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/ 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH COLONIES. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 
 f^ UBRARY. '^4^\\ 
 ^'AN .18 lODo 
 
(;ArE\VAY OF THE f'ASTI.F. OF GOOD HOrE. 
 
1,:-" i*"*^ 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA 
 
 ^^ 
 
 (THE C-JPE CO LOW, \./T.-/L, OR.^XGE 
 
 FREE STJTE, SOUTH JERI(:J\' 
 
 REPUBLIC, Jyn JLL OTHER 
 
 TERR/TOR /ES SOUTH OF 
 
 THE Z.-1MBESI) 
 
 
 I-Y 
 
 GICORGIC M. TIIKAL 
 
 OK TllK (JAl'K COLONIAL CIVIL S-RVKJE 
 
 ^:^' i IBRARY, M;;^\\ 
 
 JAN 1 8 lOCo 
 
 
 O^^ 
 
 New York: G. P. PUTx\A^[•S SONS 
 London-: T. FISHER UXWIX 
 
 1S94 
 

 171699 
 
 21 ^"b 
 
 CnpVKifiin liv T. Fisiikk Unwix, 1S94 
 (For (ireat I'.ritaiii). 
 
 Coi-YKiciiT liY (). I'. Putnam's Sons, 1S94 
 (J'or thi' rnitcd Siat("; f<f Anicn'cM). 
 
 / 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The chapters In this volume upon the Cape Colony 
 before 1848, Natal before 1845, and the Orange Free 
 State, South African Republic, Zululand, and liasu- 
 toland before 1872, contain an outline of my History 
 of South Africa, which has been published in 
 England in five octavo volumes. In that work my 
 authorities are given, so they nrod not be repeated 
 here. The remaining chapters have been written 
 merely from general acquaintance with South African 
 affairs acquired during many years' residence in the 
 country, and have not the same claim to be jgarded 
 as absolutely correct, though I have endeavuui d to 
 make them reliable. In preparing the bo( was 
 
 guided by the principle that truth should dl old, 
 regardless of nationalities or parties, and I strove to 
 the utmost to avoid anything like favour or pre- 
 judice. 
 
 Geo. M. Tiieal. 
 
 Capetown, 
 
 September, 1893. 
 
 vu 
 

 i^^^'^^' 
 
 r^^^ 
 
 CONTKNTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 AnCILNT iNMAlilTANTS OF SOUTll AFRICA 
 llullcnlols — Bantu — Cont;laiU warfare. 
 
 J'AGK 
 
 1-7 
 
 II. 
 
 Discovery of the South African Coast hy the 
 
 Portuguese ....... 8-16 
 
 Discoveries of ihe I'ortugut'sc^First shij)s in Tabic Hay — 
 Portuguese maps. 
 
 III. 
 
 Events that led to the Occupation of Table 
 
 Valley by the Dutch Easi' India Company 17 24 
 
 Rise of the Dutch Rei)uljlic — 'I'he Dutch East hulia Com- 
 pany — The Eastern trade route — Wreck of the Haarlem — 
 Advantages of Table N'alley — Loss of life by scurvy — Mr. 
 \'an Kiebeek. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Formation of a Refreshment Station in Table 
 Valley by the Dutch East India Com- 
 pany ... 25-31 
 
 Trade with Hottentots — The first cattle raid — Extension to 
 Kondebosch. 
 
 ix 
 
I ;l 
 
 -^^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 V. 
 
 Foundation of the Cape Colony 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 32-44 
 
 Introduction of slaves — Introduction of Asiatics — The first 
 Hottentot war — The first Church — Purchase of territory. 
 
 VI. 
 
 The Second Hottentot War and its Conse- 
 quences 45-59 
 
 Origin of the cattle farmers — Extension of the settlement — 
 Arrival of Huguenots — Form of government — System of 
 taxation — Exploration. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Progress of the Cape Colony from 1700 to 
 
 1750 ........ 60-79 
 
 Lifeof the early settlers— Wilhem Adrian van der Stel — First 
 outbreak of small-pox — System of Administration — Effort to 
 improve Table Bay — Growth of the settlement. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Course of Events in the Cape Colony fkom 
 
 1750 TO 1785 80-95 
 
 Second outbreak of small-]H)x — Exploration of Namaf|ua- 
 land — Villages in the colony—Tour of Governor Van I'let- 
 tenberg — First Kaffir war--A.rrival of French troops — Com- 
 plaints of the colonists — Agitation in the colony. 
 
 IX. 
 
 The End of the East India Company's Rule in 
 
 South Africa ...... 96-112 
 
 Reckless expenditure — Second Kaffir war — Churches in the 
 
!'Ac;e 
 
 32-44 
 
 e first 
 
 rsE- 
 
 45-59 
 
 ent — 
 m of 
 
 TO 
 
 60-79 
 
 ■First 
 
 Jlt lo 
 
 OM 
 
 8o-9S 
 
 iqua- 
 
 riet- 
 
 Jom- 
 
 IN 
 96-112 
 
 n the 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 colony— Afihirs in Kurope— Arrivnl of n m ;■ y r 
 
 XI 
 
 I'AfJE 
 
 X. 
 
 The First British Occupation 
 
 112-128 
 
 .hire! Kaffir ^ar "<^='-'"™"="™ ", Graaff-Rei„e._The 
 
 XI. 
 The Colony vur,m the Batav.an Republic ,.9-137 
 
 nenlings uilh Kosa chiefs— Allack l)v Ih^ r.-„„i- r r- ■ 
 .a.ion of Cape.„„„-Bepan„,: ^f Cclt^ JaSt:"^"^"- 
 
 Xlf. 
 
 Early Years of Eng 
 Africa 
 
 LiSH Rule in South 
 
 138-147 
 
 IWers of the Koven^or-Condition of the Hottentots- 
 
 a circuit court— Ces- 
 
 Fourth Kaffir war-Establishment of a 
 5>ion of the colony. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE^AnMm,srRAT,oN ok Lord Charles Somer- 
 
 148-161 
 
 K»igna.i„„ :flr^4J:;'„':;;^^ -Ulcr.-.Si«„. of p,o,,e.s- 
 
XI 1 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 I'ai;e 
 
 The Wars and Devastations of Tshaka . 162-174 
 
 Genius of Tshaka — The Mantati horde — Murder of Tshaka 
 — Rise of the Matabele power — Clenius of Moshesh — Con- 
 dition of the tribes in 1836. 
 
 XV. 
 
 Events in the Cape Colony from 1826 to 
 
 1835 175-194 
 
 Injudicious measures — The ivat river settlement — Condition 
 of the slaves — Emancipation of the slaves — Effects of the 
 emancipation — Treaty with Waterboer — Sixth Kaffir war — 
 The province of Queen Adelaide — Action of carl Glenelg. 
 
 Ii 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Great Emigration from the Cape Colony. Ex- 
 pulsion OF Mosklekatsk from 'ihe Terri- 
 tory South of the Limfopo . . . 195-203 
 
 Fate of the first party— Attack by the Matabeie— The fir t 
 constitution — Defeat of the Matabele. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Destruction of the Zulu Power and Founda- 
 tion of the Republic of Natal . . 204-218 
 
 Natal and Zululand in 1S37— Arrangement with Dingan — 
 Massacre of emigrants Desperate lighting Invasion of 
 Zululand — Death of Pieter Uys — Destruction of the Natal 
 Army — Arrival of Andries I'retorius — Defeat of a Zulu 
 army — Revolt of I'anda — Destruction of the Zulu j)o\ver — 
 Final defent of Dingan. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 Seizure of Natal by British Forces. Creation 
 OF Treaty States alonc. thk Frontier of 
 THE Cape Colony ..... 219-231 
 
 Conduct of the Natal government — .Siege of the British 
 Camp-'ReHef of the Hritish Camp— Project of treaty states 
 — The Griquas— Eff'-'Cts of the treaties. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Events to the Close of the Seventh Kaffir 
 
 War 232-243 
 
 Expedition to aid Adam Kok— Arrangement with Adam 
 Kok— Marks of progress— Seventh Kaffir war— Course of 
 the war — Results of the war. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Events during the Administration of Sir 
 
 Harry Smith 244-257 
 
 End of the treaty states — Battle of Boomplaats — Anti-con- 
 vict agitation— Eighth Kaffir war— Settlement of Bri -'ih 
 Kafi'raria. 
 
 )4-2l8 
 
 a! 
 u 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Acknowledgment hy Great Britain of the In- 
 dependence OF the South African Re- 
 public, AND Abandonment of 'iiie ()ran(;e 
 River Sovereignty 258-270 
 
 First Basuto war — The Sand River convention — Condition 
 of the Basuto tribe — Battle of Berca— Wise action of 
 Moshesh— Arrival of Sir Ceorge Clerk — Abandonment of the 
 Sovereignty — South Africa after 1854. 
 
: t 
 
 i 
 
 XIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XXII. 
 The Constitution of Cape Colony 
 
 The Cape parliament — The Dutch language. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 The Province of British Kaffraria 
 
 PAGE 
 271-276 
 
 . 277-289 
 
 Policy of Sir George Grey — Self-destruction of the Kosas — 
 Annexation to the Cape Colony. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 The Colony of Natal and the Dependency of 
 
 ZuLULAND ....... 290-312 
 
 Influx of Bantu — The Illubi tribe — Rebellion of Langali- 
 Lalele — Importation of Indians — Mode of life of Europeans 
 — Constitution of Natal — Cclewayo — Isandlwana — Invasion 
 of Zululand — Battle of Ulundi. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 The Orange Free State and Basutoland . 313-331 
 
 Presidents Hoffman and Boshof — Second Basuto war — Con- 
 duct of Moshesh — President Brand and Moshesh — Discovery 
 of Diamonds — Orange Free State and Basutoland — President 
 Brand's visit to England — Basutoland. 
 
 XXVI. 
 The South African Republic 
 
 332-352 
 
 Lawlessness — Dr. Livingstone — War with the Baramapu- 
 lana — President Burgers— Rebellion of the Bapedi — British 
 rule — Struggle for independence — British disasters— Rich 
 goldtields — Railways. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 XV 
 
 PAGE 
 271-276 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Dependencies of the Cape Colony 
 
 Transkeian territory — Ninth Kaffir war — I'orl St. John's 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 • 353-364 
 
 , 277-289 
 
 r>sas — 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Various Territories not already Descrihed 365-376 
 
 liritish Bechuanaland— Cliartcrcil Company's territory— Ger- 
 man sphere of inlluence — I'ortuguese possessions. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 r of 
 
 ■ 290-312 
 
 mgali- 
 ipeans 
 vasion 
 
 The Present Condition of the Cape Colony 377-3S7 
 
 Exports of South Africa — Missionary labour — Courts of jus- 
 tice — Motlern improvements — Need of European immigrants. 
 
 Chronological Table of Events . . . 388 
 Index . . 391 
 
 313-331 
 
 -Con- 
 
 overy 
 
 liident 
 
 332-352 
 
 apu- 
 itish 
 ■Kich 
 
<^ 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1'A(;e 
 MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA, 1893 . . . Facinsr I 
 
 GATEWAY OF THE CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE . Frontispiece 
 SOUTH AFRICA AS OCCUPIED BY BUSHMEN, HOTTEN- 
 TOTS, AND BANTU IN 1650 7 
 
 CROSS ERECTED BY DIAS ON PEDESTAL POINT . . 9 
 
 THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE II 
 
 PORTRAIT OF A BUSHMAN 1 6 
 
 TABLE MOUNTAIN AS SEEN FROM ROBBEN ISLAND . 24 
 
 PLAN OF THE CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE . . . . 4T 
 
 EXTENT OF THE SETTLEMENT IN I700 ... 58 
 
 SOUTH AFRICAN TENT WAGGON 62 
 
 HOUSE ON W. A. VAN DER STEL'S ESTATE ... 66 
 
 EXTENT OF THE CAPE COLONY IN 1750 ... 78 
 
 THE OLD BURGHER WATCH-HOUSE, CAPETOWN . . 84 
 
 CHURCH OF LAST CENTURY IN CAPETOWN . . . I02 
 
 SIMONSTOWN IN 1795 I06 
 
 SOUTH AFRICAN FARMHOUSE OF THE BETTER CLASS 
 
 IN 1795 114 
 
 EXTENT OF TERRITORY UNDER EUROPEAN RULE IN 
 
 1800 127 
 
 VIEW IN THE KOW'E VALLEY, BELOW GRAHAMSTOWN I44 
 
 FORT WILLSHIRE. BUILT, 1820 ; ABANDONED, 1837 . I54 
 
 A ZULU WARRIOR IN UNIFORM 163 
 
 PORTRAIT OF DINGAN 168 
 
 I* xvii 
 
I^i 
 
 i^ 
 
 * I 
 
 XVlll 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 THABA llOSIGO 
 
 PORTRAIT OF HI NTS A 
 
 UMKUNGUNHLOVU 
 
 SCENE IN PONDOLAND 
 
 GRIQUA MAN AND WOMEN 
 
 SCENE IN MONTAGU PASS 
 
 PORTRAIT OF SIR HARRY SMITH .... 
 EXTENT OF TERRITORY UNDER EUROPEAN RULE IN 
 
 1850 
 
 THE GIANT'S CUP, AS SEEN FROM THE SEAWARD SIDE 
 
 OF THE DRAKENSBERG 
 
 PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CAPETOWN .... 
 THE GREY HOSPITAL, KING-WILLIAMSTOWN . 
 PORT NATAL AN.J DURBAN IN i860 
 
 .SCENE IN ZULULAND 
 
 PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT BRAND .... 
 COMMON STYLE OF SOUTH AFRICAN FARMHOUSE 
 COMMON SOUTH AFRICAN BOULDER 
 THE BOYS' SCHOOL, LOVEDALE MISSIONARY INSTITU 
 
 TION 
 
 INNER DOCK, CAPETOWN 
 
 Z^ 
 
 I'AGF. 
 172 
 
 190' 
 
 206 
 
 226' 
 
 229 
 
 238 
 
 245; 
 
 256 
 264 
 
 27& 
 
 29S 
 3" 
 319 
 
 329 
 354 
 
 381 
 
 384 
 
I'AGF. 
 
 190' 
 206 
 226 
 229 
 
 238 
 245; 
 
 256 
 
 EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 
 
 264 
 278 
 
 298 
 
 311 
 
 329 
 
 354 
 
 381 
 3S4 
 
 Explanation of words in common use in South Africa, but 
 that may not be understood elsewhere, at least in the same 
 sense : — 
 
 Assai^mi, a javelin or dart used by the Hottentots and Bantu 
 in war and the chase. The word is a corruption of the 
 Portuguese '' azagaya," which was derived from the Latin 
 " hasta." 
 
 Boer, Dutch for a tiller of the ground. The word is applied 
 in this country to cattle-breeders as well as to agriculturists, 
 and is frequently used in the plural form to signify the whole 
 rural population of European blood speaking the Dutch lan- 
 guage. 
 
 Burgher, a European male, no matter where resident, who 
 is in possession of the franchise and liable to all public duties. 
 It corresponds to the civis Romanus of old. 
 
 Calabash, the hard rind of a gourd, used by the Bantu for 
 va.ious purposes, such as water-pots, jars, dishes, basins, snuff- 
 boxes, &:c. 
 
 Cojiunando, a body of burghers called out for military pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Hcemraden, burghers appointed by the government to act 
 as assessors in the district courts of justice. A Dutch word. 
 
 Induna, an officer of high rank under a Bantu chief. The 
 word is Zulu. 
 
 Kraal, a cattle-fold. The word is a corruption of the 
 Portuguese "curral." It is also used to signify a collection of 
 
 xix 
 
I 
 
 XX 
 
 EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 
 
 either Hottentot or Bantu huts, as these are usually built in a 
 circle, within which the cattle are kept at night. 
 
 Ldi^er, a Dutch wnd meaning an enclosure for protective 
 purposes, such as a circular wall of stone, or a number of 
 waggons lashed together. 
 
 Landdrost, a stipendiary magistrate, v ' " r.inisters justice 
 and receives the revenue of a district. . . ,ord is Dutch. 
 
 Tsetse^ a fly whose sting destroys domestic cattle, but has no 
 effect upon wild animals. The word comes from one of the 
 Bantu dialects. The tsetse disappears from a district when the 
 game is exterminated or driven away. 
 
 Vol/csrand, a Dutch word meaning the people's council, an 
 elected legislative body. 
 
Lially built in a 
 
 for protective 
 a number of 
 
 nisters justice 
 is Dutch, 
 le, but has no 
 m one of the 
 :rict when the 
 
 's council, an 
 
 i 
 

 ! 1 
 
 li 
 
 I? 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 1893. 
 
 Scale OF English Miles 
 
 100 50 O lf)0 200 
 
 :_r 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 T. Fisher Unwin, Paternoster Square, E.G. 
 
THE STORY OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 v?C^ 
 
 I. 
 
 ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 The aborigines of South Africa were savages 
 of a very low type. They were pigmies in 
 size, yellowish-brown in colour, hollow-backed, and 
 with skins so loose that in times of famine their 
 bodies were covered with wrinkles and flaps. On 
 their heads were rows of little tufts of wiry hair 
 hardly larger than peppercorns, and leaving the 
 greater portion of the surface bald. Their faces 
 were broad in a line with the eyes, their cheeks 
 were hollow, and they had flat noses, thick lips, 
 and receding chins. They anointed their bodies 
 with grease when any was obtainable, and then 
 painted themselves with soot or coloured clay. The 
 clothing of the males was the skin of an animal hung 
 loosely over the shoulders, and often cast aside ; that 
 of the females was little more than a small leathern 
 apron. To the eye of a European no people in any 
 part of the world were more unattractive. 
 
 3 I 
 
■i»y».> 
 
RITISH PROTECTORATE 
 
 Moldpoluk'g 
 
 I 
 
 .^j^^iLi^, //yruV PRETORiii :: .. .1. -fa^- r 4 yun,,c;;;rr^--=~ 
 
 BRIT ISH 
 
 J Joliann*"'^'^/' II,?; I Vi ,r^ii 
 
 f^dGOAB^L^'' ^^Eif 
 
 A 
 
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 \ rvlmr^, • 
 tECHUANALANbl..'' 
 
 [^ o r/a n g e 
 
 - oU ■ -^ 
 
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 v\^AW ^^^^«.■>.».^*-^r^,^- I i^* |' 
 
 
 VJ^WARITZBURO 
 
 flhir] 
 
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 'V'^'^^'"'"''-'- 
 
 V \v,s (.nil 1 
 
 > \M 1 I I 1 1 I 
 
 I i;u//uiS 
 
 
 J'ortAlfr,;{ 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 1893. 
 
 100 "iO 
 
 ScALF cjF English Miles 
 
 O K)0 
 
 ■ 
 
 200 
 
 ^__r 
 
 25 
 
 •■;5 
 
 !<J 
 
 ;i5 
 
 London T. Fisher Unwin, Paternoster Square. EC. 
 
ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 I i 
 
 These savages were thinly scattered over every 
 part of the country from a very remote period, for 
 implements — sucli as arrow-heads and perforated 
 stones similar to those which they had in use when 
 white men first met them — have been found in posi- 
 tions where the overlying materials must have been 
 undisturbed for an incalculable time. The Bushmen 
 — as the pigmies are termed by Europeans — had no 
 domestic animal but the dog, and they made no effort 
 to cultivate the soil. They lived by the chase and 
 upon wild plants, honey, locusts, and carrion. 
 
 They were without other government than parental, 
 and even that was not respected after they were able 
 to provide for themselves. So weak in frame as to 
 be incapable of toil, they possessed great keenness of 
 vision for detecting objects at a distance, and marvel- 
 lous fleetness of foot and power of endurance in the 
 chase. Their weapon of offence was a feeble bow, 
 but the arrow-head was coated with poison so deadly 
 that the slightest wound was mortal. 
 
 In addition to the Bushmen there lived on South 
 African .soil, from a period long anterior to the arrival 
 of Europeans, a body of people much more ad- 
 vanced towards civilisation, the people now known 
 as Hottentots. Where they came from, and how 
 they got here, are questions that no one has yet 
 been able to answer. Some have supposed that 
 they sprang originally from a Bushman stock, others 
 that the Bushmen were simply Hottentots who 
 became degraded by the loss of their domestic cattle, 
 but neither of these theories is now tenable. It has 
 been ascertained that their languages are differently 
 
CA. 
 
 HOTTENTOTS. 
 
 ;r every 
 riod, for 
 jrforated 
 se when 
 in posi- 
 ive been 
 Bushmen 
 -had no 
 no effort 
 hase and 
 
 parental, 
 were able 
 me as to 
 ;enness of 
 d marvel- 
 ice in the 
 sble bow, 
 so deadly 
 
 on South 
 he arrival 
 more ad- 
 w known 
 and how 
 has yet 
 sed that 
 ;k, others 
 ;ots who 
 jtic cattle. 
 It has 
 ifferently 
 
 constructed, though both abound with clicks. The 
 Bushman was a strict monogamist, the Hottentot 
 customs admitted of polygamy. Then their skull 
 measurements do not correspond. The head of the 
 Hottentot is longer and narrower than that of the 
 Bushman, and his face is more prognathous. The 
 lower jaw of the Bushman is only surpassed in feeble- 
 ness by that of the Australian black, while that of the 
 Hottentot, though far from massive, is much better 
 developed. The Bushman ear is without a lobe, 
 which the Hottentot ear possesses, and the cranial 
 capacity of the Hottentot is higher. 
 
 On the other hand, against these differences several 
 points of resemblance can be placed. The colour of 
 the skin is the same, and the little balls of wiry hair 
 with open spaces between them are in general 
 common to both, though sometimes the head of a 
 Hottentot is more thickly covered. The one has 
 small hands and feet, and so has the other. Their 
 power of imagination is .similar, and differs greatly 
 from that of other Africans. 
 
 All this seems to point to the supposition that at 
 a time now far in the past an intruding body of 
 males of some unknown race took to themselves 
 consorts of Bushman blood, and from the union 
 sprang the Hottentot tribes of Southern Africa. 
 There are other reasons for this conjecture, but they 
 need not be given here. 
 
 The Hottentots were never very numerous, and 
 they occupied only the strip of land along the coast 
 and the banks of the Orange river and some of its 
 tributaries. There was a constant and deadly feud 
 
4 ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 between them and the Bushmen. Only in one 
 locality — along the banks of the lower Vaal — are 
 they known to have mixed in blood with those 
 people in modern times, and in that case the amal- 
 gamation arose from wars in which the vanquished 
 males were exterminated and the females were 
 seized as spoil. 
 
 They lived in communities under the government 
 of chiefs, who, however, possessed very limited 
 authority, for public opinion was freely expressed, 
 and was the supreme law. They depended mainly 
 upon the milk of cows and ewes for their subsistence, 
 and did not practice agriculture in any form. Their 
 horned cattle were gaunt and bony, and their sheep 
 were covered with hair — not wool — and had fatty 
 tails of great weight. Their only other domestic 
 animal was the dog. The men lived in almost 
 perfect indolence, moving with their herds and flocks 
 from one place to another as pasture failed ; and 
 when the supply of milk was insufficient it fell to 
 the lot of the women to gather bulbs and roots with 
 which to eke out an existence. The huts in which 
 they slept were slender frames of wood covered with 
 mats, and could be taken down and set up again 
 tilmost as quickly as tents. 
 
 These nearly naked people, living in idleness and 
 filthiness indescribable, were yet capable of improve- 
 ment. During the last century a vast amount of 
 missionary labour has been concentrated upon the 
 natives of South Africa, and though to the present 
 day there is not a single instance of a Bushman of 
 pure blood having permanently adopted European 
 
 h 
 e: 
 
lie A. 
 
 BANTU. 
 
 in one 
 aal — are 
 ;h those 
 le amal- 
 nquished 
 es were 
 
 rernment 
 limited 
 repressed, 
 d mainly 
 Dsistence, 
 I. Their 
 eir sheep 
 lad fatty- 
 domestic 
 almost 
 
 K 
 
 flocks 
 ed ; and 
 fell to 
 oots with 
 in which 
 red with 
 ip again 
 
 ness and 
 improve- 
 nount of 
 pon the 
 
 present 
 iman of 
 
 uropean 
 
 habits, the Hottentots have done so to a considerable 
 extent. They have not indeed shown a capacity to 
 rise to the highest level of civilised life, but they have 
 reached a stage much above that of barbarism. 
 
 Before the arrival of Europeans yet another branch 
 of the human family was beginning to press into 
 South Africa. Tribes of stalwart people practising 
 agriculture and metallurgy, under strict government 
 and with an elaborate system of law, were moving 
 down from the north, and by the middle of the 
 seventeenth century had reached the upper tributaries 
 of the Orange river and the mouth of the Kei. 
 
 These people formed part of the great Bantu 
 family, which occupies the whole of Central Africa 
 from the Atlantic to the Indian ocean. They were 
 certainly of mixed blood, and one branch of their 
 ancestors must have been of a very much higher 
 type than the other. This is shown in various ways. 
 Among them at the present day are individuals with 
 perfect Asiatic features, born of parents with the 
 negro cast of countenance. In almost any little 
 community may be found men only moderately 
 brown in colour, while their nearest relatives are 
 deep black. Here and there one may be seen with 
 a thick full beard, though the great majority have 
 almost hairless cheeks and chins. And a still 
 stronger proof of a mixed ancestry of very unequal 
 capability is afforded by the fact that most of these 
 people seem unable to rise to the European level of 
 civilisation, though not a few individuals have shown 
 themselves possessed of mental power equal to that 
 of white men. 
 
6 ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 These Bantu were of a healthy and vigorous stock, 
 and were probably the most prolific people on the 
 face of the earth. The tribes were seldom at peace 
 with each other, and great numbers of individuals 
 perished yearly through charges of dealing in 
 sorcery, but the losses thus sustained were made 
 good by a custom which provided that every adult 
 female should be married. There was no limit to 
 the number of wives a man could have, and thus in 
 a state of society where the females outnumbered 
 the males, all were provided for. 
 
 The three classes of people referred to in this 
 chapter enjoyed the lives they were leading quite as 
 much as Europeans do, though their pleasures were 
 of a lower kind. Given freedom from disease and 
 a slain antelope, and there could be no merrier 
 creature than a Bushman. He was absolutely devoid 
 of harassing cares. A Hottentot kraal in the clear 
 moonlight of Africa, with men, women, and children 
 dancing to the music of reeds, was a scene of the 
 highest hilarity. The Bantu woman, tending her 
 garden by day, and preparing food in the evening 
 which she may not partake of herself until her 
 husband and his friends have eaten, is regarded as 
 an unhappy drudge by her European sister. In her 
 own opinion her lot is far more enviable than that of 
 the white woman, whom she regards as being always 
 in a state of anxiety. 
 
 The chief element of disturbance in their lives was 
 war. The hand of the Bushman was always against 
 every man, and every man's hand was against him. 
 The Hottentot tribes were continually robbing each 
 
 Y 
 
RICA. 
 
 CONSTANT WARFARE. 
 
 Dus stock, 
 Ic on the 
 at peace 
 idividuals 
 laling in 
 2re made 
 ery adult 
 limit to 
 id thus in 
 lumbered 
 
 3 in this 
 l quite as 
 Lires were 
 ;ease and 
 
 merrier 
 \y devoid 
 the clear 
 
 children 
 le of the 
 iing her 
 
 evening 
 jntil her 
 arded as 
 In her 
 n that of 
 ^ always 
 
 lives was 
 ; against 
 nst him. 
 ing each 
 
 other of cattle and women, and on their eastern 
 border were struggling in vain against the advanc- 
 ing Bantu. Every Bantu clan was usually at feud 
 with its nearest neighbours, whoever these might be. 
 But life without excitement is insipid to the savage 
 
 lVa///sA Bay 
 
 SWe/enaBay 
 
 rab/e Say^^^/^^y^^p^i^/ 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA AS OCCUPIED BY BUSHMEN, HOTTENTOTS, AND BANTU IN 165O. 
 
 Bushmen were the only inhabitants of the parts unmarked, and they lived also in all 
 the nigged and mountainous sections of the parts occupied by Hottentots and 
 Hanlii. The territory in which the Hottentots roamed with their cattle is marked 
 ^, and the territory occupied by the Bantu .j^.-] 
 
 as well as to the civilised man, and these wars and 
 animosities, though sometimes causing great suffering 
 and loss of life, in ger'^ral provided just that excite- 
 ment which was needed to prevent the minds of the 
 people from sinking into complete stagnation. 
 
II. 
 
 ii 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAST BY THE 
 
 PORTUGUESE. 
 
 In i486 two little vessels, under command of an 
 officer named Bartholomew Dias, sailed from Portugal 
 in search of an ocean road to India. Pushing his 
 way down the western coast^ Dias passed the farthest 
 point previously known, and sailing onward with 
 the land always in sight came to an inlet of no great 
 depth with a group of islets at its entrance. There 
 he cast anchor, and for the first time Christian men 
 trod the soil of Africa south of the tropic. 
 
 The inlet has ever since borne the name Angra 
 Pequena, or Little Bay, which its discoverer gave to 
 it. The surrounding country was a desolate waste 
 of sand, and no signs of human life were seen, nor 
 w ' other refreshment than seabirds' eggs obtainable. 
 Having set up a cross as a mark of possession for his 
 king, the Portuguese commander proceeded on his 
 voyage. He tried to keep the land in sight, but 
 when he was somewhere near the mouth of the 
 Orange river a gale from the north sprang up, and 
 for thirteen days he was driven helplessly before it. 
 
BY THE 
 
 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. Q 
 
 As soon as it abated the prows of the vessels were 
 turned to the east, with a view of getting near the 
 shore again, but after sailing a long time without 
 reaching land Dias began to think that he must 
 either have passed the end of the continent or have 
 entered a great gulf like that of Guinea. 
 
 He therefore changed the course to north, and 
 after a while came in sight of the coast, which he 
 found trending away to the east. The exact spot 
 where he made the land cannot be stated, but it was 
 
 d of an 
 Portugal 
 ing his 
 farthest 
 d with 
 lO great 
 There 
 ^n men 
 
 Angra 
 ^ave to 
 waste 
 en, nor 
 linable. 
 for his 
 on his 
 it, but 
 of the 
 ip, and 
 "ore it. 
 
 CROSS ERECTED HY DIAS ON PEDESTAL POINT. 
 
 {From a Sketch by H. M. Piers.) 
 
 one of the curves in the seaboard between Cape 
 Agulhas and the Knysna. Large herds of cattle 
 were seen, which the natives drove inland with haste, 
 as they seemed in terror of the ships. It was not 
 found possible to open intercourse with the wild 
 people. 
 
 Sailing again eastward Dias reached an islet where 
 he found fresh water and where he set up another 
 cross. It was the islet in Algoa Bay which is still 
 
lO 
 
 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
 
 II Hi 
 
 called on that account Santa Cruz, or, as it is usually 
 written in the French form, St. Croix. Here the 
 sailors objected to proceed farther, and it was with 
 difficulty that they were induced to press on a couple 
 of days longer. At the mouth of a river — either the 
 Kowie or the Fish — the expedition turned homeward, 
 and on its way back discovered a bold headland 
 which Dias named the Cape of Storms, but which 
 was renamed by King John the Second the Cape 
 of Good Hope. As seen from the sea this cape is 
 much more conspicuous than Agulhas, the true 
 southern extremity of the continent. 
 
 Ten years passed away after the return of Dias 
 to Portugal before an expedition was fitted out to 
 follow up the discovery he had made. Four small 
 vessels were then made ready, and were placed under 
 command of Vasco da Gama, a man of proved 
 ability. 
 
 It was not quite five years after Columbus sailed 
 from Palos to discover a new continent in the west, 
 when Da Gama's little fleet put to sea from the 
 Tagus. Five months and a half later he reached a 
 curve in the African coast about one hundred and 
 twenty miles north of the Cape of Good Hope, to 
 which he gave the name St. Helena Bay. Here he 
 landed and by a little strategy managed to obtain 
 an interview with a party of natives, whose friendship 
 he tried to secure by making them presents of 
 trinkets. All went well for a time, but at length a 
 misunderstanding arose, which resulted in the Por- 
 tuguese attacking the natives, and in a skirmish Da 
 Gama himself and three others were wounded with 
 
s usually 
 Icrc the 
 /as with 
 a couple 
 ither the 
 meward, 
 eadland 
 t which 
 le Cape 
 cape is 
 he true 
 
 of Dias 
 
 out to 
 
 r small 
 
 d under 
 
 proved 
 
 > sailed 
 le west, 
 )m the 
 chcd a 
 d and 
 Dpe, to 
 ere he 
 obtain 
 ndship 
 nts of 
 igth a 
 ; Por- 
 sh Da 
 II with 
 
12 
 
 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
 
 assagais. Such was the first intercourse between 
 white men and Hottentots. 
 
 On the 17th of November 1497 Da Gama set sail 
 from St. Helena Bay, and three days later doubled 
 the Cape of Good Hope in fine weather. Turning 
 eastward, he anchored next at a cape which he named 
 St. Bras, and which is probably the same as the 
 present St. Blaize. There he found a number of 
 natives similar in appearance to those he had first 
 seen, but who showed so little symptom of alarm that 
 they crowded on the beach and scrambled for any- 
 thing that was thrown to them. From these people 
 some sheep were obtained in barter, but they would 
 not sell any horned cattle. 
 
 Keeping within sight of the shore, on the 25th of 
 December Da Gama passed by a beautiful land, to 
 which he gave the name Natal, in memory of the day 
 when Christian men first saw it. 
 
 On the 6th of January 1498 the fleet reached the 
 mouth of a river which enters the sea on the northern 
 side of Delagoa Bay. Here the Portuguese landed, 
 and found a friendly people, black in colour, who 
 brought copper, ivory, and provisions for sale. During 
 the five days that the fleet remained at this place 
 nothing occurred to disturb the frier" -^V intercourse 
 between the Portuguese and the Bantu residents. 
 
 Sailing again, Da Gama next touched ac Sofala, 
 where he found people who had dealings with Arabs, 
 and thence he continued his voyage until he reached 
 India. 
 
 The highway to the East being now open, every 
 year fleets sailed to and from Portugal. In a short 
 
FIRST SHIPS IN TABLE BAY. 
 
 13 
 
 between 
 
 set sail 
 doubled 
 rurning 
 i named 
 
 as the 
 Tiber of 
 ad first 
 rm that 
 or any- 
 
 people 
 / would 
 
 25th of 
 and, to 
 the day 
 
 led the 
 
 orthern 
 
 landed, 
 
 ir, who 
 
 During 
 
 I place 
 
 rcourse 
 
 ;s. 
 
 Sofala, 
 
 Arabs, 
 
 sached 
 
 every 
 short 
 
 time the Indian seas fell entirely under Portuguese 
 dominion, and an immense trade was opened up. 
 
 In 1503 a small fleet, under command of an officer 
 named Antonio de Saldanha, put into a bay on the 
 African coast that had never been entered before. 
 On one side rose a great mass of rock, over three 
 thousand feet in height, with its top making a level 
 line more than a mile in length on the sky. This 
 grand mountain was flanked at either end with peaks 
 less lofty, supported by buttresses projecting towards 
 the shore. The recess was a capacious valley, down 
 the centre of which flowed a stream of clear sweet 
 water. The valley seemed to be without people, but 
 after a while some Hottentots made their appearance, 
 from whom a cow and two sheep were purchased. 
 
 Saldanha himself climbed to the top of the great 
 flat rock, to which he gave the name Table Mountain. 
 The bay in which he anchored was thereafter called 
 after him the watering place of Saldanha, until nearly 
 a century later it received from the Dutch sea-captani 
 Joris van Spilbergen its present name of Table Bay. 
 
 No effort was made to explore the interior of the 
 country, and, indeed, setting aside danger from the 
 natives, it would have been beyond the power of any 
 man to have gone far from the coast at this period. 
 The land rises in a series of steps fiom the seashore 
 to a great interior plain, and until that plain was 
 reached the traveller would have had everywhere a 
 rugged and seemingly impassable range of mountains 
 before him. If by great exertion he had made his 
 way to the summit of one, he would have found him- 
 self on the edge of a broken plateau, with another 
 
14 
 
 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
 
 1 I! 
 
 range 
 
 the front of another terrace — shutting in his 
 view. It follows from this conformation of the country 
 that there are no navigable rivers. The streams — 
 even the very largest — are all of the nature of moun- 
 tain torrents, obstructed with rapids and falls, and 
 varying in volume with rain and drought. There is 
 an utter absence of secure natural harbours on the 
 coast, except in positions where they could be of little 
 service in the early days of exploration. And, in 
 addition to all this, a very large portion of the land 
 along the western seaboard, as well as of the interior 
 plains, is so arid that it could only be traversed by 
 degrees, as its slender resources became known. 
 
 In returning with the fleet which left India at the 
 close of 1509, Francisco d'Almeida, first Portuguese 
 viceroy of the eastern seas, put into Table Bay for the 
 purpose of obtaining water and refreshing his people. 
 Some natives appeared on the beach, and a party of 
 ships' people went ashore to barter some cattle from 
 them. Traffic was carried on for a time in a friendly 
 manner, but at length a quarrel arose, and two white 
 men were badly beaten. This caused an outcry for 
 vengeance, to which D'Almeida unfortunately lent a 
 willing ear. 
 
 Next morning, ist of March 15 10, the viceroy 
 landed with one hundred and fifty men armed with 
 swords and lances. They marched to a kraal and 
 seized some cattle, which they were driving away 
 when the Hottentots, supposed to be about one 
 hundred and seventy in number, attacked them. 
 The weapons of the Portuguese were useless against 
 the fleet-footed natives, who poured upon the invaders 
 
 i'( 
 
PORTUGUESE MAPS. 
 
 15 
 
 a shower of missiles. A panic followed. Most fled 
 towards the boats as the only means of safety ; a few, 
 who were too proud to retreat before savages, at- 
 tempted in vain to defend themselves. The viceroy 
 was struck down with knobbed sticks and stabbed in 
 the throat with an assagai. Sixty-five of the best 
 men in the fleet perished on that disastrous day, and 
 hardly any of those who reached the boats escaped 
 without wounds. 
 
 After this event the Portuguese avoided South 
 Africa as much as possible. With them the country 
 had the reputation of being inhabited by the most 
 ferocious of savages, and of furnishing nothing valu- 
 able for trade. Their fleets doubled the continent 
 year after year, but seldom touched at any port south 
 of Sofala. They made a practice of calling for re- 
 freshment at the island of St. Helena, which had been 
 discovered in 1502, and then pressing on to Mozam- 
 bique without a break, whenever it was possible to 
 do so. They never attempted to form a station below 
 Delagoa Bay. 
 
 Now and again, however, their ships were driven 
 by stress of weather to seek a poit, and occasionally 
 a wreck took place. Curiosity also prompted some 
 of them, and orders from the king required others, to 
 inspect the coast and make tracings of it. The prin- 
 cipal bights and headlands thus acquired names. 
 Nearly all of these have been replaced by others, 
 Dutch or English, but a few remain to our day. 
 
 With the regions north of the fifteenth parallel of 
 latitude the Portuguese were well acquainted. Their 
 traders crossed the continent from Angola to Mozam- 
 
i6 
 
 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
 
 y 
 
 bique, and the quantity of gold which they exported 
 from their factories on the eastern coast shows that 
 they must have had an intimate knowledge of the 
 territory along the Zambesi. But of the interior of 
 the country south of the tropic they knew absolutely 
 nothir*^, and what they imagined and laid down on 
 their maps was so very incorrect that after the terri- 
 tory was explored the whole of their delineations of 
 Africa were regarded as valueless. 
 
 
 PORTRAIT OF A BUSHMAN. 
 
E. 
 
 exported 
 lows that 
 ge of the 
 nterior of 
 ibsolutely 
 down on 
 the terri- 
 ations of 
 
 III. 
 
 p:vents that led to the occupation of table 
 valley by the dutch east indlv company. 
 
 After a long interval English, Dutch, and French 
 ships followed the Portuguese to India. Drake and 
 Candish passed in sight of the Cape of Good Hope 
 when homeward bound on their celebrated voyages 
 round the world, but did not land on the African 
 coast. In July 159 1 the English flag was seen there 
 for the first time. Three ships — the pioneers of the 
 vast fleets that have since followed the same course — 
 then put into Table Bay on their way to India. Their 
 crews, who were suffering from scurvy, obtained good 
 refreshment, as in addition to wild fowl, shellfish, and 
 plants of various kinds, they bartered some oxen and 
 sheep from Hottentots. One of the ships, commanded 
 by Captain James Lancaster, reached India in safety, 
 another returned to England shorthanded from Table 
 Bay, and the third went down in a gale at sea some- 
 where off the southern coast. 
 
 In 1601 the first fleet fitted out by the English 
 East India Company, under command of the same 
 Captain James Lancaster mentioned above, put into 
 
 3 '7 
 
i ! 
 
 i8 
 
 RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC. 
 
 Table Bay on its outward passage. Thereafter for 
 several years the fleets of this Company made Table 
 Bay a port of call and refreshment, and their crews 
 usually procured in barter from the natives as many 
 cattle as they needed. 
 
 During the closing years of the sixteenth century 
 the people who were destined to form the first 
 European settlement in South Africa were engaged 
 in a gallant struggle for freedom against the powerful 
 Spanish monarchy. The northern Netherland pro- 
 vinces had entered the sisterhood of nations as a free 
 republic which was rapidly becoming the foremost 
 commercial power of the age. While the struggle 
 was being carried on, Portugal came under the 
 dominion of the king of Spain, and the Dutch were 
 then excluded from Lisbon, where they had previously 
 obtained such eastern products as they needed. Some 
 of their adventurous merchants then thought of direct 
 trade with India, but it was not until 1595 that a fleet 
 under the republican flag passed the Cape of Good 
 Hope. It consisted "^f four vessels, and was under 
 an oflic^jr named Cornells Houtman. This fleet 
 touched at Mossel Bay, where refreshm.ent was pro- 
 cured, the intercourse between the strangers and the 
 natives being friendly. 
 
 After Houtman's return to Europe, several com- 
 panies were formed in different towns of the Nether- 
 lands, for the purpose of trading with the Indies. No 
 fresh discoveries on the African coast were made by 
 any of the fleets which they sent out, but to some of 
 the bays new names were given. Thus Paul van 
 Caerdcn, an officer in the service of the New Brabant 
 
THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 19 
 
 Company, when returning to Europe in 1601, gave 
 their present names to Mossel, Flesh, and Fish bays, 
 all of which he entered. 
 
 The fleets sent out by the different small companies 
 gained surprising successes over the Portuguese in 
 India, but as they did not act in concert no perma- 
 nent conquests could be made. For this reason, as 
 well as to prevent rivalry and to conduct the trade in 
 a manner the most advantageous to the people of the 
 whole republic, the states-general resolved to unite all 
 the weak associations in one great company with 
 many privileges and large powers. The charter was 
 issued at the Hague on the 20th of March 1602, and 
 gave the Company power to make treaties with Indian 
 governments, to build fortresses, appoint civil and 
 military officers, and enlist troops. The Company 
 was subject to have its transactions reviewed by 
 the states-general, otherwise it had almost sovereign 
 power. The subscribed capital was rather over half a 
 million pounds sterling. Offices for the transaction 
 of business, or chambers as they were termed, were 
 established at Amsterdam, Middelburg, Delft, Rotter- 
 dam, Hoorn, and Enkhuizen. 
 
 The general control was confic^ed to an assembly 
 of seventeen directors, whose sessions were held at 
 Amsterdam for six successive years, then at Middel- 
 burg for two years, then at Amsterdam again for six 
 years, and so on. 
 
 The profits made by the Company during the early 
 years of its existence were enormous. The Portuguese 
 ships, factories, and possessions of all kinds in India 
 were fair prize of war, and the most valuable were 
 
11 : 
 
 I' 
 
 I 
 
 20 
 
 THE EASTERN TRADE ROUTE. 
 
 M\ 
 
 i\ 
 
 li ' 
 
 shortly in the hands of the Dutch. Every year fleets 
 of richly laden ships under the flag of the Nether- 
 lands passed the Cape of Good Hope outward and 
 homeward bound. 
 
 In i6iq the directors of the English East India 
 Company proposed to the assembly of seventeen that 
 they should jointly build a fort and establish a place 
 of refreshment somewhere on the South African 
 coast. This proposal did not find favour in Holland, 
 and each company then resolved to form a station of 
 its own. Instructions were issued to the commanders 
 of the next outward-bound fleets of both nations to 
 examine the seaboard and report upon the most suit- 
 able places for the purpose. Thus it happened that 
 in 1620 two English captains, bv name Fitzherbert 
 and Shillinge, inspected Table Bay, and believing 
 that no better place could be found, they proclaimed 
 the adjoining country under the sovereignty of King 
 James. They did not leave any force to keep posses- 
 sion, however, and the directors in London having 
 changed their views with regard to a station in South 
 Africa, the proclamation of Fitzherbert and Shillinge 
 was never ratified. English ships still continued oc- 
 casionally to call for the purpose of taking i.i fresh 
 water, but from this time onward the island of St. 
 Helena became their usual place of refreshment. 
 
 The assembly of seventeen also allowed its resolu- 
 tion concerning the establishment of a station in 
 South Africa to fall through at this time. Some of 
 the advantages of such a station were already in its 
 possession, and the expense of building a fort and 
 maintaining a garrison might be too high a price to 
 
WRECK OF THE HAARLEM. 
 
 21 
 
 pay for anything additional that could be had. Its 
 fleets usually put into Table Bay for the purpose of 
 taking in fresh water, giving the crews a run on land, 
 catching fish, and getting the latest intelligence from 
 the places they were bound to. Letters were buried 
 on shore, and notices of the places where they were 
 deposited were marked on :onspicuous stones. 
 
 Table Valley was also sometimes occupied for 
 months together by parties of Dutch seal hunters 
 and whale fishers. Among others, in i6i i Isaac le 
 Maire, after whom the straits of Le Maire are 
 named, left his son with some seamen here for this 
 purpose. 
 
 Early in 1648 the Haarlem^ a ship belonging to the 
 East India Company, put into Table Bay for refresh- 
 ment, and in a gale was driven on the Blueberg 
 beach. The crew got safely to land, and succeeded 
 in saving their own effects and the cargo. When 
 everything was secured against stormy weather they 
 removed to Table Valley as a better place for an 
 encampment, leaving only a guard with the stores. 
 Beside a stream of fresh water, somewhere near the 
 centre of the present city of Capetown, they made 
 themselves huts, and threw up an earthen bank for 
 shelter around them. The rainy season was setting 
 in, and as they happened to have various seeds with 
 them they made a garden and soon had abundance 
 of vegetables. They were fortunate also in being able 
 to procure in barter f om the natives more meat than 
 they needed, so that their experience of South Africa 
 led them to believe that it was a fruitful and pleasant 
 land. After they had been here nearly six months a 
 
22 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF TABLE VALLEY. 
 
 fleet returning home put in, and took then on to 
 Europe. 
 
 Upon their arrival in the Netherlands, Leendert 
 Janssen and Nicholas Proot, two of the Haarlems 
 officers, drew up and presented to the chamber of 
 Amsterdam a document in which they set forth the 
 advantages that they believed the Company might 
 derive from a station in Table Valley. This docu- 
 ment was referred by the chamber of Amsterdam to 
 the directors, who, after calling for the opinions of 
 the other chambers and finding them favourable, in 
 August 1650 resolved to form such a station as was 
 proposed. A committee was instructed to draw up a 
 plan, and when this was discussed and approved of, 
 three vessels were made ready to bring the men and 
 the materials to South Africa. 
 
 The post of commander of the station about to be 
 formed was offered to Nicholas Proot, and upon his 
 declining it, a ship's surgeon named Jan van Riebeek, 
 who had been for some time in the Company's service 
 and had visited many countries, was selected for the 
 office. A better selection could hardly have been 
 made. Mr. Van Riebeek was not a man of high 
 education or of refined manners, but he was indus- 
 trious and possessed of good natural ability. He had 
 been in Table Bay with the fleet in which the Haar- 
 leins crew returned home, and upon the document 
 drawn up by Janssen and Proot being submitted to 
 him for an opinion, he endorsed all that was in it con- 
 cerning the capabilities of the country. 
 
 Things were not done in such haste in those days 
 as they are now, and the year 165 1 had nearly come 
 
LOSS OF LIFE BY SCURVY. 
 
 23 
 
 to an end before the three vessels set sail from Texel. 
 It must not be supposed fhat they were bringing 
 people to South Africa with the intention of founding 
 a colony, for nothing was then further from the 
 thoughts of the directors of the East India Company. 
 Their object was merely to form a refreshment station 
 for the fleets passing to and from the eastern seas. 
 
 Six months was considered a quick passage between 
 the ports of the Netherlands and the roads of Batavia, 
 where their ultimate destination was made known to 
 the skippers by the governor-general and council of 
 India ; and it was no uncommon circumstance for 
 one-third of the crews to have perished and another 
 third to be helpless with scurvy when the ships 
 arrived there. The loss of life was appalling, as the 
 Indiamen '^ere fighting as well as trading vessels, and 
 usually left Europe with two or three hundred men. 
 The crews were very largely composed of recruits 
 from Germany and the maritime states of Europe, or 
 the population of the Netherlands could not have 
 borne such a tremendous drain of men for any length 
 of time. 
 
 Table Bay was regarded as two-thirds of the dis- 
 tance from Amsterdam to Batavia, and the directors 
 thought that by establishing a refreshment station 
 on its shores many lives could be saved and much 
 suffering be avoided. The design was first to make a 
 large garden and raise in it vegetables for the supply 
 of the fleets, secondly to barter oxen and sheep from 
 the Hottentots for the same purpose, and thirdly to 
 build a great hospital in which sick men could be left 
 to recover their health. 
 
24 
 
 MR. VAN RIEBEEK. 
 
 Every man at the station was to be a servant of the 
 East India Company. Mr. Van Riebeek, who had the 
 title of commander, was to hold a position similar to 
 that of a sergeant in charge of a small military out- 
 post at some distance from the head-quarters of a 
 regiment. Every admiral of a fleet mat called was to 
 supersede him for the time being, and he had hardly 
 any discretionary power even when no superior officer 
 was present. 
 
 1 
 
 TAIU.E MOUNTAIN AS SEEN FROM ROBBEN ISLAND. 
 
 \0M DEP^/f^^ 
 
 ARY, "^•^^ 
 8 1803 
 
it of the 
 had the 
 nilar to 
 ary out- 
 :rs of a 
 1 was to 
 1 hardly 
 r officer 
 
 IV. 
 
 D. 
 
 FORMATION OF A 
 TABLE VALLEY 
 COMPANY. 
 
 REFRESHMENT STATION IN 
 BY THE DUTCH EAST INDIA 
 
 In April 1652 Mr. Van Riebeek and his people 
 arrived, and at once set about the construction of a 
 fort by raising banks of earth round a hollow square, 
 within which they erected some wooden sheds brought 
 from Holland. The rainy season at and near the 
 Cape of Good Hope usually commences in the month 
 of April, but this year the summer drought lasted 
 until towards the close of May, and consequently 
 there was a good deal of suffering among the people. 
 Scurvy was showing itself and no sorrel or wild plants 
 of any kind could be found, nor could a garden be 
 made. . 
 
 The only permanent inhabitants of the Cape pen- 
 insula when the Dutch landed were some sixty 
 Hottentots, who were without cattle, and who lived 
 chiefly upon shell-fish. Where as many thousands 
 now exist in comfort, these wretc led beachrangers — 
 as Mr. Van Riebeek styled them — were barely able 
 to exist at all. The chief man among them was 
 
 25 
 
li 
 
 1^ 
 
 26 REFRESHMENT STATION IN TABLE VALLEY. 
 
 named Harry by the white people. He had once 
 been taken to Bantam in an English ship, and he 
 spoke a little broken English, so Mr. Van Riebeek 
 employed him as an interpreter. The others made 
 themselves useful by carrying water and gathering 
 firewood, in return for which they were provided with 
 ships' provisions. 
 
 Two large clans of Hottentots, consisting together 
 of about five thousand souls, roamed over the country 
 within a radius of fifty miles from Table Bay, but 
 they were then far from the peninsula, and very 
 little could be ascertained concerning them. 
 
 When the winter rains at last set in, much dis- 
 comfort was the immediate result. The tents and 
 wooden buildings were all found to be leaky. With 
 the change of weather came dysentery, which the 
 people were too weak to resist, and now almost every 
 day there was a death from that disease or from 
 scurvy. By the beginning of June the party was 
 reduced to one hundred and sixteen men and five 
 women, of whom only sixty men were able to per- 
 form any labour. Fresh meat and vegetables and 
 proper shelter would have saved them, but these 
 things were not to be had. They were almost as 
 solitary as if they had been frozen up in the Arctic 
 sea. The two largest of the vessels had gone on to 
 Batavia, leaving the other — a mere decked boat — at 
 Mr. Van Riebeek's disposal, and for many weeks no 
 natives were seen except Harry's miserable followers, 
 from whom no assistance of any kind was to be 
 obtained. 
 
 But the rain, which had brought on the dysentery, 
 
LLEY. 
 
 TRADE WITH rrOTTENTOTS. 
 
 a; 
 
 ad once 
 and he 
 Riebeek 
 rs made 
 athcring 
 led with 
 
 together 
 country 
 3ay, but 
 id very 
 
 uch dis- 
 nts and 
 . With 
 lich the 
 ist every 
 Dr from 
 rty was 
 md five 
 to per- 
 les and 
 these 
 nost as 
 
 Arctic 
 e on to 
 oat — at 
 eeks no 
 1 lowers, 
 
 to be 
 
 jentery, 
 
 in a very short time brought also relief. Grass sprang 
 into existence, and with it appeared various edible 
 plants. They were all correctives of scurvy, and that 
 was mainly what was needed. The strong and the 
 feeble went about gathering wild herbs and roots and 
 declaring there was nothing in the world half so 
 palatable. As soon as the first showers fell, a plot of 
 ground was dug over, in which seeds were planted ; 
 and soon the sick were enjoying such delicacies as 
 radishes, lettuce, and cress. Then they found good 
 reeds for thatch, and when the buildings were covered 
 with these instead of boards and torn sails, they could 
 almost bid defiance to the rains. 
 
 The pleasant weather which in South Africa is 
 termed the winter passed away, and in October a 
 large Hottentot clan — called by the Dutch the Kaap- 
 mans — made its appearance in the Cape peninsula 
 with great herds of horncf' cattle and flocks of sheep, 
 which were brought there for change of pasture. 
 These people and the Europeans met openly on the 
 most friendly terms, though each party was so sus- 
 picious of the other that a constant watch was kept. 
 A supply of copper bars, brass wire, and tobacco had 
 been brought from the Netherlands, and a trade in 
 cattle was now opened. On the European side the 
 commander conducted it in person, assisted only by 
 a clerk and the interpreter Harry. All intercourse 
 between other white men and these Hottentots was 
 forbidden under very severe penalties, with the two- 
 fold object of preventing any interference with the 
 trade and any act that might lightly provoke a 
 quarrel, 
 
28 REFRESHMENT STATION IN TABLE VALLEY. 
 
 Parties of the Kaapmans remained in the Cape 
 peninsula nearly three months, during which time 
 Mr. Van Riebeek procured in barter over two hundred 
 head of horned cattle and nearly six hundred sheep. 
 Before they left, they proposed that the commander 
 should help them against a tribe with whom they 
 were at war, and offered him the whole of the spoil 
 whatever it might be. Mr. Van Riebeek replied 
 that he had come to trade in friendship with all, and 
 he declined to take any part in their quarrels. 
 
 By the end of the first year's residence of the 
 Europeans in Table Valley the station had made very 
 satisfactory pro:Tess. A large garden had been 
 planted, and the stream that ran down from the 
 mountain had been dammed up in several places, so 
 that the whole of the cultivated ground — several 
 acres in extent — could be irrigated. A plain hospital 
 had been built of earthen walls and thatch roof, large 
 enough to accommodate two or three hundred men. 
 And another clan had visited the peninsula, with 
 whom a cattle trade had been opened, so that there 
 was plenty of fresh meat for the crews of all the ships 
 that put into the bay. 
 
 The second winter was uneventful. Some building 
 was carried on, oxen were trained to draw timber 
 from the forests behind the Devil's peak, and much 
 new ground was broken up. Wild animals gave more 
 trouble than anything else. The lions were so bold 
 that they invaded the cattle pens by night, though 
 armed men were always watching them, and leopards 
 came down from the mountain in broad daylight and 
 carried away sheep under the very eyes of the herds- 
 
,LEY. 
 
 e Cape 
 :h time 
 lundred 
 d sheep, 
 mander 
 im they 
 he spoil 
 replied 
 all, and 
 
 of the 
 ide very 
 d been 
 "om the 
 laces, so 
 —several 
 hospital 
 of, large 
 ed men. 
 la, with 
 lat there 
 he ships 
 
 Duilding 
 timber 
 id much 
 .ve more 
 so bold 
 though 
 eopards 
 ght and 
 e herds- 
 
 THE FIRST CATTLE RAID. 
 
 29 
 
 men. One morning before daybreak there was a 
 great noise in the poultry pens, and when the guards 
 went to see what was the matter, they found that all 
 the ducks and geese had been killed by wild cats. 
 The country appeared to be swarming with ravenous 
 beasts of different kinds. 
 
 A good look-out was kept over the zea, for the 
 Netherlands and the Commonwealth of England were 
 at war, and it was necessary to guard against being 
 surprised by an English ship. 
 
 The Europeans had been living in Table Valley 
 about eighteen months when the first difficulty with 
 the natives occurred. One Sunday while they were 
 listening to a sermon Harry and his people murdered 
 a white boy who was tending the cattle, and ran away 
 with nearly the whole herd. As soon as the event 
 became known pursuing parties were sent out, but 
 though the robbers were followed to the head of 
 False Bay, only one cow that lagged behind was 
 recovered. This occurrence naturally produced an 
 ill-feeling towards the Hottentots on the part of the 
 European soldiers and workmen. One of their com- 
 panions had been murdered, and his blood was 
 unavenged. The loss of their working oxen im- 
 posed heavy toil upon them. The fort was being 
 strengthened with palisades cut in the forests behind 
 the Devil's peak, and these had now to be carried on 
 the shoulders of men. Then for some time after the 
 robbery the pastoral clans kept at a distance, so that 
 no cattle were to be had in barter ; and the want of 
 fresh meat caused much grumbling. 
 
 The directors had given the most emphatic orders 
 

 30 REFRESHMENT STATION IN TABLE VALLEY. 
 
 that the natives were to be treated with all possible 
 kindness, and so, after a few months, when the run- 
 aways began to return to Table Valley, each one 
 protesting his own innocence, no punishment was 
 inflicted upon them for their bad conduct, but they 
 were allowed to resume their former manner of living 
 by collecting firewood and doing any little service of 
 that nature. 
 
 As everything was now in good working order at 
 the station, Mr. Van Riebeek began to send out 
 small exploring parties, not so much to learn the 
 physical condition of the country, however, as to 
 make the acquaintance of Hottentot clans who could 
 be induced to bring cattle to the fort for barter. This 
 object was attained without crossing the nearest range 
 of mountains, and therefore no one tried to go beyond 
 that formidable barrier. During the next few years 
 names were given to the various hills scattered over 
 the western coast belt as far north as the mouth of 
 the Elephant river, the Berg river was inspected from 
 its source to its mouth, and acquaintance was made 
 with several Hottentot tribes ; but there was little or 
 no advance in the knowledge of South African geo- 
 graphy. 
 
 By this time nearly every garden plant of Europe 
 and India was cultivated at the Cape, though potatoes 
 and maize were not yet introduced. Oaks and firs, 
 fruit trees of many kinds, several varieties of vines 
 from Southern Germany and from France, and straw- 
 berries and blackberries were thriving. The foreign 
 animals that had been introduced were horses from Java, 
 and pigs, sheep, dogs, rabbits, and poultry from Europe. 
 
LEY. 
 
 EXTENSION TO RONDEBOSCH. 
 
 31 
 
 )ossible 
 le run- 
 ch one 
 nt was 
 nt they 
 f living 
 rvire of 
 
 )rder at 
 nd out 
 irn the 
 as to 
 o could 
 . This 
 3t range 
 beyond 
 V years 
 2d over 
 outh of 
 
 d from 
 made 
 
 ittle or 
 m gco- 
 
 urope 
 otatoes 
 nd firs, 
 vines 
 straw- 
 foreign 
 mjava, 
 Lurope. 
 
 Every season wheat and barley had been sown, but 
 the crop had always failed. Just as it was getting 
 ripe the south-east wind came sweeping through Table 
 Valley, and destroyed it. But it was noticed that 
 even when it was blowing a perfect gale at the fort, 
 nothing more than a pleasant breeze was felt back of 
 the Devil's peak. The commander therefore tried if 
 grain could not be raised in that locality. At a place 
 where a round grove of thorn trees was standing, 
 from which it received the name Rondebosch, a plot 
 of ground was laid under the plough, and some wheat, 
 oats, and barley were sown. The experiment was 
 successful, for the grain throve wonderfully well, and 
 yielded a large return. 
 
 The Cape establishment was thus answering its 
 purpose admirably, but the expense attending it was 
 found to be greater than the directors of the East 
 India Company had anticipated, so they cast about 
 for some means of reducing its cost. After much dis- 
 cussion they resolved to locate a few burgher families 
 on plots of ground in the neighbourhood of the fort, 
 and instructed Mr. Van Riebeek to carry this design 
 into execution. They were of opinion that the men, 
 though no in their service, would assist in the defence 
 of the station, so that the garrison could be reduced, 
 and that from such persons vegetables, grain, fruit, 
 pigs, poultry, &c., could be purchased as cheaply as 
 the Company could produce them with hired servants. 
 The plan was to select a few respectable married men 
 from the workpeople, to send their wives and children 
 out to them, and to give them a start as market 
 gardeners or small farmers. 
 
V. 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY 
 
 In February 1657 ^^"^ of the Company's servants 
 took their discharge, and had small plots of ground 
 allotted to them along the Liesbeek river at Ronde- 
 bosch. They were the first South African colonists 
 in the true sense of the word. They were provided 
 on credit with everything that was necessary to give 
 them a fair start as agriculturists, and in return they 
 bound themselves to deliver the produce of their 
 ground at the fort at reasonable prices until the debt 
 was cleared off. 
 
 Within a few months thirty-eight others took their 
 discharge on the same conditions. But it soon ap- 
 peared that many of these men were not adapted 
 for the life of independent gardeners, and it became 
 necessary to take them back into the Company's 
 service, when the ground that they had occupied was 
 given to others on trial. In this manner a selection 
 was constantly being made, in which only the steady 
 and industrious remained as permanent colonists. 
 There was a rule that only married men of Dutch 
 or German birth should have land assigned to them, 
 
INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES. 
 
 33 
 
 but it was not strictly observed, and single men who 
 were mechanics or who would take service with 
 gardeners were frequently dischargee' by the Com- 
 pany. As soon as a man proved himself able to 
 make a competent living, he had only to apply for 
 his wife and children to be sent out from Europe, 
 and with the next fleet they were forwarded to him. 
 The descendants of many of those who at this time 
 became colonisu are now scattered over South Africa 
 from the Cape of Good Hope i-o the Zambesi and 
 Benguela. 
 
 In this manner the colonisation of South Africa 
 was commenced, but as yet there was no intention 
 of forming a European settlement of any great extent. 
 A few gardeners, fruit growers, and poultry breeders 
 within four or five miles of the fort comprised the 
 whole scheme which the East India Company had 
 in v^iew. These people were to pay tithes of any 
 grain they might produce after twelve years' occupation, 
 but were otherwise to be left untaxed. It was still 
 supposed that as many cattle as were needed could 
 be obtained from the Hottentots. 
 
 In 1658 the great mistake of introducing negro 
 slaves was made, a mistake from whicli the country 
 has suffered much in the past and must suffer for al) 
 time to come. There was no necersity for the intro- 
 duction of these people. The climate for nine months 
 in the year is to Europeans the pleasantest in the 
 world, and even during the other three — excepting 
 from twenty to thirty excessively hot days — white 
 men can labour in the open air without discomfort. 
 The settlement could have been purely E'aropean. 
 
34 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 But in the seventeenth century it was the custom 
 of all colonising nations to make of the negro a hewer 
 of wood and drawer of water, and the Dutch merely 
 acted in the spirit of the age. 
 
 From a Portuguese slave ship captured at sea the 
 first negroes brought to the Cape settlement were 
 taken, and shortly afterwards a number arrived from 
 the coast of Guinea in one of the Company's vessels. 
 Some of them were sold on credit to the burghers, 
 but the greater number were kept by the government 
 to do whatever rough labour was needed. This fixed 
 the character of the colony, for the system once 
 entered upon could only with great difficulty be 
 altered. The white man and the black cannot work 
 side by side on equal terms, hence manual labour 
 came to be regarded by the Europeans as degrading, 
 a sentiment that has not died out at the present 
 day. 
 
 The Dutch laws at that time made manumission 
 extremely easy, and freed negroes had all the rights 
 of colonists, though they were without the hereditary 
 training necessary to enable them to make proper 
 use of their privileges. As soon, however, as it was 
 ascertained by experience that they were too indolent 
 and thriftless to put by anything for sickness or old 
 age, when they became a burden upon the community, 
 a law was made that any one emancipating a slave 
 under ordinary circumstances must not only give 
 security that he or she would not become a depen- 
 dent upon the poor funds within a certain number 
 of years, but also pay a sum of money into the poor 
 funds as a premium on the risk of his or her requiring 
 
INTRODUCTION OF ASIATICS. 
 
 35 
 
 aid after that period. This checked manumission 
 considerably, still as many slaves were emancipated 
 by the testaments of their owners, and others obtained 
 their liberty under special circumstances, the free 
 negjroes would have become a large body in course 
 of time if they had not been swept away by imported 
 diseases, to which their habits of living made them 
 an easy prey. 
 
 Besides negroes, the East India Company at this 
 time began to introduce Asiatics — chiefly natives of 
 Malacca, Java, and the Spice islands — into the settle- 
 ment. These persons were criminals sentenced by 
 the high court of justice at Batavia to slavery either 
 for life or for a term of years, and were then sent to 
 South Africa to undergo their punishment. In in- 
 telligence they were far above the natives of Guinea 
 or Mozambique, many of them being able to work 
 as masons, harness makers, coopers, and tailors. They 
 all professed the Moslem religion. Being without 
 women of their own nationality, they formed con- 
 nections with African slave girls, and thus arose one 
 of the many classes of mixed breeds in the country. 
 
 At a little later date the Company made of South 
 Africa a place of banishment for Indian political 
 prisoners of high rank, who were often accompanied 
 by their families and numerous attendants, male and 
 female. These people had fixed allowances from the 
 government for their support. Sometimes families 
 of their dependents became attached to the country, 
 and preferred to remain here when the time came for 
 their return to Java if they had chosen to go back. 
 A race of pure Asiatics thus arose, never very 
 
36 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 ^ I 
 
 t \ 
 
 numerous, though for more than a century political 
 offenders continued to be sent from Batavia to Cape- 
 town. The last were some natives of high rank in 
 the islands of Tidor and Ternate, who made their 
 escape from this country in 1781. 
 
 One of these exiles was the Sheikh Joseph, who 
 took a leading part in the Bantamese civil war of 
 1682, and who was a determined opponent of the 
 Dutch. He was a man of great repute for sanctity, 
 and was believed by his Moslem followers to have 
 performed some extraordinary miracles. He died 
 near the head of False Bay, and his tomb there is 
 still a place of pilgrimage for Mohamedans in South 
 Africa. 
 
 Thus early in the history of the Cape Colony three 
 varieties of human beings were introduced : Euro- 
 peans, negroes, and Javanese. The aboriginal 
 Hottentots formed a fourth variety. As years 
 passed away mixed breeds of every colour between 
 these four extremes were to be seen, side by side 
 with the pure races, so that nowhere else could such 
 a diversity of hue and of features be found as in the 
 Cape peninsula. The crosses between Europeans 
 and the lower races did not increase in number as 
 rapidly as pure breeds, however, owing to a lack of 
 high fertility among them„selves, and unless connected 
 again with one of their ancestral stocks, they often 
 died out altogether in the third generation. The 
 same may be said of the half-breed Asiatics and 
 negroes, but the cross between the others was more 
 fertile. 
 
 The pastoral Hottentot clans looked upon the 
 
THE FIRST HOTTENTOT WAR. 
 
 37 
 
 European settlement along the Liesbcek with a 
 good deal of jealousy. It was not alone the ground 
 under cultivation that was lost to them, for the 
 government had given the burghers a free right of 
 pasture, and thus the ancient owners were excluded 
 from the best patches of grass along the base of the 
 mountain. Early in 1659 the two clans that had 
 always been accustomed to visit the Cape peninsula 
 in the summer season with their flocks and herds 
 appeared there as usual, and were informed that they 
 must keep away from the grass that the Company 
 and the burghers needed. This announcement was 
 not at all to their liking. They had ample pasture 
 left in the peninsula for ten times the number of cattle 
 in their possession, and all the country stretching 
 away beyond the isthmus as far as could be seen was 
 theirs to roam over ; but they were like other people, 
 they did not relish being deprived by force of any- 
 thing that they regarded as their own. 
 
 So they commenced to drive off the burghers' cows, 
 and murdered a white herdsman. The beachrangers 
 in Table Valley, though they were certainly gainers 
 by the presence of the Europeans, and though they 
 had a long-standing feud with the pastoral clans, now 
 joined their countrymen In this manner what the 
 colonists termed the first Hottentot war began. 
 
 In fact, however, it could hardly be termed a war, 
 for the natives were careful to avoid a pitched battle, 
 and the Europeans were unable to surprise any large 
 body of them. On two occasions only were small 
 parties met, when six or seven were killed and a few 
 more were wounded. The pastoral clans then 
 
:ii 
 
 M 
 
 ■( : 
 
 I i 
 
 38 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 abandoned the peninsula, and the bcachrangcrs, 
 upon begging for peace, were allowed to return to 
 Table Valley. 
 
 A stron^^ fence, through which cattle could not be 
 driven, was now made along the outer boundary of 
 the settlement, three watchhouses were built to defend 
 it, and in these were stationed companies of horse- 
 men, whose duty it was to patrol the border. Some 
 powerful dogs were imported from Java, and the 
 Europeans then considered themselves secure. 
 
 The Hottentots were the first to make overtures 
 for a lestoration of friendship. About a twelvemonth 
 after the first breach of the peace they sent messengers 
 to the fort to propose a reconciliation, and as these 
 were well received the chiefs followed, when tv, ^s 
 were agreed to. These were that neither party was 
 thereafter to molest the other, that the lately hostile 
 clans were to endeavour to induce those living farther 
 inland to bring cattle to the fort for sale, that the 
 Europeans were to retain possession of the land 
 occupied by them, that roads were to be pointed out 
 along which the Hottentots could come to the fort, 
 and that any European who molested a Hottentot 
 should be severely punished. 
 
 After the conclusion of peace the cattle trade went 
 on briskly. Bartering parties were sometimes sent 
 out, but Hottentots often came from a distance of 
 eighty or a hundred miles with troops of oxen and 
 flocks of sheep for sale. They were very eager to 
 obtain bright coloured beads and other trifles. The 
 quantity of beads given for an ox cost only from eight 
 to ten pence, but there were other and larger expenses 
 
THE FIRST CHURCH. 
 
 39 
 
 connected with the trade. Presents, consisting of flat 
 pieces of copper, wire, iron rods, axes, tobacco, pipes, 
 and other articles, were frequently made to the chiefs 
 to secure their friendship, and all who came to the 
 fort were liberally entertained. The burghers were 
 strictly prohibited from holding intercourse of any 
 kind with other Hottentots than the beachrangcrs, 
 but in defiance of the law some of them found means 
 to carry on a petty cattle trade. 
 
 After ten years' service in South Africa Mr. Van 
 Ricbcek was sent on to India, where he received 
 promotion, and Mr. Zacharias VVagenaar took his 
 place at the Cape. During this commander's term 
 of office — which extended over four years — a few 
 events occurred that arc worthy of notice. 
 
 In earlier years a catechist, who was also a school- 
 master, held services on Sundays, and the chaplains 
 of ships that called administered the sacraments. 
 But now the settlement was provided with a resident 
 clergyman. From this time onward there was a fully 
 organised church, subject to the spiritual control of 
 the classis or presbytery of Amsterdam. 
 
 In 1664 the island of Mauritius was taken into 
 possession by the Dutch East India Company to 
 keep it from falling into other hands, and it was 
 made a dependency of the Cape station. A few 
 men were sent there to cut ebony logs, and once a 
 year a packet took supplies to them from Table Bay 
 and brought back a cargo of timber. 
 
 Owing to the threatening attitude of England, 
 the directors resolved to build a strong fortress in 
 Table Valley, as the walls of earth, which were 
 
40 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY, 
 
 considered ample protection against Hottentots, 
 would be a poor defence if a British force should 
 land. The castle of Good Hope, which is still 
 standing-, was commenced in 1666, and was completed 
 in 1674. It is now useless for military purposes, but 
 for some time after its construction it was considered 
 almost impregnable. The directors, who were be- 
 ginning to realise that the French and the English 
 might prove formidable rivals in the eastern seas, 
 had come to regard their station in the Cape 
 peninsula as a strategic point of great importance. 
 " The castle of Good Hope," they wrote, *' is the 
 frontier fortress of India," and as such they provided 
 it with a strong garrison. 
 
 Commander Wagenaar's successors for some time 
 were men of very little note, and nothing of much con- 
 sequence occurred to disturb the quiet course of life 
 in the settlement. All was bustle and activity when 
 the outward or homeward bound Indian fleets were in 
 the bay, but after their anchors were raised there was 
 not. .ng to create excitement. The workmen engaged 
 in building the castle and the garrison when it was 
 completed increased the demand for food, so that 
 more servants of the Company took their discharge 
 and set up for themselves as market gardeners. Soon 
 the best plots of land within the boundary fence were 
 all taken up, and then the fence was disregarded 
 and the settlement spread out to the present village 
 of Wynberg. The proportion, of men who took their 
 discharge and succeeded in making a living on their 
 own account was, however, always very small. It 
 was probably not ten per cent, of the whole. The 
 
u 
 
 o 
 
 Cd 
 
 U 
 
 (d 
 
42 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 i 
 
 lif 
 
 Others after a trial had to be taken back into the 
 Company's service as soldiers or sailors, most of 
 them with debts that they could never wholly clear 
 off. The system was thus a very unsatisfactory 
 one. 
 
