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Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II ae peut que certainaa pages blenches ajoutiea . lore d'une reatauration apparaissent dana le texte. mala, lorsaue cela itait poaaibla. cee pagea n'ont paa ttt filmtes. Additional comments:/ Commer>/ 12X 16X aox 24X 28X 32X ..»a'.J* hiA Th« copy filmad h«r« haa baan raproducad ttianka to tha ganaroaity of: L'axamplaira filmA fut raproduit grica A la giniroaiti da: Univtraity of Albartt Edmonton Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara tha baat quality poaaibia conaidaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and in Icaaping with tha fiiming contract apaeifioationa. Original copiaa in printad papar covara ara fllmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- aion. or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original copiaa ara fllmad baginning on tha f irat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- aion. and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraaaion. Tha laat racordad frama on aach microficha ahaH contain tha aymboi •-'•^ (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol V (moaning "END"), whiehavar appliaa. Univtnity of Alberta Edmonton Laa imagaa suivantas ont At* raproduitas avac la plus grand soin. compta tanu da la condition at da la nattat* da l'axamplaira film*, at an conformM avac laa conditions du contrat da fllmaga. Irm axamplairaa originaux dont la couvartura •t\ papiar aat imprimia sont film«s an commandant par la pramiar plat at an tarminant soit par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'llluatration. soit par la sacond plat, aalon la caa. Toua laa autras axamplairaa originaux sont filmia an commandant par la pramiAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'lliustration at an tarminant par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una talla amprainta. Un daa aymbolaa suivanta apparattra sur la darnlAra imaga da chaqua microficha, salon la cas: la symbda -^ signifia "A SUIVRE", la symbola V signifia "FIN". Mapa, plataa, charts, ate, may ba fllmad at diffarant raduction ratioa. Thosa too larga to ba antiraly Includad in ona axpoaura ara fllmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand comar, laft to right and top to bottom, aa many framas aa raqulrad. Tha following diagrama illuatrata tha mathod: Las cartas, planchas, tabiaaux, ate, pauvant Atra filmAa A das taux da rAduction diff Arants. Lorsqua la documant ast trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un saul clichA, il ast filmA A partir da I'angia supAriaur gaucha, da gaucha A droita, at da haut an baa, an pranant la nombra d'imagaa nAcassaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 t :■ ;^/ "W U. "C. ■c HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA i '■ r4^:' / - ABIBDIBN XmiTUWITT PBIIB. A.'iA.''*,'^^«...-^f-.K»«-.J»»toi-i PREFACE. From the official records preserved in the archives of the Gape Colony and of the Netherlands much the greater portion of the information contained in this history has been drawn. These documents are so volnminons that it has been necessary to devote many years to their exami- nation. Before I entered upon the task, only two indi- viduals, so far as is known, had done more than look over them in a very cursory manner. One of these was Mr. Donald Hoodie, whose valuable work is referred to among the notices of books relating to South Africa at the close of Volume II, the other was the late Advocate De Wet, who spent much time in collecting material, with a view of preparing a faithful history of the Dutch settlement. It is to be hoped that the manuscript which he left at his death will some day be published. The documents in the Gape archives may be classified as follows : — I. Proceedings and resolutions of the council of policy from 1652 to 1795. With the exception oi eae volume containing the records from May to July 1793, these important documents are complete. When I held the position of keeper of the archives I made an abstract of those from 1651 to 1687, as the originals are not indexed, and in addition to being somewhat bulky are not easily read by persons unaccustomed to the writing of the seventeenth century. This abstract has been printed by the Gape government, and forms a compact volume of two hundred and' thirty-three pages. 261134 VI Preface. II. The Cape journal. A diary, in which records of all events of importance were entered, was commenced by Mr. Van Biebeek when he embarked at Amsterdam, and was continued with only a break of an occasional day until 1803. The occurrences of each year originally formed a volume of three or four hundred pages of foolscap. By some means between 1806 and 1880 a large proportion of these volumes disappeared from the Cape archives. For- tunately, there were duplicates of most of them in the archives of the Netherlands, of which copies have been procured by the Cape government. The journal is now complete to 1788, except for the years 1675, 1688, and 1691. From 1788 to 1795 it is missing, except for 1794. III. Despatches from the Cape government to the directors and several chambers of the East India Com- pany, to the governor-general and council of India, to the government of Ceylon, and letters to various officers in the service, foreigners calling here, and others. The volumes of this series after 1786 have been lost from the Cape archives, and some of those of an earlier date are not complete. rV. Despatches received by the Cape government from the authorities in the Netherlands and in India, and letters received from various persons. These are not quite complete in the Cape archives. V. Journals of exploring parties. Copies of the following are in the Cape archives: — Journal kept by Jan Blanx, from 26th September to 3rd October 1652. Kept by Skipper Turver, from 2l8t October to 14th November 1652. Kept by Frederick Verburg, from 21st October to 14th November 165?., and from 2nd December 1652 to 16th January 1653. Kept by Corporal Willem Muller, from 7th September to 6th October 1666. Kept by Abraham Gabbema, from 19th October to 6th November Preface. vu quite 1667. Of the exploring expedition under Sergeant Jan van Harwarden, from 27th February to 2l8t March 1668. Of the expedition under Jan Danokert in search of Monomotapa, from 12th November 1660 to . 20th January 1661. Of the expedition under Pieter Cruythof to the Namaquas, from 30th January to 11th March 1661. Of the expedition under Pieter van Meerhof, from 2l8t March to 2drd April 1661. Of the expedition under Pieter Everaert, from 14th November 1661 to 13th February 1662. Of Ensign Cruse's expedition against Gonnema, from 12th to 26th July 1673. Of the expedition under Commander Van der Stel to Namaqualand, from 26th August 1686 to 26th January 1686. Kept on board the Centaurus, from 10th November 1687 to igth Feb- ruary 1688. Kept on board the galiot Noord, from 19th October 1688 to 6th February 1689. Of the expedition under Ensign Schryver to the Inqua Hottentots, from 4th January to 6th April 1689. And of others in the eighteenth century, of which special mention is made in the body of this work. VI. Instructions. These are papers of considerable historical value. There are in the Cape archives : In- structions of the chamber of Amsterdam for the heads of the party proceeding in the service of the Netherlands chartered East India Company to the Cape of Good Hope, 26th March 1661. Further instructions of the same for the same, 12th December 1661. Of the directors for the guidance oi the return fleet, 20th August 1662. Of Mr. Van Kiebeek for the officers of the yacht Goede Hoop, i.4th October and 22nd November 1662 and 21st January 1663; for the officers of the galiot Zwarte Fos, 3rd February, 13th May, and 9th June 1663; for the officers of the galiot Boode Vos, 26th July, 4th August, 3rd and 13th October, and December 1663, and VIII Preface. 2l8t February and 6th April 1664; for the officers of the galiot Tulp, 26th Jane 16S4. Of the oommisBioner Byklof van Goens for the commander and council of the fort Good Hope, 16th April 1667. Of the commissioner Joan Cuneas for Commander Van Biebeek, 18th March 1668. Of the commissioner Pieter Sterthemius for Com- mander Van Biebeek, 12th March 1660. Of Commander Van Biebeek for the exploring party under Jan Danckert, 10th November 1660. Of Commander Van Biebeek for the exploring party under Pieter Cruythof, 29th January 1661. Of the commissioner Andries Frisius for Com- mander Van Biebeek, 11th March 1661. Of Commander Van Biebeek for the expedition under Pieter van Meerhof, 2l8t March 1661. Of Commander Van Biebeek for the expedition under Pieter Everaert, 10th November 1661. Of the commissioner Hubert de Lairesse for Commander Wagenaar, 22nd and 27th September 1662. Of Com- mander Wagenaar for the exploring expedition under Corporal Pieter Cruythof, 19th October 1662. Of the commissioner Herman Elencke for Commander Wagenaar, 16th April 1663. Of the assembly of seventeen for the party proceeding to Madagascar, with addenda by Com- mander Wagenaar, 26th May 1663. Of the commissioner P. A. Overtwater for Commander Wagenaar, 7th Sep- tember 1663. Of Commander Wagenaar for the exploring expedition under Sergeant Jonas de la Guerre, 10th October 1663. Of Commander Wagenaar for the assistant Joachim Blank, head of the Madagascar party, 19th May 1664. Of Commander Wagenaar for the assistant Jacobus van Nieuwland, head of the Mauritius party, — May 1664. Of the commissioner Mattheus van der Broeck for Com- mander Jacob Borghorst and his successor Pieter Hackius, 14th March 1670. Of the commissioner Isbrand Goske for Commander Hackius, 23rd February 1671. Of the Preface. IX commissioner Nicolaas Verburg for Governor Bax, 16th March 1676. Of the commissioner Sybrand Abbema for Commander Simon van der Stel, 27th March 1680. Of the commissioner Byklof van Goens the younger for Commander Simon van der Stel and the council, 20th March 1681. Of the retired governor-general Byklof van Goens the elder for Commander Simon van der Stel and the council, 24th April 1682. Of the high commissioner Hendrik Adriaan van Bheede for the commander and council, 16th July 1685. And others of a later date, which are referred to in the body of this work. VII. Beports to the directors. From the commissioner Byklof van Goens, 16th April 1657. From the commis- sioner Andries Frisius, 4th July 1661. From the commis- sioner Hubert de Lairesse, 22nd September 1662. From the commissioner Joan Thyssen, 25th June 1669. Ii'rom the commissioner Byklof van Goens the younger, March and April 1685. From the high commissioner Hendrik Adriaan van Bheede, 14th May 1685. YIII. Proclamations, placaats, and notices issued by the Cape government. The first volume of the original record of these in the Cape archives is slightly damaged, but nothing of any consequence seems to be missing. The other volumes are perfect. IX. Transactions of the commissioners-general Neder- burgh and Frykenius at the Cape. These volumes are of great historical value. They contain also, as annexures, many important papers. X. Burgher rolls or census returns. Every year a list was framed, giving the names of the burghers and their wives, the number of their children, slaves, guns, horses, oxen, sheep, vines, morgen of cultivated ground, etc. Such of the returns before 1795 as are not in the Cape .archives I examined in the archives of the Nether- X Prefao lands, but there is not one that can be relied upon as accurate. XI. Eesolutions of the assembly of seventeen, the chamber of Amsterdam, the states-provincial of Holland and West Friesland, and other governing bodies, referring to the Cape in early times. The originals are to be seen only in the archives of the Netherlands, but while at the Hague I made copies for the Cape government of such of them as are of any importance. XII. Declarations concerning crime, and records of the high court of justice. I have examined only the volumes of these papers which contain particulars concerning im- portant cases. It would require a lifetime to read them all. XIII. District records, which comprise proceedings of the boards of landdrost and heemraden at the various- seats of magistracy and correspondence between the gov- emment and officials in the country. I have examined these documents carefully in cases when noteworthy events were transpiring, and have otherwise glanced through them, but have not actually read them all. XIV. Miscellaneous documents during the period 1652 to 1795. Under this heading there is an enormous masa of manuscript at the Cape and at the Hague, among which there are a few papers of considerable value. Such are the following : — (1) Statement, dated at Amsterdam 26th July 1649, in which is briefly shown what service, advantages, and profit the United Netherlands chartered East India Company might derive from building a fort and making a garden at the Cape of Good Hope. (2) Further considerations