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HISTORY OF THE COLONY

OF THE

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

FROM ITS DISCOVERY TO THE YEAR 1819

BY

^MBtW- WILMOT, ESQ.

-7 \

v4, | FROM 1820 TO 1868

/
/

<%&> *+tJ BY

-

%. JOHN CENTLIYRES CHASE, M.L.C

LONDON:

LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, AND DYER.
CAPE TOWN : J. C. JUTA, WALE-STREET

1869.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM FOSTER, WALE-STF.EET, CAPE TOWN.

PREFACE.

The History of the Cape Colony has hitherto appeared
only in fragmentary portions illustrative of some particular
period, and never in one consecutive form. The object,
therefore, of the pi-esent compilers was to supply the
deficiency in as far as materials were available ; how
far they have succeeded in doing so must be left to
the judgment of the reader. They are themselves per-
fectly conscious that after all the time and care bestowed,
the present is only a "pioneer" work, with, no doubt,
some omissions and inaccuracies, for which they crave
favourable consideration. They are prepared to give
every attention to kindly criticism, however adverse, and
should their Volume ever reach another edition, will take
advantage to add to or correct what may be wanting
or erroneous. With these few words they now submit
their joint labour to (what they hope to find) an in-
dulgent Public.

THE

HISTORY OF THE CA

CHAPTER I.

Legends regarding the Ancient Circumnavigation of Africa — Discovery of the Cape
of Good Hope by the Portuguese — Bartholomew Diaz — Yasco Da Gama — Visits
of Early Navigators — Disastrous Shipwrecks — English East India Company —
Possession of the Cape taken by Captains Shillinge and Fitzherbert — Sir Thomas
Herbert's Account of the Country and the Natives.

The history of the Cape Colony, to a comparatively recent
period, is, in truth, the history of South Africa ; and a
narrative of the progress of civilization in this vast region
cannot fail to be fraught with interest. Nearly 400 years
have elapsed since Diaz formally declared Southern Africa
an appanage of the Portuguese Crown, and since then
events so numerous and interesting have occurred, that it
does not seem too much to assert that the history of no
other British Settlement is so worthy of attention as that
of the Cape Colony. The visits of early navigators,
and the labours of pioneer travellers, merit a chronicle,
and the contest between the Dutch and English for the
possession of the Cape, as well as the mode of govern-
ment adopted by each, deserve our notice. Honesty of
purpose, and the exercise of much labour and patience is
required, and the road is rugged because only partially
travelled. However, so many portions of it have now
been explored by able and trustworthy pioneers, that the
work is much less arduous than formerly, and it may be
hoped that a connected narrative of some interest can be
compiled.

A strange legend exists concerning the circumnavigation
of Africa by the Egyptians, which Major Kennell, Professor

B

2 The History oj the Gape Golony. \m~™

Heeren, and Mr. Grote deem credible, but which is disbe-
lieved by Dr. Vincent, Ukert, and Forbiger. It is to the
effect that several vessels, manned by Phoenicians, com-
menced their voyage from the Eed Sea, and sailed round
Africa, so as to reach Egypt by the straits of Gibraltar
and the Mediterranean.* A writer in Notes and Queries
refers to a passage in Strabo relating to this voyage, and
states that Eudoxus, in the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes
the Second (170 — 117 b.c.) is reported to have made the
attempt. Sir Thomas Herbert in his Travels learnedly
descants upon this subject, and emotes " a like tradition
of two Carthaginians, who at their return reported that
they sailed from some part of India to the Atlantique
Sea." If such voyages really did take place, it is quite
clear that little gain to geographical knowledge was
reaped from them, as we find Strabo describing the entire
African Continent as less than Europe, and shaped like a
right-angled triangle, the base being the distance of Egypt
from the Pillars of Hercules. But it is to be observed
that, even in the beginning of the seventeenth century,
absurd and incorrect ideas of South African geography
were entertained. Samuel Purchas, in his Pilgrimage
(published in 1611t), says that the Cape "hath three

* The following passage in Herodotus (Melpomene iv. 42) should
render us more disposed to believe that Africa was circumnavigated.
Speaking of the adventurers sent out by Neco, King of Egypt,
from the Red Sea, he says : — " When two years had thus passed,
in the third, having doubled the Pillars of Hercules, they arrived
in Egypt, and related what to me does not seem credible, but may to
others, that as they sailed round Libya they had the sun on their
right hand. Thus was Libya first known." The ancients knew well
that —

" A time will come, in ages now remote,
When the vast barrier, by the ocean formed.
May yield a passage ; when new continents
And other worlds, beyond the sea's expanse,
May be exploited ; when Thule's distant shore
May not be deemed the last abode of man."

Seneca Medea, 1. 375.

f The following curious anecdote is related by this author : — " James
Bottellier, a Portugal, to recover the favour of his Prince, John the
Third, by the first bringing news of a happy accident that then befell

900 b.c.] Discovery of the Gape. 3

headlands, the westernmost whereof beareth the name
of Good Hope, the middlemost Cape Falso ; between
which two capes runneth into the sea a mighty river,
called by the Portugals Rio Dolce, which springeth out
of a lake called Gale, situate among the Mountaines
of the Moone. The third and easternmost is that of
Agulhas or Needles, about five and twentie leagues
from the first ; both which seem as two homes, where-
with it threatens the ocean, which in those parts is
found oftentimes tempestuous, and when it cannot
prevail against this rough-faced and horned promontory,
it wrekes its whole malice upon the shippes, whose
ribbes, in the enraged fittes, it would break if they were
of iron, as Linschoten testifieth of his own experience."

It appears that in the ninth century the Arabs were
accmainted with the African coast so far south as Delagoa
Bay, but it is by no means probable that they extended
their voyages to the more southern part of the con-
tinent. The Portuguese alone can prove a claim to the
discovery of the Cape, as well as to the fame of having
led the vanguard of European enterprise by that route
to India.

The circumstances connected with the discovery of
America, and of the passage round the Cape, are in
some respects analogous. It was in the same city
(Lisbon), and almost in the same year, that both
schemes were concerted. Both projects had the East
Indies in view as an ultimate object ; Columbus merely
finding the American continent in his endeavour, by
a western route, to reach India. The results in each
case have been of the utmost consequence to commerce,
for although Columbus opened a new world to mercan-
tile enterprise, Diaz and Da Gama may be said to

in India, in a little boat or vessel scarce eighteen feet long and six
broad, sailed from Cochin to Dabul. and from thence along the Arabian
and African shores, doubling this terrible Cape, and missing Saint
Helena, came yet safe to Lisbone worthily welcomed but for his
message and the messenger that durst adventure to encounter Neptune's
strongest forces, notwithstanding so weak furniture." — Quoted in the
Cape Monthly Magazine, vol. i.

B 2

4 The History of the Cape Colony. [1410— 84.

have unlocked the gates of the old one, and thrown
open for traffic one of the great ocean highways of
the world. The lives of Colurnhus and Diaz were also,
in some important points, by no means dissimilar.
The former was virtually supplanted by Amerigo Ves-
pucci ; the latter by Vasco Da Gama. Both were
unfortunate, and treated with ingratitude while living,
though commemorated and honoured after death, as if
Honour's voice could

" Provoke the silent dust.
Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death."

It is to the zeal and magnanimity of Prince Henry
that many writers attribute the glory which has been
acquired by the Portuguese discoveries and conquests
in the East. In Knox's Voyages* after referring to
civil wars, and other disabilities under which Portugal
then laboured, the writer proceeds to say : — " This
spirit of navigation not only sprung up, but prospered,
notwithstanding that many of their statesmen were
averse to such undertakings, from the dangers and
difficulties that attended them ; nor could they, in all
probability, have been carried into execution, but from
the zeal of the clergy, who, out of a desire of propaga-
ting the Christian faith, promoted them to the utmost
of their power." The Infant Don Henry Duke de Visco
obtained the Canary Islands from Ma^iot de Bethencourt
(who held them under the King of Castile) for a valuable
consideration, and Ferdinand de Castro was sent to take
possession of them, under the idea that they might be of
use in the endeavour to discover the coasts of the great
Continent of Africa. For this important service, ships
were fitted out so early as the year 1410. Prince Henry
died in 1463. He was the fourth son of John I., King
of Portugal, and the greatest and most enlightened man
of his age. He became distinguished at the siege of
Ceuta in 1415 ; but his grand ambition was the prose-
cution of maritime discovery, and to the furtherance

* Vol. i. p. 2:*N.

1410— 84.j Early Navigators. 5

of this object he devoted all the energies of his life.
At Sagres he erected an observatory, and established a
famous school of navigation, and it was expeditions
fitted out by him that discovered Madeira in 1418,
sailed round Cape Nun in 1433, and at last, in 1440,
reached so far south as Cape Blanco. After this period
self-supporting societies for the prosecution of discovery
were organised under his patronage. Nuno Tristan
doubled Cape Verd in 1446, and three of the Azores
were seen by Gonsalez Vallo in 1448, and not many
years afterwards the Portuguese sailed as far south as
Sierra Leone. In one of the treatises prefixed to Mickle's
translation of the Lusiad (vol. i., p. 47), it is stated that
Prince Henry always professed that " to propagate the
gospel was the great purpose of his designs and enter-
prises. Certain it is that the same principles inspired,
and were always professed by King Emmanuel, under
whom the Eastern world was discovered by Gama."*
Diego Cam reached 22° South Latitude in 1484 ; and a
few years previously, Pedrao de Cavalhao had gone from
Egypt to the Bed Sea, and thence to the East Indies, and
back to Sofala, on the East African coast, so that there
was every reason to believe, " as well for the reason
of the thing, as from the concurring opinion of the
seamen conversed with," that a short and easy passage
might be found round the Continent of Africa to the
Indies.

The prosecution of trade, and the acquirement of
riches, as well as the extension of Christianity, were
the ruling incentives to maritime discovery. The de-
struction of the monopoly of Eastern trade enjoyed by
the Italian Piepublics was the chief object which the
Portuguese had in view when they fitted out expeditions
to sail round Africa to India ; and we shall shortly see
Holland, in its turn, endeavouring to supplant the new
monopoly, by establishing one of its own.

* As to life of Prince Henry, see Barros and Vido do Infante Don
Henrico, by Candido Lusitano, translated into French by the Abbe
Cournand. A life of Prince Henry, by Major, has recently been
published in London.

6 The History of the Gape Colony. [hsr.

Bartholomew Diaz, a Portuguese navigator of noble
birth, had the honour of commanding the first expedi-
tion which doubled the Cape, and it was John II., King
of Portugal, whose wisdom and enterprise sent it forth.
At the court of this monarch, Diaz was brought into
contact with many scientific men, chief among whom was
the famous cosmographer, Behaim, who had accompanied
Diego Cam to the African coast in 1484. No greater testi-
mony to the ability and knowledge of Diaz could have
been conferred than the command of the three vessels
which, in 1486, formed under his guidance the humble
expedition intended to carry the fame of Portuguese
discovery into the Eastern Seas. This great voyage
was comparatively uneventful, until, after having sailed
very far south, they came in sight of a high cape, near
which a dreadful storm was encountered, during which
the victualling bark parted company. The crew of the
ship commanded by Diaz then mutinied, complaining
bitterly that it was too much to endure at one time the
hardships of the sea and of famine. Upon this the
commander represented to them that the former were
not to be escaped by going back, and that the only
means of preventing the latter was to proceed till they
came to some place where refreshments could be pro--
cured. Diaz, like Columbus, had to encounter the
violent opposition of his crew when the principal object
of the voyage was almost attained, and, like the dis-
coverer of America, only conquered by means of daunt-
less perseverance and energy.* The Cape was doubled
without being seen, and a portion of the eastern coast,
as far as the mouth of the Great Fish River, reached.
Setting sail again, a storm forced them to take shelter
in Algoa Bay, where they anchored on the 14th of
September, 1486, and there found the previously missing
vessels, whose commanders reported that they had lost a
number of their men through the treachery of the natives.
So many privations and dangers had been suffered that
the title of " Cape of Torments" was considered applicable

* A brother of Columbus accompanied Diaz in this expedition.

1487—1500.] Bartholomew Diaz — Vasco Da Gama. 1

to the promontory near which they had been experienced.
Subsequently, as an old English writer states, the name
of Cape of Good Hope was conferred on it by " John the
Second, King of Portugal, for that hope which he conceived
of a way to the Indies."

As it was desirable to take formal possession of the
country, as well as to commemorate their discovery, a
large stone cross was erected by Diaz and his com-
panions upon the little islet in Algoa Bay (close to
the mouth of the Sunday's Eiver), ever since named
St. Croix. This ocean rock, whose inhabitants are seals
and wild fowl, is thus connected with an epoch in
South African history, and the cross erected upon it
became a landmark of discovery and a symbol of the
advent of Christianity and civilization to these shores.

In December, 1487, Diaz returned to Lisbon, and was
there received with an enthusiasm more apparent than
real, as Vasco Da Gama received the chief command
of the great expedition subsequently determined upon,
while only a subordinate office in it was allotted to
Diaz. But misfortune did not end here. They had
only reached the Cape de Verd Islands when his imme-
diate return to Portugal was ordered, and he thus lost
the opportunity of reaching India via the Cape. Diaz,
three years afterwards, sailed to Brazil, and became,
with Cabral, one of its discoverers, and eventually, in a
great storm on the 29th of May, 1500, found a mariner's
grave off that Cape of Storms round which he had been
the first to sail. The glory of finding the new highway
to the East decidedly belongs to this great mariner — the
Southern Ocean, into which he led the way, is his grave,
and the Cape, which towers above it, his monument.

Emanuel, surnamed the Fortunate, succeeded John the
Second, King of Portugal, in the year 1497. Hernan
Lopez de Castanada, a contemporary writer,* states that
this monarch, earnest to prosecute what Don John had
begun for the discovery of India, " ordered Fernan
Lorenzo, treasurer of the house of the Myna (on the

* Quoted in Mickle's translation of The Lusiad.

8 The History of the Cape Colony. [U97.

Golden coast) to build, with the timber that was bought
in King John's time, two ships, which, after they were
finished, he named the Angel Gabriel, being of 120 tons
burthen, and the Saint Raphael, of 100 tons. The trans-
port Correa was to go with them to the Bay of St. Bias
(Mossel Bay), and there to be unloaded and burnt. Pedro
de Alanquer, who had been pilot to Bartholomew Diaz,
was appointed to the Admiral's ship Saint Gabriel ;
Nicolas Coello went in the caravel named Berrio ,- Paulus
da Gama commanded the Raphael; and Gonsalo Gomez
the store-ship. A carrack destined for Delmina was
placed under the charge of Diaz." Vasco da Gama,
the leader of this expedition, was born at Sines, a small
seaport of Portugal, and was the scion of a noble family
who laid claim to Pioyal descent. He soon proved
himself an intrepid naval commander, and seemed to
King John of Portugal a man to whom the conduct of
a great enterprise could be intrusted with confidence.
Manoel the Fortunate entertained the same opinion,
presented personally to Da Gama the flag he was to carry
into new seas, and added to his appointment such badges
of honour as to give all possible pomp and dignity to
the office. Letters to various Eastern potentates, in-
cluding Prester John and the King of Calicut, were
intrusted to Da Gama, and the oath of fealty was taken
on the cross. The day before his departure, their leader
conducted the members of his expedition to a chapel
four miles from Lisbon, where the entire night was spent
in devotional exercises. On the following day the beach
was crowded with thousands of the inhabitants of Lisbon,
who looked upon the adventurous mariners as doomed to
certain death. Processions of priests sung anthems and
offered up invocations to Heaven for their success, and
the expedition of small vessels, manned by only 160 men,
sailed out of the Tagus on Saturday, the 8th July, 1497.

When we consider that the previous fleet of Diaz had
been harassed by numberless difficulties, and almost
destroyed by violent storms encountered in the pro-
secution of a voyage only half as long as that on which
this expedition was about to set out ; and when it is

1497.] * Diaz Returns to Portugal. 0

remembered how comparatively inadequate, so far as
vessels and equipment were concerned, the means seemed
to be to accomplish the object in view, it is impossible to
refrain from joining in that enthusiasm which has found
an echo in the Lusiad, where is worthily commemorated,
by the greatest Portuguese poet, the successful discovery
of the ocean route to India by the greatest Portuguese
discoverer, —

'• Arms and the Heroes, who from Lisbon's shore
Through seas where sail was never spread before,
Beyond where Ceylon lifts her spicy breast,
And waves her woods above the watery waste."

Off the Canary Islands a severe storm was encountered,
during which the Saint Gabriel was separated from the
other vessels. All, however, met together eight days
afterwards at the Cape de Verd Islands, the appointed
place of rendezvous, and here it was, as already stated, on
the 3rd of August, Diaz was compelled to leave the fleet
and return to Portugal.

In their fragile and small vessels they continued the
longest voyage yet attempted —

" O'er the wild waves as southward thus we stray,

Our port unknown, unknown the watery way.

Each night we see impressed with solemn awe

Our guiding stars and native sides withdraw.

In the wide void we lose their cheering beams ;

Lower and lower still the Pole star gleams.

* M * # # .

Now pressing onward, past the burning zone.

Beneath another heaven and stars unknown."

But the religious spirit which animated Prince Henry,
and sanctified the prosecution of discovery by the hope
of winning unknown worlds to the knowledge of Christ,
still found a ready response in the hearts of the Por-
tuguese, and enabled them to see a memento of their
faith and a sign of hope in the " Southern Cross."

" While nightly thus the lonely seas we brave,
Another Pole star rises o'er the wave ;
Full to the south a shining cross appears,
Our heaving breasts the blissful omen cheers ;
Seven radiant stars compose the hallowed sign
That rose still higher o'er the wavy brine."

10 The History of the Gape Colony. p.497.

Throughout the voyage nature seemed to oppose ob-
stacles by a succession of severe storms, so violent as
almost to deprive the mariners of hope ;* but at last,
after they had been nearly four months at sea, Da
Gama joyfully descried land, along which the fleet
coasted for three days. On the 7th of November a
large bay in the present Malmesbury division was
entered, and named Angra de Saint Helena. The natives
appeared small, black, and ugly ; their voices were
disagreeable, and the weapons they used were made of
"wood hardened in the fire, pointed by the horns of
animals."

A few days after the arrival of the fleet, there appeared
about ninety of the inhabitants, some on the sands and
others on the mountains, upon which the Admiral landed,
with all his men well armed, and, drawing near the
shore, threw upon the land little bells, which the natives
took up, and some came so nigh as to receive them out
of his own hand ; when, venturing on shore with his
men, he exchanged some red night-caps for ivory
bracelets. A few days after above two hundred blacks
came down, with twelve oxen and four sheep, and
on the Portuguese going ashore they began to play
upon four flutes, accompanied with several voices. The
Admiral, striking in with this humour, ordered the
trumpets to sound, while his men danced along with the
natives.!

* " To tell the terrors of the deep untryed,

What toils we suffered, and what storms defyed,

What rattling deluges the black clouds poured,

What dreary weeks of solid darkness loured,

What mountain surges mountain surges lashed,

AVhat sudden hurricanes the canvas dashed."

The Lusiad, Book v.
f Camoens thus describes the natives —

" My soldiers hastening from the upland wood

Right to the shore a trembling negro brought,

Whom on the forest height by force they caught.

Horror glared in his look, and fear extreme

In mien more wild than brutal Polypheme.

From garments striped with shining gold he turned

The starry diamond and the silver spurned;

1-107.1

Da (in, a" and the Natives. 11

Some negroes having been seen lurking behind bushes,
treachery was suspected : the Portuguese retired, and
subsequently, two pieces of ordnance having been shot
off, so terrified the natives that they fled. Faria and
Osorius say that the Portuguese caught one or two
negroes who were busied in gathering honey on the
mountain. They gratified one savage with a red cap,
some glasses, and bells, and induced him to bring a
number of his companions for the like trifles. Traffic
was commenced. Da Gama behaved with great civility,
and the fleet was cheerfully supplied with fresh provi-
sions, for which the natives received clothes and trinkets.
This agreeable state of matters wras at last disturbed
in the following manner : — A young Portuguese having
been conducted to a hut, and an elegant repast, according
to native ideas, in the shape of a sea calf, having been
laid before him, he encountered a natural repugnance to
eat, and left abruptly. The Hottentots followed him to
the beach, where the Portuguese youth was seized with
a panic, and called for assistance. Da Gama, who was

Straight at my nod are worthless trinkets brought,

Round beads of crystal as a bracelet wrought,

A cap of red, and dangling on a string,

Some little bells of brass before him ring ;

A wide-moutk'd laugh confest his barbarous joy,

And both his hands he raised to grasp the toy.
* * * * *

A naked crowd, and black as night their hue,

Come trippling to the shore : their wishful eyes

Declare what tawdry trifles most they prize.

These to their hopes were given and void of fear,

Mild seemed their manners and their look sincere."

A romantic account of their treachery is given and of the fight

that ensued —

" And soon an arrowy and a flinty shower

Thick o'er our heads the fierce barbarians pour,

Nor poured in vain; a feather'd arrow stood

Fixed in my leg, and drank the gushing blood.

Vengeance as sudden every wound repays,

Full on their fronts our flashing lightning plays,

Their shrieks of horror instant pierce the sky,

And wing'd with fear at fullest speed they fly."

The Lusiad, Book v.

12 The History of the Oa/pe Colony. \uti.

engaged in making a solar observation, was suddenly
attacked, and a skirmish ensued, during which the Admiral
was wounded in the foot. Afterwards, it is recorded,
Da Gama " made himself dreaded whenever the treachery
of the natives provoked his resentment."

On the 16th of November the expedition left St. Helena
Bay, and shortly afterwards encountered a terrific storm,*
during which the sailors mutinied and implored Da Gama
to refrain from prosecuting the voyage in an ocean torn
by continual tempests. A formidable conspiracy, it is
said, was even formed against his life. The leaders
of the mutiny were put in irons, and after a few days
the storm ceased and they beheld the Cape of Good
Hope. They then encountered a south-east wind, stood
out to sea, and on the 24th of November entered what
has since been named Mossel Bay, and anchored amidst
great manifestations of joy. Trumpets were sounded,
and as much eclat given to their arrival as possible.
At some distance inland a collection of huts covered
with straw were seen, the miserable owners of which
were of a brownish -yellow colour, and seemed to speak
the same language as the natives at St. Helena Bay.
The Admiral erected a column, bearing the arms of
Portugal, surmounted by a cross, which, on his return
to the ships, he had the mortification to see the natives
destroy. The store ship, now of no further use, was
burnt. After a voyage of toil and danger, the country
looked beautiful. As they proceeded along the coast,
streams of water and herds of cattle were noticed ; and
parts of the country seemed well wooded.

" Here their sweet scenes the rural joys bestow,
And give our wearied minds a lively glow.
The tenants of the coast, a festive band,
With dances meet us on the yellow sand ;
Their brides on slow-paced oxen ride behind
The spreading horns with flowery garlands twined."

* " With such mad seas the daring Gama fought
For many a day and many a dreadful night,
Incessant labouring round the stormy Cape.
By bold ambition led." Thomson.

1497.] Natal Discovered on Ohristmas Day. 13

Nature smiled a welcome, and our burning November
sun and blue skies constantly reminded them how far
they were from home. One of the greatest dangers of
the voyage had been overcome when the dreaded Cape
of Storms was doubled in safety. The exaggerated
notions regarding the perils to be encountered here are
expressed by Camoens in the symbol of the frightful
Spirit of the Cape, who thus addresses the Portuguese —

" O you, the boldest of the nations, fired
By daring pride, by lust of fame inspired.
Who, scornful of the bowers of sweet repose,
Through these my waves advance your fearless prows.
Hear from my lips what direful woes attend,
And bursting soon shall o'er your race descend,
With every bounding keel that dares my rage,
Eternal war my rocks and storms shall wage.
The next proud fleet that through my drear domain
With daring search shall hoist the streaming vane,
That gallant navy by my whirlwinds tost,
And raging seas shall perish on my coast.
Then he who first my sacred reign descried
A naked corse wide floating o'er the tide.
Each year thy shipwrecked sons shalt thou deplore,
Each year thy sheeted masts shall strew my shore."*

After Da Gama's fleet had been driven about by
severe storms, more easterly shores were sighted upon
Christmas Day,t and named Tierra de Natal, in honour
of our Saviour's nativity.

* On the return of Da Gama to Portugal, a fleet of thirteen sail,
under the command of Pedro Alvarez de Cabral, was sent out on
the second voyage to India, when the Admiral with only six ships
arrived. The rest were mostly destroyed by a terrible tempest at
the Cape of Good Hope, which lasted twenty days. The day time,
says Faria, was so dark that the sailors could scarcely see each other.
As already mentioned, the great Bartholomew Diaz was among those
who perished.

f " Now shined the sacred morn, when from the East
Three kings the holy cradled babe address'd,
And hailed him Lord of Heaven. That festive day
We drop our anchors in an opening bay.
The river from the sacred day we name."

The Lusiad, Book v.
It would thus seem that they anchored on the Feast of the Epiphany
(Twelfth Day).

14 The History of the Cape Golorvy. [1499-1524.

It seems strange that the Portuguese Government did
not see the advantage of establishing a settlement at the
Cape as a half-way place of call for their outward and
homeward bound vessels, but exaggerated accounts of the
dangers of the Cape induced their mariners to shun it
by steering a course to the southward. Although the
desirability of establishing a victualling station appears
evident, it was not till one hundred and fifty-five years
after Da Gama had called that settlers were sent out ;
and then it was Holland, not Portugal, which organised
the expedition.

As the name of Vasco Da Gama is inseparably con-
nected with that of the Cape of Good Hope, it is not
out of place to trace his eventful career from the time
when he steered eastward from Natal in search of El
Dorado. Having touched at various places on the eastern
shores of Africa, Da Gama at last reached Melinda, and
found the people there comparatively civilized. Here the
services of a well-educated pilot were secured, who had
been born and educated at Guzerat, in India, and was
well acquainted with the compass, astrolabe, and quadrant.
Under his guidance, Calicut in India was reached on the
20th May, 1498. The Zamorin,* or Prince of the Coast,
proved himself no friend to the Portuguese, and the Arabs,
actuated by jealousy, having excited the populace to
violence, Da Gama was at last obliged to fight his way
out of the harbour. On the homeward voyage several
places were touched at, and eventually, in September, 1499,
the expedition arrived at Lisbon. Da Gama was received
with every mark of distinction and honour. Certain com-
mercial monopolies and indemnities were conferred on
him, along with various titles, among which was the right
of prefixing " Dom" to his name. Cabral's squadron
of thirteen ships, sent to India with the view of estab-
lishing settlements there, was followed by a great expedi-
tion, consisting of twenty ships, placed under Da Gama's
command, which set sail in 1502. The east coast of
Africa was reached in safety, and there the settlements

* Zamorin or Zamorim was the title the Portuguese gave him. — See
Camoeus, Earros, &c.

1499—1624.] Death of Da I In ma. 15

of Mozambique and Sofala were established. The Portu-
guese no doubt imagined that this part of Africa offered
many more advantages to European commerce than the
southern portion of the continent, but events have since
proved how mistaken were their calculations. The un-
healthy nature of the climate has ever been a most serious
drawback, and it is apparent that the high and healthy
lands of the interior can be best reached through the
southern and temperate regions of the continent. On the
way across the Indian Ocean Da Gama captured a large
and richly-laden vessel filled with Mussulmans from all
parts of Asia, on their way to Mecca. These men being
Mahommedans, were mistaken by the Portuguese for
Moors, their hereditary and sworn enemies. Labouring
under this impression, and actuated by impulse, they
set the ship on fire, and it is asserted that the entire
crew and passengers, three hundred in number, were
burned, with the exception alone of twenty women and
children.

Having reached Calicut, the Portuguese bombarded the
town, destroyed twenty-nine ships, and forced the Eajah
to sue for peace and to pay an enormous fine. The natives
were thus overawed, valuable alliances with native princes
were secured, and the foundation laid of Portuguese power
in India. At the close of 1503 Da Gama returned home
with thirteen richly-laden vessels, but from this period,
strange to say, he remained unemployed for twenty years.
Viceroy after Viceroy was sent out, and Da Gama was
forgotten. At last the incapacity of one of those lieuten-
ants caused the old Admiral to again resume command,
and in 1524 he once more sailed to India. It is narrated,
in proof of his firmness of mind, that when near their
destination an unaccountable and alarming agitation of
the water terrified the sailors. " Why fear ?" said Gama,
" the sea trembles before its conquerors." Under his sway
the Eastern settlements again began to flourish, but while
in the midst of triumphs he was surprised by death at
Cochin in December, 1525. It is thus his character is
described : — " In Da Gama resolution was combined with
prudence and great presence of mind. His justice, loyalty,

10 The History of the Govpe Colony. [1525.

honour, and religious fervour distinguished him above
most of the great navigators and conquerors of his time."*
The first voyages of this renowned mariner have been
commemorated by a great poet, and in the Lusiad of
Camoens his deeds are worthily sung. Although to Diaz
belongs the honour of discovering the gateway of the new
ocean high road, it was Gama who first opened it success-
fully, and prosecuted the entire journey to India. The
names of both will ever be inseparably connected with
that Cape which was the turning point of their voyages
and the monument of their success. It is almost impos-
sible to estimate at its full value the advantages gained
by them for Christendom and for civilization. Not only
was their discovery the means of opening up new
worlds to missionary and commercial enterprise, but
it materially helped to check the alarming deluge of
Mahommedanism which then threatened Europe. It
created a new channel for Eastern enterprise, and con-
siderably diverted the attention of Mahommedans from
"Western conquests. Their own citadels of strength in the
East were attacked, and the Portuguese fought the infidels
with as much fury in India as the allied Powers did at
Lepanto or Belgrade.

In the year 1500 Cabral, the discoverer of Brazil,
entered Mossel Bay, and we have reason to believe that it
was about the commencement of this century that the
Kafir nations, emigrants from more northern portions
of the continent, advanced so far south as the Great Kei
Ptiver, the present boundary of the Cape Colony on the
east. A system of calling at South African ports com-
menced, and letters were frequently left for the com-
manders of ships, t Pedro de Nueva, for instance, is
recorded to have found, in an old shoe on the Mossel Bay
shore, a written description of the state of affairs in
Portuguese India, addressed to him by P. de Alayde.

* For full information regarding Vasco Da Gama see Castanpeda
and Lafitau Hist. Conqu. Portugal ; Cooley, History of Maritime
Discovery ; the Lusiad of Camoens, and the Decades of Barros.

f These were generally placed under large stones, on which suitable
inscriptions were carved.

1592.) D'Almeida Killed by the Natives, 17

In 1503 Antonio de Saldanha, with a portion of
Albuquerque's fleet, visited Table Bay, and gave it his
own name. This harbour was called Saldanha Bay till
1601, when Spielberg transferred the title to the bay
which still bears it. Some enterprising merchants of
Kouen are said to have fitted out several vessels about
this time for the voyage to the East, round the Cape,
which they placed under the command of M. Gonneville.
According to the narrative, they experienced a great storm
near the Cape of Good Hope, and, after having been driven
upon unknown coasts, severe hardships were endured, and
the members of the expedition were compelled to return
to Europe.

It was in 1510, and on the shores of Table Bay, that
Francisco D'Almeida, Count of Abrantes, first Viceroy
and Governor-General of Portuguese India, was killed
by the natives.* He was the conqueror of Quiioa and
Mombassa. It is said that the rudeness of one of his
servants provoked a quarrel with the Hottentots. His
attendants, much against his will, forced him to march
against the blacks. "Ah, whither" (he exclaimed) "will
you carry the infirm man of sixty years ?" After plunder-
ing a number of native huts, the Portuguese returned to
their ships, and, when not far from the shore of Table
Bay, were attacked by an overwhelming force of natives,
who fought so desperately to rescue their children whom
the Europeans had seized, that the Viceroy and fifty of
his attendants were slain. Sir Thomas Herbert t thus

* " With trophies plumed, behold an hero come,
Ye dreary wilds prepare his yawning tomb ;
Though smiling fortune blest his youth! ul morn,
Though glories' rays his laurel'd brows adorn,
Quiloa's sons and thine Mombaze shall see
Their conqueror ben 1 his laurel'd hea 1 to me."
It is thought that D'Almeida was killed near the spot on the Grani
Parade. Cape Town, where the Commercial Hall now stands. The
wizards of Cochin had predicted that he would never pass the Cape.

f Some Years' Travels into Divers Parts of Africa and Asia the
Great. By Sir Thomas Herbert, Bart. London, 1677. Page 91.
It will be observed that this author fixes the date at 1G1U. " Hall's
Chronology" states it to be 1508.

c

18 The History of the Cape Colony, [1510-1591.

quaintly describes the event : — " Ahneyda, one of
the bravest captains the Portugalls ever had, after
many gallant achievements in Asia and Afric, return-
ing, anno 1510, out of India, he, with eleven
experienced captains and other gallants, upon a small
affront putting some of the savages to death (who grew
desperate in revenge), were unexpectedly set upon by
those naked barbarians, who had the arma antiqua — that
is, manus, ungues, dentes, and slain were every man
of them." Kolben, writing upon this subject, says : —
" The Portuguese, mortified at this disgrace, vowed
revenge, and, knowing what a value the natives set on
brass, landed a large brass cannon, loaded with several
heavy balls, and to the mouth fastened two long ropes.
The Hottentots, as directed, laid hold of the two ropes in
great numbers, and then a great body of them extended
in two files full in the range of the shot, when, the cannon
being suddenly discharged, a terrible slaughter was
made." This story does not seem by any means probable,
and the source from which it is derived (Kolben' s Travels)
is enough to throw doubt upon it.* The Portuguese had
subsequently to lament the miserable death in South
Africa of another of their Eastern Governors — Don
Emanuel de Souza, who had been several years Governor
of Diu in India, had amassed great wealth, and was
returning to Portugal with his beautiful young wife —
Leonora de Sa. The vessel contained five hundred men,
and all De Souza's riches were on board. According to
the narrative, the ship was dashed " upon the rocks at
the Cape of Good Hope," and one hundred men perished.
Don Emanuel, his lady, and three children, with the
remainder of the crew, marched into the country, which
seemed to them to be a desert. Some died of famine,
others perished from fatigue, and many were killed by the
natives. The unfortunate Donna Leonora was above all
to be pitied. Her husband soon displayed signs of
insanity, and, amid the stupor of grief, madly gave up to
the savages the arms of himself and his company. No

* See Barrow's opinion of Kolbcn's work, in Ms Travels in Southern
Africa.

1510-^1501.] Visastrom Shipwreck. 10

sooner had this been done than the blacks barbarously
stripped the Europeans of their clothes, and left them to
die of exposure and want. The tenderly-nurtured and
delicate lady was exposed to the brutal insults of the
natives, and, after having travelled some distance, her
legs swelled, while her feet bled at every step. Having
used the last remnant of her strength to cover her-
self up to the neck in sand, she beheld two of her
children expire, and then God permitted Donna Leonora's
sufferings to terminate. Her last sigh was breathed in
her husband's arms, who then, snatching up the remain-
ing child, ran distractedly into the thickest bush, and
soon fell a prey to wild animals. The Portuguese must
have travelled in an easterly direction, as the survivors
(only twenty-six in number) subsequently arrived at an
"Ethiopian" village, whence they found a passage to the
Red Sea.*

The last surviving vessel of the famous squadron of
Ferdinand Magalhaens is said to have called at the Cape
in 1522, and there is some reason to believe that, a few
years afterwards, the Portuguese tried to form a settlement
on Piobben Island. If an attempt, however, were really
made, it was of such a character as to prove that the Portu-
guese Government took no real interest in its success.

The first English account of the Cape is from the pen
of the Piev. Thomas Stephens, a Catholic priest, who was
wrecked at Agulhas in 1579. The ship was a Portuguese
vessel bound to Goa. This clergyman speaks of the
country as full of tigers and savage people, who kill all
strangers.

* Jerome de Cottereal has written an affecting poem on this
disastrous shipwreck — see also Faria and Barros. In Book v. of the
Lusiad it is referred to in the passage commencing —

" The howling hlast ye slumbering storms prepare ;
A youthful lover and his beauteous fair,
Triumphant sail from Indie's ravaged land ;
His evil angel leads him to my strand —
Through the torn hulk the dashing waves shall roar,
The shattered wrecks shall blacken all my shore ;
Themselves escaped, despoiled by savage hands,
Shall naked wander o'er the burning sands."

c 2

20 The History of the Ccupe Colony. \\m.

The English East India Company was not established
until the year 1599, and we find that, eight years previous
to that period, British mercantile enterprise began to take
advantage of the route to India by the Cape. In 1591
three ships, named the Penelope, Royal Merchant, and
Edward Bonaventura, left Plymouth, under Captain
Raymond as admiral. The Penelope having unfortunately
been lost at sea, the chief command of this expedition
devolved upon Captain James Lancaster, who anchored
in Table Bay (Agoada de Saldanha) on the 3rd of
August, 1591. The natives were evidently frightened,
as, although at first they saw a few, during fifteen
days none made their appearance. At last some of
the crew engaged in hunting found a negro, whom
they so prepossessed by kindness and presents that he
brought thirty or forty of his countrymen with oxen
and sheep. The flesh of the former was rank and
disagreeable, while the latter are described as fat, with
extremely large tails, and covered with hair instead
of wool. There were large numbers of penguins and
seals on Robben Island. Antelopes and many wild
animals, including large baboons, were noticed on the
shore. The rocks along the beach abounded with mussels
and other shell-fish.

The entire success of Portuguese enterprise in the
Indian seas induced the Dutch to consider the advisa-
bility of breaking through their monopoly, and obtain-
ing at least a share of the commercial advantages
to be derived from a trade with the East via the
Cape of Good Hope. For upwards of ninety years
Portuguese ships only had borne the spices and silks
of India to Europe. The Moluccas, China, Japan,
Cochin, and Ceylon, had all become tributaries to the
increasing stream of commerce which bore wealth to their
shores.

The many unsuccessful attempts which had been made
by the Dutch to discover a north-east passage from the
European seas to China, made them despair of success
in this direction ; so that no alternative remained but
to follow the Portuguese round the Cape of Good Hope

1601.J

Vr ■!'■ nj of the Uotieniois. 21

to India. To quote Mr. Justice Watermeyer* :— " An

unimportant incident in Portugal, the imprisonment for
debt, or, according to some, for political indiscretion, of
a Dutch merchant in Lisbon, determined this course.
Cornelius Hautman, a native of Gouda, a man of con-
siderable sagacity, had, during his residence in Portugal,
found means to inquire diligently into the mysteries of
the Indian commerce, jealously concealed from all
foreigners, and the sources whence the Portuguese derived
their untold wealth. He deemed justly that the
possession of this knowledge would be highly valued
Dy his countrymen in Holland, and offered to some
traders of Amsterdam, if his release were purchased,
to communicate the precious information which his
curiosity and observation had enabled him to gain, and
to pilot them to the land of fortune. His proposal
accepted, his debts discharged, and his liberty secured,
he gladly adhered to his promise. His revelations excited
to the highest pitch of enthusiasm the minds of those
to whom he owed his escape from incarceration. In the
following year a squadron of four ships left Holland,
under the auspices of the * Association of Distant Lands,'
for the East Indies, under the command of Jan de
Molenaar, the commercial management of the expedition
being entrusted to Hautman. These were the first Dutch
ships that anchored in Table Bay, and the fruit of the
voyage was an alliance with the King of Bantam in Java,
—the foundation of the Dutch power in the East."
An English pilot, named John Davis, who accompanied
a Dutch fleet which visited Table Bay in 1598, has
furnished an account of the mode of trading adopted,
as well as a description of the natives. He states that
the Hottentots, having been aggrieved by some injury,
absented themselves for three days, and during that time
alarmed the country by lighting large fires on the
mountains. At the expiry of that period the natives
returned with a large number of cattle, and when the

* Lectures on the Cape of Good Hope, page 3. See also Verhaal
tier 0. I. Compagnie, and Du Bois' Vies den Qoverneurs Gcneraux,
quoted by this author.

22 The History of the Cape Colony. U601-I619.

Dutch came near them for the purpose of barter, attacked
them so suddenly and furiously, that they fled to the
beach and immediately embarked.

In 1601 the English East India Company fitted out
several ships for the Eastern trade, including the Dragon,
of 600 tons, commanded by Captain James Lancaster,
the Hector, of 300 tons, the Susanna, and the Guest.
Saldanha (Table) Bay was named one of the places
of rendezvous, and here they arrived on the 9th of
September, 1601. The natives furnished cattle in ex-
change for knives, nails, and other trifles ; only certain
persons appointed were permitted to trade with them,
and peace and goodwill prevailed. The sick were brought
on shore and housed under canvas. The captain com-
manding displayed his ingenuity in communicating with
the natives his desire for oxen and sheep, by imitating
the cries of those animals. The scale of prices was
the following: — For each ox, two pieces of old iron
hoop, eight inches long; and one piece of the same
size for each sheep. At this rate, no fewer than one
thousand sheep, and forty-two oxen were purchased in
twelve days. At the end of this time, however, the
natives discontinued bringing any, which caused "the
English to presume that they suspected their settling
there." Perhaps, however, these children of nature
thought that they had given sufficient cattle for old
iron hoops, and began to suspect that they were losers
by such commercial transactions.

It was in 1601 that Paulus van Corniden touched at
St. Sebastian's Bay, and afterwards visited a small inlet
which he named Yleesch Bay, in consequence of his
having succeeded in obtaining a number of cattle there.
Another harbour was called Visch Bay, because of their
success in fishing. The Dutch Admiral, Spielberg or
Spielbergen, called at St. Helena Bay in 1601, and
afterwards gave the name of "Elizabeth" to what has
since been named Dassen or Rabbit Island. It was on
this voyage that he changed the name of Saldanha Bay
to its present appellation, " Table Bay." While there
he found it impossible to obtain any supplies, but

1601—1619. Bobben Island a Penal Settlement. H

succeeded in getting sheep and penguins on Bobben
Island.

The Cape was now a place of call for the vessels of all
nations. Table Bay was visited in 1607 by Davis, the
famous Arctic voyager, and in 1608 by the Dutch Admiral
Cornelius Maaklof, who is reported to have left a number
of rams and ewes on Eobben Island ; Henry Middleton*
touched here in 1607 and 1609, Sir E. Mechalborne in
1605, Captain Sharpey anchored in Table Bay in 1608.'
Captain Keelay, or Ivealing, in 1609. when he took from
Bobben Island " some of the fattest sheep he oversaw,''
and left lean ones in exchange.

The formation of a settlement on Bobben Island, which,
it is stated, the Bortuguese attempted about the year 1525,
was apparently tried on a small scale by Britain in 1614,
when Captain Bey ton brought there ten men, sentenced at
the Old Bailey, in London, to banishment for crime. This
was done at the request of the English East India Com-
pany, with a view, no doubt, to the passing ships being-
supplied with refreshments ; but, as might have been
expected from the character of the men, they quarrelled

:: General Sir Henry Middleton wrote an account of his voyage.
He speaks of finding Dutch ships in Table Bay, whose crews were
employed in obtaining oil from seals.

f Sharpey found 400 head of cattle, fowls, plenty of fish, and of
fresh water. The inhabitants are described as very beastly, especially
in their feeding, eating guts and garbage, — nay, the seals which the
English had cast into the river, after lying there for fourteen days —
after they were putrefied and swarmed with maggots, as well as stunk
most intolerably.

Captain Nicholas Domiton, who visited the Cape in the Peppercorn,
in 1609, with Middleton's fleet, writes that Table Bay was formerly "a
comfortable retreat for the English, both outward and homeward
bound,'' but laments a change for the worse, and attributes it to the
depredations of the Dutch. In a subsequent voyage Dorniton landed
a Hottentot called Koree who had been taken to England and treated
there with every kindness. He became home-sick, however, and
the East India Company consecpiently sent him back. On his return
he cast aside the fanciful armour in which he had been trussed,
and returned to the society and habits of his savage race. Afterwards,
he made himself useful by endeavouring to obtain refreshments for
English ships.

24 Y'/c tlisiory of th Gape Colony, [leao

with the natives, and endeavoured to escape. The leader,
named Cross, was killed, four of their number were
drowned in trying to reach an English vessel, and three
managed to escape home, where they were subsequently
executed for theft.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century the atten-
tion of Holland was specially attracted to Eastern com-
merce, in consequence of the success of the expedition
commanded by Jan de Molenaar, which had set out in
1595 under the direction of " The Association of Distant
Lands." Companies were established at Amsterdam,
Rotterdam, Midclelberg, Delft, Hoorn, and Enkhuysen,
all of which eventually joined a partnership, that obtained
a charter on the 20th March, 1602, and became subse-
quently famous as the Netherlands General East India
Company.

In spite of the edict of Philip II., King of Spain,
ordering that any inhabitant of the United Provinces
who engaged in the Indian trade should be put to death,
the best efforts of the Dutch were directed to obtain
success in it ; and, as a means to this end, we find that
on the 19th of August, 1619, the Chamber of Seventesn
declared that it was advisable to found a fort at the
Cape of Good Hope, "for the assurance of the refresh-
ment necessary to the navigation of India, and the
preservation of the seafaring people, which is of much
importance.-'

Holland not only succeeded in wresting commercial
pre-eminence in the East from the Portuguese, but also
held it for many years against all comers. The imbecility
of the Government of England under James L, and the
civil wars between Charles I. and the Parliament, crippled
British enterprise. Still, as we have seen, English fleets
were in the field, and it is now necessary to chronicle the
circumstances connected with the formal assumption of

minion over the Cape of Good Hope, made on behalf of
that nation bv two commanders in the fleet of the English
East Endia Company. These officers, named Captains
Shillinge and Fitzherbert, after a consultation on the 3rd
of July, 1620, erected the British flag on the shores of

teaoj Tin English take Possession of the Gape. 25

Table Bay, and declared that they took possession in the
name of King James.

The reasons assigned by them for this step are worthy
of being recorded, although they do not seem to have had
any weight with the Home Government. Britain then,
and subsequently, could not perceive the value of the Cape
of Good Hope in connection with Indian trade, an im-
portance not exaggerated in the conference between Lord
Malmcsbury and M. de la Croix, when the latter remarked,
" If you are masters of the Cape and Trincomalee, we
shall hold all our settlements in India, and the Isles
of France and Bourbon, entirely at the tenure of your
will and pleasure; they will be ours only as long as
you choose we shall retain them ; you will be sole
masters in India, and we shall be entirely dependent
on you."* A document preserved in the archives of the
East India Company t contains the remarks, &c, of
Captains Shillinge and Fitzherbert. The following is
their proclamation : —

"James, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. : Know all men by the present
publication hereof, that according to our bounden duties to our Sove-
reign Lord the King, James, by the Grace of God King of Great
Britain, &c, and the State ;

" We, Andrew Shillinge and Humphrey Fitzherbert, chief commanders
of the two fleets at present bound for Surat and Bantam, &c, upon a
good consideration, and by a consultation holden on shore, the 1st of Jul}',
16'20, of both fleets on the coast of Africa, in the Bay of Saldania
(Table Bay) aforesaid, for and in the name of the said high and mighty
Prince James, and for and in the name of the whole continent near
adjoining, so far to be extended as that at present no Christian Prince
or Potentate have any fort or garrison for plantation within the limits
aforesaid ; and our Sovereign Lord the King to bo thereunto entitled
Lord or Prince, or by any other name or title whatsoever that shall
seem best unto his gracious wisdom.

" Dated, proclaimed, executed, and subscribed in the Bay of Saldank,
the third day of July, 1620.

(Signed) "Hcmphre* FrrzHEBBEKT,
•• Andrew Shillinge."

Barrow's Travels in Southern Africa, vol. ii.. page 21s.
1 Quoted bj Barrow, in the first edition of his Travels in Southern
Africa

26 The History of the Cape Colony. [1620.

What follows is an extract from their remarks :—

"Notwithstanding all which, may it please your worships to be
certified, that we whose names are hereunto subscribed, tending His
Majesty's supremacy and sovereignty more than our own safetys, and
falling into the consideration of the conveniency of the Bay of Saldania,
by us so called, situated and being in the latitude of 34° or thereabouts,
south latitude, for the better prosecution of your trade to the East
Indies, upon a full and general consultation holden on shore by both
your fleets, now bound for Surat and Bantam, the first day of July, in
the year of our Lord 1620, have fully agreed to take possession of the
said Bay of Saldania, for and hi the name of our Sovereign Lord the
King, James, by the Grace of God, &c, and for and in the name of the
whole continent near adjoining, so far to be extended as that no Chris-
tian Prince or Potentate have at present any fort or garrison for planta-
tion within the limits aforesaid, as by a deed published, executed, and
subscribed in the said Bay of Saldania, the third day of July, 1G20,
herewith sent, your worships more plainly may appear ; which deed
was published with great solemnity before the English and the Dutch,
who seemed likewise much to approve the same. And in token of pos-
session taken as aforesaid, and in memorial hereafter, we have placed a
heap of stones on a hill hying west-south-west from the road in the
said Bay, and call it by the name of King James his Mount. (This
hill is that subsequently called the Lion's Rump or Signal Hill.) The
main and principal reasons which induced us to do this without order
are many. First, at our arrival in the Bay, we found nine great ships
of the States ready to sail for Bantam, who declared to us plainly that
the States did mean to make a plantation here the next year, and that
they had taken a view of the Bay. and made a road in the country
already some thirty or forty miles, &c, meaning, as we suppose, and it
is not to be doubted, to make us hereafter pay for our water and an-
chorage, towards defraying their intended plantation. Likewise this
great country, if it were well discovered, would be kept in subjection
with a few men and little charge, considering how the inhabitants are
but naked men, and without a leader or policy. We also thought to
entitle the King's Majesty thereto by this weak means rather than let
it fall for want of prevention into the hands of the States, knowing very
well that His Majesty is able to maintain his title by his hand against
the States, and by his power against any other Prince or Potentate
whatsoever ; and better it is that the Dutch, or any other nation what-
soever, should be his subjects in this place than that his subjects should
be subject to them or to any other. To which may be added the prac-
tice of all men, at all times and in all places, in the like cause entitling
their sovereigns to be Governors where no Government is already
instituted. Many more particulars might be alleged, as the certain
refreshing of your fleets quickly acquired out of your own means by
plantation, and to be hoped for from the blacks when a Government is
established to keep them in awe, The whale fishery besides persuades

loay.j Attempt to Found a French Settlement.

*>7

- 1

us that it would be profitable to defray part of your charges. The
fruitfulness of the soil, together with the temper of the air, assures
us that the blacks, with the time, will come in for their ease, aud of
necessity."

Many years were, however, yet to elapse before any
European country thought it worth while to form a per-
manent settlement. It is stated certainly that the French
endeavoured to found a colony at the Cape about the year
1630. But, even if the narrative of the attempt be correct,*
it was of such a character and so futile that it scarcely
deserves notice. Voyagers continually called, and the
Dutch fleets organised a post-office of the most primitive
description. Large stones, with the names of ships and
officers engraved upon them, were left at certain spots,
and under these despatches and letters were concealed.
Similar means of communicating with each other were
adopted by the Portuguese and English. Why Table Bay
was preferred to other harbours is a question which may
naturally be asked, and the probable answer to it is, that
here the Amstel or fresh river ran into the sea, and abun-
dance of most excellent water was always to be found, as
well as supplies of cattle and sheep, while at Saldanha
Bay no water was procurable. The natives were well
disposed to barter and trade with strangers.

Sir Thomas Herbert, Bart., whose travels have already
been referred to, visited Table Bay in July, 1626, and his
account of the country and natives is worthy of attention.
It is one of the earliest descriptions of the Cape of Good
Hope, and is from the pen of an educated Englishman.!
This writer says : — " July 1st, 1626, we came to an anchor
in Saldania (Table) Bay, so called from Antonio Saldania,

:; See VaXentyris History of the- East Indies. According to this
writer, the Chevalier who commanded the expeditiuii immediately com-
menced by entering into hostilities with the Hottentots, and firing
upon them. The natives rallied, assembled in overwhelming force,
killed the French commander, and drove his followers away.

•!• There is a copy of this work in the South African Library, Cape
Town. One of the pictures represents " a man and a woman at the
Cape of Good Hope.'' In the back-ground is a representation of Table
Bay. where the mountains arc named : — Herbert's Mount, the Table,
Sugar Loaf, and King James's Mount.

28 The History of trie Capo Colony. U626.

a Portuguese, who being by King Eman sent with three
ships after Alberquerque, through stress of weather was
forced into this bay. It is twelve leagues short of that
great Cape which meritoriously is now called of Good
Hope. To the Table (Mountain) seamen for their
recreation ordinarily climb up. Most sweet and whole-
some water is to be found here, which was a great
refreshing to our scorched entrails." Sir Thomas is
evidently very fond of displaying his learning, and
descants in the most profound manner upon the ancient
circumnavigation of Africa. He then descends to the
terra firma of the Cape, which he thus describes : — " The
soil here is exceeding good. Among herbs I saw betony,
mint, calamint, sorrel, scabious, spinage, thime, cardicus
benedictus, and coloquintida. The Hebrews have a pro-
verb, ' There is not an herb upon the earth but has his
mazall or star answering it, and saying, grow.' I know
not how true that is, but here they prosper. The rivers
yield trent, pike, pickrill, tench, eel. The country withal
affords plenty of beasts of sundry sorts, as buffalos and
cows, which are large, but lean and hunch-backed ; sheep
with long ears like hounds, much unlike those in Europe ;
apes and baboons of extraordinary size and colour ; lions,
panthers, pards, jackals, wolves, dogs, cats, hares, and
zebras, as also elephants and camels, which three last we
saw not ; and Garceas Hort, physician to the Viceroy
of Goa, reports that he saw unicorns here, headed like a
horse, if the zebrae deceive him not.'*'*

■■' Tin; question as to whether or not unicorns have existed in Africa
has received the serious attention of Barrow, who in his Travels in
Southern . Ifrica (vol. i., page 275), brings forward the following evidence
on the subject : — " Adrian van Versveld, of Caradeboo, in Graaff-
lleinet, shot an animal a few years ago at the point of the Bamboos-
berg, that was entirely unknown to any of the colonists. The
description he gave to me of it in writing, taken, as he said, from a
memorandum made at the time, was as follows : — ; The figure came
nearest to that of the quagga, but of a much larger size, being five feet
high, and eight feet long ; the ground each side of the head, eleven
of the same kind between the neck and colour yellowish, with black
stripes ; of these were four curved ones on shoulder, and three broad
waved lines running longitudinally from the shoulder to the thigh ;

1028.]

Sir Thos, Herbert on the Natives. 29

Ascending in the scale of creation, Sir Thomas now
proceeds to describe the natives, who, " being propagated
from Cham, both in their visages and natures seem to
inherit his malediction. Their faces be very thin and
their limbs well proportioned, but by way of ornament
pinkt and cut in several shapes, as fancy guides them.
Some, by way of dress, shave their skull ; others have a
tuft atop ; but some, instead of shaving, have several
other dresses for the head, as spur rowels, brass buttons,
pieces of pewter, beads of many sorts, which the mirthful
sailor exchanges for mutton, beef, herbs, ostrich egg-shells,
tortoises, or the like. Their ears are extended by links
of brass, stones, broken oyster shells, and like ponderous
babies ; their amies and legs loaden with voluntary
shackles of copper ; and about their necks they wear the
raw guts of beasts. They wear a thong of leather, or a
lion or panther's skin, about their waist ; others naked
only. Upon their feet they have a sole or piece of leather,
tied with a leather strap, which, while these Hottentots
were in our company, their hands held, their feet having
thereby the greater liberty to steal, which with their toes
they can do exactly, all the while looking us in the face,
the better to deceive. They have plenty of locusts brought

mane short and erect ; ears six inches long, and striped across ; tail
like the quagga ; on the centre of the forehead was an excrescence of a
hard bony substance, covered with hair, and resembling the rudiments
of a horn ; the length of this with the hair was ten inches.' About the
same time, Tjardt van der Walt, of Olifant's Itiver, in Swellendam, in
company with his brother, saw, near the same place, an animal exactly
of the shape of a horse, and somewhat larger than a quagga. Martinus
Prinslo, of Bruintje's Hoogte, saw behind the mountain several wild
horses entirely different from either the quagga or the zebra, and the
missionary Van der Kemp mentions a streaked horse of incredible
swiftness, which is called by the Hottentots kamma ; and lie adds that
the Imbo (a nation residing north-east of Kafirland) confirm the report
of a unicorn existing in that part of the country. They represent it as
a very savage animal ; they are horribly afraid of it, and it sometimes
overturns their kraals, and destroys their houses. They say that it
has a single horn placed on the forehead, which is very long, and that
it is entirely distinct from the rhinoceros, with which they are well
acquainted." Several intelligent writers on South Africa have since
referred to this subject.

30 Tin History of the Cape ('ohm,/. [isae.

hither by the winds, which, being sprinkled by salt, they
eat greedily : the truth is, they would commonly violate
the graves of those dead men we buried and feed upon their
carcases. But among these brutes, albeit they have plenty
of dead whales, seals, penguins, grease, and raw puddings,
which we saw them tear and eat as dainties, for they
neither roast nor boil, yet do they no less covet to destroy
such as, through old age or sickness, are not able to pro-
vide for themselves, leaving them upon some mountain
destitute of help. And here the women give suck, the
uberous dug being stretched over the shoulder. These
may be said to be the descent of satyrs. During the time
that I stayed among them I saw no signs of any knowledge
of God. Anno 1600, Sir James Lancaster landing here,
had one thousand sheep and fifty oxen for babies, and
might have had more in plenty had not our emulous
neighbours, the Dutch, after some disgust given the
natives, rode with our colours out, which made them the
less amicable to us. Cory, a savage brought thence to
England in the year 1614, when, being civilized, he
returned in a few years to this country, entering the woods
in a copper-gilt armour, instead of a kind reception they
butchered him. The cattle they sold us, had they not
been secured by tying their heads to some stakes, would
break after the savages upon one man's whistle. We
found that a dozen muskets would chase one thousand, at
every discharge falling down thunderstruck. To sum up
their character, with that which Salvian, libra de vero
judicio, gives of other Africans, when he says they are
'inhumani, impuri, ebriosi, falsissimi, fraudidentissimi,
cupidissimi, perfidlssimi, et obsccenis libidinum omnium,
impuritati et blasplicmiis addictissimi, &c. ;' and for a fare-
well take that which Leo gives the Libyans— ' They have
no letters, faith, nor law, living (if it be a life) like wild
beasts for ignorance, like devils for mischief, and like dogs
for poverty.' "

CHAPTER II.

Wreck of the Dutch ship Haarlem— Jansz and Proofs Memorial to the Dutch East
India Company, recommending a settlement at the Cape — Resolution of the
Chamher of XVII.— Despatch of the Expedition nnder Van Rieheek— Arrival of
the first Settlers — Detail of first events.

The Dutch ship Haarlem, bound home from India, was
wrecked in Table Bay in the year 1648, and the crew had
to await for five months the arrival of the outward-bound
fleet from Holland. During this period they had oppor-
tunities of observing the country in the immediate neigh-
bourhood, and of making themselves acquainted with the
habits and dispositions of the natives. According to their
report, the " Ottentoos" were humane and kind, and dis-
posed to trade in perfect friendship. Two of these ship-
wrecked seamen, named Leendert Jansz and Nicolaas
Proot, after they had returned to Holland, addressed a
memorial to the directors of the Dutch East India Com-
pany, strongly urging the desirability of establishing a
"fort and garden" at the Cape of Good Hope. In this
" Remonstrance"* they denied that the natives were
savages or cannibals, and exceedingly treacherous, asserted
that they only killed Europeans in defence of themselves
or their cattle, and in order to prove that Dutchmen even
were often to blame, stated that, in the previous year,
when the fleet under the command of Wollebrandt Geluy-
sen lay at the Cape, seven or eight cattle were shot and
taken away without payment. It seems rather strange,
however, if the natives were so friendly, that these
mariners found it necessary to throw up a fort for their
defence, and to live continually under its protection;
while the assertion that the Hottentots were not savages
betrays a stronger desire to give weight to their arguments
than to adhere to the truth. We shall see that in the
time of Van Riebeek, when these children of nature were

* Published in Moodies Records.

:;-2 Tl« History of the (Jape Oolony, iws,

comparatively free from the " vices of civilization,"
treachery and barbarity were as much their characteristics
as they have been those of all uncivilized races in every
age. Jansz and Proot naturally expressed surprise that
neither the Spanish nor Portuguese had as yet made any
attack at the Cape upon the Dutch ships returning from
the East with valuable cargoes, as eight or ten vessels
of war kept there on the watch might easily capture or
destroy them all. The fruitfulness of the soil, the
abundance of cattle, and the advantage to be derived from
a whale fishery, are specially referred to, and they add : —
"We say, therefore, that the Honourable Company, by
the formation of a fort or redoubt, and also of a garden
of such size as may be practicable or necessary at
the above-mentioned Cabo de Boa Esperanza, upon a
suitable spot in Table Valley, stationing there, according
to your pleasure, sixty to seventy as well soldiers as
sailors, and a few persons acquainted with gardening
and horticulture, could raise, as well for the ships and
people bound to India as for those returning thence,
many kinds of fruit, as will hereafter be more par-
ticularly demonstrated." An establishment for barter
seems also to have been one of the principal objects
in view, and, to make their arguments complete, it is
urged that, " by maintaining a good correspondence with
them" (the natives), " we shall be able in time to employ
some of their children as boys and servants, and to
educate them in the Christian religion, whereby the
erection of the contemplated fort and garden will tend not
only to the gain of the Company and the saving of many
lives, but to the magnifying of God's holy name." As the
Chamber of Seventeen had in 1619 adopted a resolution
declaring the advisability of establishing a fort at the
Cape of Good Hope, very little argument was required to
prove the necessity of carrying out their own determina-
tion. The " remonstrance" of Jansz and Proot was referred
to Jan van Eiebeek, who had in 1649 visited the Cape as
a surgeon in the fleet of Geluysen. The report of this
officer, dated June, 1651, adverts to his "three weeks'
experience" on shore in Table Bay, and strongly recom-

i65i.] Quarrels between the Butch and tlie Natives. 33

mends the proposed expedition. Ho repeats most of the
arguments already made use of, but distinctly declares
that he has no confidence whatever in the honesty and
fidelity of the Hottentots, saying, " Although Leendert
Jansz does not appear to entertain much apprehension of
interruption from the natives, provided only they are well
treated, I say, notwithstanding, that they are by no means
to be trusted, but are a savage set, living without con-
science, and therefore the fort should be rendered tolerably
defensible. I have often heard, from men deserving of
credit, that our people have been slain by them without
giving the slightest cause." The truth is that unjustifi-
able acts were committed both by Europeans and natives.
The former were often unjust, and the latter were always
treacherous and cruel. On one occasion the Hottentots
were attacked, several of them murdered, and numbers of
cattle forcibly taken possession of by Dutch traders, and
at another time a battle was fought with the Namaquas,
which lasted for three clays, when the natives fled to the
mountains, and thence repulsed the Dutch with arrows,
assegais, and stones.

After Van Eiebeek's report was written, the Dutch East
India Company lost no time in establishing a fort and
garden at the Cape, and this the more readily in order to
anticipate the English, Portuguese, and French, in the
formation of a permanent settlement. The following
extract of " Instructions" from the Chamber of Seventeen
to the officers of the expedition, clearly shows the object
and intention of the company : —

" That the board had for the benefit and protection of their trade
resolved to form at the Cape of Good Hope an establishment for the
refreshment of their ships. That, on the arrival of the expedition, a
part of the people should land and erect a temporary building of wood,
for shelter, and wherein they might deposit their various implements.
That they should further construct a small defensive fort at the Fresh
River, according to a plan already prepared ; that it should be called
the Good Hope, and should be sufficiently extensive to lodge from
seventy to eighty men. That, this being effected, they should select the
best ground for gardens, and the land most adapted to pasture, for
the purpose of breeding cattle. That each individual should consider
himself called upon, in the most impressive manner, not to molest the

D

34 The History of the Cape Colony. r.iesi.

natives, nor take away their cattle, but, on the contrary, to gain their
confidence by kind and friendly treatment. That, as the main object in
establishing this fort was to obtain a place for refreshment, ami to enable
vessels to pass to St. Helena, it should be particularly observed what
description of fruits could be best cultivated, consistently with the
climate and seasons. That the people should be governed according
to the General Artikel Brief, to which they had sworn ; and that they
should not be allowed to waste their time in idleness. That the com-
mander should keep a journal, and endeavour to discover some means
for defraying the expenses which might be incurred. That as soon as
the fort was in a state of defence, seventy men and the boats should be
taken from the ships, to assist in building, and other necessary works,
particularly in making a wooden beacon, or something of that description,
to point out the anchorage to vessels entering the bay ; and that they
should also plant four pieces of cannon upon each point of the fort."

The Directors of the Dutch East India Company appointed
Van Biebeek leader of the expedition ; and three ships,
named the Dromedary, Heron, and Good Hope, were fitted
out. On the 14th December, 1651, the commander and
his family embarked on board the first-named vessel, and
on the 23rd of the same month they all set sail. " On the
5th of April, 1652," Van Biebeek states in his journal,*
"about the fifth glass of the afternoon, we got sight, God
be praised, of the land of the Cabo de Boa Esperanza."
The next day (6th April) they could have entered Table
Bay, but, fearing hostile ships might be there, the purser,
Adam Hulsten, and the second mate, Adam van Steveren,
were dispatched with the sloop towards the foot of Lion's
Bump (Staart van Leeuwenberg), with orders, in rounding
the point, to find out whether there were any vessels in
Table Bay. These men having reported that there were
no ships to be seen, the fleet proceeded with a fair
southerly breeze, which arose just after sunset. On the

* Frequent references will be made to this journal. The chief
authorities for this portion of history are : — Van Riebeek's Journal ;
Moodie's Records ; Historical Account of the Formation and Progress
of the European Colony at the Cape of Good Hope, by the Rev. M.
Borcherds ; Articles and Extracts on early Cape History in the Cape
Monthly Magazine ; Mr. Justice Watermeyer s Lectures on the Govern-
ment of the Dutch East India-Company at the Cape ; Accounts of Early
Travellers ; Hall's Chronology.

i05i,] Arrival of the First SetUera at tJie Cape, 85

next morning, Van Biebeek beheld the white sands of the
Blaauwberg coast and the green plains extending down
from Table Mountain. The peaks of the Hottentots
Holland range bounded the inland horizon, and the
settlers, who had so long been tossed about at sea,
expressed delight on arriving at their now home,
whose hilly shores seemed to hold out arms of welcome
to receive them. The Dromedary and the Good Hope
anchored opposite the Fresh River, and the Heron
remained outside till the next day (7th April) when Capt.
David de Konink was sent on shore with a boat's crew and
six armed soldiers to search for letters, and to obtain for
the use of the sick a supply of herbs and fish. He found
a box of letters left by Jan van Teylingen, the commander
of the homeward-bound fleet. From these despatches it
appeared that such difficulty had been experienced in
obtaining supplies from the natives, that Teylingen was
obliged to go on to St. Helena. In his letter to the
captains of the other ships, this commander says : — " We
have obtained here only one cow and one sheep for
refreshment, though abundance of both has been seen
inland by the crew ; but this savage, unreasonable people
will bring us no more than what has been mentioned.
God grant that you may have better luck. P.S. — You
may freely set the horses on shore which you have on
board, and desire the Ottentoo who speaks English to
place them in the hands of the people who are coming to
establish the fort, promising him a good reward for so
doing. Vale," These horses (from Batavia, it is pre-
sumed) were duly handed over to Van Biebeek by the
Ottentoo referred to.* As it seemed absolutely necessary

* Previous to the commencement of the nineteenth century, it would
seem that all our horses were imported from the East. Many were
Arabs. Some Spanish horses, on their way to Buenos Ayres, captured
during a war with France, are considered to have been the progenitors
of the blue and red roans, so well known for their endurance. Lord
Charles Somerset, by importing English thoroughbreds, did a great
deal to improve Cape stock, and his example has been followed since
by such men as Messrs. Cloete, Melck, Kotze, T. B. Bay ley, and M.
van Breda.

D 2

3G The History of the Cape Colony. [wea.

to provide for defence against the natives, a party was
immediately landed, to discover the most suitahle site for
a fort. On the evening of the 7th, two of the natives
fearlessly went on board the ships, where they were treated
with hospitality. The commander says: — "Got two of
the savages on board, one of whom speaks a little English,
and whose bellies we blew out right bravely with meat and
drink." On the following day, a fight took place between
nine or ten savages of Saldania and a number of the
strandloopers, or natives who frequented the sea-shore.

The resolution of the Council held on board the
Dromedary, inserted in the Eecords of Council, was as
follows : —

"Tuesday, 8th April, 1652.

"Having now, by the grace of God, whose name be praised, safely
arrived with the ships Dromedary, Heron, and Good Hope, in the roads
of Table Bay at Cabo do Bon Esperance, on the Oth and 7th inst., for
the purpose of establishing a general rendezvous, according to the
orders received from our superiors, the directors of the General
Chartered Dutch East India Company, and for the attainment of that
object to build a defensive fort or castle, in order, under its protection,
to take possession of such lands as may be best suited for cultivation
and cattle-breeding, for the refreshment of the Company's vessels, both
home and outward bound, and for such other services as the interests
of the Company may require ; for which purpose the vessels afore-
mentioned have been laden with materials, and the commanders
thereof directed to use their utmost endeavours to carry this plan into
effect ;

"The Council being assembled by the senior merchant, Jan van
Biebeek, having maturely deliberated and well considered the subject,
have ordered and directed

" That, in the first place, the said Jan van Biebeek, accompanied by
the commanders of the said ships, David de Konink, Johan Hoogsaet,
and Symon Turver, shall land with some armed soldiers, to inspect
and measure (as was provisionally done yesterday) a place fitted for the
erection of a fort ; and, having fixed upon the same, shall immediately
mark out the plan, so that no time may be lost in commencing the
work, and the ships be enabled to pursue their voyage to Batavia with
as little delay as possible.

"And that everything may be done with regularity, and quickly
finished, it has been further resolved to leave no more than thirty-eight
men in each of the ships Dromedary and Heron, and eleven in the
yacht Good Hope, making together eighty-three men, to land the
materials and to procure water, ballast, &c. These men shall also be

1652.] Van Eiebeek assumes the Government. 37

employed when convenient in fishing, so that the persons on shore
may not be taken from their work. :;: :;'

"Relative to the guards, it is understood that both day and night
watches shall be equally divided between the soldiers and sailors, and
include even the carpenters, without any exception whatever.

" Thus resolved and done on board the ship Dromedary, on the day
and year above mentioned.

" (Signed) Jan van Riebekk.

David be Konink.
Jan Hoogsaet.
Symon Ttjrver.
P. van Helm, Secretary."

Commander van Eiebeek assumed the government of
the embryo Colony upon the 9th of April, 1652, when he
issued a proclamation as " senior merchant," taking
formal possession of the country, and enacting various
regulations, among which is one providing that " whoever
ill-uses, beats, or pushes any of the natives, be he in the
right or in the wrong, shall in their presence be punished
with fifty lashes, that they may thus see that such is
against our will, and that we are disposed to correspond
with them in all kindness and friendship, in accordance
with the orders and the object of our employers." Another
order expressly forbids and prohibits all persons, of what-
soever quality, from carrying on any barter or traffic with
the natives, except with the knowledge and consent of the
commander and council.

Industry and energy distinguished the first proceedings
of the Government. The erection of a fort was vigorously
proceeded with, and Van Eiebeek visited the neighbour-
hood of the Lion's Hill, Table Mountain, and obtained
from Captains Hoogsaet and Turver reliable information
concerning the nature of the adjacent country. Fine
forests, abounding in game, then existed in the mountain
kloofs ; tracts of fertile land seemed to invite the plough,
and nature crowned all with a delicious climate which
guaranteed plenty and health. Even at this early stage
of our history it appears natural to ask — Why, then, was
the progress of the settlement so slow, and its success so
uncertain ? Why was this offspring of Dutch trade and

38 The Jllslonj of ike Ga/pe Gotoivy. [1652.

enterprise puny and delicate, and so constantly weakened
by the fever of discontent as ultimately to become the easy
prey of an invading force ? The answer is to be traced in
the narrow and limited objects the Dutch East India Com-
pany had in view, and the restrictive laws with which, as
in swaddling-clothes, they bound the infant Colony. The
Cape was intended merely to be a place of call for Dutch
outward and homeward bound ships, to the exclusion of
all other Europeans. The settlers were servants, or
rather slaves of the Company, restricted from barter with
the natives, and obliged to sell to their masters at rates
fixed by the purchasers. They could not even buy any-
thing except from the Company, and at the prices named
by its officers, for whose advantage many of the regula-
tions seemed to be made. Strange ships were not to be
supplied, and strangers were to be discouraged. The
Governor's will was law, and his power extended so far,
that he had the right even to prohibit fishing in the bays
on the coast. The name of " Free Burgher" was a mis-
nomer, and Commissioner Yerburg, in 1672, reported to
the home authorities that " the Dutch colonists at the
Cape of Good Hope bear the name of free men ; but they
are so trammelled and confined in all things that the
absence of any freedom is but too manifest. The orders
and proclamations from time to time issued are so rigid
that it would be impossible to carry out the penalties
therein, except with the utter ruin of the burghers."

Van Eiebeek's journal is evidently a truthful record of
events in the infant settlement. On April 13, 1G52, he
relates the triumphant purchase of a cow and a young calf
for four pieces of flat copper and three pieces of copper
wire, each three feet long. On the next day, Sunday,
Divine service was performed, and after the reading of
" Het Sermoen," "they went with all the boats to Salt
Eiver to fish, where, with three casts, from 900 to 1,000
fine steenbras, harders, and other fish were caught."*

* Van ltiebeek, in one place, speaks of tish of finer flavour than any
in the fatherland. There are certainly noae of these at the present
day, but new fish have appeared in our waters, so possibly former

i652.j The Neijlibourliood of Cape Town Explored. 39

The natives are more than once referred to as strand-
loopers, who bring with them only lean bodies and hungry
bellies, and the purchase of cattle from the Ottentoos is
an object most anxiously sought after. On the 15th April,
Yan Biebeek states : — " There came to anchor, God be
praised, the ship Salamander, with the Honourable Dirk
Snoek and Captain Jan Eyebrands, from Batavia the 25th
January last, and through the Strait of Sunda on the 13th
February, in company with the ships Oranje, Konnik
David, Lastdraijcr, and Breda, under the command of the
Honourable Dirk Vogel, as Vice-Commander."

" We understand, from the report of the said Snoek,
that by order of the Honourable Governor-General and
Council of India, a variety of Indian seeds and plants,
besides some horses, had been sent by the first ships from
Batavia for this place, of which we will now be deprived."

On the 24th of April, the Commander left the ship to
reside in a temporary wooden hut, and on the evening of
the same day a large hippopotamus was captured in the
Salt Biver. Various parties were sent out to explore the
surrounding country, and two persons named Van der
Helson and Verburg went to a distance of eighteen miles
from Cape Town through the country behind Table Moun-
tain. They reported the discovery of extensive forests, and
that deer and game of all descriptions abounded.

During the month of May two ships arrived from
Holland containing fifty emigrants, and one of them
(the Whede) brought the Minister Bonkerias, who had
been appointed chaplain to the settlement. A last and
grand council was held on board the Dromedary, and upon
the 12th of May the points of the little fort were named
respectively the Dromedary, Whale, Elephant, and Heron,

descriptions may have passed away. Dr. Pappe, iu his Synopsis, p. 30,
speaking of the Cape stock-fish, says : — " It is remarkable that this
fish, a notorious denizen of the European seas, was utterly unknown at
the Cape of Good Hope before the earthquake of ISO!) (Dec. 4). At
first it was scarce, and sold at exorbitant prices (4s. (id.). Since that
period it has yearly increased in numbers, and is now a standard lish
in the market, being caught in great abundance."

40 The History of the Cape Colony. [I652.

in obedience to the orders of the Company, while the yacht
Good Hope had the honour of giving its name to the entire
fortification.* In the beginning of June a number of the
settlers were sick, 54 out of 116 labourers being attacked
with fevers, flux, and other diseases ; it was difficult to
procure cattle, and the position of matters was certainly
very disheartening. Much of the provisions they had
brought was spoiled by heavy rains, so that Van Eiebeek
exclaims, " that if the Almighty were not pleased to stay
his chastening hand, it was evident that their labour would
be tedious and of little profit ; but that, however, he still
relied upon God's gracious assistance." So many deaths
began to occur that the Commander, on the 10th June,
writes :— " If the Almighty be not pleased soon to relieve
us from this calamity, we see very little probability of
completing our work, as many of our people die, and the
greater part of the remainder are sick." On the 6th of
June, 1652, the Chaplain's wife gave birth to the first
European child born in the Colony. The Commander's
house was now finished, and the large quantities of whales
seen in Table Bay rendered it probable that a regular
fishery would be a profitable undertaking. Van Eiebeek
nearly lost his life about this time when going to Seal
(Eobben) Island.

The first crime was committed by Jan Blank, who, for
having been grossly insolent to the commander of the
Good Hope, was dropped from the yard-arm of that vessel
into the sea, and afterwards received fifty lashes. This
man, or at least a person of the same name, figures
subsequently as a deserter, who, with a few others,
endeavoured to escape to Mozambique overland ! The

* This fort was an earthwork enclosure, conjectured to have been
not far from the site of the present castle. Governor Wagenaar, in
10G2, applied to the Home Government for " a little coarse window
glass and lead to glaze the windows." Outworks were at a very early-
date thrown up at Salt River, and small forts were at various times
erected along the flanks of Table Mountain. The Dutch East India
Company resolved, in 1CG5, to build a regular castle, which will in due
course be referred to.

1652.] Gardens Laid Out. — The Fort Garrisoned. 41

poor fellows only got as far as Hottentots Holland. They
then returned to the fort, where they were looked upon as
malefactors, and "in God's name" received the following
punishments :— Jan Blank, who had been condemned to
death, was awarded (as a great favour) 150 lashes,
to be keel-hauled, and to serve in chains as a slave for two
years. This man pleaded that he had some time ago
dreamt of a mountain of gold, which he had hoped to
find, " and such-like childish pretences." Jan van Ley-
den was also sentenced to slavery for two years, and as
a ringleader, was tied to a stake while a ball was fired
over his head. William Huytgen and Gerrit Dirkse were
condemned to two years' servitude ; and two other persons,
against whom there was not sufficient evidence, were
set at liberty. In accordance with the fashion set by the
Commander, this wretched Jan Blank also kept a diary,
which he solemnly commences in the name of our Lord.
From this document, scrawled with red chalk, it appeared
that the deserters had with them four swords, two pistols,
and a clog, but, in spite of this armament, displayed more
discretion than valour, as they fled so precipitately from a
rhinoceros as to leave behind " one sword and a hat."
Keeping along the beach, they procured birds and shell-
fish for food, and at last they lay down to rest on a high
mountain close to the sea. Having pursued the journey
for six days, hunger and repentance forced them to return.
In July the Commander had the inexpressible gratifica-
tion to see the wheat he had sown spring up, and the
vegetables begin to thrive. Large Government gardens
were laid out, and on the 3rd of August every one left
their temporary huts to reside in the fort, which was now
sufficiently strong to stand a siege. Unfortunately, this
month the imported provisions were found to be both
scarce and stale, so that it was determined to demand a
supply from any Dutch ships which might arrive, and, if
refused, " to protest against them in equity for all costs,
hinderances, damages, and inconveniences." Fighting by
proclamations and protests was always considered of vast
service.

42 The History of the Cape Colony. [1652.

On the 24th of September it was ordered that a yacht
should proceed to Elizabeth Isle (Dassen Island), there to
procure oil, &c. To quote verbatim from the Records,
this was determined upon by the Council, " in the name
of the Lord, and as many casks as can be spared to hold
sea-blubber and a Ottentoo bag."

Another State trial now demands our attention. Joost
van der Laak, a corporal in the service of the Company,
having in a fit of drunkenness insulted the Commander,
was brought to trial before Symon Turver, captain of the
Good Hope, Gerrit Abels, Paulus Petkouw, and Jan van
Geluyk ; and in the Council on the 1st September, it was
resolved that, as the prisoner's situation had become
vacant, Paulus Petkouw, a native of Dantzic, should be
appointed in his place, to whom therefore "the halberd
of authority was ordered to be given in presence of the
people." Beyond suspension from actual service, it is not
clear that any punishment was inflicted on this prisoner.'
Far different, however, was the fate of Herman van
Vogelaar, who, for the crime of wishing the purser at the
devil, because he served out penguins instead of pork, was
sentenced to receive one hundred blows from the butt-end
of a musket.

In the month of October the Commander had the satis-
faction of seeing the Saldanian Hottentots more frequently,
and of transacting business with them. A sheep cost
scarcely the animal's length of thin copper wire and a
little tobacco. For a bigger sheep they wanted a larger
price, but "we therefore did not accede to their demands
that they might not acquire bad habits."*

The tribe of Saldaniers consisted of 250 persons, and
paid great respect to their chief. The " children sucked
at the udders of the sheep which the mothers gave them,
through the hind-legs — very curious to behold." A

* Trices were not very high in those days. Three elephants' teeth
were bought for copper and tobacco to the value of two stivers three
pennings, and three young ostriches for one eighth of a pound of
tobacco.

1652.] h'< ifhj Misfortunes of the Settlement. 43

Hottentot named Herry, who had been taken in an English
ship to Bantam, was employed by Van Eiebeek as an
interpreter, and is a very prominent character in the
history of those times. The Commander soon had reason
to suspect that this fellow was too friendly with the
natives, and writes, " It were not amiss that we should
contrive to coax him, with wife and children, as well as
all the strandloopers (i.e. those who brought nothing but
hungry bellies) to Eobben Island." Herry, who was fond
of the English, incited all Saldaniers to ask daily about
them — so that it seemed as if the natives had the bad
taste to prefer them to the Dutch, and to desire their
presence. In spite of Van Eiebeek's suspicions, Herry
was led to suppose that he was thoroughly trusted, familiar
converse was held at meals, and when the Hottentot sug-
gested bloody and violent measures, the Commander
temporised and answered evasively. The Watermen,
Saldanha men, and the Fishermen were stated by the
interpreter to be three tribes of natives near the settlement,
and information regarding their numbers and mode of
life was willingly supplied by him.

Prosperity and adversity seemed to alternate. In
September and October, 100 labourers were at work, the
supply of meat was plentiful, and every one rejoiced. In
November, violent south-east gales devastated the fields,
and destroyed the newly-erected buildings. Twenty-four
persons were in hospital, the only net for catching fish
was almost unusable, and, above all, there were no natives
to traffic with, so that the poor Governor was reduced to
write that, " If the Lord God be not pleased to grant soon
some relief, either by the Saldaniers bringing their cattle,
or by the arrival of ships from the mother country, we
have little hope of being able to proceed with our work."

The yacht which had been sent in September to Sal-
danha and St. Helena Bays, returned about the middle of
November, bringing no fewer than 2,700 seal-skins. The
captain handed in a written account of the voyage, in
which the bays and islands visited were described, and it
is mentioned that a French vessel had been sealing on the

44 The History of the Cape Colony. [i653.

coast. Shortly after this the Saldaniers returned with
cattle, and were treated with courtesy and kindness. The
suspicious conduct of Herry, the interpreter, almost
induced the Commander to send him, as well as the
strandloopers, to Robben Island, and the many thefts
and irregularities of the Dutchmen made it necessary to
appoint a " public executioner." For this office, a colonist
named Michiel Grieve was selected, and Jan Pieter Sten-
water was the luckless wight upon whom the vengeance
of the law was first inflicted.

Van Eiebeek's life at the Cape was by no means a happy
one. Beset with difficulties, and surrounded by constant
danger, he had not only to provide against attacks from
the natives, but to keep the servants of the Company in
order, and to guard against their thefts and insubordina-
tion. There was much work, and great risk, with little
profit. The Commander, therefore, does not expect a
successor, but " a deliverer," and looks forward to the
termination of his period of exile as a " deliverance."
However, in spite of all disasters, there was at the end of
the first year a good deal to cheer and encourage the
settlers. " We are, thank God," Van Eiebeek says, " so
far advanced that the sick can be supplied with milk, and
buttermilk, and eggs, and the fowls are breeding well."
The cabbages began to close, and the carrots increased in
size. Fresh meat was eat daily, and the churn provided
fresh butter constantly. Ships could be supplied with
refreshments, so that the chief object of the settlement
was attained ; and as their relations with the natives were
tolerably friendly, there was every prospect of a con-
tinuous and successful trade. Hundreds of Saldaniers,
with herds of cattle, were frequently within twelve or
fifteen miles of the Fort.

On the 13th of January, 1653, the first wheat grown at
the Cape was reaped, and it is stated that on the 23rd
of the month "it appeared as if the lions would take the
fort by storm that they might get at the sheep." The
Commander commenced the new year by extending mercy
to Jan Blank, Gerrit Derkse, and William Huytgens, the

1653.] Van Riebeek asks to be Believed, 45

first of whom proved himself thoroughly undeserving, by
shortly afterwards attempting, with some other men, to
carry off the galiot.

The natives now began to think that the settlers could
not do without them, and to assume consequential man-
rners. Frequent insults were received ; nevertheless fire-
arms were only used to terrify the Hottentots. When
they fled, leaving their cattle behind, these were subse-
quently restored in a friendly manner. Van Riebeek acted
thus under express instructions from the Company as well
as from prudential motives. One chief alone had eighty
fighting men, and possessed 5,000 cattle and 2,000 sheep ;
and the force at the disposal of the Commander was
fully occupied in endeavouring to carry out the object
of the settlement by raising and procuring supplies for
the fleet of the Dutch East India Company. We cannot
be surprised that the Commander became tired of his
work, and in a despatch to the Chamber of Seventeen,
dated 14th April, 1653, earnestly requested to be sent to
India, where he could render better service than among
those " dull, stupid, lazy, stinking people, where there is
nothing to be done but to barter a few sheep and cattle."

In January, the customary routine had been suddenly
disturbed by the arrival of the galiot Black Fox, with news
of war between Holland and England. The Good Hope
was despatched with the intelligence to Batavia, and
immediate steps were taken to put the fortifications in
order, and to get salt penguins and young seals for the
people whose provisions began to run short. When the
Dutch fleet arrived in March, only one ration of bread
remained. In April, four thousand and five Cape seal
skins were sent home, but these, when examined by
competent persons in Holland, were found to be very
inferior. Trade with the natives began to increase about
this time, and acquaintance was made with another tribe
from the interior, whose friendship was valuable, as
elephant and hippopotamus' tusks were received from
them in exchange for small pieces of tobacco, or of copper
wire.

46 Tly History of the Capo Colon y. [icds.

In May, 1653, Van Riebeek states that a German, named
Marthinus Martini, reports favourably of the east coast,
" where many maintain is the true Ophir, 'whence Solomon
imported his gold." It was only by the arguments of the
members of Council that the Commander was dissuaded
from giving instructions that the galiot should be sent to
ascertain whether or not a trade in ebony, gold, and slaves*
could be carried on with this commercial land of promise.
A long despatch was written to the directors on this
subject, and the enterprise was only postponed until their
orders could be received.

In July, three ships arrived from Holland, which were
promptly supplied with refreshments; and the Phoenix
brought the junior merchant, Jacob Eynierz, who was
appointed second in command to the Governor. The first
marriage at the Cape is thus chronicled in the records of
Council : —

" Saturday, 30th August, 1653. — Adolphus ten Bengevoort, of Amster-
dam, boatswain, bachelor, and Zanneken Willems, also of Amsterdam,
spinster, both on board the tlute King David, bound to India, requesting
permission to enter into the holy state of matrimony, according to the
promises which they had made to each other, the Council, assisted by
the principal persons belonging to said ship, asked them if they are
betrothed or engaged to any other person, and being answered in the
negative, consent to their being married as soon as possible ; and for
that purpose allow two banns to be published to-morrow, and the third
on Monday next, when the further solemnization will take place before
the Council of the Fort Good Hope," &c.f

A large French ship, carrying eleven guns, was observed
sealing off the coast, and Eynierz, the second in command,
was despatched in the galiot to observe her. Three men,
who had been placed as convicts on a small island by the
captain of this ship, were released, and taken into the
Dutch service; and the Council resolved "not only to
make every attempt to engage those who offer to quit the

* Van Riebeek was strongly in favour of the introduction of slavery at
the Cape, and thought that an organised mercantile company should be
established for trading with the natives in gold, ambergris, ostrich
feathers, and skins.

-(■The Minister had previously left the Colony in the PhcenLr.

i654.j The Company's Cattle Carried Off. 47

French service to enter that of the Company, but also to
prevail upon as many more as possible to accompany the
people to the fort by land."

After Divine service, on the 19th October, it was
discovered that the interpreter, Herry, and the Hottentots
had fled with the cattle, and that one of the boys in charge
had been murdered at the foot of Lion's Hill. Armed
men were vainly sent in different directions. Forty -two
cattle had been stolen, and taken behind Table Mountain
to Hout Bay, over such roads and passes that the
mounted men declared it impossible to follow. Several
attempts at pursuit were unsuccessful, and some time
afterwards, a chief of Saldaniers expressed sympathy with
the Dutch, and stated that he had seen Herry near Cape
False, and had been offered a share in the booty. This
act of treachery on the part of Herry and his companions,
who had been always treated with kindness by the settlers,
put Van Riebeek more than ever on his guard ; but, at the
same time, strict instructions were issued that no act of
retaliation or revenge was to be committed.

The ships Breda and Lam arrived from the Texel on the
22nd of December. In January, 1654, " a large quantity
of glittering ore was seen on the mountains," which, upon
being tested, was declared to be a superior description of
tin ; but it does not appear that any benefit was ever
derived from this discovery. On March 6, Van Eiebeek
says: — "There was found on the mountain a dead bes-
manneken, called in Batavia an ourang-outang, as large
as a small calf, with long hairy arms and legs, of a dark
grey colour, which our people eat from hunger, for there
is little nourishment in the pot-herbs." This shows to
what straits the little settlement had been reduced, in
consequence of the cruel robbery of their small stock of
cattle, and the difficulty that then existed of procuring any
supplies from the natives, who had retired into the
interior.

About this time a number of young girls were sent to
the Colony from orphan institutions in Holland. The
advantage of a settlement at the Cape to supply vessels

48 The History of the Gape Colony. [1G54.

was strikingly proved in February, 1654, when the ship
Draalc " arrived full of sick and scorbutic, hardly able to
manage the sail." The voyages at that time were much
longer than at present, and the sailors were exceedingly
subject to scurvy and other diseases, caused by their long
abstinence from fresh provisions and vegetables.

A proclamation issued by Van Eiebeek on the 12th
October, 1654, expressly and absolutely forbade all traffic
whatsoever with the natives, on the ground that it injured
the Company's trade, and induced the Hottentots to ask
higher prices for sheep. The officers and crew of an
English ship named the East India Merchant, which
arrived on the 19th December, were treated with hospi-
tality ; but the Commander lost nothing by their visit, as
he is able to record that " on the 26th was sold to the
English a lot of Madagascar ebony, in order to turn it to
some account, as it was very bad and cracked, in exchange
for two butts of English beer for our table." About this
time Herry and his allies constantly gave trouble and
impeded trade. Cattle were purchased with difficulty for
tobacco and brass ; and supplies of birds' eggs and
penguins had constantly to be obtained from the bays and
islands on the coast. Large quantities of excellent timber
were procured at a distance of three or four Dutch miles
from the fort.

As the Cape had become a sort of half-way house, or
hotel, the Commander was naturally looked upon as the
landlord, and constant demands were made upon his
hospitality. Van Eiebeek at last, in a voluminous
despatch, calls attention to the want of a public place of
entertainment, and as he is forced to entertain every one,
begs the Government at least to send him five or six dozen
pewter plates and three or four dozen dishes or basins. It
is to be feared that in those days the arma antiquce had
frequently to be used at meal-times in Government-house.
The guests do not seem, either, to have been very particular
in other respects, for Van Eiebeek remarks, in his despatch,
" that the consumption of linen for napkins and table-
cloths is no trifle, for every one carries off what napkins

1654.] Proposal to make the Gape an Island. 49

and dishes he can, thinking it is only Company's
property."

As Herry, the interpreter, evidently thought that advan-
tages were to be derived from friendship with the settlers,
he made up a story attributing the theft of the cattle to
the Caepmans, and exonerating himself entirely. Van
Eiebeek considered it the most prudent course to admit
this excuse, and Herry was therefore nominally reconciled
with the Commander. Shortly afterwards the wily
Hottentot again showed himself in his true colours, when
accompanying Corporal Muller and some others into the
interior, where he traded with the natives entirely on his
own account, and utterly disregarded the instructions of
his employers. A decked boat of sixteen or seventeen
tons, built near the fort, and named the Robbejacht, was
launched on the 11th of September, 1655 ; and a curious
proposal was gravely made during this year to make the
Cape an island, and separate it from the continent by
uniting the waters of False and Table Bays. The
construction of a canal was to be the means of carrying
out this idea — seriously entertained and laid before the
Government. In the time of the Van der Stells we shall
see that this plan was again talked of, and that the forma-
tion of a channel was carried on until the quantity of sand
choking it up demonstrated the absurdity of the project.
A despatch from the Governor-General and Council of
the Indies, dated 25th December, 1655, states that— " As
to the proposal of Mr. van Goens to cut off the Cape from
the continent, such would indeed be a good thing if it
could be easily effected. The formation of a stone pier, to
extend seventy roods into the sea, we agree with you in
thinking one of the most necessary things at the Cape."

On the 17th of January, 1656, Van Eiebeek refers to a
great drought which' so injured the pasture that some of
the cattle were left in the field through weakness.
Droughts are evidently a chronic disease of South Africa,
and are fully referred to by some of the old travellers.
Fortunately, this country, although easily depressed,
possesses great elasticity, and so quickly recovers verdure

E

50 The History of the Gape Colony. [1656.

after a period of severe drought as to fully compensate for
dearth by renewed and more abundant fertility. On the
25th March of this year a squadron arrived, consisting of
four French ships of war, hound to Madagascar. The
Hottentots were specially cautioned not to trust these
Frenchmen, " as they would try to take their cattle, and
to carry off their people, and what further might tend to
produce dislike."

Wild animals are to be ranked among the enemies of
the settlers. So numerous and daring were they that
stock was carried off close to the fort, and traces of the
footsteps of tigers frequently seen in the Commander's
garden. One large lion, weighing no less than 426 lbs.,
was killed, and his skin hung up in the church as a trophy.
As land at Rondebosch* had been granted to " Freemen,"
the Hottentots constantly grumbled at their dispossession,
and showed evident signs of dissatisfaction. Herry and
the Caepmans proved themselves particularly troublesome,
and Van Piiebeek at last arrived at the opinion that this
tribe should be seized, and their cattle taken from them.
This was one of the questions submitted for the decision of
Commissioner Van Goens upon his arrival in March, 1656.
This officer, however, was not in favour of harsh measures,
and gave strict instructions that every endeavour was to
be made to gain the goodwill of the natives. At the same
time he blamed Van Kiebeek for attending more to the
construction of buildings than to agriculture. The burghers
were not to be permitted to keep good corn-land for pasture,
nor to grow tobacco, and the Commissioner saw little
difficulty in penetrating by land in search of gold and
ivory to the town of Spirito Sancto, and the city of Mono-
motopa, the latter of which, he confidently states, is only
distant about two hundred and ten miles to the northward.
Wonderful to say, Van Goens allowed the freemen to trade
in direct opposition to Van Riebeek's opinion and desire.

* In May, 165G, a strip of land at " Rondebos" had been ploughed
and sown with wheat, rice, and oats ; and about this time the first inn
was established, with Annetje de Boeren as hostess.

1657.] Strange Tales from the Interior. 51

This order, however, was speedily reversed, as by a placaat,
bearing date 26th September, 1657, the freemen are ex-
pressly warned not to buy from the natives. On the 9th
October, 1657, the Chamber of Seventeen issued instruc-
tions that water, but not provisions, could be supplied to
strange ships.*

A native woman named Eva was employed by the Com-
mander as an interpreter, and some of the conversations
carried on by her means with the natives were of an in-
teresting character. The Saldaniers spoke of the exist-
ence of a great Lord or Emperor in the interior, whom
they described as Emperor over all the Cape Tribes, and
known by the name or title of " Chobona." Strange tales
were told, with an air of veracity, regarding lands where
gold was found in the sand, large stone houses with beams
were built, and white rice was sown.t- As Herry became
enraged when he heard the name of Chobona mentioned,
it was naturally suspected that he and the Caepmans were
rebels against the authority of this ruler.

The crew of the little vessel Robbejaeltt, whose launch
has already been referred to, were attacked and plundered
by the natives on the coast without any provocation, their
boat was broken, and three " trusty Hottentots" subse-
quently stated that it was intended not only to kill them
but all other freemen. In a despatch, dated 17th December,
1657, the Home Government significantly states that the
more the Cape establishment is circumscribed, the better

* The following punishments are specimens of those inflicted at this
time : — " Jan Wonters, assistant, sentenced for blasphemous injuries
against the characters of females at the Cape, including the Com-
mander's wife, to beg pardon on his bare knees, to be bored through
the tongue, to forfeit his wages, and to be banished three years."
" Pasqual Rodrigo, soldier, for theft and desertion, sentenced to receive
100 lashes, conliscation of wages, and to serve his term of five years
to all dirty work.''

f They very possibly referred to the Portuguese settlements on tbe
East Coast, and to the adjacent country inland, where gold has baen
found from time immemorial. Jesuit Missionaries established stations
there in the sixteenth century. See Dr. Livingstone's Travels, Histoirc
de la Compagnie ile Jesus par Joly, <&c.

E 2

52 The History of the Gape Colony. [1657.

and more profitable for the Company. It was in this year
(1657) that the first importation of slaves from the Guinea
Coast was made.*

It may be interesting here to note the information
regarding the population of the Settlement, communicated
in the Resolutions of Council, dated 30th May, 1658.

Garrison, in number 80

Sick 15

European women and children 20

Slaves of the Company 98

Free inhabitants 51

Slaves of private people 89

Convicts <

360

Of whom, deducting the sick, as well as slaves, convicts,
women, and children, there only remained 113 men to
defend the entire Settlement.

Van Riebeek this year secured a grant of land for him-
self, and in the interest of the Company ordered that
cattle was invariably to be bought from him, and not from
the natives. The price to be paid for wheat was also
fixed. The Commander was constantly annoyed by the
escape of slavest and so frequently deceived by the
natives that he emphatically declares them to be " all
thieves and rogues, but Herry the father of them." At
last, however, this arch-traitor was secured, and, under
date July 10, 1658, it is stated : " This morning, about
10 o'clock, our former interpreter, King Herry, was
transported by the Scheepjachtcn to Robben Island, as
also two of his companions."

* A work of great utility, which had been strongly recommended,
consisting of a pier or jetty in Table Bay, was so far completed in
January, 1R58, that the Commander was then able to go along the
beams of it into a boat.

f Khinoceroses and elephants " in hundreds together" were seen by
those who went out to capture runaway slaves. These wretched serfs
found a difficulty in obtaining a subsistence away from their masters,
and one of them, when asked on what they would have lived, replied
that they depended on Hottentot's flesh.

1658.1 Beer Brewed at the Cape. 53

Eva, who had become his successor, was the cause of
friendly relations being commenced between the settlers
and the tribe of Chochaquas, from whom sheep and
cattle were purchased. But this peace was hollow, and
merely the calm which preceded a storm of native rage
we shall shortly have to describe.

On the 8th November, 1658, the ship West Friesland
sailed, taking half an aum of Cape beer as a sample, so
that brewing malt preceded vine cultivation at the Cape.
Many expeditions to the interior took place, and in March,
1658, the first passage through the Berg River Mountains
was effected.

CHAPTER III.

War with the Hottentots — Measurement of the Cape Territory — Complaints of the
Natives — The traveller Nieuhoff s description of the Colony — Origin, history,
language, and customs of the Hottentot races — Departure of Van Rieheek —
His character — Commanders Wagenaar and Quaelherg — Dismissal of the latter,
and appointment of Jacob Borghorst — Governor Goske — Cape Castle built —
Expeditions of Discovery — Free Burghers — Purchase of land from Natives.

In the last chapter, details were furnished, trivial in
nature, and only deriving consequence from the fact that
they were the first noteworthy incidents which occurred
in the infant settlement. Great dissatisfaction prevailed
among the burghers, in consequence of being debarred
from trading with the natives, and the difficulties of
government were soon alarmingly increased by the hostile
attitude of the Hottentots. At last, as war was imminent,
it was resolved, on 1st May, 1659, to arm and embody the
colonists ; Abraham Gabbema was appointed commander,
and the force consisted of one hundred and fifty men,
part of whom were drafted from the ship Honinghen.
The chief Doman, with fifty or sixty of his people, made
an attack upon the Company's cattle, and Eva, the
interpreter, left the Fort ostensibly to return to her
brother. About this time the Caepmans and Gorachouquas
became declared enemies. A prisoner of the former tribe
being asked why his people injured the Dutch, answered,
" that it was because they saw that we were breaking
up the best land and grass, where they were accustomed
to graze, trying to establish ourselves everywhere."
Various skirmishes took place, in which the natives were
repulsed, and war was carried on by proclamations offering
one hundred guilders for the capture of the chief Doman,
forty guilders for a common Hottentot, and half as much
for the dead body of one. The Governor-General in
Batavia, writing to Van Riebeek in 1659, says : — " Now
that the Hottentots Lave been once roused, the Company
will not have an easy possession, as may be sufficiently
ascertained from your prisoner's reason for the war — viz.,

1660.1 War 'with Hottentot Tribe*. 55

that they were unwilling any longer to suffer us at the
Cape, because you had occupied for your use the best
lands, which had been theirs from time immemorial —
a grievance of these savage men which we must admit.
It is well founded, and yet we can herein afford them no
satisfaction, while we continue to reside at the Cape."
The skirmishes that occasionally took place scarcely
deserve the name of a war, and the constant discomfiture
of the Hottentots made them soon sensible that the
contest was hopeless.

On the 25th February, 1660, the Cape territory was
measured, and then included only a small tract of country
in the immediate neighbourhood of Table Mountain, the
boundaries of which it was determined should be planted
with thick hedges. It is recorded that during 1659 the
difficulties of the Commander were increased by a con-
spiracy among the foreign soldiers of the garrison, who
wished to seize the Fort and murder the Dutch. Five of
these men were sent to Batavia in the fleet of Admiral
Sterthemius. On the 8th of December, 1650, the inter-
preter (Herry) managed to make his escape from Eobben
Island, with another Hottentot prisoner, in a small two-
oared boat kept there for fishing", and no doubt repaired to
the tribe of Caepmans to assist them by his cunning and
experience. Hostilities, however, did not continue much
longer. Upon the 6th April, 1660, "peace was renewed at
the Fort with Herry and the Caepmans,'' when the natives
specially referred to the grievance they suffered in being-
dispossessed of their lands, and inquired whether they
would be allowed to enter Holland, and do to the Dutch
as Van Kiebeek and his associates had done to them ?
" You come quite into the interior," they said, " selecting
the best land for yourselves, and never once inquiring
whether we like it, or whether it will cause us any injury
or inconvenience. " The Dutch objected to their having
the joint use of the pasture with them, on account
of the grass not being enough for both. To this the
Hottentots replied, " Have we then no cause to prevent
you from procuring cattle ? For, if you get many cattle,

56 Tlie History of the Cape Colony. [i66o.

yon come and occupy our pasture with them, and then you
say the land is not wide enough for both ! Who then can
be required with the greatest degree of justice to give way
— the natural owner or the foreign invader ?" They
insisted that at least they should be permitted to gather
the roots and bitter almonds which Nature herself provided.
But this even could not be allowed, for the reason
that it would give too many opportunities to injure the
colonists, and because the bitter almonds were needed
for making the hedge to form a barrier against the
natives ; " but they insisted so much upon this point,
that the true word must out at last, that they had
now lost their land in war, and therefore they could
but expect to be henceforth deprived of it, the rather
because they could not be induced to restore the cattle
which they had wrongfully, and without cause, stolen
from us." The Dutch Government, both before and
after the war, issued orders that the natives were
invariably to be treated with kindness, and Van Eiebeek,
who seems never to have had any will but that of his
masters, strictly attended to these directions. If permitted,
he would have acted differently, and in his journal he
more than once states that it would be easy to seize
the cattle of the natives, if he but received orders ; and,
indeed, seems to regret the non-receipt of such instruc-
tions, as by means of this seizure, he remarks, there
would be no apprehension of the English destroying the
cattle trade.

John Nieuhoff, a traveller, who visited the Colony in
those early days, states that the Company had erected a
quadrangular fort, well provided with artillery and a good
garrison, and that a small redoubt existed at the Salt
Eiver, " all along the banks of which stream there were
plantations and gardens." "The Dutch," he adds, "have
planted many thousand vines on a hill near the Fort,
but the wind blew so during the month of July as to
tear up all by the roots. At this season of the year
you may see ice of the thickness of the blade of a
large knife." Nieuhoff was by no means prepossessed by

1660.]

The Hottentot Race. 57

the Hottentots, whom he describes as a filthy set, whose
food consisted of the entrails of animals, stinking fish,
and roots. On occasions of betrothal or marriage, he says
that the mother cuts off the first joint of her daughter's
little finger, which is tied to her future husband's hand,
and subsequently buried. Afterwards, a cow is killed.*

As we have arrived at a period of Cape history when
the first serious conflict between the settlers and natives
took place, the time has now come when it is necessary
to give some consideration to the origin, history, and
language of the Hottentot race. The Dutch found them
divided into numerous tribes, the names of which they
understood to be Boekemans, Chenoquas, Caekouquas,
Chainouquas, Gorcoquas, Gonnemas, Griququas, Hotten-
toos, Hameunquas, Kaapmans, Namaquas, Sousequas,
Ubequas, Watemans. Probably many of these names
were either corruptions of terms in use, or were conferred
by the settlers themselves. Certainly the designation
Hottentoo or Hottentot is not "of native origin. In the
oldest records the title " Ottentoo" is used ; Lichtenstein
speaks of "Hotnots," and Sir Thomas Herbert calls the
natives " Hottentotes." " Hodmodods," or " Hadman-
dods," were names also used, probably as a corruption.
The term Hottentot, which was conferred by the Dutch,
was given, it is conjectured, in order to convey, by the
sounds Hot-en-tot, some idea of the peculiar click or
manner of talking of the savages. Prichard believes the
name is a corruption of Outeniqua, the designation of a
particular tribe. However the origin be accounted for,
certain is it that the name was not known by the
natives, who called themselves, collectively, Quai-qiue,
or Gkhuigkhui.t

* Collections of Voyages and Travels, published at London in
1744 (page 141). Nieuhoff visited the Cape between the years 1652
and 1600.

i In the Namaqua dialect they call themselves jXoiboib; in the

Koranua, Kuhkeul. According to Dr. Vanderkemp their name is

Khuekhivena ; Kolben says Q-ena. By the Hottentots the Bushmen
are called Sab.

58 The History of the Capo Colony. [1660.

M. Bory de St. Vincent, quoted by Dr. Prichard,*
describes the Hottentots as differing most widely from
what he terms the Japetic species of men, and adds that,
" of all species, this race, approaching as it does in its
form most nearly to the second genus of bimanous
animals, is still more closely allied to the orangs through
the inferiority of its intellectual faculties." In opposition
to Lichtenstein and other writers, Prichard emphatically
asserts that the Bushmen are not a distinct race,
but a branch or sub-division of the once extensive
nation of Hottentots, and quotes Professor Vater's asser-
tion that a careful comparison of their language with
that of the Korah, or other Hottentots, furnishes con-
vincing proof that there is an essential affinity between
them.

As the Hottentot races are virtually extinct within the
Cape Colony, it is absolutely necessary to quote the
descriptions given by early travellers. In Kolben's wrorkst
a full account is furnished of the Hottentots. Accord-
ing to him they were originally a powerful nation divided
into tribes, each of which was presided over by a chief.
Their riches consisted in flocks and herds, with wrhich they
roved about seeking pasture, and carrying with them, in
their migrations, moveable villages, each hut of which wras
composed of poles or boughs covered with rush mats.
Their clothes consisted of sheepskins, and their weapons
of bows and poisoned arrows. Bold and active in the
chase, they were courageous in danger, although naturally
of a mild and gentle disposition. Intellectual gifts, as
wrell as the qualities of humanity and good nature, were
possessed by them ; and this author states that he
has known many who understood Dutch, French, and

* Natural History of Man, p. 514.

•f Kolben, Pieter, A.M. His book, originally written in High German,
" Caput Bonce Spel Jwdiernum" — " The present state of the Cape of
Good Hope." He left Holland in October, 1704, and embarked in
Table Bay 9th April, 1713. There are two English editions of his work,
the latter of which is dated 17:J*. Kolben is absurdly prepossessed in
favour of the natives.

i860.] Religion of the Hottentots. 59

Portuguese to a degree of perfection. " They are even
employed," he adds, "by Europeans in affairs that require
judgment and capacity. A Hottentot named Cloos was
entrusted by Van der Stell, the late Governor of the Cape,
with the business of carrying on a trade of barter for
cattle with the tribes at a great distance, and he generally
returned, after executing his commission, with great
success." What he says about their moral qualities is
even more in their favour. "They are, perhaps, the most
faithful servants in the world. Though infinitely fond of
wine, brandy, and tobacco, they are safely entrusted with
them. Their chastity is remarkable, and adultery, when
known among them, is punished with death." It appears,
in fact, according to this writer, that the Hottentot races
were almost perfect, except in as far " they were dirty in
their habits, slothful and indolent, and, although capable
of thinking to the purpose, hating the trouble of thought."
Their religion, according to Kolben, consisted in the belief
of a Supreme Power termed " Gounya Tekquva," or the
God of all Gods, to whom they paid no direct adoration,
but instead (and by way, possibly, of a relative worship)
sacrificed to the moon at full and change, accompanying
their devotions with shouting, swearing, singing, jumping,
stamping, dancing, and an unintelligible jargon. Toutouka
was the name of the evil deity, represented as an ugly,
ill-natured being, who was a special enemy to Hottentots,
and the author of all mischief. Pain and sickness were
attributed to witchcraft, against which amulets and charms
were used as protections. Although no idea of future
rewards or punishments existed, there was evidently a
belief in the immortality of the soul, as prayers were
offered up to good Hottentots departed, and the dread of
the influence of spirits was so great that, on the death
of any one, the kraal in which he or she expired was
immediately removed to another position. Perhaps the
most singular religious custom of these savages was their
veneration of a particular kind of insect (Mantis), the
appearance of which was supposed to be an omen of good
luck. The following extract from the Journal kept at the

GO The History of the, Capo Colony. [leeo.

Cape of Good Hope in 1691* refers to this subject : —
" 19 th February. — His Honour (the Governor Simon van
der Stell) entered into a particularly friendly conversation
with some Hottentots, who, in confidence, revealed to him
that they worshipped a certain god, whose head was no
larger than a fist, who had a hole on his back, and was
large and broad of body, whom they implored for help
when they suffered from hunger, or were in any other
peril. Their wives sprinkled his head with red sand,
buchu, and other aromatic herbs, and made him offerings
of various kinds."

The Bushmen are described by the missionary Adulph
Bonatz as of small stature and dirty-yellow colour, with
repulsive countenances, in which there was a prominent
forehead, small, deeply-seated, and roguish eyes, with a
much-depressed nose and thick projecting lips. Their
constitution is so much injured by their dissolute habits,
and the constant smoking of durha, that both old and
young look wrinkled and decrepit ; nevertheless, they are
fond of ornament, and decorate their ears, arms, and legs
with beads, iron, copper, or brass rings. The women also
stain their faces red, or paint them. Their only clothing,
by day or night, is a mantle of sheepskin, which they term
a kaross. The dwelling of the Bushman is a low hut, or
a circular cavity, on the open plain, in which he creeps at
night, with his wife and children, and which, although it
shelters him from the wind, leaves him exposed to the
rain. They had formerly their occupations among the
rocks, in which are still seen rude figures of horses, oxen,
or serpents.! Many of them lived like wild beasts, in

* Quoted in the Cape Monthly Magazine, vol. iii. p. 85.

f Barrow thus describes some of these drawings (vol. i., p. 193) :
" On the smooth sides of the cavern were drawings of various animals
that had been made from time to time by these savages. Many of
them were caricatures, but others were too well executed not to arrest
our attention. The different antelopes that were there delineated had
each their character so well delineated that the originals from whence
the representations had been taken could without any difficulty be
ascertained. Among the numerous animals that were drawn, the figure

i66o.] Customs of the Bush/men. 01

rocky retreats, to which they returned with joy after
escaping from the service of the colonists. These fugitives
were continually occupied with their bows and arrows.*
On their return from the chase they feasted till they
became drowsy, while in seasons of scarcity they were
forced to be contented with wild roots, ants' eggs, locusts,
and snakes.

Most South African travellers speak in favour of the
character and disposition of the Hottentots. Le Vaillant
gives them full credit for fidelity and attachment. Bur-
chell testifies to their intelligence, and Barrow almost
rivals Kolben in his praise of their " talents, activity, and
great fidelity" when well treated, stating, at the same
time, " that an opposite treatment has been productive

of a zebra was remarkably well executed ; all the marks and character
of this animal were accurately represented, and the proportions
seemingly correct. Several crosses, circles, points, and lines were placed
in a long row, as if intended to express some meaning."

* Barrow thus describes the ancient bow and arrows of the natives
(vol. i., page 99) : — " These men carried the ancient weapons of their
nation, — bows and quivers charged with poisoned arrows. The bow was
a plain piece of wood from the guerrie bosch, which is apparently a
species of rhus, and sometimes the assagai wood is used for the same
purpose. The string, three feet long, was composed of the fibres of
the dorsal muscles of tbe springbok, twisted into a cord. The stem of
an aloe furnished the quiver. The arrow consisted of a reed, in one
extremity of which was inserted a piece of highly polished solid bone
from the leg of an ostrich, round, and about five inches in length ; the
intent of it seemed to be that of giving weight, strength, and easy
entrance to this part of the arrow. To the end of the bone was
affixed a small sharp piece of iron of the form of an equilateral
triangle ; and the same string of sinews that bound this tight to the
bone served also to contain the poison between the threads and over
the surface, which was applied in the consistence of wax or varnish.
The string tied in also at the same time a piece of sharp quill pointed
towards the opposite end of the arrow, which was not only meant to
increase the difficulty of drawing it out, but also to rankle and tear the
flesh, and to bring the poison more in contact with the blood. The
whole length of the arrow was barely two feet. There are several
plants in South Africa from which the Hottentots are said to extract
their poisons ; but the poison taken from the heads of snakes, mixed
with the juices of certain bulbous-rooted plants, is what they mostly

62 The History of the Cape Colony. [i660.

of a contrary effect. The poor Hottentot bears it with
patience or sinks under it ; but on the temper and the
turn of the mind of the Bosjesman it has a very different
effect. He takes the first opportunity of escaping to his
countrymen. With tales of cruelty he excites them to
revenge ; he assists them in their plans of attack, tells
them the strength of the whole district and of individuals."
In Observations Relative to the Origin and History of the
Bushmen, by Andrew Smith, M.D., M.W.S., &c.,* the
Hottentots are stated to have been divided into distinct
tribes, each of which was more or less governed by its own
laws. Amongst those, one division always held a most
conspicuous position, and has ever been proverbial for its
troublesome character and universally outrageous con-
duct. To this the other tribes, as well as its own mem-
bers, applied the name of Saap or Saan. Dr. Smith
quotes the Diary of a Journey made by Governor Van der
Stell, and a document referred to by Dr. Philip t to prove

depend upon." When an animal was killed by a poisoned arrow "they
immediately cut away the flesh round the wound, and squeeze out the
blood from the carcase, after which they know from experience that
the flesh taken into the stomach will do them no injury." Sparrman
describes the native quivers (vol. i., page 200) to be two feet long and
four inches in diameter, made of the branch of a tree hollowed
out, or of the bark of one of the branches, the bottom and cover being
composed of leather — on the outside bedaubed with unctuous matter,
which grows hard when dry. " Both the quivers I brought with me,"
he says, " are lined about the aperture with a serpent's skin. Besides
a dozen arrows, every quiver contains a slender hone of sandstone for
whetting the head, and a brush for putting on the poison, together with
a few wooden sticks differing in thickness, but all the same length of
the arrows." Burchell says that the Kerree tree was mostly used for
Bushmen's bows, and that their quivers were usually made of some
thick hide, as of the ox or kama, but the natives more towards the
West Coast frequently use the branches of the aloe. In European
Colonies, by John Hewison, the author says (vol. i, page 264) : —
"Mr. Byneveld, the Civil Commissioner of Graaff-Reinet, informed
me that the venom extracted from the body of a large black spider was
the kind of poison which the Bushmen esteemed best."

* Published in the South African Quarterly Journal, No. ii., p. 171.
f Researches in South Africa, vol. i. page 37.

1660.]

Perfidy of the Bushmen. 63

that Bushmen tribes existed anterior to the arrival of
Europeans, and were not called into existence by the
persecutions of the colonists. The little intercourse which
they had with each other, and the absence of almost every
kind of property, rendered them strangers to the objects
of laws, and consequently unconscious of the benefits
of a regular government. They had therefore rarely
either hereditary or permanently-elected rulers, and few
were disposed to acknowledge any superiority except that
which physical strength secured. In war or the chase,
they unconsciously gave place in the former to the bravest
and most dexterous, and in the latter to the most
experienced and cunning. They had no established laws
by which offences were tried, nor punishments by which
aggressions were revenged ; every individual was his own
law-giver, and every crime was punished according to the
caprice of the sufferer, or the relative position and rela-
tions of the implicated parties. This absence of any
system rendered punishments very unequal, and extremely
disproportionate. It often permitted the greatest injuries
to be inflicted with impunity, and others of the most
insignificant character to be visited with the most hideous
vengeance. They appeared to look upon every stranger as
an enemy, and only waiting a favourable opportunity to
injure them. The dictates of their own hearts did not
lead them to forgive injuries, so that it was only a con-
viction or belief of inability that induced them occasion-
ally to forego a punishment ; and as they were in the
habit of feeling and acting in relation to others, so they
naturally fancied others would feel and act in regard to
them. Bushmen pertinaciously avoided communication
with foreigners. They were deeply versed in deceit, and
treacherous in the extreme, being always prepared to
effect by guile and perfidy what they otherwise were unable
to accomplish. Numberless proofs can be given of the
treachery of these savages. A missionary at the Zak
Paver, sitting one sultry evening at his window, was
startled by a shower of poisoned arrows shot into the
room by a concealed party of Bushmen. The lives of

64 The History of the Cape Colony. [i6eo.

harmless clergymen were never safe, and an unreasoning
and deadly animosity to every white man seemed to
animate the entire race. If we are to believe the
Transactions of the Missionary Society, " they take no
great care of their children, and never correct
them except in a fit of rage, when they almost kill
them with severe usage. In a quarrel between father
and mother, or the several wives of a husband, the
defeated party wreaks his or her revenge on the child of
the conqueror, which in general loses its life. Tame
Hottentots seldom destroy their offspring, except in a fit
of passion ; but the Bushmen will kill their children with-
out remorse on various occasions — as when they are
ill-shaped, or when they are in want of food. There are
instances of parents throwing their tender offspring to the
hungry lion, who stands roaring before their cavern, refus-
ing to depart till some peace-offering be made to him."*

The Bushmen were brave to an eminent degree ; but
revolting cruelty was familiar to them, and revenge one of
their ruling passions. Their eager desire for retribution
was so great that an innocent man, if he were only of
the same nation as the offender, was made to pay the
penalty of the crime. Extreme indolence, and a love of
animal food incited to constant thefts, which brought
down the vengeance of the irritated and impoverished
farmers. The larvae of ants and grasshoppers, locusts and
roots, served as food when no flesh meat was procurable,
while great endurance under the sufferings of hunger was
compensated for by brutal gluttony and intemperance
when abundance was procurable.! The most rude and

* Kicherer in Transactions of the Missionary Society, vol. ii. p. 8.

f In a diary of a journey made by Governor Van der Stell, in 1685,
occurs the following passage : — " They were all of them (the natives)
very lean and of a slender make, which is the consequence of the great
hunger and hardships they suffer. They have no food except the bulbs
of plants, tortoises, a sort of large caterpillar and locusts. His Honour
the Commander ordered a sheep to be killed and cooked, with which,
in addition to rice and bread, they were feasted, and which they con-
sumed so greedily that it seemed as if they never would be satiated.

iG6o.] Ethnological Classification of Hottentots. 65

primitive clothing, the meanest superstitions, and the
most wretched huts or holes for dwellings, proved that
the natives were sunk exceedingly low in the scale of
humanity. On the other hand, the strange anomalies of
a certain advance in the art of drawing, shown in the
caverns they inhabited ; in the possession of a high
class of language, evidently Coptic ; and the display of un-
looked-for intelligence and fidelity, serve to redeem their
character from the unmitigated censure it would otherwise
deserve.

In the old ethnological classification of Blumenhach,
the Hottentot races are styled " Ethiopian ;" but Dr.
Latham places them under the division " Atlanticlfe," in
the following manner : —

A. Negro Atlantidre.

B. Kaffre Atlantidre.

C. Hottentot Atlantida?. 1. Hottentots. 2. Saabs. -'J. Damaras.

D. Nilotic Atlantidre. Gallas, Agons, Nubians, &c,

E. Amazirgh Atlanticlfe.

F. Egyptian Atlanticlfe.

G. Semitic Atlauticloe. Syrians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Edomites,

Jews, Samaritans, Arabs, Canaanites, &c.

Barrow, in his South African Travels * says : — " When
we reflect on the Hottentot nation, which, with all its
tribes, occupies, as it were, a point only on a great
continent — when we consider them as a people differing
in so extraordinary a manner from every race of men, not
only upon it, but upon the face of the whole globe, the
natural formation of their persons, their colour, language,
manners, and way of life, being peculiar to themselves —
conjecture is at a loss to suggest from whence they could
have derived their origin." This writer sees a likeness to
the Chinese, and attributes it to the fact that the

He then presented tliem with some brandy, with which they made
themselves merry, and danced, sung, and shouted in a strange manner,
bo as to resemble a herd of calves which were let loose for the first time
from their place of confinement. It was, without doubt, and according
to their own acknowledgment, that this had been the only merry day
they had in their lifetime."

* Vol. j. p. ^-3y.

F

66 The History of the Cape Colony. [1660.

Egyptians and Chinese were originally one people, and that
the Hottentots are descended from the former. Strange
as it may seem, many powerful arguments can be adduced
in support of the opinion that the Hottentots and Bush-
men came from Nilotic lands, and that, driven by
enemies, or incited by other causes, they migrated from a
northern portion of the continent to its most southern
shores. Barrow seems confident that the Bosjesmans or
Bushmen were the Pigmies and Troglodytes who are said
to have dwelt in the neighbourhood of the Nile, and quotes
the character of some Ethiopian nations described by
Diodorus Siculus, as agreeing exactly with theirs. The
special points of likeness, according to this writer, are a
gross brutality which prevailed in all their manners and
customs; shrill, dissonant voices, scarcely human; language
almost inarticulate ; and wearing no sort of clothing. Be-
sides, the Ethiopian soldiers, when in battle, stuck poisoned
arrows within a fillet bound round the head, and the
Bushmen did exactly the same, for the double purpose of
expeditious shooting, and of striking terror into the minds
of their enemies.

There can be no doubt that the Hottentot language
belongs to the same family as the Coptic, the old Egyptic,
and the Ethiopic, and we have the assurance of Dr. Bleek
that the first-named preserves best the original structure
of these languages. Of the Hottentot species there are
said to be four distinct dialects, called the Nama, Cora,
Gonah, and Cape — the first of which, still spoken in
Namaqualand, is the purest.* The Bushman language

* In Sir George Grey's Library, Cape Town, interesting Hottentot
vocabularies can be referred to in The Life of Ludolf, by Joncker,
and Leibnitz's Collectanea Etymologica. On the Hottentot language
are a Grammar and Vocabulary, by Henry jTindall ; the Rev. J. C.
Wallman's Hottentot Grammar ; the Library of His Excellency Sir
George Greg; Philology, by W. H. I. Bleek; and articles on South
African philology in the Cape Monthly Magazine, by this writer. A
valuable Hottentot vocabulary was sent to Holland from the Cape in
1664, which is referred to in the following terms by » Srovernor Wagenaar,
in a despatch to the Council of Seventeen : — " In the year 1659 there
came hither as a 'volunteer a certain student, a native of Brunswick,

i66o.] Language of the Hottentot*. 67

differs mainly from the Hottentot by possessing more
clacks and nasal peculiarities.

There is very good authority for saying that the Kafirs
borrowed many of their customs, and the particular clicks
in their language, from the Hottentots ; and Dr. Bleek is
convinced that the Hottentots extended formerly far more
to the north-east than we have any evidence of. Kafir
aggression drove this people to the position in which
Van Eiebeek and the Dutch settlers found them, so it
must be remembered that, when they fell into a Dutch
Charybdis, they only did so in trying to escape a Kafir
Scylla.