 The directors thought of improving upon it by 
 sending out families accustomed to agriculture in 
 the Netherlands, who would serve as models for the 
 others ; but though they offered free passages, grants 
 of land without payment, exemption from the tithe 
 for twelve years, and supplies of necessaries on easy 
 credit, very few people of the class required could 
 be induced to migrate to South Africa. The Cape 
 was too far away and too little was known of it 
 to tempt men and women to leave a country where 
 there was no difficulty in making a comfortable living. 
 In 167 1, however, five or six families arrived, and 
 thereafter during several years one or two came out 
 occasionally. 
 
 Twenty years after Mr. Van Riebeek landed and 
 took possession of as much ground as he needed, 
 without thinking of asking the consent of any one, 
 a member of the high court of justice at Batavia on 
 his way back to Europe called at the Cape, and being 
 superior in rank to any one here, took command 
 during his stay. This officer — Arnout van Overbeke 
 by name — considered it advisable to make a formal 
 purchase of territory from the nearest Hottentot 
 chiefs, and these petty potentates, on being applied 
 to, very readily gave their consent. If they reasoned 
 at all about the matter, they probably thought that 
 the price offered was clear gain, for the white people 
 
PURCHASE OF TERRITORY. 
 
 43 
 
 would certainly take as much ground as they needed, 
 whether sold to them or not. 
 
 At any rate the principal chief of one tribe and the 
 regents of another affixed their marks to documents 
 that are still in existence, in which they ceded to 
 the East India Company the whole territory from 
 Saldanha l^ay to False ]5ay, reserving to themselves 
 and their people, however, the right to move freely 
 about and make use of any part of it not occupied 
 by Europeans. They received nominally in return 
 goods to the value of ^i,6oo, actually — according to 
 the accounts furnished to the directors — the articles 
 transferred cost £g 1 2s. gd. 
 
 A few months after this transaction an outpost was 
 formed at Hottentots- Holland, near the head of False 
 Bay, on the eastern side of the isthmus. One of the 
 objects in view was to raise a large quantity of wheat, 
 for which purpose the ground at that place appeared 
 specially suitable, but the chief design was to pro- 
 vide a retreat for the garrison in case it should be 
 needed. The Free Netherlands were then engaged 
 in the most unequal struggle that modern Europe 
 has witnessed, for Louis XIV of France, Charles 
 II of England, and the ecclesiastical princes of 
 Cologne and Minister were united against them. 
 On tvvo occasions shortly before the war broke out 
 the admirals of French fleets had taken possession 
 of Saldanha Hay, though without leaving aii)- men 
 there to guard it, and it was believed that the French 
 king might make an effort to seize the Cape penin- 
 sula. An attack by the ICnglish was etjually probable. 
 As events turned out, the Dutch got the better of 
 
44. 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 m i 
 
 ■m 
 
 their opponents in Europe, and the Cape settlement 
 was not molested, so that the outpost at Hottentots- 
 Holland became simply a farming establishment 
 where the wheat needed by the Company was grown. 
 
 By this time the belt of land along the sea coast as 
 far eastward as Mosscl Bay had been thoroughly 
 explored by parties sent out to obtain cattle. In 
 1658 some members of a trading expedition climbed 
 to the top of the mountain barrier near the ravine 
 through which the Little Berg river flows ; but the 
 land as far as they could see appeared to be un- 
 inhabited, so there was nothing to induce further 
 search in that direction. Nine years later another 
 way over the barrier was f^und at the place now 
 known as Sir Lowry's pass, sixty miles south of the 
 ravine of the Little Berg river. The Hottentot tribes 
 termed the Hcssequa, Gauriqua, Attaqua, and Oute- 
 niqua were then successfully reached and traded with. 
 Those previously known along the western coast were 
 the Chainouqua, the Goringhaiqua (or Kaapmans), 
 the Cochoqua, the Grigriqua, and the Namaqua. 
 
 Bushmen had been met on several occasions, and 
 their manner of living was pretty well known. Some 
 of these wild people had once attempted to seize the 
 merchandise belonging to a European trading party, 
 when a number of them were shot down, greatly to 
 the satisfaction of the Hessequa and other Hottentots 
 who lived in the neighbourhood of the place where the 
 event occurred. 
 
VI. 
 
 THE SECOND HOTTENTOT WAR AND ITS CON- 
 SEQUENCES. 
 
 One of the most powerful of the Hottentot tribes 
 near the Cape peninsula was called the Cochoqua, or 
 by some name which the Europeans wrote in that 
 form, for probably it had clicks in it. This tribe was 
 composed of two great clans, the larger of which was 
 under a chiet named Gonnema. Gonnema had an 
 evil reputation among all the other Hottentots with 
 whom the Dutch were acquainted, for he was in the 
 habit of swooping down upon them unawares and 
 helping himself to their daughters and their cattle, 
 and they were too weak to resist him. He had 
 sold a good many oxen to the white people, but 
 they did not like him either, for his bearing was never 
 very friendly. They usually termed him the black 
 captain, on account of his habit of using soot instead 
 of clay to paint himself with. 
 
 In 1673 a war broke out between Gonnema and the 
 Europeans, the only war that has ever taken place 
 between white people and natives in South Afiica 
 
 of which we have not the versions of both parties to 
 
 45 
 
46 
 
 THE SECOND HOTTENTOT WAR. 
 
 form a judgment from. The Cochoqua clan has left 
 no story, nor is there a plea on its behalf on record. 
 But the Dutch accounts are full of details, and it is 
 easy from them to ascertain how Gonnema came to 
 feel himself aggrieved. 
 
 The country was teeming with game, antelopes of 
 many kinds, elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotami. 
 Hunters were sent out from the fort, and brought 
 back waggons laden with dried meat, which was 
 supplied to the garrison instead of beef The hippo- 
 potamus, or sea-cow as it was called, was specially 
 sought afterj for its flesh was regarded as equal to 
 pork, and whips made of its hide commanded a very 
 high price everywhere. Parties of burghers were in 
 the habit of getting leave from the government and 
 going out hunting elands and sea-cows, sometimes 
 being away from home three or four weeks together. 
 It never seems to have occurred to the v/hite people 
 that the Hottentots might object to the destruction 
 of so much game, but very likely that was the cause 
 of Gonnema's hostility. 
 
 In 1672 he came upon some hunters at Riebeek's 
 Kasteel, and took their waggons and other property, 
 but allowed them to escape with their lives. In the 
 following year he made prisoners of eight burghers 
 and a slave who were hunting near the same place, 
 and after detaining them some days murdered them 
 all. At the same time one of his sub-captains 
 surprised a little trading outpost of the Company 
 at Saldanha liay, plundered it, and murdered four 
 Europeans. 
 
 A mixed force of soldiers and burghers was then 
 
THE SECOND HOTTENTOT WAR. 
 
 47 
 
 has left 
 
 n record. 
 
 and it is 
 
 came to 
 
 elopes of 
 opotami. 
 
 brought 
 n'ch was 
 le hippo- 
 specially 
 equal to 
 d a very 
 
 were in 
 lent and 
 metimes 
 ogether. 
 ; people 
 truction 
 ic cause 
 
 icbeek's 
 operty, 
 In the 
 urghcrs 
 : place, 
 d them 
 iptains 
 mpaiiy 
 d four 
 
 s then 
 
 sent against the Cochoqua clan, and as it was partly 
 composed of horsemen it had the good fortune to 
 cut off Gonnema's people from a strong position to 
 which they tried to retreat and to seize eight hundred 
 of their horned cattle and nine hundred sheep. The 
 Hottentots followed the expedition when returning 
 to the fort, but did not succeed in recovering their 
 stock. Ten or twelve of them were shot, and on the 
 other side one burgher was wounded. 
 
 Various clans now offered their aid against Gonne- 
 ma, and were accepted as allies by the Europeans. 
 For several months the Cochoqua kept out of the 
 way, but at length they were o nearly surrounded 
 that they barely managed to escape, leaving all their 
 cattle behind. The epoil was much greater than on the 
 first occasion, and was divided between the Europeans 
 and the Hottentot allies. 
 
 Gonnema after this loss kept to the mountains for 
 near V two years, avoiding his enemies, but preventing 
 all intercourse between them and the tribes beyond. 
 Then he pounced suddenly upon some of the Hottentot 
 allies of the Europeans, and with the lo.ss of only 
 fifteen of his own men killed a good many of them 
 and swept off the greater part of their herds. He 
 was pu-sued by all the soldiers and burghers that 
 could be mustered, but he got safely away to his 
 mountain fastnesses. No expedition sent against 
 him after that time managed to surprise him, for his 
 scouts were always on the alert. The Europeans 
 found that they were wearying themselves to no 
 purpose in trying to find him, so they desisted from 
 the fruitless task. 
 
48 
 
 THE SECOND HOTTENTOT WAR. 
 
 For four years the settlement was kept practically 
 in a condition of blockade on the land side, when 
 Gonnema sent to ask for peace, as he was tired 
 of living like a Bushman in the mountains. His 
 messengers were well received, and were followed 
 by three of his chief men, who agreed in his name 
 to the terms proposed. They were that there should 
 be peace and friendship between all the parties 
 engaged in the war, and that Gonnema should pay 
 to the Company a yearly tribute of thirty head of 
 cattle. Presents were then exchanged, and the land 
 was once more at rest. 
 
 Perhaps it was never intended that tribute should 
 really be paid, at any rate it was considered prudent 
 not to refer to the subject again, and the Cochoqua 
 clan was left untroubled about it. 
 
 This was the last war with Hottentots during the 
 rule of the Dutch East India Company in South Africa. 
 It was a trifling affair if considered by the number of 
 combatants or the quantity of spoil, and not a single 
 hand-to-hand engagement had taken place ; but it 
 had very important consequences. During four years 
 Gonnema had cut off the cattle trade, so there was 
 no fresh beef or mutton for the crews of the fleets 
 that called, and even the hospital could not be 
 supplied, as the oxen and sheep that were captured 
 and that the clans in alliance with the Europeans 
 were able to furnish were soon exhausted. The 
 Company was not disposed to run the risk of a 
 second experience of this kind. The expense of 
 the station had grown very far beyond original 
 expectations, there was now a huge fortress to be 
 
ORIGIN OF THE CATTLE FARMERS. 
 
 49 
 
 kept up and a large garrison to be maintained in 
 addition to victualling charges properly so called ; 
 and such an outlay could only be justified by the 
 perfect efificiency of the establishment. If a supply 
 of fresh meat could not be depended upon, one of the 
 main objects of its existence was a failure. And as 
 trade with the Hottentots might at any time be cut 
 off again, European cattle-breeders must be intro- 
 duced. 
 
 The great difficulty in the way was the scarcity of 
 Europeans with the habits needed. They would be 
 obliged to live far apart, and would be exposed to 
 plunder by the natives and losses from the ravages of 
 wild animals. The country was swarming with lions, 
 leopards, hyenas, and jackals ; and with the clumsy 
 firelocks of those days it was a risky matter to go 
 out alone into the wilds. As a commencement the 
 Company established several cattle posts on its own 
 account on the eastern &. ': of the isthmus, to which 
 cows and ewes were sent as they could be procured 
 in barter, and at each a corporal was stationed with a 
 few soldiers to guard the stock. 
 
 Then offers were made to the gardeners at Ronde- 
 bosch and Wynberg to improve their prospects by 
 turning cattle breeders. They could select land near 
 the Company's posts, so that they would not be alto- 
 gether without companionship, no taxes of any kind 
 would be demanded from them till they were in a 
 good position, and breeding cattle would be lent to 
 them to take care of, half the increase of which would 
 be their own. The view of the government was that 
 if gardeners and small farmers could not be procured 
 
k I 
 
 I 
 
 iii 
 
 50 
 
 EXTENSION OF THE SETTLEMENT. 
 
 as emigrants from Europe, they must be trained in 
 the old way of selection to take the place of those 
 who should become stock-breeders. 
 
 The prospect, however, did not appear very attrac- 
 tive, for before the close of 1679 only eight burghers 
 accepted the Company's offer, and took up their 
 residence beyond the isthmus. 
 
 At this time a very energetic man, named Simon 
 van der Stel, arrived from Amsterdam as commander. 
 No one could h -ve been better qualified to carry out 
 the new project, ■ i l.e threw himself heart and .soul 
 into it. He had, 1 vg\ c, a particular desire that only 
 Netherlanders should slI'.c in the country, for he 
 believed that whatever was Dutch was good, and 
 whatever was not Dutch was not worth bothering 
 about. But the directors in Holland were not of this 
 opinion. They were very glad to obtain the services 
 of competent men of all nationalities, and provided 
 the majority a' the settlers were Dutch they were 
 quite willing to give equal privileges to others. 
 
 Except in this respect Simon van der Stel was 
 allowed to carry out the plan in his own way. He 
 began by inducing a party of eight families to re- 
 move from Rondebosch to a fertile and beautiful 
 valley beyond the isthmus, where he gave them large 
 plots of ground in freehold, with extensive grazing 
 rights beyond. This settlement, which was named 
 Stellenbosch, he intended to be the centre of a dis- 
 trict in which all kinds of farming pursuits should 
 be carried on, where vineyards should be planted 
 and wine be made, where wheat should be grown 
 and cattle be reared. When the fleets from India 
 
ARRIVAL OF HUGUENOTS. 
 
 51 
 
 put into Table Bay on their way home, the com- 
 mander's agents ingratiated themselves with the 
 people on board, and whenever a man likely to 
 make a good colonist was discovered, inducements 
 were held out to him to remain in the country. In 
 this way the vacancies were filled up in the Cape 
 peninsula as fast as they arose, and many new-comers 
 could be located beside experienced men at Stellen- 
 bosch. 
 
 A few years later a settlement was formed in a 
 similar manner at Drakenstein, in the valley of the 
 Berg river, one of the most charming situations in 
 South Africa. 
 
 The directors were doing all that was in ihc\r 
 power to get suitable people to migrate froii; the 
 Netherlands. Among others they sent out a few 
 young women from the orphan asylums in Amster- 
 dam and Rotterdam, who were carefully p -tected 
 and provided for until they found husbands in the 
 colony. 
 
 And now an event took place in Europe which 
 enabled them to secure over a hundred families of 
 the very best stamp. This was the revocation by 
 Louis XIV of the edict of Nantes, which drove 
 many thousands of Protestant refugees from France 
 into Holland. Their presence in some of the pro- 
 vinces so greatly reduced the demapd for labour 
 that industrious Dutch families were more willing 
 to remove than they had previously been, and the 
 Company was able to send to South Africa nearly 
 two hundred Huguenots and about the same number 
 of Dutch people of both sexes and all ages. Upon 
 
5t 
 
 EXTENSION OF THE SETTLEMENT. 
 
 
 'Hi 
 
 their arrival they were scattered over the country 
 between the Groenberg, the Koeberg, and Hotten- 
 tots-Holland, the larger number of the French being 
 located in the valley of the l^crg river. Care was 
 taken, however, to mix them together, so that the 
 nationalities would speedily become blended. 
 
 Having now a base to fall back upon if necessary, 
 a few stragglers began to push their way in one 
 direction down the Berg river, and in another beyond 
 the Koeberg. Still, at the close of the seventeenth 
 century there was no white man living more than 
 forty-five miles from the castle, and the whole terri- 
 tory occupied by Europeans was within the range of 
 mountains visible from ships at anchor in Table Bay. 
 
 The colonists, with their wives and children, were 
 then some fourteen hundred in number. The French 
 Huguenots were about one-sixth of the whole, a 
 rather larger proportion consisted of Germans from 
 the borderland between the high and low Teutons, 
 and nearly two-thirds were Dutch from the different 
 Netherland provinces. The Germans were, almost 
 without exception, men who were married to Dutch 
 women. Intermarriages between the Huguenots and 
 other colonists were common, and in another genera- 
 tion distinctions of nationality were entirely lost. 
 
 The language used in common conversation was 
 Dutch made as simple and expressive as possible, so 
 as to be understood by slaves with only the mental 
 capacities of children. Grammatical rules were dis- 
 regarded. In the pulpit and in family devotions, 
 however, correct Dutch was used, as it is very 
 generally to the present day. 
 
 # 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENr. 
 
 53 
 
 There were three churches provided with clergy- 
 men : in Capetown, at Stellcnbosch, and at Draken- 
 stein. At each of these places there was also a 
 public school, in which children were taught to read 
 the bible, to cast up simple accounts, to repeat the 
 Heidelberg catechism, and to sing the psalms. The 
 Dutch reformed was the state church, and no other 
 public services were allowed, but in their own houses 
 people might hold any k«nd of worship that they 
 pleased. 
 
 The head of the settlement was now termed the 
 governor. Public matters of all kinds were regulated 
 by a council of eight individuals, who were the highest 
 officials in rank in the country. In this council the 
 governor sat as president. In Capetown there was 
 a court for the trial of petty ca.ses, and a high court 
 of justice, from whose decisions there was an appeal 
 to the supreme court at Batavia. Three burghers 
 had seats in the high court of justice whenever cases 
 affecting colonists were tried. They were the spokes- 
 men between the colonists and the government, and 
 were consulted upon all matters affecting the settle- 
 ment, but they had no votes outside the court of 
 justice. They were called burgher councillors. 
 
 At Stellenbosch there was a court which had cog- 
 nisance of all petty cases beyond the Cape peninsula. 
 It was presided over by an official termed a landdrost, 
 who also collected the revenue and looked after the 
 Company's interests generally. Eight burghers — 
 termed heemraden — had seats and votes. This court 
 acted further as a district council, in which capacity 
 it saw to the repair of roads, the distribution of water, 
 

 54 
 
 FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 the destruction of noxious animals, and various other 
 matters. It raised a revenue by erecting a mill to 
 grind corn and leasing it to the highest bidder, by 
 collecting a yearly tax of one shilling and fourpencc 
 for every hundred sheep or twenty head of horned 
 cattle owned by the farmers, and by sundry other 
 small imposts. Further, it had power to compel the 
 inhabitants to supply waggons, cattle, slaves, and 
 their own labour for public purposes. 
 
 In Capetown there was an orphan chamber, which 
 acted as trustee of property belonging to children 
 when a parent died. There was also a matrimonial 
 court, before which every person in the settlement — 
 male and female — who wished to be married had to 
 appear and show that there were no legal impedi- 
 ments to the union. 
 
 All these bodies — burgher councillors, petty court 
 of justice, heemraden, orphan chamber, and matri- 
 monial court — as also the consistories of the churches, 
 were in a manner self-perpetuating corporations. 
 Every year some of their members retired, but before 
 doing .so double lists of names were sent by the 
 boards to the government, and from the.se lists their 
 succes.sors were appointed. Such a thing as popular 
 election to any office was unknown. The .system 
 worked well on the whole, and the people were 
 satisfied with it. 
 
 The burghers were required to meet at stated 
 periods for drill and practice in the use of arms, 
 and all were held liable for service in ca.se of the 
 appearance of an enemy. They were formed into 
 companies of cavalry and infantry, each with its 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 55 
 
 tatcd 
 irms, 
 the 
 into 
 1 its 
 
 staiiclard of a particular colour. Most of them were 
 excellent marksmen, owing to their habits of fre- 
 quently hunting game ; but their firearms were 
 very clumsy weapons compared with those of our 
 day. To reduce the cost of the garrison, numbers 
 of soldiers were permitted to engage as servants to 
 burghers, on condition that they could be called back 
 to their colours at any time. 
 
 Capetown at the close of the century contained 
 about eighty private houses. The great garden of 
 the Company, which Simon van der Stel had partly 
 converted into a nursery for luiropean, Indian, and 
 native plants, was regarded as something marvellous 
 by visitors of all nations, so great a variety of vege- 
 tation was to be seen and admired there. This 
 governor, upon his retirement in 1699, went to live 
 upon a beautiful estate which the Company gave him 
 a little beyond Wynberg, where he planted the vine- 
 yards that in later years produced the celebrated 
 Constantia wines. He was an enthusiast in the 
 matter of cultivating oak trees, and during the twenty 
 years of his government many scores of thousands 
 were planted by his orders all over the settlement. 
 
 The system of taxation was as bad as could be 
 devised, so far as effect upon the character of the 
 people was concerned. The exclusive right to sell 
 various articles — among others spirituous liquors — was 
 sold by auction as a monopoly to the highest bidder. 
 Upon anyth 'ig that the government required— such 
 as beef and mutton — a price per pound was fixed to 
 the residents in Capetown, and a much higher price 
 to foreigners ; the monopoly was then put up for 
 
56 
 
 SYSTEM OF TAXATION. 
 
 sale, and whoever offered to supply the Company at 
 the lowest rate became the purchaser. Thus beef 
 might be a penny a pound to a mechanic in Cape- 
 town, twopence a pound to the captain of an English 
 ship, and a halfpenny a pound to the Company's 
 hospital. The tithe of grain and the district tax 
 upon cattle were both paid upon returns made by the 
 farmers themselves, so that a premium was offered 
 for falsehood. This system was soon discovered to 
 be vicious, but it was continued without modification 
 until towards the close of the next century. 
 
 The government exercised the right of fixing the 
 price of anything that it needed, and prohibiting the 
 sale of the article to any one else until its own wants 
 were supplied. Thus, if half-a-dozen Dutch ships and 
 two or three English Indiamen were lying at anchor 
 in Table Hay at a time when the meal in the Com- 
 pany's stores was exhausted, the Englishmen would 
 certainly get no bread until the Hollanders' tables 
 were cj 'crcd. lUit, upon the whole, strangers were 
 »t.uch better treated here than the Dutch were treated 
 in foreign ports, and it was only in times of scarcity 
 that tliey had cause to complain of anything except 
 high prices. 
 
 The Company was supposed to be the only whole- 
 sale merchant in the country. From its stores in 
 Capetown shopkeepers were supplied with imported 
 goods, and cvciything that was exported in bulk 
 passed through its hands. lUit in point of fact a 
 large proportion of the trade of the country was 
 carried on with ships' people, Dutch and foreign. 
 From the captain of an Indiaman of any nationality 
 
SYSTEM OF TRADE. 
 
 57 
 
 down to the youngest midshipman, every one had 
 some little venture of his own that he was always 
 ready to trade with. It might be a bale of calico, or 
 it might be a slave, for many bondsmen were brought 
 to South Africa in this way. ICven among the fore- 
 mast hands the spirit of commerce was strong. A 
 sailor when homeward bound was commonly accom- 
 panied by monkeys and parrots and cockatoos and 
 various descriptions of birds and beasts till the fore- 
 castle was often like a menagerie, in his chest he had 
 fancy articles from Japan, silk handkerchiefs from 
 China, or perhaps some curiosities picked up at an 
 Indian isle. This kind of commerce was very petty, 
 but in the aggregate it must have amounted to some- 
 thing considerable, for the inhabitants of Capetown 
 during more than a hundred years lived and throve 
 upon it. Nowhere in the world, we read again and 
 again in accounts of travellers of many nationalities, 
 could a greater variety of goods be purchased and 
 sold. The traffic was carried on openly, for though 
 there was a law that goods should not be imported by 
 foreigners, it was not applied to ventures by ships' 
 people — English, h'rench, or Dajiish — on their own 
 account. 
 
 liy this time the knowledge of South African 
 geography had very greatly increased. Simon van 
 dcr Stcl himself with a large party of attendants had 
 visited the copper mountain (jf Little Namacjualand, 
 and had received information from the natives there 
 of the great river now known as the Orange. Some 
 Dutch and Elnglish sailors, shij)wrecked on the eastern 
 coast, before they were rescued had travelled in one 
 
EXPLORATION. 
 
 59 
 
 direction to Delagoa Hay, and in the other to the 
 lUiffalo river. From them as accurate an account of 
 the southern Hantu tribes was obtained as any we 
 have at the present day. Parties of cattle traders 
 had brought back information of every Hottentot 
 tribe in existence except the Korana. I^ut as yet no 
 white man had set foot uj)on the plain of the Karoo, 
 and consequently nothing was known of the far 
 interior. 
 
I 
 
 
 
 ?y^ 
 
 VII. 
 
 PROGKKSS OF THK CAl'K COLONY FROM 17OG TO 
 
 1750. 
 
 In the first year of the eighteenth century the 
 second terrace upward from the sea began to be 
 occupied by lunopeans. Wilhcni Adrian van der 
 Stel, eldest son of Simon van der Stel, was then 
 governor. Me made a tour of inspection through the 
 settlement, and afterwards crossed the mountain »angc 
 close to the ravine of the Little Herg river, for the 
 purpose of examining the ccjuntry beyond. It was 
 the beautiful tract of land now called the Tulba^ih 
 basin which the governor and his party entered, and 
 it seemed io them to invite hun^r occupation. 
 
 The settlement on tliO coast bv)t ! ad been a success, 
 but it had not been able to supply many cattle. The 
 land u'as adapted for culiivation, there was a market 
 within easy reach, and the ideas of the people 
 favoured the plough. To this day the inhabitants 
 of that part of the country depend upon their crops 
 of wheat, their fruit, and their wine, and keep no 
 more oxen and sheep than are rc(juircd for their own 
 use. 
 
 I 
 
 Wc 
 
 its 
 
 dc 
 
 a 
 
 da 
 
 thi 
 
 th 
 
 a 
 
 be 
 
LIFE OF THE EARLY SETTLERS 
 
 $1 
 
 On the other side of the mountain ranf^c ^?ricalturc 
 was not then possible. The Tu'bi^gh basin is fertile ; 
 its extensive corn lands, its vineyar' , and the gar- 
 dens and orchards round its homesteads form now 
 a pleasant sight in the early summer ; but in those 
 days, when there was no other way of access to it 
 than over a mountain that could only be crossed with 
 the greatest difficulty, no man would think of making 
 a living by the plough. Cattle breeding alone could 
 be depended upon there. 
 
 A small military outpost was formed in the basin 
 to protect the settlers from the liushmen who had 
 their haunts in the surrounding mountains, and then 
 several ffimilies were induced to try their fortune in 
 the lonely vale. A few individuals were still being 
 sent out from Europe every year, and the old system 
 of discharging servants of the Company continued in 
 practice, so that settlers were obtainable. Hut as a 
 rule new-comers were located near the Cape penin- 
 sula, and young people born in the country com- 
 menced life for themselves be)()nd the mountain 
 range. 
 
 Gradually they spread beyond the Tulbagh basin, 
 down the valley (^f the Hreede river, and over the 
 Witsenberg to the high plateau called the Warm 
 Jiokkeveld. Others crossed the range at Hottentot - 
 Holland, and pushed their way along the banks of 
 the Zonderend and down towards the sea at Cape 
 Agulhas. Others again kept up the western coast 
 belt, passed the I'ikctberg, ai d in course of lime 
 reached the mouth of the Klephant river. 
 
 The life led by these pioneers of civilisation was 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 
 •A 
 
 o 
 'J 
 ■J 
 
 A 
 
 A 
 < 
 'J 
 
 12 
 
 
v. 
 
 o 
 
 ■J 
 < 
 
 to) 
 
 V. 
 < 
 
 < 
 
 H 
 3 
 
 L/F/v OF r//F EARLY SETTLERS. 
 
 63 
 
 rou^h and wild, but it had its own peculiar charm. 
 Cattle breeding was found to pay fairly well. Some- 
 times Hushmen would drive off oxen or sheep, 
 and a little excitement was caused by the pursuit of 
 the marauders, but otherwise the time passed away 
 fjuietly. The best of health was commonl)' enjoyed, 
 and there was the most perfect freedom. The only 
 direct tax towards the general revenue was ;^5 a 
 )'ear, which each grazier was required to pa)-, and f(^r 
 which he had a leLjjal rij^ht to the use of six thousand 
 acres of j^round, with the privilej^e of movinj^ into 
 the Karoo for a couple of months every year to ^ive 
 his stock a chan^'e of pasture. During the.se migra- 
 tions he and his famil)- slcjit in a j^neat tent wa}^<;on, 
 and passed ihe day in the open air, usuall)- selectiiij^ 
 a patch of trees on the bank t>f a stream for a camping 
 place. A distaste for town life, with its restraints 
 and all the nameless aimojances to which simple 
 people are exposed when in contact with men of 
 sharper intellect, soon became i)art of the nature of a 
 cattle breeder, and ^rew stronger with each succeeding 
 generation. The children and grandchildren of Dutch 
 gardeners, Cicrman mechanics, and Huguenot trades- 
 men by force of circumstances reverted in habits and 
 in thought to the condition (jf .semi-nomads, In the 
 language of South Africa the.se people were callerl 
 trekboeren, that is wandering farmer.s. Man)' of 
 them became expert elei)hant hunters, and travelled 
 great distances in search of ivory. 
 
 Behind them, as they moved onwaril, a more .settled 
 class of pe(>j)lc occupied the countr)-, though ver)- 
 thinly. These built better houses than the others, as 
 
 » If 
 
64 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM 1700 TO I750. 
 
 soon as rough roads were made they combined agri- 
 culture with cattle breeding, and generally they led 
 more stable lives. In this manner hardly a year 
 passed by without an expansion of the settlement. 
 
 Wilhem Adrian van der Stel, who was governor 
 when the colonists crossed the first mountain range, 
 was a man of culture and abilit)', but he had an 
 inordinate passion for making money, a fault that was 
 common to matiy of the Company's servants. To get 
 together a fortune with which to return to tlie Nether- 
 I'inds was an object ever before the eyes of these men, 
 and the s)'strm under which they served favoured the 
 accomplishment of their plans. The Company paid 
 its officers the smallest of salaries, but allowed them 
 perquisites of various kinds. In the preceding 
 chapter mention has been made of the trade carried 
 on under its sanction by the people of its fleets. Its 
 officials on shore had even greater j)rivileges. Some 
 of them received commissions on sales and purchases 
 of goods, others held monopolies of lucrative duties, 
 others again were allowed to trade in specified articles 
 on their own account. Spices only were guarded with 
 the most extreme jealousy, and if any one had 
 ventured to buy or sell a pound of pepper or a dozen 
 nutmegs except at the Company's stores, dismissal 
 from the service would have been the lightest part of 
 his punishment. 
 
 It followed from this system that in the earl) da)s 
 of the settlement the officials in South Africa were 
 in general exceedingly anxious to get on to India, 
 because there was little or nothing to be made here 
 Some of them had been allowed to carry on farming 
 
WlLIIEM ADKLiy VAN DER STEL. 
 
 b- 
 
 agri- 
 iy led 
 L year 
 
 :nt. 
 
 /crnor 
 range, 
 ad an 
 at was 
 To get 
 ethcr- 
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 c(juncil had a monopoly of making out certain legal 
 documents, and several others had exclusive privi- 
 leges ; but what were these petty gains, they th(Hight, 
 to the weidth that was gathered by others in the 
 Indian isles. 
 
 Wilhem Adrian van der Stel looked about for some 
 means to fill his purse, but could devise nothing else 
 than a farm. Of course he could not take ground for 
 himself; but an ofTicer of higher rank who called was 
 obliging enough to give him a tract of land at 
 Ilottentots-IloUand, to which he afterwards adtled by 
 granting a \)\ut of the adjoining ground to one of his 
 dependents, and then purchasing it from the grantee 
 at a nominal price. At this place he erected exten- 
 sive buildings, planted nearly half a million vines, and 
 laid out groves, orchards, and corn lands to a corres- 
 ponding extent. In the open country beyond the 
 mountain he kept from six to eight hundred breeding 
 cattle and eight or ten thousand sheep. Of this 
 extensive establishment the directors were kept in 
 entire ignorance, and there is no mention whatever of 
 it in any official docutnent until complaints against 
 the governor reached Holland. 
 
 The burghers looked upon the big farm with very 
 lively indignation. Their princijial gains were derived 
 from the sale of produce to foreigners, and they saw 
 that market being i)ractically closed to them. The 
 governor, they believed, would manage to secure the 
 larger part of any profitable business for himself, and 
 whatever escaped him would fall to his father, who 
 
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 who was farming below Stcllcnbosch. 
 
 There have never been people less willing to sub- 
 mit silently to grievances, real or imaginar)-, than the 
 colonists of South Africa. In 1705 some uf them 
 sent a complaint of what was going on to the 
 governor-general and council of India, but at Batavia 
 nothing was done in the matter. Probably they did 
 not expect redress from that (piarter, for before there 
 was time to receive a reply, a mem(jrial to the 
 directors was drawn ui) and signed by sixty-three of 
 the best men in the settlement. In this document 
 Wilhem Adrian van der Stel was accused of miscon- 
 duct and corrui)t practices tending to the serious loss 
 and oppression of the colonists. Similar charges, but 
 in a lower degree, were made against the officer !iext 
 in rank to the governor and against the clergyman of 
 Capetown. These persons also had been neglecting 
 their public duties, and devoting their attention to 
 farming. 
 
 With the arrival of the homewartl-bound lleet at the 
 beginning of 1706 the governor learnt of the com- 
 plaint sent to Hatavia, and immediately suspected 
 that a similar charge would be forwarded to Holland. 
 The danger of his position now drove him to acts of 
 extreme folly as well as of tyranny, lie caused a 
 certificate to be drawn up, in which he was credited 
 with the highest virtues and the utmost satisfaction 
 was expressed with his manner of ruling the colony. 
 The residents in the Cape peninsula were invited to 
 the castle, and were then recpiestcd to sign this cer- 
 tificate. The landdrost of StcUenbo.sch was directed 
 
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 CAPE COLONY FROM I70O TO 1750. 
 
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 to proceed with an armed party from house to house 
 in the country, and get the residents there to sign it 
 also. By these means two hundred and forty names 
 in all were obtained, including those of a few Asiatics 
 and free blacks. Many, however, refused to affix 
 their signatures, even under the landdrost's threat 
 that they would be marked men if they did not. 
 
 The governor suspected that a farmer at Stellen- 
 bosch named Adam Tas was the secretary of the dis- 
 affected party, and the landdrost was directed to have 
 him arrested. Early one morning his house was 
 surrounded by an armed party, he was seized and 
 sent to the castle, his premises were searched, and his 
 writing-desk was carried away. There could be no 
 truce after this between the governor and his op- 
 ponents, for if a burgher could be treated in this 
 manner, upon mere suspicion of having drawn up a 
 memorial to the high authorities, no man's liberty 
 would be safe. Bail was at once offered for the 
 appearance of Tas before a court of justice, but was 
 refused. He was committed to prison, where he was 
 kept nearly fourteen months. 
 
 In his desk was found the draft from which the 
 memorial to the lirectors had been copied. It was 
 unsigned, but papers attached to it indicated several 
 of those who had taken part in the matter. Within 
 the next few days seven of these were arrested, two 
 of whom were committed to prison, one was sent to 
 Batavia, and four were put on board a ship bound to 
 Amsterdam. The governor hoped to terrify them 
 into signing the certificate in his favour and denying 
 the truth of the charges against him, but not one of 
 
WILHEM ADRIAN VAN DER STEL. 
 
 69 
 
 them faltered for a moment. Their wives petitioned 
 that the prisoners might be brought to trial at once 
 before a proper court of justice, and when it was 
 hinted that if they would induce their husbands to do 
 what was desired, release would follow, these true- 
 hearted women indignantly refused. In the mean- 
 time the memorial had been committed to the care 
 of a physician in the return fleet, and after the ships 
 sailed he gave it to one of the burghers who were 
 banished. 
 
 The governor continued to act as if his will was 
 above the law of the land. Further arrests of 
 burghers were made by his direction, the properly 
 constituted courts were abolished, and in their stead 
 his creatures were appointed to office. The people 
 of Stellenbosch, men and women, announced their 
 determination to maintain their rights, upon which 
 a body of soldiers was sent to support the landdrost. 
 
 Meantime three of the burghers sent to Europe 
 arrived at Amsterdam, the other having died on the 
 passage, and they lost not a day before presenting 
 the memorial to the directors and making their own 
 complaint. In a matter of this kind it was necessary 
 to act with promptitude as well as with justice. The 
 Company had numerous and powerful enemies 
 always watching for a chance to attack it before 
 the states-general, and a charge of oppression of 
 free Netherlanders in one of its colonies would be 
 a weapon of which they would not fail to make 
 good use. A commission was therefore appointed 
 to investigate the matter, and a report was presently 
 sent in by it that the charges were very grave. In 
 
in 
 
 ii 
 
 70 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM I7OO TO I750. 
 
 consequence the governor, the officer next in rank, 
 the clergyman of Capetown, and the landdrost of 
 Stellenbosch were suspended from duty and ordered 
 to return to Europe to undergo a trial. The colonists 
 sent delegates home to maintain their charges, and 
 the result was that the oftcnding officials were all 
 dismissed from the service and Wilhem Adrian van 
 der Stel's farm was confiscated. 
 
 From the documents connected with this case the 
 views of the directors and of the colonists concerning 
 the government of the country and the rights of its 
 people can be gathered with great precision. The 
 directors desired to have a large body of freemen 
 living in comfort, loyal to the fatherland, ready and 
 willing to assist in the defence of the colony if 
 attacked, enjoying the same rights as their equals 
 in Europe, and not differing much from each other 
 in rank or position. They issued orders that no 
 official, from the highest to the lowest, was to own 
 or lease a tract of land larger than a garden, or to 
 trade in any way in corn, wine, or cattle. The 
 burghers were to be governed in accordance with 
 law and justice. 
 
 On their part, the colonists claimed exactly the 
 same rights as if they were still living in the Nether- 
 lands. They expressed no wish for a change in the 
 form of government, what they desired being merely 
 that the control of affairs should be placed in honest 
 hands. In their opinion they forfeited nothing by 
 removal to South Africa, and the violence displayed 
 by the governor towards Adam Tas and his associates 
 was as outrageous as if it had taken place in the city 
 
FIRST OUTBREAK OF SMALL-POX. 
 
 71 
 
 of Amsterdam. They asserted their undoubted right 
 to personal liberty, to exemption from arrest unless 
 under reasonable suspicion of crime, to admission to 
 bail, to speedy trial before a proper court of justice, 
 to freedom to sell to any one, burgher or foreigner, 
 except under special circumstances when restriction 
 was needed for the good of the community, whatever 
 their land produced, after the tithes had been paid 
 and the Company's needs had been supplied. And 
 these claims, made in as explicit terms as they could 
 be to-day by an Englishman living in a crown colony, 
 were not challenged by the directors or even the 
 partisans of the late governor, but were accepted by 
 every one as unquestioned. 
 
 In 1 7 10 the island of Mauritius was abandoned 
 by the Dutch East India Company, the directors 
 having come to the conclusion that it was not worth 
 the cost of maintaining a large garrison, and that 
 with a small garrison it was not secure. A few 
 colonists who were there had the choice of removal 
 to South Africa or to Java, and nine families elected 
 to come to this country. A few months later the 
 French took possession of the island, and under 
 them it soon became a place of importance. 
 
 In 17 13 a terrible evil came upon the country. 
 In March of that year the small-pox made its first 
 appearance in South Africa. It was introduced by 
 means of some clothing belonging to ships' people 
 who had been ill on the passage from India, but 
 who had recovered before they reached Table Bay. 
 This clothing was sent to be washed at the Com- 
 pany's slave lodge, and the women who handled it 
 
rf^ 
 
 72 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM I7OO TO 1750. 
 
 were the first to be smitten. The Company had at 
 the time about five hundred and seventy slaves of 
 both sexes and all ages, nearly two hundred of whom 
 were carried off within the next six months. 
 
 r^rom the slaves the disease spread to the Euro- 
 peans and the natives. In May and June there was 
 hardly a family in the town that had not some one 
 sick or dead. Traffic in the streets was suspended, 
 and even the children ceased to play their usual 
 games in the squares and open places. At last it 
 was impossible to obtain nurses, though slave wom.en 
 were being paid at the rate of four and five shillings 
 a day. All the planks in the stores were used, and 
 in July it became necessary to bury the dead without 
 coffins. During that dreadful winter nearly one- 
 fourth of the European inhabitants of the town 
 perished, and only when the hot weather set in did 
 the plague cease. 
 
 The disease spread into the country, but there the 
 proportion of white people that perished was not so 
 large as in the town. It was easier to keep from 
 contact with sick persons. Some families living in 
 secluded places were quite shut off from the rest of 
 the colony, and the farmers in general avoided moving 
 about. 
 
 The death rate among the free blacks was very 
 high, but it was among the Hottentots that it 
 reached its maximum. Whole kraals in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Cape peninsula disappeared with- 
 out leaving a single representative. The unfortunate 
 clans when attacked, believing that they were be- 
 witched, gave way to despair, and made no effort 
 
FIRST OUTBREAK OF SMALL-POX. 
 
 73 
 
 to save themselves. The beachrangers in Table 
 Valley did not even remove the dead from their 
 huts, but sat down and awaited their own turn 
 without a gleam of hope. 
 
 When the disease ceased there were only dejected 
 remnants left of the old tribes of the Hcssequa, 
 Chainouqua, Goringhaiqua, Cochoqua, and Grigri- 
 qua. Beyond them it had not spread. After this 
 date these tribal titles are not found in official records 
 or accounts by travellers, and the Hottentot clans 
 that remained within a hundred miles of the castle 
 ceased to be regarded as of any importance. They 
 continued as before to be governed by their own 
 chiefs without interference from the European 
 authorities except when they committed crimes 
 against white people or slaves, there were reserves 
 special I)'' set apart for their use, and they were at 
 liberty to roam over any land not occupied by 
 colonists ; but they were without influence or power, 
 and their friendship was no longer courted nor 
 their enmity feared. 
 
 It does not appear that the Bushmen suffered from 
 the small-pox, for by some chance they did not come 
 into contact with other people while it was prevalent. 
 In general there was war between them and the 
 colonists. As the game was destroyed or retreated, 
 they turned to the oxen and sheep of the graziers 
 for sustenance, and it was then a matter of necessity 
 to expel them from their haunts. They would not, 
 or could not, accommodate themselves to the new 
 order of things that was growing up around them, 
 and therefore they were doomed to perish. But the 
 
74 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM I70O 'lO 1750. 
 
 struggle was a severe one, and there were times 
 when it almost seemed as if the wild people would 
 be able to turn back the wave of colonisation that 
 was spreading over the country. They managed to 
 inflict heavy losses upon the Europeans by burning 
 houses and driving off cattle, and occasionally a man 
 or a woman died from the poison of their arrows ; 
 but in the long run the combined action of the 
 farmers and the superiority of the flintlock over the 
 bow decided the question against them. 
 
 In 1 72 1 the Company established a station at 
 Delagoa Bay, with the object of opening up a trade 
 along the eastern coast. This station was a de- 
 pendency of the Cape government, just as Mauri- 
 tius had been. But the place proved exceedingly 
 unhealthy, and the trade in gold, ivory, copper, and 
 slaves was very much smaller than had been antici- 
 pated. On one occasion also the factory was sur- 
 prised and plundered by pirates. Attempts were 
 repeatedl)/ made to explore tht country and find the 
 place from which a little alluv."al gold was brought 
 by occasional black visitors, but the parties sent out 
 never succeeded in getting beyond the Lebombo 
 mountains, as either fever attacked them or hostile 
 natives barred the way. In every respect the station 
 was a failure, and, therefore, after maintaining it for 
 nearly ten years at a great sacrifice of life and money, 
 the Company abandoned it. 
 
 After the punishment inflicted upon W'llhem 
 Adrian van der Stel and his associates, the govern- 
 ment of the Cape Colony was conducted for nearly 
 three-quarters of a century in a fairly honest manner, 
 
SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 75 
 
 and no complaint of tyranny or oppression was made 
 by the people. The system of administration, indeed, 
 opciied a door to abuses that in the same form would 
 not be tolerated now, and they were certainly of a 
 grave nature. Thus a perquisite of the storekeeper 
 was to buy at one rate of exchange of silver money 
 and to sell at another rate, by which he gained a 
 commission of nearly eightpence in the pound. The 
 victualler was allowed to require a few pounds over- 
 weight in every bag of grain that the Company 
 purchased from a farmer, and to place the surplus 
 to his own credit. The police magistrate, as his 
 perquisite, kept half the fines which he inflicted for 
 contravention of simple regulations as well as for 
 crimes. The governor himself and the officer second 
 in rank had as perquisites a fixed sum deducted from 
 the purchase amount of every cask of wine brought 
 to the Company's stores. 
 
 But af) this was the established order of things, the 
 colonists submitted to it without complaint. Some- 
 times they grumbled about bad seasonS; or the 
 destruction of their crops by locusts, or the low 
 prices given for farm produce ; and cattle diseases 
 of one kind or other often caused them much los,s. 
 When foreign vessels were in Table Bay, too, there 
 was always much dissatisfaction if the Company 
 required anything that was saleable at a large profit. 
 Thc^e was never any distress, however, through want 
 of the necessaries of life, nor was there any inter- 
 ference by the government with the recognised rights 
 of the people. 
 
 Experiments in the cultivation of various plants 
 
I ill 
 
 76 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM 1700 TO 175O. 
 
 were frequently made by order of the directors, in 
 the hope of finding something beside wheat and wine 
 tliat would pay the farmers to grow and the Company 
 to export. The olive was tried again and again, but 
 always without success. Tobacco, indigo, and flax 
 were also fruitlessly experimented with. Great expec- 
 tations were once raised by the production of eight 
 pounds of raw silk, but that also proved a failure, as 
 the returns were so trifling that people would have 
 nothing to do with it. 
 
 In the winter season Table Bay was unsafe, being 
 exposed to the fury of nortli-west gales, and the 
 Company had often sustained heavy losses by ship- 
 wreck there. Thus, in a terrible gale during the 
 night of the i6th of June 1722 seven Dutch and 
 three P^nglish vessels were driven ashore, and six 
 hundred and sixty men were drowned. On this 
 occasion property valued at nearly ;^2 50,000 was 
 destroyed. And on the 21st of May 1737 nine 
 vessels belonging to the Company were wrecked, and 
 two hundred and eight lives were lost. The cost 
 price of the cargo alone which was strewn on the 
 beach was ^160,000. : • ' 
 
 These and many other disasters cau.sed the 
 directors to issue orders that a mole should be 
 constructed in Table Bay, so as to form a safe 
 harbour, and in the meantime their ships were to 
 refresh at Simon's Bay from the 15th of May to the 
 15th of August, the season when gales from the 
 north-west are common. Simon's Bay oflered secure 
 shelter during the winter season, but there was a 
 drawback to its use in difficulty of access by land, 
 
EFFORT TO IMPROVE TABLE HAY. 
 
 11 
 
 which made the supplyin<^ a ship witli frcsli provisions 
 very expensive. In 1742 it was first used as a port 
 of call. A village then s[)rang up on its southern 
 shore, which received the name Simonstown. 
 
 The mole in Table Bay was commenced in 
 February 1743. As it was held to be a work of 
 importance to the colony as well as to the Company, 
 a tax was levied upon all the white people in the 
 settlement. Those in the Cape peninsula were 
 assessed at the labour of one hundred and fifty-three 
 stout slaves for two months in the year, and those in 
 the country at ^{^293 in money or provisions. All 
 the Company's slaves and all the waggons and cattle 
 that could be spared from other work were employed 
 upon the mole. A strong gang of convicts was sent 
 fr^m Batavia to assist in its construction. Wy the 
 close of 1746 it was three hundred and fifty-one feet 
 in length from the shore, but the work was then 
 stopped. The convicts from Java had nearly all died 
 from change ^f climate and excessive fatigue, and 
 the burghers <'' ired that they could not pay their 
 quota any lo The expense was found to be 
 
 beyond the meaiia of the Company, though it was 
 believed that if the work could be completed Table 
 Bay would be a perfectly safe harbour. The base of 
 the mole is still to be seen like a reef running out 
 from the shore, and its site is called Mouille Point 
 on that account to the present day. 
 
 By this time the settlement extended so far that 
 it was considered necessary to provide two more 
 churches in the parts most thickly populated and a 
 court of iustice for the colonists on the frontier. I» 
 
GROWTH OF THE SETTLEMENT. 
 
 79 
 
 1743 ^ clergyman was stationed at Roode/and, now 
 the village of Tulbagh, and a church was c.iablished 
 there. Two years later a clergyman and a school- 
 master were appointed to Zwartland, and went to 
 reside at the warm bath, the site of the present 
 village of Malmesbury. In 1745 a landdrost was 
 stationed at a place thereafter known as the village 
 of Swellendam, and a board of heemraden was ap- 
 pointed, just as at Stellenbosch. A dividing line was 
 laid down between the districts of Stellenbosch and 
 Swellendam, and also between the Cape and Stellen- 
 bosch, but on the north and the east the boundary 
 was declared to be " where the power of the honour- 
 able Company ends." 
 
 i 
 
I 
 
 VIII. 
 
 COURSE OF EVENTS IN THE CAPE COLONY FROM 
 
 1750 TO 1785. 
 
 From 175 i to 1771 the colony was governed by 
 Ryk Tulbagh, a man of very high moral character 
 and considerable ability, who had risen by merit 
 alone from the humblest position in the Company's 
 service. Though two great troubles fell upon the 
 country within this period, it was always regarded by 
 the old colonists as the brightest time during Dutch 
 rule in South Africa. The governor was firm, but 
 just and benevolent, and was so beloved that he was 
 commonly called Father Tulbagh. 
 
 One of the troubles referred to was an outbreak of 
 small-pox, that terrible scourge having been intro- 
 duced at the beginning of the winter of 1755 by a 
 homeward-bound fleet from Ceylon. At first it was 
 supposed to be a kind of fever, but after a few days 
 there were cases that admitted of no doubt. It 
 assumed, however, various forms, and among some of 
 the distant Hottentot tribes differed in appearance so 
 much froni what was held to be true small-pox that 
 
 the Europeans termed it gall sickness. 
 
 80 
 
SECOND OUTBREAK OF SMALL-POX. 
 
 8i 
 
 FROM 
 
 ned by 
 
 laracter 
 
 r merit 
 
 npany's 
 
 >on the 
 
 •ded by 
 
 Dutch 
 
 m, but 
 
 he was 
 
 reak of 
 intro- 
 |5 by a 
 it was 
 |w days 
 .t It 
 ime of 
 nee so 
 IX that 
 
 In Capetown hardly a single adult who was 
 attacked recovered. In July the weather was colder 
 than usual, and during that month over eleven 
 hun^'ed persons perished. If that death rate had 
 coniinued, before the close of the year there would 
 have been no one left, but as soon as the warm 
 weather set in the disease became milder. Two great 
 hospitals were opened : one for poor Europeans, 
 supported by church funds, the other for blacks. To 
 the latter all slaves who were attacked were sent, the 
 expense being borne by their owners. Those who 
 recovered were employed as nurses. In Capetown 
 from the beginning of May to the end of October 
 nine hundred and sixty-three Europeans and eleven 
 hundred and nine blacks died. 
 
 In the country the white people did not suffer very 
 severely, as they kept so secluded on their farms that 
 for several months hardly a waggon load of produce 
 was taken to town for sale. The government excused 
 the muster of the burghers for drill, and even the 
 services in the churches were not attended by people 
 from a distance. 
 
 With the Hottentot tribes that escaped on the 
 former occasion the disease created fearful havoc. 
 Not one was left unscathed, except the Korana along 
 the Orange and its branches. On the coast north- 
 ward to Walfish Bay and eastward until Bantu were 
 reached, the tribes as such were utterly destroyed. 
 The individuals that remained were thereafter 
 blended together under the general name of Hot- 
 tentots, and their old distinguishing titles became 
 lost even among themselves. 
 
 " 
 
r^ 
 
 ^liii 
 
 82 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM 1750 TO 1785. 
 
 |i 
 
 ! ; 
 
 ',1 
 
 ! 
 
 How far the disease extended among the Bantu 
 cannot be stated with certainty. These people had 
 pushed their outposts as far westward as the Keis- 
 kama, and at least one Hottentot tribe — the Damaqua 
 — had been incorporated by them, while another — 
 the Gonaqua — was beginning to be assimilated. 
 According to Tembu traditions the territory between 
 the Kei and the Bashee was almost depopulated by 
 the small-pox, and the clans between the Kei and 
 the Keiskama must have suffered severely, but to 
 what extent those beyond the Bashee were affected 
 is not known. 
 
 The other trouble was a depression in the price of 
 agricultural produce, especially of wine, that brought 
 the colonists to the verge of bankruptcy. The 
 Company had been in the habit of purchasing a 
 considerable quantity of wine for sale and consump- 
 tion in India, where it was served out instead of 
 spirits to the soldiers and sailors, but so many com- 
 plaints were made about its quality that in 1755 its 
 use there was nearly abandoned. By some chance 
 just at this t'me very few foreign ships put into Table 
 Bay, so that the market was glutted with produce for 
 which there was no demand. Prices fell lower than 
 had ever been known before, and the farmers saw 
 nothing but ruin before them. 
 
 But South Africa has always been a country of 
 sudden reversions from adversity. In this instance 
 matters were at their worst when in December 1758 
 a large fleet of French men-of-war and transports 
 with troops arrived from Mauritius, purposely to 
 refresh and lay in a supply of provisions. At once 
 
EXPLORATION OF NAMAQUALAND. 
 
 83 
 
 the price of produce doubled or trebled, and all the 
 surplus stock was disposed of. There was then war 
 between Great Britain and France, and the repre- 
 sentatives of both nations in India soon came to 
 look upon the Cape Colony as a convenient source 
 of supply. The officers of French packets from 
 Mauritius and of English packets from St. Helena 
 bid against each other in Capetown for cattle and 
 meal and wine, so that until March 1763, when 
 tidings of the conclusion of peace were received, the 
 farmers enjoyed unusual prosperity. 
 
 During Mr. Tulbagh's administration some pre- 
 viously unexplored parts of the country were care- 
 fully examined. One expedition travelled along the 
 coast eastward to the Kei, and in returning kept as 
 close as possible to the foot of the Amatola mountains 
 and the Winterberg. West of the Tyumic river this 
 party found no inhabitants except Bushmen. A 
 botanist who was with the expedition brought back 
 many specimens of plants then strange to Europeans, 
 which he afterwards cultivated in the garden in Cape- 
 town. Another exploring party made its way far 
 into Great Namaqualand. Among its spoils was the 
 skin of a giraffe, an animal that never roamed south 
 of the Orange river, and consequently was unknown 
 to the colonists. The skin was sent by Governor 
 Tulbagh to the museum of Leiden, together with 
 many specimens of the animals and plants of South 
 Africa. 
 
 Capetown at this time contained six or seven 
 thousand inhabitants, rather more than half of whom 
 were slaves. It had but one church building, but 
 
a 
 
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VILLAGES IN THE COLONY. 
 
 85 
 
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 there v;ere three clergymen. The houses were com- 
 modious, though commonly but one story in height. 
 In front of each was an elevated terrace, called a 
 stoep, on which the inhabitants lounged in the 
 evenings. In the principal streets were miniature 
 canals, that served for drainage purposes, and along 
 which were rows of trees as in the Netherlands. 
 The town was patrolled at night by a burgher 
 watch. The watchhouse, built while Mr. Tulbagh 
 was governor, is still standing, and now serves as 
 municipal offices. 
 
 The village of Stelienbosch had grown to be a very 
 pretty place, and was quite embowered with oak trees 
 and rose hedges. It was a custom for old people to 
 live there, so as to be near the church and to provide 
 homes for their grandchildren attending school, while 
 men and women in the prime of life were occupied in 
 their vineyards or on their farms. 
 
 Simonstown contained several large buildings be- 
 longing to the Company, but had not many private 
 residences of much importance. Most of the families, 
 indeed, moved to Capetown for the summer, and the 
 place was then almost deserted. 
 
 Swellendam and Paarl were mere hamlets, con- 
 sisting of large gardens, orchards, and vin -'ards 
 along a single street. Both were in charming 
 situations as far as scenery was concerned, and their 
 beauty was increased by a row of oak trees on each 
 side of the road. Swellendam had no clergyman, 
 but was provided with a school, and the teacher 
 conducted religious services. Its most prominent 
 building was the drostdy, as the courthouse and 
 
vv 
 
 86 
 
 CAPE COLONY PROM ly^O TO 1785. 
 
 
 residence of the landdrost was tftrmed. The clergy- 
 man of the Drakenstein congregation resided at 
 Paarl, and the church building vas there. The 
 hamlet had a school, but no courtiiouse, as it was 
 within the magistracy of Stellenbosch. 
 
 While Mr, Tulbagh was governor the colonists 
 spread out eastward to the Litt'e Fish riv^r and 
 northward to the head waters of many of the streams 
 that flow into the Orange. They did not indeed 
 occupy one-tenth of all the land embraced within 
 these limits, but they took possession of the choicest 
 spots for grazing cattle, and went beyond extensive 
 tracts that were less suited to their needs. 
 
 Governor Tulbagh died in 1771. His successor, 
 Mr. Joachim van Plettenberg, was a man of very 
 different character. He was not devoted to money 
 making like V^ilhem Adrian van der Stel, but he 
 allowed his subordinates to do what they pleased, 
 and many of them were not ashamed to resort to 
 nefarious practices to increase their possessions. In 
 consequence the residents in Capetown and the 
 burghers who lived by agriculture were soon in 
 a state of unrest. The graziers, who seldom came 
 in contact with an official, were much less subject to 
 oppressive treatment, and in general did not concern 
 themselves much with what went on at the seat of 
 government. 
 
 In 1778 the governor made a tour through the 
 colony. On the Zeekoe river, near the present 
 village of Colesberg, he set up a beacon to mark the 
 extent of his journey and the north-eastern limit of 
 the colony. When returning to Capetown by another 
 
TOUR OF GOVERNOR VAN PLETTENBERG. 87 
 
 the 
 esent 
 k the 
 lit of 
 other 
 
 route, he inspected the bay which still bears his 
 name, and caused another beacon to be erected there. 
 At VVillem Prinsloo's farm on the Little Fish river, 
 the site of the present villaj^e of Somerset East, the 
 governor stayed several days. There the frontier 
 graziers and hunters assembled to meet him and 
 make him acquainted with their condition and wants. 
 Their principal requests were very commendable, for 
 what they desired most earnestly was that a magis- 
 trate and a clergyman might be stationed with them. 
 The governor forwarded a report of this interview to 
 the directors, with a recommendation that the desires 
 of the frontiersmen should be complied with. The 
 result was that in 1786 a landdrost — as head of a new 
 district — was stationed at a place which received the 
 name Graaff-Reinet, and soon afterwards a clergyman 
 went to reside there. 
 
 From Prinsloo's farm Governor Van Plettenberg 
 sent messengers to invite the nearest Bantu chiefs to 
 visit him. The Bantu tribe farthest in advance was 
 the Kosa, and some of its clans were then living on 
 the Tyumie and Kat rivers, while nearer the sea the 
 remnant of the Gonaqua tribe of Hottentots, whose 
 territory was between the Fish river and the Keis- 
 kama, had by mixture of blood become practically 
 incorporated with it. Several of the chiefs accepted 
 the governor's invitation, and a friendly conference 
 took place, at which it was arranged that the lower 
 course of the Pish river should be a dividing line 
 between the Bantu and the Europeans. In Novem- 
 ber 1780 this agreement was formally sanctioned by 
 the council, and thereafter for many years the lower 
 
88 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM I750 TO 1785. 
 
 p, : ■ 
 
 II 
 
 Fish river was regarded as the eastern boundary of 
 the colony. 
 
 On the northern border the struggle between the 
 colonists and the Bushmen was incessant. The wild 
 people had been obliged to retire before the ad- 
 vancing wave of colonisation, and they seemed now 
 to be massed in the mountains bordering the great 
 plain south of the Orange river, while the graziers 
 were scattered over the choicest pastures along the 
 same range. Horned cattle, sheep, and goats were 
 driven off in hundreds together, the herdsmen were 
 murdered, and from several places the Europeans 
 were obliged to retire. In May 1774 a commandant 
 was appointed for the northern border, and a plan 
 was made 'co eject the Bushmen from their strong- 
 holds and restore the farmers to the places from 
 which they had been driven. 
 
 At the beginning of summer a combined force of 
 burghers, half-breeds, and Hottentots, in three divi- 
 sions acting in concert, took the field. The country 
 for more than three hundred miles along the great 
 mountain range was scoured, and aV the Bushmen 
 found who would not surrender were shot. Accord- 
 ing to the reports furnished to the government, five 
 hundred and three were killed and two hundred and 
 thirty-nine taken prisoners. Some of these were 
 afterwards released, and others were bound to the 
 farmers for a term of years. 
 
 It was hoped that this punishment would deter the 
 Bushmen from thieving, but it had no such effect. 
 They became even more troublesome than before, and 
 it was with difficulty that the graziers held their own. 
 
FIRST KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 89 
 
 )rce of 
 divi- 
 untry 
 great 
 hmen 
 ccord- 
 t, five 
 Id and 
 were 
 the 
 
 ler the 
 
 leffect. 
 |e, and 
 
 own. 
 
 Another enemy also had now to be reckoned with, 
 for the extension of the settlement had brought the 
 Europeans face to face with the Kosas, a people who 
 might be called civilised when compared with Bush- 
 men, but who were almost as expert stock-lifters. 
 The arrangement made by Governor Van Plettenberg 
 and the chiefs who met him at Prinsloo's farm was 
 not observed for a single year. In 1779 several Kosa 
 clans crossed the Fish river and spread themselves 
 over the present districts of Albany and Bathurst. 
 They said they did not want to quarrel with the 
 Europeans, and to prove the truth of their assertions 
 they murdered a number of Hottentots and took 
 their cattle, without molesting the colonists. But 
 shortly they began to drive off the herds of the 
 white people also, and in September 1779 the far- 
 mers of the invaded districts, together with those 
 along the right bank of the Bushman's river, were 
 obliged to withdraw to a place of safety. 
 
 Two commandos took the field against the intru- 
 ders. The Kosas were attacked and defeated on 
 several occasions, but they were not entirely driven 
 to their own side of the Fish river. In the winter 
 those who were supposed to have been subdued 
 crossed again into the colony, together with many 
 others, and it became evident that a grand effort 
 must be made to expel them. 
 
 The government then appointed a farmer named 
 Adrian van Jaarsveld commandant of the eastern 
 frontier. He gave the Kosas notice that they must 
 retire at once, or he would shoot them. One of the 
 clans thought it prudent to remove, and was therefore 
 
90 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM 1750 TO 1 785. 
 
 not molested, but the others remained where they 
 were. 
 
 The commandant thereupon collected all the 
 European and Hottentot families of the frontier in 
 a coup-' " 'agers formed by drawing up waggons 
 in a circiL v^nd filling the spaces between the wheels 
 with thorn trees. Leaving a few men to defend 
 these camps, with ninety-two burghers and forty 
 Hottentots, all mounted and well armed, he fell upon 
 the Kosas and smote them hip and thigh. He was 
 in the field less than two months, and when he dis- 
 banded his force there was not a Kosa west of the 
 Fish river, and the first Kaffir war was over. 
 
 While the colony was in a state of disaffection and 
 confusion, owing to misgovernment and strife with 
 barbarians, tidings were received — March 1781 — that 
 Great Britain had declared war against the Nether- 
 lands, and that the republic was in alliance with 
 France. The East India Company at this time was 
 declining in prosperity, and was unable to maintain a 
 large garrison in this country, where its yearly outlay 
 was greater by about ;^25,ooo than its income. 
 Practically, therefore, Capetown was almost defence- 
 less, and Great Britain had cast a covetous eye upon 
 it as a half-way station to the great empire she was 
 building up in Hindostan. 
 
 As soon as war was proclaimed, an English fleet 
 with a strong body of troops was despatched under 
 Commodore George Johnstone to seize the colony, 
 but the object of the expedition was made known to 
 the French government by a spy, and a squadron 
 was hastily fitted out to thwart it. Pierre Andre de 
 
ARRIVAL OF FRENCH TROOPS. 
 
 91 
 
 Sufifrcn, in later years vice-admiral of France, was in 
 command of the French ships. 
 
 Commodore Johnstone put into Porto Fraya to 
 take in a supply of fresh water, and anchored without 
 any arrangements for defence, as he believed his 
 destination was unknown to every one except the 
 British government and himself. One of Suffren's 
 ships was also in want of water, so he too steered for 
 Porto Praya, and not expecting to find the luiglish 
 fleet there, made no preparations for action. LJi)on 
 rounding a point of land he caught sight of his 
 opponent, and in his ardour pressed on with only half 
 his ships to secure the advantage of surprise. 
 
 A sharp action followed, which ended by the 
 French being beaten off, but some of the English 
 ships were badly damaged. Suffren now pressed on 
 under all the sail his vessels could carry, and upon 
 his arrival at the Cape landed a strong body of 
 French troops, who speedily made the peninsula 
 secure against attack. 
 
 As soon as his fleet was refitted Johnstone followed, 
 but learning the condition of things from the crew of 
 a prize, he made no attempt upon the colony. He 
 inflicted great damage upon the East India Com- 
 pany, however, by seizing several richly-laden India- 
 men that were waiting in Saldanha Bay for men-of- 
 war to escort them homeward. 
 
 To the great losses sustained during this war the 
 bankruptcy of the Company has usually been attri- 
 buted, but it may be doubted whether the corruption 
 of its officials in the Indian islands had not as much 
 to do with its downfall. As far as South African 
 
< ; 
 
 liill 
 
 93 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM I750 TO 1785. 
 
 history is concerned, the cause is immaterial, the fact 
 remains that the government of the Cape Colony 
 now found itself unable to meet the calls upon it. It 
 tried to borrow money on interest, but did not succeed 
 in getting as much as it needed, and it then issued 
 paper notes without any security excepting a promise 
 to pay when possible, at the same time declaring 
 these notes a legal tender for payment of debts. 
 Some of them were redeemed a few years later, but 
 others were afterwards issued, and then gold and 
 silver disappeared from circulation and unsecured 
 paper took their place. 
 
 The disaffection of the colonists in the vicinity 
 of Capetown towards the government of Mr. Van 
 Plettenberg was openly and fearlessly shown. In 
 1779 they sent four delegates to Holland to represent 
 their grievances and endeavour to obtain redress. 
 And now for the first time the burghers asked to be 
 represented in the government, for they had been 
 told by travellers of the events that had taken place 
 on the other side of the Atlantic, and had begun to 
 apply to themselves the political doctrines which the 
 young republic was teaching. They asked also for 
 free trade with the mother country and its eastern 
 dependencies, and liberty to sell their produce to 
 foreigners without a license from the fiscal, as the 
 chief law officer of the colony was termed. The 
 practice of requiring a license had grown from a 
 simple quarantine regulation to a source of great 
 oppression, as the fiscal would do nothing unless he 
 was heavily bribed. Many of the officials were openly 
 keeping shops, and the burghers asked that this 
 
COMPLAINTS OF THE COLONISTS. 
 
 93 
 
 should be prohibited. Iksides these they had several 
 other grievances, most of which, however, can be 
 summed up that they desired closer connection with 
 Holland and less dependence upon Batavia. 
 
 But matters in the Netherlands were not ns they 
 had been in the time of Wilhem Adrian van der 
 Stel. Then the East India Company was prosperous, 
 and had many enemies always attacking it and bring- 
 ing its transactions to light, so that there was a 
 guarantee for the good government of its possessions. 
 Now the Company was tottering to its fall, and men 
 of all shades of opinion were doing their utmost to 
 prop it up, as its crash might ruin the state. The 
 directors, therefore, did not enter with alacrity into 
 the unpleasant matter brought before them, though 
 they appointed a committee to investigate the com- 
 plaints. This committee sent copies of all the docu- 
 ments received from the delegates to the officials in 
 the colony to report upon, and awaited the replies 
 without doing anything further. The officials natu- 
 rally tried to put their case in as good a light as 
 possible, and the war gave them ample time for con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Thus four full years elapsed before the committee 
 sent in a report, and then it was to the effect that the 
 charges had not been proved. Almost the only relief 
 recommended was that the high court of justice 
 should consist of an equal number of offic -iis and of 
 burghers. The directors adopted this report, and 
 thus the efforts of the burghers to obtain redress were 
 so far a failure. 
 
 At this time the colonists were thriving, and it was 
 
 
94 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM 1750 TO 1785. 
 
 ' ii 
 
 supposed by the directors that they would not make 
 much effort to disturb an order of things in which 
 nioney was easily made. There had never before 
 been such a demand for produce as that created by 
 the large garrison and the French forces in the East. 
 The Company's needs were very small during the 
 war and for some time afterwards, so that little was 
 taken at low prices. Many new trading houses had 
 been opened by burghers. In Capetown there was 
 a display of prosperity which astonished strangers. 
 European and Indian wares in the greatest variety 
 were introduced in large quantities by Danish ships, 
 and though the prices asked were very high, they 
 commanded a ready sale. 
 
 But the burghers of South Africa, though relishing 
 keenly the pleasure of making money, have at every 
 period of their history shown a firmer attachment to 
 what they hold to be their political rights and liber- 
 tics. If at times a few men have been found to 
 waver between money and freedom from misrule, the 
 women have never hesitated to reject wealth at the 
 price of submission to wrong. On this occasion 
 neither men nor women were disposed to let the 
 question rest. The government resorted to various 
 petty acts of tyranny, but the party opposed to it grew 
 in strength, and resolved now to appeal to the states- 
 general. 
 
 The delegates were still in Holland, so documents 
 were sent to them from the colony to be laid before 
 the supreme authority of the republic. But as the 
 directors now announced that they intended to 
 replace the principal officials with other men, and to 
 
AGITATION IN THE COLONY. 
 
 95 
 
 make a few small changes in the system of govern- 
 ment and of carrying on trade, the states- general 
 declined to take up the cause of the burghers until 
 the effect could be seen. The colonists sent home 
 other delegates to push their case, but these quarrelled 
 with each other, and could therefore effect nothing. 
 The agitation in South Africa did not cease, however, 
 until the rule of the East India Company came to an 
 end. 
 
IX. 
 
 THE END OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE 
 
 IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 Though the condition of the East India Company- 
 was that of hopeless insolvency, as was afterwards 
 seen, the directors managed to obtain large sums of 
 money on loan, and among other expensive projects 
 they resolved to fortify the Cape peninsula so that 
 it should not again tempt an invader. With the 
 consent of the states-general they sent out as 
 governor an engineer officer named Cornells Jacob 
 van de Graaff, in order that he might direct the work, 
 and they stationed here a large body of mercenary 
 troops, chiefly German and Swiss regiments in their 
 pay. 
 
 Colonel Van de Graaff took as little trouble to 
 restrain the officials from acting unjustly as his pre- 
 decessor had taken, and the new men were soon 
 as corrupt as the old. They all knew that the end 
 of the Company was at hand. Most of them were 
 trying to make as much money as they could before 
 the final crash, no matter by what means, and the 
 
 governor, though free of that vice, had no scruple in 
 
 96 
 
RECKLESS EXPENDITURE. 
 
 97 
 
 >: RULE 
 
 Dmpany 
 erwards 
 sums of 
 projects 
 so that 
 ith the 
 out as 
 5 Jacob 
 le work, 
 rcenary 
 n their 
 
 ible to 
 ^is prc- 
 
 soon 
 le end 
 
 were 
 before 
 id the 
 iple in 
 
 squandering the property entrusted to his care. No 
 one at the Cape had ever before Hved in such style. 
 The horses, carriages, and servants at his town and 
 country houses would have sufficed for the governor- 
 general of India. There was reckless waste in every- 
 thing that he took in hand. The public expenditure 
 was made to exceed the revenue by nearly ;^92,ooo 
 a year, and though much of this was expended on 
 military works, more was utterly thrown away. 
 
 In 1790 the money borrowed by the Company was 
 exhausted, and as it was impossible to raise another 
 loan, ai. immediate and great reduction of expendi- 
 ture Was unavoidable. The spendthrift governor was 
 recalled, military works of every kind were stopped, 
 and nearly the whole of the troops were sent to 
 India. 
 
 The states-general now appointed a commission 
 to examine the Company's affairs and report upon 
 them, with the result that a supreme effort was made 
 to prevent a collapse. Two men of ability — Messrs. 
 Nederburgh and Frykenius — were sent to South 
 Africa and India with power to reform abuses, 
 increase revenue, and reduce expenditure. In June 
 179.3 they arrived at the Cape and assumed control 
 of affairs. 
 
 By increasing some of the old taxes and imposing 
 new ones, the commissioners raised the revenue to 
 rather over ^30,000 a year. The white people in 
 South Africa of all ages at this time were about fifteen 
 thousand in number, so that on an average each paid 
 £2 a year to the government. With this increase of 
 revenue, and by reducing expenses in every way that 
 
 ■ 8* 
 
■. I 
 
 : 1 i 
 
 98 
 
 END OF liAST INDIA COMPANY S RULIt. 
 
 bal; 
 
 of 
 
 ipany 
 
 seemed possible, the balance 
 
 was brought down to ;^27,ooo a year. 
 
 Distress, consequent upon the reduction of the 
 garrison and an ahnost total cessation of trade, was 
 now general. Professedly to relieve it, and at the 
 same time to increase the revenue, the commissioners 
 established a loan bank in connection with the 
 government. Paper was stamped to represent 
 different sums, amounting in all to ;^i 35,000, was 
 declared a legal tender, and was issued through the 
 bank to applicants at six per cent, interest on good 
 security. By this means relief from pressure of debt 
 was obtained by many landowners ; but the effect of 
 adding such an amount to the cartoon money already 
 in circulation, with no gold to redeem it, was highly 
 disastrous. 
 
 The commissioners redressed a few of the 
 grievances of which the burghers complained, but 
 they made no change in the form of government. 
 They fixed the price at which the Company could 
 demand as much wheat as it needed at about five 
 shillings the hundred pounds, and gave the colonists 
 permission to export thf" surplus to India or the 
 Netherlands, provided it was sent in Dutch ships. 
 They also threw open the trade in slaves with Mada- 
 gascar and the cast coast of Africa. At the same 
 time they forbade the landing of any goods whatever 
 from foreicrn vessels. Trade with 
 
 strangers 
 
 was 
 
 restricted to the sale of provisions for money, un- 
 less special permission was first obtained from the 
 
 government. 
 
 Against this order the residents in Capetown pro- 
 
SECOND KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 S)^) 
 
 i 
 
 mpany 
 
 of the 
 dc, was 
 
 at the 
 jsioners 
 ith the 
 present 
 DO, was 
 jgh the 
 in good 
 of debt 
 effect of 
 ah'eady 
 > highly 
 
 of the 
 
 led, but 
 
 rnmcnt. 
 
 y could 
 
 Dut five 
 
 olonists 
 
 or tlie 
 
 ships. 
 
 Mada- 
 
 \ same 
 
 latcver 
 
 rs was 
 
 uy, un- 
 
 jm the 
 
 /n pro- 
 
 tester' in the strongest hnguage. "We live from 
 God and the foreigners," they said, " and if the trade 
 is stopped we must perish." The commissioners 
 declined to cancel the regulation, but they were at 
 length induced to suspend it for three years, which, 
 as events turned out, amounted to the same thing. 
 
