GERMAN COLONIZATION IN SOUTHWEST AFRICA 71 
protection for these missionaries, the society asking that a 
British protectorate be established, particularly over Wal- 
fish Bay and the Hereroland. This, however, the British 
Foreign Office declined to do. Nor would they countenance 
the use of force at all in the region. But they sent out a 
British Commissioner, Mr. Palgrave, from Cape Colony, 
who succeeded finally, in 1870, in establishing peace be- 
tween the warring tribes. 
Conditions in Great Namaqualand remained far from 
satisfactory; and in 1875 the Cape Parliament voted to 
extend the limits of Cape Colony as far north of the Orange 
River as the. Crown should deem expedient, including 
Walfish Bay. Mr. Palgrave made another tour of the 
country in 1876, securing the cobperation of the chief- 
tains; and in 1877 Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Cape Col- 
ony, energetically urged the British Government to occupy 
Walfish Bay immediately, and to pass an Order in Council 
authorizing Cape Colony to annex Namaqualand. On 
March 12, 1878, Commander Dyer took possession of 
Walfish Bay and three hundred square miles adjacent, for 
Great Britain; but the Government refused to accept the 
submission of the chiefs generally. The ten islands along 
the coast were taken over in 1861 and 1866, and chartered 
to De Pass, Spence & Co., of Cape Colony. The steady 
refusal of Britain to establish a protectorate over the en- 
tire country was due to the fact that the Foreign Office 
was unwilling to encumber either itself or Cape Colony 
with further expenses and responsibilities in South Africa. 
The “Cape, Zulu, and Sikukuni wars” were costing a 
pretty penny; and the difficulties in Bechuanaland, the 
rebellion in Basutoland, the unrest in Zululand, and the 
lawlessness in the Transkei, were troubles enough for a weak 
colonial government like the Cape and for an over-worked 
Colonial Office.