All the languages south of the Line, except that of the
Hottentots and Bushmen, are now acknowledged to belong
to the " Bantu" family, while, in some respects, a curious
analogy can be drawn between the manners and customs
of the Hottentots and those of North African nations. In
opposition to the practice of the Kafirs and other South
African tribes, the use of bows and arrows has always
markedly distinguished the Hottentots, and we know that
in Egypt and other North African countries the bow was
constantly used in warfare. Kolben positively states that
the Hottentots used to worship the moon, and the custom
of refusing to eat pork and such fish as have no scales, as
well as the habit of serving the parents-in-law for their

named Georgius Frederickus Wreede, who having, from the date of hia
arrival here, had a great desire to acquire the language of these Hot-
tentoos, has diligently studied the same, and has now advanced so far
that he has not only occasionally done good service to the Company
with interpretation, but has now succeeded in committing to paper a
vocabulary, or compendium, as he calls it, of the Dutch and Ottentoo
languages, which latter he, for the present, expresses by Greek
characters." The Chamber of Seventeen, in reply, acknowledge the
receipt of the vocabulary, and state that they had resolved to print
it. Mr. Moodie, when compiling the Record of Cape Proclamations,
&c, could find no trace of it, and in 1857 the Government of Holland,
upon an application from Sir George Grey, through Her Majesty's
Secretary of State for the Colonies, made an unavailing search for it in
their archives. 1868. — The Colonial Parliament has just authorised
£100 to be paid to Dr. Bleek to enable him to continue his great work,

F 2

68 The History of the Gape Goloiuj. pf&K

wives, as Jacob did for Leah and Bachel, are all adduced
as arguments in favour of their North African origin.*
We have already seen that, in Dr. Latham's ethnological
classification, the Hottentot race is ranked under the same
great division with the Nilotic and Egpytian Atlantidae ;
so there seems good reason to conclude that the compara-
tively puny tribes whom the Dutch settlers supposed to be
aborigines of Southern Africa were merely refugees driven
from their ancient homes in the north of the continent by
means of wars and persecutions lasting throughout cen-
turies. No records are preserved, either in songs or
tradition, which can throw any light upon the events
which occurred previous to the arrival of Europeans in
South Africa, and the poor fragments of history which
have been gathered from themselves are of a legendary
character and refer to a comparatively recent period.
Messrs. Arbousset and Daumas (French missionaries)
allude to a Hottentot named Hemto, who informed them
that some eight generations back there dwelt at the Cape
a chief called Kora, whose name was conferred on a tribe
(Korannas). According to tradition, the Europeans be-
sought Kora to give them as much land as they could sur-
round with an ox-hide cut into thongs. This was granted,
but soon the strangers began to encroach, and war was
the consequence. Kora died young, and had Eikomo as a
successor. This latter chief could not long resist, and was

* The reason the Hottentot men do not eat hares is stated as follows
in Knudsen's Gross Nam a qu aland (Barmen, 1848), quoted by Dr.
Bleek : — " The moon dies, and rises to life again. The moon said to
the hare, ' Go thou to the men and tell them — Like as I die aud rise to
life again, so you shall die also and rise to life again.' The hare went
to the men and said, ' Like as I die and do not rise to life again, so you
shall also die and not rise to life again.' When he returned the moon
asked him, ' What hast thou said ?' ' I have told them, like as I die
and do not rise to life again, so you shall also die and not rise to life
again.' ' What !' said the moon, ' hast thou said that ?' And he took a
stick and beat him on his mouth, which by the blow got slit. The hare
fled, and is still fleeing." " We aro now angry with the hare," say the
old Namaquas, " because he brought so bad a message, and therefore
we disdain to eat bis flesh."

i860.] A Strcmge Monster. 69

ultimately driven back to the River Braak. Proceeding
further north, he arrived among a numerous tribe of
Hottentots wandering on the banks of the Orange River,
and called Baroas (Bushmen). He entered into a treaty
with them, settled in their country, and was succeeded by
Kuebib, Kongap, Kuenonkeip, Makabute, and Kaup.

Visions of El Dorado, and fanciful conjectures relative
to lands where gold and ivory were abundant, filled the
minds of the early colonists, and a spirit of adventure
constantly incited them to send exploring parties into the
interior. Jan Duckert and others set out in 1660, across
the Berg and Olifants River, with the intention of proceed-
ing to " Monomatapa." They probably only reached
Namaqualand, and must have been thoroughly disap-
pointed with their South African travels.

An Emperor of the Hottentot race, living in the far
interior, was more than once referred to by the natives ;
and the customs and manners of the savages, as well as
the nature of the country, were investigated by several
explorers. Among these travellers was Pieter Meerhoff,
an under surgeon of the Company, who on one occasion
was surprised by the apparition of a " monsterouse vis."
He says, " I took my gun and went a little way down the
river to shoot a bird, and I saw a living monster in the
water with three heads like cats' heads, and three long
tails."*

On the 19th May, 1660, a large French ship, named
Le Marischal, bound to the Bay of St. Augustin, in Mada-
gascar, was driven from her anchorage in Table Bay, and
wrecked at the mouth of the Salt River. The passengers
consisted of a Governor, a Bishop, and their attendants,
all of whom were subjected to the ignominy of being made
prisoners. While the vessel lay a wreck, and the Roman
Catholic Bishop was still on board, Van Riebeek caused a
proclamation to be read declaring that no divine worship

* This Jan Meerhoff afterwards married Eva, the interpreter.
There is a Bushman superstition (Moodie says, page 231) that
many of their race are devoured by an amphibious animal with three
legs.

70 The History of the Cape Colony. 11660.

except that of the Dutch Reformed Church was to be
permitted.

As the Commander had frequently declared his wish to
be removed, Mr. Gerrit Van Horn was appointed his
successor. This officer, however, died on his voyage to
the settlement, and on the 18th of June the vessel in which
he had left Holland entered Table Bay. In a despatch
from the Government, addressed to Van Horn, a reference
is made to his desire to found a city, which is looked
upon as an absurd and chimerical idea, to be at once
abandoned.

The " free burghers," constantly smarting under the
restrictive regulations of the Company, consisted of an
inferior class of men, including discharged sailors and
soldiers, as well as wanderers from Germany, Denmark,
Portugal, and Flanders, who were always prone to discon-
tent, and proved a perpetual source of trouble and
annoyance. Van Riebeek having forwarded to the Govern-
ment a petition from these men, for redress of grievance,
was informed in reply that he ought to have torn it up in
their presence, as it was full of sedition and mutiny. By
this time the number of burghers had considerably
increased. In 1657, under instructions from Commis-
sioner Van Gous, nine soldiers, sailors, and labourers of
the Company had been released from their engagements,
and given land to cultivate apart from the Government
farms. Seed and implements were sold to them on credit,
and certain specific conditions were made, which provided
that after three years they should be put in possession of
all the land that they had cultivated, forbade any traffic
with the natives, and ordered that all purchases should be
made from the Government at fixed prices. Stock and
produce were to be disposed of to the Company, and
one-tenth of the increase was to accrue to it. After the
fruit and vegetables in the Government Garden had been
disposed of, burghers might then sell to crews of Dutch
ships, but not to those of foreigners. " On all which con-
ditions," the contract states, " their freedom hath been
granted." In 1658 the freemen were fourteen in number,

ioc2.;i Character of Van Rlrhrrk. 71

and then earnestly begged to be permitted to enjoy the
fruit of their industry, as " they did not become free in
order to be the Company's slaves." On the 9th of April,
1662, Van Eiebeek states, in a despatch to Government,
that " the prices have seemed to you excessive." It is,
therefore, clear, that they were fixed by the colonial
authorities. As time rolled on, so did Burgher dis-
satisfaction increase, and we shall soon find it assuming
such proportions as to threaten to burst the bonds of
monopoly and repression.

Zacharias van Wagenaar, who had been appointed
Commander, having at last arrived, Van Eiebeek was
able to leave the colony for Batavia, with his wife and
family, early in the year 1662. The character of this
Governor has been both extravagantly praised and
unjustly censured. He was an energetic and laborious
man, who attended assiduously to the interests of his
masters. Neither cruel nor revengeful to the natives,
simply because it was impolitic to be so, and his
instructions imperatively ordered him to pursue a
different course, he was, at the same time, of opinion
that the most troublesome Hottentot tribes should be
made slaves and sent out of the country, and he strongly
recommended the seizure of all their cattle. He was
neither liberal nor enlightened, fixed prices of articles at
rates which even the Company considered excessive, and
was easily persuaded to favour chimerical schemes.
Patience, forbearance, and perseverance, however, are
all distinguishable in his successful efforts to found a
settlement ; and the Dutch East India Company pos-
sessed in Van Eiebeek a most indefatigable and faithful
officer.*

* During his term of office Van Riebeek obtained a grant of ground
described at its sale in 1065 as " 101 morgen of cultivated land under
the Boschheuvel." This was within a few miles of Cape Town.
Various assertions have been made with regard to a purchase of land
from the natives by Van Riebeek, but they are all without foundation.
Van Riebeek's son eventually became Governor- General of the Dutch
Indian possessions.

72 The History of the Gape Colony. [i6C2,

The new Commander (Van Wagenaar) was formally
installed on the 6th May, 1662, and had the satisfaction
of heing able to report that the Settlement was at perfect
peace with the Hottentots and that he had heard of
no thefts. This officer represents the free men as " lazy,
drunken fellows, who care as little for their Dutch
servants as for beasts," and observes "that they attempt
in every way to undermine the Company in their cattle
trade." As he found the windows of the Fort only
protected by cotton cloth, he begs for a supply of glass
and lead, and some time subsequently has to ask for
earthenware dishes, &c, as "he is ashamed that
passengers should see the garrison and the greater part
of the farmers eating without spoons."

The loss of the island of St. Helena by the Dutch
rendered the Cape a more valuable possession, and its
retention was now absolutely necessary for the purposes
of Eastern trade. In 1663,* the yearly Dutch fleet, to
which Van Wagenaar was ordered " to give contentment,"
comprised fourteen ships and two thousand three hundred
men, exclusive of women and children. At this time the
Company's land produced 545 muicls of wheat per annum,
and the free men were able to raise 99 muids. The yearly
expenditure amounted to /38,773 and the revenue to
/32,000.

It was frequently difficult to obtain sheep and cattle
from the natives by barter, and the records of the early
history of the Colony are full of uninteresting accounts of
purchasing and bargaining. A petty huxtering system of
trade had necessarily to be carried on, and the Hotten-
tots, when they perceived how desirous the settlers were
to obtain cattle, raised their prices considerably. At last,
in 1664, the " unreasonable demand" was made for a cow
of " a piece of tobacco long enough to reach from the point

* A strange outrage is recorded to have been committed by a Dutch
captain on an English crew on the 1st January, 1003. In order to
make those men confess where certain supposed treasures lay con-
cealed, lighted matches were placed between their fingers, and other
tortures resorted to.

icgc] Condition of the Free Burghers. 73

of the cow's tail over the back to the horns, and the same
proportion for sheep." On Sunday, 6th January, 1664,
"the Lord's Day ended in the usual manner, but, not-
withstanding, we had to traffic with these heathens for
only two sheep."

In considering the subject of the Hottentot language,
a reference has already been made to a native vocabulary
reduced to writing in the Greek character by a volunteer
named Wreede.* Encouragement was given to this man
by the Government, and they showed some disposition to
improve the condition of the natives. Wagenaar's regu-
lations regarding the school provided that half a dollar
per month should be paid to the teacher for each ten
instructed, and that two children by Hottentot women
should be taught pro Deo. As there was only one
chaplain in the Settlement, and the office sometimes
remained vacant, it can be imagined that no missionary
effort of any consequence was attempted ; and in this
respect the Dutch settlers, as well as the Home Govern-
ment, appear to have been thoroughly indifferent. The
Company certainly desired that the natives should not be
ill-used, and several of their officers expressed a hope that
many of the Hottentots might be converted, but no effec-
tive effort was ever made to attain that object. The
heathen were left to sit in darkness, and to learn only the
vices of civilization.

The free burghers were continually grumbling and giving
trouble. Having complained to the Commissioner Overt-
water that they had to pay very high wages to their ser-
vants, the price of corn was raised to satisfy them. They
were always poor and dissatisfied. Van Wagenaar, writing
of them in 1666, says : — " Many have ceased to work, and
have implored to be received back into the Company's
service, or at least to be permitted to earn their subsistence
in some other way, or to set up shops near the fort, to

* Wreede misbehaved himself, and was consequently sent to Mauri-
tius, but afterwards returned, and was appointed to the charge of the
Saldanha Bay fort.

74 The History of the Cape Colony. [1664.

retail brandy to the garrison or ships' crews." Of the
worst characters he remarks : — " In the event of a hostile
attack they would be the first to go over to the enemy,
and to assist them ; aye, there be among them some who
have long since wished and prayed that the English fleet
might but come hither to convey them from this ' devil's
land' (as they call it) to some other place." These men
are styled " lazy and worthless" rogues. Three of them
were sent to Mauritius, and it was probably some of this
class of people who were sentenced by the Court of Justice
to pay forty guilders and forty reals for stealing a cow be-
longing to the Hottentots, which the Company had to
replace. As the female population was not sufficient, a
number of respectable young females were sent out from
Holland to be married.

Wagenaar was quite as tired of his government as Van
Riebeek had been, and earnestly desired to be relieved.
In one despatch he asks for two bells to enliven the
farmers " in this lonely place," and his melancholy was
increased by the death of his wife while residing at
the Cape.

Traffic in slaves had commenced. On the 8th October,
1664, the Lion, of 124 tons, arrived from Madagascar
with a cargo of blacks, who are described as all sitting
naked on board ship. The captain wanted no less than
£50 for each " of his lean slaves," and afterwards would
not sell.

Instructions having been given to Commissioner Isbrand

Goske to build a new fort at a distance of sixty roods

from the. /old one, that officer arrived at the Cape
\ \ft t ifl x

4uri«g the year 1665, and took precedence of Van Wage-
naar. This year was further signalized by an unsuc-
cessful attempt to surprise and capture an English
man-of-war, named the King Charles, then lying in Table
Bay.*

* Wild animals abounded at this time. The cattle of the Company
were often destroyed by them, and " furious and terrible lions" are
frequently mentioned. Small-pox and measles were epidemic in 16C3
and 1005.

i67o.;i Polieij of the Dutch East India Company. 75

As Van Wagenaar could not be induced to remain by
offers of an increase of salary, Cornells van Quaelberg
was at last appointed his successor. This officer reached
the Colony in the ship Dordrecht, and his first proclama-
tion, dated 20th January, 1667, strictly forbids anyone
with malice prepense striking or beating any native. His
hospitality and civility to a French officer of high rank,
homeward bound, proved extremely distasteful to the
Company. In a despatch from the Chamber of Seventeen,
they express the greatest dissatisfaction that, independent
of the kind reception given, Quaelberg should have
quitted his post in the fort to welcome the Admiral, in
direct opposition to military law, besides supplying him
with all necessaries. Water is to be given to Europeans,
but as " little refreshment as possible." The Company
also found fault with the Commander for keeping too
large a garrison and not charging more for provisions —
ordered him at once to leave the Cape for Batavia,
and appointed Jacob Borghorst his successor. This
last-named officer reached Table Bay on the 16th of
January, 1668, after a voyage of five months and nine-
teen days.

The new Commander found that the cattle trade
with the Hottentots had much declined, and some time
after his arrival received strict instructions that the
garrison at the fort was not to comprise more than
187 men.

The early records of the Colony are full of petty details,
which, although of little interest, are occasionally useful
in so far as they show the rigid and uniform policy which
was carried out. The poor little settlement was cramped
and fettered in every direction, and the motto of its rulers
seemed to be that everything was to conduce to the
pecuniary profit of the Company. In spite, however, of
the narrow polity on which its system of domestic
government was based, a spirit of discovery and enter-
prise is always discernible.

Several expeditions set out at various times to explore
the interior and the coast. The Qrundel, hooker, was sent

76 The History of the Cape Colony. [i670.

by Commander Hackius in 1670, in a northerly direction,
and afterwards went to the eastward. At the bay of " Os
Medos de Cura," seventeen men, who had been dispatched
in search of firewood and water, were left behind ; and on
this voyage Kafirs were met with, who are described " as
men of good disposition." The Flying Swan went in search
of the lost sailors, but was, unfortunately, unable to find
them. So far back as 1662, a party, under the command
of Sergeant de la Guerre, sought for the Orange Eiver,
which was then styled " Vigita Magna ;" and Corporal
Cruise, with fifteen men, went to the east coast in 1668.
Algoa Bay was first visited by the Dutch in 1669. In this
last-mentioned year orders were received by Borghorst to
take possession of Saldanha Bay, in consequence of the
French having erected a column there on which their
arms were inscribed.

The Council of Seventeen being under the impression
that valuable minerals might be obtained at the Cape,
sent out several miners to search for the precious metals.
We shall see that, at a subsequent period, futile efforts
were again made in this direction.

Pieter Hackius was appointed Commander in 1670, and
was ordered to plant brushwood and trees for fuel. During
this year the Dutch Eastern fleet had 4,000 men on board,
and, at its departure, left 807 oxen and 6,182 sheep.
Commander Hackius having died, Isbrand Goske was
appointed as Governor of the Cape of Good Hope in the
year 1672, and the building of the new Fort was
commenced.*

No purchase of land had yet been made from the
natives, but in 1672, Commissioner van Overbeek was of
opinion that, " for the prevention of much future cavil-
ling," an agreement ought to be entered into with some
Hottentots whereby they should declare the Dutch to be
the rightful and lawful possessors of the Cape district and

* The new Castle was placed sixty roods to the east of the old Fort,
which thus must have stood near the east end of the Grand Parade,
The site, in " the sink of Table Bay," was an exceedingly had one,
commanded by the surrounding heights.

1672.]

Sale of Land by tlir Hottentot*. 77

its dependencies, in consideration of a specified sum of
money. Such a contract was soon entered into with the
Captain Manckhagou, Alias Schacher, as Hereditary
Sovereign (Erf Heer) of the lands. This Prince delivered
over the whole district of the Cape of Good Hope, from
Lion's Hill to Saldanha Bay inclusive, with dependencies,
for 4,000 reals of eight paid in merchandize, and the
Dutch agreed to allow him and his herds to come and go
without hindrance near to the outermost farms of the
district. Prince Schacher also specially undertook to
assist in driving away any European invader. The deed
is signed with the marks of Schacher and T. Tachouw, a
Hottentot chief, and by Van Overbeek and Van Brengel,
Dutch Commissioners. As the value paid was only
nominal, this transaction must be looked upon as a
sop to the Cerberus of European criticism as well as the
foundation of a legal claim to the land against all comers.
Van Biebeek considered that the territory near the Fort
had been lawfully conquered in defensive war, and the
settlers who landed with him never dreamt of purchasing
land from savages.* Governor Isbrand Goske, on the
10th of May, 1673, refers to the contract just alluded to,
and also to a separate one concerning Hottentots Holland,
purchased from its lawful Sovereign, Prince Dhour.t

* See Moodie's Records.

f It is interesting to refer to some of the punishments inflicted upon
offenders. Thuintje Van Warden, the wife of a burgher, having been
convicted of evil speaking against other women, was sentenced to retract
the slander, ask forgiveness, be bound to a post for one hour, and then
suffer banishment for six weeks to Robben Island. A few years after-
wards, two soldiers were flogged and sent to work in irons during four
months for stealing a few vegetables, which was declared " to be an
offence tending to the ruin of this growing Colony." On the 10th
January, 1072, the gibbet " upon which the female Hottentoo was
recently hanged" had fallen down. " The said Hottentoo was again
suspended on the gibbet for the satisfaction of justice." A Hottentot
woman having hanged herself, it is related that " on the body falling to
the ground it was found that Satan had already taken possession of her
brutal soul." The body was subsequently gibbeted "for the fowls of
the air to devour."

78 The History of the Gape Colony. mis.

On the 9th of September, 1673, almost all the Com-
pany's working oxen were drowned in the quicksands at
the mouth of the Salt River, and on the 4th of October of
this year the fluyt Zoetendaal was lost near L'Agulhas.
The shipwrecked crew underwent the most frightful priva-
tions, and were reduced to eat grass and a drowned horse
to sustain existence. About this time a Hollander named
Ten Rhyne published a description of the Cape and the
country of the Hottentots, which conveyed some idea of
this terra 'mcognita to his countrymen.

CHAPTER IV.

Numerous Placaats — "Positive Orders" — Building of the Castle— Governor Goske,
Commander Crudax — Statistics — War with the Tribes under Gonnema — Dutch
Native Policy — Attempt to form a Settlement at Natal — Description of the
Country — Arrival of the elder Van der Stell — Foundation of Stellenbosch —
Account of a Shipwreck by a Siamese Mandarin — Father Tachard's Expeditions —
War between Holland and France — Narrative of the Capture of French Ships of
War in Table Bay.

If the possession of a cumbrous Statute Law were any
sign of advanced civilization, we should be apt to suppose
that the Cape progressed admirably. Van Riebeek issued
no fewer than seventy-five placaats or proclamations
having the force of law, and his successors followed this
example, while Commissioners continually left lengthy
memoranda of instructions for the guidance of the Com-
manders at the Cape.* The confusion which naturally
followed had become so great, that when Goske visited the
Colony as a Commissioner, in 1671, he found it necessary
to direct the formation of the " Positive Orders," a volume
containing an alphabetical digest of all the instructions
issued since the foundation of the Colony. The general
tenor of these commands from the Home Government,
whether issued in despatches or expressed by memoranda
from Commissioners, earnestly desired that every endea-
vour should be used to make the settlement as little
burdensome to the Company as possible,! and also urged
the encouragement of agriculture, and the treatment of
the natives with forbearance, so as to avoid hostilities.

The placaats of the Commanders in the Colony were of
course echoes of the instructions received from home.

;: The numerous and conflicting orders of these Commissioners made
it apparent that their interference was more injurious than usefid. — (See
these Memoranda, in extenso, in Moodie's Records.)

f From 1659 to 1681, the Cape Settlement cost the Company
/1,005,207 It 10, after deduction of all the profits. The expenses of
the shipping only amounted to/451,971 14 9.

80 The History of the Capo Colony. [i67o.

Prices were fixed and arbitrary regulations made, for the
profit and gain of the Company ; stringent laws against
trading with the Hottentots and planting tobacco were
continually fulminated, and anything tending to provoke
native animosity was sharply reprehended and punished.
The administration of justice was one of the chief duties of
the Commander, and the thievish propensities of both
Hottentots and settlers furnished him abundant occupa-
tion. From the memorandum left by Wagenaar, for the
information of Van Quaelberg, it would appear that the
Court of Justice, with whom the Commander occasionally
decided such civil and criminal cases as were brought
before him, consisted of " the Merchant and second in
command (who had also charge of the nioney-chest,
account-books, and storehouse), the Lieutenant, the Fiscal
(C. de Cretser*), the Ensign, and the Junior Merchant."
A record of decisions in criminal cases has been preserved,
and although many of the sentences appear extremely
severe, it must be remembered that they were in accor-
dance with the spirit of the times, ' and inflicted among a
community of an exceptive and peculiar character.

A few of the punishments may now be quoted, as illus-
trative of the manner in which justice was administered.
1672. — Feb. 11. — Four of Captain Gomieina's Hottentots,
for assault and robbery of sheep. Sentence — first, second,
and third prisoners to be flogged, branded, and banished
to Eobben Island in chains for fifteen years ; fourth and
fifth prisoners to be flogged, and banished for seven years.
(Prisoners escaped to the main land on the 4th January,
1673.) Three soldiers, found guilty of violent assault with
swords, and of prison-breaking, were condemned as
follows : — First prisoner to be thrice flogged at the
gallows, sword to be broken at his feet, dismissed from the
service, and to work six years in chains. No. 2, one
hundred lashes, and one and a half years in chains.

:;: This Fiscal committed homicide, and fled from the colony. A
despatch from the Chamher of Seventeen to Governor Goske, dated
^Sth September, 1073, states that " the Merchant Cornells de Cretser
was captured by the Turks, and is still a slave at Algiers."

1670.] Punishment of Grime. 81

No. 3, fifty lashes, one year in chains. Each to forfeit six
months pay, profisco. On the 17th August, 1672, J. Jans,
freeman, having been found guilty of picking the pockets
of a drunken man, was sentenced to have his property
confiscated, to be flogged, and to work in chains for three
years. It is mentioned in aggravation that the prisoner
not only got drunk himself, but intoxicated the dogs and
pigs also, with sugar and eggs mixed with wine. Four
soldiers, for inciting others to mutiny, and to demand a
greater allowance of food, were sentenced as follows : —
Two of the prisoners to be hanged, and the other two
flogged, and to labour in chains for twenty-five years, —
life or death to be decided by drawing lots. September
22, 1673. — Tryntje Theunissen, free woman, H. Cornel-
lissen, and Jan Theunissen, her late servants, for
concealing in her herd, and slaughtering two cows,
apparently belonging to some of the Hottentots, sentenced as
follows : — The first prisoner to be bound to a post at the
place of execution, with a halter round her neck, and a
cowhide above her head, to be severely flogged, branded,
and confined on Eobben Island for twelve years, to make
good the stolen cattle, and to forfeit all her property. The
other prisoners to be flogged, a cow's hide suspended over
their heads, to be placed in chains* at public works for six
years, and to forfeit all their property. Three slaves, for
desertion, and inciting others thereto (in hopes of reaching
Angola, " not from want of proper support, but in hopes
of having an easier life there"), sentenced to be severely
flogged, their ears cut off, to be branded on the back and
cheeks, and work for life in chains. On June 21, 1675,
Aran, a slave, for killing a Hottentot accidentally, by
discharging a gun which he did not know was loaded,
sentenced to be flogged, branded, and to work in chains
for life, "with expenses." Two slaves, for stealing vege-
tables, were placed in a pillory, with cabbages overhead,
flogged, and afterwards branded, their ears cut off, and

* The female cattle-stealer was relieved from the brandiug arm the
halter round her neck, and one of her servants from the Hogging.

G

82 TJie History of the Capo Colony. ww.

tlien placed in chains for life. On the 14th September,
1678, four Hottentots were condemned to be hanged for
various robberies from cattle herds ; and in May following
a sailor was executed for stealing horses and endeavouring
to desert.*

Isbrand Goske had not been appointed " Commander,"
but " Governor,"! and drew pay at the advanced rate of
/200 per month, and/100 additional, "in consideration of
the trouble of building the new Fortress." The defence of
the Cape was considered a matter of great consequence, and
the following is a brief resume of what was done with a
view to provide for it. Mr. Albrecht van Breugel,! who
had been appointed to act till the arrival of Goske, reports
to the Chamber of Seventeen, on the 19th April, 1672 : —
" With regard to your Honors' directions relative to the
yeomanry and their exercise under arms, a company of
ninety-three line, active fellows, very adroit in the
management of their weapons, were reviewed within the
Fort." The erection of the Castle occupied several years,
and serious doubts about the advisability of proceeding
with it were for some time entertained. On the 20th
November, 1667, the Chamber of Seventeen informed
Commander Borghorst and Council, that they had fully
considered all the arguments in favour of completing the
Fortress that had been commenced, but could not as yet
yield their consent. The plan of the Castle had been first
received by the ship Madenblink, so far back as 24th
December, 1664, and on the 8th June following " it was
marked out in five great points or bulwarks encircling the

* Commissioner Van Goens, writing on the 20th March, 1081, says:
— " Yon proceed too readily to infamous punishments. It appears to
have grown into a practice to pay little attention to formalities and
indispensable proofs."

f His successor, J. Bax van Herentals, was also appointed
" Governor," but Simon van der Stell was sent out merely as " Com-
mander."

J " 1672. March 23. — Arrived, Mr. Albert van Breugel, appointed
second in command, and to command until the arrival of Governor
Goske." Coenraad van Breitenbagh administered the Government for
a short time previously.

i67o.j Building of the Castle. 83

Fort." On August 26th, the Council, after much delibera-
tion, resolved that "the new Royal Fortress" should be
placed about sixty roods to the eastward of the Fort.
Delay was caused by the hesitation just referred to ; but
this having been overcome, Governor Goske so vigorously
advanced operations, that in consideration of this service
he was rewarded by being relieved from his duties at his
own urgent request.* Johan Bax van Herentals, com-
mander at Gale, became Goske's successor at the Cape,
and completed the work. It was, however, soon perceived
to be almost useless, as it was commanded by the
adjacent heights. We subsequently find Commissioner
van Goens stating, in his memorandum to Van der Stell : —
"As to the Castle, we have important reasons for silence —
the thing is done, and is irreparable."

In the memorandum of instructions left by Goske for the
information of his successor, he states that agriculture had
daily retrograded during the whole of his residence at the
Cape (three and a half years), and, notwithstanding every
exertion, was little cared for by the inhabitants. The
inoccupation of Saldanha Bay, as ordered by the Directors,
is stated to have been postponed in consequence of the men
having been much wanted to build the new Castle. Com-
missioner N. Verburg's memorandum, dated 15th March,
1676, animadverts upon "the mode in which successive
commanders and others had from time to time built one
thing or the other, each according to his own whim and
fancy," and remarks that " now so complete a Castle is
in progress this system must be put a stop to." Refer-
ence is made to the fact that no permanent schools had as
yet been established, and Jan Wittebol, " a person of
competent qualifications and good character," is appointed
teacher. Verburg concludes by saying : — " The strength
of the garrison is now 200 soldiers, besides about 150,
consisting of officers, clerks, tradesmen, sailors, &c, over
whom are three commissioned officers — a captain, a
lieutenant, and an ensign. This number we conceive

Despatch, dated 3rd November, 1GU.

G 2

84 The History of the Cape Colony. [167&

sufficient for the present defence of this place, as they
may be always increased in time of need from the passing
ships." Johan or Joan Bax van Herentals, who succeeded
Governor Goske early in the year 1676, died at the Cape
on the 29th June, 1678, to -' the great grief of the freemen
and the whole public."* It is worth noticing that a
drought which occurred in 1676 was so severe that the
crops partially failed, while " the barrenness of the pasture
in every quarter caused a great mortality among the
Company's cattle, as well as those of the freemen." A
despatch from Holland, dated 16th May, 1676, approves
of some farmers having been induced to settle at Hotten-
tots Holland, on fourteen years' loan, and trusts that their
industry will entitle them to look forward to obtaining
freehold titles. The advancement of agriculture, and the
reduction of expenditure, is, as usual, specially dwelt upon.
The Directors, with good reason, desired that corn should
be cultivated in large quantities, as rice had to be sent
from Batavia to the Cape; and it never seemed that
adequate exertions were made by the freemen to raise
sufficient crops for the use of the Settlement. Governor
Bax van Herentals, on March 23, 1677, issued a proclama-
tion, earnestly urging the farmers to energetic efforts, as
the Directors had said in distinct terms " that the country
cannot be called a colony which is not able to produce its
own corn." The constant search for minerals had been
rewarded by the discovery of a mine at the " Lion's
Head," close to Cape Town ; but in 1677 operations were
discontinued in consequence of the yield being only 6 to 12
per cent, of silver.
Hendrik Crudop or Crudax,! the second in command,

* A despatch (28th September, 1675) received iu 167 G, approved of
the establishment of a board of Orphan Masters, Governor Goske
having (20th May, 16.74) brought to notice the frequency of re-marriage
without provision being made for children. In Hall's Chronology the
date of the establishment of this Orphan Chamber is erroneously given
as 1673.

f It is often difficult to find out the correct spelling of proper
names. Hoodie's Records, Judge Watermeyer, and others, by no
means agree.

1679.] State of Agricidture. 85

was nominated provisional Commander-in-Chief by
Governor Bax van Herentals, previous to his death in
June, 1678, and held office merely till the arrival of a
successor. In a despatch from the Council of the Cape of
Good Hope to the Chamber of Seventeen, dated 18th
April, 1679, the following statistical intelligence is
conveyed : — " The Cape burghers now consist of 62
families, comprising 83 free males, 55 women, 117 Dutch
or mixed children, 30 Dutch servants, and 191 slaves of
both sexes ; in all 486.. Even in a favourable season, the
crops will barely me^t the annual consumption, and the
grain besides does not go so far as rice in feeding the
slaves." Moodie, in his Records, remarks that although
agricultural failures were always attributed to the farmers,
it does not seem that want of industry was the only
obstacle to success, and instances a resolution, dated 27th
November, 1679, in which it is determined " to assist
some of the poorer farmers with oxen no longer on credit,
or incumbered with any servitude of restitution, but in full
property, provided that they be bound to pay the Company,
previous to delivery, 24 guilders for each head. The
cattle thus sold in full property, were not to be sold, killed,
nor exchanged without express leave, and were to bear the
Company's mark, and to be only used in agriculture, on
pain of arbitrary correction.

Among the Hottentot tribes, quarrels and dissensions
continually prevailed, and for several years the Chief
Gonnema, with his allies, carried on an annoying war
against the colonists. It is to this war wre must now
direct attention. So far back as 1671 the settlers had
reason to complain, and Acting Commander Van Breugel,
writing to the Chamber of Seventeen (19th April, 1672),
states that " some of our native neighbours, namely, those
under the Chief Gonnema, about eight months ago, cruelly
massacred two of our burghers. Others of the said
barbarians ventured, some three or four months ago, to
attack a shepherd who was attending his flock, about an
hour's distance from this fort, and to rob him of all ho
had." A declaration made by three Dutchmen, dated

&6 The History of ilw Ccvpe Colony, [tew,

12th November, 1672, states that having been licensed by
Governor Goske to shoot sea-cows, they proceeded to Berg
Eiver, where Captain Gonnema, with thirty or forty
Hottentots, robbed them of rice, tackling, powder, lead,
knives, and tobacco, and threatened at the same time to
take their lives if they spoke a word. Several other
outrages were committed, and at last eight burghers
having been surrounded and besieged on a point of
land, so that they were in danger of perishing by
hunger, Governor Goske considered it absolutely necessary
to send out an armed force of thirty-six men, under
Ensign Cruse, to deliver those people, and to take
revenge upon Gonnema.* On the 14th July, 1673, the
Bridegroom arrived from Saldanha Bay, bringing news that
a corporal, a soldier, and two freemen had been murdered
when bartering for sheep, and this intelligence effectually
roused the Governor, who immediately sent eighteen
mounted men to reinforce Cruse, and issued instructions
that Gonnema's tribe should be entirely ruined and no
males spared. As might have been expected, the Hot-
tentots fled ; but 800 horned cattle and 900 sheep were
secured. On the 20th of August, four of Gonnema's
people who had been captured by the Dutch allies were
brought to the fort by Captains Schacher arid Cuyper,
and were given up to the tender mercies of their
captors, who rushed upon them, calling out, "Beat the
dogs to death," and, suiting their actions to these words,
struck them with sticks until they expired. Governor
Goske thus refers to another armed expedition sent out
against the Gonnemas in March, 1674 : — " We therefore
sent out fifty soldiers, and fully as many burghers, under
the command of our ensign, accompanied by about 250
Hottentots, who attacked him, and so handled him that,
to all appearance, he will not think of coming in this
direction, or of annoying the burghers. None of our
people were killed or wounded ; the greater part of the

* The resolution of Council is dated 11th July, 1673. Ensign Cruse
and his party arrived too late. The eight burghers had been killed.
Some remains of their clothes and other articles were found.

1077.

War with thr Hottentots. 87

enemy's cattle, being fully 800 horned cattle and about
4,000 sheep, old and young, were taken as booty."

In November, 1675, Gonnema attacked the Cape Hot-
tentots (allies of the settlers), killed several of them, and
carried off a large number of cattle. A party of horse
and foot was shortly afterwards sent out by the Governor ;
but, as usual, the pursuit of the enemy was unsuccessful.
In March, 1676, under the rule of Bax van Herentals,
three freemen were killed by a kraal of " Sonquas," who
were known to be friends and dependents of the Gonnema
tribe. His Excellency then proposed that this mischievous
and hereditary enemy should be sought for without delay,
and sent out an armed force under Lieut. Cruse. Other
attempts were made subsequently ; but none of them were
crowned with complete success. The result of each expe-
dition was that cattle and sheep were seized, and a few
of the enemy killed. At last, in a despatch dated 14th
March, 1677, Governor Bax van Herentals states it as
his opinion that it would be well to " induce Gonnema's
people to come to us themselves to pray for peace, as we
conceive that we have now exacted sufficient revenge."
On the 3rd of June, 1677, ambassadors from Gonnema
stated at the Fort that this chief and his allies were in-
clined to enter into a treaty of peace, and on the 25th of
the same month articles were agreed to which included
stipulations that Gonnema and Oedasoa, his ally, should
request pardon of the Company, and pay a tribute of thirty
horned cattle yearly. The entry in the journal, made
on the day following (the 26th June), states that there
is no reliance to be placed on the fidelity of those savage
Africans, so that the subsequent partial and irregular
payments of the cattle-fine must have created no surprise.

The subject of the relations of the Dutch Government
with the native tribes is one of importance, and has been
viewed in far from an impartial manner by several
writers. For instance, in Montgomery Martin's large
work on the British Colonies,* Van Pdebeek's conduct to

• Vol. iv., book 1. Cape of Good Hope.

88 Tho History of the Oapn Colony. [I670.

the natives is denounced in a manner certainly not justi-
fied by the evidence ; and Dr. Philip has the amazing
hardihood to say "that all the records of the Colony,
during the first fifty years of the Dutch occupation, agree
in praising the virtues of the Hottentots. It is related on
the authority of Borgaert, that during the whole of that
period the natives had never in one instance been detected
in committing an act of theft upon the property of the
Colonists."* Whatever be our opinion of the conduct of
the Dutch Government in later years towards the native
inhabitants, there can be no doubt that at first they
endeavoured to conciliate the Hottentots, and acted with
forbearance. It must be acknowledged that, from letters
written by Governor Bax van Herentals, it would seem
that cruelties were practised under the rule of Jacob
Borghorst, although no reference to them appears in the
official records. These letters speak of the shameful con-
duct of the settlers in frequently despoiling the Gonnema
and other Hottentots of their cattle, and firing upon them;
so that such a formidable spirit of hostility was roused
that twelve men in a body could hardly be despatched
twenty miles without serious fears for their safety. It is
only reasonable to suppose that individuals were often to
blame, and that the Cape Records, from which our account
of the Gonnema war has been extracted, may not contain
all the information necessary to enable us to form a correct
decision ; but it is very evident that the Directors of the
Company, as well as the Government of the Colony, were
thoroughly opposed to any war with the natives, t and

* Researches in South Africa, by the Rev. John Philip, D.D., vol. i.
He states (p. 6) that he never knew an individual who would not ac-
knowledge the justice of the observation that the Hottentot, among his
other good qualities, is master in an eminent degree of a rigid adherence
to truth.

f Even in Simon van der Stell's time, Commissioner Van Rheede
writes (16th July, 1685) : — " A very great deal depends upon the
preservation of peaceful relations and friendly intercourse with the
inhabitants and Hottentots ; the manner in which the Commander
renders that people well-disposed towards our nation is most praise-
worthy, and must be persevered in."

1670.3 Diminution of the Native Races. 89

always ready to punish offences committed against them,
as well as to tolerate Hottentot thefts and injuries, rather
than, hy resenting them, provoke the natives to armed
resistance. In the memorandum written by Wagenaar for
the information of his successor (Quaelberg), after nar-
rating various outrages committed by Hottentots, this
Commander proceeds to say that "he had winked at it all,
and suffered it to pass unnoticed, for our masters in the
fatherland recommend to us nothing more earnestly than
to deal with those men in a quiet and peaceable manner."
Several instances are mentioned of severe punishments
accorded for thefts of Hottentot stock, and a Dutchman
named Willems, who shot a native accidentally, had to fly
from the Colony, and, although in Holland he obtained an
order releasing him from arrest, was, on his return to the
Cape, banished to Eobben Island, and subsequently sent
to Mauritius.

From a very early period various causes began to effect
a diminution of the native races. Small-pox and other
diseases frequently raged like pestilences among them,
and the love of ardent spirits had a more destructive effect.
Even Van Eiebeek did not scruple to encourage this brutal
indulgence. The customs of Europe were in favour of it,
and every purchase of any consequence was concluded by
dram -drinking. On one occasion " a tub of brandy and
arrack mixed was set open in the middle of the esplanade
of the Fort, with a little wooden bowl, from which these
people (the Hottentots) made themselves so drunk, that
they made the strangest antics in the world."* " The
freemen" set a terrible example, as Van Eiebeek mentions t
that " the greater number of them, whenever any ships
are in the roads, may be daily seen as intoxicated as
irrational creatures, with the strong drink they obtain
from the shipping." Brandy and tobacco soon became
Hottentot gods, and to them were sacrificed health,

:;: This occurred before the sermon on the Feast of the Ascension,
and is recorded in Van Riebeek's Journal under date (>th May, KifiO.
-j- Records, p. 181.

90 The History of the Gape Colony, \i(r,o.

honour, and independence. Their territory was gradually
annexed, while they were compelled to retreat inland,
where they became a terror to the farmers, and such a
constant source of danger and annoyance as to make the
Dutch believe it necessaiy that their extirpation should be
attempted. The Government of the Company were
particularly culpable in making no systematic and
generous effort to civilize the wretched natives. A purely
mercantile spirit animated a policy which never
exhibited anything deserving the name of philanthropy
or generosity.

To find gold and to discover cities were the chief objects
of exploration. Cattle-barter and trade had also great
attractions ; but we never hear a word about the extension
of Christianity. Danckert was despatched in search of
" Monopotonia" in 16G0, and we have seen that Com-
missioner Van Goens was fully persuaded of the existence
of this and other inland towns.* Cruythoff and Meerhoff
distinguished themselves as travellers, and a number of
officers were sent at different times to obtain cattle from
the natives by barter. In a memorandum from Com-
missioner Van Odessen, dated 16th of April, 1663, he
states : — " I cannot perceive any advantage to the
Company in journeys to the interior, in order to barter
cattle. Journeys of discovery ought to be continued."
On October 11, 1663, Sergeant la Guerre went forth
to the Namaquas and tribes beyond the River Vigita
Magna (Orange Eiver) and there are frequent entries in
the Records of a similar kind. The discovery of the
Namaqualand mines was attempted on various occasions,
and we shall soon have to refer to the interesting journey
of Simon van der Stell to that part of South Africa. The

::: A copy of the work of Huygens de Linschoten, publiskecl at
Amsterdam (1623), is in ike Dessinian Collection, Soutk African
Library. The map contains many kingdoms and cities, among others
Monornotopa, near the tropic, on the Rio de Spirito Sancto. The Rio
Pescario runs nearly south from the tropic into Mossel Bay. Vigita
Magna and Monata are to the eastward of this river. Cartado is still
more to the eastward, on Rio de Infante.

Mar.] Exploration of the Interior. 91

hooker Boede, under Corporal Thomas Hobma, sailed
up the West Coast in 1677 to a Portuguese fort named
Sombeira, in 12° 47' south latitude. Hobma reported that
although there were several excellent bays, he could find
neither good land nor fresh water, and that the natives
near Sombeira were all Hottentots. Some years subse-
quently (in 1684) thirty-nine boers penetrated eastward
through the entire Hottentot territory so far as where the
outposts of the Kafirs were then located in the present
Albany division. The Boers having seized a Kafir, this
man conducted them to a large body of his countrymen
who had never seen white men before, and who imme-
diately commenced an attack with assagais and other
weapons. The Dutch then fired, and the Kafirs were
surprised to find that the bullets penetrated even through
their leathern shields. They then fled, uttering tremen-
dous .yells, imagining that " nothing else than a legion of
devils, armed with lightning and thunder, had invaded
their country. They were astonished at the horses, which
had also never before been seen. In their retreat they
were followed by the boers, and many were instantly
destroyed."* These Dutchmen subsecmently returned
safely to the Cape, after a journey of seven months.

On the 18th of April, 1687, the Council at the Cape
record the safe arrival of the captain and several seamen
belonging to the ship Stavenisse, wrecked at the Tierra
de Natal, on the 16th February, 1686. They built a small
vessel, in which they sailed to Table Bay. The natives
are described as being very obliging, kind, and hospitable.
As one part of the crew had set out overland and not been
heard of, the little vessel called the Centaur, in which the
captain of the Stavenisse had arrived, was sent in search
of them, and fortunately picked them up between " Punta
Primera and the bay De la Goa" (Algoa Bay). The
cupidity and curiosity of the Cape Government were

* MS. in the Dessinian Collection, South African Library, quoted
by Mr. J. C. Chase in " Progress and Present State, of Geographical
Discovery in the South African Continent." published in the South
African Quarterly Journal, page lJ9.

92 The History of the Cape Colony. \\m.

awakened by the exaggerated accounts of the richness and
fertility of Natal, and the Noorcl was despatched on the
19th October, 1689, to proceed direct to Eio de la Goa,
and thence to the Bay of Natal. The information
furnished by the seamen of the Stavenisse regarding this
country is very interesting. " One may travel (they say)
200 or 300 mylen without any cause of fear from men,
provided you go naked, and without any iron or copper,
for these things give inducement to the murder of those
who have them. Neither need one be in any apprehension
about meat and drink, as they have in every village or
kraal a house of entertainment for travellers, where these
are not only lodged, but fed also. Your servants travelled
150 mylen, to the depth of about thirty mylen inland,
through five kingdoms, namely, the Magoses, the
Makriggas, Matimbes, Mapontes, and Emboas. There
are many dense forests, with short-stemmed trees ; but
at the bay of Natal are two forests, each fully a myl
square, with tall, straight, and thick trees, fit for house
or ship timber." They found but one European, an
old Portuguese, wrecked there forty years before, who had
adopted the African language and customs, and " forgotten
everything, his God included." " They cultivate three
sorts of corn, as also calabashes, pumpkins, water-
melons, and beans. Tobacco grows there wild. The
country swarms with cows, calves, oxen, steers, and
goats. The horses they do not catch or tame, although
they approach within ten or twelve paces." The object of
the voyage to the eastward is thus stated by the Council :
— " It was unanimously resolved to send the galiot Noord
to the Bay of Natal, to fetch the remaining people of the
Stavenisse, and to endeavour to purchase on the Company's
account, under a formal and duly-executed written con-
tract with the chief of that country, the said bay, and some
of the land around it, for merchandize, such as beads,
copper, ironwork, and such other articles as are liked by
them . . . and that the galiot shall then return hither
along the coast, and with all possible care sound and
survey the bay of De la Goa (Algoa), to see whether it

1679-j Failure to Colonise Natal. 93

may not be suitable for the Company's homeward bound
fleets." A purchase was effected, in accordance with these
directions, for a nominal sum of 20,000 guilders, given in
merchandize ; but although an endeavour was afterwards
made to form a settlement, the attempt was unsuccessful.
The Noord merely called into Algoa Bay on her return
voyage, without anchoring, and the captain reported that
it was only a bight, quite open to the sea, having three or
four visible rocks in the middle, and fully as many in its
entrance ! The Noord was afterwards wrecked near this
Bay, under circumstances which proved the culpable
negligence of the master, who would have been prosecuted
by the Fiscal had not he and his crew undergone " a
miserable land journey" to Cape Town, in which many of
them perished. It is scarcely possible to estimate the
sufferings that shipwrecked seamen endured at this time
when travelling along the South African coast. An
epitome of a narrative furnished by the survivors of the
ship Goude Buys* will be found in the Appendix.

On the 12th October, 1679, the ship Vrije Zee arrived
" with our new Commander, Simon van der Stell, and
family. Notwithstanding her long voyage, this ship had
only sacrificed to Neptune 11 men out of 289." As there
was no shipping in Table Bay at the time, nor anything
of importance to be attended to, the Commander went to
Hottentots Holland on the 8th of November, and was
very much pleased with its appearance. Besides this
tract of land, he inspected another at a distance of three
or four hours' journey, supplied with an excellent river,
ornamented by fine trees, and as the spot had never before
been visited by any chief authority, it was now named
Stellenbosch.

The elder Van der Stell, whose rule lasted twenty-
one years, was a man of prudence and ability. The

* This vessel was abandoned at St. Helena Bay in 1694. It is
particularly worthy of notice, that the crew attributed their misfortunes
to the extremely bad provisions on board, which soon incapacitated most
of the men for duty, and necessitated their actually going ashore iu a
savage country to search for food.

94 The History of the Cape Colony. [1682.

same restrictive conduct towards free men and strangers
of course was continued ; but it must be remembered that
the Company is entirely responsible for this policy, and
that the Governors were not allowed the slightest discre-
tionary power. To use Judge Watermeyer's words,* "the
most trivial relaxation of monopolist regulations was a far
more serious crime in the eyes of the Council of the East
India Company than the most violent tyranny exercised
against the colonists." We have already seen that
Commander Quaelberg was dismissed with ignominy for a
courteous relaxation of the monopoly system in favour of
foreigners, and we shall shortly have occasion to detail
the terrible reception given by order of the Company to
French vessels of war in Table Bay.

One of Van der Stell's first acts was to cause the
Government Gardens to be planted, and amongst his
earliest proclamations is one (September 22, 1684)
forbidding all barter with the natives. The customs of
European society, whether good or evil, invariably find
their way to the colonies ; and duelling became so frequent
at the Cape, that in the year 1682 a proclamation against
it was issued, and another shortly afterwards forbade
tradesmen to carry knives or other sharp weapons. As
the garrison lived in a chronic state of discontent, it is
not surprising that the captain of an English vessel which
put into Table Bay in distress was able to induce forty-
three of the soldiers to desert.

Commissioner van Rheede tot Drakenstein having
earnestly recommended the Home Government to send
emigrants, fifty farmers and mechanics, with a like
number of young women, were sent to the Colony
during the year 1684. A grant of sixty morgen of
land Was made for the use of these people, who were
located in the country named Stellenbosch and Draken-
stein. " At this time," remarks Mr. Justice Watermeyer,t
" the Colony had been a third of a century founded.
Despotism had taken deep root. The foundations of

'•' Lectures, page 4o. | Lectures, p. 36.

1085. i

tlxpeclition to Ncmiaquaiaiid. 95

tyranny were firm. The term ' colonial freeman' had lost
all signification of the liberty which freemen in Europe
enjoyed. The heads of the Government and the original
burghers knew that freedom here was the mockery of a
name ; that burghership was a state of subserviency to
the Company, and the new comers, whatever their
European views of the rights of citizenship, were
constrained to bow their heads and yield. Dependent on
the Government, if in all things obedient, they might
prosper in their private circumstances. But to assert any
political right, or to murmur against exactions, entailed
confiscation of their all, separation from their families,
exile to the Mauritius, or some other penal station."

Commander Simon van der Stell, being desirous to
explore the country of the Amaquas, to which various
expeditions had already gone, set out for Namaqualand on
the 25th of August, 1685.* The party comprised fifty-six
white men, besides two Macassars and three slaves, and
the equipage consisted of a calash drawn by six horses,
two field-pieces, eight carts, seven wagons, one boat, 289
draught and pack-oxen, besides saddle-horses and asses ;
also six other wagons, each drawn by eight oxen, which
were the property of the burghers, and only intended to
accompany the expedition as far as the Olifants River.
Having crossed a flat, damp country, with "the Tiger
Mountains on the right and Table Mountain on the left,"
they came to a place called Stink River, in a fine valley,
protected all round by high hills. On the next day
Schacher's and Kuyper's Hottentots met them. The
latter Captain presented the Governor with a slaughter ox,
and received in return a flask of brandy. Passing tribes
of Sonquas, who gained their subsistence by robbing other
Hottentots, and proceeding via Paardeberg, they soon

* The particulars of this journey are obtained from a literal transla-
tion of a Dutch manuscript made by Mr. W. C. von Buchenroder,
published in the South A/riant Quarterly Journal, page 39, In Hall's
Chronology the date of this journey is stated to be 1683. This journal
is to be found also in Hoodie's Papers relative to the Native Tribes,
pp. 4.00, et seq.

96 The History of the Cape Golowj. am.

reached Eiebeek's Kasteel, "which derived its name from
His Honour the Commander van Eiebeek." This moun-
tain was overgrown with timber, and in it they found " an
accessible grotto." The low country and the mountains
on the other side of Berg Eiyer appeared very pleasant,
and the plains abounded with grass and water. A few
days afterwards the expedition met a number of savages
who " had a very rough and scaly skin, arising from the
hunger which they had frequently to suffer, and from the
want of fat with which to anoint themselves. His
Honour the Commander made them a present of a sheep,
and although these are people of no education, they had
the consideration to give him, as a return, the skins of
three bush-cats." Near Piquetberg a rhinoceros charged
"the middle of our train" in great fury, and afterwards
escaped with impunity. " The abovementioned Piquet
mountain received its name from the circumstance that
when His Honour Goske made war on the Gonnemas he
made merry thereon, and there placed piquets." Having
arrived at the Olifants Paver, it is remarked that elephants
are often found there in great numbers ; and that the
banks are clothed with a species of willow, and with thorn
trees of uncommon size. " In this river a fish is caught
resembling in shape the carp of Holland ; in taste, the
salmon, and is of the size of a common codfish."

The account of the country through which the expedi-
tion passed is by no means interesting ; but .one or two
references to the natives are worth noticing. By means
of inquiry it was discovered that Sonqua signified pauper ;
and that each tribe of " Hottentots had their own Sonquas
employed to give notice if they perceived any strange tribe.
They never plunder from the kraals of the persons in
whose service they are ; but do from others, and that as
well in time of peace as in war; because they possess
nothing but what they obtain in that way." " The
Hottentots which we had with us went to the chase, each
with a kerrie in his hand, and arranged in an extended
line, in which they beat along the fields ; and if a quail
appeared, they hit it in its flight with great expertness.

less.] Natim Chief* and the Government. 97

They hunted partridges, hares, and other small game in
the same manner."

Previous to this period the Government had begun to
exercise some species of control over the various Hottentot
tribes, by appointing captains, or confirming the nomina-
tions. Each of these chiefs was furnished with a staff or
baton of office. This feudal system of investiture gave
the natives an idea of the paramount authority of the
Dutch, and we find, accordingly, that when the Com-
mander arrived at a kraal of Hottentots belonging to the
Gregriqua nation, who had rebelled against their captains,
they fled lest their cattle should be seized.

As Van der Stell was very desirous to communicate

with the natives, every endeavour was made to dispel their

fears. A certain " Captain Nonce" arrived one day in

answer to a summons. Ee rode on a pack-ox, and had

with him eleven milch cows, and another pack-ox which

carried his baggage. Upon the Commander asking if he

were willing to barter, Nonce replied that "he had no

cattle and was a poor devil." His Honour then said he

could not take his sheep, as Dutch people would not

receive anything from the poor, but rather give to them.

The Hottentot was quite amazed by this answer, and

entreated the Commander to accept six sheep, stating that

he had abundance of cattle for barter, and was not one of

those who had intended to go to war, but that he was

Master here and His Honour the Governor Master at the

Cape. An attempt, said to be feigned, was then made to

march to his kraal, " in order to see who would be

master," when Nonce protested " that the other captains

had said so, but not he." The son of this man, named

Jonker, who had endeavoured to lead the expedition into

the wrong road, claimed to be captain instead of his

father. The Commander, however, decided against his

pretensions, reduced him to the rank of a " soldier," and

would have punished him severely but for the intervention

of five Hottentot captains, named Oedeson, Harramac,

Otwa, Haby, and Aoe. It is clear from the foregoing that

the Government claimed jurisdiction over South African

n

98 The History of the Cape Colony. [1686.

tribes, and that they presumed themselves to be rulers
over all colonial territory through which their officers
travelled. Native rights never appear to have had any
real signification in the minds of the Dutch ; and although,
as we have seen, one or two nominal purchases were
made, territory was annexed from time to time as conve-
nience dictated. We shall soon have occasion to refer
to the continuous war waged against the native races by
the colonial farmers individually, in small bands, and
under commandos.

This expedition of Van der Stell's was absent about
fifteen weeks, and by its means the Koperbergen were
explored and immense quantities of ore discovered. The
distance from the sea-coast made the Governor despair of
being able to work the mines successfully. The stipula-
tions of a treaty made by Van der Stell with the Amaquas
were to the effect that they should live in peace with the
Company and each other, and that if they broke the latter
agreement the Cape Government would have the right to
interfere.

Before referring at some length to the important immi-
gration of French Huguenots, which took place between
the years 1685 and 1690, it appears interesting to note
what bears reference to the Cape, published by Le Pere
Tachard in his interesting account of the French embassy
to Siam, dispatched between 1685 and 1687, as well as to
furnish an account of the capture of French ships of war
in Table Bay.

A mandarin named Occum Chamnam, who had suffered
shipwreck at L'Agulhas in 1686, when proceeding in a
Portuguese vessel to Lisbon, supplied this writer with a
circumstantial account of the catastrophe, and of a land
journey along the South African coast. In consequence of
mismanagement, the. vessel in which the mandarins were
passengers struck upon rocks close to Agulhas at about
midnight on the 27th of April, 1686. Every person on
board was saved, but they were only able to secure a small
stock of provisions. The Siamese were without any, and
the Portuguese showed very little disposition to assist

1686.] Shipwrecked among the Hottentots. 99

them. On the second day after shipwreck the party set
out for the Dutch settlement at the Cape, walking all day
through a forest, "or rather bushes, for we saw no tall
trees." As very little water was met with, great torments
were suffered from thirst. The first ambassador was
left behind to die, with a faithful friend and an atten-
dant, who, although able to leave him, refused to do so.
On the fifth day of the journey three or four Hottentots
were seen, who came with their assagais, in order to
examine who they were. " The white men were seized
with terror, in the prospect of being pitilessly massacred
by those barbarians." At last the Hottentots went in
advance, and made signs that the others should follow,
pointing to some houses, or rather to three or four
wretched huts on a hill. They were subsequently led to
another village, consisting of about forty huts, covered
with the branches of trees, and where there were four or
five hundred natives. The most earnest efforts were made,
by means of signs and gesticulations, to show that the
white men were suffering from hunger, and desired some-
thing to eat ; but the natives only responded by looking
at each other and laughing immoderately. Strange to
say, the Hottentots were able to utter two words, which
they continued repeating — ' Tabac, pataque.'* Two large
diamonds were offered, but they took no notice of them.
The first pilot was the only one who found a few pataques.
He gave them four for an ox, which they ordinarily sell to
the Dutch for its length in tobacco. But what was this
among so many half-famished wretches, who had eaten
nothing but a few leaves for the last six days ? A
mandarin, seeing that the Hottentots refused gold money,
went to dress his head with some ornaments of gold, and
appeared before them in this state. The novelty pleased
them, and they gave the quarter of a sheep for trinkets
which were of the value of more than a hundred pistoles.

* The Portuguese would seem to have had frequent dealings with the
natives, as " pataque" signified " pataca," a Portuguese colonial coin,
worth ahout three shillings.

H 2

100 The History of the Cape Colony. [16S8.

They passed the night in this place near a large fire
opposite to the huts of the Hottentots. The savages
continued howling and dancing till daylight, " which
kept us on our guard, in the fear of being surprised,
but there was no doubt, if they had been able to
overpower us, they would certainly have done so." In
this narrative the natives are termed "Cafires," and it
would seem that this was the name at that time by which
they were generally designated. The party made an
attempt to penetrate inland, but they soon abandoned it
as nobody knew the way, and the sea-beach afforded
various descriptions of shell-fish. The mandarin, Occum
Chamnam, at last attained safety, after passing through
innumerable dangers, which appear to have been aggra-
vated by his own cowardice and that of the other Siamese.

Father Tachard, who accompanied the French embassy
to Siam and subsequently wrote an account of it, arrived
at the Cape in 1685, and "was extremely surprised to
meet with great politeness." It was reasonable that he
should have been agreeably disappointed, as strict in-
structions had been issued in January, 1681, ordering the
Governor " to take care that no refreshments were fur-
nished to the French." Probably the unusual civility
displayed on this occasion was owing to the circumstance
that the Dutch outward-bound fleet, under the command
of Baron van Eheede tot Drakenstein, was lying in Table
Bay. Father Tachard writes, " that all these gentlemen,
to whom must be added Mr. Van der Stell, Governor, or
to call him by the Dutch title, Commander of the Cape,
possess singular merit, and we were very happy to have
the pleasure of meeting them during the stay which we
made." An equally favourable reception having been
given in 1688 to the second French expedition, which
consisted of no fewer than six ships, the Government of
the Dutch East India Company expressed extreme dis-
pleasure at the friendly feeling which had been mani-
fested, and animadverted severely on Van der Stell' s want
of caution in admitting French officers to a knowledge of
the defenceless state of the settlement. The visitors had

Difficulties with the French. 101

ascertained that, as the Castle was completely commanded
by the neighbouring heights, it was almost entirely useless,
and could be captured with great ease.

Shortly after this period, a war between the allied
powers of England and France against Holland was anti-
cipated, and the Home Government endeavoured to supply
Van der Stell with the latest authentic intelligence, in
order that he might be fully on his guard. Towards the
end of 1G88, hostilities were supposed to be imminent, and
the Stadtholder (William of Orange) was then perfecting
his arrangements to dethrone James II. The Council of
Seventeen, writing to the Cape, say: — "We send this
despatch principally to give notice of the present per-
plexed condition of time and things, and to inform you
that we are, without any doubt, on the point of war with
the Kings of France and England." They did not anti-
cipate that in a few months William of Orange would
become ruler of Great Britain, and were ignorant of the
" great design" so shortly to be carried into effect. In
another letter, alarm is expressed lest a warlike expedi-
tion, then fitting out at Cork, should be bound for the
East ; and the Commander is authorized to take ashore 150
soldiers out of the passing ships, " and in case of neces-
sity to add the freemen, of whom, as you have wTitten a
large number are qualified to perform active service. We
trust that you will thus be able to repel any foreign
attack. We are by no means pleased with the friendly
reception which you gave to the French while in your
port, or satisfied with your having allowed them so many
privileges." In a despatch dated 12th March, 1689, it is
stated that " the actual intention is not to make war on
the English nation, the enterprise being directed against
the King alone, so you are to refrain from being hostile to
them unless they act on the offensive, in which case you
will have to pay them in their own coin, and do them all
the injury in your power. But, as regards the French,
who have seized our ships, you shall in like manner take
possession of their ships which may touch at the Cape,
and detain them until further orders ; but, while taking

102 The History of the Gape Colony. £1689.

care that they do not escape you, you are to treat the
officers and crew with civility. If, however, they should
attempt hostilities, you will deal with them in the same
manner as we have directed in such case respecting the
English." Subsequently, as the French had seized Dutch
merchantmen, and captured in the Channel ships bound
to Holland with specie, instructions were issued "to treat
the French everywhere as enemies, and, as such, to cause
them all possible loss and injury, keeping accurate entries
and charge of all things seized, so as to be able to render
a true account."

Nothing could be more precise or positive than these
directions ; and the unpleasant duty of carrying them into
effect soon devolved upon the Cape Government.

One of the ships of Father Tachard's Siamese expedition,
named La Normande, arrived in Table Bay on the 26th
April, 1689, on a homeward voyage from Pondicherry,
with a cargo consisting principally of piece goods, valued
at 150,915 rupees. After having anchored, her cutter was
immediately lowered, and the respects of the captain sent
to the Honourable Company by Ensign Le Chevalier de
la Machefoliere. The moment this officer entered the
Castle, he and his boat's crew were placed under arrest.
The commanders of the Dutch ships Saamslagh and
Nederland were in the meantime directed to attack the
Frenchman, and if he refused to surrender, then at once
to send boarding parties. The galiot De Noorcl was
ordered to act as a reserve, and, if requisite, to fire into
the Normande. But the rest of this account, as well as
the narrative of the capture of Le Coche, fourteen days
afterwards, is best told in the words of Commander van der
Stell's despatch to the Supreme Government : —

"Our shore boat, likewise full-manned, was ordered, as
well as the boat of the Nederland, under the command of
the first and second officers of that ship, to proceed on
board of the Frenchman as soon as they saw that the
boats of the Saamslagh were alongside. But Goverfc Eoos,
captain of the Saamslagh, having received these orders
from the Commander regarding the employment of our

ig89.j I 'njif/nr of the Normande. 103

shore boat and the boats of the Nederland, at once went
on board, and, finding our boat alongside the Nederland,
ordered her to remain there until he should strike his flag
on board of the Saamslagk, as a sign that they should
start from the Nederland to the Normande, which was in
opposition to the orders given him by the Commander.

" In the meantime the Commander caused the French
boat to put oft' from our wharf well manned and under the
French flag, with the order to be cautious not to approach
the Frenchman so near that he could recognize the
Company's people, and not to go alongside till the fight
had begun.

" Monsieur de Courcelles, captain of the Normande,
seeing the boat coming off with the French flag, and
suspecting no evil, ordered a salute of nine guns to the
Castle, under the smoke of which the cutter and the boat
of the Saamslagh came alongside without being discovered ;
and, as he would not hear of surrendering, they at once
fell to, and after eight of their men and two of ours had
been wounded, they cried for quarter, which was granted.
The ship had forty-nine men and sixteen guns — twelve
and eight pounders.

" Our people having in the afternoon, about three o'clock,
taken to plundering, nothing was known on board of the
Saamslagh of the signal which they were to give to the
boat and cutter of the Nederland; and Captain Boos
omitted to give the slightest notice of what had taken
place to the Commander, having, according to all appear-
ance, determined on having the plunder of the French to
himself. His Honour was therefore necessitated, about
ten o'clock at night, to send off the ' dispensier' Freser, as
we feared that if our people got intoxicated they would
give the French an opportunity of which they might take
advantage, with orders that Captain Eoos should send
ashore the French prisoners whom he had taken on board
of his ship — and who, including the officers, were stripped
to the skin — and to take care that the orders were obeyed ;
in contravention of which, the orlop, the gun-room, fore-
castle, and cabin, and the whole ship, with the exception

104 The History of the Gape Colony. [1689.

of the hold, was plundered ; and here there would have
been trouble enough besides, but for the good watch and
care of the Fiscal and Commissioners, Captain Eoos being
of opinion that whatever was found out of the hold was
his prize and booty, in consequence of which the diamonds,
jewels, and other articles shipped, are missing, and we
have been compelled, on the part of the Company, to
protest against him for all present and future damages.

" The before-mentioned French Company's ship LeCoche,
having parted from her consort, the Normande, by chance
or on purpose, in the latitude of False Bay, arrived here
on the 9th May opportunely, for the purpose of obtaining
refreshments, laden with piece goods to the value of
261,881 rupees, manned with ninety-six men, and armed
with twenty-four iron pieces (eight and six pounders), and
six stone pieces.

" Having come to an anchor towards evening, about
half a musket's shot above the Company's ships, she
saluted the Castle with nine guns, which were returned,
and, after she had first saluted the French King's flag,
which was flying from the Normande for the purpose of
deception, and had received the ordinary return salute,
those on board were quite at ease, and suspected nothing
less than the impending evil. As it was near evening,
and a swell was on, they sent off no boat ; but when at
midnight the weather was somewhat more moderate, they
dispatched a boat to the Normande, which was detained
by our people. When they saw that the boat stayed
away too long, and that three of our ships were nearing
them, — the one for the starboard, another for the stern,
and the third for the larboard, — they became suspicious,
and began to shelter themselves with blankets and mat-^
tresses, to open the ports and point the guns, and to bring
up those that were in the hold, and to make every prepa-
ration for a gallant defence.

" Upon this, Marcus Kok, the captain of the Nedcrland,
who had approached within pistol-shot of the Frenchman,
thought it best, in order to prevent bloodshed, to be
beforehand with him, and about an hour after midnight

1689.] Capture of Le Goche. 105

commenced firing with cannon and musketry. Upon this
the English ship Nathaniel, having received a shot in the
hull from the Frenchman, did not remain in his debt, but
returned three balls. At length, finding the fire too
hot, after the second broadside — their captain, Monsieur
D'Armagnan, and two common soldiers, having been
killed and eight men wounded — they begged for quarter.

"They were again plundered, as shamefully as the
Normande, and everything would have been carried off but
for the firm opposition of the Fiscal and Commissioners,
who shut the hold, where the sailors had already penetrated,
the violence having been great, the discipline small, and
the boats and cutters of the ships in the Bay alongside,
against the orders given to the officers in full council, and
the resolution had thereon.

" The prisoners — in number about one hundred and
forty — have been well secured, and forty of them have been
sent to Batavia, the half by the Nederland, and the other
half by the Slon. The rest will follow to Ceylon. The
officers, priests, and Jesuits will be sent to Europe by the
Batavian and Ceylon return ships, and the prizes La Nor-
mande and Le Coche ; the former, now called the Good
Hope, being consigned, with its lading, to the Praesidial
Chamber of Zeeland, and the latter, now named the Africa,
to the Chamber of Amsterdam.

" The most important prisoners are Monsieur de Cour-
celles, captain of the Normande ; Monsieur du Terte, his
lieutenant ; Chevalier de la Machefoliere, his ensign ; De
Beauchamp, major of the Siam Begiment ; De Saint Marie,
captain of the same Begiment, who has been allowed, at
his own request, to proceed to Batavia, there to await the
expected pardon of his King for homicide committed by
him in France ; Volant, captain and engineer, &c.

" We intend to keep the French flag flying on the
Normande as long as she lies at anchor here, in the hope
thereby to mislead the French ship Le President, which is
expected from Surat, and entice her to the anchorage,
where she will be received with the same civility as the
others have enjoyed."

106 The History of the Cafe Colony. am.

The French Government, although extremely annoyed
at these occurrences, was, fortunately for Van cler Stell,
fully occupied in defending itself against the allied forces
on the Continent of Europe. So, although the Comman-
der was empowered to detain some of the eastward-bound
ships, so that, " if the French should arrive, not only to
beat them off, but, if possible, to capture them," no
opportunity was afforded him of carrying these instruc-
tions into effect. On one occasion, certainly, a hostile
fleet was reported to be in sight, and the following order
to the Landdrost and Heemraden* of Stellenbosch and
Drakenstein was immediately issued : —

"28th August, 1689.

'■' Good Friends, — As we are threatened with an attack
by the enemy, and it is our duty to be prepared for it in
time, you are ordered, on sight of these presents, and
without delay, to collect your men, horse and foot, and to
come hither with the Landdrost, fully armed and equipped,
well provided with powder and lead, leaving only ten or
twelve men to protect your wives and children and
property against the Hottentots or other need. On which
relying,

" We are,

" Simon van der Stell."

Three ships were in sight, and three signal guns had
been fired from Eobben Island. But as the fleet proved
to be Dutch, not French, the order was withdrawn the
same day.

* The first Landdrost was Johannes Muller, appointed about 1685,
" for the superintendence of the Company's farms Klapmuts, T^vgerberg,
&c." " He is to be allowed a Company's horse and one slave, to have
two Dutchmen to assist and keep him conipamr, and to be sheriff and
officer over the village of Stellenbosch." The Landdrost presided at
the meetings of Heemraden. but this court had no criminal jurisdiction.
" All the criminals are to be overtaken by the veldwagter under your
commando, and prosecuted before the Honourable Court of Justice,
leaving the Fiscal his lights."

CHAPTER V.

The States-General of the Netherlands determine to send French Refugees to the
Cape — Conditions and Regulations — Departure of the Ships — Family names of
the Emigrants — Their treatment by the Cape authorities — Discontent —
Retrospect — Natives — Acquirement of Land — Slavery — Discovery — Abdication of
Simon van der Stell — His character — Willem Adriaan van der Stell —
Discontent among Colonists — Petitions to the Home Government — Discovery of
the Conspiracy — Proceedings of Government — Recall of Van der Stell — Van
Assemburg Governor — Statistics.

The States-General of the Netherlands had received
with hospitality the Huguenots expelled from France by
Louis XIV. ; hut finding that many of them could not
obtain employment, and learning that the Dutch East
India Company had lately sought for emigrants from
Holland, they proposed to the Directors to offer them a
home at the Cape. A scheme of settlement was
accordingly framed, but it was never earnestly carried out.
The Company argued that as hostilities with France were
feared, it would be dangerous to harbour in the South
African Colony a very large number of French subjects.
The true reason is stated by Mr. Justice Watermeyer to
be* rather because the Chamber of Seventeen well knew
that it would be difficult to bind in the trammels in which
the "freemen" of the Cape were held, "too many at a
time of those who had already sacrificed much." A few
might be beneficially used, while many would be the
destruction of despotism. The total number of French
Protestants who arrived before 1688 did not amount in
the whole to 300 men, women, and children.

A despatch from Amsterdam, dated 16th of November,
1687, announces the intentions of the Company with
regard to French emigrants in the following manner : —
"We have resolved to send you, in addition to other
freemen, some French and Piedmontese refugees — on the
footing and conditions [of the regulations of which some

* Lecture, page 37.

108 The History of the Cape Colony. \im.

copies, in Dutch and French, are sent herewith — all of
the Reformed religion, for the exercise of which we have
likewise allowed them a minister, who is on the point of
leaving with one of the ships of the Chamber of Zeeland.
Among them you will find wine-growers, and some of
them who understand the making of brandy and vinegar,
by which means we expect that you will find the want of
which you complain in this respect satisfied. It will be
your duty, as these people are destitute of everything, on
their arrival to render them assistance, and furnish them
with what they may require for their subsistence until
they are settled and can gain their own livelihood. They
are industrious people and easily contented." The follow-
ing is a summary of the regulations and conditions referred
to in this despatch : — 1. Emigrants to be conveyed free to
the Cape, upon taking the oath of fidelity to the Company.
2. Nothing but apparel and necessaries for the passage to
be carried, " money excepted," which any one may carry
with him to such amount as he pleases. 3. Every one to
settle at the Cape of Good Hope, and gain his living by
tilling the land, or by exercising some art or trade. 4. To
the party that shall apply himself to tillage, shall be
given as much ground as he shall be enabled to bring into
cultivation ; seed and implements to be furnished, if
necessary, on loan. 5. Every emigrant to remain five full
years ; but it shall be open, by appeal to the Assembly, to
obtain some remission of this term. 6. Certain regulations
with regard to payment of passages by returning emigrants
at the expiry of five years. If any passenger take mer-
chandize with him it shall be retained, and applied to the
profit of the Company.

The ship Langemoyk, or Oosthuysen, left Holland with
the first Huguenot emigrants* in the winter of 1687, and
arrived in Table Bay in the beginning of April, 1688.
About the same time a number of Piedmontese refugees

* The following are the surnames of the Huguenots in the first ship :
— Marais, Taboureux, Fouche, Basque, Bruere, Pinnard, Sebatie,
Leroux, Malherbe, Paste, Godefroy.

16B9.] The Huguenot Im/mdgratim, 109

left in the China^ but in consequence of having to put
back through stress of weather did not reach the Cape
until the 4th of August. The despatch sent with these
people states : — " You will be pleased to assist them with
such support as they may need until they can support
themselves. For this purpose you will point out to them
at once how they should go to work. . . Among them
are persons who understand the culture of the vine, who
will in time be able to benefit the Company and them-
selves." The ship Oosterlandt left Middelburg on the 29th
January, 1688, with Flemings, and a few Huguenots.!

The Council of Seventeen, in a despatch dated the 1st
April, 1688, states that " there are at present in the neigh-
bourhood of Nuremberg near two hundred families, who
were about a thousand souls, men, women, and children,
who have since been greatly diminished in number and
fallen to about six or seven hundred. They are farmers
and industrious people, and nearly all of them understand
some trade. . . . They are intended to settle at the
Cape, and to earn their livelihood as colonists, and wish
to be conveyed thither." In a subsequent despatch, dated
the 21st July, it is said that these Piedmontese, " dread-
ing the sea and the long voyage," refused to come out.
Small parties of French refugees continued to arrive at
different times. The ships Schelde and Zuid Bovelandt,
which respectively entered Table Bay in June and August,
brought a large number, and a third party, comprising
forty persons, arrived in the ship Wafer van Alkmaer on
the 27th January, 1689.1

* The following are the surnames of the Piedmontese : — Mesnard,
Corbonne, Anthonarde, Madan, Verdette, Jourdan, Rousse, Malan,
Goviaud, Verdeaux, Grange, Corban, Resne, Pelanchon, Fraichaise,
Furet, Scaet. One despatch states : — " There will go over a colonist
by this opportunity, one Jacques Savoye, with his wife. He was for
many years an eminent merchant at Ghent." Savoye left in the ship
which sailed on the 2!)th January, 1088.

•J- Surnames : — De Savoye, Le Clfirq, Carnoy, Nortie, Vyton, Du
Plessy, Menanto, Talifer, Briet, Avied, Claudon, De Buyse, Pariser.

J A chronicle obtained by M. de Lettre, French Consul, states the
names of the families which came in these three ships to have been the

110 The History of the Cwpe Colony. [im.

A despatch of the 16th December, 1688, advises that a
passage by the ship Sion had been given to Pierre, Abra-
ham, and Jacob de Villiers, and these people landed on
the 6th May, 1689.

A number of the emigrants died during the long passage,
and many of those who arrived were very weak and
sickly. Commander Van der Stell did his best to assist
them, and large voluntary subscriptions, both in money
and cattle, were collected from the colonists for their
benefit.* As it was the object of the Government to incor-
porate the refugees with the Dutch inhabitants, lands
within the Cape and Stellenbosch Districts were granted.
The largest number were located at Drakenstein and other
places along the Berg Eiver Valley.

The French Protestants imagined that they would be
permitted to exercise religious liberty at the Cape, and
made an application to be allowed to elect their own vestry.
The result of this request can be learned in the following
important memorandum of a resolution of the Governor
(Van der Stell) and Council, dated 28th November, 1689 :
— " In presence of all the members, except Cornells
Linnes, the Commander informed the meeting of the
annoyance and the manifold difficulties occasioned to him
by some of the French pretended refugees, who, under
pretence of escaping persecution on account of their faith,
quitted France, and went to other parts, particularly to
Holland, under the cloak of zeal, as members and sup-
following : — Avis, Basson, Bastions, Beaumons, Benczat, Bota, Bruet,
Camper (pastor), Cellier, Cordier, Carpenant, Couteau, Couvret,
Crogne, Daillean (pastor), Debuze, Debeurier, Decabriere, Delporte,
Deporte, Deruel, Dumont, Du Plessis, Dupre, Du Toit, Durant,
Dubuisson, Extreux, Fracha, Foury, Floret, Gauche, Grillon, Gardiol,
Gounay, Hugot, Jacob, Joubert, Lanoy, Laporte, Laupretois, Le Clair,
Lefebre (surgeon), Le Grand, Lecrivent, Lombard, Longue, Maniet,
Martinet, Nice, Norman, Passeman, Peron, Pinnares, Prevot, Rassimus,
Retief, Sellier, Terreblanche, Terrier, Tenayment, Terrout, Vallete,
Vaudray, Vanas, Valtre, Verbat, Villons, Viviers, Vyol, Villion, Vivet,
Vitou, Vitroux.

* The Government of India presented ^1,200 for the purchase of
seed, implements, &c.

1689.] The French Refugees and the Government. Ill

porters of the Protestant faith, and led a lazy and indolent
life ; and notwithstanding the Honourable Company, our
lords and masters having allowed some of them passages
to this place, to gain a livelihood here by agriculture,
and whatever else they might be able to do, now they live
in an expensive manner, and — without our reflecting
on the good ones — have shown that they do not answer
the expectations which the Company had of them. We
scarcely received ten or twelve of them strong and well,
and yet all were treated better than our own nation, and
plentifully supplied with every necessary to help them to
a settlement. They have, however, hinted to this one and
that, and even to the Commander himself, that on the
arrival of another Minister, and the accession of a number
of their countrymen, they would be disposed to choose
their own Magistrate and ruler, and thus to withdraw the
obedience due from them to the Honourable Company.
That to this end they applied to the Commander to be
allowed to live together, and not to be attached to Stellen-
bosch or Drakenstein, and mixed up with the Germans.
That they finally, about one hundred and fifty in number,
men and women, young and old, having become stout and
strong, undertook, even against the judgment of their
Minister Simond, to ask for a separate vestry (Kerkraad),
not being satisfied with that which had lately been
established at Stellenbosch, and for this purpose they
chose from amongst them, under the conduct of Pierre
Simond, four persons to wait on the Commander and
Council, named Jacob de Savoye, Daniel de Euelle,
Abraham de Villiers, and Louis Courtier, with the request
for a separate vestry. Upon which, upon mature delibera-
tion, it was unanimously resolved, for the greater advantage
of the Company, to restrain their French impertinences
and all their plotting, and check it in time ; and by
judicious punishments to expose their subterfuges to the
community at large, and to warn them very seriously to
do their duty." After this resolution was carried, the
deputation from the French Protestants was admitted.
Pierre Simond, as their spokesman, having expressed the

112 The History of the Cape Colony. [iG89.

wishes of the memorialists, the Governor read aloud the
oath of allegiance* taken by them and all free people, and
dismissed them with a serious warning to conform strictly
to their oath, and to be careful for the future not to trouble
the Commander and Council with impertinent requests,
and to be satisfied with the vestry established at Stellen-
bosch.t

It is quite clear that the Chamber of Seventeen were
perfectly correct in doubting the expediency of sending
many French refugees to the Cape. Although, including
men, women, and children, the number that arrived
certainly did not exceed three hundred, they soon proved
themselves troublesome to the Government, and enter-
tained ideas of liberty, or of having their own way, by no
means pleasing to Van der Stell, and of which the Directors
could not have approved. Being comparatively few in
number, they were forced to submit, and eventually
became absorbed in the Dutch and German population.
There was no actual outbreak under Simon van der Stell's
government, although privileges which they considered
rights were continually trenched upon. The French
language was prohibited at all public services, except when
the Bible was read, and it was considered a great conces-
sion when, in 1690 and 1691, eight French refugees were
chosen by the Commander to be deacons and elders at

* The oath was as follows : — " I promise and swear to be subject and
faithful to their High Mightinesses and States-General of the United
Provinces, our sovereign masters and lords, to His Highness our Lord
the Prince of Orange, as Governor, Captain, and Admiral-General, and
to the Directors of the Company General of the East Indies of this
country ; likewise to the Governor-General of the Indies, as well as to
all the Governors, Commandants, and others who, during the voyage
by sea and afterwards on land, shall have command over us. And that
I will observe and execute faithfully and in all points all the laws and
ordinances made or to be made by Messieurs the Directors, by the
Governor-General, and by the Council, as well as by the Governor or
Commandant of the place of my abode, regulate and behave myself in
all particulars as a good and faithful subject — So help me God !"

f This memorandum is extracted from N. Z. A. Tydschrift, vol. v.,
pp. 204, 205, and is quoted in the Cape Monthly Magazine for 1SG0,
page 205.

1700.] Retrospect. — Policy of the Government. 113

Stellenbosch. There is little doubt that the discontent of
those emigrants was one of the principal causes of the
civil disturbances under the younger Van der Stell, which
will shortly be referred to.

At the commencement of the eighteenth century it
seems desirable to cast a retrospective glance at the policy
of the Government, particularly with regard to natives,
the system of slavery, and the acquirement of land. The
nominal purchase of land from native tribes was only
considered expedient during the first few years of Dutch
rule. As Judge Watermeyer remarks :* " After this
period (1684) there was no affectation of a desire on
the part of the Dutch authorities that native claims to
land should be respected, and that there should be an end
to the extension of the colonial territory. Thus the land
of Waveren,! subsequently called Tulbagh, was soon added,
and — the authorities sometimes preceding the inhabitants,
more frequently the colonists preceding the authorities —
possession was taken from time to time of the lands to the
north and the east, until the arid wilderness northwards
and Kafir defiance eastward formed the boundary of
European encroachment."

Nothing can be plainer than the course followed. The
native tribes were in the first instance so powerful that
conciliatory measures, and the ostensibly fair means of
obtaining land by purchase, had to be adopted. The Dutch
soon gained strength in proportion as' the Hottentots,
enervated by European vices, and frequently defeated,
became weaker and less able to resist. What at first was
advisable soon became unnecessary, and land was annexed
without form or pretext, as convenience dictated. The
early colonists and the Government were strongly opposed
to shedding blood, except in defence ; and at first, no

* Lectures, page 26.

f Roodsand, or Waveren, behind the Berg River Mountains, derived
its name from a family of Amsterdam named " Waveren," the maternal
ancestors of Simon van der Stell. Loan leases were "ranted in 1701
of land at Bokkeveld, Roggeveld, Zwartberg, and Olifants Biver.
Constantia had been planted by Simon van der Stell about 1688.

I

114 The History of the Cape Colony. [1700

doubt, prudential reasons contributed to this feeling.
Indeed, " for the greater part of the first century of the
Dutch occupation the life of the black man was as sacred
as that of the white, and the atrocities at which we
shudder, of the men who hunted down Bushmen like wild
beasts, were reserved for the end of the last and the
commencement of the present century."* There is great
reason, however, to fear that the Dutch policy was
prompted more by selfishness than philanthropy. No
effort worthy the name was ever made to civilize the
natives. Christianity was evidently considered to be unfit
for Hottentots, and at a time when Portuguese mission-
aries were converting thousands of savages throughout the
East Indies and in South America, the Dutch exhibited a
sullen indifference to the redemption of the heathen, which
soon bore fruit in the total alienation of the native races,
and in their inveterate and continuous hostility.

As we have already seen, the term " Cape Freeman"
was always a misnomer, and restrictive regulations
invariably fettered trade. The Commander and the Grand
Council of Policy exercised the inconsistent functions of
the Executive, the Legislature, and the Supreme Court of
Justice, so that they could constitute any act a crime, and
then punish it without check or control. It is true that a
right of appeal to the Indian authorities at Batavia was
nominally allowed ; but no one could dare to avail himself
of it without incurring the hatred and hostility of those
in power, and exposing himself to ruin.

The Commanders in the Colony, as well as the Directors
of the Company, were in favour of slavery. A few slaves
were procured so far back as Van Eiebeek's time, and a
despatch from the Chamber of Seventeen, dated 7th
November, 1665, states : — " We can easily conceive that
slaves are very necessary to private farmers, and that,
without them, they can scarcely maintain themselves."!

* Lectures, page 27.

f It would seem that the first slaves were brought by the English.
On one occasion, under date 10th October, 1664, it is stated: — "The
Commander, Fiscal, and others went on board the English slave-ship,

1700.1 Retrospect. — Importation of Slaves. 115

The Directors shortly afterwards ordered that a number
should be sent from Batavia. In a despatch of the 14th
May, 1667, the Chamber of Seventeen remark: — "We
expected that we could have furnished you with some slaves
from the coast of Guinea, or thereabouts, but as it does
not appear that any are to be had there, we must think of
other means." It seems never to have been thought
possible to utilize Hottentot labour, although we read that,
on the 7th October, 1672, "the Governor engaged
thirty Hottentots, who generally loiter about the fort in
idleness, to wheel earth for the new fort, on condition of
receiving two good meals of rice daily, together with a
sopie and a piece of tobacco. These Africans undertook
the work with great eagerness." Governor Bax van
Herentals having asked (14th March, 1677) whether, upon
the arrival of a number of slaves from Madagascar, he
should lend or sell some of them to the farmers, was
informed, in reply, that he might do so, and measures
were taken accordingly. Various entries in the Becords
refer to the arrival of slave cargoes, and on one occasion it
is mentioned that, in 1678, the Voorhont procured two
Kafir slaves on the East Coast, at a cheap rate, for
clothing.* There is no trace in the Becords of cruelty
having been exercised to these unfortunate people (except in
so far as the punishments inflicted on crimes committed by
them were exceptionally severe) ; yet they were constantly
plotting to escape, or deserting when an opportunity
offered.! The Dutch possessions in the East furnished
the best description of slaves, and the Cape formed a sort
of penal settlement for Java and the Dutch factories in
the East, and the most dangerous characters were
shipped to this distant spot, where they could be rendered

saw the slaves sitting on the orlop, the greater part of them very young,
entirely naked, and perfect skeletons."

::: It is stated also in the entry : " As to the question of baptizing
slave children, you will be guided by the practice in Batavia."

f Various regulations were made respecting the manumission of
slaves. No slave of a private person could be bound to the whipping-
post and flogged, without the consent of the Commander.

I 2

116 The History of the Capo Colony. 11700.

harmless by separation from their fellow-coimtryrnen
and co-religionists. As Malay intelligence was always
highly esteemed, people of this race were eagerly sought
for, and as there was a market and a demand at the Cape,
the supply was easily afforded by vessels of the homeward-
bound fleets. The Malays always retained a marked
pre-eminence over the other coloured races, and have
exhibited for many years the singular phenomenon of a
large and increasing Mahommedan community among a
Christian people, in a land where enormous sums of money
have been expended in endeavours to convert the heathen
to Christianity. Wedded to their own institutions, they
are comparatively unchanged at the present day, and
missionary efforts have neither been able to change their
religion nor their customs.*

It was invariably the policy of the Company to extend
their knowledge of South Africa, and to discover a country
where they might secure a trade in gold, ivory, and slaves.
Simon van der Stell, ever anxious to promote discovery,
had in 1688 ordered Isaac Schyver to proceed to the Bio
De la Goa, and in the following year Ensign Schuper was
sent upon a mission to the Inqua Hottentots near the
Gamtoos Eiver. It has already been stated that the
territory near the Bay of Natal was purchased from the
natives in the year 1690. This evident desire to extend
the territorial possessions, or rather to increase the
number of settlements of the Company in South Africa
may seem inconsistent with their unwillingness to
encourage immigration, and their policy of continuing a
mere mercantile monopoly at the Cape ; but it was quite
in accordance with the spirit of their operations.

* A manuscript preserved in Sir George Grey's collection (South
African Library) contains a curious statement made by the Priest
Gaman Achmat, to the effect that the Priest Sikh Joseph (understood
to mean chief or nobleman) arrived in the Colony about the year 1700,
and was buried at Zandvliet, about half a mile from the dwelling-house
of Mr. P. L. Cloete, and that subsequently his bodv was disinterred
and conveyed to Malacca. " A finger, however, was kept and remained
in the tomb." Four attendants were also buried there.

1700.] Retrospect, — Retirement of Van dee Stell. 117

Factories and stations were wanted where trading could be
advantageously carried on. Commerce, not colonization,
was the object of the Company, and they did not wish to
be embarrassed by an European population, which could
only attain riches by becoming their successful rivals.*

It would be a vain and unprofitable task to take note of
the numerous Proclamations and Placaats which continu-
ally expressed the will of various Governors. The colonists
were almost always dependent upon the caprice of their
rulers. " The Burgher Council"! (Mr. Justice Watermeyer
remarks) " indeed existed, but this was a mere delusion,
and must not be confounded with the system of local
government by means of District Burgher Councils which
that most able man, Commissioner De Mist, sought to
establish during the brief government of the Batavian
Republic, from 1803 to 180G, when the Dutch nation,
convinced and ashamed of the false policy by which they
had permitted a mere money-making association to
disgrace the Batavian name, and to entail degradation on
what might have been a free and prosperous Colony, sought
to redeem their error by making this country a national
colonial possession, instead of a slavish property, to be
neglected, oppressed, or ruined, as the caprice or avarice
of its merchant owners might dictate."

Simon van der Stell abdicated in 1699, and retired from
the labours of government to a farm near Stellenbosch,
having first secured the appointment of his son, Willem
Adriaan van der Stell, to the office of Commander of the
Settlement. He died thirteen years afterwards, in 1712,
and was interred with great pomp and ceremony. The

* Among the memorabilia of the seventeenth century an earthquake
is recorded to have occurred on the 7th September, 1U95. Forty-four
years afterwards (in 1739), and on the same day of the same month
(September), another shock of an earthquake was experienced. Again
in July, 1766, and subsequently at long intervals, these convulsions of
the earth have taken place, but, fortunately, little damage has ever
resulted from them, altbough it is evident that South Africa is subject
to their iniiuence at irregular periods.

1 Tbis^Council was originated by Commissioner Van Goens in his
instructions to Commander Van liiebeek, dated 16th April, 1607.

118 The History of the Cape Colony. [1700.

elder Van der Stell was a vigorous and able administrator,
although he had no conception of any liberty which
clashed with the ideas of his employers. He looked
upon grumbling and dissatisfaction as rebellion, and it
will be seen that his son carried this notion to its furthest
limit.

The French refugees introduced sparks of discontent,
which were not extinguished by Simon van der Stell.
Disappointment, as well as loss of privileges, constantly
fanned the flame, and they, as well as many of the other
colonists, became at last so exasperated at the conduct of
the younger Van der Stell as to address petitions to the
Governor-General at Batavia and to the Chamber of
Seventeen against him. About this time (1705) the free
burghers of the Colony numbered 450, and their position
was a very disagreeable one. Not merely debarred from
commercial pursuits, they found that, in disobedience to
orders from the Home Government, the Commander, with
his relatives, carried on farming operations so extensively
as to become serious competitors with them in the only
pursuits by means of which they were able to earn a
livelihood. The petition to Holland commences by stating
— "Pressed down in utmost need, we, in all dutiful
submission, take the liberty to utter our righteous com-
plaints to your Honours ; and to this step we are the more
constrained, because, by reason of the unrighteous and
haughty tyranny of the Governor, W. A. van der Stell, we
are not alone grievously oppressed, but the rather treated
as slaves; and inasmuch as we are free-born men and
subjects of their High Mightinesses, it is readily to be
understood that such unwonted treatment is doubly hard
to be borne. We have therefore determined to lay before
your Honours, as impartial champions of right and justice,
as briefly as we can in the sequel, wherein this oppression
consists."* The petitioners then proceed, in strong and

* The chief authorities on the subjects of Cape political troubles
early in the eighteenth century are a number of folio pamphlets to be
found in the Dessinian Collection, South African Library, of which the

1705.] Complaints of the ywng&r Van tier Stell. 119

embittered language, to state that the Commander,
contrary to law, seized upon such large and valuable
grants of ground cultivated at the public expense, that
fifty farmers could gain a livelihood on them. His
vineyard contained 400,000 vines, and his flocks and herds
comprised 800 cattle and upwards of 10,000 sheep. Sixty
Company's servants were employed to do the work, and
one hundred Government slaves assisted them, while
" his wagons, ploughs, &c, were made of the Company's
iron, and the wood-work of wood cut in the Company's
forests." The possession of fifteen cattle stations, and the
cruel monopoly of pasture, are specially referred to, while
the manner in which the large quantity of stock was
obtained is thus explained: — "The Governor, and his
brother, Frans the younker, the clergyman, Petrus Kalden,
and others of the Company's servants, were the first who
undertook the barter of cattle, for this was clone by them
in an underhand secret manner, without the knowledge of
anyone else that the traffic had been opened. In order
to carry on this trade, they dispatched a large number of
men with powder and lead, who bartered indeed from
some, robbed others in most scandalous wise, and forced
the cattle from them ; and in such manner the barterers
returned home well provided. For the rest, His Excellency
has by foul means filched cattle from several burghers,
&c. Now, when the Governor and the other gentlemen
had bartered abundantly, he declared the trade open; but,
after a little time, this was again forbidden by Placaat.
Upon this, when the Directors again declared the free
traffic open to the inhabitants, the order was withheld by
the Governor, while he was himself busied with barter in
his own behalf, having for the purpose sent away his

following is a list: — Klagtschrift in den Jure 1700; Korte Deductie
ran W. A. van der Stell ; Xeutrale Gedragten ; Contra Deductie, by J.
Van der Heiden and Adam Tas. These were published at Amsterdam,
and contain not only the charges against the younger Van der Stell,
but the replies of that officer to them. See also an excellent article in
the Cape Monthly Magazine, 1857, p. 150 ; also Mr. Justice Water-
meyer's Lectures, p. 38, et seq.

120 The History of the Gape Colony. [1705.

superintendent, who returned with 300 head. The impro-
prieties committed herein have excited the Hottentots, and
those, for the injuries suffered by them, wreak their
vengeance on the innocent." But the Commander is by
no means the only official attacked ; Kalden, the chaplain,
is thus spoken of: — "He, too, is one of the largest farmers,
and notwithstanding that he hath, beyond his other gains,
120 florins per month from the Honourable Company, it
is nevertheless certainly true that he makes no account of
religion, inasmuch as he is much more interested about
his cultivated lands than about his pulpit ; he sometimes
for a fortnight together enjoys himself on his farm. It
hath often happened that people have come a considerable
distance from the country to have their children baptized,
and others to be joined in matrimony, but were compelled
to return home sore disappointed. But how improper
soever these tilings may be, he little cares, as he has
ingratiated himself with the Governor. It will rarely
occur that the Governor is at his country house but the
clergyman betakes himself to his likewise. Of an absence
for two Sundays, and that frequently, he thinks nothing ;
and dares to say, ' If His Excellency and the second
person are not at the Cape, what should I do there?'
Your Honours may hence judge how little respect this
so-called pastor has for religion. We could add many
instances of his conduct, but these would be of a coarse
nature, which we endeavour to avoid." After special
mention is made of the persecution which the farmers
who lived near the Governor's lands had to endure, the
brother of Van der Stell is thus referred to : — ' He is as

full of mischief as an egg of meat Belying

on his brother the Governor, he doth as much evil as his
bile suggests. He is a most dangerous instrument — yea,
a pest to the Cape, having his enjoyment in annoying the
free burghers, considering it an honour to practice decep-
tion ; and if it were in his power to destroy all the
burghers in one day, he would not take two for the
purpose." This " younker" is charged with having, at the
Governor's desire, bribed several men to assault and

1705.] Further Complaints of the Governor. 121

cudgel " two ancient burgher councillors, so that they
should feel it." And, then, as a peroration to this part
of the petition, it is said : " In truth, from the actions of
these three gentlemen (the Governor, his brother, and the
clergyman), it must be concluded that they not only
imagine that they have license to do what they please, but
that the whole land is their freehold, inasmuch as they
attempt to play the master over all ; and wTere their power
but fully equal to their will, most undoubtedly all the
burghers would be banished the country."

The most serious charge was made relative to the
conduct of the Commander towards the wine-farmers. A
tithe of their produce, it is stated, had always to be depo-
sited at the Government stores, and the remainder could
never be sold except at the prices iixed by the Company.
When foreign ^hips required supplies, the planters had to
sell at ten to twenty rix-dollars per leaguer to the
Commander, who, in his turn, charged the captains at the
rate of one hundred ducatons (or one hundred and fifty
rix-dollars) per leaguer, thus making an enormous profit,
which went into his own pocket. It is alleged that the
corn-farmers had to part with their grain at half its real
value ; that the right of fishing at Kalk Bay was denied to
all except the Governor's slaves ; and that title-deeds
could never be obtained without "reasons that jingle" in
the form of douceurs. " All which things are incontro-
vertible proofs that the Governor is rightly deemed a
scourge of the land's inhabitants, in that he not only
envies them any prosperity, but would exhaust them
utterly in as far as in him lies, and expose them to
perdition, using for his maxim ' that a ruined community
is easily ruled.' But this is no marvel, seeing that he
is callous to virtue, and has not the least respect for
an honest man ; but vile vagabonds who earn a liveli-
hood by rascality and thieving are the Governor's best
friends ; and such are in high grace with him, for
they fill his hands. Further, he lends his ears to vain
babbling men and iiatterers, being a coward before the
truth."

122 The History of the Oape Colony. [1706.

It has already been mentioned that two petitions were
sent. The first was addressed to the Indian authorities
at Batavia, and the other (of which the tenor has now
been given) to the Chamber of Seventeen. An oppor-
tunity for forwarding the latter to Holland was being
sought, when Van der Stell received intelligence from
Java that the former document had reached the
Governor-General of India. The members of the Cape
Government were, of course, violently enraged, and every
endeavour was made to discover the framers of a petition
which had dared to attribute blame to the Commander
and the principal functionaries. In a small community
such an investigation could not be attended with much
difficulty, and secret inquiries were soon rewarded by
information which appeared to prove that Adam Tas, a
farmer of Stellenbosch, was the principal ringleader of the
disaffected. No sooner was this discovery made than Van
der Stell, in conjunction with his principal adviser,
Landdrost Starrenberg, commanded the arrest of Tas,
and the seizure of all his books and papers. Starrenberg
and three Members of Council, named Willem van Putten,
Jan Brommert, and Hendrik Bouwman, were charged with
the execution of this order ; and the Governor's carriage,
together with an armed escort, were placed at their
disposal. They arrived at the ringleader's house in
Stellenbosch shortly before daylight on Sunday, 28th
February, and, having secured all the approaches, rushed
into the bedroom where Tas with his wife and family were
asleep. The unfortunate man was borne away in the
custody of two soldiers, and, after the chests and boxes
had been searched and sealed, his writing-desk was
secured and carried to Cape Town.

This desk was found to contain a copy of the memorial
and a list of the signatures to it, which Samuel Elzivier
(the second person) immediately brought to the Governor.
The Contra Deductie states " that His Excellency was
so enraged in the acquisition of this precious jewel, that
he determined to persecute us with fire and sword, and to
doom us to the gallows and the wheel." This is a speci-

1706.] Seizure of the Governor's Opponents, 123

men of exaggerated language which shows the direction
of the entire current of their remarks. Tas was thrown
into prison on a charge of high treason, and bail was, of
course, refused. It appears that the first signature to the
memorial was that of a Hollander, seventy years of age,
named Jan Rotterdam, who is said to have previously
incurred Van der Stell's animosity by not rising in church
on one occasion (according to the usual custom) when His
Excellency entered.* The Political and Judicial Council,
which was summoned upon the arrest of Tas, immediately
issued the following order : — " The freeman and old
Burgher Councillor, Jan Rotterdam, is hereby, by virtue of
a resolution of Council held in this place, ordered to
betake himself on board of the ship De Herstelde Leeuio
within twenty-four hours; therewith to proceed toBatavia,
to answer to the Honourable Indian Government respect-
ing such acts as he hath oftentimes committed, contrary
to his honour, his oath, and his duty, against the lawful
authority of the place."

Vigorous measures were taken to arrest "the traitors;"
but those who avowed that they had been misled were
offered pardon if they would come before the authorities
and declare their repentance. Seizure and incarceration
were the punishments inflicted on the obdurate, while the
friends of the Government were hospitably entertained at
His Excellency's residence, and treated to pipes and
tobacco, with copious draughts of beer. At a broad Council
held on 4th March, 1706, at which several of the captains
of vessels in port assisted, the following Proclamation was
agreed on, of which the subjoined forms the most import-
ant portion : —

"We have heard, with sorrow and high displeasure,
that, as well here at the Cape as in the country, there are
within this Government malicious and wicked inhabitants,
who have not alone been guilty of entering into a
conspiracy against the lawful authority and Government of

* It is stated that he could not, but it is difficult to imagine how a man
who was able to attend worship in a church could not rise on his feet.

124 The History of the Gape Colony. [1706.

this settlement, but have also, by means of libellous
writings against the Government, to which they, partly by
persuasion and partly by force, obtained signatures,
seduced others from their virtuous courses, and drawn
them into their pernicious schemes ; and whereas all such
proceedings cannot; be deemed in any other light than as
public mutiny and sedition, and disregard of the lawful
authority of Government, tending to the destruction and
to the ruin of the people and of the country ;

" Now, therefore, we, with the advice and concurrence
of the Honourable the Commander and Council of the
return fleet now in this bay, for the good of the Govern-
ment and the preservation of the public peace, which has
already been much disturbed by the said malicious and
turbulent persons, and feeling it our duty to provide
against the great evils which may arise from such proceed-
ings, using thereto the means which Heaven and our
Masters have placed in our hands, have forbidden and
interdicted all and every inhabitant of this Colony, whom-
soever, by the obedience due to us and to our Government,
as we do by these presents interdict and forbid them, that
no one shall enter into any combination, association, or
conspiracjr, or council with the said evil-intentioned
inhabitants who have combined against the chief authority,
nor shall sign any libellous nor seditious papers under
penalty of punishment for Sedition ; and that all who shall
be discovered as inviting or persuading others to sign such
papers shall be punished with death, without distinction
of persons, as violators of the public peace ; and we do by
these presents authorize the independent Fiscal and the
Landdrost to inform themselves respecting all such persons,
and to apprehend all such as may be under suspicion of
being engaged in the disgraceful and slanderous conspiracy,
wherever they may be found," and then follows the order
already adverted to: — " But, inasmuch as it is possible
that some may regret their part in these proceedings,
having been misled by the malicious ringleaders in the
matter, these are informed that they must instantly appear
before the authorities to avow their repentance for their

Hoe.] Pwmshmeni of the Discontented. 125

misdeeds ; otherwise they shall receive the same punish-
ment as the other seditious mutineers."

The punishment of death was, however, never inflicted.
The soldiery and police actively exerted themselves to
capture the petitioners, and if these people did not at
once recant they were either immured in prison, or
banished to Mauritius, Ceylon, or Batavia. One of the
principal complainants, Jacobus van der Heiden, an old
Heemraad and Burgher Lieutenant of Stellenbosch, is
stated to have been incarcerated in the same cell with a
slave who had been convicted of murder and arson.
The suspicions of the Governor were, with good reason,
chiefly directed to the later Dutch colonists and the French
refugees.*

Nine residents of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein, who
had been summoned to Cape Town, disobeyed the order,
and fled for concealment to the country near Twenty-four
Pavers. Mounted soldiers under Landdrost Starrenberg
pursued them, but in vain. As recusants they were
convicted of sedition, declared infamous, each condemned
to pay a fine of 200 rix-dollars, and sentenced to deporta-
tion to Mauritius and imprisonment there for five years, t
During these arbitrary proceedings, the Governor, if really
guilty, committed an unaccountable error in banishing to
Holland! a burgher councillor named Henning Husing

* To oue of these latter the following allusion is made in a book
published in Holland in 1713 : — " This Meyer having escaped from the
French King"s dragoons, and having forsaken all the temporal advan-
tages that God had given him. because he would bear no restraint on
his conscience, lived for a time in Germany and elsewhere, and finally
had come hither as to a secure retreat, where he hoped to spend the
rest of his days in peace and in freedom. But he found himself
mistaken indeed, seeing that the Governor, as well as the great King
of France, had dragoons at his command, through whom he could make
the place intolerable, not only for refugees, but for his own countrymen."

f Three of them were afterwards captured, but the sentence never
took effect, as the prosecutions terminated before they could be sent out
of the Colony.

I It is said that Van der Stell almost immediately repented his rash
order, and in the galiot endeavoured unsuccessfully to overtake the
ship in which the exiles were.

126 The History of tlte Gape Colony. [1707.

and four others of the most influential inhabitants. These
men, as might have been foreseen, used their best
endeavours to gain powerful friends, and soon succeeded
in obtaining an order for the recall of the Governor and
his principal officers. The despatch in which this
mandate was conveyed reached the Colony in April, 1707,
and caused the immediate liberation of all the prisoners,
some of whom had been in gaol more than thirteen
months. "We have had," it is stated in it, "the dissatis-
faction to perceive that grave commotions and differences
exist between a great number of the colonists and the
Cape Government. Much paper hath been covered with
complaints and refutations, which have occupied much of
our time and given us much trouble. Of all this we say
no more than that we expect that such like matters will
not again arise ; and for the conservation of the public
peace, and for other good reasons, we have resolved and
do now order that the Governor, W. A. van der Stell, the
Secunde Persoon, Samuel Elzivier, the Clergyman, Petrus
Kalclen, and the Landdrost, Johan Starrenberg, shall be
removed and sent hither, retaining their rank and pay,
but without any authority or office." In other parts of
the despatch, it is ordered that " the great mansion shall
be razed to the ground, inasmuch as such edifices as
display ostentation, and are erected more for the sake of
grand appearance than for the use of the Company's
servants, as well at the Cape as in India, have always
displeased us." The "younker" Frans is to leave the
Colony forthwith ; all persons under punishment for
conspiracy are to be released; and Van Assenburg is
appointed Governor in the room of Van der Stell.

In considering the events which have now been detailed,
it is necessary to view the complaints made against Van
der Stell with great caution. Many of them were
evidently exaggerated, and the embittered feelings with
which the petitioners regarded the members of Govern-
ment lent venom to their shafts. In the Deductie
published by Van der Stell after his return to Holland,
that officer endeavoured to vindicate himself, and states

1707.] Van der Stell's Vindication. 127

that his strict adherence to the orders of the Home
Government, in preventing illicit traffic and smuggling,
was the cause of the malignity exercised towards him by
a small but violent portion of the colonists. The Contra
Deductie was published by Tas and Van der Heiden in
answer to this ; and here new accusations are added to
the former ones, and the alleged discreditable manner in
which certain recantations of complaints, and testimonials,
were obtained is minutely described. It is difficult to
charge Van der Stell with exceeding his powers, when we
know that complete and arbitrary control over the
colonists had been placed in his hands. All who avowed
repentance were at once pardoned ; and the act of sending
malcontents to Batavia and Holland does not show any
desire to shun investigation. At this lapse of time, it
is impossible to decide between the accusers and the
accused. The Home Government evidently did not believe
half the allegations of Van der Stell's enemies, whose
charges are couched in terms so violent and exaggerated
us scarcely to seem the language of truth. But it would
answer no useful purpose to enter into further detail on
this subject. It would indeed have been surprising if the
Governor and high officials at the Cape had not abused
their power. The will of the Commander was always
above the law, or rather virtually formed part of it, and
the salaries given to officials were so small as to supply a
strong incentive to the use of the easy means of
acquiring wealth which the Company had placed in their
hands. In truth, it is the system, not the officers, which
deserves blame, and, although Van der Stell was removed,*
the Governor's power remained undiminished. The
various Councils could never thwart him, and " the

* The recalled Governor became celebrated in Holland for his
devotion to literature and science. He is referred to by Burmann, as
the Prccstantissimus Botanophilus who did much for natiiral science
when at the Cape. Van de Marre, the poet, sings the Governor's
praises, and abuses the discontented burghers in Eer-hroon van de
Kaap de Ooed Hoep. The courtesy of the Van der Stells is referred
to in Father Tachard's account of the French expedition to Siam.

128 The History of the Gape Colony. [1707.

doctrine by which the East India Company instructed their
Prefects to govern was, that the Colony should not be freely
cultivated, or industry be freely exercised therein, lest the
colonists should become opulent, powerful, and free."

During the government of the younger Van der Stell,
the foundation of the Dutch Reformed Church near the
Government Gardens was laid, and large exploring parties
were sent into the country of the Kafirs and to Namaqua-
land. Kolben, who visited the Colony at this period,
describes Cape Town as large and regularly built, extend-
ing from the sea-shore to the valley, and containing
several spacious streets, with handsome houses. The
dwellings were of stone, with large courts in the front, and
beautiful gardens behind them ; most of them are stated
to have been only one storey high, " and none more than
two, in consequence of the violence of the easterly wind."
A large building called the Lodge was used for the
Company's slaves, "which are mostly brought from
Madagascar." A very handsome range of stables
contained the Government horses, and Kolben remarks
that the " Governor's body-coachman is esteemed a
considerable person." In a map published by this writer,
two gallows erected near the Castle are conspicuous ; and
the Castle itself, as well as the old jetty close to it, the
Government Gardens, and the Dutch Reformed Church,
are the most prominent objects. As regards the water
supply, it is stated that "the stream from the Table Hill
turns a mill belonging to the Company ; from thence it
passes through long pipes to the Square or Place dee Armes,
between the Fortress and Cape Town, where, through
pumps, it plentifully supplies both the town and fortress
with the most delicious water for drinking." The remarks
of this traveller on the subject of the Hottentots have
already received attention, and the narrative of his residence
at the Cape seems scarcely worthy of an extended notice.

Van Assenburg, who succeeded to the government in
1707,* found the Colony to comprise the present divisions

Jokaii Cornells d'Abbling acted until the arrival of Van Assenburg.

i7io.] Agricultural Ihiterjorise. 129

of the Cape, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Malmesbury, and part of
Caledon and Tulbagh. The stock consisted of 130,000
sheep and 20,000 head of cattle, while the Europeans and
free burghers were certainly fewer than 2,000, and the
the slaves numbered rather more. In 1710 the cultivation
of the land yielded 20,000 muids of wheat, 1,200 muids
of rye, and 1,200 muids of barley.* The manner in which
business proceeded was the following : — Tithes of all the
produce of the earth were paid to Government, and
eveiything had to be sold at prices fixed by functionaries
who were careful in all cases to keep a share of the profits
for themselves. Out of forty rix-dollars per leaguer for
wine paid by the Company, thirteen rix-dollars were
retained by the officials through whose hands the money
passed, and the remaining twenty-seven given to the
producer. The same rule extended to the traffic in other
articles ; and it was considered a great boon, only obtained
after much exertion, when the owners of surplus stores
which the Company did not require were permitted to
sell them to foreign ships upon giving a douceur to the
Fiscal.

* Beschryving van de Kaap de Ooede Hoep. Valentyn,

K

CHAPTER VI.

Causes of the Slow Progress of the Cape — Nature of the Government — Governors
Van Assenburg, William Helot, and Marquis De Chavonnes — Education —
Expeditions of Discovery — Jan de la Fontaine — The Tyranny of Governor Van
Noot — His unjust System — Conspiracy against him — His extraordinary death —
Free Trade in Cattle and its Eesults — Murders and Eobberies by Natives — State
of the Country — The Traveller Sparrman — Governors Van den Henghell and
Swellengrebel.

The stream of Cape colonial history does not rapidly
increase in volume as it proceeds. Far different from the
rapid progress of the American Colonies, the advance of
the Cape was slow and unsatisfactory. A state of torpor,
only broken by discontent, was its normal condition, and
no real change was effected until the thraldom of mercan-
tile monopoly was thrown off for ever.

" It is clear that the unfortunate condition to which the
country was reduced was the natural result of the false
principles on which the Colony had been founded. The
attempted union of a mercantile factory of a monopolist
nature with a mongrel free colonization, was a signal
failure. A commercial establishment, consisting merely
of paid servants, receiving wages for dut}r performed,
limited to the occupation of a sufficient market place for
the purchase of the cattle required by the passing ships,
and a fort for their protection, might have answered the
wants of the Dutch traders. This would then have been
no Colony, nor the semblance of a Colony. There would
have been no hope of prosperity in South Africa ; but the
native owners of the soil would possibly not have been
despoiled and exterminated. They would not have
advanced into civilization ; but they would have been in
existence. In the supposition that no other Europeans
would have seized on the land, there would yet have been
barbarism at the end of the last century; but the aboriginal
inhabitants would not have been swept away by myriads.
If the country were not profited, this curse, at least, had
not been inflicted.

^fc

i7io.] The Slow Advance of the Colony. 131

" On the other hand, had the European colonists not
been trammelled, fettered, and repressed in every conceiv-
able mode, wherever their welfare appeared to clash with
the pecuniary interest of their masters ; had they been
permitted the free development of their energies, free
commerce, and cultivation, to export what they could raise
by their labour from the land, to import what they needed,
to exercise their powers in the manner they deemed most
conducive to their own prosperity ; it is lamentably true,
indeed, that the process of extermination of the black man
by the white would have been equally rapid, perhaps more
rapid than it has been — his disappearance might have
been even more complete than at present. Possibly no
independent nation of coloured origin would now possess
land on the South African continent. The principle which
has been carried into practice here, as in the American
colonies, that while the coloured races are supposed
incapable of prosperity in close contact with the white, the
white shall be deemed entitled to seize on all the land of
the coloured races, would perhaps have received even yet
more terrible and universal application. But the country
itself, cultivated by its new energetic proprietors, would
not have lost a century and a half of progress."

These are Mr. Justice Watermeyer's remarks upon the
early history of his own country, which had been the
subject of his attentive observation and study ; but the
eloquent writer does not seem to appreciate the possible
effects of an enlightened policy upon the coloured tribes.
If a strong and just Government which looked upon all
men with impartiality could have been established at the
Cape early last century, the natives would have found in
it a powerful shield against the unbridled license of the
colonial farmers. An effective endeavour to teach
Christianity to the Hottentots would have been encouraged,
and by this means native ferocity could have been
softened and the frightful gulf created by prejudice
between the white men and the blacks at least partially
bridged across. It is not possible to conceive any policy
more destructive to both races than the wretched niis-

e 2

132 The Ristonj of the Cape Colony. [1708.

government of the Dutch Mercantile Association at the
Cape. Neither giving commercial advantages to the
Europeans, nor civilization and protection to the heathen,
the Company drove the former into a constant war -with
the native races, whose retaliation consisted in the
constant perpetration of thefts and outrages.

In April, 1708, a proclamation of Van Assenburg
restored freedom and political rights to the citizens who
had been proceeded against by Van der Stell. In the next
year (1709) False Bay was duly surveyed and declared a
safe harbour. It was then very evident that the anchor-
age in Table Bay was unsafe in winter ; and this was sadly
proved on the 20th May, 1737, when no fewer than eight
Company's ships* were wrecked and 207 lives lost. This
severe disaster induced the Home Government to give orders
that their vessels should in future winter in Simon's Bay,
and large buildings consequently had to be erected there.

Van Assenburg's stay at the Cape was brief ; and his
successor, Willem Helot, arrived in 1711. During this
year the erection of the old gaol was commenced, and in
the following year, as has already been mentioned, old
Simon van der Stell died, and was buried with all the
pomp which his former rank and position demanded.
Mauritz Pasquess, Marquis De Chavonnes, a French
Huguenot nobleman, was appointed to the Government in
1714, and shortly after his arrival, ordered that the statutes
of India, collected towards the end of the preceding
century, should form a code of laws for the Colony.
Education, but that of a very primitive kind only, received
attention, and a definite system was adopted, providing
for instruction in " the Lord's Prayer, commandments,
creeds, prayers for morning and evening, grace before and
after meals, and the catechism." To provide against the
belief of the pupils being tampered with, the schoolmasters
were obliged to signify their adherence to the Articles of
the Dordrecht Svnod.

t.

■- Named the Goudman, Yperde, Flora, Paddenbwg, Westerwyh,
Buys, and Duyribeck.

i72i.] Expeditions to the East Coast. 133

Several unfortunate expeditions to the East Coast require
mention. In 1721, vessels left Table Bay with the view of
establishing a port at Natal ; but being unable to discover
it, proceeded to Algoa Bay instead. An establishment
subsequently formed at Bio de la Goa was always weak,
and so dissevered from the Colony, that it became the
victim of piratical attacks ; while so much discomfort and
inconvenience was suffered by the party of occupation,*
that mutinies of a serious nature broke out. " A plot at
Terleton, on the Bio de la Goa,"f is referred to in the
biography of Captain Allemann, and thirty Europeans
were massacred there in 1729. To compensate for all this
no commercial advantages were derived. A sample of oil
was certainly sent to Europe, but it never appears to have
been followed by larger quantities; and two parcels of
" gold dust," when examined, were found to be nothing
but sand. At last, Governor Van Noot was ordered to
break up this settlement, and it was finally abandoned in
the year 1730. Undaunted by failure, an expedition was
shortly afterwards dispatched to the " Tierra de Natal" ;
but this, like its predecessor, was unsuccessful.

Jan de la Fontaine acted as Commander from the com-
pletion of the Marquis De Chavonnes' term of office until
the arrival (in 1727) of his successor, Piet Gysbert van
Noot. At this time, as indeed at all times under the
Company's rule, in consequence of the Governor's power
being despotic, a bad ruler was able to gratify his own
inclinations with impunity. As the soldiers at the Cape
received wretched pay, a system prevailed of permitting
a certain number of them to go out as " free-ticket men,"
and earn a monthly allowance of 9 florins 12 stivers,

* In 1720 the number in this party was 200.

f There is great doubt as to where Bio de la Goa was. Algoa Bay
was at one time called " De la Goa," and afterwards Plettenberg's Bay
received the same name. " De la Goa" also was the name given to the
large Bay to the eastward which still bears this title. De la Goa
signifies the Bay of Waters. It is believed by some that Algoa and
Delagoa were names conferred in connection with Portuguese voyages
to and from Goa in the East Indies.

134 The History of the Cape Colony. [1727.

which was called service money, and equally divided
among all the soldiers in garrison. It is asserted that
Governor Van Noot put this money into his own pocket,
under the pretence of supplying shoes, hose, and other
necessaries by means of it. The officers remonstrated to
the best of their ability against this iniquitous arrange-
ment, and even hinted that a mutiny would probably be
the consequence ; but Van Noot remained deaf to all their
arguments, and put an end to the discussion by declaring
that his will was to be law. " Thereat," the contemporary
historian states, "the soldiers in the service began to
swear ; they murmured, they complained, they prayed; but
nought would avail ; they were silenced with rude blows."*
It ought to be explained that at this time there were two
classes of people in the service of the Company in India
and at the Cape, named Orlammen and Baaren ,-t the former
of whom consisted of well-known persons who had served
for several years ; and the latter of new-comers and
comparative strangers. The former, being considered
trustworthy, had many opportunities of earning money
among the burghers ; but the unfortunate Baaren had
to eke out a wretched subsistence upon twenty-eight
stivers ration money, and twenty-eight stivers subsidy
money per month. It is not to be wondered at, therefore,
that the deprivation of the service money was considered
a most cruel hardship, and that a conspiracy, which we
will shortly have to describe, was the consequence of
this injustice.

* The narrative of events under Van Noot's rule is taken from " The
Biography of Mr. Rudolph Siegfried Allemann, formerly Captain of
Militia, Chief of the Garrison, and Commandant of the Castle, as also
Chief Merchant in rank, President of the Senate of Justice, and Asses-
sor of the Council of Police, in the service of the Dutch East India
Company at the Cape of Good Hope — with an accurate description of
that Promontory," first referred to at length in the South African
Advertiser and Mail (June 10, 1866). A copy of this work (supposed
to be by 0. F. Muntzel) was presented to the South African Library by
Mr. Advocate Hiddingh.

f From a corruption of two words in the Malay language, Oranglami,
an old person or acquaintance ; Orangbaru, a new person.

1727.] Tyranny of Van Noot. 135

But the tyranny of Van Noot extended to other classes
besides those in military service, and it is asserted that
when the holder of a perpetual quitrent property died, and
his heir requested the customary renewal of the lease,
this was refused, on the pretext that, although he had
inherited the buildings (opstalling), the land on which they
were situated belonged to the Company. The property
was then sold by auction, and the heir of the last possessor
had to endeavour to get what compensation he could from
the buyer for the buildings, " or break them down and go
away." A second ''instance of his malice" is thus
related: — "Many young farmers annually associated
together, and went elephant shooting. They had for that
purpose often to go two hundred miles into the interior,
to provide various wagons for the journey, a large quantity
of provisions, a good supply of powder — in a word, they
had to go to considerable expense. Their greatest profits
on such expeditions are got by buying cattle and sheep
from the Hottentots, in exchange for glass beads, knives,
mirrors, little bells, brass buttons, and such like wares.
As they never can undertake such an expedition without
the knowledge and consent of the Governor, several such
companies about this time prayed for permission from
Governor Van Noot to undertake the journey. Their
prayer was in no case refused ; they provided themselves
with wagons and draught cattle, engaged several bastard
Hottentots, and got together the necessary provisions for
such a long and wearisome journey. But when they
applied at the Company's stores to buy ammunition,
tobacco, and the wares required for their trade, the store-
keeper was forbidden to supply them ; and when they
asked or prayed the Governor for an ordinance or permit,
he had all sorts of excuses for refusing it. In short, the
people had to remain at home, and were in many cases
ruined by the expenses to which they had been put."
The writer adds: "A governor who is a trickster can
thus find a thousand opportunities to insult the officials
and burghers, and do them all sorts of injury." He
then proceeds to relate the particulars of the conspiracy

136 The History of the Cape Colony. [nso.

(already referred to) caused by the withdrawal of service
money from the Baaren and other men in military service.
Thirty or forty soldiers, mostly new people, agreed among
themselves to obtain a supply of powder and lead ; to
escape over the castle wall by means of a rope ; and then to
march along the coast until they reached some Portuguese
or other settlement, whence they could proceed to Europe.
The plot was ripening, and many had given in their
adhesion to ifc, when one of the conspirators suddenly
discovered all to the Governor. Van Noot immediately
ordered those concerned to be arrested, and the Fiscal
was sternly commanded to institute the strictest investi-
gation. Eight persons, among whom was a German
cavalier of very good family, named Herr Von E ,* and

* The writer of Captain Allernarm's biography states : — " It need not
excite surprise that mention is here made of a German cavalier who
was going out to East India as a common soldier. There were more
gentlemen of that class at the Cape. In the year 1735, a young soldier

came to the Cape, who simply called himself D , and gave himself

out to be an embroiderer, an art in which he was quite a master. The
Governor of the day, Johan de la Fontaine, ordered him into his
presence, gave him a piece of exceeding fine Chinese scarlet velvet, and
silver cord to embroider it. When this coat was nearly finished it was
accidentally destroyed by fire, which had such an effect upon the poor
workman as to cause his death. Subsequently, the Fiscal Independent
received letters from Holland, in which he was requested to make

inquiries whether the young Count D , a gentleman about 22 (who

proved to have been the embroiderer) had not arrived at the Cape.
About the same time, a Swedish Baron, Kayserfeldt, also arrived at the
Cape. They wished to favour him before others, and he was soon pro-
moted to the Governor's guard. But, gentle and refined cavalier as was

the Count D jthis baron was a great fool, and therefore was not kept

long at the Cape, but packed off to Batavia." With regard to the truth-
fulness of Capt. Allemann's biographer, we must ask our readers to judge
for themselves. He displays considerable animus against Van Noot,
and it is very probable that most of his statements require to be taken
cum grano salist In one part of his book he represents this Governor as
being uniformly kind and considerate to Mr. Allernann, and also to Capt.
Pihenius, but adds. " the reader may not unnaturally be led to suppose
that Governor Van Noot was a true friend to his kind, and a beneficent
angel ; but he was nothing of the sort : he was, in the truest sense, an
enemy to all— an incarnate devil." A drama, successfully performed in
Cape Town, is founded on the statements made by this writer.