 The graziers on the eastern frontier were in as 
 great trouble as the residents of Capetown. A 
 powerful Kosa chief had recently died, leaving as his 
 heir a boy of tender years, named Gaika. The coun- 
 cillors of the tribe selected Ndlambe, an uncle of the 
 lad, as regent, but some of the clans refused to sub- 
 mit to him, and in March 1789 they suddenly crossed 
 the Fish river into the colony. The farmers fled 
 before them, but were unable to .savr he whole of 
 their cattle. The landdrost of Graaff-Reinet then 
 called the burghers of the district to arms, and sent 
 an express to Capetown with a recjuest that the 
 government would assist him with a hundred 
 soldiers. 
 
 The government decided that war with the Kosas 
 must be avoided at any cost. A commission was 
 appointed to induce them to make peace, and was 
 plainly instructed to purchase their good will. In 
 the meantime the burghers had taken the field, when 
 the Kosa clans, without waiting to be attacked, fell 
 back to the I^'ish river. They were lying on the 
 western bank, and the burghers were approaching, 
 when the instructions of the goveriunet.t were 
 received by the landdrost. The command(j was at 
 once discharged. Not a shot hail been fired, nor a 
 single head of cattle recovered, so the burghers were 
 
 
 ! 
 
 ' 
 
w 
 
 i i 
 
 lOO END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 
 
 indignant and almost mutinuous when they were 
 required to disband. 
 
 The commission then sought an interview with the 
 Kosa chiefs, and tried by means of large presents and 
 smooth words to induce them to retire to their own 
 country ; but as this did not succeed, an arrangement 
 was made that they might occupy the land between 
 the Fish river and the Kowie during good behaviour. 
 Of course they attributed such a concession to the 
 weakness of the white people, and in a short time 
 they sent out parties to steal cattle far and wide. 
 This condition of things lasted four years, until May 
 1793, when a reprisal was made upon a kraal by a 
 party of farmers. The clans in the colony were then 
 joined by many of their tribe beyond the Fish 
 river, all eager for plunder, and in a very short time 
 they spread over the whole of the coast lands as far 
 as the Zwartkops river, burning the houses, driving 
 off the cattle, and murdering all the farmers that fell 
 in their way. 
 
 There were fully six thousand warriors west of the 
 Fish river, and over sixty-five thousand head of 
 cattle, taken from colonists, had been driven across 
 that stream. The government therefore had no 
 option, but was obliged to call out the burghers of 
 Swellendam, and attempt to drive the intruders back 
 and recover the booty. The control of operations, 
 however, was entrusted to a man who professed to 
 believe in the guilelessness of children of nature 
 and who had more sympathy with the Kosas than 
 with the Europeans, so that the campaign ended in 
 utter failure. The commandant then managed to 
 
 M] 
 
CHURCHES IN THE COLONY. 
 
 lOI 
 
 .f the 
 
 id of 
 
 icross 
 
 no 
 
 ;rs of 
 
 back 
 
 [tions, 
 
 ;d to 
 
 laturc 
 
 than 
 
 td in 
 
 jd to 
 
 get the chiefs to promise that they would live in 
 peace with the white people, and upon this the 
 government declared the second Kaffir war at an 
 end. 
 
 The burghers were natural Ij- dissatisfied, but the 
 government took no notice of their request that some 
 one in whom they could hav^e confidence should be 
 placed in command, and the war be prosecuted until 
 the intruders were expelled from the colony. They 
 were obliged to disperse, and they did so in a spirit 
 which needed very little provocation to induce a 
 revolt against the East India Company. 
 
 The Dutch reformed still continued to be the state 
 church, but it was not now the only one in the 
 colony. In 1780 the Lutherans were permitted to 
 have a clergyman in Capetown, and in 1792 the 
 Moravians founded the mission station Genadendal 
 for the benefit of the Hottentots. This society had 
 sent an evangelist to South Africa many years before, 
 and he had met with nothing but kindness until he 
 baptized some converts, when the government inter- 
 fered, as in its opinion religio'^s strife would follow 
 the creation of a rival church. Now, however, more 
 liberal views were entertained, and the Moravian 
 clergymen met with hearty encouragement. 
 
 A great change was taking place in the Dutch 
 reformed church itself, b}- the introduction of the 
 teaching usually termed evangelical. The revercr.d 
 Helperus Ritzcma van Licr, a correspondent of the 
 reverend John Newton, of Olney, and who was 
 imbued with the same spirit as that celebrated 
 clergyman, created almost a revolution in Capetown. 
 
102 END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY\s RULE. 
 
 For the cold formal services of two or three hours' 
 length, which constituted the principal duty of the 
 earlier ministers, he substituted shorter sermons and 
 prayers, more visitation of parishioners, frequent 
 meetings for religious purposes, and incitement to 
 acts of benevolence and charity. At this date 
 mission work among the heathen was commenced by 
 
 CHURCH OF LAST CENTURY IN CAPETOWN. 
 
 {Frof.'i a Sketch by G. Thompson.') 
 
 the colonial church, and it has ever since gone on 
 increasing in volume. At this time also the philan- 
 thropic labours of a band of ladies in Capetown 
 began, which resulted a few years later in the 
 establishment of an orphan asylum, a mission chapel 
 and school, and a fund from which to the present 
 
AFFAIRS IN EUROPE. 
 
 103 
 
 day aged women in poor circumstances draw weekly 
 allowances. The reverend Mr. Vos, of Tulbagh, 
 belonged to the same school of thought as Mr. Van 
 Lier, and his congregation set an example in mission 
 work, which was shortl}' followed by others in the 
 country. 
 
 Western Europe was now in the throes of the 
 mightiest convulsion of modern times. France had 
 become a republic. The people of the Netherlands 
 were divided into two parties, one of which was in 
 sympathy with the French, while the other favoured 
 a stadtholderatc with very large powers and the con- 
 tinuance of the alliance with England which had 
 existed since 1788. The first was termed the patriot, 
 the second the Orange party. An appeal to arms 
 was unavoidable, and on the ist of February 1793 a 
 declaration of war with Great Britain and the stadt- 
 holder's government was issued at Paris. 
 
 Upon tidings of the outbreak of hostilities reaching 
 South Africa, the commissioners formed all the clerks 
 and junior officers in the civil service into a military 
 company, which they termed the pennist corps, and 
 they raised a company of half-breeds and Hottentots, 
 put them in uniform, and set them to learn to be 
 soldiers. This corps was termed the pandours. No 
 other means could be devised of strengthening the 
 colony. 
 
 Messrs, Nederburgh and Frykenins then appointed 
 an old Indian official, named Abraham Josias Sluysken, 
 head of the Cape government, and as soon as he took 
 over the duty they proceeded to Java. 
 
 During 1794 the complaints of the burghers of 
 
104 ^^^ ^^ FAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 
 
 Graafif-Reinet were unceasing with regard to the paper 
 money, the stagnation of trade, the new taxes, and, 
 above all, the arrangement with the Kosas which the 
 authorities termed peace. The landdrost took no 
 notice of their statements, so they requested the 
 government to recall him, but Mr. Sluysken would 
 not even listen to them. By this treatment their 
 patience was at length exhausted. 
 
 In February 1795 they expelled the landdrost, 
 and set up a republic of their own. No more absurd 
 form of government than that which they established 
 has ever existed, but it .served their purpose. Adrian 
 van Jaarsveld was appointed military commander 
 of the new state. The burghers declared that they 
 were not in rebellion against the Netherlands, but 
 that they would be governed by the East India 
 Company no longer. Mr. Sluysken had no force to 
 send against them, so they had everything their own 
 way. 
 
 In June the people of Swellendam followed the 
 example of those of Graaff-Reinet. They too expelled 
 their landdrost, declared themselves a free republic, 
 and elected a governing body which they termed a 
 national assembly. In Stellenbosch and in Capetown 
 there were many persons who sympathised with these 
 movements, though they themselves did not proceed 
 to the length of open rebellion. It is highly im- 
 probable that the puny states thus called into 
 existence could have held their own for any length of 
 time, as their commerce could easily be cut off; but, 
 on the other hand, the East India Company could 
 not establish its authority over the distant colonists 
 
ARRIVAL OF A BRITISH FORCE. 
 
 I"5 
 
 again. The country was really in a state of 
 anarchy. 
 
 The troops in the Cape peninsula consisted of six 
 hundred and twenty-eight infantry, four hundred and 
 thirty engineers, and two hundred and ten pandours. 
 The head of the whole force was Colonel Robert 
 Jacob Gordon. The infantry regiment was termed 
 the national battalion, though it was composed of 
 men of various countries. It was commanded by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel De Lille. 
 
 ■ While matters in South Africa were in this condition, 
 the French were meeting with astonishing success in 
 Europe. The winter of 1794-5 was so severe that 
 towards the end of January the rivers were frozen 
 hard, and their armies crossed into Utrecht and 
 Gelderland, compelling the "English forces to retire 
 to Germany. The patriot party in the Netherlands 
 gave them an enthusiastic welcome. The government 
 was changed in form, the stadtholder made his escape 
 to England in a fishing boat, and the Batavian 
 Republic, as the country was now named, entered 
 into close alliance with France. 
 
 The British government immediately fitted out 
 an expedition to seize the Cape Colony, and in 
 hope of facilitating the conquest a mandate was 
 obtained from the fugitive stadtholder requiring the 
 authorities in Capetown to admit English troops 
 into the castle and forts. In June 1795 the 
 expedition arrived in Simon's Ba}'. Admiral 
 Elphinstone and Major-General Craig, who were 
 in command respectively of the sea and land forces, 
 presented the mandate to Mr. Sluysken and the 
 
 
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 FRUITLESS NECjOTIA TIONS. 
 
 107 
 
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 council, who were in entire ignorance of recent 
 events in ICurope. 
 
 With hardly an exception the officials in South 
 Africa sym[)athiscd with the Oraiii^c i)art\', but the}- 
 could not in decency openl}' obc)' an order issued in 
 a forei|^n country b}- a fuc^itivc prince. The)- therefore 
 made many protestations of their dut}- to their countr}- 
 and of their determination to resist an invading force 
 to the utmost, but their actions did not correspond 
 with their words. There was but one way in which 
 they could oppose the liritish forces with any hope of 
 success, and that was by repudiating the East India 
 Company and declaring for the patriot faction. The 
 colonists, almost to a man, favoured that faction, as 
 did the engineer cori)s and the few Dutch soldiers in 
 the national battalion. The foreign soldiers in that 
 battalion were disaffected, owing to being paid in 
 paper money, and would not fight under any 
 circumstances. But, with the engineers, from five 
 to six hundred trained men were available, and at 
 least two thousand burghers would have responded to 
 an appeal to aid the patriot cause. Rather than this, 
 however, Sluysken, Gordon, and De Lille were willing 
 to let the English get possession of the country. 
 
 A long correspondence with the l^ritish officers 
 followed, but it ended in nothing. Eighteen days 
 after the arrival of the fleet in Simon's l^ay the Dutch 
 abandoned Simon.stown, and concentrated their force 
 at Muizenburg, a very strong natural position on the 
 road to Capetown. A fortnight later eight hundred 
 English soldiers were landed, and were quartered in 
 deserted buildings. 
 
11 -i 
 
 I08 END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 
 
 ii 
 
 ! 
 
 i, 
 
 I \ 1^ 1 
 
 On the 7th of August General Craig, at the head ot 
 sixteen hundred men, marched from Simonstown to 
 attack the Dutch camp at Muizenburg. That position 
 could easily have been made impregnable, but little 
 or nothing had been done to strengthen it. De Lille, 
 who was in command, did not even attempt to defend 
 it, but fell back towards Capetown as the English 
 approached. He would not resist the friends of the 
 prince of Orange, and indeed, shortly afterwards 
 entered the English service. Some artillerymen, 
 under Lieutenant Marnitz and some burghers made a 
 brief stand, but being abandoned by their commander 
 and the national battalion, they were driven from 
 the post. Besides securing the only obstacle to an 
 advance upon Capetown, General Craig thus got 
 possession of the greater part of the Dutch military 
 stores and of a quantity of provisions, which he much 
 needed. Two da}'s later three hundred and fifty 
 soldiers arrived from St. Helena to strengthen the 
 force under his command. 
 
 Up to this time the burghers believed that the 
 government was in earnest in opposing the English, 
 and though they had little confidence in the military 
 leaders and none at all in the national battalion, 
 nearly fifteen hundred of them a.ssemblcd in arms 
 and were eager to defend the countr)'. Even 
 Swellendam sent a contingent, for the people there 
 knew very well that if the English were masters of 
 Capetown their republic would not last long. lUit 
 now a belief began to spread that they were being 
 betra}'ed, and in consequence every day some of 
 those in arms left their colours and returned home. 
 
FEEBLE DEFENCE OF THE COLONY. 
 
 109 
 
 On the 4th of September a fleet of English ships 
 entered Simon's Bay with three thousand soldiers on 
 board, under command of General Sir Alured Clarke. 
 Some of them were destined for India, but as matters 
 stood, they were all landed and sent on to Muizcnburg. 
 On the 14th two columns were formed, together 
 between four and five thousand strong, and marched 
 towards Capetown, sixteen miles distant by the road 
 to be followed. 
 
 The Dutch forces, military and burgher, under 
 Captain Van Baalen, were stationed at Wynberg, 
 half way between Muizenburg and Capetown. Some 
 burgher cavalry tried to harass the English troops on 
 the march, and succeeded in killing one man and 
 wounding seventeen, but the force to which they were 
 opposed was too strong to be checked by any efforts 
 that they could make. 
 
 Van Baalen drew up his troops as if he meant to 
 stand firm, but as soon as the English were within 
 range of his guns he retreated with the greater part 
 of the national battalion. The burghers cried out 
 that they were being betrayed and sold. It was a 
 scene of confusion. One company of infantry and 
 most of the engineers made a stand for a few minutes, 
 and then fled towards Capetown, abandoning the 
 camp with everything in it. The burghers, strongly 
 impressed with the idea that Mr. Sluysken and 
 Colonel Gordon, as well as the officers of the national 
 battalion, were traitors at heart, and considering that 
 if they fell Lack to Capetown they would be in a 
 trap and must become prisoners of war, dispersed 
 and returned to their homes. 
 
no END OF EAST INDIA COMPANY'S RULE. 
 
 i i ! 
 
 
 The council then sent a messenger to the British 
 officers, requesting a suspension of arms in order to 
 arrange conditions of surrender, and at midnight 
 General Clarke consented to an armistice for twenty- 
 four hours. Next morning General Craig met the 
 Dutch commissioners — Messrs. Van Ryneveld and 
 Le Sueur — at Rondebosch, and after some discussion 
 articles of capitulation were agreed to. These provided 
 for the surrender of the Dutch troops, but the officers 
 were to be at liberty either to remain in Capetown 
 or to return to Europe, upon giving their word of 
 honour not to serve against England while the war 
 lasted. The colonists were to retain all their rights, 
 including the existing form of religion. No new 
 taxes were to be levied, but the old imposts were 
 to be reduced as much as possible. Everything 
 belonging to the East India Company was to be 
 handed over to the English officers, but all other 
 property was to be respected. The lands and buildings 
 belonging to the East India Company were to be con- 
 sidered as security for the paper money in circulation. 
 
 At three o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, 
 the i6th of September 1795, fcdrteen hundred British 
 soldiers under General Craig arrived at the castle and 
 drew up on the open ground in front. The Dutch 
 troops marched out with colours flying and drums 
 beating, passed by the English, and laid down their 
 arms, surrendering as prisoners of war. In the 
 evening General Clarke arrived with two thousand 
 infantry and a train of artillery. 
 
 Thus ended the rule of the Dutch East India 
 Company in South Africa, itftcr an occupation of a 
 
RI'VIEW OF THE COMPANY'S RULE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 little over a hundred and forty-three years. The 
 Company itself had ceased to exist before the symbol 
 of its authority disappeared from the castle of Good 
 Hope. Its administration until a quarter of a century 
 before its fall, though by no means admirable, was as 
 just and honest as that of any English foreign 
 possession at the same time, because it had powerful 
 opponents who kept a vigilant eye upon its proceed- 
 ings ; but when that wholesome restraint was removed, 
 its rule became corrupt and ruinous. Yet none of its 
 acts even then were so unjust as prejudice has made 
 them appear. Thus one English writer of eminence 
 — Sir John Barrow — represented a regulation con- 
 cerning the apprenticeship of children of slaves and 
 Hottentot women living on farms as if it applied to 
 the whole Hottentot race, and succeeding compilers 
 copied his statement without question or doubt. 
 Worse still, two English commissioners of inquiry, 
 without taking the trouble to investigate the matter, 
 reported upon a law concerning degraded Hottentot 
 women and vagrants in Capetown as if the Hottentots 
 everywhere had been made subject to its provisions ; 
 and their report has been quoted again and again as 
 proof of the merciless misgovernment of the East 
 India Company. Now that its records are open to 
 inspection, such charges are known to be incorrect. 
 It governed South Africa with a view to its own 
 interests, its method of paying its officials was bad, 
 its system of ta.xation was worse, in the decline of 
 its prosperity it tolerated many gross abuses ; but it 
 cannot in fairness be accused of overbearing tyranny 
 or cruelty towards either ICuropeans or Hottentots. 
 
X. 
 
 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUrATION. 
 
 w 1 i 
 
 ,1 
 
 i''. ' 
 
 The surrender of the Cape Colony to the British 
 forces brought together two branches of the same 
 race, for conquerors and conquered were of one stock. 
 Of all the nations of Europe the inhabitants of the 
 northern Netherlands are the closest in blood to the 
 people of England and Scotland. During the cen- 
 turies that they had been separated, however, their 
 training had been different, so that many slight vari- 
 ations had arisen. Though in the most important 
 features their characters were the same, each regarded 
 the variations in the other as blemishes, and often 
 made more of them than was fair or honest If this 
 can be said of Englishmen and Dutchmen in Europe, 
 it can be asserted more strongly of Englishmen and 
 Dutchmen when they first came in contact in South 
 Africa, for in this country circumstances had tended 
 greatly to develop a few traits. 
 
 The system of taxation had been pernicious in its 
 effects upon the character of the people. There were 
 exceptions, but in general the farmers had come to 
 regard very lightly the giving in the number of their 
 
CHARACTER OF THE COLONISTS. 
 
 113 
 
 cattle and the produce of their lands at less than a 
 third of the true quantity. A man, whose word 
 under other circumstances might be depended upon, 
 in this matter would utter deliberate falsehoods 
 without any twinges of conscience, and even thought 
 he was justified in doing so because the returns he 
 was supplying were for taxation purposes. This trait 
 in the character of the burghers was at once detected 
 by the Englishmen with whom they came in contact, 
 and made a very bad impression. 
 
 On the other hand, the habit of most Englishmen 
 of that time of distorting accounts of national events 
 made an equally bad impression upon the South 
 African burghers, and thus each regarded the other 
 as untruthful. 
 
 The system of perquisites by which the East 
 India Company's officials were paid had caused 
 another ugly trait to be unduly developed in the 
 character of many of the colonists. Accustomed to 
 be mulcted of petty amounts in every transaction, 
 they had come to consider it rather a proof of clever- 
 ness than an immoral act to get the better of those 
 with whom they were bargaining. It was regarded 
 as nothing more than fair retaliation to cheat the 
 government and its officers whenever and by what- 
 ever means it could be done. The tendency to dis- 
 honest and deceitful practices was made much of by 
 unfriendly critics, though it was far from general, and 
 at its worst was not greater than that of traders else- 
 where who sell a bad article at the price of a good 
 one. 
 
 The burghers were charged with being very igno- 
 
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CHARACTER OF THE COLONISTS. 
 
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 rant. Excepting those in Capetown, they had hardly 
 any education from books, and knew nothing more 
 than how to read, write, and compute a h'ttlc. All 
 had bibles, the psalms in metre, and the Heidelberg 
 catechism ; but few possessed any books on secular 
 subjects. Yet no people on earth were less stupid. 
 They filled the offices of elders and deacons in the 
 churches, of heemraden in the courts of law, of 
 commandants and fieldcornets in war, with as much 
 ability as educated people in Europe could have 
 shown. 
 
 The colonists at a distance from Capetown were 
 described as living in a very rough style. Their 
 houses were small, poorly furnished, and untidy, said 
 English visitors. It was true that the frontier farmers 
 did not build large houses, for they were constantly 
 liable to be plundered and driven awa}^ by savages. 
 As soon as a district became tolerably safe, however, 
 comfortable dwellings were put up by all who had 
 means. The untidiness complained of was the result 
 of the employment of coloured servants. The 
 ancestors of the colonists brought to South Africa 
 the cleanly and orderly habits of the people of the 
 Netherlands ; but in many instances families had 
 been unable to sustain the effort of compelling their 
 servants to be neat ^nd clean, and had fcillen into the 
 way of letting things take their course. But this was 
 not peculiar to the Cape Colony : it was the case 
 wherever coloured people were employed as domestics. 
 Mrs. Stowe's picture of Aunt Dinah's kitchen is just 
 as faithful with the scene laid in Louisiana as if it 
 had been laid in South Africa. 
 
 
m 
 
 ! I 
 
 ii6 
 
 TflE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 
 
 The Other faults attributed to the colonists were 
 those of country people all the world over. They 
 were inclined to bigotry in religious matters, were 
 very plain in their language, and loved to innpose 
 marvellous tales upon credulous listeners. They 
 were accused of indolence by .some English visitors, 
 but that was not a charge that could fairly be made. 
 The man who managed either a grain or wine or 
 cattle farm .so as to make it pay had sufficient 
 occupation without doing much manual labour. 
 
 On their side, the colonists found just as great 
 faults in the English character. They pictured 
 Englishmen as arrogant above all other mortals, as 
 insatiable in the pursuit of wealth, as regardless of 
 the rights of others, and as viewing everything with 
 an eye jaundiced by national prejudice. 
 
 And yet, with all these harsh opinions of each 
 other, there was really so little difference between 
 English people and South Africans that as soon as 
 they came together matrimonial connections began to 
 be formed. The attractions of blood were stronger 
 after all than prejudices born of strife and want of 
 knowledge. 
 
 In the blemishes of the colonial character that 
 have been described, there was nothing that education 
 of a healthy kind would not rectify, and against them 
 could be set several virtues possessed in a very high 
 degree. The colonists were an eminently self-reliant 
 people, and .seldom lost heart under difficulties. In 
 tenacity of purpo.se they were without equals. Their 
 hospitality was admitted even by those who were 
 determined to .see in them nothing else that was 
 
 f'-dm 
 
FIRST DAYS OF BRITISH RULE. 
 
 117 
 
 praiseworthy, and their benevolence towards persons 
 in distress was very highly developed. There was no 
 part of the world where a well-behaved and trust- 
 worthy stranger more readily met with assistance and 
 genuine friendship. 
 
 Though the British troops were in possession of 
 Capetown, the people of the country districts were 
 not disposed to acknowledge the new authorities. 
 The greater number of the farmers retired to their 
 homes, declaring that they did not consider them- 
 selves bound by the acts of the late government. 
 Under these circumstances every possible effort to 
 soothe the colonists was made by the English com- 
 manders. The people of Capetown were treated in 
 such a manner as to dispel their anxiety, and they 
 were assured that they would presently be in the 
 enjoyment of such liberty and good fortune as they 
 had never known before. Many of the old servants 
 of the East India Company, who were willing to take 
 an oath to be faithful to the king of England as 
 long as he should hold the colony, were retained in 
 employment, and most of the clerks in the different 
 offices were allowed to keep their situations. 
 
 The paper money in circulation amounted to rather 
 more than a quarter of a million pounds sterling, and 
 was a source of much anxiety to its holders. The 
 British commanders announced that it would be 
 received at the public offices at its full nominal value. 
 They also abolished a very obnoxious tax on auction 
 accounts, and substituted for the old burgher coun- 
 cillors a popular board termed the burgher senate. 
 Two days after the capitulation they sent a document 
 
ii8 
 
 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 
 
 over the country, in which a promise was made that 
 every one might buy from whom he would, sell to 
 whom he would, employ whom he would, and come 
 and go whenever or wherever he chose, by land or by 
 water. The farmers were invited to send their cattle 
 and produce to Capetown, where they could sell 
 whatever they wished in the manner most profitable 
 for themselves, and the English would pay for any- 
 thing purchased in hard coin. They were also invited 
 to send persons to confer with the British commanders, 
 if there was any matter upon which they wished for 
 explanation. 
 
 These measures had the desired effect in the Cape 
 and Stellenbosch districts, and no opposition was 
 made there to the new authorities. In Swellendam 
 also, after a r-hort time, the people decided to abolish 
 the republic, and to submit to the English. An 
 attempt to hold out was, however, made by the 
 burghers of Graaff- Reinet, acting chiefly under 
 guidance of a man named Jan Pieter Woyer. Sup- 
 plies of ammunition and goods of every kind were 
 therefore cut off from them, with the result that before 
 the close of 1796 they too were obliged to tender a 
 nominal submission, though they were in hope that 
 before long aid from abroad would enable them to 
 recover their independence. 
 
 Woyer had left the country in a Danish ship bound 
 to Java, that put into Algoa Bay, where vessels were 
 then very rarely seen. Six French frigates happened 
 to be at anchor in Batavia Roads when he arrived 
 there. The admiral sent one with a supply of powder 
 and lead for the Graaff- Reinet farmers, but when she 
 
SURRENDER OF A DUTCH FLEET. 
 
 119 
 
 reached Alj^oa Bay an English ship of war happened 
 to be there, and after a short action the frigate was 
 obhged to retire. The government of Java also sent 
 a vessel laden with munitions of war, clothing, sugar, 
 and coffee, for the use of the farmers. It was intended 
 that her cargo should be landed at Algoa Bay, but in 
 a storm the vessel was so much damaged that she 
 put into Delagoa Bay to be repaired, and in that port 
 was seized by the crew of an English whaler aided 
 by a few Portuguese. 
 
 A fleet of nine ships, sent from Holland under 
 command of Admiral Lucas, also failed in the object 
 of aiding the colonists against the l^iglish. The 
 admiral put into Saldanha Bay, and was there caught 
 as in a trap between a much stronger British fleet on 
 one side and a large British army on the other. On 
 the 17th of August 1796 he was obliged to surrender 
 his ships and nearly two thousand soldiers and 
 sailors, without even an attempt to resist. 
 
 Admiral Elphinstone and General Clarke only 
 remained in South Africa a few weeks after the 
 capitulation. They then went on to India, leaving 
 General Craig at the head of the Cape government. 
 This officer did his utmost to place English rule 
 before the colonists in as favourable a light as pos- 
 sible, and though as a conqueror he could not bt 
 loved, as a man he was highly respected. 
 
 When tidings of the conquest reached England, the 
 high authorities resolved that the Cape Colony should 
 be ruled by a man of rank, who should have all the 
 power held by the governor and the council under tb2 
 Dutch East India Coinpany. A very strong garrison 
 
120 
 
 THE I'IRST liRiriSH OCCUPATION. 
 
 was to be m.'iintaincd in Capetown, and the officer in 
 command was to act as administrator in case of the 
 governor's death or absence. 
 
 Accordingly the earl of Macartney, an old Irish 
 nobleman who had done good service in India, was 
 sent out as governor, and took over the duty in May 
 1797. His administration was free of the slightest 
 taint of corruption, but was conducted on very strict 
 lines. Those colonists who professed to be attached 
 to Great Britain were treated with favour, while those 
 who preferred a republic to a monarchy were obliged 
 to conceal their opinions, or they were promptly 
 treated as guilty of sedition. There never was a 
 period in the history of the country when there was 
 less freedom of speech than at this time. All the 
 important offices were given to men who could not 
 speak the Dutch language, and who drew such large 
 salaries from the colonial treasury that there was 
 little left for other purposes. An oath of allegiance 
 to the king of England was demanded from all the 
 burghers. Many objected, and a few did not appear 
 when summoned to take it. i he governor was firm, 
 dragoons were quartered upon seve al of those who 
 were reluctant, and others were banished from the 
 country. 
 
 The free trade promised in 1795 also came to an 
 end. Commerce with places to the east of the Cape of 
 Good Hope was restricted to the English East India 
 Company, and heavy duties were placed upon goods 
 from the westward brought in any but English ships. 
 British goods brought from British ports in British 
 ships were admitted free of duty. The government 
 
INSURRECTION IN GRAAFl'-REI NET. 
 
 121 
 
 resumed the power to put its own prices upon farm 
 produce, and to compel delivery at those rates of all 
 that was needed for the garrison and the ships of war 
 frequenting Simon's Bay. The prices fixed, however, 
 were fair and reasonable, and the burghers did not 
 object to sell at such rates, though among themselves 
 they spoke very bitterly of the arbitrary rule to which 
 they were subjected. 
 
 In November 1798 the earl of Macartney returned 
 to Europe on account of his health. Major-General 
 Francis Dundas then acted as administrator until 
 December 1799, when Sir George "^''onge arrived from 
 England as governor. 
 
 During this interval there was a petty insurrection 
 by a party of farmers in Graaff-Reinet. The arrest 
 of Adrian van Jaarsveld on a charge of forgery and 
 setting a summons of the high court of justice at 
 defiance was the immediate cause of the outbreak. 
 The old commandant was being conveyed to Cape- 
 town for trial when he was rescued by a band of 
 frontiersmen, the same who had been the last to 
 submit to British authority. A strong military force, 
 consisting of a squadron of dragoons, a regiment of 
 infantry, and a Hottentot corps, was at once sent to 
 quell the disturbance. This was an easy matter, as 
 the great majority of the people of the district of 
 Graaff-Reinet declined to aid the insurgents, who 
 thereupon sent in a petition for pardon. The officer 
 in command of the troops replied in writing that they 
 must lay down their arms before he would have any 
 dealings with them, and named a place where they 
 could do so. 
 
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 122 
 
 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 
 
 One hundred and thirteen men appeared at the 
 place appointed, and gave up their arms to the troops. 
 There was no promise of any kind in the document 
 sent to them, but they were under the impression that 
 pardon was impHed in its terms, and therefore pro- 
 tested when they were made prisoners. Ninety-three 
 were released upon payment of fines, and the remain- 
 ing twenty were sent to Capetown, where they were 
 placed in close confinement. Forty-two others after- 
 wards gave themselves up, and were pardoned ; but 
 seven of the most violent fled into Kaflirland, where 
 they were joined by a band of deserters from the 
 British army, and lived for several years under pro 
 tection of a powerful chief Those who were sent to 
 Capetown were brought to trial before the high court 
 of justice, when two were condemned to death and 
 the others to various kinds of punishment ; but with 
 the exception of one who was flogged and banished 
 and two who died in confinement, they were all 
 released by the high commissioner De Mist in 1803. 
 
 The appearance of the pandours on the frontier 
 eave rise to a disturbance of another kind. Some of 
 the Hottentots of that part of the country, seeing 
 men of their own class in arms against colonists, very 
 naturally felt an inclination to aid them, and began to 
 plunder the farmhouses of guns, powder, and clothing. 
 They shed no blood, however, and when they had 
 secured what appeared to them to be sufficient booty, 
 they repaired to the British camp with their wives 
 and children, in the belief that they would be regarded 
 as having acted in a praiseworthy manner. General 
 Vandeleur, the officer in command, did not know 
 
THE THIRD KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 123 
 
 r wives 
 
 what to do with them. He allowed a hundred of the 
 young men to enlist in the Hottentot regiment, and 
 the others — about six hundred of both sexes and all 
 ages — he sent to Algoa Bay with an escort to wait 
 there until he could receive instructions concerning 
 them from the government in Capetown. 
 
 A matter of much greater importance than cither 
 of these petty insurrections had unexpectedly arisen, 
 and was claiming all his attention. Gaika, who was 
 a boy at the time of the second Kaffir war, had 
 recently attained manhood, and had then claimed the 
 chieftainship to which he was by birth the heir. His 
 uncle, the regent Ndlambe, was unwilling to resign, 
 and a large party in the tribe declared its readiness 
 to support him. Gaika appealed to arms, and a 
 battle was fought, in which he was not only victorious 
 but had the good fortune to take his uncle prisoner. 
 Ndlambe was carelessly guarded, however, and in 
 February 1799 he managed to escape, when with a 
 great number of followers he crossed the P^ish river 
 into the colony. All the clans that had been living 
 between the Fish river and the Kowie since the 
 previous war, except one, joined the powerful refugee. 
 The white people who were in or near the line of his 
 march took to flight, some losing all they had, others 
 who could collect their cattle in time driving them off 
 and leaving everything else behind. In a few days 
 the invaders were in full possession of the whole 
 country along the coast to the Sunday river. 
 
 General Vandeleur had no intention of employing 
 British soldiers against the Kosas, but as he was 
 marching towards Algoa Bay, with a view of return- 
 
124 
 
 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 
 
 il 
 
 ing to Capetown, he was attacked by them in a 
 thicket on the bank of the Sunday river. He beat 
 them ofif, and then fell back a little and formed 
 a camp to enable a patrol of twenty men to join him. 
 But this patrol had already been surrounded, and 
 after a gallant defence all were killed except four 
 men who managed to escape. The camp was hardly 
 formed when it was attacked by the Kosas, who 
 rushed on in masses with their assagai shafts broken 
 short so that they could be used as stabbing weapons. 
 These charges were met with volleys of musket balls 
 and grape shot, that covered the ground with bodies, 
 until at length the Kosas turned and fled. 
 
 The general then marched to Algoa Bay. After 
 fortifying a camp on the Zwartkops river, he sent 
 some of his soldiers to Capetown by sea, and called 
 out a burgher commando to expel the invaders. The 
 Hottentots who had plundered the frontier farm- 
 houses were still at the bay drawing rations, and he 
 thought it prudent to disarm them ; but upon the 
 attempt being made they fled in a body and joined 
 the Kosas. 
 
 At the beginning of June a burgher commando 
 assembled at the Bushman's river, but instead of 
 attacking the intruders, General Vandeleur tried to 
 persuade them to retire. Thus the farmers lost heart 
 by being kept waiting, and many dispersed, while the 
 Kosas came to believe that the white men were afraid 
 of them. They and the insurgent Hottentots then 
 overran and pillaged the country far and wide. By 
 the close of July twenty-nine white people had lost 
 their lives, there was hardly a house left standing east 
 
THE THIRD KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 125 
 
 of the Gamtoos, and nearly all the cattle were in the 
 hands of the marauders. 
 
 In August a large burgher fo^ce was got together, 
 and five hundred soldiers were sent to Algoa Bay. 
 General Dundas, however, was dete«-mined to make 
 another attempt to come to a friendly arrangement 
 so he proceeded to the disturbed district himself, and 
 sent a confidential agent named Maynier to parley 
 with the hostile chiefs. Six or seven hundred soldiers 
 and three strong divisions of burghers were in the 
 field. There was nothing left within reach to 
 plunder. So when Maynier offered not to molest the 
 Kosas in the coast belt east of the Bushman's river, 
 if they would promise not to trespass beyond that 
 territory, they readily pledged their word, and 
 accepted as a mark of friendship the presents which 
 he offered them. To get a parallel to either this 
 transaction or the dealings of the East India Com- 
 pany with the Kosas in the previous war, we must go 
 back in English history to the time of the heathen 
 Danes. The hearts of the farmers sank within them 
 when peace was proclaimed, but they were obliged 
 to abide by the decision of their rulers, and thus 
 for a short time there was a kind of truce which 
 was observed in an indifferent manner. 
 
 Things remained in this state for nearly three 
 years, during which time the farmers of Graaff-Reinet 
 were in a condition of great poverty and distress. 
 The depredations of the Kosas and Hottentots were 
 then carried so far that for very shame's sake it was 
 necessary to renew hostilities. A burgher force was 
 called out, and placed under a very brave and highly 
 
126 
 
 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 
 
 respected farmer named Tjaart van der Walt. Some 
 success attended the early operations of this force, 
 but in August 1802 the commandant was killed in 
 action, and the burghers then dispersed. Five 
 months later they were brought together again, but 
 as the Kosas now asked for peace and promised to 
 return to their own country as soon as possible, terms 
 were concluded with them. They and the Hottentots 
 engaged not to r im about and plunder, and the 
 Europeans engaged to give them time to remove 
 without disturbing them. 
 
 The government of Sir George Yonge was 
 thoroughly corrupt. It could not indeed be proved 
 that he received bribes for his own benefit, but he 
 could only be approached through his favourites, and 
 they were unscrupulous to the last degree. In a 
 short time so many complaints reached England 
 from people of every nationality at the Cape that he 
 was recalled. Ke left the colony in April 1801, and 
 upon hi^ arrival in London was tried by a special 
 commission and disgraced. Major-General Dundas 
 for the second time acted as administrator, and held 
 that office until the restoration of the colony to 
 Holland. 
 
 In 1799 the first agents of the London missionary 
 society arrived in South Africa. Unfortunately 
 almost from the day of their landing some of them 
 took a more prominent part in politics than in 
 elevating the heathen, and as they advocated social 
 equality between barbarians and civilised people, 
 they were speedily at feud with the colonists. 
 
 Terms of peace between Great Britain, France, 
 
. Some 
 lis force, 
 killed in 
 Five 
 jain, but 
 Tiiscd to 
 le, terms 
 Dttentots 
 and the 
 remove 
 
 ge was 
 I proved 
 , but he 
 ites, and 
 In a 
 England 
 ; that he 
 So I, and 
 
 special 
 Dundas 
 nd held 
 
 ony to 
 
 sionary 
 unately 
 Df them 
 han in 
 I social 
 people, 
 
 2 
 
 u 
 r, 
 
 O 
 Cd 
 
 OS 
 
 ft 
 
 H 
 X 
 U 
 
 France, 
 
128 
 
 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION. 
 
 and the Netherlands — then the Batavian Republic — 
 were signed at Amiens on the 27th of March 1802, 
 one of the conditions being that the Cape Colony 
 should be restored to its former owners. Accordingly 
 in February 1803 a Dutch garrison of rather over 
 three thousand men replaced the British troops, and 
 General Dundas transferred the government to the 
 Batavian commissioner De Mist. 
 
r-*'^^ 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE COLONY UNDER THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC. 
 
 The Cape settlement was now a direct dependency 
 of the states-general as the governing body of the 
 Batavian Republic, and liberal measures were adopted 
 regarding it. The executive power was entrusted to 
 a governor, who was also commander-in-chief of the 
 garrison. For this office Lieutenant-General Jan 
 Willem Janssens — an able military officer and a man 
 of high moral worth — was selected. A legislative 
 and executive council was provided, consisting of 
 four members and the governor as president. The 
 high court of justice was made independent of the 
 other branches of the government, and consisted of 
 a president and six members, all versed in law. 
 Trade with the possessions of the republic every- 
 where was allowed on payment of a small duty for 
 revenue purposes. An advocate of good standing — 
 Mr. Jacob Abraham de Mist — was sent out as high 
 commissioner, to leceive the colony from the English, 
 to instal the new officials, and to draw up such 
 regulations as he might find necessary, which, after 
 approval by the states-general, were to be embodied 
 in a charter. 
 
 10 *•* 
 
130 
 
 UNDER THE BAT AVI AN REPUBLIC. 
 
 The 1st of March 1803 was observed as a day of 
 thanksgiving to Almighty God for the restoration of 
 the colony to its ancient owners. In the morning 
 service was held in all the churches, and at noon the 
 commissioner Dc Mist installed Lieutenant- General 
 Janssens as governor. The other officials also who 
 had arrived from Europe had their duties formally 
 assigned to them. The landdrosts and most of the 
 clerks under the English rule retained their posts. 
 
 In April the governor left Capetown to visit the 
 eastern part of the colony, and ascertain how matters 
 were standing with the white people, the Kosas, and 
 the Hottentots. At Algoa Bay he found a party of 
 Hottentots under the guidance of Dr. Vandcrkemp, 
 a missionary of the London society ; and for their 
 use he assigned a tract of land in the neighbourhood, 
 ever since known as Bethelsdorp. Locations of 
 ample size were also assigned to the Hottentot 
 captains who had recently been in arms against the 
 colonists, but with the improvidence of their race 
 most of them with their people soon wandered awa)^ 
 to other parts of the country, and the land set apart 
 for their benefit was regarded as waste by succeeding 
 governors. For the time being, however, matters 
 were placed on a satisfactory footing with the people 
 of this race who had lately been hostile. 
 
 The governor then proceeded to the Sunday river, 
 where he had a conference with Ndlambe and the 
 other Kosa chiefs who were living in the colony. 
 The chiefs, who of course knew nothing of the rela- 
 tive strength of England and Holland, were under 
 the impression that the Dutch government must be 
 
DEALINGS WITH KOSA CHIEFS. 
 
 131 
 
 much more powerful than the other, because it was 
 apparent to them that it had supplanted its opponent, 
 and they knew that the colonists were supporting it 
 with enthusiasm. The farmers were in high spirits, 
 and had sent them word that they must not think the 
 old times had come back again, for the great person 
 called the Batavian Republic was immeasurably 
 superior to the poor creature John Company, who 
 had been ill a long time and was now dead. They 
 therefore expressed a desire for peace and friendship 
 with the white people, and there was no difficulty in 
 settling minor matters with them. But the all-im- 
 portant question of their return to tl;. ir own country 
 could not be arranged so easily, for though they 
 admitted the Fish river as the boundary, they 
 declared they could not cross it through fear of 
 Gaika. 
 
 Shortly after this the intruding clans began to 
 quarrel among themselves. Two of them joined 
 Gaika in an attack upon Ndlambe, but the old chief 
 succeeded in beating them back. The Kosas thus 
 remained in occupation of the belt of land along the 
 coast east of the Bushman's river. The other parts 
 of the district of Graaff-Reinet, however, enjoyed for 
 a season a fair amount of tranquillity, so that the 
 farmers were able to carry on their usual occupations. 
 
 Mr. De Mist also, like the governor, made a tour 
 through the colony, in order to become acquainted 
 with the condition and wants of the people. The 
 settlement was previously divided for magisterial and 
 fiscal purposes into four districts — the Cape, Stellen- 
 bosch, Swellendam, and Graaff-Reinet, — he now 
 
 
132 
 
 UNDER THE RAT AVI AN REPUBLIC. 
 
 divided it into six of smaller size, and stationed 
 landdrosts at Tulbagh and Uitcnhage. 
 
 Amonc^ the many regulations which he made was 
 one i^iving full political equality to persons of every 
 creed who acknowledged and worshipped a Supreme 
 Heing. Another provided for the creation of state 
 schools, but this was an idea in advance of the times 
 in South Africa, for the great majority of the colonists 
 objected to schools that were not in connection with 
 the church. The country did not remain long enough 
 under the l^atavian flag to test this question, but the 
 probability is that state schools could not have suc- 
 ceeded, as the antipathy to them was so strong. Yet 
 another regulatioi. permitted marriages to take place 
 before the landdrosts, and required them to be regis- 
 tered in the district courts. 
 
 In 1805 the European population of the colony 
 consisted of between twenty-five and twenty-six 
 thousand individuals, exclusive of soldiers. They 
 owned nearly thirty thousand slaves, and had in 
 their service about twenty thousand free coloured 
 people. It is impossible to say how many Hottentots 
 were living at kraals, or Bushmen roaming about on 
 the border, for these people paid no taxes, and there- 
 fore no notice was taken of them by the census 
 framers. Capetown had a population of rather over 
 six thousand Europeans and nearly eleven thousand 
 persons of colour. 
 
 In May 1803. less than three months after the 
 restoration of the colony, war broke out again be- 
 tween Great Britain and the Batavian Republic. 
 On receiving this intelligence, General Janssens de- 
 
ATTACK BY THE ENGLISH. 
 
 ^33 
 
 voted all his attention to puttin^^ the Cape peninsula 
 in a condition for defence. But soon instructions 
 were received from Holland that he must send his 
 best regiment to Batavia, as the mother country was 
 unable to furnish more men, and troops were urgently 
 needed in Java. All that the governor could do to 
 make up for its loss was to increase the Hottentot 
 corps, which had been transferred to him by General 
 Dundas, to six liundred rank and file, and to form 
 the Asiatics in and about Capetown into a volunteer 
 corps, termed the Malay artillery. 
 
 No one doubted that the English would attempt 
 to seize the colony again, but a state of suspense 
 continued until the last week of 1805, when tidin«^>s 
 were received that a great fleet was approaching. 
 Signals were at once made to the different drostdies, 
 summoning the burghers to arms, and though the 
 heat was so intense that they could only ride at 
 night, hundreds came trooping to Capetown. But 
 there were no means of feeding them long after they 
 arrived, for the two previous seasons had been ex- 
 ceptionally bad, and it had not been possible to lay 
 up a store of grain. At this time, though the 
 governm.ont made desperate exertions to obtain 
 corn, there was never more than sufficient flour in 
 Capetown for two days' consumption of the garrison 
 and the inhabitants. Under these circumstances a 
 large force, however devoted to the cause it was 
 striving for, could not be kept together long. 
 
 In the evening of the 4th of January 1806 the 
 fleet — which consisted of sixty-three sh'ps — came to 
 anchor west of Robben Island, at the entrance of 
 
liii 
 
 h 
 
 ¥^ ^1 
 
 134 
 
 UNDER THE DAT AVI AN REPUBLIC. 
 
 Table Bay. There were on board nearly seven 
 thousand soldiers, under command of Major-Gencral 
 David Ikiird, an officer who was well acquainted with 
 the Cape and its fortifications, having served here in 
 1798. On the 6th and 7th six regiments were landed, 
 with some artillery and provisions, at a little cove 
 about eighteen miles by road from Capetown. 
 
 As soon as it was known that the English were 
 landing on the Blueberg beach, General Janssens 
 marched to meet them, leaving in Capetown a con- 
 siderable burgher force and a few soldiers under 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Von Prophalow to guard the 
 forts. He had an army rather over two thousand 
 strong, but composed of a strange mixture of men. 
 There were mounted burghers, Dutch soldiers, a 
 German mercenary regiment, the crews of two 
 wrecked French ships, Malays, Hottentots, and even 
 slaves. He had sixteen field-guns. 
 
 At three o'clock in the morning of the 8th this 
 motley force was under arms, when the scouts 
 brought word that the English were approaching. 
 Two hours later the British troops came in sight on 
 the side of the Blueberg. General Baird had with 
 him about four thousand infantry, besides artillery- 
 men and five or six hundred sailors armed with 
 pikes and drawing eight field-guns. 
 
 As soon as the armies were within range, the 
 artillery on both sidv-j opened fire. A few balls 
 from the English guns fell among the German 
 mercenary troops, who at once began to retreat. 
 The burghers, the French corps, the remainder of 
 the troops, and the coloured auxiliaries behaved vvelli 
 
CAPITULATION OF CAPETOWN. 
 
 135 
 
 receiving and returning a heavy fire of artillery and 
 musketry. But the flight of the main body of reguhir 
 troops made it iirn)ossible for the mixed force left on 
 the field to stand a charge which was made by three 
 Highland regiments, and by order of General Janssens 
 the remnant of the army fell back. 
 
 The loss on the English side in the battle of 
 Hlueberg was fifteen killed, one hundred and eighty- 
 nine wounded, and eight missing. The roll-call of 
 the Dutch forces when the fugitives were rallied 
 shows the killed, wounded, and missing together. 
 When it was made that afternoon three hundred and 
 thirty-seven men did not answer to their names. 
 General Janssens after his defeat sent the foreigners 
 in his army to Capetown, and with the burghers and 
 Dutch troops retired to the mountains of Hottentots- 
 Holland. 
 
 In the morning of the 9th General liaird resumed 
 his march towards Capetown. It was not in Colonel 
 Von Prophalovv's power to resist with any prospect 
 of success, so he sent a flag of truce to request a 
 suspension of arms in order t"^) arrange terms of 
 capitulation. General Baird granted thirty-six hours, 
 but required immediate p(xssession of the outer line 
 of defence, including the fort Knokke at its extremity 
 on the shore. His demand ccnild not be refused, 
 and that evening an FInglish regiment was quartered 
 in Fort Knokke. 
 
 In the afternoon of the loth articles of capitulation 
 were signed. The regular troops and the Frenchmen 
 of the wrecked ships were to become i)risoners of 
 war. Colonists in arms were to return to their former 
 
mi. 
 
 m 
 
 i I 
 
 
 M. ''1 
 
 3 < 1 
 
 136 
 
 UNDER THE BAT AVI AN REPUBLIC 
 
 -In- 
 
 occupations. Private property of all kinds was to be 
 respected, but everything belonging to the Batavian 
 government was to be given up. The inhabitants 
 were to preserve all their rights and privileges, and 
 public worship as then existing was to be maintained. 
 The paper money was to continue current until the 
 pleasure of the king could be known, and the public 
 lands and buildings were to be regarded as security 
 for its redemption. The inhabitants of Capetown 
 were to be exempt from having troops quartered on 
 them. 
 
 The force opposed to General Janssens was so 
 great that he could not hope to make a long resist- 
 ance, but his position in the mountains of Hottentots- 
 Holland was more favourable for obtaining terms 
 than if he had fallen back upon Capetown after the 
 defeat at Bluebcrg, General Baird proposed thct he 
 should capitulate on honourable conditions, and on 
 the 1 8th arrangements to that effect were made. 
 They provided that the troops should not be con- 
 sidered prisoners of war, but be .sent to Holland at 
 the expense of the ]kitish government, and that the 
 inhabitants of the colony were to enjoy the same 
 rights and privileges as had been granted to those of 
 Capetown, except that the right of quartering troops 
 upon them was reserved, as the country had not the 
 same resources as the town. 
 
 Seven transports were prepared, and the troops — 
 ninety-four officers and five hundred and seventy- 
 three rank and file — were embarked in them. One 
 of the best was placed at the disposal of General 
 Janssens, who had liberty to select such persons as 
 
DEPARTURE OF GENERAL yANSSENS. I37 
 
 he wished to accompany him. Thirty-one of the 
 civil servants under the Batavian administration 
 desired to return to Europe, and wore allowed 
 passages. Fifty-three women and the same number 
 of children also embarked. All being ready, on the 
 6th of March 1806 the squadron, bearing the last 
 representative of the dominion of the Netherlands 
 over the Cape Colony, set sail for Holland. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
XII. 
 
 EARLY YL'AKSOF ENGLISH RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 Conquest is a grievous thing for any people, no 
 matter how lightly the conqueror imposes his rule. 
 Apart from all other considerations, it wounds their 
 pride and reduces their energy, for it is everywhere 
 seen that a man of a leading race will do without 
 second thought what one of subject nationality will 
 never do at all. 
 
 It was thus only natural that the colonists should 
 feel dejected when the English flag was again the 
 symbol of authority in South Africa. They had been 
 ardently attached to the Hatavian Republic, and had 
 enjoyed three years of good government combined 
 with ample liberty : now all they had cherished was 
 gone. General liaird, indeed, used the most consoling 
 language ; but they remembered that (jcncral Craig 
 had done the same, and a hard unsympathetic rule 
 had followed. They saw all authority again centred 
 in one man, for the council was abolished, and the 
 independence of the high court of justice was 
 destroyed. The members of that court — the presi- 
 dent only excepted — were now ordinary civil servants 
 
POWERS OF THE GOVERNOR. 
 
 139 
 
 who were appointed by the governor and held office 
 during his pleasure. Even religious freedom came to 
 an end, for a Roman catholic clergyman who had 
 been chaplain to some of the foreign troops in the 
 Dutch service was not permitted to remain in the 
 colony. His expulsion, however, was not felt as a 
 grievance, for, in truth, the great majority of the 
 burghers desired his presence less even than General 
 Baird. 
 
 There was one hope left, and that rested on the 
 chance of war. If Na;"olcon should succeed in tl\e 
 struggle with England, which seemed very probable 
 in 1806, they would once more be connected with 
 their fatherland. And so in a spirit of despondency, 
 but not of absolute despair, they submitted to the 
 power that they could not resist. 
 
 For some time there was fear of actual famine in 
 Capetown. The inhabitants were restricted to a 
 small daily allowance of bread, but with all haste 
 wheat and rice were imported from India, and as the 
 crops of the following season were remarkably good, 
 the danger passed away. 
 
 As soon as possible the colony was again placed 
 under the same form of government as during the 
 first British occupation, and under the same com- 
 mercial regulations. The carl of Caledon, an Irish 
 nobleman only twenty-nine years of age, was sent 
 out as governor with very groat authority, though in 
 matters of primary importance he was to act under 
 instructions from the secretary of state in London, 
 lie could fix prices for any produce required by the 
 army, and assess the quantity each farmer was com- 
 
140 
 
 ENGLISH RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 I.*;! , i 
 
 pellcd to deliver. He directed and controlled the 
 different departments. His proclamations and notices 
 had the force of law. With the lieutenant-governor 
 he formed a court of appeal in civil cases of over 
 ^200 value, and with two assessors he decided appeals 
 in criminal cases. He had also power to mitigate or 
 suspend sentences passed by the inferior courts. 
 
 Some of the orders of the earl of Caledon, such 
 as forbidding the farmers of certain districts to keep 
 African sheep, read strangely to-day ; but though he 
 was very strict, he was an amiable and upright man, 
 and was guided in all his doings by a desire to 
 improve the country. His benevolence was almost 
 unbounded, and, indeed, his last act when leaving 
 South Africa was to present a thousand pounds in 
 currency to the orphan asylum. 
 
 The most important measure of his administration 
 had reference to the Hottentots. These people had 
 always in theory been regarded as independent 01 the 
 European government, and subject to chiefs of their 
 own race. Only in cases where white people or 
 slaves were concerned were they liable to be tried 
 before courts of justice, and they were neither taxed 
 nor called upon to perform public services e.\cej>t 
 when of their own accord they enlisted as pandours. 
 In reality they lived in a state of anarchy. Whoever 
 believed that men of all colours and conditions were 
 equal, the Hottentots certainly did not. They re- 
 spected the poorest and weakest white man far more 
 than they did their own nominal chiefs, for whose 
 authority they cared nothing at all. Many of their 
 women formed connections with slaves, and the farmers 
 
 * \ 
 
CONDITION OF THE HOTTENTOTS. 
 
 I4T 
 
 were obliged to maintain them, or the slaves would 
 run away. Children born of such connections could be 
 apprenticed to the farmers for a certain number of 
 years, when through their mothers" rights they became 
 free to go where they chose. With this exception, 
 all but those who lived in Capetown or one of the 
 villages or mission stations could assault or plunder 
 one another without fear of punishment. 
 
 As far as land was concerned, there were reserves 
 .set apart for their benefit in the long-settled j:)arts of 
 the country, and they could use ground not occupied 
 by r.rmers anywhere, l^ut many of them preferred 
 to live as dependents of a white man, though they 
 seldom remained long in the .service of the same 
 person. To obtain brandy and tobacco they were 
 willing to perform light labour occasionally, but 
 nothing could induce them to adopt a life of regular 
 industry. In .short, they had become rovers and 
 vagrant.s. 
 
 The earl of Caledon issued a proclamation which 
 removed all vestiges of chieftain.ship from the 
 Hottentots in the colony, made them subject to 
 European law, and restrained them from wandering 
 over the country at will. Any one found without a 
 pass from a landdrost or an employer was to be 
 treated as a vagabond. 
 
 Certain missionaries of the London society raised 
 a great outcrv in England against this proclamation 
 and another giving the landdros:s power to apprentice 
 children of destitute Hottentots, which was issued by 
 Sir John Cradock ; but no measures could be devised 
 of greater benefit to the people affected. It is true 
 
 ::l 
 
 
 i 
 
i 
 
 If' 
 
 t'f. 
 
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 ■■? 
 
 
 fli 
 
 ■1 i 
 
 I I ! 
 
 1 ! 
 
 'I i 
 
 142 
 
 ENGLISH RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 that some small bands, rather than submit to control, 
 moved over the Orange river into Great Namaqua- 
 land ; bu^t the vast majority of the Hottentots were 
 rescued by these apparently harsh proceedings from 
 utter ruin, if not from extinction. 
 
 In 181 1 Sir John Cradock succeeded the carl of 
 Caledon as governor. He too was a man of very 
 high principle, so that autocratic rule at this period 
 was presented to the colonists in its best form. 
 
 Ever since the return of the English the Kosa 
 clans within the colony had been restless, probably 
 because they saw that the burghers were not attached 
 to the new rulers, and in consequence were less 
 capable of resistance. They not only sent out 
 plundering parties to drive off cattle, but they were 
 constantly taking more territory, and only laughed at 
 the remonstrances of the white people. When Sir 
 John Cradock reached South Africa, he found reports 
 awaiting him from the landdrost of Uitenhage, in 
 which he was informed that there was only one farm 
 still occupied east of the drostdy, and that no other 
 choice was left than the expulsion of the Kosas by 
 force or the abandonment of the remainder of the 
 district. 
 
 A strong body of burghers was therefore called 
 out, and some European soldiers with the Hotten- 
 tot regiment were sent to the front. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel John Graham was placed in command of the 
 whole force. He was instructed to try to persuade 
 the Kosas to retire peacefully ; but if they would not 
 do so he was to take the most effectual measures to 
 compel them to return to their own country. Major 
 
FOURTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 143 
 
 Ciiyler with an escort of twenty-five farmers and an 
 interpreter was therefore sent to the most advanced 
 kraal to hold a parley with the chiefs. Close to the 
 kraal some men were observed, and the major tried to 
 speak to them, but the old chief Ndlambc advanced a 
 few paces from the others, and, stampin^^ his foot on 
 the ground, shouted : *' This countiy is mine ; I won 
 it in war, and intend to keep it." Then shaking an 
 assagai with one hand, \vith the other he raised a horn 
 to his mouth. Upon blowing it, two or three hundred 
 men rushed from a thicket towards Major Cuyler's 
 party, who owed their escape solely to the fleetncss of 
 their horses. 
 
 There was thus no alternative to the employment of 
 force. Everything was arranged for an attack upon 
 the Kosas, but before it was made the landdrost of 
 Graaff-Reinet and eight farmers were treacherously 
 murdered during a conference with a party of 
 warriors. In January 18 12 an advance was made 
 by the burghers and Hottentots in six divisions, 
 that swept the country before them, while the 
 European soldiers occupied strong p( sitions in the 
 rear. This plan succeeded admirably, for the Kosas, 
 about twenty thousand in number, after a brief 
 resistance fled to their own country. Some women 
 who were made prisoners were then sent to inform 
 them that on their own side of the boundary they 
 would not be molested, but if they returned to the 
 colony they would be shot. By the beginning of 
 March the fourth Kaffir war was over, and it had 
 ended — as neither the second nor the third had — 
 fiwourably for the Europeans. 
 
 
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luSTABLISIIMICNT OF A CIRCl'lT COURT 
 
 145 
 
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 W Co 
 
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 A line of military posts, Ljarrisoncd partly by luiro- 
 pcaii soldiers, partly by the Hottentot rcL;imciit — 
 which was shortly afterwards raised to el.L;ht iumdred 
 men, — and partly by burL^hers, was now jrmed from 
 the sea to the second chain of mountain s, to prevent 
 the return of the people expelled. The princii)al 
 post in the line, where the head-cpiarters of the troops 
 on the frontier were stationed, was named Grahams- 
 town, in honour of the officer in command. 
 
 Durinj.^^ recent years several governors had thouL;"ht 
 of establishing a circuit court, but the various changes 
 which had taken p ,cc prevented the completion of 
 the design until 181 1. Three members of the high 
 court of justice tuL^n left Capetown on the first 
 circuit, with instrucMons to try important ca.ses, to 
 ascertain whether the landdrosts performed their 
 duties correctly L .d impartially, to inspect the district 
 chests and buildings, and to report upon the condition 
 of the people and all matters affecting public interests. 
 Their proceedings were conducted with open doors, 
 and no distinction was made between persons of 
 different races or colour, either as accusers, accused, 
 or witnesses. Throughout South .Africa satisfaction 
 was expressed with the establishment of a circuit 
 court of this kind, and everywhere the judges were 
 received with the greatest respect. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, the reverend Messrs. 
 Vanderkemp and Read, missionaries of the LondcMi 
 .society, had given credence to a number of stories of 
 murder of Hottentots and other outrages said to have 
 been committed by colonists, and their re[)orts — in 
 which these tales appeared as facts — were published 
 
 II 
 
 i| 
 
 I 
 
14^) 
 
 liNGLISII RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 I 
 
 ^^ill 
 
 h't: 
 
 in England. By order of the British government, the 
 charges thus made were brought before the second 
 circuit court, which held its sessions in the last months 
 ofi8i2. 
 
 In this, the black circuit as it has since been called, 
 no fewer than fifty-eight white men and women were 
 put upon their trial for crimes alleged to have been 
 committed against Hottentots or slaves, and over a 
 thousand witnesses — European, black, and Hottentot 
 — were summoned to give evidence. The whole 
 country was in a state of commotion. The serious 
 charges were nearly all proved to be without founda- 
 tion ; but several individuals were found guilty of 
 assault, and were punished. The irritation of the 
 relatives and friends of those who were accused with- 
 out sufficient cause was excessive ; and this event, 
 more than anything that preceded it, caused a last- 
 ing unfriendly feeling between the colonists and the 
 missionaries of the London society. 
 
 In 1 813 the French met with great reverses in 
 luuope, and one of the first results was that the 
 prince of Orange, who had been in exile in England 
 since 1795, returned to the Netherlands and was 
 received by the people as their ruler. To this time 
 the British government regarded the Cape Colony 
 not as a national possession, but as a conquest that 
 might be restored to its original owner on the conclu- 
 sion of peace. But now an agreement was made with 
 the sovereign prince of the Netherlands that for a 
 sum of six million pounds sterling he should cede 
 to Great Britain the Cape Colony and some Dutch 
 provinces in South America. This agreement was 
 
CESSION OF THE COLONY. 
 
 147 
 
 embodied in a convention si^i^ncd at London in August 
 1 814, wlicn the claim of the Netherhinds to South 
 Africa was extinguished for ever. 
 
 And so the hopes that the colonists entertained of 
 coming again under the flag of Holland were dissi- 
 pated, but time had done much to soften their regret. 
 To say that they were reconciled to Englisii rule 
 would be incorrect. They were, iKJwever, becoming 
 accustomed to it, and as yet, excepting the statement:, 
 of the London missionaries, nothing had occurred 
 to cause any friction. Their language was still used 
 in the courts of law and the public offices. Their 
 churches had been increased to nine, and their clergy- 
 men were paid by the state. Six new magistracies — 
 George, Clanwilliam, Caledon, Grahamstown, Cradock, 
 and Simonstown — had been established. The financial 
 condition of the government, bad as it subsequently 
 proved to be, was not yet causing much alarm. In 
 the Cape peninsula, where alone Englishmen were 
 met in considerable numbers, intermarriages were 
 already so common that race antipathies were rapidly 
 dying out. After the absorption of Holland by 
 France, also, the colonists lost the enthusiastic at- 
 tachment which they had felt for the Batavian 
 Republic, so that altogether the [)rospect was fair 
 that in course of time the Europeans in South Africa 
 would forget their old aversion to Ikitish rule, unless 
 something untoward happened to revive it. 
 
 ' 1 
 
 I- 
 
 I 
 
 ' 1 
 

 I' 
 
 il 
 
 XIII. 
 
 TIIH ADMINISTRATION OK LORD CUARLKS 
 
 SOMKRSKT. 
 
 Though the colony had now become a permanent 
 British possession, no change in the form of its govern- 
 ment was made, nor was there any reduction of the 
 excessively high salaries paid to the officials sent 
 from England. Lord Charles Somerset, who succeeded 
 Sir John Cradock in 1814, drew a salary of iJ" 10,000 
 a year, and was provided at the public expense with 
 a residence in town, a country house at Newlands, a 
 marine villa at Camp's l^ay, and a shooting lodge 
 at Groenekloof He and the heads of departments 
 among them absorbed more than one-fourth of the 
 entire revenue of the country. Buildings needed for 
 landdrosts' offices in the country districts and for 
 various purposes in Capetown had been provided 
 during recent years, but the cost had been defrayed 
 by the creation of paper money, not from surplus 
 funds in the treasury. Such a .system could only end 
 in disaster, but apparently no one saw trouble ahead, 
 and the secretary of state took no steps to correct it. 
 
 Lord Charles Somerset had been in the colony a 
 
 u8 
 
SLACIITER's nek HEliELLlON. 
 
 140 
 
 little longer than a year when an event took place 
 which stirred the smouldering fire of disaffection to 
 Jiritish rule. 
 
 There was a farmer named Fredcrik- Bezuiden- 
 hout living on the eastern frontier, in a secluded dell 
 in the valley now called Glen Lynden. This man 
 was summoned to appear before a court of justice on 
 a charge of ill-treatment of a servant, but did not 
 attend, so a company of paiulours was sent to arrest 
 him. When they were seen approaching he fired 
 upon them, and then took shelter in a cavern close 
 by, where, as he refused to surrender, he was shot dead. 
 
 On the following day his relatives and friends 
 assembled for the funeral, when one of his brothers 
 declared that he would never rest until the Hottentot 
 regiment was driven from the frontier. The others 
 present expressed themselves of the same mind, and 
 a plan of insurrection was made. An attempt to 
 induce others to join them failed, however, and they 
 were never able to muster more than fifty men. 
 
 Within a very short time the government became 
 acquainted with what was taking place, and as a 
 strong force of burghers who had no sympathy with 
 lawlessness assisted the troops sent to restore order, 
 the revolt was suppressed without difficulty. Most of 
 those who had taken part in it surrendered, but a few 
 tried to escape to Kafifirland. These were followed 
 by a party of pandours, and all were captured except 
 Jan Hezuidenhout, who would not surrender, and, 
 with his wife and liltle son helping him, stood at bay 
 till he was shot dead. 
 
 The prisoners — thirty-nine in number — were tried 
 
 I: 1! 
 
I : 
 
 i 
 
 '■I 
 
 1 
 I il 
 
 ill 
 
 Pi 
 
 1^ I 
 
 1|! 
 
 150 LORD CHARLES SOMFRryET'S ADMIMSTRATIOX. 
 
 by a special commission of tiic hi^h court of justice, 
 and six were sentenced to death, the others to various 
 kinds of punishment. Lord Charles Somerset would 
 only mitigate one of the death sentences, and five of 
 the insurgents were hanged in presence of their com- 
 panions. The burghers who h.id assisted the govern- 
 ment were greatly shocked b)' this severe punishment, 
 for they had not thought they were helping to bring 
 their misguided countrymen to death. liy them, as 
 well as by the families of those who took part in 
 the disturbance, the event was long remembered with 
 very bitter feelings towards the Ikitish authorities. 
 
 It is now necessary to cast a glance at the clans 
 cast of the I^'ish river, for movements were taking 
 place among them that brought on another war with 
 the white people, apparently a most unjustifiable war 
 on the part of the European government, but really 
 one for which a good reason was not wanting. 
 
 After Ndlambe's expulsion from the colony, bands 
 of his followers found means to get through the line 
 of military posts and plunder the farmers beyond. 
 His young .athletes, good-natured when not in a state 
 of excitem.ent, fleet of foot, daring, and capable of 
 long abstinence from food, made their wa)- from 
 thicket to thicket through the country they had lived 
 in nearly thirteen years, and the first otice of their 
 presence in any locality was an empty fold from 
 which the cattle had been driven at night. The 
 more expert the robber, the greater hero was he 
 among his companions, and the prouder were his 
 relatives of him. It was their way of earning glnrj' 
 and gain at the same time. 
 
FIFTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 151 
 
 Occasionally a band of soldiers would appear at 
 one of their kraals and take compens.ition for the 
 losses of the farmers, and then another account would 
 be run up in the same way. Thus there was a feeling 
 of hostility on both sides, with no prospect of a 
 change for the better. 
 
 Ndlambe and Gaika were all the time quarrelling 
 with e.ich other, and in 181 8 the elder chief suddenly 
 became the stronger of the two. A large and im- 
 portant clan, previously neutral, went over to his side, 
 and a famous seer, named Makana, declared in his 
 favour. This Makana was a man of conspicuous 
 ability among his countrymen. If he had been of 
 chieftain's blood, there is little doubt that he would 
 have m.ide a great position for himself, but his 
 parents were commoners, and therefore in Kaffirland 
 he could never be the head of a tribe. He took the 
 only Wiiy to power open to him, and became a 
 religious teacher. The people believed that he was 
 in communication with the spirits of the mighty 
 dead, and that his visions and dreams were inspired. 
 His precepts were of a highly moral nature, for he 
 had learned a good deal of Christianity from mission- 
 aries, and adapted it to his own ideas. 
 
 In time Makana actjuiretl enormous influence, 
 which he used i!i an attemj)! to soiidif)' the western 
 section of the Kosa tribe, by bringing the half- 
 independent clans of which it was composed into 
 complete subjection to one head, (iaikn, sunk in 
 drunkenness and scnsualit)-, was incapable even of 
 comprehending such a purpose ; .so he declared for 
 the manly and clear-headed Ndlambe, thoisgh that 
 
 J 
 
152 I.ORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 n . 
 
 chic f must then have been nearly eighty years of age. 
 The nominal head of the tribe, who was named 
 Hintsa, resided far away beyond the Kci, and usually 
 troubled himself very little about the western clans, 
 over whom he had hardly any authorit)'. But on 
 this occasion he too pronounced in favour of the old 
 chief, and sent a band of v.irriors to aid him. 
 
 Hy a stratagem of Makana, the greater number of 
 (jaika's adherents were drawn into an ambush on the 
 Debe flats, where after a desperate battle they were 
 driven from the field with frii^htful slaughter. I'he 
 defeated chief fled to the Winterberg, and sent to the 
 colony to beg for aid. 
 
 Now comes the question : Was Lord Charles 
 Somerset justified in assisting him? The quarrel 
 was between two rivals in a tribe over which he had 
 no right of control, what business had he to interfere 
 in it ? The answer is that the governor criuld not 
 permit a formidable hostile power to grow up on the 
 border f»f the colon)-. To those who do not consider 
 that rea.son sufficient, his action must appear unjusti- 
 fiable. 
 
 Regarding Ndlambe as an implacable and danger- 
 ous enem)', he issued instructions to Limitenant- 
 C!olonel lirercton to [)roceetl to Ciaika's assistance 
 with a combined force of burghers and soldiers. In 
 December iSi.S Colonel Hrerelon crossed the I'ish 
 river, and being joined by (iaika's adherents, attacked 
 Ndlambe, who was believed to be at the head of 
 eighteen thousand men. 
 
 Ntllambe and his f(>I lowers, however, did not ven- 
 ture to make a stan^ on open ground, but retired to 
 
 ■J 
 
 u 
 
FIFTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 153 
 
 dense thickets, which afforded them shelter. Their 
 kraals were destroyed, and twenty-three thousand 
 head of cattle were seized. The British commander 
 found it impossible to restrain the savage passions of 
 Gaika's followers, who were mad with excitement and 
 joy at being able to take revenge, and were unwilling 
 to show mercy when an)* of their enemies fell into 
 their hands. He withdrew, therefore, before Ndlambe 
 was thoroughl)' humbled, and on reaching Grahams- 
 town the burghers were disbanded and permitted to 
 return to their hotnes. 
 
 Ndlambe at once took advantage of the oppor- 
 tunit)'. ladling upon Gaika, he jnit that chief to 
 flight, and then he i)oured his warriors into the 
 colony. The inhabitants f)f the district between the 
 l^'ish and Sunday rivers, unless in the neighbourhood 
 of military posts, were compelled hastily to retire to 
 lagers, and lost nearl)- all their property. Seventeen 
 white people and thirteen Hottentots were murdered. 
 
 A burgher force was called out, but before the 
 farmers could take the field Grahamstown was 
 attacked, in the early morning of the 22nd of 
 April 1S19 between nine and ten tliousand warriors, 
 led by Makana, made a sudden rush upon that post, 
 which had then a garrison of only three hundred and 
 thirl)'-three men. 'i'hcy were met with a deadl)- fire 
 of musketrj' and artiller)', and after a short struggle 
 were driven back with heavy loss. 
 
 Three months later a strong army of colonists and 
 soldiers crossed the l'"ish river, tlrove Ndlambe's 
 adherents eastward to the bank of tlu: Kei, killed 
 many of them, seized all their cattle, aiul burned 
 
 
h^ 
 
 154 LORD CHARLES SOMliRSET^S ADMINt'^TV!AriON. 
 
 their kraals. The oui cVricfs power was completely 
 broken. The fiftli KrJ'^r war enoed by the surrender 
 of Makana, who j^ave himseh" up in the hope that 
 his friends would then be spared, He was sent a 
 prisoner to Robbcn Island, and three years afterwards 
 was drowned when trying to escape. 
 
 Thouj^h there was no moi i fighting, the forces 
 were kept in the field for several months. The 
 governor then resolverl to try to prevent the Kosas 
 from entering the colony again by keeping a belt 
 
 1 *i 
 
 'i li 
 
 S^^^^;|i«^'; 
 
 FORT wn.i.rniRF.. n; u.r 1820 ; ahandonfd 1837. 
 (From a Sketth by A. Steed man.) 
 
 of li 'i beyond the border unoccupied except by 
 soldiL..>, who were to patrol constantly up and dtnvn 
 it. The military officers recommended that the 
 Keiskama and Tjumic, as being a better line of 
 defence than the I-'ish river, should be made the 
 limit of Kaffirland, and th.c governor accepted their 
 advice. In October he met Gaika, who depended 
 upon his good will so completely that wlicn he 
 pn)j)osed his scheme the chief at once agreed to it. 
 On the right bank of the Keiskama a defensible 
 
 lA^' \ 
 
ARRTVAJ. OF PtRITlSri SETTLERS, 
 
 155 
 
 barrack was then built, wliich wa? naincf' '*'ort: 
 VVillshirc, and there a body of Kuropoan trc ps 
 was st..tioncd. A little later another ha larl was 
 built on the Kat river, and was named IV i ll^jriufoit. 
 The territory between the Fish river and L- ?• mv linr 
 was kept without inhabitants, but it was easily tra- 
 versed by the Kosas, who knew every thicket and 
 junj^le in it. In 1820 it was ceded by Gaika to the 
 colotiy. 
 
 We have now arrived at an important period in the 
 history of South Africa. To this time the colonists 
 outside of Capetown were almost entirely Dutch- 
 speaking, henceforward the luiglish 1? gua<;e is to be 
 heard in many farmhouses as well as in the villages 
 and towns throughout the country, and ICnglish 
 customs and ideas are to come into rivalry with 
 the customs and ideas of the earlier settlers. 
 
 For .several years after the general peace which 
 followed the fall of Napoleon much rlistr -ss was felt 
 by the labouring classes in Great Ikitain, and emigra- 
 tion w.as commonly spoken of m. the only cffcciual 
 remed)'. In the Cape Colony in \ '19, »LCording to 
 the census, there were only fort) .0 th( jusand white 
 |)eop!e ; so it seemed to the imperin^ govcrnmct^t that 
 the country invited settlers, and pari^ri-ncnt without 
 demur granted ;^50,jOO to dcfrav the c(>st of sendisig 
 out a large part)'. 
 