upon certain points in the state- ment submitted by Mr. Leendert Janssen, concerning ths project of constructing a fort and planting a garden at the Cape of Good Hope, Amsterdam, June 1651. (3) Ex- tract of a letter from the chamber of Middelburg to the. Preface. XI chamber of Amsterdam, 5th December 1651. (4) State- ment of the condition of affairs at the Gape, drawn up by Mr. Van Eiebeek for the use of his successor, 5th May 1662. (5) Queries concerning Cape affairs by the com- missioner Hubert de Lairesse, and replies of Commander Wagenaar, 15th September 1662. (6) Statement of the condition of affairs at the Cape, drawn up by Mr. Wagenaar for the use of his successor, 24th September 1666. (7) Memorandum for the use of Governor Bax, drawn up by the retiring governor Isbrand Goske, March 1676. The greater number of the miscellaneous documents in the Cape archives are, hov/ever, of little or no value for historical purposes. There are sailing directions, directions for signalling, ships' log books, etc., etc. XV. In the surveyor-general's office are records of land grants, and in the registry of deeds are records of all transfers of ground and mortgages since 1685. In the archives of the Netherlands there are full details of the East India Company's accounts with the Cape, embracing salaries, expenses of all kinds, sales of goods, etc., etc. I have only glanced through these papers for the purpose of selecting such as are of most importance. A single lifetime is too short to read all the manuscript that is referred to in this and the preceding three paragraphs. In the archives of the Netherlands there are over fifty unpublished charts referring to South Africa, but many of them are of little or no value. I copied the following on tracing linen for the Cape government : — One of the fort and garden in Table Valley in 1654. One of the fort and garden in Table Valley in 1656. One of the route of the exploring parties of 1661. One of the castle, garden, and town in Table Valley in 1693. Xll Preface. An elaborate chart of the journey of Commander Simon van der Stel to the copper mines of Namaqnaland in 1685, being the first map upon which any indication of the Orange river appears. I also examined carefully the maps and atlases of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries in the libraries of the British museum and of the university of Leiden. In the collection of atlases in the South African public library the following works, purchased by me at the Hague, are to be seen : — Ortelius, Abraham : Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. This work, so celebrated in its day, is in one great volume. It contains a large map of Africa, engraved at Antwerp in 1670. Mercator, Gerard, et Hondius, Jodocus: Atlas, sive Cosmographicoe Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabri- cati rigura. The fourth edition, published at Amster- dam in 1619, contains two maps of Africa, both full-sized, or covering a double page. One is taken from Gerard Mercator's map and description of the world, and is the work of his son ; the other is by Jodocus Hondius himself. Hondius, Henry: Atlas ou Bepresentation du Monde Universel. This is an edition of the last-named work, improved by means of the discoveries made in the interval. Though the title is French, the work is in Dutch, and was published at Amsterdam in 1633 by a son of the celebrated Jodocus Hondius. It contains one large map of Africa, drawn by Henry Hondius, and engraved in 1631. Doncker, Hendrick : Zee Atlas of Water Wcerelt, published at Amsterdam in 1666. This volume contains a chart of the west coast of Africa from the equator to the Cape of Good Hope, engraved in 1659 ; and one of Preface. Xlll the east C' *j from the Cape of Good Hope to the Red sea, engraved in 1660. Blaeu, Joan : Grooten Atlas, oft Werelt Beschryving. This was the standard atlas of its day, and is still of the greatest value as an unerring guide to the knowledge possessed by the most eminent geographers in the middle of the seventeenth century. Seven enormous volumes and part of the eighth are devoted to Europe; Africa and America are described in the remainder of the eighth ; and the ninth is given to Asia. Among the African maps is one of that portion of the continent south of the tenth parallel of latitude, engraved in 1665. A copy, reduced in size, appears in the first volume of this history. Goos, Pieter: Zee Atlas ofte Water Wereld. After the great atlas of Blaeu, it would be unnecessary to mention any other, if it were not for the estimation in which the marine charts of Goos as well as of Doncker were held in their day. This volume, splendidly engraved, orna- mented, and printed in colours, was issued at Amsterdam in 1668. It contains a large chart of the coast from Cape Verde to the Cape of Good Hope ; another from Cape Negro to Mossel Bay, with cartoons of the coast and country from St. Helena Bay to Cape False, and Vlees Bay or Agoa de S. Bras ; and a large chart of the coast from the Cape of Good Hope to the head of the Bed sea. The manuscript records preserved in Capetown, the Hague, and London, are the only authentic sources from which the history of South Africa can be extracted, and as such they have been used by me. But I found it necessary also to know how events, as they transpired, appeared to visitors. For this purpose I consulted a large number of books relating to the country, printed in various languages. Most of them proved worthless, but they had to be read before this could be known A 1 A list XIV Preface. ^ of the printed books referring to the period embraced in these volumes is given at the end, with a short note indicating the value of each. An intimate acquaintance with the traditions and customs of the southern Bantu tribes, obtained during a residence of seventeen years among them, has been of inestimable service to me ; but, to leave nothing unused that could contribute to the correctness of the narrative, an outline of nearly everything that concerns the Xosas in these volumes has been submitted to their most cele- brated antiquaries, whose comments have been carefully considered. In order to simplify the narrative, where money is mentioned it has been reduced to English coinage at the rate of twelve gulden of Holland to the pound sterling, the present rate of exchange. The rixdollar of the records has been computed at four shillings and two pence before 1770, at four shillings from that date until the issue of a paper currency, and thereafter according to the rate of exchange for gold; the Cape gulden before 1790 at one shilling and four pence or one shilUng four pence and two-thirds of a penny, according to circumstances. Ex- planations will be found in the body of the work. Weights have been reduced to English pounds at the rate of nine hundred and eighteen Amsterdam pounds to one thou- sand pounds avoirdupois. Unless otherwise stated in each instance, the muid of grain, as used in the records and in these volumes, weighs one hundred and ninety and three-fifths pounds avoirdupois. The legger of wine con- tains four aams or one hundred and twenty-six and one- tenth imperial gallons. The morgen of ground is equal to rather more than two and one-tenth English acres. The muid, legger, and morgen, being still in use in South Africa, I have retained ; but Dutch money and weights Preface. XV embraced in a short note 'aditions and Qed during a has been of thing unused ihe narrative, IS the Xosas ir most cele- een carefully ire money is )inage at the und sterling, f the records pence before le issue of a the rate of 1790 at one r pence and ances. Ex- Weights rate of nine one thou- ited in each records and ninety and wine con- ix and one- nd is equal ?Iish acres. ie in South nd weights having been replaced by English, I have reduced these to*, the terms now generally employed. In the statistics of shipping I have not included vessels employed as coasters or packets kept for the use of the Cape government. Throughout the work I have tried to use simple lan- guage and to relate occurrences just as they took place, vnthout favour towards one class of people or prejudice against another. I have no interests to serve with any party, and I am on equally friendly terms with all. Though a resident in South Africa for nearly forty years, I am by birth a Canadian, the descendant of a family that sided with the king at the time of the American revolution and afterwards removed from New York to New Brunswick with other loyalists. The early years of my life after boyhood were spent in the United States and in Sierra Leone. Thus no ties of blood, no prejudices acquired in youth, stand as barriers to my forming an impartial judgment of occurrences in South Africa in bygone times. I have not tried to draw lessons from past events, or to give a polish to my writing, because I feel that for me to attempt to do so would be Uke a quarryman attempting to give the finishing touches to a statue. The duties of the various ofi&ces which I have held under the Cape government, the labour of research among such a quan- tity of records as South Africa possesses, and in past years the prolonged personal intercourse vnth natives needed for investigation into the traditions and oral his- tories of the numerous tribes, would have unfitted me for putting a gloss on literary work, if ever I had the requisite ability. In this respect I am like the farmers whose wanderings I have followed, who had plain food in abundance, but no means of decorating their dinner XVI Preface. tables. Eecognising this, what I have kept constantly before me was to relate all events of importance, to arrange them generally in chronological order, to give dates for every occurrence — even if they should cause the narrative to be heavy and dull, — to furnish minute de- tails of all subjects of interest to South African readers, and to prepare an index that would make reference as easy as possible. A great part of this history has passed through three editions, though the present issue is termed on the title page the second, because only one other has been published in England in a complete form. It has been carefully revised, advantage having been taken of criti- cisms and reviews pointing out where improvements could be made, and many details — perhaps wearisome to readers in Europe but that will be valued by colonists — have been added. For this purpose I spent the winter of 1896-7 at the Hague, where there is the greatest facility for veri- fying dates and obtaining such additional information as I needed. The winter of 1881-2 I had spent there in the same pursuit, consequently I had not to lose time in making myself familiar with the record department. To the government of the Cape Colony I am indebted for encouragement to carry out this work, to the author- ities of the archive department at the Hague for assist- ance in research, and to the late Mr. C. A. Fairbridge, of Capetown, for the use of books and pamphlets from his unique collection. To the many others who have rendered me kindly aid I can only express my obligations in general terms. GEO. M. THEAL. London, July, 1897. ■I CONTENTS. CHAPTEB I. PAOI JAN VAN RIEBEEK, COMMANDER, LANDED IN SOUTH AFRICA 7th APRIL 1662, RETIRED 6th MAY 1662 - - 1 Cause of the greater importance of Table Bay to the Dutch than to the Portuguese — Presentation of a document to the chamber of Amsterdam, setting forth the advantages to be gained by forming a settlement in Table Valley — Accoimt of the wreck of the Haarlem — Deliberations of the directors of the East India Company — Decision to form a victualling station at the Cape — Instructions to the jkippers of the Dromedaris, Reiger, and Goede Hoop — Character and previous occupations of Jan van Biebeek, commander of the expedition — Instructions of the directors to the commander — Departure of the expedition from Amsterdam — Events during the passage — Arrival of the expedition in Table Bay — Condition of Table Valley — Description of the natives residing there and roaming about in the neighbourhood — Selection of a site for a fort — Description of the ground plan of the fort Good Hope — Land- ing of the expedition — Quarrels between the Goringhaiquas and the Goringhaikonas — Distress of the Europeans — Arrival of ships with many sick men — Effects of the winter rains — Account of the sick-visitor WiUem Barents Wylant — Birth of the first Dutch child in South Africa — Abimdance of game — Project of a whale fishery — Productions of Bobben Island — Inspection of the country back of the Devil's peak — Descrip- tion of forests in the kloofs of the moimtain — Desertion of four workmen and their adventures — Conamencement of gardening in Table Valley — Voyage of the Goede Hoop to Saldanha Bay — Cattle barter with the Goringhaiquas — Account of the interpreter Harry and his niece Eva — De- parture of the Goringhaiquas from the neighbourhood of the Cape — Effects of the south-east winds — Productions of the gardens — Diet of the workmen. VOL. I. 6 • •• XVlll Contents. CHAPTER II. MR. VAN RIEBEEK'S ADMINISTRATION (continued) vtm ■ 81 I! il j i War between England and the Netherlands — Condition of the fort Good Hope — Arrival of ships — Trade with natives — Damage caused by wild animals — Appointment of the first secunde — Dealings with a French ship in Saldanha Bay — Bobbery by Harry and the beachrangers of the Company's cattle and miirder of one of the herdsmen — Unsuccessful pursuit of the robbers — Discovery of an unknown ore — Return of the Eaapmans and beachrangers — Celebration of the anniversary of the arrival of the Europeans — Despatch of a galiot to St. Helena for provisions— Appointment of the second secunde — Acooimt of the south-eastern coast by a missionary of the Society of Jesus — Despatch of a gaUot to explore the south- eastern coast — Commencement of trade with Madagascar — Arrival of the first Asiatic banished to the Cape — Celebration of a day of prayer and thanksgiving — Conclusion of peace between England and the Netherlands — Treatment of the crews of English ships — Arrival of a large fleet — Formation of sealing establishments at Dassen Island and Saldanha Bay — Introduction of the vine — Instructions of the directors re- garding the natives — Views of the commander as to the best method of dealing with the natives— Hostile acts of the Goringhaiquas — Account of the first exploring expedition Inland — Return of Harry to the fort — Renewal of the cattle trade — Bartering expedition of Harry and Corporal Muller — Arrival of a large Hottentot horde under the chief Gonnema — Account of the interpreter Doman — First shipbuilding at the Cape — Disastrous expedition to Madagascar — Allotment of garden ground to married servants of the Company — Arrange- ment with Annetje de boerin — Completion of a hospital — Construction of a jetty — Project of Ryldof van Goens to convert the Cape peninsula into an island — Description of plants and animals introduced — Occupation of the first farm at Rondebosch — Thefts by Hottentots — Dealings with Harry — Efforts to destroy ravenous animals — Regulations for the preservation of herbivorous animals — Outbreak of sickness — Appointment of day of fasting and prayer — Constitution of the council of policy — Particulai's concerning marriages — Treatment of Christian blacks — Instructions regarding the treatment of the crews of foreign ships. n ^ f i Contents. CHAPTER III. MR. VAN RIEBEEK'S ADMINISTRATION (cmtimued) X(X ■ 60 Conditions under which some of the Company's servants became colonists— Visit of the commissioner Ryklof van Goens — Alterations in the conditions — Appointment of the first burgher councillor — Names of the first colonists — Regulations of the commissioner Ryklof van Goens — Appointment of Roelof de Man as secunde — Expedition to Hottentots-Holland — Information concerning the natives — Exploration by a party imder the leadership of Abraham Gabbema — Discovery of the Berg river — Account of various public works — Exploration by a party under the leadership of Jan van Harwarden — Dis- covery of the Little Berg river — Inspection of the Tulbagh basm — Importation of slaves from Angola and Guinea — De- sertion of the slaves — Seizure of Hottentots as hostages for the restoration of the slaves — General panic of the Hottentots — Arrangements between the Europeans and the Hottentots — Banishment of Harry to Eobben Island — Opening of trade with the Cc^hoquas under the chief Oedasoa — Remonstrances of the farmers against new restrictions — Price of wheat- Planting of a vineyard by the commander at Protea — Intro- duction of maize — Appointment of two burgher councillors — Regulations concerning sheepbreeding — Instance of great loss of life by scurvy — Increase in the number of colonists — Unsuccessful attempt to visit the Namaquas — Conmience- ment of wine making in South Africa — Manufacture of ale — Enrolment of the burghers as militia — Constitution of the militia coimcil- Changes in the council of policy. CHAPTER IV. MR. VAN RIEBEEK'S ADMINISTRATION {continued) - War with the Hottentot clans nearest the settlement — Conspiracy of some soldiers and slaves to seize a vessel in the bay — Con- clusion of peace with the Goringhaiquas and Gorachouquaa — Duties of the secretary to the council— Wreck of a French ship in Table Bay — Illicit dealing in cattle — Manner of con- ducting trade with the Hottentots — Traits of native charac- ter — Search for the fabulous island of St. Helena Nova — Expedition under Jan Danckert in search of Monomotapa — Exploring expedition under Pieter Cruythof — Naming of Riebeek's Kasteel — Discovery of the Namaquas — Description 92 M f \ s ill, XX Consents. PAOI of the Namaquas — Exploring expedition under Pieter van Meer- hof — Efiforts of Pieter van der Stael to teaoh the Gape Hot- tentots the principles of Christianity — Exploring expedition under Pieter Everaert — Feuds of the Hottentots— Conflict- ing accounts of the condition of the settlement — Appointment of Gerrit van Ham as Mr. Van Riebeek's successor — Death of Mr. Van Ham at sea — Appointment of Zocharias Wagenaar as commander — Disposal of Mr. Van Riebeek's fanii— Arrival of Mr. Wagenaar — Ceremony of his induction — Departure of Mr. Van Riebeek for Batavia — Condition of the settlement — Privileges of the burghers — Treatment of foreigners — Anticipa- tions regarding the olive — Actual knowledge conceming the natives — Fabulous accounts of distant tribes— Neglect of the government to keep a record of land grants — Character of Commander Van Riebeek as delineated in his writings — Offices which he held after leaving South Africa. CHAPTEB V. ZACHARIAS WAGENAAR, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 6th MAY 1662, RETIRED 27th SEPTEMBER 1666 130 Character of Commander Wagenaar — Deputation from Hottentot clans to the new commander — Visit of the commander to the Cochoquas — Account of the Hessequas — Exploration by a party under Pieter Cruythof — Expedition under Admiral De Lairesse against Mozambique — Intercourse with Madagascar — Explora- tion by a party under Jonas de la Guerre — Occupation of the island of Mauritius as a dependency of the Cape settlement — Account of George Frederick Wreede — Outbreak of war between England and the Netherlands — Resolution of the directors of the East India Company to construct a stone fortress in Table Valley — Selection of the site for the new fortress by the commissioner Isbrand Goske — Ceremony of laying the foundation stone — Construction of a church in the castle — Attempt to capture an 'Snglish ship in Table Bay — Succession of sick- visitors — Account of the first clergy- man of the Cape — Constitution of the consistory — Disputes conceming baptism — Scene at an afternoon service in the church — Subjects taught in the school — Succession of school- masters — Amount of school fees — Dealings with Hottentots — Outbreak of a plague among the Hottentots — Dealings with the beachrangers in Table Valley — Marriage of Eva with a European — Prices of various kinds of grain — Wages of farm Contents. XXI PAOK labourers — Price of horses — Occupations of burghers in Table Valley — Desire of the commander to be relieved — Ap- pointment of his successor — Arrival of Mr. Van Quaelberg — Installation of the new commander — Changes in the council of policy— Departure of Mr. Wagenaar for Batavia — Knowledge of the country at the time of his departure — Condition of the colony — Subsequent visit of Mr. Wagenaar to the Cape — Bequest by Mr. Wagenaar of a sum of money for the benefit of the poor. CHAPTEB VI. CORNELIS VAN QUAELBERG, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 27th SEPTEMBER 1666, DISMISSED 18th JUNE 1668. JACOB BORGHORST, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 18th JUNE 1668, RETIRED 26th MARCH 1670. PIETER HACKIUS, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 26th MARCH 1670, DIED 80th NOVEMBER 1671. THE COUNCIL OF POLICY, 80th NOVEMBER 1671 TO 26th MARCH 1672. ALBERT VAN BREUGBL, SECUNDE, ACTING COMMANDER, PROM 26th MARCH TO 2nd OCTOBER 1672 - - - -160 Character of Commander Van Quaelberg — Destruction of forests — Establishment of a French East India Company — Assistance given to the French by Commander Van Quaelberg — Action of the French at Saldanha Bay — Exploration of the coun- try — Discontinuance of work on the castle — Expedition to Mauritius and Madagascar— Conclusion of peace between England and Holland — Dealings with the Hottentots — Harsh regulations of Commander Van Quaelberg — Dismissal of Mr. Van Quaelberg from the Company's service — Appointment of Jacob Borghorst as commander — Succession of clergymen — Increase of the burghers — Removal of the French beacons at Saldanha Bay — Survey of the country about Mossel Bay — Visit to the Attaqua tribe — Cruel custom of the Hottentots — Liberty of the Company's servants to trade to a small ex- tent on their own account— Incidents in the career of George Frederick Wreede — Expeditions of the Grundel along the western and south-eastern coasts — Search for metals — Visit of the commissioner Mattheus van der Broeck — Desire of Mr. Borghorst to be relieved — Appointment of Pieter Hackius as his successor — Arrival of a French fleet under Admiral De la f li!; " > i-H XXll Contents. Hay W^/)rtllo conduct of the French at Saldanha Bay — Tlegulufeiofig concerning slaves — Misfortunes of the seounde |)e Cretzer Arrivw) of a few families of immigrants — Ideau of tht day as to kuo^I government — Cause of po tew iiami- grants arriving in South Africa — Death of Communlor Hucltius - Resolution of the directors to complete the cantle and strengthen tit' garrison — Position of the castle — Selection of officers to uoi 'Mot the government — Statistics of ships that put into Table Bay — Account of wrecks — Number of visitors yearly — Dealings with Qonnema's people — Arrival of the geounde Van Breugel — Visit of the commissioner Aernout van Overbeke — Purchase of territory from Hottentot chiefs — First distillation of brandy at the Cape — Intelligence of war with England and Franco — Arrangements for defence — Arrivnl of Governor Qoske. CHAPTER VII. ISBRAND GOSKE, GOVERNOR, INSTALLED 2nd OCTOBER 1672, RETIRED 14th MARCH 1676. JOHAN BAX, ENTITLED VAN HERENTALS, GOVERNOR, INSTALLED 14th MARCH 1676, DIED 29th JUNE 1C78. HENDRIK CRUDOF, SECUNDE, ACTING COMMANDER, 29th JUNE 1678 TO 12th OCTOBER 1679 201 Statistics of populafion — Influence of the war in Europe upon Cape affairs Progress of the construction of the castle — Establishn'ont of an outpost at Hottentots-Holland — Expedi- tion against St. Helena— Career of Lieutenant Van Breitenbach — Trade with the Chainouquas — Account of Captain Elaas — Account of Captain Goimema — The second Hottentot war — Wreck of the Orundel and of the Zoetendal — Method of raising revenue by fanning out privileges— Occupation of the castle by the garrison — Conclusion of peace between England and the Netherlands — Career of the first baptized Hottentot — Account of the church fund for the support of the poor — Establishment of on orphan chan')i / — Uegiilations concern- ing ecclesiastifni affairs — Visit of the :;o';-i un^ioner N"-^''t,8 Verburg — Terms of a petition of !.>'*• d lo. 