Scottish missionary John Mackenzie (1835–99), a Congregationalist…

Scottish missionary John Mackenzie (1835–99), a Congregationalist of the London Missionary Society (LMS), who had lived at Shoshong from 1862–76, "believed that the Ngwato and other African peoples with whom he worked were threatened by Boer freebooters encroaching on their territory from the south."

He campaigns for the establishment of what will become the Bechuanaland Protectorate, to be ruled directly from Britain.

Austral Africa: Losing It or Ruling It is Mackenzie's account of events leading to the establishment of the protectorate.

Influenced by Mackenzie, in January 1885 the British cabinet decides to send a military expedition to South Africa to assert British sovereignty over the contested territory.

Sir Charles Warren (1840–1927) leads a force of four thousand imperial troops north from Cape Town.

After making treaties with several African chiefs, Warren announces the establishment of the protectorate in March 1885.

In September this year the Tswana country south of the Molopo River is proclaimed the Crown colony of British Bechuanaland.

Mackenzie accompanies Warren, and Austral Africa contains a detailed account of the expedition.

Bechuanaland means the country of the Tswana and for administrative purposes is divided into two political entities.

The northern part is administered as the Bechuanaland Protectorate and the southern part is administered as the crown colony of British Bechuanaland.

The northern part, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, has an area of 225,000 square miles (580,000 square kilometers), and a population of 120,776.