 Heads of families representing Jiearly ninety tliou- 
 sand persons applic(' for passages, and fr«)in these 
 a selection was made of the lunnber rc(|uired. The 
 ships in which the)' left Fngland iuu\ Ireland, witii 
 one exception, reached .South /Nfriea safel) , ;n(d in 
 
'I 
 
 (il 
 
 
 
 fp* 
 
 Ltli^ 
 
 1: 
 
 -it . 
 
 156 LORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 April 1820 the immigrants commenced to land on 
 the sandy beach of Algoa Hay. A few hundred who 
 arrived a little later were located first at Clanwilliam, 
 but in a short time most of them abandoned that 
 part of the colony and followed the others to the 
 eastern frontier. Several were people of some means, 
 who brought out a number of .servants and appren- 
 tices, the others were of various callings, a large 
 proportion being artisans, men who had worked in 
 factories in l^ngland, clerks, and storemcn. There 
 were nearly twice as many male as female adults. 
 
 The imperial government defrayed the cost of 
 ocean transit, and each head of a family was promised 
 a plot of ground one hundred acres in extent, on 
 condition of occupying it for three years. Tho.se 
 who brought out servants were to have an adtlitional 
 hundrec' acres for each. Nothing more than this 
 was promised, but means of transport to the land 
 on which they were located were provided by the 
 government, and for more than eighteen months 
 rations of food were supplied to all who needed 
 them. With few exceptions, the iminigrants were 
 located between the lUishman's and I'^ish rivers, the 
 /uurberg and the .sea, a pleasant land to look upon, 
 with its waving grass and jnany streamlets and 
 patches of dark evergreen forest in the reces.ses of 
 the mountain.s. It was part of the territory that 
 NUlambe had occupied for thirteen years, and that 
 he had vainly tried to hold in 181 2. 
 
 At the same time that these people were being sent 
 from Great Hritain at the expen.se of the government, 
 a few carne to South Africa without aii)' aid, on the 
 
SUCCESS OF THE BRITISH SETTLERS. 
 
 157 
 
 assurance of the secretary of state that they would 
 receive larger grants of land if they paid for their 
 passages. Altogether, nearly five thousand indivi- 
 duals of British birth settled in the colony between 
 March 1820 and May 1821. 
 
 For several years the immigrants were subject to 
 much distress. Most of them knew nothing about 
 tilling ground, but they tried to live upon their little 
 farms until they could get title-deeds, in order to be 
 able to sell. Season after season their wheat crops 
 were destroyed by rust. Then there was a great 
 flood, which washed away many cottages and gardens. 
 In addition to other troubles, roving Ko.sas made 
 their way into the district, and robbed the poor i)e()ple 
 of many of the cattle that they had purchased. 
 
 At the end of 1821 the artisans begPii to disperse. 
 In different villages throughout the colony they 
 obtained plenty of work, at prices that soon placed 
 them in a good position. They were followed from 
 the locations by many others, who were not qualified 
 to make farmers, but who easily found openings in 
 other pursuit.s. The government then enlarged the 
 farms of those who knew how to make use of them, 
 and better times for all .set in. It was about five 
 years after their arrival before each one found himself 
 in the sphere for which he was best adai)ted, and in 
 another five years it began to be questioned whether 
 a similar party had ever succeeded so well in any 
 other country. 
 
 Crrahamstown and I'orl l^lizabeth owe their im- 
 pi)rtance to these lirilij>h innnigranls. In iSjo 
 neither of these places was more than a hamlet 
 
 r 
 
158 LORD CHARLES SOMERSET'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 
 I 
 14: 
 
 attached to a military post, but a few years later 
 both were flourishing towns. 
 
 /\bout one-eighth of the luiropcan inhabitants of 
 the colony were now iMiglish-speaking, and theirs 
 was a language which cjuickly spreads. When a man 
 from the British Islands and one from any other 
 country live together, their intercourse is conducted 
 in the language of the Briton, for he refuses to learn 
 a speech that was strange to him in youth. In South 
 Africa this matter might with great advantage have 
 been left to .settle itself. But the deepest feelings of 
 the old colonists were stirred by an order of the 
 imperial government that after the 1st of January 
 iiS25 all oflicial documents, and after the 1st of 
 January itS28 all proceedings in courts of law should 
 be in ICnglish. In Simonstown, Grahamstown, and 
 Tort IClizabeth, the ex'lusive use of the luiglish 
 language in the courts of law was not objected to ; 
 but in other i)laces. where Dutch was si)okeii by 
 nearly the whole i>eople, the order was regarded as 
 a very serious grievance. Many recpiests were made 
 to the government to annul it, but to no purpo.se, 
 and upon the dates named luiglish became the official 
 language of the country. It would have been difficult 
 to rlevisc a measure more calculated to irritate the 
 Dutch inhabitants. 
 
 Just at this time .ilso great distress was caused 
 to many people b)- an order concerning the paper 
 money. There were in circulation notes to the 
 nominal value of a little over ^,'700,000, of which 
 about one-third had been created by the ICnglish 
 government, one-.sevcnth hatl btren forged so cleverly 
 
 : t i '■ 
 
SIGNS OF PKOGKESS. 
 
 159 
 
 that they could not be separated from those that 
 were ^feiuiiiie, and the remainder were of Dutch 
 origin. The existence of this i)aper was certainly 
 a very great drawback to commerce, and it was 
 necessary for the advancement of the country that it 
 should be got rid of liut when an order came from 
 luigland reducing it to three-eighths of its nominal 
 value, and making Ikitish silver money a legal tender 
 at that rate of exchange, it was felt as a crushing 
 blow by many peoi)le. Not a few were entirely 
 ruined. Hut commerce was placed on a safe footing, 
 for the old rixdollar notes were rei)laced by others 
 at the reduced rate, on which the value was marked 
 in pounds sterling, and the imperial treasury was 
 responsible for their redemption at any time in gold. 
 
 Notwithstantling the wiilespread discontent and 
 the drawbacks to prosperity which have been men- 
 tioned, the colony showed many signs of prctgress 
 during the administration (jf Lord Charles Somerset. 
 The villages of Heaufort West, Hathurst, Worcester, 
 Somerset luist, and Somerset West were founded, 
 the first lighthouse on the coast was built, a good 
 waggon road was opened through a cleft in the 
 mountain range behind I^'rench Hock, and the South 
 .African public library >vas established. The breed 
 of cattle, and especially of horses, was greatly im- 
 proved, mainly through the importation of thorough- 
 bred stock by the governor him.self Wine was 
 the principal article of export, but mules were now 
 sent to Mauritius and horses to India in considerable 
 numbers. 
 
 The clergymen o( the Dutch church were increa.sed 
 
t 
 
 11 
 
 lOo iMRD ciiAurjis soMjcKsirr's admimstration. 
 
 to sixteen, and of the ICn^dish cluncli to five. A 
 VVesIcyan clcrj,'yman who was sent out from ICn^^- 
 lancl in 1 8 14 was not permitted by tiie governor to 
 eonduct services publicly, so his society ai)pealed to 
 the secretary of state, with the result that religious 
 liberty was secured for the colony. A Roman 
 catholic cler^^yman was now resident in Capetown, 
 and Protestant clerj^ymen of various denominations 
 were scattered over the country and carr)'inj^ on 
 mission work beyond the borders. At each drostcly 
 a hi^di-class government school was established, to 
 which parents were invited to send their children free 
 of charge. In the eastern part of the colony the.se 
 schools were of the utmost .service, but as instruction 
 was given through the medium of the ICnglish 
 language only, they were regarded with much anti- 
 pathy in the western districts, and were not there as 
 useful as they might otherwise have been. 
 
 In io?5 a council was established to advise the 
 governor in such affairs of importance as he might 
 choo.se to submit to it for discussion. It consisted of 
 six officials appointed by the secretary of state, and 
 was intended ,to modify the despotic power of the 
 governor ; but practically it was a very slight check 
 upon the authority of a man of strong will like Lord 
 Charle:? Somerset, who treated in a most arbitrary 
 manner all who professed democratic principles or 
 who ventured to oi)[)ose him in any way. Among 
 other acts which caused much clamour was the sup- 
 pression by his order of a liberal newspaper called 
 the Conuncrcial Advertiser, and the virtual confisca- 
 tion of the press with which it was printed. 
 
RESIGNATrON OF THE GOVERNOR. 
 
 i(n 
 
 The later years of his administration were marked 
 by distress among the farmers — owing to bad seasons, 
 — by a decreasing revenue, by much grumbh'ng about 
 the burden of taxation and the excessive cost of 
 government, and by numerous complaints of his 
 tyranny made to the secretary of state and to the 
 imperial parliament. Hut he had influential friends, 
 for he was a brother of the duke of lieaufort and 
 of that Lord V\t/.\'oy Soincrset who afterwards 
 became Lord Raglan, and his party was then in 
 power. In 1S26, however, he was obliged to return 
 to England to defend his conduct against charges by 
 the liberal leaders in the house of commons, who 
 were making capital of him in their attacks upon the 
 treasury benches, and as there was a change of 
 ministry shortly afterwards, he considered it prudent 
 to resign the government of the Cape Colony, a 
 course of action that prevented his case coming on 
 for hearing. 
 
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 (716) S72-4503 
 
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XIV. 
 
 THE WARS AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSIIAKA. 
 
 At this period nearly the whole of South Africa 
 beyond the borders of the Cape Colony was in a state 
 of violent disturbance, owing to wars among different 
 Bantu tribes. 
 
 About the year 1783, or perhaps a little later, one 
 of the wives of the chief of a small tribe living on 
 the banks of the river Umvolosi gave birth to a .son, 
 who was named Tshaka, Before he was fully grown 
 the boy excited the jealousy of his father, and was 
 obliged to flee for his life. He took refuge with 
 Dingiswayo, head of a powerful tribe, who in his 
 early years had gone through many strange adven- 
 tures, and had by some means come to hear oi' the 
 European military system. When Tshaka fled to 
 him, Dingiswayo was carrying on war with his 
 neighbours, and had his followers regularly drilled 
 and formed into regiments. The young refugee 
 became a .soldier in one of these regiments, and by 
 his bravery and address rapidly rose to a high 
 position. Time passed on, Dingiswayo died, and 
 the army raised Tshaka, then its favourite general, 
 
 i6a 
 
GENIUS OF TSHAKA. 
 
 163 
 
 high 
 
 to supreme command. This was the origin of the 
 terrible ZuUi power. 
 
 Tshaka was a man of great bodily strength and of 
 unusual vigour of mind, but he was utterly merciless. 
 
 
 A ZULU WARRIOR IN UNIFORM. 
 
 {Sl-etch by Captain Gardiner.) 
 
 He set himself the task not merely of conquering 
 but of exterminating the tribes as far as he could 
 reach. Wit!i this object he greatly improved the 
 discipline of the army, and substituted for the light 
 
V t 
 
 m 
 
 
 'h 
 
 164 WARS AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSHAKA. 
 
 assagai 
 
 a short-handled long-bladcd spear formed 
 either to cut or to stab. With this weapon in his 
 hand, the highly trained Zulu soldier, proud of his 
 fame and his ornaments, and knowing that death 
 was the penalty of cowardice or disobedience, was 
 really invincible. 
 
 Tribe after tribe passed out of sight under the 
 Zulu spear, none of the members remaining but a few 
 of the handsomest girls and some boys reserved to 
 carry burdens. These boys, with only the choice 
 before them of abject slavery or becoming soldiers, 
 always begged to be allowed to enter the army, and 
 weie soon known as the fiercest of the warriors. 
 
 The territory that is now the colony of Natal was 
 densely peopled before the time of Tshaka. But 
 soon after the commencement of his career, various 
 tribes that were trying to escape from his armies fell 
 upon the inhabitants of that fair land, and drove 
 before them those whom they did not destroy. As 
 far as the Umzimvubu river the whole population 
 was in motion, slaughtering and being slaughtered. 
 
 One large horde of fugitives made its way as far 
 as the river Umgwali, and was there attacked and 
 beaten by a combined force of Tembus and Kosas. 
 After the battle the horde dispersed, and its frag- 
 ments settled down in a condition of vassalage among 
 the clans between the Kei and the Umtata. So 
 also at a little later date did other remnants of 
 various tribes from the north, all of the refugees 
 taking the common name of Fingos, or wanderers. 
 By the beginning of 1824, between the rivers Tugela 
 and Umzimvubu there were not left more than five 
 
THE M ANT ATI HORDE. 
 
 165 
 
 or six thousand wretched starvch'iiLjs, wlio hid them- 
 selves in thickets, and some of whom became canni- 
 bals as the only means of sustaining life. 
 
 On the other side of the great mountain range 
 known as the Kathlamba or Drakensberg, the de- 
 struction of human beings was even greater. Before 
 the rise of the Zulu power, Bantu tribes peoi)led 
 densely the northern part of the territory now termed 
 Basutoland, the north-eastern portion of the present 
 Orange Free State, and the whole area of the South 
 African Republic of our days. During the winter 
 of the year 1822 a tribe fleeing from the Zulus 
 crossed the mountains and fell upon the people 
 residing about the sources of the Caledon. They, 
 in their turn, fell upon others in advance, until the 
 whole of the inhabitants of the country as far as 
 the Vaal in one great horde crossed the river and 
 began to devastate the region beyond. Among their 
 leaders was a woman named Ma Ntatisi, from whom 
 the horde received the name Mantatis. 
 
 After crossing the Vaal, the Mantatis turned to 
 the north-west, and created awful havoc with the 
 tribes in their line of march. As each was overcome, 
 its cattle and grain were devoured, and then the 
 murderous host passed on to the next. Their 
 strength was partly kept up by incorporating captives, 
 but vast numbers of the invaders, especially of women 
 and children, left their bones mingled with those of 
 the people they destroyed. Twenty-eight distinct 
 tribes are believed to have disappeared before the 
 Mantatis received a check. Then Makaba, chief of 
 the Bangwaketsi, fell upon them unawares, defeated 
 
:• 
 
 mm 
 
 1 66 WARS AND DEVASTATIONS 0I> TSHAKA. 
 
 them, and compelled them to turn to the south. In 
 June 1823 they sustained another defeat from a party 
 of Griqua horsemen, and then the great horde broke 
 into fragments. 
 
 One section — the Makololo — went northward, de- 
 stroying the tribes in its course, and years afterwards 
 was found by Dr. Livingstone on ii branch of the 
 Zambesi. Another section, under Ma Ntatisi, re- 
 turned to its old home, and took part in the 
 devastation of the country along the Caledon. And 
 various ^-ttle bands wandered about destroying until 
 they w^.o themselves destroyed. Several thousand 
 refugees from the wasted country found their way 
 into the Cape Colony, where they were apprenticed 
 by the government to such persons as were not 
 slaveholders. 
 
 In the winter of 1828 a Zulu army penetrated the 
 country as far south as the Bashee. Tshaka himself 
 with a body-guard remained at the Umzimkulu, and 
 sent one of his regiments to destroy the Pondos, while 
 another division of his force proceeded to deal in the 
 same manner with the Tombus and Kosas. The 
 Pondos were plundered of everything they possessed, 
 but the chief and most of his people managed to hide 
 themselves until the Zului> retired. The Tembus and 
 Kosas fared better. There was an Englishman, 
 named Henry Fynn, \\'ith Tshaka, and he succeeded 
 in inducing the chief to recall the army before there 
 was much destruction of life or property. 
 
 The Tembus and Kosas, however, were greatly 
 alarmed. They sent to beg help from the Europeans, 
 and to prevent them from being driven into the colony 
 
KlUKDER OF TSHAKA. 
 
 167 
 
 a commando of a thousand men, under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Somerset, marched to their ai:l. This com- 
 mando encountered a large body of ncrce warriors, 
 who were believed to be Zulus, and an engagement 
 followed which lasted several hours. Afterwards it 
 was discovered that the men whom the Europeans 
 were fighting with were some of those who hid fled 
 from Tshaka, and whose course was marked by fire 
 and blood. They were defeated with heavy loss, and 
 as soon as they were scattered the Kosas and Tembus 
 fell upon them and nearly exterminated them. 
 
 In September 1828 Tshaka was murdered by two 
 of his brothers, one of whom — Dingan by name — 
 succeeded as chief of the Zulus. The new ruler was 
 equally as cruel, but not so able as his predecessor. 
 Under his government the military system was kept 
 up, though the only people left within reach that he 
 could exercise his arms upon were the Swazis. War 
 with them was almost constant, but their country 
 contained natural strongholds which enabled them 
 to set Dingan, as they had set Tshaka, at defiance. 
 Various armies, however, that had been put in motion 
 at an earlier date were still moving on, some at a great 
 distance from their starting places. 
 
 One of these was under a chief named Moselekatse, 
 whose reputation as a shedder of human blood is 
 second only to that of Tshaka himself He was in 
 command of a division of the Zulu army, and had 
 acquired the devoted attachment of the soldiers, when 
 a circumstance occurred which left him no choice but 
 flight. After a successful onslaught upon a tribe 
 which he was sent to exterminate, he neglected to 
 
1 68 WARS AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSIIAKA. 
 
 forward the whole of the booty to his master, and 
 Tshaka, enraged by such conduct, despatched a great 
 army with orders to put him and all his adherents to 
 death. Tliese, receiving intimation of their danger in 
 
 iv-% 
 
 
 L-i^" 
 
 PORTRAIT OF DINGAN. 
 
 {Front a Sketch by Captain Gardiner.) 
 
 time, immediately crossed the mountains and began 
 to lay waste the central zune of the country that is 
 now the South African Republic. 
 
 The numerous tribes whose remnants form the 
 
 1^ 
 
RISE OF THE MATAUELE POWER. 
 
 169 
 
 l^apcdi of our times looked with disinay upon the 
 athletic forms of the Matabele, r.s they term.ed the 
 invaders. They had never before seen discipline so 
 perfect as that of these naked braves, or weapon so 
 deadly as the Zulu stabbing spear. All who could 
 not make their escape were exterminated, except the 
 comeliest j^irls and some of the young men who were 
 kept as carriers. These las: were led to hope that 
 by faithful service they might attain the position of 
 soldiers, and from them Moselekatse filled up the 
 gaps that occurred in his ranks. The country over 
 which he marched was covered with skeletons, and 
 literally no human beings were left in it, for his object 
 was to place a desert between Tshaka and himself 
 When he considered himself at a safe distance from 
 his old home he halted, erected military kraals after 
 the Zulu pattern, and from them as a centre his 
 regiments traversed the land north, south, and west 
 in search of spoil. 
 
 It is impossible to give the number of Moselekalse's 
 warriors, but it was probably not greater than ten 
 thousand, l^^fty of them were a match for more than 
 five hundred Betshuana. They pursued these wretched 
 creatures even when there was no plunder to be had, 
 and slew many thousands in mere wantonness, in 
 exactly the same spirit and with as little compunc- 
 tion as a sportsman shoots snipe. 
 
 While the Matabele were engaged in their career 
 of destruction, othc bands wero similarly employed 
 farther north, .so that by 1828 there was not a single 
 Betshuana tribe left intact between the Magalisberg 
 and the Limpopo. On the margin of the Kalahari 
 
iil 
 
 1^70 WAkS AND DEVASTATIONS O^ TsttAKA. 
 
 desert several were still unbroken, though they had 
 suffered severely. In 1830 Moselekatse moved against 
 these tribes, and dispersed them. They were not ex- 
 terminated, because they took refuge in the desert, 
 where they found sustenance in places to which the 
 Matabele could not pursue them ; but they were 
 reduced to a very wretched state. 
 
 After this Moselekatse built his militar)' kraals on 
 the banks of the Marikwa, and was lord of the country 
 far and wide. 
 
 Only one tribe escaped, and that the weakest and 
 most degraded of all the southern Betshuana. The 
 principal Batlapin kraal was then at the source of the 
 Kuruman river, where missionaries resided for a short 
 time at the beginning of the century. The station 
 was soon abandoned, but was occupied again in 18 17 
 by agents of the London society, and four years later 
 the reverend Robert Moffat went to live there. To- 
 wards the close of i8.?9 Mr. Moffat visited Moselekatse, 
 whose kraals were then about a hundred miles east of 
 the Marikwa. The chief could not comprehend the 
 character or the work of the missionary, but he was 
 flattered by the friendship of such a man, and con- 
 ceived a great respect for one who could weld two 
 thick pieces of iron. He believed Mr. Moffat to be 
 lord of the people at the Kuruman, and, to show his 
 regard, he abstained from sending his warriors there. 
 Thus the Batlapin, who would have fled from the 
 smallest division of the Matabele army, were saved 
 by the presence among them of a courageous and 
 able European. 
 
 Meantime in one corner of the vast waste that had 
 
(lENIUS or MOSIIESH. 
 
 171 
 
 II 
 
 been created the process of reconstruction was going 
 on. In the territory that is now called Basutoland a 
 young man named Moshcsh was collecting together 
 dispersed people of various tribes, and forming them 
 into a compact political body. He was only in rank 
 the son of a petty captain, and his father was still 
 living, so that under ordinary circumstances he 
 would have had little chance of raising himself to 
 power. But Moshcsh possessed abilities of a very 
 high order as a military strategist, a diplomatist, an 
 organiser of society, and a ruler of men. His scat 
 of government was Thaba Bosigo, an impregnable 
 mountain stronghold. He prevented attacks of the 
 Zulus by professing himself the humblest vassal of 
 Tshaka and Dingan, and by frequently sending 
 tribute of furs and feathers. All who submitted to 
 him were treated alike, no matter to what tribe they 
 originally belonged, and as much assistance as pos- 
 sible was given to those who needed it. E\ n bands 
 of cannibals were provided with grain and lens, 
 
 that they might become agriculturists on lore. 
 Men of tribes that had recently been destroying each 
 other were induced to live side by side in friendship 
 and peace. Thus a new community was forming 
 under Moshesh, by far the ablest black ruler known 
 in South Africa since the arrival of Europeans in the 
 country. 
 
 Moselekatse sent plundering parties against him, 
 but his scouts gave warning in time, so that the 
 raiders were not able to do much harm. In 1831 a 
 Matabele army laid siege to Thaba Bosigo, but could 
 not take the stronghold. When the besiegers were 
 
ilk, 
 
 /vm 
 
 Mi 
 
 is 11 
 
 
 r- c;^ 
 

 I 
 
 
 1 
 
 it 
 
 J 
 
 
 w 
 
 m 
 
 ' J 
 
 
 - Co 
 
 CONDITIOX OF THE TRinES IX 1 836. 173 
 
 compel kxl by want of food to retreat, Moshcsli 
 provided them with provisions sufficient for their 
 homeward joiirnc)', and a friendly messat^e accom- 
 panied the ^ift. He was never aj^ain attacked by 
 them. 
 
 In 1X3;^ tnissionarics of the Paris evangelical 
 societ)' went to reside with Moshesh, from whom 
 they received a hearty welcome, as he recoj^nised 
 that their assistance in temi)oral inatters would be 
 of i^reat service. In the same year a number of 
 wandering bands — liatitu, Hottentots, and half-breeds 
 — were persuaded by Weslcyan missionaries to settle 
 on the right bank of the Caledon, not very far from 
 Thaba Bosigo. 
 
 In 1836 a vast portion of the territory east and 
 north of the Cape Colony was lying waste. Between 
 the Keiskama and Umzimvubu rivers were the Kosa, 
 Tembu, and Pondo tribes, with the Fingos, and 
 various clans driven down from the north. Mission- 
 aries of the London, Glasgow, and VVesleyan societies 
 were endeavouring to christianise and civilise these 
 people. Between the Umzimvubu and Tugela rivers 
 there were only five or six thousand inhabitants. 
 North of the Tugela were the Zulus, under the chief 
 Dingan, who had twenty-five or thirty thousand 
 highly-trained soldiers at his command. 
 
 Within the western border of the present South 
 African Republic, along the Marikwa river, were the 
 Matabele military kraals ; but the greater portion of 
 that vast territory was unoccupied, except in the most 
 rugged places, where the broken remnants of former 
 tribes were lurking. The present Orange Free State 
 
I! 
 
 I! 
 
 174 WARS AND DEVASTATIONS OF TSHAKA. 
 
 contained a few hundred Griquas or people of mixed 
 Hottentot, negro, and European blood, who had 
 emigrated from the Cape Colony, a few hundred 
 Hottentots of the Korana tribe, the remnant of the 
 horde under Ma Ntatisi around Lishuane, and some 
 Bantu clans at Mekuatling, Thaba Ntshu, and Bethulie. 
 In the territory now called British Betshuanaland the 
 population consisted of the Batlapin tribe, some 
 roving Koranas, and a few stragglers on the border 
 of the desert. And in Basutoland there were the 
 people collected by Moshesh American missionaries 
 were attempting to settle in Natal and with the Mata- 
 bele on the Marikwa, n clergyman of the church 
 of England had just gone to reside with Dingan, and 
 missionaries of the Paris, London, Berlin, and Wesleyan 
 societies were busy wherever there were inhabitants 
 between the Kathlamba mountains and the desert. 
 
 w • 
 
XV. 
 
 EVENTS IN THE CAPE COLONY FROM 1 826 TO 
 
 1835- 
 
 It is not a pleasant admission lor an Englishman 
 to make, but it is the truth, that it would be difficult 
 to find in any part of the world a people with so 
 mach cause to be discontented as the old inhabitants 
 of the Cape Colony for many years after the fall of 
 the ministry of the earl of Liverpool. There was 
 no sympathy whatever shown towards them by the 
 authorities in England, in fact there was a decided 
 antipathy, which was fostered by the so-called philan- 
 thropic societies, then at the height of their power. 
 The most outrageous stories concerning the colonists 
 were circulated by men who bore the title of Christian 
 teachers — and nothing was too gross to be believed 
 in England, — until the word l^oer (Dutch for Farmer) 
 came to be regarded as a synonym for an ignorant 
 and heartless oppressor of coloured people. It was 
 useless for the governors to report differently, or for 
 the courts of law to pronounce the stories libellous : 
 the great societies condemned " the Boers," and the 
 great societies represented and led public opinion in 
 England. 
 
 «7S 
 
176 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 
 
 SomcthinfT, however, must be said on the other 
 side. The inhabitants of the Cape Colony were not 
 all white people, and the British government tried to 
 do what it held to be justice to the blacks. Then 
 the whole number of Dutch colonists was only equal 
 to the population of a third-class English town, and 
 their sentiments must have been regarded as of little 
 importance by those who were guiding the destinies 
 of a mighty empire. To make them fall into line 
 with the notions of the day in Great Ikitain seemed 
 not only easy, but the correct policy to carry out. 
 No one imagined that they were capable of making 
 any effectual opposition. 
 
 In 1828 t'le whole of the courts of justice in the 
 Cape Colony were remodelled after the English 
 pattern. In the country districts the landdrosts and 
 heemraden were done away with, and in their stead 
 civil commissioners, resident magistrates, and justices 
 of the peace were created. A supreme court was 
 established, with judges appointed by the crown and 
 independent of the governor, and though the Dutch 
 code of law was retained, the forms of procedure 
 were assimilated to those customary in England. 
 Since that time criminal cases have been tried by a 
 single judge and a jury of nine men, whose verdict 
 must be unanimous in order to convict. 
 
 At the same time the burgher senate was abolished, 
 and the government took upon itself the municipal 
 and other duties previously performed by that body. 
 As if these sweeping changes were not sufficient 
 irritation for the old colonists, a notice was issued 
 that all documents addressed to the government 
 
INyUDICIOUS MEASURES, 
 
 177 
 
 ishcd, 
 
 licipal 
 
 body. 
 
 fictcnt 
 
 ■issued 
 
 imcnt 
 
 must be written in English or have a translation 
 attached, otherwise they would be returned to those 
 who sent them. 
 
 A little later one of the judges removed the 
 criminal cases Irom the circuit court at Worcester 
 to Capetown tor trial, on the ground that there was 
 not a sufficient number of English-speaking men to 
 form a jury at Worcester, though the prisoners and 
 the witnesses spoke Dutch only, and every word that 
 they said had to be translated to the court. The 
 judges were divided in opinion whether it was neces- 
 sary for jurymen in every case to understand English, 
 and the question remained open until 1831, when 
 an ordinance was issued defining their qualifications, 
 among which a knowledge of English was not 
 included. In the interval, however, the" burghers, 
 who regarded their exclusion from the jury-box as an 
 insult, were deeply incensed. But they sent in no 
 memorials, because they would not be driven to have 
 them written in English, and there was little hope of 
 success had they even done so. 
 
 And now was heard the first murmuring of a cry 
 that a few years later resounded through the colony, 
 and men and women began to talk of the regions 
 laid waste by the Zulu wars, if it might not be 
 possible to find there a refuge from British rule. 
 
 One measure, however, was carried out at this time 
 which gave general satisfaction. The salaries of the 
 officials sent from England had been far beyond 
 the means of the colony, and they were now greatly 
 reduced. 
 
 The condition of the Hottentots and other free 
 
 13 
 
' !f|; 
 
 178 CAP1-: COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 
 
 coloured people had long been a subject of discussion 
 in England, where it was commonly believed that 
 they were treated with much injustice. In reality it 
 was not so, though there certainly were instances of 
 ill usage, just as there are outrages in all countries 
 of the world. 
 
 After November 1809 Hottentots were not allowed 
 to wander over the country without passes, and after 
 April 18 1 2 Hottentot children born while their 
 parents were in service, and maintained for eight 
 years by the employers of their parents, were bound 
 as apprentices for ten years longer. In the opinion 
 of the governor who made this law it was better 
 for the children that they should acquire industrious 
 habits, even if restraint had to be used, than that they 
 should become vagrants. The reverend Dr. Philip, 
 however, who was superintendent of the London 
 society's missions in South Africa, claimed for people 
 of all colours and conditions exactly the same treat- 
 ment ; and as the great philanthropical societies of 
 England supported him, he was virtually master of 
 the position. 
 
 In July 1828 an ordinance was issued which 
 relieved the Hottentots and other free coloured 
 people from the laws concerning passes and the 
 apprenticeship of children, and placed them in all re- 
 spects on a political level with Europeans. From that 
 time the colony was overrun by idle wanderers to 
 such an extent that farming could hardly be made to 
 pay, and the coloured people were falling back in the 
 scale of civilisation ; but when an attempt was made 
 a few years later to get a vagrant act proclaimed. 
 
THE KAT RIVER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 ^70 
 
 Dr. Philip and his party opposed the measure so 
 strenuously tliat it had to be abandoned. 
 
 Sir I.owry Cole, who became {governor in 1828, 
 caused between two and three thousand Hottentots 
 and people of mixed blood to be located at the Kat 
 river, in the territory ceded by Gaika to the colony. 
 Several small streams unite to form this river, and in 
 their valleys the land is easily irrigated and is of great 
 fertility. In the best places settlements were formed, 
 each divided into plots of from four to six acres 
 in extent, upon which a family was placed. The 
 ground between the settlements was to remain as a 
 commonage, each family having the right to graze 
 cattle on it. The settlers were to remain five years 
 on trial, at the end of which period those who had 
 built cottages and tilled the ground were to receive 
 grants in freehold, but every plot not improved 
 within that time was to revert to government. For 
 a while the settlement appeared to flourish. The 
 government supplied seed corn, furrows for leading 
 out water were made, and a large extent of ground 
 was brought under cultivation. In the course of 
 a few years, however, it was seen that the pure 
 Hottentots could not sustain such efforts beyond 
 two or three seasons, but there were many half- 
 breeds among those to whom plots of ground were 
 assigned, and they formed a more stable class. 
 
 Early in 1834 Sir Benjamin D' Urban arrived as 
 governor, with instructions from the secretary of 
 state to carry out several important measures. The 
 first was retrenchment of expenditure on a very 
 extensive scale, as the colonial revenue was less 
 
l8o CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 
 
 I:: ■ 
 
 i: 
 
 i ! 
 
 than the outlay, and the public debt was increasing. 
 Various offices were now combined, so that one 
 man had to do the work previously performed by two, 
 and all salaries were greatly reduced. The outlay 
 on roads, buildings, and, indeed, everything main- 
 tained by the government, was cut down as much 
 as possible. 
 
 The second measure was a slight change in the 
 form of government, caused by the creation of 
 distinct legislative and executive councils. The 
 colonists had often sent petitions to England to be 
 allowed to have a representative assembly, but these 
 had always failed. At length, however, the imperial 
 authorities resolved to make the government of the 
 Cape appear a little less despotic, and for this 
 purpose a legislative council was created. It con- 
 sisted of the governor, as president, five of the 
 highest officials, and five colonists selected by the 
 governor. Its power can be inferred from a remark 
 of Sir George Napier to one of the unofficial 
 members who was combating the government view 
 of a question : " You may spare your breath in this 
 matter, everything of importance is settled before 
 it comes here." Still it was a step — though a very 
 short one — in the right direction. 
 
 The council of advice previously existing now 
 became an executive council, and was made to 
 consist of four high officials. 
 
 The third special object which Sir Benjamin 
 D'Urban was instructed to carry into effect was 
 the emancipation of the slaves. 
 
 As long as the Dutch East India Company held 
 
 I a 
 
CONDITION OF THE SLAVES. 
 
 l8l 
 
 the colony slaves were brought into it, but not in 
 very large numbers, for their services were only 
 needed to a limited extent. Durinc: the first British 
 occupation a great many were imported, as the trade 
 was then profitable, and fCnglish energy was employed 
 in it. The Batavian government, being opposed to 
 the system, allowed very few to be landed, and had 
 it lasted a couple of years longer, every child born 
 thereafter would have been declared free. 
 
 The suppression of the foreign slave trade by the 
 British government followed so closely upon the 
 second conquest of the colony, that there was only 
 time in the interval for five hundred negroes to be 
 imported. From that date the increase in the 
 number of slaves was due to the large excess of 
 births over deaths. 
 
 There never was an attempt in South Africa to 
 defend the system in theory. Indeed, it was a 
 common remark that it was worse for the white 
 man, who had all the care and anxiety, than for 
 the negro, who had only manual labour to perform. 
 But it is not easy to disturb any system, good or 
 bad, upon which the habits of a people have been 
 formed, and in the Cape Colony money to the 
 amount of over three million pounds sterling was 
 invested in slaves. 
 
 The testimony of every one competent to form a 
 correct opinion concurred that in no other part of the 
 world was bondage r.o light. Except in planting 
 and harvesting the labour of the negroes was easy, 
 and they certainly did not feel themselves degraded 
 by compulsory service. They were the most light- 
 
l82 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 
 
 hearted of mortals. The English governors were 
 of opinion that they enjoyed more comfort than 
 labourers in Great Britain, and that the Dutch laws 
 gave them sufficient protection against ill-usage. To 
 judge of their condition by imagining what a luiro- 
 pcan would feel in a similar state leads to a false 
 conclusion, for their hereditary training and line of 
 thought were entirely different. 
 
 In 1 8 16 laws began to be made for reducing the 
 power of the masters and conferring rights ujDon the 
 slaves, and almost every year they increased in strin- 
 gency. For some time the colonists made no objec- 
 tion to them, but at length control over dependents 
 was so limited that many negroes became insubordi- 
 nate. Public meetings were then held, at which the 
 opinion was maintained that the ties between master 
 and slave were too weakened to bear further strain- 
 ing. A resolution was passed with one voice at a 
 meeting of slaveholders at Graaff-Reinet, and was 
 generally agreed to in the other districts, that if the 
 English government would stop irritating legisla- 
 tion they would consent that from the date of the 
 arrangement all female children should be free at 
 birth, in order that sla\ "^ry might gradually die out. 
 
 Another plan was adopted by a few well-meaning 
 persons in Capetown, who formed a society for aiding 
 deserving slaves and slave children to purchase their 
 freedom. The society collected subscriptions, and 
 turned its attention chiefly to the emancipation of 
 young girls. It hoped to receive aid in money from 
 the British treasury and from benevolent persons in 
 England, but was disappointed in both. With means 
 
 il 
 
 i i 
 
EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES. 
 
 1S3 
 
 limited almost entirely to colonial subscriptions, ho'.-- 
 ever, it was able to purchase the freedom of about 
 twenty- five g'rls yearly. 
 
 In England neither of these plans met with favour. 
 
 In 1830 an order in council was issued prescribing 
 the quantity and quality of food to be given to slaves, 
 the clothing that should be provided for them, the 
 hours during which tlu^y should not be obliged to 
 work, and many other matters. It was followed in 
 183 1 by another order in council, limiting the hours 
 of slave labour to nine daily, and nearly destroying 
 the owners' authorit}-. The excitement was now 
 so great that the governor thought it necessary to 
 prohibit public meetings and to threaten to banish 
 any ci\c who should attempt to disturb the i)eace. 
 
 As .soon as the clamour subsided, however, he gave 
 his consent to a public meeting being held, and 
 about two thousand slaveholders came together in 
 Capetown. The utmost order was ob.served, though 
 resolutions were carried that the lately made laws 
 were highly unjust. The whole assembly then 
 marched to the open space in front of government 
 house, v/hen two gentlemen were deputed to inform 
 the governor that the slaveholders were prepared to 
 suffer the penalties of the orders in council, but could 
 not obey them. 
 
 The strain upon the colonists was so great that it 
 was felt as a relief when in August 1833 an emanci- 
 pation act, to have force in all the British posses- 
 sions, was passed by the imperial parliament. For 
 the Cape Colony it provided that on the ist of 
 December 1834 slavery was to cease, and after a 
 
l84 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 
 
 • ; 
 
 r. 
 
 1 ! 
 
 short term of apprenticeship the nc^rroes were to 
 have exactly the same civil rights as white people. 
 The sum of twenty million pounds sterling was voted 
 to compensate the owners in the ninet"-" -^ave colo- 
 nies of Great l^ritain, and the share <^i ^ach colon)- 
 was to be determined by the appraised value of its 
 slaves. 
 
 There was a general impression that this money 
 would suffice to meet the whole, or nearly the whole, 
 value of the slaves, and as most people believed that 
 a vagrant act would be passed before the day of 
 emancipation, they were disposed to accept the new 
 condition of things without demur or heartburning. 
 
 There were then in the colony thirty-nine thousand 
 slaves, of whom between three and four thousand 
 were aged or infirm, and the others were appraised 
 at rather over three million pounds sterling. 
 
 The year 1835 was well advanced when intelli- 
 gence was received from England that the returns 
 for all the colonies v/ere complete, and that of the 
 twenty millions sterling the share awarded to the 
 Cape was a little less than one million and a quarter. 
 The intelligence created a panic greater than any 
 ever known before in South Africa. Many of the 
 late slaves were mortgaged to the various institutions 
 for lending money, and every bond contained a clause 
 covering all other property. At once there was a 
 demand for the redemption of the bonds, and goods 
 and effects were sold at any price that could be 
 obtained. In some instances slaves had been the 
 sole property of widows, or minors, or aged people, and 
 the late owners were at once reduced to indigence. 
 
 ' I 
 
EFFECTS OF THE EMANCIPATION. 
 
 185 
 
 But the whole loss was not even yet known. 
 Succeeding mails brought information that the im- 
 perial government would not send the money to 
 South Africa, but that each claim would have to be 
 proved before commissioners in London, when the 
 amount allowed would be paid in stock, after certain 
 charges were deducted. This decision brought into 
 the country a swarm of petty agents, who purchased 
 claims at perhaps half their real value, so that a 
 colonist, instead of receiving two-fifths of the ap- 
 praised value of his slaves, often received only one- 
 fifth or one-sixth. 
 
 It would be difificult to picture too darkly the 
 misery caused by this confiscation of two millions' 
 worth of the property of a small and not over 
 flourishing community. Some families never reco- 
 vered from the blow. Aged men and women who 
 had not before known want went down to the grave 
 penniless, and in hundreds of the best households 
 of the country the pinch of poverty was sorely felt. 
 Emancipation in itself assuredly was a righteous act, 
 for there can be nothing more abominable than one 
 man holding another as property ; but a vast amount 
 of distress might have been prevented by effecting it 
 in the manner that the colonists proposed. 
 
 In addition to the direct loss, the wheat and wine 
 farmers for many years were unable to bring as much 
 produce to market as before, owing to the scarcity of 
 labour. One industry only — but that afterwards a 
 very important one, — the breeding of merino sheep 
 for the sake of wool, received a great impetus from 
 the emancipation of the slaves, for it could be carried 
 
1 86 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 
 
 on with fewer workmen than wore required in agri- 
 culture. 
 
 The Ubcrated slaves mostly flocked into the towns 
 and villages, where missionary and philanthropic 
 energy in all conceivable forms has ever since been 
 ex'iiendcd upon them and their descendants. In 
 general they can now exist by working perhaps half 
 as many hours as before the emancipation, for much 
 of their time is passed in idleness ; but they are 
 neither more comfortably clothed or better fed or 
 housed, nor— with few exceptions — have they made 
 any perceptible intellectual advancement. 
 
 On the other hand, they have probably improved 
 in morals, very many of those who attend the mission 
 chapels certainly have. As free agents their plea- 
 sures continue to be of a low order. Given any 
 noisy musical instrument, a bright sun, and a gaudy 
 dress, and their mirth is unattainable by Europeans. 
 Without energy, or ambition, or a thought of the 
 responsibility of life, they manage to pass their days 
 in an easy and joyous manner. 
 
 Three of the special duties assigned to Sir Ben- 
 jamin D' Urban have been mentioned : another was 
 to enter into treaties of friendship with the native 
 chiefs beyond the colonial frontier. 
 
 l^oth on the north and the east the border was then 
 in a disturbed condition. There was a band of free- 
 booters — mostly Hottentots — plundering the graziers 
 of the northern districts, and as their haunts were on 
 some islands in the Orange river, which were covered 
 with jungle and very difficult of access to strangers, 
 they were able to set their pursuers at defiance. 
 
 - .is 
 
TREATY WITH WATERBOER. 
 
 1 87 
 
 Farther up the river a petty Griqua captain, named 
 Andrics VVaterboer, was living, and throuijh the 
 agency of his missionar}' a treaty was entered into 
 with him. lie was to receive JLioo a }'ear .as a 
 subsid)- for liimsclf and ^50 a year f<^r a mission 
 school, he was provided with two hundred muskets 
 and a quantity of ammunition, and he engaged in 
 return to be a faithful friend and ally of the colon)' 
 and to preserve peace along the border from Kheis 
 to Ramah. This was the first treaty of the kind ever 
 made in South Africa, and it was the only one that 
 answered its purpose. VVaterboer kept his engage- 
 ment, and the freebooters were rooted (Hit. 
 
 Sir l^enjamin D'Urban intended to visit the eastern 
 frontier to make similar arrangements with the 
 Kosa chiefs, but was detained in Capetown b}' 
 pressing business, and before he had been a year in 
 the colony the sixth Kaffir war commenced. 
 
 The plan of Lord Charles Somerset to keep the 
 tract of land between the Fish and Keiskama rivers 
 unoccupied .soon proved a failure, as robbers made 
 their way across it without difficulty. Then clans of 
 Kosas supposed to be friendly — among others those 
 under two sons of Gaika named Makoma and Tyali 
 — were allowed to occupy the ground, in hope that 
 they would prevent cattle-lifters passing through. 
 But they proved to be as expert and unscrupulous 
 robbers as ever the followers of Ndlambe had been, 
 and it became necessary to make reprisals upon 
 them just as upon the others. After a while 
 Ndlambe and one of his sons were recognised by the 
 government as chiefs of the people who through all 
 
i88 
 
 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1 835. 
 
 I 
 
 i i 
 
 tlicir troubles had adhered to them, and from that 
 moment the sons of Gaika regarded the Europeans 
 as enemies. 
 
 Their conduct now became so bad that the 
 c^overnor was obliged to remove first one and then 
 the other from the ceded territory, and this, of course, 
 created a strong feeling of resentment on their 
 part. In 1829 Gaika died, leaving a young lad 
 named Sandile as his principal heir, when Makoma's 
 power was greatly increased, as he became regent for 
 his half-brother. Ndlambe had died in the preceding 
 year, and quarrels arose among his sons and grand- 
 sons, some of whom allied themselves with Makoma 
 to gain support. Thus it happened that the family 
 whose position the government had done so much 
 to build up was now both strong and hostile. 
 
 A rupture had long been threatening, when some 
 Kosas, by stealing the horses of the officers at Fort 
 Beaufort, drew a party of soldiers into a quarrel in 
 which a petty captain was slightly wounded and 
 some cattle belonging to Tyali were seized. This was 
 announced by the chiefs to be a declaration of war, 
 and a few days later — 21st of December 1834 — 
 between twelve and twenty thousand warriors made 
 a sudden rush into the colony, swept off nearly all the 
 cattle east of the Sunday river, burned the houses, 
 and murdered every white man who could not 
 escape. Among others, most of the Ikitish settlers 
 of 1820 who were living on farms were reduced to 
 destitution. The unfortunate people had barely time 
 to flee to Grahamstown, liathurst, or some other place 
 of refuge, and were compelled to abandon everything. 
 
SIXTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 189 
 
 When intelligence of the invasion reached Cape- 
 town, Colonel — afterwards Sir Harry — Smith hastened 
 to the frontier, and began to organise a force to 
 operate against the Kosas. The governor followed 
 as speedily as possible. The burghers all over the 
 colony were called out, and as soon as they could 
 muster, an advance was made into Kaffirland, the 
 raiders having in the meantime retired to the fast- 
 nesses of their own country, after sending the cattle 
 over the Kei to be guarded by Hintsa. 
 
 The Kosas, as is their custom, refused to meet 
 the Europeans on open ground, and it was no easy 
 matter to deprive them of their strongholds. They 
 simply retired from one jungle to another, after 
 resisting as long as they could, and reoccupied every 
 place that was not well guarded after being taken. 
 To meet this difficulty. Sir Benjamin D'Urban 
 formed several camps in commanding positions, from 
 which patrols could be sent out frequently to scour 
 the forests in their neighbourhood. It was the only 
 plan open to him, but the country was too large to be 
 held in subjection in this way by the force at his 
 disposal. 
 
 As soon as this arrangement was completed, the 
 governor crossed the Kei with a considerable army 
 to recover the cattle. Messages were sent to Hintsa 
 offering peace if he would give them up, but for some 
 time he made no reply. Colonel Smith was then 
 directed to scour his country, and met with such 
 success that the chief himself came to the British 
 camp and agreed to the terms demanded. He left 
 his son Kreli and one of his brothers as hostages with 
 
igo CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 
 
 Sir Benjamin D'Urban, and volunteered to guide a 
 detachment of troops and burghers under Colonel 
 Smith to the place where the cattle were kept ; but 
 on the way he attempted to escape, and was shot 
 dead by a colonist who pursued him. 
 
 Kreli succeeded his father as paramount chief of 
 
 
 
 
 
 ->N 
 
 I'ORIUAIT OF HINTSA. 
 {From a Skclc/t by Captain Miclicll.) 
 
 the Kosa tribe, and peace was concluded with him 
 upon his undertaking to restore the cattle in instal- 
 ments. The clans west of the Kei were still holding 
 out, but in September 1835 they tendered their 
 submission, and hostilities came to an end. 
 
 The arrangements made by Sir Benjamin D'Urban 
 
THE PROVINCE OF QUEEN ADELAIDE. 19I 
 
 for the preservation of peace were such as every one 
 approves of at the present day. lie brought some 
 eighteen thousand Fingos from beyond the Kei, and 
 gave them ground between the Keiskama and Fish 
 rivers, where they would form a buffer for the 
 colonists. They and the Kosas hated each other 
 bitterly, and this feeling was deepened by their 
 appropriating and taking with them twenty-two 
 thousand head of cattle belonging to Kreli's people. 
 It was thus to their interest to act honestly towards 
 the Europeans, whose support alone could save them 
 from destruction. Between the Keiskama and the 
 Kei the western Kosa clans were located as British 
 subjects, but a great deal of authority was left to the 
 chiefs. The territory was named the Province of 
 Ouecn Adelaide, and Colonel Smith was stationed 
 at a place in it which was called King-Williamstown, 
 to command the troops and control the chiefs. This 
 plan of settlement commended itself to the great 
 majority of the colonists and of the missionaries, who 
 hoped that under it the Kosas would make rapid 
 advances towards civilisation and that property on 
 the border would be secure. 
 
 There was, however, in Capetown — five hundred 
 miles from the Kaffir frontier — a party under the 
 leadership of the reverend Dr. Philip, that entirely 
 disapproved of the governor's plans. It was composed 
 of only a few individuals, but it had powerful support 
 from abroad. This party desired the formation of 
 states ruled by Bantu chiefs under the guidance of 
 missionaries, and from which Europeans not favoured 
 by missionaries should be excluded. It maintained 
 
192 CAPE COLONY FROM l8?6 TO 1S35. 
 
 i 1 it 
 
 the theory that the Kosas were an eminently docile 
 and peaceably disposed people, who could easily be 
 taught to do what was right, and who must therefore 
 have been provoked to take up arms by great wrongs 
 and cruelties. The utmost fear was expressed by 
 its members that the Bantu tribes would perish if 
 exposed to free intercourse with white people. 
 
 To push his views Dr. Philip visited England with 
 a Kosa ana a half-breed Hottentot who had been 
 trained by missionaries. A committee of the house 
 of commons was at the time collecting information 
 upon the aborigines in British colonies, and Dr. 
 Philip appeared before it. His evidence was received 
 at great length, and though it consisted largely of 
 opinioii, it was allowed to outweigh that of the 
 officers of greatest experience in South African 
 affairs. 
 
 Before the committee of the house of commons 
 appeared also a disappointed retired official from the 
 colony. Captain Andries Stockenstrom, who de- 
 nounced the proceedings of the government on the 
 eastern frontier as unjust and oppressive. He asserted 
 his belief that there were civilised nations in which 
 the proportion of thieves was greater than among the 
 Kosas, and he was of opinion that treaties could be 
 made with the chiefs by which cattle-lifting could be 
 suppresed. 
 
 No evidence could have been more gratifying 
 to the earl Glenelg, who in April 1835 became 
 secretary of state for the colonies. He held the 
 same views as Dr. Philip, and here was Captain 
 Stockenstrom, a South African by birth, in full 
 
ACTION OF EARL GLENELG. 
 
 193 
 
 accord with him. The secrcta'v resolved at once 
 to undo all that Sir Benjamin D'Urban had done. 
 In a despatch, dated the 26th of December 1835, he 
 announced that the sovereignty over the country 
 between the Kciskama and the Kei must be with- 
 drawn, because "it rested upon a war in which the 
 original justice was on the side of the conquered, 
 not of the victorious party." He asserted that " the 
 Kosas had an ample justification of the war in the 
 conduct which was pursued towards them by the 
 colonists and the public authorities through a long 
 series of years, they were urged to revenge and des- 
 peration by the systematic injustice of which they 
 had been the victims, and they had a perfect right to 
 endeavour to extort by force that redress which they 
 could not expect otherwise to obtain." He added 
 that a lieutenant-governor would immediately be 
 appointed for the eastern districts, who would be 
 entrusted with authority to arrange border affairs in 
 accordance with his views. 
 
 The contents of this despatch spread consternation 
 vvidely over South Africa. Outside of Dr. Philip's 
 little party in Capetown there was but one opinion : 
 that it destroyed all hope of the preservation of 
 order, and placed life and whatever property was left 
 in the eastern districts at the mercy of the Kosas. 
 The next mail brought tidings that Captain Stocken- 
 strom had been appointed lieutenant-governor, and 
 might shortly be expected. The British settlers at 
 once sent an earnest protest to England, with an 
 appeal for a close investigation of all occurrences on 
 the border, but they could obtain no redress. Sir 
 
 14 
 
194 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835. 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 Benjamin D'Urban wrote, pointing out that the 
 colonists at any rate were free of blame, as they had 
 no voice in devising the various modes of dealing 
 with the Kosas that had been in force, but the only 
 result was his dismissal from office. To the Dutch 
 colonists in the frontier districts who still possessed 
 the means of moving there seemed to be but one 
 course open : to flee from British rule, and to seek 
 a new home somewhere in the vast wilderness left 
 unpeopled b)- the wars of Tshaka. 
 
 11 
 
XVI. 
 
 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE COLONY. 
 EXPULSION OF MOSELEKATSE FROM THE 
 TERRITORY SOUTH OF THE LIMi'OrO. 
 
 To people in England one of the strangest events 
 of the present century is the abandonment of their 
 homes by thousands of Cape colonists after 1836, 
 and their braving all the hardships of life in the 
 wilderness for no other cause than to be free of 
 British rule. Yet there is nothing to cause surprise 
 in the matter, if the character of the Dutch people is 
 considered. These colonists were of the same blood 
 as the men who withstood the great power of Philip 
 II of Spain, who laid the richest part of their 
 country under water rather than surrender it to 
 Louis XIV of France. They were not the men and 
 women to submit to what they believed to be mis- 
 rule, if there was a possibility of successful resistance 
 or a chance of making their escape. 
 
 Many of them, as w 3 have seen, were accustomed 
 to live in waggons and to subsist to a large extent 
 upon game, so that moving deeper into the continent 
 was in itself no great difficulty. Before them was a 
 
 '95 
 
196 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE. 
 
 
 i 
 
 % 
 
 y 
 
 ■•« 
 
 I Mi 
 
 great waste swarming with wild animals, what wonder 
 that they should move into it with such powerful 
 motives to urge them on. 
 
 Let us look again briefly at the grievances which 
 determined their conduct. First, there was subjection 
 by a foreign and unsympathetic government. Second, 
 there was the prohibition of their language in the 
 public offices and courts of law. Third, there was 
 the superintendent of the London missionary society, 
 their ablest and most relentless opponent, in posses- 
 sion of boundless influence with the British authorities. 
 Fourth, there were the slanderous statements made 
 by the philanthropic societies in England concerning 
 them. Fifth, there wa.s the sudden emancipation of 
 their slaves without adequate compensation. Sixth, 
 there was the whole mass of the coloured people placed 
 upon a political footing with them, and that without 
 a vagrant act being put into force. Seventh, there 
 was no security for life or property in the eastern 
 districts, which were exposed to invasion by the 
 Kosas, as the secretary of state took part with the 
 barbarians. These were the chief causes of the great 
 emigration, and there were many others of less 
 importance. 
 
 ^nd now all over the frontier districts the great 
 waggons were laden with household goods and pro- 
 visions and ammunition, and bands of people set out 
 to seek a new home in the north. Each party was 
 usually made up of families related to each other, 
 and the man of greatest influence in it was elected 
 its leader, with the title of commandant. The horned 
 cattle, horses, sheep, and goats were driven slowly on, 
 
FATE OF THE FIRST PARTY. 
 
 197 
 
 I 
 
 and often when the pasture was good the caravans 
 would rest for weeks together. They went up from 
 the grass-covered hills along the coast and the bare 
 Karoo farther inland, till they came to one or other 
 of the steep passes into the elevated basin drained 
 by the Orange and its numerous tributaries. With 
 twenty to thirty oxen before each waggon they 
 struggled up, and then went on without difficulty 
 down the long slope to the river and across the wide 
 plains of the present Orange Free State. 
 
 North of the Orange the emigrants regarded them- 
 selves as beyond English authority, for over and over 
 again it had been officially announced that Great 
 Britain would not enlarge her possessions in South 
 Africa. 
 
 The first party that left the colony made its way 
 northward to the Zoutpansberg, where it divided into 
 two sections of about fifty individuals each. One of 
 these sections was cut off by a band of blacks, and 
 all its members except two children were murdered. 
 The other attempted to explore the country to 
 Delagoa Bay, but lost its cattle by the tsetse, and 
 was then attacked by fever, from which only one man 
 and barely half the women and children recovered. 
 The unfortunate survivors after almost incredible 
 hardships reached Delagoa Bay, where they were 
 very kindly treated by the Portuguese authorities, 
 being provided with food and shelter until their 
 friends could send a vessel from Natal to rescue 
 them. 
 
 The second party was much larger, and was under 
 the leadership of a man of considerable ability. 
 
198 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE 
 
 |!-.- )■ 
 
 U ! 
 
 ill 
 
 named Hcndrik Potgieter. It moved slowly on until 
 it reached the banks of the Vet river, a tributary of 
 the Vaal, where it halted. Potgieter found here a 
 native captain in a very wretched condition, who 
 claimed to be the descendant of chiefs that had once 
 ruled over numerous followers in a wide expanse of 
 country. Having lived long in fear of doing any- 
 thing that might bring him to the knowledge of 
 Moselekatse, he was delighted at the appearance of 
 the white people, especially when he received from 
 them a very liberal offer. Potgieter proposed that he 
 should sell the country which he claimed, except a 
 reserve of ample size for himself and his followers, 
 and receive in exchange protection and a small herd 
 of cattle. The captain at once consented, and then 
 the emigrants took possession of the land between 
 the Vet and Vaal rivers, some of them even moving 
 beyond the Vaal. 
 
 After a while Commandant Potgieter and eleven 
 others ^ 3nt out to explore the country northward, 
 and travelled as far as the Zoutpansberg, where they 
 were much pleased with the fertility of the soil and 
 the rich pasture. They believed also that communi- 
 cation with the outer world could be opened through 
 Delagoa Bay, so that the country seemed to offer 
 every advantage that could be desired for a settle- 
 ment. 
 
 In high spirits they set out to return to their 
 families, but on arriving at the place where they had 
 left the last waggons they were struck with horror by 
 finding that many of their friends had been massacred 
 in a dreadful manner not long before. A band of 
 
ATTACK BY THE MATABELE. 
 
 199 
 
 i^ 
 
 Moselckatsc's warriors, while traversing the country 
 to keep it from being occupied, had suddenly come 
 upon a little party of white people, and murdered 
 all who could not escape. Most of those along the 
 Vaal, however, had notice in time to draw their 
 waggons around them, and, when attacked, were able 
 to beat off their assailants. The Matabele soldiers 
 then returned to the Marikwa for reinforcements. 
 
 Potgieter immediately selected a suitable hill, and 
 formed a strong lager on it, by lashing fifty waggons 
 together in a circle and filling all the open spaces 
 except a narrow entrance with thorn trees. He had 
 not long to wait before the Matabele attacked him. 
 They rushed upon the lager with loud hisses, but 
 were received with a deadly fire from the forty men 
 inside, and were obliged to fall back. Again they 
 rushed on regardless of death, and strove to tear the 
 waggons apart, but could not. The forty defenders 
 of the lager were keeping up a rapid fire, for their 
 wives and mothers were loading spare guns for their 
 use. As a last resource the men of one of the 
 Matabele regiments threw their spears over the 
 waggons, where over eleven hundred were afterwards 
 picked up, and when this failed they withdrew, but 
 drove off the whole of the emigrants' cattle. They 
 left a hundred and fifty-five corpses outside the lager. 
 
 Potgieter's party was now in great distress. In- 
 cluding servants, forty-six of its members had been 
 murdered, and the survivors were in a solitary waste 
 without the means of moving and with very little food. 
 Fortunately, however, the third band of emigrants, 
 under Commandant Gerrit Maritz, had just encamped 
 
200 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE. 
 
 •i 
 
 at Thaba Ntshu, and learning what had happened, 
 sent oxen to bring away the unfortunate people and 
 their effects. 
 
 And now it was to be seen what metal the emi- 
 grants were made of. It might be thought that with 
 such experience they would have retreated at once, 
 but the idea of abandoning their project never 
 occurred to one of them. Instead of fleeing from 
 Moselekatse, they resolved to attack him in his own 
 kraal, and punish him severely for what he had done. 
 One hundred and seven farmers mustered for this 
 purpose, and with them went forty half-breeds and a 
 few blacks to look after the horses. A deserter from 
 the Matabele army volunteered to act as guide. 
 
 So thoroughly depopulated was the country that 
 not an individual was met between Thaba Ntshu and 
 Mosega, and the commando under Potgieter and 
 Maritz was able to surprise the southernmost military 
 kraal of the Matabele one morning at break of day. 
 Moselekatse himself was not there at the time, and 
 the induna in command of the soldiers happened also 
 to be absent. This was a fortunate circumstance for 
 the farmers. The soldiers grasped their spears and 
 shields, and rushed forward ; but volleys of slugs 
 drove them back in confusion, and there was no one 
 of sufficient authority to restore order. They took to 
 flight, and were hunted by the farmers until the sun 
 was high overhead, when it was computed that at 
 least four hundred must have been slain. The com- 
 mando then set fire to the kraal, and with nearly 
 seven thousand head of cattle returned to Thaba 
 Ntshu. 
 
THE FIRST CONSTITUTION. 
 
 301 
 
 After this Potgictcr's party formed a camp on the 
 Vet river, at a place to which the name Winburg was 
 given in memory of the recent victory. There it was 
 strengthened by the arrival of numerous families 
 from the colony. 
 
 At this time also a band reached Thaba Ntshu 
 from the VVinterberg with a very able man, named 
 rieter Retief, as its head. 
 
 On the 6th of June 1837 a general assembly of 
 the emigrants was held at Winburg, when a pro- 
 visional constitution, consisting of nine articles, was 
 adopted. The supreme legislative power was en- 
 trusted to a single elective chamber termed the volks- 
 raad, the fundamental law was declared to be the 
 Dutch, a court of landdrost and heemraden was 
 created, and the chief executive authority was con- 
 fided to Mr. Retief with the title of commandant- 
 general. The strong feeling of antagonism that Dr. 
 Philip had roused is shown in one of the articles of 
 the constitution, which provided that every member 
 of the community and all who should thereafter 
 join them must take an oath to have no connection 
 with the London missionary society. That body 
 was regarded by them as purely a political institu- 
 tion, advocating and spreading principles of anarchy ; 
 and they regarded it as something like blasphemy to 
 speak of its superintendent in Capetown as a minister 
 of the gospel. 
 
 Fresh bands of emigrants were frequently arriving, 
 and some of them thought it would be better to go 
 down into Natal than to remain on the highlands of 
 the interior. Pieter Uys, the leader of one of these 
 
iU 1 
 
 I 111 
 
 'Hi 
 
 a';5i 
 
 202 GREAT EMIGRATION FROM THE CAPE. 
 
 bands, had visited Natal a couple of years before, 
 and waxed eloquent when describing its beauty and 
 fertility. Retief himself was inclined to favour a 
 settlement near the sea, but before making up his 
 mind finally, he and some others proceeded to inspect 
 the country below the mountains and ascertain if 
 Dingan would dispose of it. 
 
 While they were away the second expedition 
 against the Matabele set out. It consisted of one 
 hundred and thirty-five farmers in two divisions, 
 under Hendrik Potgieter and Pieter Uys. Mosele- 
 katse was found on the Marikvva, about fifty miles 
 north of Mosega, and he had with him at least twelve 
 thousand warriors, all splendidly trained and as brave 
 as any troops that ever lived. But the advantage of 
 the farmers in their guns and horses was so great 
 that the hundred and thirty-five did not hesitate to 
 attack a force which was to theirs as ninety to one. 
 
 For nine days the Matabele tried to reach their 
 opponents, but all their efforts were in vain. The 
 farmers were more than once nearly surrounded, still 
 their plans were so perfect that they were never 
 quite entrapped. They had little else than dried 
 meat to live upon, and they had no resting-place but 
 the bare ground with a saddle for a pillow. Only 
 the hardiest of men and horses could have carried 
 on aggressive operations so long. 
 
 The loss of the Matabele was great, so great that 
 at the end of the nine days Moselekatse gave up the 
 contest and sought only to escape. With his people 
 and his cattle he fled to the north, and in the country 
 beyond the Limpopo commenced to destroy the 
 
 jj !'t 
 
DEFEAT OF THE M ATA DELE. 
 
 203 
 
 Mashona tribes as he had destroyed the southern 
 Betshuana. The farmers were too wearied to follow 
 him, and indeed they could not have continued in 
 the field much longer under any circumstances, so 
 they contented themselves by seizing six or seven 
 thousand head of cattle, with which they returned to 
 Winburg. 
 
 After the flight of Mosclekatsc, Commandant 
 Potgieter issued a proclamation, in which he declared 
 that the whole of the territory which that chief had 
 overrun and now abandoned was forfeited to the 
 emigrants. It included the greater part of the present 
 South African Republic, fully half of the present 
 Orange Free State, and the whole of Southern 
 Betshuanaland to the Kalahari desert, except the 
 district occupied by the liatlapin. This immense 
 tract of country was then almost uninhabited, and 
 must have remained so if the Matabele had not been 
 driven out. 
 
 ^^ 
 
' i 
 
 XVII. 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE ZULU POWER AND FOUNDA- 
 TION OF THE REPUBLIC OF NATAL. 
 
 In all the world there is not a fairer country than 
 the pleasant land of Natal, stretching in steps from 
 the Drakensberg, which bounds it like a mighty wall, 
 downward to the shore of the Indian sea. The coast 
 belt is covered with sub-tropical vegetation, for it is 
 heated by the warm Mozambique current, which runs 
 southward along it, and gives it a higher temperature 
 than is due to its distance from the equator. Each 
 terrace, as the traveller ascends, is cooler than the one 
 below, though it is nowhere cold. It is a well-watered 
 land. Numerous streams, issuing from the Drakens- 
 berg and the fronts of the lower terraces, rusi along 
 in deep gorges to the sea, and carry off the super- 
 abundant moisture, so that it is also well drained. 
 Its soil is rich, its forests yield excellent timber, and 
 the grass in its valleys resembles a meadow. Its 
 climate everywhere is healthy for Europeans. 
 
 When Pieter Retief and his companions went down 
 into it by a pass they had discovered, there were 
 between the Tugela and Umzimvubu rivers only from 
 
 304 
 
NATAL AND ZULULAND IN 1837. 
 
 205 
 
 OUNDA- 
 
 five to ten thousand inhabitants. These acknowledged 
 as their chiefs a few Englishmen whom Tshaka and 
 Dingan permitted to reside at the port, and who 
 carried on trade with the Zulu despot. The present 
 colony of Natal is far short of the Umzimvubu on the 
 south, but it contains in the north the tract of land 
 between the Tugela and Buffalo rivers, which was 
 then partly occupied by Zulu subjects, of whose 
 number it is impossible to give an estimate, 
 
 Retief liked the appearance of the country, and the 
 accounts which he received from the Englishmen at 
 the port confirmed his impression. These Englishmen 
 had in vain petitioned the imperial government to 
 declare it a British possession, so now they were only 
 too glad to welcome the emigrant farmers. Two of 
 them, who had been in the country thirteen years 
 and who spoke Zulu as well as English, accompanied 
 Retief to Dingan's residence in the capacity of guides 
 and interpreters. 
 
 The Zulu capital was called Umkungunhlovu. It 
 was in the shape of an enormous hollow circle formed 
 by concentric rows of huts that served as barracks for 
 the soldiers. The interior space was the drill ground. 
 An English missionary clergyman, named Owen, was 
 living there at the time, but he had not been able to 
 get any one to listen to his teaching. There was also 
 an English lad named William Wood — son of one of 
 the residents at Port Natal — who was a favourite of 
 Dingan and his confidential interpreter. 
 
 The despot received Retief with every show of 
 friendship. There was a grand parade, apparently 
 to please him, and a big dance in which highl)- trained 
 
 ,>w 
 
I 
 
 I; ^i I 
 if I 
 
 \l\ 
 
ARRANGEMENT WITH DING AN. 
 
 207 
 
 ^1 
 
 k 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 6 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 ►4 
 
 X 
 
 'A 
 
 'p. 
 
 
 0^ 
 
 •Si 
 
 oxen took part with soldiers. Beef in huge pieces was 
 sent to the visitors from the chief's own eatini^ mnt, 
 which served as a dish does on a luiropean table, and 
 the best millet beer, such as Dingan himself was used 
 to drink huge draughts of, was supplied in calabashes 
 of the largest size. 
 
 When Retief spoke about Natal, the chief said he 
 might have it for his countrymen to live in, but first 
 he must prove his friendshii) by recovering a herd of 
 about .seven hundred cattle that Sikonyela, son of 
 Ma Ntatisi, had recently stolen from a Zulu outpost. 
 Retief accepted the condition, and upon his return 
 to Winburg sent for Sikonyela, whose residence was 
 at Imparani, north of the Caledon, and required him 
 to surrender Dingan's oxen and some horses he had 
 stolen from the emigrants. They were given up 
 without bloodshed, and then nearly a thousand 
 white-tilted waggons in a long line went down the 
 steep pass of the Drakensberg and halted on the 
 banks of the Bluekrans and Bushman's rivers in the 
 uplands of Natal. 
 
 Retief now prepared to proceed to Umkungunhlovu 
 with the cattle. There were among the emigrants 
 men who were suspicious of Dingan's good faith, and 
 who thought their leader should not risk a life of such 
 value to the community by going again himself, but 
 he was so confident in the chiefs friendly disposition 
 that he would not listen to them. Sixty-five Euro- 
 peans and about thirty Hottentot servants accompanied 
 him. 
 
 They were received, as before, with every outward 
 show of respect and hospitality and Dingan expressed 
 
 '■■\ ' 
 
 i 
 
 I- 
 
 ■A 
 
LUi 
 
 
 r 
 
 1 p :i 
 
 [i « 
 
 208 
 
 M^SS^C/?E OF EMIGRANTS. 
 
 f 
 
 himself well pleased with the restoration of his cattle. 
 He requested the reverend Mr. Owen to draw up a 
 paper to show that he had given Natal to Retief, and 
 when this was done in the English language and trans- 
 lated to him, he said it was correct and handed it to 
 the emigrant leader. The farmers were so entirely 
 thrown off their guard that when they were ready to 
 leave and were invited to go into the centre of the 
 kraal to partake of some beer and bid adieu to the 
 chief, they left their guns outside. They were seated 
 on the ground without a thought of danger, when 
 Dingan suddenly exclaimed " Seize them ! " and 
 immediately a regiment of soldiers rushed upon 
 them, drew them to the place of execution, and 
 bH'oke their skulls with club^ Not a single emigrant 
 or a Hottentot, not even thei. English interpreter from 
 Port Natal, was suffered to escape. 
 
 A few hours later some ten thousand soldiers left 
 Umkungunhlovu, and, after eleven days' march, at 
 early dawn one morning fell upon the most advanced 
 emigrant encampment, which was near the present 
 village of Weenen. Who can describe in adequate 
 language the horrors that followed ? Pabes with 
 their brains dashed out against waggon wheels, 
 women ripped up with Zulu spears, girls and boys 
 with their necks twisted, were lying thick on the 
 ground when the sun rose that morning. Forty-one 
 white men, fifty-six white women, one hundred and 
 eighty-five white children, and about two hundred 
 and fifty coloured servants perished in the dreadful 
 massacre. Needless to say, the waggons and their 
 contents were utterly destroyed. 
 
DESPERATE FIGHTING. 
 
 209 
 
 is cattle, 
 ivv up a 
 itief, and 
 id trans- 
 ded it to 
 entirely 
 ready to 
 re of the 
 u to the 
 re seated 
 er, when 
 1!" and 
 xl upon 
 ion, and 
 emigrant 
 eter from 
 
 Jiers left 
 
 narch, at 
 
 idvanced 
 
 present 
 
 adequate 
 
 Des with 
 
 wheels, 
 
 ind boys 
 
 on the 
 
 orty-one 
 
 ired and 
 
 hundred 
 
 dreadful 
 
 ind their 
 
 Every emigrant in Natal must have met a similar 
 fate had not, providentially, 3 young man been awake 
 and close to a cattle kraal when the assault was made. 
 He managed to spring on an unsaddled horse, and 
 rode with all speed to give warning to the parties 
 farther on. These hfd barely time to draw their 
 waggons around them when the Zulus appeared, but 
 though the most desperate efforts were made by the 
 savage warriors, the simple lagers proved effective, for 
 not one of them was taken. The courage, and skill, 
 and coolness in danger displayed that day by the 
 emigrants, men and women alike, have never been 
 excelled in the world's history. The Zulus, too, were 
 brave, and literally heaps of their dead lay around the 
 lagers before they turned to retreat. At dusk they 
 set out for Umkungunhlovu with as many cattle as 
 they could collect. 
 
 The night was spent by the emigrants in watch- 
 fulness and prayer, each little party hardly daring 
 to hope that any other had escaped. Next morning 
 communication between the lagers was opened, and 
 the full extent of their loss became known. Their 
 first care now was to concentrate and strengthen an 
 encampment, in case the Zulus should renew the 
 attack, and then a general assembly was held to 
 decide what was to be done. One or two men 
 proposed that they should leave Natal, but they were 
 put to shame by the women, who declared they 
 would never abandon the country till the Zulus were 
 punished for shedding so much innocent blood. This 
 feeling was general, for it was regarded as a duty to 
 bring the murderers to account. Then thc^y put up 
 
 15 
 

 A 
 
 ! ! 
 
 2IO 
 
 INVASION or ZULU LAN I). 
 
 an earnest prayer to the God of heaven that He 
 would not forsake His people, nor allow the heathen 
 to triumph over them. From the bible — the only- 
 bock with which they were thoroughly conversant — 
 they drew consolation and hope, which enabled them 
 to bear up against their trouble, and to take courage 
 for the prosecution of the task before them. 
 
 When these events took place, Pieter Uys was at 
 the top of the Drakensberg in readiness to go down, 
 and Hendrik Potgieter was at Winburg, as his party 
 preferred to remain on the interior highland. Both 
 of them now collected as many fighting men as 
 possible, and hastened to the assistance of the dis- 
 tressed people in Natal. The Englishmen at the 
 port also, having lost two of their companions in the 
 massacres, offered to help with all their followers, 
 many of whom were trained soldiers who had deserted 
 from the Zulu army. 
 
 V'/hen it came to a question of who was to be the 
 leader, however, jealousy of each other — the bane of 
 the emigrants — showed itself at once. Even Pieter 
 Retief could not preserve perfect concord among the 
 various heads of parties, and after his death there 
 was no one whom all the others would admit as a 
 superior. At length it was arranged that the English 
 chiefs with their people should attack Dingan on one 
 side while Potgieter and Uys attacked him on another, 
 and Maritz should remain at the camp to protect it. 
 
 The two commandants, with three hundred and 
 forty-seven men, rode directly towards the Zulu 
 capital. After five days' march through an unin- 
 habited country, they came in sight of a division 
 
DEATH OF PIETER UYS. 
 
 211 
 
 of the Zulu army, which they attacked impetuously, 
 and were drawn into a skilfully planned ambuscade. 
 Before them were two parallel ran^^cs of hills, with a 
 long defile between them, and into this the farmers 
 were led by the Zulus apparently retreating before 
 them. Uys's division was in advance. When in the 
 narrowest part of the gorge they found themselves 
 surrounded by an immense force which had been 
 lying in ambush, and by which they were so hemmed 
 in that they could not fall back rapidly after firing 
 and again load and charge, as was their mode of 
 fighting with Moselekatse. They therefore directed 
 all their fire upon the mass of the enemy behind 
 them, when, having cleared a path by shooting down 
 hundreds, they rushed through and escaped. Ten of 
 them were killed, and they were obliged to leave their 
 led horses, baggage, and spare ammunition behind. 
 Among the slain was Commandant Uys, who was 
 assisting a wounded comrade when he received a stab 
 from an assagai. His son, Dirk Cornelis Uys, a boy 
 of fifteen years of age, was some distance off, but, 
 looking about, he saw his father on the ground, and 
 a Zulu in the act of stabbing him. The gallant youth 
 turned his horse and rode to help his parent, but 
 could only die at his side. 
 