'its to the com- missioner — Position of the island oi Mauritius with regard to the Cape government — Appointment of Johan Bax as suc- cessor to Mr. Goske — Measures for the protection of the farmers — Murder of three burghers by Bushmen — Condition of Hottentot clans when the Dutch settled in South Africa Contents, XXIll —Condition of the Hushmon — nnsncoesflful expedition against Qonnema — PunlHhm' i(. of Gaptain Kuea— Gonolusion of peace with the Coohoqua»— EtfeotH of the war with Gonnema upon the European hcI lement — btii ^'"nt regulations concerning intercourse between burghers and MoWfiitots — Account of Willem Willeins — Condition of the beachrangerr^ Measures for the suppression of robbotios — Execution of five bushnion — Principles of the government in its intercourse with the natives —Establishment of a matrimonial uovirt — Partioulars concerning slaves — Exploration of the western and :^outh- castem coasts — Selection of a site for a new church Death of the reverend Mr. Hnlsenaar — Removal of bodieH from tlio old church to the site of the new one — Account of the first colonists beyond the Capo peninsula— Particulars concerning the first customs regulations — Arrival of a few families of innnigrants — Death of Governor Box — Assumption of the government by the secunde as acting commander- Appoint- ment of the reverend Johannes Ovemey as olergvman of the Cape — Conclusion of peace between the Net lerlands and France — Naming of the five bastions of the cai*tl< —Posi- tion of the burghers beyond the Cape peninsula— Particulars of the census of 1679 — Appointment of Simon van dt Stel as commander. PAoa CHAPTER VIII. SIMON VAN DER STEL, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 12th OCTOBER 1679, RAISED TO THE RANK OF GOVERNOR IST JUNE 1691, RETIRED 11th FEBRUARY 1699 - • - 244 Particulars concerning Simon van der Stel — Condition of the settlement — Visit of the commander to Hottentots-Holland — Particulars concerning the naming of Stellenbosch — Occupa- tion of the Stellenbosch valley by Europeans— Improvement of the Company's garden in Table Valley — Account of Hen- drili Bernard Oldenland— Intercourse with the Hottentots — Visit of some Namaquas to the castle with specimens of copper ore — First information concerning the Orange river — Treatment of foreigners at the Cape — Method of taxing foreigners — Growth of Stellenbosch — Destruction of crops by insects — Establishment of a court of heemraden at Stellen- boHch — Particulars concerning the first school at Stellenbosch — Various duties of the tesicher of the school — Resolution of the East India Company to make une of South Africa as a ■: * . XXIV Contents. PlOB place of bsuushment for Indian political prisoners — Particulars oonceriiing the Bantamese civil war and the banishment of Sheikh Joseph to the Gape — ^Visit of the retired governor- general B/klof van Goens — Instructions issued by Mr. Van Goens — Account of the wreck of an English ship — Establish- ment of a court for the adjudication of petty cases — Un- successful exploring expeditions of 1682 and 1688 — Receipt of more copper ore from Namaqualand — Formation of a number of outposts — Visit of Byklof van Goens the younger — Transactions of Mr. Van Goens at the Cape — First expor- tation of grain — Visit of the high commissioner Hendrik Adriaan van Bheede — Beconstruction of the coimcil of policy and the high court of justice — Appointment of a landdrost to Stellenbosch — Constitution and powers of the court of landdrost and heemraden — Begulations concerning slaves and Hottentots — Grant of the farm Constantia by the high commissioner to Commander Van der Stel — Search for minerals of value — Imposition of transfer dues on sales of fixed property — Price of grain — Departure of the high com- missioner. ) CHAPTER IX. , SIMON VAN DER STEL'S ADMINISTRATION (contmued). EX- PLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN SOUTH AFRICA - 276 Journey of Commander Van der Stel to Namaqualand — Particulars concerning Hottentots and Bushmen along the route — Description of the country along the south-western coast — Effects of rain and of drought — Discovery of the Copper mountain — Results of the commander's journey — Account of the wreck of the Dutch ship Stavenisse on the coast of Natal — Adventures of the shipwrecked crew — Account of the wreck of the English ketch Good Hope at the bay of Natal — Particulars concerning the building of the Centaurua at Natal — Account of the loss of the English ketch Bona Ventura at St. Lucia Bay — Escape of some of the wrecked men in the Centaurus — Search along the coast for the others — Bescue of many of them — Adventures of Guillaume Chenut — ^Voyage of the galiot Noord along the southern and south-eastern coasts — Survey of Delagoa Bay — Occurrences at Natal — Particulars concerning the Bantu tribes between Natal and the Keis- kama river — Account of the expedition under Ensign Schryver to the Inqua tribe of Hottentots — Information concerning the tribes between the Inquas and the Amaxosa — Second voyage Contents. XXV FAQB of the galiot Noord along the sonth-eastem coast — Parohase by the Dutch East India Company of the country around the bay of Natal from a native chief — Account of the loss of the Noord on Elippen Point — Suffering of the shipwrecked crew before reaching the Cape — HospitaUty of Captain Elaas — Causes of the hostility of all other races towards the Bushmen. CHAPTER X. SIMON VAN DER STEL'S ADMINISTRATION {contintisd) - - 308 Visit of French astronomers to the Cape — Particulars concerning emigration from the Netherlands to South Africa — Establish- ment of a yearly fair at Stellenbosch — Mode of target shooting in the seventeenth century— Arrangement for divine service at Stellenbosch — Erection of various pubhc buildings at Stellen- bosch — ^Extension of vineyards — Experiments with the olive — Particulars concerning tree planting — Wreck of the Portuguese ship Nossa Senhora dos Milagros—lte&tment of shipwrecked Siamese ambassadors to the king of Portugal — Particulars con- cerning the struggle with the Bushmen — Specimens of local regulations — Establishment of a deeds registry— Outbreak of a destructive epidemic — Visit of a French fleet of war — Extension of the settlement to Drakenstein — Survey of False Bay — Account of the naming of Simon's Bay — Condition of the colonists — Particulars concerning sumptuary regulations — Damage caused by locusts — Progress of agriculture — Particu- lars concerning the census of 1687 — Emigration from the southern to the northern Netherland provinces after the pacification of Ghent — Emigration from France after 1670 — Desire of the directors of the East India Company to obtain some of the refugees as colonists — Arrival at the Cape of various small parties of Huguenots — Account of the clergyman Simond — Assistance given to the Huguenots after their arrival — Location of the Huguenots at Stellen- bosch and Drakenstein — Arrangements for public worship — Establishment of a school at Drakenstein — Receipt of assist- ance from Batavia — Names of the Huguenots in South Africa in 1690 — Failure of a project to send out a party of Yaudois to the colony — Grievances of the immigrants — HI feeling between the French and Dutch colonists — Establishment of a church at Drakenstein — Instructions regarding schools — Method of locating immigrants — Blending of the different nationalities. VOL. I. d* I' \ I I -II; » .♦> XXVI Contents. PAOE - 845 CHAPTEB XI. SIMON VAN DBR STEL'S ADMINISTRATION (conUnued) Arrival of a number of Dutch immigrants — Intercourse between the Europeans and the Hottentots — Strife between the different Hottentot clans — Hostility towards the Bushmen — Progress of agriculture — Improvements in the breed of cattle — Introduction of Persian horses and asses and of Spanish rams — Intelligence of war between Holland and France — Capture in Table Bay of the French ships Normande and Coche — Bapacity of the East India Company's servants in the Asiatic dependencies — Creation of the office of independent fiscal — Plans of the directors for reducing their expenditure at the Cape— Experiments with vines and oUve trees— De- scription of Capetown in 1691— Elevation of the colony to the rank of a government — Names of the chief officials in 1691 — Names of the principal burghers in 1691 — Census returns of 1691 — Particulars concerning revenue — Statistics of shipjT/Iiig - Improvements in the town — Experiments in the cultivatio. of various plants^Damage caused by wild animals— Shjcks of earthquake in Table Valley — Changes in the staff of o:ffioials — Erection of a large hospital — Instances of dreadful ravages of scurvy — Various shipwrecks — Danger from pirates — Seizure of the brigantine Amy in Saldanha Bay — Contemplated abandonment of farming operations by the Company — Names of new colonists — Gradual alienation of sympathy between Governor Simon van der Stel and the colonists — High opinion of the governor held by the directors — Eesignation of his office by Simon van der Stel — Appointment by the directors of his eldest son as his successor — His retirement to Constantia and subsequent career. CHAPTER XII. WILHEM ADRIAAN VAN DER STEL, GOVERNOR, INSTALLED llTH FEBRUARY 1699, RECALLED Sbd JUNE 1707 - - 379 Appointment of Wilhem Adriaan van der Stel as governor — Search for islands with forests on them — Extensive planting of trees — Tour of the governor — Inspection of the Tulbagh basin — Naming of the Witsenberg — Occupation by graziers of the country about Biebeek's Easteel and the Tulbagh basin — Formation of a small military outpost in the Tulbagh basin — Permission to the burghers to purchase cattle from V Contents. xxvii the Hottentots— Contract for supply of meat — Cattle breeding henceforth a favourite pursuit of colonists — Troubles with Bushmen — Dealings with Hottentots — Church matters — Din- continuance of the use of the French language in the church at Drakenstein — Proceedings of a marauding party — "Wreck of the Merenteyn — Expedition to Natal — A "count of an EngUsh resident at Natal — Fruitless efforts of the directors and the Cape government to make South Africa a wool-producing country — Experiment in silk culture — Placing of partridges and pheasants on Bobben Island — Long drought —Increase of population — Want of sympathy between the government and tho colonists — Extensive farming operations by the governor and other officials — Complaints of the colonists to the supreme authorities — Violent action of the governor — Arrest of various burghers and their committal to prison — Banishment of a burgher to Batavia and of four others to Europe — Defiance of the government by the country people — Action of the directors in the Netherlands — Becall of the governor emd other officials — Arrival of the newly appointed secunde Johan Cornells d'Ableing and transfer of the administration to him — Views of the colonists and of the directors as to the rights of burghers. PAOK CHAPTER XIII. JOHAN CORNELIS D'ABLEING, SECUNDE, ACTING GOVER- NOR, 3bd JUNE 1707 TO 1st FEBRUARY 1708. LOUIS VAN ASSENBURGH, GOVERNOR, INSTALLED IsT FEBRUARY 1708, DIED 27th DECEMBER 1711. WILLEM HELOT, SECUNDE, ACTING GOVERNOR, 28th DECEMBER 1711 TO 28th MARCH 1714. MAURITS BASQUES DE CHAVONNES, GOVERNOR, IN- STALLED 28th MARCH 1714, DIED 8th SEPTEMBER 1724 410 Matters connected with the different churches and clergymen — Arrival of Governor Van Assenburgh — Proceedings against the late officials in Amsterdam — Division and sale of Vergelegen — ^Visit of the commissioner Simons — Regulations concerning the manumission of slaves — Abandonment of the island of Mauritius by the Dutch — Visit of the retired governor- general Van Hoom — Instructions concerning the tithes of grain— Damage to the village of Stellenbosch by fire— Plaoaat XXVlll Contents. f ! against destmotion of trees — Neglect of tree planting — Definition of a boundary between the Cape and Stellenbosoh diBtriotfl — Death of Governor Van Assenburgh — ^Election of the seonnde Willem Helot to act as governor — Enlargement of the colony — False alarm concerning an inroad of the Great Namaqaas — First appearance of small-pox in South Africa — Appointment of Colonel Manrits Pasques de Chavonnes as governor — Efforts to equalise revenue and expenditure — New taxes — Basis of colonial law— Dismissal of the seounde Helot — Hostilities with the Bushmen — The first colonial commando — Trouble caused by fugitive slaves — Struggle for place and rank — Important questions submitted by the directors to the council of policy — Experiments in the production of wool, indigo, tobacco, and olives — Efforts to find a market for Gape wine — New diseases among homed cattle and sheep — Scarcity of butcher's meat — Prohibition of sale of meat and vegetables to foreigners — Euin of the Namaqua tribe — Outbreak of horse sickness — Expansion of the Company's trade after the peace of Utrecht — Refusal of supplies to private traders — Establish- ment of a factory at Delagoa Bay — Shipwrecks on the coast and in Table Bay — ^Erection of church buildings at the Paarl and Stellenbosch — Death of the governor — ^Appointment by the council of Jan de la Fontaine to act as governor — Good and bad seasons and exportation of farm produce — Names of new colonists. PAOB MAPS. 1 1 II. 286 III 383 planting — JtellenboBoh :tion of the rgement of the Great th Africa — avonnes as iture — New ande Helot commando ' place and itors to the a of wool, )t for Cape p — Scarcity vegetables ik of horse the peace -Establish. the coast gs at the ppointment governor — produce — PAOB am t/dSf^'' Qvui. Sonnenschsiii A Co., I T(t ■• CMi « ^P ■MM wM ^ fX^ kfv^l^^ ^ '^ Ji>^ ^c/"' *^* STANDARD MAP SOUTH AFRICA Middle op the Seventeenth Century (Afac-simile of the Map in DAPPEffs Africa, 1668. reduced from BtAEU's Map in the 'Grooten Atlas" 1665) Jvaa Sonnenfichsin & Co., Um., Landoa. W. 8c.A.K..Iobli«Uin. Edhtbkirf^ «e Loiidurt m n m '''»wiwy^pwwiw>7ywe was 1652] Jan van Riebeek. 