1730.] Captain Allemann's Narrative. 137

two theological candidates, were considered to be the
ringleaders of the plot, and imprisoned in a dungeon
where those condemned to death were confined. The

escape of the leader (Von E ) was dexterously planned

by Lieutenant Allemann, " who had taken a great interest
in him when he heard that he was a countryman of high

birth." He persuaded Von E to feign illness, so that

his removal to the hospital was effected, and shortly
afterwards secretly conveyed him on board a foreign ship
lying in the Bay.*

* It has been thought better to give the identical words of this
narrative, as there is little or no corroborative testimony regarding the
details furnished : —

" As regards the seven other prisoners confined in the ' blackhole,' a
process was framed against them, and when the trial was over, they
were condemned by the Senate of Justice each to run the gauntlet ten
times, and then to bo sent to Batavia as sailors. But this sentence did
not please the Governor. He cried out, like another Wallenstein,
1 They shall all hang, the brutes ! they shall all hang !' The Fiscal-
Independent and the whole Senate protested against this, and remon-
strated that tbese people could not receive sentence of death, since they
had only planned a desertion, but had not carried it out, and had,
besides, been driven to it by being deprived of privileges to which they
had a right. But their arguments and pleadings were of no avail.
The Governor interrupted them with the authoritative sentence, ' I
take the responsibility,' and the Senate had to be silent. A criminal
sentence was made out against them, with the usual Dutch formalities,
that they were to be hung with a rope from the gallows until death
followed. The Governor immediately signed his name on the margin,
with the terrible death warrant, fiat executio !

" The following morning early, between eight and nine o'clock, the
sentence of death was read to the seven prisoners, and they were
informed that the execution would take place the next day at nine
o'clock. As soon as the sentence had been communicated to them, the
second minister of the Reformed Church entered the now opened but
doubly guarded dungeon to prepare the condemned for death. But one
of the theological candidates requested the minister to be pleased to go
back to his house, remarking that ho and his companions all belonged
to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and that he and the other candi-
date would try to console and prepare themselves and their companions
for death. The minister announced this to the Governor, and he, who
generally showed no feeling for religion, was quite content to let him
depart. On the same day the prisoners were, according to custom t
fed from the Governor's kitchen, and supplied with everything they

138 The History of the Cape Colony. [17S0.

The preceding account of these transactions is fur-
nished by a contemporary writer, whose book breathes
hatred to Governor Van Noot. If this Commander were

wanted. But they ate little, and spent most of the day in singing
and prayer.

" The following morning early, at eight o'clock, the whole garrison,
with the free-ticket men who had uniforms, paraded in the Castle-yard
or field of arms, and at nine o'clock marched past the Governor's house,
but, as usual on such occasions, commanded by only one officer. The
prisoners were brought from their dungeon by a guard, and the sentence
of death and the notice of their crime were again read to them from the
top of the steps winch, running up both sides of the entrance to
Government-house, form a sort of small balcony. Thereupon the
garrison marched off and paraded at the place of execution, forming in
circle round the gallows. Tbe prisoners were then gently led away and
brought to the spot. The one candidate took three and the other two
of their companions, and comforted and prayed with them as they went.
A large tent is on such occasions erected at the place of execution, and
hither the whole Senate of Justice is escorted by the Governor's guard.
The sergeant of the guard marched in front with six grenadiers ; then
follows the messenger of justice with a long thorn wand, mounted
with silver at both ends, in his band, and carrying his hat under
his arm. Behind him came all the members of the Senate, walking
two and two, and the corporal of the guard with six grenadiers closed
the procession. The members of the Senate seated themselves in the
chairs provided for them in the tent, and watched the whole execution
from beginning to end. The two candidates knelt down with their
companions at the place of execution, prayed with great feeling and
edification, and took most affectionate and impressive leave of each
other, as one after the other they were led away to execution. Millions
of tears were shed by the soldiers and spectators standing around ; even
the members of the Senate of Justice could not conceal their tears and
emotion. At last the turn came to the first of the two candidates, and
they said farewell, in the hope and assurance of soon meeting again in
the holy tabernacle above. Last of all the second candidate was also
led to the ladder. The hangman was about to put the rope round his
neck, when he interrupted him, ' Pardon me a moment ; I have some-
thing to say.' The executioner stopped, and the candidate turned his
face towards the Castle, and the Government-house beyond the gate,
and cried with a loud voice, ' Governor Van Noot, I summon you in
this very hour before the judgment-seat of Omniscient God, there to give
account of the souls of nryself and my companions. Now, in God's
name,' said he, turning to the hangman, allowed the rope to be fixed
round his neck, and ascended the ladder with a firm step, when another
rope was put round his neck, and when both had been fixed to the

1730.] Allemann's Narrative continued. 139

guilty of the excessive cruelty and injustice laid to
his charge, he was a monster in human form, whose
memory merits execration. But there is a lack of

cross-beam, the hangman pushed him from the ladder, and there he
hung, dead, without a single struggle.

"After the execution, the whole Senate, escorted by the guard in the
order before mentioned, returned to the Castle and to the Governor's
house to report to him, as duty and custom required, the execution of
the sentence. They entered together into the large audience-hall, in
which the meetings of the Senate were held, and in which also the
Governor's table was spread at midday. The Governor was sitting at
the end of the hall in an arm-chair. They bowed to him ; but the
Governor did not make the least sign of recognition. The gentlemen
drew nearer to address him, when, merciful God ! they saw that he sat
motionless in his chair.* He was dead ; despair was on his counten-
ance, and he had such a horrible look, that all the gentlemen sud-
denly and together stepped back, greatly alarmed, and quite overcome
with wonder and horror. From this first shock they could scarcely
recover themselves or think what they were doing. An alarm and cry
got up, ' The Governor is dead !' but no one could or would beheve it ;
for he had been seen only half-an-hour before healthy and hearty.
Every living being in the Castle rushed to the spot ; but the guard
at the door of Government-house at once got orders to admit no
one. The doors were locked, and the Senate adjourned to the
house of Acting- Governor La Fontaine, to deliberate as to what had
best be done.

" One of the remaining prisoners under arrest, a man named Winkel-
man, had a sudden idea, and shouted out, ' Noot (Need) is dead ; now
there is no need !' {Noocl is clood ; nu is er geen nood.) This was the
signal to the other prisoners, who shouted out in chorus, and in a
moment all the soldiers, workmen, and sailors in the Castle — nay, it
would not be wrong to say everything that had life — echoed the cry,
' Nood is dead ; now there is no need !' This very Winkelman, who
was afterwards promoted to be sergeant, used, when relating the tale,
suddenly to get quite enthusiastic when he remembered and vividly
pictured the great joy which possessed all.

" As soon as the gentlemen of the Senate had recovered themselves
and calmly weighed the matter, they gave orders to the carpenters to
prepare a very mean coffin or shell, and, when that was brought into
the Governor's house, his slaves were to take up the dead body and put
it in just as it was. At midnight, the captain of the guard ordered a
small gate, which opened from the back of the Castle into the open

* The chair in which Van Noot died is preserved in the South
African Museum, Cape Town.

140 The History of the Cape Colony. am.

evidence on the subject, so that it is necessary to receive
Allemann's narrative with great caution. The dramatic
manner in which the wicked Governor is summoned to

field, and which was called the sally-port, to be opened, and the slaves
had to take the shell with the body and bury it at a spot pointed out
to them. They were forbidden, upon pain of death, to speak of the
matter, and still less to reveal the »pot where they had buried him.
Thus the matter remained a secret ; aad it was only presumed that he
had been interred on an islet at the head of the Bay, called Paarden
Island.

" The carpenters had after this to prepare a magnificent coffin of
Indian teak, and, as soon as this was rea^, the funeral ceremonies
were arranged with an empty coffin. The two trumpeters whom the
Company allows to the Governor at the Cape, went before, with their
trumpets muffled in black cloth. An ensign, witli pike reversed, and
draped in black cloth, led the sis hautboy-players, whose instruments
were also draped with black cloth. Then foUowed the Commandant
and all the other officers, with the whole garrison, marching with arms
reversed ; the spontoons were simply draped, but both banners were
completely enveloped in black. The drums of the drummers were each
wrapped round and muffled with three ells of black cloth, and the
sergeants had crape on their halberds. The Adjutant, apparently in
deep mourning, but inwardly rejoicing, bore aloft on a pole covered
with black cloth, and with long pieces of crape fluttering from it, the
Governor's coat-of-arms, painted on a square board. Then came the
empty coffin, borne by secretaries and assistants, and surrounded by
the Governor's guard. Four under-merchants held the four corners of
the pall. Behind the coffin followed the Acting- Governor, the Fiscal-
Independent, the clergy, merchants, and all people of distinction. In
marching past, the guard at the gate presented arms, the officers
saluted, and the drummers beat their drums. Every minute during the
procession, according to a watch held in his hand by the constable, a
gun was fired from the bastions of the Castle, and answered from all
the sbips lying in the Bay, and at each gun the flags on the ships, as
well as the one flying on the Catteneienbogen bastion of the Castle,
were dipped. After the coffin had been carried into the church and
interred in the vault, the whole garrison fired three rounds with small
arms, each of which was answered by the guns from the Castle, and then
the soldiers marched back to the strains of lively music. Never was
the well-known return-march, ' Praise God that he is dead ! praise
God that he is dead !' played more gaily than it was played by the
drummers on this occasion. As this imposing ceremony had been
conducted with an empty coffin, the common people found cause to
believe and to relate that the devil had made away even with the
soulless body of the deceased Governor Van Noot."

1780.] The Cape in the Eighteenth Century. 141

judgment seems copied from several tales of the same
nature to be found in European history. The ipsissima
verba of Allemann have been purposely furnished to enable
our readers to draw their own conclusions from them.

Jan de la Fontaine acted as Governor upon the death of
Van Noot, and was eventually confirmed in the office.
" It would be a mere waste of patience to narrate a change
of functionaries from time to time, without a variation in
the mode of administration, or in the actual position of
the country. Varied names, and unvaried complaints,
though extending over a succession of years, revealing the
same state of circumstances throughout, would afford but
a dull and uninstructive lesson."* Unfortunately, the
chief historical features of the eighteenth century are
discontent and disaffection on the part of Europeans,!
tyranny of Government functionaries, and thieving in-
cursions of the Bushmen, followed by severe re-
prisals. No immigration took place, and the annoy-
ances suffered from the spirit of independence displayed
by the French Protestants no doubt tended to render
the Government disinclined to encourage any. Of course
individuals who had retired from the Company's
service, including discharged soldiers and sailors, were
from time to time permitted to settle, and it is
particularly necessary to bear in mind that many of
the alleged acts of tyranny committed towards them
were based on the special terms of their deeds of
burghership.

* Waternieyer's Lectures, p. 48.

f " Had the English fleet not arrived at a propitious time to relieve
the country from the feeble yet oppressive misrule of the once mighty
merchant monarchs of the East, it is at least historically probable that,
although the Dutch flag may have continued to wave in the fort at
Cape Town — from Hottentot's Holland to the Zuurveld, where the
Boer already held possession, throughout Swelleudani and Graaff-
Pieinet, the standard of independence would have been successfully
raised, and a free State would have been established on the ruin of the
Company's sway, before the close of the last century. The Republic of
Potgieter and Pretorius would have been anticipated by fifty years, and
within the limits of the old Colony." — Watermeycr, p. 17.

142 The History of the Gape Colony. [1737.

Adrian van Kervel succeeded Governor De la Fontaine
in 1736, and Daniel van den Henghell ruled the Colony
for nearly two years,* from 1737, and was succeeded in
1739 by Hendrik Swellengrebel, after whom the great
division and the village of Swellendam were named.
Sparrman says, " All such peasants as live in Boodezand,
and the whole of that tract of country that lies to the
eastward, are under the jurisdiction of Swellendam, and
are obliged, at a certain time of the year, to appear before
the Landdrost and perform their exercise. This falls very
heavy on such as live at a great distance, some of them
dwelling, perhaps, five hundred miles off ; on which
account likewise they frequently pretend impediments, or
else submit to pay the line at once." Stellenbosch was
the other great division to which the inhabitants of
"Camdeboo, Sneeuwberg, Bokkeveld, Eoggeveld, and
Anamaqua" had to repair ; while the Cape burghers, and
the Tygerberg peasants went to Cape Town.t The Colony
was fast extending in size. Loan places beyond Piquetberg
were granted in 1742, and the Gamtoos Eiver was
considered as the eastern boundary dividing the Dutch
possessions from Kafirland.

When the free trade in cattle was allowed, it was on

* Adrian van Kervel was the immediate successor of Jan de la
Fontaine, but only remained in the Colony a few months.

f It is said that some converts (Parliamentary Papers, 1835, p. 18)
resided at Sergeant's River, a small branch of the Zonder End. and
one of these, according to Sparrman, " used to perform her devotions
every morning on her bare knees by the side of a spring." The
Moravian Society received frequent reports expressing the desire of the
Hottentots that Schmidt should return ; but their repeated applications
to the Dutch East India Company for leave to establish a mission were
refused. At length, in the year 1792, they obtained permission to send
three ministers, who established themselves at Baviaan's Kloof, and
held their meetings under a large pear tree planted by Schmidt half a
century before. The old convert mentioned by Sparrman fa woman
named Helena) was still alive, and read to the astonished missionaries
the narrative of our Saviour's birth. For details on the subject of the
Moravians in South Africa, see Historical Sketches of the Missions
of the United Brethren, by Holmes.

1742.] Retrospect. — Proceedings of Traders. 143

condition that no force or compulsion should be made use
of. As might have been foretold, this license was con-
verted into a means of oppression, and large bands of
armed colonists frequently forced the natives to give up
their cattle for inadequate compensation, and then divided
the spoil among themselves. This subject is one of
importance, and it is therefore necessary to give a
retrospective glance at the proceedings of the traders, and
to endeavour to illustrate the manner in which their
operations were conducted. In 1702, one of these parties,
comprising forty-five persons, returned to the settlement
with 2,000 cattle, which they had forcibly seized
from the Hottentots. From the inquiry instituted by
Governor Van der Stell, it appeared that they took some
Bushmen as prisoners, whom they compelled to show
them the kraal of a Captain Snell. Taking this Snell
with them as an interpreter and guide, they advanced four
days' journey further into the interior, when they were
met by natives* armed with assagais and shields, who, as
they were afterwards informed, had come out in this
manner to " massacre" them. The assailants were easily
repulsed, and one, taken alive, was afterwards beaten to
death by Hottentots, at the command of the Dutch.
Continuing their march, two kraals of " the Hovisons and
Gonaquaas" were surprised, and no fewer than 2,270
cattle and 2,500 sheep captured. At the earnest request of
the Hottentots, forty head of old cows and a small flock
of sheep were left with them, and a few presents of tobacco
and beads given. Several men, women, and children had
been shot, and one Dutchman was killed by an assagai
during the first encounter. This party of adventurers
arrived near the Cape after a homeward journey of fourteen
days, when they immediately divided the spoil, and signed
an agreement binding themselves not to betray each other.
This conduct incited the natives to acts of savage retalia-
tion from which many innocent people suffered, and
induced the Government to repeal the permission for cattle

* They are styled " Caffers ;" but this is a name which was frequently
applied indiscriminately to all the coloure.1 races.

144 The History of tlie Cape Colony. [1742.

trading granted in the year 1700. But the authorities
scarcely dared to punish the colonists, because, says a
despatch of the Governor and Council, "half of the Colony
would he ruined, so great is the number of the inhabitants
implicated."* Subsequently, the cattle trade was again
sanctioned, and there is no doubt that feelings of intense
animosity between the Europeans and the native races
were engendered by it. Such a system had been in
practice previous to 1723, that complaints made by the
Hottentots in that year were laid before the Council by the
churchwardens at the Paarl,! and in 1727 the cattle trade
was again temporarily prohibited, in consequence of the
poverty to which the natives were reduced by it. As
illustrative of the manner in which bargaining was
conducted under Government auspices, and of the state
of the country early in the eighteenth century, it is
desirable to insert a few extracts from the journal of the
Landdrost Johannes Starreberg Kupt, on his journey to
the Gonnemaas, Grigriquaas, and Namaqua Hottentots : —
" On Friday, the 16th October, 1705," he says, " we left
the Cape. ... On the 20th, in the afternoon, it was
reported to us that the Gonnemaas Hottentots (who were
the nearest) did not like to traffic with us, and for that
reason had travelled over the mountain into the land
of Waaveren, out of our road ; but that a captain called
Boatsman was living with his kraal beyond the Twenty-
four Eivers, towards which we accordingly directed our
course, and arrived there at sunset. As soon as we had
pitched our tent, we saluted this Chief with a dram and
a good tabutje, in the name of the Honourable Company,
and gave him to understand that we came to barter for
some working cattle, — that His Honour the Governor,
being informed that he was a good fellow, and rich in
cattle, had ordered us to go to him, and that it was
expected he would assist us. We then gave him a second
dram, but it availed us nothing. He made reply that we

* See Parliamentary Papers, No. 584, for 1830, p. 2.
f Parliamentary Papers, 1835, p. 17.

1742.] Retrospect. — Proceediiujs of Traders. 145

must go first to the other Gonneniaas. ... I then said
that he must be a fool to think I was come with so many-
wagons and people so far to traffic for three oxen ; that he
might take them also hack, and that I should break up
and depart. At last I obtained nine fine young oxen and
nine sheep, for which we gave ten strings of copper beads,
thirteen pounds of tobacco, glass beads, and brandy. These
cattle we left with him till our return. On the 26th we
arrived at Hannibal's kraal. Here six captains had joined,
and formed altogether twenty-three huts. I asked how it
was that they had so few cattle, as the Honourable Com-
pany had never trafficked with them ; on which they
informed us that a certain free man, going by the name of
Drunken Gerrit, some years ago, accompanied by some
other people, had come to their kraal, and without saying a
word had fired upon them from all sides, chased away the
Hottentots, burnt their huts, and carried off all their cattle,
without their knowing the reason for it, since they had
never offended any of the Dutch. That, in consequence
of having lost all their cattle, they were obliged to go to
the bordering Dutch to collect some, and to rob their own
countrymen ; and whenever they could get any, they drove
them into the mountains and feasted till all was consumed;
then they went to fetch other cattle, and in this they
succeeded several times, and had still a few of the cattle
left. From another quarter they are also plagued with
robberies from a nation of Hottentots living on the other
side of Elephants River, in inaccessible mountains, and
whose country is called in their language Thynema, and
the captains of these robbers Throgama, Tkousa, Deodie,
Skerringrood. By these they are constantly plagued, and
but seldom able to revenge themselves. But their most
bitter and exasperated complaints are about the wicked
behaviour of this Drunken Gerrit, who has been the cause
of all the calamities and bloodshed that has since occurred
in several encounters with the Dutch. They were obliged,
they said, in order to save the small quantity of cattle left
them, and to procure victuals for their wives and children,
to fight daily with the elephants, and thus obtain subsist-
ence with the greatest danger of their lives. They added

L

146 The History of the Cape Colony. am.

that they set great value on the benevolence and friendship
of the Honourable Company, which I commended so highly
to them, and wished much to embrace the same on all
opportunities. And, verily, I have discovered in the
manners and behaviour of these people, and by our
intercourse with them, much more genuine good nature
than in other Hottentots. . . . 28th. — Fourteen head
of cattle, for which we gave eighteen strings of copper
beads, eighteen pounds of tobacco, glass beads and brandy.
This is a very disagreeable country. Throughout the whole
way we found nothing but sand-hills, and valleys full of
stones and mole-hills, where cattle and horses sink
continually up to the knees ; it is full of bushes, but
destitute of grass. In former times, large herds of elephants
were found in this and the country Ave had passed through.
The reason there are few now is that the circumjacent
Hottentots, sunk in the deepest poverty, have been
compelled to have recourse to the hunting of elephants,
and thus to kill and drive away these animals. They
still allow them no rest ; for as soon as one is spied
by their Sonquas, who wander daily in the fields to catch
dasjes, jackals, and other animals, the whole kraal is
advertised of it ; all the young men assemble, and assail
those animals till from fatigue, and wounds from assagais
and arrows, they expire. 4th November. — We proceeded
with the bartering, and after a great deal of talking and
haggling, we succeeded in procuring thirty-three head of
cattle for thirty-three pounds of tobacco, thirty-three
strings of copper beads, thirty-three strings of glass
beads, and thirty-three tobacco pipes ; and also fourteen
sheep for seven pounds of tobacco. We also made a
present to the captains and their followers of four strings
of copper beads and two pounds of tobacco. I was much
vexed to have found during a journey of twelve days along
such a tedious and troublesome road no more than two
kraals, and which, although mustering ten captains, were
so 1 adly provided with cattle. From this I have learned
with sorrow how, by the lately opened free traffic and the
misbehaviour of these "vagabonds, the whole country has
been ruined; for when one kraal was robbed by the Dutch,

1742.] Miserable Condition of the Hottentots. 147

the sufferers were driven to rob others, and these again
their neighbours. With the plunder they retired into the
mountains and feasted till it was consumed, when they
went again in search of other booty. And thus from a
people living in peace and happiness, divided into kraals
under chiefs, and subsisting quietly by the breeding of
cattle, they are become almost all of them huntsmen,
Bosjesmen, and robbers, and are dispersed everywhere
among the barren and rugged mountains." When the
writer concludes his journal he had been fifty-two days
actively employed, and had only obtained 179 oxen.*

* The following narrative of an encounter with a lion is extracted
from Kupt's Journal. The generous bravery of the native who interposed
his own person and life to protect the strangers is especially worthy of
notice : — " We pitched our tent a musket-shot from the kraal, and after
having arranged everything, went to rest, but were soon disturbed,
for about midnight the cattle and horses, which were standing
between the wagons, began to start and run, and one of the drivers to
shout, on which everyone ran out of the tent with his gun. About
thirty paces from the tent stood a lion, which, on seeing us, walked
very deliberately about thirty paces farther, behind a small thorn-bush,
carrying something with him which I took to be a young ox. We
fired more than sixty shots at that bush, and pierced it stoutly without
perceiving any movement. After the cattle had been quieted again,
and I had looked over everything, I missed the sentry from before the
tent — Jan Srait, of Antwerp, belonging to the Groenekloof. We called
as loudly as possible, but in vain — nobody answered, from which I
concluded that the lion had carried him oft*. Three or four men then
advanced very cautiously to the bush, which stood right opposite tho
door of the tent, to see if they could discover anything of the man, but
returned helter-skelter, for the lion, who was there still, rose up and
began to roar. They found there the musket of the sentry, which was
cocked, and also his cap and shoes. We fired again a hundred shots
at the bush. We continued our firing ; the night passed away and the
day began to break, which animated everyone to aim at the lion,
because he could not go from thence without exposing himself entirely,
as the bush stood directly against a steep kloof. Seven men, posted on
the farthest wagons, watched him, to take aim at him if he should come
out. At last, before it became quite light, he walked up the hill with
the man in his mouth, when about forty shots were fired at him without
hitting him, although some were very near. I gave permission to some
to go in search of the man's corpse, in order to bury it, on condition
that they should take a good party of armed Hottentots with them, and

148 The History of the Cape Colony. tma.

At various times complaints were made by the natives
of murders and robberies committed by the colonists. In
1739, several of these statements having been submitted
to the Fiscal for examination, that officer reported against
the Hottentots, and a commando was therefore sent out to
reduce them to order. A species of predatory warfare was
commenced in very early times by the Bushmen, who
directed their attacks against the Dutch and their posses-
sions so cunningly and continually as to exasperate the
farmers to the utmost. According to Span-man,* " the
inhabitants of the more distant Sneeuw Mountains were
sometimes obliged entirely to relinquish their dwellings
and habitations on account of the savage plundering race
of Boshiesmen, who, from their hiding places, shooting
forth their poisoned arrows at the shepherd, kill him, and
afterwards drive away the whole of his flock, which
perhaps consists of several hundred sheep and forms the
chief, if not the whole, of the farmer's property. What
they cannot drive away with them they kill and wound
as much as the time will allow them while they are

made them promise that they would not run into danger. On this,
seven of them, assisted hy fortjr-three armed Hottentots, followed the
track, and found the lion about half a league farther on, lying behind a
little bush. On the shout of the Hottentots, he sprang up and ran
away, on which they all pursued birn. At last the beast turned round,
and rushed, roaring terribly, amongst the crowd. The people, fatigued
and out of breath, fired and missed him, on which he made directly
towards them. Tbe captain or chief head of the kraal here did a brave
act in aid of two of the people whom the lion attacked. The gun of one
of them missed fire, and the other missed his aim, on which the captain
threw himself between the lion and the people, so close that the lion
struck his claws into the karriss of the Hottentot; but he was too agile
for him, doffed his kaross, and stabbed him with an assagai. Instantly
the other Hottentots hastened on, and adorned him with their assagais
so that he looked like a porcupine. Notwithstanding this, he did not
leave oft' roaring and leaping, and bit oft' some of the assagais, till the
marksman, Jan Stammansz, fired a ball into his eye, which made him
turn over, and he was then shot dead by the other people. He was a
tremendously large beast, and had but a short time before carried off a
Hottentot from the kraal and devoured him."

* Vol. ii„ p. 141.

1742,1 Retrospect.'-'Bushmm. 149

making their retreat. It is in vain to pursue them, they
being very swift of foot, and taking refuge up in the steep
mountains, which they are able to run up almost as
nimbly as baboons or monkeys. From thence they roll
down large stones on any that is imprudent enough to
follow them. The approach of night gives them time to
withdraw themselves entirely from those parts by ways
and places with which none but themselves are acquainted.
Those banditti collected together in bodies to the amount
of some hundreds, coming from their hiding-places and
the clefts in the mountains, in order to commit fresh
depredations and robberies. One of the colonists, who had
been obliged to fly from these mountains, testified that the
Boshiesmen grew bolder every day, and seemed to increase
in numbers, since people had, with greater eagerness, set
about extirpating them. It was this, doubtless, which
occasioned them to collect together into large bodies,
in order to withstand the encroachments of the colonists,
who had already taken from them their best dwelling and
hunting-places. An instance is recorded of a Boshies-
man having besieged a peasant with his wife and
children, in their cottage, till at length he drove them
off by repeatedly firing among them. They had lately
carried off from a farmer the greater part of his cattle.
Not long before this, however, they had suffered a
considerable defeat in the following manner. Several
farmers, who perceived that they were not able to
get at the Boshiesmen by the usual methods, shot a
sea-cow, and took only the prime part of it for themselves,
leaving the rest of it by way of bait, they themselves, in
the meanwhile, lying in ambush. The Boshiesmen, with
their wives and children, now came down from their
hiding-places, with an intention to feast sumptuously on
the sea-cow that had been shot ; but the farmers, who
came back again very unexpectedly, turned the feast into
a scene of blood and slaughter." " Pregnant women and
children in their tenderest years were not, at this time-
neither, indeed, are they ever — exempt from the effects of
the hatred and spirit of vengeance constantly harboured

150 The History of the Gape Golumj. au-i.

by the colonists with respect to the Bosliiesman nation ;*
excepting such, indeed, as are marked out to be carried
away in bondage."

Sparrman travelled in South Africa during the years
1775-6, and may consequently he looked upon as an
authority on the subject of the relations of the Dutch
colonists towards the native tribes, though it must be
admitted that he seems prejudiced against the former.
There can be no doubt, however, that there is sufficient
evidence to prove that lamentable feelings of hostility
continually existed between the European farmers and the
Hottentots, inciting the former to drive " the heathen"
from their ancient settlements, and to treat them as
" black cattle," neither deserving of the exertions of
Christianity nor worthy of being treated with common
humanity. Frightful acts of rapine, murder, and pillage
were continually committed by the Bushmen, which so
exasperated the Boers as to make them suppose a war of
extermination justifiable ; and arguments, based on the
conduct of each other, were easily and constantly found by
both to foster mutual animosity.

It is true that the Government of the Colony took no
other part in the cruelties exercised by its subjects than
that of rarely taking any notice of them ; presuming, no
doubt, that in most instances they had been justified by
the conduct of the savages. The mere mercantile Deputy
Government, which held the reins of power in Cape Town,
was, indeed, not only indisposed, but really unable, to

* This is a gross exaggeration. However vindictive the Dutch may
have heen, smarting under constant thefts of stock, they, as a rule,
spared the women and children. Sparrman says : — " Does a colonist
at any time get sight of a Boshiesman, he takes fire immediately, and
spirits up his horse and dogs, in order to hunt him with more ardour
and fury than he would a wolf or other wild beast. On an open plain
a few colonists on horseback are always sure to get the better of the
greatest number of Boshiesmen that can be brought together. . . .
In the district of Sneeuwberg the Lunddrost has appointed one of the
farmers, with the title of veld-corporal, to command in these wars, and,
as occasion may require, to order out the country people alternately
in separate parties. '

174?.] The Hottentots divided into two Classes. 151

check the fierce passions of half-civilized farmers, scattered
over a very extensive country, and smarting under the
severe thefts and outrages of beings whom they looked
upon as created by God to be their slaves and inferiors.
We have already seen that efforts had been occasionally
made by the authorities to cheek the evils arising from
unjust trading, and it must not be imagined that all the
colonists were in favour of native persecutions. Sparrman,
who is not likely to err in favour of the Dutch, emphati-
cally says : — "I am far from accusing all the colonists of
having a hand in these and other cruelties, which are
too frequently committed in this quarter of the globe."*
It would be uninteresting, if it were even possible, to
give details of the aggressive movements of the Dutch
against the Hottentot tribes, and of the skirmishes and
encounters which the advanced guard of colonists were so
frequently engaged in with the Bushmen. By degrees the
natives became divided into two classes — one of which
sank into servitude as herds and domestics, while the
other retreated to remote districts or to mountain
recesses, from which they could harass and rob the
Europeans. Complaints from farmers became so numerous
that in 1774 the first of a series of commandos was sent
out by order of Government, whose proceedings will have
to be referred to when the subject of the native races is
again discussed. The lack of missionary enterprise is

* This writer adds (vol. ii., p. 144) : — "While some of the colonists
plumed themselves upon these cruelties, there were many who, on the
contrary, held them in abomination, and feared lest the vengeance of
Heaven should, for all these crimes, fall upon their land and posterity."
This traveller says (vol. ii., p. 21) : — " Many of the ignorant Hottentots
aud Indians not having been able to form any idea of the Dutch East
India Company and the Board of Direction, the Dutch, from the very
beginning, in India, politically gave out the Company for one individual
powerful prince, by the Christian name of Jan or John. This likewise
procured them more respect than if they had actually been able to make
the Indians comprehend that they wore really governed by a company
of merchants. Oil this account I ordered my interpreter to say,
further, that we were the children of Jan Company, who had sent us
out to view this country, aud collect plants for medical purposes.''

152 The History of the Cape Colony. [1742.

strikingly observable in the early history of the Colony,
and the first systematic attempt to convert the heathen
appears to have been made by the Moravian minister
George Schmidt, who preached to the Hottentots near the
Pdver-Zonder-End, in the present Caledon division,
between the years 1739 and 1742. His efforts were
disapproved of, and he did not succeed in securing the
goodwill of either the Boers or the Government. He was
prohibited from christening the natives, and banished
from the country for the offence of having " illegally
made himself a chief among the Hottentots in those
parts, in order to enrich himself by their labour, and the
presents they made him of cattle."*

* It is said that some converts (Parliamentary Papers, 1835, p. 18)
resided at Sergeant's River, a small branch of the Zonder-End, and
one of these, according to Sparrman, " used to perform her devotions
every morning on her bare knees by the side of a spring." The
Moravian Society received frequent reports expressing the desire of the
Hottentots that Schmidt should return ; but their repeated applications
to the Dutch East India Company for leave to establish a mission were
refused. At length, in the year 1792, they obtained permission to send
three ministers, who established themselves at Baviaan's Kloof and
held their meetings under a large pear tree planted by Schmidt half a
century before. The old convert mentioned by Sparrman (a woman
named Helena) was still alive, and read to the astonished missionaries
the narrative of our Saviour's birth. (For details on the subject of the
Moravians in South Africa, see Historical Sketches of the Missions of
the United Brethren, by Holmes.)

CHAPTER VII.

Arrival of Baron Inihoff — Commander Anson — Le Caille — Governor Ryk van
Tulbagh — State of Society — " Praeht and Praal" — Sumptuary Regulations —
Financial State of the Colony one hundred years ago — Statistics — Slavery — Loss
of the British Merchant Ship Dodtlington— Discovery and Mercantile Enter-
prise— Death of Tulbagh — New Hospital and Barracks— Sparrman the Traveller
— Captain Cook— Description of the Cape— The Loss of the Ship Jonge
Thomas— Heroism of Woltemade— Baron Von Plettenberg Governor— Migration
to the Interior — Lawlessness and Discontent— Petitions for Redress of Grievances
sent to Holland.

Baron Imhoff, twenty-seventh Governor-General of Dutch
India, arrived at the Cape in 1742, and was received
with great ceremony. In 1744, Commander Anson, in the
Centurion, visited Table Bay, and Lt Caille, the French
astronomer, took up his residence in Cape Town in 1751,
for the purpose of measuring an arc of the meridian.* In
this last-mentioned year one of the most famous and most
popular of Cape rulers, Ryk van Tulbagh, who had been
formerly a private soldier, was appointed Governor, and,
during the long term of twenty years during which he
held office, appears to have given unqualified satisfaction.
Being a strict disciplinarian, and an enemy to luxury,
Tulbagh thought it his duty to oppose any departure from
strict simplicity of life, and he consequently lost no time
in adapting to the Cape the provisions of a law against
ostentation, introduced by Governor- General Jacob Mossel
into the Indian possessions of the Netherlands. Before
quoting from these " Praal and Praacht" Regulations, it is
necessary that we should understand the social position of
colonists about the middle of the eighteenth century.
There were only four '' Opper Koopmannen," or Senior

* He finished his work in 1753. Le Caille is said to have lodged at
No. 2, Strand-street. At the time of his visit, Cape Town extended east
as far as Plein-street. An attempt to construct a stone pier in Table
Bay is said to have been made in 1745.

154 The History of ihe Cape Colony. citci.

Merchants — namely, the Governor, Mynheer de Secunde
(sometimes called the " Vice-Gouverneur"), the indepen-
dent Fiscal, and the Commandant of the Castle. The
High Court of Policy, the Executive and Legislative
Councils, as well as the Court of Justice,* were formed by
these four officers, assisted by the Secretary of the Council,
the Purveyor-General, the Storekeeper (Pakhidsmeester),
and de Winkelier (agent for selling Company's goods), on
whom the title of merchants was conferred. The junior
merchants were more numerous, consisting of about thirty
officers, including the Secretary of the Court of Justice,
Lieutenants in the Army, the Accountant, Assistant Fiscal,
members of the Municipal Council, and Commandants of
Militia, the Clergyman, and the Landdrosts of Stellenbosch
and Swellendam. As there were nine thousand inhabi-
tants of European extraction, and eight thousand slaves,
the higher or privileged classes formed but a small
proportion of the community. Article 4 of the Sumptuary
Regulations provides that every person, without exception,
shall stop his carriage and get out of it when he shall see
the Governor approach ; and shall likewise get out of the
way, so as to allow a convenient passage to the carriage of
any of the members of the Court of Policy. As regards
" large umbrellas," it is ordered (Art. 6) " that no less in
rank than a junior merchant, and those among the
citizens of equal rank, and the wives and daughters of
those only who are, or have been, members of any council,
shall venture to use umbrellas." Art. 7 provides that "those
who are less in rank than merchants shall not enter the
Castle in fine weather with an open umbrella." The
female sex is especially referred to in the following terms :
— "No women below the wives of junior merchants, or
those who among citizens are of the same rank, may wear
silk dresses with silk braiding or embroidery, nor any
diamonds nor mantelets ; and, although the wives of the
junior merchants may wear these ornaments, they shall

* The Governor and M. de Secunde were generally absent from the
Court of Justice, in which case the Commandant of the Castle presided.

i75i.i Van Tulbagh's Sumptiiary Laws. 155

not bo entitled to allow their daughters to wear them. All
women, married or single, without distinction, are pro-
hibited, whether in mourning or out of mourning, under a
penalty of twenty-five rix-dollars, to wear dresses with a
train." Dust was not to be strewn before the house door
as a sign of bereavement, nor more than one undertaker
employed, except in case of the death of a Governor, or a
member of the Court of Policy. The placaat further
enters into minute details as to the number of servants
and horses that each rank might have, the dresses of
various classes, and specially those of brides and their
friends at wedding ceremonies."" These preposterous laws
seem to have caused no dissatisfaction, and as the strict
discipline of Tulbagh was never carried out with unneces-
sary severity ? the people were contented and happy. So
little, indeed, did colonists feel the want of what are styled
free institutions, that the period of Tulbagh's rule was
considered the golden age of the Cape ; and about the close
of last century old inhabitants used to discourse of the
blessings and advantages which resulted from this
Governor's paternal sway.

Having now arrived at a period in Cape history a
hundred years ago — midway between the arrival of Van
Eiebeek and the present day— it is desirable to advert
to the financial state of the Colony and to its sources of
wealth. We have already glanced at the social position
of the people, and at the manner in which the Courts of
Law and the Councils of Government were constituted.
According to a census taken in the year 1769, the total
number of the " Company's servants" was 1,356 ; sick in
hospital, 399 ; and colonists of European extraction, 7,919;
while the slaves comprised no fewer than 7,187 adults and
917 children. !

; This Placaat is so illustrative of the times when it was pro-
mulgated, and otherwise so interesting, that it is printed in the
Appendix.

•| Company's live-stock: — Cattle, 3,231; horses, 307; sheep,
244,558; cattle, 38,01-2. This information is taken from tables
published in the large edition of Martin's British Colonies.

156 The History of the Cape Colony. um.

From the statistics of the period, it would seem that, in
round numbers, the revenue ranged from £14,000 to
£17,000 per annum, and that the expenditure reached the
very disproportionate sum of upwards of £50,000* a year.
All trade was in the hands of the Company, whose sales
of European manufactures averaged 100,000 florins, or
£8,340 a year, at a time when the total value of imports
was £16,680 annually. Rather more than 6,000 leaguers
of wine were made, and of these about 1,500 were sold to
the ships, and 120 (of Constantia) sent to Holland.
175,000 muids of wheat were produced in the year, of
which 20,000 were sent to Batavia, and 5,000 retained by
the Company. The entire value of the crops of the
Colony was £100,000 per annum. The taxes were mostly
paid in kind, and consisted principally of tithes on
produce. From wheat 15,104 guilders, or £1,253, and
25,000 muids were obtained. On barley a tenth was paid,

sources of revenue in Cape Town were, in 1773, according to the same

authority —

Sale of wine fWfiOO

Sale of brandy 32,000

Sale of beer 5,400

Duty on spirits sold to foreigners 9,300

Sale of Cape wine at Rondebosch and False Bay ... 3,300
Sale of wine and brandy at Stellenbosch and Dra-

kenstein 800

Expenditure in 1773 for the Colony :—

Shipping /184,488

Ordinary rations 78,878

Ordinary expenses 30,902

Extraordinary expenses 3,866

Buildings and repairs 17,783

Fortifications 1,155

Company's slaves 18,969

Condemnation and confiscation 4,575

Boats 9,615

Pay of shipping 14,169

Salaries on shore 146,497

* Of course this included the large expenditure on the outward and

homeward-bound Dutch fleets. 8 florins Cape currency were equal to

6-4 Dutch. Governor Tulbagh's salary was 4,200 guilders, or i'350

per annum.

1769.] Condition of the Country .—Education , fyc. 157

amounting in value to £312 13s. 4d. A public sale was
held annually of the right to retail wines, and the
purchaser became the "pachter," to whom each farmer
was bound to deliver the quantity desired at a fixed rate of
twenty- seven rix-dollars per leaguer. The chief pacht
generally fetched between £4,000 and £5,000 a year.
The " Stellenbosch pacht," together with the beer and
foreign wine duties, scarcely realized £800 a year. From
stamps and transfer dues (2|- per cent, on the purchase
amount) upwards of £700 was obtained, and land-rents
amounted to about £800 annually. Each ship that came
to Table Bay was charged £16 13s. 4d. as anchorage dues,
and about the year 1750 the average yearly number of
vessels which had to pay was twelve.

At this period there was neither printing-press, post-
office, nor education worthy of the name. Three
clergymen were considered sufficient for the Colony, as
the spiritual necessities of the natives were not thought
worthy of attention. At the remote farms bread was a
luxury rarely attainable, and although the scattered
colonists paid some outward attention to religious
worship, we cannot wonder that semi-barbarism soon
began to prevail among them, and that its effects were too
often perceptible in their conduct towards natives and
slaves. There were no bridges, with the exception of two
small ones over the Laurens Eiver, near Stellenbosch,*
and no roads, except those formed by Nature and the
tracks of farmers' wagons. As all trade was in the
Company's hands, there was a fair field for neither
commercial nor agricultural industry. Numbers of
colonists found it advisable to trek into the uncivilized
interior, and a spirit of discontent was roused which
increased with time, and at last found vent by a rebellion
in the Swellendam and Graaff-Eeinet divisions.

The very large number of slaves in the Colony, as

:: A man named Grimpen built one of these. In return, the
Government exempted him and his descendants from the performance
of burgher service. Governor Van der Stell built the other as a means
of approach to one of his farms.

158 Thr History of the Gape Colony. [177-2.

compared with the inhabitants of European extraction, was
the cause of constant anxiety and alarm. Doors had to
be securely bolted, and every means of precaution adopted,
while the outbreaks of slaves who roamed about in bands
were frequent and alarming. Sparrman* states that in
1772, in " broad daylight," he " narrowly escaped being
plundered by a troop of slaves, who had some time before
run away from their masters, and who were suspected
at that time to have their haunts about Table Mountain;"
and on another occasion he mentions that, having reached
an "elegant house, the property of a private gentleman,
there came out a heap of slaves, from sixteen to twenty,"
who behaved in such a rude manner as to lead him to
suspect that they had no better will towards him than to
others of a different nation from themselves, "who are
accustomed to sell them here, after having, partly by
robbery and open violence, and partly in the way of
bargain or purchase, got them from their native country,
and thus eventually brought them to the grievous evils
they then sustained." The ill effects of slavery on public
and private morals were clearly perceptible at the Cape,
and no religious effort worthy of the name was made
to reclaim those unfortunate people from infidelity and
vice.

A "baaken," or token of possession, was erected by
order of the Company near the mouth of the Zwartkops'-
in 1754, and it was in the following year that the sad
shipwreck of the Doddington, English East Indiaman,
occurred on a rock! forming one of the Bird Islands at the
eastern entrance of Algoa Bay. This vessel left England
for India on the 23rd of April, 1755, and doubled the Capo

Sparrmctris Voyages, vol. i., p. 37.

+ Until a few years back, the Dutch East India Company's posses-
sional mark on a stone existed on the sand-hill on the south side of
Baaken's River, near Port Elizabeth.

I This vessel could not have struck on the "Doddington rock," as in
that case she would have gone down immediately, and could not have
reached an island upon which, according to the narrative of the
survivors, she lay, with the port side out of the water.

1755.] Wreck of the " Doddington." 159

of Good Hope on the 5th July. About one in the morning
of the 17th of this month, the chief mate was violently
awakened from sleep by the shock of the vessel striking,
and when he hurriedly rushed upon deck a terrible
scene of confusion met his sight ; leaden-coloured rocks
were perceptible close at hand, and the sea broke with wild
fury over the ship, sweeping away the seamen with every
wave. The mate, expecting instantly to be carried away,
was overwhelmed by a huge breaker, which left him
stunned and senseless. Kecovering in the morning, he
perceived that he had been forcibly attached to a plank
by a nail which had forced itself into his shoulder. With
the greatest exertion he managed to extricate himself from
the wreck and reach the shore, where he found, on a
desolate unknown rock, twenty-three wretched-looking
survivors,. out of 220 souls who had been on board the
ill-fated ship.* Having succeeded in finding a box of

* The following affecting incident is narrated in the journal : — ■
" While searching along the beach they found the body of a female,
which was recognized as Mrs. Collett, the wife of the second mate, who
was then himself at a little distance ; and, knowing the mutual
ofFection which subsisted between the couple, Mr. Jones, the chief
mate, engaged Mr. Collett in conversation, and took him to the other
side of the island, while his companions dug a grave, to which they
committed the body, after reading the burial service from a French
Prayer-book which had been washed ashore with the deceased. They
found means in a few days to gradually relate to him what they had
done, and restore to him the wedding-ring which they had taken
from her finger. He received it with great emotion, and afterwards
spent many days in raising a monument over her grave." It appears
that, in hopes of finding treasure, which was rumoured to exist on the
island, this grave was subsequently opened, and the monument
destroyed. Some years ago, Her Majesty's steamer Styx, on her
voyage from Port Elizabeth to the Buffalo, having during the night
been compelled to let go her anchor in the midst of breakers, was found
at daybreak to be lying between the reefs and Bird Island, whence she
was fortunately able to steam out. This showed the evident danger to
navigation in this neighbourhood, and a lighthouse was consequently
erected on the largest island. Belies of the Doddington have been
recently found, and on Stag Island very ancientdooking anchors, much
worn, supposed to have belonged to wrecked Portuguese vessels, have
been discovered.

160 The History of the Cape Colony. [1755.

candles, some brandy, one or two casks of fresh water,
and a small supply of provisions, as well as some canvas,
which served to afford a little shelter from the wind and
rain, they exerted themselves to the utmost to build a
sloop, thirty feet long by twelve broad, the keel of which
was laid down by the carpenter on the 24th of Jury. In
September, a few men succeeded in reaching the main-
land, after the boat had been upset and one of their
number drowned. The savages at first treated them
inhumanly, and took all their clothes, but were afterwards
friendly, and gave them food and roots. At last, after
seven months' residence on this inclement rock, which
they called Bird Island in consequence of the number
of sea-fowl which visited it, their sloop, named the
Happy Deliverance, was successfully launched. After
coasting some time, and frequently landing to obtain
provisions in exchange for trinkets from the natives, they
steered for Delagoa Bay, which they reached on the 20th
of May, 1756, and here, fortunately, met an English ship,
which took them to India.*

* The Doddington contained a quantity of treasure, one box of
which, rescued from the wreck, was subsequently found by the officers
broken open. It was rumoured that the officers buried a quantity of
valuables, including money, on one of the Bird Islands, or at Woody
Cape, and a book has been published in Holland, styled " Singular
Adventures of Gerrit Cornells van Bengel, principally at the South-
Eastern Coast of the Cape of Good Hope, in the years 1747-175*.
Compiled and edited from posthumous papers by Advocate Simon Proot,
LLP). Printed by Van der Post Brothers, Utrecht, 1860." It is
related in this work that Van Bengel, corporal in the service of
the Dutch East Indian Company, arrived in the Colony by the ship
Veldhoen, during 1747, and ten years afterwards met with a sailor who
had been shipwrecked in the Doddington, who not only communicated
the particulars of this disaster, but stated that great treasures had been
buried by the officers for fear of plunder and mutiny. This seaman
further stated that, having on one occasion landed at Woody Cape, he
saw bags of money lying behind bushes, under a cliff, but fear of being
cut off by the tide forced him to return to his companions before he
could secure any of it. Upon hearing all this, Van Bengel, who had
saved something out of his pay of twelve guilders per month, petitioned
Governor llyk van Tulbagh to be made a free burgher, and, as he had

i705.j Ravages of the &mall-j)ox. 1(51

During last century small-pox proved a frequent
scourge, and, as usual, its ravages were principally
confined to the coloured races. In 1755 this disease was
peculiarly destructive in Cape Town, and both measles
and small-pox were epidemic in 17G7. Under the govern-
ment of Van Tulbagh the foundation of the Town-hall was
laid by Barend d'Artoys on the 18th November, 1755; and
fortifications were, in the following year, first erected at
Muizenberg Pass, a strong position commanding the road
from Simon's Bay to Cape Town. Tulbagh did not neglect

to choose a handicraft, stated his wish to be styled a tailor. No sooner,
however, had he obtained his burner prhWnjlc. than he hid himself in
the hold of an outward-bound East Indiauian, named the Zivadrfvisch,
and after encountering a storm, and coasting for a number of days, had
the satisfaction of seeing the vessel anchor under the lee Of the Bird
Islands. Van Bengel visited all the rocky islets of the group, but
found such an impenetrable crust of guano on the surface that he had
to give up the task of seeking the treasure there. Three of the ship's
crew were bribed by two hundred guilders (the savings of ten years) to
put him ashore at Woody Cape. The boat upset in the surf, and Van
Bengel narrowly escaped with his life, while his companions were
drowned. Entering a grotto in a cleft of the rock, which seemed to
answer the description of his informant, he searched everywhere for
treasure, but only found a rusty cutlass and a portion of an old Dutch
blunderbuss. Digging in the ground was equally fruitless, and at last
Van Bengel had to console himself for his disappointment by copious
draughts from a bottle of Schiedam. After sitting in a reverie for
some time, the embers of the fire which he had lit seemed to blaze up,
and a large number of men. dressed in sailors' garb, issued from the
back of the cavern, who diverted the channel of a small stream, and,
digging in its bed. brought up no fewer than a dozen iron chests, which
were all opened by one of the party with a ponderous key. Van Bengel
approached the treasure, but unfortunately slipped his foot and fell in
the midst of the strange visitors, who immediately ran away, leaving
the poor adventurer to search in vain for the vast wealth he had
beheld. Van Bengel, it is said, journeyed overland to Covjj Town, and
the extraordinary adventures of the overland journey arc narrated in the
book from which we have quoted. The whole matter was subsequently
laid before Governor Van Tulbagh, who, instead of sending ships to
bear away the treasure, ordered the immediate deportation of Van
Bengel to Holland, where the poor fellow ultimately became insane,
and died in an asylum. The strangest part of the book is Mr. Proofs
belief in the existence of the treasure and the occurrence in the

31

162 The History of the Coupe Colony. 1771.

to prosecute discovery, and in furtherance of this object
dispatched an expedition, under Hoppe, to the northward,
in 1761, and caused a careful report to be prepared by C.
Bykvoet, upon the subject of the extensive mines of copper
which were known to exist in Naniaqualand. It must not
be omitted that, in the year just quoted, Mr. Dessin made
his munificent bequest, in trust to the Dutch Eeformed
Church, of nearly 5,000 volumes and several choice
paintings, which eventually became the property of the
South African Library. English ships had already begun
to take a leading part in mercantile enterprise. Com-
mander Anson was followed by Captain Wallis, in the
Dolphin, in 1768, and we shall soon have to note the
remarks on the Colony made by Captain Cook and
members of his expedition, who visited the Cape between
the year 1771 and 1780.

Governor Kyk van Tulbagh died in 1771, after having
ruled for twenty years in such a manner as to secure
the esteem and love of all classes of colonists. Although
a strict disciplinarian, he was no tyrant ; and his just
yet compassionate disposition engaged the confidence
and love of the people. He was neither a man of great
talent nor of extended views ; and his sumptuary regula-
tions were framed in strict accordance with the narrow
spirit which actuated the Government he served. If he
had been less conservative, his memory would not have
been so much venerated. Certainly one of the principal
causes of this universal respect was the contrast which
could be drawn between his conduct and that of other
Governors. The author of " L'Afrique Hollandaise'' com-
pares Tulbagh's conduct with that of Plettenberg, and
testifies that " the Cape Colony lost all in losing him.
They have not forgotten the last words of this good father.
Stretched upon the bed of death, and about to render his
pure soul into the hands of God, he said to those who

cave. A drama, named The Treasure at Woody Cape, or the Days
of ft yk van 2'ulbaf/h, founded upon ihis legend, has been successfully
produced at Port Elizabeth.

i77i.j Ga/pt. Cook's Description of Gape Town. 163

surrounded him, and who wept bitterly at his approach-
ing death., ' My friends, my children, it is not yet
the time for tears. You will have too much occasion
for them three or four years hence, when I shall be no
more.' "*

Baron Joachim von Plettenberg succeeded Governor
Tulbagh in 1771. In the year following, the foundations
of a new Hospital, and of the Main Barracks, were laid.
Sparrman, the traveller, arrived in 1772 ; Masson collected
plants for the new Botanic Gardens at Kew in that year ;
and Captain Cook, outward bound, again called in to
Table Bay.t This voyager, describing his first visit (April,
1771), thus refers to the Colony* :— "The only town which
the Dutch have built there is, from its situation, called
Cape Town, and consists of about one thousand houses,
neatly built of brick, and in general whited on the outside;
they are, however, covered only with thatch, for the
violence of the south-east winds would render any other
roof inconvenient and dangerous. The streets are broad
and commodious, all crossing each other at right angles.
In the principal street there is a canal, on each side of
which is planted a row of oaks that have nourished
tolerably well, and yield an agreeable shade. There is a
canal also in one other part of the town ; but the slope in
the ground in the course of both is so great that they are
furnished with flood-gates or locks, at intervals of little
more than fifty yards. A much greater proportion of tin-
inhabitants are Dutch in this place than in Batavia ; and
as the town is supported principally by entertaining
strangers, and supplying them with necessaries, every
man, to a certain degree, imitates the manners and
customs of the nation with which he is chiefly concerned.
The ladies, however, are so faithful to the mode of their

* His body was interred in the centre of the great Butch Reformed
Church in Cape Town, and a suitable slab was placed over the grave.

f The King of Madura was, in 1772, confined on Plobben Island by
order of the Dutch East India Company.

I Tin- Tli ret' Voyages '>/' Captain James Cook Round tin- World
Longman and Co., London. 1821, vol. i., p. 350, et seq.

U 2

16-1 The History of the Cape Colony. am.

country, that not one of them will stir without a chaucl-
pied, or chauffet, which is carried by a servant. This
practice is the more remarkable, as very few of these
chauffets have fire on them. The women in general are
very handsome ; they have fine clear skins, and a bloom of
colour that indicates a purity of constitution and high
health. The air is salutary in a high degree. The beef
and mutton are excellent, though the cattle and sheep are
natives of the country. The fields produce European
wheat and barley, and the gardens European vegetables
and fruit of all kinds. The vineyards also produce wine
of various sorts, but not equal to those of Europe, except
the Constantia. The common method in which strangers
live here is to lodge and board with some of the inhabitants,
many of whose houses are always open for their reception ;
the rates are from five shillings to two shillings a day, for
which all necessaries are found.* Coaches may be hired at
four and twenty shillings a day, and horses at six shillings.
There are no public entertainments. At the farther end
of the High -street the Company have a garden, which is
about two-thirds of an English mile long ; the whole is
divided by walks, which intersect each other at right
angles, and are planted with oaks that arc dipt into wall
hedges, except in the centre walk, where they are suffered
to grow to their full size, and afford an agreeable shade,
which is the more welcome, as, except the plantations by
the sides of the two canals, there is not a single tree that
would serve even as a shepherd's bush within many miles
of the town. At the further end of the garden is a
menagerie, in which there are many birds and beasts that
are never seen in Europe." Speaking of the natives,
Captain Cook says: — "Within the boundaries of the Dutch
settlements there are several nations of these people who
very much differ from each other in their customs and
manner of life ; all, however, are friendly and peaceable,

' The higher ofticers of Government, not even excepting M, dc
Scconde, frequently received boarders. Captain Gierke, commander of
Captain Cook's consort ship, lodged in the building now used as the
South African Bank,

mi.] Cool'* Description continued. 16S

except one clan that is settled to the eastward, which the
Dutch call Boschmen, and these live entirely by plunder, or
rather by theft. The bay is large, safe, and commodious.
Near the town a wharf of wood is run out to a proper
distance for the convenience of landing and shipping goods.
To this wharf water is conveyed in pipes, and several large
boats or hoys are kept by the Company to carry stores and
provisions to and from the shipping in the harbour. The
bay is defended by a square fort, situated close to the
beach on the east side of the town, and by several out-
works and batteries ; but they are so situated as to be
cannonaded by shipping, and are in a manner defenceless
against an enemy of any force by land. The garrison
consists of eight hundred regular troops, besides militia of
the country, in which is comprehended every man able to
bear arms. They have contrivances to alarm the whole
country by signals, and the militia is then to repair
immediately to the town. The French at Mauritius are
supplied from this place with salted beef, biscuit, flour,
and wine." Speaking of the voyages of that time, Captain
Cook says: — "While we lay here (Table Bay) the Houghton,
Indiaman, sailed for England, who, during her stay in
India, lost between thirty and fort}T men, and when she
left the Cape had many in a helpless condition with the
scurvy. Other ships suffered in the same proportion who
had been little more than twelve months absent from
England." Foster, in his account of the second voyage
(vol. i., p. 61), says : — " Another great building serves as
a hospital for the sailors belonging to the Dutch East
India ships, which touch here, and commonly have
prodigious numbers of sick on board, on their voyage from
Europe to India. . . . It is no uncommon circum-
stance at the Cape that a ship, on her passage thither

* The following extraordinary statement is made : — " As a defence
against these freebooters the other Indians (sic) train up bulls, which
they place round their towns in the night, and which, upon the approach
of either man or beast, will assemble and oppose till they hear the
voice of their masters encouraging them to fight, or calling them off.'
(Vol. ii., page 361.)

166 The History of the Ca/pe Colony, 1776.

from Europe, losses eighty or a hundred men, and sends
between two and three hundred others dangerously ill to
the hospital." The vile system of kidnapping for foreign
service is animadverted upon.* On the 20th of March,
1776, Captain Cook (second voyage, homeward bound),
went on shore, and waited on the Governor, Baron
Plettenberg, and other principal officers, who received him
with the greatest politeness. While they lay in Table
Bay several foreign ships put in and out, bound to
and from India, viz., English, French,! Danes, Swedes,

* Thunberg thus describes the manner in which soldiers were often
obtained for the Cape of Good Hope and other settlements : —
" Kidnappers (zielverkoopers) , the most detestable members of society,
frequently effect the ruin of unwary strangers, by decoying them into
their houses and then selling them to be transported. . . . These
man-stealers are citizens, who, under the denomination of victuallers,
have the privilege to board and lodge strangers for money, and under
this cloak perpetrate the most inhuman crimes. . . . They not only
keep servants to pick up strangers in the street, but also bribe the
carriers to bring strangers to lodge with them, who, as soon as they
arrive, are shut up in a room together with a number of others to the
amount of a hundred and more, where they are kept upon scanty and
wretched food, entered as soldiers upon the Company's books, and at
length, when the ships are ready to sail, carried on board. The honest
dealer receives two months of their pay, and what is called a bill of
transport for 100, 150, or 200 guilders. In the two, three, or four
months during which they are shut up at the kidnapper's, they contract
the scurvy, a putrid diathesis, and melancholy (which break out soon
after they come on board). . . . Many innocent people, often of
decent family and in easy circumstances, are trepanned by these man-
stealers, and must go as soldiers to the East or West Indies, where
they are obliged, by the articles of their agreement, to serve at least
five years. . . . The Directors of the East India Company can
neither be defended, as not knowing of such scandalous practices that
disgraced humanity, nor, indeed, be acquitted of favouring them at
times. For as the Company is often in want of men, and does not care
to give better pay, they are obliged to overlook the methods used bjr
these infamous traders in human flesh to procure hands." — Travels in
Europe, Africa, and Asia, between 1770 and 1779 (to the Cape of Good
Hope, 1770 to 1773). By Charles Peter Thunberg, M.D. In four
volumes. Vol. i., pp., 73-75.

-\ One of the French ships at anchor in the bay at this time was the
Ajax, Indiaman, bound to Pondicherry, commanded by Captain Crozet.
This officer gave Captain Cook a chart, in which " were delineated not

1773.! Stellenbosch and tin Paarl. 107

and three Spanish frigates, two of them going to, and one
coming from, Manilla. On the third voyage, outward
hound, Captain Cook landed some cattle and sixteen
sheep ; but in spite of every precaution, dogs got among
the latter, hilled four, and dispersed the rest. It was
about this period that Lieutenant-Governor Hening
endeavoured to introduce Spanish sheep ; but his
endeavours. Captain Cook remarks, were frustrated by the
obstinacy of the country people, who held their own breed
in greater estimation, on account of their large tails,* of
the fat of which they sometimes made more money than
of the whole carcase besides. Mr. Anderson, the surgeon
of the expedition, who made an excursion into the
country, describes Stellenbosch as consisting of more than
thirty houses, neat, and with the advantage of a rivulet
which runs near, and the shelter of some large oaks,
planted at its first settling, forming " what may be called
a rural prospect of this desert country.'' There were
some vineyards and orchards about the place. "In the
evening we arrived at a farm-house, which is the first in
the cultivated tract called the Pearl. We had at the same
time a view of Drakenstein, the third colony of this
country. On the 19th (November), in the afternoon, we
went to see a stone of a remarkable size, called by the
inhabitants the Tower of Babylon, or the Pearl Diamond. +

only his own discoveries but those of Captain Kerguelen." The two
Spanish ships were the first vessels of that nation which had been
allowed this privilege. Captain Cook says : — " Myself, the two Mr.
Fosters, and Mr. Sparrman took up our abode with Mr. Brand, a
gentleman well known to the English by his obliging readiness to serve
them."

* Kolbe says these tails weighed from 15 to 20 lbs. (vol. ii., page
65). La Caille says the weight was not more than 5 lbs. or 6 lbs.
(page 343).

f This stone is described in a letter from Mr. Anderson to Sir John
Pringle, in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxxxviii., part 1, p. 10r<J.
An Account of Three Journeys from Cape Town into the Southern
Parts of Africa in 1772-3-4, by Mr. Francis Masson, from the Botanical
Garden at Kew, gives an interesting description of the country about
the Cape. M. De Pages furnishes particulars of a journey near Cape
Town in 1773 in his Voyaye vers le Pole du Surf, pp. 17 to 33.

108 The History of the Qwpe Oolomj. [1772.

" In the morning of the 20th, we set out from the Pearl,
and, soincr a different road from that bv which we came,
passed through a country wholly uncultivated, till we got
to the Tyger hills, when some tolerable corn-fields
appeared." The remarks of Dr. Andrew Sparrman, who
visited the Cape in 1772, are well worthy of attention, and
his Travels must always be regarded as a work of great
value. He says " that Cape Town is small, about 2,000
paces in length and breath, including the gardens and
orchards bj^ which one side of it is terminated. The
streets are broad, but not paved. The houses are hand-
some, two stories high at the most ; the greatest part of
them are stuccoed and whitewashed on the outside, but
some of them are painted green : this latter colour, which
is never seen upon the houses in Sweden, being the
favourite colour with the Dutch for their clothes, boats,
and ships. A great part of their houses, as well as
churches, are covered with a sort of dark-coloured reed,
which grows in dry and sandy places. The Company's
gardens, so differently spoken of by Kolben, Byron, and
Bougainville, are the largest in the town, being 400 paces
broad and 1,000 long, and consisting of various quarters,
planted with cale and other kinds of garden stuff for the
Governor's own table, as well as for the use of the Dutch
ships and the Hospital. To the south of the town are
seen the burial grounds of the Chinese and free Malays
who live at the Cape, as well as one belonging to the
Dutch, which has a wall round it. But what disgraces
the town is a gallows, with racks and other horrid
instruments of torture, which the Governor (Van Pletten-
berg) has lately ordered to be erected in the place of
honour. Two other gibbets are erected within sight of the
town, viz., one on each side of it." The military exercises
of the militia are thus described : — " On the 11th, the
whole burgessy turned out into the field ; the coats, as
well of the horse as of the foot, were, to be sure, all blue,
but of such different shades, that they might as well
have been rod, purple, and yellow. Their waistcoats,
particularly those of the infantry, were brown, blue, and

1772.]

Want of Roads in the Interior. 169

white — in short, all the colours of the rainbow. A French
priest, clothed in black, with red heels to his shoes, stood
near me, and could not help expressing to me his amaze-
ment at seeing such a parti-coloured equipment. However,
this did not hinder them from going through their exercise
extremely well, as a great number of them were Europeans,
who had served in the last war in Germany, and since that
time had been in garrison at the Cape, when, in conse-
quence of having served five years, they had become
denizens of the country. Ambitious, therefore, of keeping
up their military reputation, and puffed up with pride in
consequence of their superiority in point of fortune, they
took it into their heads, several years ago, to consider it as
a very disgraceful circumstance that they should be
obliged to make front against the garrison, which on their
side felt themselves so much hurt by the comparison, that
the attack became very serious ; so that, among other
things, they loaded on each side with coat buttons, pieces
of monev, and the like. Since this accident, both these
corps are never exercised at one and the same time."

According to Sparrman, commerce was at a low ebb,
and no efforts were made to improve the means of
internal communication. Consequently the circulation
of trade was slow. It took a hundred hours of hard
driving in a heavy wagon over bad roads to bring
timber from Mossel Bay to Cape Town. Mountains
literally blocked up a large portion of the interior. All
ports except those of Cape Town and Simon's Bay were
purposely neglected. Manufactures and agriculture were
depressed by a monopolist Government, which regulated
prices in the only market — that of Cape Town. The
spiritual condition of the heathen and of slaves was
viewed with complete apathy. Sparrman says that when
he entered into discourse with a Hottentot, the man
asserted that he had never before been spoken to about
religion, and that he was so stupid as to be unable to
comprehend anything concerning it, "nor did he think it
was for him to trouble himself with these matters. In
other respects his mind was capable, enough of being

170 Tin History of th Ccvpe Colony. 11772.

illumined ; but as the making of proselytes brings the
Butch in neither capital nor interest, this poor soul, with
many others of his countrymen, was neglected."* As
imported slaves formed a large proportion of the popula-
tion, great precautions had to be taken to guard against
their outbreaks, while very severe punishments were
necessarily inflicted on their crimes. It is quite possible
that the cases of cruelty to which Sparrman refers were
exceptive ones, although it is only reasonable to suppose
that crying abuses must prevail under any system of
slavery, i

* Sparrmaris Voyages, vol. i., p. ?<;. Referring to the strange
repugnance which always existed to the baptism of Hottentots
or bastards, this writer says : — " I saw two brothers in the vicinity
of Hottentots Holland bath, the issue of a Christian man and
of a bastard negress of the second or third generation. One of
the sons, at this time about thirty years of age, seemed not to be
slighted in the company of the Christian farmers, though at that
time he had not been baptized. The other, who was the elder
brother, in order to get married and settled in life, as he then was, had
been obliged to use all his influence, and probably even bribes, to get
admitted into the pale of the church by baptism. For my part I can-
not comprehend the reason why the divines of the Reformed Church
at the Cape are so sparing of a sacrament." Sparrman then proceeds
to show that if they thought by this means to diminish the number of
unlawful connections, they were mistaken. The refusal of baptism to
the heathen, it appears, was common at this time, and the following
anecdote on the subject is quoted from Histoire Philosophique
Politique: — "There was a citizen in Batavia who had often impor-
tuned the ministers of his church to baptize his illegitimate child,
but in vain ; so, at last, informed them that he would hand him over
to the Mahometan priests of the Malays, wTho are not so churlish
or so niggardly of salvation. The Christian ministers, however, no
sooner saw that preparations were made for circumcision than they
hastened by administering the sacrament of baptism to deprive the
Mahometans of a soul. And since that time they are said to be less
backward."

f Atrocities of a revolting nature were often committed by the
slaves. Sparrman says : — " There lived here (at Nana River) a widow,
whose husband had several years before met with the dreadful
catastrophe of being beheaded by his own slaves. His son, then about
13 or 14 years of age, was obliged to be an eye-witness." (Vol. ii.,
p. 347.)

1778.] Heroism of Wolfamade. 171

C. P. Thunberg, Professor of Botany at Upsal, who

visited the Cape in 1772, writes of the country in a
similar manner to Sparrman. This author speaks of the
slaves being hired out by the month, week, or day, during
which term they had to earn for their master a certain fixed
sum. As the soldiers of the Company received wretched
pa}", they were frequently allowed to obtain substitutes (at
a cost of four skillings per diem) and earn money by the
exercise of a trade. Five years was the general term of
their contract of service in the Colony ; they were not
allowed to marry, and at the expiry of the period mentioned,
could either return home or renew the engagement. :

The loss of the ship Joixir Thomas occurred in Table
Bay during the year 1773, and formed the occasion for
the ever memorable heroism of Woltemade. This ship,
owned by the Dutch East India Company, and com-
manded by Captain Barend de la Maire, left the Texel
on the 20th October, 1772, bound to Batavia, with a
crew of 296 men. After a protracted and tedious voyage,
she at last came to anchor in Table Bay on the evening
of the 28th March, 1773, reporting 70 deaths, and having
on board 41 sick persons, who were at once landed and
sent to the hospital. On the 29th of May, the vessel
was ready for sea, waiting for a favourable breeze. Two
days afterwards, on the morning of the 1st of June
( Whit-Monday) a strong north-west gale arose with violent
gusts, accompanied by thunder, lightning, hail, and heavy
showers of rain. At night, in this storm, the Jonge
Thomas, having lost all her anchors, was driven on the
sands near the shore at Salt River, and on account of her
being heavily laden, broke into two parts at about six
a.m., when the mainmast went overboard. The surge
rose to an enormous height, and Salt River was so swollen
as to be almost impassable.

* Thunberg speaks of Rondebosch as "a villa belonging to the
Governor." It was in the same year this traveller arrived (1772) that
the leases of several farms on the Zwartkops River were cancelled, on
account of being outside the colonial boundary. They were, however
re-occupied in 177.").

172 The History of the Ga/pe Colony. [1773.

Scarcely had the ship struck when the most efficacious
measures were employed to save as much as possible of
the Company's property, though no effort was made to
deliver the crew. Thirty soldiers were ordered out, with a
lieutenant, from the citadel to the place where the ship
lay, in order to keep a strict look-out and to prevent any
of the Company's goods from being stolen. A gibbet was
erected, and an edict issued, declaring that whoever
should come near the spot was to be hanged without
trial. On this account the compassionate inhabitants,
who had gone on horseback to the assistance of the
sufferers, were obliged to return without being able to
do them the least service ; but, on the contrary, witnessed
the brutality and want of feeling evinced by persons who
did not bestow a thought on their fellow-creatures upon
the wreck.

An old man of the name of Woltemade, a German by
birth, who was at that time a keeper of beasts at the
menagerie or paddock near the garden, had a son in the
citadel who was a corporal, and among the first who had
been ordered out to Paarden Island, where a guard was to
be placed for the preservation of the wrecked goods. This
veteran borrowed a horse, and rode out in the morning
with a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread for his son's
breakfast. He arrived so earlv that the gibbet had not
yet been erected, nor the edict posted up. No sooner
had the old man heard the lamentations of the dis-
tressed crew than he rode his horse, which was a good
swimmer, to the wreck, with a view of saving some of
them. He repeated his dangerous trip six times more,
bringing each time two men alive on shore, and thus
saving in all fourteen persons. The horse was by this
time so fatigued, that Woltemade did not think it prudent
to venture out again ; but the cries and entreaties of the
poor wretches on the wreck still increasing, he ventured to
take one trip more, which proved so unfortunate that he
lost his own life. On this occasion too many rushed upon
him at once — some of them catching hold of the horse's
tail, and others of the bridle, by which means the horse,

ma.] Peculations of Officials. 17i>

wearied out and too heavily laden, sank down, and all
were drowned.

This noble and heroic action shows that a great many
lives might have been saved if a strong rope had been
fastened by one end to the wreck and by the other to the
shore. When the storm and waves had subsided, the wreck
was found to lie at so small a distance from the land, that
one might almost have leaped from it upon shore.

Thunberg remarks that the vigorous measures taken to
preserve the Company'^ effects were not so efficacious as
to prevent certain officials from enriching themselves
considerably. " For when whole horse-loads of iron from
the wreck could be sold to the smiths in town, it is easy to
conceive that their consciences would not stand greatly in
their way if they couid lay their hands upon portable and
valuable commodities." This writer proceeds to say: —
" Although the hardest hearts are frequently softened by
the uncommonly severe misfortunes of their fellow-
creatures, and although great and noble actions have at all
times been able to excite the gratitude and benevolence of
the public towards the actor, yet, I am sorry to say, I have
it not in my power to conclude this melancholy picture
with some pleasing trait of generous compassion on the
part of the Governor (Baron Van Plettenberg) towards the
poor sufferers, and especially towards the drowned hero, or
of some noble remuneration to his son. For when, shortly
afterwards, this young man solicited the situation of his
late father — which was a post of but small emolument, and
could neither be considered a recompense, nor envied him
by any one — it was refused him and given to another.

" This unfeeling bon vivant of a Governor, rich in money
but poor in spirit, allowed him, nevertheless, to do what
others considered a banishment — to go to Batavia, where
he died, before a despatch from the directors of the East
India Company in Holland arrived, ordering that the
children of Woltemade should, for the sake of their father,
be well provided for, that one of their ships should bear
his name, and that the story of his achievement should be
painted on the stern."

174 The History of tlie Gape Colon;/. 177:;.

One hundred and forty-nine human beings perished on
this occasion. They were lost for want of assistance,
which could have been easily afforded. The conduct of
the Governor was as disgraceful as that of Wolteinade was
noble and generous. Sixty-three men only escaped, and
among them Jan Jacobz, the second mate, who, with
twenty-five of the crew, remained on the stern portion of
the wreck until the fury of the gale had abated."

Contemporary writers do not speak well of His Excel-
lency Baron Van Plettenberg. He was cold-hearted and

* A narrative of this event is given by Sparrman (vol. i.. page 107 :
also in the Gape Town Mirror (vol. i., page 148). M. do Pages relates
it without giving Woltemade's name, and bis version was copied into
the Youths' Monthly Visitor for 1842. Barrow and other writ* rs
refer to the subject, and all authorities agree in substance with the
account given in the text, which seems the host and most
and is exactly that furnished by Thunberg. (See also Gape Monthly
Magazine, vol. iii., page 246.) The bodies of Woltemade and Capt.
De la Maire were cast ashore the day following, when they were
conveyed to Cape Town, and then quietly interred. No monument of
any description commemorates the greatest public act of heroism ever
performed in the Colony. An old oil painting, formerly belonging to
Mr. Van der Poel, and now or lately in the possession of Mr. Advocate
Hiddingh, Cape Town, depicts the occurrence. Sparrman, writing
regarding this shipwreck, says : — "Under the pretence of preventing
the people belonging to the ship from being plundered, they were
directly put under a guard upon the spot, from that time till the even-
ing, and that without their having taken any refreshment, although
they were wet and hungry, and wearied out with the labours of the
preceding night. For several days after this they were seen wandering
up and down the streets begging clothes and victuals. One of these,
indeed, is reported to have met with peculiarly rough treatment. This
was a sailor who. in order the better to swim for his life, went oif from
the wreck almost naked, and, having got safe on shore with his chest,
opened it. in order to take out a waistcoat to cover his nakedness ; he
was, however, not only hindered in so doing by a young chit of an
officer, but was obliged to put up with a few strokes of a cane into the
bargain, being told at the same time that he was liable to be- hanged
without delay on one of the newly-erected gibbets, as. directly contrary
to the express prohibition of Government, he had presumed to meddle
with goods saved from the wreck. The sailor excused himself by
saying that it was impossible for him not to be ignorant of the pro-
hibition, and that lie could clearly prove himself to be the right owner
of the chest by the key of it I which, in the sailor fashion, was fastened

tfso. Cliaracler <>J Va/n Vlettenberg. 175

selfish. Many of his acts, however, show evidences of
ability, and the system under which he ruled, and for
which he cannot be held responsible, was quite sufficient
to render any Governor unpopular. There was neither
liberty nor pretence of liberty. The contract of conditional
freedom made with the original burghers was considered
binding upon their children, and the Fiscal gave it as his
opinion, on the occasion of the deportation of a citizen to
Batavia in 1780, that as no one can transfer any greater
right than he himself possesses, and the father had
become a burgher under the condition of being forced back
into service and deported whenever the Company might
deem fit, so, therefore, the son could claim no exemption
from such a demand. " I sacredly confess that I cannot
discern wherein the fine distinction and high preference of
the rights of children above those of parents can reside. "t
This theory was constantly reduced to practice, and the
legal adviser of the Government thus sums up, in an
official document, the view of burgher rights which the
authorities had always taken : — " It would indeed be a
serious error," he says, " if a comparison were attempted
to be instituted between the inhabitants of a Colony
situated as this is, and the privileged free citizens of our
great towns in the United Provinces. It would be mere
deception to argue any equality of rights between them.
Were it necessary, it would be eas}* to exhibit the origin
of the burghers of our Eepublic and their privileges, in
striking contrast with the origin of the inhabitants of this

to his li.lt (, as well as by a psalm-book, wherein his name was written.
Notwithstanding all this, it was with great difficulty that he saved his
neck from the gallows. He was forced, however, naked and wet as he
was, to wait in the fields till the evening, with no other covering than
the sky. Shivering with cold, he at length, through repeated entreaties,
got permission to look after his chest, and take what he wanted out of it,
but now found i( broken open and plundered." (Span-man, vol. i.,p. 110.)
* This ( tovernor travelled to the Zi ekoe River, and erected abaaken
within a few miles of the place in which the present town of Colesberg
is built. This was in 1778. The travellers Paterson and Col. Gordon
had visited the Orange River a year or two previously.

Vei'anltvoordiny van W, C Boers, Tnihyicendeiil Fiscal,])]). 1 L, et se'i.

170 The History of lie- Ccipe Oolong. wm.

Colony and their claims. But it would be a mere waste
of words to dwell on the remarkable distinction to be
drawn between burghers whose ancestors nobly fought for
and conquered their freedom from tyranny, and from
whose fortitude in the cause of liberty the very power of
our Republic has sprung, and such as are named burghers
here, who have been permitted as matter of grace to have
a residence in a land of which possession has been taken
by the sovereign power, there to gain a livelihood as tillers
of the earth, tailors, and shoemakers. Here comparison
is impossible. . . . The burghers, whose number is at
present far too great, and whom, on this account, it will
soon be found very difficult to restrain and govern with a
due regard to the preservation of the interests of the State
and the Honourable Company, desire to be allowed a right
of trading beyond the Colony. . . . The object of para-
mount importance in legislation for colonics should be the
welfare of the parent State. Xo great penetration is needed
to see plainly the impossibility of granting such a petition.
The dangerous consequences which would result to the
State in general, and in particular to the Honourable
Company, from the concession to a Colony situated
midway between Europe and the Indies of free com-
merce, are manifest. It would soon be no longer a sub-
ordinate Colony, but an independent State.'** Under
these circumstances it is not surprising that the narrative
of Dutch rule should be a history of disaffection, some-
times varied by rebellion, and that many of the restless
spirits who could not brook subjection lied to the uncivilized

'■'■■ Veranttcoorduifl ran Flscaul !'<>■>■*, ut supra. The following grant
shows what constituted burgher privileges in 1780 : —

'•Joachim van Plettenberg, Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and
its dependencies, greeting: Whereas Johan Hendrik Gans, of Lippols-
herg, who arrived here in the year L770, with (lie ship Veldhocn, as
soldier, at the pay of nine guilders per month, hath by petition parti-
cularly requested of us to be dischargt d from the sen ice of the Honour-
able Company, and to be appointed {(uuigesteld) as burgher, having duly
served the Honourable Company. Wherefore we graciously grant his
request to earn his livelihood here or elsewhere within the Colony, with
his handicraft of a tailor ; hut that he shall not be allowed to abandon

1779.] Uitenhagc and Ghraaff-Beinet Founded. 177

interior. A pastoral life became the only refuge for the
enterprising and for the disaffected. In the extensive tracts
of country to the north and east of Swellendam they found
a home where the rule of the Government was only nominal,
and where civilization, placaats, and proclamations could
not penetrate. Injunctions that they should not wander
beyond certain limits,* and platitudes regarding the duty
of humanity to the natives, were issued occasionally from
Cape Town, but were as little heeded as if never heard.
A tide of migration commenced to flow before the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century, and scattered farmers by
degrees began to people the country afterwards formed
into the divisions of Uitenhage and Graaff-Keinet. There
they were as untrammelled and free as their brethren of
the Cape were bound and subject. The former were at
liberty to hunt down their enemies and commit any and
every act which passion and license dictated — the latter
were so cramped, fettered, and discontented that they
were ready to hail with pleasure any change which would
release them from the rule of the Company. The long-
smouldering sparks of burgher discontent at last burst
into a flame, and, in 1779, lists of accusations against
the Government, together with prayers for redress of
grievances, were forwarded to Holland.

the same, or to adopt any other mode of living, unless he shall first
have obtained special permission thereto from this Council, and that he
shall not petition for any grant of ground from the Honourable Com-
pany, which specially reserved the right and power at any time when
it may be deemed necessary, or whenever his conduct shall not be
proper, to take him back into service in his old capacity and pay, and
to transport him hence, if thought fit ; further submitting him to all
such placaats as have already, or may in future, be enacted regarding
freemen. Dono at the Castle of Good Hope, 5th September, 1780. —
J. van Plettenrerg. O. M. Bergh, Secretary."

* Van Plettenberg proclaimed the Snceuwbergen the boundary of
the Colony in 1780, and expressed an earnest desire that no extension
should take place. In the year 18-M, Mr. James Howell wrote to a
Colonial newspaper that, on a shooting excursion about twenty miles
from Colesberg, in the direction of the Seacow River, he stumbled over
a baaken on which was inscribed " L. vn Plette, 798."

N

CHAPTEE VIII.

Importance of the Cape — Commodore Johnstone sent with an English Fleet to
Capture the Cape — Engagement with Suffren — Le Vaillant's Description of the
Capture of Dutch Vessels-of-War in Saldanha Bay — Travels of Le Vaillant —
His Description of tho Colony — Natives — Slavery — Paper Currency — Amsterdam
Eattery — Governor Van Plettenhorg— Loss of the East ludiaman Grosvenor —
Sufferings of tho Survivors — History of the Bushman War waged between these
Natives and the Dutch Farmers — Statistics.

After the middle of the eighteenth century, the English
saw the advantage to their new Empire in the East which
would accrue from the capture of the Cape. But the
French were equally alive to the importance of this
possession, and one of their Admirals declared it to be
his opinion that, in any contest between two European
powers in the East, that one of them which owned
the Cape of Good Hope and the Bay of Trincomalee
would necessarily be victorious.

In the year 1780, a small squadron under the com-
mand of Commodore Johnstone, dispatched from Eng-
land to take the Cape, was met at St. Jago by a French
fleet under Admiral Suffren, and was so damaged in
the fight that ensued as to be disabled from effecting
the object of the expedition. Suffren lost no time in
proceeding to Table Bay and putting the place in a
good state of defence, while Johnstone succeeded in the
capture and destruction of several Dutch vessels in
Saldanha Bay. The latter event is described by Le
Vaillant, who was in the Colony at the time. In August,
1781, the ship Held Woltemade, in which this traveller
had been a passenger, was sailing out of Simon's Bay
when perceived hj Commodore Johnstone, who immediately
bore down, and learnt from her crew that several Dutch
vessels were lying inside. The English then hoisted
French colours, and sailed into False Bay, and by this
manoeuvre at first deceived the enemy. Dissimulation
was, however, unnecessary, as the British force was over-
Whelming. So when one of their cutters hoisted the

1780.] An English Squadron captures Dutch Vessels, 179

English flag, and a broadside was fired, the Dutch
immediately cut their cables and ran aground. Disorder
and confusion prevailed, and the abandoned ships were
left to be plundered, while their seamen made the best of
their way over the sands to Cape Town. The British
were cannonading the shore and endeavouring to make as
many prisoners as possible, when they were startled by a
terrific explosion, and beheld the Middelburgh blow up,
covering the sea with flaming fragments. It appeared
subsequently that the captain of this ship (Vangenep)
was the only one who had obeyed the strict orders
which had been given, that if attacked beyond the
power of defence the commanders were to fire their
ships, which previously were to be unrigged and the cord-
age, sails, &c, put on board a hoeker to be anchored as
far up the bay and as close in shore as possible. The
latter part of these instructions had been obeyed ; but for
disobedience to the command that the ships should be
destroyed every captain (excepting Vangenep) was dis-
missed the service. The commander of the hoeker acted
with incredible cowardice and rashness, for, not content
with flying precipitately from his vessel on the approach
of the English cutter, he made no attempt to fire her
before leaving, and, upon landing, burned an elegant
habitation at the end of the bay in a place where the
water was so shallow that even shallops could not land.*

The travels of Le Vaillant attracted more attention
than they deserved, and his book has long ago been
proved to be untrustworthy and inaccurate. He describes
Cape Town as possessing wide though not commodious
streets ; " the houses, almost all built uniform, are
spacious and handsome, the tops covered with reed, as
heavier roofs might occasion accidents during the high
winds. The inside contains no frivolous luxuries ; the
furniture is simple, yet neat and handsome ; they use
no hangings ; pictures and looking-glasses are the principal

* Le Vaillant says that lie was afterwards prosecuted by tho
proprietor, Le Sieur Heufde, for damages, who expected to recover
the whole amount of the loss.

N 2

180 The History of the Cape Colony-. [im

ornaments. On entering the town by the way of the
Castle, the eye is presented with a number of elegant
buildings. On one side, the whole length of the gardens
belonging to the Company ; on the other, the fountains,
whose waters descend from Table Mountain by a channel,
which may be seen from the town and every part of the
roads."* With regard to the slaves, this writer remarks :
" The negroes of Mozambique and Madagascar are regarded
as the best workmen, and most affectionate to their
masters. The Indians are more employed in household
work in the town. There are also Malayans, who are the
most subtle and dangerous of slaves. Assassinating their
master or mistress is with them a common crime. During
the five 3'ears I passed in Africa, I saw many instances of
it. They go to execution with the greatest indifference.
I heard one of these wretches say to Mr. Boers he was

* Speaking of the inhabitants, Le Vaillant says : " In general the
men appeared well made, the women charming. I was surprised to see
the style in which they dressed — with all the minuteness and elegance
of the French ladies : but they have neither their air nor grace. As it
is ever the slaves who suckle the children, a familiarity ensues that is
highly prejudicial to their future manners and education ; the latter in
men seems, in general, still more neglected, if we except those who are
sent to Europe for that purpose, there being no masters at the Cape
but those who teach writing. Tbe women in general play on the
harpsichord ; thej^ likewise love singing, and are distractedly fond of
dancing, so that a week seldom passes without their having several
balls ; tbe officers belonging to the ships in tbe road frequently procure
them this amusement. At my arrival, the Governor had a custom of
giving a public ball once a month, and the people of distinction in the
town followed his example. In a Colony where so many strangers are
continually arriving, I was astonished to find neither coffee-house nor
tavern : but the truth is every private house answers that purpose.
The usual price for board and lodging is a piastre a day (four and six-
pence English i, which is sufficiently dear if we consider the scarcity
of money in this country. While I was there, butchers' meat was very
cheap. I have seen thirteen pounds of mutton bought for an escalin
(elevenpence English) ; an ox for 12 or 15 rixdollars. . . . The
most cruel and dangerous disease at this place is the sore throat. The
small-pox is another scourge to these Colonies. . . . Strangers are
generally well received at the Cape, but the English are adored there."
{Travels by Lc Vaillant, vol. i., p. 19, et seq.)

1780.1 Slavery at the Cape. 181

glad he bad committed the crime — that he well knew the
death attending the commission of it, which he ardently
wished for, as it would return him to his native country.
The Creole slaves at the Cape are most esteemed ; they are
sold at double the price of the others, and if they know
any business their price is exorbitant. A cook will sell
from eight to twelve hundred rix-dollars, and others in
proportion to their talents. A stranger is surprised, on
his arrival at the Cape, to see a multitude of slaves as
white as Europeans. One circumstance that causes depra-
vity among the slaves, and will ever vitiate their morals,
is that the Government of Batavia frequently send their
disorderly slaves to the Cape. These people are generally
Malayans, all thieves, or receivers ; for the last article
their reputation is so established that their habitations
are first searched when a slave is missing, or any property
lost. It is very uncommon for a master to punish a slave
himself. He generally puts him into the hands of the
Fiscal, who orders him the necessary correction. If a
master correct his slave unmercifully, the latter may com^
plain to the Fiscal, who will oblige the master to sell him ;
or in case of wounds or death, he is in danger of corporal
punishment, or banishment to the Isle of Boben."*

The remarks of Le Vaillant concerning the natives t are
for the most part written in an exaggerated and prejudiced

:;: Le Vaillant says that " this island takes its name from the number
of marine dogs that are found there. It is the place of banishment
from the Cape, and is under the command of a corporal, who has the
title of commander. The unhappy exiles are each day to deliver a
certain quantity of limestone, which they dig. In spare time they fish
or cultivate their small gardens, which procures them tobacco and some
other little indulgences." (Vol. i.. p. 103.) " The Government sends
every year a detachment into the Isle of Roben to shoot penguins, from
which they extract great quantities of oil." (Vol. i., p. 100.)

t Le Vaillant thus refers to some of the native customs. The
Hottentots, " in dancing, form themselves into a ring by taking hold of
each other's hands. The women and men are in equal number, and
stand alternately. This chain formed, they turn different ways ; at
intervals they clap then: hands all together, without any interruption to
the cadence. Then- voices unite with the sound of their instruments,
often repeating ' Hoo ! Hoo !' which is the general cadence. Some-

182 The History of the Cape Colon]/. [wo.

tone, and his absurd observation that, "in a state of
nature man is essentially good ; why should the Hottentot
be an exception to this rule ?" is almost surpassed by ridicu-
lous excuses for the cruelties and atrocities committed by

times one of the dancers, quitting the extremity of the circle, places
himself in the centre, where he begins a dance which hears some
resemblance to an English hornpipe ; the whole merit consisting in its
being executed with rapidity and decision, without stirring from the
spot. During the entire dance the performers make a kind of
monotonous humming. The musical instruments, which for their
supposed excellence, are most admired here are the (jour a, or
joum-joum (of the form of the Hottentot bow, and about the same
size), the rabouquin, and the romelpot. The rabouquin is a trian-
gular piece of wood, on which are extended three strings, fastened
to pegs that can be tightened or slackened at pleasure, in the manner
of our European instruments — it is, indeed, a guitar. The romelpot
is the most noisy of all their instruments. It is made of the hollowed
trunk of a tree, from two to three feet high ; over one end they extend
the skin of a sheep, well tanned, which they beat with their hands, or
rather with their fists, and sometimes with a stick." Le Vaillant does
not believe that either religion or superstition existed among the
Hottentots, and defends their character from various aspersions cast
on it by previous writers. This author, however, is, according to Sir
John Barrow, by no means a reliable authority, and liis undue partiality
for the natives is constantly apparent. Each South African traveller
in his turn, however, appears to impugn the testimony of the others.
Le Vaillant contradicts Kolben and Sparrman, while Barrow ridicules
Le Vaillant. The following remarks of Sparrman regarding the
smoking customs of the Bushmen are worth noting : — " An elk's horn,
from a foot and a half to two feet in length, forms a pipe, in the
aperture of which, about two inches in diameter, the Bushman contrives
to squeeze the whole of his mouth in such a manner that none of the
smoke can escape or be lost, but passes entire in a column proportioned
to the size of his horn into his throat, some part of it coming up again
through his nostrils. Five or six gulps content him. He then hands the
horn to his next neighbour. One of the Bushmen once swallowed the
smoke with such avidity that I saw him fall down in a swoon in conse-
quence." Card-playing. — " I had, the evening after my arrival there,
an opportunity of seeing their card-playing. By this absurd name the
colonists have distinguished the following peculiar game among these
people, which was played in this manner. Both of my Hottentots,
together with two others, made a partie quarree, sitting on their hams.
The chimney — the part of a room constantly preferred by a Hottentot
to any other — was likewise, in this case, the place they chose to occupy
for playing tMs game ; and the ash-hole might not inaptly be considered

1780.] Attempt to Extirpate the Bushmen, 183

savages.* There can be no doubt, however, that animad-
versions upon the commando system were justified, and
that a virtual attempt to extirpate the Bushmen was made
by the boers towards the end of the present century.!
However highly coloured the pictures of Le Vaillant,
Sparrman, and Thunberg may be, the main features are
decidedly correct. The Dutch East India Company was
unable to defend its most valuable colonial possessions,
and the nominal Government at the Cape could neither
prevent outrages on the natives nor secure the fidelity of

as their card-table. Now, as this sport seemed to consist in an inces-
sant motion of the arms upwards, downwards, and across each other's
arms, without ever seeming (at least on purpose) to touch one another,
it appears to me that the intention of this sport is to open the chest, as
it were, while sitting, by way of succedaneum for dancing. It is
probable, however, that with all this they observo certain rules, and,
in certain circumstances, mutually get the advantage over each other,
as each of them at times would hold a little peg between his forefinger
and thumb, at which they would burst out into laughter, and, on being
asked the reason, said that they lost and won by turns, yet without
playing for anything." (See Sparrman, vol. i., p. 231, et seq.)

* See Vol. 2, p. 149. He admits that the Hottentots often abandon
their old people and sick without pity, and then endeavours to excuse
this conduct. (Vol. ii. p. 113.)

•| " A colonist," Le Vaillant says, " who lives two hundred leagues
up the country arrives at the Cape to complain that the Hottentots
have taken all his cattle, and entreats a commando, which is a permis-
sion to go with the help of his neighbours and retake his property ; the
Governor, who either does not or feigns not to understand the trick,
adheres strictly to the facts expressed in the petition — the fatal word is
written, which proves a sentence of death to a thousand poor savages,
who have no such defence or resources as their persecutors. Thus the
monster (regardless of religion), having completed his business at the
Cape, returns with an inhuman ]oj to his villainous accomplices, and
extends his commando as far as his interest requires. The massacre
this occasions is but the signal for other butcheries, for should the
Hottentots have the audacity to attempt regaining any part of their
lost herds, the confusion recommences, and only ceases when there are
no more victims or no more plunder. This perpetual Avar, or rather
robbery, continued during the whole time of my stay in Africa. At
present the Government have more than one means to prevent these
misfortunes ; but it is certainly time to employ thoso means, as
dangers ever increase by delay. I have before observed that the bare

184 The History of the Oa/pe Colon;/. [1782.

the white population. So dissatisfied were the citizens,
and so weak and powerless were the rulers, that the
author of UAfrique Hollandaise* does not hesitate to
assert that had Commodore Johnstone arrived at the Cape
one day earlier than Suffren, he would have made himself
master of the Settlement without difficulty. Not only
would he have met with feeble resistance on the part of a
weak and unprepared garrison, but the colonists them-
selves, though well trained and capable of rendering aid,
would have openly refused to take up arms, or, if they
had fought, would not have used their weapons against
the English. The presence of a large French force alone
prevented the colonists from imitating the conduct of the
Americans, and declaring themselves independent of the
mother country.

In the year 1782, Governor Van Plettenberg deemed it
advisable to issue a paper currency, and notes for as low
an amount as two stivers (4|-d.) were put in circulation.
This dangerous system had the effect of bringing in money
to the Treasury, but was completely indefensible as a
financial expedient,! and led to embarrassments which the
British Government had subsequently to remedy.

issuing a precept is of no effect ; this the following instance will plainly
verify : — A Governor, being informed of some cruel vexations practised
against the savages, summoned the author to the Cape, to render an
account of his conduct ; the culprit did not even deign to answer the
order, but continued harassing and pillaging in his usual manner, and
his disobedience was overlooked and forgotten. One day I was speak-
ing of these abuses to some colonists, who told me that several of them
had received similar mandates from the Governor, to which they paid
no attention. I answered, I was amazed, then, that the Governor did
not accompany his orders with a detachment, and, in case of refusal,
conduct the culprit under a good escort to town. ' Do you know,' said
one of them, ' what would be the result of such an attempt ? We
should instantly assemble and kill half the soldiers, whom we would
salt and send back by those we had spared, with promises to do as
much for others that came on the same errand.' "

* P. 279. This work is better known translated into Dutch under
the title of Nederhuulseh Afrika.

■\ One of Governor Van Plettenberg' s proclamations refers to forged
notes in circulation.

1782.] The Lutherans at the (Jape. 185

Amsterdam Battery was built in 1781,* and during the
preceding year military lines had been constructed from
Fort Kiiokke to Zonnebloem by the French soldiers
employed in Admiral Suffren's fleet, while the interest of
France in the Colony was shortly afterwards further shown
by the garrison at Cape Town being strengthened with a
detachment of troops from that country. The Lutherans
numbered many adherents at the Cape, and at first were
not permitted the free exercise of their religion. Martin
Melck, the founder of their church in Strand-street, Cape
Town, died in 1781, and the first pastor who officiated
in it was Andrew L. Kolver, who arrived during the
preceding year.

The wreck of the East Indiaman Grosvenor took place
on the coast of Kaffraria, above the St. John's River, on
the 4th of August, 1782. The greater portion of the crew
and all the passengers succeeded in reaching the shore,
and endeavoured to travel overland to the Colony. Only
a small number, however, reached Cape Town. A
narrative, compiled from the testimony of one of the
survivors, states that soon after they landed a party
of the natives met them, about thirty in number, whose
hair was made up in the form of sugar-loaves, and their
faces painted red. Among them was a man wrho spoke
Dutch ; his name, as they afterwards learnt, was Trout.
Having committed some murders among his countrymen,
he had fled to these parts for refuge and concealment.
When he came up to the English, he inquired who they
were, and whither they were going ; and on being told that
they were English, had been cast away, and were
endeavouring to reach the Cape of Good Hope, he
informed them that their intended journey would be
attended with unspeakable difficulties. The wretched
cast-aways determined at all hazards to make an attempt
to reach tho Cape, and pushed forward along the coast.
Many died on the way, and one poor child, named Law,
who had borne stoutly all privations, was at last

: Several buildings in the Castle were rebuilt in 1782.

186 The History of the Cape Colony.

[1790.

compelled to succumb when he had travelled sto far as
some miles to the westward of Sundays River. As this
boy was beloved by all, his death proved a great nource of
affliction, and Lilburne, the steward, who had taken
particular care of him, was nearly overwhelmed, and the
next day " followed this little favourite into another
world." Shortly afterwards, near the Zwartkops River,
the remainder of the party met colonial settlers,* and
were thence assisted on their journey to Cape Town,
where the Governor received them with great kindness,
and immediately dispatched an expedition in search of
those left behind. The party thus sent out rescued seven
Lascars, two native women, and three of the white crew.
As it seemed possible that the women might have been
detained by the Kafirs, the Colonial Government, some
years afterwards (in 1790), fitted out an expedition to
proceed to the wreck. The journal of Mr. Jacob van
Reenen, one of their number, has been published by
Captain Riou,t and not only contains interesting informa-
tion relative to the country through which they passed,
but some curious particulars concerning the supposed
descendants of Europeans who had been shipwrecked on
the Kaffrarian coast. It is stated that, on November 3rd,
1790, they arrived on a height, whence they saw several
villages of the Hambonaas, who were quite different from
the Kafirs, having a yellowish complexion, and long coarse
hair frizzed on their head like a turban. A present of
beads and a sheet of copper was sent to their chief, and
five of them came, to whom small presents were given.
They told the Europeans that a village of Bastaard
Christians were subject to them, whose inhabitants were
descended from people shipwrecked on that coast, and of
which three old women were still living, whom Semtonoue,
the Hambonaa captain, had taken as his wives. In the
diary of the return journey it is stated that on Friday,

* The survivors went to the hospitable mansion of Mr. Korsten, at
Cradock's Place, three miles from Port Elizabeth, and there were kindly
entertained and assisted.

f See also Cape Monthly Magazine, vol. vi., p. 15.

i79o.] White Women in Kafirlcmd. 187

26th November, 1790, they passed the Great and Little
Mogasie Rivers, and after travelling eight hours, arrived
at the bastard Christian village. - Van Reenen says : — "I
would now have taken the three old women with us, to
which they seemed well inclined, as appearing much to
wish to live amongst Christians ; but mentioned their
desire, before they could accomplish such a plan, of
waiting till their harvest to gather in their crops, adding
that for this reason they would at present rather remain
with their children and grandchildren, after which, with
their whole race, to the number of four hundred, they
would be happy to depart from their present settlement.
I concluded by promising that I would give a full account
of them to the Government of the Cape, in order that they
might be removed from their present situation. It is to be
observed that on our visit to these women, they appeared
to be exceedingly agitated at seeing people of their own
complexion and description." At the conclusion of his
journal, the writer adds : — " This expedition was planned
by me, with the previous knowledge of the Governor Van
der Graaff. It was undertaken with the view of discover-
ing if there still remained alive any of the English women,
as had been reported, that were shipwrecked in the
Grosvenor. But, to our sorrow, we could find no soul
remaining, and we are fully persuaded that not one of the
unfortunate crew is now alive. I was informed by a
Malay or Bogancse slave, who spoke Dutch, and had some
years before ran away from the Cape, that two years ago
the cook of that ship was alive, but, catching the small-
pox, he then died." A study of this journal, and of the
narrative of the survivors, does not, however, by any
means prove that survivors of the passengers and crew
might not have been living in Kafirland when Van Reenen's
party were prosecuting their search along the coast.
Indeed, it has been positively stated (in Chamber*:;
Repository of Tracts) that T'Slambie's widow, Nonube, who
possessed considerable influence with her tribe, was " the
granddaughter of Miss Campbell, one of the three
unfortunate daughters of General Campbell, who was

188 The History of the Cape Colony. [im.

wrecked in the Grosvenor, East Indiaman, on the east
coast of Africa during the last century, and compelled all
three of them to become the wives of Kafirs." As
according to the list of passengers there were no ladies
named Campbell on board, it would seem that this
statement must be incorrect.*

It is now necessary to furnish a resume of what may
be styled the Bushmen war, waged with intense per-
sistency during the last thirty years of the eighteenth
century.

Previous to the year 1770 continued complaints had
been made to Government regarding thefts and atrocities
committed by Bushmen, and at last the Administration
entered warmly into the contests against them, and three
commandos were ordered to be raised. The instructions
given to field-cornets, who commanded the burghers within
their respective jurisdictions, were to scour the neighbour-
ing country, shoot the Bushmen, and divide the women
and children among the members of the expeditions. It
is recorded that, in the month of September, 1774, no
fewer than ninety-six Bushmen were shot within eight
days by the forces under the orders of Van Wyk.
Commander Marais states, in a report to the Colonial
Office, that he had taken one hundred and eighteen
prisoners ; and a third commando, under Van der Merwe,

* Nonube had a bare trace of European blood in lier. Faku has been
supposed to be the grandson of a white woman who was wrecked on
the Kafir coast. A full account of the loss of the Grosvenor is published
in the Armenian Magazine for 1797, vol. 20. A translation of Van
Reenen's Diary may be consulted in the Gape Monthly Magazine, vol. vi.
In The Mission, or Scenes in South Africa, by Captain Marryat, the loss
of the Grosvenor is alluded to. An account of the shipwreck was given
by Price, Lewis, Warmington, and Larey, the first part}' of the ship-
wrecked crew who reached England. The Kev. S. Kay (Researches in
Kaffraria, pp. 353 to 302) obtained from a Kafir Chief, named Daapa,
an interesting account of his white mother, who was one of the three
old women discovered by Van Reenen. Her hah-, they said, was at
first long and black, but before she died it became quite white. To one
of her children, who was alive in 1830, the name of Bess had been
given. One of the daughters of Bess married Dushani, the eldest son
of the celebrated T'Slambie.

1775.] Conflicts with the Bushmen. 189

killed 142 Bushmen within the Bokkeveld. This last-
named officer concluded a peace with the natives, at which
the Government were so displeased that the field-cornets
who concurred with him in making it were all degraded
from office. The war was continued from this period, and
commandos regularly sent out ; one of these, dispatched
under Van Jarsveld in August, 1775, killed no fewer than
122 Bushmen.* Shortly after this, seven Bushmen,
although they at first undertook to lead the Dutch to
the caverns in which their countrymen lay hid, fell down
on the way and refused to fulfil their agreement, and
were forthwith slflin. Subsequently, these native fastnesses
were discovered, when forty-three Bushmen were killed,
and seven children made captive. In spite of numerous
commandos, the number of Bushmen became so great near
the Sneeuwberg that many farmers had to leave that
neighbourhood for Bruintjes Hoogte. An application for

* To convey an idea of how these commandos were conducted, the
following extracts from the Landdrost of Stellenbosch (Van Jarsveld's)
journal are subjoined : — "August 4th, 1775. — We proceeded in a north-
east direction to the upper end of the Seacow River, when we met
unawares one of these cattle plunderers, and also saw a great many of
these thieves at a distance. la order to create no suspicion in the
mind of the thief whom we had caught, we behaved peaceably to him,
in order to get the other thieves in our power. Wherefore, it was
thought good by everyone in the commando to inform this Bushman
that we came as friends, and were only journeying to the above-
mentioned river to kill seacows. We gave him a pipe and tobacco,
and sent him to his companions to offer them our peace. 7th. — Sixteen
Bushmen came to us at Roudekop from the mountains to the south,
when we killed some more seacows, to entice the thieves with their
flesh. 10th. — I dispatched the same evening some spies to Blaauw-
bank to learn whether the Bushmen were not with the seacows.
About midnight the spies returned, saying they had seen a great
number of Bushmen there, when I immediately repaired thither with
the commando, waiting till daybreak, which soon appeared; and having
divided the commando into parties, we slew the thieves, and, on search-
ing, found one hundred and twenty -two dead ; five escaped by crossing
the river. After counting the slain, we examined their goods, to see
whether anything could be found whereby it might be ascertained that
they were plunderers, when ox-hides and horns were found, which they
were carrying with them for daily use."

190 The History of the Ccvpe Colony. [1790.

assistance, signed by twenty-six colonists, had the effect of
causing renewed orders to be issued for the destruction of
the proscribed race, and an active war was constantly
carried on against them. In March, 1779, the Landdrost
of Stellenbosch ordered several field-cornets to form their
men into a joint corps, one-half of which was to be in the
field each alternate month. This svstem was carried on
for several years ; but in 1785 more effective measures
were thought necessary, in consequence of a report from
Commandant De Villiers, that unless these were adopted,
cattle would soon become scarce. This officer at the same
time recommended to Government the propriety of making
a grant of land, between Plettenberg's'baaken and Zak
River, to those who should be most zealous in prosecuting
the war against the Bushmen. In 1787, a very strong
commando, divided into five parties, was sent out by the
Landdrost and Military Court of Graaff-Beinet, with
orders to " destroy at once that pernicious nation ;" and a
message to the Landdrost and District Court of Stellen-
bosch requested them to co-operate in carrying out this
object. A petition signed by the inhabitants of the
Hantam district having been forwarded to Government
in 1791, praying that a strong commando might be formed
in conjunction with the Commandant Nel, to attack the
Bushmen, orders were given accordingly. In 1792, an
expedition under the command of Van der Walt scoured
the country which lies between Tulbagh district and Zak
River. From the report forwarded to Government, it
would appear that 158 Bushmen were killed and fifty-one
prisoners secured, while 274 sheep, thirteen cattle, and
one musket were captured. It is worthy of notice that an
understanding seems to have been entered into between
Van der Walt and the Government, by which it was agreed
that he should obtain the Nieuweveld in reward for his
services against the Bushmen. He was authorized to order
out armed men whenever he saw any of the enemy, and at
lastso abused this privilege that farmers in the districts
of Stellenbosch, Swellendam, and Graaff-Beinet requested
to be informed whether the power he exercised had

1795.] The Bushmen War prolonged. 191

been delegated to him. The reply was that there was
no intention of permitting Van der Walt to raise strong
commandos without the consent of Government, but that
the privilege of ordering out a few armed men in case of
necessity had certainly been conferred. Field-cornet Wm.
Burger distinguished himself in the field during 1793, and
in 1795 operations against the enemy were still carried on
so extensively that entries appear of field-cornets drawing
as much as 200 lbs. of gunpowder and 400 lbs. of lead at
a time. It would be tiresome and uninteresting (if even
the limits of this work would permit) to detail the opera-
tions of the various commandos.

The Bushmen -were unmistakeably a nation of thieves,
and most of them appear to have entirely subsisted on the
produce of their predatory incursions. A farmer's wealth,
and indeed only means of existence, was his oxen and
sheep, and it is not to be wondered at that constant
attempts to deprive him of these should be visited with
terrible vengeance. The Bushmen of course excused all
attacks upon the Europeans on the ground of retaliation
for having been dispossessed of their lands. So early as
1772, Thunberg saw 950 men, women, and children of the
Bushman nation imprisoned in Cape Town. These people
had concealed themselves in a mountain kloof and
defended it unsuccessfully against a large party of boers
and soldiers. They asserted that they had been forced to
attack the colonists by reason of the Europeans making,
every year, fresh encroachments upon their lands and
possessions,*

As regards the nature and disposition of the Bush-
men there is a conflict of evidence, for while on the
one hand they are represented as incorrigible savages,
whom no kindness could reclaim, we find on the other
hand testimony in favour of the good results which
might be hoped from the adoption of conciliatory
measures.'' The reports published in the Colonial Re-
cords certainly show that wholesale thefts by Bushmen

* Thuhbery's Travels, vol. i., p. 192.

192 The History of the Caj)e Colony. [1790

continally exasperated the farmers. In May, 1775,
Commandant Opperman reports that from " the constant
depredations of the Bushmen, it is almost impossible for
the people to dwell in the Sneeirwberg." They not only
stole, but killed for the mere purpose of destruction. H.
M. van der Berg reports to Commandant Opperman, on
11th April, 1776 :— " This is to inform you that the
Bushmen have again stolen at Jacob Naude's. They have
stabbed sheep dead, and also taken away, how many is
not known." It is stated in the records of the Landdrost
and Militia Officers, Stellenbosch, under date 6th May,
1777, " it was therefore unanimously resolved to transmit
to the Hon. Governor and Council authentic copies of the
said two petitions, seconded by a humble request in favour
of the petitioners, in particular the inhabitants of Sneeuw-
berg and Cambedoo, and in general the other districts
under their Magistracy, that Government may not only
grant for their relief a good quantity of gunpowder, lead,
and flints, wherewith they may as much as possible
oppose and check the further encroachment of the said
unpeaceable (vredeloose) and rapacious Bushmen tribe, who
otherwise are likely soon to break through into the nearer
and more important districts ; but also seeing that the last

-•:< " During the war with the Bushmen, Van Reenen went towards
them unarmed, gave them presents, and brought them to his house.
Next day, seeing some Bushmen coming, Van Reenen said he wished
to see them all, when, on their making a sign, a great number of them
came, among whom he divided all the trinkets in his possession, and,
showing them the empty box, promised that as long as they kept the
peace they should have presents, which had the good effect that they
never did any injury to Van Reenehs cattle." In 1823, this Mr. Van
Reenen soid ; — " The Bushmen were the best and most peaceful people,
but that they were not only robbed of their lands by the boers, but
intentionally provoked ; and at this moment he would still trust himself
in the midst of them, in the assurance that some of them would
recognize him, and prevent any injury being done to them." It is
added, " I recollect that Mr. Van Reenen also said that he had taken
pains to remonstrate with Government against the hostile measures
taken against the Bushmen : and that his opinion was that Govern-
ment had acted on a wrong system of policy ; of tins, however, I can
find no notes." — See Moodies Records, 1777, p. 65.

1779.] Further Fights with the Bushmen. 193

ammunition granted, namely, 400 lbs. of powder and 800
lbs. of lead, when divided among thirteen field-sergeants,
was altogether insufficient considering the rapid expendi-
ture by commandos in checking the depredations, and that
we were thus obliged to suffer the inhabitants to be
almost devoid of the means of defence, that the Govern-
ment may be graciously pleased now to grant us 1,500 lbs.
gunpowder, 3,000 lbs. lead, and 3,000 flints." On June
5th, 1777, this letter was considered in the Council, and
it was then resolved that, as " all amicable means of
bringing the rapacious Bosjesmans Hottentots to a state
of quiet had been tried in vain, to attack them by stronger
commandos, and root them out in that way — all possible
care to be taken that no kind of cruelty be exercised
towards the wounded or prisoners,* or the women and
children." In 1777, according to the Records, people had
fled from the Sneeuwberg, and were no longer safe in the
Camdeboo ; while, in spite of the commandos which " had
been continually sent out against these savage robbers,
the inhabitants were robbed of almost all their cattle, and
thus reduced to the greatest poverty ." In a letter dated
the 23rd March, 1779, from the Governor and Council to
the Landdrost and Heemraden of Stellenbosch, it is
remarked that as the inhabitants of the " so-called Sneeuw-
bergen" had been compelled to abandon their dwellings,
and it was found hardly possible to resist Bushmen incur-
sions by means of small parties, " there remained no other
mode of extirpating them than to assail the robbers in their
fastness with a strong commando." t The system of opera-

* It does not seem, however, that the Boers were very fond of taking
prisoners. A. van der Walt, in February, 1775, requested to be allowed
" to destroy the robbers without giving quarter." As a rule, the Bush-
men were shot down to the last man, neither asking for quarter, nor
accepting it when offered.

f The Dutch farmers believed they were engaged in a good work
when on commando against Bushmen. Field-cornet Sergeant Carel
van der Merwe says (September 3, 1779) : — " So I went with the small
party of twelve men, where, on the 10th, I found such an assemblage of
robbers that we had not the courage to attack them ; but reflecting that
we have the promise in our favour, that they have the threat against

0

194 The History of the Gape Colony. [mo.

tions, the nature and causes of which have been now fully
referred to, was energetically carried on until nearly the
commencement of this century, and from official docu-
ments, concerning the authenticity of which there can be
no doubt, it appears that from 1786 to 1795 no fewer than
617 horses, 17,633 cattle, and 77,176 sheep were stolen by
Bushmen in the then recently-formed district of Graaff-
Eeinet, and that during the same period 2,480 natives
were killed in that single division, and 654 captured and
reduced to bondage.*

There can be no difficulty in arriving at a conclusion on
the subject of the Bushman war. We see on the one side
a mercantile monopolist Government, thoroughly indifferent
to the interests of the native races, and making no attempt
to civilize them ; and on the other hand, bands of wild
Bushmen, guided entirely by savage instincts which con-
tinually prompted them to take revenge for aggression by

them, and that the Lord does what seems good in his eyes, we advanced
upon them, and they were put to flight by the powerful hand of the
Ruler of heaven and earth." The reports arc full of complaints
regarding the disinclination of farmers to go on commando. Excuses
of all descriptions, as well as open declarations of defiance and deter-
mination not to go on duty, are often mentioned, and never appear to
have been punished.

* Regarding commandos against Bushmen, see Moodie's Records,
official documents published in the Cape Government Gazette of the
6th April, 1838, South African Mercantile Advertiser file for 1838,
correspondence regarding Moodie's .Records, &c, as well as works by
travellers of last century, Dr. Philip's Researches, &c. During the
time Captain Stockenstrorn was Landdrost of Graaff-Reinet the annual
average of Bushmen killed was nine ; prisoners captured, twenty-seven.
The annual average during the previous period of ten years (from 1786
to 1795) being 248 killed; prisoners, 65. The following official
documents bear relation to this subject : —

Summary of Reports (of depredations of Bushmen and commandos
against them) found in the office of the Civil Commissioner of Graaff-
Reinet, from 1785 to 1795 :—

HORSES. CATTLE. SHEEP.

Killed. Taken. Betaken. Killed. Taken. Eetaken. Killed. Taken. Retaken.

349 41 | 1,891 17,270 1,527 | 3,895 80,169 6,888
PERSONS MURDERED BUSHMEN KILLED

by Bushmen. In Pursuit. On Commando. Taken.

276 163 2,341 669

1790.] The Bushmen and the Farmers. 195

means of robbery and murder. The farmers acted as if
they had never even heard of philanthropic ideas which
ought to have prompted them to forbearance and mercy,

Table formed from Reports and Records at Graaff-Reinet, trans-
mitted to Government in March, 1836, showing the number of Bushmen
reported to have been killed and taken prisoners in that district during
three separate periods, each of ten years : —

Last ten years of Government Kme<J- Prisoners. Annual Average. ^^Sner^1163
of Dutch East India Com-
pany, 1786 to 1795 2,480 654 244 64 4 to 1

English and Batavian Govern-
ment, 1795 to 1806 367 252 36 25 3 to 2

English Government, 1813 to
1824 (from Parliamentary
Papers, p. 56) 97 280 9 27 1 to 3

EXTR4.CTS FROM PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

Extracts from Mr. Maynier's evidence. (This gentleman was
appointed Landdrost of Graaff-Reinet in 1792) : —

" With regard to the Bushmen, I beg leave to observe that when
I was appointed Landdrost of Graaff-Reinet, I found that regularly
every year large commandos, consisting of 200 and 300 armed Boers>
had been sent out against the Bushmen, and learnt by their reports
that generally many hundred Bushmen, &c, were killed by them, the
greatest part helpless women and innocent children, &c. In order to
prevent as much as possible such atrocities, the first preparatory step
I took was not to allow those commandos any longer, but to substitute
an order, &c, &c. This was of such effect that from that period the
depredations of the Bushmen nearly ceased."

Extract from Mr. Maynier's letter to Government, March, 1793 : —

" The inhabitants thus evading the important obligation of opposing
the wicked enterprises of the ever-blundering Bushmen, so ruinous to
the country. . . . Unless, indeed, the criminal conduct of these
people is forthwith met by adequate measures whereby they will be
inevitably compelled to attend the commandos, which are so necessary,
&c, the most fearful consequences and disorders are to be expected.
As nearly the whole supply of ammunition was issued to the late
commando against the Bushmen, the undersigned takes the liberty
humbly to request towards the employment of commandos, and the
continual resistance of these roving malefactors, 1,000 lbs. gunpowder,
2,000 lbs. lead, and 4,000 flints."

Extract from Records of Military Court, Graaff-Reinet, July 3rd,
1792, in the handwriting of Mr. Maynier : —

" The Landdrost having laid on the table two reports of a specific
murder and extensive robbery by a particular kraal of Bushmen, it
was resolved to write all the ivagt-meesters of the district, in the most

o 2

0

196 The History of the Cape Colony. aw.

and to make some endeavour to teach Christianity to those
wretched outcasts whom they looked upon as irreclaimable
thieves, whose nature it was impossible to change, and
whose conduct left them but one alternative — extermina-
tion. The Government, exercising only a nominal control
over the Frontier districts, and supinely indifferent to
everything but commercial monopoly and profit, deserved
to reap the whirlwind of anarchy, native wars, and
revolution, in whose clouds the Government of the Dutch
Netherlands East India Company soon sunk so unregretted
as not to leave the least hope or desire that it would ever
rise again in South Africa.

urgent terms, to command as many men as they can collect under tliu
command of N. Smit, to proceed against the said robbers, if possible
to overtake the plundered stock, and extirpate, root and branch, the
Schelm Kraal, and give to the inhabitants some degree of security.
. . . On the ?th August, the ringleader, Flaminch, and fully three
hundred Hottentots, great and small, were shot, and fifteen children
taken."

Extracts from Mr. Maynier's answers to Commissioners of Inquiry,
25th April and 7th May, 1825 :—

"I was appointed Landdrost of Graaff-Reinet in 1792. I had made
several journeys as well to the Eastern as Northern limits. 1 was c< n-
vinced that the complaints of the Boers about depredations from the
Kafirs were often altogether unfounded, and always exaggerated. . .
I have had frequent opportunities to observe the effects of conciliatory
measures with both Kafirs and Bushmen, and have found them
invariably to succeed."

The above is au instance of the conflict of evidence on this subject.

CHAPTEE IX.

Death of Governor Van Ondtshoorn — Governor Van de Graaff — Arrival of the
British ship Pigot in Algoa Bay — Estahlishment of the Division of Graaff-Reinet
— Van de Graaff superseded in favour of Rhenius — Disaffection — Petition to the
Home Government — Commission sent — Their Proceedings — -Commissioners from
Holland appoint A. J. Sluysken Lieutenant-Governor — Disaffection and Rebellion
throughout the Colony — Proceedings at Graaff-Reinet and Swellendam — Miserable
Position of the Government — Arrival of the British Fleet under Vice-Admiral
Elphinstone — Negotiations — Unsuccessful Attempt to Defend the Colony — Capitu-
lation— Subsequent dispatch of a Dutch Fleet to conquer the Settlement — Failure
of the Expedition — General Sir James Craig governs the Colony — Succeeded by
the Earl of Macartney — Mr. Barrow Secretary to Government — Travels in the
Interior — Great Shipwreck in Table Bay.

Pieter, Baron Van Eheede van Oudtshoorn, who had been
appointed Governor, died on his passage to the Colony, on
hoard the ship Asia, on the 23rd January, 1773. Cornelis
Jacobus van de Graaff eventually succeeded Baron Van
Plettenberg, and assumed his duties on the 14th Februaiy,
1785. On the 2nd May of that year, the British East
India Company's ship Pigot put into Algoa Bay and
landed more than one hundred scorbutic patients, who
were located at the principal farm in the neighbourhood.
Intelligence of this proceeding did not reach the Landdrost
of Swellendam until the 10th of July following, and the
news was first brought to the Governor in Cape Town by
Colonel Dalrymple, a distinguished Engineer officer, who
had been a passenger in the Pigot.* As jealousy of
English influence was felt very strongly, no time was lost
in establishing a new district (on which the name of
Graaff-Keinetti was conferred) " to prevent any power
from settling at the Baya a la Goa." The newly-appointed
Landdrost received special instructions to recall those
colonists who had gone into the country of the Kafirs
beyond the Great Fish Eiver, and to endeavour by every

* Gape of Good Hope, by J. C. Chase. London, 1843.

f Named so in honour of Governor " Van de Graaff," and his wife
" Reinett."

198 The History of the Cape Colony. [1791.

means in his power to cultivate relations of amity with
the natives.

The history of the various circumstances which led to
dissensions and strife between the Europeans and tho
Kafir tribes will be best considered at a subsequent period.

If we can believe the statements of a contemporary
writer,* Governor Van de Graaff was an energetic and
able ruler, whose exertions for the defence and pros-
perity of the Colony were thoroughly unappreciated
by the Company. In the year 1790, a command to
discontinue the construction of fortifications and to
send 2,400 soldiers to Bataviat was accompanied by
orders that Van de Graaff should resign his appointment
at the Cape in favour of Johannes Isaac Ehenius, who
had been previously engaged in the Company's tea trade.
This officer assumed his duties on the 29th June, 1791,
but was soon afterwards superseded by the arrival of
three Commissioners from Holland to whose appointment
and proceedings reference must now be made.

The list of accusations against the Cape Government
framed in 1779 was forwarded to Holland in charge of
delegates named Jacob van Eeenen, Barend Artoys,
Tielman Koos, and Nicholas Godfrey Heyns.t The wrongs
of the colonists are bewailed, and one of these is declared
to be Government interference for the protection of the
natives. A number of charges are brought against Com-
pany's officers, and it is prayed that they should all be

* Neethling's Onderzoeh van 't Verbaal van Sluysken.

f Including the Wurtemberg Regiment of 2,000 men. In 1792,
Moravian Missions were again established in the Caledon division, at a
place named Baviaan's Kloof, and subsequently (by Governor
Janssens) at Genadendal. Progress in religious feeling was evinced by
the admission of Christian slaves to communion in the Dutch Church.
It is worthy of note that in 1793 a flock of merino sheep imported by
Colonel Gordon were sold to a few emigrants on their way to New
South Wales. The establishment of the Lombard Bank, to prevent
usury and to aid in suppying a circulating medium, dates from 1798.

I Memorie, de., van Jacob van Eeenen, Barend J. Artoys, Tielman
Moos, en Nicholas Oodfried Heyns. Gemagtigden van de Kaapsehe
Burgery in 1779 (Amsterdam, 17«3).

1785.] Complaints against tlie Cape Government. 199

interdicted from supplying foreign ships with refreshments
and stores. "The Cape burghers further implore to be
allowed to have some vessels to carry the produce of the
Colony, after the requirements of the Company shall have
been supplied, to India, and to receive in return wood,
rice, and other articles of commerce ; and also they pray
for a concession of a trade in slaves with Madagascar and
Zanguebar, that foreigners may not enjoy the exclusive
profit of this lucrative traffic." Another grievance seems
to have been that the Fiscal occasionally interfered with
the punishment of slaves ; consequently it is prayed " that
the burghers shall be deemed at liberty to cause their
slaves to be whipped by the executioner at the town
prison, at their discretion, without being, however, entitled
to act with too much severity ; and that for this privilege
no more than two shillings should be charged by the
functionaries at the gaol." The other requests are more
reasonable. Among them was a petition for the establish-
ment of a printing press, or, at least, that authentic copies
of the Indian Statutes and general laws of Holland should
be sent out, so that the colonists might always be
acquainted with the laws, and thus relieved from the
arbitrary exactions of Fiscals and Landdrosts. It is also
requested that the Final Court of Appeal be changed from
Batavia to Holland. These petitions, although preferred
with ability and energy, resulted in little save the displace-
ment of a few officials, and the system remained
unchanged. Other delegates, named Bergh, Ptedelinghuys,
Pioos, and Bresler, were sent to Holland in 1785, to obtain
redress from the Company, and, failing success in this
mission, to appeal for justice to the States-General of the
Netherlands. These Cape representatives accomplished
nothing, in consequence of dissensions amongst them-
selves ;* but, fortunately for the Dutch Colonies, a spirit of
inquiry and a desire to reform abuses had arisen in
Holland, which soon found expression by Commissioners-

* For particulars of this mission, see De Eerloosheid Ontmasherd,
So., dour J. 11. Bedelinghuy8.

200 The History of the Cape Colony. [1791.

General Nederburgh and Frikenius being appointed in
1791* to inquire with the utmost exactitude and strictness
into the position and administration of the Company's settle-
ments. All abuses and malversations are to be searched
for, investigated, and remedied ; order is to be evoked
from the chaos of confusion into which the affairs of
Government had degenerated, justice is to replace arbitrary
rule, and colonists are to become freemen in fact as well
as by name. The most sanguine anticipations were
indulged in at the Cape respecting this important sj^stem
of reform, and it was at least hoped that, in future, the
law would be so promulgated that all could easily become
aware of its provisions, that free trade might be conceded,
and that burgher privileges would be generously defined
and publicly acknowledged. The Commissioners- General
arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1793, t and were
received with every demonstration of enthusiasm ; but the
hopes of the colonists were soon doomed to disappoint-
ment, for, to use the words of a pamphlet published shortly
afterwards, "the most important of their proceedings
consisted in their proclamation, amid firing of cannon and
tolling of bells, that they represented the Prince of Orange ;
and the rest any office clerk might have done."t A few
administrative alterations were effected ; and then, as
more important Colonies seemed to demand the immediate
attention of the Commissioners, these officers left for
Batavia in 1794, and appointed Mynheer Sluysken, an
invalid returning to Holland, as their deputy at the Cape.
Disaffection now extended throughout the entire Colony,
and the complete extinction of hope that abuses would be
reformed aggravated the feelings of discontent so prevalent
among the community. Eebellion had long been imminent
in the country districts, and early in 1795 broke out at

* These officers were appointed by the Stadtholder of the United
Provinces, afterwards William the First of Holland.

j See Eclite Stukken, <Bc, dc, van de Generate Commissie, dr., door
Mr. 8. C. Nederburgh, Lid van de Commissie.

