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32X

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.

i^^^'^^'

r^^^

CONTKNTS.

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.

I ;l

-^^

CONTENTS.

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

60-79

■First

Jlt lo

8o-9S

iqua-

riet-

Jom-

IN
96-112

n the

CONTENTS.

colony— Afihirs in Kurope— Arrivnl of n m ;■ y r

I'AfJE

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.

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

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,

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

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

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

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

! 1

SOUTH AFRICA.

1893.

Scale OF English Miles

100 50 O lf)0 200

:_r

T. Fisher Unwin, Paternoster Square, E.G.

THE STORY OF SOUTH AFRICA.

v?C^

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

.^j^^iLi^, //yruV PRETORiii :: .. .1. -fa^- r 4 yun,,c;;;rr^--=~

BRIT ISH

J Joliann*"'^'^/' II,?; I Vi ,r^ii

f^dGOAB^L^'' ^^Eif

\ rvlmr^, •
tECHUANALANbl..''

[^ o r/a n g e

- oU ■ -^

•n,,)a

i 7 Izi

!*?!

v\^AW ^^^^«.■>.».^*-^r^,^- I i^* |'

VJ^WARITZBURO

flhir]

/fONDC

'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

•■;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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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-

DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE.

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.

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 !

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.

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 :

THE EASTERN TRADE ROUTE.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

)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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

■( :

I i

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.

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

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

FOUNDATION OF THE CAPE COLONY.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

iii

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.

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

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.

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,

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

?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.

its

thi

LIFE OF THE EARLY SETTLERS

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

•A

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'J

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V.
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H
3

L/F/v OF r//F EARLY SETTLERS.

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

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.

agri-
iy led
L year

:nt.

/crnor
range,
ad an
at was
To get
ethcr-
c men,
•cd the
ly paid
1 them
iceding
carried
:s. Its

Some

rchascs

d 'J ties,

articles

\ with
lie had

dozen

imissal
Ipart of

I) days
a were
India,
le here.

Lming

on their own account, the landdrost of Stcllcnbosch
had a monopoly as an auctioneer, the secretary (jf the
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

u
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o
s

WII.IIEM ADRIAN VAN PliK STEL.

(>7

o g

was farminjT at Constantia, or to his younger brother,
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.

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.

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

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.

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^

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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."

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.

SECOND OUTBREAK OF SMALL-POX.

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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.

^liii

CAPE COLONY FROM 1750 TO 1785.

! ;

',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.

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

VILLAGES IN THE COLONY.

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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

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
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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

CAPE COLONY FROM I750 TO 1785.

p, : ■

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.

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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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

RECKLESS EXPENDITURE.

>: 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

END OF liAST INDIA COMPANY S RULIt.

bal;

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)^)

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

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

CHURCHES IN THE COLONY.

lOI

.f the

id of

icross

;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

I! ^ .

I i ^

m -it

Z Co

9 «

i§

*w*

•fi

"v:

l>H

•v

•^

FRUITLESS NECjOTIA TIONS.

107

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.

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.

THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUrATION.

w 1 i

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-

tii

CHARACTER OF THE COLONISTS.

^15

t/3
(A

b.
O

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O

H
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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.

! 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.

1™

si I

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.

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,

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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

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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

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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.

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

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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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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

14^)

liNGLISII RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

^^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.

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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

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

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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

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

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

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

(il

fp*

Ltli^

-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

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

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.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

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Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80

(716) S72-4503

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

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

:•

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

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

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

is 11

r- c;^

' 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

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

' !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 !

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

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.

• ;

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

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

194 CAPE COLONY FROM 1826 TO 1835.

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.

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 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

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

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
if I

\l\

ARRANGEMENT WITH DING AN.

207

6 ^

►4

'p.

•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-

■A

LUi

1 p :i

[i «

208

M^SS^C/?E OF EMIGRANTS.

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

! !