1 1 ^?5" considered two-thirds of the sailing distance outwards. So that in 1652, and indeed for more than another century, anything below one hundred and twenty days was con- sidered a short passage between the Netherlands and South Africa. The people on board having been so long without fresh food were somewhat sickly, but the death rate had been unusually small. The Dromedaris had lost only two in- dividuals, one being a child of the ship's surgeon, who had i^is family with him, and the other a carpenter who was ill when he left the fatherland. No deaths are mentioned as having occurred on board the Beiger or Goede Hoop. At daybreak Skipper Coninck landed for the purpose of looking for letters and to get some herbs and fresh fish. It was usual for the masters of ships that called at Table Bay to leave journals of events and other documents con- cealed in secure places, and to mark on prominent stones directions for finding them. This had been the practice for nearly half a century, so that a fleet arriving from home always expected to get here the latest news from the East. In time of war great caution had to be taken, so as to leave no information that could be made use of by an enemy, but otherwise the practice was found to be very convenient. The skipper took with him six armed soldiers and a boat's crew with a seine. A box containing three letters was discovered, and a good haul of fish was made. The letters had been written by Jan van Teylingen, admiral of the last return fleet, who had left Table Bay on the 26th of February with three ships out of the eleven under his flag. The others had been lost sight of soon after passing the strait of Sunda. The admiral had waited here eleven days, and had then gone on to St. Helena, in hope of finding the missing ships there. But in case they should still be behind and should arrive in Table Bay after his departure, he had left a letter addressed to their com- manders, informing them of his movements. In it he stated that he had only been able to procure one bullock 13 History of South Africa. [165a and one sheep from the natives, though many cattle were seen inland. There were on board the missing ships some horses intended for the use of the people who were coming to form a victualling station, and he directed that these should be landed and placed in charge of a certain Hottentot who could speak English. The other two letters were addressed to the governor-general and councillors of India, and were left here to be taken on by any ship that might call. In the evening Mr. Van Riebeek and some others went ashore to examine the valley and select a site for the fort. It was towards the close of the dry season, and the land was everywhere parched with drought. The sources of the little streamlets which in winter ran into the Fresh river were all dried up, and their channels were gaping to the sun. The wild flowers of many hues, which at other sea- sons of the year delighted the eyes of visitors, were now to be sought in vain. The summer heat was past, but no rains had yet fallen to clothe the ground with a mantle of beauty, and make it what Janssen and Proot had seen. In many of the minor outlines of the vale the hand of man has e£fected a striking change since that day. The stream of sweet water, which the early voyagers called the Fresh river, then ran down its centre from the mountain to the sea. In the neighbourhood of the present Church- square there was in winter a great swamp fed by the stream, where hippopotami often disported themselves. All vestiges of this have long since disappeared. In other parts of the valley hollows have been filled up and hillocks levelled down, and along the flank of the Lion's rump a slight alteration in the contour has been made. The grand features of Table Mountain in the background, the Devil's peak on one hand and the Lion mount on the other, are all unchangeable save by untold ages of time. As Antonio de Saldanha, first of Europeans to enter the bay, saw them in 1603, and as they are under our eyes to-day, so were they seen by Commander Van Riebeek on that Sunday in April 1G52. M \ 1652] Jan van Riebeek. 13 When the boat returned, two natives of the Cape peninsula went on board the Dromedaris. One of them was a man who was closely connected with the Europeans for the remainder of his life, and was the same in whose charge the horses were to have been left, if the missing ships of Van TeyUngen's fleet had put into Table Bay instead of passing on to St. Helena. His native name was Autshumao, but he was better known afterwards as Harry, or Herry as Mr. Van Riebeek wrote it. He had spent some time on board an English ship, in which he had visited itantam, and had acquired a smattering of the language of those among whom he had lived. This knowledge, very imperfect though it was, made him useful as an interpreter between the Europeans and his countrymen. The few families — fifty or sixty souls all told — forming the little clan of which Harry was the leading member, were then the only permanent inhabitants of the Cape peninsula. They had no cattle, and main- tained a wretched existence by fishing and gathering wild roots. Mussela and periwinkles also made up a portion of their diet, for they were in that stage of culture which is marked by the kitchen middens along the coast, though they were acquainted with the pastoral form of living. They called themselves Goringhaikonas, but were usually entitled Beachrangers by the Dutch. An im- poverished, famine-stricken, half-naked band of savages, hardly any conceivable mode of existence could be more miserable than theirs. There were two large clans, which were possessed of herds of horned cattle and sheep, and which visited Table Valley and its neighbourhood periodically when the pastur- age was good. One of these clans, known to natives as the Goringhaiquas and to the Dutch first as the Saldanhars and afterwards as the Kaapmans, had a fighting force of five or six hundred men. They were under a chief named Gogosoa, who had attained a very great age and was so stout that he was commonly called the Fat Captain. The r ■ 44 History of South Africa. [1652 other clan was the Gorachouqua, nicknamed the Tohacco Thieves by the Dutch. They had a force of three or four hundred fighting men, and obeyed a chief named Ghoro. The Goringhaiquas and the Gorachouquas wandered about with their flocks and herds, sometimes pitching their mat huts beside Table Mountain, sometimes at the foot of Biebeek's Kasteel, or in the vale now known as French Hoek. The smoke of their fires might at times be seen rising anjrwhere within the farthest mountains visible on the north and the east. The Goringhaiquas, being the most numerous and wealthy, were looked upon by Mr. Van Riebeek as better entitled than the others to be called the owners of this part of the country. They were feeding their herds on the opposite side of the bay when the party of occupation arrived. On the 8th the council, consisting of the commander and the three skippers, met on board the Dromedaris to arrange for commencing the work on shore. It was re- solved that they should land at once and mark out a site for the fortress. Exclusive of officers, there were one hun- dred and eighty-one men on board the three vessels, and of these, one hundred were to be set to work in raising the walls. The carpenters were to put up a wooden dwelling-house and a store-shed for temporary use. The men left on board the ships were to be employed in dis- charging the goods and in catching fish. This custom of bringing all matters of importance before a council for decision was the usual method of procedure in the Company's service. Every ship had its council, nomi- nated by the authorities before she left port. When several ships sailed in company, the principal men in each formed a broad council for the squadron. A settlement such as that in South A&ica was regarded as similar to a single ship in a fleet. It had its own council, which was here for a long course of years a very elastic body, adapted to meet the circumstances of the times. It consisied of the presiding officer, who had no higher title until 1672 than that of t652] Jan van Riebeek. 15 commander, and a number of officers of inferior rank, who were usually appointed by some commissioner on his way to or from India. Wl"- there were ships belonging to the Company lying in the bay, their principal officers and those of the Cape settlement formed a broad council, which was presided over by the highest in rank, who might be the commander here or a stranger to the place. These broad councils passed resolutions concerning the most important matters in South Africa as well as concerning the affairs of fleets. The gradation of authority in the Company's service was very clearly dej&ned. The assembly of seventeen was su- preme. Next came the governor-general and council of India, whose orders and instructions were issued from the castle of Batavia. Then its authority was spread out among a vast number of admirals and governors and com- manders, each with his council, but wherever these came in contact, the lower in rank gave way to the higher. The Company's servants scattered over the eastern world were like a regiment of soldiers. The assembly of seventeen was the commander-in-chief. The governor-general and council of India was the colonel. The admirals and governors and commanders were the captains and lieutenants and ensigns, and wherever a captain a.ppeared the lieutenants without question submitted to him. If the officers of a regiment were stationed in many different posts and were in the habit of assembling councils of war on all occasions, the parallel would be complete. This circumstance must be borne in mind, as it gives a clear insight into the mode of government under which the occupation took place. Mr. Van Biebeek and the three skippers, having made an inspection of Table Valley, selected a site for the fort on the ground close behind the present general post office. The outlines were then marked out, and the labourers commenced the work without delay. The fort was in the form of a square, with bastions at its angles. The length of i6 History of South Africa. [1652 each of its faces was two hundred and fifty- two Bhynland feet. The walls were constru'^ted of earth, twenty feet in thickness at the base and tapering to sixteen feet at the top. They were twelve feet in height, and were surmounted by a parapet. Bound the whole structure there was a moat, into which the water of the Fresh river could be conducted. Within, there were some wooden buildings and a square stone tower rising above the walls. The tower had a flat roof, from which its defenders could fire down upon an enemy who should attempt to scramble over the banks of earth. The buildings were used as dwelling-houses, barracks, and storehouses. In front, that is on the side facing the sea, a large space beyond the moat was enclosed with an earthen wall so constructed as to give additional strength to the whole. In this enclosure were the work- shops and the hospital, which was a large building, as the Company intended that sick men from the fleets should be left here to recover. At the back there was a similar en- closure, which was used as a cattle kraal. The plan was altered several times during the course of construction, in such respects as the thickness and height of the walls, but the general design remained as it was laid out on the 9th of April. Such was the original fort Good Hope, when it was completed. As soon as the tents were pitched ashore, the Goringhai- konas, or beachrangers, brought their famihes to the en- campment, where they afterwards remained pretty con- stantly. Occasionally they would wander along the beach seeking shell-fish, but as far as food was concerned they were now better off than they had ever been before. Mr. Van Eiebeek had instructions to conciliate the natives, and in everything he did his utmost to carry out the orders of his superiors in authority. He believed that Harry especially would be of great service in communicating with the inland hordes, and therefore he tried to gain his attach- ment by liberal presents of food and clothing. The others were often supplied at meal-times with such provisions as i6s2] Jan van Riebeek. «7 were given to the labourers, but Harry always had a share of whatever was on the commander'n own table. About noon on the 10th, as some of the workmen were busy with their spades and wheelbarrows, and others were beating down bushes and earth in the walls, nine or ten of the Goringhaiquas made their appearance. To the surprise of the Dutch, Harry's people immediately seized their assagais and bows, and attacked the strangers with great fury. Skipper Hoochsaet with a corporal and a party of armed soldiers ran in between them, but had some diflBculty in separating the combatants and restoring peace. It was not four days since the expedition had arrived, and already the Europeans had learned of the bitter hostility existing between the di£ferent Hottentot clans. At no distant date they were to discover that the scene they had witnessed was typical of the ordinary existence of the savage tribes of Africa. On the 15th the Salamander, one of the miscing ships of Van Teylingen's fleet, came into the bay. She reported that tL :^ horses and various Indian plants and seeds which had been sent from Biatavia were on board the other vessels, and must have passed the Cape before this date. It was after- wards ascertained that the ships had gone on to St. Helena, which was then an uninhabited island, and that the horses had been turned loose there. The