I See C. L. Neethling's Onderzoek van 't Verhaal van Sluysketi,
1797.

i7n4.i EebeUidn at (Jraaff-licvnrf . 201

Graaff-Eeinet. The Landclrost (Maynier) was expelled,
and attempts were made to force some of the Heemraden
and military officers to follow him. The upper merchant,
Oloff Godlieb de Wet, as well as Captain Von Hugel
and Secretary Trutcr, were sent in vain to quiet these
disturbances. Meanwhile the people of Swellendam,
encouraged by the success of those at Graaff-Eeinet,
removed their Landdrost (Faure) from office, although
it is expressly stated that there was no charge against
him. At the same time they expelled a Captain of
Cavalry named De Jager, and also the Secretary and
the Messenger of Justice. A turbulent fellow, named
Louis A. Pisanie,* secured the chief direction of affairs
at this place, a burgher named Hermanns Steyn was
created Landdrost, and one Peter Delport assumed the
title of "National Commandant."

The incapacity of Sluysken was strikingly exhibited in
his treatment of the rebellion. To use his own words,!
" he saw no other course open than to leave these people
of Swellendam and Graaff-Eeinet! to themselves, and to
content himself, by means of gentle remonstrances and
letters, to keep them in as much peace as possible ; so
that he so far succeeded by these means, and by appear-

* Governor Sluysken says, in his Journal, that this man was an
Italian hy birth, who had served as a soldier, deserted, and been
banished. He was subsequently rehabilitated by the Court of Policy.
A reward of 1,000 rix-dollars was offered to any man who would bring
this vebel ringleader to justice. He was taken prisoner, with two of his
companions named Hasselman and Bigler, on the 13th August, 1705.

■j- Journal of Governor Sluysken.

I The following is a summary of the chief complaints from Graaff-
lieinet : — That the Military officers have not prosecuted war with the
Kafirs. That Landdrost Maynier attempted to exercise unlimited
power, and made Heemraden of certain persons because they agreed
with him in everything. That the Company is repudiated because the
Burghers have defended their lands in a constant war without any
assistance, and do not wish to pay tribute for farms which they them-
selves defend. That free trade is not allowed, and " the cheat of
paper moneys" permitted, and their burdens have become too heavy
to bear. The following is a summary of the " principal requests of
the General Body of Burghers" at Swellendam : — To be free from all

202 TJie History of the Cape Colony. [1795.

ing to be ignorant of the extreme irregularities which had
occurred." His chief defence is " that the news of all
this arrived when the English fleet came here ;" but this
pretext is evidently insufficient. A small body of troops
would have been able to crush the insurrection in
Swellendam, while the tame, submissive manner in which
open rebellion was almost countenanced must have ren-
dered the Government contemptible, and destroyed that

dues and imposts (tollen en accysen), and to be allowed to deliver their
produce to whom they willed. To pay no quitrent (arrear or other-
wise). That declarations of amount of produce (ppgaaf) be always
taken as correct, without the Landdrost being allowed to add more.
That every Hottentot taken prisoner or caught shall for his or her
life remain the property of the captor. That paper money be abolished,
and commerce declared free."

The burghers of Swellendam were, of course, with others, called to
defend the Colony against the English, and seventy of them went
to Cape Town for the purpose. The burgher officers, Morkel and
Holthauser, were sent to bring the others to their duty ; and the
Burgher Senate sent an act of " Assurance," stating that they would
be received with all affection and friendliness. The reply to this was
a letter, dated 17th July, 1795 (with enclosures), in which surprise is
expressed that the "National Convention of the Colony of Swellen-
dam" was not recognized, and willingness " to shed the last drop of
blood" is expressed in case the requests, already epitomised above,
be granted. Imitation of French llepublican forms seems to have
been attempted. In their letter it is stated : — " Thursday, 10th July!
1795. National Assembly held in the forenoon. Present — Mr. President
Hermanus Steyn, Herman's son, &c. ; the others were H. N. van
Vollenhoven, Ernst du Toit, the Commandant Petrus Jacobus Delport,
and Louis Almoro Pisanie." The influence of the " Nationals"
extended to Cape Town, and the wretched helplessness of the
Government is painfully portrayed in the following extract from
Sluysken's Journal : — " On July 26, there came at last another party
of the Swellendam burghers, commanded by Capt. Muiler, and
everything seemed now to betoken a predetermined revolution and
overthrow of the Government. Several writings, the contents of
which were withheld from the undersigned, began to be handed about
here and there for signature, and many of the principal officers and
public servants began to fear that their dismissal was sought ; and
that indeed a worse fate was intended for them." Sluysken then
proceeds to state that the plan he felt himself obliged to adopt was " to
settle the minds of the discontented by the mildest measures." Martin
{British Colonies, large edition, vol. iv., p. 30) says : — " The Cape

1795.] An English Fleet Seizes the Cape. 203

feeling of confidence on the part of the inhabitants which
was now so much required when a hostile fleet and army
demanded possession of the country.

During the night of the 11th of June, 1795, a special
meeting of the Court of Policy was unexpectedly sum-
moned, and a letter from Resident Brand laid before
them, stating that nine English ships* were sailing up to
the anchorage in Simon's Bay. The position of Governor

people, or Capians, as they were sometimes called, imbued with
revolutionary views, and misled by the false reports of some emissaries
sent for that purpose, were only awaiting the expected arrival of a
French force to depose the existing authorities, and. hoist the tricolour
flag and cap of liberty." Barrow says (Southern Africa, vol. ii., p.
165) : — " They prepared to plant a tree of liberty and establish a
convention, whose first object was to make out proscribed lists of those
who were either to suffer death by the new-fashioned mode of the
guillotine, which they had taken care to provide for the purpose, or be
banished the Colony. It is almost needless to state that the persons
so marked out to be the victims of an unruly rabble were the only
worthy people in the settlement, and most of them members of
Government." Martin says in the work above quoted (vol. iv., p. 30) :
— " The adult male slaves, who bore the proportion of five to one of
the white men, having heard their masters descant on the blessings of
liberty and equality, and the inalienable rights of man, naturally
desired to participate in these advantages, and held their meetings to
decide on the fate of their owners when the day of emancipation
should appear." The " Nationals" (Boers), who called themselves
advocates of liberty and equality, dispersed the Moravian Mission
Station at Baviaan's Kloof (now Genadendal), and issued a proclama-
tion, stating, biter alia, "We will not permit any Moravians to live
here and instruct the Hottentots ; for as there are many Christians
who receive no instruction, it is not proper that the Hottentots should
be taught."

* These were —

NAMES. GUNS. COMMANDERS.

Monarch 7-4 Vice-Admiral Geo. Elphinstone.

America 04 Captain Blanket.

Ruby 04 „ Stanhope.

Stately 04 „ Douglas.

Arrogant 74 „ Lucas.

Victorieuse 74 „ Clark.

Sphynx 24 „ Brind.

Echo 16 ,, Hardy.

Rattlesnake 10 ,. Sprague.

204 The History of the Cape Golomj. \\m.

Sluysken was indeed deplorable, and his own want of
vigour and energy rendered any attempt to defend the
Colony perfectly hopeless. The people were thoroughly
disgusted with the Dutch Company, which had proved
" neither rich enough to maintain its establishments, nor
strong enough to govern its people;" and they were,
moreover, imbued with revolutionary ideas of the day
little favourable to the control of any Government. Alarm
guns were fired, and " every one betook himself to his
proper post." Lieut. -Colonel De Lille was immediately
dispatched to Muizenbergt with 200 infantry and 150
cavalry, and ordered on the following morning to march
on to False Bay. Large numbers of men capable of
bearing arms flocked in from Tygerberg, Koeberg, Zwart-
land, Stellenbosch, and Hottentot's Holland, and all the
cavalry that came up were ordered to place themselves at
Muizenberg. Meanwhile, Admiral Elphinstone having in
vain requested a conference with the Governor and the
Commandant (Colonel Gordon), sent an officer to Cape
Town bearing a despatch from himself and Major-General
Craig, accompanied by a letter from His Highness the
Hereditary Prince Stadtholder. The despatch stated that
the French had overpowered the Piepublic of the United
Netherlands, and that the Dutch navy, together with
Admiral Van Kingsbergen, had fallen into the hands of
the enemy ; further, that His Majesty of Great Britain,
affected at the unfortunate position of His Highness, had
sent this fleet to protect the Cape against any hostile
attack on the part of the French, and it was expected
that due obedience would be given to the accompanying
mandate from the Stadtholder, ordering that British
troops should be considered as allies, and admitted to the
harbour and fort of the Cape.!

* Missions of the United Brethren, p. -S90.

f A strong position commanding the road from Simon's Bay to
Cape Town.

I The following is the letter from the Prince of Orange, dated at
Kew : —

" We have deemed it necessary by these presents to command you to

1705.] Negotiations between the English and Dutch. 205

Governor Sluyskeu and Council, in reply, expressed grief
at the misfortunes which had befallen the mother country,
and a due sense of the kind attention of His Britannic
Majesty to the interests of the Colony. They further stated
that in case of a hostile attack they would be happy to
avail themselves of the Admiral's proffered assistance, but
felt themselves strong enough to resist any enemy who
might threaten, and would be glad to learn the strength of
the force under the Admiral's command. In the meantime,
four hundred cavalry were stationed at Muizenberg, and
Lieutenant-Colonel De Lille was ordered to retire there
with his remaining troops. Three War Commissioners
were appointed to provide the necessary supplies for the
camp,* and a few temporary batteries and defences were
raised. At this stage of proceedings, Admiral Elphinstone,
considering that a confidential interview with the authori-
ties was necessary, dispatched General Craig to Cape
Town.f This officer could effect nothing, and a continued
correspondence with the Cape authorities having proved
useless, Admiral Elphinstone at last issued a Proclamation
in which, among other points, it was urged how impossible
it would be for His Britannic Majesty to permit the Cape,
being the key of his Indian possessions, to fall into the
hands of the French, as in that case the entire trade of the

admit into the Castle, as also elsewhere in the Colony under your
Government, the troops that shall be sent thither by His Majesty the
King of Great Britain, and also to admit the ships of war. frigates, or
armed vessels which shall be sent to you on the part of His Majesty
into False Bay, or wherever they can safely anchor ; and you are to
consider them as troops and ships of a power in friendship and alliance
with their High Mightinesses the States-General, and who come to
protect the Colony against an invasion of the French.

'• Consigning jrou to the protection of Providence, we are,

" William, Puixce or Orange."

* These Commissioners were Mr. Van Bheede van Oudtshoorn, the
Burgher Councillor Truter, and Mr. Petrus Truter.

j On his arrival all the remaining soldiers were made to keep guard,
and all officers of the " Pennisten Corps" and " Burgery" were command-
ed to walk about the Castle square in uniform. A corps of Sappers were
made to mount guard outside ; " all this (Mr. W. S. van Ilyneveld says),
as you may well imagine, to make the best appearance we could."

206 The History of the Gape Colony. [1795.

English East India Company would be ruined. Upon
this the Governor and Council, considering that the
interests of the Colony were made a mere pretence to
advance those of Britain, ordered that the conveniences
which had been afforded to the English fleet should be
discontinued, and that all slaughter and other cattle were
at once to be driven away from False Bay. It was resolved
to throw all the gunpowder in False Bay into the sea, to
spike the guns at the " Boetzelaar," destroy all the
provisions, and retain only the " Zoutman" battery.
Besident Brand and his Assistant were to remain at
Simon's Bay as representatives of the Dutch flag.

Admiral Elphinstone expressed extreme displeasure,
and declared that the Government was acting without the
concurrence of the inhabitants and was attached to
Jacobin principles. The firm attitude which the Cape
rulers had taken might lead us to imagine that a well-
concerted scheme of defence was prepared. But the con-
trary was the case. The strong position at Muizenberg
of course formed the first and principal object of attack,
and on the 8th of August, 1795, three line-of-battle ships
and two frigates opened fire upon it, after having first
silenced the Kalk Bay fort. Two twenty-four pounders
were dismounted in less than an hour, and in a very short
time afterwards the force under De Lille disgracefully
retreated, leaving behind guns, ammunition, provisions,
and tents. Meanwhile the British had increased the force
already landed to two thousand men, who were promptly
moved forward against De Lille. This officer was very
easily driven from the new position he had taken up, and
the important pass at Muizenberg was captured after a
brief show of resistance. So disgusted were the colonists at
these events, which they attributed to cowardice,* treason,

:: A charge of cowardice, and of having traitorously abandoned
Muizenberg, was made against De Lille on the 9th of August, signed
by seven burgher captains, named Botha, Laubscher, De Waal, Van
der Byl, Gous, Hoffman, and Mulder. They demanded that he should
be placed under arrest, and this request was tumultuously endorsed by
the citizens of Cape Town.

1795.] Clamour against Colonel Be Lille. 207

or incapacity, that when Governor Sluysken arrived at the
Wynherg camp, he found it necessary to supersede De
Lille, and to appoint Major Buissinne in his stead. But
this was not sufficient to satisfy the citizens of Cape Town,
who clamoured for the arrest of the obnoxious officer on
the charge of having traitorously abandoned Muizenberg.
De Lille was placed in confinement, although the Governor
subsequently stated that the burghers, by throwing the
blame on the military, were attempting to screen their own
cowardice and insubordination. On the other hand it was
confidently stated and generally believed that Sluysken
connived with De Lille to betray the Colony.

On the 11th of August, and amidst the tumult of a
discontented mob, Sluysken received a letter from Louis
A. Pisanie, commandant of the Nationals, demanding his
resolve upon their wishes without delay.* A rumour of
the apprehended rebellion of the country Hottentots
reached Cape Town about the same time, so that difficul-
ties and dangers beset this incapable Governor upon all
sides. The entire force at his disposal for the protection
of the Colony consisted of about three thousand men,t
but most of these were disaffected and ill-disciplined,
while the pusillanimous manner in which the Muizen-
berg garrison had behaved gave little promise of
future success. It is quite clear, however, that if
anything could have been effected, it should have
been attempted at once, as the English troops were
only two thousand strong, and the Admiral distinctly
informed Sluysken, on the 12th of August, that he shortly
expected a reinforcement of three thousand men. A brave
and competent leader would have made vigorous efforts at

* Pisanie was taken prisoner on the 13th August by burgher Captains
Bresler, Botha, and Crous, at the farm of Marthinus Roux, Tygerberg.
The citizens of Cape Town were very much alarmed at the onward
march of the " Nationals," and lost sympathy for them in fear of a
possible " Reign of Terror."

+ Comprising 1,200 burgher cavalry, 350 infantry, and a few Malays,
between 200 and 300 Hottentots, and most of the remainder were made
up from the " Pennisten Corps."

208 Tlie History of the Cape Coluin/. [1795.

this juncture to redeem bis own honour and that of his
country ; but, as might have been expected from preceding-
events, time was frittered away in consultations, and the
only people who did anything were the Pandouren, or
Hottentots,* who constantly annoyed the English outposts.
A proposal to attack the Muizenberg post (only garrisoned
by six hundred men) was approved of, but subsequently
abandoned on the report of four officers! that the enemy
had so strengthened his position as to render the expedition
unsafe.

On the evening of the 1st of September, a number of
loyal Hottentots bitterly complained to the Governor of
the ill-treatment which their wives and children had
received from the burghers during a time when they
themselves were risking their lives in the field. t Sluysken
succeeded in conciliating these men (200 in number),
partly by means of increasing their pay to two rix-dollars
per month ; and when he had induced them to return to
the camp, a letter was sent to the Commandant and
officers, pointing out their extreme indiscretion in having
permitted so many men armed with muskets to enter Cape
Town to the dismay and terror of the citizens. The idea
of defending the Colony had soon to be abandoned. On
the 4th of September, fifteen English ships, with reinforce-
ments of three thousand men, under General Clarke,
arrived in Simon's Bay, and seventy burghers immediately
went home without leave. Numerous desertions followed,
and Sluysken had to pretend to make a desperate effort to
collect a strong force of Hottentots.§ An offer of accom-
modation from General Clarke having been rejected, 5,000
men marched to Wynberg on the 14th September, and

■■'■ Commanded by an officer named Cloete.

f Named Myburgh, Fischer, Von Huge], and H. Cloete, junior.

I For wages of two rix-dollars per month, and food. One of their
well-founded complaints was, that 200 rix-dollars given by the
Governor to be divided between them had been withheld by certain
burgher officers.

§ Van Reenen, Joubert, and Theuuissen were dispatched to Stellen-
bosch and Swellendam for the purpose of raising Hottentot levies.

1795.] Surrender of the Colony. 209

took possession of the camp, while another force was
dispatched to effect a landing at Camp's Bay. Meanwhile
the Cape troops had retreated to a distance of three miles
from Cape Town and positively refused to go further back
lest they should be completely shut in by the enemy.*
Sluysken was now forced to solicit a truce, and to send
two members of the Council (Van Eyneveld and Le Sueur)
■with powers to treat for a capitulation. Van Oudtshoorn,
Commander of the Pennisten Corps, appears to have been
the only officer who voted in favour of carrying on the
contest against a greatly superior force and the Colony
was consequently at once surrendered upon the most
favourable terms that could be obtained. These included
" all the privileges which colonists then enjoyed, as well
as the existing public worship without alteration." The
oath of allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain was
required of all who continued to hold office, and General
Craig was installed as Governor. The conduct of Sluysken
was with justice severely censured on his return to
Holland; and, although the circumstances of extreme
difficulty in which he was placed form a powerful excuse,
it is impossible to conceive a worse-conducted defence than
that which took place under his direction. Sluysken
was clearly a very ordinary man, utterly unfitted to hold
the helm of Government under any circumstances, much
less when the ship of State was exposed to the frightful
storms of hostile attack and internal dissension, t

* According to a letter from Mr. W. S. van Ryneveld, Admiral
Elphinstone interfered with the Dutch frigate Medenblik, which was
lying in False Bay, and also with three private ships named Willem-
stadt and Boetzelaar, Oeertruyda, and Jonge Bonifacius. The captain
(Dekker) of the Medenblik was requested by the Admiral to place
himself and ship under his orders, under instructions from the Stadt-
holder. Sluysken wished him to stay and share the defence of the
Cape. The captain very wisely left the Cape as soon as he could, and
prosecuted his voyage to Batavia. When he arrived there, he informed
the Government that Elphinstone would probably pay them a visit, and
also proceed to Ceylon. Several Dutch vessels in Saldanha Bay
surrendered on 12th September, 1796.

f Judge Watermeyer remarks : — " Sluysken met with much obloquy
when, in accordance with the terms of the surrender, he returned to

P

210 Tlie History of the (Jape Colony. U796.

The power of the Dutch East India Company over the
Cape was now ended, after having endured one hundred
and forty-three years. As they sowed, so did they reap.
Monopoly and the repression of industry destroyed com-
merce and fomented discontent, so that what might have
grown into a wealthy and flourishing Colony became merely
a weak and struggling Settlement, whose citizens were
ever discontented and desirous of any change which could
release them from the irksome restrictive regulations
selfishly imposed by an association of merchants. A
Government which was unable to control its own subjects
at Swellendam could have little influence over the scattered
farmers, by whom vengeance upon the coloured races for
theft was considered almost a religious duty, and practised
with the greatest perseverance and impunity.*

The Dutch Government were by no means disposed to
suffer tamely the loss of such a valuable possession as the

Holland. But lie clearly did not merit the disgrace connected with his
name. He was accused of treason to the national cause in not having
made a successful defence. But it clearly appears that defence was out
of the question. Janssens, a far abler man, with considerable force,
and while the country was in a state of profound ouuet, in 1S0U, effected
no more than Sluyskcn in 1705." (Lectures, page 66.) With regard
to the capitulation, it is worthy of remark that Colonel Henry, who
had left the Cape previous to 1795, writing to Holland, urges that more
troops, or at all events other commanders, be sent out, " being assured
that those who are now at the head of the Colony (Sluysken and
Gordon) will surrender the Cape to the English." Colonel Gordon
committed suicide. His body was found in his garden a few days after
the capitulation. A full consideration of Sluysken's pusillanimous
defence must convince an impartial mind that he was either thoroughly
incapable of performing the duties of his office, or otherwise was a
traitor.

* Judge Watermeyer thus sums up as regards the rule of the Dutch
East India Company at the Cape: — "At the commencement of the
period, the energy of these traders of a small commonwealth, who
founded empires and divided the command of the seas, merits admira-
tion. But their principles were false, and the seeds of corruption were
early sown in their Colonial administration. For the last fifty years at
least of their rule here, there is little to which the examiner of our
records can point with satisfaction. The effects of this pseudo coloniza-
tion were, that the Dutch, as a commercial nation, destroyed commerce.

1796.] Arrival of De Winter's Fleet, 211

Cape. A fleet, tinder the command of the celebrated
Admiral De Winter, was fitted out in the Texel, and,
escaping the English blockade, put to sea on the 23rd
of February, 1796. It consisted of two large ships
respectively carrying (54 and 54 guns, besides seven
frigates and sloops, with a large force on board of the best
land troops then available for active service. The English
were very much perplexed as " to where the Dutch had
passed the spring and summer." Their ships had taken a
northern course round the Faroe Islands, so that they did
not reach Teneriffe until the 4th of April, and they then
remained there (to refit and obtain refreshments) for forty-
three days. The squadron subsequently sighted Cape Augus-
tine on the coast of Brazil, and eventually reached Saldanha
Bay on the 31st of July, 1796, after a voyage of 159 days.
After anchoring, the sick were landed on Schaapen Island,
and several officers visited farms in the neighbourhood,
and learned that there was a division of opinion among
the inhabitants of Cape Town with regard to the British
Government, as, although some were discontented, many
were satisfied in consequence of the good prices which
they obtained for their produce. From the diary of an
officer* who accompanied the expedition, it would seem
that there was an extraordinary lack of energy. Time
passed away without any result. The only efforts which
appear to have been made were directed to the capture of
cattle. At 9 o'clock on the morning of the 17th of August,

The most industrious race of Europe, they repressed industry. One of
the freest States in the world, they encouraged a despotic misrule, in
which falsely-called free citizens were enslaved. These men, in then'
turn, became tyrants. Utter anarchy was the result. Some national
feeling may have lingered ; but substantially every man in the country,
of every hue, was benefited when the incubus of the tyranny of the
Dutch East India Company was removed." In a foot-note this writer
remarks:— "The Government from 1803 to 1806, by De Mist and
Janssens, under the ' Batavian Republic,' was most beneficial to the
Colony, and furnishes a great contrast to the misrule of the East India
Company." (Lectures, page 07.)

f See Memoirs of this oflicer (Mr. Korsten), by Hon. J. C. Chase,
M.L.C. Appendix.

P 2

212 The History of the Cape Colony. [\m.

several British ships were seen outside the bay, and bodies
of cavalry, infantry, and artillery made their appearance
on the hills and beach, and commenced to fire on the
Bellona, one of the Dutch ships which had been stranded.
At 4 p.m., a British frigate entered, and the Dutch Bear-
Admiral opened fire. This vessel had only looked in to
reconnoitre, and was followed in an hour afterwards by
two others. Then the Dutch saw to their dismay no fewer
than five ships-of-the-line, seven frigates, and a brig — all
bearing the British flag. The Batavian colours were,
however, bravely hoisted, and the Dutch ships exposed
their broadsides to the English, who contented themselves
with anchoring at the mouth of the bay — formed in two
lines — thus preventing the possibility of egress. As might
have been expected, the Dutch Admiral was forced to
submit. While negotiations were in progress, a mutiny
broke out on board the Batavian ship Castor, whose seamen
seized upon the wine and openly mutinied, declaring that
it was better that it should be drunk by them than by the
English. A scene of wild excitement ensued, which was
not put a stop to until the captain arrived and announced
the surrender.

General Sir James Craig assumed the reins of Govern-
ment, and was ably assisted by Mr. Hercules Boss, who
had accompanied him as Paymaster of the Forces. A
good deal of difficulty must have been experienced at first,
as the colonists " were much out of humour and refrac-
tory."* Batteries were erected on Devil's Hill, and Craig's
Tower, Cape Town, as well as Fort Frederick, Algoa
Bay, were built. So utterly beyond control were the
inhabitants of the distant districts, that when Mr. Bresler
was sent as Landdrost to Graaff-Beinet, he and the
Clergyman were expelled by the Boers, and the Govern-

* These are Sir John Barrow's words (see Autobiography, page 187).
According to this writer, the Secretary for the Colonies (Right Hon.
Henry Dundasi stated in the British Parliament that the Minister who
ever thought of giving up the Cape ought to lose his head. Barrow
was fully impressed with the great, importance of this settlement, and
brings forward numerous arguments in favour of its being retained.

1707.1 B&d Macartney Appointed Governor. 213

ment Ret at defiance. As the Secretary of State for the
Colonies naturally thought that a civilian of high rank
and character would he more acceptable as Governor than
a military officer to whom the Colony had capitulated, the
Earl of Macartney received His Majesty's commission.
This nohleman arrived in Cape Town on the 4th of May,
1797, and was attended by Mr. Barrow (afterwards Sir
John Barrow) as Secretary. At this time affairs appeared
in a very bad position. Graaff-Beinet was virtually in
rebellion — all classes were discontented, and both the
people and the country were strange. One of Lord
Macartney's first acts was to send for the Landdrost and
Clergyman who had been expelled from Graaff-Beinet,
and inform them that he had resolved upon compelling
the Boers to receive them both back, and apologize for
their previous conduct. The Landdrost and Clergyman
having objected to return, the Governor asked Mr. Barrow
to go with them, saying, "I think you will have no
objection to accompany one or both of those gentlemen
to the presence of these savages, which may lead them
to reflect that it must be out of tenderness to them that
I have preferred to send them one of my own family
rather than at once to bring them to their senses by a
regiment of dragoons. Besides this, I have another motive
for wishing you to accompany them. We are shamefully
ignorant even of the geography of the country ; I neither
know, nor can I learn, where this Graaff-Beinet lies —
whether it is five hundred or a thousand miles from Cape
Town. I am further informed that the Kafirs, with their
cattle, are in possession of the Zuurveld, the finest grazing
country in the Colony, and that these people and the Boers
are perpetually fighting and mutually carrying off each
other's cattle. These matters must no longer be tolerated."
When the party under the direction of Mr. Barrow and
the Landdrost (the parson positively refused to go) arrived
in Graaff-Beinet, a meeting of the inhabitants was called,
to whom the commission of the Magistrate was read, and
the intentions of His Excellency explained. They all
seemed much pleased, and did not separate until they bad

214 The History of the Gcvpe Colony. \mi.

shaken hands in a friendly manner. One clever but
mischievous individual having assembled a number of
noisy people together at a tavern, so as to give some
alarm to the Landdrost, Mr. Barrow went in among them,
requested a written statement of grievances, and found the
malcontents " extremely civil." The promised list came
the next day, and consisted of a complaint that when the
Kafirs had invaded their district, the Acting Landdrost
had not condescended to give an answer to a requisition
for a commando. Mr. Barrow's reply was that " his
instructions from the Governor were to accompany the
Landdrost to the part of the district where the Kafirs had
located themselves, and to endeavour to persuade them to
retire across the boundary into their own country, and it
was hoped we should prevail upon them to do it ; but
that it was the decided determination of the Governor
to put an end to those commandos, which had caused
so much bloodshed and ill-feeling ; and, moreover, that
the general opinion of their own countrymen at the
Cape and southern districts was, that the plunder of
the Kafirs' cattle was the main object of these hostile
expeditions."

Affairs having been arranged as well as circumstances
would permit, Mr. Barrow and the Landdrost set out on
the expedition to Kafirland. Upon arriving at Algoa
Bay* they found Her Majesty's ship Hope, which had
been expressly sent by Admiral Pringle to meet them. On
arriving at the banks of the Kariega, their tents were

* Mr. Barrow says : — " On the western point of Algoa Bay, where
the landing place was pointed out as being the most practicable and
secure, a beautiful verdant terrace of grass and shrubby clumps
extended about a quarter of a mile along the coast. It appeared to me
so lovely a spot, and so delightfully situated, that I was tempted to
declare I would erect there my baaken or landmark, and solicit from the
Governor possession of it, either as a free gift or by purchase. . . .
At a distance of fifteen miles which I rode over to the westward of the
bay, and close to the sea shore, I was agreeably surprised to meet with
an extensive forest of many thousand acres ; many of the trees rose to
the height of thirty or forty feet without a branch, with a trunk of ten
feet in diameter." — Sir J. Barrow s Autobiography, p. 162.

1797.] Mr. Barrow's Interview with Gcdha. 215

pitched amidst hundreds of Kafirs,*" and two Chiefs,
named Malloo and Toolcy, soon paid them a visit. Upon
these savages having been asked whether they were
acquainted with the treaty that fixed the Great Fish River
as the boundary between the Christians and the Kafirs,
Malloo said that they knew it very well. "Then," it was
asked, "had they not violated that treaty by crossing the
river and taking possession of the country belonging to
the colonists, thus depriving them of their habitations ?"
Malloo immediately replied that there were no dwellings
where they had fixed themselves, and that they had como
in pursuit of game. Mr. Barrow informed them that the
country had passed into the hands of Britain, that it was
necessary the Kafirs should respect the boundary and
recross the Fish River, and that he was about to visit their
King, Gaika. t Upon reaching the place of the Great Chief,
about fifteen miles beyond the Keiskamma River, Gaika
made his appearance, riding on an ox in full gallop,
and attended by five or six of his people similarly
mounted. A conference took place, at which Mr. Barrow
fully explained the wishes of the Government, and
the reply was satisfactory. Malloo and Tooley, it
appeared, were independent Chiefs, but Gaika readily
agreed to invite their return, as well as to keep up a friendly
intercourse with the Landdrost, by sending annually one

* " Some of the men wore skin cloaks, but the greater part were
entirely naked. The women wore cloaks that extended below the calf
of the leg ; they had leather caps trimmed with beads, shells, and pieces
of polished copper or iron. In the evening they sent us some milk in
baskets. They may be said to live entirely, or nearly, on coagulated
milk."

f It would seem that these Kafirs probably had fled from their own
country, as they begged Mr. Barrow to intercede for them with Gaika,
and expressed their willingness to return to their own country if the
Great Chief approved. Old Rensberg, who had been one of the party
sent out to seek for the passengers of the ill-fated Grosvenor, acted as
Mr. Barrow's guide. This man stated that between the Kariega and
the Fish River he had seen multitudes of elephants, including one
troop comprising -100 or 500. Lions, leopards, wolves, hyenas, and
other beasts of prey were very numerous. The Fish Rive)- abounded
with hippopotami.

216 The History of the Cape Colony. 11797.

of his captains to Graaff-Reinet bearing a brass gorget
with the arms of Britain engraved upon it. As might
have been expected, the Kafirs on the Colonial side of the
Fish River subsequently refused to move, and Mr. Barrow
considers that they were encouraged in this determination
by a set of adventurers, " chiefly soldiers or sailors, who
had either deserted or been discharged from the Dutch
army and the Company's shipping." The English
expedition proceeded over the Sneeuwberg to the Orange
River, and through the country of the Bosjesmans, where
their object was "to bring about a conversation with some
of the Chiefs of those poor people, to persuade them, if
possible, to quit their wild and marauding life, on being
assured that the colonists would not be permitted to
molest them ; at the same time to see the state of this
portion of the Colony, and of the Christian inhabitants, as
they designate themselves." Mr. Barrow's preconceived
notions against the Dutch farmers appear to have pre-
vented a just appreciation of the excessive losses which
they suffered from native depredations. These constant
thefts ought at least to be taken into account as some
palliation for their conduct. Without any reservation,
all the commandos are denounced as abominable ex-
peditions, and the Boers are spoken of as worse than
savages.* It was found impossible even to confer with
the Bushmen, much less to persuade them of the good
intentions of the English Government.! Mr. Barrow

* Yet in speaking of the bocrs of Sneeuwberg, he says : — " They
appeared to be in general a better description of men than those towards
the sea-coast — a peaceable, obliging, and orderly people ; a brave and
hardy race of men. Many examples of female fortitude have been
shown and recorded. The wife of one of our party having received
intelligence, in the absence of her husband, that the Bosjesmans had
carried off a troop of their sheep, instantly mounted her horse, took a
musket in her hand, and, accompanied by a single Hottentot, engaged
the plunderers, put them to flight, and recovered every sheep." —
Barrow's Autobiography, p. 179.

f It was about the year 1790 that the Hottentot, Afrikander, who
had murdered his Dutch master, organized a large band of robbers near
the Orange River, and afterwards drove the Korannas to the east-

1797.]

Wreck of the " Sceptre." 217

subsequently travelled into Namaqualand, and was, on
his return, appointed Auditor-General by the Earl of
Macartney.* It was during his residence in Cape Town,
on the 5th November, 1799, that H.M.S. Sceptre was
totally wrecked, and the Danish 64-gun brig Oldenberg,
together with six other vessels, driven ashore during a
violent north-westerly gale. At one o'clock p.m. of that
day the Sceptre fired the usual feu cle joie to commemorate
the Gunpowder Plot, and at ten the same evening only
the fragments of this fine ship were visible. The captain
(Edwards), together with his son and ten other officers,
with three hundred seamen, perished, and their mangled
corpses were found on sharp rocks amidst the remains
of the wreck.

ward, where subsequently, under missionary direction, they formed a
commencement of the Griqua nation. In 1787-8 a part of the T'Slambie
Kafir tribe migrated towards the Orange River, and afterwards, being
driven back, settled in the Beaufort division, about the neighbourhood
of Praamberg and Schietfontein. Percival travelled in South Africa
during 17 90, but space will not permit a reference either to his travels,
nor to the later ones of Lichtenstein, Latrobe, Burchell, &c.

* Speaking of the Cape Town water supply, Mr. Barrow says : —
" Part of this (Table Mountain) stream was conducted to a fountain at
the lower part of the town, where many hundred slaves were accustomed
to assemble, wrangling, fighting, and rioting for their turn of getting
water. The Fiscal had constantly two of his men stationed there to
preserve the peace. He said to me one day, ' How do you contrive in
London to get a supply of water ? Here there are not fewer than a
thousand slaves occupied.' " Mr. Barrow promised to give a plan for
supplying each house, and subsequently Lord Caledon carried it into
execution.

CHAPTEK IX.

Departure of the Earl of Macartney — Lieutenant-Governor Dundas — Mutiny in the
Cape Squadron— Rebellion of the Graaff-Reiuet Boers — Mr. Barrow visits the
Eastern Districts as a Special Commissioner — A United Body of Kafirs and
Hottentots ravage a large portion of the Colony — Naval Engagement in Algoa
Bay — Proceedings of Government — Sir George Young Governor — Succeeded by
Sir Francis Dundas — Treaty of Amiens — The Cape handed over to the Dutch —
General Janssens Governor — Commissioner De Mist — Statistical and General
Information — Treaty with the Chief Gaika — War in Europe apprehended — New
Division of Uitenhage formed — Commissary-General De Mist confers Van
Riebeek's Heraldic Arms upon the City of Cape Town — Manners and Customs of
the time — News of an English Expedition — Arrival of Fleet and Army under Sir
David Baird — Landing of the British Troops — Battle of Blaauwberg — Capitula-
tion of Cape Town Castle — Capture of the Colony — Subsequent Proceedings —
Departure of Sir D. Baird — Du Pre, Earl of Caledon, Governor — Insurrection of
Slaves — Outrages — Suppression.

The Earl of Macartney left the Cape on the 20th of
November, 1798, in consequence of his health having so
far given way as to make it expedient for him to return to
England. As it was a special condition of his appoint-
ment that he could at any time transfer his duties to the
next in command, he invested the Lieutenant-Governor,
Major-General Dundas, with supreme authority. He also
allowed him to receive the entire salary of £10,000 a year.*
Under the rule of Lord Macartney, a serious mutiny in
the fleet at home had produced a rebellion in the Cape
squadron at Simon's Bay. In October, 1797, an outbreak
commenced ; officers were deprived of their commands
and delegates appointed. By firm and prudent conduct,
Admiral Pringle soon succeeded in restoring order ; but,
subsequently, on the return of the squadron to Table Bay,
and the arrival of other vessels, a mutiny again broke out
on board the flag-ship, then lying off the Amsterdam
Battery. On this occasion, Lord Macartney proved him-

* Under Lord Macartney's rule the boundary of the Colony was
proclaimed to be the Great Fish River, Tarka, Bamboesberg, and
Zuurbergen, to the Plettenberg's baaken, and along the south end of
Bushmanland to the Karniesberg, and along the Buffels River to the
Atlantic.

1797.] Lord Macartney's Administration. 219

self well fitted to command. He immediately ordered the
Amsterdam Fort guns to be loaded, and shot to be heated
in the ovens, while he dispatched a message to the
mutinous crew in the Tremendous, informing them that if
they did not hoist the Eoyal Standard in half an hour, as
a token of unconditional surrender, he would blow their
ship out of the water. Within the given time submission
was made.* If this had not been done, " no one doubted
that Lord Macartney would have played the whole battery
upon her, until she was either burnt, sunk, or destroyed."
The writer just quoted (Mr. Barrow), in speaking of the
brief administration of this nobleman, states that it was
distinguished "by the same system of public economy, by
the same integrity and disinterestedness, which had marked
his career in every public situation of his life ; and the
same good effects were experienced here as elsewhere in
spite of the national prejudice of the inhabitants. The
Colony, indeed, advanced rapidly to a degree of prosperity
which it had never known under its ancient masters ; the
public revenue was nearly doubled, without the addition
of a single tax, and the value of every kind of property
was increased in proportion." No sooner had the " oude
Edelman" left, than the Boers of Graaff-Eeinet held
a secret meeting, and determined " to prove themselves
patriots" by going upon commando against the Kafirs. f
The Acting Governor (Dundas) promptly ordered a
detachment of dragoons, with a few companies of infantry,
and part of the Hottentot Corps, under General Vandeleur,

* Writing to Mr. Dundas, Lord Macartney says : — " It (the mutiny)
appears solely to have proceeded from mere wantonness in the sailors,
and a vanity of apeing their fraternity in England. This spirit of sea
mutiny seems like the sweating sickness in the reign of Edward IV. —
a national malady, which, as we are assured by historians of the day,
not content with its devastations in England, visited at the same time
every Englishman in foreign countries, at the most distant parts of the

globe.

' The general air
From pole to pole, from Atlas to the East,
Was then at enmity with English blood.' "

f Their first proceeding was to rescue a prisoner who was going
under the escort of a dragoon to be tried at the Cape.

220 The History of the Cape Colony. [1797.

to proceed to the disaffected district ; and no sooner had
the rebels received intelligence of this than they broke up
their camp and sued for pardon. The reply was, that
until they laid their arms down and surrendered, no terms
could be made. Shortly after, most of them appeared
before General Vandeleur, who sent nine of the ring-
leaders to Simon's Bay in Her Majesty's ship Rattle-
snake from Algoa Bay, and levied a fine on the rest
towards defraying the expenses of the expedition. In the
meantime, General Dundas, being ignorant of the country,
its inhabitants, and their causes of quarrel, dispatched
Mr. Barrow to the Eastern Districts as a special commis-
sioner. This gentleman, in his autobiography, states that
he received numerous accounts " of the atrocious conduct
of the Boers towards the Kafirs and Hottentots." He is
known, however, to have received most of his information
on this subject from Mr. Maynier, the Landdrost of Graaff-
Reinet, who had been expelled from that town by the
Dutch Boers, and smarting under ignominy, was not
over-scrupulous in imparting intelligence, — nor was Mr.
Barrow disinclined to listen and to believe anything
against men in rebellion. The documents relating
to the affairs of Graaff-Beinet, from 1793 to 1803,
which might have corrected, if not disproved, the
allegations of Maynier, had been taken to Holland by
Commissioner Sluysken, and therefore were not accessible
to Mr. Barrow, otherwise he would not have so sweepingly
condemned the Boers, of whose antecedents he was totally
ignorant. " On our road to Algoa Bay," Barrow says,
" we were met by a party of Hottentots, so disguised, and
dressed in such a whimsical manner, that I asked if they
had not been committing depredations on the Boers ; they
readily admitted it." Their leader, Klaas Stuurman,
humbly entreating to be heard, made a long oration,
containing a history of their calamities, in which he
alleged that the farmers were endeavouring to prevent the
Hottentots from obtaining any redress, and that the men
under his direction were determined to deprive the Boers
of their arms, and to take clothing in lieu of wages due.

1797.] Relations of the Boers and Natives. 221

" The further we advanced," says Mr. Barrow, " the more
seriously alarming was the state of the country, and it
was clear that the connexion between the Boers and the
Hottentots, kept up by violence and oppression on the one
side, and by want of energy and patient suffering on the
other, was on the point of being completely dissolved."
Stuurman's party, however, were induced to lay down
their arms ; but the Kafirs were much less docile. Congo,
one of their chiefs, who had been required to leave the
Colony, attacked a portion of General Vandeleur's forces.*
About the same time twenty men of the 81st Begiment,
under Lieutenant Chumney, when returning from the
sea-coast to the Bushmans Biver camp, were surprised by
a large party of Kafirs, who rushed upon them with
assagais, from which the wooden parts had been broken
off. This brave young officer carried on a spirited contest
until sixteen of his men had fallen, and then, in order to
save the lives of the other four, made a sign for them to
retreat in one direction, while he galloped off in another.
He was speedily pursued and killed, but the four men
succeeded in making their escape.

Upon the arrival of Mr. Barrow at a plain close to
Algoa Bay, he was surprised to see a large number of
Boers (150), who had been plundered by Hottentots,
assembled together with their families, wagons, and cattle,
in order to request English protection. The Hottentots,
five hundred strong, also demanded redress. As Her
Majesty's steamer Rattlesnake was still in Algoa Bay,
twenty armed seamen were landed, together with a swivel-
gun, which was mounted on a post between the Boers and
the Hottentots. For several days matters remained
in statu quo, until a rumour, set on foot by the Dutch, that
the natives were to be carried off in English ships, so
affrighted the Hottentots that they quickly dispersed. The
prevailing want of confidence rendered any attempt to

'■'■'• The disaffected and rebel Boers, it is said, incited Congo to make
war against the English. Conrad Buys, a rebel colonist, who lied to
Gaika's protection in 1?!)7, and subsequently married that chief's
mother, did his best to influence the Kafir tribes against the English.

222 The History of the Cape Colony. [1799.

restore peace unavailing. Under these circumstances Mr.
Barrow returned to the Cape, while General Vandeleur.
thinking it inadvisable "to wage an unequal war with
savages," withdrew his forces to Algoa Bay. Some of the
troops were sent away in the Rattlesnake, but a large
number remained until the evacuation of the Colony.
About this time a united body of Hottentots and Kafirs
ravaged the Graaff-Reinet division, defeated the Boers,
and pursued them as far west as the Gamtoos Eiver.
Here they were met by a force under the command of the
brave Tjaard van der Walt, who was killed in the action
that ensued. The terrified farmers then lost hope, and
fled in different directions, and the progress of their
pursuers was not checked until they were defeated by a
force composed of English and of Swellendam Boers, at
the Caymans Biver, not far from Mossel Bay.

Continued disturbances took place throughout the
Colony. The Landdrost of Swellendam (Mr. Anthony A.
Faure) had been obliged to order all the inhabitants of his
district to oppose the attacks of Kafirs and Hottentots.
In a letter from this officer, a report of the massacre of
fifty whites is referred to. In August, 1799, the
disturbances had increased, and a commando from
Stellenbosch was ordered out under Johan Gerhard Cloete.
In 1801, the inhabitants of Boggeveld were so plundered
by banditti under the notorious Afrikander, that a
squadron of dragoons had to be stationed between Cape
Town and the Karoo ; and in December of the same year,
a burgher named Floris Langman and his wife,
three children, and five or six servants, were cruelly
murdered. Lieutenant-Governor Dundas immediately
ordered out a commando to pursue the criminals, but re-
commended cautious treatment towards the natives. About
the same time, an aged farmer, Cornells Coetzee, together
with his two sons, and a man named Werner, were
murdered by slaves and Hottentots. A report of Field-
cornet Kruger, preserved in the Colonial Records, refers to
a marauding party in the Boggeveld sixty-eight strong —
some armed with muskets. So late as May, 1802, a

i8oi.] Naval Engagement in Algoa Bay. 223

detachment of dragoons remained at Stellenbosck for the
protection of its inhabitants. On the 1st of October, 1801,
an expedition was dispatched by the Cape Government to
the country beyond the limits of the Colony, chiefly with
the object of opening a trade, so that supplies of cattle,
&c, might be sent regularly to Cape Town. A large
garrison and naval station had to be provided for, and
provisions frequently ran short. Mr. P. J. Truter, of the
Court of Justice, and Dr. Somerville, were the Commis-
sioners sent.*

During the time His Majesty's frigate Rattlesnake was
in Algoa Bay, a French man-of-war, La Preneuse, of forty-
eight guns, heavy metal, sailed up to the anchorage flying
British colours, and was supposed to be one of our fleet at
that time stationed at the Cape. Having dropped anchor
between the store-ship (a worn-out 74, named the Camel)
and the Rattlesnake, a broadside was immediately fired
into the former, and the tricolour displayed. Unfortunately
more than two boats' crews from the Rattlesnake were on
shore, and the surf was so high that it was impossible to
reach the vessel. The greatest vigour and promptitude
were displayed. The few guns on board the Camel were
fired at the assailant, and the Rattlesnake carried on a
desperate resistance. The troops at Algoa Bay were
marched to the beach, and four guns were brought from
Fort Frederick and mounted upon an improvised battery.
Darkness in the meantime had come on, and the French
commander, probably over-estimating the means of
defence, weighed anchor and sailed to the Bird Islands.
Having repaired his rigging, he put to sea on the following
day. The action, it is said, was sharp and lasted six hours
and twenty minutes. Despatches giving an account of it
were immediately sent overland to the Admiral at the
Cape, who ordered out a seventy-four in pursuit. La
Preneuse escaped capture in consequence of the British
man-of-war being unable to fire her lower tier of guns, but

* A full account of the tour will bo found in Mr. P. 13. Borckerds's
Autobiography, p. 41, et seq.

224 The History of tlie Cape Colony. [isoi.

was subsequently forced to run into the River Plate, where
she was stranded and abandoned.*'

A scarcity of food, owing principally to a bad harvest and
the large supplies which had to be sent to the troops in the
Eastern districts, alarmed the Government. General
Dundas, having consulted the Burgher Senate, was advised
to import breadstuffs, and managed so well that grain of
different kinds speedily arrived, and at the end of the third
year the Corn Committee was able to report that, after
having distributed immense quantities of food at little
more than cost price, a small balance of profit remained
on hand. A change of Government! in England caused
a new appointment at the Cape, and Sir George Young
was sent out as Governor, though General Dundas
was at the same time appointed to be Commander-in-
Chief and Lieutenant-Governor. According to Mr.
Barrow, great discontent prevailed amongst Dutch and
English under the new Administration, and many
complaints against it were supposed to have been sent
home. Its duration, however, was very short. Early
in the year 1801, Sir George Young was recalled, and
General Sir Francis Dundas received the appointment
of Governor. But this officer in turn was destined to be
only a short time in power, as by the Treaty of Peace signed
at Amiens on the 27th of March, 1802, it was specially
provided " that the port of the Cape of Good Hope shall

* See Memoir of Mr. Korsten, by Mr. Chaso, printed in Appendix.

f The Right Hon. Hiley Addington had succeeded the Right Hon.
William Pitt as Prime Minister, and Lord Hobart was appointed
Secretary of State for the Colonies and the War Department. Sir
George Young's Government dates from l«th December, 179'.), and
continued till 20th April, 1801. An unsuccessful attempt was made by
this Governor to form Volunteer Corps, and he brought out to tho
Colony a noted agriculturist named Duckctt, who was to teach the
colonists how to raise large crops. Although he had a Government
estate given to him, with slaves to work upon it, his crops were " the
worst and most scanty that had ever been produced." Count Lichten-
stein, the traveller, was brought out by Sir George Young. The
Government Gazette was established in the year 1800, and in the year
previous (-1700) the first missionaries of the London Missionary
Society (Van der Kemp and Kicherer) arrived in the Colony.

1803.]

Governor Janssons. 225

remain to the Batavian Republic in full sovereignty." In
March, 1803, a large Dutch force arrived, and the British
troops were removed into the Castle until they could be
embarked.

The new Governor (Janssens), together with the
Commissioner Do Mist, were received with great courtesy
by General Dundas, who immediately resigned to them his
residence within the Castle. Stores had been valued, and
everything was ready for departure, when despatches
received by an English frigate commanded the British
Governor on no account to give up possession of the Cape
till further orders. In this serious dilemma it was very
cordially agreed that the Dutch should remove into
cantonments at Wynberg, in order to prevent any collision,
and wait there till definite orders should be received from
home. A period of anxious suspense* followed, which was
terminated towards the close of the year by counter-
orders from England, under which the abandonment of
the Colony was speedily effected.

The following statistical and general information,
illustrative of the position of the Colony at the end of last
century, cannot fail to be of interest. According to the
opgaaf lists of the four districts (Cape, Stellenbosch,
Swellendam, and Graaff-Reinet), there were in the Colony
during 1798, exclusive of British, 21,746 Christians, 25,754

* Mr. Barrow says : — " It was certainly a painful suspense, and
some of the Radical party in the town did their best to cause a rupture,
hoping they would meet encouragement from Mr. De Mist, who was
supposed to be a friend of Talleyrand, but they were deceived in him ;
he was an able, agreeable, and, I believe, an honest man." — Autobio-
graphy, p. 241. After Mr. Barrow's return to London in 1804, he was
appointed Secretary to the Admiralty, and (with a short interval)
continued to hold this situation till the year 1845. Sir John Barrow
originated the Geographical Society] and promoted many scientific
expeditions of great importance. His chief works are Travels in the
Interior of Southern Africa, 1801-3 ; A Voyage to Cochin China ; The
Life of Macartney ; An Autobiographical Memoir ; A History of Voyages
into the Arctic Regions; and Sketches of the Royal Society. He was
created a baronet by Sir Robert Peel in 1835, and died ha 1848, at the
ago of 84.

Q

226 The History of the Gape Colony. am.

slaves, and 14,447 Hottentots, making a grand total of
population, 61,947.* The ancient tenure on which land
had been granted was on "Zo<xw,"f on condition of paying
an annual rent of twenty-four rix-dollars. " Gratuity
lands" were those which upon petition had been converted
into a sort of customary copyhold, liable to a nominal
rent ; a few real estates were held in fee simple, and the
others were " quitrcnt" farms. The income of the Colony
for the year 1800 amounted to £73,919, to which " land
revenue" contributed Eds. 43,396 ; duties on wine and
grain levied at the barrier, Eds. 31,390; transfer duty,
Eds. 45,576; "public vendue," Eds. 61,166; customs,
Eds. 38,582 ; licences to retail wine and spirits,
Eds. 65,191 ; interest of capital lent out through the
loan bank, Eds. 26,240 ; stamped paper, Eds. 18,751 ;
seizures, fines, and penalties, Eds. 26,572 ; postage, only
Eds. 1,111 ; port fees, Eds. 3,945 ; and duty arising
from sale of property on loan estates, Eds. 5,939.
The expenditure chiefly consisted in the payment
of civil establishment salaries and repairing public
buildings, for which the revenue was so much more
than adequate that in the year after the departure of
Lord Macartney there was a clear balance in the Treasury
amounting to between two and three hundred thousand
rix-dollars.

Both the constitution and practice of the Court of
Justice at the Cape remained unaltered at the capitulation.
Two-thirds of its members were civil servants, and the
remainder were chosen from the burghers of the town.
The Fiscal and the Secretary interpreted the law, proceed-
ings were conducted with closed doors]: (furious clausis) ;

* Horses, 47,436 ; cattle, 251,206 ; sheep, 1,448,53(5 ; leggers of wine,
9,108 ; muids of wheat, 138,028 ; muicls of barley, 67,438.

f There were 1,832 loan farms in the Colony, and only 107 gratuity
lands.

| An exception was made in the case of a trial of boers for sedition.
The Court of Justice proved its wisdom and integrity by punishing the
authors of a most nefarious imposition which had been carried with
complete success through the Court of Vice-Admiralty.

i8oi.] The Court of Justice, 227

no oral pleading nor confronting the accused with the
witnesses was permitted, but depositions on oath were
taken down before two commissioners and subsequently
read to the Court. Two irreproachable and concurring
witnesses were always required to substantiate the guilt of
a person charged with a capital offence, and one witness
to good character was considered of equal weight to two
witnesses against a prisoner. Circumstantial evidence, no
matter how strong, could never warrant a sentence of
death being carried into execution until a free confession
had been made. It is said, however, that this confession
was sometimes extorted by means of torture. Barrow
testifies that the Court was very correct in its decisions,
and that out of the number of its civil cases brought
before the English Court of Appeal established in 1797,
only one sentence was reversed. " A Court of Commis-
saries for trying petty causes" existed, and in the country
districts the Landdrost and Heemraden administered
justice.*

The Burgher Senate of Cape Town was an important
board (consisting of six members), to whom the manage-
ment of municipal affairs was committed. The streets,
however, were in such a bad condition in 1795 as scarcely
to be passable with safety, but by means of a small
assessment were subsequently put in good repair.

Eeferring to the condition of the people, Barrow says :
— " The free inhabitants of Cape Town, let their condition
be what it may, are too proud or too lazy to engage in any

* Mr. Borcherds {Autobiography, p. 186) thus refers to the Landdrost
and Heemraden of Stellenbosch :— " The board consisted of the Land-
drost, as President, and six resident notable burghers and inhabitants.
Two of the Heemraden, the seniors, retired annually, and four were
nominated for the vacancies, out of whom the Governor elected the two
new members. Tbe Heemraden were subject to a fine of five rix-dollars
for non-attendance." In vendue claims the highest sum that could be
sued for in this Court was 300 rix-dollars. For duties of field-cornets,
see Ordinance of October, 1805, drawn up by Mr. (afterwards Sir John)
Truter. For a full description of a meeting of the Landdrost and
Heemraden, and their manner of conducting proceedings, see
Borcherds s Autobiography, p. 188.

Q 2

228 The History of the Gape Colony. cisoi.

manual labour ; and two-thirds of them owe their subsist-
ence to the feeble exertions of their slaves.* The most
active and docile, but at the same time the most
dangerous slaves were the Malays. The vine-growers, or
wine-boers, were a class of people who to the blessings
of plenty added a sort of comfort which was unknown
to the rest of the peasantry. They had the best houses
and most comfortable estates. The corn-boers mostly
occupied loan farms, and though many of them were in
good circumstances, held a lower rank than the wine-
farmers. Graziers resident in the more remote parts of
the Colony were, as might be expected, the least advanced
in civilization.

The establishment of the Lombard Bank by the Dutch
East India Company has been ascribed to the declining-
condition of their credit and influence. One million
rix-dollars of paper currency was issued and lent on
mortgage, under authority of the Commissioners, in 1792.
A clear annual revenue in the shape of interest was thus
at once secured, and when sums lent were returned, the
currency, which represented the amounts, was retained
instead of being cancelled. "When Suffren visited the
Cape, so badly was money required for the construction of
military defences that even plate and silver had to be

* Barrow's remarks upon Cape society are by no means flattering
(see Travels, p. 98, el seq.) This writer took a wife ("Miss Truter)
from among the Cape ladies, and writes of them in the following
strain : — " It has been the remark of most visitors, that the young
ladies of the Cape are pretty, lively, and good-humoured. The differ-
ence, indeed, in the manners and appearance of the young men and the
young women in the same family is inconceivably great." He recounts
their accomplishments, and refers to the aptitude with which, as regards
the fashions, they

•• Catch the manners living as they rise.''

The ladies were extremely tenacious of their rank in church. " More
quarrels have arisen about ladies taking precedency in the church, or
placing their chairs nearest the pulpit, than on any other occasion."
Lord Macartney had once to interpose his authority and settle a
dispute, by adopting the decision of the Emperor Charles V., " Let the
greatest simpleton of the two have the pas." After that, each lady
strove to give way to the other.

1801.]

Eeligion in the Colony. 229

borrowed from the inhabitants, as well as recourse made
to a stamped paper circulation.

One institution of which Mr. Barrow speaks in terms of
encomium is the Orphan Chamber, established for the
management of the estates of orphans, minors, and of
people who died intestate. All property passing under the
administration of this board suffered a reduction of lh per
cent., whereas, if left to private executors 5 per cent, had
to be paid to them and 5 per cent, to Government on the
public vendue.

The Dutch Reformed religion was established, and other
sects were barely tolerated. The German Lutherans
experienced great difficulty in obtaining permission to build
a church, and in the first instance were neither allowed a
steeple nor a bell. The Methodists had a chapel, while
the Malay Mahommedans, not being allowed to erect a
mosque, performed their services in stone quarries close to
the town. In 1798 the revenue of the Dutch Church in
Cape Town was £22,168 8s. 8d., and out of this amount
£1,112 17s. was given to the poor. The Lutheran income
for the same period amounted to £14,829 13s. 2d., and the
poor fund was £194 9s. 2d. So far back as the year 1743,
Baron Imhoff had urged the necessity of stationing
clergymen throughout the country, which caused the
erection, shortly afterwards, of churches at Eoodezand
(Tulbagh) and Zwartland (Malmesbury). In 1788 several
persons engaged to give religious instruction to the
heathen,* and in 1799 the South African Missionary
Society was established.

The 1st of March, 1803, was kept as a solemn day of

* See 8. A. TydschHft, vol. i., page 25. In 1792 the Government
proposed the establishment of public schools in the country districts.
Mr. Borcherds, in his Autobiograrptyf, page 182, speaks of slaves having
been instructed in Stellenbosc*h on Sundays. " Several," however,
" were in the habit of spending their Sabbath in working in their
gardens or in other labour." At page 197 he says : " I know when yet
young that religious instruction was given in the evening even to the
slaves belonging to the household, particularly by a Mr. Frans lloos,
of Moddergat, Harnman of Stellenboscb, Koux, and others."

230 The History of the Cape Colony. [isos.

thanksgiving for peace and the restoration of the Cape to
the Dutch. On this occasion Commissary-General De Mist
granted an amnesty, promised a charter, and expressed
enlightened views respecting the future administration
of the Colony. The practice of engaging Hottentots
as free servants under printed contracts was introduced by
a Proclamation dated the 9th of May following. In June,
Governor Janssens set out on a tour throughout the
Colony. This officer entered into a treaty with the Chief
Gaika, but was quite unable to settle the differences then
existing among the Kafirs. He met the notorious Klaas
Stuurman at Algoa Bay,* to whom he made presents and
granted lands.!

So early as September, 1803, apprehensions were enter-
tained of a war in Europe, and a militia was enrolled.
The Burgher Senate at the same time called upon all
able men in Cape Town to form themselves into a local
corps. In October, Commissary-General De Mist issued a

-

* A monthly post was established from Cape Town to Algoa Bay in

1803.

f General Janssens found everything in confusion at Graaff-Reinet.
Lichtensteiu, who accompanied him, says : — " The chest of the district
was empty, the books of accounts were in the most lamentable disorder,
the public buildings were destroyed, and presented nothing but a sad
monument of crimes ; the most important posts were filled by people
wholly ignorant and devoid of capacity ;" the disorderly populace
displayed " a reciprocal irreconcilable spirit of discord and enmity
towards each other. Their wholly perverted ideas of right and wrong,
their extravagant notions with regard to liberty, their total want of true
religious feeling (though making much external profession of piety),
their perfect ignorance, in short, of all the social virtues, had placed
them in a most unfortunate situation both for themselves and the
Government." A large number of Boers had emigrated, many farms
were desolate, while the Kafirs occupied a considerable portion of the
division. General Janssens appointed a very efficient officer (Mr.
Stockenstrom, Secretary of the Swellendam District) to be Landdrost
of Graaff-Reinet. The Governor apparently did his best to reconcile
differences among the inhabitants, and to establish peace and concord.
The request of the border farmers, that the Hottentots belonging to
Van der Kemp's missionary establishment should be seized, chained,
and distributed as slaves (see Dr. Philip's Researches, vol. i., page 90),
had, of course, been promptly refused. Dr. Van der Kemp was a

1805.] Preparations for War. 231

proclamation urging the duty of an effective armed
resistance in case of attack, and persons who had served
in the Army and Navy were ordered to appear before a
Special Commission. To raise funds, the places " Eusten-
burg" and " Paradys," near Cape Town, were offered for
sale, and not long afterwards paper currency to the amount
of £80,000 had to be issued. After the declaration of war,
General -Tanssens published an address, in which he
impressively urged the inhabitants to defend the Colony,
and promised that slaves lost in military service would be
paid for.

Commissary-General De Mist left in February, 1805.
During his residence he travelled through a portion of the
Colony, and devoted his best attention to the trade and
resources of the Settlement. Although the imminent
prospect of war greatly interfered with his designs, he was

former schoolfellow and intimate friend of General Janssens, but the
latter, while refusing to permit the persecution of the Hottentots, did
not feel justified in giving much support to the Missionaries. Certainly
lands (at Bethelsdorp, near Port Elizabeth) were granted, but these
were considered barren and unproductive. The Moravian settlement
at Baviaan's Kloof was named " Genadendal" (Grace Vale) at the
Governor's suggestion. Several acts of cruelty committed upon
Hottentots were detailed by Dr. Van der Kemp, of winch the following
is the most atrocious (see Barrow, vol. i., page 383) : — " As soon as the
English had abandoned the fort at Algoa Bay, a Boer named Ferreira,
of a Portuguese family, made himself master of it, and kept possession
until a detachment of troops were sent thither by the Dutch. Mean-
while the Kafirs, considering that peace had been made between them
and the European authorities, and being anxious to preserve it, sent the
self-appointed commandant a bullock, to be slain in token of friendship.
The Kafir messenger put himself under the guidance of a Hottentot ;
Ferreira (whether actuated by a vindictive desire to revenge some real
or supposed injury, or solely by diabolical hatred towards the coloured
race) laid hold of the Kafir, and broiled him alive, bound the poor
Hottentot to a tree, cut a piece out of his thigh, made him eat it raw,
and then released him." Ferreira was banished to Swellendam and
the reason given for the punishment being so light was the difficulty of
procuring sufficient evidence. The fairest way certainly would have
been to bring the man to trial. As this was not done, no judicial proof
of Ferreira's guilt exists, and the story may be a gross exaggeration or
a complete falsehood.

232 The History of the Cape Colony. [1804.

enabled to effect much more than could have been expected.
A system of government far superior to that of the
Company was established, excellent instructions for public
boards and departments were issued, and several laws of
importance prepared.* It had been found expedient to
create a new division between the village of Graaff-Keinet
and the sea, on which the name of Uitenhage (a barony of
Mr. De Mist's in Holland) was conferred. Another separate
division, called Tulbagh, was formed in the Western part of
the Colony.

It was Mr. Commissary De Mist who granted Van
Eiebeek's heraldic arms to the Colony and caused them to
be publicly introduced at the Town-house, Cape Town, on
the 2nd July, 1804. The Burgher Senate observed this
day with solemnity, and assembled at an early hour. The
Commissary-General and the Governor were escorted instate
to the Town-house. Trumpets sounded while the heraldic
emblemst were exposed, a salute of 21 guns was fired,
and the Senate subsequently entertained the chief officials]:
at a sumptuous banquet. On this occasion Mr De Mist,
alluding to the gratitude due by colonists to the first

* One of the last regulations prepared by Mr. De Mist was one
relating to Church matters. This Church Ordinance (July, 1804) was
declared by the Synod of the Dutch Church in 1824= to contain their
fundamental laws. He had already caused one regarding schools to
be issued. Under instructions from this Commissioner an important
law respecting the Courts of Landdrost and Heeinraden, Field-comets,
&c, was framed. It consisted of 328 articles, and was published in
November, 1805. Several useful institutions and improvements can
be traced to this period. The scholastic institute, " Tot nut van bet
Algemeen," was established. The Kaapsche Gourant makes mention
of the first post wagon being run between Cape Town and Stellenbosch
by order of tbe Burgher Senate.

f The arms consist of three golden rings on a red field, resting on an
anchor.

I The following are the names of the principal establishments under
the Batavian Government : — Governor, Court of Policy, Councillor
Consulent, Court of Justice, Attorney-General, Court of Appeal, South
African School Commission, Committee to inquire and revise all
Administrations, Chamber of Commerce, General Grain Committee,
Committee to revise the Public Registry of Debts, Committee to

1800.] Second Invasion by the English. 233

Governor, stated that he would have wished to name Cape
Town Ricbeek's Town, if it were not for reasons connected
with trade.

On the 25th of December, 1805, an American vessel
brought news that an English fleet, carrying troops, under
the command of General Baird, had left Madeira for the
East Indies. The Colonial forces were commanded to hold
themselves in readiness, and a Hottentot contingent, 200
strong, was raised. On the 3rd of January, 1806, the
manoeuvres of a small brig were noticed, which had
evidently been detached from the English fleet to make
observations. On the next morning signals on the Lion
Hill gave information that a formidable fleet was in sight,
and in the evening it was known that fifty-nine sail had

compose a General Placaat, Colonial Chamber of Accounts, Chamber of

Insolvent Estates, Bank of Loans, Surveyor, Receiver- General, &c,

Burgher Senate, Wardmasters (51), six country Districts, viz., Stellen-

bosch (50 Field-cornetcies), Swellendam, Graaff-Reinet, Uitenhage,

Tulbagh, under Landdrosts, assisted by Heemraden. The following

summary of information, supplied by Mr. Borcherds (Autobiography,

p. 232 et seq.) concerning society, &c, in 1803, may be of interest. In the

Keizers and Heerengracht (now Darling and Adderley-streets) were the

residences of fashionable families. Canals, with sluices, ran along the

streets. In seats and bowers, opposite the front door, it was not

unusual to see the family enjoying themselves— the gentlemen with

their pipes, the ladies by taking tea. Society was usually kept up by

evening parties. Small circles of six or eight families were alternately

formed and assembled in turn at their houses. Smoking, and playing

d'ombre or Quadrille, were the favourite amusements of the gentlemen,

whilst the ladies in a separate room engaged in fancy and other work.

When the Castle gun fired at nine o'clock, they retired, and were borne

home in sedan-chairs. Early rising was customary. Officials, &c,

went to office between eight and nine o'clock. From eleven to twelve

morning calls were made, when bitters, &c. (amara and others), were

presented. Twelve to one or two was the general dinner time. An

hour's repose after this was taken. Afterwards the most respectable

and fashionable used to dress for either a drive in the country or to be

prepared for evening society. The whole commnnity was like one

family. At the top of Government Gardens there was no outlet, but a

large square, in which a menagerie was kept. In those clays there

were few balls, but amateur concerts and plays constituted the principal

amusements. A club called the " Harmony" existed in Adderley-

strcet.

234 The History of the Cape Colony. [iso6.

anchored between Bobben Island and Blaauwberg Strand.
Signal guns were fired, and the available military and
militia forces collected. Those consisted of the 22nd
battalion Infantry of the Line, 5th of Waldeck, 1st
Hottentot Light Infantry, 9th Jagers (Eiflemen), 5th
Artillery, one squadron of Light Dragoons, a small body
of Horse Artillery for two pieces of cannon, a field train,
and the Malay Artillery. This force was supplemented
by burgher militia, and amounted in all to between two
and three thousand men.*

The expedition under the command of Sir David Bairdt
had left Cork on the 2nd of September, 1805. The King
George, transport, as well as the Britannia, East India-
man, were wrecked, and Brigadier-General Yorke,
Commandant of the Artillery, drowned, on a low sandy
island called Boccas, in 3° 53' S. latitude, and 33° 54' W.
longitude, and it was not till the 4th of January, 1806,
that the fleet anchored off Table Bay. Early on the
morning of the next day, General Beresford made an
unsuccessful attempt to land, and the Diomede, with the
transports carrying the 38th Begiment, were consequently

* There was also a battalion of French seamen and marines, part of
whom had been stranded in the Atalanta, frigate, during a heavy gale,
and another portion driven ashore in the corvette Napoleon, by H.M.S.
Narcissus, which had called at the Cape a few days before the arrival
of the English fleet. It must be borne in mind, in connection with the
defence of the Colony, that the Cape Town fortifications had been
previously restored by the British, who had received them in an almost
ruinous state in 1795. They comprised a chain of redoubts, connected
by a parapet, with banquettes and a dry ditch, block-house, and open
batteries — the whole mounted with 150 pieces of heavy ordnance and
howitzers. The English Government had been informed that the
militia and inhabitants generally looked with anxiety for the ai'rival of
British troops. The instructions of Lord Castlereagh (dated 25th July,
1805) directed the General to lose no time, but to take the place by a
vigorous and immediate attack.

I The naval force comprised the Diadem, Raisonable, and BeUiqueux,
each of 64 guns ; Diomede, 50 ; Narcissus and Leda, each -32 guns.
The land force included the 24th, 38th, 59th, 71st, 72nd, 83rd, and 98th
Regiments of Foot, and 20th Light Dragoons, besides Artillery,
Engineers, and East India Company's recruits.

1806.] Battle of Blaauwberg. 235

dispatched to Saldanha Bay. The entire fleet would have
followed had not the Highland Brigade been successful in
effecting a landing about six miles to the southward, in
Sospiras Bay. A few shots from the gun-brigs dislodged
the Dutch riflemen, and the only serious accident was
the loss of a boat containing 40 men of the 93rd Ptegiment,
which was upset in the surf. The remainder of the
troops disembarked on the 7th of January, as well as 500
sailors, who volunteered to drag the guns across the sands.
At four o'clock on the morning of the 8th, the army marched
over the Blaauwberg, and when on the crest of the hill was
formed into echelons of brigade, with the Highlanders about
200 yards in advance. The Dutch army was drawn up in
order of battle, and their artillery, consisting of twenty
field-pieces, posted considerably in front, opened fire.
General Baird commenced the action by dispatching the
Grenadiers of the 24th Kegiment to dislodge a body of
Mounted Kiflemen — a service which they performed with
intrepidity and serious loss. The main body continued to
advance over a plain densely covered with heath and
prickly shrubs, and, through misconception of orders,
began to fire before they were within killing distance.
Meantime General Janssens rode along the Dutch line,
earnestly intreating the men to do their duty, and was
received with cheering, in which the Battalion of Waldeck,
who occupied the centre, were observed to join very faintly.
A few shells shortly afterwards fell among these troops,
and caused them to take to flight. The General determined
to make the best stand he could without them, but soon
saw to his dismay that the men of the 22nd Battalion
were retreating. Having in vain exhorted them to stand,
so much confusion ensued that a hasty retreat had to be
made.* As the British troops were fatigued with a march
of six hours over scorching sands, after having been

* According to Martin's British Colonies, large edition, vol. iv., p. I I,
the British force (exclusive of troops sent to Saldanha Bay) actually on
the field was 4,000, while the colonial forces were about 5,000 strong.
For an account of the Battle of Blaauwberg by an eye-witness (Capt.
Cannichael) see Appendix.

236 The History of the Cape Colony. [isoe.

cooped up on board ship for five months, they were in no
condition to pursue the enemy, so that General Janssens
was able to retire without difficulty. Having ordered the
Waldeck Battalion to return to Cape Town, he retreated
with the remainder of his forces to Hottentots Holland
Kloof (now Sir Lowry's Pass). The loss on both sides
during the battle is conjectured to have been between
300 and 500 men. On the next morning General Baird
marched to Cape Town, and was within only a few miles
of it when a flag of truce, requesting a cessation of
hostilities for forty-eight hours, was received. In reply,
the inhabitants were informed that unless the town was
surrendered within six hours it would be entered by
storm during the night. This threat had the desired
effect, and the 59th Eegiment were allowed to march in
that evening and take possession of the lines. The rest
of the troops, with the exception of the Highland Brigade,
which was sent to Wynberg, marched in next day, and at
three o'clock the British flag was hoisted on the Castle,
and a Boyal salute fired. The Highland Brigade and the
59th Eegiment were sent to Stellenbosch and Paarl * on
the 12th, and Sir David Baird followed in a few days with
the view of attacking the Dutch troops. General Janssens,
finding his force reduced by desertion and other causes
to above five hundred strong, was compelled to open a
correspondence with the British General Beresford. This
led to an honourable capitulation, executed at Hottentot's
Holland on the 18th January, 1806, in the presence of
Sir John Truter and Mr. J. C. Smyth, ultimately ratified

* Captain Carrnichael, who wrote an account of Sir David Barrel's
expedition (published in Hooker's Botanical Miscellany), says: — "On
our arrival" (in the Paarl) " we found the people prodigiously civil.
Every door was thrown open for our reception, and several of the
inhabitants carried their kindness so far as to send even to the Parade
to invite us to their houses. Some of our speculators ascribed this
marked hospitality to fear, while others, inclined to judge more favour-
ably of human nature, imputed it to general benevolence of disposition.
Those who suspended their opinion on the subject had the laugh at
the expense of both, when, on our departure next morning, the true
motive was discovered in the amount of their bills."

1806.] Second Surrender of the Colony. 237

by Sir David Baird, Major-General and Commander-in-
Chief, and Sir Home Pophani, Commodore commanding
the Naval Forces. The Dutch troops were to march to
Simon's Bay within three days, with their guns, arms,
and baggage. Treasure and public property to be delivered
up. According to the capitulation of Cape Town Castle
and fortifications, the garrison was to march out with the
honours of war, and be provided with passage to Europe
at the expense of the British Government. Burghers and
other inhabitants were confirmed in their rights and
privileges, paper money was to remain current until
instructions from England could be received, the oath of
allegiance had to be taken by the principal inhabitants.
Thus ended the second period of Dutch rule, which Mr.
Justice Watermeyer truly remarks "was most beneficial
to the Colony, and furnishes a great contrast to the misrule
of the East India Company." An endeavour has been
made to extract an excuse for the conduct of Sluysken in
1795, from Janssens' want of success in 1806. But no
fault whatever can be attributed to the latter Governor,
who neither wanted ability nor courage ; whereas Sluysken
was clearly deficient in both, besides acting in such a
manner as to expose himself to the charge of treason.

Sir David Baird acted with ability and vigour. The
83rd Begiment was dispatched to Mossel Bay to cut off the
enemy from approaching Swellendam. No time for any
organized disaffection was permitted. The promptitude
with which Cape Town was threatened, and preparations
made for an attack on General Janssens, had been
rewarded, as we have seen, by complete success. No
sooner had the Dutch troops left than it became necessary
to provide against a possible attack from a French fleet
under the command of Admiral Villeaumez. This officer,
however, having learnt the conquest of the settlement,
altered his course and sailed to the West Indies.

In order to prevent a scarcity of food, all grain duties
were repealed, and a new law made providing that
Government should store wheat to be purchased at fixed
rates. Many farmers brought forward concealed supplies,

238 The History of tlie Cape Colony. [i806.

and prices consequently fell. Sir David Baird caused a
corps of Hottentot infantry to be formed, who were
afterwards named the " Cape Mounted Eifles," and
appointed Mr. Willem Stephanus van Eyneveld to be*

* Mr. Olof Godlieb cle Wet was President of the British Court of
Justice, and Mr. Van Ryneveld afterwards succeeded to this office, and
when Lord Caledon established Circuit Courts in 1811, was President
of the first Circuit. At his death, in 181;?, it was stated in the Govern-
ment Gazette — " The public will learn, with the deepest sorrow, the
decease, on Friday, 14th of August, of W. S. van Ryneveld, Esq.,
President of the Court of Justice, Orphan Chamber, &c. The unrivalled
qualities of this respected Magistrate and virtuous man were so well
known that it does not require more than to state his death to draw
from every voice the acknowledgment of his irreparable loss to this
Colony." The most emphatic panegyric follows, with such expressions
as the following : — " Merit so various and alike conspicuous will ever
remain the boast and pride of the Cape of Good Hope. Such were his
gifts from nature, the greatness of his mind, and the goodness of his
heart, he wanted not the aid of travel." Mr. Borcherds, a contemporary
(in his Autobiography, page 283), joins in his praise. Yet the following
severe epitaph was written on Judge Ryneveld by a resident at Cape
Town, and is to be found quoted in a Reply to tlve Report of the
Commissioners of Inquiry, by Mr. Bishop Burnet, p. 17 of Appendix.

" Here lies in death, who living always lied,
A base amalgam of deceit and pride ;
A wily African of monstrous shape,
The mighty Quinihus Flestrin of the Cape.
Rogue, paramount ten thousand rogues among,
He rose, and shone like phosphorus from dung ;
The wolf and fox their attributes combined
To form the odious features of his mind.
Where kennelled deep, by shame, by fear unawed,
Lurked rapine, villainy, deceit, and fraud —
Hypocrisy, servility, and lust,
A petty tyrant, and a judge unjust.
Partial and stern in every cause he tried,
He judged like Pilate, and like Pilate died.
Urged to despair by crimes precluding hope,
He chose a bullet to avoid a rope.
Consistent knave ! bis life in cheating past, .
He shot himself to cheat the law at last.
Acme of crimes, self-murder crowned the whole,
And gave to worms his corpse — to fiends his soul."

Mr. Burnet was charged with composing this "epitaph;" but in a
copy of "' the Reply " (in the possession of one of the writers of this
History) occurs the following words, written in pencil by Sir R. S.
Donkiu : — " There was no man at the Cape in my time capable of

1803.] Changes in Official Circles, 230

Vice-President of the newly-constituted Court of Justice,
in addition to being His Majesty's Fiscal and Attorney-
General. The Chamber for regulating insolvent estates
was also reformed on a reduced scale, and Mr. Khenius

writing anything so pointed as this, and it is certainly not by B. Burnet,
the author of this." It would answer no good purpose to publish the
faults and crimes of Cape notables, nor is it our intention to do so.
The above lines seemed worthy of insertion because of their evident
merit, and as furnishing (rather strongly, certainly) an alterem partem
to the panegyrics of the Government Gazette. It has been stated by a
correspondent to a colonial newspaper that the writer of the above
epitaph was a convict. This statement is perfectly untrue. The
authors know to whom reference is made and are aware that it was
impossible the person in question could have written it.

As illustrative of slave life, and conveying some important informa-
tion, if true, the following summary of the history of Josephine Focus
(taken down by a notary at Cape Town, and published in the Appendix
to Burnet's "Reply") may be interesting. Our readers must judge
for themselves as to its truth : — " My master was Mr. Truter, Secretary
to the Batavian Colonial Government, and I was employed as nurse
in his family. When a signal was made that there was an English
fleet off the Cape, my master, being first civil officer of the Governor,
immediately, with six slaves, set about removing a great number of
boxes and bags of Spanish dollars from the Treasury into his own
apartments, and in the night, before the English were landed, distributed
them in the houses of his friends." This slave having informed upon
her master, " himself and family were kept in custody until he restored
all the money." She was sent back to Mr. Truter's house, where she
was roughly treated, and afterwards placed in prison, where " I was
flogged every second day of the first three months, so as the blood
often, splashing from the repeated strokes, sprinkled my neck."
Eventually, this woman was bought by a farmer, who was ordered to
make her lead his oxen. He treated her well, however. Towards the
end of the deposition, several charges are made against Mr. Truter,
and it is stated : — " My cruel master has advanced through all the
gradations of power and honour. . . . He has since been appointed
Chief Justice of the Colony. ... I am christened, and allowed
to approach the altar of my Maker, whilst my heart is rent with the
knowledge that my children are denied this blessing. They are
obliged to follow their mistresses on each Sabbath ; they are bound to
wait in the street until the service is concluded, when they bear back
the proud mistress' stool and the blessed Book, the record of our
Lord's humbleness."

The last public sale of imported negro slaves was authorized by
Government in lbOO.

240 The History of the Cape Colony. [isoe.

appointed Political Commissioner for Church Affairs.
Relays of Hottentot runners were stationed at the houses
of farmers on great routes to convey the mail bags ; and
these primitive postal arrangements were placed under
the direction of Mr. William Caldwell, " deputy post-
master." In March of this year (1806) a severe public
punishment was inflicted upon a man named Cornells
Maas, who had caused the greatest alarm by positively
assuring the Governor that he himself had seen an
enemy's fleet at Saldanha Bay, and even conversed with
several of the officers. Upon this information being
proved to be thoroughly false, Maas was flogged at the
cart's tail round Cape Town, and banished from the
Colony, while an order was issued by General Baird,
intimating that in future false reports would be punished
by death, or such other chastisement as a general court-
martial should award. Colonial affairs having been placed
in a comparative state of order, Sir David Baird left Cape
Town in the transport Paragon on the 24th of January,
1807,* having delivered over the Government to
Lieutenant-General Grey, Lieutenant-Governor and
Commander of the Forces. In the addresses presented to
His Excellency from the Court of Justice, Burgher Senate,
and other public boards, Sir D. Baird is informed, " By
your wise and well-directed measures for our internal
government, together with the unparalleled discipline of
the troops under your Excellency's command, our rights
have been guarded, and the whole Colony enjoys at this
moment a state of tranquillity and plenty seldom or never
realized."!

* After leaving the Cape, Sir D. Baird was appointed to the com<
mand of a division at the siege of Copenhagen. In 1808 he was sent
to Spain, with 10,000 men, to assist Sir John Moore, and, after the
death of that great General at the battle of Corunna, succeeded to the
chief command. After this event, he received for the fourth time in
his life the thanks of Parliament, and was created a Baronet. He died
on the 18th August, 1829.

f Mr. Borcherds, speaking of the events of this time, says : — " On the
last day of the month (January, 1807) the instructions for vaccine
inoculation were published. In April the first supreme Medical

1807.] A Slave Rebellion. 241

In May, 1807, Du Pre, Earl of Caledon, was proclaimed
Governor.* The efforts of this nobleman were earnestly
directed to promote the welfare of the Colony, and to
civilize the Hottentots, who were protected by the establish-
ment of a system of written contracts and specific
regulations. The number of slaves in the Colony had
increased to an alarming extent, and the discontented
among them appeared only to require a leader to break out
in open mutiny. Under these circumstances, a turbulent
fellow named James Hooper found no difficulty in
persuading a Cape Town slave named Louis, with whom
he lived, to commence an insurrectionary movement.
Another slave (Abraham) and Michael Kelly, a white man,
joined the conspirators. Louis, by Hooper's advice, dressed
himself in a gaudy blue and red uniform, with epaulets,
sword-, and ostrich plumes. Having hired a wagon under
false pretences, they proceeded in the first instance to the
farm of a Mr. Louw, resolving to incite all the coloured
people to rebellion and subsequently return to Cape
Town, storm a battery, and demand the liberty of all
slaves ; Louis to be chief Governor of the blacks, and
Hooper to enjoy a high oflicial situation. After leaving

Committee of three physicians were appointed, and their instructions
published. In this year (1807) a Court of Appeal in civil cases and
Vice-Admiralty Court were appointed. In June the small-pox made
its appearance ; the powder magazine was broken into ; and policemen
wero employed to convey mails to the interior. In November the first
tenders were invited for delivery of forage for the Colony instead of the
usual assessment of the farmers. This was to them a great relief. To
encourage the production of wool, the Agricultural Commission offered
for sale a great number of Bastard Spanish rams at Groenekloof. The
first and only wagon-load of wool, in 1«08, was brought in by Ilillegert
Muller, of Swellendam, and realized 070 rds. A Court of Appeal for
criminal cases was established this year, and in April, 1808, the Cape
District was formed, and Landdrost and Ilecmraaden appointed to it.
Mr. T. Tom was the first Landdrost.

:: Andrew Barnard, Esq., was appointed Secretary to Government
and Registrar of the Records. The talented and hospitable Lady Ann
Barnard, who will be long remembered at the Cape, was the wife of this
gentleman. The beautiful song, " Auld R ->bin Gray," has been ascribed
to her pec.

242 The History of the Gape Colony . [1807.

Mr. Louw's place, where they were treated civilly, and did
no damage, they went to Mr. Basson's farm, where they
stated that it was the Governor's and Fiscal's orders
that all Christians and slaves should be taken by them to
Cape Town. Guns and powder were violently seized.
Having pinioned Mr. Basson (Mrs. Basson with a Miss
Smit fortunately escaped), they advanced with twelve
wagons and four saddle-horses, and committed robberies, as
well as other acts of violence and outrage, at several farms.
At last their numbers increased so much that, formed into
two divisions, they boldly marched through Koeberg and
Tygerberg, and then to a rendezvous at Salt Biver, seizing
upon horses, arms, and ammunition, binding farmers, and
inciting the slaves to insurrection.* When Lord Caledon
heard of the rebellion, he immediately ordered out detach-
ments of cavalry and infantry, who, acting more as
constables than soldiers, and meeting with no resistance,
had merely to apprehend the insurgents and lodge them
in gaol. Wagons, horses, and guns were, as far as possible,
returned to their owners, and fifty-one prisonerst out of
three hundred and thirty-one were brought to trial and
convicted ; but ultimately the utmost clemency was
extended, so that only seven were executed, seventeen
sentenced to hard labour for various periods, and a large
number to minor punishments. The sentence of death
passed on both Hooper and Kelly was suspended, and the
latter sent to England, " to await His Majesty's pleasure."

* Mr. Borcherds says (Autobiography, p. 294) : — " From some places
they carried the masters bound, from others unbound, in the charge of
armed blacks ; at other places they distributed wine among the people.
Several farmers suffered severely, and the most, one Mr. Christian
Storm, of whom not a single slave joined the insurgents, but concealed
themselves in the bushes." They seized Mr. Storm and flung him
almost naked into a wagon. Mr. Adriaan Louw, a man upwards of
seventy years old, they ill-treated in the highest degree, laying hold
of him by his hair, giving him a blow with the butt end of a musket
on his head, and beating him with a sword.

f Two Europeans, one Hottentot, and forty-eight slaves.

CHAPTER X.

Retrospective account of relations with Kafir Races — Kafir Laws, Customs, Polity,
Religion — First contact of Europeans with Kafirs — Early Conflicts— Comman-
does— Commando under Maynier — Disturbances of 1793 — Subsequent Conflicts
— Colonel Collins appointed Special Commissioner — His report — War of
1811-12 — Commissions of Circuit — Bethelsdorp Missionaries — Caso of Eredrik
Bezuidenhout — Lord Charles Somerset — Wreck of tho Amsterdam — War of
1817-1819.

It is now necessary to give a retrospective glance at
the relations of the colonists towards the Kafir tribes,
and before doing so it seems desirable to glance briefly
at the origin, laws, customs, and history of a race
which has exercised a very powerful influence on South
Africa. In the case of barbarians who possess no
record, it is impossible to trace their history anterior
to the period when they came into contact with civili-
zation, and the secret of their origin must always be
enveloped in mystery. The Kafir race is no exception.
It is known certainly that they first arrived near the Kei
Paver in the seventeenth century ; but whence they came
originally, or why they migrated, is unknown. Of course
numerous conjectures have been made, and one of the
latest writers* is of opinion that if there be a parent
dialect of the Kafir language, it may probably be found
amongst the tribes which occupy the interior regions to
the south or the south-west of Abyssinia. On many
accounts, it has been argued, there are good grounds
for supposing that they are of Ishmaelitish descent, and
consequently that they are of the same origin as many
of the tribes of Arabia.! The word Kafir is derived

* Rev. W. Appleyard — Notes to Kafir Grammar, pp. 7 and 8.

f But Hokleu [History of the Kafir Races) says: — "After deep and
long-continued inquiry and investigation, my opinion is that the entrance
of the different races into Africa is much more remote than any
attempted to he assigned to it in relation to either Abraham or Ishmael."
It is argued against the theory of the Arabian origin of the Kafir tribes

R 2

244 The History of the Cape Colony.

from the Arabic " Klafir," an unbeliever, and is the
term given by the Portuguese at Mozambique to desig-
nate the inhabitants of the vast region extending from
their settlements to the country of the Hottentots — now
the Cape Colony. As a great family of the human race,
the " Kafir" is classed by Dr. Latham in Division B of the
variety Atlantidae (modified Negro physical conformation),
and made to include — 1. Tribes Amatabele, Amazulu, north
of Natal ; Amaponda, Aniaxosa, &c, &c, in Kaffraria ;
2. Makololo, north, and Bakuku, north-west of Lake
Ngami ; as also all the Bechuanas ; 3. Ovampos and
Damaras, speaking the Ovampo or Otjiherero and its
dialects, inhabiting the south-west African coast.

Our business, of course, is only with the Kafir tribes
who border on the Cape Colony. These were probably at
one time all identical, although now split up into numerous
sections. It has been considered by some writers that
they can conveniently be divided into two great families or
nations, independent of each other, and known by the
respective names of Amakosae (Ama signifies tribe), or
Kafirs proper, and Amatembu, or Tambookies, — the
former, a ferocious race who were found inhabiting the
Colonial possessions from the Stormberg to the estuary of
the Keiskamma Eiver, and the latter comparatively mild
and inoffensive people who occupied a northerly or inland
position. The Rev. H. H. Dugmore* believes that the
Kafirs, Fingoes, and Bechuanas are the offshoots of some
common stock. Taking the dialect spoken by the Kafir
border tribes as the starting point, and proceeding east-
wards through the Amatembu and Amapondo till we reach

that had they immigrated from beyond the sea, the art of navigation
could hardly have heen lost hy them. We have also on record that
" the Arabs first settled on the Eastern coast called Eucoyadi, that is
subject to Zakla, who built two considerable towns to secure them
against the Kafirs; others followed from the Persian Gulf, but they
(tlie 'Arabs') never passed Cape' Corriontes."

:;: In a Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs, page 8, the con-
tribution of the Rev. H. Dugmore shows in very clear language the
polity and customs of that people. There are also valuable papers by
Mr. Warner, Tambookie Agent, and other gentlemen.

History of the Kafir Races. 245

those spoken by the Zulus and Fingoes, lie says that we
find a gradual approximation to some of the dialects of
the Basuto and Bechuana tribes. The common origin
of the Kaffrarian tribes is much less a matter of conjecture.
Many of the tribal distinctions obtaining amongst them
are of very recent date, and have arisen from a peculiarity
in the law of succession to the Chieftainship. The prin-
cipal divisions of Amaxosa, Abatembu, and Amapondo
arc of earlier formation, although probably arising from
the same cause. Nothing has had a greater effect upon the
polity and government of the Kafir tribes than their peculiar
law of succession, which permits of perpetual division ; by
the eldest son of the great wife succeeding to his father's
dignity, while the eldest son of the " right hand" wife
is constituted the head of a certain allotted portion of
the tribe. The Great Chief Gaika introduced the custom
of appointing three of the Chief's sons to rule over
separate portions of the tribe, and this innovation tended
still more to increase the number of petty rulers over
petty clans. This system is the cause of disorganization
and discord, while it often leaves weak tribes of native
races at the mercy of powerful neighbours.

It is a mistake to speak of the despotic government
of Kafir Chiefs — so far at least as the Amaxosa and
Amatembu tribes are concerned. Their government is
an admixture of feudalism with Patriarchal customs.
The Amapakati (middle ones) or council is a powerful
check upon arbitrary power, composed of subjects who,
by their courage or abilities, have proved their fitness
to advise. They give military service whenever called
upon, and in return are invested with civil jurisdiction
in their respective neighbourhoods and receive a consi-
derable share of the spoils obtained in war. Each of
them has his own followers and partizans, whom he
shields to the best of his ability. The operation of the
law of succession has called into existence many tribes
of nearly equal power, and it is very customary for
persons who have incurred the anger of their own chief
to fly for refuge to a neighbouring tribe. So soon as they

246 Th'-' History of the Cape Colony.

have arrived, no violent interference is permitted, and they
arc perfectly safe until an investigation can take place.
Generally a culprit is allowed to remain peaceably in the
tribe to which he has fled for refuge.

The most striking feature in the administration of
justice is that every crime is punished by a fine. Persons
are the property of the Chief, and consequently the
penalties for acts of personal violence and murder are
received by him. In civil cases only the party injured
• obtains the penalty. The regular resources of Government
are fines, presents extorted during friendly visits, and the
plunder consequent on warlike excursions. It is absolutely
necessary in order that a Chief become powerful, that he
should in the first place make himself popular, and acts of
glaring oppression rarely occur except when the Councillors
support their leader in hope of getting a considerable
share of the spoil. Besides the local government of each
tribe, there is a nominally and loosely-constructed general
government supposed to be exerted by the Chief and
Council of the tribe first in hereditary rank, but this is
only exercised in cases of appeal, and on subjects uncon-
nected with internal tribal government.

Many grave errors are noticeable in the Kafir system.
The legislative, judicial, and executive departments are
confounded. Justice cannot be efficiently administered, as
there is no code of laws to appeal to, or be guided by, and
there is no fixed constitution or system of legislation.
Lawless and predatory habits are constantly fostered, and
the desire of gain and the prospect of revenge are the two
ruling passions of the natives.

Like all other savages, their religion is a vile super-
stition which degrades women to the lowest level, while
their social system classes her amongst beasts of burthen
and the goods and chattels of her master. Polygamy, of
course, is universally allowed, and under a system of pur-
chase the number of wives bears proportion to the wealth
of the husband. Concubinage is permitted, and the vilest
and most degrading immorality prevails. No idea of purity
or virtue is permitted to exist, and customs which cannot

Kafir Superstitions. 247

be mentioned still prevail in close proximity to Christian
mission stations and to a British Colony.*

The Kafir superstitions are well defined, and exercise
such a powerful influence, that until they are rooted out
there is no chance of missionary efforts being successful,
and there is constant danger of war with Europeans.
Many of their religious rites are conducted in such secrecy
as to be completely unknown, and their witch doctors ought
more correctly to be styled priests who offer sacrifice f
and carry on the nefarious business of their religion. It
is by these miscreants that men are " smelt out" and put
to death with lingering torture for alleged witchcraft, and
they it is who are made the tools of designing chiefs to
keep up continual hostility to Europeans and urge their
people to acts of war and plunder. The Kafirs believe in
a Supreme Being, but most of their rites are connected
with the worship of their deceased ancestors, whose ghosts
they endeavour to propitiate. Christianity has made no
real impression upon them and missionary efforts are a
failure. In the words of Mr. Warner,! than whom, there
is no one better qualified to speak, " The Gospel has
been preached to them for the last fifty years, and some
attempts have been made towards civilizing them ; but
the Kafirs, nationally considered, remain just as they
ever were ; no visible difference can be discerned. They
are as perfectly heathen now as they were in the days of

* Mr. Warner says—" Marriage among the Kafirs has degenerated
into slavery." " Seduction is not punishable by Kafir law, nor does
any disgrace attach to it."

\ Mr. Warner says that their great national sacrifice and ceremony,
is the " uJaikafida," when the priest makes the army invulnerable. The
shoulder of the sacrificial beast is skinned and cut oft' while the wretched
animal is still alive. Charms of wood and roots are thrown upon the
coals with it, and eventually each man bites off a mouthful of the
flesh and then passes it on to the next. In the case of a sacrifice tho
blood must be caught in a vessel, and the bones burned.

| The notes of Mr. Warner, Tambookie Agent, published in the
Government Compendium, p. 107. Sir George Grey's policy was to
destroy the power of the witch doctors, and unless this be done tho
colony can never bo secure.

248 The History of tiie Capo Colony.

Van der Kemp ; and so they ever will continue so long as
their political government continues to exist in its present
Pagan form."

The earliest record in our Colonial archives regarding
Kafirs refers to a journey said to have been performed
by shipwrecked mariners from Rio do la Goa to the Cape
in 1683 ; but the first authentic account of the contact
of Europeans with natives is to be found in the narra-
tive of an expedition made by Colonial farmers into the
interior in the year 1684.* These men were authorized
to exchange tobacco and brandy for sheep and oxen.
They were attacked by Kafirs, and easily repulsed them
by means of fire-arms, which the natives had never
before seen. They penetrated to the Kafir country east-
ward of the Sundays River, and travelled as far as
Commadagga in the immediate vicinage of the junction of
the Little and Great Fish Rivers. At this time the Gouna
or Gonacqua nation of Hottentots (Heykoms) dwelt in the
country near the sources of the Kat, Koonap, Chumie,
and Kieskamma Rivers. The next record to which we
can refer is a despatch sent to Holland in 1702, in which
mention is made of predatory warfare carried on between
Colonial freebooters and natives in a portion of the Kafir
country probably situated near the Buffalo River. To
judge by their own traditions, the Kafirs had very recently
arrived there, as Gonde, the son of Toguh and grandson
of Ookesomo (the remotest ancestor remembered), is stated
to have reached the Kei (our present Colonial boundary on
the east) about the year 1676, and his brothers established
themselves between the Buffalo and Chalumna Rivers
some years afterwards. The year 1760 is, however, gene-
rally admitted to be about the time when the Kafirs began
seriously to effect conquests and establish themselves in
the country to the westward of the Kei. So recently as

■■'■ Waare Relation und Beschryving van Cabo de Goede Hoop und
deselber Naiuurluher Inwoonderen, natimr gebranohen than und wesen
nebst heisigin landes gervasehen und den Zalimen and wilden gedierten,
durek Johan Daniel Butncr. Dcssinian Collection, South African
Library, Capo Town.

Farmer Bowa&aries of Kafir Territory. 249

1775, the Hottentot Captain Ruyter's kraal was situated
near the mouth of the Great Fish River, while in 1770
Patterson, the traveller, was surprised to meet two Kafirs
to the eastward of the Sundays River, " for they seldom
venture so far from their own country." He reached the
first Kafir kraal when he arrived at the Beka, fifteen miles
heyond the Great Fish and seventeen miles from the Keis-
kamma River. Thunberg* (1770) says the Hottentots and
Kafirs lived promiscuously near the Gamtoos River, " the
real Kaffraria beginning several miles up country;" and
Alberti,! Landdrost of Uitenhage, writing in 1802, remarks
that Palo, the great grandfather of Hintza, Buchu, and
Gaika, was the sovereign of a great people living east-
wards of the river Kei, and that this river was the
boundary between the Kafirs and the Settlement. Two
migratory streams were setting towards the Eastern
districts, one composed of Kafirs proceeding from the
east, and the other of colonists coming from the westward.
Fierce and warlike savages, whose chief occupation was
pillage, necessarily came into contact with the Frontier
farmers, and numerous sanguinary encounters took placet
In 1786 a verbal agreement was made with the Kafirs, pro-
viding that the Great Fish River should be considered the

'D

* Vol. L, p. 203. f Bo Kaffers, p. 209.

[ The following arc extracts from Commandant A. van Jarsveld's
Report of the Expulsion of the Kafirs (Records, page 110): — "1T81,
July 20. The Kafirs having, subsequently to the treaty, again moved
in among our people, with all their property, it became of the most
urgent necessity that resistance should be offered to this evidently im-
pending violence. Having particularly inquired into all the messages
from the Kafirs, as also into the molestation they had committed upon
the farms by night, with occupying the farms, and taking away from
them by force the faithful servants of the inhabitants, on the 1st of
June I warned the nearest Captain. On the 2nd I found that the
Kafirs had made no preparation to depart, and said they would not go.
On this the interpreter, Karkotie, secretly warned me to be well on my
guard, as he had heard the Kafirs encouraging each other to push in
boldly among us and pretend to ask for tobacco. On the (ith we went
to them for the third time, and they were again ready to push in among
us with their weapons. As I clearly saw that if I allowed the Kafirs
to make the first attack many must fall on our side, I hastily collected

250 The History of the Cape Colony.

Colonial boundary, and in the same year hostilities were
commenced between the Colonists and an intruding mixed
race named the Gonnas, when the celebrated Kafir Chief
T'Slambie aided the former. The Chief of the Gonnas
was slain, and the Kafirs reaped the entire advantage
of victory. A desultory warfare followed, in which the
Colonists were constantly plundered, and the Gonnas
eventually driven out of the country. But the expelled
tribe, after a brief interval, invaded the Frontier districts.
Although this inroad was promptly reported to the Land-
drost of Graaff-Eeinet (Mr. Woeke) no steps were taken
to resist it, and Colonel Collins, reporting upon this
subject, remarks : — " It is certain that, by having neglected
to notice the invasion, he laid the foundation of all the
misfortunes that have since befallen the inhabitants of
the Eastern Districts."* Again in 1792 fresh disputes
took place, and the barbarians fell upon the Colonists, and
murdered them with indiscriminating fury. The farmers
were forced to league together for mutual defence, and a
system of commandos was the result. Abuses, no doubt,
were frequently committed by these bands; but it is worthy
of note that, under British rule, Major Dundas, Landdrost
of Albany, testifies " that these bodies were never called out
but under military order, and never followed stolen cattle
into Kafirland but under military control." The general
commando organized in 1793, in consequence of the out-
rages committed during the preceding year, so alarmed

all the tobacco the men had with them, and having cut it into small
bits, I went about twelve paces in front and threw it to the Kafirs,
calling them to pick it up ; they ran out from amongst us, and forgot
their plan. I then gave the word to fire, when the said three Captains
and all their fencible men were overthrown and slain, and part of their
cattle, to the number of 800, taken."

Cattle captured from Kafirs was distributed among farmers pro rata,
in accordance with what had been stolen from them. Under this com-
mando they got back 43 per cent, of their losses. A. C. Greyling says
(Moodie, p. 112), " I served on Jarsveld's commando. We took about
2,200 cattle from the Kafirs on Naudo's Hoek, and killed, I think, 200
Kafirs. We afterwards took 1,800 cattle, and again 1,400."

* Collins' Report, 1809, Parliamentary Papers.

Troubles with the Kafirs, 251

the Kafirs as to induce them to abandon the Zuurveld.
The Graaff-Beinet portion of this commando was led by
Landdrost Maynier,* who pushed on beyond the Great
Fish River, and attacked a neutral Kafir tribe, supposing it
to be a body of the enemy ; and, having very injudiciously
neglected to protect the Zuurveld during his absence, the
Kafirs again took possession of it. On his return he
effected a junction with the Swellendam commando, and
found, as he might have expected, that his mismanage-
ment and ideas of native polic}' had caused the greatest
dissatisfaction. The Kafirs were now in the Colony, and
the expedition had failed. Colonel Collins in his report
remarks that "from this moment the authority of Govern-
ment began to decline in the Eastern Districts, the
inhabitants conceiving that, as it had not the power to
protect, it was unable to punish." This officer declares
that the causes of frequent dissensions were hunting
excursions of the Boers into Kaffraria, trading, and
improper treatment of native servants by Colonial farmers.

The capture of the Colony by the English, and the
ignorance of the new rulers, served to strengthen the
power of the Kafir Chiefs, and at last Congo returned
insolent replies to the messengers of Landdrost Bresler
(successor to Maynier), and, instead of departing accord-
ing to agreement, advanced as far as the Sundays River,
where he endeavoured to form an alliance with the Hotten-
tots. Mr. Barrow's visit to the Frontier, and the illusory
treaty with Gaika entered into by General Dundas in
1799, have already been referred to. This Chief was
acknowledged to be paramount, and the Frontier line of
the Great Fish River, which had been agreed upon in
1778, was again declared to be the boundary.

No sooner had General Dundas left, and the troops been
withdrawn, than the Kafirs and associated Hottentots

: This Maynier (see also ante) in his replies to the interrogatories of
of the Commission of Inquiry, represented that the Boers made
unfounded and exaggerated reports, in consequence of a desire to enrich
themselves with the cattle that they were in the habit of taking from
the Kafirs.

252 The History of the Cape Cohan.

recommenced the plunder and devastation of the country.
Maynier, who had been appointed Commissioner, proved
totally unable to cope with the difficulties of his position,
and at last was compelled to shut himself up in Graaff-
Eeinet, where he was attacked by the Boers, who were
enraged with both his opinions and his conduct.* In
1802 a commando of farmers, under Tjaart van der Walt,
attacked the enemy with vigour, and put them to rout ;
but this brave leader having been summoned to the
Gamtoos Eiver, where a number of Hottentots had over-
run the country, was there unfortunately killed in action.
Botha, his successor, was unequal to the task which had
devolved upon him, and the commando soon dispersed.
T'Slambie saw his opportunity and promptly availed
himself of it. Kafir bands ravaged the country, and
eventually General Dundas, on the eve of the surrender
of the Colony to the Batavian Government, made an
inglorious peace, providing that each Power should retain
the cattle that had come into its possession. Thus Kafir
aggression was liberally rewarded, and a foundation laid
for future wars.

Under the Batavian Government, General Janssens made
a treaty with the Kafirs at Sundays Biver, by which they
engaged to respect the boundary ; but this, like previous
arrangements, was soon totally disregarded by the natives.
The daily expectation of a British attack upon the Colony
rendered it impossible to send troops for the defence of the
Frontier.

David Stuurman, the Hottentot Chief, to whom lands
had been allotted in 1803 at the Gamtoos Biver, was
discontented with the gift, and took measures to increase
his strength and gain an independent position by giving
an asylum to people of his nation. He negotiated an
offensive and defensive alliance with Congo, and harboured
Gonna and Kafir delinquents in defiance of Colonial law.
Two Hottentots who had deserted from service took shelter
with Stuurman, and when the Field-cornet ordered him to

* Maynier was subsequently tried by a Commission, but managed to
obtain a verdict of acquittal.

British Policy with the Kafirs. 258

deliver theni up, the reply was that if this officer attempted
to enter the kraal with arms he would be fired on. Land-
drost Cuyler subsequently summoned the Chief Stuurman,
but, proving recusant, he was arrested and his kraal de-
stroyed. Eventually, with his brother and two others, he
was condemned to work in irons for life on Eobben Island. *
The re-conquest of the Colony by Britain in 1806 inau-
gurated a policy of conciliation. The intruders in the
Zuurveld were allowed to remain undisturbed and took
advantage of this permission to advance as far west as the
vicinity of Uitenhage. It would be uninteresting to give
details of thefts by Kafirs and of the proceedings of
commandos against them. One proclamation describes
the natives as " irreclaimable, barbarous, and perpetual
enemies," whilst the conduct of the Colonists is stated to
have been unoffending. Thefts were so frequent that
a law was made in 1807, providing that each Kafir
detected in the act of stealing might be shot. In 1809
Colonel Collins, who had been appointed Commissioner
for Frontier Affairs, not only recommended the expulsion
of the Kafirs from the Colony, but that insurmountable
obstacles should be raised to their return. He states
that the contests previously carried on by the Settlers
against the Kafirs failed of success chiefly because the
former deemed the recovery of stolen cattle the principal
object of war, when they ought to have considered nothing
to be effected until the invaders had been driven beyond
the Colonial boundaiy. At the same time he considered
it absolutely necessary that the country out of which the
barbarians were to be driven should be filled up by
European emigrants, to whom small farms should be
allotted, and who ought to have for their defence a strong
militia force composed principally of Boers accustomed
to border warfare. As the depredations of the Kafirs
increased, and they showed themselves obstinately deter-

* From thence they escaped into Kafirland. Stuurman was after-
wards recaptured, and sent to New South Wales. He died in tho
Sydney Hospital in 1830, a year before permission to return to his
native laud was granted through the intervention of General Bourke.

25-1 The History of the Capo Colony. [i&n.

mined to retain a portion of the Colony to which they had
neither right nor title, it was absolutely necessary to adopt
strong measures for their expulsion. Mr. Stockenstrom
(afterwards Lieutenant-Governor), one of the ablest and
most humane of the Frontier authorities, even recom-
mended a seizure of land to the eastward of the Great
Fish River. In 1811-12 a large force of Military and
Burghers, under Colonel Graham, destroyed the crops,
burned the Kafir villages, and forced 20,000 natives to
cross the Great Fish River. Had Gaika and the Kafirland
Chiefs sided with T'Slambie and Congo, a very serious war
would have been the result, but the Government took care
to send the Landdrost of Graaff-Eeinet (Mr. Stockenstrom)
to assure the first-named Chief that no hostilities were
intended either towards himself or his associates. When,
in December, 1811, the Colonial forces entered the Zuur-
veld, the right division was commanded by Major Cuyler,
the centre by Capt. Fraser (accompanied by the chief in
command, Colonel Graham), and the left by the Landdrost,
Stockenstrom. This last-named officer, desiring to confer
with the Colonel, crossed the mountains accompanied by
forty men, and, relying on his influence with the natives,
rode up to a large party with the hope of persuading them
to leave the country. The conference proceeded amicably
for some time, till a messenger arrived with the intelligence
that a portion of the British troops had attacked the Kafirs.
An agitated discussion immediately arose amongst several
natives who stood apart, the war-cry was raised, and the
Landdrost, with fourteen of his companions, killed. The
rest of the party, several of whom were wounded, escaped
with the greatest difficulty.* It is unjust to attach any

* The chief instigators of this massacre were, according to the Rev.
John Brownlee, some of the Amandankae tribe, many of whom, if we
are to believe Kafir testimony, were massacred by the Dutch without
any provocation. — See Thompson's Southern Africa, vol. ii., p. 338.
Pringle (quoting from the Journal of Lieutenant Hart) states tbat
during the war of 1*11-12, " the Kafirs were shot indiscriminately,
women as well as men, wherever found, and even though they offered
no resistance ; the females were lulled unintentionally, because the
Boers could not distinguish thera from meu among the bushes."

1612.] Graham's Town Established, 255

blame to the British Government for carrying out the
advice of their Commissioner. The Kafirs were notorious
robbers, who impoverished the farmers by constant thefts;*
the boundary line had long before been distinctly defined
to be the Great Fish River, and the Kafirs had no right to
be on the Colonial side without a permission, which their
own conduct had rendered it impossible to grant. As they
had received ample warning, they had only themselves to
blame for the destruction of their crops, t It was not till
the year 1815 that the Burgher forces could be disbanded.
In the meantime severe penalties were inflicted on any
Kafir found within the Colony, a corps of Hottentots was
raised, a strong line of posts formed along the Frontier,
and Graham's Town! established as the head-quarters of
the troops.§

* The humane Sir John Cradock describes the Kafirs as " a race of
beings deaf to every reasonable proposal (however beneficial to them-
selves), and who only seemed to exist for the annoyance of their
neighbours."

f From evidence to be found in Parliamentary Papers, 18;35, Part i.,
pp. 170, et seq., as well as statements made by Kay, Pringle, Brownlee,
and others, it might be supposed that the Kafirs were an ill-used
and persecuted people. Audire alteram partem is very necessary here.
The Kafirs were invariably blood-thirsty robbers, and anything like
concession was always imputed by them to weakness. The wars were
forced on the Colony by the Kafir tribes. No doubt many errors and
crimes were committed by Europeans, but the broad facts of the case
are as stated.

I This name was given to show the Governor's respect to Lieutenant-
Colonel Graham, through whose able and successful exertions the
Kafirs had been expelled from the Zuurveld. The establishment of a
military command on the Frontier led to greater regularity in the
employment of this description of force, and from this date there is no
excuse for the statement that Kafir wars were caused by " the lawless
inroads of barbarized Boers." In order that the people of the Western
Districts should assist in the war, they had to pay the commando tax, by
means of which £45,750 were raised. (For particulars see Proclamation
of 4th December, 1812.) Sir John Cradock styles the commando
system " the true and constitutional defence of the Colony."

§ The village of Zwartberg, now Caledon, was founded in 1811 ;
Graham's Town in 1812. Sub-Drostdys of Cradock and Clanwilliam
were formed in 1813. Sir John Cradock gave the name of Albany to
the Zuurveld in 1814, It was in 1813 that Spanish wool from the

256 The Elstonj of the Cape Colony.

[1812.

Under Lord Caledon's government it was found absolutely
necessary to establish an efficient administration of justice
throughout the country districts. The Boards of Land-
drost and Heemraden could only take cognizance of minor
offences, and the vast extent of the divisions (especially
those of GraaiT-Reinet and Uitenhage) rendered recourse to
these tribunals in many cases impossible. Two of the
members of the Court of Justice were therefore appointed
as " a Commission of Circuit," to hold a Court annually
in each district. Mr. Justice Cloete, in referring to the
subject, says :* — "But it cannot be denied, and experience
soon showed, that justice, by being brought so much nearer
to their homes, also brought to light various offences which
had hitherto remained unexamined and unpunished ; and
the very first circuit which proceeded through the Colony
was furnished with a calendar containing between seventy
and eighty cases of murders, aggravated assaults, and the
like, which the missionaries, Dr. Van der Kemp and the
Kev. J. Read, constituting themselves the protectors of the
Hottentot race, deliberately brought forward and trans-
mitted to the local Government as charges against the
members of almost every respectable family on the Fron-
tier."! Colonel Collins, when Commissioner, had certainly

interior was allowed to enter the Cape Town Market free. Dr. Bur-
cliell, the traveller, arrived at the Cape in 1810. The Missionary
Campbell made his first journey in 1812. Dr. Latrobe arrived in 1815.
Wesleyan Missions were first established in 1816. Worcester was
founded that year.

* Five Lectures on the Emit/ration of the Dutch Farmers from the
Colony of the Cope of Good Hope, So. By the Hon. H. Cloete, LL.D.,
Recorder of Natal, afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court, Cape Town.

f The same writer states (page 11) :— " As a curious instance of the
extent to which some of these informations had been received, and had
been readily adopted by the missionaries, Van der Kemp and Read,
without properly investigating them before bringing forward such
serious criminal charges, I may mention that at Uitenhage a widow of
one of the most respectable inhabitants in the district was tried on the
charge of wilful murder, in having ordered a young Hottentot, some
years before, to be brought into her house, for having directed a boiler
of hot water to be prepared, and for having by force pressed down his
feet into the boiling water. This woman had, of course, to be placed

1815.] The Qraaff-Ednet Rebellion. 257

not looked favourably upon the Bethelsdorp missionaries'
statements, and the cause of religion, as well as the interests
of the native races, appear to have been damaged by their
exertions. Serious charges of oppressing the natives were
brought against Landdrost Cuyler by Dr. Van der Kemp
and Mr. Read, a Commission was appointed, and the
missionaries summoned to Cape Town. In the meantime
Sir John Cradock* was appointed Governor in 1811, and
Dr. Van der Kempt died.
In the year 1815 a farmer named Fredrik Bezuidenhout

in the dock and tried as a criminal on this atrocious charge. It was
clearly proved that the young Hottentot having been brought home one
night with his extremities benumbed from the effects of a snow-storm,
this lady endeavoured to restore animation, and from the kindest
motives used hot water for his feet. The lad lived for years after in
her service, and died from disease quite unconnected with this injury.
This widow was of course acquitted, with every expression of sympathy
by tbe Judges on the position in which she had been placed ; but
it is evident that such prosecutions, in which nearly 100 of the
most respectable families on the Frontier were implicated, and more
than 1,000 witnesses summoned and examined, engendered a bitter
feeling of hostility towards the administration of justice in general,
and more particularly against the missionaries."

* It may be interesting to note here the salaries given to the high
officials of the Colony early in this century.

The Governor received .£12,000 per annum.

Lieutenant-Governor 3,000 „

Secretary to Government 3,000 „

Deputy Secretary (with perquisites) 3,000 „

Collector of Customs 1,200 „

Comptroller of Customs 1,000 „

Treasurer-General 1.200 ,,

Audi tor- General 1,000 „

Paymaster-General 1,000 „

Tbe Public Prosecutor was entitled by law to claim double fees.

•!• Van der Kemp was born in Germany and educated at the Univer-
sity of Leyden. He served sixteen years in the army under the Prince
of Orange, with whom he quarrelled. He then studied medicine, and
subsequently became a missionary. In Africa he purchased the free-
dom of seven slaves and made one of them his wife, " a mistake ho
lived to see and regret." A Parliamentary commission eventually
examined into the charges of oppressing the natives, but the subject is
far too extensive to be fuDy referred to here.

S

258 The History of the Caj)C Colony. psis.

refused to appear before the LandcTrost and Heemraden of
GraafF-Reinet on the charge of ill-treating a Hottentot,
and a small force of twenty men of the Cape Corps, under
Lieutenant Rousseau, was dispatched to compel his attend-
ance. Upon approaching his residence, near Baviaan's
River Poort, they were fired upon by Bezuidenhout, who
then, with a servant, hastily escaped to the dense bush in
the neighbourhood. The " spoor" was tracked to a ledge
of rocks where it would have been impossible to discover
them had not the shining muzzles of their rifles been seen
protruding from a hole in a precipitous krans. In answer
to a summons to come out and give himself up, Bezuiden-
hout replied that he would never surrender but with his
life. The soldiers then hastily scrambled along, threw up
the two projecting barrels, while one of the party fired
into the cave and shot Bezuidenhout through the head and
breast. The servant crawled forth uninjured,* and an in-
spection of the cave proved that a quantity of ammunition
had been collected and every preparation made for
defence. Immediately after the departure of the military
the relatives and friends of Bezuidenhout assembled to
commit his remains to the grave, and on this occasion a
brother of the deceased pronounced an inflammatory
harangue, in which he contended that a burgher could
only be legally arrested by his field-cornet or the civil
authorities, and called upon the Boers to avenge this
outrage by expelling the British forces from the Frontier.
Cornells Faber, a brother-in-law of the Bezuidenhouts,
started to confer with the Kafir Chief Gaika; circulars
were disseminated, and it was arranged to meet in arms
on a given day " to expel the tyrants from the country."
Mr. Van der Graaff, the Deputy Landdrost of Cradock,
having been informed of these movements, communicated
with Captain Andrews, who immediately sent out a
military party and captured Prinsloo, one of the leaders.
A few days after, between 300 and 400 men called upon
Andrews to surrender his post and deliver up the prisoner.

* He was subsequently tried at Graaff- Reinet and acquitted,

isle.] Execution of Rebels at " Bladder's Ncli." 259

Faber at this time joined the farmers with the unsatis-
factory intelligence that Gaika had merely promised to
call a meeting of his councillors. On the same evening
Major Eraser succeeded in communicating with Captain
Andrews' post, and two days after Colonel Cuyler, the
Frontier Commandant, arrived. In spite of the exertions
of Field-Commandant Nel to dissuade the rebels from
further proceedings, their leaders, Faber, Bezuidenhout,
and others, succeeded in obtaining from them a solemn
oath to persevere in the struggle. As there was now no
chance of submission, Colonel Cuyler marched out of
Captain Andrews' station at the head of a troop of the
21st Light Dragoons, and accompanied by a band of
Burghers under Commandant Nel. On the advance of
this force, thirty rebels threw down their arms, and the
remainder retired with their wagons and cattle into the
fastnesses of the Baviaans Biver. By means of a com-
bined movement this retreat was surrounded and cleared,
most of the rebels succeeding in effecting an escape by
passes with which they were familiar. The principal
leaders contrived to escape so far as the Winterberg, but
they were surprised and surrounded in a deep kloof by a
detachment of the Cape Corps under Major Fraser. A
skirmish ensued, in which Bezuidenhout was shot, Faber
and his wife both wounded, and the rest taken prisoners.
Eventually fifty or sixty rebels were secured, and a Special
Commission appointed to try them. Six of the leaders
were condemned to death (the others to undergo various
degrees of punishment), and on the 6th of March,
1816, five of this number were executed at " Slachter's
Nek."*

- The very spot where the leaders had obliged their followers to
swear that the}- would expel the tyrants. The execution was a dread-
ful one, as the scailbld broke down with the weight of the live men, and
the crowd around joined with the tinfortunate victims in a vain cry for
mercy. The sentence of the law had of course to be carried out.
Judge Cloete remarks, " Thus ended the rebellion of 1815, the most
insane attempt ever made by a set of men to wage war against their
Sovereign. It originated entirely in the wild, unruly passions of a few

s 2

260 The History of the Cape Colony. [1817.

Lord Charles Somerset was appointed Governor of the
Colony in 1814,* and in the following year the Cape of
Good Hope was definitely ceded to England by the Treaty
of Paris. It was on the 30th of May, 1815, that the
frightful shipwreck of the Armiston, East Indiaman, took
place on Cape L'Agulhas, when no fewer than 344 persons
(including Lord and Lady Molesworth) perished. On the
15th December, 1817, a large ship named the Amsterdam,
after having been dismasted in a severe gale, was run
ashore between the mouths of the Coega and Zwartkops
Rivers in Algoa Bay (not far from the present town of Port
Elizabeth). Only three out of a crew of 217 were
drowned. The cargo (from Java) was very valuable, and
several presents for the King of the Netherlands were on
board. The extensive calcareous tract of country about
eighteen miles from Port Elizabeth, on the road to
Graham's Town, was named Amsterdam Flats in conse-
quence of the wreck of this vessel 'on the neighbouring
shore.!

The Kafirs, who had been driven from the Zuurveld in
1811, found means by degrees to recover a considerable
portion of the lost territory, and recommenced such a
system of plunder that the Frontier inhabitants were in
1816 obliged to state that they would have to abandon their
farms unless effectively protected. This position of affairs
induced Lord Charles Somerset to hold a conference with
Gaika and other great Chiefs in April, 1817, which re-
sulted in a short interval of tranquillity. A solemn treaty
was entered into, the minutes of which were carefully

clans of persons who could not suffer themselves to be brought under
the authority of the law." Its effect, however, was to raise up a bitter
feeling against the British, and to frequently give rise to the expression,
" We can never forget Slachter's Nek."

* The Hun. Robert Meade was Lieutenant-Governor from the 3rd
December, 1813.

f The Amsterdam was commanded by Captain Hofmeyr (generally
stjded Colonel) of Cape Town. The widow of an officer of high rank,
named Marais, and an officer of the name of Aspeling, of a Cape family,
were landed from a boat in Algoa Bay, and hospitably received at
Mr. Korsten's residence at Cradock Place.

1818.] Gaika Paramount Kafir Chief. 261

recorded by Lieutenant-Colonel Bird, Colonial Secretary.
It was distinctly agreed that Gaika should he recognized
as Paramount Kafir Chief, although he himself stated
that other Chiefs claimed equality. As representing the
Kafir nation, Gaika pledged himself to put a stop to
the continual depredations committed on the Colonists,
and agreed that in future the kraal to which cattle stolen
from the Colony could be traced should be made
responsible, and should be bound to make reparation from
its own herds.* This treaty encouraged the Government
to call upon the farmers to again inhabit Albany under a
military tenure, which secured them their grants upon
three years' occupation. But in spite of the treaty of
peace, it was soon perceived that it was vain to expect
honour, moderation, or honesty from savages. As the
herds of the farmers increased, so did the insatiable
cupidity of the natives ; and in 1818 the system of plunder
was carried on to as great an extent as formerly.
T'Slambie was the first Chief of consequence to show his
utter contempt for the treaty. He refused restitution of
stolen cattle traced to one of his kraals, and ordered Field-
Commandant Muller and his party away, while he justified
to them the system of plunder which his tribe had recom-
menced. Major Fraser was immediately dispatched
against him with 450 men, who crossed the Fish Eiver at
Trompetter's Drift, and soon after encountered T'Slambie
at the head of 2,000 armed retainers. This Chief, after
some parley, promised to restore the stolen cattle, but
soon proved that he only gave the pledge in order to gain
time. Major Fraser then carried out his instructions by
seizing all cattle which were known to belong to T'Slambie,
An attempt made to recapture the stock was defeated, and
2,000 head were brought into the Colony ; 600 of these
were identified as having been stolen from the farmers,

* Williams (missionary) in his journal says that Gaika very readily
agreed to these propositions, and said " that it would be the right way
to prevent in future any from secreting the thieves." This writer
speaks of the greedy manner in which Gaika received his presents, and
" then fled instantly to the other side of the Kat River like a thief."

262 The History of the Gape Colomj. [isi8.

and the remainder were distributed among the people who
had been robbed. Previous to Fraser's expedition, Gaika
had warned his uncle, T'Slambie, " not to delay the return
of the plunder seized and detained in defiance of a public
agreement ;" but the latter was jealous of his nephew's
supremacy, and determined to resist his authority. He
soon commenced an open rebellion, in which he induced
Hintza and several other Chiefs to join. The maintenance
of a predatory system was the avowed object of the con-
federacy, and this became so popular as to attract large
numbers, and to terrify Gaika into urgently requesting
prompt assistance from the Colonial Government. This
was of course guaranteed ; but before any succour could
be sent, Gaika was defeated in battle at the Koonap, and
forced to fly, after a loss of no fewer than 6,000 head of
cattle. A great commando of military and burghers, com-
prising 3,352 men, was now assembled under Lieutenant-
Colonel Brereton, , with a view to restore Gaika to his
supremacy and dominions. This force entered Kaffraria
by De Bruin's Poort on the 3rd of December, 1818, and
was then joined by Gaika with 6,000 fighting men. They
crossed the Eat Biver on the 5th, and, falling upon the
hostile kraals, put the inhabitants to flight and captured
several thousand cattle. On the 7th the allied forces
crossed the Chumie and Keiskamma Bivers, and, having
driven T'Slambie's adherents from their villages, attacked
them with shells in the dense bush to which they had fled
for safety. No opposition was attempted, Gaika was
reinstated in his former position, and no fewer than 11,000
cattle were handed over to him by the victors as compensa-
tion. While these military operations were going on in
Ivafirland, the confederate Chiefs took advantage of the
absence of our forces to invade the Colony. They crossed
the Fish Biver in numerous bodies, drove in the small
military posts, and ravaged the Frontier Districts. Before
additional troops could be sent to the front,* the tribes

* The advance of the levies was very much impeded by lung-sickness
among horses, which has at certain intervals caused frightful mortality
in stock.

