ABSTRACT
Towards the end of the nineteenth century the British in Cape Colony,hemmed in by the German occupation of South West Africa on the one hand and the Boer republics across the Orange and Vaal rivers on the other, ventured northwards in order to rule out a junction between these two potential enemies and to secure a passage for a railway to the north through British territory. In 1844 Britain declared a protectorate over Bechuanaland, huge and largely desert, but for the rest of the century it was a British citizen rather than any British government who directed the British advance. That citizen was Cecil Rhodes and one reason why he was able to direct policy was that he was able to finance it.