Salamander left here a clerk, named Frederik Verburg, and two workmen, and sailed on the 20th for the fatherland. On the 24th Mr. Van Eiebeek and his family left the Dromedaris and took up their residence on land, in a build- ing roughly constructed of planks and standing close to the beach. One of the walls of the fort was already in such a condition th&t the cannon had been mounted upon it. Yet the commander frequently complained of the slowness with which the work was being carried on. The labourers were enfeebled by the sea voyage, and they had been disappointed in the expectation of being able to procure fresh food. The pastoral clans were encamped at a distance, and hitherto VOL. I. 2 f8 I I History of South Africa, [165a they had sent only one cow and a calf to be exchanged for copper bars. The wild herb^ and mustard leaves and Bcurvy-grass, for which they were longing so much, had almost disappeared in the drought. The earth was like iron under their picks, so that they were not digging hut quarry- ing it. And to add to their troubles, the south-east wind blew frequently with such violence that they were nea ly blinded with dust, and could hardly stand upon the walls. Their principal relief came from the sea. The bay was swarming with fish, and they had only to go as far as Salt River to cast their seines. So weary were their palates of ship's meat that they believed some kinds of Cape fish were the most delicious in the world. There was nothing to ap- proach them in flavour, they said, even in the waters of the fatherland. On the night before Mr. Van Riebeek's family landed, they killed a great hippopotamus, as heavy as two fat oxen, with a monstrous head and teeth five-eighths of an ell in length. Its hide was an inch in thickness, and so tough that their musket balls would not penetrate it. They fired in vain behind its ears, but at last killed it with shots in the forehead. To the people its flesh tasted as a delicacy, and they rejoiced accordingly. On the 7th of May the ships Walvisch and Olifant dropped their anchors in the bay, having left Texel on the 3rd of January. They had lost one hundred and thirty men on the passage, and their crews were in a dreadful condition from scurvy when they reached this port. On the 11th the broad council met on board the Dromedaris, and resolved that the fifty weakest invalids belonging to these two ships should be brought ashore and left here. Provisions suffi- cient to last for three month? were to be landed for their use, and all who should recover were to be sent to Batavia with the first opportunity. The names of the four ships in the bay were given to the bastions of the still unfinished fort. That to the south was called the Dromedaris, to the north the Reiger, to the east the Walvisch, and to the west the Olifant. The httle yacht had the same name as the 1652] Jan van Riebeek. 19 whole fort. As there were no refreshments except water and fish to be had here, the ships sailed again as soon as possible, and with them the Beiger left for Batavia. On the 25th there arrived the ship Ho/ van Zetland, which sailed from home on the 31st of January, and had lost thirty-seven men by death on the passage. She took in water, and sailed again in a few days. On the 28th the Dromednris sailed, and the party of occupation was left to its own resources. The cold stormy weather of winter was beginning to set in, and the misery of Mr. Van Riebeek and his people was daily increasing. The rain could not be kept out of the tents and the wooden buildings which they had run up for temporary use, and it was with difficulty that they could preserve their bread and perishable stores. With the change of weather came sick- ness, which they were too weak to resist, and now almost every day there was a death from dysentery or scurvy. On the 3rd of June, out of one hundred and sixteen men, only sixty were able to perform any labour. Fresh meat and vegetables and proper shelter would have saved them, but these things were not to be obtained. They had killed a second hippopotamus, and its flesh was so much to their liking that they detst ribed it as tasting like veal ; but what was one evei a these huge beasts among so many mouths? There wan mo other game in Table Valley, though four men who went out with guns saw many antelopes behind the mountaiiis. They were almost as solitary as if they had been frozen up in the Arctic sea. For weeks together they saw none of the natives of the land but Harry's miserable followers, from whom no assistance of any kind was tc be had. The en- campment was like a great hospital, in which the attendants staggered about among the sick and the djring. The work on the walls of the fort almost ceasod, for they had enough to do to take care of themselves. But the rains, which had brought on the dysentery, in an incredibly short time brought them also relief. Grass ^o History of South Africa. [1652 sprang into existence as if by magic, and with it sprang up various plants of a nutritious kind. They were all correc- tives of scurvy, and that was mainly what was needed. The sick and feeble went about gathering wild herbs and roots, and declaring there was nothing in the world half so palat- able. God had looked down in compassion upon them and relieved them in their sore distress. With the grass ap- peared game, great and small, but as yet they had not learned to be successful as hunters. As soon as the first showers fell a piece of ground was dug over, in which Hendrik Boom, the gardener, planted seeds, 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 in with these instead of boards and torn sails, they could almost bid defiance to the heavy rains. Those were days in which the observances ordinarily connected with a profession of religion were very strictly adhered to. No one was permitted to be absent from public prayers without good and sufficient reasons, but no one was allowed to worship God publicly in any other manner than that the government approved of. Keligious phrases were constantly in people's mouths, and their correspondence was charged with quotations from Scripture and ejaculatory prayers. A great deal of this was as much mere form as the words ' God save the Queen ' at the foot of a proclama- tion against evading the customs are at the present day, but it is certain that matters connected with public worship then occapied more of the people's attention than they do now. In these, its most prosperous days, the Netherlands East India Company provided for the religious needs of its ser- vants in a very liberal manner. Its largest ships and its most important possessions were all furnished with chap- lains paid from its funds. Its smaller vessels and such stations as the Cape for some years after its formation were provided with men of lower ecclesiastical rank. They were called comforters of the sick, or sick-visitors, and held offices \ [1652 )rang up 1 correc- 3d. The id roots, so palat- liem and jrass ap- had not the first n which soon the ;uce, and (vhen the ards and vy rains. )rdinarily J strictly )m pubhc one was ner than ses were nee was iculatory form as roclama- day, but worship they do ids East f its ser- and its th chap- ud such on were ley were d offices 1652] Jan van Riebeek. 11 similar to those of catechists in the English church and evangehsts in various Presbyterian bodies. They instructed the children and conducted religious services, but did not administer the sacraments. A sick-visitor, Willem Barents Wylant by name, came to South Africa in the Dromedaris with Mr. Van Eiebeek. His family was the first to whom quarters were assigned within the walls of the fort, where on the 6th of June his wife gave birth to a son, the first child of European blood born in the Cape Colony. The chaplains of ships that called conducted services during their stay, and usually adminis- tered the sacraments. The reverend Mr. Backerius, chap- lain of the Walvisch, was the first who is recorded to have done so in South Africa, but it is possible that the Haarlem had a clergyman on board, in which case the rites of the church would certainly have been attended to during the time the crew of that vessel remained in Table Valley. The duties of the sick-visitors were strictly defined, and in the Company's service no one was permitted to go beyond his assigned sphere of labour. Every one had his place, knew it, and was kept to it. During the time of greatest trouble, however, the sick-visitor Wylant took upon himself to address the people in his own words, instead of reading a printed sermon as he was bound to do. In the following year information of this was carried to Batavia, and reac>ied the ears of the clergy there. No faulc was found with the doctrines which he preached, but that an un or- dained man should venture to address a congregation was considered a scandal to the Christian church. The ecclesi- astical court of Batavia addressed the governor-general and council of India on the subject, and forthwith a despatch was sent to Mr. Van Biebeek requiring him to prohibit such irregular proceedings. A letter from the ecclesiastical court was also sent to the commander to the same effect, in which it is stated that the sick-visitor should have known better than to put his sickle into another's harvest and take to himself honour which did not belong to him. This incident 22 History of South Africa. [165: shows what importance the Dutch clergy then attached to a strict adherence to the established order of things, and how they objected to anything like innovation. During the winter there were many heavy storms, and so much rain fell that on several occasions the valley was quite flooded. The ground that was prepared for gardens was twice washed away. But as soon as a storm was over, the people set to work again and laid fresh plots under cultiva- tion. The land was now swarming with elands and harte- beests and steenbucks, but the hunters with their clumsy firelocks could not get within range of them. Mr. Van Eiebeek caused pitfalls to be made and snares to be set, but all this labour was in vain, for during the whole season only one young hartebeest was secured, and that was run down by dogs. As soon as the workmen regained a little strength the fort and the buildings it enclosed were taken in hand again, so that by the 3rd of August the whole party managed to get shelter within the walls. The heavy rains were found not to damage the earthworks in the least, for the whole had been faced with sods as soon as the ground was soft enough to dig them. At times the bay seemed to be filled with whales. They came spouting in front of the commander's quarters nearly every day, and caused him to reflect with regret upon the loss which the Company was sustaining by his inability to secure their oil. He had no men to spare to follow them up, nor casks to preserve the oil in. On the 13th of August he summoned his council, principally to take this matter into consideration, and endeavour to devise and arrange some plan for getting possession of the wealth before their eyes. There were present at the council board the commander himself, Simon Pieter Turver and Gerrit Abelsen, master and mate of the yacht Goede Hoop, and the corporal Joost van der Laeck. Pieter van der Helm kept a record of the proceedings. They discussed the situation of affairs gener- ally, and expressed their hope that assistance to finish the fort would soon be furnished by the crews of the ships [i6s2 ih the ships 1652] Jan van Riebeek. \ ,. 23 expected from Europe. They then decided to represent to the admiral of the outward-bound fleet, as soon as he should arrive in Table Bay, that in their opinion a good profit could be made out of oil, and to request assistance from him to establish a whale fishery. Without help they could do noth- ing, as even if they had all the requisite materials at hand the labourers were still so feeble and sickly that anything beyond the necessary work in the gardens and on the build- ings could not be undertaken. In the second week of September the Goede Hoo/p was sent to Eobben Island on a cruise of observation. She returned with more than a hundred sea-birds and three thousand eggs, a supply of food which was very welcome as a change. The commander immediately resolved to visit the island in person. He found that the gulls had destroyed all the eggs which bad been left in the nests disturbed by the Goede Hoop's crew. The seals, from which the island has "ts name, were not seen in very great numbers. The sailors Jrove a flock of penguins like so many sheep to the water's edge, where they were secured and put on board the yacht. Soon after his return from Eobben Island, the com- mander proceeded to inspect the country back of the Devil's peak. He was fairly enraptured with the beauty and fer- tility of the land there, and drew a bright mental picture of what it might become if an industrious Chine; e population were introduced and located upon it. In such a case, there would be an unlimited supply of fresh provisions always to be obtained. The Chinese seem to have been favourites of Mr. Van Eiebeek, for he often wrote of them as the most suitable people to carry out the Company's designs in South Africa. He addressed the governor-general and council of India on the subject, and represented his views to the assembly of seventeen, but fortunately for this country there were no Chinese emigrants then to be got hold of- If there had been a hundred convicts of that race in the Company's eastern possessions in 1653 or 1654, the whole future of the Cape Colony would have been changed. 