1819.] Attach on Graham's Town. 263

of T'Slambie and Congo, incited to fanaticism by
a witch doctor named Makanna or Lynx,* marched
a force of between 8,000 and 10,000 men out of the
Great Fish Eiver Bush and attacked the head-quarters
of the military at Graham's Town. Providentially a
small force, with two six-pounders, was at hand, and
the attack was repelled. This, however, was only effected
with the utmost difficulty ; the field-pieces had thrice to
be limbered up and taken to the rear, and it was only
when under cover of the few houses of Graham's Town
that the firing became so effective as to force the Kafirs
to retreat.! As it was physically impossible to protect the
Frontier effectively so long as the dense Fish Eiver Bush
remained in the hands of the enemy, orders were given to
expel them from the country between the Fish Eiver and
the Keiskamma. This was very successfully done by a
large force under Colonel Willshire. Inconceivable as it
may seem, a determination was arrived at to bestow this
extensive territory on Gaika, although many of his men
had been engaged in the attack on Graham's Town, and
his chief interpreter (Nootka) was shot in the act of attempt-
ing to stab Colonel Willshire. But before adopting any
measure of this description, Lord Charles Somerset pro-
ceeded to the Frontier in 1819, and there concluded a
treaty with Gaika and the other Kafir Chiefs, when it was
agreed " that all Kafirs should evacuate the country
between the Great Fish Eiver and the Keiskamma." It
was further arranged that this country should remain
unoccupied and form a neutral territory between the two
nations. Of course, as might have been foreseen, a

* The influence of witch doctors has exercised the most baneful
effect upon the Kafir tribes. This man (Lynx) was subsequently cap-
tured and sent to Robben Island. When endeavouring to escape in a
boat he and his companions wero drowned.

f If the advanco had been made at night it would have been
successful. It was delayed by Makanna for the purpose of sending a
vainglorious message to the Commandant (Colonel Willshire) announc-
ing that he would breakfast with him the next morning. To resist
9,000 Kafirs there were only 350 European troops and a small corps of
disciplined Hottentots. 1,400 Kafirs are said to have been slain.

264 The History of the Cape Colony. [isi9.

convention of this nature ^Yas only made to be broken,
and so soon as the Governor had turned his back
numbers of Kafirs found their way into the forbidden
land. Subsequently Sir Eufane Shawe Donkin obtained
a modification in the terms of the treaty, so that it was
arranged that British military posts could be stationed
between the Fish River and the Keiskamma.

ANNALS

OF THE

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

ANNALS, &c.

SECTION I.

State of England in 1819 — Condition of the Cape at that period — Emigration to
South Africa proposed by the British Government — Emigrants leavo England —
Arrive in the Colony in 1820, and are located in the Zuuroelden* — Native
relations at the time — First international (reprisal) system between Colony and
Kafirs established.

The writer of the foregoing History of the Cape Colony
closed his labours in the year 1820. At his request, and
the urgent solicitations of numerous friends, I have been
induced to resume the chronicle from that period, inas-
much as it is one which is believed to have had an
extraordinary influence over this extensive possession of
Her Majesty's empire, and in a great manner changed its
character.

To register the circumstances which led to the successful
settlement of the Eastern portion of the Colony by the
introduction of British immigrants, from which the original
Dutch Settlers had been several times ejected by the in-
truding savages, to trace the development of its resources,
the history of the separation of the Colony into two
Provinces, the strangely chequered progress of trial, and
triumph of the East, with its present prospects, is the task
fallen to my share ; and perhaps I may presume to say
that " having had a perfect understanding of all things
from the very first," as one of the Settlers of 1820, an eye-
witness of many of the transactions related, and with
opportunities afforded by a long career in the Colonial Civil
Service, my record may possibly command some attention,

::: Sour-fields, a country covered with sour pasturage. Zouteveld is
where the grasses are sweet. Gehrohcnveld, or broken field, where
these two are mixed, and the best adapted for stock.

268 Annals of the Cape Colony.

however deficient in style, rude in narration, and devoid
of literary graces. My predecessor in this volume, I fancy,
has had the advantage of recording the more romantic
periods — treading the flowery paths, while mine is to travel
over that of stubborn fact, prosy detail, and dry statistics,
for which I crave the pity and indulgence of my readers.

To elucidate the following narrative it will be as well at
this starting point to take a hasty glance over the con-
dition of the Colony at the time my colleague terminated
his work, for which there exist ample materials.* The
area of the Colony then included 128,150 square miles,
bounded by a conventional line beginning at the mouth of
the River Koussie, on the Atlantic littoral, running east-
wardly by Governor Plettenberg's Baaken, on the Seacow
River, and thence southward to the Tarka, and down to the
estuary of the Great Fish River, on the Southern Ocean.
The population numbered 110,380 souls, of whom 47,988
were white, 28,835 Hottentots, and 33,557 slaves or
apprentices. The relative population of what is now
designated Eastern and Western Province was as follows :
—West, 75,425; East, 34,954 souls. The number of
towns in the whole Colony was ten only. The oppor-
tunities for public worship were very limited in the East.
At Graaff-Reinet, there was a clergyman of the Dutch
Reformed Communion; a church, with a missionary chapel
for the coloured classes ; in Uitenhage, a pastor of the
same persuasion ministering in something little better
than a barn ; in Graham's Town, a chaplain to the troops
cantoned there, officiating in a similar structure ; — indeed,
it was remarked at the time that the Sabbath had halted
at the Sundays River and found it difficult to get across.
The relations of the Colony with its barbarous neighbours
were even then not very " comfortable." The year 1819
had witnessed the expulsion for the third time of the
intruding Kafir clans from the fertile fields of the Eastern
Districts, which they had for a considerable period of

* State of the Cape in 1822. By a Civil Servant of the Colony
(the late Wilberforce Bird). London: Murray. 1823.

Condition of the Colony in 1820. 269

years settled upon with a dogged persistency— plundering,
destroying, and forcing the terrified inhabitants from time
to time to abandon their homesteads, and spreading their
ravages full two hundred miles westward of the Colonial
boundary. The commerce of the Colony was entirely
restricted to Table Bay; a few articles, such as butter,
salt, soap, and some whale-oil and skins, being the sole
exports from Algoa Bay from 1812 to 1820. The foreign
trade of the whole Colony in 1821 amounted in imports,
£454,566 ; exports, £150,909 (including the great staple
of wine, £82,170) ; total, £605,475. The currency was a
depreciated paper issue, with a rate of exchange against
the Colouy reaching in September, 1821, to 161 per cent.,
and in May, 1822, 195 per cent. The shipping resorting to
Table and Simon's Bays in 1821 for landing cargo em-
ployed 30,865 tons; and for refreshments, 40,854 tons.
The public revenue in the same year was — receipts,
£109,763 (including £987 postage); disbursements,
£93,743, with heavy liabilities of the Government Ex-
chequer.* The Government itself was formed upon the
old Tory model, exacting, arbitrary, oppressive, and ruled
by favouritism. Press there was none, beyond a weekly
vehicle for proclamations, and a medium for advertising.
Public opinion did not exist, and if it ever sought vent
was stilled at its first utterance. The people generally
were abject and flunkeyish, and in the remote Eastern
districts poverty stricken, being harassed by the ever-
encroaching savage ; their houses, or more properly
hovels, were barely furnished — camp stools and wagon
chests being the chief articles, and their clothing the
tanned skins of sheep, which the writer was told by a
Scots military friend, when it was still in vogue, was "the
claith of the country."

Such is a retrospective " bird's-eye view" of the " exact
position of Her Majesty's Colony at the Cape of Good
Hope" at the period referred to, when a sudden and

* 18C.T— Imports, £2,405,409; exports, £2,394,825; revenue, £898,825
(including postage, £28,20!)); expenditure, £671,071; tonnage inward?,
307,785; outwards, 358,137.

270 Annals of the Go/pe Colony.

unlooked-for change came over its hitherto dreary existence
of 1G8 years, to relieve it from its lowest ebb tide.

It lias ceased to be an unsolved problem whether the
advent of the immigrants from England into the Eastern
districts of South Africa was opportune or attended with
beneficial consequences to the old inhabitants, to the
immigrants themselves, to the Colony as a whole, or even
to the parent State. Years have settled this once dis-
puted question. It was no doubt a bold experiment on
the part of its projectors, for failure would have imperilled
the national character and the fortunes of the exiles.
Without the experience of any similar Government under-
taking, during an unfavourable political and commercial
crisis, the attempt was made, although at a comparatively
trifling cost. It is therefore one of the objects of the
writer to show to persons at a distance, unacquainted
with the history — for a lamentable ignorance still prevails
regarding our affairs — that the experiment has well repaid
the Imperial outlay* (despite the expenditure of three
devastating Kafir wars, all of which, had the represen-
tations of the residents on the spot been attended to,
might have been avoided) by the increased value of
the Colonial commerce, mainly created by the immigrants,
and the large amount of exports of raw material, the
products of their industry, giving employment to thousands
of the Home population.

I commence my Sequel to the Colonial Annals in the
year 1819, and if what I have to relate shall sometimes
throw into shade the transactions of the older Settlement,
it is the fault, if fault there be, of the events in the reno-
vated Eastern quarter taking precedence by their number

* Tho British Settlement, Eastern Province, Gape of Gaud Hope, in
account with Great Britain.

Dr. Cr.

1819. To vote of Parliament £'50,000 1830 to 1868. By Imports from

1822. To vote additional 200,000 England £-28,413,9(9

1885. To cost Kafir War 800,000 1830 to 1868. By Exports to Eng-

1847. To Do. Do 1,000,000 land , ,,. 32,950,299

1851. To Do. Do » 2,000,000

£3,550,000 £61,364,268

Why the British Settlers came here. 271

and prominency, and not from any wish of the annalist
to elevate one portion of the Colony at the expense of the
other.

The termination of the Continental wars in the year
1815, which enabled Great Britain to disband her large
military and naval armaments, restoring to other countries
a portion of the commerce and carrying trade which she
had almost exclusively monopolized during the long-pro-
tracted contest, threw out of employment a very large
proportion of her population, and effected throughout the
United Kingdoms extensive and almost general distress,
for, however triumphant and glorious the close, it was
dimmed by intense suffering, which continued with un-
abated force to the beginning of 1819.

At this juncture, too, political questions of grave im-
portance aggravated the difficulties of the Administration.
A loud and deep demand, long pent up, arose for Parlia-
mentary Keform, both from the enlightened and less
informed classes of society, which the Tory Government
of the day resisted. Public meetings began to be held
throughout the land, especially in the manufacturing-
districts, where distress more particularly prevailed, and
where designing men, taking advantage of the troubled
times, inflamed the minds of the ignorant by exaggerated
statements of their sufferings and the tyrannical disposi-
tion of the Government. Seditious papers and insurrec-
tionary speeches led to covert military training, and an
unwise yeomanry interference with a Pieform meeting held
at Manchester, resulting in death and injury to several
of the populace, gave such an impetus to the spirit of
disaffection and irreligion that demagogues such as
" Orator" Hunt, of " Radical white-hat" notoriety, Dr.
Watson, and others, with one E. Carlisle, who opened a
shop in the leading thoroughfare of the metropolis, whence
he. vomited forth reprints of Pvepublican and blasphemous
tendency, such as Fame's Age of Reason, Rights of Man,
Toldoth Jesehu, and more modern attacks upon Christianity,
found ready and willing votaries to their wild schemes of
what they called social regeneration. The Ministry unfor-

272 Annals of the Gape Colony.

tunatcly fanned the destructive flame by its violence
towards the friends of the people, who deprecated unconsti-
tutional methods of repression, while the passing of the
celebrated " Six Acts" appeared to fill up the vial of
popular indignation. A revolutionary crisis and the break-
up of all the time-honoured institutions of the country
seemed impending, and everything betokened a dissolution
of society which the near approach of a much-dreaded
reign rendered more than probable.

Happily for the country and the civilized world, the
ancient oak of the British Constitution was too firmly
rooted to be seriously injured by the passing storm. It
reared its venerable head once more, and there is little
doubt but that the tempest it now resisted, with the warn-
ing given of its vulnerability, tended to add to it additional
strength and permanence ; for from time to time the
parasites which fastened upon its branches have been
swept away. Eeligious disabilities, corn monopolies,
rotten boroughs, unequal representation — which then it
was treason, or at least sedition, to denounce— have
been gradually lopped off, and " the brave old tree,"
semper virens, is as flourishing and vigorous as ever.
Esto perpetna.

It was, however, during the height of the hurricane that
" on the 12th July, 1819, being the last day of the session,
Mr. Vansittart, Chancellor of the Exchequer, made that
far-famed speech which was the leading cause of the
embarkation for the Cape of Good Hope of more than four
thousand Settlers of various descriptions. Lord Sidmouth,
in the House of Lords, harangued to the same purport,
and fanned the deluding flame which had been lighted up
in the Commons. Mr. Vansittart is reported to have
said, ' The Cape is suited to most of the productions both
of temperate and warm climates, to the olive, the mulberry,
and the vine, as well as to most sorts of culmiferous and
leguminous plants, and the persons emigrating to this
Settlement would soon find themselves comfortable.' The
considerate and grave character of two Ministers so at
war heretofore with everything like fancy or fable caused

Care taken in the Choke of Emigrants. 273

their statements to be received with full credit and confi-
dence, and they were regarded as a warrant of success. It
is strange to relate such to have been the infatuation, that
those who disagreed on all other subjects agreed in this
alone."* On the representation of the Minister, the
" faithful Commons" at once and unreluctantly voted
£50,000 to carry the emigration into effect. The promulga-
tion of the governmental scheme was received with avidity
by the public, and the applications for permission to avail
themselves of the facilities offered were numerous beyond
expectation. The number to be accepted was restricted to
4,000 souls, and the disappointment of the unsuccessful
candidates, amounting to above 90,000, was bitter beyond
conception. The utmost care was employed in the selection
of the emigrants. The regulations issued from Downing-
street required certificates as to character from the ministers
of parishes,! or some persons in whom the Government
could repose confidence ; offered passages to those persons
who, possessing the means, would engage to carry out at the
least ten able-bodied individuals above eighteen years of
age with or without families ; that a deposit should be
made of £10 for every family of one man, one woman, and
two children ; others beyond this number to pay £5 each,
&c.,I so that, notwithstanding an ungenerous sneer of the
"Civil Servant*' "that it was the wish of the Ministry
to get rid of the dangerously disaffected," Government
had reserved to itself the right, and exerted it success-
fully, to prevent the migration of such useless and
ill-assorted characters for its new Settlement.

The two first vessels with the adventurers (the Chapman
and Nautilus, transports) left Gravesend on the 3rd of
December, 1819, lost sight of the white cliffs of Albion on
the 9th, and arrived in Table Bay on the 17th March

* Vide State of the Gape in 18^2. The author of which, one of the
advisers of Lord C. Somerset, was, however, most hostile to the new
Settlers, and from the date of their arrival predicted their failure.

f The emigrants were principally members of the Church of
England.

| Vide Circulars issued from Downing-street, London, July, 1819.

274 Annals of the Cape Colony.

following, on the 9th April anchored in Algoa Bay, and
safely debarked on the following morning at its little
fishing village with anxious, heating hearts, made still
more uneasy by the forbidding and wild aspect of the
shore. This, however, was quickly relieved by the hearty
welcome of the few officers of the little garrison, and others,
whose kindness and solicitude was beyond all praise.
Alas ! as this is penned, hardly one of these now survive
to receive the acknowledgments of gratitude, and but
few of the pioneers by these vessels live to make those
acknowledgments.*

Upon landing, the Settlers were disappointed to find
their locations distant full one hundred miles from the
port, although one party had solicited to be set down near
the mouth of the Great Fish Eiver, where some of the
most sanguine had already planted — in imagination —
" sufferance wharves," and dreamt of innumerable vessels
to be anchored in that estuary, t Wagons were, however,
provided by Government in sufficient number, at the cost
of the immigrants, a debt which was afterwards most con-
siderately remitted, as was the charge also of rations
issued for several months ; in fact, the British Government
of that day behaved with the greatest liberality to the
young Plantation. On the 18th of April, the first or
" Chapman party" commenced their inland progress in
ninety-six wagons from Algoa Bay, afterwards named Port
Elizabeth, which at that time numbered thirty-five souls

* Among these were the old Commandant of Fort Frederick, Algoa
Bay (Capt. Frances Evatt), Lieutenant-Colonel O'Bielly, and the Chief
Magistrate of Uitenhage, Colonel (afterwards General) Cnyler, an
American loyalist. The family of this gentlemen preserve with great
care an interesting relic, the portraits of then* grand-parents, painted
by the unfortunate Major Andre, who was executed as a spy by General
Washington, in 1780, and while he was a prisoner at New York (Albany),
of which city Colonel Cuyler's father had been Mayor.

f How well do I remember myself and friends, previous to our
decision to emigrate, poring over a military map of the Colonial
Frontier, by Lieut. Wylie, of the 38th Piegiment, and speculating upon
the character of the country on the banks of the Great Fish River, and
indulging day-dreams of its port.~J. C. C.

First Journey of the Immigrants. 275

(including its small garrison) inhabiting two houses stone-
built, and a few huts, a more desolate and unpromising
place indeed can hardly be conceived.

The journey was propitious ; splendid rains had fallen
a few months before, the river3 were running, the ponds
(vleys) overflowing, the pasturage luxuriantly rich, astonish-
ing the travellers, who had pictured Africa as arid, water-
less, and sterile. Game, too, was abundant — the hartebeest,
springbok, quagga, ostrich — but the country devoid of in-
habitants and cattle, while the blackened gables of the
farm-houses recently burnt by the Kafir savages furnished
proof how terrible the invasion of 1819 had been. On the
26th, the party with great ease crossed in their wagons
the Kowie River mouth, where now vessels of more than
300 tons lie at anchor, and on the evening of the 28th
arrived at a deserted farm called " Korn Place" (a promis-
ing, but delusive, augury) under the mud walls of a house
not long consumed by the enemy. Here the immigrants
decided to sit down permanently, and called the embryo
village " Cuylerville," in compliment to Colonel Cuyler,
whose attentions and kindly manners during the time he
accompanied them on their long and fatiguing journey
were unremitting. On the following day a few of the
party, with some military officers and Colonel Cuyler, pro-
ceeded to inspect the mouth of the Great Fish River,
which raised high expectations of its future navigability ;
and on the 3rd of May Colonel Cuyler took his leave with
this ominous caution, " Gentlemen, when you go out to
plough never leave your guns at home."

The remainder of this, to them, eventful year was
occupied in hutting or housing, for which a small detach-
ment of the Cape Corps, skilled in these matters, and for
defence, had been most considerately left ; and very soon
a large breadth of soil was sown with wheat, Indian corn,
and seeds of vegetables. The immigrants were now left to
themselves in a vast wilderness, the nearest occupied spot
being the small military post of Kafir's Drift, seven miles,
and the head-quarters, Graham's Town, forty miles away ;
and the wolf, the jackal, and the tiger nightly serenaded

t 2

276 Annals of the Capo Colony.

them; at first frightening the new-comers out of their
propriety, until custom made them familiar with what
was somewhat alarming, but never proved dangerous.

As many of the following pages will of necessity be
occupied with references to the intercourse between the
immigrants and their neighbours, the Kafirs, with whom
they had been placed in rather too close proximity, it will
be as well here to put the reader in possession of the exact
state of the relations existing between the Colonial Govern-
ment and those tribes at this period. From the year 1775
the Great Fish Eiver had been deemed the Eastern
boundary of the Colony, and was finally declared to
be such by Lord Macartney in 1798, but the Kafirs had
nevertheless continually encroached upon the Dutch
Settlers on the west of that river, and so persistent and
destructive were these intrusions that in 1811 the Govern-
ment was obliged to drive them out by force. In 1816,
and following year, their daring outrages and depredations
recommenced, when the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset,
was called to the Frontier, where, on the 2nd of April, 1817,
he had a conference with the Chief Gaika, " who pledged
himself most unequivocally and unreservedly to aid
Government in procuring retribution for any depredations,
and to punish depredators with death." This the first or
"Reprisal System" was inaugurated with the consent of
the Chief, the following being the terms agreed upon : —
The Chief to restrain Kafirs from plundering, restore
such cattle as should be found among the Kafir herds,
permit the Colonial Government to enforce restitution of
plundered cattle from any kraal to which such should
be traced, or permit the party following them to seize an
equal proportion, should restitution or compensation be
resisted.

In 1819 troubles again broke out. The Kafirs — more
than 5,000 — invaded the Colony, attempted to carry the
military cantonment of Graham's Town (then garrisoned by
850 Europeans and a small party of Hottentots) by storm,
but were repulsed. They then laid waste the whole of the
Zuurveld ; after which a commando was raised, under the

The Neutral Territory. 277

command of Colonel Willshire (afterwards Sir Thomas, the
hero of Khelat), the barbarians were once more ejected,
several Chiefs surrendered, and the arch-instigator of the
inroad, the prophet Lynx, or Makanna, was taken and
deported to Eobben Island, and the Zuurveld in this its
desolated state was destined to be the abode of the British
Settler.

On the cessation of hostilities the Governor, Lord C.
Somerset, had another interview with Gaika at the Gwanga,
on the 14th October, and in the spirit of report made to
the Government in 1809, and the recommendation of the
elder Stockenstrom, in 1810, then Chief Magistrate of
Graaff-Beinet, Colonel Brereton and Colonel Cuyler repre-
sented to Gaika that it appeared impracticable to secure
the repose of the Frontier as long as the Kafirs had ready
access to the Great Fish Biver jungles ; that therefore, in
order to protect the Colony from depredations and Kafir-
land from the visits of the Colonial troops to punish
aggression, the Fish Biver ought no longer to be the
boundary, but the Chumi Biver and Keiskamma. Gaika,
his son Macomo, the Chiefs Eno, Botman, Congo, Habana,
and Garetta, with their interpreters, the Governor and his
staff — his interpreter being Captain Stockenstrom (after-
wards Sir Andries) — being present, agreed to the proposal,
engaged at once to move beyond the new limits, that the
troops should destroy every vestige of a kraal within them,
and that military posts should be erected between the two
rivers to prevent the future occupation of the ceded
territory by any petty Chief.*

This territory, often interchangeably named " ceded"
or "neutral," intervened between the new immigrants and

: Vide Government Gazette, October 30, 1819, in which the Governor
at the same time invites the Butch inhabitants " to form settlements
on the borders of the Great Fish Paver, particularly the Zuurveld, un-
rivalled in the world for its beauty and fertility, and which he is deter-
mined to defend by a strong and vigilant military force." The
inhabitants did not, however, respond. After having been driven out
by the Kafirs several times — " a burnt child dreads the fire" — it was
the fate of the British Settlers of 1820 " to take out the chesnuts."

278 Annals of the Cape Colony.

the Kafirs, a breadth of about thirty miles by fifty — a
country, in fact, not originally belonging to them, but
to the Gonnah Hottentots, and known as " Gonaqualand."
It was only taken possession of by the Kafirs after
the year 1752, when an Ensign Benteler found them
to the east of the Kei River, which river they crossed
somewhere about 1760, under Khakhabe, the grandfather
of Gaika.

SECTION II.

^ministration of acttng-Oobernoi; 3Lteutenanfc<attnwil
Sir, 3&ufane £fjato Bonfttn, 3&MM,

From January 13, 1820, to December 1, 1821.

1820 — Sir R. S. Donkin Acting-Governor — Visits Frontier — Establishes Port Elizabeth
and Bathurst — First failure of Settlers' crops. 1821 — Second visit — Establishes
Military Settlement of Fredericksburg — Appoints Settlers aa Magistrates — Light-
house at Table Bay — Second failure of crops — Lord C. Somerset resumes his Gov-
ernment— Commences reversal of Governor Donkin's measures. 1822 — Kafirs com-
mence plundering — Settlers contemplate removal — Attempt to hold a public meeting
forbidden — Appeal to England — Third failure of crops — Change in Inheritance
Law obtained. 1823 — Fresh memorials sent to England — Violent Storms. 1824 —
Royal Commissioners of Inquiry arrive — Rejoicings in Graham's Town — Govern-
ment denounce the Settlers — Commissioners vindicate the character of the Settlers
— Attempt to establish Free Press stopped. 1S25 — Effects of Visit of Commissioners
of Inquiry begin to develop — A Council to assist the Governor established.

By the end of the year 1820 most of the emigrant ships
had touched at the Cape and proceeded to Algoa Bay,
and by its close there had been landed there 4,659 persons,
which number was soon supplemented by the relations
and friends of the first arrivals, so that in the total 5,000
souls settled in the new Colony in the Zuurvelden or Sour-
fields, a belt of land extending eastwardly from the Sun-
days Eiver to the Great Fish River, and southwardly from
Graham's Town to the sea, an area of some 3,000 square
miles.

The Governor of the Colony, Lord Charles Somerset,
having gone to England on leave, the administration
devolved on that talented, amiable, but subsequently ill-
fated officer, Sir Eufane Shaw Donkin, who after dis-
patching some of the earlier Settlers' ships as they arrived
in Table Bay, himself soon followed. Landing in Algoa
Bay he called the village he there founded " Port Eliza-
beth,"* after his late wife, who had recently died in India,

'■'■'• Algoa Bay first discovered by Bartolomeo Diaz (the precursor of
Vasco da Gama) in 1480. Taken possession of by the Dutch in 1785.
The English in 1798 built a stone defence on the Hill above the

280 Annals oj the Cape Colony.

marking the event by erecting a pyramid on the Hill,
dedicated to her memory, little creditable it must be said
to the taste of the architect, but still of some use as a
beacon for shipping. He then visited the several loca-
tions, encouraging the new comers by cheering words of
kind encouragement, founded a town and magistracy at
Bathurst on a branch of the Kowie Paver, the Mansfield,
as the nucleus of the Settlement, at which place he had
providently collected Commissariat stores of food, imple-
ments and other necessaries.

Up to nearly the close of the year everything portended
success ; the season was genial, the crops luxuriant and
promising, the cattle which the Settlers had purchased
from the Dutch farmers from the interior were fat and
healthy, and joyous expectancy filled the bosoms of all,
alas ! how soon to be extinguished, for in November the
wheat crops began to exhibit the symptoms of that fatal
disease, the rust, which became general throughout the
Settlement before the time of harvest. The blow was
severe — disheartening, and much distress and despondency
followed, for all the breadstuff remaining to them was
very limited, and they were chiefly obliged to have recourse
to maize (Indian corn), a food to which none had been
accustomed.

1821 — The ensuing year, thus commenced gloomily
enough ; but hopes were still indulged that better times were
in store. The majority of the immigrants were young,
healthy, and naturally sanguine ; the fact too, known to
them, that the Colony had the credit of producing the
finest wheat in the world, sustained their confidence ;
and their firm reliance upon Providence inspirited them
to renewed exertion. In June Sir Eufane Donkin again
visited the Locations, sympathized with the disappointed,
and animated the trusting. Provisions, in consequence
of the failure, continued to be issued from the Government
stores at a reasonable rate, on credit ; an increase to the

landing place, still existing, and called it, after the Duke of York,
" Fort Frederick." Barrow, in his travels, published in London, 180G,
describes the state of this almost terra incognita in I7i)7 and foretells
with prophetic foresight its future as a successful seat of commerce.

Vindidiveness of Lord Charles Somerset. 281

miserably insufficient grants of land (originally only 100
acres for each adult) was promised ; a Military Settlement
founded in the ceded or neutral territory between the
Great Fish and Kieskamma Eivers, with a Fort at Frede-
ricksburg on the Gualana Eiver, calculated to keep the
lately expelled barbarians in check; a popular Chief Magis-
trate, a Colonel Jones, was appointed for the District of
Albany, and with him were associated two of the leading
Settlers as Heemraaden (i.e., assessors) to his Court, viz.,
Captain Duncan Campbell and Mr. Miles Bowker, both
gentlemen possessing the good opinion of the immigrants.
Confidence was thus restored, and the Settlers began again
to till the land which had proved so ungrateful for past
attentions, when adverse circumstances arose to scatter
their fondest hopes.

Unfortunately for the peace and progress of the Settle-
ment, differences having arisen, out of some infraction of
military routine, between Sir Paifane and the son of the
absent Governor (an officer on the Frontier), occasioned
such a breach, that it began to be rumoured that Lord
Charles Somerset, whose return was daily expected, being
moved by his son, had expressed entire displeasure at all
the acts of Sir Kufane, and was disposed vindictively to
reverse them — a rumour too quickly realized ; to add to
the alarm occasioned by these reports, symptoms of that
cruel scourge, the rust, reappeared, and the wheat crops
for the second time entirely failed. Lord Charles arrived
on the 30th November, harbouring feelings of resentment
against the immigrants, who naturally held strong senti-
ments of gratitude to their benefactor, the Acting-Gov-
ernor, and were disposed to espouse his cause, the fatal
results of which were at once exhibited, and he treated
that officer with humiliating disrespect.*

The annals of the Western portion of the Colony at this
period afford little of value to warrant notice. Affairs there
went on in their usual routine, the supplies required for

* Vide Letter on the Government of the Cape of Good Hope by
Lieutenant-General Sir Ilufane Shaw Donkin — London, 1827.

282 Annals of ihe Cape Colony.

the use of the Settlers gave good and profitable employ-
ment for a portion of its capital pour " les miserables"
in the East, and the only events of real value were the
commencement of a Light-house, the first on its coast,
on Green Point, at the entrance of Table Bay, and the
foundation of the Cape Town Library.

^ministration (resumed) of ©obernot 3Lort> Otfjatles

Somerset.

From December 1, 1821, to February 8, 1826.

One of the first acts of "the Eestoration" was the
removal from the Magistracy of the British Settlement of
Albany of Colonel Jones, " a gentleman of noble descent, and
a brave, open, and kind-hearted man." This ungracious
procedure was adopted too within six days of His Excel-
lency's arrival, and in the most offensive manner. The
successor appointed was a person known to be a staunch
supporter and protege of Lord Charles, and consequently,
although a man of ability, not very acceptable to the
Settlers, soured by misfortune, and now become distrustful
of the Government. Such early indications of temper at
head-quarters, added to the gloom occasioned by the
adverse dispensations of Providence, and the prospect of
political persecution to which the adventurers on the
Frontier had in no way made themselves obnoxious,
heightened the dismay.

The animosity the returned Governor displayed in
the instances just recorded was soon made farther
apparent by the treatment of Sir Rufane's favourite
and judicious settlement of Fredericksburg. Immediately
on His Excellency's arrival it was industriously circu-
lated that he intended to suppress it, and the privates
of the Koyal African Corps, who had been disbanded,
but placed under contract with the officers, grantees,
and others for a limited period of service, began to
desert without the slightest check. To aid the dissolu-
tion, an order was also issued for the withdrawal of

Aggressions by the Kafirs. 283

the small military post quartered for the protection
of the village, as well as for the discontinuance of the
road to it, then constructing at Kafir's Drift, across the
Great Fish River. The effect of these and other hostile
measures tended to embolden the Kafirs, who, taking
advantage of this unstable policy and manifest indication
of weakness, threatened the new little Colony, commenced
robbing the Settlers on both sides of the Fish River, and
committed several barbarous murders ; so that before the
end of March, 1822, the whole of the Fredericksburg party
were forced to retire, leaving houses and standing crops to
the mercy of the delighted barbarians, who soon burnt the
village. Beyond this the safety of the Albany Settlement
was also compromised by the permission given to that
insubordinate and worst foe, the Chief Macomo, to occupy
on sufferance a portion of these lands so vacated, and by
sundry ill-planned military movements, ending in disgrace-
ful failures, afforded the ever-ready enemy a colourable
pretext for his recommencement of encroachments.

Another token of His Excellency's utter disapproval of
the Donkin system was the removal of the Albany seat
of magistracy from Bathurst to Graham's Town, which,
although in itself probably a necessary change, was felt at
the time as a vexatious proof of hostility. Dispirited by
the past, and suspicious of the future, many of the Settlers
now began seriously to contemplate removal to some more
favoured home : New South Wales (the present great
Australian Colonies then "were not"), Canada, the United
States, and even the little isolated Island of Tristan
d'Acunha, were speculated upon.* The mechanics too, as
well as others, began to disperse! into the other districts
of the Colony, a movement which it was vainly attempted

* In April a subscription was entered into for the purpose of
gaining information of the capabilities of Buenos Ayres, Brazil, Van
Dieman's Land, &c.

f This dispersion, like many others, had nevertheless a beneficial
effect upon those places and peoples to which it was directed. The
surrounding Dutch districts gladly and kindly received the fugitives,
who carried with them the example of their European industry, their

284 Annals of the Cape Colony.

to arrest, and there was every symptom of a general dis-
ruption of the Settlement. At length a Select Committee
of twelve gentlemen was appointed to draw up a statement
of the aspect of affairs, to be laid before the Cape Town
Government, and in May (11th) a requisition was
addressed to the leading Settlers to meet on the follow-
ing 24th at Graham's Town, "to consider the best means
to be adopted at the present crisis," but this British and
constitutional method of seeking redress was met by a
furious Government proclamation, bearing the same date,
declaring the proposed meeting unlawful, and threatening
" arrest and the bringing to justice all and every individual
who shall infringe the ancient laws of the Colony."*

Foiled in their legitimate course the Settlers prudently
abstained from any public demonstration, but undaunted
by their harsh repulse at once prepared (at private
meetings, held at their respective homes) and transmitted
to the Imperial Government memorials containing full
representations of their present condition and future
prospects, repelling the insinuations of disaffection, and
indignantly denying, as they were designated in the
Governor's proclamation, they were " either ignorant,
malevolent, or designing persons."

To increase the general dejection, disease in the wheat
crops began once more to appear, and by the end of
September a general failure — the third — was announced,
the malady even spreading among the hitherto secure

artistic skill, superior knowledge and education, their freedom of
thought and fearlessness of expressing it, and their English language,
which soon spread widely ; in fact they leavened the whole mass of
the Eastern population and welded the African-Dutch and British
of the Province into one. It has heen correctly observed that the
Eastern Province is more perfectly English than any other portion
of South Africa. The effect of intercourse was noticed by Mr. H.
Butherfoord, an eminent Cape Town merchant, in Iris evidence before
the Committee on Aborigines, in 1836, where he says, " The Boers on
the Frontier generally possess a greater degree of intelligence than
those in other parts."

* These " Antient Laws" against public meetings were wisely
repealed, 15th December, 1848.

Lord Charles Somerset's Proclamation. 285

Bengal variety. During the year also, an unpopular
and impotent attempt was made to incorporate the im-
poverished and harassed Settlers into a Yeomanry Corps,
and to impose upon them an Oath of Allegiance, which,
under the circumstances, was resented as a slur upon
their conscious loyalty. The two Special Heemraaden,
Captain Campbell and Mr. Bowker, now felt themselves
bound to resign their commissions ; and the Kafirs, after
robbing the Settlers and committing some murders, and
assembling in masses within their own country on the
Border, seemed to menace attack. The only ray of hope
now left to the unfortunate immigrants was furnished
by rumours, fondly accepted, that the Home Government
were preparing to inquire into the fate of their South
African experiment in the remote pastures of the Zuur-
velden.

The other events of this period, as they affect the whole
Colony, may be summed up in a few words, viz. : — The
establishment of a description of Savings Bank at Cape
Town, which did not succeed ; the arrival of several
Scotch gentlemen as schoolmasters for the country districts,
to teach, inter alia, the English language — a wise and
statesmanlike measure ; the promulgation of a proclama-
tion (12th July) exempting Settlers from being subject to
Dutch laws* in the matter of testamentary dispositions of

* " It shall be considered lawful and of fall force to all residents and
settlers in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, being natural-born
subjects of the Kingdom of Great- Britain and Ireland, to enjoy the
same rights of devising their property, both real and personal, as
they would be entitled to exercise under the laws and customs of
England ; provided, however, that in case any such natm-al-born subject
shall enter into the marriage state within the Settlement without
making a previous marriage settlement, (ante-nuptial contract) his
property shall be administered according to the Colonial Law."

Grave doubts of the legal force of this proclamation have been
maintained by two of the Cape Attorneys-General, and the consequence
has been that several of the Settlers, after accumulating large wealth,
have removed to England to enjoy their birthright; and capitalists
thus deterred from settling or remaining in the Colony, the creation
of a permanently resident monied aristocracy has been prevented, or at
least postponed.

28G Annals of the Gape Colony.

their property ; and the appointment of a Resident Agent
among the Griquas, a tribe of half-castes arising from
intercourse between the Dutch farmers on the extreme
North-Western Border of the Colony and Hottentot females,
who, migrating from the Colony to the North of the
Orange River, were there collected by Missionaries into a
settled abode at Griqua Town, and who are now divided
into two clans — one under Waterboer, and the other under
Adam Kok.

1823. — Weary of waiting for the expected inquiry into
their grievances, the Settlers, on the 16th March, 1823,
again addressed Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for the
Colonies, with full explanations of their position, and as tho
principal difficulty therein enumerated still remains unre-
dressed, although urged year after year, it is given here in
as condensed a form as possible : — " We do not complain,"
say they, " of the natural disadvantages of the country to
which we have been sent. We are actuated by one un-
divided feeling of respect and gratitude to the British
Government, which future reverses will never efface ; but
it is a peculiar hardship being placed in a remote corner
of the British dominions, with our interests and prospects
committed to the control of one individual, and that our
situation is neither thoroughly understood nor properly
represented ; that we have been debarred all means of
expressing our collective sentiments upon matters of the
utmost importance to our common interests. It has long —
and from the most distressing proofs — become evident to
the Settlers that the Colonial Government, situated at the
opposite extremity of the Colony, where every particular,
whether of soil and climate, or the constitution, pursuits,
and interests of society, is totally different, possesses no
adequate means of ascertaining their actual wants. That
under this conviction it was contemplated by a small
number of the principal Settlers to consult together upon
the most advisable mode of making His Excellency the
Governor acquainted with their situation, but this inten-
tion was not only met by positive prevention but by public
imputations against the views and motives of the Settlers

Appeal of the Settlers to the Home Govenmwnt. 287

in general," &c. This document was signed by 374 indi-
viduals of the most respectable classes.

After transmitting this appeal they awaited patiently
the progress of events, when to their delight the expected
" Eoyal Commissioners of Inquiry"* arrived on the 12th
of July at Cape Town, where they were duly sworn in at
Government-house. To fill up, as it were, their cup of
calamity, violent tempests of wind and rain now visited
the Eastern Districts in the month of October — still remem-
bered as " The Flood" — causing the destruction of much
life and property, and leaving the apparently doomed
Settlement at its zero point of depression.

1824. — Buoyed up by the hope of relief from the Eoyal
Commissioners, the new year (1824) was hailed with
pleasure, not unmixed with anxiety, by the almost ruined
and nearly despairing immigrants. On the 5th February
these gentlemen arrived in Graham's Town, where they
were received by the authorities with sullen courtesy — by
the people with open arms ; the then little town was illumi-
nated, and great rejoicings exhibited under the belief that
the "Reign of 'Gubernatorial' Terror"! was at an end.
They were, however, for a time mistaken. In the evening
of that day a few of the most respectable of the people who
had assembled in the streets to witness the rejoicings were

* The names of the Commissioners were J. T. Bigge, Colonel,
W. M. G. Colebrooke, and W. Blah-.

f At this distance of time it will hardly he credited that the most petty
and pitiful means were employed by the Cape Town Government and
jts minions on the Frontier to harass, disgust, and insult the Settlers,
many of them helonging to British aristocratic families, and numerous
others gentlemen by birth and education ; in fact, to do the utmost to
effect a total failure of the Home Government's beneficent intention of
forming the Settlement. The new Magistrate who superseded Colonel
Jones, and a clergyman of the Establishment, the Rev. Mr. Geary, just
sent to Graham's Town, were furnished with "proscription lists" con-
taining the names of those persons who were to be shunned and
narrowly watched, and these were the most intelligent and mentally
independent. Both were fortunately superior to this dirty task ; but
the clergyman especially refusing to be a party man, and having ex-
pressed gratification at the arrival of the Commissioners of Inquiry,
was summarily removed.

288 Annals of the Cape Colony.

charged by the mounted men of the Cape Corps, and were
hauled off to the common prison, with the threat of incar-
ceration ; and a most cruel and mendacious semi-official
statement was published in the Government Gazette of the
21st of February, designating the affair as " Kiots in
Graham's Town," accusing the people — who it called a
rabble — with insulting the Government and " firing upon
the soldiery." This distortion of a natural and harmless
demonstration was intended to abuse the minds of the
Commissioners, in which it signally failed, and for the
purpose of hoodwinking the Imperial Government by
representing the body of immigrants as belonging to that
violent class of political reformers of 1820 opprobriously
designated as "Radicals."

The Commissioners on the spot were not so easily to be
duped, and in their report to the Honourable the Secretary
of State, dated the 26th September, 1826, they thus nobly
vindicated the character of the maligned immigrants : —
" The introduction, however, of the English Settlers, and
the right of free discussion which they have claimed and
exercised, together with the bold defiance they have given
to the suspicions entertained of their disloyalty and dis-
affection to the Government, have had the effect of exciting
in the Dutch and native population a spirit of vigilance
and attention that never existed before, and which may
render all future exertion of authority objectionable that is
not founded upon the law."

No doubt encouraged by the visit of the Commissioners
of Inquiry, an attempt to establish a free press in the
Colony, a thing hitherto unknown, was now made ; and
early in the year (January 7) Mr, John Fairbairn and a
British Settler, Mr. Thomas Pringle (the sweet lyrist of
Glen Lynden, whose muse has immortalized the scenery
of the Frontier and Kaffraria), published the first number
of a newspaper called The South African Commercial
Advertiser, printed in Cape Town by Mr. George Greig.
A South African journal was also begun by the same
party, and the Rev. Mr. Faure, the pastor of the Dutch
Reformed Church, commenced a similar work, entitled

Tyranny of Lord Charles Somerset. 289

De Zuid-Afrikaanschc Tydschrift. This dawn of a free
press was hailed with universal pleasure, but unfortunately
destined in such Tory times to be of short duration.

A German philosopher, Borne, somewhere in his terse
writings remarks that " Luther well knew what he was
about when he threw his ink-bottle at the Devil's head; there is
nothing the Devil hates more than ink," and so, true to the
saying, the hatred of the Colonial Government to free
journalizing was soon exhibited. On the 17th May, Lord
Charles Somerset assumed the censorship of the press;
The Advertiser was suspended, the types and presses
seized by the Fiscal (Anglice, Attorney-General), and an
order for the banishment of the proprietor, Mr. Greig,
issued ; but very soon, through fright, this was recalled.
The natural result of these violences was pasquinading
and the promulgation of manuscript libels against the
actors in the stupid crusade. At length the temper of the
Colonists was roused, and memorials from both Cape Town
and the Eastern town were transmitted to the British
Government, and the inestimable privilege of a free press
was granted (April 30, 1829) after a long and weary
struggle, mainly through the exertions of Mr. Fairbairn,
to whom the public presented a silver vase, as a (testimony
of gratitude for his consistency and public spirit, which he
richly deserved.

1825. — The effects of the Eoyal Commission began now
gradually to develop themselves. In March, the huge
monopoly of the Government Farm under the "Bosch-
berg" at Somerset East, established ostensibly for the
advantage of the Cavalry Force on the Frontier, but in
fact for the Governor's benefit whose name it bore, was
abolished, and the present village thereon and district
founded, while on the 2nd of May instructions issued
by His Majesty George IV. were received, for the
erection of a Council of seven members, including the
Governor, to advise and assist him,* thus placing the

; Instructions dated 9th February named the following as members :
—The Governor, Chief Justice, Colonial Secretary, Officer next in
command, Colonel Bell, Auditor-General, and Receiver- General.

u

290 Annals of the Cape Colony,

Imperial representative under some very slight but whole-
some restraint. There are but few more incidents occur-
ring ^to be catalogued, except that on the 6th June the
South African Museum was established, which after some
few years languished to almost entire extinction, but is now
resuscitated and appropriately housed in that splendid
edifice, the Library in the Government Gardens, at Cape
Town. Under the present Curator's valuable management
(E. L. Layard, Esq.), this institution has assumed its
highest value. On the 13th October, the first steamer in
our Colonial waters, the Enterprise, entered Table Bay,
but was not followed by any other until the lapse of six
years, when the Sophia Jane came in — so slowly was this
magnificent invention appreciated.

SECTION III.

&timtmsftattotti of Htcutmattt^obernoE Sir Ivtcfjatti

ISourke, GL3S. •

From February 8, 1826, to September 9, 1828.

1826— Lient. -Governor Bourke arrives — Changes in System of Native Relations —
Report of Royal Commissioners of Inquiry published — Important provisions not
adopted, but some changes made. 1827 — Charter of Justice granted — Old Courts
abolished. 1828 — Commissioner-General of Border appointed — Fetcani threaten
Kafir tribes — They apply for aid and are succoured by Colony — Legislative Assem-
bly called for — Green and Cowie's fatal Expedition to Delagoa Bay — Fiftieth
Ordyiaiic*--eHactnient — Sir L. Cole Governor — Public Works. 1829 — Macomo
expelled Kat River — Chief Gaika dies. 1830 — Paper Currency withdrawn — A
Commando against Kafirs — Chief Zekoe killed— Wool exported. 1833— Dr. Smith's
Expedition into Northern Interior — Colonel Wade Acting-Governor.

1826 introduced a new, and it was anticipated, a more
promising regime than the foregoing. On the 9th of
February Sir Eichard Bourke arrived, and on the 5th
of May following Lord Charles Somerset left the Colony,
ostensibly on leave of absence, to rebut, as at the time
reported, certain charges preferred against him, but it
was well known for a final departure, after an administra-
tion of twelve years, notorious for arbitrary government,
but with the one redeeming quality of having improved the
breed of the Cape Colonial horses.

On his assumption of office the Governor's attention was
forcibly arrested to the state of the Frontier. Disapproving
the (Somerset-Gaika) "reprisal" system instituted in 1819,
he made the first change in the " Native Relations" by an
order, dated 11th April, directing that no invasion should
be made of the Kafir country for equivalents of stock
stolen, although the places were known where it had been
secreted. Attempts were to be made to overtake thieves
while within the Border, but no armed pursuit beyond it.
All activity and vigilance was recommended to be used to
prevent depredation, but on no occasion, except robbers
being in view, should troops cross the boundary ; yet indi-
viduals might proceed to the nearest Kafir kraal and

u 2

292 Annals of the Cape Colony.

demand that the traces should be then taken up by its
inmates. This system of " forbearance, mischievous and
criminal, as far as the Colonists were concerned,* soon
produced its fruits," for as the Colonists were ordered not
to fire unless resistance was shown, upon pain of trial for
manslaughter should death ensue, the thieves walked
quietly off with their plunder, and on applications being
made to the nearest kraal, the Chiefs, afraid of their
people, and not disinclined to shelter their braves, omitted
to take any steps. The despoiled farmers were forced to
submit, depredations were carried on more than ever, and
this state of affairs lasted until February, 1829, when
the next Governor, seeing the impolicy of these arrange-
ments, reverted to the reprisal system, with some modifi-
cations.

In addition to the reversal of the Somerset reprisal
system, now condemned as "irritating" to the natives, and
with the benevolent but vain hope of subduing the love
of plunder inherent in these savages, the Governor in
September issued an Ordinance (No. 23, 1826) to facilitate
commerce with the Kafirs by permitting private trade
under licence beyond the boundary, instead of restricting
it to the locality of Fort Willshire, where a fair had been
established, and a short time before he left the Colony
he promulgated another favourable enactment (Ordinance
No. 49, 14th July), admitting the tribes beyond the
Frontier to enter the Colony as labourers or residents at
missionary institutions, thus affording them every oppor-
tunity of honest intercourse that possibly could be
expected, with what result the subsequent history will
show ; but it may be here observed in anticipation, that the
latter indulgence, by sanctioning in so facile a manner
their entrance among the inhabitants gave them increased
and more favourable opportunities of theft, of which they
were not slow or sparing to avail themselves, and it was
obliged to be suspended by the succeeding Governor, with
the intention, however, to relax it at a more favourable

* Vide evidence before Aborigines Committee — Colonel Wade, Major
Dundas, &c, in 1835-30.

Report of Royal Commission. 293

time; this was, however, precluded by the conduct of the
Kafirs, when in 1830 they became more unsettled and
predatory than before.

The next most important event, as it refers to the
Colony in general, but more particularly the Eastern
Province, was the publication of the Keport of the Royal
Commissioners of Inquiry, dated the 6th September.
From that able document it appeared His Majesty George
IV. had already been "graciously pleased to direct
the Civil Government of the two Provinces should be kept
distinct and independent of each other;" that, among other
things, the Eastern Province should be presided over by a
Lieutenant-Governor, residing at Uitenhage ; that Cape
Town should remain the Seat of Government of the
Western Province, "although inconvenient of access"
overland, and "because Table Bay is the principal resort
of shipping and the deposit of all exports that are the
produce of the Colony." Notwithstanding these recommen-
dations, not one was carried out in the spirit intended.
A Lieutenant-Governor was indeed appointed, but a mere
sham, denuded of all power; the Provinces were not, and
have not been, made " distinct," except in name ; while
Table Bay, although nominally the chief port, has lost
that distinction — in reality ceased to be the emporium of
" all the exports," for it now ships less than one-fourth of
the Colonial productions, while the Eastern port of Algoa
Bay contributes the remainder.*

The influence of the Royal Commission in other matters,
however, began to be gradually but sensibly felt. The
"job" appointment of "Wine-taster," with his establish-
ment, was abolished. The people, recovering from the
stupor of q ua si-serfdom, actually dared to memorialize for
an elective Burgher Senate, or Town Council, and some
absurd restrictions on trading intercourse with the natives
were relaxed.

1827 witnessed considerable ameliorations in the ad-
ministration of local affairs, and several successful efforts

* Exports Western Province, 1868 £433,712

Eastern Province, 1868.. £1,782,179

294 Annals of the Cape Colony.

were made to cleanse the Augean stable of the Colony.
The old monopolies of the Dutch Government began to
tremble in the balance ; the exclusive right by Government
of the retail sale of wines and spirits, called the " Pacht,"
previously farmed out to the highest bidder, was discon-
tinued, and licences granted to qualified persons. The
office of Vendue-master, or Government Auctioneer, who
had the sole privilege of selling all property by public
competition, was abolished. The Burgher Senate, which
had become effete, was abrogated. Justices of Peace,
Eesident Magistrates, and Clerks of the Peace were created
in certain districts, and to crown all a " Boyal Charter
of Justice" was issued by the Sovereign, establishing a
Supreme Court with a Bench of British Judges, with trial
by jury in criminal cases. The old Court of Justice was
dissolved, the members of which held their offices "at
pleasure," some of whom were not gentlemen exactly
fitted for the position by legal acquirements, but were
occasionally selected from the Military, Civil Service
or mercantile community ; indeed in 1822 a Judge of
Circuit, although a most upright citizen, was a Cape
Town wine merchant. The Boards of Landdrost and
Heemraaden — inferior County Courts — were done away
with, the Presidents, formerly the Chief Magistrates of
the districts or divisions, being now designated as " Civil
Commissioners," and the Heemraaden or Assessors,
generally chosen for their Government tendencies or as
being personal friends of the Magistrate and mere nomi-
nees, were "thanked" for past services and retired.*

1828. — To watch over the barbarian tribes on the Colonial
border, Captain Stockenstrom, at that time the Chief
Magistrate of Graaff-Beinet, on the 1st of January was
appointed Commissioner-General of the Eastern Frontier
— a sort of " Warden of the Marches ;" — but harassed and
fettered by the remote Table Mountain Government, very

* These bodies were resuscitated in 1855 under the title of
" Divisional Councils," the Civil Commissioners acting as Chairmen,
with six members elected by the inhabitants of Wards.

Defeat of the Mantatees. 295

ill-informed of the nature of Frontier matters, all his
efforts to benefit the Border were rendered nugatory ; and
after repeated remonstrances at the galling restraints to
which he was subjected by the Colonial authorities —
indisposed to concede, and he perhaps too exacting — he
retired in disgust in 1833. No man was so conversant with
Frontier matters and the interests of the Colonists, so
independent and appreciative of the real character of the
natives, of whom he had written to Government in 1817,
" to get possession of arms and ammunition is more than
an inducement for a Kafir to betray his own father," and
it is matter of deep regret he was not at that time
entrusted with ample powers.

For a considerable period rumours had been rife that an
overwhelming body of savages, reported to be cannibals,
were advancing through Kafirland towards the Colonial
Frontier. These Mantatees, or Fetcani, believed originally
to have been settled near Delagoa Bay, but put into
motion by the conquests of the Zulu Chieftain Chaka, had
as early as 1822 appeared among the Bechuanas, but at
length, in 1827, headed by a Chief named Matuana,
precipitated themselves on the Tanibookies, who, under
the Tambookie Chief Vusani, held them in check. They
then turned south-eastwardly on the Galekas, when Hintza
urgently craved assistance from the Colony. By authority
of Government, Major Dundas, of the Ptoyal Artillery, Chief
Magistrate of Albany, assisted by a body of the British
Settler youth, met and defeated the invaders on the 26th
July at the Bashee ; and in the succeeding month, Colonel
Somerset, with the troops, engaged and completely routed
them at the sources of the Umtata, thus rescuing the
Paramount Kafir Chief, his people, and nation, from utter
annihilation,* who, with true native gratitude, were all the

* At the affair near the Umtata River, Hintza's people, nearly
20,000 in number, hovered around the troops without giving the least
assistance ; but when the enemy, after defeat, retreated in complete
confusion, the atrocities committed by the Kafirs, as represented in
official documents, were appalling — cutting off the arms and legs of their
living victims in order the more easily to secure their brass bangle
ornaments, mutilating the dead, &c.

296 Annals of the Cape Colony.

time plundering the Colony, so much so that while the
troops were absent, it was found requisite to leave behind
a detachment of the 55th Regiment and a body of
burghers intended and prepared to assist Hintza, in order
to save the farmers from incessant robbery.

An ardent desire for more liberal institutions now
displayed itself in the Colonial metropolis, where, on
the 14th June, a large and influential meeting was held,
praying for the institution of a Legislative Assembly,
which was followed in the same month by the people
of Albany ; and generally the voice of the united Colony
was in favour of the measure, but it was not gratified
for more than a quarter of a century.

Among the notabilia of this year should be recorded
the setting out in July of the adventurous overland
journey undertaken by Dr. Cowie, the District Surgeon
of Albany, and Mr. Benjamin Green, a young merchant
of Graham's Town, to Delagoa Bay (via Natal), which
former place they reached on the 24th March, 1829. On
their return, these intrepid men, the first to explore those
distant and deadly regions, perished in the wilderness —
the Doctor on the banks of the Mapoota, and Green,
after some short time, at a point nearer Natal.
Fortunately the few notes of the last-named were reco-
vered and placed by his directions in the hands of the
writer, who published, in 1830, an account of the journey,
as well as a map of the country traversed by the unfor-
tunates, which filled up the hitherto void in the previous
charts of Southern Africa between the River Kei and
Delagoa. Not long after the departure of Cowie and
Green, two British Settlers, Messrs. Collis and Cawood,
visited Natal by land, and thus an intimate knowledge
of the intervening fertile and magnificent coast country
began to be acquired, and two Albany traders, Messrs.
A. G. Bain and B. Biddulph, reached Letabaruba, near
Kolobeng, in the country of the Bechuanas. Chaka, the
monster murderous Chief of the Zulus, sent envoys to
treat with the Cape Government at the end of this year,
but they were very contumeliously repulsed — an act to be
regretted, as probably some of the evils affecting the first

Sir Lowry Cole enters on Office. 297

adventurers in the Natal Settlement might have been
prevented.

It must not be omitted to mention that before Sir E.
Bourke left the Colony in September, he prepared another
important enactment, for which he himself deserves the
entire credit, although there have been other claimants
to the distinction. This, " An Ordinance (No. 50) for
Improving the Condition of Hottentots and other Free
Persons of Colour," was passed through the Council 17th
July, 1828 (since repealed by a more comprehensive law).
Previous to the promulgation of this humane provision
an erroneous idea had become prevalent in the Colony
that Hottentots, the original proprietors of the soil, could
not hold land. A principle so atrocious and a tenet so
unfounded therefore required some declaratory enact-
ment, and this was provided by the one in question.

Sttmuntetration of ©obecnor Sir ©alfctattfj Hoto^?

From September 9, 1828, to August 10, 1834.

1829. — The Western Annals of 1829 are singularly
barren of incidents. The opening of the South African
College (8th October) and the commencement of those
great public works, in the item of roads, so lavishly
bestowed upon the West to the neglect of the Eastern
Province, present the prominent figure, the latter com-
mencing at Hottentot's Holland, where a grand opening
in the Mountain was constructed, called after the Governor,
Sir Lowry Pass. Beyond the publication of an Ordinance
establishing the freedom of the Press, and the institution
of a Literary Society in the Metropolis, nothing cau be
gathered of interest, while Frontier events begin again to
crowd the Colonial archives.

The impolicy of permitting the Kafirs to occupy the
ceded neutral territory was now made ominously apparent.
Macomo, the son of Gaika, to whom alone the pri-
vilege had in the first instance been accorded, soon

298 Annals of the Go/pe Colony.

associated with himself other Chiefs, and in the preceding
year made an unprovoked and sanguinary attack upon
the Tamhookies living on the Zwarte Kei River, driving
and following them into British territory, where one of
their Chiefs, Powana, was slain, the people despoiled of
5,000 head of cattle, reduced to starvation, and dependent
for existence upon Colonial charity. An official inquiry
was instituted on the spot at the Klaas Smits River, and
Macomo, with the concurrence of the Commissioner-General,
was expelled the Kat River, having, after timely notice,
evaded to restore the plunder or give satisfaction. This
act he never forgot nor forgave, but immediately, in
revenge, employed all his influence over his fellow Chiefs
against the Colony, causing such serious alarm that the
prospect of an immediate outbreak was confidently anti-
cipated by the military authorities. In the month of
September,, therefore, the Governor visited the disturbed
Border, had a conference with Gaika, and then, on
the advice and with the concurrence of the Commissioner-
General, founded the celebrated but afterwards notorious
Kat River Settlement.* This visit for the time acted
as a sedative ; robberies, which had been numerous and
extensive during the last two years, rather decreased,
the age and sickly state of the Chief Gaika, who died in
November, probably accounting in some measure for the
lull and discontinuance of preparations for actual war,
and the Governor left the Border Chiefs (with the
exception of Gaika, who was too ill, andJVlacomo too sulky
to attend) under the impression they were satisfied and
had forgotten all former imagined injuries, although His
Excellency had been compelled, as an act of justice to the
Colonists, at the beginning of his administration, to adopt
the more efficient and older mode of checking their
disposition to thieve, by reverting to the system of reprisal.

* This Institution was conceived in a spirit of benevolence and
strict justice to the Hottentot race— the plan somewhat Utopian when
Latin and Greek were attempted to be taught to the semi-civilized.
Certain of the Superintendents too were badly selected, and as far as
regards the natives, the choice could not have been more unfortunate.

Withdrawal of the Paper Currency. 299

A few other events belong to this period. The wreck
of L'Eolc, a French vessel, on the 12th April, at the
Guanga River, to the west of the Bashee, where the
commander, four passengers, and seven others perished.
The remainder were rescued by a trader when the Kafirs
were about to put them to death. They were then sent
to a missionary station, and thence forwarded to Graham's
Town, where they were most hospitably entertained.

The Wesleyan missionary, the Kev. Mr. Archbell, and
two traders, Messrs. Schoon and McLuckie, penetrated
the far unknown regions to the north of the Colony, and
the Rev. Mr. Moffatt, of Kuruman, with the Rev. Mr.
*Archbell, visited the Zulu devastator of the unfortunate
ami semi-civilized tribe of Bechuanas, Moselikatze, who
they found had now settled down at the Magaliesbergen
or Kashan Mountains, in about Lat. 26°, Long. 28°.

1830.— The nature of occurrences in the Western por-
tion of the Colony, where peace is the normal condition,
and that of the Eastern, is generally of so different a
character that with every disposition to blend them into
one consecutive series I rind it difficult and often im-
possible, and therefore, unless where practicable, must
continue to treat them separately, giving, however, the
pas, as a matter of courtesy, where I can, to the elder
and venerable sister. The earliest event then of note is
the withdrawal of the cartoon or Paper Currency, the
value of which had by authority been reduced to eighteen-
pence the rix-dollar (originally issued, on security of public
property, at the rate of four shillings), and substituting
silver coinage in exchange. In July the first examination
of the pupils of the South African College, lately estab-
lished, gave great satisfaction to the people of Cape Town,
and this institution, as it was hoped, has had the most
beneficial effects upon the Colonial youth, showing their
capability for literary and scientific attainments, and that
those who have been sent thence to collegiate establish-
ments elsewhere were fully able to compete with Europeans
for academical honours. To these events there is to be
added another of an unpleasant kind regarding the then

300 Annals of the Cape Colony.

one great Colonial staple, and which I shall quote verbatim
from a Cape Town authority : — " November 6th. — Very
unfavourable accounts ' from England of the prices and
demand for Cape wine' are received, ' caused partly by a
glut of the article, and partly by the disgraceful trash
prepared and vended by some pretended wine-merchants
in the Colony.' "

In the East, notwithstanding the late arrangements for
its pacification, it was found necessary to dispatch a
commando against certain native villages whose inhabi-
tants had been guilty of the common crime, cattle-lifting,
on which occasion a Chief named Zekoe was justifiably
shot — a circumstance, however, giving rise afterwards to*
much angry discussion, and involving in the sequel the
character of one of the leading Dutch Colonists. In the
early part of the year, the eminent Superintendent of the
London Society's Missions, the Kev. Dr. Philip, and the
talented editor of the South African Commercial Advertiser,
Mr. Fairbairn, visited the Frontier and Border Kafirs ; and
it was generally believed that, actuated by a morbid
philanthropy, they indulged in indiscreet communications
with the barbarians in regard to what they considered
wrongs, by holding out prospects of a surrender by the
Colony of the ceded territory,* and thus adding to the
latent flame of discontent and restlessness. Be this as it
may, the circumstance it is impossible to omit, for it
initiated an unfortunate estrangement thus early between
the Frontier inhabitants and these gentlemen, and which
was aggravated by the gifted editor, who in an evil hour
lent his powerful pen to ridicule and asperse the Settlers
while smarting under the unprovoked and intolerable
depredations of the savages — a line of conduct, it is to be
regretted, he pursued for a series of years to their injury
and that of the Colonial character. At this time, too, a
London Mission School was planted in the Kat Paver
Settlement, where, as already remarked, intrusted to

* Vide evidence before Parliamentary Committee on Aborigines in
1835 and 1836, given by Col. Wade. Rev. Mr. Young, Major Dundas,
and others ; Sir B. D'Urban's Despatches, Boyce's Notes.

Wool Farming.—- Golesberg Founded. 301

improper persons, it became the prolific source of future
misfortunes, " native rights" being too zealously taught,
to the neglect of inculcating their corresponding " duties."

Wool, the farming of which had so lately been intro-
duced at the Eastern end of the Colony, began now to
figure for the first time among its exports, the quantity
being 4,500 lbs., value £222; while that of the West,
commenced in 1812, stood at 38,907 lbs., value £1,945.*

Another town (Colesberg) was added to the Eastern
Province this year by its foundation on the old boundary
line of the Colony, near Plettenberg's Baaken ; and
Graham's Town initiated a movement for municipal
privileges.

1831. — In March an institution new to the native-born
Colonists was first attempted at Cape Town — "The South
African Fire and Life Assurance Company" — the success
of which was so marked that similar corporations have
since been established throughout the Colony. In April
(13th) another and costly, but important mountain pass
was opened at the Houw Hoek, leading from the East to
Sir Lowry Cole's Pass, and in the same mountain range ;
and in the same month one of the Cape Town streets
(St. George's) was lighted up by oil lamps for the first
time, and by subscription. Since then, the town — "the
metropolis" — had for a short period the benefit of gas
lights, but through the niggardly economy of the Town
Council for some years past, up to the present (1869), the
inhabitants are denied that — not luxury but — essential,
probably satisfied, good pious people, with the ejaculation
— " Luce rna pedibus meis." A new Savings Bank was
successfully established in Cape Town by J. Marshall, Esq.,
branches of which now extend far and wide, and have been
of great service to the middle classes of society. In the
Eastern Province the only circumstance deserving farther,
but not unimportant, notice is the establishment of the
Graham's Town Journal (December 30), a periodical which,

* Relative progress of wool farming in the two Provinces : —
West, in 18GG, 5,022,010 lbs., value £275,391.
East „ 30,508,853 >, 1,735,298*

302 Annals of the Gape Colony.

amid the wreck of many other more pretentious papers,
and carried through very stormy political crises, still
survives.*

1833. — The discoveries made within the last few years
from the Colony by sportsmen, travellers, traders, and
others in the vast interior on the North, nearly to the
tropic and North-East, stimulated the people of Cape Town
to undertake similar enterprises. The matter was first
taken up by the Literary Society in that metropolis, and
on the 24th June a large meeting was held, when it was
decided to equip an expedition into Central Africa, with
the patronage and generous aid of Government, and
supported by public subscription, under the management
of the celebrated naturalist, Dr. Andrew Smith, M.D.,
aided by a staff of artists, scientific and other gentlemen,
all unpaid, and volunteers. This party did not leave until
the month of July the following year, but the result may
as well be anticipated here. Furnished with all the
appliances for success, for some reasons, never satisfactorily
explained, it reached no farther than the country of the
Zulu Chief Moselikatze (Lat. 25° 24', Long. 27° 47'), no
geographical facts were added to our knowledge, no
narrative of the journey was ever produced by the doctor,
and the only gratification the public received for their
subscriptions and the intense interest excited, was the
exhibition at Cape Town of some beautiful drawings of
scenery, &c, from the facile pencil of Charles Bell, Esq.,

* The first number of this periodical was printed by a press brought
from England in 1S20 by Mr. Godlonton (now a member of the
Legislative Council) and two other British immigrants, with the
intention of establishing a newspaper in the Albany Settlement, hoping
to establish a means of intercommunion of thought between themselves
and the Dutch inhabitants ; but this did not suit the arbitrary Govern-
ment of that period, so the authorities at Cape Town took possession
of the infectious machine while the Settler ship (the Chapman) was in
Table Bay, and paid for it. Some years afterwards, it was sent to
Graaff-Reinet to print Government notices and other innocuous
matters, and then, after a considerable interval, was repurchased by
Mr. Godlonton, and, strange to say, fulfilled its original mission. It is
now preserved in " cotton and lavender' as one of the South African
" curiosities of literature."

Colonel Wade's Administration. 303

the present Surveyor-General, and subjects of natural
history, splendidly pourtrayed by George Ford, Esq. The
latter were published in England by Dr. Smith.*

SUnmmsrttatton of 2Wtrtg=<£obcntor EicutcnantsOTolond

From August 10, 1833, to January 10, 1834.

1833.— His Excellency Sir L. Cole having left the Colony
in August, its government devolved on the next in com-
mand, Lieutenant-Colonel Wade, a gentleman much
respected, of high attainments, and decided character.
The short period of his office afforded no great opportunity
for the display of his abilities, but some idea may be
formed of his talents by a perusal of his evidence before
the Aborigines Committee in 1836; for nothing can be
more straightforward, lucid, and well arranged than the
statements he laid before the members of that body.

Before entering upon the succeeding Government, one
of the most important in the Colonial history, it may be
summarized that during 1833 serious complications with
the native tribes on the Border had arisen, mainly attri-
butable'to the indulgent vacillations in the conduct of
the chief military authority there, and the cupidinous cha-
racter of the Kafirs threatening — what they meant to
accomplish — some dire disaster.!

:;: Vide Steedman's Wanderings and South. African Adventures,

where will be found a considerable amount of information regarding
this expedition, and the progress of discoveries made in the continent
from the Cape of Good Hope.

f The depredations for ten years, i.e. from 182 1 to end of 1833, had
been at the rate of 74 horses and 1,464 cattle annually, few of which
were recovered ; and, to show the persistency of this thievish disposi-
tion on the part of the Kafir races, Professor Lichenstein, the traveller,
may be quoted, who says the Colonists then (1801) had lost 858 horses,
3,050 sheep and goats, and 30,040 horned cattle.

SECTION IV.
Sttimmtsttatton of <£ounnot Sir ^ B'SUImn, <&MM.

From January 1G, 1834, to January 22, 1838.

1834 — Arrival of Governor and Sir John Herschel* — The Governor delayed at Cape
Town — Vagrancy — Kat River agitation — Its effect on the Kafirs — Disturbances on
Border — Hintza's conduct — Macoino commences hostilities — Colony invaded, '21st
December — State of British Settlement at the time. 1835 — Confederate Chiefs
propose Peace — Hintza aiding Confederates — Governor sends Envoy to him — He
declines an interview — Governor declares War — Hintza's Kraal surprised — He
arrives at Head-quarters — Conditions of Peace offered to him.

1834. — On the 16tli of January the new Governor, Sir
Benjamin D'Urban " The Good," arrived in the Western
metropolis, where, by unavoidable circumstances, at a
most critical period of Frontier affairs, he was too long
delajjed ; but his presence at the seat of Government was
rendered almost imperative, for the following reasons : —
Owing to the extensive prevalence of thefts of stock by
wandering natives, Hottentots and others, an universal
demand arose for some legislation to repress the growing
and intolerable evil which even the Commissioner-General,

* In the same vessel with the Governor arrived Sir John Herschel.
This illustrious astronomer remained in the Colony for a period of four
years, where he examined in the exactest manner, and under our favour-
able skies, the whole Southern Celestial Hemisphere. He also suggested
meteorological observations being taken, since which a commission has
been created (1859), and is now in full operation. Sir John's " expedi-
tion to the Cape was undertaken at his own expense, and he declined
to accept the indemnity afterwards offered to him by the British Govern-
ment." On the publication of his work on the Southern Hemisphere
the Astronomical Society voted him a testimonial. While in the Colony
he took a deep interest in all its affairs, especially in the cause of
education. He became President of the South African Literary and
Scientific Institution, sitting in Cape Town, and here he displayed that
wonderful condescension, not altogether common in savans of such
high attainments as his own, by making the subjects of his lectures,
even the most abstruse, comprehensible to hearers of intelligence infi-
nitely inferior to his own, and was always ready and solicitous to afford
explanation to a queri&t.

The Slave Emaiwipation. 305

as expressed in a letter of the 20th February, addressed to
the Clerk of the Council, D. M. Percival, Esq., considered
necessary. General Bourke's Ordinance of 1828 (the 50th)
had emancipated the Hottentots, or rather defined the
actual rights of all coloured people, about which difference
prevailed, but it was at the same time intended to supple-
ment that provision, good and wise per se, by some
explanatory enactment to protect property and put down
vagabondism. This was neglected, and so General Bourke
reaped the laurels of a " Liberator," leaving all the
obloquy of a restraining law to his less fortunate successors.
Another reason also for the Governor's detention was that
he awaited an " Order in Council" from home relative to
the Slave Emancipation.

On the 11th May His Excellency laid before his Legisla-
tive Council the draft of " An Ordinance" (applicable only
to those who had no homes or visible means of subsist-
ence) " for the Better Suppression of Vagrancy in this
Colony,"* and invited the opinions of the magistrates and
others upon the subject. No sooner was this draft pub-
lished than a howl of indignation was commenced by all
the soi-disant friends of the coloured races. The Eev. the
Superintendent of the London Missionary Society at the
Cape set the example of opposition, in a memorial to the
Legislative Council, dated the 29th of May, which was

* " We have a notable good law at Corinth,
Where, if an idle fellow outruns reason,
Feasting and junketing at furious cost,
The Sumptuary Proctor calls upon him
And thus begins to sift him. You live well !
But have you well to live ? You squander freely !
Have you the wherewithal ? Have you the fund
For these outgoings ? If you have, go on.
If you have not, we'll stop you in good time,
Before you outrun honesty ; for he
Who lives we know not how, must live by plunder ;
Either he picks a purse, or robs a house,
Or is accomplice with some knavish gang ; —
This a well-ordered city will not suffer —
Such vermin we expel."

Diphilus of Sinope (circa B.C. 200).

X

306 Annals of the Cape Colony.

followed by missionaries of some other denominations.
The extremest resistance, however, was at the Hottentot
Settlement at the Kat Eiver, where the resident teacher,
•a white man, married to a Hottentot or half-caste, had
extensive influence ; hut even here there was a difference
of opinion. Among the Hottentots had been located a
number of other coloured people, whom the nomenclature
of the day somewhat coarsely denominated " Bastaards"
(as the Griquas were originally and correctly named) ;
these were under the religious instruction of the Eev. Mr.
Thomson, eighty of whom signed a memorial in favour
of the Vagrancy Act, themselves being possessed of some
property, and having experienced the evils so generally
complained of. So furious was the enmity displayed by
the Hottentots, that the lives of these dissidents were
imperilled, and to keep the agitation alive the teacher
very inconsiderately wrote to other missionaries, recom-
mending them and their congregations to hold the 18th
August as a day of humiliation and prayer to Almighty
God that it may please Him to arrest the impending evil.*'
This turbulence immediately on the boundary was keenly
watched and adroitly taken advantage of by the ever-
ready plotting Chief Macomo, who steadily fanned a flame
likely to kindle the embers of more than latent discontent
among all his tribe. He therefore simulated piety,
attended prayer-meetings, and worked upon the minds of
these people so successfully that, as deposed by the Chief
Tyali and others t after the war, " it was the language of
the Hottentots that set us on fire." And there can be
little doubt that, but for a very prudent and precautionary
disposition of the military force under the command of
Lieut. -Colonel Armstrong, commanding at the Kat Eiver,
overawing the disaffected, they would then (as they did in
1851) have joined the Kafirs in their invasion.
On the 20th November an incident occurred which

* Letter of Rev. Mr. Reed to Rev. Mr. Thomson, 14th August, 1834.

f Vide Minutes of Proceedings of Court of Inquiry, held at Fort
Willshire, August and September, 1836, upon death of Hintza ; evidence
of Tyali, Eno, Botnian, Xoxo, and other Kafir Chiefs.

Misconduct of the Kafirs. 307

precipitated hostilities between the Kafirs and Colonists,
expected by the borderers, but unforeseen by the Cape
Town Government, proving not only the intention of the
Kafirs, but how well and how long they had prepared
for the conflict. A farmer named Nel had seven horses
stolen from him, which were traced to the village of the
Chief Eno, living on Colonial sufferance, and on condition
of good behaviour, on the ceded neutral territory ; restora-
tion was demanded, and as usual shirked. A patrol of
military was then sent, and, after vain attempts to get
redress, some cattle were seized, in value considered
sufficient to meet the farmer's losses. On driving these
animals away, the Kafirs followed in numbers, with
menaces, and on the officer (Ensign Sparkes) threatening
to fire if they continued to molest, he was told he " dared
not" (" It is a lie ; what is said they dare not do"). He
was dogged by the pursuers, and at length wounded by
an assagai thrown by one of them.

Coupled with this audacious outrage, there were other
suspicious circumstances in the conduct of the Kafirs.
For some considerable time, their depredations had been
chiefly confined to horses, an indication of covert mischief.
The demeanour too of the natives nearest the Colony, upon
which they were crowding, despite the alleged oppressions
of the Colonists, had become insolent and overbearing, and
the Paramount Chief Hintza, who claimed authority over
the whole Amakosa nation, and who lived near the
Wesleyan Missionary Station, " Butterworth," west of the
river Kei, began to ill-treat and plunder British subjects,
250 of whom were residing and trafficking in his country
with his permission, and under his pledged protection ;
and at length his violence culminated in the murder, on
the 13th July, of a trader named Purcell, living close to
the Chief's kraal, and the robbery of his store, for which
no redress was afforded ; and on its perpetration Hintza
removed northward to the Amava, one of the affluents of
the Kei, where he could have readier and less watched
intercourse with the Gaika Chiefs, Tyali, Macomo, and
others.

x 2

308 Anyials of the Cape Colony.

The affair with Ensign Sparkes could not, of course, be
overlooked or tolerated, and a party of the Cape Rifles,
under Lieutenant Sutton, of the 75th Regiment, on the
11th December, was therefore ordered to remove all the
Kafirs living in the neighbourhood of the Umguela. Here
he found the natives assembled in considerable force, and
on ordering them to move away, they showed unmistake-
able indications of resistance. At a ravine near the Kat
River military post, to which some horses stolen from
Fort Beaufort had been clearly traced a few days before —
to Tyali's kraal, ten miles within the boundary — the patrol
captured some cattle, and informed the Kafirs that these
would be retained only until Nel's horses were restored.
The Kafirs then attacked the patrol, and a skirmish
ensued ; one of the Cape Corps was wounded, two Kafirs
killed and two wounded, and the patrol, after being obliged
to abandon the cattle, were only rescued by a detachment
from Fort Beaufort. Among the Kafirs wounded was
Klo-Klo, a brother of the Amagaika Chief Tyali, one of
the principal fomentors of the coming hostilities. Of the
events following this affair, up to the 18th December, the
Rev. Mr. Chalmers, a Missionary residing with the Kafirs,
gives an interesting and lucid account. It is evident from
his statements the barbarians were eager for the fray, for
which the late affair gave them, as they thought, a favour-
able excuse. A deep-laid plan to entrap and get into their
clutches Lieut. -Colonel Somerset, Commandant of the
Frontier, was got up, which fortunately failed ; and on
the 21st Macomo commenced actual hostilities by robbing
and murdering some farmers on the lower part of the Kat
River ; and two days after, the terrific storm, with all the
force and intensity of a tropical hurricane, broke over the
British Settlements, aided by the firebrand and the deadly
assagai.

The reader is requested to take here a hasty glance at
the aspect of the doomed British Settlement as it appeared
but one week before this tremendous and unprovoked
onslaught. The little Colony, so lately commenced, not-
withstanding all its previous difficulties, had established a

The Kafir War of 1835. 309

growing centre of civilization, and fully recovered from the
natural effects of transplantation from another soil.
From innumerable happy hamlets the curling smoke-
wreath ascended amid the forest trees surrounding the
humble but comfortable dwellings. On the soft sward of
the homesteads gambolled " legions" of blithesome little
innocent children, unsuspicious of danger. Sleek cattle
and sheep by thousands grazed on the verdant hills and
along the lovely valleys threaded by some bubbling stream.
From the woods resounded the axe — the hammer on its
anvil beside the glowing forge. The plough quietly followed
the steady-going oxen, showing how busily engaged were
the inhabitants in their industrious occupations, little
dreading the " Damocles" weapon so suddenly to descend.
From being an entirely consuming community, as at
first, the Settlers had secured more than daily provision,
established a commerce with the home they had left — in
very many instances poor adventurers — to the annual
value of £125,000, and that despite obstacles enough to
appal the most steadfast ; but, as Lord Bacon says, " It
was not with them as with other men whom small things
could discourage, or small discontents cause to wish them-
selves home again." They had at length set their feet on
the high road to prosperity ; but, alas ! within less than
fourteen days, the labours of fourteen years were at once
annihilated. Forty-four persons were at once murdered,
3G9 dwellings consumed, 261 pillaged, and 172,000 head
of live-stock carried off by the savage, who had no cause
of quarrel against the peaceful inhabitants. What aggra-
vated this wicked inroad was the fact that during the
great part of the year the Governor had commenced
special negotiations for new, and to them (the Kafirs) a
most advantageous system of relations, the details of
which His Excellency had, through the Rev. Dr. Philip,
then on a tour in Kafirland, entered into with the Chiefs,
and all except Tyali had expressed satisfaction.

The enemy, in overwhelming force of from 8,000 to
10,000, entered the Settlement in the night between the
21st and 22nd of December, just before the looked-for

810 Annals of the Capo Colony.

Christmas festival, and along a line of thirty miles of
frontier, without even attracting the notice of the
Missionaries among them, so covert were the conspirators,
boasting that now they would build their huts and villages
at Algoa Bay ; and by the 26th December their vanguard
was already in the vicinity of Uitenhage, nearly one
hundred miles westward of the Great Fish River, and only
twenty from that of their threatened destination. So
sudden and irresistible was the invasion that several
extraordinary, and, in any other circumstances, ludicrous
hairbreadth escapes took place. One in particular, among
many others, came to the writer's personal knowledge,
where a lady was in the homely act of preparing the
conventional and time-honoured Advent pudding — in fact,
" welding" the ingredients, when her husband rushed in,
caught her up, to her surprise, as she was then attired,
thrust her on a horse, and galloped off for " dear life."
His houses — one a very handsome and costly structure,
just finished, with two others of lesser pretensions on
neighbouring farms belonging to him — were burnt to the
ground, his large herds of cattle swept off from all three
properties by the blood-stained and infuriated invaders,
and this gentleman, like very many others, who in the
morning arose in the most prosperous circumstances, was
that night little better than a beggar, without a change of
apparel for himself and family.

Before the close of the year all that remained of the
flourishing District of Albany was Graham's Town, the
village of Salem, and the Missionary Station of Theopolis,
into which places the inhabitants had fled for shelter.

Within eight days from the time the savages burst into
the Colony, a body of them, with their booty, returned
into Kafirland, as the Bev. Mr. Chalmers describes,
" exulting in their own might and wisdom, because they
have been able to obtain so much ill-gotten gain ; and
unless a check be given," wrote he, " they will in a few
days return to the Colony with redoubled fury. They are
a wicked and ungodly race. They expect the Hottentots
of Kat River will not fire upon them, but stand neutral,

Effects of the Kafir Eaid. 311

for they are their friends."* This statement appears in a
communication from the reverend gentleman, dated Chumi,
1st January, 1835, where a meeting was held, the Mis-
sionaries forced to be present, trembling for their lives ;
for, as they wrote, " an angry look just now would be
sufficient to send us all into eternity." Here the Eev. Mr.
Weir was compelled to pen a letter from the Chiefs with
"overtures for peace," a proposal to abstain from farther
hostility until they could get an answer to a demand for
compensation for wounding Klo-Klo, some charges against
Colonel Somerset, all of which were without foundation,
and this insolent document was dictated and dispatched
only ten days after the invasion began, but after they had
secured their immense plunder, were still reeking with the
blood of the Colonists, and had laid waste a thriving and
entire district of the Colony.f

1835. — The news of the invasion reached Cape Town by
express, and took the authorities and public there as much
by surprise as it did the borderers ; but the most energetic
measures were at once undertaken. Colonel Smith was
instantly dispatched to the Frontier overland, and reached
Graham's Town, a distance of 600 miles, in six days.
Martial law was immediately proclaimed over the two
border districts, Albany and Somerset, but meanwhile
Fort Willshire, on the Keiskamma Eiver, and Kafir's Drift
Post, on the Great Fish, were obliged to be evacuated,
so fiery and rapid had been the savages' assault, and they
were burned by the enemy. Of the condition of the country
as it was found by the Colonel on his arrival we have his
own words : — " Already are seven thousand persons de-
pendent upon the Government for the necessaries of life.
The land is filled with the lamentations of the widow and
the fatherless. The indelible impressions already made

* The Kafirs made no attack upon the Kat River Settlement until
after six weeks had elapsed from the breaking out of hostilities.

f The commerce of the Eastern Province only commenced in 1 80,
when direct shipping communication with England began, and now
(1834) was equal to one-fifth of the Western Province ; the following
year it rose, and now (lyGiJ) has doubled it in amount.

312 Annals of the Cape Colony.

upon myself by the horrors of an irruption of savages
upon a scattered population almost exclusively engaged in
the peaceful occupation of husbandry, are such as to
make me look on those I have witnessed in a service of
thirty years, ten of which in the most eventful period of
war, as trifles to what I have now witnessed, and compel
me to bring under consideration, as forcibly as I am able,
the heartrending position in which a very large portion of
the inhabitants of this Frontier are at present placed, as
well as their intense anxiety respecting their future
condition."

Sir Benjamin D'Urban soon followed Colonel Smith,
and arrived at Graham's Town on the 20th January.
Offensive operations were at once commenced to clear the
Colony of the invaders, and to collect the means for
carrying hostilities into their own territory, there to
recover the booty and to punish them for their treachery.
It would swell out the bulk of this volume too much, and
it is unnecessary to follow up all the details, date by date,
of the skirmishes and engagements with the foe, all of
which will be found in full by consulting the authorities
indicated at the end of this compilation.

Early in the month of February, it was found that the
savages, flushed with success and encumbered by the
cattle they had carried off, were retiring into the wooded
fastnesses of the Great Fish Eiver and the more distant
but equally secure recesses of the Amatola range of
mountains, on the sources of the river Buffalo. At the
former place they were known to be in strength, and being
followed both by Colonel Smith and Colonel Somerset,
they were attacked upon several occasions, and lost much
of their coveted and ill-gotten prey. The Governor, having
matured his plans, marshalled the few troops at his dis-
posal, collected the Burgher force required, and fixed his
head-quarters at the re-occupied post of Fort Willshire ;
and being convinced by abundant evidence of the com-
plicity of Hintza with the invading Chiefs, as reported
from the Missionary Stations within his country, and by
the facts which had transpired, that large droves of the

Invasion of Hintza's Territory. 313

captured cattle had been secreted with his knowledge in
his territory, that many of his own people were " out"
with the confederate Chiefs fighting against the Colony,
some having returned wounded, and that the traders
under his protection had by his orders been seized and
plundered — dispatched a special and trustworthy Dutch
farmer, Mr. Van Wyk, to that Chief, stating his desire to
remain on friendly terms, but at the same time requiring
an immediate and unequivocal declaration of his inten-
tions, and intimating that if he afforded the Amakosa
Chiefs shelter and protection, as it was reported he had
promised them, and did not restore the booty removed to
his territory, he would be treated as an enemy.* To this
message Hintza, declining a proposed interview, sent with
Van Wyk one of his Chiefs, but as the object was only to
gain time, the Governor had no alternative left but to
menace the truculent Chiefs own dominion. On the 14th
April His Excellency therefore moved with the first division
of his forces, and on the 15th arrived on the right bank
of the Kei, the western boundary of Hintza's particular
territory.

On the arrival at this " rubicon," a parley took place,
when a Councillor, a brother of the Great Chief, Booko,
was informed that the army was about to cross the stream
and proceed through the country with pacific intentions,
as far as he (Hintza) was concerned, if he answered satis-
factorily the questions put to him through the envoy, Van
Wyk. Previous to fording the river, the Governor issued
general orders to the effect that, on entering Hintza's
territory, it was not to be treated as an enemy's. Officers
were directed to explain to their men the difference be-
tween the territory they were now entering and that
which they were leaving ; no kraals must be burned or
pillaged ; no gardens, woods, or corn-fields meddled with ;

* There was evidence also to prove he had, previous to the invasion,
tried to inveigle Faku, the head of the Amapondas, living on the
Urazimvoohoo or St. John's River, to join the confederacy, but that
Chief, who had always been a friend to the British, declined. — Vide
Narrative of the Rev. Mr. Gardiner of Natal, p. 241.

314 Annals of the Cape Colony,

that infringement of these rules would be visited by the
utmost rigour of martial law ; that unless hostilities were
first committed by the natives, or that the troops received
other orders, they were to abstain from all acts of violence,
and if it be found necessary or expedient to resort to
measures of hostility, due notice would be given of it.*
Thus every possible precaution was taken to act with
forbearing mildness and maintain peace with the Great
Chief and his people.

After crossing the river and arriving at the locality
where the unfortunate Purcell had been murdered and
robbed, other Councillors, both of Hintza and Booko, who
were still on the Ameva, within one day's journey, arrived,
and by these men a message was transmitted requesting
an interview with the Great Chief, it being the Governor's
intention to move on until such an interview was obtained,
and that it depended upon his own conduct whether he be
treated as friend or foe of the British Government.

No reply having been received, the troops were moved
on to the Weslej^an Missionary Station at Butterworth,
which was found destroyed, but not burnt. Here a large
number of Fingoes — the remains of eight powerful nations,
who, broken up and scattered in the raids of the Fetcani
or Mantatees under Matuana and the Zulus under Chaka,
had taken refuge with Hintza, who enslaved and treated
them in the most brutal manner — met the Governor, and,
writhing under the intolerable yoke of the Kafirs, offered
to place themselves at his disposal, but this His Excellency
hesitated to accept until communication had been opened
with the Great Chief, or that became hopeless.

On the 21st, a party of thirty men were sent with
despatches to the Colony, under charge of an Ensign
Armstrong, of the Beaufort levy, who was waylaid and
murdered by some of Hintza's Kafirs. The Governor now,
fiuding that all his overtures were not only treated with
studied neglect, but that hostilities had thus been actually
commenced by Hintza's people, called before him, on the

* Vide General Orders, loth April, 1835.

Attack on Ilinka's Kraal. 315

24th April, a Councillor and Captain of the Chief, and
recapitulated to him the causes of the quarrel, and at the
same time stating he should now commence hostilities, and
carry off all the cattle he could find ; and announcing that
the Fingoes would he taken under his especial protection,
hecome subjects of the King of England, and that any
violence committed upon them would meet with severe
retaliation. The reasons given to this Councillor were
that no notice had been taken of the message transmitted
by Van Wyk, namely, the coalition with the hostile Chiefs
and reception of the stolen cattle ; that Purcell, a British
subject, had been deliberately murdered in Hintza's
country, and near his own residence, where he was with
his sanction, and under his implied protection, and no
effectual steps taken for the punishment of the murderer.
That during a time of truce another British subject,
Armstrong, had been murdered by Hintza's people, and
that violence, rapine, and outrages had been committed
on the British traders, and that British Missionaries,
living with him under his safeguard, had been forced to
flee to the Tambookie Chief Yusani to save their lives.

The Governor then formally declared war. Hostilities
commenced in earnest, and within a few days a consider-
able number of cattle were captured, and a kraal surprised
where it was supposed Hintza himself was lurking, and
from which his principal wife — mother to the heir apparent
(Kreli) — with difficulty escaped, leaving her personal
ornaments behind. The Great Chief, reposing confidence
in the imagined inaccessibility of this position, got terrified
at such unexpected surprises, and at once sent in four
messengers with proposals ; these were, however, unhesi-
tatingly rejected, and the bearers dismissed with the
intimation that with Hintza personally — for whom a safe
conduct was pledged — alone could terms be discussed.

" What had been refused to clemency was extorted by
apprehension," and accordingly the wily and ungrateful
Hintza, who had refused an audience to the Governor's
messenger, who had disdained to appear himself at the
head-quarters of the British army, or even to send there

316 Annals of the Cape Colony.

a duly accredited agent when required, entered the camp
as an humble suppliant for peace. "He was attended by a
retinue of fifty followers, and received with a courtesy he
little merited by the Commander-in-Chief. It being, how-
ever, understood that he came prepared to transact
business, His Excellency immediately entered into an
explanation of the grounds of his displeasure and the
nature of the required satisfaction."

That no point might admit of misapprehension, every-
thing the Governor desired to communicate had been
reduced to writing, and was read to Hintza by His
Excellency himself, in presence of his staff, and com-
municated to the Chief, sentence by sentence, seriatim,
into the Kafir tongue by the interpreter, Mr. Shepstone,
at the conclusion of which the Chief expressed his perfect
understanding of the whole of the conditions to be
imposed, of which the following is a resume : —

1st. A demand for the restoration of 50,000 cattle and
1,€00 horses — 25,000 cattle and 500 horses immediately,
hostilities to continue until paid, and 25,000 cattle and
500 horses within one vear.

2nd. The Great Chief's imperative commands upon —
and to cause them to be obeyed by — the confederate Chiefs
to cease hostilities and surrender all fire-arms.

3rd. To bring to condign punishment the murderers of
Purcell, and to give 300 head of good cattle to the widow.

4th. The same atonement in regard to Armstrong ; and

5th. For the due execution of these conditions, the
delivery of two hostages.

SECTION V.

1835— April 30, Peace with Hintza— He remains as Hostage for its terms— Massacre
of tho Fingoes — The Governor liberates them from Slavery — Assumes British
Sovereignty ovor Territory west of River Kei, and names it " Province of Queen
Adelaide" — Hintza's perfidy and Death — His Character — Kreli, his son, acknow-
ledged his Successor — Peace made with him — Confederate Chiefs outlawed — They
submit and become British Subjects — Causes and Cost of the War — Colonists
approve the Governor's proceedings.

To the proposals submitted to Hintza, as mentioned in
the last Section, that Chief gave so ready and hearty an
acceptance that it lulled all suspicion of any evil design
lurking in his breast, and peace, with all its formalities,
was concluded on the 30th of April. The Chief himself,
in apparent sincerity, proferred to remain a personal
hostage for the due fulfilment of its conditions, and this
seemingly gracious conduct won for him such confidence
with the authorities that on the 2nd May orders were
issued for the evacuation of his territory. Kreli, the
Chief's son, and Bookoo, the brother, had at the Chief's
desire and their own joined him, but under no restraint
whatever ; and Hintza became the constant guest of Col.
Smith, while the Governor was perhaps too lavish in
making presents to the insidious barbarian.*

The camp now broke up, and His Excellency left ; but no
sooner, however, was his departure known than Hintza's
and Bookoo's people commenced a general massacre of
all the Fingoes around them. Several families, to the
amount of thirty individuals, were slaughtered in cold
blood close to Colonel Somerset's camp.

An account of this proceeding on the part of Hintza's
people, in express contravention of the treaty just made
with him, was immediately forwarded to the Governor
by express, and perhaps nothing could have so keenly

* A statement published at the time states, " Hintza has received,
besides others, as presents from the Governor, ten new saddles and
bridles, twelve spades, two bags of beads, and otlier articles."

318 Annals of the Capo Colony.

aroused his indignation as the contents of this despatch.
Hintza and Bookoo were immediately summoned to his
presence, and the purport of the express communicated
to them. The answer of the Chief was characteristic,
'* Well," said he, " and what then; are they not my dogs ?"
This was beyond all bearance. His Excellency gave im-
mediate orders that Hintza, Kreli, and Bookoo, and all
the people with them, amounting to about 150, should be
guarded ; and told them that he should keep them as
hostages for the safety of the Fingoes. He desired them
instantly to dispatch messengers to stop the carnage ; and
said that if this infamous proceeding of their people con-
tinued after three hours had elapsed, he would shoot two
of their suite for every Fingo that was killed ; adding,
that if he found any subterfuge in the message they sent —
as he had discovered to be the case in some of their former
messages — he would hang Hintza, Kreli, and Bookoo
themselves to the tree under which they were sitting.

The Chiefs saw they were in jeopardy, and in less than
ten minutes their messengers were seen scampering off at
full speed in different directions with orders, which were
evidently given this time without subterfuge ; for within
the limited period it was officially announced by Colonel
Somerset that the Kafirs had ceased to attack the
Fingoes.

His Excellency, however, well aware of the sort of people
he had to deal with, deemed it unsafe to release them till
he had got the Fiitigoes fairly across the Kei, and it was
on getting there that he decided on keeping Kreli and
Bookoo as hostages for the fulfilment of the treaty in
regard to the cattle, as Hintza evaded giving the two
Councillors asked for as hostages, and wanted to substitute
two common men in their stead.

The liberation of the Fingoes having been effected, the
duress of Hintza was at once relaxed, and he might have
left the camp if so minded ; but for reasons afterwards
developed, he now made proposals to Colonel Smith to
accompany him towards the Bashee Eiver, there to super-
intend the surrender of the cattle he had pledged himself

The Perfidy of Eintm. 319

to restore. Still trusting in the Chief, his suggestion was
agreed upon ; but before the expedition started the
Governor thought proper in his presence to state to him
that, in the name of His Majesty William IV., he had
taken possession of all the country westward of the Kei
River, from its sources in the Stormbergen to the sea ; and
farther, that the Chiefs Tyali, Macomo, Eno, Botma,
T'Slambie, anclDushani " were for ever expelled" from that
territory, and would be treated as enemies if found therein.

Immediately after this ceremony (on the 10th May),
Hintza returned to the tent of the Commander-in-Chief,
who read to him, in presence of his staff, an admonitory
communication, stating that he (Hintza) had sued for
peace, which was granted ; that he, with his son and heir,
had by his own choice and free will remained as hostages
for the fulfilment of the conditions of peace ; that as his
conduct appeared frank and honourable, hostilities had
been stopped, even before the payment of the first instal-
ment of stock ; that he, the Chief, has very reluctantly
complied with the second stipulation of the treaty, leaving
the first, third, and fourth — the most important — still un-
executed ; that under these circumstances there was full
right to consider and treat him as a prisoner of war, and
send him to Cape Town ; but " as I am still disposed to
believe his asseveration, that his presence in the midst
of his people may give him the power of fulfilling his solemn

agreement, I will abstain from doing so but it is

upon the condition — proposed by himself — that he accom-
panies a division of my troops through such parts of the
country as my commanding officer, Colonel Smith, may
select, and exert his full power as Chief to collect the
cattle and horses due, to apprehend the murderers of the
two British subjects, and to supply the 300 head of cattle
demanded for each of the widows of the murdered men,
and that meanwhile I will retain Kreli and Bookoo, and
the other followers of Hintza now in camp, with the
exception of Umtine."

This communication was interpreted and read to the
Chief, who declared his perfect understanding of it ; and

320 Annals of the Gape Colony.

on the same day a detachment of about S50 men of Cape
Mounted Rifles, 72nd Regiment, Provisionals, and Corps
of Guides marched from the encampment at the ford of
the Kei, Hintza riding alongside of the Colonel, whom he
spoke of as his father, and who had indeed lavished upon
him every mark of kindness and confidence. " What
next befel, and when and where," will be seen by the
following quotation from the Narrative of the Irruption of
the Kafir Hordes, published in 1836* : —

" On gaining the summit of the mountain from the Kei,
Hintza requested, through the interpreter, to know in
what position he stood, both as regarded himself and his
subjects. The answer of the Colonel was distinct and
candid — ' Hintza, you have lived with me now nine days ;
you call yourself my son, and you say you are sensible of
my kindness ; now I am responsible to my King and to
my Governor for your safe custody. Clearly understand
that you have requested that the troops under my com-
mand should accompany you to enable you to fulfil the
treaty of peace you have entered into. You voluntarily
placed yourself in our hands as a hostage ; you are, how-
ever, to look upon me as having full power over you, and
if you attempt to escape you will assuredly be shot. I
consider my nation at peace with yours, and I shall not
molest your subjects, provided they are peaceable. When
they bring in the cattle according to your commands, I
shall select the bullocks, and return the cows and calves
to them.' To this Hintza replied, he came out to fulfil
his treaty of peace, and with no intention to escape ; and
that the fact of his son being in our hands was a sufficient
guarantee of his sincerity. The Colonel then added,
' Very well, Hintza ; act up to this and I am your friend ;
again I tell you, if you attempt to escape, you ivill be shot.'

"Notwithstanding these specious professions, the Colonel
soon had his suspicions aroused by the following circum-
stances : — In the afternoon, about four o'clock, the troops
reached a streamlet running into the Gona, when one of

* By the Editor of the Graham's Town Journal, Mr. Godlonton.

Tlie Troops advance into Kafirland. 321

the Corps of Guides reported that two Kafirs, with five
head of cattle, were near the camp, and that Hintza, on
the plea of their heing afraid to approach, had sent ono
of his peoplo to bring them in. In place, however, of
these Kafirs coming into the camp, they went off, taking
with them a horse which had been sent to them by Hintza,
and who declined to give any explanation on the subject.
The suspicion excited by this circumstance was increased
by the evasive answers given to the Colonel's repeated
inquiry as to the point on which he desired the troops to
move. On this subject nothing more could be elicited
than ' we are going right.'

" Early the next morning the troops were in motion,
passed the Guadan hills, and bivouacked on the Guanga
late in the afternoon. Here Hintza was again requested
by the Colonel to state explicitly where he wished them
to proceed. On this occasion he was much more com-
municative than before, and desired that they would
march towards the mouth of the Bashee, by a route which
he would point out ; and he further requested that they
would move at midnight. This request was the more
readily acceded to, it being evident that all the cattle from
the kraals in the neighbourhood had been driven in the
direction pointed out. Accordingly at twelve o'clock the
troops resumed their march, and continued to move for-
ward until eight o'clock in the morning. At this time the
spoor of numerous cattle driven in that direction was
quite recent ; but as the men had been marching for eight
hours, it was necessary for them to halt and take some
refreshment.

" At breakfast the Chief appeared particularly uneasy ;
he evidently felt disappointed at the vigilance with which
all his actions had been watched, and he observed
peevishly — ' What have the cattle done that you want
them ? or why must I see my subjects deprived of them T
Colonel Smith observed in reply to him that he need not
ask those questions ; he well knew the outrages committed
on the Colony by his people, and that it was in redress of
those wrongs the cattle were demanded. At ten o'clock

Y

322 Annals of the Cape Colony.

the troops were again on the march. At this time Hintza
appeared in high spirits, observing rather sarcastically,
e You see how my subjects treat me ; they drive their cattle
from me in spite of me.' ' Hintza,' replied the Colonel,
' I do not want your subjects' cattle ; I am sent for the
Colonial cattle which have been stolen, and which I will
have.' ' Then,' said the Chief, • allow me to send
Umtini, my principal Councillor, forward to tell my people
I am here, that they must not drive away their cattle, and
that the cattle of your nation will be alone selected.'
This proposal was immediately agreed to, it appearing to
hold out a chance of success, although it was quite evident
that Hintza was meditating some mischief, and that the
utmost caution was imperatively necessary. On the
departure of Umtini, he was particularly enjoined to
return that night, and which was faithfully promised.
Ho quitted the camp at full speed, accompanied by one of
Hintza's attendants, the Chief exclaiming in high spirits,
' Now you need not go to the Bashee, you will have more
cattle than you can drive on the Xabecca.'

" It had been remarked that this day (the 13th) Hintza
rode a remarkably strong horse, and which he appeared
particularly anxious to spare from fatigue, leading him
up every ascent. The path they were now in up the hill
from the bed of the Xabecca was merely a narrow cattle
track winding up the hill side through the tangled brush-
wood, and occasionally passing between a cleft in the
rock. Up this steep ascent the troops were leading their
horses ; Colonel Smith, who was at the head of the
column, being the only person mounted ; behind him
came Hintza and his followers, leading their horses, the
Corps of Guides following in the same order. On arriving
near the summit of the hill, Hintza and his attendants
silently mounted and rode quickly up to the Colonel,
whom they passed on one side through the bushes. The
Guides observing this, immediately called out to the
Colonel, who instantly exclaimed — 'Hintza, stop!' At
this moment the Chief, having moved on one side of the
beaten track, found himself entangled by the thicket, with

Hintea's Attempted Escape. — Els Death. 323

no other resource but to descend into the only path by
which it could be cleared. The Colonel on the first alarm
had drawn a pistol, on observing which the Chief smiled
with so much apparent ingenuousness, that the Colonel
felt regret at his suspicions, and he permitted the Chief
to move on in front of him, preceded by three of the
Guides, who had mounted and pushed forward on witnessing
the suspicious circumstances above detailed. On reaching
the top of this steep ascent the country was perfectly open,
with a considerable tongue of land running parallel with
the rugged bed of the Xabecca, gradually descending for
about two miles, and terminating at a bend of the river,
where were several Kafir huts. On reaching this tongue
the Colonel had turned round to view the troops in the
rear toiling up the steep ascent, when the Chief instantly
set off at full speed, passing the Guides in front, towards
the huts in the distance.

" The Guides (viz., Messrs. G. and W. Southey, and W.
Shaw) uttering an exclamation of alarm, pursued, but
without the most distant hope of overtaking the fugitive.
Colonel Smith was, however, better mounted, and spurring
his horse with violence, he succeeded after a smart run,
and with the most desperate exertion, in overtaking him.
He called him to stop ; but he only urged his horse
to greater exertion, stabbing at the Colonel with his
assagais. The Colonel drew a pistol, but it snapped — a
second was used with the like ill-success. The pursuit
was continued for some distance further — the troops
following in the rear as they best could. At length the
Colonel, by a desperate effort, again reached the Chief
and struck him with the butt-end of his pistol, which
he then dropped. The Chief smiled in derision. The
second pistol was hurled at him, striking him again on
the back part of the head ; but with no other effect than
causing him to redouble his efforts to escape. They were
now within about half-a-mile of the Kafir huts. The
Colonel had no weapon whatever, while the Chief was
armed with assagais ; the case was desperate, and there
was not a moment for reflection. Urging, therefore, his

y 2

324 Annals of the Cajoc Colony.

horse to its utmost energy, the Colonel again got within
reach of the athletic Chieftain, and seizing him by the
collar of the kaross or cloak, by a violent effort he hurled
him to the ground. At this moment their horses were at
their utmost speed ; and on Hintza being thrown, the
Colonel's horse refused to obey the rein, carrying his rider
forward in spite of every endeavour to stop him. The
Chief, though thrown heavily, was instantly on his feet,
and drawing an assagai, threw it after his assailant with
so much steadiness and accuracy, that it only missed
him by a few inches ; he then instantly turned off at a
right angle, and fled down the steep bank of the Xabecca.
This momentary delay enabled the foremost of the Guides
to approach to within gunshot distance ; and their leader,
Mr. G. South ey, instantly called out to the Chief in the
Kafir tongue to stop ; no heed was given to this, and he
fired, wounding him in the left leg. Hintza fell, but
in an instant regained his feet, and continued his flight
swiftly down the hill. George Southey discharged his
second barrel, and the Chief again pitched forward, but
once more recovered himself, and ultimately succeeded
in gaining the cover of the thicket which lines the banks
of the river. Southey and Lieutenant Balfour of the
72nd Eegiment followed, leaping down the shelving bank ;
the former keeping up, the latter down- the stream.
Thej^ had thus proceeded in opposite directions for some
distance, when Southey was suddenly startled by an
assagai striking the stone or cliff on which he was
climbing ; turning quickly round at the noise, he perceived
a Kafir — his head and an uplifted assagai being only
visible — so near him, that it was only by his recoil that
he had room for the length of his gun. At the impulse
of the moment he raised his piece and fired ; and Hintza,
the Paramount Chief of Kafiiiand, ceased to live. The
upper part of the scalp had been completely shattered
and carried away by ths discharge. Southey hastily
divested the body of a brass girdle, and snatching up
the bundle of assagais which the Chief had retained
during the whole of the arduous struggle, emitted the

Pursuit of the Cattle Abandoned. 325

spot and rejoined the troops, reporting the occurrences
to the officer commanding."*

At the time of his death numerous Kafirs were observed
on the heights around the scene of the fatal encounter,
and among them was Umtini, the Chief's confidential
Councillor, with Hintza's servant, who had been dispatched
forward under pretence of ordering the cattle to be given
up, but who had evidently been employed in secreting
them, and in preparing for the escape of the Chief.
Leaving, therefore, the remains of the Chief to the care of
these people, who must have been aware of the proceed-
ings, the troops were collected and resumed their march
towards the Umtata River to receive the cattle it had been
engaged should be given up, large droves of which were
visible in the distance ; but the force under command
being thoroughly jaded, and finding by scouts that by the
orders of Hintza the cattle had begun to be driven off forty-
eight hours before, Colonel Smith was forced to return to
the camp on the left bank of the Bashee, from whence he
arrived at the head-quarters of the Governor, on the
Impotshana, where he made his official report.!

* The character of the fallen Chief, as given by those who had the
best opportunities of knowing him, is that he possessed in an inveterate
degree all the vices of the savage. " Ingratitude, insatiable avarice,
cunning, cowardice, and cruelty — these were conspicuous in his govern-
ment of his people, in his treatment of the missionaries and traders, in
his machinations with the Border Chiefs to incite them to plunder and
destroy the Colony, in the avidity with which he received the stolen
cattle, in the studious care with which he kept aloof from personal
danger, and in the cool and artful manner with which he planned and
proposed to an officer who had treated him with distinguished kindness
a measure calculated to lead him into a situation of such difficulty and
embarrassment as should ensure his destruction. In the latter par-
ticular he had grasped at that which was beyond his reach, and he fell,
the victim of his own perfidy."

f The cattle actually taken amounted to 9,330 head, of which the
Fingoes appropriated about 2,200, leaving the balance of some 7,000 to
repay 111,418 carried off by the enemy.

The day succeeding Hintza's death the Frontier suffered one of its
severest losses in the person of T. C. White, Esq., Major of the local
Volunteers and Acting Deputy Quartermaster-General of the burgher

326 Annals of the Cape Colony.

On the receipt of the "untoward" intelligence of the Chief s
fate, His Excellency at once recognized Hintza's great son
Kreli as successor, released him from all further restraint,
and, having entered into a treaty of peace, dismissed him
and his retainers, except Bookoo, who it was feared had
had a baneful influence over the late fallen Chief, and he
was therefore detained for a short time longer. Having
escorted with a guard of honour the young Sovereign to
the ford of the Kei, and bade him God-speed, matters
being arranged with the Transkeian Chiefs, the Governor
recrossed the stream, established several military posts,
and proclaimed the country between the Kei and
Keiskamma as annexed to the Cape Colony, under the
title of the "Province of Adelaide," and its capital, on
the Buffalo Biver, " King William's Town," in honour
of their Majesties.

Within this newly-acquired territory, however, the
confederate Chiefs Tyali, Macomo, &c, remained still
unsubdued ; and both there and even in the Settlement
itself their braves were committing extensive and wide-
spread desolation. The liberated Fingoes, who had been
located between the Keiskamma and the Great Fish Biver,
had to bear the brunt of frequent attacks by their
implacable foes, and it was feared hostilities would be
protracted for a considerable time. In May there appeared
some little prospect of a cessation, but a message received
from Hintza a little before his death encouraged longer
resistance. At length a very successful engagement at
the Amatolas on the 13th August so dispirited the Chiefs
that they sent in overtures of surrender, " supplicated for

forces, This gentleman, an officer formerly of His Majesty's Regiment
of Foot, of high literary and scientific attainments, considerable
property, and a large and successful flockmaster, was treacherously
set upon by the barbarians while surveying for the purpose of making
an accurate topographical sketch of the country for the Governor, and
barbarously murdered. This disaster took place on the 14th May, on
the banks of the Bashee River, where his remains found their last
resting place ; and a memorial tablet in the Cathedral at Graham's
Town, erected by public subscription, records the melancholy event,
which was long and deeply lamented.

Losses in dhfiWar, 327

mercy and peace, expressed great contrition for their
offences against the Colony, acknowledged the right of the
King of England to the country vanquished hy his army
in the late campaign and taken possession of under the
Proclamation of the 10th of May last, and prayed to be
permitted to become His Majesty's subjects, to live under
the Colonial laws, and to occupy such lands as His
Excellency may think fit to assign to them within the
conquered province ;" and on the 17th September the
final terms of submission were adjusted, and peace
proclaimed at Fort Willshire.

This totally unprovoked aggression by the savages
inflicted upon the population settled on the Border a loss,
in stock swept off and other property, dwellings destroyed,
&c, to the sum of £288,625; in lives, by murder on the
invasion, of 44 persons ; in the war of repression, 84 killed
and 30 wounded ; and to the Imperial Treasury, a sum
not less than £300,000.* The principal trophy of the
war, which lasted nine months — a glorious trophy in
itself, although attempted to be depreciated — was the
liberation from brutal servitude of some 15,000 Fingoes —
an imperishable honour to the name of " the good and great
Sir Benjamin D'Urban." This people he located in the
neutral or ceded territory, as was conceived " the best
barrier against the entrance of the Kafirs into the Great

* To which must be added the loss of the Kafir trade. This
civilizing intercourse was inaugurated by Sir R. S. Donkin in 1821,
put a stop to by Lord C. Somerset, but re-established iu 1824, pro-
ducing a return of articles of native growth or industry from that period
up to 1829 of the value of above .£10,000 annually ; it then increased
rapidly, and in 1832 reached to £34,000, and in 1833 above £40,000,
when the disturbances crushed it altogether. There were from GO to
70 trading establishments, reaching to St. John's River, just previous
to the war, employing some 200 people. The early barter was made
with beads, buttons, brass wire, &c, for ivory, gum, hides, &c. ; but at
length many Kafirs discarded the filthy skin kaross or mantle for
blankets, and a demand had begun for woollen goods, kerseys, coarse
flannels, baize, cotton articles, and handkerchiefs, knives, axes, iron
and tin pots, and other hardware. Many of the largo fortunes accumu-
lated on the Frontier commenced with this interior commerce.

328 Annals of the Cape Colony.

Fish River jungle, and as they might furnish a good
supply of free labour to the Colonists."

There is little need of travelling very far in search of
the causes of the misfortunes which assailed the inhabi-
tants of the exposed Frontier in 1834-5 ; they are to be
found in the natural cupidity of the savage mind, the
irresistible temptation of fine herds of cattle in their imme-
diate vicinity, easily removable, and for want of labour
somewhat negligently guarded, the nature of the Border —
an almost impenetrable thicket — the injudicious diminution
of military protection,* the neglect of reiterated warning
made to the Colonial as well as to the British Govern-
ment, the remoteness of authority, concentrated as it was
at Cape Town, 600 miles away, the continued vacillation
of the Frontier policy, if it ever deserved the name of
policy at all, the indiscreet tampering, to use no harslier
term, by unathorized pseudo-philanthropists with the
savages, previous to their invasion, and the persistency
with which they caused prolongation of the war by the
countenance given them by these soi-disant friends of the
coloured races while they were sitting quietly by their
comfortable hearths in Cape Town.

The measures pursued by the Governor were approved
by the great body of the Colonists — the very small clique
of the self-named philanthropists of Cape Town excepted,
who gave the key to real philanthropists at home. A large
meeting took place on the 30th June in the metropolis,
which resolved upon an address to His Excellency, eulogiz-
ing His Excellency for " the vigour, temper, forbearance,
and justice which had marked the whole course of his

* In 1819 there were on the Frontier two companies Royal Artillery,
one of Light Cavalry, five battalions Infantry (5,000), the Royal African
Corps, the Cape Corps Cavalry, and Cape Corps Infantry. In 1834
these were reduced to one company Royal Artillery, three battalions
Infantry, and Cape Corps Cavalry to take charge of a Settlement founded
by Parliamentary patronage and peopled by loyal British subjects, of
whom the Times newspaper of the period justly observed — " These men
(the Settlers) the Home Government must take charge of ; they were
not sent out for the purpose of farming and fighting simultaneously ;
they were sent to be protected in their industry."

Addresses to Sir Benjamin D'Urban. 329

proceedings against the Kafirs, who without provocation
had devastated the Eastern Frontier." Similar testimo-
nials were transmitted from most of the Border divisions,
and among them one from Albany, demanding inquiry
into the scandalous libels against the character of its
inhabitants. The Legislative Council also, on the 24th
November, endorsed the general sentiment as to "the
wise and benevolent system he had inaugurated ;" in
short, the new policy gained " golden opinions from all
sorts of people," and it was generally believed the vexed
Frontier question had been settled for ever.

SECTION VI.

1836 — Governor returns to Cape Town — Lord Glenelg's Despatch of 28th December,
1835, received, condemning the Colonists and justifying the Kafirs — Sources of
his Information — Conduct of Cape Press and London Society's Missionaries
in Colony — Parliamentary Aborigines Committee — Captain Stockenstrom
appointed Lieutenant-Governor — Arrives — His reception at Graham's Town —
Reverses the Governor's Measures, and makes Treaties with the Kafirs — Colonel
Smith tried before Commission of Inquiry on Death of Hintza — Cape Punishment
Bill — Governor D' Urban ratifies Stockenstrom Treaties, but under Protest, &c.
1837 — The Governor dismissed — Lord Glenelg takes upon himself, personally, the
responsibility of his Kafir System — Peter Retief and others abandon the Colony —
Working of new System — Frontier Colonists repeat their call for Inquiry — The
petty Chief Tzatzoe introduced to Royal Family.

1836. — His Excellency Sir B. D'Urban returned from the
Frontier to Cape Town in January, and on the 15th was
feted at a banquet given by the public of the metropolis
to welcome him, and where his conduct was rapturously
panegyrized by influential persons belonging to all classes.
Rumours, however, soon began to be circulated from the
London Society's Mission-house, Cape Town, that the
Governor's policy would not meet with approval in high
quarters — indeed, from the same source, the probability
of reversal was promulgated in the past July — and His
Excellency therefore addressed the Secretary of State, on
the 23rd February, warning him of the evils likely to arise
from any serious change in his measures, and that among
them would be a great migration of the Dutch farmers
from the Colony into the interior, who would in that case
be afraid to remain longer upon the Eastern Frontier.
In these representations also concurred Colonel Smith,
the Commandant on the Border, Captain Stretch, Messrs.
Bichard Southey, Fynn, and others whose opinions were
of any value.

The anxiously-looked-for and Missionary-predicted des-
patch of Lord Glenelg — a fatal one for the Colony
and his own reputation — at length arrived. It was dated
the 28th December, 1835 ; containing, mircibile dictu, a
complete exculpation of the Kafirs, and threw the whole

Lord Glenehfs Despatch. 381

blame of their recent inroad upon the Colonists them-
selves. These are the Eight Honourable Secretary's
astounding words — words entirely disproved by previous
and subsequent events : — " In the conduct which was
pursued towards the ivafir nation by the colonists,
and the Public Authorities of the Colony, through a
long series of years, the kafirs had ample justification
of the late war j they had a perfect right to hazard
the experiment, however hopeless, of extorting by force
that redress which they could not expect otherwise to
obtain ; and that the claim of sovereignty over the
New Province bounded by the Keiskamma and the Kei

MUST BE RENOUNCED. It RESTS UPON A CONQUEST RESULTING
FROM A WAR IN WHICH, AS FAR AS I AM AT PRESENT ENABLED
TO JUDGE, THE ORIGINAL JUSTICE IS ON THE SIDE OF THE

conquered, not of the victorious party."* And the des-
patch concluded by conveying a decided disapproval of
all the acts of Sir Benjamin D'Urban.

The effect of this terrible denouncement can be well
conceived, even at this distance of time. The English
Settlers were disgusted ; all the ties of affection to their

* Beyond this, Lord Glenelg reproved the Governor for terming the
Kafirs, in his Proclamation, " irreclaimable savages," and proceeded to
show that that character did not fairly apply to them. He condemned
in the strongest terms the language of the Wesleyan Missionaries,
and contrasts them with the Missionaries of the London and Glasgow
Societies, and enters minutely into the case of Hintza. " He was
slain," says his Lordship, " when he had no longer the means
of resistance, hut covered with wounds, and vainly attempting
to conceal his person in the water, into which he had plunged as a
refuge from his pursuers. Why the last wound was inflicted, and why
this unhappy man, regarded with an attachment almost idolatrous hy
his people, was not seized by the numerous armed men who had
reached his place of concealment, has never yet been explained. It is
stated to me, on evidence which it is impossible to receive without
serious attention, that Hintza repeatedly cried for mercy ; that the
Hottentots present granted the boon, and abstained from killing him ;
that this office was then undertaken by Mr. Southey ; and that then the
dead body of the fallen Chief was basely and inhumanly mutilated."
It will not cause surprise that his Lordship, disabused of his hasty
opinion, retracted all he here urged in the case of the perfidious
barbarian, as will be shortly seen.

332 Annals of the Cape Colony.

native land binding the Dutch inhabitants were violently
disrupted; and the dream of migration became a vast
reality. All confidence was destroyed. Distrust and des-
pair took its place, and this lamentable state of feeling
was increased when it was made known that the appoint-
ment, made only two months after the date of this con-
demnation, and at the recommendation of Lord Glenelg,
of a Lieutenant-Governor, charged with the views of the
Secretary of State, was no other than the late Com-
missioner-General, Captain Stockenstrom, a Colonist of
great natural ability, but who it was understood had
of late given evidence against his fellow countrymen,
although hitherto classed among their patriots.

The origin of the rumours just alluded to, preceding
the arrival of this cruel despatch, may be found in the
proceedings of a small but active party in the South
African metropolis, which commenced a systematic cru-
sade, under the guise of humanity, against the Govern-
ment and Colonists. During the whole progress of
hostilities, that most influential and talented public
journal, the South Ajrican Advertiser, printed in
Cape Town — the editor of which had allied himself to
the ultra and not quite disinterested views of the
Superintendent of the London Missionary Society there,
the Rev. Dr. Philip — employed its utmost, and not very
scrupulous, endeavours, in an unremitting series of
articles, to prejudice the case of the Colony, and mislead
the minds of the Government and people of England.
This was effected by misrepresenting the causes of the
war, the extent of danger incurred by the invasion, and
the conduct of the officers engaged in repressing the
savages. A few quotations are here necessary, and will
suffice. They began in December, 1834, and ran through
the following year, e.g.: "Violence on the part of the
Colonists had begot violence on the part of the Kafirs."
" Hintza was not engaged in the war." " There is no
confederacy of the Chiefs." " There never was danger."
" Statements put forth by the Graham's Town Journal
are false." " There is a clamour raised by conscious

The Settlers Denounced m Gape Town. 333

guilt, to conceal terror and mislead the official avenger."
" We have been condensing the population of a barbarian
tribe on our Frontier."*" "The whole nation is now com-
pressed into a corner of their ancient possessions." " The
extension of the Colony will not be listened to for a
moment." " There is not the remotest probability of His
Majesty's Government's sanction to such a measure."
" Kafirland, a country just laid waste by fire and sword,
their houses burnt, their magazines of corn destroyed,
all the flocks and herds, down to the very milch goats,
swept off by a Christian force." " The business of
extermination is proceeding with the same spirit, and the
number of cattle taken and Kafirs shot still do credit to
the unsparing energy of the different officers entrusted
with the execution of the Commander-in-Chief's forbearing
and benevolent measures." "Kafirs are now killed
chiefly during nights." " Humanity weeps over the des-
truction of a people whose original offence was propinquity
to us." " The great body of Kafirs have never offended
us." " A war of extermination, in which women and
children are not spared." These extracts are made up
from the leading articles of this paper to the 22nd August,
1834. On the 29th, it goes on to say, " we have appealed
to our fellow-subjects in every country to which this paper
is transmitted."! (No doubt, and to Lord Glenelg.) And

* The licv. Mr. Young, in his evidence before the Committee of
the House of Commons on Aborigines, 27th July, ix;}(>, says, " It is
also a fact that the Kafirs have increased much in cattle during the
last ten years. I am quite satisiicd of the truth of these remarks from
my own observation, having resided in Kafirland six years, and have
frequently heard the Kafirs make the remark themselves ; and it is a
singular fact that most of the leading men of several of the tribes
always had their cattle places either in the neutral territory, or as near
to the Colonial boundary as they could possibly get, considering them
much safer there than in any part of their own country ; hence it is
clear, if they have lived in any dread from any quarter, it was not from
the Colonists, but from the interior tribes."— Vide Report Select
Committee on Aborigines, p. 661.

| Reference has already been made to the rise of differences between
the editor of the South African Advertiser and the Frontier inhabi-
tants, in 1830, who then jeered the Settlers of Albany for their

334 Annals of the Cape Colon y.

so, consequently, with all this before him, and the ear-
wigging from other quarters, the Secretary of State
penned his notorious despatch.

After such representations, which, contradicted at the
time by the Frontier presses and one at Cape Town,
never heeded, it can be no matter of wonder that the
Home authorities and the public were deceived ; and this
may account for the despatch dictated by the peculiar
bias of its author. But the delusion still continued to be
maintained by the industry, worthy a better cause, of the
Cape Town Mission party and its tools on the extreme
border, who, in order to deepen the impression, employed
the astute device of exhibiting before the humane but too
credulous masses of the British people, a living specimen
of " oppressed friends and brothers."

To effect this, a Kafir named Jan Tzatzoe,* represented

complaints against the Hottentots and Kafirs, for their thefts and
other crimes ; and the feeling became the more embittered when
he described these people as " pin-makers, Cockneys, women's tailors,
wearers of breeches who are afraid to look a natural man in the face ;"
adding afterwards tbe scorching remark, never forgotten by the
Albany farmers — " ' Until misfortune gi'es them a Jag,' to use the
figure of douce Davie Deans, ' and lets the wind out o' tliem, like a
cow bursten wi' clover,' we must be prepared to hoar many an
unsavoury report,'' The "Jag" came in 1834. The effect of these
misrepresentations was such, that on an appeal made to England for
relief of the sufferers by the invasion, Mr. Borradaile, the Chairman of
the Cape of Good Hope Trade Society, in a letter dated 26th Nov..
1835, said, " that the Committee, with every inclination on its part,
thought an appeal to the public, under existing circumstances, would
prove a failure."

■■'• After the war of 1835, Tzatzoe was taken by Dr. Philip, Agent of
the London Missionary Society, to England, " where he was passed
off as an important Chief, and encouraged to make statements regard-
ing grievances and oppressions towards his tribe and nation, which
grievances did not exist." — Vide Compendium of Kafir Laws, Customs,
<(V., compiled by direction of Col. Maclean, C.B., Chief Commissioner
of British Kaffraria, from information supplied by Rev. H. Dugmore,
Mr. Warner, Mr. Brownlee, &c, published 1858. Of Jan Tzatzoe's
abduction by the Missionaries, or as the writer calls them, " clerical
showmen," an amusing account will be found in Lieut.-Col. Napier's
Excursions in Southern Africa, vol. i., p. 3^y.