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,

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 ■

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

mil

ii;

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

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

.«

•4

■V4

•<!

t/3

iii

(H;;!-

o _
o «
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,

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.

■J 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

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.

-, • I 'A

i it

■■

i 1

B 8'

n 5^

H9|

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

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.

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-

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

ill

.hi !i

"AL'';")y!

<^-

')$

^> ■•.'.': ;•.•■■ ri

f ■S^i'i'-'' -'; •■ ■i.■.•.^ -■».■■ • -^'M'-

•r'vK-'-

.f\>^:

i<iS

^^1&

JTMi

«^5^i;^'=al

.''■'-' •K

:-,'4',.'';-'..,'i,';-":C

©A

t/i
<

o
<

H
A

[d
U

SEVENTH KAFFIR WAR.

239

■■{ 1

t/J

<
o

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.

tip

*■ 1
> 1

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

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.

;:l

3. g
* I

* 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.

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^

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

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

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.

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

{■■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 :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

!. I

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

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.

j'li

1 ;

la "i ■

1 T • i' ■

(

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-

il-

lit! I

t ilill

■s.

.-N

L*^

■7

t»

.St

»4

►<i

»H

•^4

tAi

■yi

h-«

t/j

;?;

H-t

-5

»4

■s

■s^

t/)

,"s

"N-

■»S

S**

•si

Cfl

H-l

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

<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

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.

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

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

H
t/i

»^

1-4

)

<
H

><
u

O
w

POLICY 01' SIR GEORGE GREY

279

■A

>•

Pi
o

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.

" t >

<!ii
il«i'

;^ii'

ii:

iiti i

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

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,

::;:!.

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.

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

[)H

«!•

,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

'H ■ , d .--li,

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

ill

1 !

-,!■■

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 '

..>•■ *

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'^

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

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:'!'

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.

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-

^10

KlATAL AND ZULULAND.

U':

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.-

iilli

!'l 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'

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

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.!'

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.

>l I

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.

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

J ■

I ill 1

■ jiii

!
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

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

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.

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 ;:

1
I

,i''

ii:"l

lr,.l ;

:).

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

■ji

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^* *

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 ■

■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

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.

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

■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

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

34^^

THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC .

i* -.'■ . ':

•^' '

.1 ■ . '.

\ '•

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.

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

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

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

4^.4Le

1.0

I.I

|J0 "^"s

t 1^ 12.0

2.5

IL25 i 1.4

iim

1.6

-a

Hiotograohic

Sciences
Corporation

k S

•1>^

^7<t ^^

'Q" - >.1^

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

350

THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.

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 {

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

■lanf

1 '

1; : i

:!; is

ll'',i ' '

! 11

SOUTH AFRICAN KOUI.DER.

...#

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-

356

DEPENDENCIES OF THE CAPE COLONY.

,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

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

O DEPENDENCIES OE THE CAPE COLONY.

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.

[ )

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 !:

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

366 TERRITORIES NOT ALREADY DESCRIBED.

}

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,

^ 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

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.

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.

\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

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

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

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-

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

ii;

iiliMt

S.;,-

is
o

u
O

Pi
u

MODERN IMPROVEMENTS.

3S5

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

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

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

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

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

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

'-;'!

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

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,

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

(iaika, Kosa chief, references to,

99, 123, 131, 151, 187
Gamn, \'asco da, voyage of, 10
(Jame, abundance of, in early days,

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

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

Immigration from Great Britain,

account of, 153, 237
Ingogo, action at, 347
Inyesane, battle of, 307
Isancllwana, destruction of English

army at, 305

Janssens, J. W., administration of,

129
Johannesburg, foundation of, 349

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

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

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

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

Queenstown, foundation of, 255

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

Sandile, Kosa chief, references to,
188, 239, 253, 281, 361

* 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

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

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

■ '

Ii-

UNWIN UK0THEK8,
CHILWOKTH AND LONDON.