Read it through once

Meanwhile the negotiations were proceeding. At first the Boer delegates proposed that the two Republics should merely concede what had been demanded before the outbreak of the war. When this was refused, even as a matter for consideration, and they were referred to previous statements as to terms, the request was made that some of the leaders be allowed to consult their friends in Europe, or at least to have one of the European refugee leaders come over and assist them in their decision. To this Lord Kitchener gave an instant veto, and intimated that unless their proposals were to be serious the negotiations had better drop. Then they asked for an armistice in order to consult the burghers in the field, but Lord Kitchener would not stop military operations a moment further than to allow the delegates to hold meetings of their Commandos. But in that event they were to return to Pretoria armed with full powers to conclude peace--if they returned at all. As a result of this decision the leading officers of the Boer forces met their respective Commandos, and delegates were duly appointed to a total number of one hundred and fifty. These met on May 16th at Vereeniging and spent a couple of weeks in discussion, in obtaining absolutely final terms for acceptance or rejection from the British authorities, and in presenting these again to the Commandos. The opponents of peace during these preliminaries were generally believed to include Mr. Steyn and Commandants Wessels, Muller, Celliers and Herzog, while Generals Delarey and De Wet were in favour of accepting the British terms. Finally, on May 31st, the conditions of surrender were signed. Mr. Steyn was the only important absentee from the final conferences at Pretoria.