The Colonists Slandered at Home. 335

as a powerful Chief (really with only 197 men), and a
Hottentot named Andreas Sfcoffels, of Kat Paver, were
clandestinely spirited away from the Frontier, and with
two teachers from that locality, named Eeed, were ex-
amined before a Select Committee of the House of
Commons appointed in July, 1835, for the purpose of
" considering what measures ought to be adopted with
regard to the native inhabitants of countries where
British Settlements are made." This Committee was
composed of honourable and religious men, taking a
deep interest in the welfare and just treatment of the
coloured races. Among them were Mr. (afterwards Sir)
Fowell Buxton, Messrs. Hawes, C. Lushington, Pease,
Barnes, Sir G. Grey, Colonel Thompson, &c. Before this
august body, the Kafir and Hottentot, tricked out for the
nonce in all the finery of broad cloth and gold lace, gave
evidence the most blasting to the Colony, in which they
were supported by their leaders.

The Secretary for the Colonies, Lord Glenelg — a
nobleman of unimpeachable honesty, but with extreme
sensitiveness to anything like oppression, and belong-
ing to that amiable party known as the "Clapham
Sect" — unfortunately listened to unscrupulous statements,
"brought," as he admits, "under his inspection by the
voluntary zeal of various individuals, who from many
different motives interest themselves in the discussion;"
and although acknowledging "the disadvantage of repos-
ing his judgment on materials of this nature," says,
"he cannot give the proof of the facts upon which he
comes to a conclusion, because it would involve the
necessity of discussing the credibility of the witnesses,
and might violate confidence."

To neutralize the policy of Sir Benjamin D'Urban,
Lord Glenelg, the Colonial Secretary, sent back to the
Colony the late Commissioner-General of the Border,
Captain Stockenstrom, who from some inexplicable, or
perhaps explicable, causes had suddenly fallen into the
extreme views of that statesman, and he was accordingly
appointed Lieutenant-Governor. This gentleman arrived

336 Annals of the Cape Colony.

on the 1st of August, when he had an interview with the
Governor at Cape Town, who made known to him every
particular regarding his newly-introduced system, and
Capt. Stockenstrom departed for the Frontier, leaving an
impression on His Excellency's mind, and those who were
made acquainted with the nature of the meeting, that the
Glenelg experiment would not at once be carried out to
its full ruinous extent. On the 2nd of September, Capt.
Stockenstrom visited Uitenhage, where he received some
of the Dutch farmers, who contemplated expatriation as
a dire necessity, should reversal take place : but,
apprehensive there might be some legal obstacles to their
leaving, they opened a communication with him, when he
assured them there existed no such impediment, and this
announcement, with the tone of his reply, gave a fresh
spur to the meditated movement.

The news of Captain Stockenstrom's appointment had
already created great anxiet}*- and misgivings in the
District of Albany, the most exposed to the barbarians.
It had come to the knowledge of the inhabitants, through
friends at home, who, on their part, had "watched pro-
ceedings" in the Committee on Aborigines and elsewhere,
that he had given evidence against themselves and the
Colonists generally. They therefore, previous to his
arrival, petitioned that before he entered upon the duties
of his office, the appointment should be suspended until
a full and rigid inquiry be instituted on the spot upon
the subject of the charges made by him,* and which they
had before demanded, on hearing from England that
deliberate misstatements had there been made by other
parties.

Upon his arrival in Graham's Town, on the 3rd September,
the copy of an address, signed by 412 of the inhabitants,

* Vide Capt. Stockenstrom's evidence before Aborigines Committee,
21st August, 1835, No. 1092*3*4, to which may be added his opinion
of the " Frontier farmers, who have gone into Kafirland pretending to
have lost cattle, and taken cattle from Kafirs : lose cattle intentionally ;
make fraudulent representations of their losses. Military force of no
use but to those parties who wish to plunder the Kafirs of their cattle."

Address to Sir A. Stoclicnstrom. 337

was sent to him, requesting to know when he would
receive it. This paper referred, inter alia, to the evidence
reported to have been given by hiin before the Committee,
particularly that "they" (the Settlers) "had often, very
often, served on commandos,"* a species of military-civil
force used against Kafir depredators, and which it had
been falsely alleged had caused the late irruption ; and
they boldly, but in respectful terms, asked him " whether

* Commandos. — What is a commando? Lord Stanley, in a despatch,
dated 13th November, 1833, says they have been represented to him
" as a system of military execution inflicted upon the natives, some-
times to prevent or to punish their hostile incursions into the territory
wrested from them by the European Settlers, but more frequently as a
means of gratifying the cupidity or vengeance of the Dutch or English
fanners ; and, further, as being marked by the most atrocious disregard
of human life."

"It affords tempations to bad Colonists to enrich themselves." "The
property of the Kafirs is placed in the power of any avaricious and
unprincipled white man in their neighbourhood." " Some of the men
who have complained most loudly of the depredations of the Kafirs
upon their property, and who have been most frequently engaged in
commandos to recover stolen cattle, are said to be men who have
risen most rapidly from comparative poverty to wealth." (Rev. Dr.
Philip, 13th March, 1834. — Vide Appendix, p. 037, to Evidence before
Aborigines Committee, 15th June, 1836.)

In a letter hi my possession, from Colonel Somerset, dated the 3rd
June, 1836, he enumerates all the commandos which took place from
1820 to 1835 :— 1. December, 1823, one to Macomo's kraal, to recover
900 cattle taken from the farmers of Baviaan's River, Macomo having
threatened, to revenge any attempt to retake them, he would murder
women and children ; 2. November, 1825, on Noacha's and Seko's
kraals, which case was brought to the notice of the Commissioners of
Inquiry, who justified the measure ; 3. In 1828, to protect Hintza and
others from the Fetcani or Mantatees ; and 4. One in 1830, to recover
stolen horses and cattle, which was undertaken under the inspection of
the Commissioner-General, Captain Stockenstrom. — J. C. C.

How unfounded were the charges generally made against the Govern-
ment and Colonists of disregarding the interests of the Kafirs, may be
seen in the record of a case brought before the Court of Circuit, where
Tyali, a Chief, the son of Gaika, accused a Dutch farmer, named Nel,
of retaining unjustly some cattle. This was hi 1831, the year before
the invasion. It was tried, at the express desire of the Government, by
a British Judge. Tyali was non-suited; but, nevertheless, the costs
were defrayed by the Colonial Exchequer.

Z

338 Annals of the Gape Colony.

their conduct had justified that inroad, and whether they
had ever acted unworthy the British name and character."
This address, in a letter of the same date, but only
received on the 4th, he declined to receive ; when on
the 6th, the largest public meeting ever assembled in
Graham's Town met, and it was " Kesolved, that the
rejection of the address was at variance with the spirit
of the British Constitution, and degrading to a community
of free and loyal British subjects ; that the meeting
unequivocally denies the fact, as stated by Capt. Stocken-
strom before the Aborigines Committee of the House of
Commons, that the British Settlers* of Albany have been
'often, or very often,' on commandos, or in any way
participated in those ' atrocities ' he has described as
being of frequent occurrence ; and that they await the
inquiry they have applied for."t And thus, by refusal of
explanation, a lamentable quarrel between the Lieutenant-
Governor and the Borderers, English and Dutch, was
established, ceasing only upon that gentleman's removal
from office in 1839.

Early in October, the Lieutenant-Governor commenced
the work of demolition of the D'Urban System by direc-
tions to Colonel Somerset ; and on the 5th December
completed his destructive task by restoring to the
barbarian invaders not only the country forfeited in a
just war, but even surrendering the territory between
the Great Fish and Kieskamma Bivers ceded by Gaika to
the Colony in 1819, thus bringing the ever-predatory
enemy into the dangerous lurking places of that immense
jungle, I with only the narrow stream between them and

:;: The Settlors were expressly exempted from serving on commandos.

f Another matter of lesser import, but what had the semblance of
gratuitous insult, was the device adopted for his official seal, brought
out by the Lieutenant-Governor. It represents a poor, industrious
Settler, peaceably busied with his plough, tilling the ground. This is
made the background. In front is a Kafir, in war costume and crane
feather, with an assagai struck against the British escutcheon, " pride
iu his step, defiance in his eye."

* Major Charters, Military Secretary to Sir G. Napier, thus des-
cribes this boundary: — 'The 1I:;0 of frontier is all iu favour of the

Stockcnstrom's Native Policy. 339

the desolated Albany District ; in fact, not more than
twenty miles from the principal town of the Frontier,
Graham's Town. He entered, besides, into treaties* with
the faithless Kafir Chiefs ; absolved their people from
their late sworn allegiance, without having, as he was
bound to do, "first framed and prepared these treaties,
giving due notice to all parties concerned;" that is, to
the Governor in Council, as directed by the Secretary of
State's instructions of the 26th December, 1835, and 5th
February, 1836. Previous to this reckless act, Colonel
Smith, ina despatch (20th October, 1836) to Sir Benjamin
D'Urban, giving an account of his administration of the
Province of Adelaide, states that during its continuance
there had only been seventy-three acts of depredation ;
that the greater part of the cattle stolen had been
recovered ; the thieves punished ; that robberies had
commenced immediately the rumours of the reversal
became public ;" and predicting, with fatal foresight, the
ruinous consequence of that measure ; adding, " but if
the system established by His Excellency Sir B. D'Urban be
•pursued towards them — strenuously, decidedly, and uncompro-
misingly pursued — these barbarians, or their posterity, will
have just cause to bless the day they were received as British
subjects." \

Kafirs ; a deuse jungle, the medium breadth of which is about five
miles, torn and intersected by deep ravines, a great part impenetrable
except to Kafirs and wild beasts, occupies about one hundred miles of
frontier, following the sinuosities, of the Great Fish River. The
whole British Army would be insufficient to guard it."

* " These treaties, based on the principle that the Colonists had
been the aggressors, were thus far objectionable ; but there were
difficulties in many other points, and especially as they placed the
property of the Colonists beyond the pale of legal protection ; inter-
posing restrictions in the pursuit of cattle, or restitution when found
in Kafirland ; and by making certain thefts irreclaimable, legalized
robbery." — Vide Boyce's Notes on South African Affairs.

f The D'Urban policy lasted for fifteen months, during which period
Kafir depredations almost entirely ceased ; the cruel punishment for
the reputed crime of witchcraft and other heathen superstitions were
abrogated ; the purchase of wives — the fertile cause of robbery from
the colonists — forbidden ; the Kafir people were relieved from the gross

z 2

340 Annals of the Cape Colony.

Under the influence of the Anti-Colonial party, another
affront was perpetrated upon the sensibilities of the
inhabitants. Lord Glenelg now (3rd February) ordered
a Court of Inquiry to investigate and report upon the
matter of the " Death of Hintza," which had covertly been
represented to the Colonial Secretary, by a mischievous
Colonist, as a gratuitous cruelty, inasmuch as it was
alleged that that Chief had supplicated for mercy before
he was shot; and the Quarterly Review of the period,
itself misled, had designated the act as a " Horrid
Murder." Before this tribunal, held at Fort Willshire
in the months of August and September, Colonel Smith,
the Commandant of the Province of Adelaide, was actually
tried, when all the several accusations were disproved,
and, of course, that gallant officer most honourably
acquitted. The act attempted to be tortured into one
of unnecessary cruelty was completely justified ; the
investigation, however, leaving an indelible stain upon
all its promoters. Lord Glenelg — to his credit it must
be recorded — subsequently admitted " that Hintza had
been engaged in a secret conspiracy with the authors
of the war, and was availing himself of such advantages
as it offered him, and on himself, therefore, rests the
responsibility for the calamity in which he and his people
were involved."

This discreditable investigation was not, however, suffi-
cient to assuage the clamour of the British philanthropists,
so dishonestly evoked. On the 13th of August, in one
of the thinnest Houses of the Session, the Commons
passed "An Act," which became law, " for the prevention
and punishment of offences committed by His Majesty's
subjects within certain Territories adjacent to the Colony
of the Cape of Good Hope ;" which additional insult
was intended for a slur upon the Colonists, and was
called, par excellence, " The Cape of Good Hope Punish-
ment Bill."

oppression of the native Chiefs ; and both Colonists and Kafirs were
happy and contented with the present peace, and its prospects for the
future.

Results of the Glenclg Experiment, $41

It was not, howeverj without early and fair warning
from the Governor, still the paramount authority, that
the Lieutenant-Governor acted in the precipitate manner
he did. He was cautioned that he was doing so on his
own responsibility, but this had no effect ; and having
now committed the Colony to the Glenelg " experiment"
beyond redemption, Sir B. D'Urban had no alternative,
but to reluctantly acquiesce, as he said, " for fear of fresh
complications and the renewal of hostilities." On the
2nd February, therefore, he renounced the allegiance of
the Kafirs and the retention of the " Province of Queen
Adelaide ;" and, being recommended by the Executive
Council, after long deliberation with himself, ratified the
dangerous treaties of the 5th December. In doing this,
the Governor placed upon the Eecord of the Council
copious observations on those engagements, which he
transmitted to the Secretary of State in his despatch of
the 24th June. In these he stated he could not acknow-
ledge the soundness of the principles on which they were
grounded; did not approve of their provisions, as compre-
hending those securities he regarded as indispensable,
viz., the safety and protection of the Missionaries, traders,
the Fingoes, the tribe of Ainagonaquabi, which had been
faithful, and the integrity of the Border ; and that he
anticipated no beneficial results from their operation."*

In concluding the narrative of this eventful year, it
must not be forgotten to record the enactment of a most
important Ordinance (No. 9), for creating Municipalities,
another step towards the more perfect Anglicisation of
the Cape of Good Hope.

1837. — On the 1st of May, Lord Glenelg, in reply to
Sir Benjamin's despatch of the 2nd June, 183G, informs

* In a MS. copy kept by this good man (the original of which I was
favoured with the perusal) who had the interests of the Colony so much
at heart, and narrowly watched them while he remained in the Colony,
I find notes as to the progressive working of the new system, from
1837 to August, 1842, showing how depredations had increased, how
aggravated the sense of insecurity had become, how the migration
of the Dutch farmers increased, and how the Fingoes were sacrificed —
in fine, how completely his predictions had been fulfilled. — J. C. C.

342 Annals of the Cape Colony.

him of the incompatibility of their continuing to work
together — in fact, dismissed the veteran soldier of
Waterloo and a hundred fights — and adds this fearful
sentence, emphatically: — "You announce to me the aban-
donment of the Province of Adelaide, and cast on me
the responsibility of all the consequent disasters you
predict. I confess my anticipations to be different from
those which you have formed. I am perfectly ready to

TAKE UPON MYSELF THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE RESPONSIBILITY

on this occasion." A terrible guarantee, when the horrible
loss of life and property during the continuance of the
experiment, and its natural results, the subsequent wars
of 184G and 1850, are taken into account !

The meeting of the Lieutenant-Governor and the Dutch
farmers at Uitenhage, in 1836, has already been alluded
to. He now unfortunately got involved in a querrulous
and undignified discussion with one of his Dutch Field-
cornets, the unfortunate Pieter Pietief,* whose offence
was, that he had officially forwarded an address from the
inhabitants of the Yunterberg District, in which allusions
were made to the slanderous attacks upon the Colonial
character and the dangerous state of the Border. This
address he refused to receive, and threatened the Field-
cornet with dismissal, who replied, that if protection is
not afforded to stop the ruin of the country, the abandon-
ment of that part of the Colony will be the consequence ;
and as no heed was taken of this warning, this influential
officer and good citizen, with a number of his countrymen,
migrated beyond the northern boundary, leaving behind
him a " manifesto," containing a statement of the reasons
forcing them from the land of their birth, namely,
" Unrestrained vagrancy ; pecuniary losses sustained by
the slave emancipation ; wholesale plunder by Kafirs and
Hottentots, desolating and ruining the Frontier divisions ;
and the unjustifiable odium east upon the inhabitants

* Subsequently murdered at Natal, with his party of seventy farmers
and thirty attendants, by the Zulu Cliief Dingaan, on the Cth Feb.,
1837. — Vide Chase's Natal, a reprint, Part 2nd, page 2, and Rev. Mr.
Gardiner s Narrative.

Emigration from the Golowy, 343

by interested persons, whose testimony is believed in
England, to the exclusion of all evidence in their favour."
The mania for emigration, now that it had procured a
recognized and influential leader, swelled into a torrent.
Eetief was followed by a large body of wealthy and intel-
ligent farmers, and in the end no less than six thousand —
many in the vale of years — expatriated themselves, of
whose condition an interesting account by a disinterested
witness may be found in Captain Harris's Narrative of
an Expedition Into South Africa in 188G-7.

The friends of the Lieutenant -Governor now trumpeted
the Glenelg System as "a great success," gravely assured
the world that " we had seen the last of our Kafir wars,"
and that " the Colonial Frontier is perfectly quiet."
Notwithstanding this empty boast, robbery was rife ; the
Fingoes — to whom the Lieutenant-Governor had taken
a rooted dislike, some of whom he had removed, and
intended to do so with the remainder, from the fertile
border to the Zitzikamma Forest lands, one of the poorest
parts within the Colony* — were, in August of this year,
attacked, near Fort Peddie, by Seyolo, a turbulent Kafir
Chief of the T'Slambie clan, who plundered them of
500 head of cattle, and in presence of an agent of
the Government stabbed a Fingo Chief, slaughtered ten
of his people, and murdered a British non-commissioned
officer. This public outrage had been preceded by several
instances of ill-usage, the blame of which was attempted
to be shifted on the sufferers ; but after the small repara-
tion of seventy-four cattle had been wheedled out of the
real aggressors, the matter was quietly hushed up, to
bolster "the 'great experiment." t

Another instance of the operation of the new system
was the case of Mr. Robert Hart, of Glen Avon, Somerset,

* Governor Sir G. Napier, in his speech to Council, 10th December,
1838, says they were reduced to considerable distress in consequence
of the unfitness of the country for the grazing of cattle during parts
of the year.

f See Boyce's Notes on South African Affairs, from 1834 to 1838,
page 99.

844 Annals of the Gape Colony.

a personal friend of the Lieutenant-Governor, and one
of the largest farmers on the Frontier. This gentleman
had been plundered of more than 200 head of fine
Bastard Fatherland cattle. These were traced to the
Eiver Kei, among the Kafirs of the Chief Tyali, who, as
some twenty or thirty had been seen there, were returned;
but no fine was levied, or any assistance given for the
recovery of the remainder, although Mr. Hart undertook
to point out in certain Kafir kraals the identical stolen
stock ; and on an appeal home, he was informed in a
despatch (7th March, 1839), " it was not in the power
of Government to grant him any redress."*

The Tambookies, too, formerly a quiet Kafir tribe,
emboldened by such and similar acts of laxity, and the
rewards bestowed upon the late invaders, now traversed
the Colony in armed bodies, unchecked ; and neither the
lives, the property of the Colonists, nor the sacredness of
its soil, was respected by the barbarian or protected by
the Frontier Government, whose object was to cry " Peace,
peace, when there was no peace."

These events were not looked upon with apathy by
the inhabitants of the Border. In October, 1837, the
Albanians, in an address to the Queen on her accession,
took the opportunity to bring to her notice the evils
accruing from the subversion of the benevolent measures
of the D'Urban policy ; the fearful increase of emigration,
in consequence of the insecurity of life and property ; and
soliciting for mere justice, and a "rigid inquiry" into
their grievances. But of what avail could these appeals
be, opposed as they were by the assailants of the Colonial
character then in England, and assisted by a few within
the Colony ; who, parading their proteges — or, as they
were called, Christian trophies — Tzatzoe and Stoffels, at
Exeter Hall, at numerous chapels in all parts of Britain,
at public meetings held at Manchester, Birmingham,

* Some of these cattle were seen in the kraals of two of Tyali's
Councillors, but they were refused to be given up to Mr. Hart's son,
who was threatened with violence. It seems they had been "honestly
ttolen," according to the Glenelg Treaties.

Jan Tzatzoe and Stqfels on Shoiv. 345

Sheffield, Liverpool, and other large manufacturing towns,
prompted them to utter charges of dire oppression and
grievous wrongs suffered by them at the hands of the
Colonists — not forgetting, however, to expatiate before
their audiences at the last-named places upon the inti-
mate connection between the propagation of Christianity
and the market for calicoes. The impression thus likely
to be made, and how it was made, on the kind hearts and
sympathies of British philanthropists, may be fancied
from reference to many of the local periodicals of the day,
especially from the Christian Advocate of the 31st October :
— " Not only has the Hottentot (Stoffels) ; and his com-
panion, the Kafir Chief (Jan Tzatzoe), been feted by
the most respectable Dissenters, but, to use the words
of the Kafir, ' In the Palace the King's grand-children
have taken me by the hand — me, who am a black man —
and they not only shook hands with me, but they gave
me money, and said, that is for your infant schools.' "
Such industrious obtrusion could, of course, only tend to
deaden all commiseration of Englishmen for the sufferings
of their traduced countrymen in South Africa.

SECTION VII.
administration of Oobetnor Sir ©rorgc Stomas Napier,

From January 22, 1838, to December 19, 1843.

1838 — Arrival of Governor — He decides to uphold the Glenelg System — Mutiny
in Cape Corps — Officer murdered — Kafir Conspiracy — Working of the Glenelg
System — Lieutenant-Governor Stoekenstroni leaves Colony — His valedictory
address to Natives — Trial, Stockenstrom versus Camphell — British Settlers' Petition
laid before Imperial Parliament — Inquiry refused — Prince of Orange at the Cape
— Addresses to Sir B. D' Urban on his retirement — Final Abolition of Slavery at
the Cape. 1839 — Commando System revived — Lord Glenelg resigns — Lieutenant-
Governor Stockenstrom removed — Education. 1840 — Colonel Hare, Lieutenant-
Governor, remonstrances against the Treaties — Governor Napier visits the Border
— Changes his opinion about the Treaties — Meet3 Kafirs — Exonerates Colonists
from blame — Condemns the Kafirs — Treaties amended — Throws the blame of the
War of 1834-5 on the Kafirs, as it was caused by their stealing— First Bridge
built in the Eastern Province.

1838. — January hailed the advent of a new Governor for
the Cape in the person of Sir George Napier, and it was
hoped almost against hope he might bring with him some
relief and relaxation of the new system now becoming
insufferable. The Frontier public was soon undeceived.
In reply to an address presented to him from the people
of Port Elizabeth on the 3rd April, couched in respectful
but decided language as to the state of the country, he
thus made known his opinions : — " Now, gentlemen, I as
decidedly tell you that I accepted the Government of this
Colony in the conviction that the former system as
regarded our Kafir neighbours was erroneous, and I came
out here agreeing in and determined to support the
system of policy pursued by the Lieutenant-Governor of
these districts, in accordance with the instructions which
His Honour and myself have received from Her Majesty's
Secretary of State. To that opinion and in that determi-
nation I still adhere." At Graham's Town he expressed
similar sentiments, adding he " believed the system had

Mut I Hi) In the Cape Corps. 347

worked most admirably, and that it requires no alteration."
" I have determined to support His Honour's measures
with all my power."*

Previous to His Excellency's arrival on the Frontier, an
event had taken place sufficient to shake his sense of
security. On the 19th of February a body of the Cape
Corps, instigated hy the Kafir Chiefs Kreli, Umkye,
Umhala, and others, had concerted a regular plot for an
extensive invasion of the Colony, in which they promised
to assist; but the Cape Corps conspirators being thwarted
in their object through some contretemps, a body of them
went to a place called Frazer's Camp, deliberately shot
their own officer, Ensign Crowe, of the Cape Mounted
Rifles, while in company with three others, mistaking him
for another one present whom they had decided to des-
troy. The principals in this brutal murder were appre-
hended, tried, condemned, confessing their guilt and
complicity in the Kafir conspiracy; and on the 14th April,
two of them were executed in the presence of the Governor,
who admitted the mutiny had extended much farther than
he could have supposed, and that the mutineers had
urged no grievances, and, on the contrary, had been well-
treated.

After this, His Excellency held a meeting with the
Kafirs, when the Lieutenant-Governor declared, to the
astonishment of the Colonists, " the new treaties had not
been broken on either side," but, at the same time, most
strangely added that " the Kafirs had greatly committed
themselves by attacking the Fingoes." How the last facts,
the continued depredations, and the late projected
invasion, bore out His Honour's statement regarding no
infraction of treaty, was, at the least, questionable. Two
other awkward circumstances occurred during the year,
indicative of the futility of the Glenelg policy — the
gross ill-treatment by the Chief Macomo of one "W.

* Eighteen months after this, the Governor, as will hereafter be
seen, entirely altered his opinion, vide his reply to another address
from Port Elizabeth in October, 1839.

348 Annals of the Cape Colony.

Carpenter, and the murder of a trader, Charles Bezant,
and the plunder of his shop, which did not afford much
promise of stability to the he-praised " experiment." The
Governor himself, too, did not appear to be quite so well
satisfied with the Kafir Chiefs; for at the interview he told
them if they did not abstain from their thefts, he would
drive them over the Bashee.

At the commencement of this year Lieut.-Governor
Stockenstrom, through the influence of bad advisers,
thought fit to institute an action against the Civil Com-
missioner of Albany, Captain Campbell, whom he very
injudiciously taxed with "conspiracy against his life and
honour." In this he was most signally defeated at a trial
held before a full Bench of Judges at Cape Town on the
28th February, which greatly disturbed the prestige of
his reign, and some months after he left the scene of his
misrule on a visit to England. In taking leave of the
Kafirs and Hottentots on the Border he thus memorably
replied on the 1st September to an address from his pet
Settlement, the Kat Eiver : — " I may here repeat what I
said to the Kafir Chiefs at parting — If ever now after the
system established and the selection of the men to
administer it you prove restless and turbulent, your
friends in England will have every reason to decide that
you were in the wrong throughout. This may be my last
legacy."* These valedictory words are especially valuable,
connected as they are with the wars of 1846 and 1850
and the rebellion of these very people in the latter year.

The repeated complaints to the Home Government from
the Border Colonists, neglected as they had been, now
found their way into the Imperial Parliament. On the
10th July Mr. Gladstone called the attention of the
Commons to a petition from Albany, and he brought the
whole subject before the House — the breach of faith on the
part of Government, the late sacrifice of Colonial territory
to the enemy, the robberies and losses sustained in a late

* Referring to the returns during His Honour's administration,
we find cattle, 4,244— horses, 868, stolen ; murders committed, 24.

Visit of the Prince of Orange. 349

fatal collision, the abandonment of the Frontier by the
Dutch farmers, the perilous and unsafe position of the
Eastern borders — and then he moved for a Commission of
Inquiry into the past and present state of our relations
with the Kafir tribes. Sir G. C. Grey opposed this simple
request for giving credit to the slanders against the
Colonists so industriously circulated by the agents of the
London Missionary Society and their allies. He considered
himself "justified in asserting there had been a series of
continual aggressions by the British Settlers on the Kafirs,
which were disgraceful to the British name; that the
application came from persons who had placed themselves
in trouble and peril by means of their 'aggressions ;" and
these cruelly unjust and utterly untrue denunciations
being uncontradicted, the sufferers having no representa-
tive in Parliament, were acquiesced in. Their prayer for
investigation into their allegations was refused by a
majority of nine votes out of seventy-three members
then present.*

On the 10th December, the Governor having reassembled
the Legislative Council at Cape Town, in an elaborate
speech set forth his impressions as to the state of the
country which he had so lately visited, smoothing down
most of the awkward portions regarding the working
of the system he had come out sworn to administer,
but not without evident misgivings and some suppressions
of his real sentiments, which within a very short period
he felt bound to confess.

An event of deep interest, especially to the Dutch
Colonists of the Colony, occurred early in this year (May)
— the visit of the Prince of Orange to Cape Town, where
he was naturally received by all classes of the community
with great respect and rejoicing ; and every honour was
paid to so illustrious a guest, befitting his high station
and his relation to a dependency so lately an appanage
to his country's Crown.

Another circumstance must not remain unrecorded, and

* Vide the Timet and Morning Herald, newspapers of the period.

350 Annals of the Cape Colony.

that is the presentation of addresses to the late Governor,
the beloved Sir Benjamin D'Urban, upon his retirement
from office. It is impossible to give these tokens of
affection and gratitude in cxtenso, but they may be com-
pressed within shorter limits. The event is declared as
one decidedly inimical to the well-being of the Colony,
but in accordance with the many adverse results conse-
quent on a new system, which is not founded in truth ;*
unfeigned sorrow at being deprived of the humane, kind
paternal protection, during the late disastrous and unpro-
voked war; regret that his measures have not been allowed
to ripen into maturity, as they would eventually have
promoted the civilization of the savages and the peace of
the Frontier; for his exertions to counteract the glaringly
false impressions of character attempted, from the worst
motives, to be attached to the Colonists.! "Deploring the
event as a public misfortune, we feel you have an especial
claim on our fervent esteem and gratitude, as the defender
of our hearths against a barbarous and restless enemy;
as the steady asserter of our claims to the consideration
of the British Government ; and the foe of calumniators." i
That Sir B. D'Urban has not been treated with that justice
his active exertions for the best interests of the Colony,
and the civilization of the Kafir tribes, entitle him, and
that had his treaties of the 17th September, 1835, been
maintained, the happiest results would have followed. §
Similar sentiments were also expressed in an address from
the leading members of society at Cape Town, members
of Council, merchants, the Bench, the Bar, and in short
from the whole metropolis, accompanied by a more solid
description of gratitude — the presentation of several pieces
of plate, "asa testimonial of their respect for his person,
and of the high sense they entertain of his merits and
services during his administration as Governor of the
Colony of the Cape of Good Hope."

Such were the unsought tributes of affection to an officer
the Colony was never destined to see again — a fallen

* From Uiienhage, | Graaff-Reinet, f Albany, § Port Elizabeth.

Extinction of Slavery at the Gape. 351

Governor, no longer the disposer of place and patronage ;
a man victimized to support a philanthropic Eidolon.

The last matter worthy notice, and closing this eventful
year, was the final extinction of slavery at the Cape, which
took place on the 1st of December. The abolition was
proclaimed in 1834, from which period the slaves were
indentured for four years, thus exchanging the eternally-
odious name for that of apprentice. No greater credit
has ever been assumed by the philanthropists for England
than for this act of humanity, but no greater injury was
ever inflicted upon the inhabitants of the Cape than by
the manner in which it was effected. It is true that the
munificent sum of twenty millions sterling was granted for
a measure noble in itself and worthy all praise, but with
it was a pledge that a just and equitable amount would be
awarded to each proprietor. A fair and correct appraise-
ment was made of the 35,745 slaves, for which £3,000,000
ought to have been forthcoming; but the average valuation
of £85 per head was reduced in England to £33 12s. ; so
that, instead of receiving £3,000,000, the Colony got
only £1,200,000. To add to the injustice of the act, the
money, instead of being receivable in the Colony, through
the Colonial Government, was made payable in London,
by which a farther reduction was imposed by the necessity
of employing agents. Many families were ruined by these
deductions. Several sold their claims in the Colony at a
discount of 25 to 30 per cent., and some rejected the
paltry sum awarded to them altogether. Time, it is hoped,
has blunted the sense of this manifest wrong, which, with
the insane native policy introduced to supersede that of
Governor D'Urban, drove its victims to migrate beyond
the Trans-Gariep and to Natal.

1839. — This year opened with no brighter prospects than
the preceding ones since 183G. Already had disputes
arisen between the Chief Eno and the Amagonaquabie
tribe, when Pato, our ally during the recent Avar, was
threatened by the Gaikas. Kafirs waylaid travellers within
the Colony ; an officer of the 75th Eegiment, Captain
McLean, was attempted to be assassinated at the Kat

352 Annals of the Capo Colony.

Eiver ; while robberies continued incessant. Macorno,
with a large body of armed followers, traversed the British
territory, and afterwards endeavoured to excite the other
Chiefs to attack the Colony. The reviled Commando System
was obliged to be revived, contrary to the express condition
of an article in the treaties, and war was directed
against the Tambookies over the Zwart Kei, without first
declaration — a people who, unlike the Kafirs, had never
hitherto been troublesome, or accused the whites with acts
of oppression, but now, finding the other tribes could assail
the Colonists with impunity, and were even justified for
their misdeeds, began a regular system of plunder. On
this occasion they were punished by the capture of some
500 cattle and one man shot ; but strong doubts were
afterwards entertained whether the raid for which they
suffered had not been committed by the people of Tyali
and Macomo, who had crossed their territory to fix the
guilt upon their neighbours and thus elude detection. To
sum up the depredations the Borderers suffered from the
Kafirs, which the returns distinguished under the heads of
Reclaimable and Unreclaimable (i. c, legitimized theft),
there were 320 separate cases, in which were carried off 540
horses and 1,285 cattle — with four attempts at murder, and
one consummated. How far these outrages were justi-
fiable will appear from the statement made by the
Governor in Council, that " there had been only one act
of aggression by a Colonist, and that of no importance."

By the 8th of February, the real author of these disasters
no longer directed the affairs of the British Colonies.
Lord Glenelg resigned that day, it was said through
political intrigue ; and on the 31st August following,
Captain Stockenstrom, his protege, then in Europe,
received a communication from the Marquis of Normanby,
it was stated, on the representation of his friend and
patron, Sir George Napier, saying, "I have felt it my duty
to submit to the Queen that it is not expedient that you
should resume the government of the Eastern Districts of
that Colony. I consider that retirement to have been
rendered inevitable by the feelings of distrust and alien-

FurtJier Effects of the Glonelg System. 353

ation towards you, which, as I learn from the Governor
of the Cape of Good Hope, have unhappily taken such
deep root in the minds of a large proportion of the
Colonists as to deprive your services in that quarter of
the value which otherwise would belong to them ; and as
even to convert exertions, in themselves most meritorious,
into sources of discontent and disaffection to the Govern-
ment." The terms of this dismissal appear somewhat
novel; for although Governors have no doubt been
removed for other reasons, it is somewhat singular that
unpopularity should be publicly avowed as the cause of
removal, and perhaps not always politically prudent to
state it as a reason.

The fall of this gentleman, although merited, was to be
regretted ; as his natural talent, self-improved by study
and intercourse with Europeans, whose company he
greatly cultivated, his intimacy with Colonial affairs,
especially those of the borders, his general kindness of
disposition, his hospitality, and the possession of many
other amiable qualities, would have rendered him of great
service to his co-Colonists, had he not identified himself,
in an evil hour of no common temptation, with their
detractors. Ambitious, proud, and unyielding, assailed,
it must be confessed, too, by a bait, glittering — irresistible,
he took the seals of office with conditions he should have
spurned; and afterwards, under bad advisers and ques-
tionable friends, he disdained to conciliate when he might
have done so. The reward was a brief, uneasy, and
tempestuous administration, a barren baronetcy, and a
life pension he was unfortunately not destined long to
enjoy. Never in this Colony has fallen a. man who could
have achieved more good for his native land than himself;
but unhappily he missed his way. Requiescat in pace.

Unluckily for the tranquillity of the Border, the baneful
system survived the ruin of its authors ; but its evils
became so intolerable* that, as we shall see, important

* In August, the Secretary of the absent Lieutenant-Governor, Mr.
Hudson, in reply to some gentlemen who waited upon him to represent
the condition of the country, admitted that "it is not to be concealed

2 A

354 Annals of the Cape Colony.

alterations were obliged to be made in its most vexatious
provisions.

The other matters coming under notice this year may
be shortly named : the appointment of a Superintendent-
General of Education, in the person of Dr. Innes — most
unwisely burdened with duties it was impossible to fulfil,
considering the vast extent of the Colony, for the physical
energies of a single individual, with justice to himself and
the system; another, the commencement of a landing-
jetty at Port Elizabeth by the inhabitants themselves;
the creation of a Municipal Board for Cape Town and
its vicinage ; and the introduction of a new system of
police.

1840. — The chief interest of the Colonial Annals con-
tinue to be almost entirely absorbed by the Eastern
Province, and that principally confined to the great ques-
tion of " our Native Pielations." Col. Hare, C.B., second
in command, succeeded the late Lieut. -Governor, and to a
system which was most difficult to manage, and he not
exactly fitted for the arduous task. He met the Kafir
Chiefs at Fort Beaufort at the close of the preceding year,
and was treated by them with unresented insolence and
audacity. The result had, as might have been predicted,
no effect on the thievish disposition of the barbarians,
and cases of murder and assault still held their way un-
redressed. Eemonstrances continued to be poured into
the ear of authority against these outrages, and especially
that part of the mischievous treaties which requires that
stolen cattle shall be traced to the boundary before com-
pensation could be legally demanded, which in the
majority of cases was found impossible when the robbers
took advantage of rainy weather for their visits, and in
dry, burning the grass so as to obliterate the spoor or
trace. At last these inroads became so frequent and

that Kafir robberies are greatly on the increase ; they were more
extended and more audacious than before. The new system was only
an experiment, and it had not answered. Captain Stoclcenstrom might
soon be expected, most likely with instructions to remedy this state of
affairs."

Sir George Napier on the Frontier. 355

harassing that the Governor was obliged once more to
visit the scene of their occurrence, and leave the luxu-
ries of Government-house behind for a tedious journey,
much discomfort, and useless palaver.

On his road to the Frontier, and while he was at Uiten-
hage, His Excellency was addressed by the inhabitants of
Port Elizabeth, who, it will be remembered, on a former
occasion had been repulsed in a discourteous manner— in
fact snubbed, because they denounced the existing treaties
as replete with evil and ruining their portion of the
Colony. Undeterred by the rebuff then received, they
again, on the 26th September, ventured to approach the
Governor on the same subject and almost in the very
words they had before employed, when, to the perfect
astonishment of the deputation,* not only was their
reception most bland and reassuring, but elicited from His
Excellency the frank confession that "some of the pro-
visions of the treaties regarding stolen cattle found and
identified in Kafirland should be considered irreclaim-
able, are calculated to shock our natural sense of justice
and to be unsupported by any consideration of sound
policy ;" and thus was struck the first blow at that hydra-
headed monster, the disgraceful Glenelg System.t

* On the former occasion (3rd April, 1838) some of His Excellency's
aristocratic suite, of course aware of his then proclivities, sneered at
the deputation and their employers as " tinkers and dealers in soap."

f To the honour of Sir George Napier, who came to the Colony (like
many other Governors) with strong feelings against the people he was
called upon to rule over, it is but fair also to state that after his return
to England he honestly admitted he had changed his opinions both as
regarded the inhabitants and the policy he had been selected to assist
in subverting. Judge Cloete, in his " Five Lectures on the Emigration
of the Dutch Farmers from the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope," at
page 70, quoting the ex-Governor in his examination before the House
of Commons, gives his words as follows : — " I went out, if I had any
prejudice at all, with a prejudice against the Colonists and against that
former occupation of the ground (British Kaffraria) by Sir B. D'Urban
and Sir H. Smith, and thinking it would be better not to have them.
My own experience, and what I saw with my own eyes, have confirmed
me that I was wrong, and that Sir Benjamin D'Urban was perfectly
right."

2 A 2

856 Annals of the Cape Colony.

His Excellency then proceeded to the Frontier, and in
December held a grand palaver with the Kafir Chiefs at
the Chuini, where, with some 4,000 of the sable race, were
the principal heads of their nation, Sandilli, Tyali, Macomo,
Eno, Botman, and others. Here the Governor repeatedly
reminded them that since they had put their hands to the
treaties they were aware that the Colonists had com-
mitted no acts of aggression upon the Kafirs, but that
they had not been fulfilled on their part, and that before
proceeding farther he must have a pledge that all
arrear claims for cattle lifted should be forthcoming. This
immediate settlement was disingenuously evaded, although
its justice was vociferously admitted by the multitude.
The Governor then remarked on the heinous nature of the
crime of murder, of which so many had been perpetrated
within the Colony by Kafir marauders. He complained
that the perpetrators had been permitted to escape, and
no means taken by the Chiefs to bring them to condign
punishment. On this Sandilli promised they should all
be punished, and then His Excellency required them to
agree to several alterations in the treaties, the principal
being that the farmers who should be robbed might freely
pass into Kafirland, unarmed and with only a small party,
and if they traced their property, should lay the case
before the Diplomatic Agent ; and when the loss was
proved, it should be made good, together with reasonable
damages for time and trouble. The clause requiring
the Colonists to keep their herdsmen " armed" was re-
scinded, as it only offered a double incentive to plunderers
for weapons besides cattle ; and in case of murder, the
Chiefs should bind themselves to apprehend the culprits,
bring them before the Eesident Agent, there to be tried
and suffer according to Kafir law. The Kafirs on this
great occasion were very amiable, being well feasted at
Colonial cost — talked much and eloquently, ate much and
voraciously, assented to all the blame bestowed upon
them without a blush, readily signed the amended treaties,
of course swearing by their ancestors' ghosts — flimsy,
unsubstantial as the pledge — to keep them faithfully and

The Governor and the Natives. 357

to maintain peace for ever — with what fidelity performed
the sequel will unfold.

The Governor then met the Gonaquabie clan and the
Fingo tribes ; told the former he had come to make
changes in the treaties, "as they did not give justice to
the Colonists ;" told them, what was the truth, " that the
Colony had not a charge of any kind to make against
them ; there had never been a single complaint : they had
been perfectly honourable and honest. To the Fingoes he
addressed words of similar import, and said he wished the
rest of their kinsmen back from the Zitzikamma, to which
the late Lieutenant-Governor had removed them, as well
as those in the Kat River, so as to be as near as possible
to the Border, " to make you a great nation." The fol-
lowing day, the Governor met the T'Slambie sept, who
promised compensation for the arrear claims for thefts
•with equal sincerity as the Gaikas had done, and he told
them the real truth — not after the Glenelg gospel— "You
know that stealing cattle from the Colony was the cause of
the last war" (1834-5). Umkye admitted the fact, and
farther observed that no robberies or murders could be
traced to the Colonists, but on the contrary to themselves.
They then began to blame each other for their misdeeds
against the Colony in no complimentary strain, and then
signed the altered treaties — the first attempt to "tinker"
the Glenelg System — as a matter of course; and the
Governor, his suite, and some few of the Colonists,
believed the delusion that the savages were in earnest.
The hatchet of war had been buried and the calumet of
peace smoked — and so, very significantly, another scene
in the grand Kafir drama closed.

A calamity of a serious nature, affecting the whole
Colony, took place this year — the loss of the first steamer
plying between Table and Algoa Bays. The Hope, chiefly
belonging to the Colonists as shareholders, left the first-
named port on the 9th of March, with a full cargo and
many passengers, and on the night of the 11th, in a dense
fog, struck on the iron-bound coast of the Zitzikamma,
and soon became a total wreck. All the lives, seventy-two

358 Annals of the Cape Colony.

in number, were miraculously saved, almost without a
bruise, the shipwrecked crew contriving, thanks to the
skill and bravery of the officers, to land on a raft ; and as
the place of disaster was in the neighbourhood of farm-
houses, the sufferers were speedily relieved. Science
claims notice this year also. The Astronomer-Eoyal, Mr.
(now Sir Thomas) Maclear, commenced the measurement
of an Arc of the Meridian, near Cape Town, a labour of
the greatest value, which has been perfected and proved
most accurate by the late Trigonometrical Survey under
Captain Bailey; and the Engineer Department com-
menced the bridge over the Kat Eiver, at Fort Beaufort,
and one over the Great Fish Eiver, at Fort Brown, the
first structures of the kind made in the Eastern Province,
but not at the cost of the Colony.

SECTION VIII.

1841 — Tho Governor again exonerates the Colonists— Immigration for tho Colony —
Agitation for an Elective Legislature — Eastern Province hostile to its seat in
Cape Town— Lull in Kafir Depreciations— Its Causes— They recommence Murder
and other Outrages — Borderers again appeal Home. 1842— Violent Coast Storms
—Lighthouse at Cape Eeceiffe— Lord Auckland— Sutu, Widow of Gaika, charged
with Witchcraft— Narrowly escapes heing burnt alive— Kafir legal practice on that
Charge— Lieutenant-Governor meets Kafirs — Accuses them of faithlessness —
Judge Menzies proclaims British Sovereignty beyond Orange Biver— Lieutenant-
Governor proceeds to Colesberg, leaving the Frontier in charge of Macomo—
Perfidy of that Chief.

1841. — So satisfied was His Excellency the Governor with
the results of his late visit to the East, that on his home-
ward journey to the metropolis, at George, a town about
midway, in reply to an address there, he said : — "I have great
pleasure in stating my hopes that the treaties as amended
will now work in such a manner as to check the daring
depredations which were so ruinous to the peaceful and
industrious farmers, and of which, after four years' expe-
rience, they had just cause of complaint ; more particularly
as I must ever firmly declare that no one act of oppression
or injustice has been committed by a Colonist against
the Kafirs since the treaties were made — a fact to the
truth of which the Chiefs gave their united testimony."*

The effect upon the labour market by the enfranchize-
ment of the slaves and the liberation of the Hottentot
population by the enactment of the 50th Ordinance, had
for a considerable time past been severely felt by the
Colonists, and began to press so heavily that public atten-
tion was forcibly called to the subject and for some remedy.
Meetings had been held in the preceding year in several
parts of the country, and appeals from both its Provinces

* Sir G. Napier gave similar testimony before the Aborigines Com-
mittee (-23rd June, 1851) : — " Many of the Articles of the Treaties were
most unjust to the Colonists." " Those treaties were never once
infringed by the Colonists, but by the Kafirs over and over again."

860 Annals of tlie Cape Colony.

were transmitted by tho Governor to the Secretary of
State, but which His Excellency declined to support.
These representations were, however, now repeated, and
memorials forwarded to the Governor ; and further praying
that the " Crown Lands" might be made available for
immigration. These suggestions were received more favour-
ably, especially those emanating from the East, on the
ground stated by him to the Home Government, " that
he considered the East suffered infinitely more for the
want of labour through the idleness and caprice of the
natives than the Western Districts — a state of things
incident on the nature of the country and the scattered
population ; the means of procuring a dishonest livelihood
being easily obtained, and the risk of punishment com-
paratively small." To these applications, however, an
unfavourable reply was received from the Secretary of
State (26th July), but he assented to one part of the
memorialists' prayer — viz., the appointment of a Com-
mission of Inquiry to consider the best means of promoting
the internal improvement of the Colony.

Another subject, and one of deep interest to the
Colonists in general, now began to be re-agitated, that of the
establishment of an Elective Legislature, the Governor
being at this time only assisted by his Executive Council
and a Legislative Council composed of five official
members and five unofficials,* the latter all nominees of
the Governor. A very large and influential meeting was
held in Cape Town, in the month of August, to discuss
the subject — hastened probably by an observation of the
Governor in the Legislative Council, to the effect that
members might just as well hold their tongues as com-
plain of profusion in the expenditure of public money,
such matters being settled at home, where their voices
were not heard. At this meeting resolutions were passed
in favour of an early concession of the privilege of self-
government, and petitions transmitted home from tho
inhabitants generally, in which they were also joined by

* Two merchants, two agriculturists, and one barrister.

Agitation for Representative Institutions. 361

the members of the Capo Town Municipality. The
Eastern Province naturally followed so eminent an
example, and on the 30th of October a public meeting
was held in Graham's Town on four of the most important
subjects of the day, viz. : —

1. The necessity of promoting emigration from the

Parent Country to the Colony.

2. The want of a Legislative Assembly elected by the

people.

3. The working of the existing Frontier System ; and

4. The existing relations of Natal with the Colony.
These matters were taken up seriatim, and the requisite

representations made through the regular channel to the
powers at home ; but it must be here noted that thus
early doubts were publicly expressed, " that a representa-
tive Assembly meeting at Cape Town would be but of
comparatively small advantage to the inhabitants of the
Eastern Districts. The most important portion of the
Colony, whether viewed agriculturally or politically, would
be virtually unrepresented, or at least would not be
represented by those who, from local knowledge or imme-
diate personal interest, would enjoy the public confidence,
or who could efficiently discharge the duties which such
an appointment would necessarily require of them." These
misgivings have been sadly realized ; and the Eastern
Province, for the whole period the Colony has enjoyed (?)
the privilege of self-government, now fifteen years, has
seriously suffered in all its best interests by the selection
of Cape Town as the permanent Seat of Legislature.

Again forced to recur to the endless question of Border
affairs, it is to be recorded that, excepting a few instances
of native cupidity, the Frontier enjoyed a temporary
lull ; and this abnormal state of tranquillity was generally
attributed to the circumstance that a body of British
troops had been dispatched overland through the
Kafirarian territory to the river St. John's or Umzim-
vooboo, to protect the Colonial ally, Faku, the Chief of the
Amaponda tribe, against whom an attack was supposed
to have been made by the Dutch Boers settled at Natal,

362 Annals of the Cape Colony.

but which, in fact, was one upon a notorious freebooter,
N'Capai, their own, and equally the enemy of the natives.

In April, however, the usual depredations recommenced,
at first principally confined to horses, and then it soon
extended to other descriptions of stock ; and so daring the
plunderings of the Kafirs and other natives became, that
on the 21st of June a public meeting was convened in
Graham's Town, calling upon Government seriously to
consider the subject of Kafir robberies, unrestrained
vagrancy, and the still unredressed wrongs which had
driven the Dutch farmers across the Border ; and resolu-
tions to the effect were forwarded both to the Lieutenant-
Governor, the Governor, and the Secretary of State.
Hardly had this been done when an atrocious murder of
an inoffensive man named Eudman, residing on the banks
of the Great Fish Paver, to which the Glenelg System had
brought back the bloodthirsty savages, took place during
a night attack, in which other parties residing there had
to sustain an onslaught for full an hour and a half, and
were only saved from destruction by the opportune arrival
of a party from the adjacent military post at Fort Brown.

Shortly after this, the Lieutenant-Governor had a meet-
ing with the Gaika Chiefs on the subject and that of an
assault upon a farmer (Potgieter) who had been badly
wounded, when Tyali and Macomo promised compensation
and to search for the perpetrators, but denied complicity
in the murder ; and so, after a brief period, the matter got
hushed up.

Goaded by these persistent encroachments and spolia-
tions by the natives, who, emboldened by impunity,
had — besides the acts just narrated — been guilty of driving
certain occupants from their farms by force, plundering
wagons on the broad highways by armed parties, assault-
ing military officers close to the Eastern metropolis, and
numerous other turbulences, the inhabitants of Albany
once more pleaded for the interference of the Home
Government, representing " that while the Kafirs are
rapidly increasing their means of aggression, the Border
inhabitants are being daily, from continual robberies, less

Loss of the « SaMna." 363

able to resist tliem, and unless a more vigorous policy be
adopted— one which shall restrain the natives from the
commission of robbery and violence, now of so frequent
occurrence — the consequence will be a continually increas-
ing expenditure for the protection of the Frontier and the
prostration of all hopes for this fine Province." After this
significant premonishment the Government had no possi-
ble excuse for its apathy on the score of want of warning ;
but all warning from the inhabitants of this distant part
of the Colony was attributed at head-quarters to interested
" alarmists," " desirous of fomenting war."

1842. — It is a relief, after the recital of these ever-recur-
ring incidents of trouble, to refer to those of a different
complexion ; but even these are not of an agreeable
character. In or near both the principal ports of the
Colony lamentable wrecks took place. From July to
September violent storms raged in Table Bay. The
Anon, Galatea, Speedy, the convict-ship Waterloo, the
Abercrombie Robertson, a troop vessel, were wrecked, and 194
lives were lost. Five other vessels also went ashore.
In Algoa Bay, or rather on the reefs of Cape Beceiffe,
on the 7th August, a large and splendid Spanish vessel,
the Sabina, from Manilla, richly laden with a cargo worth
.-£90,000, was entirely lost. Her passengers and crew
consisted of sixty-four persons, of whom perished Don
Francisco Monson, his lady, Don Gregorio Balbas, seven
soldiers, and ten of the crew — in all twenty souls. The
appearance of the bodies as they laid on the bright sands
on the following quiet morning (Sunday) — strange con-
trast with that of the awful night preceding — was most
affecting. Don Francisco and his lady, both in the decline
of life, of commanding stature and noble features, reposed
near each other, and close by them their nephew — a very
fine lad. Beautiful in death on their

" First dark clay of nothingness,
The last of danger and distress."

The bodies were collected and buried on the Hill at Port
Elizabeth with the rites of the Boman Church and all
the respect and honour the inhabitants had in their power

364 Annals of ifw Gorge Colony.

to bestow — all the unfortunate sufferers were capable of
receiving.

Immediately after the occurrence of this disastrous
event the merchants and others opened a correspondence
with the Cape Town Government upon the urgent necessity
of a lighthouse at this dangerous spot, where, no doubt,
many other vessels had met a similar fate in bygone
times, and promptly received the assurance that plans
and estimates had been transmitted to the Secretary of
State on the 19th July previous, but that no instructions
had yet arrived for its construction. The building — the
site of which had been selected by Sir B. D' Urban in
1836 — was, however, completed, and in April, 1851, first
lighted with an apparatus of a very costly description ;
and now the coast of South Africa — always so terrible
and sometimes so fatal to " those who go down into the
sea in ships" — is almost as efficiently lighted as any
European sea-margin.

Another event this year, but rather of local interest,
was the visit of the ex-Governor-General of India, Lord
Auckland, and his sister, the Honourable Miss Eden, to
Port Elizabeth, in the month of June, when his Lordship
was pleased to take charge of a petition from the inhabi-
tants relative to the state of the country in general, the
prayer of which he promised to support.

"Nous revenons a nous moutons" — our predatory sable
friends not having despoiled us of all those innocent
creatures, although they exhibited a strong affection for
hoofs and horns. "Well, no change for the better showed
itself on the doomed Frontier. Eobbery was vigilantly
kept up ; armed parties of natives traversed the Colonial
soil at pleasure. Kama, our ally, the Christian Chief of
the Gonaquabies, was threatened with violence by the
other Kafirs, and the restless Macomo made another
attempt to settle down on one of the tabooed branches of
the Kat Eiver.

In May, Tyali, one of the sons of the late Chief Gaika,
died, and as the demise of so important a j)ersonage could
only be attributed to witchcraft, a wizard doctor was sent

Sutit charged with Witchcraft. 365

for to " smell out" the culprit, who selected for his choice
victim no less than Sutn, "the faithful friend of our
Government," and the great wife, now widow, of Gaika,
and mother of the present Chief, Sandilli. It is said her
( wealth in cattle, and perhaps some spite, provoked the
charge. The opinions of these people on the nature of this
crime and its appropriate punishment, will be seen by
the following account, given by the Eev. Mr. Boyce, a
Wesleyan Missionary, who lived in that capacity among
these amiable barbarians : —

" The Kafirs," he, in a speech made in England, said,
" were. a warlike people ; every man was a soldier; and
the}' regarded war as a pleasing excitement. There was,
he feared, little chance of the universal establishment of
peace in that country until the people were led to embrace
the truths of the Christian religion. They were a very
superstitions people, and believed in the existence of
spirits, some of whorn. exerted a malign and others a
propitious influence ; but they had no notion of a God.
There was but one theory of medicine in Kanrland ; all
disorders were supposed to arise from the patients being
bewitched. .The Kafir doctor was a singular being; he
dressed in the most frightful manner, and conducted
himself in public like a madman. When he was called
in to a patient, he assembled the people together,
and taking his assagai he pointed to an individual and
said, ' That's the witch.' And what follows ? Although
the individual may be one of the most respectable and
powerful men in the country, he at that moment
ceases to have a single friend — the crowd rush upon
him ; his ornaments are snatched from his ears ; his
parents and children will join in beating him ; he is
considered an outcast. Preparations are then made for
the purpose of making him confess. He is fastened on
the ground with leathern thongs, a fire is made close to
his body to. roast him alive, and a certain stinging insect
is placed on the most tender parts of his body, inflicting
thereon the most excruciating torments. He is sometimes
tormented in this manner for two or three days, until he

366 Annals of the Cape Golony.

is compelled to say ' I did bewitch' so and so. He con-
fesses in order to save bis life. If he has a few friends
he may escape, but he is an outcast — a ruined man ; he
loses his wife, his children, and his property, and can
never show his face in society again. Such is the
abominable system of witchcraft which prevails among
these people."

We shall soon see something more of this interesting
amusement in an instance actually carried out to com-
pletion, described by an eye-witness, and admitted as true
by a British functionary. Sutu was imprisoned, tried,
as a matter of course, convicted, and then sentenced to
be burnt alive in the legal and most approved manner ;
but she entered into bail — vulgo, leg bail — by running
away to the residence of the missionary at the Chumi
Station, where she remained — preferring a steak at his
table to that provided by her people — until the Lieutenant-
Governor interfered in her behalf;* otherwise doubtless
she would have become a sacrifice to the prevailing
superstition of the " noble savage."

Shortly after this episode, in the month of August,
Colonel Hare, the Lieutenant-Governor, held his quarterly
meeting with the Kafirs, in order to hear all cases of
claims made against them. At these " courts" he and
the Chiefs sit ostensibly to adjudicate the respective cases
between the natives and Colonists, and award remunera-
tion ; but they, with their well-known adroitness, always
managed to palaver His Honour into the belief that they and
their people were the honestest of men, to evade, if they
could, or avoid restitution, and if not, procrastinate with
all the appearance of heartfelt anxiety to assist in the
recovery of stolen property. On the occasion of this period-
ical assembly, however, "His Honour expostulated with the
Chiefs at considerable length, and in very forcible terms
dwelt on the baseness and faithlessness of their conduct
in suffering their people to plunder the Colony in the way

* In 1834 Sulu had been actively instrumental in saving the life of
a trader, at the risk of her own, at the Glasgow Mission Station in
Kafirland.

Judge Memoes' Proclamation, 867

they had been doing — and which had been carried to. such
a length, and conducted with such audacity, that even
those who had ever shown a disposition to befriend them
were compelled to give up their case as hopeless, and to
admit that they were without excuse — that he held in his
hand an account of 2,189 head of cattle and 240 horses
which had been stolen from the Colony since his visit
there in April last, and that these cases were undeniable,
as he had not brought forward a single instance in which
he had not full proof of their guilt."

In the following October, the first Puisne Judge of the
Supreme Court, on Circuit, the Honourable Mr. Menzies,
being at Colesberg, on the northern boundary of the
Colony, and hearing of the intention of the expatriated
Dutch farmers to erect a mark or beacon of sovereignty
over the lands across the Orange River, at once proceeded
to the spot, and there, at an interview with them, remon-
strated against the act, they being still British subjects,
and amenable to the celebrated Act called " the Cape ■
Punishment Bill." He then proclaimed, in his own name,
all territory between the 22° of E. longitude and 25° of S.
latitude to be the property of Her Majesty the Queen of
England. This bold but commendable act was disallowed
by the Governor, Sir G. Napier, who repudiated it by a
Proclamation dated the following 3rd November, thus
mystifying the unfortunate emigrants, who were left at a
perfect loss to know where they were or what they were —
Colonists and subjects or Foreigners and free. They had
left the Colony in consequence of misrule, settled at Natal,
which was taken possession of by British force, and now
they found themselves in this their asylum, where they
could protect themselves against native aggression, still
pursued by what they most dreaded ; take what steps they
would, a terribly exacting but not apparently just Nemesis
pursued them, and the complications consequent on the
great migration continue to the present day, seeming never
to have a chance of disentanglement. Under the appre-
hension of serious difficulties arising out of these events,
and the attitude assumed by the Boers, the Lieutenant-

368 Annals of the Cape Colony.

Governor proceeded with a body of troops, one thousand
in number, to the north, in order to intimidate them ; but
previous to departure, in all the simplicity of innocence
or vast profundity of political wisdom, His Honour, after
an interview with Macomo "the faithful," engaged that
Chief to pledge himself to protect the harassed line of
eastern boundary during his absence ; and this mark of
confidence was perfidiously repaid by that Chief's engaging
at the very time in an extensive conspiracy with the
others, including Kreli, to invade the Colony, a rumour
having been circulated in Kafirland that disasters had
happened to the expedition on its route to Colesberg.

SECTION IX.

1843 — Colonial Secretary, Colonel Bell, retires — Succeeded by John Montagu,
Esq. — Public Works— Cape Sands— Roads — Mountain Passes— Cradock's Kloof
— Exploration in Interior — Storms at Paarl, &c. — Port Elizabeth Jetty destroyed
— Immigration from England — Border Affairs— Sandilli assisted by Govern-
ment against the Chief Tola — SandilR's conduct and character drawn by Governor
Napier — Murders — Representations transmitted to England — Official and other
Returns of Native Depredations— A Kafir Execution for Witchcraft— A Second
case of the same kind, &c.

The Governor of the Cape Colony is always a bird of
passage, and not always selected for his peculiar aptitude
for the situation to which he is appointed. He generally
accepts office with the crudest of notions — often with some
favourite crotchet of his own ; crams, before leaving Eng-
land, for information out of works on the Colony, many of
them obsolete; reads up in ponderous Blue-books con-
taining correspondence of his predecessors, and then,
furnished with " instructions" from Home, where the best
information, political, geographical, &c, does not exist
in perfection, arrives in Cape Town, dons the purple,
issues a proclamation on the assumption of the new
dignity, and lingers in that seductive metropolis until
some thunderclap of disaster on the Border calls him to
the front. Such has been the usual role for more than
forty years. As soon as he has, by personal experience,
mastered the difficulties of his position, or differs in
opinion with his employers at the Colonial Office at home,
or they get weary and impatient because certain objects
are not soon enough attained, he is relieved by another
gentleman as uninformed as he was on his arrival, and
the new comer has to go through the same process — to
conclude in the same fashion. It does occasionally, it
must be admitted, occur that if the Pro-consul has effected,
or is required to effect, some grand Imperial coup, his time
may be extended ; but this done, a new man comes out
for the stipulated period of five or six years, which he

2 b

370 Annals of the Cape Colony.

seldom fills up, for the average of the gubernatorial reigns
from 1820 to 1862 is only 3^ years. Poor Colony !

The Secretary to the Government, although usually, like
his chief, in the first instance a stranger to the country
and its inhabitants, has a more lengthened duration of
office, and, in consequence, experience. If he be a man of
ability, of some rank or family, independent in mind and
unembarrassed in circumstances, he can shape for good
the proceedings of his superior, arrest hasty impulses, and
correct prejudices imported from beyond South Africa.
The Colony had in this respect been very fortunate for a
considerable series of years, and now on the retirement
of Colonel Bell, more familiarly known as " Honest John
Bell," he was succeeded by a gentleman of decided ability,
Mr. John Montagu, to whom the Colony is indebted for
some of its greatest public works. He conceived and
carried out to successful completion the plantation of those
interminable sands near the metropolis, known previously
as the " Cape Flats" — a weary wilderness of, probably, an
ancient sea-bed, obstructing traffic and intercommuni-
cation, over which he established a hard road. This
attempt, like all other improvements, was at first derided
by the would-be-wise as a folly, sneered at by the Dutch
Boer as an impossibility ; indeed, to employ the old well-
known distich —

" Had you seen these roads before they were made
You'd have held up your hand and blessed"

No, Montagu won't rhyme as did " General Wade," but
there they are — an imperishable monument of their pro-
jector's indomitable persistency. He then procured the
institution of a Public Eoad Board, and subsequently
(in 1844) the employment of the convict gangs, whose
labours previously had been frittered away in making
paltry repairs in widely-spread localities, and by massing
them on the construction of great works, utilized a
description of labour which has been found to be of the
greatest value. Among these works is that at the Cradock
Kloof, in the district of George — one of the most difficult
mountain passes in the Colony, severing the Eastern from

Public Works. 371

the Western Districts. Few people, except those who
knew it previously, and travelling the present road, could
believe such to have been practicable. The defile, encum-
bered with huge rocks, was a perfect charnel house of
draught-ox bones, broken wagon wheels, yokes, and spokes,
terrible to behold and fearful to recognize. The idea of
making it passable was speculated upon for many years,
applications incessantly made to the Home Government
were transmitted, asking its sanction, for then nothing
could be done by the Colony itself without permission ;
but these were disregarded until Colonel Mitchell, the
Surveyor-General, went to England, explained the advan-
tage and necessity of the work, exhibiting at the same
time a picture of the pass drawn and engraved by his own
hand, showing a wagon toiling up its rough ascent, and
the " Bone House" described, when the consent of the
office was at last extorted, and the genius of Montagu
commenced and completed the work which very pro-
perly bears his name. Besides this gigantic undertak-
ing he initiated several others which have since been
finished.

Some trifling additions were made at this time to our
store of geographical knowledge. Messrs. Bain, Pringle,
and Capt. Steele crossed the Great or Orange Biver, and,
passing the Kuruman or New Lettakoo station, reached the
24th degree of South Latitude, collecting much interest-
ing information regarding the long-talked-of " Great Lake
N'Gami," but which was left to Dr. Livingstone in after
years to discover.

During the month of August, storms, of such a nature

as it was said had not been known for above twenty years

before, ravaged the entire coast of the Colony. Table

Bay, Plettenberg's Bay, the Knysna, and even the inland

town of the Paarl, about forty miles from Cape Town,

experienced the fury of the tempest. At Algoa Bay,

where the inhabitants were constructing a landing jetty

at their own cost, with some trifling Government aid, on

the night of the 28th four vessels came on shore. Two

of them broke through the middle of the pier, rendering

2 b 2

372 Annals of the Cape Colony.

the remainder useless. Eleven lives were lost, as well as
property to the value of £30,000.*

In the course of the year several immigrants arrived
from Britain, chiefly relatives or connections of those who
had settled in the Eastern Province in 1820, attracted by
the success which, despite of wars, floods, and failures
of crops, had attended their efforts, and who by this time,
notwithstanding these drawbacks, had established a
commerce which within 22 years reached the amount of
a full third! of that of the Western end of the Colony,
destined, but hardly then expected, to eclipse it altogether.

Native affairs on the Eastern Border took their usual
course — that is, from bad to worse. In May a quarrel
occurred between the T'Slambie Chief Umhala and
Gazela, who, for his adherence to the British Government,
was threatened with destruction. Umhala assembled a
force of 1,000 men, refused to see the Lieut. -Governor, and
it was only the presence and forbearance of the troops that
prevented hostilities. Shortly after this event, assistance
was craved by Sandilii against a subordinate captain of his,
named Tola, whom we expelled from the country between
the Great Fish and Keiskamma Rivers, which he had
been -permitted to occupy on promise of good behaviour,
but from this convenient locality had been committing
extensive depredations. In effecting his expulsion, not
only did Sandilii fail to co-operate with the troops as
promised, but it was well known connived at his own
proscribed Chieftain's escape with much of his plunder,
and then impudently denied he had asked for aid. He
then soon pardoned the turbulent Chief, received him
back into his favour, and replaced him upon the very spot
whence at his request he had been ejected. This was, as
usual, however, after some useless parley, overlooked, and
Tola allowed to remain unmolested upon the other Chiefs

* It was said the site was wrongly chosen ; but it is now understood
that new works are recommended on the same position, but vessels to
be moored more northerly.

f 1842— Western Province imports and exports, £771,466 ; Eastern
Province, i'252,524.

Kafir Outrages. 373

promising to bo bis security — a promise they never
intended to fulfil. Sir George Napier's estimate of the
character of Sandilli at this time was, that he was " a
young man possessed of none of the qualities essential to
render him a fit ruler for so large a tribe ; is a tool in the
hands of his counsellors; his conduct throughout the
whole business has been very capricious and equivocal."

The situation of the Border at this period may be better
understood by reference to the statements made by a
deputation which waited upon Lieut. -Colonel Johnstone,
27th Regiment, the officer in command at Fort Beaufort,
on the 31st May, consisting of Messrs. Bowker, Currie
(now Sir Walter), and other gentlemen, as to the effect of
the ruthless inroads of the Kafirs. " No man," said they,
" can venture to move from his farm unarmed, no cattle
be sent to graze but under double guards, no family can
retire to rest but under set watches for the whole night ;
and yet, with all these precautions, constant and daring
robberies take place, some of them accompanied with
murder ; and that, wasted and depressed by these continual
anxieties and fatigues, they now found themselves unable
to struggle longer with their misfortunes, and should be
compelled to abandon their farms." It was these repre-
sentations which produced the interference just mentioned;
but still outrage succeeded outrage until the whole
country was roused to indignation, as may be well
supposed when the Civil Commissioner of Albany, Mr.
H. Hudson, a gentleman rather disposed to favour the
natives, admitted " the alarm to be so great as to cause
the suspension of all farming pursuits."

The apologists and soi-disant friends of these coloured
" Children of the Mist" said then, as they even now say,
" What could you expect otherwise from an uncivilized
race '? You placed yourselves in their vicinity, and must
take the consequences." To this there is but one reply —
the Settlers did not place themselves there ; they were
planted on the spot by the hands of the Government, both
of England and the Colony ; they paid taxes, but failed to
get protection.

374 Annals of the Cape Colony.

At the close of the preceding year another cold-blooded
murder had been perpetrated upon a young man, twenty-
one years of age, Wm. Harden, while quietly employed
near the mouth of the Great Fish Eiver. At the com-
mencement of the present, an inoffensive trader, named
Duffy, was killed and plundered while travelling in the
Amaponda country. On the 23rd July, two men, Palmer
and Brown, in search of missing oxen, were waylaid, one
speared, the other shot, both mutilated, near the village
of Bathurst. On the 4th August, W. Glen, a shoemaker,
was murdered near the Kagaberg ; and on the 9th of the
same month, a Tambookie cattle-herd of a Mr. Bobinson
met the same fate. These terrifying events, and the
incessant acts of robbery, now of almost daily occurrence,
and extending even into the Northern Divisions on the
Border, irritated the panic-stricken Colonists, and meetings
for remonstrance and petition ensued, complaining of
unredressed thefts, frequent bloodshed, and a failing and
altogether inefficient administration on the part of those
charged with the Executive Government. Demands for
greater protection and a return to the D' Urban System
were transmitted to the Cape from Graham's Town, Fort
Beaufort, Bathurst, Port Elizabeth, and other localities,
accompanied by trustworthy returns, which representa-
tions were of course submitted to the Home Government,
but with such a gloss as to make them appear greatly
exaggerated. To complete the narrative of violences
suffered in this terrible year, the circumstance of another
murder must be added to the list — a murder which took
place subsequent to the date of the abovenamed returns —
that of a Hottentot herd of a farmer named Nel, in the
month of November — the third servant Nel had lost in a
similar way since the war of 1835, and the introduction
of the Glenelg experiment.

The official returns of depredations committed by the
natives upon the Colonists, professing to be accurate,
were first published in March, 1838, two years after the
System commenced ; but these were known to be incom-
plete, as the Government of the day did all in its power to

The Kafirs and Witchcraft. 375

suppress or soften clown the real state of the Border rela-
tions, and the sufferers waxed weary of reporting outrages,
as redress was unobtainable. Still the Government returns
admit there had been within the four quarters of this year
259 cases of depredation, in which were lifted 209 horses
and 1,932 head of cattle ; and there had been reported six
murders and thirteen assaults chiefly with intent to kill.
Of Kafirs caught in flagrante delictu, seven were shot dead
and two wounded ;* and as to Kafir thieves apprehended
and punished by their Chiefs the returns showed nil.

The character of the barbarians who had been, and
still continued to be, painted as " unsophisticated children
of nature," amiable but ignorant — " noble" savages, yet
cruelly oppressed, may be exemplified by two instances
now occurring close to the immediate border of the
Colony, within 2J miles of a British cantonment — Fort
Beaufort. The D'Urban policy, under which the Kafirs
had become British subjects, had expressly forbidden the
punishment of all cases under the pretext of witchcraft.
The Glenelg experiment, when it threw up the allegiance
of these natives, allowed them "to enjoy the full and
entire right to adopt and adhere to the Kafir laws or any
other they may see fit to substitute." (Vide Treaty,
clause 6.) What they chose has already been shown in
the case of the great Queen Sutu. How they enjoyed their
own " unwritten" or common law, the reader shall be here
informed.

In a local paper — the Frontier Times of the 31st August
— published in Graham's Town, and edited by a present
member of the Colonial Parliament, Mr. Franklin,
appeared a letter signed " A Beader," giving a harrowing

* From the best record of the state of matters, which Lieut. -Governor
Stockenstrom claimed as proving how well the Glenelg System had
worked until, as he said, it had been tampered with, there appear 43 1
horses and 2,122 cattle stolen and 09 murders. A gentleman in
England at this time, and about to emigrate to the Cape, seeing the
returns of Kafir depredations, called at the Colonial Oiliee, London,
to ascertain their accuracy, when he received for reply from an under
secretary, that it was out of his power cither to contradict or confirm
the returns, for he had no documents of the kind in his department.

376 Annals of ihc Cafe Colony .

account of the execution of a Kafir for witchcraft under
Kafir law in the early part of that month. As soon as
this tale of barbarity reached Cape Town, the Governor
very readily and humanely called upon the Border
authorities for explanation. Mr. C. L. Stretch, the
Diplomatic Agent, it appears, had not thought it necessary
at once to report the atrocious affair to the Lieutenant-
Governor, only intending to mention it to that officer on
the next quarterly meeting, hut now heing called upon,
admitted the fact in his letter dated the 14th September ;
" I have the honour" (he says) " to state for the informa-
tion of Government that a Kafir belonging to Macomo's
tribe, named Quala, was put to death according to the
account recorded in the newspaper." His Excellency on
this took legal advice, and the Attorney-General gave it
as his opinion, " We cannot interfere by the treaties,
which only refer to Christian teachers." Here is the
story as it appeared in the Frontier Times; the corre-
spondence, &c, will be found in the Blue-book Eeturn
" Kafir Tribes," ordered by the House of Commons to be
printed, June 23, 1851, p. 177 :—

" Fort Beaufort, August 20, 1843.

" To the Editou : Sir, — In a late number of your paper you advert in
a cursory manner to one of the greatest atrocities which it is possible
for the dark depravity of man's heart to plan and its savage ferocity to
execute. Many of your readers who are not acquainted with the extent
to which the most refined tortures are carried in Kanrland may feel
interested in the perusal of the following circumstantial account fur-
nished by an eye-witness to the revolting and blood-chilling reality.
It will not fail, I am sure, to awaken a feeling of Christian indignation
at this awful result of deep moral degradation, as well as a sickening
sympathy for the subject of the recital, with reference to whom some of
the lookers-on exclaimed, ' No guilty man could ever die so bravely.'

" It appeal's that Macomo's son Kona was sick ; the usual course was
pursued in such cases, and a witch-doctor was consulted to ascertain
the individual from whose evil influence he was suffering ; and as is
also usual under such circumstances, a man of property, and by reputa-
tion a courageous man, of Macomo's tribe, was selected and condemned
to forfeit his life for his alleged crime — unheard, and without the
slightest opportunity being afforded him of asserting, still less proving,
his innocence ; it was sufficient that the doctor had said he was guilty —
he must die ! Accordingly, to prevent his being made acquainted by

Done to Death for Witchcraft. 377

his friends of his awful situation, a party of men left Macomo's kraal
early in the morning to secure the recovery of the sick young Chief by
murdering one of his father's subjects. The day selected for the im-
molation appears to have been a sort of gala day with the unconscious
victim ; he was in his kraal, had just accomplished the slaughter of one
of his cattle, and was merrily contemplating the convivial duties of the
day before him, over which he was himself about to preside. The arrival,
therefore, of a party of men from the ' great place' gave him no other
concern than what part of the slaughtered animal he should give them —
he looked upon them as his guests ; but, alas ! he was too soon unde-
ceived. The party seized him in his kraal, whither he had gone, of
course, unarmed. When he found he was secured, and felt the riem
round his neck, he calmly said, ' It is my misfortune to be caught un-
armed, or it should not be so.' He was then ordered to produce the
matter with which he had bewitched his Chief's son. He replied,
' I have no bewitching matter that I know of, other than the body you
have seized. I have been twice smelt out before ; no bewitching matter
has been found, and I am not conscious of having secreted any ; my
person alone can possess the evil influence, therefore destroy it — but do
it quickly — if my Chief has already consented to my death.' His
executioners expressed their determination to torture him until he pro-
duced it. He replied, ' Save yourselves the trouble, for torture me as
you will, I can never produce what I do not possess.' He was then
held to the ground, and several men now pierced his body all over with
Kafir needles two or three inches deep. The victim bore this with extra-
ordinary resolution ; his tormentors tired — complaining of the pain it
gave their hands, and of the needles or skewers bending. By this time
a large fire was kindled, into which large square stones were placed to
heat. The sufferer was then ordered to stand up ; he complied. They
pointed out to him the fire, telling him it was for his further torture,
unless he produced the bewitching matter. He replied, ' I told you the
truth when I said, save yourselves such trouble — it is my misfortune,
not my crime. As regards the hot stones, I can bear them, for I am
innocent ; I feel no more apprehension than I should at sitting com-
fortably in my house (here he described a particular position Kafirs
are fond of sitting in). I would beseech you to strangle me at once, but
that you will say I shrink at what you are about to do to me. If, however,
your object is merely that of extorting confession from me, save your-
selves the trouble and kill me outright, for your hot stones do not scare
me.' Here his wife, who had also been seized, was stripped perfectly
naked, and most cruelly beaten and otherwise ill-treated. The victim
was then led to the fire, where he was laid on his back, with his feet and
arms tied to pegs driven into the ground for the puqiose. The stones
being by this time as hot as they could be made, were taken out of the
fire and placed upon his groin, stomach, and chest ; these were supported
by others on each side of him, also heated, and pressed against his
body. It is impossible to describe the awful effect of this process ; I

378 Annals of the Cape Colony.

must leave the scorching and broiling of the body, the fumes of smoke
and occasionally flashes of flame arising therefrom, to the imagination
of your readers. The very stones, as if refusing to be made further
instruments of such cruelty, slip off the body in consequence of the
unctuous matter they have drawn from it, and are kept on by being
pressed down with sticks by the fiendish executioners. With all this
the sufferer still remained sensible. He was asked whether he wished
to be released to discover his hidden charm. He replied, ' Release me.'
They did so, fully expecting they had vanquished his resolution. To
the amazement of all he stood up, but what a sight ! — a human being
broiled alive, Ins flesh hanging in large pieces from his body like the
seared hide of an ox ! He composedly asked his tormentors, ' What do
you wish me to do now ?' They repeated their original demand ; he
resolutely adhered to his declaration of innocence, and begged of them,
now that they appeared tired of their labour, to shorten it and put him
out of his misery. The noose of the riern round his neck, which had
been hitherto secured from slipping by a knot, was released, and while
the heroic sufferer was still standing, it was violently jerked by several
men until he fell, when he was dragged about the ground until they
were satiated ; and finally, placing their feet on the back of his neck, they
drew the noose so tight as to complete the strangulation ; then, as if
not yet satisfied so brave a man had ceased to be, he was taken into
his own house, tied to one of the supporting poles of it, the house set
on fire, and the body burnt to ashes ! Thus died a man whose extra-
ordinary fortitude and endurance deserved a better fate. His sufferings
commenced about ten a.m. and terminated with his existence a little
before sunset.

" Who, unmoved, can read this tragic tale ? Is it merciful ; is it
Christian-like — nay, is it sound policy to sanction the independent
existence of communities governed by laws which admit of such dark
practices ? On the contrary, will not part of the guilt of this very
man's blood lie at our own door ? — I am, &c,

" A Reader."

That this was not au unprecedented or solitary act
which took place under the Glenelg " Humane Policy"
will he seen by the following : —

"ANOTHER case of tortdre and murder, on a charge of witchcraft,

BY KAFIRS.

" The following came to hand yesterday, adding another page to the
atrocious history of the neighbouring Kafirs, and also dyeing with
another crimson stain our Frontier system. The Fingoes arc British
subjects — will the Government avenge the death of this man as such ?

We shall see : —

" ' 30th October, 1843.
" ' The paragraph in your Journal of the 20th instant alluding to
Sandilli having " eaten up" a Fingo (that is, seized all his cattle and

Discovery of Guano. 379

effects), and also to his having entered the Colony with a large party
of his Kafirs, is in those particulars correct, hut it does not give the
whole truth. The number of Kafirs is stated at fifty, whereas there
were three times that number. They did not all present themselves at
Rensburg's kraal, but the flat at a short distance was covered with men,
both on horse and foot.

" ' The Fingo said to have been " eaten up" was not only plundered
of all his property, but they cruelly tortured him on a charge of witch-
craft. The wretched victim was seized and hamstrung ; he was then
hound to a tree, where his fiend-like tormentors mangled and stabbed
him in the muscular parts of his body, putting to him at intervals
sundry questions concerning his cattle and those belonging to his
children. Finally, when satiated with this work of savage violence and
blood, they dispatched him.

" ' My information is derived from some of the family of the deceased,
confirmed by a Kafir who resides near the spot where the murder was
committed. The latter states that the deceased had sold lately two of
his daughters for cattle, and that he had given information to some
of the Colonial farmers where they might find some of their " irreclaim-
able" cattle in Kafirlancl. His possession of cattle and the information
thus given were the real causes for which he was put to death.' ';

The chronology of 1843 furnishes little more of interest
beyond that of an attempt to run a Royal mail-coach by a
speculative gentleman, a Colonel Dixon, first between
Cape Town and Swellendam, subsequently extended to
Graham's Town. Both projects proved failures, and
involved the subscribers in heavy losses.

Guano on the Island of Ichaboe, along with Roastbeef
and riumpudding Islands, part of the funnily-named
dependencies of the Crown, was discovered at the time,
and afforded a mine of wealth to the adventurous finders.

SECTION X.

administration of (ffiourrnor Sir ^rrctjrine Jftaitlanto,

MMM.

Fp.oji December 19, 1843, to January 27, 1847.

1844 — Governor sworn in — His Instructions — Lieut. -Governor procures restitution
from the Kafirs — Legislative Council calls for Returns of Kafir Depredations —
Opposed — Returns prepared — Results admitted as correct by Colonial Secretary —
Murder of Nel — The Murderer sheltered by Kafir Chiefs— State of Border —
Governor visits Frontier — Amends Treaties and subsidizes Chiefs — Metropolitan
Improvements — Natal annexed to Cape Colony — Settlers' Jubilee — Tunnel made
at Missionary Station of Hankey. 1845 — Amended Treaties ratified — Depredations
increase— Murder of a Missionary by Kafirs — Abolition of Office of Lieutenant-
Governor proposed — The Borderers object — Ask for one with increased powers — •
Mr. Gladstone asks for more information on the Wants of Eastern Province.

1844. — Sir P. Maitland was sworn in at Cape Town, and
assumed office on the 14th of March. The object of his
appointment, as explained by himself,* was " to examine
into the state of the Kafir relations, as the Frontier was at
that time greatly unsettled on account of the number of
robberies and several murders represented in very numer-
ous petitions sent home, and that he was to investigate
the real state of affairs and modify, if found necessary,
the existing treaties ;" but previous to his arrival Lieut. -
Governor Hare had been obliged to resort to military
interference against Macomo and Eno, who objected to
satisfy the Colonists for debts justly due by treaty on
account of cattle stolen, and it was only on the appearance
of a troop of the 7th Dragoon Guards, with directions to
seize stock sufficient to compensate the losers, that they
gave way, and liquidated the claims they acknowledged
but tried to evade.

On the 4th March, the Hon. Messrs. Ebden and Breda,
members of the Legislative Council, impelled by the
reiterated complaints of the inhabitants, moved for —
" 1st. Returns of the separate acts of depredations com-

;: Vide his evidence before Aborigines Committee, July 1, 1851.

Thefts on the Frontier. 381

mittccl in the Colony by the Kafirs (Turing the years 1837
to 1843. 2nd. An abstract of losses, reclmmable and
irreclaimable. 3rd. A return of all acts of aggression
committed on either side. 4th. A return of particulars
of every instance of breach of existing treaties, and of the
number of lives lost either of Colonists or Kafirs ; and
5th. Of assaults, murderers demanded and given up,
according to treaties." The object of this motion was to
obtain official information before the discussion of a peti-
tion from the inhabitants of the exposed and suffering
districts then upon the Council table. The motion was
negatived by a majority, upon the evasive grounds that
honourable members should get up their own statistics, or
make a substantive motion ; that the Government clerks
were too much employed to undertake the work ; that it
would cause unnecessary expense ; and besides, the
honourable members had the whole information before
them in the Government Gazettes.

The compiler of these Annals had already prepared an
analysis of the official returns, from 1838 to August, 1843,
to accompany a petition to the Queen from Port Elizabeth,
but as this could not be quoted as an authority, the mem-
bers of Council wished to acquire a statement carrying
with it greater weight. As soon, therefore, as the produc-
tion of the papers asked for was denied, he determined at
once to retrace his steps with more particular care and
renewed diligence, so that the members might have data
before them which it was not likely or reasonable they
should incur the trouble of collecting themselves; and
this he undertook as the Secretary of State had impugned
the returns appended to the petition referred to. The
publication of these fresh returns was made on the 6th
July of this year,* under his notarial seal ; and when

* General Result of the operation of Lord Glenehfs and Lieutenant-
Governor Stoelcenstrom's Policy.
Stolen from 1837 to 1*4:5 :—

Horses ,. 2,469

Cattle 11,234

i.e., at tlic rate of 7 horses and oG cattle each week.

382 Annals of the Cape Colony.

tbey were subsequently brought into discussion (in Sep-
tember, 1845) Mr. Montagu, the Colonial Secretary,
endorsed thern, saying on that occasion, " I have taken
my information with regard to these six years from a
statement drawn out and published by Mr. Chase, of Port
Elizabeth, and which has evidently been compiled with a
great deal of care and labour, and I have no reason to
doubt its accuracy."

The new Governor had hardly been quietly seated in his
office at Cape Town when he was startled with the report
of the murder of a Dutch farmer, on the 1st July (one
Nel), on the wooded banks of the Great Fish Paver. This
unfortunate man was shot* while, with others, in pursuit
of cattle stolen by Kafirs sent into the Colony at the
instigation of one of Macomo's principal Councillors, in
which four of his own sous and his brother were engaged
(one was killed and three wounded by the pursuers,
on whom they fired repeatedly). These thieves were
concealed and protected by the Gaikas, refused to be
surrendered, and afterwards permitted to escape. The
Lieutenant-Governor at once instituted a searching

Murders committed 73

Cases of suspected murder 2

Assaults ou persons, &c. : Colonists wounded, 28 ; do. fired

upon, 21 ; other assaults, 33 ; total 82

Thieves punished by Kafir Chiefs 10

Kafirs killed or wounded in flagrante 34

Trespasses committed on Colony by Kafirs attempting to settle

themselves within the boundary, &c 18

Infraction of the treaties on the part of the Colony 3

Losses sustained by the Colonists, but where claims were disallowed

for want of sufficient proof against the native tribes, viz. : —

1841} ( 38 (- IS

1842lHorses 1.0 Cattle - 230

1813 ) I 131 I 146

188 718

John Cextuvres Chase.
Port Elizabeth, (ith July, 1844.

* Another farmer, named Grubbier, was shot about the same time by
Kafir thieves, but at a different place.

Duplicity of Macomo. 383

inquiry, and in reporting the circumstance to His Excel-
lency, observes that his investigation " unfolds a system
among the Chiefs and their subjects, all united, to plunder,
and to evade everything like justice ;" and he complains
bitterly of the duplicity of Macomo, who had actually
received a fine of cattle from this very party of marauders —
in fact, a share of the plunder, and then " with great tact
and cunning" tried to throw the blame of protecting and
concealing them on his brother Xo-xo. A military force
was then marched into the territory by the Lieutenant-
Governor, who said he was " wearied with the depreda-
tions and outrages committed on the Colony by the people
of the Gaika tribes," until the murderers were given up,
which at length was effected, not without exciting at the
time serious doubts whether the parties surrendered were
the guilty, so little confidence could be reposed in these
unprincipled people ; and it turned out in the sequel they
were entirely innocent of the crime.

How desperate matters were becoming will be under-
stood by reference to a passage in a letter from the Agent-
General for the Kafirs, addressed to the Eesident Agent at
the Chumie Station, dated lGth August, wherein His
Honour gives it as his opinion " that the acts of aggres-
sion, outrage, and murders daily committed by the Kafirs
on the Colony will at last bring upon the nation calamities
which it will not be in the power of Government to avert;"
and on the 27th following, he suggests to His Excellency
the Governor that a neutral ground should again intervene
between the plunderers and the plundered Colonists — that
the latter should be restricted to the right bank of the
Great Fish River and the Kafirs to the left of the
Kieskamma ; but even this half-and-half measure did not
meet with encouragement; and no official person had the
boldness to recommend a return to the mild and successful
D'Urban policy until too late — for fear, as Lord Stanley had
put it, " of an expensive and sanguinary contest." It
therefore became imperatively necessary that the Governor
should proceed to the scene of so much disorder, and he
repaired to Kafhiand, where he met the various Chiefs

384 Annals of the Cape Colony.

and a vast assembly of the natives on the 19th September,
when he remonstrated with them on their conduct, dwelt
on the failure of the existing policy, which he then and
there annulled, entered into fresh treaties with their
consent, and in order to induce the Chiefs to restrain
their people, subsidized them to the annual amount of
£680.* Having carefully inspected the territory, he fixed
on a commanding spot between the Kat and Chumie
Rivers for a new Military post, named, after Her Most
Gracious Majesty, "Victoria;" and this important work
concluded, trusting he had laid the foundation of future
peace and security, Sir Peregrine returned to the otltim
cum dignitate of the Western metropolis.

Great were the rejoicings within the Colony on this then
deemed auspicious consummation. Tar barrels burned,
bonfires blazed, an auto dafe was celebrated, illuminations
converted night into day, serenades were performed, preans
sung, and addresses by the score presented in honour of
the quietus given to the " Glenelg Experiment," and the
advent of an expected millennium, and the people were
nearly crazed at the conquest at length supposed to be
won.

" The other principal public measures of the year" (I
quote from a leading article of the time) "have been an
improved system of public finance, the adoption of a
liberal system of immigration from the Parent Country,
the entire abolition of port dues, and the employment of
convicts on the public roads ;" but to these must be added
the singular metamorphosis in the capital, of a theatre, in
which even the chef-d'eeuvres of Shakespeare had been
successfully enacted, into a chapel for blackedom — at which
the "unco guid" and rigidly-righteous greatly rejoiced.
Some equally extraordinary transformations have been
witnessed in the city of Van Kiebeek since that time, as
the Piev. Dr. Philip's Union Chapel in Church-square
converted — no, desecrated ! — into a billiard-room and a
refectory for a Club ; a building in Greenmarket-square,

* Falui, £75; Kreli, £75; T'Slambie, £;200; Congo, £100; Fiugoes,
£100 ; Tambookies, £«0 ; Eno, £50.

Natal Annexed to the Cape. 385

Gothic in its structure and Goth-like in its change,
intended to have been consecrated to saints or apostles,
turned into a shop for a vendor of punjimis, and dedicated,
some one said, not to the Prophets but Profits. Of course
at Cape Town, as elsewhere, strange things are perpe-
trated, and among them, not far from the period now
indicated, was the demolition of the venerable — certainly
somewhat time-shaken — Dutch Eeformed Church, and
erecting upon its site an ugly edifice, more like a Mahom-
medan mosque than a Christian Basilica, still retaining,
with peculiar taste, the hideous old belfry; but worse than
all, they dug up the funeral slabs laid upon the graves of
old South African worthies church -interred — whether the
old relics murmured never transpired, it is to be hoped not,
the wish inscribed on the tomb of the " Swan of Avon"* —
and among these was that of good, ancient Governor Eyk
van Tulbagh. All the pride and pomp of heraldry with
which the walls were, in the full sense of the term,
decorated, were, Vandal-like, turned out — some splendid,
perhaps rather gaudy, including the venerable achieve-
ments of Governor Van Oudtshoorn, with the flaunting
banners, helmet, crest and shield; and the whole of these
brave mementoes of a past generation were consigned to
the garrets of the old spared Campanile, there to perish.
The writer saw them there not long ago, a prey to
rot, damp or dry, and to the tender mercies of time and
the inexorable tooth of the proverbially " poor church
mouse."

On the 31st of March, Letters Patent from England
were issued annexing Natal to the Cape of Good Hope,
the history of which Settlement, from the discovery of the
country by the great Vasco da Gama, has numerous
historians, and it is beyond the province of this work to
incorporate them here.t

* " Blest may he be who spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves these bones."

f The early history up to the year of occupation by England will be
found in " Chase's Natal Papers, a Reprint."

2 c

386 Annals of the Cape Colony.

In the East, two events took place worthy of record.
The completion of a tunnel, 750 feet in length, through
the Vengsterberg, a hard rock at the London Missionary
Society's Institution, Hankey, on the Gamtoos River,
planned by the Eev. J. Philip, and carried out under
his superintendence by Hottentot labourers. This great
work was for the purpose of diverting the stream over
certain rich grounds otherwise not irrigable, and has fully
realized the objects of its conception. It is, however,
lamentable to add that the projector and his nephew, a
son of Mr. J. Fairbairn of the Commercial Advertiser, were
shortly alterwards drowned in the river, an event causing
general sympathy with the bereaved.

The other was the celebration by the British Settlers of
1820 of their advent into their twenty-fifth year of their
sojourn in South Africa. This jubilee was held on the
10th April, in Graham's Town, Port Elizabeth, and several
other parts, with great rejoicings. Morning services were
held in the various places of worship, followed by
discharges of cannon and musketry, and other tokens of
gladness, and the day closed with the old English custom,
at each place, of a banquet — " the feast of reason and the
flow of soul" — to which were invited the local authorities
and others, when appropriate orations were delivered, and
music and song added to the pleasures of the festal
occasion. A few months more — less than twelve — will bring
the jubilee of fifty years ; but, alas ! who may live to see
that day ?

1845. — A temporary lull ensued on the alteration of the
Border Treaties, and hopes were indulged for some con-
tinuance of quiet ; but when, on the 3rd January, the
Lieutenant-Governor had convened a meeting for the
ratification of his new arrangements, it was observed that
Sandilli, the head of the Gaika clan, failed to present him-
self, and there was evident hesitation exhibited on the part of
the other Chiefs. However, on the 21st, another " palaver"
being held, Sandilli and all the influential men attended,
and after many objections the new treaty was signed, with
the exception of a single article (the 18th). Shortly after

Border Disturbances. 387

this several robberies and assaults occurred, causing con-
siderable uneasiness, but still nothing to indicate any
serious mischief until the close of April, when, in conse-
quence of disturbances between the emigrant Boers and
Griquas on the north of the Orange Eiver (with the latter
of whom the Colony had entered into a treaty of alliance),
it became necessary to interfere, and to detach a large
body of troops from the Kafir border, which became the
signal for increased depredation. His Excellency the
Governor then visited the Griqua and Beehuana territory,
and in returning through the Eastern Districts in July,
strong representations were laid before him of the dis-
turbed state of the country by the increasing audacity of
the marauders, nothing having saved the Frontier from a
general outbreak but extreme forbearance on the part of
the Military authorities. At this period several other
signs of unmistakeable omen showed how ready and
prepared the barbarians were to provoke hostility, and it
was at length considered prudent to strengthen the posts
and require the officer in command of the 7th Dragoon
Guards to hasten his return from Colesberg, as there was
every appearance of an approaching general inroad. The
alarm increasing, meetings were held in several places,
and one in particular at the residence of Field-cornet
H. J. Lombaarcl, which is remarkable from the resolutions
there passed being supported by persons who themselves
were actual sufferers from the state of incessant disturb-
ance, now become chronic. The representations made on
this occasion embodied the universal feeling, and were to
the effect that Her Majesty's subjects on the Border are
not protected, although cheerful contributors to taxation ;
are continually despoiled of their property and in daily
fear of another invasion; that none of the tribes with
whom treaties have been made can be trusted ; that tho
Government will find it difficult to oppose an inroad with
the number of troops now on the Frontier; that the Kafirs
are prepared for war by their increased means in horses
stolen and guns acquired; that the want of confidence

has induced a great number of their countrymen to

2 c 2

388 Annals of the Cape Colony.

migrate to the wilderness, trusting to the protection of
their own arms.

1st Eesolution moved by Walter Currie, Esq. ; house
burnt, almost all his stock taken, furniture destroyed.
Seconded by 0. Nel, Esq.; house burnt, all his stock
taken.

2nd Eesolution moved by J. H. Delport ; house burnt,
stock taken, totally ruined. Seconded by J. H. Bosch ;
house burnt, stock taken, totally ruined.

3rd Eesolution moved by J. D. Nel ; house burnt, wife
died from exposure to cold, property totally destroyed.
Seconded by Gert Els; house burnt, property destroyed.

4th Eesolution moved by Eynier Els ; house burnt, stock
taken. Seconded by C. Botha ; house burnt, all property
taken at Eiebeek ; he was wounded through the body, and
his life despaired of.

5th Eesolution moved by Elias Nel ; house burnt,
sheep taken, reduced to poverty. Seconded by Christian
Nel ; all his property destroyed.

Gth Eesolution moved by P. C. Bezuidenhout ; lost
upwards of 7,000 valuable woollecl sheep, 300 head of
cattle, 37 horses, house burnt, totally ruined. Seconded
by Gert Mynhardt ; a most respectable young man, one of
the victims who lost his property when the Kafirs lately
took 10,000 sheep from Bezuidenhout's camp. He has not
a penny left ; reduced to absolute destitution.

The petition from these people, smarting under such an
amount of actual injury, indignant at neglect, and in
deadly apprehension of the horrors of another irruption,
was discussed in the Legislative Council on the 7th
October, and there received with the accustomed dis-
belief by the official members. " The complaints," said
the principal organ of Government, "could be disposed of
in a few words ; the language used at the meetings was to
be reprobated as incorrect, imprudent, overcharged, and
will not bear the test of close scrutiny, wherein the
speaker stated the Kafirs had greatly increased in
numbers, in power and prowess, are more formidable than
at any other period, and that the forces are unable to

Murder of a Missionary. 389

cope with the Kafirs. Now," added he, " the reverse was
the fact. No people were so perfectly acquainted with the
invulnerable power of the British Government as the
Border tribes, and there is not any reason whatever to
apprehend a hostile incursion." The Attorney-General
thought that men's minds were heated beyond a healthy
state, and he had formed a conviction " that at no
former period in the history of this Colony, from the days
of Van Biebeek's landing to the present moment, were our
former relations, comparatively speaking, so comfortable
as at present ;* that never did our Colonists suffer so
little from native tribes beyond the boundary as they do
at this very time." Such was the reception of the remon-
strances by a Government seated six hundred miles from
the focus of danger, and who with such warnings ought to
have been on the alert. The question, who was right and
who was wrong, was resolved within a few weeks after the
petitions had heen consigned to the pigeon-holes of the
Colonial Office at Cape Town.

The debates in the Council, although there the " exter-
mination" of the Kafirs was advocated unless they
preserved good faith, had no terrors for that people, and
the local authority continued to act on the laisser /aire
system. Brigandage continued, the pursuers of thieves
were fired upon and wounded, assaults were frequent, and
the reply when redress was demanded was " that no relief
could be afforded by the Governor." At last the climax
of crime was reached by the treacherous murder of a
German Missionary, the Bev. Ernest Scholtz, and a
servant of Mr. Shepstone in November, while in a wagon
at the Fish Biver Heights on the high road to Fort Peddie,
the Missionary being mistaken for the Besident Agent,
Mr. Shepstone, who had been previously warned that his
life was in danger. The Lieutenant-Governor at once
denounced the atrocity, demanded the perpetrators, taxed

* At a later period, this estimable and humane gentleman expressed
bitter regret that he had ever used the term of " comfortable relations,"
which became a by-word and a joke, but a grim one, throughout the
whole Colony.

390 Annals of the Cape Colony.

the Chief Pato as its instigator, and threatened (brutum
fulmen) vengeance ; but the Chief and people staved off
inquiry and evaded to apprehend the actors in the villainy,
and the remembrance of the affair was almost obliterated
by the events which so rapidly followed, ushering in others
of even direr character.

A very short time previous to this outrage, the Governor,
anxious to improve his border policy so as to satisfy both
parties and prevent any serious difficulty likely to arise
out of the new treaties, had framed an article providing
for a " Tribunal of Appeal," to be presided over by a
special officer with extensive powers, to be called a
" Frontier Commissioner." To this sensible arrangement
the other tribes gave in their adherence, but the Gaikas,
" under some misunderstanding or sinister influence,"
resisted ; the fact is, it would have interposed too great a
restraint upon their inherent proclivities ; and with a rash
facility greatly to be regretted, the Executive Council per-
mitted it to be omitted or to remain in abeyance, thus
giving a victory in statesmanship to the astute barbarians.
His Excellency also, under an impression at the time that
the Home Government were contemplating the discon-
tinuance of the office of Lieutenant-Governor, whose
limited powers reduced him to a cipher, considered he
might make the proposed office of Frontier Commissioner
" one of higher qualification and responsibility ; in fact
placing among the tribes an Agent-General competent and
empowered to superintend the general working of the new
policy, and qualified to be intrusted with the management
of all matters concerning the peace of the Eastern Fron-
tier ;" and in pursuing this idea appointed a Major Smith
— the gentleman who had distinguished himself at Port
Natal — to the situation. These arrangements were, how-
ever, frustrated by the disturbances which broke out early
in the ensuing year.

The threatened abrogation of the Lieutenant-Governor-
ship, as soon as it got wind, alarmed the Eastern
Colonists, and the more so as it had the countenance of
the Western inhabitants. Both alike condemned the office,

The Separation Question. 391

trammelled as it was, and the question which had so long,
and continues to agitate the public mind, arose, " Whether
there should be two virtually separate and independent
Governments, or retaining the whole Colony under one
supreme head and dispensing with a Lieutenant-Governor
altogether." The Easterns therefore transmitted represen-
tations, in December, against the humiliating measure
of abolition, asking for " a Lieutenant-Governor, armed
with enlarged powers — independent of control by the
Governor at Cape Town, who from his distance is con-
stantly liable to erroneous impressions, and inimical to
the true interests of Her Majesty's subjects in this
Province." To these a reply was given by Mr. Gladstone,
in April, 1846, stating that for want of adequate informa-
tion on the subject he had been unable to advise Her
Majesty, calling for farther explanations, and even question-
ing the " consistency of maintaining in the present form
the central Government and Legislature in Cape Town,
and whether concessions could not be made between
absolute centralization of all local Government at the
Cape and what would be virtually a separate Colony."
This information the terrible turmoils of the ensuing year
prevented being transmitted to the Minister, but there is
little doubt the appointments made in 1847 were intended
to provide, in a considerable measure, for the require-
ments of the Eastern Province.

SECTION XL

1846 — Sandilli proposes a Military Post at Block Drift, and then objects — Fruitless
Negotiations — Daring Outrage and Murder — War of 1846-7 commences — Burns'
Hill Affair — Continued Disasters — General Panic — Jan Tzatzoe, the recipient of
Eoyal Bounty, joins the War Party — Burgher Volunteers commanded by Sir A.
Stockenstrom — Victory over Kafirs at the Gwanga River — Expedition against and
Convention with Kreli — Truces — Macomo and afterwards Sandilli surrender —
Demaad made upon Kreli — Another Expedition against him — Capture of Cattle.
1847 — Governor Maitland recalled — Sir H. Pottinger Governor — Sir H. Young
Lieutenant-Governor — Home Government direct inquiry to be made on claim of
Eastern Province to be constituted a Separate Government — Lieutenant-Governor
institutes Investigation — His Report, and Administration.

1846. — The new year broke threateningly over the
Eastern Province, the fairest and most promising portion
of the Colony, wisely governed ; but the old, old story
again obtrudes itself — " Depredations unabated," and the
political weather fast beating up for storms — with another
ruin-laden avalanche, requiring only the slightest breath
for its launch, which soon came. In 1844, while the
Governor was negotiating his treaties with Sandilli, that
Chief, through the Diplomatic Agent, proposed a British
Military Post should be established at Block Drift, on the
Chumie Biver, and which Sir P. Maitland, in his evidence
before the Aborigines Protection Committee (in London,
7th July, 1851), says, " otherwise he should not have had
an idea of one there ;" but he acquiesced, fancying that
Sandilli's object was honestly to control the thieves of his
clan. In the present January, accordingly, a Colonel of
Engineers (Walpole) was commissioned to "inspect" the
locality, to ascertain its capabilities, but with the view of
procuring, before its erection, a more formal recognition.
He then surveyed the ground, no objection being made,
although the Besident Agent was on the spot at the time.
Shortly afterwards, however, the Kafirs exhibited decided
marks of disapprobation, and Sandilli, it is said intimi-

Violent Conduct of SandilU. 393

dated by his Councillors, denied his proposal to the
Governor, and declared he would resist by force any
attempt to build there. The Lieutenant-Governor, Colonel
Hare, with some troops, then repaired to the locality,
where he found the natives mustered in large numbers
(with some 4,000 horsemen, with guns, and well supplied
with ammunition). The conduct of Sandilli on this occa-
sion was most unruly and insulting, the attitude of the
Kafir warriors menacing, and but for the good temper
displayed by the Lieutenant-Governor and officers a
collision would have been inevitable. After some discus-
sion, the Chief admitted he had used intemperate
language, half apologized, but still claimed the ground,
notwithstanding his former proposal, and the meeting
broke up in much disorder among the natives, conscious
they had achieved a triumph. Subsequently, but not at
the time, this contretemps was used by the natives as one
of the pretexts for the ensuing war, the immediate cause
of which now appears.*
A demand for redress for some accumulated but un-

* Lieutenant-Governor Hare was noted for making "demonstrations"
against the Kafirs. One of these was thus humorously described by
the late Captain Bird in a pasquinade of the period : —

THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR'S DEMONSTRATION.

(From the Mormon Leaves, cap. 55.)

1. It came to pass when the sixth moon was full in the year one thousand eight
hundred and forty-five, that he, John, even he that is swift of foot, arose and said
unto his handmaid —

2. Behold ! I will go forth and seek the men of ochre,* they that do steal Line,
who dwell by the blue stream of Keisi, and I will smite them, and I will slay
them j

3. And I will take from them the horse and the ox and the calf and the tube
which speweth fire : I will utterly destroy them !

4. And his handmaid answered and said — " Go, John !"

5. Then did the armour-bearer bring unto John the sword which is called
" Toledo," and is made in Brummagem.

6. And he blew a great blast, and summoned together the multitude and the men
of war.

7. And they that wear scarlet cloaks — in their hand is the two-edged sabre, which
is also made in Brummagem ; two hundred were there.

8. These be they that do ride on swift horses ; on their heads is the semblance of
a lion, but in their hearts is no guile ;

* Ochre — red clay, with which the Kafirs besmear themselves.

394 Annals of the Gape Colomj.

satisfied claims and acts of outrage being preferred, the
messenger employed for the purpose was threatened with
personal violence by Sandilli, who had now joined a war
party ; and he then sent notice to the other Chiefs he was
ready for hostilities. Another interview took place, at
which he appeared with 5,000 of his people, all armed,
2,000 of them with guns. This meeting, after some fruit-
less talk, then broke up, and the troops retired. Such
indications of preparedness on the part of the Kafirs
naturally caused much uneasiness among the Colonists,
who waited upon His Honour in deputation, when he
confessed there was danger, and measures should be taken

9. And they that wear tho coat of scarlet, in whose hand is the tube of death, fivo
hundred were there.

10. And there also was a multitude rude and boerish, who ride on untamed
horses :

11. These be they who till the earth, that she bring forth fruits each in their
season ; wheat and barley and oats, each in their season.

12. And they set forth upon their way, and they pitched their tents that night in
the valley which is called Barooka.

13. And when the sun was high, they set forth again, and passed the river which
is called " Chumie," which being interpreted signifieth ten, booause in that place
there is that one, and one and none make ten.

14. And John lifted np his eyes, and they were very heavy, and behold afar off
was the mountain called " Amatola," that is to say, of calves.

15. And lo ! were gathered together the men of ochre ; by tens and by hundreds
and by thousands stood they, even as the locust which devoureth every green thing ;
numberless stood they, and much lane was with them.

16. Then did men see as from the multitude of the men of ochre come forth
Zamiel, and in his hand was a torch of fire ;

17. And he stood over against John and the multitude and the men of war, and
his right hand raised he unto his head, and the thumb thereof placed he against his
nose, and the fingers thereof spread he very wide,

18. And he cried with a loud voice, and his one word was " Hookey."

19. And Zamiel was seen no" more, but in his place was cloud and fire and smoke,
and the grass did burn, and it grew very hot.

20. And John said, it is not good for us to be here ;

21. Let us then return each man unto his tent, and unto the home from which he
came ;

22. For the men of ochre are proud in their strength, even as the giant O'Briau
in my father's halls.

23. So they turned unto the setting sun, and they reined not their steeds, neither
tarried they to broil meat by the wayside, till they reached the gates of the city
which is called Beaufort, which being translated means " very pretty."

24. And his handmaid bowed before John even as the rainbow boweth before the
eun ; in many coloured beauty bowed she before him ;

25. And she said — " John, what hast thou done ?"

26. And he answered and said—" Nothing."

Outbreak of the War of 1846. 395

for defence. This was on the 7th February ; on the 9th,
strange to say, he gave notice " there was not the slightest
cause for alarm," and which state of affairs he maintained
as existing up to the 16th. These declarations failed to
reassure the inhabitants, and matters went on in this
unsatisfactory manner for a month, when an event took
place closing the reign of peace, and gave to "young
Kafirland" its opportunity for the plunder and bloodshed
so long desired.

On one of the frequent occasions of Macomo's visits to
his favourite canteens at Fort Beaufort, where he habitually
became intoxicated, a Kafir of his suite — belonging to the
Chief Tola — committed a theft which was taken no further
notice of than causing the restitution of the property, and
driving the offender out of the place. Afterwards the
same native was detected while purloining a hatchet from
one of the Commissariat stores at the same Fort, when he
was apprehended and sent, under escort, with other male-
factors, to Graham's Town, to be there tried. With this
prisoner there was a Hottentot, to whom, for the sake of
security, he had been manacled ; an English soldier also,
and a Fingo were at the same time sent. These two,
ironed together, and the whole placed most improvidently
under charge of a small guard, had not proceeded many
miles when, at a pass scarped out of the rock, called
Dan's Hoogte, on the Kat Eiver, they were attacked
suddenly by a strong body of Kafirs, who, as they found
it difficult to liberate their countryman from the unfortu-
nate Hottentot, deliberately severed the handcuff at his
wrist, and then pierced him to death, the soldier and
Fingo escaping by concealment in the stream. The
murderers were then formally demanded by the Govern-
ment, but were refused to be surrendered by Sandilli,
Botman, and Tola, upon which the Governor declared
war, and on the 31st of March issued a manifesto, in
which are given, as the causes of his complaints against
the Kafirs, "their systematic violation of justice and good
faith." And the war thus initiated got the name of "the
War of the Axe."

396 Annals of the Cape Colony.

Of the course of events during hostilities protracted for
nearly two years, attended at first with the most disastrous
results, it is not necessary to go into lengthened detail.
One Kafir war is but the counterpart of the one prece-
ding, except that the latter always increases in difficulty
and duration, the enemy becoming educated — and he is an
apt scholar in the art. The features are, however, con-
stant— the troops and Colonists in pursuit of a flying foe
always betaking himself to the jungle, where he has the
advantage of deadly aim, himself concealed, killing his
antagonist, whom he frequently mutilates; and when
victory crowns the civilized opponents it is only after a
dangerous, worthless, and inglorious campaign.*

The forces took the field on the 11th April, but the
season was unusually unpropitious for military operations.
An intense drought set in, interfering with the transport
of the requisite supplies, and increasing the impediments
to an ivading army in a most difficult country. To strike
a rapid and decisive blow in the dense fastnesses of the
Amatola forests, the stronghold and secure hiding-place
for Kafir loot, was considered to be the first and most
important step, and a body of troops was dispatched for
that purpose, via the Mission Station at Burns' Hill, on
the upper part of the Keiskamma Eiver, which place was
reached on the 15th. The next day some smart fighting
took place, when the Mission Station was attacked by the
savages, who succeeded in capturing, plundering, and
destroying 63 baggage-wagons out of 123 with which the
force was encumbered. The expedition was then obliged

* Jan Tzatzoe, the " Christian trophy," and specimen of a real live
" oppressed Kafir." as has been already narrated, who, when in Eng-
land in 1836 with the Rev. Dr. Philip, had gained entrance to the
Royal Palace, shaken hands with the Royal children, and received
money for schools, now joined the war party, and was present during
the attack on the British Military Station, Fort Beaufort ; and in his
hut, which was destroyed during the war, was found a copy of a
violent work, from the pen of one of the pseudo-philanthropic party,
entitled " Wrongs of the Kafirs, by Justus." Jan could read English,
and no doubt the book was indiscreetly sent to him for the purpose of
" nursing his wrath to keep it warm."

Successes of the Kafirs. 597

to fall back upon Block Drift. This was the commence-
ment of disasters soon followed up by others. The new
post of Victoria was obliged to be abandoned and burnt,
and all communication with the Colony was thus cut
off; 41 more wagons fell into the enemy's hands at
Trumpeter's Drift, on the Great Fish Eiver ; Fort
Peddie was attacked, and the cattle, some 4,000 in
number, taken ; and in these affairs several lives were
sacrificed.

The moral effect of such calamities was most distressing.
A general coalition of Kafirs, even the wavering, ensued ;
and the enemy, flushed with its brilliant successes, poured
into the Colony, causing a general panic and the abandon-
ment of the country by the farmers into the town or to
camp, where, huddled together for months, they suffered
privations of the severest kind. In May, however, some
slight check was put upon the inroad into the upper parts
of the Colony by the appearance there of bodies of
burghers from Graaff-Eeinet, Coiesberg, Cradock, and
other places, who by the end of the month pretty well
covered the Northern Divisions. These forces were patrioti-
cally joined by Sir Andreas Stockenstrom, who was invited
by the inhabitants to do so, and he was placed in charge
of these contingents by the Governor as Commandant-
General.

The first perceptible diversion in favour of the Colony
took place on the 8th of June, when Colonel Somerset,
with the 7th Dragoon Guards, the Cape Corps, and other
troops, fell in with the Kafirs at the Gwanga, a small
stream emptying itself into the Keiskamma, and there
defeated them with so considerable a loss as greatly to
damp their ardour. By the close of the month, the Tain-
bookie tribes, who, although harbouring the cattle taken
by the Kafirs, had hitherto manifested no other show of
hostility, began to mingle in the fray, while Kreli, who
had been tampered with, was only biding his time. Still
the state of the weather was so unfavourable that few
movements of consequence could be undertaken, and the
Governor seriously contemplated retiring upon the base

398 Annals of the Cape Colony.

of his supplies at Waterloo Bay, a new landing-place
discovered on the eastern side of the mouth of the Great
Fish Pdver, with the intention to resume hostilities in
October, in order to afford time to recruit the men and
horses. Furtunately such a resolve was overruled, and
instead thereof it was judiciously advised a demonstration
should be made on the Amatolas, and at the same time
on the Paramount Chief Kreli himself. The former plan
was carried into effect with some favourable results, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Johnstone and Sir Andreas Stocken-
strom proceeded on the 20th August, with a force, to
Kreli' s abode, where they found him greatly alarmed at
the rapid, sudden, and unexpected movement, and induced
him to enter into a convention which prevented any open
interference on his part ; but the mission was otherwise a
failure, causing much dissatisfaction and a serious differ-
ence between Colonel Johnstone and Sir Andreas. On
their return, they made an attack upon the Balotta
country, occupied by the Tambookies, defeating them with
much loss of cattle. The success of these latter evolutions
so quailed the confederates, that they sent round notices
that " the Amatolas were broken to pieces, and Kreli's
door was shut."

A truce was now granted to Sandilli, and after waiting
for some time, a second suspension of hostilities, at his
urgent request, was acceded to, and it was fondly expected,
as the Kafirs had now gotten all they could in the way of
plunder, peace would soon ensue ; indeed the Kafirs
openly declared they were wearied and would fight no
more. The Governor therefore repaired to Block Drift,
for a final conference with the belligerent Chiefs to settle
the terms of submission, which were the surrender of
20,000 cattle, 2,500 muskets, and the entire evacuation of
the right bank of the Chumie. Macomo, who on the 17th
September had visited Lieutena,nt-Colonel Campbell to
say he came in the name of all the Chiefs to sue for
peace, surrendered himself; but Sandilli continued to
delay entering into conditions until His Excellency's
patience gave way, and on his determination to close

Attach on Kreli. . 399

negotiations, the crafty cripple* removed from the camp.
Hostilities were then renewed, a desultory warfare suc-
ceeded, in which many cattle were taken, when Sandilli
and Botman at length gave themselves up ; but Pato and
a few minor Chiefs continued to hold out, taking refuge
in the country in the neighbourhood of the Kei.

The Gaikas, Tambookies, and the other tribes west of
the Kei, except Pato, having now submitted, began to
enrol themselves as British subjects, and the Governor,
having reason to believe he had arrived very near to the
end of the war, prepared an outline of his future policy.
Still, however, dissatisfied with the conduct of Kreli and
the result of the mission dispatched in August, he sent a
second message to that Chief on their return, requiring
reparation for his treatment of the Government Agent and
British subjects in his country, for the hostile acts of
some of his people against the Colony and the troops,
and for harbouring stolen cattle within his dominion. To
this demand, after awaiting two months, an evasive reply
was received, and His Excellency, in December, com-
municated his ultimatum, insisting upon the payment of
15,000 head of cattle as indemnity, an engagement to act
in the future in a friendly manner to the Colony, upon
which peace should be confirmed with him ; otherwise he
would dispatch a force across the Kei to compel obedience
to his demand. This attempt to procure satisfaction was
ineffectual. The troops therefore crossed the stream, and
in a few days captured some 10,000 head of cattle.

1847. — While matters were thus proceeding, the Gover-
nor, after his visit to the banks of the Kei, returned to
head-quarters at Butterworth, where, to his surprise, early
in January, he received notice of his recall from Home
— a treatment he considered as a weighty censure,
especially when conducting what he fancied would be the
last of the operations of the war ; and under the circum-

;: Ciupi'j.e— Sandilli has one leg withered. When he was about to
assume Chieftainship on the death of his father, Gaika, some objections
were made on that account, but Macomo overruled them, observing
that " a Chief governs by his head and not his leg."

400 Annals of the Caps Colony.

stances it was no doubt unfortunate, for it emboldened the
Kafirs, giving an appearance of truth to their assertions
that " the people of England would not allow them to be
beaten by the Colonists, and that the ceded territory must
revert to them" — assertions which they were excusable in
believing, being so counselled by false friends, and remem-
bering with savage sagacity how everything had been
conceded after the hostilities of 1835.*

Eimtmisttattcm of (Scbernot anfc $tgfj ©ommfegumcrt
Sir &rorfi ^otttngrr, SSatt, <&.<&.&.,

AND

Sit l&cnrg IStotoarti jFojc ¥oung, innig^t,
iUeutenantsiSobcrnar.

The political transactions of the Colony were at this
time almost exclusively confined to its Eastern portion
and the adjoining territory, which must continue to be the
case from the circumstance that the chief regions beyond,

* On the 12th January three officers were cruelly butchered by the
Kafirs — Captain Gibson, Dr. Howell, and the Hon. Mr. Chetwynd,
aloug with two Burghers. — See Colonel Napier's work, vol. ii. page 343.

•f- The commission was dated 10th October, 1846, granting to the
High Commissioner a salary of =£1,000 per annum, in addition to that
as Governor of the Cape Colony of =£5,000 a year, payable out of the
Colonial Revenue. This officer is entirely independent of Colonial
control, and amenable to the Imperial Government alone. All native
affairs beyond the Colony are entrusted to Iris single management
without recurrence to any board whatever. If he informs the Parlia-
ment of the state of Border relations, it is a condescension on his
part, for he can withhold it at pleasure. He can involve the Colony in
war with outsider tribes, tolerate (as too many of our Governors have
done) the excesses of the barbarians ; he can conclude peace abruptly,
just at the moment before entire subjugation of an enemy, leaving the
embers of discontent still smouldering ; can annex or cede territory —
and who can say him nay '? He resides GOO to 800 miles from the field
of his especial duties, and is only guided in then- discharge by reports
from his subordinates — men, with all their acknowledged ability, liable
to be, as they have often been, deceived by the cunning of the crafty

Arrival of Sir H. Pottinger. 401

where anything of importance can occur, all lie in that
direction— that is, on the north and east ; while the
Western Province is hounded hy one interminable waste,
the Kalihari Desert, incapable of being peopled, and so
well described by the poet.*

The events now to be related partake of a two-fold
character, and as they occur almost side by side, it will,
in order to prevent confusion, be required to treat them
separately as military and political.

Poor General Maitland thus summarily shelved, the
government of the Colony, with a patent as "High
Commissioner" was offered to and accepted by Major-
General Sir Henry Pottinger, the Governor of Madras, a
distinguished statesman and the renowned dictator of the
Chinese Treaty of 1843. His appointment was dated
November 2, 1846, and he arrived at Graham's Town on the
27th January of the following year. His Cape Town reign,
as resident in that metropolis, is the shortest on record, and

savage. The office of High Commissioner is unknown to the Cape
Constitution ; his administration is irresponsible to and irresistible by
the Colonists, whose safety and very existence is thus entrusted to one
sole mind. He is, in fact, the Minister of the Imperial Government as
regards the " native foreigners." and, with the example of Governor
Eyre of Jamaica, may become the trembling tool of the Aborigines
Protection Society and representative of Exeter Hall " notions." With
a Border Department and a Minister of the Interior, much of the evils
of this office would probably be corrected.

* A region of emptiness, howling and drear,
"Which man hath abandoned from famine and fear,
Which the snake and the lizard inhabit alone,
With the twilight bat from the old hollow stone ;
Where grass, nor herb, nor shrub takes root,
Save poisonous thorns that pierce the foot ;
A region of drought where no river glides,- '
Nor rippling brook with osier'd sides —
Where reedy pool, nor mossy fountain,
Nor shady tree, nor cloud-capt mountain,
Is found to refresh the aching eye,
But the barren earth and the burning sky,
And the blank horizon round find round,
Without a living sight or sound.

Pritigle's ''Afar in the Desert"
2 D

402 Annals of the' Cape Colony.

the absence does not appear to have injured the interests
of that pretty, populous, and pleasant city, or deranged the
current progress of Civil affairs — evidence that the manage-
ment of the Colony can be as well administered on the
Frontier. The cause of his appointment is gathered from
Earl Grey's despatch, being " the protracted state, beyond
all example, of the Kafir contest, the great expenditure of
public money, the wide destruction of private property,
interruption of peaceful pursuits, and an abiding sense of
insecurity;" and he was directed to bring the Kafir "War
to an early and decisive issue.

Shortly after the advent of the Governor, Sir Henry
E. F. Young arrived in Graham's Town on the 23rd April,
as Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief over the
Eastern Districts of the Colony — a Government described
as " separate and distinct." To this gentleman — an
experienced Civil servant, and who had been Colonial
Secretary to Sir B. D'Urban in Guiana — was especially
assigned peculiar and onerous duties, and with him
recommenced the agitation of the great question between
the two provinces, similar to that which had before arisen
in Australasia between the parent Colony and its neigh-
bours. Queensland and Victoria, whether the future govern-
ment of this largely-extended territory should be continued
as a whole or be divided into two separate and independent
States, or, as an alternative, that the seat of Government be
removed to some more convenient and central locality.

During the administration of Sir Peregrine Maitland,
Mr. Gladstone — moved, no doubt, by the representations
so constantly transmitted to the Colonial Office — sincerely
desirous to meet the wants and wishes of the inhabitants
of this disturbed part of the Imperial dominions, directed
that officer to institute inquiries, with the aid of his
Executive Council, into the real nature of their complaints,
" as he had been impeded in giving advice to the Sovereign
by a deficiency of information;" but this was entirely
precluded by the war. The duty was consequently left
to his successor, Sir H. Pottinger, who with praiseworthy
promptitude addressed a despatch on the 22nd June to

Inquiry into the State of the Eastern Province. 403

the new Lieutenant-Governor, stating it was perfectly
impossible for him at that time to carry out the instruc-
tions of the Minister; and, as His Honour was on the spot,
he recommended him to take the opportunity of consulting
with the most influential and best-informed of the
petitioners, and to ascertain their views.

Losing not an instant of time, Sir H. Young,* with his
characteristic energy, at once (2Gth June) addressed a
circular, to thirty-eight gentlemen residing in various parts
of the Province, requesting their evidence in writing, or
personal conference, and concluded this invitation in the
following words: — "I cannot, however, too plainly and
firmly assure you that my participation in the discussion
will be scrupulously limited to a conscientious balance of
the evidence adduced, without any feeling of partisanship
in favour of the independence of the Eastern Province
Government or any antagonism against the form of the
existing central Government at Cape Town ; and this
disposition of mind, which official duty cogently enjoins
on me, will, I trust, be equally cherished and acted on by
you, from motives of enlightened patriotism."

This appeal was responded to by the inhabitants with
gratitude and delight. At last, and for the first time, they
found they were to be consulted as to their wishes, and
that at the instance of the Home Government itself, and
through two such enlightened men as Pottinger and Young.
Eight individuals by letter, eleven regularly convened
public meetings of inhabitants by resolutions, and four

* This intelligent Civil servant was not long in discovering the evils
under which the Frontier people were suffering, and as early as tho
10th May, in a letter to Sir H. Pottinger, he says : — " Even from my
short residence here a very strong impression that the existing form of
Government is not so conducive to that early and extensive improve-
ment of the country which is so ohviously and so greatly needed" —
" the remoteness of the present metropolis of the whole Colony, &c,
the present and probable future, the almost exclusively English
character of the intelligent and enterprising portion of the Eastern
population, render a change expedient and necessary." The population
"have at present no direct interest in, and therefore no sympathy
with, a Government so remote."

