall.
All London was interested when Mr. Cecil Rhodes was called before it and put on the stand as a witness. Mr. Rhodes was the Prime Minister of Cape Colony, and resigned his position when the trouble came about the Raid.