'I W' :■ 1 h 24 History of South Africa. [1652 1 \ During this inspection of the country, the commandei and his party visited the forests then to he foand along the base of the mountains and extending into all the kloofs. There were trees of great size in them, and some so straight that they seeme 1 well adapted for ships' masts. The variety •jf timber was cousiderable Mr. Van Riebeek observed that these forests had been visited long before, as on some of the trees the dates 1604, 1620, and 1622 were found carved, but no names or initials were seen. Toward the close of September a party of four men set out from the fort with the intention of making their way overland to Mozai.ibique, from which place they hoped to be able to obtain a passage to Europe. So little knowledge had they of the distance of the Portuguese possessions and of the dangers of such a journey, or so utterly reckless had their past sufferings made them, that they left provided with no other food than four biscuits and a few fish. Following the Dutch custom in every voyage or journey, the leader of the little band of fugitives kept a diary of occurrences, which he wrote with red chalk. It commences * In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,' and tells of adventures with wild animals and how G-od preserved them, until at last Willem Huyt- jens, Gerrit Dircksen, and Jan Verdonck could go no farther. Then the leader, Jan Blanx, not being able to continue the journey alone, was obliged to abandon hope of success, and they all returned to the fort and gave themselves up, praying for mercy. They had been absent eight days. During this time the commander discovered that a spirit of disaffection was widely spread among the workmen. They had been looking forward to the arrival of the outward-bound fleet of 1652 for some relief, but it was now almost certain that the ships had passed by, and they were beginning to entertain feelings of despair. Mr. Van Riebeek believed that severity was necessary to meet such difficulties, and he therefore caused some individuals who had uttered hasty expressions to be arrested and tried for sedition. Under such circum- stances, the return of the fugitives and their admission that Sx [1652 1652] Jan van Riebeek. 25 isions •cum- that escape by land was impossible gave bim great satisfaction. Wben brought to trial, they all pleaded guilty and asked for mercy, but they were condemned to two years' bard labour in chains and their leader to suffer revere corporal punish- ment. The last part of this sentence was carried out, but on the following new year's day the culprits were released upon promise of future good behaviour. The fort was yet far from completed, but it was considered by the commander to be capable of defence, and he was therefore turning his attention to other matters. A party of men was told off daily to assist Hendrik Boom in the gardens. Preparations were made for forming a whaling establishment near the mouth of Salt Eiver as soon as men and materials for the purpose could be obtained. The coun- try for a few miles around was well explored. The fine forests at Hout Bay were inspected, and the facility with which fuel could be procured there was noted down. Then the yacht Goede Hoop, which had been lying idle all the winter and on several occasions had narrowly escaped being driven on shore in the gales, was m8,de ready for a short voyage to the northward. So little did the commander and council then know of the south-west coast of Africa that they discussed the likelihood of gold, ambergris, mask, and ivory being obtainable in trade at Saldanha Bay. They considered it at any rate certain that people would be found there, because Admiral Joris van Spilbergen saw the smoke of many fires inland when he passed by in November 1601. From the journal of Spil- bergen 's voyage they ascertained that he had Sfen great numbers of seals and conies on Dassen Island. And Simon Pieter Turver himself, when last he was at St. Helena with a return fleet from the Indies, had heard a French skipper who arrived there at the same time boast that his cargo of sealskins and oil, which he had obtained on this coast, was worth over eight thousand pounds sterling. The yacht was detained by contrary winds until the 2l8t of October, when she stood out of Table Bay with a fair li If If 1 26 History of South Africa. [1652 breeze, and in a few hr s anchored off Elizabeth or Dassen Island. The skipper with a party of sailors and the clerk Frederik Verburg then went ashore. There was evidence that the island had beer used very recently as a sealing station, for they saw some huts still standing, which had been constructed of sealskins and ribs of whales, and found some of the implements required in tbat pursuit. They killed twenty conies, the flesh of which they described after- wards as the most delicious meat they had ever tasted. They saw a great many seals, and wild fowl innumerable, of whose eggs they took on board about twelve thousand, and then set sail for Saldanha Bay. The description which they have left on record of this splendid sheet of water is fairly accurate, though they believed that a great river emptied into its southern end. It extends so far into the land that they did not explore it thoroughly. A few wretched Hottentots, of the same stamp as Harry's beach- rangers, were found on its shores, but there were none possessed of cattle living there at the time. After they had been in the bay several days, however, a party of pastoral Hottentots arrived and brought a couple of sheep which they bartered to the strangers, but beyond these, a handful of ostrich feathers, and three antelopes shot with arrows, nothing whatever was to be obtained in trade. Some fish were caught with a seine, and the advantages which the bay offered for this pursuit were duly noted. Skipper Turver, having venison, fish, and abundance of eggb, deemed it prudent not to slaughter the two sheep, but to put them upon an islet where they could graze until needed. For this purpose he landed upon Schapen Island, where as they were roaming about some of the men came upon a great heap of dried sealskins. Upon examination, it was found that a few on the top had been partly destroyed by the action of the weather, but there were over two thousand seven hundred in excellent condition. Scattered about were various articles which explained the matter. A French vessel had been there the previous season, and [i6s2 1652] Jan van Riebeek. 27 ace of p, but until sland, came ion, it royed two tered r. A and having secured more than she could take awc y, had left the heap of skins behind. Some of the islands were then swarming with sei.ls, so that Skipper Turver concluded the French ship would speedily return for another cargo. In his opinion the ?^'»therland8 East India Company, having built a fort at the Cape, was now entitled to the exclusive enjoyment of this source of profit. He therefore caused all the good skins to be removed to the hold of the yacht, and set up a mark of possession on behalf of the Company where the heap had been. After this the Goede Hoop examined the coast round St. Helena Bay, visited Dassen Island again, and then returned to her old anchorage off the fort, where she arrived safely on the 14th of November. About the Ist of October the fires of the Eaapmans began to be visible far away to the northward, and on the 9th of that month two of their scouts arrived at the fort with news that< the whole clan with its flocks and herds was approaching, to which Mr. Van Eiebeek responded heartily, ' God grant it, Amen.' The two strangers were much finer specimens of the Hottentot race than any of the famine- stunted beachrangers. They were naked, but each carried over his arm a kaross of prepared skins, just as a European dandy of those days would carry his mantle. As ornaments they wore solid ivory armlbts and various decorations made of copper. The commander had positive orders to conciliate the natives, and his own necessities at this moment were so great that, apart from duty or inclination, he would have been obliged to show them every mark of friendship. The provisions which he had brought from the fatherland were getting low, the outward-bound fleet had evidently passed by, and it would be many months before the return fleet could be expected. The very existence of his party might depenu upon obtaining a supply of cattle. The visitors were there- fore treated wiih the utmost hospitality; they were shown the stores of copper plates, brass wire, and tobacco, which had been brought for trade, and when i;hey left they carried presents and messages of friendship with them. i Wa 28 History of South Africa. [1652 The Kaapmans were moving slowly with their cattle, as it was their custom to seek change of pasture only when the grass in any place was eaten off. Their scouts and mes- sengers after this came often to the fort, but it was not until the 20th that they brought anything for sale. On that day the trade of the season commenced by Mr. Van Biebeek obtaining in barter three head of horned cattle, four sheep, three tusks of ivory, and two young ostriches. Shortly after this, the main body of Gogosoa's people reached the penin- sula, and thousands of cattle were grazing in sight of the fort and at the back of the mountain, where the villages of Bondebosch and Claremont now stand. The Europeans and the natives met together openly on the best of terms, Fut there are evidences that they were suspicious of each other. The commander caused the guards at the fort to be doubled during the time the Kaapmans remained in the neighbour- hood, and often when a small party of Europeans approached the Hottentots, these would scamper away in fear. A brisk trade was, however, opened up, and soon Mr. Van Biebeek had the satisfaction of seeing a goodly herd in his possession. All intercourse was prohibited between the workmen and the natives. The trade was carried on by the commander himself, assisted by one of the clerks, Verburg or Van der Helm. It was arranged that flat copper bars and tobacco should be exchanged for horned cattle, and brass wire and tobacco for sheep, so that bartering consisted principally in fixing the quantities of these articles. The Hottentots brought ostrich eggs, tortoise shells, and occasionally an ostrich feather or two, which the workmen seemed desirous of obtaining in return for bits of tobacco, but the commander threatened to punish any of his people very severely who should attempt to infringe his regulations. He had no notion of permitting anything that might hamper the Com- pany's trade, even in the slightest degree, and he feared also that the sailors and soldiers might lightly provoke a quarrel with those whom he wished to conciliate. He thought that large quantities of ivory and ostrich feathers might in time s [1652 cattle, as ivhen the ,nd mes- not until that day I Biebeek nr sheep, )rtly after he penin- >f the fort illages of }eans and jrms, hut ,ch other, e doubled eighbour- jproached A brisk « Biebeek ossession. (men and mmander Van der tobacco wire and ipally in ottentots )nally an desirous mmander rely who had no the Com- ared also a quarrel light that t in time 1652] Jan van Riebeek. 