2 D 2

404 Annals of the Cape Colony.

full reports from Municipalities and other influential
bodies, provided the information requested, and all con-
curred in recommending, as the only cure for the evils the
Province languished and suffered under, either the
removal of the seat of government from cape town to
some more central spot, or a perfect separation of the
two Provinces.*

Upon the data thus obtained His Honour framed his
report, dated the 14th October of the same year. This
able State document embraced the following arguments : —
Evils of the remoteness of the Western Executive ; anxiety
of the inhabitants to be placed in the position recom-
mended by the Eoyal Commissioners of Inquiry in 1826 ;
sufficiency of the Eastern Province revenues for separa-
tion, shown |by reference to statistical returns ; removal
considered as an equivalent for a division of the Colony ;
unanimous dissatisfaction as to the general management
of the Colony by the existing Government as regards
roads, Land Eegistry Office, Surveyor-General's Office,
Educational Department, postmasters, and other establish-
ments ; absence of all representation in the Councils ; the
Lieutenant -Governorship as at present constituted is (an
opinion in which His Honour coincided) not only useless,
but a positive clog to the public service; that the Eastern
Districts were entitled to a Political Constitution (of which
he sketched a plan) ; that removal or separation was in-
evitable ; that removal would not be ruinous to Cape
Town, as its commercial and political importance has
never suffered from the absence for long periods of nine of
its Governors (from 1819 to 1847) t ; that removal was

* Persons : Sir A. Stockenstrom, F. 0. Hutchinson, G. F. Stokes,
G. D. Joubert, M. B. Shaw, C. J. Fair, T. Philipps, J. C. Chase = 8.

Meetings : Port Elizabeth, Graham's Town, Sidbury, Fort Beaufort,
Cradock, Uitenhage, Somerset, Salem, Bathurst, Oliphant's Hoek,
Bushman's River = 11.

Special reports from Municipalities, &c. : Port Elizabeth, Somerset,
Graaff-Reinet, Graham's Town = 4.

j Sir H. Young gives the names of the Governors who had been for
a length of time on the Frontier without injury to Cape Town : — Lord
C. Somerset, Sir R. S. Donkin, Sir R. Bourke, Sir L. Cole, Sir B.

8ir B". Youncfs Administration. 405

preferable to separation, he deeming it "impolitic to sub-
divide and thereby weaken the power and resources of the
Colony ; and that, on the contrary, a facility should be
given to wield them vigorously and promptly in their
aggregate form by the stationing of the most potent
Executive authority that can be created at a convenient
vicinity of the point of danger," &c.

The history of Sir Henry Young's administration deserves
to be written, but space here does not admit of it. Brief
as it was — barely ten months — it was crowded with efforts
to benefit, not only the Eastern portion, but the whole
Colony. In the manly assertion of his rights to govern
a distinct and separate Government, to which he had
been appointed by " Eoyal Letters Patent," he was
thwarted by the Cape Town Executive. He claimed the
perogative of pardon : that merciful exercise of his office
was denied. He demanded a fair share of the convict
labour monopolized by the West : was refused. He asked
for roads and bridges (especially one at Sundays Eiver),
the funds for which were expended in the favoured West :
never attended to. He called for the issue of title deeds,
of which a very large number were in abeyance after pos-
session of the soil had been had for a quarter of a century:
the source of endless legal complications. He solicited
additional Magistrates. He begged for means to construct
or repair churches, gaols, to aid schools and their teachers^
to help libraries, to augment inadequate salaries, to estab-
lish direct postal communication overland with Natal, for
moorings for ships at Algoa Bay, for a lighthouse on Cape
Receiffe, and many other improvements, besides the incor-
poration within the Colony of the farmers beyond the
Stormberg Spruit:* to all of which he received a cold

D'Urban, Lieutenant- Colonel Wade, Sir G. Napier, Sir P. Maitland,
and Sir H. Pottinger. Some years afterwards, Mr. Armstrong, a
member of the Legislative Assembly, moved for a return of the length
of the periods of tune in which Colonial Governors had been absent
from the Western metropolis, but the answer from the Colonial Office
was noii mi recordo — or, no minutes had been preserved.

* Incorporated in 1849, by order of Governor Sir H. Smith, under
the Civil Commissioner of Albert, the late secretary to Sir H. Young.

406 . Annals of the Cape Colony.

refusal couched upon predictions all of which have been
falsified.*

* The Executive Council at Cape Town in this case showed its
inaptitude to appreciate the resources of the Eastern Province, and
considerable ignorance. It based its objections to Sir H. Young's
recommendation on the following grounds, which were not long in being
disproved, as will be seen : —

1st. That an extension of territory was impracticable.
The boundary, then at the Fish River, is now (1860) at the Kei, and
was but lately at the Bashee.

2nd. That the produce of wool in the East has well-nigh reached its
utmost limits.

The quantity of wool exported thence in 1846 was 2,188,637 lbs.

1868 „ 31,753,679 „
3rd. That in truth the Province has almost attained its maximum
advancement.

In 1847 the value of fixed property was .=£1,666,754

In 1868 9,530,834

In 1847 its commerce, imports, and exports were 424,604
In 1868 2,782,290

SECTION XII.

1817 continued — Kafir overtures for Peace on the stain quo ante bellum — Hostilities
recommence — Sandilli declared a Eebel — Negotiations with Kreli — Five Officers
murdered — Governor Sir H. Smith arrives — Enlarges Colonial Boundary — Pato
surrenders — Conquests of 1835 resumed. 18-18 — Amakosa Kafirs swear allegiance
— Peace with Kreli — Cost of the War — Kafir Police established — Governor reduces
the Military force — Orange River affairs — Farther extension of Colonial territory
— District of Albeit founded — A Statue to Governor proposed — Governor opposes
separation cf the Provinces — Changes his opinion thereon— Revolt in Orange River
Sovereignty quelled — Governor improvises plan of Parliamentary Government —
Objections of Eastern inhabitants to it — A Lighthouse at Cape Agulhas — Capo
Town becomes a Cathedral City.

We return to the already wearying subject of Military
movements, and the progress of the war. Pato, notwith-
standing the raid into the country of Kreli in December last,
still held out, when Sir H. Pottinger, in March, decided to
attack and drive him over the Kei ; but the Colonial levies
having been mostly disbanded, great difficulty was experi-
enced in procuring volunteers or re-enlisting men already
jaded by the weather, from the tedious length of the
marches, and the not too great redundancy of provisions.
This occasioned much delay, and had a bad effect both
upon the enemy, only partially beaten, and those who had
already given in their reluctant adhesion. Among the
latter was the Chief Sandilli, who now, about " the Ides
of March," at a meeting held to receive a message from
His Excellency, had the sheer assurance to talk of a
statu quo ante bellum, or, as expressed by the Gaika Com-
missioner, Mr. Calderwood, " he, Sandilli, in the name
of the rest of the Kafirs, expressed regret and surprise that
things had not been allowed to revert to the position in
which they stood before the war (of course, as it was in
1836). This kind of language, as well as other indications,
satisfied the Commissioner of that Chief's insincerity and
indisposition to act up to his engagements. The Governor

408 Annals of the Cape Colony.

then intimated his determination that if any of the Gaika
Chiefs who had submitted and registered themselves as
British subjects be guilty of any hostile act, he would
endeavour to have them apprehended and sent to
Eobben Island as State prisoners. The character of this
" treacherous and turbulent Chief," as Sir Henry Pottinger
correctly termed him, was soon exhibited. Early in June
his people, with his knowledge, perpetrated some thefts in
the Eat Eiver; the stolen property (some goats) was
traced to their kraals ; the Commissioner claimed restitu-
tion— the surrender of the thief and a fine of three oxen
legally due for the offence ; some goats were returned ;
Sandilli denied any knowledge of the thief, when the
Governor decided to enforce the full demand, and in
default to have the Chief seized and placed in confine-
ment. After a brief interval, Sandilli proving recusant,
an attempt to apprehend him was made on the 16th of
June, when the Chief eluded his pursuers ; and on the
troops employed on the service driving off a few cattle,
they were furiously assailed by full 2,000 armed natives,
who appear to have been perfectly prepared for the affair.
After a march of fifteen hours, skirmishing all the way,
they returned to Biockdrift, losing an officer and one man
wounded, but killing some of the enemy ; and thus opened
the first scene in the second act of the War of 1846-7.
The weather being cold and unpropitious for warlike
operations, and the Kafir season for planting and sowing
maize and millet begun and favourable, Sandilli attempted
to open negotiations, pretending that the late affair with
the troops arose out of some misunderstanding, that he
and his people were hungry, and begged that the cattle
might be restored. The Commissioner's reply was " that
there was no misunderstanding whatever," and inquired
where is the thief? — where were the firearms employed in
the late attack at Sandiili's place on the troops ? — for
Sandilli said he had submitted to Government and given
up all his guns. This was on the 5th July. Still pro-
fessing to be friendly, the other Chiefs continued harping
on the restoration of the ceded territory; but the Governor

Sandilli declared a Rebel. 409

continued firm, and not likely to listen at any time, and
still less at the present, to proposals of the kind ; and so,
awaiting the long-expected reinforcements, he hided his
time.

Preparations at last completed, the arrival of troops and
levies (somewhat about 2,000 men) — precautions taken to
protect the Colony in the rear from attack — a forward
movement was determined upon against the recreant ; hut
with extraordinary forbearance another demand was made
upon him on the 18th August, merely to surrender 200
guns and give up the thief already claimed, which the
Governor in his despatch home said, " I think will
satisfy the offended dignity and honour of the British
Government and likewise demonstrate to the other Gaika
Chiefs that we have the power of coercing them." This
excess of leniency had no effect ; Sandilli made overtures
to Kreli and Pato for assistance, and His Excellency, on
the 27th, issued a Proclamation detailing the reasons
which actuated him, declared war and the Chief a rebel.
Sandilli was soon followed up into the Amatolas, where
active operations were carried on with great success, and
at last, on the 19th October, he, with eighty of his people,
including his brother Anta, surrendered themselves.

The successful termination of the expedition against
Sandilli enabled Lieutenant-General Berkeley to com-
mence a movement against Pato and Kreli, and on the
81st October Colonel Somerset, being dispatched for that
purpose, fell in with about 800 of the enemy, strongly
entrenched at a kraal of Pato's on the Chechuba, a stream
falling into the Great Kei not far from the coast. At this
place one of the Kafir braves invited hostilities by riding
out to the front, exclaiming aloud, "This is the day we
mean to fight and make an end of this war." The
challenge was as readily accepted as it was undauntedly
given ; within twenty minutes the native force was com-
pletely routed out from the stronghold, with only two men
(an officer and another) wounded on the part of the
Colonial force ; but many Kafirs bit the dust. On the 2nd
November the Governor directed communications to be

410 Annals of the Capo Colony.

opened once more with Kreli, reducing the demand
formerly made of the payment of 15,000 head of cattle to
10,000, that he should engage to he for the future friendly
towards the Colony and all subjects of or under the
protection of the British Government, and to relinquish
all pretensions to any portions of the territory westward
of the Kei, and that on entering upon these conditions
a peace should be concluded with him, or he must abide
the consequences ; His Excellency adding to his message
that no treaty could be made with him, as experience has
shown the utter worthlessness of doing so.

A melancholy event occurred a few days (13th November)
after the affair at the Chechuba ; five officers, Captain
Baker, Lieutenant Faunt, Ensign Burnop, and Dr. Camp-
bell, of the 73rd Kegiment, and Assistant- Surgeon Lock,
7th Dragoon Guards, being barbarously killed in an
ambush by the natives while riding out on pleasure
from head-quarters ; but there was the melancholy satis-
faction that some of the murderers were speedily over-
taken and paid with their lives for their stealthy attack.
The expedition into Kreli's country, which had been
detained on the right banks of the Kei in consequence
of the state of the weather, was at last, on the 19th
November, enabled to cross the stream, where, and after-
wards on the Somo Biver, a considerable number of cattle
were captured, several of the barbarians shot, opera-
tions which seem to have cowed Pato as well as the
Paramount Chief, and led them both to reflect whether
the game of war was so profitable a speculation as they
expected it would turn out.

While affairs were thus favourably progressing, news
arrived in October, very unlooked-for, that a fresh change
was imminent — another slide in the political phantas-
magoria. The war hitherto " dragging its slow length
along" was found to be entailing an enormous charge
upon the English Exchequer, a constant drain upon the
British Army, with a loss of prestige in carrying on
hostilities with a set of savages, and the ingloriousness
of a "little war." The Home authorities therefore con-

Recall of Sir II. Pottinger. 411

sidered it imperatively expedient to interfere, and deemed
no fitter officer could be selected than the administrator
of the hitherto proscribed D'Urban System of 1835, Colonel
at that time — now the victor of Aliwal — Lieutenant-
General Sir Harry Smith. No appointment could have
been so welcome to the inhabitants of the Frontier and
the community of South Africa in general, or so desired
by Sir Harry himself; the former anticipated a return
to the wise and successful policy of " the best of
Governors," and the latter the restoration of long-desired
peace to a Colony to which he was personally attached.

The recall, however, of Sir H. Pottinger, now on the
eve of conquest, and who, there is little doubt, contem-
plated a similar mode of managing the natives as
Governor D'Urban — that is, by absorption of their
territory, the extinguishment of Chieftainship, and the
reception of the barbarous people as subjects of Britain
— rather damped the spirits, and the abolition of the
Lieutenant-Governorship, which the new Governor seems
to have insisted upon, cast something like a shade upon
the universal joy, and which was increased by the loss
of so amiable and energetic a man as Sir Henry Young,
who had raised high hopes by his report before alluded to,
and who, it was known, intended to initiate large improve-
ments, for at the time the intelligence reached him of
the abolition of his office he had just directed his
secretary to commence preparations for their visit to
each of the divisions of his Government in order to
acquire, by personal inspection, full knowledge of the
wants and wishes of a people he had begun to appreciate
and whose destinies he had hoped to rule over for some
years to come.

412 Annals of the Capo Colony.

atnmmstration of (Bobmtor an* $!'gfj ©ommtsstonrr
U.teut.=43nural £tt i&nwfi O^orsc Mafcitm Smitfj, &*att,

From December 1, 1847, to March 31, 1852.

Sir Harry arrived in Cape Town on the anniversary
of the abolition of slavery, the 1st December (omen
happy, but unrealized), on the 14th he reached Port
Elizabeth, where he met the abject sot, Macomo, who
had there sought a refuge, and on the 17th entered
Graham's Town, receiving at that place, and for miles
on his approach, an ovation never lavished on any
preceding Governor. The people were delirious with
joy. The same day he, however, somewhat checked
their enthusiasm by releasing the crafty Chief Sandilli,
then a detenu in the Provost Prison. After giving him
some severe reproofs, while the barbarian crouched at
his feet like a sneaking spaniel, he dismissed him, in
the name of Her Majesty, to join his own people, there
as it turned out, with characteristic gratitude for the
generous confidence shown him, to foment within a few
months the most devastating war that ever afflicted the
Colony, and imperilling the very life of his benefactor.

The Governor now issued a most important proclama-
tion (17th December), enlarging the limits of the country
on the north by some 50,000 square miles of country, the
nomadic abode of a few Bushmen and predatory natives
dangerous to peace, making the Orange River from its
estuary in the Atlantic to where the Kraai (properly Grey)
Pdver discharges its copious waters into that noble stream,
thence along the Grey southwardly, nearly in a straight
line to the mouth of the Kieskamma in the Indian Ocean,
a good because a well-defined natural boundary of running
stream and rugged mountain, compact, well rounded,
and, unlike the old arbitrary line, not liable to be mis-
understood or its description perverted. To this extension

Sir H. Smith and the Kafir QMefs. 413

some demur was made by Earl Grey in bis despatch of
the 31st March, 1848, but, confiding in the Governor, it
was quietly acquiesced in ; and thus the vexed question
— the old bone of contention between Kafir and Colonist,
the debateable land of the neutro-ceded territory, was
settled for ever. Here the Governor proposed to establish
Military villages, which were subsequently formed and
peopled by soldiers and their families, but not long
endured by the savages, as will be seen ; and this fertile
tract he called "the Division of Victoria," and to its
chief town, near Fort Hare, gave the name of Alice.

On the 23rd December, the Chief Pato having in the
meantime surrendered himself, the Governor held his
first great meeting with the Kafir Chiefs and people west-
ward of the Kei at King William's Town (the creation of
Sir B. D'Urban in 1835), on the Buffalo River, issuing a
proclamation of the same date annulling all former
treaties with them for the reasons he gave — " No more
treaties," for " as often as any temptation has been pre-
sented they have been treated with contempt." By this
State paper he annexed all the country between the Kies-
kamma and the Kei, as vested in the Queen, to be called
" British Kaffraria," which territory was to be held by
the Kafir Chiefs and people from and under Her Majesty.
He also invited the Missionaries to return and hold their
stations, not from the Chiefs, but the British Sovereign.
To traders he held out inducements, provided they took
out licenses and tried to substitute, as soon as possible,
useful articles of traffic in preference to beads, &c. Over
this territory he appointed a Chief Commissioner in the
person of Colonel Mackinnon, regulated its military
requirements, established Military posts, and named King
William's Town its capital. Thus, after the lapse of
thirteen years, through the successive failures of the
Glenelg-Stockenstrom, the Napier, and the Maitland
systems, things reverted almost to the exact state in
which Sir Benjamin D'Urban had brought them in 1835,
the only difference being the alteration in the title of the
province — " British Kaffraria" for u Queen Adelaide."

414 Annuls of the Cape Colony.

1848. — Affairs having so far settled clown, the business
of reconstruction commenced. The Governor met Sandilli
and all the Chiefs of the cis-Kei at King William's Town
on the 7th January, and addressing them in his peculiar
style, reminded them how prosperous and with what
bright prospects he had left them many years before, and
how changed their circumstances had become through
their own turbulence. He then demanded that they should
acknowledge the supremacy of the Queen of England and
himself, her representative (the Inkosi Inkulu) ; that no
allegiance was to be considered due to any other, not even
to Kreli, the hitherto paramount Chief; that they and
their people should obey the laws and commands of the
Inkosi Inkulu, cease the practices consequent on the belief
of witchcraft, abandon and prevent the gross customs
of "violation," punish murderers by death, abstain from
theft among themselves and on the Colonists ; that they
would henceforth hold their lands direct from the Queen
and not the Chiefs, Her Majesty alone being their
Sovereign ; they must abolish the usage of buying wives,
the source of all robbery, listen to the Missionaries, and
on the anniversary of that day each year bring an ox as
token of fealty. As a matter of course, all the Amakosa
Chiefs and Councillors present readily swore to these
stipulations (they would have done so if there had been
double the number), and His Excellency believed as easily
that his "language and mode of demonstration these
people fully understand and will never forget." Alas,
the shortness of savage memory ; every impression was
obliterated in a few months !

On the 17th, Kreli, finding the game was up, arrived at
King William's Town, where peace was concluded with
him once more ; and thus terminated the unprovoked War
of 1846-7, after having cost the Imperial Treasury
£1, 100,000 sterling, some say more, the Border Colonists
nearly half that amount, the loss of eight British officers
and several soldiers of the army, and many Frontier
inhabitants.
His Excellency then appointed Commissioners over the

The Orange River Sovereignty. 415

Gaika and T'Slambi clans, with a Chief Commissioner and
Commandant and a regular staff of officers for the British
Kaffrarian "Territory." He also carried out the plan
devised by Sir H. Pottinger, of a Kafir Police, from which,
unfortunately trusting in their fidelity, he anticipated
" great and good results," and invited non-commissioned
officers and soldiers to settle in the Military villages on
tenure of Military service. Quiet thus restored, the
Governor, hard pressed by the Home authorities, who
afterwards very unfairly upbraided him for the step, was
led into the error of reducing the forces from above
6,000 men, the fatal consequences of which were soon
developed.

The disorganized state of affairs over the Orange Pdver,
where disputes had arisen between the expatriated Colonial
Boers and the natives settled there with no superior claim
beyond appropriation at an earlier date, and which had
called for the interference of Sir P. Maitland, now
demanded the attention of Sir Harry Smith, who pro-
ceeded to the scene of disorder and was received with
open arms by the farmers ; here he amended a former
treaty with the Chief of the Griquas, entered into one
with Moshesh, the head of the Basuto tribe, and then
proclaimed as "absolute" the Sovereignty extended by
Governor Maitland (in 1845) over the Boers, and virtually
over the native Chiefs. In his despatch to Earl Grey
(3rd February, 1848), while defending the annexation,
Sir Harry makes a statement very apposite to the present
condition of our relations with the natives on both our
borders — "My position'has been analogous to that of every
Governor-General who has proceeded to India. All have
been fully impressed with the weakness of that policy
which has extended the Company's possessions; and yet
few, if any, especially the men of more gifted talents,
have ever resigned their government without having done
that which, however greatly to be condemned by the
theory of policy, circumstances demanded and imperatively
imposed upon them."

Reference has already been made to the Governor's

416 Annals of the Cape Colony.

extension of territory on his arrival ; but a population of a
different character in very considerable numbers were now
established on the North-eastern Border of the Colony
between the Storm or White Mountains and the Orange
Paver,* originally a Bushman country, but at this time
without native inhabitants, where they had built substan-
tial farm-houses and depastured large flocks and herds,
and were in very thriving circumstances. These people
had been incorporated into the Colony by Sir B. D'Urban
in 1835, but on the accession to power by Sir A. Stocken-
strom, he in the reckless system of retrogression, repudiated
them, and on the 21st March, 1838, flatly refused their
petition to remain there " as British subjects" and
" paying taxes," peremptorily urging their return within
the Colonial limits as established by the Glenelg policy.
On the 16th May, 1847, they repeated their application by
memorial to Lieutenant-Governor Young, who was favour-
ably disposed towards them and intended to recommend
their re-admittance into the Colonial family, but his
tenure of office was too abruptly terminated to carry
his views into effect. Sir Harry Smith, in January, 1848,
directed the present writer, the late Lieutenant-Governor's
Secretary, to make a report upon the subject, and on its
receipt at once directed him to proceed to the locality,
appointing him at the same time Civil Commissioner and
Besident Magistrate of a new district there, which he
called Albert, t with orders for him to organize it and take

* Stormbergen, "Wittebergen, and Nu Gariep.

-j- In 1844, the Dutch farmers on the Stonnberg Spruit, at a place
called Klip Drift, established a Dutch Reformed place of worship, and
around which, as usual, soon clustered some small tenements for the
families resorting to it on Sundays. Then the common consecpience
took place ; some traders settled there, driviug a most lucrative traffic
by barter and for gold, of which there was a large amount in the wagon-
chests of the Boers. Sir P. Maitland visited the place in 1845, and
the people, wishing to compliment the Governor, asked him to give to
the village his own name. With a humility they could not appreciate
he declined, and so in a " huff" they christened their bantling by the
democratic title of Burghersdorp — the town of the people. It after-
wards became the capital of the district.

)

Foundation of Aliwal North. 417

ver the inhabitants, east of the Storniberg stream; and
on the 9th January, 1848, the new boundary was pro-
claimed. It was, however, subsequently found that even
this extension did not include a number of farmers living
farther to the eastward, beyond the Kraai or Grey River,
and these, with the additional territory to where the
White Mountains impinge upon the Orange River, were,
after careful consideration and personal inspection, in-
cluded within the Colonial boundary. Having the sanc-
tion of His Excellency to select a proper site for the
capital of the new district, the Civil Commissioner (the
writer of these Annals) fixed upon a spot at the Somerset
ford of the Orange River, about a thousand miles from
its mouth, where it is as wide, when full, as the
Thames at London Bridge ; and there on the 12th of
May, 1849, under the British ensign and the arms and
motto of the Founders' Company of London* (" God
the only Founder"), was laid, with the usual ceremonies,
the foundation-stone (including coins, corn, wine, and oil)
of Aliwal North, the first town established on the Orange
River.t

Sir Harry, the " eagle-eyed" and almost ubiquitous — a
better General than Statesman — after his visit to the
Transgariep and Kaffrarian territory, returned to Cape

* The writer is a citizen and liveryman of London and a member
of this Guild.

f The selection of the site for Aliwal North was made for several
reasons, viz., inter alia, its productive soil, fine pasturage, healthy
climate, owing to its elevation, and beautiful scenery on the banks of
an ever-flowing river, its copious supply of water from the Orange,
and command of irrigable streams from the tepid sulphuretted hydrogen
springs of the Buffels Ylei, which deliver fourteen million gallons of
water every twenty-four hours, and before reaching the town part with
all that is disagreeable and impure ; then from the circumstance that
it is on the direct northern high road from the port of East London to
the two Dutch Republics and the Basuto tribes under Moshesh. It
has favourably progressed since its establishment, and become cele-
brated as the chosen point of negotiation between Sir P. Wodehouse
and the Free State, and is now the capital of an independent district

bearing its name.

2 E

418 Annals of the Capo Colony.

Town on the 1st of March, and reported to the Colonial
Minister his own firm belief that "the Kafir Chiefs were
satisfied and grateful, their people happy and contented ;
that throughout the Colony confidence had been restored ;
trade, industry, and cultivation were active." All classes
were elated, and that section of the Cape Town press
which had done its utmost to blast the character of the
Colonists and destroy that of Colonel Smith while engaged
in the war of 1835 now suddenly turned round and
actually proposed " the erection of an equestrian statue of
Governor Sir Harry Smith in the capital of the Colony, as
an expression to the world and to future ages of the
sincere love of peace founded on justice and clemency, and
to be maintained by wisdom and valour." This eulogy,
deserved as it wras, coming from such a source, utterly
failed, and a statue there was not.

The Governor, like most other men of his temperament,
had no inclination to be one of two Kings of Brentford
with a single rose to smell at. As has been seen, imme-
diately after his arrival he abolished the office of
Lieutenant-Governor of the Eastern Province, and indeed
at that time ignored the very existence of an Eastern
Province altogether. On the 4th of July, at an entertain-
ment at Government-house, he gave full vent to his
impressions, saying that although he thought the Eastern
Province was equal to governing itself, the Colony ought
to remain " one and indivisible," and he illustrated his
opinion by the old woman's fable of the bundle of sticks.
A few months after, and with more actual experience, his
mind underwent a serious alteration, for on the 14th June,
1851, he thus advised the Secretary of State: — "Previously
to my departure from England I strongly advanced my
opinion that the time had not arrived when it would be
advisable to grant to the Eastern Province a Government

separate from that of the West Eecent

circumstances induce me at once and decidedly to change
that opinion, and recommend a separate and distinct
Government for the Eastern Province."

The Orange Elver Revolt. 419

The viands of the grand banquet adverted to were
scarcely cold when disturbances beyond the Orange Eiver
broke out, dispelling the dream of repose in which His
Excellency indulged, and he was called suddenly to meet
insurrection and war 1,000 miles away from his residence
in the capital. The Dutch emigrants, then British
subjects, under a farmer named Pretorius, had assumed
independence, determined upon resistance, and tried to
enlist the sympathies of the Dutch Colonists in the
Northern districts, where they had many relatives and
friends ; but fortunately, through precautions taken on
the spot, this failed, and a Proclamation denouncing the
revolt, and offering £1,000 for the apprehension of the
leader, was issued on the 22nd of July. On the 27th
August the passage of the troops, headed by the Governor,
who had crossed the Orange Kiver, was disputed, and on
the 29th, at Boomplaats, at which place the Boers had
laid an ambush, a fight took place, when Sir Harry had
a very narrow escape from the rifle of a farmer. The
rebels were defeated, and Pretorius then retired with his
followers to the north of the Vaal or Nu Gariep Eiver,
to form there the Transvaal Eepublic, to be the future
Alsatia of the Cape Colony,* and not improbably a
" thorn in the flesh" of the Cape Colony.

In the course of the year the Governor, sincerely
desirous to promote the long-indulged wishes of the
Colonists of both Provinces to participate in the advan-
tages of representative institutions, improvised a plan for
a Colonial Parliament, in which he said " the representa-
tion of the Eastern Province is liberally provided for;"
but in doing this without consulting the inhabitants, as
Sir H. Pottinger had done, and by recommending its
sittings to be held in Cape Town, he committed a grievous
error, and was warned by the Eastern people that " the
whole scheme of representative legislation would prove

* The suppression of this revolt cost ,£10, 378, but a war tax
imposed upon the fanners contributed £9,202, and fines levied upon
the rebels produced £1,550.

2 e 2

420 Annals of the Ca/pe Colony.

abortive ; that the welfare of the Province would be left in
the hands and under the control of a Cape majority which
would be ruinous to its interests, and only serve to widen
the breach which already separates the East from the
West." The local press thus shadowed out the inevitable
result : — " Differing from the Cape in many particulars, as
in soil, climate, and productions, with a country capable
of sustaining an immense population, we are yet to be
saddled with a Cape Eepresentative Assembly, divested
of none of its local prejudices. Will such an Assembly be
disposed to turn its attention to the improvement and
defence of this end of the Colony, by pouring in a con-
tinued stream of immigration to populate our almost
boundless territory ? Will the public works and public
improvements of this Province receive any larger share
of attention than they do at present ? All these, and
many other questions of a similar nature might be safely
answered in the negative. The only existing barrier,
inefficient as it is, is about to be removed, and with the
cessation of the legislative functions of our Governor and
Council the interests of this Province will be left in the
hands and under the control of a Cape majority. The
Eastern division will sink into comparative insignificance.
All its boundless resources, yet unopened to civilization,
will remain buried in hopeless oblivion. The errors of
able Statesmen in England, unacquainted with local
peculiarities, have been productive of much evil to this
Colon}'. What then may we expect from a Cape Legisla-
ture, wanting these abilities and equally unacquainted
with our local peculiarities and the difficulties of our
Border policy ? Never, we aver, was there in any country
a greater necessity than exists at the present time for a
resident Legislature for Frontier affairs, composed of
experienced men interested in the welfare of the Province.
Such a body would meet with the universal support of the
inhabitants, would enlist their affections, and would, we
firmly believe, present the best guarantee that could be
obtained against the recurrence of that fearful and ruinous

The Bishop of Cape Town appointed. 421

scourge, a Kafir war, which is falsely represented in the
Councils of the British nation to be regarded as a popular
event in this Province."

Embodying these views, the inhabitants of the Province
addressed Her Majesty in Council, in the month of
December, showing that " the very nearest point of the
Eastern Province is above 500 miles from the present
capital of the Colony, while its most distant portions, those
that require the more immediate supervision, exceed
800 miles ; that all the wars with the native tribes, so
troublesome to the Mother Country and ruinous to them-
selves, would have been averted by an independent
Government and a Eepresentative Assembly on the spot ;
that the respective Lieutenant-Governors have failed in
usefulness from being subservient to a supreme authority
in Cape Town ;" and they prayed that a perfect separation
should be accorded or a removal of the Cape Town Govern-
ment should take place.

Among the other events of this year should be chronicled
the commencement of a lighthouse on the most southerly
and dangerous point of Africa, the real Cape of Good
Hope, where doubtless ships innumerable have been lost
for a period extending over three centuries, leaving neither
trace of their disappearance nor record of the fate and
last moments of their miserable inmates. On this reef,
known as " Agulhas," the constant dread of mariners, a
substantial structure was raised, and with wonderful
celerity completed within the year, and became available
by the 1st March following, when it was first lighted.

The United Church of England and Ireland, so long
neglected in this remote dependency of the Crown, now
took its legitimate position by the appointment of its
first Bishop — Dr. Gray — and Cape Town became eccle-
siastically " a Cathedral City." The circumstance was
hailed at the time with intense delight by the members
of that communion ; subsequent events, however, have
somewhat chilled the first ardour, giving rise to appre-
sions of a deplorable schism.

422 Annals of the Cape Colony.

Two acts of significant importance, highly creditable
to the existing Government of the Colony, received His
Excellency's approval. The one on June 27, abolishing
the Stamp Duty on newspapers ; the other in December,
the removal of the long-standing disgrace to the Statute
Book of the Colony, by allowing public meetings of the
inhabitants to be held without the degradation of asking
leave.

SECTION XIII.

1819 — Quiet disturbed — Anti-Convict Agitation — Arrival of convict ship Neptune —
Attempt to divert the agitation into a political movement for Parliamentary
Government prematurely — Capo Reign of Terror — Convict ship sent away —
Discover}' of Lake N'Gami. 1350 — Lords of Privy Council report on Capo
Constitution — A new Kafir Prophet, Umlangeni, appears.

1849. — The departed year terminated in repose, and with
a prospect of continuance. On the north and eastern
frontiers order appeared to have been restored, and within
the Colony reliance upon the Government, under its active
and popular Chief Magistrate, had fully returned ; but
Africa which is always offering something new ! {Africa
semper aliquid novi of erf) — and South Africa especially —
something untoward, giving evidence of the truth of
the Greek and Roman maxim, for a more novel or un-
expected element of strife could not have been intro-
duced than that which, while it imparted a glorious
celebrity to the Cape, was not unattended by discord and
peril.

On the 10th September, 1848, an Order in Council had
been issued, empowering the Secretary of State to trans-
port convicts to certain Colonies of the Empire, and it
occurred to that high functionary — not in his wisdom —
that he might use the Southern Peninsula for a place
of deportation, as the inhabitants were clamouring for
labour. No sooner, however, were the intentions of the
Home Government made known, than the indignation of
the people throughout the length and breadth of the
Colony was aroused, and all classes, without exception,
determined to resist the contagion consequent on the
introduction of such a fatal leaven.

Cape Town, to its honour, took the initiative, and at
a meeting held on the 19th May, passed a string of

424 Annals of tlw Cape Colon]).

temperate resolutions in which the Home Government
was reminded that already, in 1842, objections had been
made to receive even a body of "juvenile delinquents;"
that the Government had respected that feeling and
acknowledged the right and privilege of the Colonists
to be consulted before any similar measure should be
enforced ; that so late, indeed, as the previous month
of November, the Governor had, at the instance of the
Secretary of State for the Colonies, desired to be informed
of the opinions of the Colonists as to sending " Ticket-
of-leave Convicts," when thej^ declined the proposal ; and
that notwithstanding this the Minister, with a perfect
knowledge of their rejection, had ordered it to be enforced
on the plea of the cost of the recent war, " which was,"
the Colonists justly affirmed, " neither caused, conducted,
or in any way controlled by the Colonists, whose only
share in its protracted miseries was in their loss of time,
property, and blood." They then pledged their faith to
each other not to employ, admit into their establishments,
work, or associate with, felons sent to the Colony, and
requested the Governor to prevent their debarkation, to
suspend the publication of any Order in Council on the
subject, and promised to indemnify him for any expenses
incurred by the prohibition to land.

So far the opposition was holy and untainted, and the
language employed, although strong, received the approval
of every true-hearted Colonist who had any respect for
himself, for his family, and the welfare of the country of
his birth or adoption. Symptoms, however, of an incli-
nation to resort to more stringent measures by an im-
petuous portion of the community, displayed themselves
at an early period, and one of the first objections taken
was that a gentleman should have been invited to preside
at Anti-Convict meetings because "he filled the unpopular
position of an unofficial member of the Legislative
Council," a latent proof that there was intention to mix
up a political question with that of convictism ; besides
this, any person recommending caution and a prudential
although firm resistance began to be scowled upon and

Arrival of the Convict Ship "Neptune." 425

branded as a friend to its introduction, an enemy in
disguise to the popular will. On the 4th July a monster
meeting was held in the Western metropolis on the Grand
Parade, the " Champ de Mars" of Cape Town, where fully
7,000 persons were collected in a furious storm as violent
as the anger evoked by the British Minister's injudicious
proceeding, when passion usurped the place of dignified
resentment. Moderate men got alarmed at the exasperated
state of the public mind, and withdrew from the violent
counsels of the "Anti-Convict Association" which had
been formed, although determined to withstand the
obnoxious measure, believing that opposition ought to be
tempered by discretion.

At length the "Plague Ship" made its appearance. On
the 19th September the Neptune cast her anchor in the
waters of Simon's Bay. She was freighted with Irish
convicts who had been transported to Bermuda (the vexed
Bermoothes) for offences committed during the pressure
of the Potato Famine in Ireland, and who, from the nature
of the climate of the mid-Atlantic, were entirely unfitted
to undergo the discipline and labour there enforced. Her
arrival lashed the waves of the Coloaial wrath, which had
been most industriously "nursed" for months, up to
perfect fury ; and then began (likening small things to
great) the Cape "Beign of Terror."

Advantage was now subtly taken of the arrival of
Letters Patent for a Constitution received the previous
month, and it was fancied by the Democratic Party that
if the convict excitement could be maintained it would
enable them to force the extreme views they held on
certain organic changes they wished to make in the
Government, and that therefore the present was a favour-
able opportunity not to be thrown away. The Executive,
on the contrary, conceiving a time of disturbance was
inopportune for the discussion of so grave a subject,
counselled delay until quiet could be restored. Angry
debates ensued in the Legislative Council, when four
members more patriotic (?) than prudent, because the
Executive members of Government would not give

426 Annals of the Cape Colony.

precedence to the Constitution question over the more
pressing business of the day, abruptly — some said
factiously — withdrew, concocted a plan of representation
of their own in certain celebrated " Sixteen Articles," sent
them with a deputation to England, where the articles
were unceremoniously pigeon-holed ; and the deputation —
not even, like a more recent one, invited by the Minister
to a repast — met, an contraire, with a repulse. This un-
toward abdication by the four members fanned the
flame of discontent. The pledge, originally confined to
the non-employment of convict labour, was strained to a
not virtuous excess. Government contractors — butchers,
bakers, and candle-stick makers — in short, all classes —
were forbidden by the " Anti-Convict Association" to
supply Her Majesty's Military, Naval, and Civil servants as
long as the question remained unsatisfied. It was even
extended to those who were " suspect" of lukewarmness
on the subject, and was now carried to the case of the
unfortunates on board the Neptune, whose wretched
inmates were attempted to be deprived even of supplies of
fresh provisions of any kind, the Association hoping to
force the Governor to send the ship elsewhere at once.

Some few courageous and determined men braved the
fury of the storm and furnished supplies to the denounced,
and although the Governor had pledged his word the
convicts should not be landed, these were stigmatized and
marked out as objects of outrage, and such was the state
of feeling generated in the quarrel that parties on both
sides were roughly handled and their property injured
during " The Terror." Cape Town, the focus of the
political cyclone, suffered more severely than any other
locality. All business was stopped, shops and offices closed,
the portrait of one of the oldest and most respected
merchants of Cape Town (Mr. Ebden, who had been
chairman of the meetings), which decorated the walls of
the Commercial Exchange, was torn down and defaced
because he refused to sanction the extreme dictates of
the Anti-Convict " Convention." A number of persons
repudiating these oppressive proceedings, in self-defence

The Anti-Convict Ay'daHon. 427

now appealed to the Governor for protection, which in
a Proclamation of the 12th October he acknowledged he
"had the power to afford ; but his repugnance to employ
Military force in any shape, except against the Queen's
avowed enemies, is so great as to induce him only to
keep himself prepared for an extremity, however deplor-
able." In the same document, which was widely dis-
seminated, he announced he had made arrangements
to victual the Army, Navy, and even private families
who had been refused supplies by their tradesmen, and
he gave the public the assuring notice that he had
received a private note from the Minister that the design
of making the Cape a Penal Settlement had been aban-
doned, and that before long the Neptune, with her
passengers, would be ordered away.

This announcement did not even act as a sedative. On
the 16th of October the state of disturbance was so intense
that His Excellency was obliged to prohibit the assemblage
of mobs, crowds, or meetings in the metropolis — a fitting
rebuke to a community claiming free institutions and the
enjoyment of liberty, a people who only last year he had
released from the obligations of even asking leave of the
local Magistrate before they could come together to discuss
a public question, and who now, the cup at the lip, had to
wait five weary years for the coveted Constitution. The
Governor at this time addressed the soldiers on "their
forbearance, underj a diabolical attempt to starve them,
their wives and children, as well as the Naval service ;"
and it is indeed a matter of congratulation that violence
on the part of the citizens, goaded on by wild and
visionary politicians, did not beget violence on the part of
the Military. As it was, the quarrel embittered the peace
of many families, severed many firm friendships, leaving
wounds long to cicatrize and difficult to heal.

In anticipation, so as to close a painful subject, it may
be added that on the 13th February, 1850, the final order
of revocation was received. The unfortunate Neptune left
Simon's Bay on the 20th, after a five months' detention,
and the Anti-Convict Association on the 14th was dis-

428 Annals of the Cape Colony.

solved, congratulating itself on " its self-control," and
most generously, yet dictatorially, announcing " that the
usual connection and intercourse with Government Depart-
ments may at once be resumed."

If it were not for the illegality of the acts committed,
and the discovery — if not then first made, at least first
openly stated by Home authority — that the British
Government did not covet the possession of the Colony
beyond the localities of Table and Simon's Bays for
Imperial purposes, and hinting at the probable abandon-
ment of all else, some amusement might be derived from
the incidents of a struggle commenced in a spirit of just
resentment, but allowed to be degraded into a political
squabble. The English papers denominated the entente
"The Cape Bebellion," predicting "the great historic
drama will degenerate into a farce." It would perhaps be
diverting to catalogue the martyrs burnt to death — in effigy
— those who were devoted to the gibbet in like sort, what
respectable and other names were pilloried, who acquired
and who lost character ; to shut oneself up with that
brave senator who is said (of course in jest) to have taken
refuge for a whole night in his carriage because, coming
home from Council he smelled roast pig, and trembled for
his own possible cremation ; to follow at the heels of that
plucky member, and observe his countenance who, despite
his known courage, was obliged to flee and seek safety in
his vessel at the time tossing in Table Bay. It is even
now entertaining to look back over the caricatures, the
pasquinades, and poetry of the date ; for both factions in
their fury found leisure to woo the muses. The pencil
pourtrayed hanging, hungry, angry men crowded into an
Inferno as dark as Dante's, with well-known visages ; but
no limner peopled a Paradise with the actors of the time.
The pen of the ready writer gave the public " Letters from
Bill to John Smith," " A new version of Virgil," " The
Troubadour," "A private letter from Sir Harry Smith to
Earl Grey," " A pitiful ballad of Government House,"
" Foreign and Colonial Policy," and others too numerous
to mention, redolent of Parnassus, the whole equally

Discovery of the Victoria Falls. 429

elegant, classical, veracious, and affecting, worthy to be
embalmed in amber, or at least secured in a scrap-book.

Few other matters offer themselves this year — the great
conflict, like Aaron's rod, swallowed up everything besides
— except that South African geographical science boasts
one achievement in the discovery of the Lake N'Gami,
known to exist, but its locale long speculated upon, yet
never before seen by white men until Dr. Livingstone and
Messrs. Oswell and Murray visited it on the 1st of August.
It was reached from the Cape Colony via Kuruman and
Kolobeng, and subsequently by Mr. Andersson from the
Western Coast in 1853. But the discovery of the Zambezi in
1851, and the magnificent Falls of Victoria in 1853, threw
the N'Gami into perfect shade, and expectancy was at first
rather disappointed with regard to the size of this lake
and its volume of water. As soon as the discovery was
made known to the Governor, he, after consulting the
Executive, communicated the fact to the Home authorities,
and fearing the Emigrant Boers of the Transvaal might
take formal possession of the lake and interfere with the
natives as they had begun to do with travellers, suggested
the extension of the provisions of the Acts 6 and 7 of
William IV. to its latitude, and asked for instructions
to guide his future conduct. In December he received a
reply containing the decision of Earl Grey, to the effect
that Government would not take possession, and to
prevent the natives being molested " they should be
advised to discontinue their internal wars with each other
and establish some general authority amongst themselves,
so as to command mutual defence against aggression"
(no likely thing with savages always at variance) ;" that
if they could and would do so, the British Government
would assist them — it was the only policy to prevent their
extermination, but that the}*1 are too remote for any armed
protection from the British Government, to whom they can
look for advice and protection." The whole despatch* is
worthy of perusal, amiable and interesting ; but it appeals

* Despatch 12th November, 1850,

430 Annals of the Caj>o Colony.

to moral influence alone, which is known to those
conversant with the African character to be totally
impracticable.

1850. — The Penal Settlement question disposed of, the
Transgariepine Boers quieted, and comparative tranquillity
secured on the Eastern Border, peace began to smile once
more upon the country, and the Colonists found leisure as
well as inclination to pursue their anxious project of
establishing a popular form of Government, the Legisla-
tive Council, composed as it was of nominees only, having
sunk into disrepute. " The Lords of the Committee of
Council appointed to the consideration of all matters
relating to Trade and Foreign Possessions," having had
before them certain papers connected with this all-
important subject, on the 30th January, 1850, presented to
the Sovereign a long, interesting, and elaborate report.
The principal points referring to the Colonists of the East
were as follows : — " The members of the Cape Executive
Council* having represented that there ought to be but
one Legislature for the whole Colony, and that Cape Town
should continue the seat of Government, the Lords are not
disposed to dissent, but regret their inability to express
their opinion that in the practical working of a representa-
tive Constitution at the Cape the geographical difficulties
anticipated by Lord Stanley will not be experienced to a
very serious degree. The formidable distance which
separates much of the wide territory included within the
Colony from the seat of Government must, we apprehend,
greatly affect the value to the inhabitants of the remoter
districts of the privilege of choosing their own represen-
tatives, more especially when the imperfection of the
existing means of communication (greatly as these have
of late been improved) is considered, and the fact that
there are few, if any, of the residents in these districts
who possess wealth and leisure enough to enable them to
reside for any considerable time in each year in the
capital. "We have not long since, in reporting to your

* AH residing in the Western Metropolis,

The New Constitution. 431

Majesty on the changes proposed in the Constitution of
the Australian Colonies, had occasion to point out how
intolerable a grievance it had been felt by the inhabitants
of the district of Port Phillip to be placed under the
authority of a Legislature meeting at Sydney.* We
regarded this grievance as so real, that we had no hesita-
tion in recommending the district in question should be
erected into a distinct Government as the Province of
Victoria.

" We can hardly doubt that the residents in the eastern
and northern portions of the Cape Territory will experience
similar inconvenience to that which has been felt by the
inhabitants of Port Phillip, and we are only withheld from
advising that the Colony should be divided by the circum-
stance that it appears to be the decided opinion of those
whose local knowledge (?)t gives them better means of
forming a sound judgment than ourselves, that the means
do not exist of forming two separate Legislatures with
advantage ; and also by the consideration that hereafter,
if the population of the Eastern district should be largely
increased, the division may be at any time effected, upon
the opinion of the Representative Legislature it should
become desirable."

The consequence of the secession of the four members
already alluded to was the calling together of a new
Legislative Council to take under review the proposed
Constitution, when, after long deliberations, two of the
Frontier members, Messrs. Cock and Godlonton, repre-
senting a large and most influential portion of the Eastern
Province, on the 27th September recorded " Thirty-one
Exceptions" to the forms of Government suggested in the
Lords' report, which had been approved and confirmed by
the Privy Council, and subsequently by the Letters Patent
of the 29th May. These exceptions were based upon the
residence of the supreme Governor being more than 600
miles from an always dangerous frontier ; the sitting of

* A distance of 450 miles, whereas between Cape Town and the
extreme electoral division in the East it is GOG miles per post,
f A non sequitur.

432 Annals of the Cape Colony.

a Parliament at the extreme end of the Colony, Cape
Town ; that the Letters Patent had failed to recognize and
provide for the separation and independent control and
administration of the local affairs of the Eastern Province,
so constantly prayed for in the memorials, both to Her
Majesty and the local Government at Cape Town ; and
they concluded : — " For these several reasons, and many
others which might be advanced, we take exception to any
form of representative Government holding its sittings in
Cape Town, a position which, from its great distance,
would render it highly improbable, if not altogether
impracticable, that the Eastern Districts would be fairly
represented, and thus their interests would be seriously
damaged by an immense preponderance of Cape Town
influence, and measures adopted which would impede
their progress, and might place in jeopardy their political
and social welfare."

While these matters were in progress, " a cloud no
bigger than a man's hand" arose on the Kaffrarian
horizon, where so far perfect were the arrangements for
the maintenance of order under the new system, that they
proved eminently successful in very considerably checking
the inbred thievish propensities of the barbarians ; but
the hereditary Chiefs, especially Sandilli — although the
rights and privileges with which their position invested
them were duly respected — soon discovered they were still
under restraint, for as there is no settled revenue for the
maintenance of a Kafir Chief, and as he derives his
support mainly from his share in the plunder acquired by
the predatory incursions of his subjects, he necessarily
has a direct interest in the prosecution of all such inroads ;
when the latter, therefore, are deprived of the means of
plundering, the Eoyal exchequer immediately suffers, and
the pride and dignity of the Chief become proportionately
affected. Thus it was in Kafirland. Naturally jealous of
the name and prestige he had inherited through a long line
of ancestors, the Chief of the Gaikas had for some time
past been sensible of the gradual decline of his power,
wealth, and influence, and therefore meditated striking

The Kafir Witch Doctor. 433

another blow to re-establish his authority. So early as
May this wily Chief had suborned a Kafir of Umkye's tribe
— a famous witch and rain sorcerer, named Umlangeni —
to invent and utter predictions against the existing order
of things, and, among others, that he possessed the power
to resist the English and would cause all the white
population and their coloured adherents to die. Most
of the Chiefs fostered this mischievous doctrine, and the
" Seer," was represented to be the same individual as the
celebrated " Makanna" or " Lynx"* who led the great
invasion of 1819 and then nearly carried the Military
post of Graham's Town, so that even Kreli and Moshesh
believed, or affected to give credit to his ravings. The
proceedings of the impostor and fanatic were kept as
secret as possible until the month of August, when they
came to the knowledge of the Kaffrarian authorities, who
at once interfered, ordering the removal of a large number
of witchcraft poles Umlangeni had directed to be raised in
one of the kraals as symbols of his pretensions, and where
he held large nocturnal meetings in the bush. Being thus
disturbed, after a very brief period he re-erected his
magical masts, and continued to hold large assemblies of
people from all parts of the country, over the population
of which he had acquired an extraordinary influence, and
who firmly believed in his possession of supernatural
agency.

* Properly " Links," Dutch for left-handed.

2 F

SECTION XIV.

1850 continued — Symptoms of Disturbance in British Kaffraria — The Governor at
Cape Town, the Resident Authorities in Kafirland, as well as Missionaries, do
not perceive Danger — The Governor misled, reports Home there is no Prospect of
War — Meets the Chiefs — Sandilli refuses to appear at the Conference — Is deposed
by the Governor, who returns to Cape Town, satisfied the crisis is passed —
Recalled within eleven days by the state of the country — Sandilli outlawed —
War of 1850 commences — Destruction of and Massacre at the Military A'illages —
Governor shut up in Fort Cox — Escapes — Kafir Police desert in bodies — Her-
manns commences hostilities — Eastern Province overrun by Enemy — General
panic and flight of inhabitants.

The Governor, aroused by the suspicious indications in
Kaffraria, after consulting bis Executive, proceeded to the
Frontier, and arrived at King William's Town on the 20th
October — a step of urgent necessity, for the Border
Colonists, better acquainted with the Kafir character and
possessed of far superior means for gaining intelligence
than the distant Government, or even the authorities in
Kafirland or the resident Missionaries themselves, who
acknowledged they had been kept in the dark, had been
thrown into a state of reasonable panic (for which His
Excellency at the time gave public notice they had
no occasion*), and were retreating with their families and
stock from the immediate proximity of danger. Still the
resident Chief Commissioner clung to the notion that,
although some of the principal Chiefs had made use of the
Prophet to excite dissatisfaction, t " they had totally failed

* It was the fashion of the Cape Town Executive of the period to
stigmatize the Eastern inhabitants as " alarmists," but Earl Grey in a
despatch dated lBth March, 1857, corrected this mischievous error.
" The natural anxieties," he wrote, " and alarm of the inhabitants of
the Colony, and particularly its Eastern districts, have not always been
attended to as much as they should have been."

f So, to employ an inelegant phrase, was the Commissioner bam-
boozled by the Kafir Chiefs, that he reported on the 14th October
" there was not the slightest appearance of an outbreak."

Bad faith of Sandilli. 435

in making any impression on the Kafirs," admitting at the
same time there had been messengers sent to sound the
distant tribes, and this had induced the Kafir servants to
quit the Colony and their masters, this last fact being one
of those significant indications giving rise to the just fears
entertained by the Colonists of impending danger. The
Governor, with fatal facility, gave credit to the views of his
representative, and at once reported to the Colonial
Minister he " need be under no apprehension of an out-
break."

Notwithstanding this impression His Excellency again
visited the Frontier and held a great Council at King
"William's Town on the 26th October, when all the influen-
tial heads of the Gaika and T'Slambie tribes were present,
except Sandilli and Seyolo, the absence of the first-named
Chief being mendaciously attributed to an accident caused
by a fall from his horse while en route. On the 29th, after
several ineffectual attempts to procure an interview, the
Governor summoned Sandilli to his presence through the
medium of the Gaika Commissioner, with the object of
affording him an opportunity of explaining his equivocal
conduct, at the same time with the assurance there was no
intention of seizing his person, or even that of Umlangeni,
but with the timely warning that " were any affray to
occur he would consider him the aggressor, and would
drive all the inhabitants of British Kaffraria over the Kei,
where Kreli's people would be eaten up by the refugees."
The Gaika Commissioner delivered the "Governor's word"
in person, when Sandilli denied any hostile intentions,
pretended humility, but declined to appear, fearing, as he
affected, the possibility of imprisonment. After all this
forbearance no alternative was left but to proclaim the
recusant Chief, but still British subject, as deposed from
his rank and to meet present requirements installing the
Gaika Commissioner, pro ton. to assume the government
of the tribe, for, said His Excellency, " I have no reason
to doubt their loyalty." This occurred on the 30th of
October.

Of Sandilli's determination to fight, from the very first

2 F 2 "

43G Annals of the Capo Colony.

there existed no doubt, as abundant evidence to prove it
was in the hands of the authorities; but His Excellency,
relying upon his own prestige and the benignity of the
existing system — believing too, that the Kafir people justly
appreciated it and had lost their characteristic devotion
to the Chiefs— that (to use his own expression) " they were
fully sensible of their improved position as the most
civilized beings could be," therefore felt satisfied that
still everything would end well ; but he was unfortunately
mistaken. He had underrated the power and knew not
the disposition of " Young Kafiiiand," which was essen-
tially different from that of 1835. Since the campaign of
that year and his administration of the following, they
had acquired by the recent hostilities greater experience,
collected ample munitions in horses, fire-arms, and ammu-
nition, and, notwithstanding their losses, had increased in
numbers, courage, and ferocity.

The Governor left Kaffraria on the 8th of November,
convinced in his own mind that the country was "in a
state of perfect tranquillity," that he had "thrown away"
the prophet " by ridiculing him" who would dwindle into
obscurity, that the deposition and degradation of the Great
Chief was fully approved of by the others, that he would
never be restored to his rank, and that " the crisis of an
attempt to re-establish arbitrary power by the Chiefs has
passed most happily." Most unfortunately Umlangeni
was the more reliable prophet !

The readiness with which His Excellency had repaired
to the Frontier at such a juncture, and the belief he had
soothed the irritability of the barbarians, awoke gratitude,
and drew forth gratulations from all the Border districts.

In the numerous addresses on the occasion, among other
topics was mooted the desire to obtain " their birthright"
of Constitutional Government, but regretting that the con-
cession should be granted in times of perilous excitement,
that they disagreed with the small democratic party
" which has so long impeded the Government," contemned
the late secession which prevented the passing of the
supplies, and requesting him to represent to the Govern*

Tks Vaffle Slaughtering. 437

ment at home that while granting these undoubted
privileges, they may be protected by a conservative
system of franchise, and, steady to their convictions,
asked that either a separate Government or a removal
of the present seat of Government be conceded.

On the 24th of November His Excellency reached Cape
Town, after an absence of a little more than a month,
sincerely believing he had " succeeded in allaying an
excitement extending from the sea to the Vaal," or
northern branch of the Orange River. His dream of
repose was, however, destined soon to be again disturbed,
and within eleven days he was obliged to be once more
upon the scene of his late labours. The "little hand"
had assumed gigantic proportions and overshadowed the
entire Frontier. Sir Harry Smith was to be pitied by all
who loved him — and who that knew him did not ? — when
he had to write in bitter disappointment to the Secretary of
State, on the 5th December, " The quiet I have reported in
Kafirland, which I had so much and so just ground to
anticipate, is not realized, and I start this evening."

At the commencement of the month the Kafirs were
known to be slaughtering their cattle — sure sign of
approaching hostilities. This preparation, begun with
Kreli, was followed b}^ Sandilli, and then by the people in
general, and the fighting men commenced arming and
stealing guns whenever an opportunity offered. Macomo
left Fort Beaufort and his favourite canteen to join Sandilli
in the bush. Seyolo and Pato professed peace, and the
latter faithfully acted up to his pledge. The Gaikas were
supposed to be divided in opinion, and the Governor,
therefore, on his arrival wrote home, he perceived " little or
no difficulty in restoring tranquillity, that the public ex-
penditure would be very trifling, and that there was every
reason to expect a barbarian war would be avoided." He
reached King William's Town on the 9th December. On
the following day he called upon all the loyal inhabitants
upon the Frontier to enrol themselves in self-defence, and
on the 14th held another meeting with the T'Slambie tribes,
who promised fidelity.

438 Annals of tlie Cape Colony.

The regular troops at this time which he had collected
numbered 1,435 men, consisting of the 6th, 73rd, and 9th
Regiments, and Cape Mounted Rifles. These he disposed
of at the Kabousie Neck, at the formidable Amatolas, and
at Fort Hare, all in three separate columns, to await
orders and " avoid every act of positive hostility, unless
Her Majesty's Gaika subjects themselves are the aggres-
sors and assailants." On the 19th he held another
meeting with about 3,000 of the Gaikas, and, after
remonstrating, told them his terms of submission — the
surrender of Sanciilli and Anta, whose lives should be
spared, the payment of all fines due for cattle lately
rescued, guns to be given up, and a reward paid to any
one who would inform against the kraals which had them
in possession, or those kraals would be outlawed and eaten
up. On the 20th, by Proclamation, he outlawed Sandilli
and Anta, offering a reward for their apprehension ; and
the same day, to gratify the Kafirs, and at their own
request, appointed, in the place of the Gaika Com-
missioner, Sutu (the great wife of the late Gaika and
mother of Sandilli) Regent, appointing eight Councillors
to assist her, to which nine more were added at her
request and her own nomination.

On the morning of the 24th, a force of nearly 600 men,
under Colonel Mackinnon, was dispatched in search of
Sandilli, who it was expected would surrender himself or
fly the country, with strict orders to molest no one on the
march and not to fire unless attacked ; but in passing-
through a narrow gorge of the Keiskamma Valley (the
Booma Pass), where the men could only march in single file,
they were vigorously set upon, and a severe fight ensued,
with considerable loss on the British side ; among them Dr.
Stewart was shot dead and Capt. Bisset wounded. On the
following day the troops were again assailed, Sandilli him-
self, with a large body of armed and mounted men, being
visible ; but he, with commendable discretion, kept out of
the reach of gun-shot. In these two consecutive affairs the
expedition lost : Killed, one officer and twenty-seven men ;
two officers and twelve men wounded ; in all, forty-two put

Outbreak of tie War of 1850. 439

hors de combat. But this was not the whole of the disaster,
for in crossing the Debe Flats on their way to Fort White,
the troops found the dead bodies of a sergeant and four-
teen men, who, escorting a wagon, had been beset by the
savages and overpowered. The fifth Kafir war within
forty years, and the third since the establishment of the
British Settlement of 1820, was now fairly commenced,
'and, with the exception of Pato and his people, a general
insurrection of cis-Keian Kafirland. Fitting legacy of the
retrocessive policy of 1836 !

While the troops were thus fighting their way from the
Keiskamma to Fort White, the Kafirs disputing the whole
passage, on this terrible Christmas Day another deed of
foul treachery was enacting in the Military villages, of
which the following account is given in the Narrative of
the Kafir War, published at the time: —

" On Christmas day the work of blood commenced. The villages of
Johannesberg, Woburn, and Auckland were pillaged and burnt, and
many of their male inhabitants cruelly butchered.

" The Military village of Auckland is situated upon the boundary
line near the sources of the Chumie. The Kafirs from the neighbouring
kraals were in the constant habit of assisting the Settlers as daily
labourers, and appear to have lived with them generally upon terms of
friendship — some of the native tribes having the cattle of the Settlers
in their charge. The kraals of those people were under a headman
of Tyali's tribe, called Xaimpi. On the day of the massacre, the Kafirs
were told to bring up the cattle near the village, which they did in the
afternoon. At the time they were doing this, three men of the Cape
Corps arrived at the village, with instructions for the guidance of the
Settlers, in consequence of the affair betwixt the Kafirs and Colonel
Mackinnon. The Settlers were assembled in the street listening
to these instructions when the cattle were brought up by the Kafirs,
who came in great numbers with guns and assegais, and sat down
around the Settlers in the street, as they usually do in the villages.
Xaimpi stood close to Mr. Munro, who read the letter which had
been received. The weapons of the Settlers were all in their houses,
as they did not anticipate any treachery. Suddenly, however, they
were startled by hearing a sharp whistle from the said Xaimpi, ami
immediately the enemy sprang upon them with their assegais, mur-
dering ten or fifteen men upon the spot. The remainder fled, and
having secured their arms, took up a position in a dismantled clay
building, where they remained for the night witli the women and
children, surrounded by the murderers. Here there were ultimately

440 Annals of the Cape Colony.

butchered twenty-eight men, eleven of whom were married — the women
and children being allowed with difficulty to go away next day, half
naked, having been stripped of their garments, after witnessing the
horrible fate of several of their husbands and fathers.

" At Woburn, the Kafirs appeared before breakfast. They com-
menced the work of death without much delay, and then reduced the
village to ashes and blackened walls. There were no families residing
at this village, and all that escaped consisted of Mr. Stevenson; the
superintendent, and one or two Hottentot women. The Kafirs left the
village in two divisions — the one proceeding to Johannesberg, and the
other to Auckland. The number of men killed in the village of
Woburn was sixteen.

" At Johannesberg the people had timely notice of the coming and
intentions of the Kafirs, having seen the smoke of the burning houses
of Woburn. When tbe enemy appeared upon the bills, those of the
Settlers who escaped fled towards Alice, whilst those that were killed
remained till it was too late to get out of the way. They were
three in number.

" The amount of property belonging to the married men of the above-
named village was .£1,143 fis. 0d., all of which was destroyed by the
hands of the ruthless savages."

The following account, written by a soldier of the 91st

Regiment, is deeply though painfully interesting, from

the fact that the writer, before concluding it, fell by the

hand of the enemy. He was killed in an engagement

immediately afterwards — the unfinished manuscript being

found on his person after his death, and forwarded to

Graham's Town by a comrade. The black treachery of

the savages is most vividly pictured in this artless

narration : —

" Fort Hare, December 29, 1850.
"Dear Hamilton, — I would have written you sooner, but the enemy
have been annoying xis day and night. The fact is, I am knocked up
for want of rest ; but under the circumstances we cannot look for any-
thing else. When we arrived here all the windows were built up and
loop-holed — every one seemed to be prepared for the worst. Up to the
28th, all was pretty quiet, when word came that a corporal and two
men that we sent to Fort Cox were found murdered on the way-side,
and all the sheep gone — which turned out to be too true. They
belonged to the 45th. The next word we got was, that the villages of
Johannesberg and Woburn had been set on fire. From these two
villages many of the people escaped. The most distressing occurrence
happened with the people of a Military village called Auckland, nearly
all of whom were old soldiers of the 91st llegiment. They were in here
seeing their old acquaintances, and purchasing articles to enjoy them-

Sir Harry Smith T>clectf/vrrJ. 441

selves at Christmas. They went out and got their dinner ready, when
a party of Kafirs that they were acquainted with, and others along with
them, came in. They told the villagers that the soldiers and the Kafirs
were fighting behind the hills, and that they wished to come there for
protection. The poor innocent people consented to give them shelter,
and they sat down in their houses. I have been speaking to one of the
women that escaped ; she told me that it was customary for the Kafirs
to visit at Christmas, and as usual they came, so they gave them their
dinner. She had as guests a petty Chief and five or six others. They
all seemed to enjoy themselves, and appeared perfectly satisfied, when
at a given signal they all rushed on and murdered the people who were
sharing out everything that was in their power to make them com-
fortable. Nine men, and women and children (I cannot say how many
of the two latter), fled to an old house. They got in, and then blockaded
the house as well as possible. The Kafirs fired upon them ; the defend-
ers had a little ammunition, but it only lasted till next day. The
Kafirs then set fire to the house. They killed all the men and boys,
and allowed the women and Little girls to escape. Some of the women
dressed the boys in girls' clothes, who likewise escaped. A party of
ours went out in the direction they were going, but the Kafirs came
upon them, and they fought about nine miles."

The Governor, who had proceeded to Fort Cox, on the
Keiskamma Elver, a commanding station which just
before the present war the Kafir Chiefs had endeavoured to
get removed, as the force stationed there kept too steady
an eye upon their proceedings, was now here literally
" shut up." The enemy beleaguered the Fort in vast
numbers, and all intercourse and communication between
him, the troops, and the Colonial authorities was completely
cut off. Attempts to release him from his painful and
ignominious imprisonment were made, and in one of these
(on the 29th) the troops were forced to retreat in a hand-
to-hand encounter, losing two officers and 20 men killed,
with nearly as many wounded, and leaving one gun behind.
On the following day the Governor, assuming the dress of
a private, at the head of 250 Riflemen forced a "run-a-
muck" passage through the Kafirs under a heavy fire, and
succeeded almost miraculously in reaching King William's
Town.

In the interim fresh complications arose. On the 26th
December one of the Kafir Police, having absented him-
self without leave, was placed in confinement, on which,

442 Annals of the Cape Colony.

after a murderous assault, the whole of that body belong-
ing to the Gaika clan, with horses, arms, accoutrements,
and ammunition, deserted to their countrymen. On the
27th, a Kafir named Hermanus, who had been imprudently
permitted to locate himself on a part of the Hottentot
Settlement at Kat Eiver called the Blinkwater (" The
Shining Eiver"), where he had formed a nest of thieves
and vagabonds (a coloured Alsatia), and became the
medium between the moody, ill-taught, and disaffected
Hottentots of the Settlement with the Kafirs, commenced
an open attack of plunder and bloodshed. On the 28th,
the Kafir Police at Whifctlesea also went over to their
hostile countrymen ; the whole number of this too-
much-trusted force deserting being 365 in number ; and
emboldened by these defections and the character of the
accession, the enemy now overran the Province itself.

The panic now became intense and fearful — the flight
of the affrighted inhabitants from their quiet homesteads
distressing to witness. For three whole days, from early
dawn to late at night, the writer, then Chief Magistrate
of the District of Uitenhage, beheld a sight never to be
forgotten : hundreds upon hundreds of people hurrying
with their wagons, the oxen often led by white women or
young and tender girls, old men, females (often with babes),
and exhausted, weeping children, shoeless and on foot.
The sick, the infirm, haggard, hungry, foot-sore, and
fatigued were followed by innumerable flocks of cattle and
sheep, lowing and bleating for want of rest — for want of
pasturage and water, crooning a melancholy complaint, as
if they also understood the nature of the calamity ; and
thus it went on in one continuous procession of misery
and terror. The roads to the town — one of the principal
rendezvous of the fleeing masses — were rendered nearly
impassable by the number of animals with which they
were encumbered; and before the end of the month and
year, the Kafir, with the scent of the vulture, was on the
prey, and had lighted up his beacon fires on the summits
of the Zuurberg, 150 miles within the Colony and from
the centre of revolt.

SECTION XV.

1851 — Hermauus attacks Fort Beaufort — His Death — Hottentot Rebellion at Mis-
sionary Stations at Kat Kiver, Whittlesoa, and Theopolis, and Massacre of Fingoes
at latter place — Rebels emboldened attack Forts— Burghers called out — Causes of
Failure — Western Burghers arrive — Enemy again invades the Colony — His suc-
cesses and alarming attitude — Governor applies Home for more Troops — ■
Waterkloof — Death of Colonel Fordyce there — Moshesh and Kreli — Movements
against the latter Chief — Earl Grey complains that the War is protracted — Gover-
nor's Explanations. 1852 — Successful Expeditions on North and South-East
against Enemy — A Truce — Hostilities recommence — Disasters— Captain Lake-
man's Force — Macomo rooted out— Loss of the Birkenhead with reinforcements
on board — Sir Harry Smith recalled — Reasons for — Extenuation — Character of
the removed Governor — His Reception in England.

1851 — A large number of the misled Hottentots of the
Kat River Settlement and elsewhere now coalesced with the
Kafirs,* committing numerous acts of violence on the
farmers and their habitations. With the aid of some of
these people, on the 7th January, the Gonnah Kafir Chief
Hermanus made an unusually bold and desperate attempt
to surprise the strong Military Post of Fort Beaufort, but
after a short and sharp struggle were defeated, in which
they lost fifty men, including the arch-traitor Hermanns
himself.

To follow up incident after incident of this terrible, long
protracted, and unsatisfactory war would be difficult, and
encumber the space devoted to these Annals. The reader

* The state of the Kat River at this time is described by some of
the few loyal people there in these words : — " Nearly all the inhabi-
tants were secretly aiding and abetting their rebel friends and relatives ;
those who did not so openly, taking no measures on the side of law
or loyalty." (See Petitions from district of Stockenstrom, signed by 90
inhabitants, presented to Cape Parliament ; vide also Sir H. Pottinger's
report, 2nd November, IS 17, upon the then state of this Settlement,
one " which on my arrival in the colony had been held out as a pattern
for all others and spoken of as one of the bulwarks for general protec-
tion and defence," but " is a picture of gross mismanagement, sloth,
filth, and human degradation.")

444 Annals of the Cape Colony.

must therefore be pleased to content himself with little more
than an outline showing the more salient points alone.

Our " Great Rebellion," which hatched on the 26th
January, had its nest in the Kat River Settlement, being-
incubated there by Kafir craft and Hottentot frailty. This
Settlement had, as before mentioned, been created with
the most benevolent intentions, but with a fatal miscalcu-
lation of the nature of the people, who, without any
admixture of the white and more civilized element, were
segregated in one compact mass and a state of perfect
isolation. They were besides too long deprived of the
presence of a European Magistrate, and their manage-
ment, temporal and spiritual,- entrusted to imprudent
teachers connected to them by marriage, or half-castes, who
kept up a spurious and dangerous notion of " Hottentot
nationality," with not unfrequent reminders of territorial
claims and long extinguished grievances ; besides which,
considering the flexible character of the race, they had
been located too near the Kafir boundary, under the
erroneous impression the Hottentot would never join with
their "ancient enemies," when in fact, and it ought
to have been remembered, the Gonaqua Kafirs of the
Upper Keiskamma were half Hottentot, and were " out in
the '95" along with the marauders of that day. The
country granted to these people is certainly the finest
tract the whole Colony can boast, possessing an unfailing
supply of water, being intersected by numerous streams
capable of being diverted for irrigation, abundance of
pasturage, and splendid timber forests attractive of rain
and moisture ; a climate for salubrity unrivalled, scenery
exquisitely beautiful, a market almost at their doors (at
Fort Beaufort). Secure from oppression, with all the
means for contentment, the inhabitants of these happy
valleys, where " all but the spirit of man was Divine,"
had no excuse for complaint, still less for the treason into
which they fell.

In 1854 a Special Commission was appointed to institute
inquiry into the causes and extent of the rebellion, the
Commissioners being C. M. Owen, J. W. Ebden, and H.

The Hottentot RehelUon. 445

Caklcnvood, Esquires, the chief result of which was,
according to their report (24th July), that a large propor-
tion of the Hottentots had joined in the revolt of 1851.
Many others sympathized with them ; many probably
loyal participated in the plunder, and held communion
with the rebels, but were not prepared to declare them-
selves openly. At one time 1,200 had joined the ranks
of the enemy. It appears that no charge could be brought
against the Government or white inhabitants of the Fron-
tier ; and that nothing appeared against the Missionaries,
but that the two Reads, teachers there, had been injudici-
ous in their dealing with alleged grievances of the Hotten-
tots, leading them to believe they were oppressed.

Except for an accident this territory would have been
occupied by a hardy race of loyal and industrious men,
fitted by nature to its lovely glens, winding waters, and
temperate climate, its often snow-clad mountains like
those of their native land. A party of five hundred High-
landers, " with the fire of old Scotia and the garb of old
Gaul,"' under Captain Grant, embarked at the Clyde on
board the Alcona, transport, in 1820, for this region, where
they were to found "New Edinburgh." On the 13th of
October of the same year, near the Equator, the unfortunate
ship took lire, when out of 140 emigrants only sixteen souls
escaped, and being providentially picked up by a vessel
homeward bound, returned to Scotland. How different
would have been the subsequent history of this lovely
spot had these people taken up their abode ; but " the ways
of Providence are not the ways of man."

It has already been related how near the Hottentots of
the Kat were in joining the Kafirs in 1834. In 1847 Sir
Henry Pottinger reported that " they had been armed
without the least control, and were in a state of total dis-
organization bordering on rebellion," and now from the
same place,* instituted in order to become " a breakwater

* Hottentot Loyalty. — The following chain of facts is worthy of
preservation for the use of future historians of the Cape. In 1795 the
Hottentots were found in league with the Kafirs, and, in true St.
Domingo fashion, pitilessly destroyed their former employers) with an

446 Annals of the Cape Colony.

against an exasperated and powerful enemy in the most
vulnerable and dangerous part of the Frontier," proceeded
the spirit of disaffection to debauch the hitherto loyal
inhabitants of the Moravian Missionary Institution of
Shiloh in the Klipplaatz River, near the town of Whittle-
sea.

Here the Hottentot residents, instigated by the denizens
of that " Soil of Rebellion and Faction," as Governor
Cathcart subsequent described it, joined in a secret con-
federacy with the neighbouring Tambookies, rose in arms,
and on the 31st January the worthy Missionaries were
forced to abandon their beautiful, luxuriant, and thriving
station, only seven of their people being found willing to
join their exile, the remainder going over in a body to the
enemy. The Rev. Mr. Bonatz, their venerable teacher,
said, in the bitterness of despair, on this deplorable occa-
sion, " I have taken a farewell of my mission, after a
residence of nineteen years. I find my labour lost ; not

atrocity, it was remarked, more ruthlessly severe than that of their
colleagues. These rebels were then collected by the celebrated Dr.
Van der Kemp at Graaff-Reinet, drafted to Botha's place, Algoa Bay,
and subsequently settled at that "model" institution, Bethelsdorp. A
swarm from the Bethelsdorp hive subsequently alighted at Theopolis —
notorious for its rebellion and the treacherous murder of the Fino-o
inhabitants — and Kat River was partly peopled from Theopolis in or
about 182!). In the war of 1834-5 the Missionaries denounced the
seditions going on there. Letters extant from the Rev. Messrs. Chal-
mers and Thompson attest the fact, as well as the Magistrate, Captain
Armstrong, and the Missionaries Young and Bennie ; and the Kafir
Chiefs Macomo, Tyali, Eno, Botman, and Guaya declared the words
of the Hottentots of Kat Paver " set us on fire." In 1838 the murderers
of Lieut. Crow implicated in their dying confession the Hottentots of
Kat River ; and, filling up the measure of their guilt, this people broke
out openly in 1H50 to " drive the English into the sea" — that sea as
sung in a sweet lyric called " Makanna's Gathering" (spirited but
mischievous), by Pringle : —

" To sweep the white men from the earth.

And drive them to the sea :
The sea, which heaved them up at first

For Amakosa's curse and bane,
Howls for the progeny she nurs'd,

To swallow them again."

Progress of the Rebellion. 447

above four Kafirs and three Fingoes go with ine ; the rest
of my congregation have taken their portion deliberately
with the rebels, and I have no hope of the conversion of
these people." Another Missionary stated " the Hottentot
population at Shiloh to be about seventy, out of which
about thirty took the sacrament late in December." When
the news of the defection at the Kat reached Shiloh the con-
gregation met in the church to declare the part they would
take ; and, with uplifted hands, they all swore before their
Creator, they would die in defence of their religion and
the Government. "When the Missionaries left, they
solemnly and symbolically took water and washed their
hands, saying to the Hottentots, "We are free from your
blood."

The evil demon of ingratitude and insurrection was not
satisfied with its triumphs in these places devoted to
religious instruction and social improvement. At Theo-
polis, a London Missionary Station in Albany, about
twenty-five miles from Graham's Town, situated on one
of the finest farms in that beautiful district, in extent
some 8,800 acres, disaffection, instigated by the people
of the Kat, appeared about the same time. Eumours of the
existence of bad feeling* were abroad at an early date of
this year, when such of the people as could be found were
disarmed by the authorities ; but this precaution did not
alia}' the latent discontent, for on the 31st of May — a
Sunday morning — about day -break, after being visited by
some of the Kat River people and Cape Mounted Eifle
Corps, who began to desert in bodies as early as February,
the Hottentots of the Institution rose, and in cold blood,
without any intimation, murdered — by shooting them
down as they came out of their huts — ten of the Fingo
inhabitants, and then, loading up their wagons with spoil,

- The seeds of discontent had heen sown at this place many years
before (1835), when a public charge was preferred against the Colonial
Government for having robbed the Institution of some of its lands — a
slander disproved in 1H:3C>, the reverse being tlie case, as shown in a
pamphlet then published, entitled " Some reasons, &c," in which a
diagram exposes the inaccuracy of the accusation.

4-18 Annals of tJto Gape Colony.

deserted the place, forming a rebel camp in a savanna
called the " Kami," at a short distance from the scene of
their treachery.*

For the first four months of the year the Baal-fires of
war lighted up the land from the Orange River to the sea,
from the Amatolas to the Sundays Biver. To the north-
ward, in an attack upon the Tambookies at the Witte-
bergen, the Colonial party was obliged to retire with loss,
and a chance escape from death of the Civil Commissioner
of Albert. The town of Whittlesea, defended by Captain
Tylden and Mr. Thomas Holclen Bowker, had to sustain
no less than twelve assaults, and a continued series of
actions, some petty and some severe, occurred in this
remote part of the Colom% including one on the Imvani,
on the 14th April, + where a body of some 4,000 of Kreli's,
Mapassa's, and Tyopo's braves lost a number of cattle,
were taught a salutary lesson, and frightened the first-

;: There is little doubt that all tl)3 Missionary Institutions in the
Eastern Province and elsewhere had been tampered with. Many of
the Hottentot levies passing through Uitenhage to the front were very
insubordinate, and used seditious language. In one instance it was
feared recourse must be had to physical force to disarm a very
mutinous party, who, for fear of their bad example, the authorities sent
back. At one of the stations — Bethelsdorp, the Model Institution —
the people committed an overt act by assaulting a farm-house, calling
in the neighbourhood to the inmates, " Come out, we are rebels."
Some of these were tried for treason, but the indictments, badly drawn,
broke down, and a verdict of not guilty was returned through an alibi
having been sworn to ; but the witness on his death-bed acknowledged
his perjury. — J. C. C.

f The defence of Whittlesea was the turning point of the war ; it
cowed Kreli, covered the Wittebergen, saved the Cradock District, and
most of the Frontier divisions or counties, closing all access to the
hiding places in the Amatola range of bush, cave, and mountain. The
battle of the Imvani was the great fight of Capt. Tylden. After the Kafirs
had routed the Boers just previously, they came on in this encounter
in three divisions so as to environ Tylden's Commando, who, for the
purpose of concentrating his line of force, feigned retreat. The ruse
and strategic movement succeeded ; the foe, deceived, pursued him
2)ele mele ; they were then charged, and left above 1.30 dead upon the
field, and were completely discomfited. The moral effect of the victory
was immense.

Engagements with the Kafirs. 449

named Chief, who was simulating neutrality. Engagements
also took place so far "West as between the Bushmans and
Sundays Rivers, while to the East the rebels had the
unparalleled hardihood to attack Fort Hare, Fort Brown,
and Fort Armstrong, of which last-named place they had
taken possession, but were " shelled" out on the 22nd of
February by Major-General Somerset, with a severe loss
of life on the part of the Hottentots.

Other encounters took place ; the Governor engaged the
enemy at the Keiskamma, inflicting considerable damage
upon the enemy. The Chief Seyolo was defeated near King
William's Town. At the Amatolas demonstrations were
made in which several affairs took place, the Kafirs losing
both, cattle and men; but still it was only by extraordinary
efforts, after harassing and incessant patrols, skirmishes,
and watching, that the Frontier Districts were preserved
from utter destruction ; indeed their fate trembled in the
balance.

On His Excellency's escape from Fort Cox and arrival
at King William's Town he had at once called out the
Eastern Burghers en masse ; but they dared not respond to
the summons, for, surrounded by Hottentot treachery,
several instances occurring amongst their domestic
servants, they felt they could not trust their families and
property to such uncertain protection. He then appealed
to the Western Yeomanry ; but they were dissuaded by a
malcontent Press of Cape Town, the cry being raised that
this was a " Governor's war," or " a Settler's war." The
members of the Executive Council, however, at length
collected a goodly number of Western levies, and these,
with the Burghers, Fingoes, Eastern Contingents, and
troops* already in the field, induced the Governor to con-
template offensive operations. His force on the 1st May
amounting to some 9,500 men, still he asked from home
for two more regiments, so that he "might be in a position
to inflict that punishment upon the savages which their
unprovoked treachery so well deserves."

* Troops — (jth Foot, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, 4.3th, i3rd,
and 01st Regiments, and Cape Mounted Rifles.

2 G

450 Annuls of the Owpc Colony.

From May to about the end of August, after incessant
series of operations, scion les regies militaires, made with
large bodies of men, under officers of acknowledged ability
and unimpeachable courage, little beyond worrying the
enemy resulted. Kafirs and a few Hottentot rebels bit the
dust ; some cattle were captured, but the bulk had been
driven over and beyond the Kei to the safe keeping of the
fast and loose Kreli ; while within the Colonial boundary
proper, ravages continued ceaselessly. Transport and other
wagons were attacked, and taken on the high roads by
rebels, even within the vicinage of Graham's Town ; and
the only redeeming event of the time was an assault by
Major-General Somerset, in June, on the camp of the
Theopolis rebels, and their dispersion, where a Hottentot
was taken who informed his captors that, as was pretty
well known, the rebels had been in communication with all
the Missionary Institutions and that they were determined
to kill, burn, and destroy without remorse in the cause
of their nation.

Disturbed in the Amatolas by the late demonstrations,
the enemy retaliated by again invading the Colony, in the
first instance overrunning the district of Somerset, where
within six weeks they carried off 5,000 cattle, 20,000
sheep, and 3,000 horses, and in which district, since
the commencement of the war to date, 200 farm-houses
had been burnt. They then turned their attention to
Lower Albany and Olifant's Hoek, sweeping off numerous
herds of cattle and other stock, firing many houses, and
causing another panic. The Kafir servants, too, belong-
ing to tribes hitherto considered friendly-disposed, now
deserted in numbers, witnessing, as they could not help,
the uncontrolled success of their warlike countrymen and
the palpable weakness of the Government. At this time
the public roads became unsafe for travellers, unless they
went in strong and armed parties.

To arrest the desperate state to which the country had
been reduced, it was necessary to detach a considerable
portion of the forces employed in watching the Amatolas,
by which the excesses within the Border were somewhat

Difficulties of the Governor. 451

checked. It was then requisite to patrol the country be-
tween King William's Town and Fort Willshire, to disperse
the banditti infesting the Koromoo forests, and dislodge
those in the jungle of the Great Fish Kiver ; and these
objects were effected with some temporary success, at the
cost, however, of serious loss of life. On the 30th August,
with a force of above 400 men on a reconnoitre towards
Fort Willshire, fifteen men were wounded, two of whom
died ; on the 8th September, before the Koromoo Bush,
with 550 infantry and 103 mounted men, fourteen were
killed and fourteen wounded; and at the Great Fish Eiver
Bush, with 1,250 men, in three encounters, on the 9th,
10th, and 15th, there were twenty-nine killed and forty-
one men wounded, of which last three died ; and as soon
as the troops withdrew from these last scenes of action,
the enemy, although disturbed for the time, re-occupied
their strongholds, from which it was found prudent not
then to disturb them.

These matters were duly reported by the Governor to
the Colonial Minister on the 15th October, and that the
enemy now held the strong ground of Kat Eiver and
Blinkwater with their almost impenetrable forests — in
fact, were in the ascendant. His Excellency, who had
now, besides the troops already named, received the
accession of the 2nd Queen's, the 74th Eegiment, and the
Lancers, still found himself unable to cope with the com-
bined numbers of the enemy, their guerilla activity, and
superior local knowledge ; and with the expectancy that
Faku might, and Kreli was about to, join the hostile con-
federacy ; with doubts also as to the fidelity of Moshesh,
who was evidently watching the proverbial " way the cat
jumps" in the Colony, from whence he boasted, "I receive
my reports every week ;" disappointed of the aid of a body
of Zulus from Natal ; hampered at the same time by a
most distressing drought, and " viewing the vast extent of
hostility which prevails in our South African territories,
the probability that this hostile feeling of the black
towards the white may spread still more widely," His

Excellency now asked the Minister to add to his present

2 G 2

152 Annals of the Capo Colony.

force '400 English recruits for the Cape Corps and two
additional regiments of infantry with as little delay as
possible."

A vigorous attempt was, however, made to " clean out"
the difficult country between the Koonap and the Kat,
containing the dangerous defiles of the Blinkwater, Fuller's
Hoek, and Waterkloof, which form the western buttresses
of the formidable Amatolas. Here, from the 12th to the
19th, spirited onsets were made with 1,200 men, and
although chasing the Kafir from one kloof to another the
loss was six killed and twenty-six wounded ; but this fearful
sacrifice was supposed to have been compensated by the
complete clearance of the Waterkloof. On the first of
November operations were ordered to be recommenced in
consequence of the successes in the last-named locality,
and on the -6th and 7th another assault was made in the
same direction, when, notwithstanding the late repulses,
the Kafirs showed they hold pertinaciously the advantage
of these strong natural rock and forest entrenchments,
amid which misfortune still clogged the steps of our brave
troops ; for in the two days ten men were killed in the
.erkloof, including a warrior the command could ill
re, the gallant and amiable Lieut. -Colonel Fordyce, of
73rd,* and another officer, with twenty-four wounded.
Under all these disheartening circumstances, it is not to
be supposed that no advantage was gained over the foe,
for he also sustained vast damage ; numbers of Kafir and
Hottentot rebels had reaped the full reward of their crimes
in every encounter, although not to the extent very inju-
diciously exaggerated at the time. Human life, however,
among such a people is unregarded, and as they managed
to secure the great object and trophy of war, their immense
booty, the real victory remained on their side.

To the two powerful Chiefs, Moshesh in Basutoland and
Kreli, it was now requisite to turn attention. The former

* The last words of the Colonel were, " Take care of my regiment."
How they contrast with that of " Tete d'Armee" of "the last single
captive to millions at war" at St. Helena. "Duty" in one case,
" Glory" in the other.

Eoepedition against Kreli. 453

was reported to be directly or indirectly implicated in the
disturbances. He was suspected of furnishing the Kafirs
with ammunition ; his people had been detected among
the combatants, and he was evidently coquetting with both
belligerents. But against Kreli, " the great promoter of
hostilities," it was considered the first movement should
be made. That Chief, long temporizing, had now ceased
to dissemble his warlike proclivities ; and an expedition
was therefore dispatched of about 2,000 men, with a
month's provisions, to the Imvani River, a part of the
Upper Kei, under Major-General Somerset, and another of
1,000 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre, to the Lower
Kei, nearly opposite the Missionary Institution of Batter-
worth, on which a combined movement was intended to be
made ; but this was given up for a time for fear of com-
promising the safety of the missionaries and traders, who
held a very precarious tenure of life and property under
the questionable mercies of the savage Chief. The result
of these movements will be seen farther on.

Upon the 12th December the Governor received
despatches from Earl Grey, dated the preceding October,
in which that statesman complains, "It is with great
concern I have received intelligence that much less pro-
gress has been made than I hoped towards the subjugation
of the Kafirs, and that they had inflicted such severe
injury on the Colonists." With such strong reproof from
so high an authority to so brave and sensitive a man as
Sir Harry Smith, he felt he was put upon his defence,
called upon to show his real position, and to explain the
causes of delay. This he did in his reply of the 18th
following, thus : — He had been deprived at an early stage
of the war of 2,000 Hottentot levies, who had refused to
continue their services bej^ond the time they had been
engaged for ; that the Burghers would not turn out in
force (we have seen elsewhere the reason why) ; that at
that time the troops available for the field were only
2,210* in number, and these had to carry on a desultory

:: On the 10th December, 1851, these had been increased to 8,57 0,
and the Rifle Brigade was about to embark with 052 men more.

454 Annals of the Cape Colony.

war over an extent of country twice the size of Great
Britain and Ireland ; and that, having to send forces into
the Colony for its protection, he had to act strictly on
the defensive, and was barely enabled to maintain his
posts ; that the Kafirs had fraternized with the numerous
and well-trained Hottentots, who had taken to the mode
of guerilla warfare ; that the insurgents were from 15,000
to 20,000 strong, and the whole coloured race (generally
speaking) were only awaiting one serious disaster to rise
en masse ; that the troops have rested scarcely a single
da}7, and so long as the insurgents held together in large
bodies, they had been defeated on forty-five different
occasions between the 24th December, 1850, and 21st
October last, and that in those encounters 12 officers
were killed, 18 wounded, 195 soldiers killed, and 364
wounded ;* that ample means had not arrived, and
" success in war is the result of those means, that men
are the sinews of war, and will rescue the Colony."

1852. — The two Kei expeditions already referred to
returned to head-quarters early in January, after six weeks'
absence. The first, under Major-General Somerset, bring-
ing more than 20,000 head of cattle, losing only one man
killed, but having destroyed many of the enemy and
several kraals. That under Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre, from
Butterworth, in crossing the Eiver Kei at the wagon-
drift had a desperate fight with the Kafirs, where they had
constructed regular breastworks, a feature quite novel in
their mode of warfare. Here he had four killed and four-
teen men wounded, but inflicted a severe loss upon the
natives. Proceeding to the Missionary Station he released
all the Europeans and some seven thousand Fingoes (to
whom British protection had been offered), wTith all their
stock, consisting of about 30,000 horned cattle. Several
other successful affairs took place at this time, which had
the effect of inducing some of the belligerent Chiefs to sue
for peace ; but this was refused, unless they surrendered

* Add to these the casualties of November and December, which
would swell this terrible list to — Killed, 15 officers and 200 soldiers ;
wounded, 20 officers and 395 soldiers; total, 036 within twelve months,

Reverse at the Waterkloof, 455

without conditions, trusting to Her Majesty's clemency.
In February the application was renewed, when a truce of
three clays was conceded to enable the Chiefs to consult
each other ; but this terminated in failure through Hottentot
intrigue, and so, on the 15th, hostilities were resumed.
On the north-east, at the 'Tsomo and Degana, several
spirited actions took place in March, in which 150 natives,
including some rebel Hottentots, were slain, and 2,000
cattle and 100 horses taken. In the Keiskamma Poort
too, a village was destroyed, where the Hottentot rebels
had constructed above eighty huts with the materials, such
as glazed windows, doors, &c, taken from the plundered
farm-houses. Here much provision and crops were com-
mitted to the flames, and several of the foe met a deserved
fate, but with the loss on the Colonial side of one killed
and three wounded.

These successes, so promising, were, however, painfully
alloyed by a sad reverse on the 7th of March. At the
notorious Waterkloof a party of 500 foot and horse, after
capturing cattle and horses, were beset by nearly 3,000
Kafirs, and after a three hours' hand-to-hand combat, four
men were killed and three officers and eighteen men
wounded. This melancholy affair a few days subsequently
was partially retrieved by an onslaught on the same locality,
when Macomo's lurking place and stronghold yras invested
and broken up, many of the inmates killed, and three of
that Chief's wives and two of his children captured, with
a considerable quantity of cattle and horses ; but even
this was effected at the expense of one officer and seven
men killed and eighteen wounded. During this month a
spirited gentleman (Mr. Lakeman) arrived in the Colony,
and volunteered his services to raise, arm, and clothe, at
his own cost, one hundred men. This noble offer was of
course gladly accepted, and " Lakeman's Hangers" did
right good and essential service in the field during the
remainder of the campaign. Major-General Yorke also
came out at the same time to assume the command of the
forces ; but with these matters of congratulation calamity
still seemed to cling to the fortunes of the miserable con-

456 Annals of the Ca.pe Colony.

test, and one of the heaviest of the whole was in the wreck
of the steamer Birkenhead, on the 2Gth February, near
Cape Point, having on hoard Military detachments pro-
ceeding to the Frontier, with a large crew, of whom in all
413 perished, including officers, men, and seamen.*

In England a violent clamour had been raised (not
unreasonable) at the financial pressure caused by the
lengthened and expensive Kafir war. The taxpayers, it
was remarked, not only found " a skeleton in the cup-
board," but "a Kafir in the salt-box," and to allay the
outcry, the Governor was selected as the sacrifice. On
the 14th January Earl Grey notified to His Excellency, in
reply to his despatches of the 5th and 19th November
preceding, that although the force placed at his disposal

* This vessel was conveying detachments from several of our
regiments to the seat of war, under Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander
Seton, of the 74th Highlanders, who had succeeded the late Colonel
Fordyce, when she suddenly struck upon a rock near Point Danger, a
little way to the east of the Cape Hangklip. The shock was so
tremendous that the iron plates of the ship's bottom gave way ; the
cabin was quickly filled with water, and it was evident that in a few
minutes more the vessel would be engulphed among the breakers. It
was as yet only two o'clock in the morning, with no light but that of
the stars ; but in an instant the deck was crowded with the alarmed
passengers, and while death was imminent only two of the ship's boats
were available for service. To rush into them at the risk of swamping
them- would have been the impulse of the selfish; to fling themselves
into the sea, in the hope of reaching the shore, but only to sink each
other by their overcrowding, or perish in the breakers and by the
sharks that were on the alert, would have been the headlong attempt
even of the bravest. But nothing of the kind in either way was done,
and never was the power of military discipline, or the worth of fearless,
unflinching courage, or the moral grandeur of self-sacrificing devoted-
ness more conspicuously displayed than in this moment of terrible trial.
At the word of Colonel Seton the soldiers drew up upon the reeling and
loosening deck as if they had been on parade ; they obeyed his orders
as calmly as if they had been executing the usual movements of the
drill. The brave, humane heart of the Colonel was directed to the
safety of those who could least help themselves, and whose fate would
otherwise have been certain — to the women, the children, and sick on
board ; and they were carefully conveyed into the boats, which in the
first instance were given up for their especial service ; and by this
arrangement all the helpless were saved, without a single exception.

Ueeall of Sir Harry Smith. 457

had been very considerably increased, no real advantages
bad been gained over the enemy, while the losses of Her
Majesty's troops had been exceedingly heavy, including
that of Colonel Fordyce ; that the successes, if they can
be called so, have been entirely barren of result ; that no
ground had been really gained ; and that the enemy, far
from being discouraged by defeat, were from month to
month increasing in boldness and determination ; it
became, therefore, a painful duty to place the conduct of
the war in other hands. The Minister then recounts the
" errors" into which he thought the Governor had fallen,
viz. — The premature reduction of the British forces at
his command (but dividing the blame between himself

And now only the strong and vigorous began to look to their own safety,
after they had so nobly discharged their duty to others ; and while
several of them betook themselves to swimming, or committed themselves
to pieces of floating timber, the vessel parted amidships and went down
with the greater part of the officers and soldiers, with whom self-pre-
servation had been only the latest subject of anxiety. In this fatal
catastrophe 357 officers and soldiers and sixty seamen perished, while
nearly 200 lives were saved, and this too in a crisis where, but for these
arrangements, and the fidelity with which they were executed, nearly
all might have been lost. These soldiers also, be it observed, were not
veterans, but for the most part young recruits who had never been
under fire ; and yet they calmly stood in a breach more dismaying
than that of Badsjoz or St. Sebastian, and saw the boats, their last
hope of safety, depart from them without a murmur. But what shall
we say of the controlling might of that noble leader who directed their
movements, and whom even to the death they were proud to obey ?
It was his last as well as his first field of action, if such it might be
termed ; but the event which bereaved the service of such an officer
showed how much it had lost and what a name he might have
achieved for himself in the annals of modern warfare. The catastrophe
of the Birkenhead was a unique specimen of heroism, in which the
coolest courage and intrepid daring were combined with the purest
humanity and disinterestedness, and as such it roused the emulation of
our soldiers, and was the parent of similar achievements in the subse-
quent campaigns of the Crimea and India. A mural table, erected
by Government at Chelsea Hospital, records the event and the names
of the sufferers. (See Bowler's Kafir Wars and the British Settlers of
South Africa, with descriptions by the late W. R. Thomson, Member
of the Legislative Assembly. A volume of plates (4to, London, 1
very beautiful, with most interesting letter press.)

458 Annals of the Cape Colony.

and Sir Harry, for he had probably too strongly urged
that measure ; in sending strong assurances that there
existed no real danger, and that the apprehensions of the
farmers were unfounded ; that it was a most fatal error,
as regarded the rebel Hottentots, that the first instances
of treason were not dealt with more promptly and more
severely. These and some other shortcomings are also
detailed, attributing them entirely to fault in judgment,
and admitting that " had the Governor's military opera-
tions been less complicated by 'political difficulties, he
would have achieved the same success by which he had
been formerly so much distinguished."

There was, no doubt, considerable truth in the censure,
but still great margin for extenuation. Sir H. Smith
trusted, unfortunately, too much to the prestige of his
name and the memory of his former Kafir administration.
The great Hottentot defection — a Frankenstein created by
panderers to the discontent of that plastic race — was
unexpected ; but it is too true its treatment by the
Governor was a grave mistake. For instance, in March
and April, 1851, forty-seven of these rebels and traitors
were condemned to death ; but these sentences, after
confirmation, were commuted into transportation and
imprisonment with hard labour for life, and this relaxa-
tion of punishment, gladly adopted by His Excellency,
was the effect of a recommendation of his Executive
Council.* Again in January of this year, after a sentence
of death passed upon the traitor and principal promoter
of the revolt, Private John Brander of the Albany Levy,
who had deserted to the enemy with his arms and
ammunition,! was only punished by a seven years'
imprisonment. Sir Hany, perfect soldier as he was, had
an instinctive horror of shedding blood, which was never
more strongly developed than when he curbed the Military

* The Cape Attorney-General, on the 10th March, 1852, gave this
opinion — " When you find a rebel in the field shoot him ; when you
take a rebel in his haunts, hang him."

f Sir H. Smith pitied the poor creatures, knowing they had been
deluded into a belief that they are taught by the precepts of the Bible

Character of Sir "Barry Smith. 459

from retaliating the insults offered to Her Majesty and
themselves by the mobs of the Western metropolis during
the Anti-Convict erne ate. The reduction of the force at
his command at the close of the hostilities of 1847 was
occasioned by his belief in the consolidation of that peace
through a return to the policy of 1835, which belief was
held by his political advisers at the seat of Government
in Cape Town, who were equally with himself taken as
by storm at the news of the revolt. All men sympathized
with the Governor on his recall ; it was not degradation,
for he was soon employed in England* in high appoint-
ments ; his friends particularly deplored the event, which,
sensitive as he was known to be, must have caused him
great mental suffering. With some share of bluster (in
the best acceptation of that term) he was in private life
most warm-hearted, generous, and amiable, unforgetful of
services done to him when plain Colonel Smith. Those who
had the honour of being admitted to his confidence, and
therefore best knew him, can bear testimony to his ardent
desire to benefit the Colony, and to his personal regard
for its inhabitants. It is true, when under excitement he
employed somewhat strong expletives, which, like sheet
lightning, are terrifying yet harmless ; but the writer can
add from personal and intimate knowledge, that notwith-
standing this blemish, he was, perhaps, strange to say, a
devout and religious man.

"o1

to fight for independence with the sword of Gideon. " That they are
an oppressed and ill-used race, and that the Word of God in the Bihle
tells them so." (Vide Papers presented to Parliament, 3rd February,
1852, pp. 72 — 140. See also Uithaalder's Statement of Grievances,
page 102, idem ; and the Wrongs of the Kafirs, by Justus.)

* Sir Harry Smith, on his return to England, was employed in manj7
high positions, and on the 18th June, 1852, we find him among the
honoured guests of the Duke, at Apsley House, on the anniversary
of Waterloo, when His Grace proposed his health, which was received
with the greatest enthusiasm.

SECTION XVI.

1852 continued. Arrival of New Governor — His instructions — Claims of British
Settlers of 18-20 to Military protection, or their right to control the Border policy —
Lieut. -Governor Darling arrives — His duties defined — Abandonment of Colony
again hinted — The Governor takes the field — A Fort established in Waterldoof —
Expedition against Kreli — The Hottentot rebel Uithaalder informs the Governor
he is prepared to figbt or treat for peace — Reward for his apprehension — Subse-
quently commits suicide — Seyolo, Chopo, &c, surrender — Amnesty offered —
Mapassa's territory escheated — Expedition against Moshesh — Battle of Berea —
Demands for Parliamentary Government resumed — Retrospect of the Agitation —
Earl Grey directs Removal of Seat of Government — Eastern memorials for
Separation — Earl Grey's reply — Opinions of Executive Council taken thereon —
Draft of Constitution Ordinance arrives — Discussed and passed.

gUmuntstrattorc of (ffiobentcr air& W$) (ftommimimm
3Tf)e 3£?cmouvai)lc iLtfutcnani-C&cncral gix ©feotge (tfatfjeavt.

From March 1, 1852, to December, 5, 1854.

AND

<£. $?. Barling, (&»%., iLtnttrnant^obevnor.

1852. — The late Governor's successor, Sir George Cathcart,
arrived in the Colony on the 31st of March ; but previous
to the actual assumption of his duties several important
Military operations had been carried on with marked
success by Sir Harry Smith in the Amatolas, beyond the
Kei, and several other points, and a foundation had been
thus laid for the pacification of the long harried and
suffering Frontier.

The new Governor's instructions, elated 2nd February,
1852, were very important, the first injunction being " to
bring to a close at the earliest period possible the complete
subjugation of the Kafirs, but still that the war — begun
with so little provocation and in so treacherous a manner
by the Kafirs and rebellious Hottentots — should be
prosecuted with unremitting vigour until finished by their
being reduced to complete and unconditional submission,"

Sir George Cathcart's Instructions. 461

and to a revision of the system hitherto pursued on the
Eastern Frontier, in order that the best precautions may
be taken against the periodical renewal of the grievous
losses and sufferings inflicted upon the Colonists and the
heavy pecuniary burthen entailed on the Mother Country.
They then proceed to say, " It is clue to those persons and
their descendants who were induced with the direct
sanction of Parliament to leave their country (in 1820)
for the purpose of settling in the Eastern divisions of the
Colony, that they should not be abandoned without aid or
support in a position of so much danger ; but they must
conform to those rules which may be necessary for their
own protection and safety ;" and the despatch admits the
principle "that if the Colonists of European descent are
to be left unsupported by the power of the Mother Country,
to rely solely on themselves for protection from fierce
barbarians with whom they are placed in immediate
contact, they must also be left to the unchecked exercise
of those severe measures of self-defence which a position
of so much danger will naturally dictate." The instruc-
tions provide for a Lieutenant-Governor for the Eastern
Province, observing that the one now appointed, Mr.
Darling's most important duty will be, on the meeting of
the new Parliament, to attend to the legislative business
of the Colony. They then announce the revocation of the
Letters Patent of 1836, by which the Eastern Province
was erected into a separate and distinct Government ;
and they conclude with the — not the first, but — ominously
suggestive reminder " that beyond the very limited extent
of territory required for the security of the Cape of Good
Hope as a Naval station, the British Crown and nation
have no interest whatever in maintaining any territorial
dominions in South Africa ; that the belief by a proper
system of management those for whose welfare it was
alone desired that British power should be maintained in
those distant regions, might be made to understand their
interests in supporting it ; that both the European and
native races might be induced to yield obedience to the
authority exercised by British officers for their benefit.

•162 Annals of the Capo Colony.

This belief was encouraged by the successes which for
nearly three years appeared to have attended the measures
adopted by Sir H. Smith ; but, unfortunately, these
sanguine hopes have been disappointed, and it will be a
question whether the attempt which has thus failed can
be renewed, or whether the exercise of British authority in
South Africa must not be restricted within much narrower
limits than heretofore."

Sir G. Cathcart took the field on the 9th April, and
on the 12th gave notice that Sandilli and other chiefs
who had taken part in this wicked rebellion must retire
beyond the Kei, and that none of them would ever bo
suffered to return and live in peace in their old country,
a threat, which like all previous ones, was unwisely
relaxed. The next three or four months supply little
beyond events of the usual character ; within the Colony
rebels lifting stock, stopping the mails, constantly attack-
ing and plundering wagons on the high roads — in one
instance carrying off from a train of wagons, fifty-one Minie
rifles and muskets, and killing ten of the escort and
wounding nine. Beyond the Keiskamma, at the Buffalo
Paver, the camp of the rebel Hottentot, Uithaalder, wras
broken up, when were found papers indicating how well
his rebel band was organized, how extensive the con-
spiracy, and among them requisitions written in good
English and in a fair hand, for ammunition, &c, signed
" Uithaalder, General." At this place a deserter from
the Cape Corps was captured and summarily hung —
wholesome example, one that it would have been well had
it been earlier acted upon.* Another camp near Auckland

* On the 12th May, A. Botha, another Hottentot rebel, was
sentenced to death, but it was commuted to imprisonment for life,
and this system of leniency was generally adopted, although it was
admitted on all sides the rebels had no excuse for their defection.
About this time appears a name destined to become historical, that
of Mr. Cameron, the Abyssinian captive, who, an assistant Magistrate
at Ladismith, Klip River, Natal, now turned up at King "William's
Town. It appeared he had been landed from a vessel called the
AUiiun at the Umtata River, and had travelled thence on foot,
experiencing many hardships, but never receiving any ill- treatment
from the Kafirs,

Burning of Kreli's Kraal. 463

was destroyed, the enemy once more shelled out of the
WaterHoof in the presence of the Governor, when he
established a permanent Fort there, near the spot rendered
sacred by the death of the brave Colonel Fordyce, and
altogether prospects began to brighten, but not without
the cost of life on the Colonial side, for besides the losses
in the field, fifteen deliberate murders had been committed
by the enemy.

On the 6th August the Governor commenced operations
against Kreli, whoin he charged with not using his influence
a • Paramount Chief to end the Gaika Rebellion, with
neglecting to pay the fine imposed by Sir Harry
Smith, for comforting, assisting, and harbouring Hottentot
rebels, and insolently sending back his, the Governor's,
peaceable message, remonstrance, and just demands with
defiance. Moving to the White Kei he informed the
messengers now sent by the Chief that he had come
himself to seize the penalty imposed and as much more
as would pay the expenses of his expedition, and required
him to bring the fine and- surrender his person, promising
that he should be kept in safety from personal violence
until the Gaikas crossed the Kei : to this the messengers
replied the fine might possibly be paid, but that Kreli
would never surrender himself. On the 10th, the
Governor, therefore, at the head of the burghers whom
he had called out on the 1st of July, and who had
promptly responded, crossed this new Rubicon and
established his camp on the left bank, and on the 12th
marched to Kreli's kraal, which, found deserted, was
burnt, but the enemy did not "enter an appearance."
He then dispatched two columns of troops, burghers, and
levies to sweep the country, who returned within a few
days, having captured about 10,000 head of cattle and
120 horses, and on the 21st, thanking Lieutenant-Colonel
Napier and the troops, also eulogizing the burghers for
their meritorious services, and praising them for having
so loyally responded to his appeal, he permitted them to
return to their homes.

-164 Annals of the Cape Colony.

During these decisive and successful operations much
depredation was still going on in the Colony ; but it became
known that among the rebel Hottentots their compactness
as a body was dissolved, that there was a general scarcity of
ammunition and food, and that they began to abandon all
hopes of success ; yet Uithaalder, the leader, still boasted
he had GOO men at his command, and in a letter to the
Governor, which he still signed as " General," had the
impudence to say he " was ready cither to fight or treat
for peace." His Excellency's courteous response was a
proclamation offering £500 for his apprehension.*

On the loth September demonstrations were renewed
by the Governor in the now famous Waterkloof, when
Qaesha, the Tambookie Chief, and Macomo, with their
adherents, were expelled, a number of the enemy killed,
some Hottentots taken prisoners, belonging to the Cape
Corps, of whoin a few were hanged on the spot by Colonel
Eyre, and the war was now evidently drawing to its close

*-Willem Uithaalder, the notorious 'rebel leader of the Hottentots,
anticipated the executioner. The press of the day says he fell by
his own hand. The particulars are as follows: — During last month
65) he, anxious to revive his old game, had a communi-
cation with Kreli about some ground which that Chief, he said,
had promised him, whereupon to erect a Hottentot Empire to which
all the outcasts of his race were to resort once more to build up
the now scattered nation. After many attempts to procure permis-
sion from the British authorities to visit, upon some specious pre-
tence, Kreli, but really in pursuit of his mad scheme of empire,
which the authorities refused, and he was narrowly watched, the
more especially on visiting the Mission Station of St. Mark's,
where the Rev. Mr. Brownlee preached a sermon on the awful
position rebels had placed themselves, and warning them against
taking any interest in the sayings and doings of those going about
to stir up the old leaven of rebellion. He was so touched by the
sermon that he evinced strong marks of disquietude and hurriedly
returned to his home. Here he learnt that policemen had already
been sent to watch his proceedings ; he then determined to return
to Queen's Town, as he professed, to make good his case with the
Civil Commissioner ; but on the road he thrust a large pocket-knife
deep into his throat and there died, and his body was removed and
buried I y his "amily.

Termination of the War. 465

through mere exhaustion. Iu the early part of October
Saudilli very narrowly escaped capture, and in the course
of the month Seyolo, Chief of one of the minor T'Slambie
tribes who had joined the war party, surrendered himself ;
subsequently tried by court-martial, he was sentenced
to death, but shortly afterwards escaped the extreme
punishment with transportation for life. Chopo, a Tam-
bookie Chief, then followed the example of Seyolo, and
it was found that the enemy, dispersed and dispirited,
had broken up into hordes of banditti, and the Governor
announced his intention to spare the lives of all Hottentot
rebels, except their ringleaders, upon their surrender, and
a reward of £50 was oifered for the apprehension of any
and each of those proscribed. Encouraged by this act
of clemency, several of the rebels came in during
November, along with Dagali, the son of the Tambookie
Queesha, all corroborating the rumours of the abject
distress which was known to exist among these misguided
fragments of a huge conspiracy. On the 22nd of
November, His Excellency proclaimed the forfeiture of
the territory of the late great Tambookie Chief Mapassa,
offering a pardon and the re-occupation of their lands to
those of his people who would live as British subjects
within the new British boundary, and recalling Nonesi,
the Begent, who, faithful to Colonial interests, had crossed
the Bashee to avoid participation in the war. Much
mischief by detached parties continued to be committed
up to the end of this unfortunate year, during which no
less than thirty-three murders were perpetrated, and many
of the Colonists severely wounded by wandering thieves,
perpetuating a lamentable state of danger and dismay.

The complicity of Moshesh with Kreli* and the coast
Chiefs at war with the Colony, and the unsettled state of
affairs between the expatriated Boers beyond the Orange
Biver and the Basuto Chief, induced the Governor — at the
instance of the Commissioner, Mr. Owen, then in the

':- It may be seen how constant was the intercourse between Moshesh
and the cuast Kafirs, even up to the year 1850, by Sir George Grey's
despatches to the Honourable H. Labouchere, ^ord December, 185(3.

2 H

466 Annals of the Cape Colony.

Sovereignty — to collect a force of some 2,000 troops in
the month of November to proceed against and chastise
that remarkable and astute barbarian. After crossing the
great river and arriving at a Mission Station called Piatt -
berg on the 13th December, His Excellency made a
demand of 10,000 head of cattle and 1,000 horses for
robberies committed on the Sovereignty, threatening that,
unless payment was accorded, " there will be war."
Moshesh hesitated with a sort of half compliance, but
insinuating most significantly to the Governor a latent
danger. "Do not," said he, "talk of war; however
anxious I am to avoid it, you know that a dog when
beaten will show his teeth." His Excellency did not take
the hint, persisted, and the battle of the Berea, or rather
rout, ensued on the memorable 20th, over which
14 untoward event" it is judicious to draw a veil, for it was
not a success. The wily but politic Chief, however,
claimed no victory in the hearing of or before the Governor,
evinced extraordinary humility under the extraordinary
circumstances, and even entreated for peace, which was
of course gladly granted. His Excellency retired — not
retreated — to the disgust of most of his staff; and
Moshesh, rising into eminence by the prestige of his arms
in a conflict with British soldiers, became at once, without
a word, a Paramount Chief. It afterwards transpired
that, while he adroitly concealed the show of triumph
from Her Majesty's representative, he blazoned it forth far
and wide through the coloured tribes on both sides of the
Quathlamba Mountains.

It is not necessary, or to the purpose, to pursue the
subject of this intervention, or enter into the long narrative
of Transgariepine complications. The question is still an
open one, subject to much negotiation, which it is to be
hoped (fearingly) may yet be satisfactorily decided. The
whole matter, dating back for more than half a century,
will furnish at some future period materials for the history
of one of the most interesting episodes in the great drama
of the collision or combinations of the two differently
coloured races, whichever it may be.

Agitation for Constitutional Government. 467

The Military movements consequent on this (colonially)
great war threw into obscurity almost all the civil occur-
rences of this eventful year ; yet hose luckily absent from
the " front of fray" found time to devote to the weighty
subject of Constitutional rights and Parliamentary Govern-
ment, which had been now so long and urgently agitated,
and they became impatient, and determined to use pressure
to obtain what the community considered a birthright
cruelly withheld ; and the other that it would be pleasant
to the sight, a thing to make one wise, knowing good from
evil (which it has effectually clone). It will be remembered
that in 1849, during the Anti-Convict clamour, an effort was
attempted by certain members of the Legislative Council*
"to coerce the Imperial Government to grant whatever
they might be pleased to demand," and that their
suggestions for the immediate introduction of representa-
tive institutions failed entirely ; but the matter had been
already entrusted to surer hands, the Lords of the Com-
mittee of Privy Council, the substance of whose report has
been quoted in the events of the year 1850.

In December, 1849, Earl Grey, in his despatch upon
the subject, penned the following sentence — appalling to
the inhabitants of the Western Metropolis, but assuring
to those of the Eastern Districts : — " The time has come,"
wrote he, "when the seat of Government can no longer
be kept in a position so far from central as Cape Town,
without extreme inconvenience ;" and he directed that the
Legislative Council should be moved to the East. On the
receipt of this decision the then Governor reported a
change in his opinion of the previous year as to the utility
of one centre of Government, and he recommended a
separate and distinct Government for the Eastern Pro-
vince. The promulgation of Earl Grey's order very
naturally aroused the inhabitants of the Western Metro-
polis against the transfer of their long-enjoyed and dearly
cherished supremacy, and in the early part of 1851 strong

:;: Sir A. Stockenatrom, Messrs. Fairbairn, Reitz, and Brand. Tb.3
two first-named as delegates proceeded to England, but their mission
proved ineffectual.

2H 2

468 Annals of tlte Cape Colony.

remonstrances were transmitted home, deprecating so
extreme a measure ; but at this time the inhabitants of
Albany, not being cognizant of the intention and directions
of the Colonial Minister, appealed to Her Majesty, by
strong representations, either for separate Government or
the removal of the so-called "Central Government" from
its present seat at Cape Town to some more convenient
spot nearer the Border, and this was responded to by Earl
Grey on the 14th June, 1851, in the following terms : —
" I concur with the memorialists as to the expediency of
the latter measure" (the removal), " nor am I surprised
to find that among the inhabitants of the Eastern division
of the Colony there should prevail an almost universal
conviction that their interests cannot safely be left to the
consideration of a Legislature sitting at Cape Town. It
will be easier for the members from the Western portion
of the Colony than for those from the Eastern division to
leave their homes for the purpose of attending a legisla-
tive meeting at a distance." " The depreciation of property
in Cape Town ought not to weigh in this question ;" that
in case of a maritime war " the naval and military pro-
tection need be in no degree impaired by the transfer of
the public establishments to another situation. On the
contrary, in the event of an attack upon the Colony by a
foreign enemy, it would be an advantage that the seat of
Government and the public offices should not be in Cape
Town, &c." "I know not on what grounds the com-
mercial capital of a country ought to be the seat of
Government;" "while the interests of the commercial
capital of a country are never likely to be overlooked,
wherever the Government may be established, such a
capital may often obtain an undue preference, if in addi-
tion to its other means of exercising a predominating in-
fluence, it has also that of being the seat of Government."
On the receipt of this important despatch, the Governor,
then in King William's Town (24th September), directed a
session of the Cape Town Executive Council should be
called to take its several points under consideration, which
was done on the 22nd October following and subsequently.

The Scat of Government. 469

The result of this Conference will be gathered from the
following analysis. The Honourable Mr. Montagu, Colo-
nial Secretary, wrote — " It is expedient that the seat
of Government should be located at or near to the Eastern
Frontier." The Honourable Mr. Rivers, Treasurer-General
— "There is a necessity of providing a resident Government
at some place more central and convenient for the adminis-
tration of the affairs of the Frontier than Cape Town;"
and he wound up his memorandum by the observation,
that " the safety and security of the whole Colony are
paramount objects, and that, as recommended by Sir H.
Pottinger, in case of separation, Cape Town ought to
have its Legislature, &c." The Honourable W. Porter,
Attorney-General, was in favour of dividing the Colony,
"now somewhat overgrown," into two Colonies — Cape Town
the seat of the West, and Graham's Town, " at least for
a time," that of the East. " Should Western representa-
tives resort to Graham's Town at all, it would only be to
obstruct business, clamour for a removal, and obtain
separation." " If in any quarter of the Colony, East or
West, a bad spirit should display itself, I think the Go-
vernment should forthwith quit its usual seat ; and I will
not conceal my opinion that there have within the two
last years been occurrences in Cape Town which might
well have justified the Government in going to Graham's
Town." " Should the now expected Parliament refuse
fair terms of separation, the interposition of the British
Legislature should be sought for, &c." The Hon. W. Field,
Collector of Customs, thought " a separate Government
will become inevitably necessary." The Hon. W. Hope,
Auditor-General — " This Colony cannot be properly go-
verned from Cape Town ; the Eastern Provinces would
rather bear the expenses of a separate Government than
be governed from Cape Town. The only way to govern
the distant provinces is for the Government to be stationed
there." " The Government has been too long in Cape
Town." " Why should the members from the East come
to Cape Town ?" " If it is necessary, in case of an inva-
sion, that the Government should be at Cape Town, then

470 Annals of the Cape Colony.

why do not the Queen and Ministers go to Portsmouth
when England is threatened?" "If the Governor was
resident in Graham's Town there would never be another
Kafir war." " If instant removal of the seat of Govern-
ment does not take place, there must be instant separa-
tion." " If only a separation of the Provinces takes place,
I still think the supreme Government ought to be on the
Frontier, and that a Lieutenant-Governor, with separate
Legislature, is all that could be required in Cape Town."
Such were the solemnly recorded opinions of the members
of the Executive Council, who, notwithstanding thej7 were
all residents of the Cape peninsula, accustomed to all its
ease and luxury, the product of two centuries, and deeply
interested in maintaining the Government intact and in
that locality, unanimously declared that some change was
inevitable ; and out of the five members three sided with
the removalists and two for separation, to which latter
the Governor himself confessed his adhesion in his despatch
of the 7th November, 1851, when transmitting the minute
of Council, saying that " so soon as possible the Eastern
Province should have a separate Government, consisting of
a Lieut. -Governor, Council, and representative Assembly,
acting on the spot." " It is vainly imagined that a repre-
sentative Assembly" — one for the whole Colony — " and
the freedom of the laws it is to enact, will provide a
palladium against all the difficulties which at this moment
assail the Colony. Such illusive ideas must be banished."
At the close of 1851, the Draft Ordinances for constitu-
ting a Cape Parliament were received for final corrrection,
and on the following March passed through the ordeal of
heated discussion in the nominee Legislative Council,
especially upon the questions of qualification and
franchise, the Conservative members of that body dreading
a very low one, as it might " leave the Hottentot com-
munity a prey to political adventurers ;" but at length the
Ordinances were passed in April with all their defects, as
they were considered by the Eastern people — namely, the
low franchise, the inequality in the proportion of members
allotted to the Eastern Province, and the fixation of the

The Constitution Granted. 'ill

Sessions in the Western Metropolis. The immediate
introduction was, however, judiciously postponed by Sir
J. Pakington while hostilities continued, to the infinite
indignation of many of the Westerns, who, somewhat
intemperately designating delay as " unsatisfactory and
disgusting," proposed the dismissal from office of the
Colonial Secretary, Mr. Montagu, as being inimical, while
the East, on the contrary, thought otherwise, and with
their usual consistency, besides thanking the Minister for
his liberality and caution, warned him at the same time
" that no scheme of Government would be satisfactory
without removal or separation."

Among the incidents of improvements of this year may
be mentioned the erection of a lighthouse to the east, but
almost within the waters of Algoa Bay, on the Bird
Islands, so named by the survivors from the celebrated
wreck of the Doddington, East Indiaman, 1755, and of
which memorials in the way of anchors, &c, are still to be
found.*

* See page 158.

SECTION XVII.

1853 — Kafirs anil Hottentots weary of War and dejected — Peace with Kreli —
Sandilli surrenders— The Cathcart-Bowker system established— Amatolas made
a Royal Reserve— Tambookie Territory forfeited— Queen's Town District estab-
lished and peopled on conditions of self-defence, &c. — Governor's Correspondence
— His Policy— Death of Umlangeni, the Prophet — Introduction of European
Settlers recommended and Military organization of Colonists — Cape Constitution
arrives — Its reception West and East — Bain's Pass. 1854 — Namaqualand Copper
Mines mania — Inauguration of first Cape Parliament— Its Session and Acts— Sir
George Cathcart resigns — His glorious Death in the Crimea— Queen's Town's first
muster of Grantees — Rumoured Fingo and Kafir Alliance — Arrival of Governor
Sir George Grey — Orange River Sovereignty abandoned.

1853. — Active hostilities in British Kaffraria were now
succeeded by passive resistance on the part of the enemy,
with some plundering within the borders by starving
banditti. The war was perishing of itself ; the blood of
the troops and Colonists had been poured out like water ;
the country wasted over an extent of 30,000 square miles,
and that for a duration of more than two years. The
Kafirs and Hottentots had consumed or lost all their booty,.
and their horrible saturnalia was followed by pinching
want and hopeless dejection. The former had nothing
left to repay for their miserable onslaught but territory,
and that, for fear of an outcry elsewhere as terrible as the
native war-whoop itself, was tabooed. Notwithstanding
the Imperial Exchequer had been drained so freely, the
full retaliation threatened was foregone, and the righteous
vengeance justly due for cupidinous treachery it was
thought proper and prudent to relinquish. Kreli, the
principal inciter of all the misery, finding his dupes no
longer serviceable, simulated contrition, and peace with
this ingrate, who owed the very existence of himself and
his tribe to British aid in 1828, was proclaimed on the
14th of February, and in the following month — as a token
that he had " accepted" its conditions — he sent in the
munificent acknowledgment of two oxen, worth together

Scmdilli Pardoned— The GatUari System. 473

about £7 10s. The war, it was reported, cost the Home
Government alone nearly two millions.* On the 2nd of
March Sandilli too, the already twice pardoned, who, with
his minor Chiefs, it was supposed had crossed the Kei, came
in, acknowledged he had been subdued, and craved forgive-
ness, when the Eoyal mercy and pardon was extended to
him on the condition that he and his people should never
return to the Amatolas! or their formerly occupied lands,
which were escheated to the Crown ; but they were allowed
to reside as British subjects westward of the Kei Eiver,
but beyond the Amatola. Sandilli was also to deliver up
100 guns besides those stolen by the Kafir Police, become
responsible for the good conduct of the Gaika tribe,
promise true and faithful allegiance, and was informed
that the pardon accorded did not extend beyond British
Kaffraria, and that no Hottentot would be suffered to
reside with the Gaikas without special sanction.

Peace now restored, the Governor inaugurated what is
known as the Cathcart System, a policy the only one likely
to give solidity to any accessions of territory rendered
necessary by native aggression. The following are its pro-
minent features as set forth by that officer : —

First. — The Military occupation and control of British
Kaffraria and its native inhabitants as the principal object;
the retention under the same description of occupancy of
the mountain districts of the Amatolas, the commanding

* The three wars 1835, 1847, 1851, are said to have cost the
Imperial Treasury, the Colony, and the Colonists, a sum no less than
£4,500,000.

f The Amatolas, so frequently referred to, and the possession of
which was so long disputed, is a strong military position ; it contains
ahout 600 square miles, intersected by deep rocky ravines in which
many rivers rise, and is clothed with forests of large trees, with wide
and fertile valleys full of rich pasturage. The mountain range by
which it is bounded on the north, giving its name to the district, has
several lofty peaks, the highest rising to an altitude of 4,000 feet. On
three of its sides it is bounded by British Kaffraria, and beyond the
range, on the north inland, there are high, treeless, grassy plains, but
with very few inhabitants. It is thus almost entirely isolated by
" the open" and covertless, leaving no strong holding ground for the
savages.

474 Annals of the Cape Colony.

key of the whole territory, in order to keep the outside
Kafirs in subjection, and prevent the intrusion therein of
squatters ; this district, comprising about one-fifth of
British Ivaffraria, to be called " The Crown Reserve," but
the colonization of which was to be considered of secondary
importance, although lands might be held there with
certain restrictions.

Second. — But the most important part of the new policy
regarded that portion of the Tambookie territory hitherto
occupied by Mapassa, and forfeited through his complicity
in the late rebellion, and was that which provided for an
inexpensive method of local defence by other inhabitants
themselves, irrespective of Military aid. This system was
suggested to the Governor, as he admitted, by Mr. Thomas
Holden Bowker,* a gentleman already mentioned as one
of the gallant defenders of Whittlesea, and it became the
basis of a defensive system, covering the whole Frontier
line, from the foot of the Stormberg to the sea, with a
select cordon of riflemen, holding their acres on the
condition of mutual protection.