 A few days later seventeen Englishmen left Port 
 Natal with about fifteen hundred blacks, of whom 
 between three and four hundred were armed with 
 muskets. A few miles south of the Tugcla they 
 came upon a Zulu regiment, which pretended to 
 take to flight, left food cooking on fires, and even 
 threw away a number of shields and assagais. The 
 
212 DESTRUCTION OF THE NATAL ARMY. 
 
 Natal army pursued with all haste, crossed the 
 Tugela, took possession of a kraal on the northern 
 bank, and then found it had been drawn between 
 the horns of a Z'lu army fully seven thousand 
 strong. 
 
 The battle that was fought, on the 17th of April 
 1838, was one of the most desperate contests that 
 ever took place on that bloodstained soil. Three 
 times in succession the Natal army beat back the 
 regiments that charged furiously upon it. Then a 
 strong Zulu reinforcement came in sight, and renewed 
 the enemy's courage. Another rush was made, which 
 cut the Natal army in two, and all hope of successful 
 resistance was over. One of the divisions tried to 
 escape by the only open path, which was down a 
 steep bank of the Tugela and across that river. A 
 Zulu regiment hastened to cut off the retrcal of the 
 fugitives, and many were killed in the water ; but 
 four Englishmen and about five hundred blacks 
 managed to get through. The other division was 
 entirely surrounded. But no lion at bay ever created 
 such havoc among hounds that worried him as this 
 little band caused among the warriors of Dingan 
 before it perished. The young regiments were 
 selected to charge upon it, while the veterans 
 watched their prowess from a neighbouring hill. 
 Whole masses went down before the withering 
 fire, the survivors recoiled, but again they were 
 directed to charge. At last a rush of a regiment, 
 with another in reserve close behind, carried every- 
 thing before it, and the stubborn fight was over. 
 Thirteen Englishmen lay dead on the field of battle, 
 
Y. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF ANDRIES PRETORIUS. 
 
 213 
 
 ssed the 
 northern 
 between 
 
 thousand 
 
 of April 
 
 ;ests that 
 
 Three 
 
 back the 
 
 Then a 
 I renewed 
 de, which 
 successful 
 s tried to 
 J down a 
 river. A 
 p-dl of the 
 iter ; but 
 id blacks 
 ision was 
 sr created 
 m as this 
 f Dingan 
 nts were 
 
 veterans 
 ring hill, 
 withering 
 hey were 
 regiment, 
 ed every- 
 was over, 
 of battle, 
 
 with a thousand Natal blacks and probably three 
 times that number of Zulus. 
 
 After these disasters the emigrants were unable 
 to take the offensive again for some time. Owing 
 to the excessive jealousy between the leaders, 
 Potgictcr and his adherents left Natal and went 
 to reside along the Mooi river, where they founded 
 the village of Potchefstroom. Those who remained 
 behind did not venture far from their fortified camp, 
 and suffered much from sickness and insufficiency 
 of food. While in this distress, however, they were 
 strengthened by the arrival of many of their friends 
 from the colony, and they never once gave up hope 
 of ultimate success. During the winter Dingan sent 
 an army to attack them, but they were careful not 
 to be drawn out of the lager by stratagem, and all 
 attempts to reach them behind their defences failed. 
 
 In November a man of great natural ability, named 
 Andries Pretorius, arrivea in Natal, and was elected 
 commandant-general. He at once assembled a force 
 of four hundred and sixty-four men, all that could be 
 spared from guarding the camp, and marched towards 
 Umkungunhlovu. He took with him a .sufficient 
 number of waggons to form a lager, and at every 
 halting-place the.se were drawn up in a circle and 
 lashed together. While on the march scouts were 
 patrolling in all directions to guard against surpri.sc. 
 
 The commando resembled an itinerant prayer 
 meeting rather than a modern army, for the men 
 were imbued with the same spirit as the Ironsides 
 of Cromwell, and spoke and acted in pretty much 
 the same nrjann^r. There was no song, no jest heard 
 

 ! "^i ■ 
 
 I 
 
 in 
 
 214 
 
 DEFEAT OF A ZULU ARMY. 
 
 in that camp, 'out praj'crs were poured forth and 
 psahns were siinf^ at every halting-place. The army 
 made a vow that if God would give them victory over 
 the cruel heathen, they would build a church and 
 set apart a thanksgiving day in every year to com- 
 memorate it. The church in Pietermaritzburg and 
 the annual celebration of Dingan's day bear witness 
 that they kept their pledge. They did not wish to 
 fight merely for the sake of revenge. On three 
 occasions the scouts brought in some captured 
 Zulus, and Mr. Pretorius immediately sent these to 
 Dingan to inform him that if he would restore the 
 property taken from the emigrants they were prepared 
 to enter into negotiations for peace. 
 
 Dingan's reply came in the form of an army ten 
 or twelve thousand strong, which attacked the camp 
 at early dawn on Sunday the i6th of December 
 1838. For two full hours the soldiers persevered in 
 the attempt to force a way in, notwithstanding the 
 terrible havoc created among them by the fire from 
 the farmers' guns and several small pieces of artillery. 
 When at length they broke and fled, over three 
 thousand corpses were lying on the ground, and 
 a stream that flowed past the field of carnage was 
 discoloured with gore. It has ever since been 
 called the Blood river. 
 
 Pretorius marched to Umkungimhlovu as rapidly 
 as possible, but before he could reach the Zulu capital 
 Dingan set it on fire, and fled. He was pursued, but 
 escaped to a part of the country where cavalry could 
 not act, so the commando returned to Natal with four 
 or five thousand cattle, all that were seen. In the 
 
REVOLT OF PANDA. 
 
 215 
 
 orth and 
 rhe army 
 toiy over 
 irch and 
 
 to com- 
 Durg and 
 r witness 
 t wisli to 
 )n threci 
 captured 
 
 these to 
 store the 
 prepared 
 
 irmy ten 
 ;hc camp 
 )ecembcr 
 2vered in 
 iding the 
 fire from 
 artillery, 
 'er three 
 and, and 
 lage was 
 ice been 
 
 s rapidly 
 u capital 
 sued, but 
 Iry could 
 with four 
 In the 
 
 campaign six white men were killed and three were 
 wounded. 
 
 Since the commencement of hostilities Dingan h.id 
 lost abf)Ut ten thousand warriors, but his army w.is 
 still so large that he was by no means humbled. 
 When the farmers retired he rebuilt his capital, 
 and though he pretended to fall in with overtures 
 which were made for peace, it soon became evident 
 that he was only watching for an opportunity to 
 destroy the emigrants. It was therefore not con- 
 sidered advisable to scatter upon farms, so a town, 
 named Pietermaritzburg, was laid out in such a 
 manner that each family could have a large garden, 
 and the cattle could be kept under constant pro- 
 tection. 
 
 In September 1839 a very important event took 
 place in the Zulu country. Panda, a half-brother 
 of Dingan, conspired to seize the chieftainship. A 
 great number of the incorporated Zulus — the 
 remnants of tribes that had come under Tshaka 
 as the only means of saving themselves — were 
 ready to rally round any leader who could give 
 them reasonable hope of deliverance from incessant 
 bloodshed, and when the induna Nongalaza, who 
 was in command of the district along the northern 
 bank of the Tugela, declared for Panda, they joined 
 him. The rebel chief with a large following then 
 crossed the Tugela, and sent to ask assistance from 
 the Europeans. 
 
 The emigrants at first regarded him with suspicion, 
 as it was by no means certain that his flight was not 
 merely a pretence to draw them to destruction. But 
 
 i'l 
 
 m 
 
 mil 
 
 
 ii; 
 
 Kn 
 
 
 f' 
 
;n 
 
 1 ' i 
 
 2l6 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE ZULU POWER. 
 
 he soon convinced them of his sincerity, and an 
 arrangement was then entered into by which he 
 became a vassal of the emigrants in consideration 
 of receiving their support. He remained in Natal 
 under their protection until January 1840, when a 
 burgher force of four hundred men under Com- 
 mandant - General Pretorius marched with him 
 against Dingan. His own army was about five 
 or six thousand strong, and was commanded by 
 Nongalaza. It marched in a parallel line, but at 
 a distance of twelve or fifteen miles from the 
 burgher commando. 
 
 Dingan now realised the danger of his position, and 
 attempted to come to terms with the emigrants. 
 There were two officers immediately under him, 
 whose advice he frequently sought, and through 
 whom he carried on his government. Their names 
 were Tambusa and Umthlela. The first named 
 he sent to the European camp to negotiate for 
 peace. 
 
 Upon Tambusa's arrival, he and his servant 
 Kombazana were made pr'soners, and contrary to 
 all law and justice were brought to trial before a 
 court-martial for having taken part in the massacre 
 at Umkungunhlovu, were sentenced to death, and 
 were executed. 
 
 A few hours after this great crime was committed 
 a messenger from Nongalaza brought word to the 
 burgher column that on the preceding day, 30th of 
 January 1840, he had fought a great battle with 
 Dingan's army led b)- Umthlela, and had won a 
 complete victory. 
 
FINAL DEFEAT OF DINGAN. 
 
 217 
 
 This battle proved a decisive one. At its com- 
 mencement Dingan's army was superior in number, 
 but during the action a body of his troops went 
 over to Panda's side, and turned the scale. Those 
 who were faithful stood their ground, and fell as 
 became Zulu warriors. The slaughter on each side 
 was enormous. The two best regiments of Dingan 
 perished, for the veterans who had won their plumes 
 under Tshaka preferred to die rather than show their 
 backs to the traitors who had deserted their cause. 
 Umthlela placed himself at the head of the reserve, 
 and went into the hottest part of the field, where he 
 was pierced through the heart with an assagai. Still 
 the issue of the day was doubtful, when the cry 
 echoed along Nongalaza's ranks : " The farmers are 
 coming ! " It was not so, but the belief that it was 
 answered Nongalaza's purpose. The remnant of 
 Dingan's army, the men who could not flee from 
 a foe armed with spear and shield, gave way in 
 their fear of those dreaded horsemen who had 
 power to deal out death without meeting it them- 
 selves. A bushy country spread out before them, 
 and favoured their escape. The battle was over, 
 and the terror which the Zulu name had inspired 
 was a thing of the past. 
 
 Dingan fled northward to the border of the Swa/.i 
 country, where he was soon afterwards assassinated 
 by a man who stole upon him unawares. Those who 
 had adhered to him in his misfortunes then tendered 
 their submission to l\inda, b)- whom they were 
 received with ever}' mark of favour. 
 
 After the decisive engagement an enormous booty 
 
2l8 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE ZULU POWER. 
 
 in cattle fell into the hands of the conquerors. About 
 forty thousand head were delivered to Mr. Pretorius, 
 and were subsequently distributed among the emi- 
 grants in proportion to their losses. 
 
 Mr. Pretorius then formally installed Panda as 
 chief of the Zulus, but in vassalage to the 
 volksraad, to which he promised fidelity. The 
 republic of Natal was declared to extend from 
 the Umzimvubu to the Tugela, and the land 
 between the Tugela and Black Umvolosi was pro- 
 claimed an appanage of that republic, set apart 
 for the use of the Zulu people. 
 
 ' I 
 
 n 
 
XVIII. 
 
 SEIZURE OF NATAL BY BRITISH FORCES. CREATION 
 OF TREATY STATES ALONO THE FRONTIER OF 
 THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 The emigrant farmers had now freed South Africa 
 of the destructive Zulu power, and had driven 
 the ferocious Matabele into regions unknown to 
 Europeans. Seldom have such great events been 
 accomplished by means apparently so feeble. Yet 
 they took no credit to themselves for what they had 
 done, because in their view it was God who had 
 wrought the great deliverance, and they were merely 
 humble instruments in His hands. No Israelite of 
 old evt held a belief of this kind more firmly than 
 did these wanderers who had suffered so much and 
 acted so bravely. 
 
 It was, however, soon evident that they were less 
 qualified for self-rule than for war, as the government 
 which they established was the weakest and most 
 imprudent that ever existed. It could not be carried 
 on efficiently without a suitable revenue, and they 
 refused to pay any but the most trifling taxes. Kvery 
 measure of importance after adoption by the volks- 
 
 at9 
 
220 SEIZURE OF NATAL BY BRITISH FORCES 
 
 m\ I: 
 
 h . 
 
 raad had to be referred to the burghers in primary 
 assembly, and nothing but confusion was the result. 
 The public offices from the highest to the lowest — 
 with a solitary exception — were held by uneducated 
 men, who could barely write an ordinary letter, and 
 who were of course ignorant of routine duties. 
 Above all, the utmost prudence was needed to avoid 
 irritating the British government, and they acted as if 
 they could afford to be I -different to Englis' opinion. 
 The elevation of the coloured races was then a 
 leading — and surely a praiseworthy — idea in England, 
 but, unfortunately, the great philanthropic and mis- 
 sionary societies had made up their minds as to the 
 precise manner in which this should be effected, and 
 condemned as unchristian all views that differed from 
 their own. Applying their principles to South Africa, 
 the formation of large Bantu states under missionary 
 guidance and British protection was what they desired, 
 and the reverend Dr. Philip, the exponent of their 
 views, was urging this scheme upon the Cape govern- 
 ment. Time has shown how faulty it was, but no 
 one even in this country could foresee the full extent 
 of the harm it would cause to the black people as 
 well as to the white. The devastations which the 
 Zulus and Matabele had wrought were unknown in 
 Europe, and therefore when intelligence reached 
 England that many thousands of the men of those 
 tribes had fallen before the farmers' guns, public 
 opinion was shocked. No one suspected that the 
 destruction of those fierce warriors meant life to all 
 other black people in the country. The great 
 societies brought their influence to bear upon the 
 
CONDUCT OF THE NATAL GOVERNMENT. 221 
 
 government, in order — as they believed — to stop 
 furtiier b'oodshed by compelling the emigrants to 
 return to the Cape Colony. Hardiy any one con- 
 sidered it advisable that the British dominions in 
 South Africa should be enlarged by the annexation 
 of the territory which they occupied. 
 
 While this was the feeling in England, the 
 republican government resolved not to allow 
 Bantu from beyond the borders to settle in Natal, 
 and to confine those who ' jre already there to 
 certain locations. A commando was also sent 
 against a marauding chief who lived between Natal 
 and the Cape Colony, and he was severely dealt with. 
 If the emigrants had sought to provoke the Ikitish 
 government, they could hardly have devised a surer 
 plan. As soon as the intelligence reached Sir George 
 Napier, who was then governor of the Cape Colony, 
 a body of troops was sent to protect the Bantu, and a 
 military camp was formed within a short distance of 
 the southern boundary cf the republic. 
 
 For some time after the arrival of the emigrants 
 in Natal, every possible effort had been made by the 
 authorities in Capetown to cut oft their supply of 
 ammunition, but all attempts to do so had fail'^d. 
 They had now a port of their own, and foreign vessels 
 were beginning to find their way .o it. This naturally 
 caused English merchants engaged in the South 
 African trade to feel irritated, for it was suppost ' 
 that the harbour of Natal might become the principal 
 gateway to the interior. 
 
 A resolution of the volksraatl to ':ompel some 
 recent Bantu immigrants to retire to a loc ition on the 
 
222 SEIZURE OF NATAL liY BRITISH FORCES. 
 
 \U \ 
 
 !< ill? 
 
 southern side of the republic brought matters to a 
 crisis. The troops on the border were reinforced, and 
 were ordered by Sir George Napier to move on and 
 take possession of Port Natal. 
 
 Accordingly two hundred and sixty-three soldiers 
 of all ranks and of different arms, under Captain 
 Thomas Smith, marched forward, meeting with no 
 molestation on the way, and formed a camp at 
 Durban. The volksraad sent a protest, but no 
 notice was taken of it. Commandant- General 
 Prctorius then assembled a number of farmers, and 
 formed a camp at the head of the inlet, from which 
 he sent a demand that the English troops should 
 leave without delay. He claimed for the emigrant 
 farmers perfect independence, but Captain Smith 
 maintained the English view, that they had not 
 ceased to be British subjects and could not by any 
 act of their own throw off their allegiance to the 
 crown of England. 
 
 A contest was now inevitable. Captain Smith, 
 who altogether underrated the vigilance and courage 
 of his opponent, thought to crush out opposition by 
 a single blow, and left his camp one evening at the 
 head of a hundred and thirty-seven soldiers with the 
 intention of falling by surprise u*~on Pretorius, who 
 had then with him two hundred and sixty-four men. 
 No military operation could have been worse planned. 
 It was clear moonlight, yet it was thought that the 
 troops would not be noticed. The distance was a 
 march of three miles, and the road was along the 
 shore of the inlet, which was bordered at one place 
 by dense scrub. 
 
ORCIiS. 
 
 atters to a 
 iforced, and 
 ove on and 
 
 ree soldiers 
 ler Captain 
 \g with no 
 a camp at 
 st, but no 
 nt - General 
 irmers, and 
 from which 
 ops should 
 e emigrant 
 ain Smith 
 ^ had not 
 lot by any 
 nee to the 
 
 ain Smith, 
 
 nd courage 
 
 osition by 
 
 ing at the 
 
 's with the 
 
 orius, who 
 
 four men. 
 
 e planned. 
 
 t that the 
 
 ice was a 
 
 along the 
 
 one place 
 
 SIEGE UE THE BRITISH CAMP. 
 
 *»*«3 
 
 The troops were marching fully exposed past the 
 thicket, with two field-pieces drawn by bullocks, when 
 a sharp fire was opened upon them. They returned 
 the volley, but without doing the slightest damage to 
 the farmers, who were well protected and thoroughly 
 concealed. Another discharge from the thicket 
 wounded some of the oxen, which broke loose from 
 the yokes and rushed furiously about, adding to the 
 confusion. There was no remedy but retreat. Six- 
 teen killed and thirty-one wounded were found by the 
 farmers next day, and three others were drowned. 
 The two guns, the oxen, and indeed everything that 
 could be left behind, fell into the hands of the 
 farmers. 
 
 Mr. Prctorius now again demanded that the troops 
 should leave Natal, and to gain time to strengthen 
 his camp. Captain Smith agreed to a truce of a few 
 days, under pretence of considering the matter. A 
 messenger, provided with two good horses, was 
 directed to ride with all speed through Kaffirland to 
 Grahamstown with a request for help, and he managed 
 to get safely away. 
 
 When the truce expired the English camp was 
 invested, and fire was opened upon it from the 
 farmers' batteries, on which three small cannons were 
 mounted. Captain Smith caused deep trenches to be 
 dug, in which the soldiers could remain in security, 
 and he increased his stock of provisions by slaughter- 
 ing his horses and drying their flesh. The men 
 were put upon short allowance, which, as the siege 
 advanced, became less and less, until they had nothing 
 more than a few ounces of biscuit dust and dried 
 
I ^ 
 
 224 SEIZURE OF NATAL BY BRITISH FORCES. 
 
 h I I 
 
 !.^'.! I 
 
 1:1 
 
 .11 
 
 horseflesh daily. Fortunately for them there was no 
 want of water, which wa.:) obtained from wells sunk 
 within the camp. 
 
 The force under Pretorius increased by fresh 
 arrivals until it amounted to six hundred men. They 
 fortified the entrance to the inner harbour, and 
 pressed the siege with vigour. Their cannon balls 
 having become exhausted, they manufactured others 
 by casting leaden ones over links cut from a chain 
 cable. But so well were the soldiers protected that 
 the fire against them was almost harmless, only eight 
 men being killed and eight wounded on the British 
 side during the twenty-six days that the siege lasted, 
 though six hundred and fifty-one cannon shot were 
 fired at the camp. On the other side four men were 
 killed, and eight or ten — the exact number cannot be 
 given — were wounded. 
 
 The messenger sent by Captain Smith overland, 
 who was familiar with the language and customs of 
 the Bantu tribes on his way, reached Grahamstown in 
 safety, and informed the military authorities of what 
 had happened. A hundred soldiers were thereupon 
 embarked in a schooner at Algoa Bay, and sailed for 
 Port Natal. A wing of a regiment was also taken on 
 board a frigate at Simon's Bay, and proceeded to the 
 same destination. 
 
 On Sunday, the 25th of June 1842, the schooner 
 sailed into the inner harbour with a fair wind, having 
 as many soldiers on board as could find room, and 
 towing a number of boats containing others. The 
 frigate at the same time opened fire with her heavy 
 guns upon the high land commanding the entrance. 
 
 H- 
 
iCES. 
 
 re was no 
 rclls sunk 
 
 by fresh 
 ni. They 
 )our, and 
 non balls 
 •ed others 
 n a chain 
 jcted that 
 )nly eight 
 he British 
 ;ge lasted, 
 shot were 
 men were 
 cannot be 
 
 overland, 
 ustoms of 
 nstown in 
 s of what 
 thereupon 
 
 sailed for 
 ) taken on 
 led to the 
 
 schooner 
 id, having 
 •oom, and 
 ers. The 
 ler heavy 
 
 entrance. 
 
 RELIEF OF THE BRITISH CA}fP. 
 
 225 
 
 Three men were killed and five were wounded when 
 passing under the farmers' batteries, but no further 
 resistance was offered, for as soon as the fresh troops 
 landed and Captain Smith was relieved, the burgher 
 force under Pretorius dispersed. 
 
 Natal thus became a British possession. Some of 
 the farmers remained in it, but most of them packed 
 their effects in their waggons, and moved over the 
 Drakensberg into the interior. More than three 
 years elapsed, however, before a government under 
 English officials was established, and during that 
 time great numbers of l^antu — chiefly refugees from 
 Zululand — moved into the nearly vacant territory. 
 An arrangement was made with Panda, by which he 
 ceded to the British government the ground between 
 the Buffalo and the upper Tugela river, so that the 
 boundary was extended on the north beyond the 
 passes through the mountain range. Thereafter the 
 Zulu chief was treated as an independent sovereign, 
 and immediately the process commenced of building 
 up again that great military power which cost so 
 much English blood in later years to overthrow. On 
 the south all the land beyond the Umzimkulu river 
 was given to the Pondo chief Faku, and thus Natal 
 was much reduced in size in that direction. 
 
 The farmers who went back over the Drakensberg 
 settled in the territory between the Magalisberg 
 and the Vaal river, that had previously been occupied 
 by Commandant Potgietcr's adherents. These now 
 moved away to the north-east, in hope of being able 
 to open communication with the outer world through 
 Delagoa Bay, which, as it belonged to the Portuguese, 
 
3^1 
 
 
 W \\ 
 
 It-' i;' ,1 
 
 ■ill 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 r. 
 
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 < 
 
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 Vi 
 
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 'A 
 
 
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 w 
 
 n< 
 
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 5 
 
 
 
 PROynCT OF TREATY STATES. 
 
 227 
 
 they thought would be safe aeainst attack by Great 
 ]?i'itain. They halted on the head waters of some 
 streams flowing into that bay, and built a village 
 which they named Ohrigstad. There, however, they 
 suffered very sevcrcl)' from fever, so that they were 
 obliged to move again. The)- then divided into two 
 parties, one of which founded the village of Lyden- 
 burg, and the other, under Potgieter himself, went 
 away north to the Zoutpansberg and settled there. 
 
 In England the conduct of the emigrants in thus 
 persistently retiring from British authority was 
 regarded as very objectionable. The opinion was 
 general that something should be done not only to 
 compel the wanderers in the interior of the continent 
 to return to their old homes, but to prevent others 
 from abandoning the colony and joining them. The 
 project of forming a barrier along the colonial border, 
 by means of the creation of a chain of large native 
 states, had for some time been advocated by the great 
 societies, and was now determined upon by the 
 government. Such a barrier, it was imagined, would 
 cut off commercial communication with the emigrants, 
 and leave them no alternative but to retrace thclrsteps. 
 
 In carrying this scheme into execution. Sir George 
 Napier followed the method suggested by the 
 reverend Dr. Philip, who made the preliminary 
 arrangements. His plan was to select in a given 
 area the most competent chief, that is the one 
 supposed to be most amenable to mi.ssionary 
 guidance, to enter into treaty with him as a .sove- 
 reign, and to support him with all the influence of 
 the British government, 
 
 
 I 
 
228 
 
 CREATION OF TREATY STATES. 
 
 l,J,i!H 
 
 ; N i 
 
 t.iH; 
 
 At Thaba Bosigo one such chief was found in the 
 person of the wise and able Moshcsh, the friend and 
 patron of missionaries. He had ah'cady built up a 
 considerable power, which it was the great object 
 of his life to increase and solidify. Nothing, therefore, 
 could have been more in accordance with his desires 
 than the scheme which was proposed : alliance with 
 the British government, a subsidy in money, a vast 
 extension of territory, and supremacy over all other 
 chiefs within the area assigned to him. In 1843 a 
 treaty was concluded, in which he was acknowledged 
 to be the sovereign of a large vacant tract of land 
 north of the Orange river, of the basin of the lower 
 Caledon, where European farmers were settled, of the 
 territory along the western bank of the Caledon 
 higher up, which was occupied by various clans 
 brought there by Wesleyan missionaries, and of all 
 the land on which his own people lived. He was to 
 '^ave a subsidy of £y^ a year, payable either in money 
 or in arms and ammunition, as he might choose. It 
 will be seen in future chapters that no other document 
 ever signed in South Africa cost so much blood and 
 treasure as this, or was so productive of evil in various 
 ways. 
 
 West of the territory assigned to Moshesh there were 
 no Bantu, but at and around a mission station of the 
 London society, named Philippolis, there were some 
 fifteen hundred or two thousand Griquas, under a 
 captain named Adam Kok. These people were of 
 mixed European, Hottentot, and negro blood, and 
 most of them had recently migrated from the Cape 
 Colony. They were supposed to be under missionary 
 
THE GRIQUAS. 
 
 *0 *«w 
 
 unci in the 
 friend and 
 built up a 
 eat object 
 , therefore, 
 his desires 
 iance with 
 ley, a vast 
 r all other 
 In 1843 a 
 n owl edged 
 ct of land 
 
 the lower 
 tied, of the 
 e Caledon 
 ious clans 
 and of all 
 He was to 
 r in money 
 :hoose. It 
 r document 
 
 blood and 
 I in various 
 
 there were 
 :ion of the 
 were some 
 s, under a 
 >le were of 
 Dlood, and 
 I the Cape 
 missionary 
 
 guidance and to be partly civilised, but the men lived 
 chiefly by hunting, and their character was far from 
 stable. It was not then known that they were a 
 perishing race. For one (m* two generations the 
 hybrid offspring of Europeans and coloured people 
 
 
 ^oS^^i^- 
 
 CRlnUA MAN AND WOMKN. 
 
 {Front a S/ct'Uh hy Mr, Thos. Buiius.) 
 
 possess a fair amount of fertility, but they must then 
 intermix with one of the pure original stocks, or die 
 out. Within fifty years the Griquas, by attempting 
 to live as a separate people, have decreased to little 
 more than one- fourth of their original number. 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 I 
 
■J f 
 
 Hr 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 230 
 
 CREATION OP TREATY STATES. 
 
 There were more white people than Griquas h'ving 
 in the territory between the Modeler river and the 
 Orange, but at the same time that the treaty was 
 made with Moshesh a similar one was made with 
 Adam Kok, and thereafter this petty captain was 
 officially regarded by the British government as the 
 sovereign of all the land from the new Hasuto 
 boundary to the territory claimed by Andries 
 Waterboer under the treaty of 1834. He was to 
 receive a subsidy of ;^!00 a year in money and the 
 use of a hundred stand of arms with a reasonable 
 quantity of ammunition. The London society was 
 to receive ^^50 a year for the maintenance of a mission 
 school. 
 
 Thus, as far as paper treaties could make states, 
 there was now a barrier along the whole northern 
 border of the Cape Colony from the Kalahari de;ici-t 
 upward. A little later, by another treaty, the Pondo 
 chief Faku became the nominal ruler of all the terri- 
 tory between the Umtata and Umzimkulu rivers, the 
 Drakensberg and the sea, and thus the girdle was 
 made complete. 
 
 Hut it was .soon found that for the purpose intended 
 the treaty states were useless. The emigrant farmers 
 ridiculed the idea either of their removal or of their 
 sub'ection to the puppet sovereigns thus set up, and 
 matters went on pretty much as before, so far as the)' 
 were concerned. In the territory assigned to Moshesh 
 trouble of an unexpected kind immediately arose. 
 The chiefs of the clans along the Caledon indignantly 
 refused to acknowledge him as a superior, and the 
 Wesleyaii missionaries took part with them in doing 
 
 ll 
 
EFFECTS OF THE TREATIES. 
 
 231 
 
 ias living 
 
 and the 
 
 ,'aty was 
 
 ide with 
 
 tain was 
 
 it as the 
 
 l^asuto 
 
 And lies 
 
 was to 
 
 and the 
 
 asonablc 
 
 iety was 
 
 I mission 
 
 c states, 
 northern 
 ri dcoC't 
 e Pondo 
 he terri- 
 vcrs, the 
 die was 
 
 intended 
 
 farmers 
 
 of their 
 
 up, and 
 
 • as the}' 
 
 Mosiiesh 
 
 y arose. 
 
 ignantly 
 
 and the 
 
 in doing 
 
 so. The French missionaries, on the other hand, did 
 their utmost to support and build up the IJasuto 
 power. Thus jealousies and quarrels were fomented, 
 and the clans were kept in perpetual disturbance. 
 
 In the territory assigned to Adam Kok many of 
 the white people had come to fear that such anarchy 
 as had prevailed in Natal was inseparable from a 
 republican form of government, and they were not 
 only willing but anxious to see the country annexed 
 to the British dominions. There were circumstances 
 in their condition and in the manner of their removal 
 from the colony that made them the least disaffected 
 of all the Dutch-speaking people of South Africa. 
 But they, too, repudiated the sovereignty of Adam 
 Kok, and refused to acknowledge him as anything 
 but a Griqua captain. Besides these people there 
 were two large parties of emigrants in the country 
 bitterly hostile to England, and they at once declared 
 that if Kok attempted to interfere with them in any 
 way whatever they would resist with arms. 
 
 The treaty states were thus no barrier to commer- 
 cial intercourse with the emigrants in the interior, 
 they did not prevent further emigration, nor did they 
 cause a single individual to retrace his stci)s. They 
 provoked disputes and quarrels among peo[)le who 
 were before friendly, and they enabled Mushesh to 
 build up a power antagonistic to the interests and 
 welfare of South Africa. 
 
 U 
 
 -, • I 'A 
 
 In 
 
i it 
 
 ■■ 
 
 
 i 1 
 
 
 B 8' 
 
 1 
 
 
 n 5^ 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 H9| 
 
 
 II 
 
 : 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 XIX. 
 
 EVENTS TO THE CLOSE OK THE SEVENTH KAIT IR 
 
 WAR. 
 
 Sh< Peregrine Ma n land, who succeeded Sir 
 George Napier as governor of the Cape Colony, 
 determined to support Adanri Kok with a military 
 force if he should be attacked, and a promise to that 
 effect was made to him. Thereupon he assumed 
 a very haughty tone towards the white people, and 
 shortly afterwards sent a band of his followers to 
 arrest a farmer who ignored his government. The 
 farmer was not at home when the Griquas arrived at 
 his house, so they poured a storm of abuse upon 
 his wife, and took possession of his guns and am- 
 munition. 
 
 Upon this the burghers formed a lager about thirty 
 miles from Philippolis, and having placed their 
 families in safety within it, they left a guard for its 
 defence and took the field. There was at the time a 
 body of British troops stationed at Colesberg, on the 
 colonial side of the Orange river, two hundred of 
 whom now marched to Philippolis to aid the Griquas. 
 Adam Kok was also supplied with muskets and 
 
Til KAFFIR 
 
 cceeded Sir 
 ipc Colony, 
 I a military 
 nise to that 
 le assumed 
 people, and 
 bllovvers to 
 ment. The 
 arrived at 
 ibuse upon 
 s and am- 
 
 ibout thirty 
 aced their 
 uard for its 
 the time a 
 ler^, on the 
 lundred of 
 lie Griquas. 
 uskets and 
 
 EXPEDITION TO AID ADAM KOK. 
 
 '^^^ 
 
 ammunition from the military stores. He was thus 
 able to defend himself until a regiment of dragoons, 
 with some artillery and a company of light cavalry, 
 could march to his support from Grahamstown. 
 As soon as the force reached Philippolis, Colonel 
 Richardson, who was in command, issued a pro- 
 clamation calling upon the farmers to surrender un- 
 conditionally ; but they took no notice of it. He then 
 marched towards their lager, and by a stratagem 
 drew two hundred and fifty men out of it, who were 
 nearly surrounded before they were aware that British 
 troops were acting against them. Taken by surprise, 
 they did not attempt to make a stand, but in their 
 efforts to escape three were killed. A little later in 
 the same day possession was taken of the lager with- 
 out resistance, when all the arms found there were 
 confiscated. 
 
 Colonel Richardson next called upon the emi- 
 grants to take an oath of allegiance to the queen, 
 when all those — three hundred and sixteen in number 
 — who have been mentioned as not ill-affected towards 
 the British government did so. The others were not 
 arrested, as there were no means of supporting them 
 in detention, so they moved away to Winburg, beyond 
 the territory claimed by Adam Kok. 
 
 13y this time Sir Peregrine Maitland had become 
 convinced that the Griqua treaty state, as (originally 
 planned, could not be maintained witliout the constant 
 presence of a considerable military force, and in that 
 case to regard Kok as a sovereign would be an 
 absurdity. But he did not know what ch.inge to 
 make, and so he visited the country in order to learn 
 
 Um 
 
 
234 ^O CLOSE OF SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 its condition by personal intercourse with the different 
 people there, and to devise some plan of action. At 
 Touwfontein, where the emigrant lager had been, he 
 met a great number of farmers, all the chiefs between 
 the Orange and Vaal rivers, and most of the mission- 
 aries. During several days matters were discussed, 
 and the views of the different parties were laid before 
 the governor. 
 
 Adam Kok contended that he was a sovereign in 
 alliance with Great Britain, that every one within his 
 dominions who did not implicitly obey his orders was 
 a rebel, and he requested that all the white people 
 should be removed. 
 
 The farmers contended that as there was no one 
 living in the territory claimed by Kok whose parents 
 had been born there, all being recent immigrants, 
 their right was equal to that of the Griquas. Much 
 of the land they occupied was vacant when they 
 took possession of it, and the remainder had been 
 purchased or leased from individual Griquas who by 
 an earlier selection had prior claims. They could not 
 return to the colony, where they had no ground, nor 
 could they submit to such a government as that of 
 Adam Kok and his missionary. 
 
 Moshesh contended that as he was acknowledged 
 to be the sovereign of the territory a;>signed to him 
 by treaty, no one within it should be communicated 
 with except through him. 
 
 The chiefs along the Caledon contended that their 
 independence of Moshesh ought to be recognised, and 
 declared that they would rather die with arms in their 
 hands than submit to him. 
 
R. 
 
 different 
 
 :ion. At 
 
 been, he 
 
 between 
 
 mis^ion- 
 
 liscussed, 
 
 id before 
 
 ereign in 
 ithin his 
 ders was 
 e people 
 
 3 no one 
 J parents 
 migrants, 
 1. Much 
 ten they 
 ad been 
 
 who by 
 ould not 
 und, nor 
 
 that of 
 
 wlcdged 
 to him 
 unicated 
 
 lat their 
 
 scd, and 
 
 in their 
 
 ARRANGEMENT WITH ADAM KOK. 
 
 235 
 
 Each of the missionaries supported the claims of 
 the particular chief with whom he was living, so 
 that their opinions differed greatly. 
 
 Out of this confusion Sir Peregrine Maitland saw 
 but one way of establishing order. He gave up all 
 idea of the return of the emigrants to the Cape Colony, 
 and endeavoured to arrange for the proper govern- 
 ment of those who were living in the treaty states. 
 He proposed to Adam Kok that the land between the 
 Modder and Riet rivers should be allotted to Euro- 
 peans, and that between the Riet and Orange rivers 
 to Griquas. The Europeans were to be governed by 
 an English officer whom he would nominate, and to 
 whom Kok was to give a commission. Quitrent was 
 to be levied on their farms, one half of which was 
 to be devoted to the payment of the English officer 
 and his assistants, and the other half was to be handed 
 over to Kok, whose sovereignty over the whole terri- 
 tory was in this manner still to be recognised. The 
 Griqua captain at once closed with the offer, for it 
 relieved him of a great difficulty and gave him an 
 addition to his income. The Europeans also accepted 
 the proposal, though some of them grumbled at having 
 to pay tribute to a man whose right to the ground 
 was no better than their own. 
 
 Major Warden was selected by the governor to 
 rule the European community between the Riet and 
 the Modder, and fi.xed his residence at a place nametl 
 Bloemfonteiii. A few soldiers of the iiottentot regi- 
 ment were stationed there to support his authority, 
 and he received all his instructions from Capetown, 
 so that practically the territory was a British depen- 
 
'I 
 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 h::l 
 
 I ' 
 
 236 TO CLOSE OF SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 dency, though writs and other public documents ran 
 in the name of Adam Kok. This arrangement 
 worked fairly well, and a short period of peace and 
 prosjjerity followed in that part of South Africa. 
 
 A similar proposal was made by Sir Peregrine 
 Maitland to Moshesh, but that chief was in a very 
 different position from the Griqua captain, and was 
 loth to exchange power for money. He wanted to 
 keep on good terms with the governor, however, and 
 so he made an appearance of consenting to the plan 
 while really thwarting it. He offered for the use of 
 Europeans a tract of land in the angle of the Orange 
 and Caledon rivers, so far away from the possessions 
 of his own people that there was no likelihood of its 
 ever being of value to him, and so small that no 
 revenue derived from it could cover the salary of a 
 Ikitish official. This offer he could not be induced to 
 enlarge, and though negotiations were carried on with 
 him after Sir Peregrine Maitland's return to Cape- 
 town, nothing came of them. Thus within the l^asuto 
 treaty state matters remained in a most unsatisfac- 
 tory condition. 
 
 At this time the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony 
 was exposed to depredations as it had never— even in 
 the worst times — been exposed before. Karl Glenelg, 
 through his agent Lieutenant-Governor Stockenstrom, 
 had given up to the Kosas the whole country east of 
 the Kat nnd Fish rivers, and had entered into treaties 
 with the chiefs as sovereign rulers. This action they 
 considered a proof of weakness, and in consequence 
 they laid aside all respect for the British authorities. 
 Within the next ten years over a hundred murders were 
 
icnts ran 
 mgcmcnt 
 ►cacc and 
 rica. 
 
 Peregrine 
 in a very 
 , and was 
 ,'anted to 
 ever, and 
 the plan 
 lie use of 
 e Orange 
 )ssessions 
 )od of its 
 that no 
 lary of a 
 iduced to 
 1 on with 
 to Cape- 
 ,e liasuto 
 isatisfac- 
 
 e Colony 
 -even in 
 Glenelg, 
 :enstrom, 
 y east of 
 J treaties 
 :ion they 
 sequence 
 thorities. 
 lers were 
 
 
 MARKS OF PROGRESS. 
 
 257 
 
 committed by their people on colonial ground, and 
 the country as far west as the Sunday river was 
 harried and wasted almost as in a time of war. The 
 unfortunate Ikitish settlers of 1820 were the principal 
 sufferers, but their prayers for relief were altogether 
 disregarded in England. Modifications of the treaties 
 were made by Sir George Napier and Sir Peregrine 
 Maitland, but the position was not improved, for it 
 was the system itself that was the cause of the evil. 
 
 In other respects this period was marked by many 
 beneficial changes. The cost of government was 
 greatly reduced, so that every year a surplus could 
 be applied to the reduction of the public debt. By 
 the sale of the old drostdies, the conversion of a 
 number of quitrent farms into freehold, and licenses 
 for the removal of a quantity of guano from some 
 small islands off the western coast, by 1847 the debt 
 was entirely paid off Magistrates were increased, 
 and churches of various denominations were multi- 
 plied throughout the colony. Municipal government 
 of the towns and villages was introduced. An ex- 
 cellent system of schools was brought into operation. 
 Good waggon roads were made — principally by con- 
 vict labour — through many mountain passes, where 
 previously produce could only be transported with 
 the greatest difficulty. The value of the exports was 
 rapidly rising by increase in the production of wool. 
 
 More than all, four or five thousand English, 
 Scotch, and Irish agriculturists and mechanics were 
 brought into the colony by a .system of aided immi- 
 gration, and partly filled the places of tho.sc who had 
 moved into the interior. No people in any country 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 P 
 
 
 
 » 
 
 
 ill 
 
.hi !i 
 
 "AL'';")y! 
 
 <^- 
 
 
 
 ')$ 
 
 ^> ■•.'.': ;•.•■■ ri 
 
 f ■S^i'i'-'' -'; •■ ■i.■.•.^ -■».■■ • -^'M'- 
 
 M^ 
 
 •r'vK-'- 
 
 .f\>^: 
 
 i<iS 
 
 
 
 ^^1& 
 
 fe 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 
 JTMi 
 
 «^5^i;^'=al 
 
 ;^ 
 
 .''■'-' •K 
 
 :-,'4',.'';-'..,'i,';-":C 
 
 ?^ 
 
 ©A 
 
 t/i 
 < 
 
 o 
 < 
 
 H 
 A 
 
 O 
 
 [d 
 U 
 
SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 239 
 
 ■■{ 1 
 
 mi 
 
 
 t/J 
 
 < 
 
 < 
 o 
 
 Id 
 
 u 
 
 have thriven better than these. About seven hunched 
 destitute children sent out from London by a bene- 
 volent society were apprenticed to carefully selected 
 persons, and thouc^h a few turned out badly, most of 
 them became useful and prosperous members of the 
 community. Unfortunatcl)-, however, these were not 
 the only immigrants. The Cape was made the 
 station where all slave ships captured by liritish 
 cruisers south of the equator were brought, and the 
 negroes were apprenticed here for short periods, after 
 which they became merged in the general coloured 
 population. The farmers and townspeople, who were 
 without a .sufficient supply of labour, were v :y lad 
 to get them, and the missionary societies vclc(M..ed 
 them as material to work with ; but they were not 
 a class to add permanently to the prosperit of the 
 country. 
 
 After the frontier colonists had been exposed for 
 ten years to the depredations of the Kosas, an event 
 took place which brought on open war. A Kosa, 
 who was detected in an act of theft at Fort Beaufort, 
 was arrested, and was being conveyed to the nearest 
 magi.strate's office for trial, when a party of his clans- 
 men crossed the border, and after overpowering the 
 constables and murdering a Hottentot, relea.sed their 
 friend. Sandilc, the legal heir of Gaika, was then 
 the principal chief of Western Kaffirland. The 
 governor applied to him to surrender the raiders 
 for trial, as their crime had been committed on 
 colonial ground, and he had bound himself by treaty 
 to give up offenders of this kind, liut he made light 
 of the matter, and refused to carry out his engagement. 
 
 i* 1 
 
 iii 
 
 ■ 
 
240 TO CLOSE OF SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 
 l^i !] 
 
 A mill 
 
 force 
 
 then 
 
 Lffil 
 
 was tnen directed to enter 
 land and occupy Sandile's kraal, so as to bring him 
 to terms. A very long waggon train accompanied it, 
 conveying provisions, tents, baggage, and ammuni- 
 tion ; and, as if to invite attack, this tempting prize 
 was almost unguarded. The movements of the 
 expedition were, of course, closely watched by the 
 keen eyes of Kosa scouts, and when in a spot con- 
 venient for the purpose, while the main body of the 
 English troops was some miles distant, a strong band 
 of warriors rushed upon the train, and without any 
 difficulty made themselves masters of a great portion 
 of it. 
 
 By this disaster the British force was compelled 
 to retreat precipitately. After considerable loss it 
 reached the Lovedale mission station, just within 
 the colonial border, and hastily fortified a large stone 
 building used as a boarding school, which enabled it 
 to stay there in safety. 
 
 At once a great body of Kosa warriors poured into 
 the colony, swept off all the cattle east of Uitenhage, 
 burned many dwelling-houses, and murdered several 
 individuals who had not time to escape to villages or 
 lagers. Their success encouraged a large portion of 
 the Tembu tribe to join them, and these people laid 
 waste the country north of the Winterberg just as 
 the Kosas had done south of that range. Thus the 
 European settlement in the eastern districts was 
 reduced to the towns and villages, which were 
 crowded with helpless and destitute people. The 
 farms — except a few where there were lagers — were 
 abandoned. 
 
COURSE or THE WAR. 
 
 241 
 
 Kaffir- 
 ig him 
 nied it, 
 nmuni- 
 g prize 
 of the 
 by the 
 ot con- 
 / of the 
 ig band 
 3Ut any 
 portion 
 
 impelled 
 loss it 
 t within 
 ge stone 
 abled it 
 
 ired into 
 
 tenhage, 
 
 several 
 
 lages or 
 
 rtion of 
 pie laid 
 just as 
 hus the 
 
 cts was 
 h were 
 
 e. The 
 s — were 
 
 Another disaster followed. The garrison of the 
 most advanced fort on the frontier was in urgent 
 need of supi)lies of food and ammunition, and a train 
 of waggons, under military escort, left Grahamstown 
 for its relief. In a thicket the train was attacked, 
 the guard was obliged to retire, and the supplies fell 
 into the hands of the Kosas. 
 
 The whole burgher force of the colony was called 
 out, and every soldier that could be spared from duty 
 in Capetown was sent to the front. Hottentots and 
 other coloured people were enrolled, waggons and 
 oxen were everywhere unpressed, and in a short time 
 a mass of combatants sufficiently large for offensive 
 operations was assembled on the frontier. A greater 
 difficulty than that of collecting men, however, was 
 that of collecting provisions. It was not only the 
 army that the government had to feed, but the 
 unfortunate European women and children whose 
 property had been destroyed, and the families of all 
 the Hottentots of the frontier. 
 
 Some successes were gained, but operations were 
 stayed by the collapse of the transport service, end 
 the army was obliged at one time to encamp on the 
 coast, where supplies could be obtained by sea, in 
 order to escape starvation. After a while several 
 regiments of soldiers arrived from abroad, the trans- 
 port service was organised on a better plan, and 
 provisions were sent from the western districts. 
 Then a kind of lull took place, in consequence of a 
 professal of submission by most of the hostile clans, 
 whose object was to get a crop of maize and then 
 renew the war. 
 
 17 
 
 r! 
 
 tip 
 
 *■ 1 
 > 1 
 
 
I* 
 
 li 
 
 ami 
 
 ii! 
 
 Ill 
 
 i PHI i I 
 
 242 TO CLOSE 01' SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 During this lull Sir Peregrine Maitland was re- 
 called, as every governor since Lord Charles Somer- 
 set has been in whose term of office war has broken 
 out. He was succeeded by Sir Henry Pottinger, 
 who was also appointed high commissioner for the 
 purp(jse of dealing with matters beyond the colonial 
 border. All succeeding governors of the Cape Colony 
 have been high commissioners also. 
 
 The crops of maize were gathered, and the war 
 was resumed, liut soon afterwards Sandile found 
 himself hardly pressed, and surrendered, upon which 
 there was another general profession of submission. 
 In later years the Kosas laughed at the ease with 
 which the white people were deceived, and ridiculed 
 the idea of their being beaten in this war. But the 
 governor, judging them by a European or an Indian 
 standard, believed that they were subdued, and was 
 about to proclaim peace when he received news of his 
 transfer to Madras. 
 
 The enormous expense of the war had brought 
 home to the imperial government the folly of the 
 treaty system, of which it was the result, in a manner 
 that the prayers of the colonists had never done. 
 The ruined eastern farmers were clamouring for com- 
 pensation from the British treasury for their losses, 
 on the ground that they had protected against the 
 measures which led to the war, and earl Glenelg had 
 accepted the responsibility of carrying them out. 
 They did not get what they asked for, but the whole 
 military and commissariat charges were of necessity 
 borne by England. Both Sir Peregrine Maitland and 
 Sir Henry Pottinger had come to the conclusion that 
 
R 
 
 RESULTS OF THE WAR. 
 
 243 
 
 was re- 
 Somcr- 
 s broken 
 'ottingcr, 
 r for the 
 colonial 
 )c Colony 
 
 the war 
 ile found 
 10 n which 
 bmission. 
 ,^ase with 
 
 ridiculed 
 
 But the 
 in Indian 
 
 and was 
 ews of his 
 
 brought 
 
 y of the 
 
 a manner 
 
 ver done. 
 
 for com- 
 eir losses, 
 
 iiinst the 
 LMielg had 
 hem out. 
 the whole 
 
 necessity 
 tland and 
 ision that 
 
 Sir Henjamin D'LIrban's system of dealing with the 
 Kosas should be reverted to, and even Sir George 
 Napier was of the same opinion. 
 
 The imperial authorities then resolved upon ancjther 
 complete chaMge, and to carry it out they selected 
 as governor and high commissioner Sir Harry Smith, 
 who, as Colonel Smith, had been Sir Henjamin 
 D'Urban's most able lieutenant in South Africa, 
 and who had recently won high military renown in 
 India. Hut while making this resolution they were 
 beginning to comprehend that it was impossible at 
 a distance of six thousand miles to direct the 
 affairs of a country cither safely or satisfactorily, 
 especially under such pressure as could be brought 
 by the great societies to bear upon a government in 
 England ; and they were already impressed with a 
 belief that the best course they could adopt would be 
 to let the affairs of the Cape Colony be settled by its 
 own people. To the Kaffir war of 1846-7 more than 
 to any other event is due the liberal constitution that 
 was granted a few years later. 
 
 
 n 
 
 ;:l 
 
 3. g 
 * I 
 
 I 
 
 , 
 
 k 
 
 * I 
 
XX. 
 
 HVIiNTS DUKINli TIIK ADMINISTRATION Ul" SIR 
 
 IlAkkV SMITH. 
 
 No jjovcrnor has ever been more heartily welcomed 
 ill South Africa than Sir Harry Smith. ICvery section 
 of the inhabitants of the colony hailetl him as an old 
 and tried friend, and there was a ^'eneral hope that 
 better days h:'d now set in. He was not lon^ ifi 
 maUin|4 known the details of the chan^^es which he 
 came to effect. llurr)'in^' to the eastern fronti'M, he 
 is; ucd a proclamation, e.xtendin^^ the Cape Colony 
 on the north to the Oran^^j river from its mouth to 
 the junction of the Kraai, and on the east to the 
 KeisUama and the Tyumie. 
 
 The territory between the Keiskama and Tyumie 
 on one sitle, and tile Kei on the other, he then pro- 
 claimed a l^ritish possession, but to be kept entirely 
 for the use of the wef*tern clans of the K(isa tribe, 
 just as Sir Henjamin D'LIrban inteiuled when he 
 anne.ved it under the name of the pruvince of Oueen 
 Adelaide. Colonel Mackimion was appointed a 
 commissioner to exercise }»eiieral aulhorit)- over the 
 claii.s, an office which the ^fovernor himself had once 
 
OK SIR 
 
 welcomed 
 
 jry section 
 
 as an old 
 
 hope that 
 
 )t loM^' ill 
 
 which he 
 "ro:iti','r, he 
 )e Colony 
 
 nKJiilh to 
 ast to the 
 
 rl '!')iiinie 
 then pro- 
 it entirely 
 >osa tribe, 
 when he 
 of ( )ueen 
 )ointe(l a 
 ■ over the 
 had once 
 
 IHlkrkAIT 0| MR IIAHKV ^NMIII. 
 
Hi 
 
 U 
 
 f.'l : 
 
 .1: 
 
 246 ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMITH. 
 
 held. The chiefs remained the rulers of their people 
 in many matters, but vicious customs were no longer 
 to be tolerclted, and punishment of persons accused 
 of dealing in witchcraft was to be suppressed. A 
 strong body of troops was to garrison various forts 
 in the territory, and to support the authority of the 
 commissioner and his assistants. The new province 
 was named Hritish Kaffraria. 
 
 The whole of the chiefs who had been in arms 
 agreed to this arrangement, and those who resided 
 within the province took an oath to maintain it. 
 The others, who lived east of the Kci, were left 
 perfectly independent. The governor, the colonists, 
 and the missionaries — whose views were grcatl)' 
 modified by the late war — alike considered this settle- 
 ment .satisfactor}', and to all outward appearance the 
 Kosas were pleased with it ; but within three years 
 the chiefs declared that they had only agreed to it as 
 a truce, in order to get material together for another 
 trial of .strength with the Europeans. 
 
 As soon as the.se arrangements were made, Sir 
 Marry Smith proceeded to the territor)- north of the 
 Orange river. Treaties between the l^ritish govern- 
 ment and Hantu chiefs he regarded as agreements 
 between a full-grown man and little children, and 
 he repeatedl)' and emphatically declared that there 
 should be no more of them. As for the treaty states 
 on the northern border, he looked upon them as the 
 creations of supreme folly, and he therefore intended 
 to destro)' them. lUit as neither Adaiii Kok nor 
 Mcjshesh had violated any of the conditions of the 
 treaties, lie could not declare the documents amuilled, 
 
!TH. 
 
 END OF THE TREATY STATES. 
 
 247 
 
 lir people 
 no longer 
 s accused 
 3ssed. A 
 ious forts 
 itj' of the 
 F province 
 
 1 in arms 
 lo resided 
 :iintain it. 
 were left 
 colonists, 
 e greatl)' 
 this scttlc- 
 irance the 
 iree years 
 x\ to it as 
 )r another 
 
 made, Sir 
 )rth of the 
 ih <^ovcrn- 
 greemcnts 
 dren, and 
 that there 
 jaty states 
 
 m as the 
 t: intended 
 
 Kok nor 
 )ns of the 
 > atnuillcd, 
 
 and it was thus his object by some means to induce 
 those persons to consent to their own effacemcnt as 
 sovcrei^^n rulers. 
 
 The emigrant farmers between the Rict and 
 Modder rivers gave him an enthusiastic reception, 
 for mail)' of them had fought under his command 
 thirteen years before, and they had always liked him 
 as he had liked them. The)- had no comi)laint to 
 make against Major Warden, but they had a griev- 
 ance, in that half of the land tax which liiey paid 
 went into the pocket of Adam Kok, and they had 
 no return for it. Was it not scandalous, too, they 
 asked, that the)- should be officially tcrired subjects 
 of that petty captain of a mongrel band? 
 
 l\y the governor's desire, Kok went from Tiu'lip- 
 polis to l^loemfontein to meet him. At the conference 
 Sir Harry stated that he was about to place the white 
 people in the territor)* utuler the direct rule of the 
 quecfi of luigland, but he would not interfere with 
 Kok's government of his Griipias. The whole of the 
 lanil between the Riet a!id Orange rivers — which was 
 ten times as much as the (iricjuas could make use 
 of — would be regarded as their reserve, the captain 
 should have a peri)etual pension of /)300 a )'ear, and 
 as some of his people had leased farms north of tiie 
 Riet river, which would now be lost to them, the)' 
 should have among them Xioo a )*ear in perpetuity 
 as compensation. The captain denuured to these 
 terms, and spoke of his dignity in such a wa)* that 
 the governor lost all patience at^l threatened liim 
 with speedy punishment. He then submitted, and 
 affixed his nume to a document which put an end 
 
24^ ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMTTfl, 
 
 l«ii 
 
 ■a^ 
 
 
 w 
 
 to the Griqua treaty state, but left him !«• more 
 th<».n he. hac any reasonable claim to. 
 
 A little later the governor had an interview with 
 Moshesh, to whom he made some valuable presents, 
 at the same time professing his friendship iii the 
 warmest language. He then announced his intention 
 as regarded the vv^Iiite people, and asked for the 
 co-oj)eration of the chief Probably Moshesh felt 
 somewhat overawed in the presence of the impetuous 
 governor, and it is improbable that he fully compre- 
 hended what the proposals laid before liim would 
 lead to, but he attached his mark to a document 
 which destroyed the Hasuto treat)' state. 
 
 These i)rcliminaries having been settled, on the 
 3rd of I'ebruary 184S Sir Harry Smith issued a 
 proclamation, adding to the British dominions the 
 whole territor)' between the Vaal river, the Orange 
 river, and the Kathlamba mountains, under the name 
 of the Ontnge River Sovereignt)'. The Europeans 
 in it were |)lace(l under the immediate rule of the 
 (jucen, and a staff of officials was appointee, to 
 administer justice and collect taxes in her Majesty's 
 name. Major Warden was n'-/'»inte(l head of the 
 new administration. The coh uri 1 pe()i)le were left 
 under the government of their chiefs, and the land 
 then actuall)- in their occupation was to be reserved 
 for their use and secured against encroachment. 
 What might be termed their foreign relations, that 
 is everything affecting the dealings of one head chief 
 with another, or of any chief with ICuropeans, were 
 lo be under the control of the British autliorities. 
 
 Here, at last, was a policy such as nearly every 
 
TTJI. 
 
 fa; rrorc 
 
 r'ievv with 
 presents, 
 p in the 
 intention 
 I for the 
 hesh felt 
 mpctnous 
 / com pre - 
 im would 
 clocuinent 
 
 rl, on the 
 issued ;i 
 in ions the 
 ic Oran<;c 
 tlic nur-e 
 Europeans 
 lie of tliC 
 )intc(- to 
 Majesty's 
 id of the 
 were left 
 the hind 
 reserved 
 achment. 
 ions, that 
 lead ehief 
 ans, were 
 ities. 
 rl\' every 
 
 ) 
 
 BAT CLE OF nOOMPLAATS. 
 
 249 
 
 man in the Cape Colony approved of. Vn( )itunr.'ely, 
 however, it came too late. The vast majority of ihe 
 white people livins^ between thr Modder and Vaal 
 rivers were indisposed to submit to British rule in 
 any form, and prei)ared to fight for the inde[)endent 
 government they had lived under for twelve years. 
 Moshcsh, who had by this time built up a i)owcr 
 far greater than Sir Harry Smith was aware of, began 
 to devise schemes for the destruction of the Sovereignt)' 
 government as soon as he found that he was to be 
 confined to a reserve covering only the actual ground 
 on which his people li\ed, that his practice of incor- 
 porating members o( other tribes with his own was 
 likel)' to be severely checked, and that the clans along 
 the Caledon were treated as independent of him. 
 
 Sir Harry Smith had not long returned to Cape- 
 town when he received intelligence that the farmers 
 in the north of the Sovereignty hail elected Mr. 
 Andries Pretorius to be their commandant and had 
 risen in arms, that Major Warden with the little 
 garrison of Hloemfontein had been obliged to 
 capitulate, and that the whole of the ICnglish officials 
 had been driven over the Orange river and were then 
 in a cami) near Colcsberg. The energetic governor 
 at once directed a strong body of troops to march to 
 the Orange, and followed himself to taUe comm nd in 
 person. Command. mt I'rctorius did not attempt to 
 defend the passage of the river, but made a stand at a 
 strong position called Hoomplaats, where on the 29th 
 of Auguiit 1.^48 a severe engagement t< •!< i)!ace, 
 which ended in the defeat of the farmers. 
 
 /\11 who were inveteratel)- opposed to IJritisli rule 
 
 I 
 
 si!] 
 
250 ADMrNISTRATIO^J OF SIR HARRY SMITH. 
 
 now made their way in haste across the Vaal river, 
 and there was no attempt to follow them. The 
 Sovereignty government was re-established, and a 
 much larger garrison than before was left in Bloem- 
 fontein. The places of those white [people who had 
 moved away were filled b>' fresh emigrants from the 
 Cape Colony, many of whom were Englishmen, so 
 that from this time forward the ICuropean population 
 of the territory consisted of people cither well affected 
 to the liritish government or not very bitterly opposed 
 to it. 
 
 Leaving now the region bc)ond the Cape Colony 
 for a short time, ati event must be related which 
 caused intense excitement throughout South Africa. 
 This was a project of the imi)crial ministry of the 
 day to make of the Cape a convict settlement. The 
 tidings causci! a feeling somewhat akin to what a 
 proposal would have done to introduce a dreadful 
 disease. Men and women of respectability every- 
 where raisod their voices against it, for if a class of 
 people tluit had cither by choice or of necessity 
 become critninal, and whose self-respect was (lcstro)'ed 
 by corviction, were once allowed to niix with the 
 coloured race s. the country would no longer be fit to 
 live m. Petitions ami protests against the measure 
 were s^-nt to ICngland in iTcat number, and when 
 the siii[) Yr/>/uj/r \vith convicts on board arrived in 
 Simon' \y.vy, the |)eople of the Cape peninsula — with 
 few exceptions — bou.id themselves together under a 
 pledge ?iol t( "jpply anything whittever to persons 
 who h.'i<l dc;iiin^»s with her, nor to have any intercourse 
 wjtii thcirj. 
 
 i(P. 
 
!TH. 
 
 aal river, 
 m. The 
 d, and a 
 n Hlocm- 
 who liad 
 from the 
 ;hmcn, so 
 lopulation 
 II affected 
 y opposed 
 
 >e Colony 
 
 :cd which 
 
 til Africa. 
 
 try of the 
 
 cnt. The 
 
 o what a 
 
 L dreadful 
 
 ty cvery- 
 
 i class of 
 
 necessity 
 
 lcstro)'ed 
 
 witii the 
 
 he fit to 
 
 measure 
 
 ind when 
 
 irrived in 
 
 ula — with 
 
 under a 
 
 ) persons 
 
 Uerct.uuse 
 
 ANTI-CONVICT AGITATION. 
 
 251 
 
 This pledge was so strictly carried out that not a 
 particle of food could be obtained for the convicts, 
 and it was with much difficulty that supplies for the 
 troops in garrison were procured. Any one who 
 opposed the popular will in the matter did so on 
 peril of being assaulted and having his property 
 destroyed. Sir Harry Smith was very much ojjposed 
 to the scheme of making the country a convict 
 settlement, but he was obliged to carry out the 
 instructions which he received from ICngland, and 
 so he could not send the ship away, though the 
 colonists were very anxious that he should. 
 
 Vi\'C months the Ncptiiuc lay at anchor in Simon's 
 Hay. Her crew and the convicts on board coukl get 
 nothing to cat but provisions out of shijjs of war. 
 If the plague had been in her she could not have been 
 more carefull)' avoided. All this time the greatest 
 excitement prevailed in the colony, and great caution 
 had to be used by the government to prevent a 
 collision with the people. At length, to the joy of 
 every one, instructions were received from ICngland 
 that the convicts should proceed to Tasmania, as 
 the secretary of state had changed his mind, owing 
 to the numerous petitions of the colonist.s. 
 
 The anti-convict agitation had hardly died out 
 when the country became involved again in war with 
 the Kosa and Tembu tribes. The principal chiefs of 
 these people had never regards 1 the cessation of 
 hostilities at the close of 1S47 as an}'thing but a truce, 
 though they were crafty enough to conceal their views 
 froin evc!! those lCur(»peans who were most intimately 
 acquainted with them, and it was only at a later date 
 
 
 III 
 
 •i 
 
m 
 
 252 ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMITH. 
 
 that this bcceimc known. The common people were 
 ready to support their chiefs with their lives as well 
 as their substance, and, from their point of view, they 
 had at least one very serious t^fiexance against the 
 Kuropean authorities. 
 
 The liantu believe most implicitl)' that diseases 
 and disasters of all kinds are caused by wizards and 
 witches, and fn ever)' clan there is a reco«(niscd witch- 
 fnuler who, whenever any trouble occurs, t^oes throu«;h 
 certain forms called " smelling out," ;i!k1 then points to 
 an individual whom he pronounces ^uiit)' of having 
 caused ii. The individual thus accuseil is, without 
 further investij^atioii, subjected to torture of ilifferent 
 kinds, often resulting in death, and may consit.er 
 himself fortunate if he escapes with a few scars aiul 
 the loss of all his property. The Hritish authorities 
 sup|)ressed the practice of "smellin^j out," and 
 punished the witchfinders. They believed that by so 
 doin^ they were conferring a benefit upon the ))cople, 
 who would be (jrateful for relief from the dan^^er ol 
 bein^^ despoiled and tortured without cause or ^aiilt. 
 Hut t'.e people supposed to be relieved looked at the 
 mattci in a different lij^dU. The I'lnijlish, the)- said, 
 are ^ivin^ us over to the wizards and witches to do as 
 they like with us. Their view was what ours v.'ould 
 be if a government were to suppress punishmetit for 
 murder and imprison the constables who arrested a 
 man for committing' it. 
 
 Onl)' a slii^lU pretext was therefore needed for a 
 renewal of the war, and any accident niii^dit have 
 precipitated it, but, as it happened, the frontier 
 colonists received timely warning of what was 
 
 
77/. 
 
 
 )plo were 
 
 
 s as well 
 
 
 icw, they 
 
 
 aiiist the 
 
 
 diseases 
 ards and 
 ed witch- 
 s throii^di 
 points to 
 Df having 
 i, without 
 ' different 
 consider 
 scars and 
 Liithoritics 
 ut," and 
 hat by so 
 le people, 
 an^er ot 
 or \^u\h. 
 ed at the 
 ic)' said, 
 to do as 
 rs would 
 tnent for 
 nested a 
 
 cd for a 
 jht have 
 fr»»nticr 
 hat w as 
 
 EIGHT 1 1 KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 253 
 
 coming. It became known that a man named 
 Umlaiijcni, who was credited by his people with 
 great magical knowledge, was issuing charms which 
 he asserted would turn bullets fired at their wearers 
 into water, and the Kosa warriors were repairing to 
 him in hundreds at a time to procure them. 
 
 On receiving a reptjrt to this effect, Sir Harry Sinith 
 proceeded to King-W'illiamstown, and convened a 
 meeting of all the chiefs in British Kaffraria, in order 
 to discuss matters with them. Sandile, the most 
 powerful among them, did not ap[)ear. Still, as the 
 others made no complaints of any kind, and seemetl 
 to be prosperous and happ)', the go\ rnor thought 
 they could not have war in their minds. He returned 
 to C'apetown, but reports follcnved him that there 
 would surely be a sjjeedy outbreak. 
 
 With all the soldiers that could be mustered, 
 Sir Ilarr)' was .soon back in King-W'illiamstown, and 
 as Sandile was kntnvn to be in one of the forests at 
 the .sources of the Keiskama, a body of troops v.as 
 .sent to arrest him. On the wa)' the trooi)s were 
 attacked in the lioomah pass b)- thousands of Ko.sas, 
 and lost twent)'-three men killed and as many wounded 
 in fighting their wa)' through. A few hours later in 
 another part of the country a patrol of fifteen soldi jrs 
 was met by some of Santlile's people, and all were 
 put to death. 
 
 On the following morning — Christmas 1S50, ihrt.e 
 villages named Auckland, W'oburn, and Johannesburg, 
 clo.se to the colonial side of the bortler, were surprised 
 by Kosas, when fort)'-six men were murderetl in cold 
 blood, and the hou.ses were burned to the ground. 
 
 i 
 
jl 
 
 1 
 
 254 ADMINISTRATION OF SIR HARRY SMITH. 
 
 Ill this manner the cij^hth Kaffir war commenced, 
 and it was the longest and most costly in blood and 
 treasure that the Cai)e Colony has ever been engaged 
 in. The frontier districts were ravaged once more, 
 and the burghers of all parts of the country were 
 obliged to leave their homes and take up arms. The 
 Kosas were joined by a great part of the Tembu tribe 
 and by several hundreds of Hottentots from the 
 settlement at the Kat river and other places. Kven 
 some of the soldiers of the Hottentot regiment 
 deserted and went over to them, as the colonists had 
 always feared would some day happen. 
 
 A very sad event was the loss of the transport 
 steamship BirkenJiead^ which was sent from ICngland 
 with troops to assist in the war. She was proceeding 
 to Algoa Bay when in the middle of the night she 
 .■itruck on a reef running out from IJanger Point. 
 The women, children, and sick people were put into 
 the boats, while the .soldiers w"fe drawn up on the 
 deck as on a parade ground. The sea was swarming 
 with sharks, the shore was so far distant that the 
 strongest swimmer could not hope to reach it, and 
 the wreck was breaking up fast. Yet those brave 
 men stood calmly there till the boats with the help- 
 less ones got away. Then, just as the ship fell to 
 pieces and sank, they leaped into the sea, and a few, 
 by clinging to floating wreckage, got to land. Four 
 hundred perished. 
 
 There had never before been so strong a force in 
 South Africa as there was in Kaffraria at this time. 
 Vv>t more than two years the soldiers, burghers, and 
 auxiliaries of variou.s kinds were employed against 
 
Til. 
 
 EIGHTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 255 
 
 nmenccd, 
 loocl and 
 
 engaged 
 cc more, 
 itry were 
 Tis. The 
 nbu tribe 
 from the 
 !s. l^^vcn 
 
 regiment 
 nists had 
 
 transport 
 
 ICngland 
 rocceding 
 night she 
 er Point. 
 
 put into 
 p on the 
 swarming 
 
 that the 
 h it, and 
 ).sc brave 
 the help- 
 ip fell to 
 
 nd a few, 
 id. Four 
 
 L force in 
 his time, 
 hers, and 
 
 d against 
 
 an enemy that could not be brought to a decisive 
 action, but that seemed to go from one forest to 
 another with the facility of birds, and that carried 
 on war by doubling u[)on pursuers, cutting off 
 stragglers, and seizing everything that was not 
 strongly guarded. At length, however, the food of 
 the hostile clans was completely exhausted, and tlie 
 chiefs then asked for peace, which was gladly granted. 
 
 It was not Sir Harry Smith's fault, but his mis- 
 fortune, that the war had taken place. It would 
 have been beyond the power of any man to have 
 staved it off permanently, for even the .settlement 
 made at its close, as will hereafter be seen, was only 
 regarded by the Kosas as a truce. Hut, following 
 the invariable custom in such cases, the secretary 
 of state recalled the governor. Sir George Cath- 
 cart, who was sent out as his successor, took over 
 the duty on the 3i.st of March 1S53, and thereafter 
 directed operations in person until the conclusion of 
 peace. 
 
 He located the Tembus — who were really subdued 
 — in the district that is now called Glen Grey, and 
 gave much of the remainder of the land they had 
 occupied for the last cjuartcr of a century to colonists 
 to be held under military tenure. It was for a time 
 called North Victoria, but subsequently became 
 known as the th'strict of Oueenstown, from the 
 neat and flourishing village that was built near its 
 centre. The Fingos, who had fought well on the 
 Kuropean side, received the best of the land along 
 the foot of the Amatola mountains and some ex- 
 tensive tracts forfeited by the Tembus. The in- 
 
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 SETTLEMENT OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 257 
 
 dependent section of the Kosa tribe, under the chief 
 Kreli, was left in possession of the territory between 
 the IJashee and the Kei ; and the western clans of 
 this tribe, who had been British subjects since 1847, 
 had all the open ground from the Kei to the 
 Keiskama assigned to them. 
 
 The government of British Kaffraria was re- 
 established with a strong and reliable force to 
 support it. Before the war there had been a large 
 body of Kaffir police, but at the commencement of 
 hostilities the men composing it had gone over to 
 their own people. Their place was now taken by 
 a corps composed chiefly of young colonists, with a 
 few Fingos attached to it as detectives. The men, 
 who were armed with the best weapons, were 
 mounted, and proved a most useful body for either 
 military or police purposes. Several regiments of 
 British troops were also stationed in the province. 
 
 !, t 
 
 
 18 
 
{■■It. 
 
 '.I 
 
 IV'W 
 
 XXI. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY GREAT BRITAIN OF THE 
 INDEPENDENCE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN RE- 
 PUBLIC, AND ABANDONMENT OF THE ORANGE 
 RIVER SOVEREIGNTY. 
 
 i 
 
 
 m 
 
 ?)■; 
 
 I :i 
 
 :!iiii 
 
 For a short time after the restoration of British 
 rule in the Orange River Sovereignty, everything 
 went on smoothly, and the people appeared to be 
 prosperous. But this satisfactory state of affairs did 
 not continue long. Moshesh was unwilling that the 
 growth of his power should be restricted, and as 
 he did not wish openly to break with the British 
 government, he endeavoured secretly to foment 
 such disturbances as would destroy the arrange- 
 ments then existing. He — a self-made Bantu ruler 
 — cannot be blamed for doing this ; but what can 
 be said of the treaty system which enabled him to 
 build up sufficient power to do it? 
 
 It was easy for him to bring about a collision 
 between one of his vassal captains and the chief 
 Sikonyela, while all the time he was professing to 
 be an advocate of peace and apparently making 
 sacrifices to secure it. Presently other clans became 
 
 388 
 
FIRST BASUTO WAR. 
 
 259 
 
 OF THE 
 [<ICAN RE- 
 E ORANGE 
 
 of British 
 everything 
 ared to be 
 
 affairs did 
 g that the 
 d, and as 
 
 he British 
 to foment 
 2 arrange- 
 3antu ruler 
 what can 
 
 ed him to 
 
 a collision 
 the chief 
 ofessing to 
 \y making 
 ms became 
 
 involved in the quarrel, and Major Warden, who had 
 done all that was possible to restore order by advice 
 and expostulation, then tried to quell the disturbance 
 by force. 
 
 This course of action was regarded by the Euro- 
 peans in the Sovereignty as a mistake. They main- 
 tained that the government ought not to meddle 
 with matters affecting only liantu clans, as it had 
 no spare strength to squander, and should reserve 
 its interference for occasions when Europeans were 
 threatened with damage. But Sir Harry Smith 
 thought differently. He had no idea that the 
 Basuto power was as great as it afterwards proved 
 to be, nor indeed had any other European in South 
 Africa. He was of opinion that by adding the 
 English soldiers at Bloemfontein and an equal 
 number of farmers to any side in a quarrel in the 
 Sovereignty, he could turn the scale against the 
 other side. And so it was by his instructions that 
 Major Warden attempted to punish the disturbers 
 of the peace. 
 
 With one hundred and sixty-two soldiers, one 
 hundred and twenty farmers, and from a thousand 
 to fifteen hundred blacks, the major marched against 
 Molitsane, the vassal of Moshesh who was held to 
 be the cause of the disturbance, and at Viervoet was 
 drawn into a trap and suffered a crushing defeat. 
 No one was more surprised than Moshesh himself 
 at the issue of the battle, for he had not believed 
 that the troops and farmers under Major Warden's 
 command could have been driven from the field 
 so easily. He at once threw off the mask he had 
 
 II 
 
 
 #1 
 
i 
 
 !. I 
 
 V 
 
 2G0 INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 
 
 hitherto worn, and hiid aside his assumed respect 
 for British authority. 
 
