sentences:  At first they refused to confirm the grant; then, persuaded by Schonland, they made over De Beers Preference Shares to the value of £50 000 to Rhodes University College, founded by Act of Parliament on May 31, 1904.By the time Schonland retired, the Botany Department and Rhodes University had become an established centre of taxonomic research and learning in South Africa.He played a leading role in the Botanical Survey of South Africa which had been initiated by Pole Evans.