* Mr. Bowker is one of the nine stalwart sons of the late Miles
Bowker, Esq., a Settler of 1820, the Heemraad or Town Councillor
alluded to in these Annals as one of the first immigrants appointed to
the magisterial bench. The family came from Northumberland, of
gentle blood ; the father, Miles, was a scholar and good botanist, and
died in Albany some years ago, above the age of eighty. The " boys''
have maintained the character of the old English border lineage —
brave, tall, strong, why, indomitable hunters and shots, formidable
men in bush fight, to which their hereditary nature and their residence
on the Colonial Frontier has added strength. To Mr. Thomas Holden
Bowker the idea of local defence suggested itself in 1847, who, fearing
the withdrawal of the support of British troops at no distant day,
bethought him of an alternative. In 1850 he brought the subject before
the public in one of the journals ; and in October, 1852, maturing his
plan, laid it before Mr. Owen, commissioner for the settlement of waste
lands, as the ground-work of a self-supporting and self-defending
community. This was recommended to Sir George Cathcart, who at
once adopted it, and so high an opinion he entertained of its efficacy
that he pronounced, " if carried out in full there was no chance of
another Kafir war, and that a great and disastrous war will be impos-
sible." Time has lent its evidence to the belief, for no actual war has
taken place during an interval of sixteen years ; and it is only to be

The Queen's Town District, 475

His Excellency, considering the case of these now
vacated lands, felt "that the only way in which aborigines
who have been expelled can be prevented from returning
was immediately replacing them by other occupants with
sufficient means, and in sufficiently dense allocations to
provide for mutual support," and knowing how dangerous
it would be to leave them denuded of population, at once
decided to grant them on such terms as should, on the
Bowker plan, secure the Border north of the Amatolas
without the aid of troops. The territory in question, called
the Windvogelberg country, being thus peopled, is admir-
ably suited for this purpose ; commanding, by entirely
overhanging on the north, both the Kat and Amatola
ranges of mountains, it renders those dangerous fastnesses
almost impervious, or at least not easily tenable by an
enemy, and the more so now, as they have been partially
opened by good roads. On the subject of these roads the
following was the opinion of that sagacious man, the
Duke of Wellington : — " The operations by the Kafirs are
carried on by the occupation of extensive regions, which
in some places are called ' jungle,' in others bush, but
which in reality are thickset wood. These Kafirs having
established themselves in these fastnesses, with the plunder
on which they exist, the assailants suffer great losses.
Our troops do not, cannot, occupy those fastnesses. Well,
the enemy moves off, and is attacked again ; and the same
operation is renewed time after time. The consequence
of this, to my certain knowledge is, that under the three
last Governors some of these fastnesses have been attacked
no less than three or four times over. There is, however,
a remedy for this state of evil. WThen a fastness is
stormed, it should be totally destroyed after its capture.

regretted that when an opportunity lately offered for applying the
system to the Transkeian Territory it was not taken advantage of.
Mr. Bowker lost all his property in the former Kafir wars, was very
inadequately rewarded for his services, as shown by the report of the
Select Committee of the Cape House of Assembly in 1858, who recom-
mended compensation which has never yet been awarded, and he is
now pining in undeserved penury, compensation to him and the
sufferers by the wars of 1834-'4:6-'51 being cruelly denied.

476 Annals of the Cape Colony.

I have had some experience in this kind of warfare, and I
know the only mode of subduing an enemj'' of this descrip-
tion is by opening roads into his fastnesses for the move-
ment of regular troops with the utmost rapidity. That
course will occasion great labour, the employment of much
time, and great expenditure. I say this measure must be
adopted, cost what time, labour, and expense it may.
That expense will not be one-tenth part of the expense of
one campaign." Where previously only in two places even
a horse could pass, they have been made capable for the
use of trade and for the passage of artillery, thus con-
necting the port of East London, at the mouth of the
Buffalo, through the new district called North Victoria,
with its capital, Queen's Town, the populous division of
Albert, the Orange River, the Free State Republic, and
the territory of the Basutos, just annexed to the British
Empire.

The district, named after its chief town, situated on the
Komani River, exceedingly fertile and well watered, was
parcelled out in free grant to numerous applicants, chiefly
those who had distinguished themselves in the late struggle,
on the tenure of payment of a moderate quitrent, and that
the occupant should, independent of himself, find two other
armed white men, fully equipped with horse, saddle, and
weapons for every three thousand acres — all liable to be
called out by Government whenever their services should be
wanted, and to muster in foil force, properly provided, on
the Sovereign's Birthday, to be inspected by the authorities.
No farm was to exceed 3,000 acres, and such extent only
to be granted where the country could not sustain a large
population ; and on these terms Sir George Cathcart says,
in his despatch announcing the adoption of his judicious
plan, he had applications from all directions, from men
admirably adapted for the purpose.

The measures devised for the future, completed by the
dissolution of that Nidus of dissaffection, the Kat River
Settlement, enabled the Governor, on the 14th April, to
address the Duke of Newcastle, and announce that peace
had been restored to all parts of the South African

Death of Umlangeni. 477

dominions, and that lie was of opinion " that, with due
precaution and sufficient vigilance to combat malignant
enemies, there was no reason why the inhabitants of the
Eastern Districts of the Colony might not prosper and
live in peace with their neighbours ; that the expulsion of
every tribe beyond the Colonial boundary had been accom-
plished, and not one Kafir location remained westward
of the Kieskama and Chumi Eivers ;" and he suggests
sending out some organized corps of Military Colonists to
relieve the troops on the lands from which the Gaikas
have been expelled, including the Amatolas.

To complete the sequence of native affairs, a rapid
glance may be taken of the Governor's communications
homeward. In June he reports the Gaikas under San-
dilli having submissively settled down in their new
locations on the Kei, and that the roads between King
William's Town and Queen's Town are travelled in con-
fidence and security. In August he complains of " the
anomalous state of that insignificant though troublesome
portion of the Colonial possessions, British Kaffraria, for
which exist Letters Patent constituting it a Lieutenant-
Governorship, dated 14th December, 1850, but not hitherto
promulgated, and not in any way connected with the Cape
Colony or annexed to it." In September, he announces
the death of Umlangeni, the prophet, " unwept, unhon-
ourcd," and discarded, and that of the Hottentot rebel
leader Brander, beyond the Bashee, from wounds he had
received ; that within the Amatolas road-making was
progressing favourably, but he was anxious for instructions
whether British Kaffraria was to be retained as a conquered
territory or a Crown possession ; that only two courses
presented themselves — abandonment, or the introduction of
Settlers of European origin. In the same month he calls
the attention of the Minister to the necessity of some
military organization for the Colony, and furnishes state-
ments by which it is made to appear that at that time
there were in the Western Province 13,708, and in the
Eastern Province 7,583, total 21,191, males between the
ages of sixteen and fifty capable of bearing arms. And in

478 Annals of th Cape Colony.

December he again reports, " All is peace and security
and contentment everywhere."

If in the month of September, 1849, " all faces gathered
blackness" by the intimation that in Simon's Bay had
anchored the ship Neptune, with its foul cargo — that deep
was the indignation and loud the curses, so that loyalty
paled and disaffection enjoyed a temporary triumph, how
greatly different the visages and voices, and widely changed
the scene, on the 21st of April of this year, when proudly
entering Table Bay came the good ship Lady Jocelyn,
bearing the infant Constitution —

" The child of love, though born in bitterness ;"

and when on the 2nd May the Government published the
Duke of Newcastle's despatch of the 14th March, trans-
mitting orders of Her Majesty's Council, notifying the
revised and amended Ordinances for constituting a Parlia-
ment for the Colony, which, he justly remarked, " confer
one of the most liberal Constitutions enjoyed by any of the
British possessions;" and still greater the delight to the
Western denizens when it was announced that the removal
of the seat of Legislature was postponed for the present,
and " that the question of separation could only be enter-
tained with advantage at some future time."*

The arrival of " the boon" was not hailed in the East
with the same uproarious joy as by the people of the elder
Province; there, on the contrary, was "a deep feeling of
disappointment and dissatisfaction." Easterns felt at
once, and predicted, they would be placed at the mercy of a
" Cape Town party ;" that the future time for carrying out
separation would never arrive ; that removal would be
protracted to the Greek Kalends ; and that the Constitu-
tion, like Sinbad's " man of the sea," would be extremely
difficult to shake off. A sop was, however, administered
in order to quiet the unpleasant feeling by the intimation
from Sir G. Cathcart that a Lieutenant-Governor would

* In the obituary of 1853 occurs that of Lady Sale, whose captivity
at Cabool and deliverance possesses historical interest. She died at
th j Cape on the Oth July.

The Copper Mines Mania. 479

bo appointed for the Eastern Province, a Eesident Judge,
Solicitor-General, a Registry of Deeds' Office, and a
Surveyor-General's Department.

Among the events of this year must not he forgotten the
completion of that stupendous work, the road through the
Berg River Mountains in the Western District connecting
Cape Town with the interior, via Worcester. This splendid
engineering achievement was carried out by that accom-
plished, self-taught, and successful geologist, Andrew
Geddes Bain, and bears his name — " Bain's Pass." It is
to his skill in similar works the Colony is greatly
indebted, his last being that of the Kat River, now nearly
finished.

1854. — Attention has been almost rivetted for years past
to the progress of Military matters on the Eastern portion
of the Colony. It is now to be directed to the Western Pro-
vince for another subject besides that of the great political
triumph so near at hand in the actual achievement of a
South African Parliament. This was the noticeable fact
of the extraordinary excitement, shared alike by the cal-
culating and less circumspect portions of the community,
caused by the mania of copper mining. Namaqualand, a
large district skirting the Atlantic coast, had been long
known, even in the time of Governor Van der Stell, who
visited the locality in 1685, to be very rich in the ores of
that mineral ; and in October of the present year the
spirit of adventure was called into action by the proprietors
ofisonie Government mineral leases, and who had gained
the concession of certain rights from natives. These
persons set on foot a mining association with 10,000
shares of £20 each. Others followed, so that at one time
there were about thirty companies afloat, with a nominal
capital of £1,393,000. The shares were offered at a low
deposit, and future calls were to be made at distant
periods. Crowds rushed with avidity for this chance of
speedy wealth, no less than £108,526 was paid up, and
every speculator was seized with the " notion" that these
visiting calls would not be made before profits had been
realized. They were mistaken : the calls came, but not

480 Annals of the Cape Colony.

the copper. The country in which the buried treasures
are deposited is a difficult one, sterile, distant from the
metropolis, with a dangerous sea margin, having only two
places of export, Port Nolloth and Hondeldip Bay. There
was abundance of the metal, but the means of transport
were wanting. The roads were execrable, the sea beach far
from the mining centres ; and by the end of the year the
whole scheme collapsed, proving an entire failure to the
shareholders, and involving them in serious losses and
many in entire ruin. Still the mineral treasure is there,
and the enterprise will pay when the appliances at present
in progress are completed.*

But the grand experiment, which was expected to give
everything to everybody, and somewhat more — to close all
old wounds, cure all grievances, stifle all dissatisfaction,
and calm the fears of the inhabitants of the Western Pro-
vince as to the dreaded removal, was at last, after waiting
more than a quarter of a century, approaching consum-
mation. The Engine Constitution had received its last
touch, its machinery its final adjustment, and, as it was
believed, all the polish required for the avoidance of
friction. One of the most important features of the Con-
stitution, however, was the full recognition of a long
confirmed fact— the actual existence of two Provinces,
which both nature and their respective industries had
made separate— the West with its cereals, its wines, and its
minerals ; the East with its pastures and sheep walks ;
the one occupied by a people principally of Dutch descent,
cautiously slow, but sure ; the other becoming day by day
more and more British in character, conspicuous for enter-
prise and bent upon success. To the West the Con-
stitutional Ordinance allotted thirty-two members (eight
for a Legislative Council, twenty-four for the House of
Assembly) ; to the East twenty-nine members (seven for
the Council, twenty-two for the Assembly).

The qualification for the Legislative Council was the
possession of fixed, i.e., immoveable property, of the value

■<■■ Fur the years 1858 to 1807 the average annual yield has beeu
4,00 J tons, value £08,443 per year.

Opening of the First Parliament. 481

unencumbered of £2,000, or property, moveable or immo-
veable, of £4,000, beyond all liabilities. Of the fifteen
members of this Chamber or Upper House, four of the
West and four of the East, elected by the fewest votes,
were to vacate their seats every five years, leaving the
remainder to sit for the full term of ten years, thus
maintaining Parliamentary Government when the Assembly
ceased to exist through the effluxion of time, the period of
its sitting being fixed at five years. The franchise was
to be enjoyed by all persons who occupied any property of
£25 value, or were in receipt of wages and salary, along
with board and lodging, equal to the same sum, wiiich, as
it excluded neither creed nor colour, amounted almost to
universal suffrage. The qualification of members for the
Assembly was fixed at the same low rate, and the Sessions
were to be held in Cape Town, leaving the venue, however,
at the Governor's discretion.* To the members coming
from a distance one shilling per mile for travelling expenses
to be paid, and one pound per diem for fifty days allowed
as subsistence money ; but the average length of Session
for fifteen years has been one hundred and three days.

These arrangements appear to have satisfied the
Western community, although they did not realize the
wishes of the East ; and after the elections had been
completed in each Province, a Parliament was summoned
to meet on the 1st of July, when it was opened in person
by the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Darling, with all the
pomp and circumstance fitted for so grave yet joyous an
event. Its advent is thus referred to by one of the local
journals of the jubilant metropolis, belonging to the party
most strenuous and successful in introducing representative
institutions : — " Our Parliament is now safely seated ; the
gallant ship — our most liberal Constitution — has been
launched, with a noble crewt of picked men on board.

* In one instauce only has this been exercised. In 18G4 the Par-
liament assembled in Graham's Town, " the City of the Settlers," and
the Governor, Sir P. Wodehouse, pronounced the trial " a success."
f The names of the first members will be found in the Appendix.

2 i

482 Annals of the Capo Colony.

The aura papillaris (the breath of popular favour) swells the
sails. She is bound for the land of improvement, a land
containing many provinces. The success of the voyage
will depend a good deal on the manner in which she is
worked. If Justice is at the helm, with the Public Good
for a compass ; if Providence is on the look-out, and if
every man on board does his duty and entertains through
all differences of opinion a generous feeling of good fellow-
ship for those who serve the same master with himself —
the People — then we may boast of having combined as
many elements of success as were ever ensured for any
enterprise of a similar measure." This panegyric of the
Constitution was followed by the same authority by an
extremely patronizing allusion to the members from the
East : — "Let not the Cape Town gentleman presume upon
his advantages, nor the Frontier farmer feel diffidence for
want of external refinement."* A comfortable assurance !
But the fact wras, that both were equally matched in birth,
education, and manners. The history of this first Session,
strange to say, affords but little of interest, but the
inaugural speech of the Lieutenant-Governor held out
something like a bright ray of hope for the Eastern com-
munity. "With the object," said he, "of extending to
the inhabitants the benefits of a more prompt and con-
tinuous administration, both of civil and criminal justice,
Her Majesty approves of two additional Judges and a
Solicitor- General, who, it is proposed, shall habitually
reside at the seat of the Eastern Government ; and it is
n^ped that the advantages of a local Government ma}' be
afforded to its inhabitants as fully as possible without a
legislative separation of the Provinces." The consequence
of the sitting of the Parliament at and under the influence
of Cape Town, anticipated and deprecated by the people
of the East, was now thus early realized. No steps were
taken or recommended by the Legislature, and the sum of
£2,000 placed upon the Estimates for the two Judges was
expunged by Western ascendancy, which was the com-

* Vide Zuid-Afrikaan newspaper.

First Acts of tlie Parliament. 483

nieneeinent of a long struggle between the Provinces for
equal privileges, systematically denied to the Eastern one.
Another promise, equally delusive, was held out of the
appointment of a Lieutenant-Governor, who it was fondly
expected would be armed with ample powers so requisite
upon the Frontier ; but when that officer arrived, it was
found that he possessed nothing but the title and the
pay.

The earliest proceeding of the Parliament was to choose
a Speaker for the House of Assembly, for which a keen
contest took place between Mr. John Fairbairn, the
talented editor of the South African Advertiser newspaper,
and Mr. Christoffel Brand, an Advocate of Dutch extraction
(Colonial born) of great legal ability, which ended in favour
of the last-named gentlemen. The Acts of the new Senate
were but few in number — seven. One was for " freedom
of speech," a security largely in demand ; another the
institution of juries in civil cases when such was desired
by litigants — a privilege which even up to this time has
been sparingly exercised, the public apparently reposing
more confidence in the legal acumen and independence of
the Judges than the unlettered wisdom of the community.
An Act for protecting English works from foreign reprints,
two for monetary purposes for the current year, and one
for the Estimates for the following (1855), conclude the
series of active legislation. But in this last considerable
differences arose between the two Houses, the Legislative
Council contending that, although debarred from passing
a money Bill, it possessed undoubted right to amend one
when brought up before it. Sharp discussions ensued,
neither party was willing to give way, and the Bill as
amended by the Council was literally thrown out, or down
and lost, when the Lieutenant-Governor interposed, and
by withdrawing the contested items from the Bill, it passed
both branches of the Legislature. It must not here be
omitted also to notice that an attempt was made to intro-
duce a r/Mrtsi-Besponsible or Government by Party system,
a motion being made to the effect that the public officers
of Government should be appointed from among the

2 i 2

484 Annals of tlie Cape Colony*

members of both Houses, and continue to hold office as
long as they possessed the confidence of the Legislature ;
but this extreme measure proved abortive.

On the Eastern border the new, or Cathcart, policy
effected a cessation of the usual troubles, and authorized
the Governor's reporting favourably of the results of one
year's experiment and the hopes he cherished of the con-
tinuance of tranquillity. On the 15th April he resigned the
command of the forces into the hands of General Jackson,
and on the 26th May left the Colony for the Crimean war,
where, on the field of Inkerman, he found a soldier's
grave, crowned by victory and wept by a grateful nation.
Rcquicscat in pace.

The new grantees in the Queen's Town District as-
sembled for the first time on Her Majesty's Birthday,
agreeably to the terms of their land tenure, when nearly
500 men met on parade, armed at all points, a muster
thought to be very creditable considering they had so
recently occupied their farms and had not yet been able to
construct shelter for themselves, their families, and stock.
Some uneasiness was, however, felt from time to time by
an attempt of the ever-plotting Kafir Chiefs to disengage
the Fingoes from their loyalty by forming matrimonial
alliances between the two peoples hitherto at such deadly
enmity, and thus consolidate a power for future mischief ;
and these intrigues, carried on with extraordinary secrecy
for several months, now becoming known, fears, shared in
by both the Government and people, were entertained that
the boasted submissiveness and satisfied state of the
natives were illusory, and that an outbreak was again
imminent.

Her Majesty's Commissioner, Sir George Clark, who had
been sent out to repudiate the Orange Eiver Sovereignty,
had, at the request of Sir G. Cathcart, assumed the
functions of government until the arrival of his successor,
Sir George Grey, who on the 5th December landed at the
Cape.

The other incidents of the year may be epitomized as
follows :— The abandonment of that splendid country, the

Formation of the Free Stole. 485

Orange River Sovereignty,* through a gross ignorance and
a disgraceful misstatement of its capabilities, and permit-
ting in its place the formation of the Free State Republic,
one of the most imprudent acts ever committed, involving
the Cape Colony in entanglements, troubles, and cost, the
end and consequence of which cannot be predicted. The
arrival of a new Colonial Secretary, Mr. Rawson, known as
" Prosperity Rawson." Violent gales in Table Bay, causing
the loss of many vessels ; and in August the dreadful wreck
in Algoa Bay of the troop-ship Charlotte, when 62 men,
11 women, 26 children, and some of the crew perished.

* Vide Order, 8th April, 1854.

SECTION XVIII.

1855 — The new Governor, Sir George Grey — Objects of his system — Meets tlie
Kafirs — His Policy — Recommends introduction of 5,000 Enrolled Pensioners —
Avidity of Natives for employment on Public Works — European Medical treat-
ment— Industrial Schools — Kafir Jurisprudence — Its Evils — Alteration proposed
and agreed to by Native Chiefs — The Pensioner Immigrant Plan abandoned —
The Governor recommends South Africa as a favourable field for Immigrants.
1856 — The Governor reports Home prospects of future Peace, but the Kafirs never
completely conquered — Native intrigues resumed — The Lung-sickness — Predictions
of approaching Hostilities — Kreli plotting again — The Prophet Urulakazi appears
— His Vaticinations — Their object — Initiation of the Parliamentary Struggle for
Independent Local Government by the inhabitants of the Eastern Province.

atrmmfetratton of ©oumtor nntr pHgfj (ftomtmgj&foitft

Feom December 5, 1854, to August 15, 18G1.

The excitement referred to in the last Section now partly
subsided, still leaving the impression it was prudent to
maintain such preparations and display of force as would
be sufficient to keep in awe both the races — especially the
Fingoes — with whom the future relations threatened to be
attended with considerable difficult}7. Confidence was not,
however, restored, and the farmers again began to leave
their homesteads, being forewarned that mischief was
abroad ; and the Lieutenant-Governor considered the
emergency so great as to demand reinforcements. Sir
G. Grey, too, characterized the position of the Colony
" to be now what it had been for some time past — simply
an armed truce." He then sketched out his admirable
plan for " gaming influence over all the tribes between
the Colony and Natal, by employing the natives upon
public works tending to open the country, by establishing
institutions for the education of their children and the
relief of their sick, by introducing among them institutions

Sir 0. Grey and the Gaika Chiefs. 487

of a civil character suited to their present condition, and
by these and other like means to attempt gradually to win
them to civilization and Christianity, and thus to change
by degrees our at present unconquered and apparently
irreclaimable foes into friends who may have common
interests with ourselves ;" and in accordance with this
conception, he proposed to the British Government to
sanction an allowance of £40,000 a year from the Imperial
Treasury, which he considered might be reduced after
three years' trial, and that it would, in a financial point
of view, prove " a large saving to Great Britain, compared
with the cost of a single month of war." He added that
it appeared the Kafirs had entered into a confederacy for
mutual aid, that Moshesh, the Basuto, was privy to and
party to the design, and that they would demand the
restitution of the Amatolas, and if refused, resort to
fighting.'

In the month of February, Sir G. Grey met the Gaika
Chiefs in the Amatolas, and very judiciously evaded being-
drawn into any argument, requiring them, if they had
complaints, to have them reduced into writing, for it had
transpired they intended to take advantage of this occasion
to ask for the re-cession of the forfeited territories. On
his return to Cape Town, on the 7th March, he submitted
to the Home Government " a plan for the complete settle-
ment of the Frontier question," as he said "the state of
the country is so critical, its whole future depending upon
the promptitude with which measures are now taken to
avert the evils which threaten it, I earnestly entreat Her
Majesty's Government not to lose a day in carrying out
this j)lan, which is not an expensive one, and has been
tried (in New Zealand) and succeeded."

On the 15th March, at the opening of Parliament,
he explained the motives which actuated his policy,
with the mode of carrying it out. " I propose," said
he, ''that we should dismiss from our minds the
idea of attempting to establish or maintain a system

* Vide Despatch, 22ucl December, 1854.

488 Annals of Hie Cape Colony.

of frontier policy, based upon the idea of retaining a
vacant tract of territory intervening between ourselves
and a barbarous race beyond it, who are to be left in their
existing state without any systematic efforts being made
to reclaim and civilize them ; the necessary results of such
a policy appear to me to be that such a people as the
Kafirs, so abandoned to themselves, will break in upon us
whenever it suits their caprice or convenience, whilst the
vacant territory would afford a convenient place for them
to harbour in until they ascertained upon what point of
our frontier they could most readily and properly direct
their blows, and ultimately an easy and unoccupied line
of escape for them into their own country, with the booty
which they might have secured. I would rather that we
should with full yet humble confidence accept the duties
and responsibilities of our position — that we should admit
that we cannot live in immediate contact with any race or
portion of our fellow men, whether civilized or uncivilized,
neglecting our duties towards them without suffering
those evils which form the fitting punishment of our
neglect and indifference.

" What, therefore, I propose in this respect is, that
availing ourselves of the fertility of British Kaffraria, and
its power of maintaining a dense population, we should
fill it up with a considerable number of Europeans of a
class fitted to increase our strength in that country, and
that at the same time unremitting efforts should be made
to raise the Kafirs in Christianity and civilization by the
establishment amongst them, and beyond our boundary,
of missions connected with industrial schools, by employ-
ing them upon public works, and by other similar means."

He then said he had asked the Home Government for
one thousand enrolled pensioners, to be sent out, with
their families, on the New Zealand regulations, to be
ultimately increased to five thousand, all married men, to
be located in British Kaffraria and the several Military
posts, a " force which will in all probability prevent hostili-
ties breaking out, or crushing them in the bud, and set
the whole Military force free for operating against the

Scheme for the Settlement of British Kaffraria. 489

enemy." He then went into detail regarding the disposal
of these men, who should volunteer for service in South
Africa. " Upon their first arrival they will be located with
their officers in the immediate vicinity of a Military post.
Each man will have an acre of good land, with a cottage
upon it, allotted to him, and these villages will be so
arranged that they will, whenever practicable, form,
together with the Military past, a continuous series of
defences. The condition of their service will be that they
serve for seven years ; that they never go more than five
miles from their village ; that they assemble under arms
for church parade every Sunday ; that they serve twelve
days in every year without pay whenever called upon for
that purpose, and at all other times when called out for a
stipulated rate of pay."

In submitting this scheme to the British Government,
which, he assured it, if adopted together with the measures
of establishing industrial schools and hospitals and
the employment of natives on public works, " he would
promise to hold himself responsible for the future peace
and prosperity of the country, and the rapid and con-
tinuous reduction of the heavy cost which has so long
been entailed upon the British Treasury."

The other topics connected with the maintenance of
the tranquillity of the country recommended to the
notice of the Parliament, were an increase of the Armed
and Mounted Frontier Police, the establishment of a
Burgher Force for the whole Colony, a Fingo Militia,
Missions and Industrial Schools ; besides the entire
separation of British Kaffraria from the Colony, an
increase of the Dutch Reformed clergy, an addition to
the Judicial Bench, immigration, a subsidy to the Orange
River Free State, railroads, and steam communication
with England.

The Parliament responded to some of these matters
by Acts for the increase of import dues, the better
organization of the Frontier Police, encouraging immi-
gration from Europe, better administration of justice, and
for organizing the inhabitants for internal defence of the

490 Annals of the Cape Colony.

respective divisions ; but this last, intended for the protec-
tion of the whole Colony, was so mutilated in passing-
through its stages that it became unavailable.

His Excellency's idea of employing native labour in
British Kaffraria was attended with extraordinary success.
The Kafirs of the most unruly tribes, never before disposed
or accustomed to work, were clamorous for labour even
beyond the means of employment, and the Chiefs evinced
anxiety for aid to construct works for the purpose of
irrigation, and were begging for ploughs. In a report of
the 12th December, it was shown that above 900 natives
had been employed at a cost of £1,889 (at a rate of 6d.
and 9d. per diem with rations) on Government buildings,
watercourses, and roads, equally valuable for times of peace
or war.

Another plan of the Governor's took great hold upon
the Kafir mind, showing the readiness with which they
submitted themselves to European medical treatment in
preference to that of the witch doctor with his diagnostic
system of " smelling out," and pretending to cure disease
by charms. So early as June, a number of the diseased
natives had been successfully treated, and confidence in
the skill of the medical officer (Dr. Fitzgerald) had so
succeeded even among the tribes beyond the Kei, that in
one quarter of the following year no less than 2,278
coloured patients resorted to him for relief, of which
1,579 were Kafirs.*

* A curious letter on the subject of these cures was addressed to Her
Majesty the Queen on the 23rd June, 1850, by a Kafir, in true Kafir
style : —

" I am very thankful to you, dearest Queen Victoria, because you
have sent for me a good doctor, a clever man. I was sixteen years
blind, Mother and Queen, but now I see perfectly. I see everything.
I can see the stars and the moon and the sun. I used to be led before,
but now Mother, O ! Queen, I am able to walk myself. Let God
bless you as long as you live on earth. Let God bless Mother. Thou
must not be tired to bear our infirmities, 0 ! Queen Victoria.

"Mahlati Zikalt.

"Translation. — Lot Hrayi (Kafir), Interpreter to the
Hospital, King William's Town."

Proposed Beform of Kafir Jurisprudence, 491

The evils of the system of Kafir jurisprudence, as

administered by the native Chiefs, now occupied the
attention of Sir George Grey. At the close of the last
war, the Kafirs were informed by Sir G. Cathcart they
would be placed under the government of their own Chiefs,
and under their own laws and usages, which Sir George
said " made the paramount institutions of the country
make provision for legalizing the indulgence of the Chiefs
and the great people in every vice of which the most
depraved nature is capable, and for subjecting a whole
nation to the worst and most degrading tyranny and
oppression on the part of the few, rendering the intro-
duction of Christianity and civilization hopeless." The
fines of their courts of so-called justice, filling the
exchequer of the Chiefs, were generally unjust, always
severe, and were distributed Unfairly. Accusations were
most frequently directed against the richer natives on the
ready charge of witchcraft, the whole tending to train up
a poor and restless race of robbers who, in the vicinage of
a community wealthy in flocks and herds, constantly
plundered them. To remove the mischievous bearing of
this system, the Governor devised a remedy. After
estimating the value of the fines received by the Chiefs
under the existing rule, he offered instead a monthly
allowance to be paid to them and their Councillors at a
stipulated rate as an equivalent, so that all fines and fees
should become part of the Crown revenue, the Chiefs and
Councillors still to sit and determine cases, but to be
assisted by a European Magistrate.

These proposed arrangements were submitted to the
leading Chiefs of the respective seven clans of the cis-Keian
territory, or British Kaffraria, for consideration, and they,
with their Councillors and people, at public meetings,*
agreed to and ratified the conditions, eleven of the heads
of the tribes accepting each a subsidy varying from £75
to £30 according to their relative ranks, amounting
altogether to £580 per annum.

- September 27, and October 9, 10, 18, 24, 25, and 20, 1855.

492 Annals of the Cape Colony.

But Sir George Grey's grand and best conceived project
was for populating the Kaffrarian territory with Pensioners
from England, and for whose reception he had already
begun to form villages, so sanguine was he of its obtaining
favour. This, however, was unhappily doomed to failure,
for on the 12th of August Sir W. Molesworth informed him
that, " although printed copies of the terms had been cir-
culated in every district throughout the United Kingdom,
only 107 candidates had offered themselves, and it was
impossible that that part of his plan could be realized,
persons wishing to leave Great Britain far preferring to
seek their fortunes elsewhere." This unexpected blow was
received by the Governor with deep regret, and in reply
(8th December) he remarked that probably the now
altered state of affairs upon that frontier might modify
objections ; that already he had a thousand applications
for farms ; that immigrants to this border had succeeded
as well, and some better, than those in other parts of the
world ; that he wished to see established a system which
would relieve Great Britain from having to maintain so
large a standing army in the Colony, and felt assured the
diffusion of a true knowledge of its state and prosperity
would have the effect of making it a favourite field of
emigration.

The Governor's opening speech to Parliament had the
effect of raising high hopes in the breasts of the people of
the East, when he told the representatives, " the form of
the Government of the Eastern Districts will be the first
question to occupy your attention." Accordingly they
repeated their demand, which had been refused in former
years, for making Queen's Town (one of the most populous
and important border districts) an electoral division ; but
this was met by a decided negative. They then asked that
the next Session should be held somewhere in the East (a
power to direct which lay with the Governor), but this
also was overruled ; but one of the acts it will be admitted
was favourable, that for a Mounted Police on the Frontier
(a body of 550 men, under Commandant Currie), which has

//■ stlessness of the Kafirs. 403

been of essential service to the whole country on the
Eastern and North-western boundaries, as well as for
Imperial purposes in the Transgariepine regions.

Another point of interest in the Parliamentary proceed-
ings of this year was the effort made to resuscitate under a
more popular form the Courts of Landdrost and Heem-
raaden, which had been abrogated in 1828. Mr. Eietz, a
member of the Legislature, now sought to re-establish
these assemblies by making the members elective, and a
Bill for the purpose was passed, by which the districts
or counties were divided into six wards, each sending
one member to manage local affairs, such as roads
(excepting main), pounds, trespasses, and schools, but
having no judicial powers like the old Boards. One of the
objects in founding or reviving these institutions was said
to be the education of the community for the exercise of
constitutional privileges, to create an interest in public
affairs among a people rather sluggish, and accustom them
to the discussion of matters affecting their peculiar in-
terests ; but as defect clings to the best intended plans of
man, they do not appear to have realized the expectations
of their projector.

1856. — The Governor had reported home that the pros-
pects were favourable for peace ; but there were still,
however, "breakers ahead," although unseen and unheard,
when he penned his despatchesin the past year. Notwith-
standing the apparent calm and the seeming cheerful
acquiescence of the Chiefs to receive European Magistrates,
it was patent to many that the Kafirs had never been
thoroughly conquered. In the three preceding wars,
mercy too early intruded when justice ought to have
repelled her for a time until subjugation was complete,
and the warlike spirit was only latent. In January there
was exhibited such a strong tendency to outbreak, that
the Lieutenant-General on the Frontier urged the neces-
sity of large reinforcements, and this uneasy feeling was
maintained throughout the greater part of the year.
There was sufficient evidence to show that a combination

494 Annals of the Capo Colony.

was forming at the instigation of Kreli, connived at by
Moshesh,* with the British Kaffrarian Chiefs, now sub-
jects, and the 400 rebel Hottentots of 1850, who had
retired beyond the Kei, declaring themselves an indepen-
dent nation, and using their utmost efforts to debauch the
Cape Corps Hottentots and others from their allegiance, in
order to overwhelm the Colony.

The Governor opened the third Session of the Parlia-
ment on the 13th March, when he brought to its know-
ledge the disappointment of his hopes with regard to the
introduction of Military Pensioners ; touched upon the
necessity of meeting the difficulty by enrolling persons
already in the Colony, and his other measures to protect
the inhabitants from Kafir incursions ; again recom-
mended immigration, saying that "with a very large
practical acquaintance with Australia, this country affords
equal advantages to European settlers," &c. ; deplored the
loss sustained by the Colonists by lung-sickness, by which
many thousands of cattle and horses had perished ;t
recommended a Colonial Census being taken ; considered
the state of native relations critical, but still doubted the
alleged native conspiracy ; and congratulated the country
that Colonial exports had increased forty per cent, within
one year.

His Excellency, within a short time after the delivery
of the speech, had reason to distrust his opinion with
regard to the native intrigues and conspiracies, and found
it requisite to send to Mauritius for the service of a
regiment to meet attack. In May the Lieutenant-Genera]

* Moshesh. it appears, had represented to the native Chiefs that the
Berea affair had been a mighty victory, and that the English had been
worsted by the Russians in the Crimea. {Vide Blue Book presented to
Parliament, 21st March, 1857.)

t The lung-sickness in cattle is supposed to have been imported
from Holland, in the introduction of pure stock. It extended to Kafir-
laud, and caused the death of a large quantity there also. The returns
furnished to the Parliament in the }Tear 1855 showed the losses in this
description of stock suffered by the Colonists to have been 92, TO-'} head,
and by a similar complaint recurring almost periodically, of 64,850
horses.

German Settlers for Kaffraria. 495

reiterated his belief of the inclination and determination
of the Kafir race to make common cause against the
Colon}', and asked for at least four battalions of infantry
and a regiment of cavalry ; but the Governor did not think
there was such immediate necessity for this large augmen-
tation of the force, especially as the Home Government
had already solicited his opinion on the possibility of
establishing on the Kafir frontier the men and officers
of the Anglo-German Legion about to be released at the
conclusion of the war in the Crimea. This sort of " God-
send" so soon after the failure of the Pensioner scheme
was at once favourably entertained ; sites which had been
prepared for the Pensioners, the Governor reported would
do as well for the Legion. There was abundance of good
land for their location, and he asked the Parliament, at
the time in session, for supplies, which were cheerfully
granted, accompanied by thanks to Her Majesty's Govern-
ment for its consideration.

Kreli, the restless author of the present agitation, with
surpassing craft and cunning similar to that of the Gaikas
in 1819, anxious to stir up the British Kaffrarian Chiefs
to commit themselves with the Colony and thus provoke
hostilities, employed a powerful agent for his nefarious
scheme. He set up an impostor named Umlakazi, a great
witch doctor, who, by feigning prophetic powers, soon
gained unbounded influence over the superstitious and
easily-deluded people. This man, under tutelage, gave
out he hiid intercourse by visions with the spirits of the
Chiefs who for generations had ruled Kafirland ; that they
were all ready to return and bring with them the Russians,
who were formerly Kafir warriors, killed in the Colonial
wars — for they were not white, as represented, but black
men — and with them would come an improved race of cattle
in countless numbers ; that Lynx, the prophet of 1819,
the late seer Umlangeni, with old Gaika and other Chiefs,
were fighting the English over the water (Crimea) ; that
besides these, others — as Magondo and Gazela — had risen
from the dead, and that the Colonists would receive no
more aid from England. To propitiate their ancestors

490 Annals of the Cape Colony.

and hasten their advent, he enjoined his believers to
abstain from tilling the ground, to part with their personal
ornaments, to destroy their stores of grain and all their
cattle — saving, however, their horses, arms and accoutre-
ments; upon obedience to which, there would be a general
resurrection of their progenitors, when the whites and
unbelievers would be got rid of by supernatural means.

This deep-laid piece of Kafir cunning took effect with
the common people, but the Chiefs had a higher object,
which was, that on the means of subsistence being dissi-
pated, they knew that starving and desperate men would
fiercely rush on and attack the scattered farmers on a
vast and extended frontier, the pillage affording them
ample supplies, while their own cattle being destroyed
they would be relieved from their care, which in former
wars was found to be an embarrassment. The attack, if
thus made upon the Colony, would of course be resented,
and give a specious excuse for the combination to interfere,
and then, if successful, the Chiefs would regain their
ancient independence, the Paramount Kreli his supre-
macy, and the Gaikas their forfeited lands in the Chumie
and Amatolas, lying so convenient for plunder and so
fitted for concealment.

The chronicles of this year's Parliament, although pro-
ductive of numerous Acts, afford but little to record.
Queen's Town, indeed, got electoral privileges, but ungra-
ciously, being tacked on to another division of lesser
importance ; but the Session has at least the celebrity of
being the first when a decided attempt was made by the
Eastern population to procure the much-coveted boon of
local self-government, and a bill was brought into the
House of Assembly for independent management of its
affairs, but met the fate of denial by a large Western
majority. This was the commencement of the struggle
between the Provinces known as " The Territorial Ques-
tion."

The recognition of Natal as a Government independent
of the Cape, to which it had been but loosely attached,
took place in August of this year.

SECTION XIX.

1857. — Head-quarters of the German Legion arrive — Kafirs slaughter their Cattle —
Kreli's attempted Confederacy of Native Chiefs — The Governor watches and
prepares for Hostilities — The Prophet's great failure — Disturbances ensue —
Governor visits Kafirland — His measures— Awful Famine and Destitution of the
•Natives — Terrible decrease of the Kafir Population — Governor opens Cape Par-
liament— Railways proposed — Table Bay Harbour of Refuge — Claims of Algoa
Bay for a similar work — Parliamentary Debates on Separation of the Provinces —
Indian Mutiny — Vadanna attacked — Macomo tried for Murder, and convicted —
Chiefs sent prisoners to Robben Island — Governor Grey's persistent attempts to
populate British Kaffraria — Synod of the English Episcopal Church.

1857. — The head-quarters of the rnuch-desired German
Legion, under the Baron Stutterheim, arrived in the
Colony on the 28th January, a portion of the force
having preceded them, and were already cantoned at East
London. These the Governor had ordered to occupy
certain positions as a precautionary measure in case of
emergency.*

The influence of the prophet rapidly increased, and
the number of his adherents included the greater part
of the people of Kreli and the Gaikas. Slaughtering
cattle, which had begun in the past July, continued to
be carried on in almost every kraal, and there was high
feasting in all Kafirland. Emissaries were dispatched
from Kreli with the behests of the wonderful seer to
Moshesh, to the remote Faku, east of St. John's Eiver, to
the Tambookies, and Her Majesty's sable, but not over loyal,
subjects in British Kaffraria. Faku, however, did not see
the wizard's directions with a friendly aspect ; Moshesh
waited for " something to turn up," the Tambookies were
malingerers, but most of the Kafir lieges trembled and
obeyed.

* In all there arrived about 3,000, but most injudiciously without a
fair proportion of women and children, which much impeded the settle-
ments. The numbers were — men, including officers, 2,351 ; women,
373 ; children, 178.

E

498 Annals of the Cape Colony.

The Governor, watching the progress of this extra-
ordinary delusion, continued to prepare all the munitions
necessary in the event of war, but calmly, imperceptibly,
and without any outward show to alarm the Kafirs and
precipitate hostilities. With the prescience belonging
to his character he foresaw that the wild sacrifices
making by the natives would soon render them more
and more unfit to cope with the Colony, even under
the pressure of that hunger, the desperate nature of
which the Chiefs had reckoned upon to impel the in-
road ; and he was made acquainted with the fact that
already a schism had arisen among the people, who
had ranged themselves into two parties, the believers and
unbelievers.

Pressed by the importunities of the people, after some
hesitation, Umlakazi fixed upon the 18th of February for
the realization of his vaticinations. On that morning, he
gave out, the sun on rising would wander for a time about
the heavens, and then, contrary to custom, set in the east
amid dread darkness. His believers were commanded to
attire themselves, for the sake of contra-distinction, in
white blankets and be ornamented with new brass wire
rings ; then a hurricane would ensue and destroy all the
unbelievers. Their ancestors would then come forth,
bringing with them incredible wealth to be shared by the
faithful, who, restored to youth and beauty, would revel in
a Kaffrarian paradise, finding their gardens (left unculti-
vated by his directions) stocked with corn to satiety. To
give eclat to the distribution of the riches brought by
their illustrious forefathers, two suns would appear on the
Tabindoda Mountain, when the white men would walk
into the sea, which would open a road for them until they
came to " Illongo," where his Satanic Majesty would
(politely ?) receive them. A few days previous to that
appointed for the wonders, the followers of the prophet
had devoured the remainder of their cattle and destroyed
all the subsistence left, and on the evening of the 17th
they shut themselves up with confidence in their huts, in
tremulous expectancy.

{Sufferings of the Kafirs. 499

The morrow arrived, one of heavy mist, quite assuring.
The day, however, wore on, but the ancestors did not
" put in an appearance ;" the people listened, from " early
morn to dewy eve," but not a hoof was heard, or even a
faint bellow. The predicted darkness sent the fog only as
its representative ; the hurricane was lazy ; the two solar
luminaries for the Tabindoda forgot the appointment, or
mistook the place of rendezvous or the hour. Old Sol
laboured through his accustomed course without the least
staggering, and set due west very soberly at the regular
time ; the gardens remained bare, barren wildernesses.
Night fell in quiet, and on the following dawn the poor
deluded wretches emerged from their dwellings downcast,
destitute, desperate, and demoniacal. Still credulity held
its sway, " faith abounded ;" the prophet attributed failure
to some neglect of his injunctions, postponed the resurrec-
tion day for a month, promising a solar eclipse " in
addition to the other attractions."

The Governor arrived at King William's Town on the
22nd, four clays after the disappointment, when a state
of violent tumult had already commenced ; the believers,
some two-thirds of the population, were preparing to pill-
age their incredulous countrymen and the Europeans ;
collisions had taken place, robberies were frequent on the
high roads, and a captain of the German Militia and a
private of the 98th Eegiment were barbarously murdered,
while the unbelievers who had cultivated their gardens and
preserved their cattle were in the greatest consternation.
To meet this contingency measures were at once taken to
provide employment on public works for the destitute,
arrangements made to secure the principal highways and
to enable the unbelievers to resist and put down the
famishing marauders.

The bubble burst, the crisis passed, the tribes broke up,
the foodless abandoning their chiefs and scattering them-
selves to obtain support. In Kafirland the destitution was so
complete that one of the greatest Chiefs, who had formerly
owned an immense herd of cattle, had not a single head

2 k 2

500 Annals of the Cape Colony.

left.* None of the others had more than three or four ; a
leading Chief had to descend to common labour on the
roads for subsistence ; the country was covered throughout
the day by crowds of women and children digging for wild
roots to stave off starvation ; a few of the men resorted
to suicide to escape the agony of hunger and the scenes
of distress ; large numbers were wisely allowed to enter
the Colony, where they were dispersed and indentured for
three years to the farmers and others, by whom they
were hospitably received ; thousands perished in British
Kaffraria and Kreli's territory, and those who came out
were in a piteously attenuated state of want, hundreds
dying on the roads of the Colony from exhaustion,
especially children. Mr. Holden, in his Past and Future
of the Kafir Races, states the population of British Kaf-
fraria alone, on the 1st January, 1857, at 104,721 — on the
31st December, same year, as 37,697, showing a decrease
of 67,024 ; and it is said that Kreli's tribes must have
lost about the same. Of the survivors the Colony absorbed
some 30,000. Some are said to have joined Moshesh,
leaving, however, a frightful number who must have met
death in one of its most appalling aspects. This diminu-
tion, be it noted, was effected by their own acts, and not,
as such depopulations are usually put down by certain
writers, to the cruelty of European intruders.

A Mr. A. Kennedy, an ej^e-witness of the events referred
to, gives the following graphic statement : —

" Whether the Chiefs had communicated the secret of the intended
war to their subjects I am unable to say, but their demeanour at this
time evidently showed that they were acquainted with it. Always
proud and haughty in their bearing towards the white man, their pride
and hauteur were now much increased. "With their karosses folded round
them, they stalked majestically along, scowling at you, if you happened
to meet them, with malignant hatred in their eyes. Fat and saucy
from his unusual feasting, in a high state of excitement with the
thought of the impending struggle, and of the fine fat herds of cattle

* A statement was made at the time that, taking the number of
hides sold to traders, no less than 130,300 cattle had perished, the
greater portion haying been killed by orders of the impostor.

Particular* of "the Cattle Slaughtering" 501

which he believed were soon to gladden his longing gaze, it was at this
time you might see the Kafir in his glory.

'• The cottage in which I was then residing was only a stone's-throw
from the ' winkel' to which the Gaikas mostly brought their cattle for
sale, and I had, therefore, an excellent opportunity of witnessing their
proceedings. The place at this time was like a fair. Kafirs, cattle,
and goats were in crowds. The cattle were sold for about 5s. each, but
the trader there obtained by barter one hundred head for Is. a piece.
He gave 6d. for hides, of which he used to send off several wagon-loads
daily, and I heard that he cleared .£40,000 by this business. Goats
were sold from 9d. to Is. (id. at first, but at last became unsaleable, and
the place was literally overrun with them. Most of the Kafirs bought
new blankets with the produce of the sale of their cattle, and it was an
amusing sight to natch these fine fellows trying on their purchases.
Models for a statuary, with muscles fully developed, such as would
excite the admiration of the anatomist, they threw themselves uncon-
sciously into the most graceful attitudes ; holding the blanket in their
hands by two coiners, and throwing back [their extended arms, they
stood for a moment like bronze statues, displaying their powerful and
athletic frames to the greatest advantage ; then folded it tightly round
them, repeating this operation several times, until apparently satisfied
with the fit. After all this excitement came the reaction. A Kafir's
food consists of mealies, i.e., Kafir corn, pumpkin, and sour milk, with an
occasional feast of beef or goat's meat on special occasions, such as a
sacrifice or a wedding, &c. The Kafirs had not only destroyed their
cows, which supplied them with one of their principal articles of food,
their oxen and goats, but also, in accordance with Umlakazi's com-
mand, they had not cultivated the ground, and starvation now stared
them in the face. I shudder still when I call to mind the dreadful
scenes of misery I witnessed during this sad time. Such edible roots
and bulbs as they could find in the ' veld' served them for food for a
time. The favourite of these was the tap root of very young mimosa
trees, such as were from one to two feet high. The veld in many parts
where the mimosa flourished became so full of holes, where these had
been dug up, that it was quite dangerous to ride over it. A tuber,
belonging, I believe, to the convolvulus tribe, about as large as a small
potato, and not unpalatable, was also eaten by them. It is known to
them by the name of ' Tgoutsi.' This kind of food, however, rather
hastened their fate, for it brought on dysentery, and they became living-
skeletons ; numbers of them died, and Kafir skulls and bones were
strewn over the fields. They would doubtless nearly all have perished
thus miserably had not the Government interfered and saved a great
many of them. They were told to come to the commissioners and they
would be fed. and when strong enough to travel, be sent into the colony
to work. The Gaikas came to Brownlee in great numbers ; many,
however, perished by the way, too weak to proceed further. Some I

502 Annals of the Cape Colon)/.

have seen drop down dead before my door, when almost at their
journey's end. Many died after they arrived, too far gone for the
nourishment then given to be of any service ; but the greater number
recovered, and were dispatched in parties into the colony. A Kafir is
naturally generous ; give one a piece of bread or tobacco, he divides it
with his companion ; but hunger makes him selfish. I have seen
mothers snatch bread out of their starving children's mouths, and it
has been said, but I cannot vouch for the truth of this, that one or two
instances occurred of mothers devouring their infant children. This is
too horrible to dwell upon."

All fear of war being thus removed by the suicidal acts
of a brave but misguided people, whose Chiefs, chafing
under restraints put upon their -licentious habits, wonted
tyranny, and lost independence, had failed to drive their
minions into war, the Governor was released from his
duties on the Frontier, and opened the annual Session of
Parliament at Cape Town ; the principal topics of his
speech being the state of the Border and its neighbour-
hood, and the policy he had initiated. He also directed
the attention of the representatives to the subject of rail-
ways for both Provinces, surveys having been made, with
estimated costs for the Western Province £'633,750, East
£604,303. With the hope of inducing the House of
Assembly to take effectual measures for filling up the
continually assailed Frontier with men fitted to defend it,
and with it the whole Colony, he asked for a grant of
£100,000 to introduce immigrants ; but with a prudence
bordering on parsimony only a moiety was accorded.
With great liberality, however, they gave him nearly
£40,000 to build new and repair and enlarge old prisons.
£500,000 was voted for a Western railway from Cape
Town to Wellington, about fifty-eight miles, but under a
very objectionable mode, subjecting the landed proprietors
through which the rail should pass to a sub-guarantee of
three per cent, upon their properties, the general revenue
bearing the remaining three per cent.

Another great work, contemplated even as long before
as 1819, was at length practically entered upon by the
passing of an Act by Parliament to authorize raising
money for the construction of a harbour of refuge in Table

The Separation Movement. 508

Bay. This undertaking, which ought to have been an
Imperial and not a purely Colonial one, of course found
especial favour with the inhabitants of the Metropolis,
whose commerce was now being outrivalled by the Eastern
Province, as the Easterns considered it a sacrifice of the
interests of the Colony at large, for they argued — not
without reason — that, as the great majority of disabled
ships did not come down the Atlantic to the Cape, but
from the East by the Southern Ocean, the true position
for a refuge harbour was Algoa Bay, or some other port to
the eastward of Cape Agulhas. The influence of a Cape
Town Parliament, however, turned the scale in favour of
the city, as all measures of the kind will do where con-
flicting interests exist between the Provinces.

The great question agitating the people of the East
for so many years, so strongly urged by them upon the
home authorities, as has been recorded in preceding
pages, was, on the 8th of May, in this the fourth Session,
again introduced into the Legislature. The Hon. Mr.
Godlonton, in the Council Chamber, moved for the
adoption of the following propositions in favour of
separation : — It is highly conducive to the general
interest the Colony should be divided ; the rapidly
growing increase of the Eastern Province claims for
it its own administration of local affairs ; a federative
union of the two Provinces should take place ; the time
had arrived for Parliament to take it under consideration,
and he defined the subjects which should be set apart
for a central authority. The fate of this fresh attempt
to procure a measure of justice so persistently demanded,
so urgently pressed, and so long delayed, was easily to
be foreseen. All the Western members voted against,
while all the Easterns voted for its adoption.

The most important consequence of this debate was the
resignation of four of the Frontier members of Council —
Messrs. Godlonton, Cock, Wood, and Fleming — who con-
sidered such a step the best adapted to bring to issue, one
way or the other, the all-absorbing question. The recorded
reasons of these gentlemen for secession were, " That the

504 Annals of the Capo Colony.

Parliament, as already constituted, has failed to realize
the just and reasonable expectations of the people, and
that measures of the most vital moment to the safety,
progress, and good government of the Colony, and espe-
cially to the Eastern Province, have been either vexatiously
obstructed or entirely rejected by it."

The advantage of maintaining the Cape Colony as a
Military outstation by the Imperial Government was
never more forcibly proved than in this year, as on the
arrival of the almost paralyzing intelligence of the Indian
Kevolt, the Governor was able at once to dispatch a con-
siderable force to assist in quelling the rebellion, and to
send two thousand horses for the service. The Volunteers
of the Cape metropolis* most loyally and meritoriously
undertook the performance of garrison duty during the
absence of the troops, and there is no doubt that the
assistance thus given to the Indian Government so readily,
and from a distance so comparatively short, was of very
great value.

With the exception of raiding on the part of two free-
booting Chiefs, named Vadanna and Quesha, with 900
fighting men, who infested the upper parts of White Kei
territory, quiet was again restored to the Border after the
subsidence of the Prophet mania ; but these troublesome
robbers were attacked by a force of the Frontier Mounted
Police and a body of Burghers, in August, under Com-
mandant dime, driven over the Indwe, and the fugitives
sought and received shelter in the country of Kreli.

A terrible Nemesis now began to overtake the Kafir
Chiefs ; Macomo, the active agent in all the Border disturb-
ances since the year 1827 among the Gaika clans, committed
a deliberate murder upon one of the natives, for which
offence he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death ;
but the extreme penalty was commuted for imprisonment
for twenty years, and he was sent to Eobben Island, where
soon were also imprisoned with him Umhala, Pato,
Vadanna, Quesha, Xiampi, while Tola was afterwards
shot in a foray.

* The Cape Royal Rifles.

Arrival of fin-man Immigrants. 505

To fill up the territory in front, the Government having
abandoned the idea of sending out more immigrants, His
Excellency, in order to remedy the evils already mentioned
of the small number of females attached to the Legion, and
the want of an effective population, determined to intro-
duce into each of the Military villages a number of German
cultivators of the soil, with their families ; arrangements
were therefore immediately entered into for this necessary
purpose, and in June in the following year the first
batch, in number 380, arrived, and were soon followed by
others.

In the month of February the Bishop of Cape Town,
who had now been a resident in the metropolis for nine
years, summoned a Synod, lay and clerical, which was
opened with all the solemnities befitting so grave an
occasion. His Lordship's (the title being acquiesced in
out of courtesy) charge was lengthy and of great interest,
comprising the various subjects connected with the in-
auguration of English episcopacy in South Africa. The
conclave lasted about a fortnight, but three clergymen
having disputed the right as well as the expediency of con-
vening such a court, absented themselves, a circumstance
which led to legal proceedings within the Colony and
before the Privy Council, which has had the effect of
loosening the tie between the Establishment in the Mother
Country and that of South Africa.

SECTION XX.

1858 — Kreli expelled over the Bashee for ever — His Country proposed to be occupied
by Kafirs, Fingoes, and Europeans — Governor's Prorogation Speech — Acts of Par-
liament— Orange Free State suggests Federation — Small Pox and its Ravages —
Dinner to Dr. Livingstone— Library, Museum, and Statue to Governor Grey —
Codification of Colonial Law. 1S59 — Governor recommends Parliament to con-
sider subject of Federation — Eeport Select Committee on Frontier Government. —
Nature of Evidence collected, but Committee omit the matter of Federation —
Increase of Commerce and Wealth — Immigration Vote — Cape and Wellington
Railway commenced — Sir G. Grey recalled — Disease in Vines. 1860 — Usury Laws
declared of no effect — Parliament — Responsible Government — Separation League
— Governor Grey reinstated — His return — Knighthood bestowed on Colonists —
Arrival of Prince Alfred — His reception and progresses — British Kaffraria erected
into a Colony. 1S61— Parliamentary Session — State of Finances — Petitions for
Separation, iSrc. — Sir G. Grey on impossibility of confining the limits of British
Possessions — He leaves the Colony for New Zealand.

1858. — The Chief Kreli, instigator of the late terrible
catastrophe, unsubdued by misfortune, still cherished the
same dangerous disposition. Notwithstanding the depopu-
lation of his own and the Gaika territory, and the loss of
his wealth in cattle, this irreclaimable barbarian was
discovered to be keeping up his intrigues and circulating
among his people news that every one of the British
troops had been called out of England to India, and had
there been beaten ; that the soldiers had been withdrawn
from the Colony to the same place, horses and all. It was
therefore, he urged, a pity, while a race similar to their
own were overpowering the English, they themselves were
just now unable to follow up their advantages ; but he
was preparing the means and watching an opportunity for
bringing on a war. To chastise this insidious Chief,
undeceive his retainers, and prove to both the Colony
was strong enough to punish and break up the mischievous
gang collecting around him, His Excellency dispatched
an expedition under Major Gawler and Commandant

Kreli driven beyond the Bashee. 507

dime, who on the 25th February, after some considerable
resistance, drove them, along with Kreli, across the
Bashee River ; and to prevent their return, the Governor
designed the plan of filling up the right bank of that
stream with some 5,000 or 6,000 friendly Kafirs and
Fingoes, mixed with Europeans also, under a British
Magistrate, for whom there was ample verge in a very
valuable tract of country, salubrious and possessing mag-
nificent pastures, well watered and fertile. This scheme
unfortunately, through want of sympathy and knowledge
on the part of the home authorities, failed ; Kreli, who
was to be driven out "for ever" (a term in South African
diplomacy interpreted much in the same sense, right or
wrong, as in polemics, as "for a period," "an age," and
not perpetual), was within a few years after permitted to
return, thus giving him and his people a high opinion of
the white man's consistency and the value of his threats.

The Parliamentary business of the Session of this year
affords but few items of interest ; the Governor in his
parting speech eulogized it for its zeal, freedom from party
spirit, wisdom, and moderation, and expressed his belief
that the Cape Colonists were fitted to use, and wisely,
their liberal Constitution. The Acts, although numerous,
were of no especial import, with the exception of the
establishment of some Periodical Courts of Magistracy,
thus bringing justice to the doors of the inhabitants, the
dissolution of the old Ptoad Board (whose obligations,
amounting to £21,250, were taken over, and thus com-
menced the Colonial Debt, now above a million), and the
regulation of weights and measures by introducing the
Imperial system. An Act was also passed for creating
Education Boards in field-cornetcies, towns, and villages,
for which fit machinery has not generally been found, and
a Board of Public Examiners in Literature and Science,
of the practical benefit of which grave doubts have been
entertained.

A movement of the utmost importance was made about
the middle of the current year by the Yolksraad or Council
of the Orange Free State : no less than the expression of

508 Annals of the Cape Colony.

its opinion that a federative alliance with the Colony
would he advantageous to hoth, and which so gratified the
Colonists of the seaport in Algoa Bay that they addressed
the Governor on the possibility of re-annexing that State
on the federative principle. Governor Grey was favour-
able to the scheme, and, in a reply to a private despatch
of the preceding 6th September, from England, calling
upon him for an expression of his views upon the policy of
incorporating British Kaffraria with the " Cape Colony,
and, if possible, of uniting all Her Majesty's dominions in
South Africa under some common and, of course, free
Government," propounded a plan of federal union. This
state paper is remarkable for the clear views and
sagacious system he offered in detail. In the first place
the Governor tried to disabuse the popular English mind
that " the expenditure of British money during wars made
the fortunes of the inhabitants, and that they therefore
encouraged such wars often in the most profligate and
unscrupulous manner." He denied that "the occupation
by Great Britain of the country beyond the Orange Biver
had been a bubble and a farce— that the country was a
desert — that it never would produce wool," and showed
the dismemberment carried out against the wishes of the
Transgariep white population was a " mistaken" policy ;
that Her Majesty's possessions here, Natal, British
Kaffraria, and the Cape Colony, still left to her " are of
great and yearly increasing value, and may be made
valuable to an almost indefinite extent, and that the
people do not desire Kafir wars ;" he said he thought
" that probably the present Cape Colony could be broken
into two or three States, and that representatives sent
from the respective Legislatures would, conjointly with the
Governor, settle all matters of detail without trouble to
the Home Government in relation to them."

The Cape Colony, possessing the most- salubrious
climate in the world, was now visited, after an immunity
of eighteen years, by that terrible scourge, the small-pox,
supposed to have been introduced at Table Bay by an
emigrant vessel in the month of July. In Cape Town

The Small-pox in Gcvpe Town. 509

it found the streets, alleys, and small tenements ill-drained
and devoid of sufficient ventilation, and it laid hold of the
labouring population, and especially the Malays, with
fearful rapidity. By September, the epidemic became so
virulent and fatal, sparing no class, colour, or community,
that it was found necessary to parcel out the twelve
municipal wards among as many medical gentlemen, and
by whom vaccination was generously and gratuitously
practised, which had some effect, although it carried off
in the metropolis and its environs full 2,000 patients
between July and December. One thing must be added
to the credit of the citizens, that they furnished numerous
instances of rare devotion and benevolence, risking their
own lives, and in some cases not escaping the penalty, by
attending the poor and sick with no reward beyond that
of an approving conscience. From the Cape, the pesti-
lence spread into almost all the country districts, but
without that violence with which it was attended in the
metropolis.

In the early part of this year the celebrated traveller,
Dr. Livingstone, who had crossed the African continent
from St. Paul de Loando to the mouths of the Zambezi,
and discovered its magnificent falls (named by him, after
the Sovereign, " The Victoria") was entertained at a great
public banquet in the Exchange of the metropolis, where
was gathered all the elite of the community, including the
Governor, who paid especial honour to the enterprising
guest, who besides other marks of approbation received
the more substantial reward of 800 sovereigns, presented
in a silver casket. Another event of considerable interest
to the scientific and literary members of the community
took place at the close of the year, and that was the
removal of the Library and Museum into a beautiful
structure in the Government Gardens of Cape Town.
But it is a matter of regret that the site chosen, although
adapted to the quiet-loving student, is one by which its
beauties are concealed, being buried in a thick cluster
of foliage and masked by the English Episcopal Church.
It is said to contain -10,000 volumes, besides the valuable

510 Annals of the Ca/pe Colony.

collection presented by the Governor of most rare manu-
scripts, scarce editions, and works chiefly in dead lan-
guages, unfortunately not likely worthily to be appreciated
by a population whose principal pursuits are almost
strictly mercantile. A statue was erected to the generous
Governor, but with questionable taste was elevated with
its back to the institution he had done so much to foster.

In the preceding year a Commission had been appointed
to collect all the stray and loose Laws and Ordinances in
force within the Colony, and a Report was now made in
November, under the hands of the Judges, the Colonial
Secretary, and Attorney-General, and thus the mass of
former legislation became codified into a work of great
value to the profession and the public.

1859. — The Governor opened the first Session of the
Second Parliament on the 16th March, and having in-
formed the representatives he had, as already stated,
received a message from the Free State Government to
ascertain if the Colony was disposed to promote a federal
union, and an inquiry whether they would appoint a Com-
mission to meet its deputation to agree upon preliminary
terms, said the present Session would afford a convenient
opportunity for considering the whole question of the
possibility of uniting the several portions of South Africa
under some common Government, adding, " You would, in
my belief, confer a lasting benefit upon Great Britain, and
upon the inhabitants of the Colony, if you could succeed
in devising a form of federative union under which the
several Provinces composing it should have full and free
scope of action left to them through their own local
Governments and Legislatures. It would train a number
of the inhabitants to take general views upon the highest
subjects relating to the general welfare. No wars could
be entered upon but with the consent of the General
Government. Under such a system additional security
would be obtained throughout all South Africa for life and
property, the greatest confidence would be reposed in the
decisions of the Courts of Justice constituted by the General
Government, an additional stimulus and encouragement

Proposed Federation "/South African States. 511

given to talent, increased facilities given to trade and
commerce ; prosperity and contentment would also follow
from a fair proportional application of the general
revenue;" and then he goes on to depict the costs of " a
South Africa broken up in various European and Native
States, some without revenue, involved in intestine and
foreign disputes, drifting into an uncertain and gloomy
future," and he asked the Cape representatives to decide
upon this question, and especially British Kaffraria, how
it is to be incorporated so as to secure its own interests
and those of the Colony.

Innumerable petitions from the East at once covered the
tables of both Houses, in favour of federative separation.
Mr. Clough moved in the House of Assembly (21st April)
" for an efficient Government resident upon the immediate
frontier," and Mr. Harries, the principal " champion of
separation," surrendered his former advocacy of entire
disunion, in hopes that this new policy might bring about
equal advantages to the Eastern Province ; but the
opponents, it was said, fearing peril to the ascendancy of
the metropolis, and that great organic change might
ensue, contrived to get the whole matter referred to a
" Select Committee on British Kaffraria and Frontier
Government," whose Report, dated the 8th June, demurred
to the annexation of British Kaffraria, and ignored the
subject of Federation, by merely publishing the evidence
and withholding any opinion on that matter. A careful
perusal of the evidence given before the Committee is
instructive, giving, as it does, the views of Sir William
Hodges (the Chief Justice) and the Hon. Mr. Porter, Mr.
Solomon, Mr. Harries, and others, on the form a Federa-
tive Government ought to assume. The evidence goes to
prove the general opinion that the mismanagement b}^ the
distant Cape Town Government of the native tribes was
one of the chief causes of the cry for removal or separa-
tion, and one of the principal reasons of the exodus of
more than 0,000 Dutch Boers from the Colony in 1837 —
that the present system of government could not last —
that a Cape Town Parliament cannot fail to dissatisfy the

512 Annals of the Cape Colony.

Eastern population — that it invariably takes the "lion's
share" — that the Colony ought to be divided — that there
was a growing disposition on the part of the Westerns to
grant separation, by which the West would be the gainers
— that the Crown lands in the Eastern Province belong
to that Province — and that Parliament cannot be
ambulatory.

Among other topics of the opening speech, His Excel-
lency called the attention of both Houses to the unexampled
increase in its commerce,* private wealth, and public
revenue, and delivered a sharp and well-directed rebuke to
the maligners of the Colonists, showing by the state of
prosperity " how groundless was the supposition that the
prosperity of this Colony depends upon war and the
expenditure from the Military chest, and that the inhabit-
ants should desire for the sake of a large Military
expenditure to see their country again involved in all the
evils and horrors of hostilities, at the risk of witnessing the
permanent improvements now taking place through every
part of its whole extent checked and deferred for years."

Some excitement among the border natives having taken
place, the Governor suggested the propriety of providing
some special fund, about =£100,000, for the purpose of
bringing into the Eastern Province a sufficient number of
Europeans, in order somewhat to equalize the proportion
between the white and coloured population, and prevent
the constant recurrence of alarms ; but the Assembly
did not approve the measure farther than by the usual
vote of £50,000, and so this salutary project was
defeated.

The Session of Parliament closed on the 8th July, when
the Governor congratulated the Houses upon the unusual
degree of tranquillity prevailing throughout the whole of
the Frontier ; and thus far the augury for the Colony was
one of the most promising on record.

'-:= Imports and exports, Western Province, 1856 J>1,315,788

Do. do. Eastern do. do 1,513,230

Do. do. Western Province, 1858 2,155,872

Do. do. Eastern do. do 2,191,234

Recall of Sir George Grey. 513

Previous to the dismissal of the representatives, a fete
of no ordinary interest took place at Cape Town, where,
on the 31st March, the Governor turned the first sod of
the first South African Railway, to connect the metropolis
with that beautiful valley, celebrated for its orange groves,
Wagonmakers Valley, henceforward called Wellington, a
line to open up a large extent of productive country.

With all these glowing prospects so full of promise, the
Colonists were astounded to find, in the month of August,
their active Governor suddenly recalled, who after a five
years' administration had redeemed the Colony from its
chaotic state, and substituted the blessings of peace for
the horrors of war. Various causes were assigned for this
ungracious step, but the one put forth was that in pursuit
of his great scheme of combining the South African States
into one compact by federative union, he was likely to
involve the Parent Country in onerous liabilities, and in
pursuit of his wise, comprehensive, and statesmanlike
views he had "repudiated the authority of the Home
Government in matters of general policy, which could
never be tolerated." No sooner had the news transpired
than addresses of condolence flowed in upon him from
all quarters, followed by petitions subscribed by thousands,
complaining of the measure, and craving his reinstate-
ment, which were transmitted to England by the same
vessel conveying him from the shore of Table Bay, on
the 21st of August. How successful they were will be seen
in a very brief period.

Misfortunes always travel in company. Almost imme-
diately after the Colony had been deprived of its Governor,
the great staple of the West was assailed by a disease in its
vines, known as Oidium Tuckeri. This destructive blight
inflicted ruinous losses upon the wine farmers, already
deeply depressed by an injurious tariff, which they were
in no way equal to bear.

1860. — The first incident for this year's chronicle is that
of a decision of the Supreme Court in March, astounding
to the elder Colonists, regarding the rate of legal interest.
By the existing custom it was generally believed that no

2 l

514 Annals of the Gape Colony.

more than six per cent, per annum could be taken, and
the Cape capitalist of character exacted no more. The
subject was now, however, brought before the Bench, and
the judgment given was that there was no prescribed rate.
A large class of the inhabitants attribute much of the evil
since suffered to the license thus given to free trade in
money. They had not studied political economy.

The Parliamentary Session was opened by the
Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant-General R. H. Wynyard,
in April. His address was cautionary as regarded native
affairs, recommending constant vigilance, as the Kafirs had
recovered from their late suicidal policy, and stating that
Kreli was aiming at the recovery of his territory, and that
the reductions in the Military force, and orders received to
disband the German Military Settlers, caused him uneasi-
ness. The subjects brought before the representatives were
many and varied, and among them was an attempt to in-
troduce Eesponsible Government, towards which there was
a strong leaning in the metropolis ; but on this occasion
it was rejected by the Assembly. An ineffectual motion
was again made by the Eastern members for a separation
of the Provinces, and the discomfiture was the more
aggravated by the Colonial Secretary gravely proposing
an export duty upon wool of a penny in the pound, which
was equivalent to taxing the Eastern Province about seven
times more than the West. Upon this the Easterns at
once took fire, meetings were held throughout the Frontier,
a Separation League formed, and in the following year a
conference of delegates was held at Somerset East to
concert a plan for local government.

To the inexpressible delight of the Colonists, rumours
now reached the Cape that Sir G. Grey had been rein-
stated, having triumphantly refuted the charges against
him. Gn the 4th July His Excellency returned amid the
acclamations of the people, and to add eclat to the event
it was announced that a Prince of the Blood, Alfred
(the now Duke of Edinburgh), would soon honour the
Colony by his presence as the guest of the Governor.
To increase the gratification, it was also made known

Prince Alfred's Visit to the Colony. 515

that Her Majesty the Queen had been pleased to confer
the honour of Knighthood upon three of the Colonists —
Mr. Maclear, the Astronomer Royal, Mr. Walter Currie,
Commandant of the Frontier Police, and Mr. C. J. Brand,
the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

The Parliament having passed a large number of Acts,
the most valuable being one for preventing the introduction
of convicted felons, for selling Crown lands under a cpaitrent,
for providing means for the construction of roads, bridges,
building and improving prisons, &c, it was courteously
dismissed by Sir George with congratulations on the
increase of revenue, the diminution of crime, and the
existence of peace upon the Border.

On the 24th July the Queen's son, the young sailor
Prince, arrived, who was received with the greatest
enthusiasm. The triumphal entry into the metropolis,
the fetes, fancy fairs ; the visit to Port Elizabeth, where
he landed on the anniversary of his birth ; his journey
through the interior, his battues, his visit to Natal, his
inauguration of the new Library and Museum, his tilting
the first load of stone for the Table Bay Breakwater —
are they not all written in the chronicles of the day,
and therefore unnecessary to be detailed in these Annals ?
Suffice it to say the Prince and people met in joy and
parted with mutual regret after a visit of two months.

One other subject remains yet to be noted, and that is
the erection at last of British Kaft'raria into a separate
Government.

1861. — The Session of Parliament is the principle
object of record this year. It assembled on the 26th
April, and is remarkable for the first announcement of
those financial difficulties which continue to trouble the
Colony up to the present time. His Excellency informed
the representatives that although the revenue still con-
tinued to increase, the expenditure it had sanctioned had
increased at an equal rate (a fact more truthful than
pleasant) ; he intimated also that a very general desire
existed that the present form of government should be

considered with a view to making judicious alterations,

2 l 2

516 Annals of the Cape Colony.

and that the conduct of, and progress of, the native races
was satisfactory ; that he hoped to make arrangements
for the extension of British influence over a considerable
part of the country between the Kei and Natal, and the
gradual occupation of the country by persons of European
race ; and with these prospects the business of the Session
commenced. The subject of alterations in the Govern-
ment was taken advantage of by the inhabitants of the
East, who transmitted petitions signed by above 6,000
persons, and a Bill was introduced for separation, based
upon the terms settled at the Somerset Convention ; but
on the 11th June was ignominously thrown out by
a large Western majority in the Assembly, and a similar
fate attended the same measure in the Legislative Council,
as did a motion for the removal of the seat of Government
to some more central spot than Cape Town.

Parliament was prorogued on the 14th August, when
His Excellency, referring to native relations, said " they
must be watched with much care," adding this memorable
passage, especially suggestive to the philanthropic world,
of whom some persons wish to limit an irrepressible
Anglo-Saxon race within the narrow space of the Cape
Colony : — " The European race and coloured," said he,
" will increase, will hold intercourse, and pass into each
other's limits. To limit the bounds of the British
Europeans to the exact portions they now occupy, if these
bounds are for ever to be assailed by barbarians, are to be
for ever defended by numerous and costly troops — to be
for ever inhabited by a poor race of Settlers, constantly
pillaged, unable to accumulate capital and afraid to invest
it in improvements — is to give no advantage to the British
possessions or the races in contact. Every effort has been
made to build up a system of mutual advantage, to con-
solidate great and prosperous communities wealthy and
strong enough to maintain themselves, and prepared to
carry, at no cost to the British Government, the blessings
of law and order and of the Christian faith." Alas, that
this wise and benevolent policy was destined to be so soon
abandoned !

Sir George Grey leaves for New Zealand. 517

The day following, Sir George Grey left the shores of
South Africa for New Zealand, to settle affairs in that
Dependency — a loss deeply to be regretted by the Colonists,
as he possessed both the will and the ability to control
and at the same time improve the surrounding barbarians.
His departure was deplored in addresses both from the
people and the Parliament, one branch of which said it
" cannot avoid to give expression to the alarm so generally
felt that by a successor (however willing to advance the
interests of the Colonists) His Excellency's plan may not
be carried out in that firm but conciliatory manner which
has so materially tended to preserve peace and order on
our extensive borders."

SECTION XXI.

1862 — Arrival of now Governor — Speech to Parliament on unwise Expenditure —
Is hostile to Separation and Removal — Advocates Annexation of British Kaffraria
— Submits Plan of 5?(««-Federation — Defers peopling the Transhei — Separation
Bill lost in Parliament. 1863 — Griquas find a Pioad over the Quathlamba Moun-
tains— Parliamentary Session — Governor's Warning regarding Expenditure —
Motion for Responsible Government lost — Vote carried for next Session in East
— Irritation thereon — Ecclesiastical troubles — The Alabama. 1864— Parliament
at Grabam's Town — Kreli allowed to return — Governor arbitrates between Free
State and Basutos. 1865 — Removal of Natives over the Kei — The Annexation
Session — Dreadful Storm in Table Bay. 1S66 — Gloomy prospects — Increase of
Legislators — Bad state of Finances and cause — The famous Retrenchment Com-
mittee and Report. 1867 — Its Parliament — Withdrawal of Troops — Scheme of a
new Constitution — Responsible Government — Duke of Edinburgh at the Cape —
Bushmen and Koranna Raid. 1868 — Basutos made British Subjects — Parlia-
mentary Session — Gold and Diamonds.

gttmtmfettatton of <Bfobnrnor anti ?l?tgfj CommteBionn;

January 5, 1862.

1862. — The events of this yet unconeluded administration
are of so recent a date, and the results of its policy,
especially as regards native affairs, only partially deve-
loped, that they lie only within the domain of the chronicler
and not of the critic ; besides which the space apportioned
to the writer has already been so far exceeded as to neces-
sitate condensation. The Annals from this time to the
close of 1868 must consequently be epitomized, leaving the
reign, as a whole, for some future penman.

Sir George Grey was succeeded by Sir P. Wodehouse,
who arrived in the Colony on the 15th January, receiving
a hearty welcome, the more especially as it had been
reported " he had been deservedly esteemed wherever he
had represented his country." On the 24th April, he
opened his Parliament with a long, able, and exhaustive
speech, highly complimentary to his predecessor, craving
consideration for himself, and announcing, to the gratifi-

Arrival of Sir Philip Wodehouse. 519

cation of all, that the Government had been endeavouring
to carry out the Grey polity. He then called attention to
the question of allowance to the British troops, adverting
to the error which Parliament had committed in refusing
the annual vote of £10,000 towards their support, "which
might be interpreted by the Home Government that the
Colonists saw no occasion for them." In plain terms too,
he reminded them there had been a serious mistake in
spending £ 270,000 upon unproductive works, which was an
early and fair warning against future extravagance. His
next theme was that of the future form of Government ;
he deprecated separation, repudiated the scheme of
removal, but advocated the annexation to the Colony of
British Eanraria ; he also recommended Parliament
should alternate its sittings between East and West, and
that provision should be made for the occasional residence
of the Governor in the former locality.

On the 17th -July, while Parliament was still in session,
he addressed the Duke of Newcastle on the stoppage of
all Home aid for British Eanraria and the institutions
established by Sir George Grey, and consequently he
could not with prudence obey instructions for annexing
the Transkeian Territory ; that Kreli was most anxious to
return to it, and that he dared not push forward farmers
and their families into an exposed position without the
certainty of being enabled to afford the proper support.
In the same despatch he informed the Minister that the
question of separation had been lost in Parliament, and
then pointed out the importance on the part of Her
Majesty's Government for some decided line of policy,
suggesting a £«asi-federative " separation of the two
Provinces, and the erection of one Central Government
for the control and regulation of matters, to be distinctly
specified, all others to be left in the hands of the respec-
tive local Governments," and then he proceeded to detail
his plan in a way which appeared satisfactory, concluding
with a request for an early reply. This was accorded on
the 5th November, when His Grace the Duke in the
matter of federation suggested as example the Constitu-

520 Annals of the Cape Colony.

tion of New Zealand. After one hundred and five days'
sitting Parliament was prorogued, the Governor regretting
" that it should separate without having adopted measures
calculated to put to rest the long-pending differences
between the Western and Eastern Provinces." The Session
was not, however, altogether fruitless, as Eailway Bills were
passed, a vote for immigration carried, an irrigation
report furnished, the Military subsidy of £10,000 restored,
and a Bill against usury rejected.

Besides the business of legislation the year was not
distinguished by any striking events, except that in
February the Cape and Wellington Eailway had progressed
for twenty-one miles, and on the 14th of August the Wynberg
railroad was commenced by a private company, and this
undertaking has proved a great convenience and benefit
to the large population of Cape Town. No more delightful
excursion can be made than on this line, through avenues
and under the cool shadow of majestic trees, amid
gardens, vineyards, orangeries, and elegant villas, along
the base of grand old Table Mountain, whose phases, ever
varied, are always beautiful.

Another circumstance of record is the loss of the
steamer Waldensian off Strays Point, having on board a
number of clergymen proceeding to Synod and a troupe
of Christy's Minstrels, who, with the crew, were all provi-
dentially saved ; and to this must be added that of the
noble subscription of £'3,000 raised by the Colonists for
the relief of the Lancashire sufferers.

1863. — An adventurous and successful attempt by a
party of Griquas under Adam Kok to reach a tract of
land on the southern slopes of the Drakensberg is a
prominent occurrence of this period. This land, ceded to
the Colony by the Amaponda Chief Faku, was allotted by
Sir G. Grey to a portion of that people, and they now
proceeded to take possession. Leaving Aliwal North, on
the Orange Kiver, and passing through the Native Eeserve,
with twenty wagons, they crossed the barrier range, and
emerged on one of the sources of the St. John's Biver,
thus connecting Kaffraria Proper with the vast interior.

Increase of the PubUe Ei'prnrfitiire. 521

The discovery of this passage, and since then the comple-
tion of a tolerable road, will hereafter be of great value,
although impracticable in the winter season, as snow-
storms are very violent.

The Parliament assembled on the 16th April, when the
Governor brought the unpleasant fact to its notice that
expenditure had largely exceeded revenue, that efforts had
been made to curtail, but that reduction must be the work
of time, and as no immediate relief could be obtained, he
would ask for a temporary loan and some additional
duties. The intimation does not seem to have caused
consternation, and one of the Liberal leading journals of
the day predicted that " long before the five years of Sir
P. Wodehouse's term of office are over we shall find the
balance on the right side of the Colonial ledger, and the
hope with which he concluded his speech fully realized."
The additional taxes were voted, as well as the " tem-
porary" loan of £150,000 for the public service.

During the Session, endeavours were made to introduce
" Eesponsible Government," which met discomfiture, and
its promoters were still the more irritated by the Easterns
carrying a vote that the next Session should be in their
Province, which the Governor intimated he should hold in
Graham's Town. Upon this, public meetings were con-
vened to induce the Queen to interfere ; but the reply of
the Colonial Minister was that the Governor " had exer-
cised a sound discretion."

The religious circles of the Colony were sadly distracted
at this period. The High-Church English Episcopalians
got into an unhappy contest with the more moderate
sections, and in December the Metropolitan, with the
Bishops of Graham's Town, Free State, and St. Helena,
assembled in the Cathedral in Cape Town and solemnly
deposed Dr. Colenso, the Bishop of Natal, for heresy, a
sentence subsequently declared powerless. The Dutch
Beformed Church was also up in arms against Liberalism,
as professed by some of its clergy ; and even the Moslem
Malay population was so affected by the polemical epi-
demic, as to require an Effendi (Aboubeker) from Con-

522 Annals of the Gape Colony.

stantinople to settle their differences. What they were is
unknown to the Annalist, but one was said at the time,
truly or not, to be whether that delicious but much
contemned crustacean, kreeft (crawfish), was lawful food
or not ?

The visit of the notorious Confederate vessel, the
Alabama, and its commander, C?,ptain Semmes, to Table
Bay ; his fight and capture of the Sea Bride within sight
of the shore ; and the arrival of the States steamer
Vanderbilt, in search of Confederate cruizers, were incidents
causing intense excitement among the inhabitants of the
metropolis.

1864. — The Parliament, as decided, assembled at
Graham's Town on the 28th April, when the Governor
justified the measure principally on the ground that for
the last ten years a very unequal share of the burthen of
attendance had fallen on the Eastern members. The
state of the finances, he explained, was such, that in the
early part of the year he had issued instructions for the
suspension of many public works, yet nevertheless recourse
must be had to borrowing ; but to give confidence to
foreign capitalists, the foundation of some guarantee was
essential. Bills were therefore introduced for additional
imposts through the Customs and other sources, for a
Sinking Fund, for a loan of £234,000 to pay off debentures,
and one for a Census of the Colony.

The Session was a busy one, and though denounced by
Western members, the Governor in his despatches home*
pronounced it " a success ; that all he had desired had
been done, supplies granted, Judicial establishments
enlarged, native questions fairly dealt with, and the hand
of Government strengthened by convincing the pre-
dominant influence of Cape Town that Parliament can
be easily held elsewhere."

A sudden change in our Border policy occurring in
August astonished and alarmed the Frontier inhabitants.
The Governor communicated to Kreli that he had permis-

* Despatch, 11th August, 1804,

KreWs Return to the Transleei. 523

sion to return to a portion of his own country, a procedure
then and still pronounced a blunder ; but it will be but fair
here to take a short retrospective glance over the affair
as it appears in the correspondence. On the Governor's
arrival in 1862 he was disposed to carry out the Grey
scheme of populating the Transkeian Territory, and for
that purpose recommended the reduction of the Cape
Mounted Rifles, costing £80,000 a year, substituting a
body of 400 men and officers of "Irregular Horse," for
which only £48,000 would be required. In 1863 he
proposed that a thousand farms should be granted on
annual quitrents of from £20 to £25 each, on the
condition of personal presence at periodical musters of
the armed servants of the proprietors. The reduction of
the Cape Rifles was opposed by the Lieutenant-Governor
on the Frontier, but up to the 16th September, 1863, Sir
Philip persisted in his representations of the advantages
of filling the country with European farmers ; obstacles to
this being strongly urged, he on the 13th March suggested
a temporary modification by reducing a portion of the
Cape Rifles only, and raising but half the number of
Irregulars, still hoping to develope the original plan in
its entirety. All this unluckily was unavailing ; alarms
of Kafir intrigues commencing in June, a sort of
panic ensued, which the Military authorities represented
home, and declared that unless additional regiments
were sent out or Kreli suffered to return, they would
not be answerable for the safety of the Frontier. The
British Government took fright at the prospect of a fourth
Kafir war, and the Governor was directed to withdraw
within the Kei, and so retrocession (interpreted by savages
as an indication of weakness) was re-enacted, and Kreli
brought into his old and dangerous lair.

The complicated state of affairs between the Free State
and the Basuto Chief Moshesh regarding a boundary line
having been referred to the Governor, he readily accepted
the task, and after inspection of the lands in dispute,
declared in a Proclamation dated the 28th October the
limits between the contending parties ; but these matters

524 Annals of the Cape Colony.

were followed by subsequent hostilities and fresh interven-
tions, as will be seen.

Two events occurred connected with the interests of the
Colony, one at the beginning, the other at the close of the
year — the first the completion of telegraphic communica-
tion between the metropolis and Graham's Town, a dis-
tance of 600 miles ; the other the permanent opening
of fifty-eight miles of railway from Cape Town to
Wellington.

1865. — To obviate any possible danger from the too
great accumulation of natives in isolated masses (Fingoes
and Tambookies) in the upper part of the North-eastern
Border, the Governor now proposed to move them into the
superior pastures beyond the Kei, of which, notwithstand-
ing our withdrawal, a quasi-right of possession was still
maintained ; and such a step, if successful, would have
enabled him, as he desired, to fill up the vacated spaces
with Europeans, and thus strengthen the Frontier. The
offer of these Transkeian lands was therefore made ; but
through some contretemps, in which Kreli, the restored
Chief, was suspected of being engaged, a widely-spread
alarm was excited. The Fingoes, it had been insinuated,
were to be forcibly ejected, and, it was reported, had in
consequence assumed a dangerous attitude, producing
such alarm among the Border inhabitants that the local
authorities applied for the presence of a Military force.
The Tambookies also, who at first appeared ready to
accept the gift, hesitated — in their greed they were pre-
pared to take the new lands, yet indisposed to relinquish
those in actual possession — and in the sequel only a
portion of the two races left their locations.

A similar offer of territory on the T'Somo was at the same
time made to the Kafirs under Sandilli, that Chief having
complained of the straitness of his possessions ; but after
some negotiations he objected to retire, and was permitted
to remain. Thus the scheme of filling up evacuated lands
by Europeans failed, with the probable evil added, as
stated by a Frontier officer well acquainted with the people,
that the natives who had migrated beyond the Kei, if

Deposition of Tamboolcie Chiefs. 525

left without protection, would, it was to be feared, frater-
nize with the Kafirs.

On the refusal of the Governor's proffer by the Tam-
bookies, it was determined that those electing to remain
within the Colony proper should no longer be under Kafir
law, their Chiefs no longer wield authority, and that the
office of Government Agent should be abolished. Accord-
ingly, on the 26th November, it was notified, at a great
meeting held at Glen Grey, that Nonesi and the other
Chiefs had ceased to reign, and that English jurisprudence
was supreme.

The Parliament, restored to its former seat (Cape
Town), was opened on the 27th April. The Session lasted
nearly six months and is memorable for the great annexa-
tion measure which united the unwilling and free Colony
of British Kafiraria to that of the equally disinclined Cape.
The Home Government, determined to force the union (as
its separate existence implied maintenance by troops) and
doubtful how the Colonists would entertain the proposal,
had taken the precaution to carry an Imperial Act for the
purpose, which was sent to the Governor, but not to be
used unless the Colonial Legislature proved restive. He
therefore introduced a Bill, which meeting with resistance,
the Imperial Act was produced and both were welded
into one which the Attorney-General of the day
humorously designated the " hotch-potch." By this
extraordinary fusion ten new electoral divisions were
created and the members of the Assembly increased
from 46 to Q6, and those of the Council from 15 to
21, but continuing the same unjust disparity in repre-
sentatives between West and East as existed in 1854,
although the two Provinces had changed their relative
claims for consideration as regarded wealth, population,
and commerce, as shown in the spirited protest of six
Eastern members of the Legislative Council, who declared
the interests of their constituents had been entirely for-
gotten and the Province virtually disfranchised. The
annexation question occupied the greater part of the
Session ; no other Acts of much importance were passed,
and on the 10th October Parliament was prorogued.

52G Armats of the Gape Colony.

This year is fatally memorable by one of the worst
storms that ever visited Table Bay. On the 17th May
eighteen vessels were driven on shore, including the mail-
steamer Athens, in which every soul perished. The total
loss of life was reckoned at about seventy persons, and of
property at £100,000. To add to the accumulation of
distress, on the very same clay half the town of Swellen-
dam was consumed by fire. But to the credit of the inha-
bitants of Cape Town, be it stated, they at once, as always,
generously came forward to alleviate the misery of both
cases.

1866. — The year assumed a different aspect from its
predecessors ; adverse seasons, continued depression in
trade, a heavy fall in the price of wool, the disturbing
influence of a war between the Free State and Basutos,
effected great embarrassments among the merchants ; and
money panics, with failures, were the consequences. The
state, too, of the public finances demanding the relinquish-
ment of public works, threw a considerable number of
operatives out of employment. Distress became general—
almost chronic — and its relief difficult ; while on the
Border there was such an increase of crime in the way
of theft by natives, that the inhabitants of British Kaffra-
ria, conscious they were justified by necessity, associated
for mutual protection against depredators whom the law
could not reach. The times were out of joint.

The British Kaffrarian Annexation Act having created
new constituencies, the additional members were elected,
and Parliament commenced its Session in September.
The Governor's speech complained, as a matter of much
anxiety, of the excess of expenditure over income to the
extent of £94,600, occasioned by the appointment of new
magistracies, additions to Frontier Police, building gaols,
&c. ; but there was this little consolation, that the value of
Colonially-produced exports had risen to above £2,000,000
sterling, and the wealth of the country had very greatly
increased. Still it was found requisite to borrow, and
Acts were therefore passed to raise £250,000 for paying
unsecured debt and for the public service. The great fact
of the Session, for little else of note was accomplished,

The Sk Circle Schenu . 527

was the appointment of a Select Committee on Retrench-
ment and its famous Report to the Assembly, which
proposed by sundry reductions, abolitions, amalgamations
of offices, &c., to effect a saving of a sum no less than
£86,855 ; but notwithstanding all the labour bestowed,
small relief was obtained beyond the abolition of the
expensive Railway Engineer's Department, and the vexed
question was left a legacy for future legislation.

1867. — The proceedings of the Legislature, by the
dearth of other topics of local interest, provide almost the
sole materials for these Annals. The Session of the pre-
ceding year only closed in January, and the represen-
tatives were again assembled in April, when His Excel-
lency took the opportunity to vindicate his Government
from the charge which had been made of antagonism to
Parliament, assuring it that the Executive had accepted
its plan of retrenchment in as far as it was practicable ;
yet, nevertheless, there would still be deficiency of revenue,
which might in part be met by a duty on exports. He
then adverted to the pressing demands of the Homo
Government for payment of the troops, a charge he
admitted too heavy for the Colony to bear, and stated he
had tried to ward off the disaster of their withdrawal.
He next suggested a new form of Government by dividing
the Colony into six Electoral Circles, each to return three
members, adding to them three Executive officers, by
which arrangement he considered there would be no
difficulty in convening the single Chamber of twenty-one
at either end of the Colony. This proposition, with its
scheme of a peripatetic Parliament, found no favour, and
was soon withdrawn, and in its place the Liberal party
attempted to introduce Responsible Government, which
was defeated in the Assembly by a large majority. In the
Council it was then moved to remove the seat of Govern-
ment, which was backed by strong resolutions, and these
were met by counter resolutions from the Assembly, and
both referred to the Home Government, the result of
which was that it would not interfere, but left the matter
for settlement by the Cape Legislature itself.

528 Annals of the Cajoe Colony.

In the month of August the Western inhabitants
had the gratification of again meeting their late
illustrious guest, Prince Alfred (now Duke of Edinburgh)
who arrived in command of the Galatea. On this
occasion he visited the forests of the Knysna and enjoyed
an elephant hunt, from whence returning, he embarked
on the 28th September for the Australian Colonies.

Among the few other memorabilia of the time was
the appearance in Cape Town of a very malignant
febrile disease which called forth the usual sympathies
of its people, but, alas ! numbering among its victims
two medical men, Drs. Graf and Brown, who with
others of their profession, devoted themselves to the
wants of the sick and poor ; and on the north-western
boundary (in Namaqualand), where peace generally
obtained, the Bushmen and Korannas commenced a
series of murderous and plundering attacks upon the
scattered Colonists which, although since partially sup-
pressed, still threaten that wild and rugged frontier.

1868. — The sanguinary war still raging between the
Free State and the Basutos, inflicting great losses on the
mercantile community, holding claims amounting to full
half a million sterling against the former, induced the
Governor as High Commissioner, in the interests of
justice as well as humanity, again to attempt friendly
intervention, the more especially as Moshesh and his
people had been long anxious to become British sub-
jects. His Excellency therefore repaired once more to
Aliwal North to confer with Mr. Brand, the State's
President ; but as that gentleman's Council were flushed
with considerable success, the meeting was declined.
The High Commissioner, therefore, after patiently wait-
ing, but in vain, for a favourable change, on the
12th of March, having the authority of the Home
Government, proclaimed Basutoland British territory,
and placed a considerable body of the Colonial Mounted
Police there for its protection. On his return to the Cape,
negotiations were, however, opened by the State, which
ended in the modification of certain boundary lines

Death of sir William Bodges, 529

greatly in its favour, which being disapproved of by a
portion of the Basutos, a deputation was sent to Eng-
land to represent what it considered an injustice, and
the question still remains unsettled.

The last Session of the Third Parliament was called
together on the 20th May, when it was formally
announced that although revenue had slightly exceeded
and expenditure fallen but little short of the Estimates,
and notwithstanding some savings might be expected in
the Convict Department and Police, there would still
remain a deficiency of some £25,000, but a large accession
of income was likely to be obtained by leasing Crown
lands. The embarrassments of the Government were,
in His Excellency's speech, attributed to the fact that
in previous years it had been disposed and encouraged
to make great efforts for the development of the
Colony, money had been freely borrowed for large
undertakings, and that private individuals had entered
into a similar course ; a great change had come over
the habits and manners of the people, a general desire
for the luxuries of a higher state of civilization, involving
a necessity for ready money ; but now a reaction had
set in and the presence of encumbrances was very painful.

After passing thirty-three Acts of no particular note, the
prorogation took place on the 3rd September, when the
Governor commended the wise and temperate spirit in
which matters had been treated ; he thanked Parliament for
the supplies, saying that on the subject of retrenchment
the recommendation of Parliament had been kept steadily
in view, the only difference being as to the mode of curtail-
ment. With regard to the natives, he referred to their
removal over the Kei, believing it would be beneficial ;
and on the whole the Governor and Parliament appeared
to part on amicable terms.

It was near the close of the Session that the Council
(and country) sustained a severe loss by the death of Sir
William Hodges, its President. He had been exceedingly
active during its continuance, and had just drawn up a
masterly report upon railways, a subject to which for years

2 M

530 Annals of the Cape Colony.

he had directed his attention, and which, it is said, led to
his promotion to the Chief Justiceship of the Cape. The
event was sudden and unlooked-for, and the more keenly
felt as his nature was at all times kindly and courteous,
his regard for the general good unbounded, and his efforts
ever directed to allay strife and promote harmony. Peace
to his spirit !

One circumstance of importance to commerce occurred
during the last few years which must not be left unre-
corded, and that is the successful opening of a new
harbour on the coast, at the mouth of the Kowie Eiver, in
the district of Albany, named, in honour of the Sailor
Prince, Port Alfred. This undertaking was commenced
and carried on with untiring energy amid great obstacles
by W. Cock, Esq., late member of the Legislative Council,
who procured the formation of a company engaging to
subscribe £25,000 on the Government advancing a like
amount. The offer was accepted and the works proceeded
with, the Government through Parliament advancing on
loan an additional £64,000. From 1866 to 1868 the trade
of the port has progressively increased, and in the last-
named year no less than twenty-eight vessels have entered
the river from Europe, the East, and the coast, dis-
charging and receiving cargoes in ample depth of water
and perfect safety. A ship of no less burthen than 340
tons passing into and departing with ease is proof of the
capabilities of this land-locked harbour.

The rumour of the existence of vast and rich fields of
gold in the interior, north of the Orange Paver, attracting
numbers of prospectors, but as yet without any positive
result, and the actual discovery of valuable diamonds on
that stream and its tributaries, are most encouraging
events to chronicle in the summary of this Adminis-
tration, and likely to give a fresh impetus to the success
of the still Cape of Good Hope.

APPENDIX

I. Statistics —

i. Population, n. Fixed Property, in. Comparative Wealth of
the West and Eastern Provinces, iv. Commercial Progress.
v. Exports (Cape Wine)/ vi. Exports (Wool), vn. Revenue
and Expenditure, vm. Apportionments of Revenue and Ex-
penditure of each Province.

II. Harbours of Refuge — Claim of Alcoa L\

6

Jay.

III. Compensation for Losses by Kafir Wars.

IV. Random Reminiscences of the Cape.

V. Names of Members of First Cape Parliament, 185i.

STATISTICS.

Population Returns, Cape Colony.

Years.

Western
Province.

Eastern
Province.

Totals.

Authority.

1822

—

—

111,451

G.

Thompson.

1830

84,121

40,334

124,455

Almanac 1831.

1835

—

—

135,250

Sundry returns, but

1840

98,403

51,852

150,255

very reliable.

1845

108,494

57,566

166,060

i>

1850

114,880

170.393

285,279

i>

1855

137,225

97,120

234,345

H

1860

147,067

120,029

267,096

>>

18G5

236,300

260,081

496,381

Census.

18G6

236,300

♦329,856

566,158

)>

PROPORTIONS

AS TO COLOUR.
White.

Coloured.

130,952

,, Easter:

82,0!

)1

247,767

not

187,439

378,719

II.

Value of Fixed Property, Cape of Good Hope.

Eastern Province. Authorities

£1,805,049 Road Rate Returns.

Years.

Western Province

1845

£3,958,989

1857

4,000,806

1860

4,747,426

1865

9,070,324

1868

8,986,101

1,665,754
5,681,766
8,580,479
9,530,834

•i

Census.

Govt. Return, G. 26— '68.

* Includes population of British Kaffraria, annexed in 1S65.

iv Appendix.

III.

Comparative Statement of Wealth ix the Two Provinces of
the Cape of Good Hope in 1805.

Western. Eastern.

In Fixed Property £9,070,324 £8,580,479*

In Stock 5,755,864 11,029,3621

In Produce 1,944,969 1,221,765

£16,771,157 £20,831,606

IV.

Table showing the relative Commercial Progress of the
Western and Eastern Provinces of the Colony of the Cape
of Good Hope.

1830 to 1834.

Western Province. Eastern Province.

Imports £1,748,323 £134,119

Exports 955,548 207,382

Total £2,703,871 £341,501

Customs £83,127 £4,839

1835 to 1839.

Imports £4,200,975 £460,340

Exports 1,505,691 193,558

Total £5,706,666 £653,898

Customs £132,566 £18,050

1840 to 1844.

Imports £3,965,469 £626,406

Exports 1,485,464 422,793

Total £5,450,933 £1,049,199

Customs £241,698 £40,016

* The return for 1868 makes the Eastern value one million more.
+ The quantity of stock and produce is taken from the Blue Book of 1865, and
calculated at the rates therein stated.

Appcndir.

1845 to 1840.

Imports £4,270,077 £1,356,000

Exports 1,737,271 1,017,391

Total £6,007,948 £2,373,391

Customs £361,282 £100,912

1850 to 1854.

Imports £5,618,960 £2,362,482

Exports 2,135,069 1,817,340

Total £7,754,029 £4,179,822

Customs £396,565 £193,165

1855 to 1859.

Imports £5,844,425 £4,831,118

Exports 3,150,259 4,364,647

Total £8,991,684 £9,195,765

Customs £602,346 £474,510

1860 to 1804.

Imports £6,076,287 £5,940,429

Exports 2,915,360 6,874,859

Total £9,021,617 £12,815,288

Customs £710,635 £690,467

1865 to 1868.

Imports £3,804,680 £4,451,014

Exports 2,146,922 7,074,213

Total £5,951,602 £11,525,227

Customs £521,587 £611,735

Cape Wine Exported from Table Bay.

Years. Gallon.. ?$£ Years. Gallons. ™a?a

1821 760,811 £82,170 1855 493,796 £61,077

1830 1,157,831 101,700 1860 554,459 81,509

1835 1,222,211 95,832 1865 194,899 25,686

1840 973,912 78,368 1866 96,365 15,321

1815 546,207 52,040 1867 72,785 11,411

1850 374,903 35,890 1863 84,829 13,368

Note. — By the Census of 1865, there appears produced in the whole Colony : —

Wine, Imperial Gallons 3,237,428

Brandy, do. 130,955

VI

Appendix.

VI.

Wool Exported from the Colony of the Cape of Good
Hope from 18:10 to 1808.

WESTERN PROVINCE.

EASTERN PROVINCE.

Quantity.

Value.

Quantity.

Value.

1830 to 1835

406,621 lbs.

£20,331

216,810

£10,840

1836

,, 1840

1,657,944

82,897

1,054,937

52,746

1841

„ 1845

2,733,980

136,699

5,894,935

294,746

1846

„ 1850

0,905,270

348,263

14,633,388

731,669

1854

., 1855

9,003,049

483,182

32,813,517

1,640,675

1856

„ 1860

15,528,572

770,428

75,387,264

3,769,363

1861

„ 1865

23,205,880

1,100,294

149,875,709

7,493,785

1806

5,023,010

275,391

28,978,743

1,643,074

1867

4,987,250

249,362

31,039,358

1,678,339

1868

4,709,031

235,481

31,753,079

1,620,484

VII.

Revenue and Expenditure of the Colony of the Cape of
Good Hope from 1820 to 1808 at Intervals.

Royal Commissioners

of Inquiry.
Martin's Colonies.

Sears.

Eevenue.

Expenditure,

1820

£130,004

£150,858

1825

107,302

150,418

1830

134,493

121,403

1835

133,417

134,576

1840

100,345

100,496

1845

237,295

218,450

1850

221,067

228,857

1855

273,866

298,221

18G0

525,371

657,505

1865

519,045

651,515

1866

536,347

640,383

1807

609,476

670,571

1808

565,550

656,122

Colonial Office.
14th August, 1867.
28th August, 1868.
Official Eeturns.

VIII.

Revenue and Expenditure as apportioned by Government
between the two Provinces for the Years 1805-0-7.

East.
£250,505
266,667
331,462

But this statement has been challenged,
admitted (by the late Colonial Secretary), as to Revenue that the items

fears.

REVENUE.

West.

1865
1866
1867

£268,540
269,680
278,014

EXPENDITURE.

West. East.

£344,830
324,307
317,820

£306,685
316,076
352,751

First, because

it has been

Appendix. vii

stamps, fees, fines, sales, &c, should be fairly credited between the two
Provinces in equal portions ; and in respect to Expenditure, the items
of Border and Aborigines Departments, charged exclusively against the
East, should be equally debited, as the whole Colony enjoys the benefit
of peace thereby, and, moreover, that the Mounted Police has been used
for Imperial purposes, and lately for the protection of the Western inhabit-
ants (at Namaqualand). The account would therefore stand corrected as
under : —

REVENUE. EXPENDITURE.

Years. West. East. West. East.

*1865 £213,800 £275,245 £373,615 £277,900

186G 244,616 291,731 357,437 282,946

1867 254,696 354,780 352,368 318,203

* Authorities — Statement of Revenue and Expenditure of the Eastern and Western
Provinces respectively, etc., with the equitable distribution. Presented to Parlia-
ment in 1867-1868.

HARBOURS OF REFUGE.

In the foregoing Annals reference has been made to the superior
claims of Algoa Bay for works of the above nature, and, in support
thereof the following notice, drawn up by an officer long employed on
the coast survey and intimately acquainted with the port, is with his
permission now made public : —

General Observations upon the Winter Passage round the Cape
of Good Hope by Homeward-bound Ships from the East.

Horsburgh in the East India Directory," and other authorities,
recommend homeward-bound East India ships to round Cape St. Mary,
the south extreme of the island of Madagascar, at the distance of 25 or
30 leagues, and then to steer west for the African continent iu the
vicinity of Algoa Bay — (the object of this is to secure the full effect
of the Mozambique and Agulhas current, which sets generally to the.
W.S.W. and W.) — and, having made the land, to keep pretty near to it,
in order that N.W. gales, which blow with great violence in the winter
months, may not drive them so far to the southward as to lose its
influence altogether. From Algoa Bay to Cape Agulhas the trend or
direction of the coast is W.N.W. magnetic, and from Cape Agulhas to
Cape Point it is N.W. I N. As this is the direction of the gales which
blow with great violence in the winter months, causing a heavy and
dangerous sea by being opposed to the Mozambique current, ship-
masters find it very difficult at times to make this passage, and
frequently receive so much injury to their ships as to compel them to
seek for safety in some adjacent bay or to abandon them altogether.
Several instances of ships foundering are on record, and many others
have doubtless met the same fate, leaving no intimation of the disaster
save their absence and the debris of wreck and Indian goods which
have been thrown on to the shore.

From a very imperfect knowledge of the bays along the coast from
the Cape of Good Hope to Algoa Bay, and the shelter they afford in
these N.W.W. gales (notwithstanding the recent surveys carried out
by the Admiralty and the sailing instructions which have been
published at a trifling cost to the purchasers) many ship-masters have
avoided, rather than sought, the friendly shelter of these bays, and

* Horsburgh, vol. 2, edition vi., pagea 829-830.

Append l > . ix

from a mistaken notion that they are unsafe. Nothing can be farther
from the fact, and many a ship has been abandoned which might havo
been saved had they known the shelter that could be obtained, as well
as repairs effected, in some of these bays.*

With regard to the currents on the coast, it may be remarked that the
influence of the Mozambique and Agulhas current ceases in its regular
W.S.W. direction and force when Algoa Bay is passed, for the land,
taking a trend of about 30° to the northward, causes a counter-current to
the eastward at the distance of 10 to 15 miles from the shore, and it has
been observed, particularly between Capes Seal and Receiffe, that after
and during westerly and north-westerly gales the ordinary W.S.W.
current is deflected from its course and turned directly towards the
land, producing a very dangerous element in navigation, if unattended
to and not allowed for. From this cause many vessels have been
wrecked near to Cape St. Francis, and many lives as well as much
property sacrificed from this current alone. The same may be said
with regard to current about Struys Point, where it generally sets
north into Struys Bay after S.E. gales, and this probably will account
for the great number of wrecks that have taken place between Cape
L' Agulhas and De Hoop Point. f

In referring to the different places of shelter, Table Bay is first
considered from its importance to shipping, with its docks, harbour
works, and facilities for repair.

The chiefest difficulty to ships in making the winter passage home-
wards is in rounding Cape L'Agulhas, and vessels meeting with
serious mishap between this and Cape Point have little if any prospect
of reaching Table Bay to refit. After heavy gales have subsided, a
mountainous W. or W.S.W. swell is experienced to the west of the
Cape Peninsula, which does not abate for several days, and this, with
the light winds which usually follow, render attempts to reach Table
Bay a very hopeless task. Much more difficult, therefore, are all
efforts to reach the bay if disabled to the eastward of Agulhas, and it
cannot in consequence, with all its advantages of docks, breakwater,
and patent slip, be considered a harbour of refuge for distressed ships
in rounding the Cape during the winter months.

* Some of the ships abandoned : — Stalwart, Agincourt, and Alfred, in 1866, off
East London; Runnymedc, in 1865, off Cape Seal. N.B. — The Krimpenerioaard
was brought in by the Celt, steamer, just as the captain was about to abandon her
off Cape St. Francis, not knowing that Algoa Bay afforded shelter ; and the same
ignorance prevailed in most of the ships that sought shelter from N.W. gales after
being damaged in 1866.

t- Some of the ships supposed to be lost from this cause : — L'Aigle (French),
1850; Queen of tli e West, 1850 ; Orindley, abandoned ; Hope, steamer ; L'Auguste,
French; Swallow, schoonor (iron) ; Prince of the Seas ; Runnymede ; Her Majesty's
steamer Osprey, 1867 ; Bosplwrns, steamer, 1867 ; Jason, 1869 (got off). N.B.
Borderer, 1,000 tons, struck on a rock six miles off Struys Point in January, 1869,
and almost immediately went down in deep water.

x Appendix.

Simon's Bay, with its patent slip and splendid shelter in all winds,
has a far higher claim as a refuge harbour than Table Bay, and
advantage is naturally taken of its friendly shelter by disabled ships, as
shown by the greater number of those vessels which put in to repair
damages or to leave their storm-battered hulls for the ship-breakers to
finish. But even this fine harbour has some of the disadvantages of
Table Bay, as it lies so far to windward of the usual scene of
disasters as to cause its attainment for repairs a most difficult and in
many cases a hopeless task for both crews and ships. If a powerful
steam-tug were stationed in Buffel's Bay during the winter months,
ready to put to sea after a continuance of westerly gales, she would
doubtless succour many vessels that have successfully buft'etted the
storm, and prevent them bearing up for some leeward port from their
iuability to boat to windward for Simon's Bay and safety against the
very heavy swell which lasts for several days after a storm.

Struys Bay, St. Sebastian Bay, and Fish Bay are places in which
tolerable shelter and safety may be found by disabled ships or vessels
bound westward in heavy gales ; but they afford nothing but temporary
shelter, and it is advisable not to remain at anchor in either of them
after the gales have subsided.

Mossel and Plettenberg Bays are very similar in configuration and
extent, and they afford excellent shelter in N.W. gales, but very few
facilities for extensive repairs. A lighthouse showing a fixed red light
points out the position of the former, and the latter is distinguished by
a remarkable headland resembling a seal (Seal Cape) in outline, with
a gap near the main land, and a very conspicuous broad sand patch
down its middle on both sides.

Algoa Bay. — This bay, from its geographical position, together with
its facilities for repairing disabled ships and enabling them to proceed
on their voyage, is without doubt the natural harbour of refuge for
homeward-bound ships in the winter season. It merely requires a
patent slip, and the bay at the Fishery affords shelter, with a very little
outlay, for such a work, to raise this port to the elevation its importance
demands. It is to the advantage of the shipping interest generally,
and to this portion of the mercantile world in particular, that this work
should be undertaken ; and as this would make the port better known
in the East, it would, without doubt, be the place of resort of most of
the distressed ships for shelter and repair. A ship disabled off Cape
Agulhas would find an easier and safer harbour of refuge by running
back -300 miles to Algoa Bay, than by trying for Simon's Bay, wlrich is
100, or for Table Bay, which is 130 miles to windward. Algoa Bay
can be entered and shelter found, even in heavy weather, in the outer
part of the bay in from 15 to 20 water, and very excellent shelter for
two or three vessels is afforded by the Island of St. Croix until the
weather has moderated and the harbour can be reached. As the
present harbour works — under the shelter of which ships could be hove

Appendix. xi

down and repaired — have proved a partial failure, it becomes still more
a necessity that the slip should be undertaken if Algoa Bay is ever to
become the harbour of refuge which nature has designed it to be.
Many vessels have been disabled between Port Natal and Port
Elizabeth, and some have sought shelter in the former place ; but the
strong W.S.W. current which runs during heavy westerly gales as far
as Port Elizabeth (frequently as much as *0 to 90 miles in 2-k hours in
the teeth of the gale)* renders Port Elizabeth far easier of attainment
than Table or Simon's Bays are to vessels to leeward of those ports
where no favourable current of any serviceable strength is found ; and
as the laud is approached to the west of Agulhas, the current is
frequently found setting to the eastward. Everything, therefore, com-
bines to point to Algoa Bay as the refuge harbour for the south and
east coasts of Africa. Nature has done everything necessary for it in
this respect, and it remains for art to make it available for re-
pairs to ships that seek its friendly shelter when disabled or in
distress.

* African Pilot, scond edition, p. 72, and from personal experience.

CLAIMS FOE COMPENSATION

AND LOSSES BY THE KAFIR WARS OF 1835-'47 AND THE
REBELLION OF 1851.

These claims, for which compensation has been constantly urged
in innumerable petitions without effect, has been the subject of serious
inquiry, and a Select Committee of the House of Assembly appointed
to take evidence thereon and call for papers. The Report they brought
up showed that peace had been made with the Kafir tribes on each of
these occasions without enforcing anything like that full restitution
the offenders were capable of affording for unprovoked aggressions,
and the sufferers, although they had received promises of compen-
sation, had never been relieved.

That for the war of 1835, after a partial compensation to some
800 persons out of captured cattle, there still remained 3,000 claimants,
whose losses amounted to £291,392 ; that in 1846 the borderers, by
another incursion of the savages, had sustained a loss in stock and
other property (besides priceless lives) of the further sum of £525,50-2,
in respect of which Governor Sir H. Smith, in his Minute of the 27th
June, 1848 (in accordance with a despatch of Earl Grey to Sir P.
Maitland, admitting that " undoubtedly the Colonists are entitled to
expect such reparation for the losses sustained as the Kafirs are
capable of affording") set apart the newly-acquired lands of Victoria
and Albert for the purpose of affording compensation.

The claims for 1847, after a severe scrutiny, were found to amount
to a sum no less than £400,002, and the Select Committee then
recommended that measures should be taken to ascertain what portion
of the lands so set apart are yet unapplied to any other purpose of
Government, in order that the mode of distribution might be carried
out without further unnecessary delay, and as regards the losses by the
Rebellion of 1851, they should be investigated by another Committee.

No action resulting from the labours or recommendations of the
Committee, or that of a similar one of the Legislative Council whose
Report was also favourable, the matter was brought before the House
of Assembly in isr>() on a motion to address His Excellency the
Governor to take steps for the full settlement of such claims, which
was rejected on a division. Another effort was subsequently made,
but with the same fate, and therefore the innocent victims of an unjust
policy, whose constant and timely warnings of impending troubles
were disregarded by the Colonial Executive, complain, and it would
appear not without some cause, that the country has been guilty of
repudiation, and unfaithful to its engagements.

RANDOM REMINISCENCES OF THE CAPE,

BY ME, E. L. KIFT, OF PORT ELIZABETH.

Persons who have been resident in this Colony from forty-five to
fifty years will confess to having witnessed very great changes, par-
ticularly at Cape Town. On my arrival there, early in the year 1823,
I have reason to believe that not one house was furnished with any
fire-place except that in the kitchen. In the old time all shops were in
private dwelling-houses, and but for the frequent Negotie Wirikel over
the doors there was no indication that trade was carried on within. The
first bow-window put in was by the late Mr. L. Twentyman, and that
after the greatest opposition of his neighbours ; indeed application was
made to the late Burgher Senate to prevent such a disgrace to the
Heerengracht. Law proceedings were also threatened, but in vain.
The second was put in by the late Mr. Bridekirk, on the premises now
occupied by Messrs. Jamieson and Co., but after Mr. B. retired from
business the shop-front was removed. In those clays shopkeepers took
things very easy indeed. If customers called during dinner or siesta
hours, they were told by the servant, " Master is eating," or " Master
is sleeping," and were obliged to call again. Many will remember the
times of prize negroes and slaves. Neither were permitted to walk the
streets after sunset without a pass, and if after gun-fire (nine o'clock),
an illuminated lantern was necessary to prevent a night's lodging in
the tronk. Y\"hen prize negroes were accused by their masters with
any breach of duty, the master took the man or sent him with a letter
to the late Wiiberforce Bird, Protector of Prize Negroes, and who, I
believe, invariably, without any inquiry, gave the master an authority
to the tronk-keeper for the infliction of the lawful number of thirty-
nine lashes. The guilty (or perhaps innocent) fellow was without
delay tied to the whipping-post, and received the allotted number of
stripes. Strangers passing that way often heard cries of " GenaJe
(mercy i Mynheer" uttered by the unfortunates undergoing punish-
ment.

Soon after my arrival in Cape Town, early in 1823, I witnessed a
strange scene, and one that I believe has not since then taken place. A
gentleman died iu very embarrassed circumstances, leaving his widow
and children without means of support, and the widow liable for a

xiv Appendix.

serious amount of debt. A legal gentleman, well versed in old Colonial
law, was consulted, and the result of his advice was as follows : — On
the day of the funeral a large concourse of people, learning what was
to take place, assembled. The hearse was brought before the door,
the widow came forth, locked the door, and placed the key on the
coffin ; thus, by some almost forgotten law, being released from her
late husband's debts.

During those times it was the practice when any respectable person
was interred to have white sand strewn in the street from the house
door to the grave-yard. But if one of the great folks died not only was
sand used as I have described, but the procession did not leave the
house until after dark, when each mourner was accompanied by his
nigger with an illuminated lantern. The appearance of such a funeral
was very strange to those not accustomed to it.

I may mention a singular practice which then and may perhaps
still be recognized at Dutch funerals, and this was to engage two
decently-dressed men (trop sehluters) to form the last couple of
mourners. The price paid for this service was according to the rank
of deceased and means of the family. According to some authorities,
the last couple took all the ill-luck supposed to wait on the last couple
into and out of the grave-yard ; others state that this practice was
merely to prevent any friend being the last man in the funeral pro-
cession. No one liked to figure as the last at a funeral.

During the existence of the old Court of Justice very strange
things took place and many diverting scenes occurred. I will relate
one that caused much merriment at the time.

It was stated — whether truly or not, I cannot tell — that it was the
practice of most of the members to take a quiet nap during the pro-
ceedings, and when a case was finished the crier roused each sleeper to
give a verdict. It happened that one of the members had rather a
smart dispute with his wife before he left home respecting the mode of
dressing a fine Roman fish sent as a present from Simon's Bay. The
lady went in for boiling, but her spouse insisted on its being fried. In
the midst of the discussion the member was summoned to attend the
Court. Very soon after he took his seat, as usual he dozed, and the
scene of the fish dispiite was revived in his dream, and just as a com-
promise was being made the crier roused him up and asked for his
sentence against the prisoner, when he exclaimed in a loud voice,
" Boil his head and fry his tail," to the great alarm of the prisoner and
amusement of the Court.

A good deal has been written respecting the sex of the individual
long known at Cape Town as Doctor Barry. I was intimately
acquainted for several years with the Doctor, and always was of
opinion that he resembled in his general figure a female more than a
male. The late Mi*. T. K. Deane and Doctors Deneke, Murray, and
Arthur, principal medical officers, always looked on the Doctor with

xv Appendix.

suspicion. Not uuo of the Doctor's friends ever saw more of his bare
person than face and hands ; Iris face was as smooth as that of any
female of the same age. He generally employed Malay servants, who
were never permitted to enter his bed-room when he was in it. Many
traps were laid and stratagems tried to ascertain the sex of the Doctor,
but in vain, and now it seems she eluded them until death.

Many will remember Hendrik Hegers, alias " Cheap John," who
resided in Castle -street, celebrated for many strange sayings and
doings, as well as by his very great kindness for many years to a
gentleman named Walker, who years before possessed Hendrik as a
slave. Hendrik managed to purchase his freedom and prospered in
trade. But Mr. Walker came to grief and was destitute, when Hendrik
brought him to his own house and kindly and handsomely provided
for his former master as long as he lived.

■1 if.

NAMES OF MEMBERS CONSTITUTING FIRST
CAPE PARLIAMENT, 1854.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Western Province.

Eastern Province.

Hon'ble H. E. Rutherfoord.

Hon'ble Sir A. Stockenstrom.

F. W Reitz.

R. Godlonton.

Jos. Barry.

G. Wood.

J. H. Wicht.

H. Blaine.

J. B. Ebden.
D. J. van Breda.

W. S. G. Metclerkamp
W. Fleming.

J. de Wet (Advocate).

W. G. Joubert.

H. T. Vigne.

HOUSE OF

ASSEMBLY.

Cape Division.

George.

J. M. Maynard.

T. Watson.

J. Laws.

F. W. Swemmer.

Cape Totcn.

H. C. Jarvis.
Dr. Abercrombie.

Malmesbury.

W. Duckitt.
H. Loedolf.

S. Solomon.

Paarl.

Dr. Biccard.

P. F. R. de Villiers.

Beaufort.
J. C. Molteno.

J. G. Steytler.

Stellenbosch.

Dr. Christie.

Clanwilliam.

Dr. Tancred.
J. H. Brand.

P. Bosnian.
C. J. Brand.

Stvellendam.
J. Barry.
J. Fairbairn.

Caledon.

Worcester.

B. H. Darnell.

C. Fairbridge.

F. G. Watermeyer.
J. C. Wiggens.

AppemMa ,

xvn

Albany.

H. Bowker.
W. Cock.

Albert.
J. Vorster.
J. Meintjes.

Cradock.
J. Collett.
W. Gilfillan.

Colesberg.

J. C. Sieberkagen.
L. von Maltitz.

Fort Beaufort.
C. L. Stretck.
R. Painter.

Graham's Town.
J. C. Thackwray.
C. Pote.

Graaff-Reinet.
J. F. Ziervogel.
J. Muller.

Port Elizabeth.
J. Paterson.
H. White.

Somerset.
R M. Bowker.
J. G. Franklin.

Uitenhaye.
J. Krog.
S. Hartman.

Victoria.
J. G. Frankliu.
G. Stewart.

Price Is— Second Edition.

OUTLINES OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH AFRICA,

TO WHICH IS APPENDED

QUESTIONS ON THE PEINOIPAL EVENTS OF CAPE HISTORY,

BY A. WILMOT.
J. C. JUTA, CAPE TOWN, AND ALL BOOKSELLEES.

Mr. Wilmot's object has been to prepare a work suitable for the youth in
our colonial schools, and we think he has succeeded in doing so. It will
supply a desideratum that has long been felt. — E. P. Herald.

It gives in a succinct but clear manner an account of the present
physical, political, and historical condition of the twelve great divisions in
which the southern portion of the continent of South Africa is divided.
We would recommend the Outlines as a useful help in imparting to our
colonial youth, in a simple, practical manner, the knowledge of local
geography. — P. E. Telegraph and Standard.

This is a valuable work. — Great Eastern.

A useful little class book for schools. — G. T. Journal.

The extreme simplicity of its arrangement will render it invaluable as a
school book, but it will be found equally serviceable as a hand-book for
travellers, or a book of reference for politicians, staticians, and, in fact,
any person who desires a general acquaintance with this part of the world.
A second edition of 3,000 is now in the hands of W. and E. Chambers. —
Uitenhage Times.

It contains a good deal of information in detail, which even colonists who
have passed life's noon will read with interest and profit. We notice, as
something remarkable, that the Dutch names of places and persons aro
correctly spelt. — Graaff-Beinet Advertiser.

This treatise is to be highly recommended. The questions for examina-
tion at the end of each chapter are quite in accordance with the modern
system of school education. — Fort Beaufort Advocate.

Price Two Shillings and Sixpence.

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE HAND-BOOK,

BY A. WILMOT,

Containing full Historical, Descriptive, and Statistical Accounts of

tlic Colon;/, with Xotices of the Native Tribes, dc.

AN APPENDIX WITH LARGE COLOURED MAP.

It contains within a readable compass fuller and more connected inform-
ation about the Cape than any other work I have yet met with. It is an
admirable hand-book, and its perusal is alone sufficient to make a person
tolerably familiar with the prominent features of interest in connection
with the Colony. — Journal.

The author has excellent powers of description, and the still rarer power
of condensing and presenting in few words what is necessary to bo made
known. The geology of the country, the natives tribes, and the adjacent
territories have distinct chapters allotted to them, whilst the work winds up
with some of the most racy sketches of Dutch life and character.— The
Cape and Natal News.

NOW IN PREPARATION,

THE

SO

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\~3

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EOUTE BOOK,

WITH MAP,

BY A. WILMOT AND E, J. MILLER,

Compiled from Keturns of Divisional Councils, District Maps specially

compiled for this Work, and reliable information from

a great variety of sources.

THIS BOOK WIIL. GIVE IN A CONVENIENT TABULATED FOKM

Routes throughout the Cape Colony, Natal, the Free
State, and the Transvaal Republic,

ACCOMPANIED BY AN OUTLINE MAP.

IT IS INVALUABLE TO TRAVELLERS AND BUSINESS-MEN.

Hotel-keepers who desire their Houses of Accommodation referred to,

and Passenger and Mail-cart Proprietors would do well

to advertise in this Book,

ADVEETISEMENTS AT THE RATE OF ONLY £1 PER FULL PAGE.

The price of each copy will probably be 2s. Cd., and the publication
will take place early next year.

WILLIAM FOSTEE, MACHINE PEINTEB, WALE-STEEET, CAPE TOWN.

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