 It has before been stated that the majority of the 
 farmers in the Sovereignty were well affected towards 
 England, but a strong minority were at heart opposed 
 to English rule, though up to this time not inclined 
 to offer open resistance. These last were hardly less 
 surprised than Moshesh at the decisive success of 
 the Basuto in the battle of Viervoet. They knew 
 that no aid could be sent to Major Warden from 
 the Cape Colony, which was then involved in a war 
 of its own, and so, as a matter of self-protection, 
 they set aside their duty to the Sovereignty govern- 
 ment and entered into an engagement with Moshesh. 
 They promised not to take part in hostilities against 
 him, and he engaged not to allow his people to 
 molest them. On both sides this agreement was 
 faithfully kept. 
 
 The Europeans who were loyal to the British 
 government, on the coritrary, were sought out by 
 bands of Basuto and plundered mercilessly. The 
 clans along the Caledon were dispersed, and were 
 reduced to great distress. Major Warden was 
 perfectly helpless, for without a strong military force 
 order cc.uid not be restored, and he had only men 
 enough to guard the fort in Bloemfontein. 
 
 Some of the farmers now sent a request to Com- 
 mandant Pretorius to come and devise some plan 
 to put an end to the prevailing anarchy, and 
 Moshesh joined in the invitation. Since the battle 
 of Boomplaats Pretorius had been living north of 
 the Vaal, with a reward of ^2,000 for his apprehen- 
 
KPUBLIC. 
 
 I respect 
 
 ty of the 
 1 towards 
 : opposed 
 : inclined 
 irdly less 
 uccess of 
 icy knew 
 Jen fronfi 
 in a war 
 rotection, 
 y govern- 
 Moshesh. 
 2s aijainst 
 people to 
 nent was 
 
 British 
 t out by 
 ly. The 
 and were 
 den was 
 ary force 
 3nly men 
 
 to Com- 
 )nie plan 
 chy, and 
 :he battle 
 
 north of 
 ipprehen- 
 
 THE SAND RIVER CONVENTION. 
 
 261 
 
 I 
 
 sion hanging over his head all the time. When 
 urged to interfere in matters in the Sovereignty, he 
 wrote to Major Warden announcing his intention 
 to do so, but intimating that he would prefer to 
 make a treaty of peace with the British govern- 
 ment, in which the independence of his adherents 
 should be acknowledged. Major Warden hereupon 
 reported to Sir Harry Smith that the fate of the 
 Sovereignty depended upon the movements of a 
 proscribed man. He had been instructed to act 
 strictly on the defensive until troops could be 
 spared from the Kaffir war to aid hiin, but if Pre- 
 torius and the emigrants north of the Vaal united 
 with the Europeans who ignored his authority and 
 with Moshesh, he would be entirely at their mercy. 
 Under these circumstances the governor decided 
 to acknowledge the independence of the Transvaal 
 emigrants, as the imperial ministers had announced 
 their determination not to add another square inch 
 of ground in South Africa to the queen's dominions, 
 and advantages which could be obtained by a con- 
 vention were not to be had in any other way. Two 
 assistant commissioners — Major Hogg and Mr. Owen 
 — were therefore sent to make the necessary arrange- 
 ments with Commandant Pretorius and a number 
 of delegates from the Transvaal people. The con- 
 ference took place on a farm in the Sovereignt)', and 
 there, on the 17th of January 1852, a document — 
 known ever since as the Sand River convention — 
 was signed, in which the J^ritish government 
 guaranteed to the emigrants north of the Vaal the 
 
 their own affairs without inter- 
 
 right 
 
 to manage 
 
 \ 
 
262 INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 
 
 m 
 
 j'li 
 
 1 ; 
 
 la "i ■ 
 
 
 1 T • i' ■ 
 
 ( 
 
 n 
 
 ft 
 
 ft 
 
 n! i 
 
 |t|i; 
 
 
 fcrcnce. The convention was confirmed by the 
 secretary of state for the colonies, and was ratified 
 by the volksraad, so that thereafter the South 
 African Repubh'c — as the country was named — had 
 a lej^al as well as an actual existence in the eyes 
 of the l^ritish government. 
 
 The Sovereignty was thus preserved from inter- 
 ference by Mr. Prctorius, and its government became 
 somewhat stronger than before, because a good man-- 
 of those who had ignored Major Warden moved over 
 the Vaal. But Moshesh's people still continued to 
 plunder and harass the loyal farmers, and the clans 
 that had opposed him remained in great distress. 
 
 This was the state of matters until Sir George 
 Cathcart was' able to spare a strong body of troops 
 from British Kaffraria, with which he marched north- 
 ward to restore order. He reached Platberg on the 
 Caledon with a splendidly equipped force, consisting 
 of nearly two thousand infantry, five hundred cavalry, 
 and some artillerymen with two field-guns, hoping 
 that the mere presence of such a body of »:iOops 
 would enable him to settle everything to his satis- 
 faction, without having recourse to hostilities. From 
 Platberg, after a minute investigation of affairs, he 
 sent an ultimatum to Moshesh, demanding that 
 chiefs compliance with certain conditions and the 
 delivery within three da_^'s of ten thousand head of 
 horned cattle and one thousand horses, as compensa- 
 tion for the robberies committed by the Basuto people. 
 
 Moshesh personally was willing to accede to the 
 high commissioner's terms, for he dreaded a struggle 
 with the Ikitish power now that the Tembus had 
 
1 PUBLIC. 
 
 by the 
 > ratified 
 
 2 South 
 icd — had 
 the c)cs 
 
 m intcr- 
 ; became 
 od man-' 
 ived over 
 inued to 
 :hc clans 
 li stress. 
 ■ George 
 Df troops 
 sd north- 
 rg on the 
 onsisting 
 I cavahy, 
 ;, hoping 
 
 )f tiOOpS 
 
 liis satis- 
 From 
 
 ffairs, he 
 ng that 
 and the 
 head of 
 
 )mpensa- 
 
 :o people. 
 
 e to the 
 struggle 
 
 ibus had 
 
 CONDITION OF THE BASUTO TRIBE. 
 
 263 
 
 been subdued, the Kosas were ceasing to fight, and 
 the Transvaal farmers were pacified. He knew that 
 the army at Platberr, was only a small portion of 
 the force at Sir George Cathcart's disposal, and he 
 was in that condition that any serious reverse might 
 ruin him. The great tribe that called him master 
 was composed of the fragments of many others that 
 had not yet thoroughly blended, and disaster would 
 cause its disintegration. There were numerous indi- 
 viduals in it of higher rank by birth than he, so that 
 elements of discord were present, though they did 
 not show themselves in times of prosperity. In 
 short, to save his dynasty it was necessary for 
 Moshesh to avoid defeat. 
 
 But the Basuto people preferred a trial of strength 
 to the surrender of so many cattle and horses as the 
 high commissioner demanded, and the great chief 
 could not afford to act in opposition to their wishes, 
 as a ruler by hereditary right could have done. The 
 result was a kind of compromise. Moshesh sent in 
 three thousand five hundred head of cattle, with a 
 faint hope that they would be accepted as sufficient, 
 and then assembled his warriors at Thaba Bosigo to 
 resist the British army if it should advance. 
 
 The country of the Basuto is an exceedingly 
 difficult one to penetrate. It is the Switzerland of 
 Soath Africa. Resting on the interior plateau of the 
 continent, five thousand feet above sea level, it rises 
 like a gigantic billow in successive waves of moun- 
 tains until the summit of the Drakensberg is reached, 
 the highest peaks of which are over eleven thousand 
 fcQt above the ocean. The lower valleys are remark- 
 
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 BATTLE OF HERE A. 
 
 265 
 
 ably fci tile, so that tlie country can support a larf:jc 
 population, thou<(h no other use is made of the 
 higher lands than to pasture cattle in summer. 
 There are many hills with flat tops and precifjitous 
 sides that can easily be defended against an enem}', 
 and of all these Thaba Hosigo, the seat of Moshesh's 
 government, is the strongest. 
 
 On the 20th of December 1S52 Sir George Cath- 
 cart crossed the Caledon from IMatberg, and entered 
 Basutoland,\vith the intention of occupying Moshesh's 
 mountain. He made the great mistake of under- 
 estimating the strength and courage of his op[)onent, 
 and not giving him any credit for abilit)- as a strate- 
 gist. His officers took no thought about the matter, 
 but looked upon their occupation of Thaba liosigo as 
 a certainty, and thi.ir march as a pleasant excursion. 
 The army entered the Basuto territory in three 
 divisions. 
 
 By a simple stratagem — that of exposing an 
 immense herd of cattle in a position on the Berea 
 mountain where their capture jared easy — one of 
 the British divisions was draw o an ambush, and 
 
 after suffering considerable loss was obliged to retreat 
 to the camp at Platberg. It drove before it, however, 
 some four thousand horned cattle, with a few horses 
 and sheep, which the enemy was unable to recover. 
 
 Another of the divisions, under Sir George Cath- 
 cart in person, suddenly found itself face to face with 
 about six thousand ]^asuto horsemen armed with 
 European weapons, and though the discipline of the 
 soldiers enabled them to keep the untrained mass 
 from breaking their ranks, no further advance was 
 
 If 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 
 
 <r 11 
 
266 
 
 WISE ACTION OF MOSIIESII. 
 
 
 now thought of. A little before dusk the third 
 division managed to join the commander-in-chief, 
 and a defensible position among rocks was then 
 taken for the night. At daj'break next morning the 
 army commenced its retreat to the camp at Platberg. 
 It had lost thirty-seven men killed, fifteen wounded, 
 and one prisoner, who was murdered by his captors. 
 
 Though he had gained such a success, the wise 
 Basuto chief's first thought after the battle was to 
 obtain peace. He sent for the reverend Mr. Casalis, 
 one of his missionaries, and after consulting with him, 
 the most politic document that has ever been penned 
 in South Africa was written. It was as follows : — 
 
 " I 
 
 
 " TlIABA BOSICJO, 
 
 ''Midnight. 2Ctk December ^ 1852. 
 " Your Excellency, — This day you have fought 
 against my people, and taken much cattle. As the 
 object for which you have come is to have a com- 
 pensation for Boers, I beg you will be satisfied with 
 what you have taken. I entreat peace from you — 
 you have chastised — let it be enough, I pray you ; 
 and let me be no longer considered an enemy to the 
 Queen. I will try all I can to keep my people in 
 order in the future. 
 
 " Your humble servant, 
 
 " MOSHESH." 
 
 It was some time before a messenger could be 
 found who would venture near the English sentries, 
 and when at length one left Thaba Bosigo with a flag 
 of truce, Sir George Cathcart was retiring to his camp 
 
 :^i iii!! 
 
:he third 
 *-in-chief, 
 vas then 
 ning the 
 Platberj^. 
 vvoundecl, 
 captors, 
 the wise 
 c was to 
 ■. Casalis, 
 ^vith him, 
 n penned 
 )\vs : — 
 
 ', 1852. 
 vc fought 
 As the 
 2 a com- 
 fied with 
 m you — 
 ay you ; 
 \y to the 
 Dcople in 
 
 lESII." 
 
 could be 
 sentries, 
 ith a flag 
 lis camp 
 
 ARRIVAL OF SIR GEORGF. CLERK. 
 
 267 
 
 at riatberg. The messenger followed and delivered 
 the letter. 
 
 The luiglish general, on his part, was not less 
 anxious for peace. In his opinion there was ever)-- 
 thing to lose in a war with a tribe so strong as he 
 had found the l^asuto to be, and so he eagerly availed 
 himself of the opening for escape from a grave diffi- 
 culty which Moshesh's letter afforded. I le announced 
 that he was satisfied with the number of cattle cap- 
 tured, that he considered past obligations fulfilled, 
 and that he would at once retire. There was much 
 murmuring in the English camp when this announce- 
 ment was made, but the general shut his ears to it 
 all, and before the end of the month the army reached 
 the Orange on its return march. 
 
 For some time the imperial government had been 
 undecided whether to retain the Sovereignty as a 
 Ikitish possession or not, but as soon as intelligence 
 of the engagement with the Basuto reached luigland 
 a decision was formed. The next mail brought a 
 despatch from the secretary of state for the colonies 
 that the territory was to be abandoned. 
 
 To carry this resolution into effect, Sir George 
 Clerk was sent out as special commissioner. He 
 called upon the European inhabitants to elect a body 
 of representatives to take over the government ; but 
 when the representatives assembled, they objected in 
 the strongest terms to be abandoned by Great Britain, 
 for even while they were debating, Moshesh was 
 crushing Sikonyela and another of his opponents, 
 and adding their territory to his own. In effect, the 
 representative assembly said to Sir George Clerk that 
 
■K 
 
 I'i 
 
 
 N 
 
 il'lr 
 
 ll I li: 
 
 268 ABANDONMENT OF THE SOVEREIGNTY. 
 
 they held England in honour bound to reduce the 
 great barbaric power she had done so much to build 
 up. When that was done, they would not need 
 military assistance, and would be prepared to take 
 over the government of the country, though they 
 wished to remain permanently connected with the 
 British empire. The special commissioner, however, 
 was prevented by his instructions from paying any 
 attention to language of this kind, and was obliged 
 to term those who used it " obstructionists." The 
 assembly then sent two delegates to England to 
 implore the queen's government and the parliament 
 not to abandon them, but those gentlemen met with 
 no success in their mission. 
 
 Sir George Clerk now encouraged the remnant of 
 the party that was at heart opposed to British rule to 
 assert itself openly. With his concurrence, one of 
 its ablest leaders returned from beyond the Vaal, 
 and went about the country addressing the people 
 and arguing that connection with England meant 
 nothing but restraint, for no protection whatever was 
 received. In the special commissioner's phraseology, 
 Mr. Stander and those of his way of thinking, who 
 used language to that effect, were " well-disposed." 
 
 This party elected a body of delegates, who met 
 in Bloemfontein, and opened negotiations with Sir 
 George Clerk. The " obstructionist " assembly pro- 
 tested, and was thereupon dissolved by the special 
 commissioner, when most of its members and sup- 
 porters, finding resistance to the will of the British 
 government useless, went over to the "well-disposed" 
 side, and tried to get as good terms as possible. 
 
NTY. 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA AFTER 1854. 
 
 269 
 
 reduce the 
 h to build 
 not need 
 ed to take 
 lough they 
 i with the 
 r, however, 
 )aying any 
 'as obhged 
 ists." The 
 England to 
 parliament 
 n met with 
 
 Gold was freely used to suppress complaints — it was 
 termed part compensation for losses, — and nothing 
 that was possible to be done was neglected to make 
 the abandonment acceptable to the people generally. 
 The result was that on the 23rd of February 1854 a 
 convention was signed at Bloemfontein by Sir George 
 Clerk and the members of the ''well-disposed" 
 assembly, by which the government of the territory 
 previously termed the Orange River Sovereignty, 
 thereafter the Orange Free State, was transferred, 
 and its future independence was guaranteed. 
 
 There were now in South Africa five distinct 
 European governments, namely of — 
 
 •emnant of 
 ;ish rule to 
 ice, one of 
 
 the Vaal, 
 the people 
 md meant 
 atever was 
 iraseology, 
 iking, who 
 jposed." 
 , who met 
 s with Sir 
 mbly pro- 
 he special 
 
 and sup- 
 he J^ritish 
 -disposed" 
 possible. 
 
 1. The Cape Colony, 
 
 2. Natal, 
 
 3. British Kaffraria, 
 
 4. The South African Republic, 
 
 5. The Orange Free State. 
 
 British 
 Possessions. 
 
 Independent 
 Republics. 
 
 In 1854 the Cape Colony comprised all the land 
 between the Orange river on the north, the Indian 
 ocean on the south, the Atlantic ocean on the west, 
 and British Kaffraria and the rivers Indwe and Tees 
 on the cast. 
 
 Natal comprised the territory between the Buffalo 
 and Tugela rivers on the north-east, the Umzimkulu 
 river on the south-east, the Kathlamba mountains or 
 Drakensberg on the west, and the Indian ocean on 
 the east. 
 
 British Kaffraria comprised the territory between 
 the rivers Klipplaats, Tyumie, and Keiskama on the 
 
270 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA AFTER 1854. 
 
 i 4 i 
 
 I-': ' 
 
 west, the river Kei from the junction of the Klip- 
 plaats to the sea on the north-east, and the Indian 
 ocean on the south-east. 
 
 The boundaries of the South African RepubHc 
 were undefined, but, roughly speaking, they were the 
 Limpopo river on the north, the Vaal river and a Hne 
 a Httle above Kuruman on the south, the Kalahari 
 desert on the west, and the mountainous country 
 corresponding with the Drakensberg on the east. 
 
 The Orange Free State comprised the territory 
 between the Vaal river, the Orange river, and the 
 Drakensberg, except Basutoland and the reserves set 
 apart for coloured people. 
 
 ;!r! 
 
 Ilii 
 
:he Klip- 
 le Indian 
 
 Republic 
 
 were the 
 
 md a line 
 
 Kalahari 
 ; country 
 le east. 
 
 territory 
 , and the 
 serves set 
 
 XXII. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 The story of the Cape Colony from this time 
 onward is very different from that of the preceding 
 period. Arbitrary rule is henceforth a thing of the 
 past, and a constitution of a liberal nature, granted 
 by Great Britain, gradually removes the memory of 
 old grievances, and creates a strong feeling oC loyalty 
 to the throne and the empire in all sections of the 
 civilised inhabitants. 
 
 The imperial authorities having resolved to confer 
 upon the Cape people the privilege of parliamentary 
 institutions, the details were referred for arrangement 
 to the legislative council, and when everything was 
 settled, on the nth of March 1853 the constitution 
 was promulgated by an order in council. By it two 
 chambers — termed the legislative council and the 
 house of assembly — were created, both of which 
 are elective. The upper chamber for some years 
 consisted of fifteen members, but in course of time 
 this number was increased to twenty-two, beside the 
 chief justice as president. For the purpose of elect- 
 ing the members, the colony was divided into two 
 
 371 
 
272 THE CONSriTUriON OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Vr 
 
 
 i1 
 
 
 I 
 
 'I 
 
 I 1' 
 ii 
 
 .);■ 
 
 provinces, more recently into eight circles. The 
 members hold their seats for seven years. The 
 house of assembly on its creation consisted of forty- 
 six members, elected by twenty-two divisions, Cape- 
 town having two more representatives than any of 
 the others. It now consists of seventy-six members, 
 elected by thirty-seven divisions, and holding their 
 seats for five years. Parliament is summoned to meet 
 by the governor, but a period of twelve months must 
 not elapse between the sessions. 
 
 The right to vote for members of both chambers 
 was conferred upon every male British subject over 
 twenty-one years of age, who occupied a house or 
 land worth £2$, or was in receipt of a salary of £2$ 
 a year with board and lodging or ;^5o without. 
 There was no distinction as regards race, or colour, 
 or religion, or manner of living. In course of time, 
 however, it was found expedient to alter these qualifi- 
 cations, as in the Cape Colony there is a large class 
 of people unable to comprehend the nature of repre- 
 sentative institutions, and yet in possession of sufficient 
 property to bring them within one of the conditions 
 specified above. In 1892 the right to vote was re- 
 stricted to such adult male subjects as are able to 
 sign their names and write down their addresses and 
 employment, and who either occupy property worth 
 £ySy o^ receive ^50 a year as salary or wages. 
 
 Parliament met for the first time in June 1854. 
 Since that date no law can be made without the 
 approval of both houses and the sanction of the 
 governor. The right is reserved to the queen to 
 disallow any law so made within two years of its 
 
 ii I 
 
LONY. 
 
 s. The 
 ■s. The 
 of forty- 
 is, Cape- 
 1 any of 
 nembcrs, 
 ng their 
 i to meet 
 ths must 
 
 hambers 
 ect over 
 liouse or 
 ^ of ^25 
 without, 
 r colour, 
 of time, 
 quaUfi- 
 ge class 
 )f repre- 
 ufficient 
 nditions 
 was re- 
 able to 
 ;ses and 
 y worth 
 
 e 1854. 
 out the 
 of the 
 ueen to 
 s of its 
 
 THE CAPE PARLIAMENT 
 
 273 
 
 reaching England, but in practice this right is very 
 rarely used. The ordinary yearly sessions of the 
 parliament usually last about three months, from 
 early in June to the end of August. 
 
 Naturally the colonists were gratified with the 
 change from arbitrary to representative government, 
 
 PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CAPETOWN. 
 
 but there was still much to wish for. The officials 
 of highest rank, who formed the executive council 
 and were therefore the governor's advisers, continued 
 to be sent out from England, and held their appoint- 
 ments during the pleasure of the secretary of state 
 for the colonies, no matter whether parliament liked 
 
 19 
 
274 ^^^^ CONSTITUTION OF THE CAPE CCr.ONY. 
 
 .11. :i 
 
 ■j !.J : 
 
 them or not. They framed all government bill 3, and 
 no measure involving the expenditure of money 
 could be brought before the house of assembly 
 unless introduced by them. They possessed the 
 right of discussion, though not of voting, in both 
 chambers. 
 
 This condition of things lasted eighteen years. In 
 1872 responsible government was introduced, and 
 the ministers — as the high officials arc termed — have 
 since that time been the leaders of the party in 
 parliament that can command the largest number 
 of votes in support of their measures. They are the 
 colonial secretary, the treasurer, the attorney-general, 
 the commissioner of public works, and the secretary 
 for agriculture. There is also the premier, or prime 
 minister, who may hold any of these appointments, 
 or none of them ; but who, in any case, has all 
 matters connected with the aboriginal races directly 
 under his care. When any important measure, in- 
 troduced by the government, fails to secure the 
 support of a majority of the members of parliament, 
 the ministers must resign, and the leader of the 
 opposition is entrusted by the governor with the 
 task of forming a new cabinet. 
 
 In practice this system gives to the men who are 
 chosen by the people the power of making and 
 altering laws, of levying taxes and controlling the 
 manner of using the public money, and of creating 
 and doing away with offices. But it is a system 
 adapted only for races of high civilisation. The 
 majority of the day possesses supreme power, and if 
 it came to consist of men whose constituents were 
 
 ■ t\- 
 
\rONY. 
 
 bill 3, and 
 
 money 
 
 assembly 
 
 Sbcd the 
 
 in both 
 
 ^ars. In 
 :ed, and 
 id — have 
 party in 
 
 number 
 r are the 
 -general, 
 secretary 
 Dr prime 
 ntments, 
 
 has all 
 
 directly 
 sure, in- 
 :ure the 
 'liament, 
 
 of the 
 v^ith the 
 
 who are 
 ing and 
 ling the 
 creating 
 system 
 1. The 
 r, and if 
 its were 
 
 THE DUTCH LANGUAGE. 
 
 275 
 
 
 incapable of acting with moderation, the minority 
 could be more grievously oppressed than under the 
 purest autocratic rule. There are many thinking 
 people in the colony who regard the franchise as still 
 too low for perfect safety, with the existing form of 
 governm.ent and the political equality of the various 
 races that compose the population. 
 
 Until 1882 the English language only could be 
 used in debate in parliament, just as in the pro- 
 ceedings of courts of justice or in transactions in 
 the public offices. This was decidedly unfair, for 
 Dutch is habitually spoken by fully three-fifths of 
 the white people in the colony, and by a still larger 
 proportion of the coloured inhabitants, exclusive of 
 Bantu. It will be remembered that its suppression 
 as the official language was one of the chief grievances 
 that rankled in the breasts of the old colonists. The 
 parliament could not be said in truth to represent the 
 people as long as the language of the majority was pro- 
 scribed, and in point of fact comparatively few of the 
 old stock sought admission into it. It was some time 
 before they realised the full significance of responsible 
 government, but when they did, one of their first acts 
 was to secure the same rights for their own tongue as 
 for the English. Either can now be used in parlia- 
 ment, courts of law, and public offices, at the 
 choice of the speaker, and no one is admitted into 
 the ordinary branches of the civil service without a 
 perfect knowledge of both. 
 
 It would be incorrect to say that this measure has 
 raised the tone of debate in parliament or improved 
 the administration of justice in the slightest degree. 
 
: i ' 
 
 276 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 but it certainly has made the parliament more truly 
 representative of the people, and it has removed a 
 serious obstacle to the perfect blending of the colonists 
 of Dutch and British blood, which is now happily 
 in rapid progress. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 
 
 Before 1857 there were hardly any Bantu in the 
 Cape Colony except the Fingos who had been in- 
 troduced by Sir Benjamin D'Urban and the Tembus 
 of Glen Grey, while British Kaffraria — the territory 
 between the Keiskama and the Kei — had very few 
 white inhabitants except soldiers, as the land there 
 was reserved for the section of the Kosa tribe that 
 was under English rule. After that date many 
 thousands of Kosas were scattered over the country 
 as far west as Port Elizabeth, and a population of 
 European blood occupied a considerable portion of 
 the land eastward to the Kei. This change in the 
 position of the two races was caused by an event 
 more astounding than anything in the pages of the 
 wildest romance. 
 
 The chiefs had accepted the terms imposed upon 
 them at the close of the last war, but resolved to 
 renew the struggle with the white people as soon 
 as circumstances would permit it. Shortly after the 
 conclusion of peace. Sir George Cathcart was suc- 
 ceeded as governor and high commissioner by Sir 
 
 377 
 
 
 in 
 
i 
 
 I: 
 
 II 
 
 M 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 t/i 
 
 »^ 
 
 < 
 
 1-4 
 
 ) 
 
 o 
 
 < 
 H 
 
 O 
 
 K 
 
 >< 
 u 
 
 O 
 w 
 
POLICY 01' SIR GEORGE GREY 
 
 279 
 
 >5 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 ■A 
 
 < 
 
 o 
 
 < 
 
 m 
 
 O 
 
 K 
 
 >• 
 
 u 
 
 Pi 
 o 
 
 w 
 
 Cjcor<^c Grey, (Jiic of the ablest adininistrators the 
 country has ever had, and he immediately took 
 steps to prevent, as he hoped, another outbreak of 
 hostilities. 
 
 As high commissioner he exercised supreme con- 
 trol in British Kaffraria. Provided with a lar^e 
 amount of money from the imperial treasury, he 
 attempted to pacify the chiefs by giving them 
 pensions, payable monthly, as compensation for the 
 power they had apparently lost, and he tried to break 
 the belief in witchcraft by building a large and 
 beautiful hospital in King-Williamstown, where any 
 sick black person was attended by skilful medical 
 men and provided for free of charge. Further, he 
 commenced to make roads in the province, and to 
 build a great sea wall at the mouth of the Buffalo 
 river — called the port of luist London — with the 
 express object of teaching the Kosas the advantage 
 of earning money by labour. In the same spirit he 
 encouraged the Wesleyan and h'rce Church mission- 
 ary societies to establish industrial institutions, where 
 young Fingos and Kosas could be trained as gardeners, 
 carpenters, blacksmiths, and waggon-makers, and 
 where a number of the most intelligent boys could 
 be educated as interpreters, schoolmasters, and evan- 
 gelists. One of the institutions which he thus assisted 
 with funds is still in existence. This is Lovedale, 
 an establishment of the Free Church, where an ex- 
 ceedingly good training has ever since been given, 
 and where at the present time some five or six 
 hundred youths of both sexes are living as pupils. 
 
 These truly philanthropic measures, however, re- 
 
1. 1 i 
 
 2S0 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAEFRARIA. 
 
 
 MU 
 
 " t > 
 
 
 
 <!ii 
 il«i' 
 
 ;^ii' 
 
 ii: 
 
 iiti i 
 
 f 
 
 l!i 
 
 quired many years to produce a good effect, and even 
 then a very small proportion of the people would be 
 benefited by them. They had not well been taken in 
 hand when tidings reached the high commissioner 
 in Capetown that cattle in unusual numbers were 
 being slaughtered in and beyond British Kaffraria, 
 and that the Kosas were assuming a defiant attitude. 
 Colonel Maclean, who had succeeded Colonel Mackin- 
 non as head of the local government, was not long 
 in finding out and reporting the cause. 
 
 One morning in May 1856 a girl named Nong- 
 kause went to draw water from a little stream that 
 flowed past her home. On her return, she stated 
 that she had seen by the river some men who differed 
 greatly in appearance from those she was accustomed 
 to meet. Her uncle, whose name was Umhlakaza, 
 went to see the strangers, and found them at the 
 place indicated. They told him to return home and 
 go throu'^h certain ceremonies, after which he was to 
 offer an ox in sacrifice to the spirits of the dead, and 
 to come back to them on the fourth day. There was 
 that in their appearance which commanded obedience, 
 and so the man did as they bade him. On the fourth 
 day he went to the river again. The strange people 
 were there as before, and to his astonishment he 
 recognised among them his brother who had been 
 many years dead. Then, for the first time, he learned 
 who and what they w'ere. The eternal enemies of 
 the white man, they announced themselves as having 
 come from battle-fields beyond the sea to aid the 
 Kosas with their invincible power in driving the 
 English from the land. Between them and the chiefs 
 
1 A. 
 
 uid even 
 /ould be 
 taken in 
 lissioncr 
 rs were 
 affraria, 
 ittitude. 
 Mackin- 
 lot long 
 
 Nong- 
 im that 
 : stated 
 differed 
 istomed 
 ilakaza, 
 
 at the 
 me and 
 
 was to 
 ad, and 
 ere was 
 :dience, 
 ; fourth 
 
 people 
 lent he 
 d been 
 learned 
 nies of 
 
 having 
 lid the 
 ng the 
 
 2 chiefs 
 
 SBLF-DESTRUCriOM OF THE KOSAH. 
 
 281 
 
 Unihlakaza was to be the medium of communication, 
 the channel through which instruction would be given. 
 For strange things were to be done, stranger than 
 any that had ever been done before, if the proffered 
 assistance was welcomed. And first, he must tell the 
 people to abandon dealing in witchcraft, to kill fat 
 cattle and eat. 
 
 Such is the tale which the Kosas told each other 
 of the manner in which Umhlakaza and Nongkause 
 became acquainted with the secrets of the spirit 
 world. Umhlakaza and Nongkause! What terrible 
 visions of suffering and death are called forth in 
 Kaffirland now at the mention of those two names ! 
 
 Kreli, the paramount chief of the tribe, hailed the 
 message with joy, and indeed it is generally believed 
 — though it cannot be proved — that he was the 
 instigator of the scheme. His word went forth that 
 the command of the spirits was to be obeyed, that 
 the best of all the cattle were to be killed and eaten. 
 Messengers from him hastened to the chiefs in British 
 Kaffraria to inform them of what had taken place, 
 and to require their co-operation. Instantly the 
 clans were in a state of commotion. Most of the 
 chiefs commenced to kill, but one, Sandile, timid and 
 hesitating, for a time held back. The high com- 
 missioner sent word to Kreli that though in his own 
 territory he could do as he pleased, he must cease 
 from instigating those who were British subjects to 
 destroy their property, or it would become necessary 
 to punish him. But he cared little for such a threat, 
 as the time was at hand when it would be for him to 
 talk of punishing. 
 
282 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 
 
 11- i 
 
 Mi ' 
 
 \''" \ 
 
 \ 
 
 The revelations communicated through Umhlakaza 
 grew apace. The girl, standing in the river in pre- 
 sence of a multitude of deluded people, heard strange 
 unearthly sounds beneath her feet, which Umhlakaza 
 pronounced to be the voices of spirits holding council 
 over the affairs of men. The first order was to slay- 
 cattle, but the greedy ghosts seemed insatiable in 
 their demands. More and more were killed, but still 
 never enough. And thus the delusion continued 
 month after month, every day spreading wider and 
 embracing fresh victims in its grasp. After a while 
 Sandile gave way to the urgent applications of his 
 brother Makoma, who asserted that he had himself 
 seen and conversed with the spirits of two of his 
 father's dead councillors, and that they commanded 
 Sandile to kill his cattle if he would not perish with 
 the white man. 
 
 ]5efore this time the kist order of Umhlakaza had 
 been given, that order whose fulfilment was to be the 
 final preparation of the Kosas, after which they would 
 be worthy of the aid of a spirit host. Not an animal 
 out of all their herds must be left living, every grain 
 of corn in their granaries must be destroyed. But 
 what a future of glory and wealth was predicted for 
 the faithful and obedient ! On a certain day myriads 
 of cattle, more beautiful than those they were called 
 upon to kill, were to issue from the earth and cover 
 the pastures far and wide. Great fields of millet, ripe 
 and ready for eating, were in an instant to spring 
 into existence. The ancient heroes of the race, the 
 great and the wise of days gone by, restored to life 
 on that happy day, would appear and take part in 
 
I A. 
 
 SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE KOSAS. 
 
 283 
 
 \i) 
 
 ihlakaza 
 in pre- 
 . strange 
 ihlakaza 
 [ council 
 i to slay 
 iabie in 
 but still 
 )ntinued 
 dor and 
 a while 
 s of his 
 himself 
 ) of his 
 manded 
 sh with 
 
 iza had 
 ) be the 
 y would 
 animal 
 y grain 
 
 1 But 
 :ted for 
 nyriads 
 
 2 called 
 \ cover 
 et, ripe 
 
 spring 
 ice, the 
 
 to life 
 part in 
 
 the joys of the faithful. Trouble and sickness would 
 be known no more, nor would the frailties of old age 
 oppress them, for youth and beauty were to return 
 alike to the risen dead and the feeble living. Such 
 was the picture of Paradise painted by the Kosa 
 prophet, and held before the eyes of the infatuated 
 people. And dreadful was to be the fate of those 
 who opposed the will of the spirits, or neglected to 
 obey their commands. The day that was to bring 
 so much joy to the loyal would bring nothing but 
 destruction for them. The sky itself would fall and 
 crush them together with the Fingos and the whites. 
 
 Missionaries and agents of the government tried in 
 vain to stay the mad proceedings. A delirious frenzy 
 possessed the minds of the Kosas, and they would 
 listen to no argument, brook no opposition. White 
 men who attempted to interfere with them in any 
 way were scowled upon and warned to take care of 
 themselves. Yet these fanatics, with their imagina- 
 tions fixed on boundless wealth, were eagerly pur- 
 chasing trifles from English traders, bartering away 
 the hides of two hundred thousand slaughtered cattle. 
 Most of them acted under the influence of supersti- 
 tion alone, though there is no doubt that some of the 
 leaders viewed the proceeding as calculated solely for 
 purposes of war. To throw the whole Kosa tribe, 
 fully armed and in a famishing state, upon the colony, 
 was the end kept steadily in view by these. The 
 terrible odds against the success of such a venture 
 they were too blind to see or too excited to calculate. 
 
 Some there were who neither believed the predic- 
 tions of Umhlakaza nor looked for success in war, 
 
284 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 
 
 !)!' 
 
 and who yet destroyed the last particle of their food. 
 Bukhu, Kroli's uncle, was one of these. " It is the 
 chief's command," said he, and then, when nothing 
 more was left, the old man and his favourite wife sat 
 down in their empty kraal and died. Kreli's prin- 
 cipal councillor opposed the scheme till he saw that 
 words were useless. Then, observing that all he had 
 was his chief's, he gave the order to kill and waste, 
 and fled from the place a raving lunatic. Thus it 
 was with thousands. The chief commanded, and 
 they obeyed. 
 
 In the early months of 1857 an unwonted activity 
 reigned throughout the country from the Keiskama 
 to the Bashee. Great kraals were being prepared for 
 the reception of the cattle, so soon to appear like stars 
 of the sky in multitude. Enormous skin bags were 
 being made to contain the milk shortly to be like 
 water in plenty. And even as they worked some 
 were starving. East of the Kci the prophet's com- 
 mand had been obeyed to the letter, but the resur- 
 rection day was still postponed. It was in mercy to 
 the Gaikas, said Umhlakaza, for Sandile had not 
 finished killing yet. Nothing surely was ever more 
 clumsily arranged, more blindly carried out than this 
 mad act of the Kosas. One section of the tribe was 
 literally starving, while another section was still 
 engaged in destroying its resources. 
 
 The government did all that was possible to 
 protect the frontier. Every post was strengthened, 
 and every available soldier was sent forward. The 
 colonists, too, were prepared to meet the expected 
 shock, come v/hen it would. And then, after defence 
 
RIA. 
 
 SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE KOSAS. 
 
 285 
 
 leir food. 
 It is the 
 
 1 nothinf^ 
 
 2 wife sat 
 ili's prin- 
 
 saw that 
 
 ill he had 
 
 id waste, 
 
 Thus it 
 
 ded, and 
 
 I activity 
 Ceiskama 
 pared for 
 like stars 
 >ags were 
 ) be like 
 ed some 
 ;t's com- 
 le resur- 
 mercy to 
 had not 
 /er more 
 han this 
 :ribe was 
 K'as still 
 
 siblc to 
 gthened, 
 d. The 
 :x pec ted 
 defence 
 
 was provided for, stores of food were accumulated for 
 the purpose of saving life. For there could be no 
 heart so cold as not to feel pity for those misguided 
 beings who were rushing so frantically into certain 
 destruction. 
 
 At length the morning dawned of the day so long 
 and so ardently looked for. All night long the 
 Kosas had watched with feelings stretched to the 
 utmost tension of excitement, expecting to see two 
 blood-red suns rise over the eastern hills, when the 
 heavens would fall and crush the races they hated. 
 Famished with hunger, half-dying as they were, that 
 night was yet a time of fierce, delirious joy. The 
 morn, that a few short hours, slowly becoming 
 minutes, would usher in, was to see all their sorrows 
 ended, all their misery past. And so they waited 
 and watched. At length the sun approached the 
 horizon, throwing first a silver sheen upon the 
 mountain peaks, and then bathing hillside and 
 valley in a flood of light. The hearts of the 
 watchers sank within them. " What," said they, 
 " will become of us if Umhlakaza's predictions turn 
 out untrue ? " But perhaps, after all, it might be 
 midday that wa? meant, and when the shadows 
 began to lengthen towards the east, perhaps, they 
 thought, the setting of the sun is the time. The 
 sun went down — as it often does in that fair land — 
 behind clouds of crimson and gold, and the Kosas 
 awoke to the reality of their dreadful position. 
 
 A blunder, such as a child would hardly have 
 made, had been committed by the managers of this 
 horrible tragedy. Under pretence of witnessing the 
 
II n 
 
 H' 
 
 286 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 
 
 resurrection, they should have assombled the warriors 
 of the whole tribe at some point from which they 
 could have burst in a body upon the colony. This 
 had not been done, and now it was too late to collect 
 them together. An attempt was made to rectify the 
 blunder, and the day of resurrection was again post- 
 poned, but fierce excitement had given place to 
 deepest despair. The only chance of life that re- 
 mained was to reach the colony, but it was as sup- 
 pliants, not as warriors, that the famished people 
 must now go. 
 
 The horrors that succeeded can only be partly 
 told. There are intelligent men living now, then 
 wild naked fugitives, who cannot recount the events 
 of those days. The whole scene comes home to 
 them as a hideous nightmare, or as the remem- 
 brances of one in a state of delirium. In many 
 instances all the ties were broken that bind human 
 beings to each other in every condition of society. 
 Brother fought with brothei', father with son, for 
 scraps and shreds of those great milk sacks so care- 
 fully made in the days when hope was high. The 
 aged, the sick, the feeble, were abandoned by the 
 young and vigorous. All kinds of wild plants, 
 and even the roots of trees, were collected for food. 
 Many of those who were near the sea coast endea- 
 voured to support life upon the shellfish found there. 
 Being unaccustomed to such diet, they were attacked 
 by dysentery, which completed the work of famine. 
 In other instances whole families sat down and died 
 together. From fifteen to twenty skeletons were 
 afterwards often found under a single tree, showing 
 
RIA. 
 
 I warriors 
 lich they 
 \y. This 
 to collect 
 ictify the 
 ain post- 
 place to 
 that re- 
 as sup- 
 i people 
 
 •e partly 
 3VV, then 
 le events 
 lome to 
 
 remem- 
 fi many 
 1 human 
 
 society, 
 son, for 
 so carc- 
 h. The 
 
 by the 
 
 plants, 
 or food. 
 
 endea- 
 d there, 
 ttn.cked 
 famine. 
 nd died 
 IS were 
 howing 
 
 SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE KOSAS. 
 
 2S7 
 
 where parents and children met their fate when the 
 last ray of hope had "^cd. A continuous ..tream of 
 emaciated beings poured into the colony, young 
 men and women mostly, but sometimes fathers and 
 mothers bearing on their backs half-dying children. 
 Before the farmhouses they would sit down, and ask 
 in the most piteous tones for food, nor did they ask 
 in vain. 
 
 Between the first and last days of 1857 the official 
 returns of British Kaffraria showed a decrease in the 
 population from one hundred and five thousand to 
 thirty-eight thousand of both sexes and all ages. 
 Sixty-seven thousand had perished or dispersed. In 
 the centre of this territory was King-Williamstown 
 where the government had provided a quantity of 
 corn, by which the lives of thousands were saved. 
 Between the Kei and the Bashee there was no such 
 storehouse, and flight, except to rival and unfriendly 
 tribes, was next to impossible. The death-rate there 
 was consequently higher than in British Kaffraria. 
 The lowest computation fixes the number of those 
 who perished on both sides of the Kei at twenty- 
 five thousand, ordinary calculations give double that 
 number. The power of the Kosa tribe was for the 
 time completely broken. 
 
 Large tracts of land in Ikitish Kaffraria having 
 become waste by this mad act of the Kosas, Sir 
 George Grey allotted farms of about fifteen hundred 
 acres in size to a considerable number of selected 
 individuals from the Cape Colony, to be held under 
 tenure of military service and a small (jMitrcnt. A 
 strong body of European settlers was thus stationed 
 
 I : 
 
288 THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 
 
 
 in advance of the most formidable Kaffir strongholds. 
 Some regiments of the German legion, raised by 
 Great Britain during the Crimean war, v/ere sent 
 out, and were disbanded in the province, where plots 
 of land were assigned to the officers and soldiers 
 on a military village system. Many of these men 
 prospered, and they were undoubtedly of great 
 service to the country, but on the whole the villages 
 were failures. The proportion of women was too 
 small to give reasonable hope of permanency to the 
 settlements, and the men were better adapted for life 
 in towns than as tillers of the soil. Most of them 
 dispersed as soon as the issue of rations ceased. 
 
 A body of agricultural labourers selected from the 
 hardy peasantry of Northern Germany was intro- 
 duced shortly afterwards. The men were accom- 
 panied by their wives and children, and were inured 
 to toil and accustomed to rough living. In 1858 and 
 1859 these people, in number rather over two thou- 
 sand, landed at East London. They were sent out 
 under a contract between Sir George Grey and a 
 merchant in Hamburg, and were bound to refund 
 within a certain period the cost of their transport 
 and to pay twenty shillings an acre for the ground 
 allotted to them. They were located in different 
 parts of the province, but chiefly in the valley of the 
 Buffalo river. No better settlers could have been 
 introduced. By their industry, in the course of a 
 few years they became possessed of a considerable 
 amount of stock and brought their little farms to a 
 high state of cultivation. As market gardeners they 
 were unrivalled in South Africa. Frugal, temperate, 
 
 tP 
 
 ::;:!. 
 
JA. 
 
 ngholds. 
 Lised by 
 2rc sent 
 :re plots 
 
 soldiers 
 ise men 
 )f great 
 
 villages 
 was too 
 y to the 
 I for life 
 of them 
 d. 
 
 "rom the 
 s intro- 
 
 accom- 
 3 inured 
 858 and 
 'o thou- 
 5ent out 
 and a 
 refund 
 
 ansport 
 
 ground 
 different 
 /■ of the 
 ve been 
 se of a 
 iderable 
 ms to a 
 jrs they 
 npcrate, 
 
 ANNEXATION TO THE CAl'i. COLONY. 
 
 289 
 
 industrious, and religious, they contributed very 
 largely to the prosperity of the j)rovince. 
 
 King Williamstown soon grew to be a place of no 
 little importance. It was garrisoned by a strong 
 body of British troops, and was the centre of a large 
 trade, besides being the seat of the local government. 
 
 In theory the Cape parliament had no power to 
 legislate for Briti h KafTraria, but in practice as soon 
 as an act was passed in Capetown the high com- 
 missioner proclaimed it of force in the province, and 
 thus secured uniformity in the laws. The revenue 
 was small, and required to be supplemented by 
 grants in aid from the imperial treasury. But now 
 that the territory had ceased to be occupied exclu- 
 sively by Bantu, it seemed to the queen's ministers 
 that it might with advantage be incorporated with 
 the Cape Colony, and this burden be removed from 
 the British taxpayer. Proposals to that effect were 
 therefore brought before the Cape parliament on 
 several occasions, but were always rejected. At 
 length the imperial parliament passed an act of 
 union, which was, however, only to take effect after 
 the lapse of a certain period, and provided the Cape 
 parliament did not in the meantime annex the 
 province. Armed with this document. Sir Philip 
 Wodehouse, Sir George Grey's successor as governor 
 and high commissioner, introduced a bill which 
 provided for the incorporation of British Kaffraria 
 as two electoral divisions — King-Williamstown and 
 East LonCi )n — and after much opposition it was 
 passed by a majority of both houses of the Cape 
 legislature, and in 1865 was carried into effect. 
 
 20 
 
XXIV. 
 
 THE COLONY OF NATAL AND THE DEPENDENCY 
 
 OF ZULU LAND. 
 
 «:-■; 
 
 Natal became a British possession at a very- 
 unfortunate lime for the good of the country. Senti- 
 ment in England was then running so strong in 
 favour of black people, that this beautiful and fertile 
 country, which might have been made the home of 
 many thousands of industrious European families, 
 was given away to any Bantu who chose to enter it. 
 
 There are, of course, different ways of looking at 
 
 this matter. The Bantu themselves, who regard 
 
 their mode of life as vastly preferable to ours, 
 
 inasmuch as it is comparatively free of care and toil, 
 
 certainly think their possession of Natal proper and 
 
 desirable. The missionary looking for raw material 
 
 to work with is naturally of the same opinion. But 
 
 the man who believes that the strengthening of the 
 
 European element would be a blessing to Africa itself, 
 
 who is convinced that the native tribes of the 
 
 continent can never become civilised except under 
 
 European government and under the guidance and 
 
 control of a strong body of European settlers, must 
 
 290 
 
INFLUX OF BANTU. 
 
 291 
 
 look upon the alienation of the soil of Natal to the 
 Bantu as a very great mistake. 
 
 As soon as Great Britain was dominant there, all 
 who were in fear of Panda made their way into the 
 country, where they were sure of being protected and 
 of being allowed to live as they chose. Their birth- 
 place and that of their fathers might be far away, but 
 they were all termed natives by the government, 
 and as soon as arrangements could be made tracts of 
 land were assigned to them to live upon. Mission- 
 aries settled among them, and in course of time a 
 few became converts to Christianity and made some 
 advance towards civilisation. But the great majority 
 remain what their forefathers were, for it cannot be said 
 that their use of a few articles of European manufac- 
 ture is an indication of any real change. 
 
 There are no people in the world more prolific 
 than the Bantu of South Africa, and though their 
 death rate in towns partly occupied by Europeans is 
 high, in their own kraals where they live after ^he 
 custom of their ancestors it is low. The consequence 
 is an amazingly rapid increase of population, wher- 
 ever the old checks of war and punishment for 
 dealing in witchcraft are removed. At the present 
 day there are no fewer than half a million of these 
 people within the borders of Natal. They are per- 
 mitted to live according to their own laws and 
 customs, but they pay a small hut-tax, and the 
 government exercises general control over them. 
 
 Owing to their presence in such numbers the 
 country has failed to attract European settlers, and 
 only one large body of white immigrants has ever 
 
\m 
 
 w 
 
 [)H 
 
 n 
 
 «!• 
 
 ,ij' 
 
 
 292 
 
 NATAL AND ZULU LAND, 
 
 entered it since the British conquest. Between 1848 
 and 185 1 some four or five thousand EngHsh people 
 arrived, to whom small plots of ground were given ; 
 but many of them afterwards removed to Australia, 
 and few remained as cultivators of the soil. White 
 people from abroad settle in the country every 
 year, but never in large numbers. At the present 
 day they are not more than forty-three thousand all 
 told, that is, for every twelve African blacks there is 
 only one white person. 
 
 Although the disparity in number is so great, the 
 Bantu have not often disturbed the peace of the 
 country, and only on two or three occasions has it 
 been necessary to use military force against defiant 
 chiefs. They have as yet ample space for living 
 comfortably in their own way, and taxation is so 
 light that they do not feel it as a burden. But this 
 condition of things cannot be permanent, for they are 
 multiplying so rapidly that there must some day be 
 a struggle for more room. What for?n it may take 
 cannot, of course, be foreseen. 
 
 Only once since the British occupation of the 
 country has there been a serious disturbance within 
 its borders. In 1848 a section of the Hlubi tribe fled 
 from Zululand, and had a location assigned to it at 
 the sources of the Bushman's river, under the 
 Drakensberg. The Hlubi had once been the largest 
 tribe in South-Eastern Africa, but in Tshaka's wars 
 most of its members were killed, and those who sur- 
 vived were dispersed far and wide. " There was a 
 white mark from the Tugela to Thaba Ntshu, and 
 that mark was our bones," said once an old Hlubi to 
 
THE IILUni TRIBE. 
 
 293 
 
 the writer of this volume, in recounting his personal 
 adventures. He might have added that there was 
 a similar line from the Tugela to the Kei. Along 
 both these routes a few fugitives were scattered, and 
 these have multiplied so greatly that if their des- 
 cendants could all be collected together to-da}- the 
 Hlubi would again stand out as the largest tribe of 
 the country. 
 
 The great chiefs had perished in Tshaka's wars, 
 and the one of highest rank that was left was 
 Langalibalcle — in English "The Sun is burning" — 
 the head of the clan that sought refuge in Natal. A 
 stranger visiting his location in 1873 would have 
 regarded him as a man of little importance, with a 
 following of not more than ten thousand souls, all 
 told ; but those acquainted with his history knew 
 that he was held in strong attachment by clans as far 
 away as the Calcdon in one direction and the Fish 
 river in another. 
 
 There was a law in Natal, required for public 
 safety, that no Bantu should have guns in their 
 possession without being registered. In other parts 
 of South Africa guns were obtainable, and Langa- 
 libalcle, setting the law at defiance, sent his young 
 men away to earn money and purchase these weapons, 
 which were brought by hundreds into his location 
 without the necessary formalities being observed. 
 When this bccane known, the chief was called upon 
 to account for his guns, but he declined to do so. 
 Message after message was sent, requiring him to 
 appear at Maritzburg, but he made excuses, and 
 never went. It was subsequently proved that he 
 
1 
 
 rA 
 
 'H ■ , d .--li, 
 
 1 
 
 tit 
 
 1 ; 
 
 294 
 
 NATAL AND ZULU LAND. 
 
 was in treasonable correspondence with other chiefs, 
 and he must have felt himself strong enough to main- 
 tain his independence against the Europeans. 
 
 Peaceable means having failed to secure his 
 obedience, an armed party was sent to enforce the 
 demands of the government. Upon its approach 
 Langalibalt'le abandoned his women and children, 
 and with his cattle and most of his warriors fell back 
 upon the mountains. In the Bushman's pass Major 
 Durnford and a small party of volunteers overtook 
 the rearguard of the rebels. The chief was in 
 advance, and as the volunteers had orders not to 
 fire first, they attempted to communicate with him. 
 The induna in command pretended to send for the 
 chief, and while waiting for him to arrive, the 
 volunteers were being surrounded. At the same time 
 threatening gestures and language, coupled with 
 taunts, were used towards them. They fell back in 
 a panic, when too late, and as they did so five of 
 them were shot down. 
 
 The colonists at once awoke to a sense of their 
 danger. They did not know how far the inclination 
 to rebel extended, but of one thing they were certain : 
 that nothing but the p-^mpt punishment of the 
 Hlubis would prevent all who were disaffected from 
 rising in arms. Volunteers at once came forward. 
 Everywhere in South Africa the Europeans were 
 ready to help. The government of the Cape Colony 
 took immediate measures to render effectual assis- 
 tance, and the two republics expressed a willingness 
 to give aid if needed. It was recognised that not 
 only the peace of Natal, but of the entire country, was 
 
REBETJJON OF LANOAJJUALELF.. 
 
 295 
 
 imperilled, for if time was given for all the sections 
 of the Illubi tribe to unite with the clan in rebellion 
 a general war of races might ensue. 
 
 Langalibalelc and his warriors crossed the Dra- 
 kensberg to l^asutoland, in expectation of being 
 joined there by one of Moshcsh's sons ; but such 
 prompt measures were taken by the governments of 
 the Cape Colony and Natal that the rebels were sur- 
 rounded before they reached their destination, and 
 the chief, with some of his principal men, who were 
 in advance, were obliged to surrender to the Cape 
 frontier armed and mounted police. The main body 
 made an attempt to resist, but were dispersed after a 
 sharp action, and all the cattle were captured. 
 
 During this time the excitement of the Natal 
 colonists was naturally very high, and what, under 
 ordinary circumstances, would be regarded as undue 
 severity was exercised towards the people Langali- 
 balele had left behind, as well as to another clan that 
 sympathised with him. But as soon as the danger 
 was over, violent measures of every kind ceased. 
 
 Langalibalele was tried by a special court, which 
 sentenced him to banishment for life ; and as Natal 
 had no outlying dependency to send him to, an act 
 was passed by the Cape parliament authorising his 
 detention on Robben Island. His clan was broken 
 up, and the ground it had occupied was resumed by 
 the government. 
 
 This event attracted a great deal of attention in 
 England, chiefly through the action of the Aborigines 
 Protection Society and of Bishop Colenso, who repre- 
 sented the conduct of the white people and of the 
 

 
 
 1 
 
 1 1:1 
 
 ill 
 
 1 ! 
 
 -,!■■ 
 
 li 
 
 296 
 
 NATAL AND ZULULAND. 
 
 government as in the highest degree cruel and unjust 
 towards the Hluhis. The Natal clergy, some sixty 
 ministers and missionaries of different denominations, 
 did their utmost to show that it was not so ; but their 
 opinions were in general unheeded, as were also the 
 statements of the South African press. The imperial 
 ministry reflected the sentitnents of the people. Sir 
 Benjamin Pine, the governor of Natal, was recalled. 
 Cor^pensation was ordered to be given from the 
 colonial treasury to the clan that had suffered loss 
 owing to its s}Mnpathy with the rebels ; various 
 lllubis who had been condemned to terms of im.- 
 prisonmcnt had their sentences commuted ; and it 
 was required that Langalibalcle should be removed 
 from Robbcn Island to a farm on the mainland, 
 where he could have the society of his wives and be 
 treated as a prisoner of state. These orders were of 
 course promptly carried out. Langalibalcle remained 
 an exile for twelve years, during which time he was 
 provided with ever}' possible comfort. He was then 
 permitted to return to Natal, and died there .shortly 
 afterwards. 
 
 The belt of land along the coast north of the 
 Umzimkulu has a tropical vegetation, though it is 
 perfectly healthy for Europeans. It .seemed therefore 
 to present a favourable field for the production of 
 coffee, sugar, ginger, arrowroot, cotton, and tea, and 
 no long time elapsed before experiments began to 
 be made. Not a plant among them all but throve 
 wonderfully well, so that it was hoped and expected 
 that Natal would shortly become one of the most 
 valuable dependencies of Great Britain. Here was a 
 
 III 
 
IMPORTATION OF INDIANS. 
 
 297 
 
 nd unjust 
 
 me sixty 
 
 ainations, 
 
 but their 
 
 also the 
 
 : imperial 
 
 )ple. Sir 
 
 recalled. 
 
 from the 
 
 ered loss 
 
 ; various 
 
 is of im- 
 
 ; and it 
 
 removed 
 
 "nainland, 
 
 :s and be 
 
 "s were of 
 
 remained 
 
 le he was 
 
 was then 
 
 e shortly 
 
 h of the 
 ugh it is 
 therefore 
 uction of 
 tea, and 
 bcpan to 
 Lit throve 
 expected 
 the most 
 2YG was a 
 
 favourable soil and a favourable climate, and here, 
 thought people at a distance, in the teeming Bantu 
 locations was a great reservoir of labour that could be 
 utilised for the good of both employers and employed. 
 But the Bantu declined to be utilised in this way. 
 Some of them were willing to work for a while when 
 the whim seized them and they had a particular 
 object in view, but they could never be depended 
 upon, and were prone to leave service just when they 
 were most needed. 
 
 The planters then turned to India for a supply 
 of labour. Coolies were engaged there, and were 
 brought over under contracts for a term of }'ears. 
 B}' their assistance the soil was made to bring 
 forth tropical products in considerable quantities, 
 but eventually some were destroyed by diseases and 
 others were found not to pay. Sugar has suc:ecded 
 best. After providing for home consumption, ii 1892 
 sugar was exported to the value of ^i 19,461, tea to 
 the value of ^2,374, coffee to the value of ^^444, and 
 arrowroot to the value of ^228. 
 
 It was supposed that the coolies would return to 
 India when their contracts expired, as they were 
 entitled to free passages back ; but they had found 
 a goodly land, and many of them had no mind to 
 leave it. Some of their countrymen of the trading 
 class were next attracted by the accounts spread by 
 those who returned, and soon quite a little stream of 
 Indian immigrants set in. As they can live upon 
 the merest trifle, ICuropean competitors were rapidly 
 driven out, and retail dealing, with all kinds of light 
 labour, fell into their hands. They contribute nothing 
 
\U' m 
 
MODE OF LIFE OF EUROPEANS. 
 
 299 
 
 towards the military strength of the country and very 
 little towards its revenue. They are now equal in 
 number to the white people, so that Natal cannot be 
 regarded as an English colony in the same sense as 
 Canada or Australia. It is more like a miniature 
 India, a country occupied chiefly by alien races, but 
 with a government and upper caste of Europeans. 
 
 The circumstances under which they lived deter- 
 mined the mode of life of the white people of Natal. 
 They became for the most part traders and forwarders 
 of goods to the interior republics. There are planters 
 and farmers among them, but more than half of the 
 whole number reside in the two towns, Maritzburg 
 and Durban, and a large proportion of the remainder 
 occupy villages along the trade routes. Their spirit 
 and sentiments are largely affected by this circum- 
 stance. It has been observed as something strange 
 that an Englishman long resident on a farm in the 
 Cape Colony feels himself perfectly at home if he 
 visits the Orange Free State, yet is like ar. alien in 
 Natal. But the cause is easily explained : in the one 
 case he is among people of familiar instincts, in the 
 other he is not. 
 
 Maritzburg and Durban have thriven greatly of 
 late years. Durban is the gateway through which 
 passes the commerce not only of the colony itself 
 and of Zululand, but of part of the Orange Free State 
 and the South African Republic. ICxtensive works 
 have been constructed to improve the entrance to 
 the inner harbour, and large ships can now cross 
 the bar and lie beside a wharf as safely as in a dock. 
 Numerous handsome buildings, chief among which 
 
300 
 
 NATAL AND ZULU LAND. 
 
 il I 
 
 is the grandest municipal hall in South Africa, em- 
 bellish this town. 
 
 I''rom Durban a railway has been constructed to 
 C'harlcstown, on the border of the South African 
 Re|)ublic. It passes through Maritzburg, and also 
 through the villages of ICstcourt, Ladysmith, and 
 Newcastle farther inland. P'rom I.adystnith a 
 branch line runs by way of Van Reenen's pass in 
 the Drakensberg to Ilarrismith in the Orange P'rec 
 State, and ta[)s the trade of the eastern part of the 
 republic. It goes up the Drakensberg in a series 
 of zigzag sections, but in places the gradients are 
 very heavy, as tluy art- likewise on the Charlestown 
 line. It is in contemplation to continue the rail- 
 way from llarrisnn'th until it meets the great north- 
 eastern line through the Cape (Colony and the Orange 
 I'^ree State, which will give unbroken communication 
 between Capetown and Durban. TIk; Charlestown 
 line will j)r(jbal)ly be continued at no distant date to 
 the gold fields in the .South African Republic. Close 
 to the coast there is a branch line northward to tiie 
 village of Verulam, and one southward to Isipingo. 
 These lines arc in all 399 miles in length. 
 
 The main branch of this .system of railways lias 
 the great advantage of passing through an extensive 
 field of coal of fair quality, from which fuel can be 
 obtained at a cheap rate. It is on the |)l,'iteau at 
 the foot of the Drakensberg, .so that it is centrally 
 situated, and the coal, which is easily worked, is con- 
 veyed to th'; coast along a descending gradient. It 
 is not the least important of the natural riches of 
 Natal. Besides furnishing fuel for the railways and 
 
CONSTITUTION OF NATAL. 
 
 .i'Jl 
 
 ica, cm- 
 
 ictcd to 
 African 
 iiid also 
 til, and 
 nith a 
 pass in 
 t,^c P'rcc 
 t of the 
 a scries 
 ;nts arc 
 Icstown 
 lie rail- 
 : nortli- 
 C)ranf;c 
 lication 
 Icstown 
 date to 
 Close 
 I to the 
 sipini^o. 
 
 lys has 
 : tensive 
 can be 
 teaii at 
 .Mitrally 
 is con- 
 :nt. It 
 dies of 
 ys and 
 
 the tovvtis, in 1893 nearly sixty thousand pounds' 
 wcjrth was exported. 
 
 The legislature of the colony has undergone many 
 chan<^cs. Vov some years there was a council entirely 
 of nominees, but in i(S56 a charter was granted by 
 the (jueen, when it became chiefly elective. I^'rom 
 that date until 1H93 the proporti(jn of clecti/e to 
 nominee members was fre(iuently altered, and then 
 responsible j^ovcrnment was introduced. There are 
 now two chambers : a legislative council of eleven 
 nominee members, holding their scats for ten years, 
 and a legislative assembly of thirty-seven ''lected 
 members, holding their seats for four years. 
 
 The franclii.se differs in princi[)le from that of the 
 ('ape Colony, (^r representative government of any 
 kind would be an im[)ossibility. Male Hritish sub- 
 jects, not being liantu, who own land worth /,5o, or 
 who pay X^io a year for rent, or who have lived three 
 years in the country and arc in receii)t of salaries of 
 £(j6 a year, are entitled to vote. Bantu are excluded, 
 except those who [josscss the above qualifications, and 
 in addition have been by their owti desire for seven 
 years exempted fn^n tribal and subject to coUjiiial 
 law. This provision secures ecpial rights with luiro- 
 peans for the few who have embraced Christianity 
 and live in a civilised manner, while it withholds 
 from the great barbarous mass a privilege of which 
 they are incapable of making proper use. 
 
 The public debt of Natal is rather over seven 
 million pounds sterling, aj)parenlly a very large; sum 
 for a colony of only forty-three thousand l'*uropeans 
 to owe, as it means an indebtedness of /jiG} for each 
 
 '2 
 m 
 
 
i 
 
 I ' 
 
 ..>•■ * 
 
 302 
 
 NATAL AND ZULU LAND. 
 
 individual. But the Indians should count for some- 
 thing in apportioning the public debt, though it would 
 be difficult to say in what ratio they should be classi- 
 fied with Europeans. The great mass of Bantu, if 
 reckoned at all, must appear on the other side of the 
 ledger. The railways are public property, and a con- 
 siderable portion of the debt was incurred for the 
 purpose of constructing them. 
 
 The history of Zululand is so closely connected 
 with that of Natal that it can conveniently be in- 
 cluded in the same chapter. Panda, who became 
 independent of foreign control in 1843, ^^^ much 
 less intelligent than either of his predecessors, Tshaka 
 or Dingan. Soon after his accession to power he 
 grew so stout as to be unwieldy, and never after- 
 wards displayed activity of any kind, bodily or 
 mental. Two 01 his sons, however, Umbulazi and 
 Cetywayo by name, grew up to be men of superior 
 ability. Though the discipline of the army was 
 greatly relaxed, t.ie military system introduced by 
 Tshaka was still kept up, and the regiments were 
 divided in their attachment to the young chiefs. 
 '* Two young bulls cannot live together in the same 
 kraal," said Panda; "one mus' drive the other out 
 or be gored." The brothers were of the same opinion. 
 In December 1856 a battle was fought between 
 their adherents on the northern bank of the Tugela, 
 which resulted in complet-^ victory for Cetywayo. 
 His brother must have been killed, though the body 
 was not found, for he was never seen again. Then 
 a dreadful massacre of the defeated chiefs adherents 
 took place, when not only the men, but the women 
 
 !Pi!":i 
 
ir some- 
 it would 
 e classi- 
 >antu, if 
 e of the 
 :1 a con- 
 for the 
 
 nnected 
 be in- 
 
 became 
 s much 
 
 Tshaka 
 )vver he 
 ;r after- 
 dily or 
 azi and 
 superior 
 Tiy was 
 iced by 
 its were 
 <; chiefs, 
 le same 
 :her out 
 opinion, 
 between 
 
 Tugela, 
 itywayo. 
 he body 
 . Then 
 dherents 
 
 women 
 
 CETYWAYO. 
 
 303 
 
 and children related to them, were put to death. 
 About one-fourth of the Zulus perished. 
 
 From that day Cetywayo was the real ruler of the 
 tribe, though his father lived until 1872. The young 
 chief was a man of prepossessing appearance, digni- 
 fied in manner, and gifted with mental power in a 
 high degree. But he was as pitiless as a piece of 
 steel, and human life under his government was 
 sacrificed with as little compunction as the life of 
 oxen and cows. Much as one could wish it other- 
 wise, observation shows that this is the kind of rule 
 which brings out what is best in the Bantu character 
 as well as what is worst, and under Cetywayo the 
 Zulus were recognised by every one as the most 
 intelligent, the most active, and the most fearless 
 of all the blacks in South Africa. They were the 
 most handsome too, for constant exercise in arms 
 and in military drill greatly improved their appear- 
 ance. Discipline had become relaxed during the 
 fifteen years following Panda's accession, but by 
 Cetywayo it was restored to the same condition as 
 under Tshaka. 
 
 As time went on the Zulus became more and more 
 a menace to their neighbours. Hemmed in between 
 the South African Republic, Natal, and the sea, if 
 they used their arms at all, it could only be against 
 a civilised power. 
 
 In 1877 Sir Bartle Frere became governor of the 
 Cape Colony and high commissioner for South Africa. 
 No n an had a kinder heart or a more earnest desire 
 to promote the welfare of the people of the country, 
 white and black, the Zulus as well as British subjects. 
 
Bit 
 It;! 
 
 * 
 
 i'^ 
 
 1 
 
 iil^ 
 
 304 
 
 NATAL AND ZULULAND. 
 
 IJut war with Cet3^wayo had become a necessity, and 
 he could not avoid it without betraying his trust. It 
 was his duty to protect the queen's subjects, and 
 there was no question that many of them were in 
 imminent peril, and must so remain until the Zulu 
 military system came to an end. Unfortunately he did 
 not know how strong the Zulu army really was, and 
 none of those upon whom he depended for informa- 
 tion were able to tell him. Cetywayo gave him more 
 than one provocation. A powerful Zulu force paraded 
 along the British border, and the chief spoke of it as 
 a mere hunting party. English officials who were 
 sent into Zululand as envoys were treated by the 
 indunas in a contemptuous manner. Zulu subjects 
 crossed the boundary, seized two women on Natal 
 soil and carried them away to death, and Cetywayo, 
 when called upon for redress, treated the matter as of 
 trifling importance. In several serious disturbances 
 by Bantu tribes in distant parts of South Africa the 
 agency of the Zulu chief was clearly traced, and in 
 many other respects he showed himself an enemy to 
 the civilised governments of the country. 
 
 In December 1878 Sir Bartle Frere, having col- 
 lected a military force in Natal which every one 
 believed to be strong enough for the purpose, sent an 
 ultimatum to Cetywayo, in which he demanded re- 
 dress for the injuries sustained, and called upon the 
 chief to disband his army. As no notice was taken 
 of the message, on the loth of January, 1879, an 
 English army entered Zululand in three divisions, 
 consisting partly of British soldiers, partly of colonists, 
 and partly of blacks. 
 
ISANDUVANA. 
 
 305 
 
 Jity, and 
 -ust. It 
 cts, and 
 were in 
 lie Zulu 
 y he did 
 vas, and 
 nforma- 
 m more 
 paraded 
 of it as 
 10 were 
 
 by the 
 subjects 
 n Natal 
 tyvvayo, 
 ;cr as of 
 rbances 
 rica the 
 
 and in 
 lemy to 
 
 ng 
 
 col- 
 ivy one 
 sent an 
 ded re- 
 Don the 
 s taken 
 879, an 
 visions, 
 •lonists. 
 
 Ten days after crossing the Buffalo the central 
 column formed a camp at the foot of the hill 
 Isandlwana — that is The Little Hand — within sight 
 of the Natal border. The country was so rough that 
 it needed all that time to construct a road along which 
 provisions could be conveyed. On the following 
 morning part of the column, with Lord Chelmsford, 
 the commander-in-chief, left the camp and moved 
 away to attack a kraal several miles distant. Some 
 Dutch farmers had advised the English officers to 
 take precautions against surprise, and had told them 
 of the encounters with Dingan, but their warnings 
 were disregarded. Nothing was done for protection 
 at Isandlwana, though there were waggons enough to 
 form a lager. Not a trench was dug nor a spadeful 
 of earth thrown up in a bank. No one there even 
 dreamed of danger until a little before noon on the 
 22nd of January 1879, when the horns of a Zulu army 
 about twenty thousand strong were closing around the 
 camp. 
 
 The fight for life was stubborn, but the odds on the 
 enemy's side were too great, and all was soon over. 
 A few, principally mounted irregulars, managed to 
 make their way out of the circle of Zulu spears before 
 it was quite closed, but the ground was full of boulders 
 and dry beds of occasional torrents, so that many of 
 these even were overtaken and killed. With them 
 were Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill, who were 
 trying to save the colours of the first battalion of 
 the 24th regiment, and who reached the Natal bank 
 of the Buffalo before they were struck down. The 
 colours were found in the river some days afterwards, 
 
i. . 
 
 I:'!' 
 
 i 
 
 0} 
 
 I 
 
 llii 
 
 
 306 
 
 N/IT^L AND ZULU LAND. 
 
 At Isandlvvana nearly seven hundred British soldiers 
 and over one hundred and thirt)' colonists perished, 
 for the Zulus gave no qunrter. The victors lost about 
 three thousand men. 
 
 Information of the terrible disaster reached Lord 
 Chelmsford in the afLornoon. An officer had ridden 
 towards the camp, and had Fcen it in possession of 
 the Zulus. The party with the general, though 
 weary from marching in the hot sun, at once com- 
 menced to retreat, for all its stores of every kind were 
 lost. Isandlwana was reached shortly after nightfall, 
 and there, among the corpses of their slain comrades, 
 officers and men, alike worn out with anxiety and 
 fatigue, lay down and tried to rest. The Zulus, after 
 plundering the camp, had retired. At early dawn the 
 retreating band resumed its march, and reached Natal 
 without being molested. 
 
 At Rorke's Drift, where the column had crossed 
 the Buffalo, there was a small depot of provisions and 
 a hospital, and there a hundred and thirty soldiers, 
 under Lieutenants Bromhead and Chard, had been 
 left to keep open «jommunication with Natal. About 
 five o'clock in the afternoon of the day of Isandlwana 
 this post was attacked by between three and four 
 thousand of the very best of the Zulu soldiers, 
 commanded by Dabulamanzi, a brother of Cetywayo. 
 Fortunately the garrison had received warning in time 
 to enable them to make a lager of sacks of maize 
 and boxes of biscuits, behind which they maintained 
 such a gallant defence until four o'clock in the morn- 
 ing of the 23rd that Dabulamanzi then thought it 
 prudent to retire. Over three hundred of his men 
 
INVASION OF ZULU LAND. 
 
 307 
 
 . soldiers 
 perished, 
 :)st about 
 
 led Lord 
 id ridden 
 ession of 
 , though 
 nee com- 
 dnd were 
 nightfall, 
 :omrades, 
 ^iety and 
 ulus, after 
 dawn the 
 hed Natal 
 
 d crossed 
 isions and 
 soldiers, 
 lad been 
 About 
 ;andlvvana 
 and four 
 soldiers, 
 'etywayo. 
 nsf in time 
 of maize 
 laintained 
 the morn- 
 hought it 
 his men 
 
 were lying dead around the lager. Of the garrison 
 seventeen were dead and ten were wounded. This 
 splendid defence saved Natal from invasion, for if the 
 post had fallen the colony would have been open to 
 the Zulus. 
 
 The other columns fared better than the one whose 
 fate has been told. Colonel Pearson, with about two 
 thousand European combatants and the same number 
 of blacks, crossed the Tugela near the sea, and marched 
 towards Ulundi, the Zulu capital, where the whole of 
 the invading forces intended to unite. At Inyesane 
 he was attacked by a Zulu army between four and 
 five thousand strong, but beat it back with heavy 
 loss, and on the 23rd of January reached tlie Nor- 
 wegian mission station Etshowe. Here he learned 
 of the disaster at Isandlwana, so he sent his cavalry 
 and blacks back to Natal, and fortified the station, 
 where he remained until reinforcements arrived from 
 England. 
 
 The third column consisted of about seventeen 
 hundred British soldiers, fifty farmers under Com- 
 mandant Pieter Uys, and three or four hundred 
 blacks. It was commanded by Colonel Evelyn 
 Wood. This column was not attacked on its march, 
 and after Isandlwana fortified a post at Kambula, 
 where it remained. Colonel Wood managed to 
 inflict much damage upon the Zulus in his neighbour- 
 hood by frequent sallies, but on one occasion, at a 
 mountain named Hlobane, his patrol was nearly 
 surrounded, and ninety-six of the party were killed. 
 Among them were Commandant Uys, Colonel 
 Weatherley, and the son of the latter, a mere youth. 
 

 i 
 
 m- 
 
 308 
 
 NATAL AXn ZULULAND. 
 
 who I'.icd at his fathLM''s side just as Uys's brother 
 had (h'cd by his father's side forty-one j'cars before. 
 On the day after this event the la^'cr at Kambula was 
 attacked by a great Zuki arm)-, which suffered tre- 
 mendous loss before it retired discomfited. 
 
 In the beginninj^ of April Lord Chelmsford, with 
 a strong force of soldiers and sailors, marched from 
 Natal to the relief of Colonel Pearson at Etshowe. 
 On the way he was attacked at Ginginhlovu, but beat 
 back his assailants, and succeeded in reaching the 
 station. 
 
 As soon as intelligence of the disaster at Isandhvana 
 reached England strong reinforcements were sent out, 
 and before June some nine thousand soldiers, cavalry 
 and infantry, with a vast quantity of munitions of war 
 and provisions, reached Natal. With them came the . 
 young prince imperial of France, who was fated to 
 lose his life a few weeks later in a lonely dell in 
 Zululand. He went out from a camp with a small 
 reconnoitring party, which was surprised by a band 
 of Zulus while it was resting, and the prince, being 
 unable to mount his horse, was stabbed to death, his 
 companions having abandoned him and ridden away. 
 
 Despatches now reached South Africa announcing 
 that Sir Garnet Wolseley had been appointed com- 
 mander-in-chief of the forces, high commissioner for 
 South-Eastern Africa, and administrator of the 
 territories bordering on the seat of war. Lord 
 Chelmsford was at the time just completing his 
 arrangements for an advance upon Ulundi. It 
 seemed as if he was to be deprived of the satisfaction 
 of bringing the war to an end, and, as actually hap- 
 
tiATTLE OF I'LUNDI. 
 
 300 
 
 , brother 
 :s before. 
 1 bill a was 
 ered trc- 
 
 brd, with 
 hed from 
 Etshowe. 
 , but beat 
 hing the 
 
 andhvana 
 ; sent out, 
 s, cavalry 
 ns of war 
 came the , 
 ; fated to 
 y dell in 
 1 a small 
 y a band 
 ice, being 
 death, his 
 Jen away, 
 mouncing 
 ited com- 
 sioner for 
 of the 
 Hr. Lord 
 ting his 
 undi. It 
 itisfaction 
 Lially hap- 
 
 pened, Sir Garnet Wolselcy arrived bef(jre the 4th of 
 July, when LJluiidi was reached and the final battle 
 was fought ; but Lord Chelmsford was still in com- 
 mand of the column. 
 
 It is estimated that about ten thousand Zulu 
 soldiers had been killed before the end of June. 
 Some twenty thousand more had lost heart, as they 
 had not succeeded in taking a single lager during the 
 war, and they had consequently deserted and dispersed. 
 With from fifteen to twenty thousand who were true 
 to him still, Cetywayo awaited the British army at 
 Ulundi. Lord Chelmsford formed his trooi)s in a 
 hollow square, upon which the Zulus dashed them- 
 selves in vain. Beaten back by a terrible sto.-.i of 
 bullets, and having no hope of breaking the British 
 square by even the heaviest sacrifice, they turned to 
 retire, when the cavalry was let loose upon them. 
 They dis^jcrsed, never again to rally, and Cetywayo 
 was a fugitive seeking only concealment. After 
 Ulundi and the military kraals near it were burned, 
 the army fell back upon its base of supplies, and Lord 
 Chelmsford resigned his command. 
 
 The war was over, the colonial volunteers were 
 allowed to return home, and part of the large regular 
 force in the field was sent to England, though until 
 Cetywayo's person could be secured it was not con- 
 sidered advisable to remove the whole of the trooi)S 
 from the country. The people — all honour to them 
 for it — were so loyal to their chief that for many 
 weeks not one could be found to betray him, though 
 thousands must have been acquainted with his hiding 
 places. At length, however, a man, who was threat- 
 
II 
 
 ^10 
 
 KlATAL AND ZULULAND. 
 
 U': 
 
 
 Rl 
 
 
 ui- * 
 
 
 ill' a 
 
 ened with death if he did not divulge the secret, 
 pointed out a secluded kraal on the border of a forest, 
 and Cetywayo became a prisoner. 
 
 No captive ever conducted himself more decorously 
 than the fallen chief of the Zulus. He was sent a 
 prisoner to Capetown, and, after a short confinement 
 in the castle, had a small farm close to the ore occu- 
 pied by Langalibalcle assigned to him as a residence. 
 There he was attended by servants of his own choice, 
 and was well cared for in every respect. 
 
 Zululand was divided by Sir Garnet Wolseley into 
 thirteen districts, each of which was placed under the 
 government of a chief independent of all the others, 
 and nominally guided by the advice of a single British 
 resident. But this plan of settlement did not answer 
 at all, and in 1883 Cetywayo was allowed to return. 
 In the meantime he had visited England, where he 
 was very well received, and by his sensible observa- 
 tions and dignified deportment had acquired the 
 favourable opinion of every one with whom he came 
 in contact. It was thought that after the experience 
 he had gono through he might without imprudence 
 be allowed to rettirn to his own country, upon making 
 a promise to observe conditions that would pri^vent 
 his power from becoming dangerous again. 
 
 Some of the people welcomed him back, but others 
 adhered to a rival chief named Sibepu, who had found 
 means to secure a large following. War at once 
 broke out between them, and when Cetywayo died 
 in the following year, it continued between his son 
 Dinizulu and Sibepu. Dinizulu secured the aid of a 
 body of farmers, in return for which he ceded to them 
 
e secret, 
 a forest, 
 
 icorously 
 LS sent a 
 finement 
 )ve occu- 
 esidence. 
 n choice, 
 
 elcy into 
 nder the 
 e others, 
 e British 
 t answer 
 3 return, 
 vhere he 
 observa- 
 red the 
 he came 
 perience 
 )rudence 
 1 makinjr 
 
 prevent 
 
 it others 
 id found 
 at once 
 lyo died 
 his son 
 aid of a 
 to them 
 
 ■-V..K'- ^ 
 
 "111 
 .11 
 
 ■I'll 
 
 II.- 
 
 h 
 
 iilli 
 
 !'l i' 
 
I 
 
 L 1 
 
 
 312 
 
 NATAL AND ZULULAND. 
 
 a large tract of land, which was afterwards united to 
 the South African Republic, and is now known as 
 the district of Vryheid. With their assistance he 
 subdued his rival, but confusion and strife still 
 continued, so that in 1887 what remained of the 
 country was of necessity annexed to the British 
 Empire. It was divided into six districts, and a 
 European magistrate, supported by soldiers and 
 police, now has charge of each. 
 
 Not unnaturally Dinizulu objected to this arrange- 
 ment, and he caused such disturbances against the 
 English authority that order could not be maintained 
 while he was in the country. He was therefore 
 arrested, and in 1889, with two other chiefs, was 
 sent to reside on the island of St. Helena, where he 
 is still living. 
 
 Zululand has not been annexed to Natal, but the 
 governor of the one country is also governor of the 
 other. Settlement by Europeans in the territory is 
 not practicable to any large extent. 
 
 ' m 
 
united to 
 nown as 
 :ance he 
 rife still 
 1 of the 
 ) British 
 s, and a 
 ers and 
 
 arrange- 
 linst the 
 lintained 
 therefore 
 iefs, was 
 ^here he 
 
 but the 
 r of the 
 ritory is 
 
 . XXV. 
 
 THE ORANGE FREE STATE AND I5ASUT0LAND. 
 
 The history of the world may be searched in vain 
 for an instance of a community in a more unenviable 
 position than the burghers of the territory between 
 the Orange and Vaal rivers when they were aban- 
 doned by Great Britain. They were scattered thinly 
 over a great plain, and beside them in a mountain 
 land like a strong fortress was a hostile tribe armed 
 to the teeth, under the ablest chief in South Africa, 
 exulting in its recent victory over a British army, 
 and vastly exceeding them in number of combatants. 
 To the policy of forming a powerful Basuto state 
 they had been resolutely opposed, yet now they were 
 made to bear the consequences of its creation. Their 
 country was without roads or bridges, almost without 
 churches and schools, so that these were to be i)ro- 
 vided as well as the ordinary machinery of govern- 
 ment, while they received no share of the customs 
 duties on their trade levied in the ports of Natal and 
 the Cape Colony. That they surmounted these 
 difficulties and made their state one of the most 
 flourishing in South Africa is something that they 
 are justly proud of 
 
 3'3 
 

 i <>l' 
 
 M 
 
 314 ORANGE FRHE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 
 
 The form of government that they adopted was 
 republican. There is a president, who is the prin- 
 cipal executive officer, and who is elected by the 
 burghers for a term of five years. He must carry 
 out the resolutions of the volksraad, and has no veto 
 upon its proceedings. He is assisted by an executive 
 council. The volksraad is the supreme authority, 
 and consists at present of fifty-six members, one for 
 each fieldcornetcy and one for each seat of magis- 
 tracy. They are elected for fou: years. The presi- 
 dent and the state secretary have the right of debate, 
 but not of voting, in the volksraad. All European 
 males of full age born in the State are electors, and 
 also all European immigrant males of full i ^e who 
 have become burghers and are in possession of 
 unmortgaged landed property to the value of ^150, 
 or are lessees of landed property at a yearly rental 
 of £2,6, or are in receipt of a fixed yearly income of 
 ;^20C, or have been resident in the State for three 
 years and possess movable property worth .^300. 
 Men of coloured blood who live in all respects as 
 Europeans may have the privilege to vote accorded 
 to them by special resolution of the volksraad, and 
 some of very dark tint living in the same waj go to 
 the polls unquestioned. But the principle is kept 
 clearly in view that the government is to represent 
 the civilised inhabitants of the country, and that those 
 who are uncivilised can have no voice in its formation, 
 though they are to be protected equally with electors 
 and have the same right in courts of justice. 
 
 The fundamental law of the State, like that of all 
 other European communities in South Africa, is the 
 
VD. 
 
 Presidents hoffman and boshof. 315 
 
 3 
 
 ision 
 
 ted was 
 tie prin- 
 
 by the 
 st carry 
 
 no veto 
 ^ecutive 
 ithority, 
 
 one for 
 
 magis- 
 le presi- 
 ■ debate, 
 uropean 
 ors, and 
 
 :e who 
 of 
 
 )f ;^I50. 
 y rental . 
 
 come of 
 or three 
 
 h ;^300. 
 
 Dccts as 
 Lccorded 
 lad, and 
 i> go to 
 
 is kept 
 epresent 
 lat those 
 rmation, 
 
 electors 
 
 It of all 
 a, is the 
 
 Roman as m.odified by the legislature of Holland 
 before 1652. The official language is Dutch, and the 
 courts of law are after the Dutch pattern, though 
 considerably modified. In each district there is a 
 landdrost, with a body of heemraden to assist in 
 settling important cases, and over all is a supreme 
 court of judges, who must previously have been 
 qualified barristers. 
 
 When the British flag was withdrawn the com- 
 munity was split into factions, but the common 
 danger forced thr"i to unite in choosing a president 
 acceptable to Moshesh. Mr. Josias Hoffman, a 
 farmer who was intimately acquainted witV the great 
 chief and on excellent terms with him, was therefore 
 elected. During his short tenure of office, however, 
 the burghers felt that concession to the Basuto power 
 was carried further than was consistent with the 
 dignity of an independent state, and early in 1855 
 the volksraad took advantage of his having made a 
 present of a keg of gunpowder to Moshesh without 
 reporting the circumstance and clamoured so loudly 
 against him that he was compelled to resign. 
 
 Mr. Jacobus Nicolaas Boshof, a man of education, 
 of high moral character, and of considerable ability, 
 was then elected president. Having had a training 
 in official work in the civil service of the Cape Colony, 
 he was able to put the different departments of the 
 government in good order. I3ut from the day of his 
 assuming duty he was so incessantlv harassed by 
 the all-important question with Moshesh that he 
 could do little or nothing else for the general welfare 
 of the country. 
 
3l6 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 
 
 13.!' 
 
 %M 
 
 Moshesh's object, from a Bantu point of view, was 
 so praiseworthy that his followers were ready to do 
 everything in their power to promote it. He wished 
 to recover for his tribe the whole of the territory 
 south of the Vaal and west of the Drakensberg that 
 had been in occupation of black people before the 
 wars of Tshaka. The remnants of the tribes that in 
 olden times had occupied the ground were now his 
 followers, and he wanted the soil that once was theirs. 
 Sir George Napier had given him by treaty a large 
 portion of it, and that much, at any rate, he was 
 determined to have. 
 
 The object of the Free State government and 
 burghers was to retain the boundary fixed by Sir 
 Harry Smith, which, in their opinion, was a fair one. 
 When white people moved into the territory it was a 
 vast waste, and if they had not come Moshesh could 
 never have had a quarter of the land that was now in 
 his possession. Certainly Bantu had at some former 
 period occupied ground nearly as far west as Bloem- 
 fontcin, but they had irrecoverably lost it during the 
 Zulu wars. To admit Moshesh's claim would be to 
 consent to the annihilation of the State, and the 
 burghers had no mind for that. Here, in brief, was 
 tiic cause of the long and desperate struggle between 
 the Orange Free Sta 3 and the Basuto tribe. 
 
 For several years Moshesh directed his efforts 
 towards the south, leaving the farmers on his other 
 borders undisturbed. In that direction the herds of 
 the white people were plundered mercilessly by his 
 followers, and as a rule he would give no redress. 
 Sir George Grey once tried to arrange matters 
 
 I I' 
 
 l<|^.Hl 
 
iND. 
 
 SECOND BASUTO WAR. 
 
 317 
 
 new, was 
 dy to do 
 e wished 
 
 territory 
 3erg that 
 iforc the 
 s that ill 
 
 now his 
 as theirs. 
 / a large 
 , he was 
 
 lent and 
 I by Sir 
 fair one. 
 it was a 
 :sh could 
 s now in 
 c former 
 Bloem- 
 iring the 
 Id be to 
 and the 
 M'ief, was 
 between 
 
 efforts 
 
 lis other 
 
 herds of 
 
 by his 
 
 redress. 
 
 matters 
 
 ' 
 
 amicably between the two parties, and through his 
 agency an agreement of peace and friendship was 
 signed ; but Moshesh did not long observe it. At 
 length actual possession of occupied farms was taken 
 by parties of armed Basuto, and hostilities could be 
 staved off no longer. 
 
 In March 1858 the burghers of all parts of the 
 State were called out, and entered Basutoland in two 
 divisions, the object being to try to confine the war 
 to the enemy's country. But Moshesh was much too 
 skilful a strategist for their commanders to cope with. 
 He kept them closely occupied until after some 
 severe fighting they arrived in front of Thaba l^osigo, 
 where they learned that swarms of his light horsemen 
 were ravaging their farms. Before them was a moun- 
 tain stronghold which could not be taken by storm, 
 and they had not the means of laying siege to it. 
 Under these circumstances the burghers dispersed, 
 and made the best of their way to the localities where 
 they had left their families. 
 
 President Boshof had already applied to the South 
 African Republic for aid, but as the burghers of the 
 northern state were holding out for special terms of 
 union, and there was no time to be lost, he requested 
 the mediation of Sir George Grey. Moshesh con- 
 sented to an armistice, and promised to abide by the 
 decision of the governor. He was wise enough to 
 recognise that if he pushed his advantage too far he 
 would have to deal with the northern republic as 
 well as the southern, and he felt certain that the 
 governor would give him, as the concjueror, a good 
 strip of territory. 
 
t 
 
 I 
 
 >l I 
 
 Hi 
 
 318 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 
 
 Sir George Grey accepted the office of mediator. 
 He took from Moshesh a far outlying mission station 
 which was a kind of semi-independent fief of the 
 Basuto chieftainship, but gave him a large extent of 
 territory south of Sir Harry Smith's line. Thus the 
 first struggle with the Basuto ended in very serious 
 loss to the Orange Free State. 
 
 Shortly after this Mr. Boshof resigned, and was 
 succeeded as president by Mr. Marthinus Wessel 
 Pretorius, son of the famous commandant-general. 
 He represented a strong party that desired the union 
 of the two republics, but as there were many con- 
 flicting interests in the way, besides the declaration 
 of the high commissioner that union would dissolve 
 the conventions with Great Britain, every attempt at 
 amalgamation failed. 
 
 During these years the Free State was continually 
 growing stronger. The Griqua captain Adam Kok 
 sold his territorial rights to the republic, his people 
 sold their ground to farmers from the Cape Colony, 
 and then the whole clan moved away to a new 
 country below the Drakensberg and south of Natal, 
 given to them by Sir George Grey. With the excep- 
 tion of a little tract of almost unoccupied land 
 belong to the Griqua captain Nicholas Waterboer 
 between the Modder and Orange rivers and a 
 location belonging to the Barolong chief Moroko, the 
 whole territory between the Vaal and the Orange up 
 to the Basuto border was now in possession of white 
 people, and sheep farming and cattle rearing could be 
 carried on in a large portion of it with greater profit 
 than in any other part of South Africa. 
 
AND. 
 
 CONDUCT OF MOSHESH. 
 
 319 
 
 mediator, 
 m station 
 ef of the 
 extent of 
 Thus the 
 y serious 
 
 and was 
 5 Wessel 
 t-general. 
 he union 
 any con- 
 iclaration 
 dissolve 
 tempt at 
 
 ntinually 
 
 am Kok 
 
 is people 
 
 Colony, 
 
 a new 
 
 :)f Natal, 
 
 e excep- 
 
 ed land 
 
 aterboer 
 
 and a 
 
 -oko, the 
 
 ange up 
 
 of white 
 
 could be 
 
 er profit 
 
 Along the Basuto border, however, there was a 
 continual state of unrest. Moshesh had conquered 
 the clans on the northern bank of the Calcdon, and 
 had annexed their ground. The white people main- 
 tained that the boundary .should remain as before, 
 but the chief said contemptuously that he had never 
 
 rOKTRAIT OK PRESIDENT BRAND. 
 
 agreed ^o it, and he showed clearly that he would 
 not respect it. President Pretorius did all that was 
 possible to induce him to act fairly in the matter, but 
 in vain. His people pressed across the line, settled 
 on farms, and plundered the country for miles in 
 front of them. 
 
 In 1865 Advocate Jan liendrik Brand was elected 
 
'Il'i' 
 
 320 ORANGE FREE STATE AXD BASUTOLAND. 
 
 m 
 
 president. Of him it may be said iha*: South Africa 
 knows no worthier name, for no oirj has ever con- 
 tributed more to the welfare of the people than he. 
 Sir Philip VVodehouse had succeeded Sir George 
 Grey as ^^overnor of the Cape Colony and her 
 Majesty's high commissioner for the regions beyond. 
 President l^rand requested him to mark off the 
 northern boundary between the Free State and 
 J^asutoland, and the volksraad empowered him to 
 alter Sir Harry Smith's line if he saw fit to do so, 
 as they were willing to lose some ground if only they 
 could secure peace. Sir Philip was no lover of 
 republics, and he never concealed his dislike of the 
 South Afr'can farmers ; but in a matter of this kind 
 he could be depended upon to ret with the strictest 
 justice. Moshesh very reluctanti_> agreed to abide 
 by his decision. He visited the country, carefully 
 inspected it, heard the arguments on both sides, and 
 after much consideration confirmed Sir Harry Smith's 
 line. The president then called upon Moshesh to 
 withdraw his followers from the farms they had taken 
 possession of, and upon the chiefs failure to do so, 
 the burghers vv^ere called out to drive them back b}- 
 force, when open war began. 
 
 The laying waste of a large extent of territory in 
 the Free State by Basuto horsemen could not be 
 prevented, and a number of people were massacred 
 in a shocking manner ; but, on the other hand, the 
 burgher forces were victorious in several engagements 
 and took some mountain strongholds by storm. 
 Thaba Bosigo, however, resisted every attack upon 
 it. After ten months' fighting Moshesh asked for 
 
AND. 
 
 th Africa 
 ever con- 
 
 tlian he. 
 r George 
 
 and her 
 s beyond, 
 off the 
 tate and 
 I him to 
 to do so, 
 Dnly they 
 
 lover of 
 kc of the 
 this kind 
 : strictest 
 to abide 
 
 carefully 
 ;ides, and 
 y Smith's 
 shesh to 
 lad taken 
 to do so, 
 
 back by 
 
 rritory in 
 \ not be 
 lassacred 
 land, the 
 igements 
 r storm, 
 .ck upon 
 skcd for 
 
 PRESIDENT BRAND AND MOSHESII. 
 
 321 
 
 peace, and offered to cede a considerable part of his 
 country, but a yenr later he declared that he had only 
 done so in order to secure a harvest. The president 
 and the burghers were deceived, and in April 1866 
 terms were agreed to and a treaty of peace was 
 signed. 
 
 His gardens were planted, and when his harv^csts 
 were gathered Moshesh threw off the mask. lie 
 declined to fulfil the terms of the treaty, and in July 
 1867, President Brand was obliged to call the burghers 
 again to arms to compel him to observe his engage- 
 ments, l^oth sides recognised that the struggle must 
 now be a final one, and each put forth its utmost 
 strength. But Moshesh no longer possessed the 
 mental vigour of his earlier years, and in his tribe 
 there was no one who could take his place as a 
 strategist. His sons were mere ordinary barbarians. 
 Soon fragments of the tribe began to drop off and 
 move over the Drakensberg. Then one after another 
 all the Basuto strongholds fell, except Thaba Bosigo, 
 Moshesh's own mountain, which defied attack. The 
 granaries were destroyed, and the bulk of the tribe, 
 driven Mito the mountains, was suffering severely 
 from hunger and disease. 
 
 The Free State was in a fair way of being able 
 very shortly to dictate its own terms when Sir Philip 
 Wodehouse interfered. At Moshesh's request he 
 proclaimed the Basuto tribe Ikitish subjects, and 
 .sent an armed force to protect them. British 
 interests, he declared, would not permit of their 
 being dispersed over the country as fugitives. 
 Naturally the people of the Free State regarded 
 
 22 
 
J ■ 
 
 * 
 
 i! 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I ill 1 
 
 
 i 
 
 ■ jiii 
 
 1 
 
 ! 
 ij 
 
 322 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 
 
 this .'iction as unfriendly and unfair, and the volksraad 
 sent deputies to England to protest against it ; but 
 the imperial authorities left the matter entirely in the 
 governor's hands. The president then tried to 
 secure as good terms as possible, and in February 
 1869 an agreement was concluded by which the Free 
 State obtained all the land north and west of the 
 Caledon and south of a line almost identical with 
 that of Sir Harry Smith between the Caledon and 
 the Orange. 
 
 The republic sorely needed rest when the struggle 
 with the Basuto was over, though it was less 
 exhausted than its opponent. Paper money had 
 been issued to a large amount, and the notes were 
 greatly depreciated in value. Farming operations 
 had been neglected, and individuals as well as the 
 state had been compelled to incur heavy debts. 
 There was hardly a homestead in the land which did 
 not bear evidence that a crisis of no ordinary nature 
 had been experienced. The loss of life too had been 
 heavy in proportion to the population. But the 
 hearts of the people beat high, and government and 
 burghers alike set to work resolutely to repair their 
 losses. 
 
 A little before this date a discovery was made that 
 created a perfect revolution in South African life. 
 One day in 1867 a child on a farm in the north of 
 the Cape Colony was observed to be playing with 
 a remarkably brilliant pebble, which a trader, to 
 whom it was shown as a curiosity, suspected to be 
 a gem of value. It was sent for examination to a 
 qualified person in Grahamstown, who reported that 
 
w. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF DIAMONDS. 
 
 323 
 
 Iksraad 
 it ; but 
 y in the 
 ricd to 
 cbruary 
 he Free 
 of the 
 :al with 
 Ion and 
 
 struggle 
 /as less 
 ley had 
 tes were 
 )erations 
 1 as the 
 y debts, 
 hich did 
 y nature 
 lad been 
 But the 
 lent and 
 »air their 
 
 lade that 
 
 ican Hfc. 
 
 north of 
 
 ng with 
 
 rader, to 
 
 ed to be 
 
 :ion to a 
 
 ted that 
 
 it was a diamond of twenty-one carats weight, and 
 that its value was ;^5oo. Search was iminc(h'atcly 
 commenced in the neighbourhood by several persons 
 in odd hours, and soon anotlicr, though much smaller, 
 was found. Then a third was picked up on the bank 
 of the Vaal river, and attention was directed to tiiat 
 locality. 
 
 Daring 186S several were found, though as yet no 
 one was applying himself solel)' to looking for them. 
 In March i(S69 the Star of South Africa was 
 obtained from a Korana Hottentot, who had been 
 in possession of it for a long time without the least 
 idea of its value except as a powerful charm. It was 
 a magnificent brilliant of eighty-three carats weight 
 when uncut, and was readily sold for £\ 1,000. From 
 all parts of South Africa men now began to make 
 their way to the banks of the lower Vaal to search 
 for diamonds, and trains of waggons conveying pro- 
 visions and goods were to be seen on every highway 
 to the interior. Some of the diggers were fortunate 
 in amassing wealth, but this was by no means the 
 ca.se with all. Diamond digging, in fact, was like 
 a great lottery, with a few prizes and many blanks. 
 But it had a powerful attraction, and shortly many 
 hundreds of adventurers from Europe and America 
 were also engaged in it. 
 
 The quiet, simple, homely life of the South African 
 farm and village in olden times — rarely disturbed 
 except by wars with Bantu tribes — had passed away 
 for ever, and a bustling, struggling, restless mode of 
 existence was rapidly taking its place. The wealth 
 of the country was enormously increased, for dia- 
 
•t 
 
 lli 
 
 !V' ■! 
 
 I ; J I 
 
 ii 
 
 
 324 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 
 
 monds soon attained a high place in the exports ; 
 but it may be questioned if the people are on the 
 whole as happy as they were before. 
 
 The southern bank of the lower Vaal was Free 
 State territory, but the ownership of the northern 
 bank was disputed. Before the discovery of diamonds 
 it was regarded as of so little value that no actual 
 government existed there, though the South African 
 Republic, the Orange Free State, the Batlapin tribe, 
 and the Griqua captain, Nicholas Waterboer, all 
 claimed the ground. The consequence was that each 
 mining camp on that side of the stream formed a 
 kind of government for itself, and a great deal of 
 confusion and lawlessness was the result. 
 
 After a while much richer diamond mines than 
 those along the Vaal were discovered on some farms 
 to the southward, and most of the diggers removed 
 to them. The public offices of the district in which 
 they were situated were at a considerable distance, but 
 as soon as arrangements could be made by the govern- 
 ment, a resident landdrost was appointed, a post-office 
 was established, and some policemen were engaged. 
 
 In the minds of people at a distance the various 
 camps were confused with each other, and all were 
 supposed to be in the lawless condition of those north 
 of the Vaal. Most of the diggers were British 
 subjects, so that her Majesty's high commissioner 
 considered it his duty to interfere in the interests of 
 order. At that time one of the shrewdest men in 
 South Africa was agent for the Griqua captain, 
 Nicholas Waterboer, and on behalf of his client had 
 laid claim to a large part of the Orange I'^rce State, 
 
AND. 
 
 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 325 
 
 exports ; 
 c on the 
 
 was Free 
 northern 
 diamonds 
 no actual 
 h African 
 pin tribe, 
 rboer, all 
 that each 
 formed a 
 Lt deal of 
 
 ines than 
 me farms 
 ; removed 
 
 in which 
 tancc, but 
 le govern - 
 jost-officc 
 jngaged. 
 le various 
 
 all were 
 lose north 
 re British 
 imissioncr 
 iterests of 
 t men in 
 captain, 
 :licnt had 
 'rcc State, 
 
 including the locality in which the diamond mines 
 were situated. No pretension could be more shadowy, 
 but when Mr. Arnot, on behalf of Waterboer, offered 
 the territory to the British government, it came to be 
 regarded, on one side at least, as having some real 
 foundation. 
 
 The high commissioner proposed arbitration, 
 which President Brand declined. The territory which 
 Mr. Arnot claimed south of the Vaal, he said, had 
 been part of the Free State ever since the convention 
 of 1854. Before that date it had been part of the 
 Orange River Sovereignty, and some of the farms 
 in it were held under British titles issued at that 
 time. Nicholas Waterboer and his people lived far 
 away, and, as well as could be ascertained, had never 
 occupied ground there. Under these circumstances 
 he would not admit that there could be any question 
 of ownership. The right of the state to land beyond 
 the Vaal, however, he was willing to submit to 
 arbitration, as it had been acquired by purchase, and 
 the seller's title might be open to doubt. 
 
 While the high commissioner and the president 
 were corresponding on this subject, Mr. Marthinus 
 Wessel Pretorius, who was then president of the 
 South African Republic, agreed to submit some 
 disputes between that country and the liaroKjng, 
 Batlapin, and Griquas, to arbitration, in consequence 
 of which a court was appointed, with Mr. Keate, 
 governor of Natal, as final umpire, and proceedings 
 were opened at the little village of liloemhof, (jn the 
 northern bank of the Vaal. The h'ree State govern- 
 ment was not represented in the court. 
 
326 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 
 
 i 
 
 I; 
 
 It: 
 
 The interests involved were greater than were 
 recognised at the time. It was supposed that the 
 sovereignty of some of the diamond mines was the 
 great question at issue ; now it is seen that access by 
 Great Britain to the distant interior was also involved. 
 On one side the proceedings were a penect farce. 
 President Pretorius and his attorney did nothing 
 whatever to work up their case ; they did not attempt 
 to meet evidence that might have been disproved 
 with the greatest ease ; they even put in a spurious 
 document given to them by one (){ their opponents 
 purposely to befool them. On the other side was 
 Mr. Arnot, who knew exactly what to withhold as 
 well as what to bring forward. The result was that 
 Mr. Keate, acting solely on the evidence before him, 
 gave judgment against the South African Republic, 
 and in defining the territories of the disputants 
 included within Nicholas VVaterboer's boundary the 
 part of the Vxqc State which that captain claimed. 
 
 As soon as the Keate award was issued — October, 
 I1S71 — Sir Henry Jku'kly, who was then high 
 commissioner, proclaimed W'aterboer's countr)' a 
 Jiritish dependency, with boundaries enclosing the 
 mines along the Vaal, and at Dutoitspan, De Ik-er's, 
 and Kimberle}'. An armed force was sent to take 
 [)ossession of it, and the h'ree State officials withdrew 
 under protest. The territory, which was named 
 Gri<iualaiid West, then became a crown colon)'. It 
 remained in that condition until liSSo, when it was 
 annexed to the Cape Colon)-, of which it now forms 
 part. 
 
 Some time after Grioualand West came under the 
 
LVD. 
 
 an were 
 
 that the 
 
 was tlie 
 
 icccss by 
 
 involved. 
 
 :ct farce. 
 
 nothini,^ 
 
 attempt 
 
 h'sproved 
 
 spurious 
 
 pponents 
 
 side was 
 
 thhold as 
 
 was that 
 
 iforc him, 
 
 Republic, 
 
 lisputants 
 
 iidary the 
 
 aimed. 
 
 -October, 
 
 len high 
 
 ountr)' a 
 
 osing the 
 
 iJe lieer's, 
 
 it to take 
 
 withdrew 
 
 LS named 
 
 jlony. It 
 
 en it was 
 
 low forms 
 
 under the 
 
 PRESIDENT liRAND'S VISIT TO ENGLAND. 327 
 
 I^ritish flai^, a special court was created to decide 
 upon conflicting claims to ground. For many weeks 
 evidence was taken, and the most minute research 
 was made into the history of the land and its people. 
 When at length judgment was given, all claims within 
 the diamond mining area that rested on grants by 
 VVaterboer were thrown out, because that captain 
 never had any rights there. 
 
 President Ikand then went to Kngland and laid 
 his case before the Imperial authorities. In brief it 
 was this — that Great Britain had taken the land from 
 the Free State under pretence that it belonged to 
 VVaterboer, and that a British court, after careful 
 examination, had since decided that Watcrboer had 
 no right to it. The reply which he received was to 
 the effect that it was a necessity for the paramount 
 power in South Africa to be in possession of the 
 diamond mines, but he would receive ^'90,000 from 
 Griqualand West as a solatium. 
 
 The president wisely accepted the offer, and with 
 the money reduced the public debt of the state. 
 The sore feeling entertained by the burghers passed 
 away, and they began to reflect that perhaps after all 
 it was better for them to be relieved of the respon- 
 sibility of maintaining order among the diggers. A 
 diamond mine at Jagcrsfontein had been left to them, 
 and it was turning out much richer than had (jnce 
 been anticipated. Then they had all the advantages 
 which the other mines offered as markets fur farm 
 produce, so that they might have a good deal of gain 
 with no risk. 
 
 Since this settlement the h'ree State lias enjo)f'd 
 
;:! 
 
 ^1=' 
 
 llii 
 
 fK^ 
 
 c ;: 
 
 
 Hi 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 ,i'' 
 
 ii:"l 
 
 lr,.l ; 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 M. 
 
 :). 
 
 IJ 
 
 t !' 
 
 32S ORANGE FREE STATE AND DASUTOLAND. 
 
 constant peace, and no part of South Africa has 
 made greater progress. Roads, bridges, and good 
 pubh'c buildings have been constructed, and an excel- 
 lent system of public schools is maintained by the 
 government. The railway from Capetown to Pretoria, 
 in the South African Republic, passes through the 
 state, and there are lines to Port Elizabeth and East 
 London, all of which were constructed by the govern- 
 ment of the Cape Colony under a very liberal con- 
 vention. From Harrismith there is a line to Durban, 
 constructed by the government of Natal. The PVee 
 State is without a public debt. Its boundaries on 
 every side are undisputed, and it has no semi-inde- 
 pendent clans within its borders. The Barolong jf 
 Moroko, the last who were in that condition, came 
 completely under the government after a feud in 
 which the chief was killed by one of his brothers. 
 The Cape Colony, the Orange P^ree 'State, and the 
 smaller British dependencies in South Africa, except 
 Natal, form a customs union. 
 
 President Brand was elected again and again until 
 1888, when he died in office. Mr. F. \V. Reitz, 
 previousl)' chief justice, was then chosen to fill the 
 vacant place. According to the census of 1890 
 the population consists of seventy-eight thousand 
 P^uropeans and one hundred and thirt>' thousand 
 coloured people. The industries of the state are 
 almost entirely pastoral and agricultural, but there 
 are valuable coal fields which are begiiming to be 
 worked, and there are diamond mines at Jagers- 
 fontein and Koffyfontein : the last-named, however, 
 not being of great importance. 
 
lA'D. 
 
 "ricci has 
 nd good 
 in cxccl- 
 . by the 
 Pretoria, 
 )ugh the 
 nd East 
 
 govern- 
 )ral con- 
 Durban, 
 rhe Free 
 aries on 
 mi-inde- 
 Dlong jf 
 )n, came 
 
 feud in 
 Drothcrs. 
 and the 
 
 , except 
 
 u'n until 
 Rcitz, 
 
 fill the 
 jf 1 8go 
 lousand 
 luusand 
 tate are 
 it there 
 g to be 
 
 Jagers- 
 lowcver, 
 
 
 'J. 
 
 < 
 
 < 
 
 ■J 
 
 c 
 
 ■ji 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 u 
 
i n 
 
 330 ORANGE FREE STATE AND BASUTOLAND. 
 
 When Basutoland was taken over as a British 
 possession, an agent was appointed by the high 
 commissioner, who, with a few magistrates and some 
 poh'ce, guided rather than governed the tribe. 
 Moshesh died soon afterwards, and his principal 
 heir, Letsie by name, had none of the old chief's 
 ability. Molapo and Masupha, two other sons, were 
 at the head of considerable sections of the tribe. All 
 were unwilling to part with any real authority over 
 the people, and gave just sufficient obedience to the 
 British officials to ensure protection, but carefully 
 avoided conceding more. 
 
 In 1 87 1 the territory was attached to the Cape 
 Colony, which thus became responsible for the 
 preservation of order within it. The system of 
 administration continued as before. Bantu law was 
 recognised, except in a few of its worst features, 
 but it was intended gradually to assimilate it to the 
 law of the colony. Sufficient hut-tax was easily 
 collected to cover the cost of administration and 
 to leave a small amount for public works, besides 
 providing for liberal allowances to the chiefs. 
 
 In a short time the tribe recovered from its losses 
 in property, and increased in number as only liantu 
 can in a period of peace, luiropcans believed that 
 the British officials were gaining control over the 
 people, and that the power of the chiefs was waning ; 
 but it was soon to be proved how little foundation 
 there was for such a belief In 1877 a wave of 
 disturbance began to pass along the Bantu tribes 
 connected with the Cape Colony, and when it sub- 
 sided the government resolved upon a general dis- 
 
LAND. 
 
 a British 
 
 the high 
 
 3 and some 
 
 the tribe. 
 
 ; principal 
 
 old chiefs 
 
 ■ sons, were 
 
 tribe. All 
 
 hority over 
 
 ^ncc to the 
 
 it carefully 
 
 the Cape 
 le for the 
 
 system of 
 tu law was 
 st features, 
 te it to the 
 
 was easily 
 :ration and 
 ks, besides 
 efs. 
 
 m its losses 
 only Bantu 
 jlieved that 
 ol over the 
 /as waning ; 
 
 foundation 
 
 a wave of 
 ^antu tribes 
 hen it sub- 
 general dis- 
 
 BASUTOLAND. 
 
 331 
 
 armament. As soon as the measure was applied 
 to Basutoland, the people rose in rebellion. Some 
 clans, indeed, professed to be loyal, but only because 
 others with whom they were at feud were on the 
 opposite side. The colony spent a vast amount of 
 treasure in trying to reduce the rebels to submission, 
 but failed in the attempt, and the end was that in 
 1884 Basutoland was transferred back to the imperial 
 government. 
 
 The country since that date has been nominally 
 under the direction of a l^ritish administrator, with 
 magistrates to assist him ; and these officers appear 
 to have some moral influence, though the people 
 obey only when it pleases them. Letsie died 
 recentl) , and was succeeded by his son Lerothodi, 
 who is now the actual ruler of the tribe. 
 
 Basutoland contains at present about two hundred 
 and twenty-five thousand l^antu, and six hundred 
 Europeans The white people are officials, mission- 
 aries, or traders. No others are permitted to settle 
 in" the country. 
 
 i^* * 
 
i 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REl'UULIC. 
 
 The vasL ract of land north of the Vaal, that 
 became the property of the emigrant farmers after 
 the expulsion of Moselekatse, contained ground suit- 
 able for almost every variety of agricultural and 
 pastoral industry, and, though the circumstances was 
 then unknown, in mineral wealth it is not surpassed 
 by any country in the world. Its eastern and 
 northern valleys, well watered and of great fertility, 
 h-id for a time a strong attraction fur settlers, but 
 experience proved them to be less healthy than the 
 open highlands, and they were therefore [)artly aban- 
 doned. In some places the tsetse fly abounded, and 
 this scourge of domestic cattle prevented settlement 
 in its neighbourhood until the large game was ex- 
 terminated, when it disappeared. The fever too, 
 tha»: was once so prevalent on the borders of forests 
 and streams in the lowlands, in course of time became 
 almost unknown in the same localities if the ground 
 was cultivated and the rank grass burnt off before it 
 began to decay. 
 
 The farmers were only fifteen or sixteen thousand 
 
''aal, that 
 lers after 
 unci suit- 
 ural and 
 .nces was 
 lurpassed 
 crn and 
 
 fertility, 
 ;lers, but 
 than the 
 :\y aban- 
 ded, and 
 ittlement 
 
 was ex- 
 :ver too, 
 )f forests 
 ; became 
 ; ground 
 
 before it 
 
 housand 
 
 LAWLESSNESS. 
 
 333 
 
 in number, all told, so they naturally selected what 
 appeared to them the choicest spots, and no one 
 considered it worth his while to settle on the great 
 plains of the west. There vas no such thing as 
 union among them. An attempt was made to form 
 a kind of common government, by the election of a 
 single volksraad for legislative purposes, but with 
 four executive heads, one for each of the principal 
 factions. This system, as may be imagined, was 
 accompanied by much disorder, and was soon suc- 
 ceeded by four republics, independent of each 
 other : Potchefstroom, Zoutpansberc^, Lydenburg, 
 and Utrecht. Matters were not \ *er 'ed by this 
 arrangement, and it may almost Se .^ix'd that the 
 white people beyond the Vaal wee without govern- 
 ment at all. 
 
 A notable evil that resulted fr m this condition of 
 things was that the outskirts oi the occupied area 
 offered a refuge to vagabonds of every stamp, who 
 resorted to them from other parts of South Africa. 
 Men capable of the most abominable cruelty and 
 meanness, but po.ssessing the quality of brute courage, 
 roamed along the frontier nominally as hunters and 
 traders, and their lawless deeds were attributed by 
 people at a distance to the whole community. 
 
 When P2uropeans first entered the country, it was 
 in a similar condition to Mashonaland in 1890. 
 North and west, as far as it was known, the native 
 tribes had been destroyed by the Matabele, and only 
 a few wretched remnants were living either along 
 the margin of the Kalahari desert or among almost 
 inaccessible mountain.s. The greater portion of the 
 
334 
 
 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC 
 
 
 • 1. 
 
 ■li-i 
 
 \i ■ 
 
 I 
 
 ir 
 
 
 ■ih 
 
 territory south of the twenty-second parallel of lati- 
 tude was literally without inhabitants, for Moscle- 
 katse's bands were in the habit of traversing it yearly 
 in one direction or other, and no clan could live in 
 their way. The arrival of the white people and the 
 flight of the Matabcle gave new life to the dwellers 
 in the mountains and deserts. They could come 
 out into the open country once more, and make 
 gardens and sleep in safety. The Europeans were 
 masters and owners of the land, but in accordance 
 with the ancient Dutch custom, they permitted each 
 little l^antu community to be governed by its own 
 chief in all matters that did not affect the ruling 
 race. 
 
 The kraals were made subject to a labour tax, and 
 under a strong government no better tax could be 
 imposed upon a barbarous people. But under the 
 weak rule of the emigrant farmers the system was 
 liable to great abuses, though the Bantu thought 
 lightly of it until the dread of the Matabele was 
 forgotten. Life was now safe, and the occupants of 
 the kraals were multiplying at a prodigious rate, 
 besides which fugitives were coming in from the 
 regions beyond the Limpopo, where Moselekatse 
 was lord. 
 
 Ten years passed away, and the clans had become 
 so strong that they began to chafe under the re- 
 straints imposed upon them by the white men and 
 to aspire to independence. The anarchy and strife 
 among the Europeans appeared to give them the 
 opportunity they wanted. But among themselves 
 also there was the remembrance of ancient feuds, 
 
Icl oflati- 
 f Mosclc- 
 j it yearly- 
 Id live in 
 e and the 
 2 dwellers 
 uld come 
 md make 
 cans were 
 ccordance 
 ttcd each 
 y its own 
 he ruling 
 
 • tax, and 
 could be 
 under the 
 stem was 
 thought 
 ibelc was 
 upants of 
 ious rate, 
 from the 
 jselekatse 
 
 d become 
 r the re- 
 men and 
 ind strife 
 them the 
 lemselves 
 nt feuds, 
 
 DR. LIVINGSTONF.. 
 
 335 
 
 which caused so much jealousy that combination was 
 impossible, and instead of rising altogether, it was in 
 succession that the most disaffected among them 
 took up arms. Then, too, as will be seen on a 
 much more memorable occasion at a later date, in 
 presence of an opponent the farmers stood shoulder 
 to shoulder, and were therefore able to suppress the 
 various risings against their authority. 
 
 These disturbances were brought prominently to 
 the notice of the English people by the reverend 
 Dr. Livingstone, the greatest explorer of modern 
 times, who was then a missionary with the Bakwena, 
 under the chief, Setyeli, and whose house and furni- 
 ture were destroyed during the war. Dr. Livingstone 
 was a strong partisan of the Bantu, and did his 
 utmost to oppo.se the claim of the emigrant farmers 
 to dominion over the clan with which he was living, 
 so that his statements are those of an advocate 
 rather than those of a judge. He repre.sented Setyeli 
 as wholly in the right, and the farmers as wholly in 
 the wrong : but any impartial writer who examines 
 Setyeli's own account of the matter, as given by 
 himself personally to the governor in Capetown, 
 must come to a different conclusion. 
 
 War cannot be carried on without cruelty, hut in 
 these contests acts were sometimes performed by the 
 P^uropeans which exceeded the limit regarded as 
 permissable by civilised nations. It should be re- 
 membered, however, that the provocation on such 
 occasions was ver)' great, as, for instance, when 
 white women and children were murdered in cold 
 blood, or when corp.ses were mutilated, or captives 
 
\ii 
 
 
 ill 
 
 !■:! 
 
 i > 
 
 i ■ V( 
 
 (| 1^!!!!! 
 
 336 
 
 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 
 
 put to death by torture. Men belonpfinjj to the most 
 refined circles in Europe would probably retaliate 
 under such circumstances as cruelly as the emigrant 
 farmers did. 
 
 Early in 1857 the Potchefstroom faction adopted 
 a new constitution, under which Mr. Marthinus 
 Wessel Pretorius became president, though with no 
 other power than to carry out the resolutions of the 
 volksraad. In the following year Zoutpansberg gave 
 in its adhesion to this constitution, and, in i860, 
 Lydenburg and Utrecht, previously united, were also 
 incorporated, so that the whole country north of 
 the Vaal became a single republic. The different 
 factions now began to strive for the supreme power 
 in the state, and a civil war broke out, in which 
 some blood was shed. Peace was restored in Ma}', 
 1864, when Mr. Pretorius was accepted by all 
 parties as the legally elected president, and Mr. S. 
 J. Paul Kruger as commandant-general or militarj- 
 head. 
 
 Meantime the Baramapulana tribe, which was 
 living in a mountainous tract of land in the north 
 of the republic, had become very strong in number, 
 owing to an influx of broken clans from beyond the 
 T^impopo. It was in possession of a good many 
 guns, procured from the vagabond whites in the 
 neighbourhood, and was disposed to resent any inter- 
 ference with its actions. In a feud a brother of the 
 chief was obliged to flee, and was protected by the 
 Government, a circumstance which greatly anno}'ed 
 his opponents. In April 1865, when searching for a 
 fugitive offender, some of the lawless Europeans and 
 
WAR WITH THE liARAMAPULANA. 
 
 JJ7 
 
 the most 
 
 retaliate 
 
 emigrant 
 
 adopted 
 Tarthinus 
 
 with no 
 ns of the 
 Derg gave 
 
 in i860, 
 
 were also 
 
 north of 
 
 different 
 ne power 
 in which 
 I in May, 
 1 by all 
 W Mr. S. 
 
 militar)' 
 
 lich was 
 
 he north 
 
 number, 
 
 yond the 
 
 lod many 
 
 s in the 
 
 inv inter- 
 
 icr of the 
 
 xl by the 
 
 annoyed 
 
 ing for a 
 
 3cans and 
 
 a party of blacks who were assisting them committed 
 acts of great violence upon the outposts of the tribe, 
 and a general war was brought on. 
 
 For more than three years the republic strove in 
 vain to subdue the Haramapulana. There was no 
 money in the treasury, and the govenunent was 
 actually at one time unable to raise funds sufficient 
 to pay for the carriage of ammunition fn^m Durban. 
 The burghers of the southern part of the state re- 
 fused to take part in the war. Commandant-General 
 Kruger did all that man could do with the slender 
 means at his disposal, but he was at length obliged 
 to withdraw discomfited. The village of Schoe- 
 mansdal, the centre of the ivory trade and the 
 residence of a landdrost and a clergyman, was 
 abandoned by its inhabitants when the feeble com- 
 mando retired, and was afterwards burnt by the 
 enemy. The Europeans were obliged for their 
 safety to withdraw from a large part of the district 
 of Zoutpansberg, to which they were never able to 
 return. The Baramapulana, however, felt the want 
 of commercial intercourse, and in July 1868 ex- 
 pressed a desire for a renewal of friendship, at the 
 same time offering to pay tribute, when peace was 
 gladly made on conditions which by no means 
 secured the absolute supremacy of the republican 
 government. 
 
 The white people had thus lost ground, and the 
 fact of their having done so made it more difficult 
 than before to preserve order among the Bantu 
 farther south. In one respect only the country 
 showed signs of progress : in the number of churches 
 
 23 
 
33« 
 
 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUIiLIC. 
 
 It# 
 
 built ano clergymen engaged. Yet even in religious 
 matters there was constant strife among the sections 
 of what outsiders can on!)' regard as one church, so 
 trifling are the differences that break it into distinct 
 communions, A generation had grown up without a 
 knowledge of books or of events beyond their own 
 little circle. The rivers were unbridged, there were 
 no public offices worthy of the name, the treasury 
 was always empt)', and the salaries of the officials, 
 trifling as they were, could seldom or never be paid 
 when they fell due. Commerce was carried on chiefly 
 by means of barter, as gold and silver were exceeding 
 scarce. Still on the farms anj'thing like want was 
 unknown, for the flocks and herds throve and in- 
 creased in the rich pastures, and the fertile .soil 
 prod"ced grain and vegetables and fruit in abun- 
 dance. 
 
 The war with the Hjiramai)ulana was hardly con- 
 cluded when fresh difficulties arose through the 
 liarolong of Montsiwa and other clans on the west 
 .setting up a claim to independence and to the 
 possession of a territory of innnense extent. The 
 republic was not in a positicjii to as.sert its authority 
 by force of arms, and indeed the matter was hardly 
 considered worth much notice until the discovery 
 of diamonds along the lower Vaal gave impiirtance 
 to the claim. Then I'resident Tretorius and her 
 Majesty's high commissioner for South Africa 
 arranged that it should be .settled by arbitration, 
 and each part)' appointed a representative to form 
 a court, with (iovernor Keate, of Natal, as final 
 umi)ire. The manner in which the case for the 
 
PRl-SIDEX T Jii'RG ENS. 
 
 .U9 
 
 1 religious 
 ic sections 
 church, so 
 ito distinct 
 I without a 
 their own 
 [here were 
 c treasury 
 le officials, 
 cr be paid 
 
 1 on chiefly 
 exceeding 
 
 want was 
 vc and in- 
 fertile soil 
 it in abun- 
 
 lardly con- 
 uough the 
 n the west 
 nd to the 
 ctent. The 
 s authority 
 was hardly 
 
 2 discovery 
 importance 
 IS and her 
 uth Africa 
 arbitration, 
 
 ive to form 
 tal, as final 
 se for the 
 
 republic was conducted has been related in the 
 preceding cha|)ter. Governor Keate's award gave 
 to the tribes the independence and the territory 
 that they claimed, and even took from the govern- 
 ment at Pretoria a large district that had been 
 occupied by white people ever since the great 
 emigration. 
 
 As soon as the award was known President 
 Pretorius was obligctl to resign, for the volksraad 
 maintained that he had exceeded his authority in 
 making the agreement with the high commissioner, 
 and declared that they were not bound by his action. 
 The high commissioner, however, announced that he 
 would enforce the award, though he ditl not take 
 p<)ssessi(jn of the territory cut off from the republic 
 by it. And now there was a general cry that a 
 clever man, capable of conducting business on e(pial 
 terms with the (juecn's representative in Capetown, 
 must be found to fill the (»ffice of president. I'hc 
 reverend Thomas h'raiK^ois limgers, a clerg)'man who 
 had abandoned the orthodox church and whose name 
 was then prominently before the public on account of 
 the skilful manner in which he had conducted some 
 (liHicult cases in the law courts of the (ape Colony, 
 seemed to [lossess the recjuisite ability, and he was 
 elected by a nearly unanimous vote. 
 
 Mr. lUirgers was an able and an active man, with 
 large persuasive powers, but he w.is a dieamer. II(* 
 dreamed of a pcjwerful ami prosperous republic, with 
 colleges and telegr.iphs and railways, with a high 
 name among the nations of the earth; and he 
 imagined that ii could be formeil offhand out of 
 
34<J 
 
 THE SOUTH Al'RlCAN REPUBLIC. 
 
 ¥ 
 
 
 P. . ! 
 
 a few thousaiul unctlucitccl men with scvciitccnth- 
 ccntury iilcas and such immigrants as he could 
 induce to join iiim from Holland. Two years after 
 his election lie induced the volksraad to send him 
 to Kurojje to nc^n)tiate a loan for the purpose of 
 constructing^ ji railway from i*retoria to Delaj^oa Hay 
 and to engage teachers for a number of state 
 schools. 
 
 In Holland ^^90,000 was subscribed towards the 
 loan, and with the money railway material was 
 purchar^ed and sent out to rust and rot away at 
 LoureiK^o Marcjues, for no more could be borrowed. 
 A superintendent-general of education and a few 
 other ofticials were engaged, with whom the president 
 returned to Pretoria, to find that during his absence 
 the Hapedi tribe, under the chief SekuUuni, that 
 occupied a wild and rugged tract of land in the 
 valley of the Olifants river, had acted in a manner 
 that no governmeiit could tolerate. 
 
 A large C(jmmando was called out to punish the 
 insurgents, but the burghers assembled in fear and 
 
 l)resident was to lead it 
 
 mg. 
 
 P 
 
 1> 
 
 ai 
 
 id as 111" was in religion an agnostic, they — with 
 their thorough orthodo.v creed — feared much that the 
 blessing of God could not rest upon the eiiteri)rise. 
 So strong had this feeling become througliout the 
 country that a large number of families, rather liian 
 remain under his government, were movmg away to 
 seek a uew home beyond the Kalahari tlesert, and 
 were even then marking the road to Mossamedes in 
 the Portuguese province of lienguela, where tiiey 
 ultimately settled, with a line of graves showing the 
 
 Be 
 
 ■h 
 
REnRLLION OF THE BAPEDI. 
 
 341 
 
 jiitccnth- 
 lic could 
 cars after 
 scikI him 
 ,ir|)()sc (if 
 \^0'\ Hay 
 of state 
 
 vards the 
 erial was 
 
 away at 
 borrowed, 
 id a few 
 
 president 
 s absence 
 ami, tliat 
 id ill tlie 
 a maimer 
 
 )imisli the 
 fear and 
 m person, 
 hey — with 
 li tliat tlie 
 enteri)rise. 
 I^liout the 
 ather than 
 i^ away to 
 lesert, and 
 aniedes in 
 here they 
 lowing tlic 
 
 terrible sufferings of their march. The passionate 
 fech'ng at the time of his election had passed awa)*, 
 and hardly anythinjT was now remembered except the 
 failure of many of his plans. 
 
 One strong place was taketi, which the president in 
 overdrawn language wrote of as the Gibraltar of the 
 south, but this success did not give heart to the 
 farmers. An attempt to take another stronghold 
 failed, chiell)- owing to the conduct of the burghers 
 themselves, and then there was u perfect stampede 
 homeward, which all the efforts of Mr. Burgers could 
 not prevent. Some da)'s later the fugitives reached 
 I'retoria, and no hope of supi)ressing the rebellion 
 speedil)' was left. 
 
 The volksraad was hastily convened, when it was 
 resolved to engage men wherever they could be 
 obtained, at £i a month, rations, and a farm of four 
 thousand acres when the disturbance was quelled. 
 To meet the expense heavy war taxes were imposed. 
 
 Hut the country was quite unable to bear this 
 strain. The ordinary charges of government and 
 the interest on the |)ublic debt could not be met, 
 much less an additional burden. Atid .so the whole 
 administrative machiner)' broke down. The republic 
 was reall)' in a pitiable state, without nionc)' or an 
 ami)', with rebellion triumphant, and a general 
 election ap[)roaching tb.at was feared might he 
 attended with civil war. 
 
 While things were in this condition .Sir Theophilus 
 Shepstone, pre\ iousi)' secretary for native affairs in 
 Natal, was sent b)' the Hrilish government as a coni- 
 inissiorcr to Tnloria with very large powers. It is 
 
3^2 
 
 Tin- SOUTH AFmCAX Kl.PUBLIC. 
 
 \ 1 
 
 fflnrl 
 
 fidmittcfl by every one that a coinriiy i^' crttitlfil to 
 interfere with a neighbour whose weakness Is <i c:-usc 
 of common peril ; but whether Great ]>rit \'n was 
 justified in this instance in takinj^ possession of the 
 South African ReiiubHc is a (juestion upon which 
 opinions differ. One of the reasons assiLjned by 
 Sir Theophihis Shepstone for the action which he 
 took was that the territory was \\\ dan<;er of bein^ 
 overrun by the Zulus, and if that was reall)' so, the 
 circumstance would i^o a lon^ way to sup|)ort his 
 proceedinj^s. Hut the farmers never expressed a fear 
 of such a danj^er, and always alle^^'d that the)' could 
 repel Cetywayo's armies much more casil)- than 
 besiege a fortified mountain stronjjjhold. The Zulu 
 chief at the time was tryinjjf to pla)' off the republic 
 against Natal, and bis c!r;clarations to r,ne part)' 
 concerning the other cannot be regarded j'/i evidence, 
 though the Ih'itish commissioner seems to have 
 attached much value to them. Further than this, 
 the residents of the villages, wlio were principall)' 
 Knglish and Germans, retjuestcd the commissioner 
 to declare the countrv a Ih'itish dependenc)-, as the 
 only remedy again- vnarchy, and the farmers did 
 nothing to oppose hie? and his slender escort. The 
 govermnent managed to patch up a kind of peace 
 with Sekukuni, but otherwise matters remained in 
 the condition describcil until the 1 2th of April 1S77, 
 when Sir rhc(»philus .Shepstone issued a proclamation 
 declaring the country a Hritish possession, and tlicre- 
 upon assumed supreme control, the president retiring 
 under i)rotest. 
 
 A considerabk- inilitar)' force now entered the 
 
 i!* i 
 
BRITISH RULE. 
 
 34: 
 
 tititlf .1 to 
 
 iti',:i was 
 on of the 
 on whic'.i 
 iijnctl b)' 
 which he 
 
 of l)ein^ 
 1)' so, the 
 pport his 
 ii'd a fear 
 le)' could 
 y'\\y than 
 I'he /uhi 
 2 rejHibUc 
 nc part)' 
 evidence, 
 
 to have 
 han tliis, 
 irincipa!!)' 
 missioncr 
 c)', as the 
 rmers (h'fl 
 ort. The 
 of peace 
 laincd in 
 pril iS;;, 
 L'laination 
 nd tlicre- 
 t reiiriii}( 
 
 ere(! the 
 
 Transvaal territory, as tiie country wa^. re-name:', ano 
 apparently the nc v jjovernment was firmly esiablisheti. 
 Trade revived, money ^ wed in, and property of every 
 kind increased in value. lUit tiie farmers were dis- 
 satisfied with the loss of their indei)endence, and sent 
 Mr. I'aul Kru^er and Dr. Jorissen to lCn;jjland to 
 endeavour to f^et the annexation withdrawn. Tlie 
 deputation failed in its purpose, and at that time the 
 liritish ministry appear to have believed that a lar^e 
 proportion of the jjeople of the territory — if not the 
 majority — were in favour of ICn^^lish rule. As a proof 
 that this was not the case, memorials were sent round 
 against the anne.vation, and received the signatures of 
 over si.\ thousand five hundred individuals, represent- 
 ing practically the whole rural population. Another 
 de|)Utation, consistin^^ of Messrs. Paul Krui^er and 
 I'ieter Joubcrt, with Mr. luluard Hok as secretar)*, 
 Wcis now sent to I^v^land, in hope that with so strong 
 an ar^aunent in its favour it would meet with success, 
 iUit it returned disappointed, and thereafter rei)eated 
 declarations wert' made by the hij^hcst officials in 
 .South Africa that under no circumstances would !^'j 
 British \\,v^ be witluhawn from the Transvaal. 
 
 Sir I'heophilus .Shepstone was personally not ^i\<- 
 liked, and if an)' one could have made the faruu rs 
 contented under I'Ji.L^lish rule he would have done it. 
 Hut in March iSj'j he was succeeiled as .-» ' iju's- 
 trator b)' Sir Owen Lan)'on, a man of hr ;;■'.. dis 
 position, who was incapable of iveii atlcmpiin}^^ to 
 conciliate the [.eople of the count i)'. The feeliii^^ now 
 rapidly j^ained ground that if peaceable nu'ans lo 
 obtain the restoration of iiidepeiklence did nut soon 
 
 %-K^:- 
 

 
 344 
 
 THK SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBUC. 
 
 succeed, an appeal to arms ought to be made. The 
 women of South Africa have always had great 
 influence in public affairs, and on this occasion their 
 voice was decidedly in favour of war. Mothers en- 
 courageil their sons, wives their husbands, to act a.s 
 men, and if they were beaten they could die the 
 death of patriots or move away to the unknown north 
 as their fathers had done before them. 
 
 At this time Sekukuni again gave trouble, but 
 .Sir Garnet Wolselcy with a strong bod)- of troops 
 and a band of Swa/.is marched against him, in- 
 flicted great damage ui)on his tribe, and brought the 
 chief himself a prisoner to IVctoria. Shortl)' after 
 this event intelligence reached the countr}- that 
 Mr. Gladstone had succeedeil the earl of Heacons- 
 ficld as prime minister of Kngland, .'uul as the new 
 premier when in oi)position had denounced the 
 annexation as unjust, the farmers not unnaturally 
 thought that he wou'.l give them back their inde- 
 pendence, For a while therefore the agitation almost 
 ceased. Some of the troops were witlulrawn from 
 the territory, and Sir Garnet Wolselcy, having been 
 relii'ved as commander-in-chief by Sir George Collcy, 
 returnetl to Ivarope. 
 
 As soon as it was known, however, that Mr. 
 Gladstone declined to withdraw the j^ritish flag, the 
 general discontent came to a head. An attempt to 
 sci/c the waggfMi of a farmer who refused to pay 
 a tax brought a nmnber of his friends to the rescue, 
 an-i ll.c officials at Potchcfstroom, though supported 
 \.>y a strong" militar)' force, were openl)- set at defiance. 
 A great meeting took place at Taardekraal, where 
 
 J 
 
STRUCfGLE FOR IXDEPEXDENCE. 
 
 345 
 
 atlc. The 
 lad ^reat 
 ision their 
 others en- 
 to act as 
 1(1 die the 
 own north 
 
 luble, but 
 of troops 
 
 him, in- 
 ou^dit the 
 )rtly after 
 intr}' that 
 
 lieacons- 
 s the new 
 meed the 
 nnaturally 
 lieir inde- 
 ion ahnost 
 awn from 
 vin|4" l)een 
 ^e Col!e\', 
 
 that Mr. 
 li fla^s the 
 ittcmpt to 
 xl to i)ay' 
 he rescue, 
 supported 
 .t deHancc. 
 aal, wlierc 
 
 Krufjersdorp now stands, and after several days' dis- 
 cussion it was resolved to commit their cause to the 
 Almi^dity God and live or die to<;ethcr in a stru<^^<,de 
 for independence. Messrs. S. J. Paul Kruijer, M. W. 
 Prctorius, and Pieter J. Joubert were elected a 
 triumvirate to conduct the government, and the 
 volksraad resumed its functions as the supreme 
 legislative [)ower. It was decided that Heidelberg 
 should be the capital utUil i'retoria could be re- 
 covered, and there, on Dini^an's tla\', the lOth of 
 December iS.So, the flai; of the republic was hoisterl 
 
 agam. 
 
 The act certainly proveil that the ICuroi)ean blood 
 has not degenerated in coura;4e !))' removal to S(»uth 
 Africa, as many persons had previously assumed. 
 And here it may be asked how it was that the same 
 men who dared not face danger in the commando 
 under I'resident lUugers went throuL^h this war for 
 independence with the bravery and devotion of 
 ancient Si)artans, j'ct afterwards claimed ih) glory 
 for what the)- had done. The repl)' is short : religion 
 caused the change. In one instance the)- beliexed 
 that the Almight)- was against them because their 
 leader was not of the true faith, in the other the)- 
 believed most thoroughl)- that the Almighty was 
 with them, guiding atid strengthening them in the 
 unequal fight. It was this, and this alone, that 
 turned the fugitives from Steclpoort into the men 
 of Majuba hill. 
 
 On the same day that the flag was hoisted the first 
 blood was shetl. A part)- of burghers, under Com- 
 mandant Cronje, went to Potchefstroom to have a 
 
 
 f? 
 
34^^ 
 
 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC . 
 
 i 
 
 
 i* -.'■ . ': 
 
 
 •^' ' 
 
 
 .1 ■ . '. 
 
 
 \ '• 
 
 
 :l 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1- 
 
 
 k^ 
 
 
 proclamation printed, and was fired upon by the 
 soldiers there, when one of them was badly wounded. 
 Colonel Winsloe, who was in command of the soldiers, 
 had a camp outside the villaj^e, and had also fortified 
 the laniidrost's office and some adjoining buildii\i]fs, 
 in which a garrison was stationed under Major Clarke. 
 Commandant Cronje returned the fire, and then laid 
 sie^c to the buildings occupied by Major Clarke, who 
 after holding out two days was obliged to surrender. 
 Colonel Winsloe held the camp throughout the war, 
 and onl)' surrendered it after an armistice was entered 
 into. 
 
 Disaster after disaster now attended the British 
 arms. 
 
 Colonel Anstruther was directed to march from 
 Lydenburg with two hundred antl si.\ty-four men to 
 reinforce the garrison of Pretoria, and was warned 
 that he might meet with resistance on ihn way, but 
 having a very poor opinion of the figdting powers of 
 the farmers he took no precautions whatever. On 
 the 2oth of December he was marching carelessly 
 with a long waggon train, when at Hronkhorst Spruit, 
 thirty-eight luiles from I'retoria, he suddenl)- found 
 himself in front of a force of about the same number 
 of farmers under Commandant h'rans Joubert. The 
 commandant demanded that he should proceed no 
 farther, and upon his rei)lying that he would go on, a 
 volley was poureii in by the farmers The soldiers 
 made a very feeble resistance, and in a few miiuites 
 .so many were disabled that the colonel- -who was 
 himself mortall)' wounded — was ob.igeti to surrender. 
 
 J'Vom the garrisons in Natal Sir George Colle) now 
 
nRITIHII DISASTERS. 
 
 347 
 
 II by the 
 vvouiulcd. 
 c soldiers, 
 
 fortified 
 buildings, 
 or Clarke, 
 then laid 
 arkc, who 
 surrender, 
 t the war, 
 IS entered 
 
 le British 
 
 irch froin 
 iir men to 
 ,s warned 
 : way, but 
 powers of 
 ner. On 
 carelessly 
 st Spruit, 
 il)' found 
 } number 
 Mt. The 
 occcd no 
 
 1 ^<) on, a 
 ' soldiers 
 
 minutes 
 who was 
 urr<Mider. 
 >lk') now 
 
 collected a body of rather over a thousand men, and 
 .set out to assist the troops in the Transvaal, who with 
 the loyalists were beleaguered in the various villaiijes. 
 On learniniif of this movement, Commandant-General 
 Pietcr Joubert, who was one of the triumvirate, entered 
 Natal with a force superior in number, and occupied 
 a stronf:^ position at Land's Nek, on the road alonj^ 
 which the British Ljeneral must march. On the 2Sth 
 of Januar)' 1881 Sir (ieor^e Collcy attempted to force 
 the i)assa}j^e of the Nek, but was beaten l)ack with 
 heavy loss, lie then fortified a camp at Mount Pros- 
 pect, four miles' distant, and awaited reinforcements 
 which were on the way from i'.ii^land. 
 
 On the 8th of l-'ebruar)- with nearl)' three hundred 
 men General CoUe)- left his camp to patrol the road 
 towards Newcastle, and near the Intjo^o river was 
 drawn into an en^a^ement with a bod)' of farmers 
 under Commandant Nicolaas Smit. Up to dusk 
 neither side could claim victor)', but when ni}(ht fell 
 the remnant of the I'ji^dish patrol returned to camp 
 in a heav)' fall of rain, leavinj.^ two-thirds of those who 
 went out in the mornint^ dead and wounded on the 
 field. 
 
 In the three en^^afjemcnts here mentioned the 
 l^ritish loss was about si.v: hundred men, nearl)- half 
 of whom were killetl. The farmers had .seventeen 
 men killed and twent\'-ei^ht \\r uncled. Militar)- 
 critics attribute the difference lar|.,^el)' to .stead)' aim 
 and skill in shooting on one side, the farmers attribute 
 it entirely to the working; of Providence in their 
 favour. 
 
 The crowning disaster was )et to come. During 
 
 
34« 
 
 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 
 
 i\ 
 
 tlic nit^ht f)f the 26th of February General Colle)- left 
 his camp with six huiKlrcil men, and climbed to the 
 top of Majuba hill, postiiifj two picivcts on the wa)-. 
 From this position he lumped to command the farmers' 
 camp at the Nek two thousand feet below, and when 
 at daw!i on the next mornint,' Commandant-General 
 Joubcrt observed the soldiers on the crest above him, 
 he at once realised the dant^er. Some hundred and 
 fift)' volunteers now offered to try to lake the hill, and 
 fictually made their way up in face of the superior 
 force above, the bullets jjassinj; over them as if the\' 
 were charmed. A little before noon Commandant 
 Nicolaas Smit with seventy or ei^ht)- men reached 
 the crest, and then the sokliers were seized with a 
 panic and fled. Ninet)'-two killed, one hundred and 
 thirty-four wounded, and fifty-nine jjrisoners repre- 
 sented the iirilish loss th;:t da)', at^ainst one man 
 killed and five wounded on the farmers' side. General 
 Colley hiinself was r.T^^on^ the slain. 
 
 In the meantime the soldiers and liritish adherents 
 in the Transvaal villa^^es were closely besic^^ed, and a 
 good many lives were lost in sorties and skirmishes, 
 but none were reduced to surrender. 
 
 After Sir George Colley's death. Sir ICvel)'n Wood 
 took command of the ICnglish forces, and as troops 
 were fast arriving in Natal, he .soon found himself at 
 the head of twelve thousand men. lUit now came 
 instructions from the imperial government not to 
 advance, and on the 5th of March an armistice was 
 concluded between the general and the triumvirate. 
 This led to the arrangemetit of terms of peace and 
 \\\Q restoration of independence to the republic. The 
 
 i 
 
RICH aoLDI'IliLDS. 
 
 349 
 
 territory occupied by the Swazis was cut out, how- 
 ever, aiul oi'i the other side tiie Keate award hue was 
 made the boundary until by some modifications of a 
 later date that b(jrder was extended nearly to the 
 ^reat western trade route to the interior of the conti- 
 nent. 
 
 Four years after the re-cstablishment of the rc|)ul)lic 
 
 very extensive and rich ^old fields were disc(jvereil in 
 
 the district of Lydenbur^^ and a little later in the 
 
 hi^ddand that forms the watershed between the Vaal 
 
 and Limpopo rivers. Lon^^ before that time [^(Ad 
 
 mines were worked in different parts of the territory, 
 
 but the metal produced was not sufficient to attract 
 
 the attention of the outside worUl. l'coi)le now 
 
 be^^an to nn'^nate to the fields from all parts of Scnith 
 
 Africa, and shortly from luirope as well. A town, 
 
 named Harberton, was built in the centre of the 
 
 eastern mines, and for some months it was the busiest 
 
 place in the country, but most of its inhabitants then 
 
 removed to the more important fields of VVitwaters- 
 
 rand. Here the city of Johannesburg aro.se, almost 
 
 as by magic, with streets of handsome and substantial 
 
 buildings and all the api)liances of modern times. 
 
 The production of gold has gone on increasing 
 year after year, until in the twelvemonth that eiuled 
 in June ii>(j} the (juantity exported was worth nearly 
 four and a half million [jounds sterling. New fields 
 are continually being opened, and though most of 
 them prove too poor to cover the expense of working, 
 it is very unlikely that all that are [)ayable have 
 already been found. 
 
 The republic possesses also iron in the greatest 
 
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350 
 
 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 
 
 I 
 
 
 abundance, coal of good quality and practically 
 limitless in quantity, silver, copper, lead, and several 
 other minerals which will certainly be turned to 
 account at no distant date. 
 
 The great majority of the people engaged in the 
 mining industry are English speakers, while the 
 farming population speak Dutch. The intercourse 
 between them is upon the whole friendly, and each 
 section certainly exercises considerable influence upon 
 the other. In the legislature, however, the English- 
 speaking section is almost powerless, and taxation 
 is arranged so as to fall lightly upon agriculture. In 
 other respects no one has anything to complain of. 
 The farmers, who acted as one man in the war of 
 independence, are now divided as before into opposing 
 church factions, which keep the country in a state of 
 unrest. , 
 
 After the discovery of gold the revenue of the 
 republic rose by leaps and bounds, and public works 
 could be undertaken that were undreamed of before. 
 Many new villages have been laid out, and some of 
 the buildings in them are among the best in South 
 Africa. Telegraphs have been constructed, rivers 
 havf^ been bridged, and waggon roads have been 
 made, though, of course, a great deal still remains to 
 be done in regard to all these matters. A system of 
 state-aided schools has been established, butas instruc- 
 tion through the medium of the Dutch language is 
 greatly favoured, private schools in which English is 
 used are much more largely attended in the towns 
 and villages. The farmers, who control the govern- 
 ment, are afraid to encourage the use of the English 
 
RAILWAYS. 
 
 351 
 
 language, or to modify the franchise so that English- 
 men after a short residence might have electoral 
 rights, lest their independence should be imperilled. 
 The theory upon which they act h that while the 
 country is the home of themselves and their children, 
 English people only visit it to make money, and when 
 they have accumulated sufficient wealth return to 
 Europe. 
 
 A railway will shortly be completed from Pretoria 
 to Delagoa Bay, with a branch line to Barberton. It 
 is being constructed by a company called the Nether- 
 lands South African, which is aided by the Portuguese 
 and republican governments. A line from Pretoria to 
 Vereeniging on the Vaal river, passing Johannesburg, 
 is now open, having been constructed by the Nether- 
 lands South African Company with assistance from 
 the Cape government. At Vereeniging it is con- 
 nected with the great trunk line through the Orange 
 Free State, which branches off to the three chief ports 
 of the Cape Colony. From Krugersdorp there is a 
 railway through Johannesburg to the Springs, passing 
 over a great coal mine which supplies fuel to the city 
 and to the quartz-crushing machinery along a route 
 of fifty-four miles. 
 
 The republic is not within the customs union of 
 South Africa. The public debt is about six million 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 The country is governed by a president, who is 
 elected for five years. Since the restoration of inde- 
 pendence Mr. Paul Kruger has uninterruptedly filled 
 the office. He is aided by an executive council, which 
 consists of three heads of departments and two non- 
 
I { 
 
 
 n. 
 
 iJi 
 
 
 352 
 
 THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 
 
 official members appointed by the first volksraad. 
 For military purposes a commandant -general is 
 elected by the burghers every ten years. 
 
 The legislative power is vested in two chambers, 
 each consisting of twenty-four members, elected for 
 four years. The first volksraad is by far the more 
 important of the two. Its members are elected by 
 burghers of European blood, born in the republic or 
 naturalised after a residence of five years. The second 
 volksraad has very little power, being intended chiefly 
 as an advising body in matters connected with the 
 mining industry. Its constituency is somewhat larger 
 than that of the first volksraad, as foreigners can 
 make themselves eligible to vote after a residence of 
 two years. 
 
 According to the census of 1890, which was very 
 incomplete, the white population of the South African 
 Republic consisted of one hundred and nineteen 
 thousand souls. It is now probably not below one 
 hundred and thirty thousand. The Bantu are sup- 
 posed to number fully six hundred and fifty thousand. 
 
'. I: 
 
 ^olksraad. 
 General is 
 
 chambers, 
 ;lected for 
 the more 
 elected by 
 epublic or 
 'he second 
 led chiefly 
 I with the 
 ^hat larger 
 gners can 
 isidence of 
 
 was very 
 th African 
 
 nineteen 
 3elow one 
 
 are sup- 
 thousand. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 DEPENDENCIES OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 During recent years the greater portion of the 
 territory between the Indwe and Kei rivers on one 
 side and Natal on the other has been annexed to 
 the Cape Colony, but in some respects it is regarded 
 as a dependency rather than as an integral part. 
 
 It is a very beautiful and fertile tract of land, 
 resembling Natal in appearance, though the tem- 
 perature along the coast is not quite so high. On 
 the elevated belt just below the Drakensberg the 
 winter nights are too cold to be pleasant to Bantu, 
 and consequently no one except Bushmen resided 
 there, permanently until quite recently. There are 
 some fii.e forests on the lower terraces. The rain- 
 fall is abundant, and the drainage perfect, the rivers 
 on account of their great fall speedily carrying off 
 all superfluous moisture. The climate is therefore 
 exceedingly healthy, though the grass is so rich and 
 other vegetation so luxuriant that had the country 
 been nearly level fever would certainly be endemic. 
 
 South Africa abounds in waterfalls. The most 
 celebrated of these are the great falls of the Orange, 
 
 24 353 
 
 1 >■(-■ I i 
 I 
 
m 
 
 ■lanf 
 
 1 ' 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 1; : i 
 
 
 
 
 
 :!; is 
 
 ll'',i ' ' 
 
 ! 11 
 
 SOUTH AFRICAN KOUI.DER. 
 

 Mt 
 
 ...# 
 
 TRAXSKETAX TERRTTORY. 
 
 355 
 
 the Tugcla's leap of sixteen hundred feet over the 
 face of the Drakensberjr, and the fall of the Umijcni 
 a few miles from Marit/burg, but perhaps the most 
 im^xising is in the Tsitsa, in the territory now beings 
 treated of. Ordinarily the stream tumbles over the 
 precijjice in three or four rills, but in times of flood 
 a volume of water from four to fi\e hundred feet 
 wide drops nearly four hundred feet into a narrow 
 chasm. 
 
 When white men first visited this territory, more 
 than two centuries ai^o, four tribes were found 
 occupyinr^ it : the Pondos, the Pondomisis, the 
 Tern bus, and the Kosas. All are there at the 
 present day, and the fragments of man}' others 
 as well. The Pondos are still inde})endent, but 
 during recent years the whole of the people outside 
 the boundary line assigned to that tribe have come 
 under British authority. 
 
 In 1858, after the destruction of their cattle and 
 grain by the Kosas, Kreli and his people were 
 driven over the Bashec by a body of the colonial 
 armed and mounted police. A few hundred J^lngos 
 and some Kosas who professed to be attached to the 
 British government were then located in the district 
 of Idutywa, part of the vacant territory, and an 
 English official was stationed there to preserve 
 order among them. The rest of the old Kosa 
 country continued to be without inhabitants until 
 1864, when Sir Philip VVodehouse believed it 
 necessary to strengthen the European element of 
 the population west of the Kei, as the military 
 force on the border was being reduced. Me there- 
 
 in 
 
 f\ 
 
356 
 
 DEPENDENCIES OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 n 
 
 ,1 ,11 
 
 fore resolved to make room for farmers by inducing 
 some of the Bantu to move eastward. 
 
 The first step taken was an attempt to turn Krcli 
 from an enemy into a friend, and with this view he 
 was offered the districts of Kentani and Willowvale, 
 with a pension of £ioo a year as long as he should 
 behave himself to the satisfaction of the governor. 
 The chief joyfully accepted the offer, and immediately 
 moved in with his people. The first clan in the 
 colony to whom an exchange of ground was proposed 
 declined to move ; but some of the Tembus of Glen 
 Grey and of the Fingos west of the Keiskama con- 
 sented. The former received the districts of Kalanga 
 and St. Mark's, the latter the districts of Tsomo, 
 Nkamakwe, and Butterworth. 
 
 Thus the whole of the land east of the Indwe and 
 the Kei was again occupied by a Bantu population, 
 British officials were stationed with all these people, 
 but as the imperial government would not permit the 
 territory to be formally annexed, they were really 
 only diplomatic c gents. Sir Philip Wodehouse's 
 object in removing these Bantu was entirely frus- 
 trated, for not a rood of ground was obtained by 
 the measure for Europeans. The Tembus and the 
 Fingos in the colony simply threw off swarms, but 
 took care not to abandon any part of their locations. 
 
 The main branch of the Tembu tribe lived between 
 the Bashee and Umtata rivers. After 1863 its chief 
 was a man named Gangelizwe, ordinarily a gentle- 
 looking and soft-speaking individual, but subiect to 
 outbursts of violent passion. His great wife was a 
 daughter of the Kosa chief Kreli, and his treatment 
 
TRANSKEIAN TERRITORY. 
 
 357 
 
 of her was at times so inhuman that her father was 
 exasperated to the last decree. There was an old 
 feud between the Tembus and the I'ondos, so that 
 Gangelizwe had an enemy on the other side also. 
 In 1875, i'l '^ ^^^^ fit of rage, he murdered one of his 
 concubines, who was an illegitimate niece of Kreli 
 and an attendant upon the great wife. His ciemies 
 on all sides were now ready to fall upon him, and as 
 his tribe contained many fragments of others whose 
 fidelity could not be depended upon in such a quarrel, 
 the chief himself and his councillors requested British 
 protection and offered to become subjects of the 
 queen. To prevent a disturbance on the border 
 the high commissioner consented, and in 1875 the 
 districts of Slang River, Engcobo, Umtata, and 
 Mkanduli were added to the empire in the same 
 loose way as those previously mentioned. 
 
 Living on the eastern bank of the Bashec river, 
 close to the coast, was a clan called the Bomvana, 
 the fugitive remnant of a tribe destroyed in the 
 early Zulu wars. This clan was nominally attached 
 to the Kosa tribe, but it did not destroy its substance 
 in 1857, and was consequently able to give shelter to 
 Kreli when he was driven over the Bashee in the 
 following year. From that time it was really in- 
 dependent, and remained so until 1878. Then the 
 country around was involved in a war yet to be 
 referred to, and Moni, the chief of the Bomvanas, 
 who was too weak to maintain neutrality, applied 
 to be received as a British subject. The high 
 commissioner accepted his offer, and took possession 
 of the district of Elliotdale, thus bringing the whole 
 
 .::!! 
 
i :",tI 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 li 
 
 ' i 
 
 S:< 
 
 Itliiii 
 
 358 
 
 DEPENDENCIES OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 country between the colonial border and the Uir/ita 
 river more or less authoritatively under the IJritish 
 fla-. 
 
 It was rej^arded as beinj^ under the protection and 
 control of the high commissioner as representing the 
 empire, and no part of it was made subject to the 
 Cape Colony until 1879, when the districts of Idutywa, 
 Tsomo, Xkamakwe, and Butterworth were formally 
 annexed. The districts of Kentani, Willowxalc, 
 Kalanga, St. Mark's, Slang River, Engcobo, Umtata, 
 Mkanduli, and EUiotdale were annexed in 1885. 
 It is now under the control of an officer styled the 
 chief magistrate of Trfuiskei and Tembuland, who 
 has thirteen subordinate magistrates — that is one 
 in each district — to assist him. 
 
 The whole of the territory between the Umtata and 
 Umzimkulu rivers was allotted to the chief Faku, 
 when in 1844 an attempt was made to form a 
 powerful Pondo state. But that attempt was a 
 failure, for the upper portion of the territory was 
 nearly uninhabited, and the lower portion was 
 filled with refugee clans from the north, some of 
 whom were almost as strong as the Pondos them- 
 selves. The country therefore continued to be con- 
 vulsed with feuds and wars, and h^aku at length 
 became only too glad to part with his nominal 
 right to a portion of it that he might have a 
 cha.ice of conquering and holding the rest. 
 
 He first ceded the land along the coast between the 
 Umtamvuna and Umzimkulu rivers to Natal, thereby 
 getting rid of a number of his opponents, and then in 
 1 86 1 he offered to the Cape government nearly two- 
 
TKANSKEIAN TERRITOR Y. 
 
 359 
 
 )tcction and 
 
 tliirds (jf the remainder. Tlie line whicli lie proposed 
 cut off the Poiuioinisis, the l^acas, the Ulaii^irucnis, 
 and some others of less note, whom he desircil to 
 place under such control that they could not molest 
 him while he subju<rated the enemies that would be 
 left on his side. His offer was not at once accepted, 
 but thereafter the country north of the proposed line 
 was not re^^arded as part of I'ondoland. Shortly 
 afterwards Sir Geori^e Grey ,i;avc a lart^c portion of 
 the unoccupied i^rcjund in it to Adam Kok's (jriquas, 
 who thereupon mii^rated from the Orange Free State. 
 From them the country became known as Griciualand 
 Fast. Later, some Basuto, liatlokua, and Fin<^o clans 
 moved into it duriny; the last war between the Free 
 State and Moshcsh. 
 
 Constant inter-tribal quarrels at len<^th induced the 
 high commissioner to interfere, as nearly all the chiefs 
 declared their readiness to place themselves under 
 l^ritish authority. In 1873 an officer with the title of 
 resident was sent into the country, and the districts 
 of rvlac^car. Mount Fletcher, Tsolo, and Kumbu — the 
 last J occupied by the Pondomisi tribe — were 
 taken .er. In the following year the districts of 
 Matatieic, Kokstad, and Umzimkulu, with Adam 
 Kok's consent, were also taken over, as was in 1876 
 the district of Mount Frcre, with the consent of the 
 Baca chief. These eight districts comprise the whole 
 of the territory north of the line proposed by Faku. 
 In 1879 they were formally annexed to the Cape 
 Coiony. In 1886 the district of Mount Ayliff, occu- 
 pied by the Kcsibe clan, was also annexed. It is 
 south of Faku's line, but it became a necessity either 
 
 i 
 
 
30 
 
 O DEPENDENCIES OE THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 il 
 
 to take over the Kcsibcs, or to stand by and sec a 
 brave little clan massacred by the I'ondos. The nine 
 districts are under the charge of an officer styled the 
 chief magistrate of Griqualand East, and under his 
 supervision each district has its own resident 
 magistrate. 
 
 The ]5antu in these dependencies have given very 
 little trouble during recent years, but there were some 
 serious disturbances before they became accustomed 
 to European guidance. 
 
 On the 3rd of August 1877 there was a marriage 
 at a Eingo kraal just within the Butterworth border, 
 and two petty Kosa captains, with a small party of 
 attendants, crossed over to partake in the festivities. 
 On such occasions custom demands that all who attend 
 are to be made welcome. In the evening, when the 
 guests were excited with dancing and drinking millet 
 beer, a quarrel arose, no one afterwards was able 
 to tell exactly how or why. At any rate the Kosas 
 were ranged on one side and the Eingos on the other, 
 and they used their sticks so freely that the two 
 captains were badly bruised and one of their attend- 
 ants was killed. The visitors were then driven over 
 the border. 
 
 Strong bands of Kosas immediately mustered to 
 avenge the insult offered to their friends, and began 
 to sweep off the Eingos' cattle. The excitement 
 on both sides soon became so great that the efforts 
 of the officials to restore order were unavailing. The 
 police were sent to the front, the colonial volun- 
 teers were called out, and an imperial regiment of 
 the line marched to the border. Several sharp actions 
 
:}LONY. 
 
 y and sec a 
 i. Tlic nine 
 ;r styled the 
 d under his 
 ^'n resident 
 
 2 given very 
 
 e were some 
 
 accustomed 
 
 a marriage 
 orth border, 
 lall party of 
 e festivities. 
 1 who attend 
 g, when the 
 liking millet 
 was able 
 
 the Kosas 
 )n the other, 
 lat the two 
 heir attend- 
 d riven over 
 
 nustered to 
 and began 
 
 excitement 
 ; the efforts 
 
 iling. The 
 nial volun- 
 
 egiment of 
 larp actions 
 
 NINTH KAFFIR WAR. 
 
 361 
 
 were fought with Kreli's people, who lost some seven 
 hundred men, and then suddenly P I into Pondoland. 
 
 In the belief that the disturbance was over, the 
 volunteers were now permitted to go to their homes; 
 but they were hardly disbanded when the Kosas 
 returned and attacked the police. in December 
 Kiva, a relation of Kreli, crossed the Kei, and 
 appealed to the Kosas in the colony to support the 
 head of their tribe. Most of them, with the chief 
 Sandile, responded to the appeal, and the country 
 was involved in the ninth Kaffir war. 
 
 In February 1878 the colonial camp at Kentani 
 was attacked by about five thousand Kosas, who 
 charged in dense masses, but were mown down by 
 a fire from heavy guns. Both Kreli and Sandile 
 were present in the engagement. The principal 
 column was led by the tribal priest, who had per- 
 formed certain ceremonies which caused the warriors 
 to believe that they were invulnerable ; but this 
 feeling of confidence being destroyed, they gave 
 way to despair. When they broke and fled, the 
 volunteer cavalry and the Fingos pursued and pre- 
 vented them from rallying. 
 
 As far as Kreli was concerned the battle of Kentani 
 was a decisive one. He did not attempt any further 
 resistance, but with his adherents at once crossed 
 the Bashee. After the conclusion of peace a small 
 location was assigned to him in Elliotdale, and there 
 he spent the remainder of his life. 
 
 West of the Kei the Kosas held out for many 
 months, but at length Sandile was killed in arA'on, 
 and they then submitted. 
 
 [ ) 
 
 w 
 
362 
 
 DEPENDENCIES OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 i- a 
 
 fell 
 
 
 In October 1880, just after the Basuto tribe rose 
 in rebellion, the Pondomisis, the Basuto clans in 
 Griqualand East, and several clans attached to the 
 Tembu tribe rose also against the Europeans. They 
 committed some atrocious murders and destroyed 
 much property, but within four months they were 
 completely subdued by a combined force of burghers 
 and rival Bantu. 
 
 The two chief magistracies contain at present 
 about half a million Bantu and barely ten thousand 
 Europeans. The latter arc government officials, 
 missionaries, traders, and farmers on the highlands 
 under the Drakensberg and on ground purchased 
 from Griquas. The chiefs retain considerable judicial 
 power, are regarded as officials, and are in receipt of 
 salaries, for it would be useless to attempt to govern 
 the people if they were ignored. Regulations for 
 the conduct of affairs are made by the governor in 
 council, and when published become law. No statutes 
 of the Cape parliament have force in the chief magis- 
 tracies unless they are specially applied by pro- 
 clamation of the governor in council. Bantu law is 
 administered by the magistrates except when Euro- 
 peans are concerned, but persons charged with the 
 commission of serious crimes are tried before a judge 
 on circuit according to the colonial laws. The only 
 direct tax paid is one of ten shillings a year on each 
 hut, which brings in sufficient to defray the ordinary 
 cost of government, including a considerable sum 
 expended on mission schools. A strong police force 
 is needed, but against that expenditure may be set 
 trading licenses and the customs duties on goods sold. 
 
PORT ST. yOHN S. 
 
 363 
 
 The rate of increase of the population is amazing 
 now that all the checks that kept it in bounds in 
 ancient times have been removed. As far as can be 
 ascertained, there is nothing like it out of South 
 Africa. The food of the people consists of maize 
 or millet, with pumpkins, sweet cane, curdled milk, 
 and occasionally flesh plainly cooked. This simple 
 diet, with living mostly in the open air, tends to keep 
 them in robust health, and every girl becomes a wife 
 and with rare exceptions a mother. 
 
 The port of St. John's, nearly in the centre of the 
 coast of Pondoland, is another dependency of the 
 Cape Colony. It consists of the mouth and tidal 
 estuary of the Umzimvubu river, with a strip of land 
 about sixteen square miles in extent on the western 
 side above the .sea, and was purchased in 1878 from 
 a Pondo chief. There are other places along the 
 coast where boats can effect a landing in fine weather, 
 but Port St. John's is the only one worthy of the 
 name of harbour between East London and Durban. 
 It is at present little used, but may some day 
 become of value. A magistrate is stationed here, 
 and there is a population of nearly three hundred 
 souls. 
 
 Pondoland — which completes the territory south of 
 Natal — remains under the government of its own 
 chiefs, but the coast is under British protection. The 
 country is constantly convulsed with quarrels between 
 the clans, many of which are alien in blood to the 
 Pondo tribe. 
 
 Along the coast of Great Namaqualand there are 
 several rocky islets upon which scabirds congregate 
 
 I 
 
 1^ 
 
 I !: 
 
 I 
 
364 DEPENDENCIES OF THE CAPE COLONY. 
 
 in vast flocks, and as there is hardly any rainfall in 
 that region the guano is of considerable value. These 
 islets became dependencies of the Cape Colony many 
 years ago. Their only inhabitants are the men 
 employed to gather the guano. 
 
 Farther north on the same coast is Walfish Bay, 
 the only port through which access can be had to 
 Great Namaqualand and Damaraland. The country 
 around is a dreary waste of sand, and a more 
 uninviting spot can hardly be imagined. But on 
 account of its strategical importance it was taken 
 in possession by Great Britain, and in 1884 became 
 a dependency of the Cape Colony. On the little 
 strip of land which was declared British territory 
 there are living some six or seven hundred Hottentots 
 of a very low type. The only other inhabitants are 
 the colonial magistrate with his staff of police, a 
 missionary family, and a few traders and forwarders 
 of goods to the interior. 
 
XXVIII. 
 
 VARIOUS TERRITORIES NOT ALREADY DESCRIBED. 
 
 BRITISH BECHUANALAND. 
 
 The Keate award was hardly delivered when the 
 clans cut off by it from the South African Republic 
 began to quarrel with each other, and their feuds 
 continued with hardly any intermission until the 
 British flag was hoisted at Pretoria. Then for a 
 time there was comparative order, because the 
 Transvaal authorities favoured the strongest chiefs 
 and the military force in the country commanded 
 respect. 
 
 When the republic was restored the old quarrels 
 began afresh, and soon became more bitter than 
 ever. Some of the chiefs now professed strong 
 attachment to Great Britain, and as a matter of 
 course their rivals professed equally strong attach- 
 ment to the government of the farmers. Until we 
 get to know these people thoroughly our national 
 vanity leads us to believe that they all have a high 
 regard for English justice and luiglish benevolence, 
 and it is with something like a shock that the truth 
 
 bursts upon us that it is only English power for 
 
 365 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
366 TERRITORIES NOT ALREADY DESCRIBED. 
 
 
 i 
 
 } 
 
 which they have any respect. Why should they 
 like us better than other people ? We do as much — 
 even more — to destroy their national customs and 
 everything else that they hold dear. How is it 
 possible, then, that they can love us ? They cer- 
 tainly respect strength, and they are always ready 
 to profess attachment to that party which can give 
 most. But in cases like that of the Bechuana tribes, 
 if one chief declares himself a friend of the republic, 
 his rival will most certainly announce himself as the 
 devoted adherent of the queen. 
 
 At this stage a European renegade suggested to 
 the chief with whom he was living that white men 
 should be enlisted to fight for him, and as a result 
 volunteers were called for, each to receive a farm in 
 payment when the war was over. The other side 
 adopted the same course, so that bodies of Europeans 
 — decidedly of the vagabond type, however — were 
 apparently pitted against each other in a cause that 
 did not concern them in the least. In reality there 
 was no fear of such combatants .shedding each other's 
 blood, except when an individual made him.self par- 
 ticularly obnoxious ; but it soon became a certainty 
 that unless some power intervened the volunteers 
 would divide the best part of the country among 
 them and leave little worth having for their em- 
 ployers. 
 
 The western border of the South African Republic 
 was the base of operations on one side, and President 
 Kruger's government made little or no effort to pre- 
 vent its being so used. The burghers of that state 
 would not put themselves to trouble to protect clans 
 
BRITISH BECHUANALAND. 
 
 367 
 
 that had thrown off their authority, and they had 
 also an excuse that vohmtecrs for the other side 
 were enUstcd at the diamond fields — on British soil 
 — with hardly a show of secrecy. This implication in 
 the disturbances caused people in England to regard 
 the republic as being at the bottom of the whole 
 matter, and public opinion supported the government 
 in sending out a strong military force under Sir 
 Charles Warren to protect the clans from being 
 despoiled. 
 
 Meanwhile the volunteers — or freebooters — had 
 taken possession of two considerable tracts of ground, 
 and set up an independent government on each. One 
 was termed the republic of Stellaland, the other the 
 land of Goshen. When Sir Charles Warren ap- 
 proached, the people of Goshen, instead of preparing 
 to resist, dispersed to other parts of South Africa, 
 and the people of Stellaland submitted, .so that there 
 was no necessity to fire a shot in anger. 
 
 The expedition, though it had not to fight, was of 
 the utmost service to Briti.sh interests in the country. 
 It restored the imperial prestige, which had suffered 
 so greatly a few years before, and it secured an open 
 highway to the interior of the continent. In Sep- 
 tember 1885 the territory which had been the 
 scene of the disturbances was take ^ under British 
 sovereignty. The original boundaries have since 
 been enlarged, and are now the South African 
 Republic on the east, the twentieth meridian from 
 Greenwich on the west, the Molopo river and 
 Ramathlabama Spruit on the north, and the Cape 
 Colony on the south. It forms a crown colony, 
 
 V 
 
 I 
 
 I! 
 
 ^ i 
 
368 TERRITORIES NOT ALREADY DESCRIBED. 
 
 governed by a leal administrator under her Majesty's 
 high commissioner, and is divided into five magis- 
 terial districts: Mafcking, Vryburg, Taung, Kuruman, 
 and Gordon ia. 
 
 The best of the land was set apart as reserves for 
 the Bechuana clans, but there are large tracts occupied 
 by European farmers, and a great extent of ground 
 is still open. It is well adapted for cattle runs, 
 though agriculture only succeeds in limited localities, 
 and in general there is a scarcity of surface water. 
 No minerals of any importance except salt have yet 
 been discovered. The climate is exceedingly healthy, 
 and though the days in midsummer are unpleasantly 
 warm, the nights are invariably cool and enjoyable. 
 
 Since the establishment of British authority order 
 has been observed as well as in any part of the 
 world. At present there are over five thousand 
 Europeans in the province, and that number is likely 
 to be largely increased in the immediate future, when 
 some extensive blocks of farms are sold. Vryburg, 
 the seat of government, is connected by rail with 
 the ports of the Cape Colony, and the line is now 
 being continued to Mafeking, on the northern border. 
 This is along the great trade route to the interior 
 of the continent, which is thus entirely under the 
 British flag. 
 
 THE BRITISH TROTECTORATE. 
 
 The territory for a considerable distance north 
 of British Bechuanaland is under British ^irotection, 
 which means that all white people living in it are 
 under the jurisdiction of magistrates appointed by 
 
CHARTERED COMPANY S TERRITORY 
 
 369 
 
 the high commissioner, and that the relationship of 
 the native tribes to each other is controlled by the 
 same authority, though the government of the chiefs 
 over their own people is not interfered with. Much 
 the greater portion of this territory is without surface 
 water, and is very thinly inhabited by Irishmen and 
 wandering 15echuana who were formerly held by the 
 clans at the fountains in a condition of the most 
 abject slavery. Their circumstances have improved 
 of late years, but they still lead lives of want and 
 misery, and are largely subject to the caprice of 
 their masters. The protectorate is divided into two 
 districts, over each of which there is an officer 
 entitled an assistant commissioner. Order is pre- 
 served by a strong police force of mounted Euro- 
 peans. This territory and the crown colony of 
 British Bechuanaland are both within the South 
 African customs union. 
 
 THE CHARTERED CO^H'ANV'S TERRITORY. 
 
 Beyond the protectorate a vast territory, probably 
 half a million square miles in extent, is being opened 
 up by the British South Africa Company under a 
 royal charter granted in 1889. It is often called 
 Rhodesia, after Mr. Cecil J. Rhodes, the present 
 premier of the Cape Colony, who was the originator 
 of the Company, and is still its chief manager. Con- 
 cessions have been obtained from native chiefs which 
 give the Company proprietary rights over immense 
 tracts of fertile land and extensive areas of gold- 
 bearing quartz reefs. In some places shafts and 
 tunnels indicate that at an unknown period in the 
 
 25 
 
 i! 
 
K^r 
 
 II. il •• 
 
 i? ^ ii 
 
 370 TERRITORIES NOT ALREADY DESCRIBED. 
 
 past the mines were worked, and ruins of buildings 
 far beyond the skill of Bantu to construct give 
 evidence that the land was not always occupied 
 solely by barbarians. 
 
 The Chartered Company was formed with a 
 capital of a million pounds sterling. A strong 
 body of police was sent into the territory to con- 
 struct and occupy forts in commanding positions, 
 and then immigration ot Europeans was invited. 
 An elevated plateau of great extent offers fruitful 
 soil, a climate in which white people can enjoy life, 
 and vacant ground waiting for settlement. 
 
 It came to be in its present thinly inhabited con- 
 dition in exactly the same manner as the Transvaal 
 country before 1836. When Moselekatse was driven 
 to the north by the emigrant farmers he commenced 
 to destroy the Makalaka tribes just as he had de- 
 stroyed the Bechuana, and Lobengule, his son and 
 successor, continued the murderous practice. Large 
 areas were utterly wasted, and the remnants of the 
 tribes retreated to the hills, whcie they made their 
 kraals among rocks in places difficult of access. 
 These situations, if they could not be defended, 
 offered facilities for escape when the Matabele bands 
 approached in their yearly raids. By those terrible 
 invaders the lives of the Makalaka were held in no 
 more esteem than the lives of so many antelopes. 
 This was the condition of the country when the 
 first expeditionary force of the Chartered Company 
 entered it and built forts under a concession from 
 Lobengule himself. 
 
 Naturally all the broken and impoverished clans 
 
CHARTERED COMPANY'S TERRITORY. 37I 
 
 ished clans 
 
 welcomed the white men, and there will be no 
 difficulty in managing them* while the Matabele 
 power exists. That power, however, has within itself 
 the elements of disintegration. It consists of three 
 distinct castes. There are, first, the descendants of 
 the pure Zulus who came up from the coast with 
 Moselekatse, and who form a kind of nobility. 
 Secondly, there are the descendants of the Bechu- 
 aiid boys who rose from bearers of burdens to be 
 soldiers before the flight from the south. And, 
 thirdly, there are the Makalaka who have been 
 incorporated in the same way. These sections are 
 not thoroughly fused, and the result of pressure, 
 either peaceful or warlike, may be to cause the 
 army to crumble away. It is at present about 
 twenty thousand strong. 
 
 Already a great deal of the preliminary work in 
 opening up the country has been done. There is 
 telegraphic communication and a postal service 
 between all the forts and the Cape Colony, and 
 a railway is being constructed inland from Port 
 Beira, which will give easy access to the north- 
 eastern portion, while the south-western portion 
 can be reached without much difficulty from the 
 terminus of the Capetown-Mafeking line. Farming 
 has been tested with good results. The limits of 
 the districts which are healthy for Europeans have 
 been fairly well ascertained. And many appliances 
 of modern times, including even a printing press, 
 may be found to-day in a region that half-a-dozen 
 years ago was unknown except to a few explorers 
 and hunters. 
 
 
 4 
 
37- TERRITORIES NOT ALREADY DESCRIBED. 
 
 The Chartered Company's territory appears to 
 have a brilliant future before it. There is every 
 probability that its mineral wealth is enormous. It 
 is perhaps the last great open place in the world 
 for fresh European settlement. But it cannot re- 
 main long in that condition. The highlands south- 
 ward from the Zambesi must either be occupied 
 within a few years by civilised luiropeans, to the 
 gain of the whole human race, or they must revert 
 to barbarians. The Chartered Company and the 
 Matabele army cannot long exist side by side.' The 
 last is doomed to destruction. Then, if Europeans 
 are not in possession, every little remnant of a clan 
 will lay claim to vast areas as having been the pro- 
 perty of its ancestors, the now docile Mashona and 
 Makalaka will become discontented plotters, and 
 from outside hordes of refugees will pour in. That 
 is the lesson which the history of Natal and the South 
 African Republic teaches. 
 
 THE GERMAN PROTECTORATE. 
 
 In 1884 Germany commenced to secure a footing 
 on the south-western coast of Africa, and her pro- 
 tectorate now extends from Cape Frio on the north 
 to the Orange river on the south, and from the 
 Atlantic ocean on the west to an irregular line 
 running from the head waters of the Zambesi to 
 the twentieth meridian from Greenwich on the east. 
 From this vast territory must be excluded, however, 
 the only port on the coast, Walfish Bay, which with 
 
 ' As this is being printed, intelligence has reached England that 
 war has been forced upon the Chartered Company by the Matabele. 
 
RIB ED. 
 
 GERMAN SPHERE OF INFLUENCE, 
 
 373 
 
 appears to 
 re is every 
 lormous. It 
 1 the world 
 cannot re- 
 lands south- 
 be occupied 
 ians, to the 
 
 must revert 
 my and the 
 
 side.' The 
 f Europeans 
 nt of a clan 
 een the pro- 
 lashona and 
 ilotters, and 
 ur in. That 
 id the South 
 
 a little tract of land around it belongs to the Cape 
 Colony. 
 
 The southern part of this rc<]^ion is almost rain- 
 less, and fountains arc few in number, but as one 
 i^ocs northward the moisture increases, though no- 
 where can the land be correctly described as capable 
 of supporting an agricultural population. It is 
 nevertheless well adapted for cattle-rearing. Copper 
 is known to exist in large quantities, and it is 
 generally believed that other minerals will be 
 found. The population is Hottentot as far north as 
 Walfish Bay, and Bantu beyond. The luiropeans 
 are chiefly missionaries and traders, with a small 
 force of German soldiers and a few prospectors. 
 
 While this is being written, a war is being waged 
 with a Hottentot clan that declines to acknowledge 
 the German authorities, but with this exception the 
 natives have as yet given no trouble. 
 
 Ill 
 
 re a footing 
 
 md her pro- 
 
 Dn the north 
 
 id from the 
 
 •regular line 
 
 Zambesi to 
 
 on the east. 
 
 ed, however, 
 
 , which with 
 
 d England that 
 le Matabele. 
 
 THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS. 
 
 During the early years of the sixteenth century 
 the Portuguese took possession of the principal 
 harbours on the south-eastern coast of Africa, but 
 they did not attempt to plant colonies behind them. 
 Portugal was too small and too thinly populated to 
 spare men for such a purpose while the Indian 
 commerce was in her hands. The magnificent 
 harbour of Delagoa Bay did not escape their ob- 
 servation, and at times they occupied a small fort 
 there, though as very little trade could be done on 
 that part of the coast they were in the habit of 
 abandoning it occasionally for many years together. 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
\Ai: 
 
 374 TERRITORIES NOT ALREADY DESCRIBED. 
 
 Mozambique was used as a resting-place for the 
 royal fleets to and from the ICast, and on that 
 account became a place of importance, but the 
 other Portuguese stations were mere outlying 
 trading posts. 
 
 Under these circumstances there never was a 
 well-defined inland boundary of the territory which 
 the Portuguese held, nor was one needed, for no 
 European power was behind them as a rival. But 
 though they planted no colonics, in the days of 
 theii glory and their prosperity they certainly 
 exerted themselves greatly to open up the country. 
 Their miiisionaries — chiefly of the Society of Jesus 
 — penetrated the far interior, and sought to convert 
 the natives even in the most deadly localities along 
 the coast. Their traders crossed the continent from 
 Angola to Mozambique, and brought gold and ivory 
 and slaves to the ports to be shipped to Brazil and 
 Europe. 
 
 Then came Portugal's decay, but the Dutch, who 
 wrested India from her, cared nothing for the East 
 African coast. They indeed occupied Delagoa Bay 
 for some years in the eighteenth century, but nothing 
 was to be made there, so they did not remain long. 
 Thus the Portuguese retained their old stations along 
 the shore, though in a condition of ruin or decay, 
 and preserved a kind of shadowy claim to the interior 
 lands where their missionaries had once lived and 
 their traders had flourished. 
 
 Some years after the South African Republic was 
 established it was mutually agreed that the Lebombo 
 rqountains should be the boundary between that 
 
RIBED. 
 
 acc for the 
 id on that 
 cc, but the 
 e outlj'ing 
 
 :vcr was a 
 itory which 
 dccl, for no 
 
 rival. But 
 he days of 
 / certainly 
 he country, 
 ty of Jesus 
 
 to convert 
 Uities along 
 tinent from 
 1 and ivory 
 
 Brazil and 
 
 Dutch, who 
 )r the East 
 elagoa Bay 
 DUt nothing 
 main long, 
 tions along 
 I or decay, 
 the interior 
 lived and 
 
 jpublic was 
 Lebombo 
 tween that 
 
 PORTUG UFSE POSSESSIONS. 
 
 375 
 
 state and the Portuguese territory. More recently 
 the British Chartered Compan)' took possession of 
 the interior plateau farther north, and a dispute 
 quickly arose as to the limit of the Portuguese 
 rights. A boundar}' has been agreed upon, how- 
 ever, though it is not yet marked off. It gives to 
 the Chartered Company nearly the whole of the 
 land adapted for luiropean colonisation, though l:ie 
 Portuguese area looks large on a map. 
 
 An attempt is now being made to turn the territory 
 to some account, and charters have been granted by 
 the government at Lisbon to several com. panics for 
 the purpose. But it is difficult to see what can be 
 done in a countr)- where fever is so dcadl}' to 
 Europeans as it is on the East African coast belt. 
 The contrast with the opposite side of the continent 
 is very great. The Atlantic shore is parched with 
 drought, and is consequently arid and treeless, but 
 is extremely favourable to health. The eastern shore 
 has a superabundant rainfall, so that vegetation is 
 luxuriant and swamps abound, and where this is 
 the case under a burning sun white men cannot 
 thrive. 
 
 From Delagoa Bay a railway is being constructed 
 to Pretoria, and undoubtedly there will be a great 
 deal of traffic on it when it is completed. In the hot 
 months, however, Louren^o Marques, the town at the 
 bay, is so unhealthy that the death rate of the inhabi- 
 tants is about two hundred ..: the thousand yearl)-. 
 Few will care to make a home in such a place. 
 
 P^rom Port Beira, at the mouth of the Pungwe 
 river, a railway is being constructed inland, which 
 
 ji 
 
:M 
 
 il'' 
 
 376 TERRITORIES NOT ALREADY DESCRIBED. 
 
 will tap a large portion of the English Chartered 
 Company's possessions. But the same cause which 
 is disastrous to the welfare of Louren^o Marques 
 affects this place also, and it is improbable that it will 
 ever be more than a station for the transport of 
 goods and passengers. 
 
 SWAZILAND. 
 
 This is a tract of land enclosed on three sides by 
 the South African Republic, and on the fourth by the 
 Lebombo mountain range. It contains valuable gold- 
 fields, and is also fertile, well-watered, and healthy. 
 The Swazis have always been regarded as one of the 
 bravest of the Bantu tribes. They were friends of the 
 early emigrant farmers, and have ever since continued 
 to show good will to all Europeans. They are sup- 
 posed at present to number from sixty to seventy 
 thousand souls. 
 
 Their chief, Umbandine by name, who died four 
 years ago, granted to different white men concessions 
 of all kinds, to extract metals, to till ground, to graze 
 cattle, and a great deal else, until there was very little 
 left for his own followers. This led to a kind of 
 government of the Europeans by a committee acting 
 with the chief's approval. In 1890 the committee was 
 replaced by a joint commission appointed by Great 
 Britain, the South African Republic, and the Swazi 
 chief, which is now the government of the Europeans 
 in the territory. lUmu, successor of Umbandine, rules 
 his own people without any interference. 
 
XXIX. 
 
 THE TRESENT CONDITION OF THE CAPE COLONY 
 
 Since the management of its affairs has been in 
 the hands of its own people the Cape Colony has 
 made an enormous stride in prosperity. Its principal 
 industries are still pastoral and agricultural, but Lhese 
 are carried on now in a much better manner than 
 formerly. 
 
 The great Karoo plains, thinly speckled with 
 succulent plants, and the long grassy slope beyond 
 to the north are covered with flocks of merino sheep 
 and Angora goats, which are kept up to a high 
 standard by the importation of the best foreign blood. 
 In these parts of the colony agriculture is only 
 possible where there is running water, but a great 
 deal of labour has been expended in making 
 reservoirs from which gardens and orchards can be 
 irrigated, and recently much success has attended the 
 sinking of artesian wells. 
 
 On the first and second terraces from the southern 
 coast and in the districts adjoining the eastern border 
 the rainfall is ample, and agriculture is carried on con- 
 jointly with cattle-breeding. Wheat and maize are 
 
 377 
 
 X 
 
S7^ PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 the principal crops, but oats are extensively grown for 
 horses, and almost every kind of vegetable and fruit 
 is abundant. 
 
 In the .south-western angle of the colony — the part 
 settled in the seventeenth century — the cultivation of 
 wheat and the vine is carried on. Sufficient wheat, 
 indeed is not at present grown for home consumption 
 and the supply of shipping, because the farmers have 
 not been able to keep pace with the sudden and 
 rapidly increasing demand caused by the mining 
 industry in the north ; but there is good reason to 
 believe that the large importations of recent years 
 will not continue much longer. The quality of the 
 wines and spirits made has been much improved of 
 late, though it does not yet satisfy the English palate. 
 
 Ostriches have been tamed, and their feathers form 
 an important item in our trade returns. On the other 
 hand, skins of wild animals have quite disappeared, 
 for the large game with which the country once 
 teemed has been exterminated. Ivory also has greatly 
 fallen off, and the little that is now exported is 
 brought from the distant interior of the continent. 
 
 In 1852 rich copper mines were opened in the 
 district of Namaqualand and the part of the colony 
 previously regarded as the least valuable has ever 
 since been contributing its mineral wealth to the 
 general prosperity. 
 
 It is impossible to give the value of the purely 
 colonial products, but the quantity from the whole of 
 South Africa exported in the year that ended on the 
 jbth of June 1893 was valued at a little over thirteen 
 and a half million pounds sterling, of which twelve 
 

 EXPORTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 379 
 
 millions and a quarter passed through the ports of the 
 Cape Colony, and one million and a quarter through 
 Durban, Natal. Of the items that made up this 
 amount gold was first, being valued at four millions 
 and a half, and diamonds came next, being valued at 
 nearly four millions. The copper ore exported was 
 worth over a quarter of a million, and the coal over 
 ;^50,ooo. The.se figures — representing nearly two- 
 thirds of the total exports — show the importance of 
 the mining industry of South Africa, and it must be 
 remembered that this industry is only in its infancy. 
 
 Taking the remaining exports alone into consider- 
 ation, they are now about ten times as great as in 
 1850. Pastoral pursuits are represented by wool, to 
 the value of ;^2,648,ooo ; Angora hair, to the value of 
 ;^ 597,000; hides, skins, and horns, to the value of 
 ^545,000 ; and ostrich feathers, to the value of 
 
 Agriculture contributes but little to the exports, 
 because nearly everything that is grown is required 
 for home consumption. Still a little fruit and grain 
 is sent abroad. Wine to the value of /"i 8,000 finds 
 its way out of the country. Aloes and argol contri- 
 bute about ^2,000 each. Natal sends away bark for 
 tanning to the value of ^^9,000, and the Cape 
 Colony dried flowers worth ;^2 1,000, The fisheries 
 supply large quantities of food for use in the country, 
 and an export to Mauritius to the value of ;^i 3,000. 
 Natal disposes of sugar to the value of nearly 
 ;^ioo,ooo. Small items of various kinds, which do 
 not need special mention, make up the balance. 
 
 Altogether this means that South Africa has a 
 
 11 
 
380 PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 purchasing power at the present time of over thirteen 
 millions sterling yearly, less the interest on the dif- 
 ferent public debts and on foreign capital invested in 
 the country. The bulk of the trade is with Great 
 Britain, and a large proportion of it originates in the 
 Cape Colony. 
 
 Excluding the dependencies named in the twenty- 
 seventh chapter, the colony has now a population of 
 three hundred and sixty-six thousand Europeans 
 and seven hundred and fifty-five thousand coloured 
 people. Of these last, rather more than half are 
 Bantu — Kosas, Tembus, and Fingos, — the others are 
 mixed breeds, Asiatics, descendants of freed slaves, 
 and Hottentots. All are subject to the same laws, 
 except in a few particulars where it has been found 
 necessary to make special provision for Bantu com- 
 munities, such as the recognition of communal tenure 
 of land in locations, the prohibition of the sale of 
 spirituous liquors in certain defined areas, and the 
 supervision of these people when they live in undue 
 number on farms owned by Europeans. 
 
 Among the Bantu missionaries of nearly every 
 Christian society have been labouring for many years, 
 and two or three generations have grown up under 
 their care. The result upon the whole is discouraging 
 to tho.se who look for high improvement, although a 
 considerable advance has been made by a section of 
 these people. Where youths have been separated 
 from the surroundings of the kraals, and have been 
 trained in habits of order, cleanliness, and — as far as 
 practicable — industry, the most good has been 
 effected. In this direction the Free Church of Scot- 
 
DNY. 
 
 MISSIONARY LABOUR. 
 
 381 
 
 sr thirteen 
 n the dif- 
 nvested in 
 ith Great 
 itcs in the 
 
 le twenty- 
 
 ulation of 
 
 Luropeans 
 
 coloured 
 
 half are 
 
 )thers are 
 
 sd slaves, 
 
 ime laws, 
 
 ^en found 
 
 mtu com- 
 
 lal tenure 
 
 e sale of 
 
 and the 
 
 in undue 
 
 land led the way, and its noble institution at Lovcdale 
 is now a model which other Christian bodies are 
 copying. It has become generally recognised that 
 the system of educati(;n carried out by most of the 
 missionary societies was faulty. Their idea was to 
 teach the children of barbarians to read and write, to 
 give them a knowledge of grammar and geography, 
 of arithmetic and history, and especially to instruct 
 them in Christian doctrine and cause them to read 
 
 TlIK BOYS SCHOOL, LOVEDALE MISSIONARY INSTHU'IION. 
 
 ly every 
 ny years, 
 ip under 
 3U raging 
 hough a 
 :ction of 
 parated 
 ve been 
 s far as 
 IS been 
 d( Scot- 
 
 the Holy Scriptures. The government subsidised 
 the schools, and the rivalry among the different 
 denominations was so keen that no location of any 
 importance was lost sight of And now, after a vast 
 expenditure of energy and money, it is seen that 
 education of this kind is by itself of little value, and 
 industrial training is coming to be regarded as a 
 necessity. 
 
 The mixed breeds, descendants of slaves, and 
 Hottentots have also been the objects of missionary 
 solicitude, and as they have long been in close con- 
 
 i 
 
382 PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 tact with white people their mode of hving is based 
 upon the European model. Most of them 'irofess 
 Christianity. They do the rough work of the fa.ms 
 and the towns, but are in general averse to steady 
 labour, and are thriftless to the last degree. The 
 instances are rare of people of this class accumulating 
 property, though they often have excellent oppor- 
 tunities for doing so. 
 
 The Asiatics in the colony are chiefly descendants 
 of people from the Spice islands, who were sent here 
 in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and are 
 commonly termed Malays. Those of pure blood are 
 almost — if not wholly — without exception Moham- 
 medans. But many Africans and people of mixed 
 blood have adopted that creed, and as they have 
 intermarried, the Malays present every variety of 
 appearance between the pure Asiatic, the pure Euro- 
 pean, and the pure African, while some fluctuate 
 between Christianity and Islam. They are decidedly 
 of a higher type than the class previously mentioned. 
 Many of the men are good mechanics, and the amount 
 of property that they hold is considerable. They are 
 confined entirely to towns. Some Indians from Hin- 
 dostan have recently migrated to this colony, among 
 whom are a few who profess the Roman Catholic 
 faith. 
 
 Owing to the zeal of the missionaries, for many 
 years greater efforts were made to give a good school 
 education to coloured children than to white, and it 
 is a lamentable fact that there is at present a large 
 section of the European rural population without any 
 knowledge of books. This condition of things, how- 
 
COURTS or yUSTICE. 
 
 383 
 
 ever, has attracted serious attention of late, and it 
 will not be permitted to continue. 
 
 There is an excellent system of public schools, 
 each under the joint control of a local board of 
 management and the educational department of the 
 government, half the cost being defrayed by the 
 treasury. Those of the first and second class are 
 attended almost exclusively by white children. Then 
 there are several colleges in which higher education is 
 imparted, and numerous excellent schools connected 
 with religious societies. The Cape Colony has further 
 a university, which is, however, only an examining 
 body empowered to confer degrees. 
 
 No expense is spared to bring justice within reach 
 of every one. There are seventy-eight stipendiary 
 magistrates, holding courts in as many districts into 
 which the colony is divided. All petty civil and 
 criminal cases are tried by them. The supreme 
 court consists of the chief justice and eight puisne 
 judges, but as two form a quorum, in practice three ot 
 the judges sit in Grahamstown, three in Kimberley, 
 and the others in Capetown. Twice a year a judge 
 of the supreme coui^ visits each district town, and 
 tries cases which arc beyond the jurisdiction of the 
 magistrates. 
 
 The towns and villages are supplied with public 
 libraries aided by government, hardly any are with- 
 out two or three churches of different denominations, 
 and banks, insurance offices, newspapers, and benevo- 
 lent institutions are found in nearly all. Municipal 
 government — in very rare instances abused — is in 
 force in every community of the slightest note. Each 
 
 J! 
 
ii; 
 
 I 
 
 iiliMt 
 
 S.;,- 
 
 is 
 o 
 
 u 
 O 
 
 G 
 
 Pi 
 u 
 
MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 3S5 
 
 >: 
 
 < 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 Pi 
 
 district has a divisional council, with powers over a 
 large area somewhat similar to those of municipal 
 councils in the villages. 
 
 Good roads have been made even in the wildest parts 
 of the colony, and the rivers on the principal routes 
 have been bridged. There is scarcely a hamlet that 
 is not now connected with all parts of South Africa 
 by the post and the telegraph wire. The railway 
 system has been referred to in other chapters, and a 
 glance at the map at the beginning of this volume 
 will show how extensive are the open lines. 
 
 Very great improvements have been made in the 
 harbours, especially in Table Bay. Here in olden 
 times the beach, after winter storms, was frequently 
 strewn with the wrecks of costly fleets, now ships Ife 
 in a dock in perfect safety, and a magnificent break- 
 water protects the outer anchorage. The cost of 
 these works, including a dry dock capable of contain- 
 ing a steamer of the first class, was nearly a million 
 and a half pounds sterling. 
 
 On the coast numerous lighthouses stand as sen- 
 tinels to warn seamen of danger by night, and the 
 ancient terror of stormy seas off the Cape of Good 
 Hope has long since been forgotten. It arose more 
 from distance from home in the early days of circum- 
 navigating Africa than from the real violence of the 
 sea, for that is commonly trifling compared with the 
 fury of the North Atlantic. 
 
 The colony is connected with Europe by two sub- 
 marine cables, so that anything of importance that 
 occurs there one day is known here through the news- 
 papers on the next. Splendid steamships carrying 
 
 26 
 
 ' 
 
 ,1 
 
1^ - 
 
 'i: 
 
 386 PRESENT CONDITION OF CAPE COLONY. 
 
 mails and passcnj^crs arrive from and leave for Eng- 
 land weekly, often makiiiy^ tUe run of six thousand 
 miles in less than fifteen days, and the passage is 
 certainly one of the pleasantest in the world. 
 
 Against the material prosperity which the colony 
 has attained within the last forty years must be 
 placed a public debt of rather ovei' twenty-six million 
 pounds sterling, or about 3^71 per individual colonist, 
 if the coloured inhabitants are excluded. That rate 
 per head, however, must be reduced by taking into 
 account that the coloured people perform the rough 
 labour of the country, and that their presence — except 
 on the eastern frontier — does not constitute a danger; 
 but in what proportion they should be classified with 
 the whites it would be hard to say. They certainly 
 stand in a very different position from the blacks of 
 Natal, in that their relative number to the Europeans 
 is only two to one, and nearly half of them imitate 
 the European mode of living. 
 
 Never before was this country a land of good hope 
 as much as at present. No one can tell what its 
 mineral exports may he ten years hence, but they are 
 advancing now at a very rapid rate. The mines 
 furnish excellent markets for agricultural produce of 
 every kind, and the farmer and grazier do not need to 
 look for customers abroad. A vast open territory in 
 the interior is inviting inhabitants, and the Company 
 that owns it is offering land on most liberal terms. 
 There is an opportunity for introducing civilisation 
 far into the heart of Africa in the only way in which 
 it can be successfully done, that is by means of Euro- 
 pean settlements sufficiently strong to rule without 
 
NEED OF EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS. 387 
 
 danger of revolt, and to be able at the same time to 
 act with justice and kindness towards the native race. 
 The continuation of the Story of South Africa, when 
 written at no very distant period, will be an account 
 of either brilliant successes or disastrous failures, 
 there will be little of mediocrity in it. The prospect 
 certainly seems bright at present, but a stream of 
 European immigrants of the right stamp is needed to 
 make it continue so. In the movement northward 
 the sons and the daughters of the Cape Colony arc 
 taking an active part, and there are no [)e()ple on 
 earth more fitted than they to be the pioneer settlers 
 of a new land. The nationalities from which they 
 spring are not those that recede, and the fusion that 
 is taking place — notwithstanding there is still a small 
 section of both Dutch and English who regard each 
 other with hostility — is not diminishing the vigour 
 derived from the parent stocks. But they are too few 
 in number to occupy and hold the great interior 
 plateau. As they go forward, men and women from 
 Europe — of the class that wins success by industry, 
 perseverance, and prudence — must come in and fill 
 the places they leave, if South Africa is to have a 
 really brilliant future. 
 
 •%^i 
 
•I I 
 
 1 
 
 Mi: 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 i486. Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by Dias. 
 
 [497. Doubling of the African continent by Vasco da Gama. 
 
 503. Discovery of Table Bay by Antonio de Saldanha. 
 1 5 10. Defeat of Portuguese by Hottentots in Table Valley. 
 
 591. First visit of English ships to Table Bay. 
 [595. First voyage of the Dutch to India. 
 [602. Formation of the Dutch East India Company. 
 [652. Commencement of the European settlement in South 
 
 Africa. 
 [655. Introduction of the vine. 
 1657. Discovery of the Berg river. 
 [658. Introduction of ijlaves. 
 
 1659. First Hottentot war. 
 
 1660. Discovery of the Elephant river. 
 
 [672. Purchase of territory from Hottentot chiefs. 
 
 [673. Commencement of second Hottentot war. 
 
 1679. Foundation of Stellenbosch, 
 
 [685. Discovery of the copper mines of Namaqualand. 
 
 [688. Arrival of the first Huguenot settlers. 
 
 1700. First occupation of land on the second plateau. 
 
 [713. First outbreak of small-pox. 
 
 [722. Great loss of life by gale in Table Bay. 
 
 1737. Wreck of another fleet in Table Bay. 
 
 1742. First use of Simon's Bay in winter months. 
 
 [746. Foundation of Svvellendam. 
 
 1752. Exploration of the country eastward to the Kei. 
 
 1755. Second outbreak of small-pox. 
 
 [761. Exploration of southern part of Great Namaqualand. 
 
 [767. Third outbreak of small-pox. 
 
 388 
 
 m 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. 
 
 389 
 
 ENTS. 
 
 ias. 
 
 ) da Gania. 
 
 danha. 
 
 le Valley. 
 
 iny. 
 
 lent in South 
 
 [land. 
 
 ;au. 
 
 ^ei. 
 iqualand. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1779- Commencement of first Kaffir war. 
 1781. Arrival of French troops to defend the Cape Colony 
 
 against the Knglish. 
 1786. Foundation of draatT-Reinct. 
 1789. Commencement of second Kaffir war. 
 1792. Commencement of the Moravian mission. 
 1795. Surrender of the Cape Colony to the English. 
 F799. Commencement of the London Society's mission. 
 
 Commencement of third Kaffir war. 
 
 1801. Exploration of the southern part of Bechuanaland. 
 
 1803. Restoration of the Cape Colony to the Dutch. 
 
 1806. Second surrender of tlie Cape Colony to the Knglish. 
 
 1809 Subjection of all Hottentot inhabitants to colonial laws, 
 
 18 1 2. Fourth Kaffir war. 
 
 181 5. Slachter's Nek insurrection. 
 
 1818. Commencement of fifth Kaffir war. 
 
 1820. Arrival of large body of Uritish settlers. 
 
 1822. Commencement of Zulu wars of extermination. 
 
 1824. Erection of first lighthouse on South African coast. 
 
 1830. Settlement of the Matabele in the valley of the Marikwa. 
 
 1834. Emancipation of the slaves in the Cape Colony. 
 
 1835. Sixth Kaffir war. 
 
 1836. Beginning of great emigration from the Cape Colony. 
 
 1837. Flight of the Matabele to the country north of the 
 
 Limpopo, 
 
 1838. Dreadful massacres of Europeans by Zulus. 
 
 1840. Subjection of the Zulu tribe to the emigrant farmers. 
 
 1842. Occupation of Natal by a British military force. 
 
 1843. Creation by the liritish government of Griqua and 
 
 Basuto treaty states. 
 
 1844. Creation of Pondo treaty state. 
 
 1846. Commencement of seventh Kaffir war. 
 
 1847. Creation of the province of British Kaffraria. 
 
 1848. Proclamation of British sovereignty over the territory 
 
 between the Orange and Vaal rivers. 
 
 1850. Commencement of eighth Kaffir war, 
 
 185 1. Commencement of first Basuto war. 
 
 1852. Acknowledgment by Great Britain of the independence 
 
 of the South African Republic. 
 
 3 
 I 
 
 t; 
 
1^ 
 
 39f^ 
 
 A.D. 
 1854. 
 
 1858, 
 1865. 
 
 1867. 
 1868. 
 1869. 
 1871. 
 1872. 
 
 1877. 
 
 1879. 
 1880. 
 
 1881. 
 1884. 
 
 1885. 
 1886. 
 
 1887. 
 1889. 
 
 1893. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. 
 
 Abandonment by Great Britain of the Orange River 
 
 Sovereignty. 
 Establishment of the Orange Free vState. 
 Introduction of a representative legislature in the Cape 
 
 Colony. 
 Second liasuto war (first with the Orange Free State). 
 Commencement of third IJasuto war. 
 Annexation of British Kaffraria to the Cape Colony. 
 Commencement of fourth Basuto war. 
 Annexation of Basutoland to the British Empire. 
 Discovery of diamonds in South Africa. 
 Creation of the province of Griqualand West. 
 Introduction of responsible government in the Cape 
 
 Colony. 
 Annexation of the South African Republic to the British 
 
 Empire. 
 Commencement of ninth Kaffir war. 
 British conquest of Zululand. 
 
 Annexation of Griqualand West to the Cape Colony. 
 Commencement of fifth Basuto war. 
 Recovery of independence by the South African Republic. 
 Commencement of the German Protectorate of the 
 
 western coast belt north of the Orange river. 
 Creation of the province of British Bechuanaland. 
 Opening of extensive gold-fields in the South African 
 
 Republic. 
 Annexation of Zululand to the British Empire, 
 (irantof a charter to the British South Africa Company. 
 Introduction of responsible government in Natal. 
 
 S, I 
 
3range River 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 
 Almeida, Francisco d', is killed in 
 
 Tfible Valley, 15 
 Angra Pequena, discovery of, 8 
 Anti-convict agitation, account of, 
 
 250 
 Asiatics, introduction into Cape 
 
 Colony, 35 
 
 li 
 
 Bantu, description of, 5 ; suffer 
 severely from small-pox, 81 ; 
 see IJapedi, Baramapulana, 
 Basuto, Cetywayo, Destruction, 
 Dingan, Dinizulu, Fingos, 
 Gaika, Hintsa, Illubi, Kaffir, 
 Kreli, Langalibalele, Lohen- 
 gule, Makana, Maiitati, Mata- 
 bele, Moselekatse, Moshesh, 
 Ndlambe, Panda, Pondo, San- 
 dile, Setyeli, Swaziland, Tembu, 
 Tshaka, and Zulu 
 Bapedi tribe, war with, 340 
 Baramapulana tribe, war with, 
 
 336 
 Barberton, foundation of, 349 
 Basutoland, description of, 263 ; 
 is annexed to the British empire, 
 321 ; is attached to the Cape 
 Colony, 330 ; is rotransferred to 
 the imperial government, 331 ; 
 present condition of, 331 
 Basulo treaty slate, creation of, 
 228 ; destruction of, 247 
 
 Basuto tribe, origin of, 171 
 Basuto wars, account of, 259, 317, 
 
 320, 321, 331 
 Batavian Republic, constitution of 
 
 the Cape Colony under, 129 
 Bcrea, battle of, 265 
 Bethelsdorp mission station, foun- 
 dation of, 130 
 Birkenhecid, wreck of the, 254 
 Black circuit, account of, 146 
 Bloemfontein, foundation of, 235 
 Bloemhof arbitration, particulars 
 
 concerning, 325 
 Blueberg, battle of, 134 
 Boomplaats, battle of, 249 
 Boshof, J. N., presidency of, 
 
 315 
 Brand, J. II., presidency cf, 319 
 
 British Bechuanaland, history of, 
 
 365 
 British Kaffraria, creation of the 
 
 province, 246 ; annexation to 
 
 the Cape Colony, 289 
 British Protectorate, reference to, 
 
 368 
 British settlers of 1820, account 
 
 of, 156 
 Bronkhorst Spruit, action at, 346 
 Burgers, T. F., presidency of, 
 
 339 
 Burgher senate, Cajie Colony, 
 
 creation of, 117; abolititm of, 
 
 176 
 
 P.ushmen, description of, i ; 
 
 references to, 44, 63, 73, 88 
 
 39» 
 
392 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 1 f'i 
 
 "1 
 
 '-;'! 
 
 f 
 
 r w 
 
 Caledon, Lord, administration of, 
 
 139 
 
 Cape Colony, foundation of, 23 ; 
 first surrender to the English, 
 107 ; restoration to the Dutch, 
 128 ; second surrender to the 
 English, 135 ; cession to Great 
 Britain, 146 ; present condition 
 of coloured inhabitants, 380 ; 
 public schools, 380-3 ; courts of 
 justice, 383 ; various institu- 
 tions, 383 ; telegraphic and 
 steamship connection with 
 Europe, 385 ; public debt, 386 
 
 Cape of Good llope, discovery 
 of, 10 
 
 Capetow n, description of,at various 
 times, 55, 83 
 
 Castle of Good Hope, erection of, 
 40 
 
 Cathcart, Sir George, administra- 
 tion of, 255 
 
 Cattle farmers, origin of, 49 
 
 Census of the Cape Colony, in 
 1700, 52 ; in 1791, 97; in 1805, 
 132; in 1819, 155; in 1890, 
 3«o 
 
 Census of the Orange Free 
 State in 1890, 328 ; of Basuto- 
 iand in 1890, 331 ; of the South 
 African Republic in 1890, 352 ; 
 of Kaffraria in 1890, 362 ; of 
 British Bechuanaland in 1S90, 
 368 ; of Swaziland in 1890, 
 
 376 
 
 Cetyvvayo, Zulu chief, leferences 
 to, 302, 309 
 
 Churches, particulars concerning, 
 39, 5;.. 77, 87. loi, 159, 237 
 
 Coal, in Natal, 300; in the Orange 
 Free State, 328 ; in the South 
 African Republic, 350 
 
 Cole, Sir Lowry, admniistration 
 of, 179 
 
 Colonists, the first, particulars con- 
 cerning, 30 
 
 Complaints of the burghers against 
 the government of the Dutch 
 East India Company, 92 
 
 Constitution of the Cape Colony, 
 description of, 271 , 
 
 Copper, export of, 379 
 
 Council of advice, Cape Colony, 
 establishment of, 160 
 
 Courts of law, Cape Colony, par- 
 ticulars concerning, 176 
 
 Cradock, Sir John, administration 
 of, 142 
 
 Craig, General, administration of, 
 119 
 
 Customs union, references 10,328, 
 369 
 
 D 
 
 Delagoa Bay, references to, 74, 
 
 374 
 Depopulation of the territory 
 
 between the Orange and Lim- 
 popo rivers, account of, 165 
 Destruction of all their property 
 by the Kosas, account of, 280 
 
 Diamond mines, annexation to the 
 
 British empire, 326 
 Diamonds, discovery of, 322 ; 
 
 export of, 379 
 Dias, Bartholomew, voyage of, 8 
 Dingan, Zulu chief, references 
 
 to, 167, 206, 207, 208, 214, 
 
 215 
 Dinizulu, Zulu chit f, references to, 
 
 310 
 Drakenstein, settlement of, 51 
 Durban, description of, 299 
 D' Urban, Sir Benjamin, adminis- 
 tration of, 179 
 Dutch East India Company, forma- 
 tion of, 18 ; forms a refreshment 
 station in Table Valley, 23 ; 
 decline of, 90 ; insolvency of, 
 no 
 Dutch language, is prohibited in 
 public offices, 158 ; is restored 
 to ofTicial equality with English, 
 
 275 
 Dutch reformed church, particulars 
 
 concerning, loi 
 Dutch ships, fust voyage to India 
 of, 17 
 
INDEX. 
 
 393 
 
 ?rences t(\ 74, 
 
 E 
 
 Eighth Kaffir war, account of, 
 
 253 
 English, the, attempt to seize the 
 Cape Colony in 1781, but fail, 
 90 ; conquer it in 1 795, 107 ; 
 restore it to the Dutch in 1803, 
 128; conquer it again in 1806, 
 
 135 
 English ships, first visit to South 
 
 Africa of, 17 
 
 Etshowe, relief of, 308 
 
 Executive council, Cape Colony, 
 creation of, 180 
 
 Expansion of the Cape Colony, 
 description of, 61 
 
 Exploration of South Africa, par- 
 ticulars concerning, 28 ; pro- 
 gress of, 83 
 
 Exports of South Africa, account 
 of, 378-9 
 
 Fifth Basuto war, account of, 331 
 Fifth Kaffir war, account of, 152 
 Fingos, origin of, 164 ; references 
 
 to, 191, 255 
 First liasuto war, account of, 259 
 First Hottentot war, account of, 
 
 37 
 First Kaffir war, accounl of, 88 
 Form of government of the Cape 
 
 Colony, before 1795, 53 5 ^^ 
 
 present, 271 
 Fourth Basuto war, account of, 
 
 321 
 Fourth Kaffir war, account of, 
 
 143 
 French, the, take possession of 
 
 Saldanha Bay, 43 ; defend the 
 
 Cape Colony against the English 
 
 in 1781-3, 90 
 
 G 
 
 (iaika, Kosa chief, references to, 
 
 99, 123, 131, 151, 187 
 Gamn, \'asco da, voyage of, 10 
 (Jame, abundance of, in early days, 
 
 46 
 
 German immigrants, account of, 
 288 
 
 German Protectorate, account of, 
 372 
 
 Ginginhlovu, battle of, 308 
 
 Glenelg, Earl, treatment of South 
 Africa by, 192 
 
 Gold, discovery of, 349; export 
 of, 349. 379 
 
 Government by the Dutch East 
 India Company, i>articulars con- 
 cerning, 74 
 
 GraafT, van de, C. J., administra- 
 tion of, 96 
 
 Graaff-Reinet, foundation of, 87 ; 
 rel)ellion of the people, 104, 
 
 121 
 
 Grahamstown, foundation of, 145; 
 
 attack by Kosas, 153 
 Great emigration from the Cape 
 
 Colony, causes of, 193, 194; 
 
 account of, 195 ei scq. 
 Grey, Sir George, administration 
 
 of, 279 
 Griqualand, West, annexation to 
 
 the Cape Colony, 326 
 Gri<|ua treaty state under Adam 
 
 Kok, creation of, 230 ; destruc- 
 tion of, 247 
 Griquas and emigrant farmers : 
 
 war between, 233 
 Guano Islands, reference to, 363 
 
 IT 
 
 Haarlem^ the, wreck of, in Table 
 
 Bay, 21 
 Ilintsa, Kosa chief, reference to, 
 
 152, 189 
 Illobane, disaster at, 307 
 Illubi tribe, account of, 292 
 Hoflman, J., presidency of, 315 
 Hottentots, description of, 2 ; 
 first intercourse with Euro- 
 peans, 1 1 ; particulars con- 
 cerning, 25, 26, 27, 36, 45, 
 III; purchase of territory from, 
 42; references to, 44, 72, 81, 
 87, 103, 121, 123, 130, 140, 
 141, 177, 178, 179, 254, 364 
 
iJ'l 
 
 394 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hottentot settlement at the Kat 
 
 river ; account of, 1 79 
 Hottentot wars, account of, 37, 
 
 45 
 Huguenots, arrival of, 51 
 
 I 
 
 Immigration from Great Britain, 
 
 account of, 153, 237 
 Ingogo, action at, 347 
 Inyesane, battle of, 307 
 Isancllwana, destruction of English 
 
 army at, 305 
 
 J 
 
 Janssens, J. W., administration of, 
 
 129 
 Johannesburg, foundation of, 349 
 
 K 
 
 Kaffir wars, account of, 88, 100, 
 123, 142, 152, 188, 240, 253, 
 361 
 
 Kaffraria, description of, 353 ; 
 history of, 355 ; annexation of 
 the greater part to the Cape 
 Colony, 357 
 
 Kambula, defence of, 307 
 
 Keate award, account of, 326, 
 
 338 
 Kentani, battle of, 361 
 King-Williamstown, foundation of, 
 
 191 
 Kok, Adam, Griqua captain, 
 
 references to, 246, 318 
 Kreli, Kosa chief, references to, 
 
 189, 257, 281, 355.361 
 Kruger, S. J. Paul, references to, 
 
 336, 343. 345 
 
 Langalibalele, rebellion of, 293 
 Lang's Nek, action at, 347 
 Lanyon, Sir Owen, administration 
 
 of. 343 
 Lead, export of, 379 
 Legislative council. Cape Colony, 
 
 creation of, 180 
 
 Livingstone, Rev. Dr., reference 
 
 to, 335 
 
 Loan bank, creation of, 98 
 
 Lobengule, Matabele chief, re- 
 ference to, 370 
 
 London missionary society, com- 
 mences work in South Africa, 
 126 ; assumes a hostile attitude 
 towards the colonists, 146 ; is 
 forsworn by the emigrant far- 
 mers, 201 
 
 Lovedale missionary institution, 
 foundation of, 279 
 
 Lucas, Admiral, surrenders a fleet 
 of nine ships of war to the Eng- 
 lish, 119 
 
 Lutheran church in Capetown, 
 establishment of, loi 
 
 Lydenburg, foundation of, 227 
 
 M 
 
 Macartney, Lord, administration 
 of, 120 
 
 Maitland, Sir Peregrine, adminis- 
 tration of, 232 
 
 Majuba Hill, defeat of British 
 force at, 348 
 
 Makana, Kosa seer, account of, 
 
 151 
 
 Malmesbury, foundation of, 79 
 Mantati horde, account of, 165 
 Matabele tribe, origin of, 169 ; 
 
 references to, !()}, 200, 201, 
 
 202, 219, 370 
 Mauritius, references to, 39, 71 
 Missionary eflbrt, results of, 4, 
 
 186, 291, 380 
 Mission societies, localities of 
 
 labour, 173 
 Mist, J. A. de, references to, 129, 
 
 131 
 
 Moffat, Rev. Robert, reference to, 
 170 
 
 Mohair, export of, 379 
 
 Moravian mission, foundation in 
 South Africa of, loi 
 
 Moselekatse, Matabele chief, re- 
 ferences to, 167, 370 
 
 Moshesh, Basuto chief, references 
 
INDEX. 
 
 395 
 
 Dr., reference 
 
 to, 171,228, 230, 236, 248, 249, 
 
 258, 315. 316, 320. 330 
 Mossamedes, emigration of farmers 
 to, 340 
 
 N 
 
 Natal, discovery of, 12 ; depopu- 
 lation of, 164 ; description of, 
 204 ; occupation by the emi- 
 grant farmers, 207 ; govern- 
 ment of the emigrant farmers, 
 220 ; possession by British 
 troops, 222; population of, 291 ; 
 Indian immigrants, 297 ; con- 
 stitution of, 301 ; public debt, 
 301 
 
 Ndlambe, Kosa chief, references 
 to, 99, 123, 130, 143, 150. 151, 
 152, 187 
 
 Nederburgh and Frykcnins, re- 
 ference to, 97, 103, no 
 
 Ninth Kaffir war, account of, 361 
 
 O 
 
 Ohrigstad, foundation of, 227 
 
 Orange Free State, creation of, 
 269 ; constitution of, 313 ; 
 courts of justice, 314 ; present 
 condition, 327 
 
 Orange River Sovereignty, cre- 
 ation of, 248 '■ abandonment of, 
 ^b9 
 
 Ostrich feathers, export of, 379 
 
 Paarl, description of, 85 
 
 Panda, Zulu chief, references to, 
 215,217, 218, 225, 302 
 
 Paper money, issue of, 92 ; re- 
 demption of, 159 
 
 I'hysical conformation of South 
 Africa, 13 
 
 Pietermaritzluirg, foundation of, 
 
 215 
 
 Plettenberg, Joachim van, ad- 
 ministration of, 86 
 Pondoland, reference to, 363 
 Pondo treaty state, creation of, 
 230 
 
 Port St. John's, reference to, 363. 
 Portuguese discoveries in South 
 
 Africa, account of, 8 et seq. 
 Portuguese possessions, account 
 
 of, Z7i 
 
 Potchefstroom, foundation of, 213 
 
 Potgieter, Ilendrick, references 
 to, 198-201, 210 
 
 Pottinger, Sir Ilenry, administra- 
 tion of, 242 
 
 Pretorius, Andries, references to, 
 213, 221, 249, 260 
 
 Pretorius, M. W., presidency of, 
 
 318, 336 
 T^rince Imperial of France, death 
 
 of, 308 
 Productions of the Cape Colony, 
 
 377 
 
 Progress of South African explora- 
 tion in 1700, account of, 57 
 
 Province of Queen Adelaide, 
 creation of, 191 ; abandonment 
 
 of, 193 
 Public debt, of the South African 
 Republic, 351 ; of Natal, 301 ; 
 of the Cape Colony, 386 
 
 Q 
 
 Queenstown, foundation of, 255 
 
 R 
 
 Railways, in Natal, 300 ; in the 
 Orange Free State, 328 ; in the 
 South African Republic, 351 ; 
 in British Bechuanaland, 368 ; 
 in the Portuguese possessions, 
 371, 375 ; in the Cape Colony, 
 328 
 Reitz, F. W. , presidency of, 328 
 Retief, Pieter, references to, 201, 
 
 204, 205 
 Rhodesia, account of, 369 
 Riebeek, Jan van, references to, 
 
 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 39 
 Rorke's Drift, gallant defence of, 
 306 
 
 S 
 
 Sandile, Kosa chief, references to, 
 188, 239, 253, 281, 361 
 
l> 
 
 * i ! 
 
 396 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sand River Convention, account 
 
 of, 261 
 Schoemansdal, abandonment of, 
 
 337 
 Schools, particulars concerning, 
 
 23, 79, 160, 237, 350, 381-3 
 
 Scurvy, effects of, 23 
 
 Second Basuto war, account of, 
 
 317 
 Second Hottentot war, account of, 
 
 45 
 Second Kaffir was, account of, 
 
 100 
 Setyeli, Bakwena chief, reference 
 
 to, 335 
 
 Seventh Kaffir war, account of, 
 240 
 
 Sheikh Joseph, particulars con- 
 cerning, 36 
 
 Shepstone, Sir T., administration 
 of, 342 
 
 Shipwrecks in Table Bay, 76 
 
 Silver, export of, 379 
 
 Simonstown, foundation of, 77 ; 
 description of, 85 
 
 Sixth Kaffir war, account of, 188 
 
 Slachter's Nek rebellion, account 
 of, 149 
 
 Slaves, introduction of, 33 ; 
 emancipation of, 180, 183 
 
 Small-pox, ravages of, 71, 80 
 
 Smith, Sir Harry, administration 
 of, 244 
 
 Somerset, Lord Charles, adminis- 
 tration of, 148 
 
 South African Republic, indepen- 
 dence acknowledged by Great 
 Bi .ain, 262 ; description of, 
 332 et seq. ; dissensions of 
 people, 333 ; dealings with 
 Bantu, 334 ; is annexed to the 
 British empire, 342 ; recovers 
 its independence, 348 ; present 
 condition of, 350 ; constitution 
 
 of, 351 
 Stel, van der, Simon, admmistra- 
 
 tion of, 50 
 Stel, van der, W. A., oppressive 
 
 administraton of, 65, 67 ; is 
 
 punished by the directors, 70 
 
 Stellaland, reference to, 367 
 Stellenbosch, foundation of, 50 ; 
 
 description of, 85 
 Stockenstrom, Andries, references 
 
 to, 192, 193 
 Swaziland, account of, 10, 376 
 Swellendam, foundation of, 79 ; 
 
 description of, 85 ; rebellion of 
 
 the inha])itants of, 104 
 
 Table Bay, discovery of, 13 ; im- 
 provement of, 77, 385 
 Taxation of the colonists in the 
 
 olden times, system of, 55 
 Tembu tril)e, account of, 356 
 Third Basuto war, account of, 320 
 Third Kaffir war, account of, 123 
 Traffic in the seventeenth and 
 eighteenth centuries, account of, 
 55 ^/ w/. 
 Treaties, with Andries Waterboer, 
 187 ; with Moshesh, 228 ; with 
 Adam Kok, 230, 235 ; with 
 Faku, 230 
 Tshaka, Zulu chief, account of, 162 
 Tulliagh, foundation of, 79 
 Tulbagh basin, settlement of, 61 
 Tull)agh Ryk, administration of, 
 80 
 
 U 
 
 Uitenhage, foundation of, 132 
 Ulundi, battle of, 309 
 
 Viervoet, battle of, 259 
 Volksraad, of the Orange Free 
 
 Stale, 314 ; of the South African 
 
 Republic, 352 
 
 W 
 
 Walfish Bay, reference to, 364 
 War between the emigrant farmers 
 and the Zulus, account of, ^08, 
 209 
 Winlmrg, foundation of, 201 
 Wodehouse, Sir Philip, adminis- 
 tration of, 320 
 
ice to, 364 
 ligrant farmers 
 ;count of, 208, 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 397 
 
 Wolseley, Sir Garnet, administra- 
 tion of, 308, 344 
 Wool, export of, 379 
 
 Yonge, Sir George, administration 
 of, 126 
 
 Zuhiland, history of, 302 ; is an- 
 nexed to the British empire, 312 
 
 Zulu tribe, origin of, 163 ; refer- 
 ences to, 205, 215, 225, 302 
 
 Zulu wars, account of, 208, 209, 
 304 
 
 ries Waterboer, 
 lesh, 228 ; with 
 30, 235 ; with 
 
F 
 
 F? 
 
 
 
 ?; 
 
 ■ ' 
 
 
 
 Ii- 
 
 r. 
 
 
 
 i: 
 
 1 
 
 
 
UNWIN UK0THEK8, 
 CHILWOKTH AND LONDON.