29 be obtained if the Hottentots could be assured of a safe market, but very soon he found that they were too indolent to hunt elephants and ostriches expressly for this purpose, and only brought in what they picked up. It was not in his power to create among them new wants, for the gratification of which they would be willing to make any unusual exertion. The Kaapmans, though they were very fond of European food and ate heartily of anything that was given to them, were observed to be living in their own encampments almost entirely upon milk. This they kept in leather bags, just as many of the Bantu do at the present day, and they partook of it by dipping ^ Httle swab into the bag and then sucking it. Children sucked the ewes, which the mothers held fast for them. There was nothing which they covete \ from the Europeans so much as tobacco, and without this no trade whatever could be done. Harry, who had his food from the commander's own table and who was dressed as a European, was the inter- preter between the two races. But whenever the cattle trade slackened or anything went wrong, Mr. Van Biebeek attributed it to the bad advice given by him co the other Hottentots. He gave offence also by frequently expressing a wish for the arrival of an Enghsh fleet, and boasting of the favours he had received from people of that nation. His services could not well be dispensed with, but Mr. Van Biebeek was already endeavouring to educate interpreters to take his place. When the Goede Hoop was sent to Sal- danha Bay, a Hottentot boy was sent in her purposely that he might learn the Dutch language, and the commander had taken into his own house one of Harry's nieces, a girl who was called Eva by the Europeans, and who was being trained to civilised habits. In December the Kaapmans set fire to the dry grass everywhere except in the pastures which Mr. Van Biebeek \ requested them to spare for his use, and they then moved 1 away from Table Valley with their cattle. Before they left ' they made a proposal which shows forcibly the savage con- I 30 History of Souih Africa. [1653 dition of the Hottentot clans. They asked the commander to join them in an attack upon their enemies, offering to let him take all the spoil in return for his assistance. Mr. Van Biebeek replied that he had come to trade in friendship with all, and declined to take any part in their dissensions. But while thus preserving the appearance of deahng justly and amicably, his correspondence shows how ready he was to act in a different manner if he had not been bound down by strict orders from the directors. It would be so easy, he observed, to seize ten or twelve thousand head of cattle for the use of the Compiiny, and to send their owners to India to be sold as slaves, that it was a pity he was prohibited from doing it. Parties of the Kaapraans remained in the neighbourhood for some time after the main body left, so that Mr. Van Biebeek was enabled to continue the trade with them by sending out a few men furnished with such goods as were in demand. By the end of January 1653, when the last of the stragglers had moved away, he had obtained altogether two hundred and thirty head of horned cattle and five hundred and eighty sheep. The strong south-east winds had nearly destroyed the wheat and peas, but the cabbages, turnips, and carrots had thriven wonderfully well, and there was a good supply of these in readiness for the return fleet. Bread and other pro- visions brought from home were nearly exhausted. In order to spare the cattle for the use of the fleet, the resources of the islands and the sea were still drawn upon. Conies, young seals, penguins and other sea-birds, eggs, and fish formed a large portion of the diet of the labourers. Natur- ally they were constantly complaining, and some of them even carried on a system of plundering the gardens at night, stealing and killing sheep, pretending to be sick, and other- wise setting at nought the general articles by which they were governed. Very severe punishments were inflicted, but all to no purpose, for the disorder continued until the cause was removed. 31 CHAPTER II. <. MR. VAN RIEBEEK'S ADMINISTRATION {continued). For nearly eight months there had been no vessel but the little yacht in the bay, when on the 18th cl January 1653 the galiot Zwarte Vos, Skipper Theunis Eyssen, arrived. She had sailed from Texel on the 4th of the preceding September, and was sent to convey intelligence that war had commenced between the Netherlands and the Common- wealth of England. Two other vessels, the yacht Haas and the galiot Boode Vos, had been despatched on the same errand, but the Zioarte Vos had outstripped them both. The Haas, indeed, did not arrive in Table Bay until the 26th of March, and the Boode Vos made her first appear- ance on the 2nd of June. The despatches brought by tht Ztoarte Vos are still in a perfect state of preservation in our archives. There are three documents dated on the 24th of July 1652, and five supplementary dated on the 20th and 21st of August. The first are addressed to the governor-general and coun- cillors of India, to the officers of the Company's estabhsh- ments at Gambroon and Suiat, and to the commander of the fort Good Hope. They all bear the original signatures of a committee of the directors, as several copies of each document were made and signed at the same time. The purport of these despatches is that since the English had beheaded their king and adopted a new form of government, they had determined not to live in friendship with their neighbours. The Dutch ambassadors in London had pro- posed every arrangement that was reasonable to maintain 3« History of South Africa. [1653 peace, but without any effect. It was plain that England was bent upon appropriating all trade to herself, upon acquiring the dominium maris, the sovereignty and property of the high setus, and this no nation, especially the free Netherlands, could ever again submit to. The paths of the wide ocean must be open alike to every flag. For eighty years tht^ States had fought for freedom, and had acquired renown not only for the generation then living but for posterity. They were at war v/ith Portugal, and the Almighty knew that they did »" ^ seek another enemy, but they could not submit to the jjietensions of England, and depending on God's blessing on their good cause they were resolved to oppose such claims with all their power. It was believed that the English would send a fleet to St. Helena to lie in wait for the C(^rupany'8 vessels return- ing home with rich cargoes from India. Instructions were therefore given that the ships were to keep together and avoid that part of the Atlantic. Their course was laid down west and north of the British Islands to the coast of Norway, and then along the European shore to the havens of the fatherland. The commander of the fort Good Hope was directed to strengthen his garrison by detaining twenty- five or thirty soldiers from the first ships that should call, and he was to guard carefully against surprise by the enemy. The council at once resolved to detain the galiot here, and to send the Goede Hoop, as the better vessel of the two, to Batavia with the intelhgence. The yacht had been for the second time to Saldanha Bay and Dassen Island, but was then at anchor off the fort. In five days she was ready for sea, and on the 23rd she sailed. Every exertion that was possible was now put forth to strengthen the fort, so that an attempt might be made to defend it in case of attack. There is no doubt that the commander would have done all that a brave and faithful officer could do to protect the post under his charge, but it was well for him that no enemy appeared. His cannon, he states, were so light that they would not throw a ball more [i653 1653] Jan van Riebeek. 33 lorth to lade to lat the Ifaithful I, but it ion, he more than halfway to the anchorage. The fort was commanded by the flank of the Lion's rump, so that if an enemy of even trifling strength once lauded, it must have surrendered. Several of the garrison were disaffected, and a few were ready to commit almost any crime. It is thus evident that Mr. Van Biebeek's means of defence against any force more formidable than a Hottentot horde were not at this time to be depended on. /, \ On the 2nd of March five ships from India, under the nag of Admiral Gerard Demmer, arrived in the bay. That very morning the last ration of bread had been issued to the workmen, but there was then no fear of starvation, for Mr. Van Eiebeek was able to supply abundance of fresh meat and vegetables to the crews of all the shirs that called during the next two months. On the 26th the Kaas » rrived from the Netherlands, and on the 14th of April t'io yacht Windhond followed her in. On the 17th of A.pril the bay was clear again, for on that day Admiral Ltnmer's five ships sailed for the fatherland and the two yachts proceeded on their voyage to Batavia. But next morning the Muyden arrived from Texel with news up to the 26th of December, and within a few days three Indiamen from Batavia entered the bay, where they remained until the 6th of the following month. From these various ships the commander was able to replenish his stores with everything that he needed, except the material for carrying on a whale fishery, which project he was obliged to defer still longer. A few weeks after the depar^^^ne of the Goringhaiquas, some small parties of another I; :i living farther inland arrived in Table Valley. They had heard that coppe: and tobacco were to be obtained in exchange for cattle, and they came therefore to trade. This was precisely what Mr. Van Eiebeek most desired. From them he obtained seventy-five head of horned cattle and twenty-one sheep, besides a few tusks of ivory. These figures added to those previously given show the extent of trade here in the first year of the European occupation. II 34 History of South Africa, [1653 I On the 2ncl of June the galiot Boode Vos, which had long been given up for lost, made her appearance. Her skipper an^ mate had died at sea, and for three months and a half the galiot had been beating about off the Cape, looking for Table Bay. She was kept here in order to bring shells from Kobben Island to be burnt for lime, wood from Hout Bay for fuel, eggs, birds, and conies from Dassen Island for provi- sions, and other such purposes. The Zwarte Vos, which had been employed in this service, was sent to Gambroon with despatches. The second winter spent in South Africa was uneventful. There was plenty of food for all, and consequently not much sickness. Building was carried on in a satisfactory manner, 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 kraal by night, though armed men were always watching it, and the leopards came down from the mountain in broad daylight and carried away sheep under the eyes of the herdsmen. 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 vnth ravenous beasts of different kinds. In August the ships Salamander, Phoenix, and Koning David arrived from home, and were provided with fresh pro- visions during the stay. On board the Phoenix was a young man named Jacob Eyniers, who held the rank of junior merchant, and whom the commander was desirous of having for an assistant. He therefore convened a broad council, and represented that in case of his death or temporary absence from the fort there was no one of higher rank than a sergeant to perform his duties, in which event the Com- pany's property would be exposed to much hazard. The council thereupon agreed that Mr. Ryniers should remain at the Cape. He was the first who held the office of secimde, >d long skipper a half ing for Is from Bay for provi- ich had in with (^entful. t much nanner, behind £en up. 3. The raal by and the iayUght rdsmen. in the was the been ^arming 1653] Jan van Riebeek. 35 Koning sh pro- It young junior having council, iporary ik than Com- The aio at cunde, or second in authority, in the settlement. Three months later he was married to Miss Elizabeth van Opdorp, niece and ward of Mr. Van Riebeek. On the 2nd of September a small party of Hottentots came to the fort with a few cattle for sale, but as they were not followed by others, the council resolved to sond the Boode Vos to Saldanha Bay to ascertain if the Goringhaiquas were in that neighbourhood, and, if so, to try to open up a trade with them. The galiot was just about to sail when Harry informed the commander tViat he had heard from two Hottentots that a large ship was lying in Saldanha Bay. Thereupon it was resolved to send Mr. Ryniers and six soldiers to ascertain particulars. After an absence of eight days, the party returned overland, with intelligence that the ship was under the French flag and that her crew had been engaged more than six months kilhng seals on the islands. They had nearly completed a cargo of forty-eight thousand skins and a good many casks of oil. The skipper intended to sail shortly for Rochelle, and very politely offered to take any letters or despatches, which he promised to forward to Amsterdam. The correspondence which is found concerning this event shows how lightly falsehood was regarded by Mr. Van Riebeek. We must remember, however, that duplicity was in that age generally practised by men in his position every- where throughout Europe. He had the ideas of the seven- teenth century, not of the nineteenth, and one of those ideas was that deceit was allowable in conducting public affairs. The commander beheved it to be to the interest of the East India Company to keep foreigners away from South Africa, and he did not scruple to practise fraud towards them. Mr. Ryniers represented that many of the French seamen wished to desert, as they were provided with no other food than what could be collected on the islands. Mr. Van Riebeek thereupon called tiie council together, and suggested a plan for damaging the Frenchman. It was resolved to send four men overland to Saldanha Bay, with instructions to the 36 History of South Africa. [1653 I.. officers of the galiot to entice as many as possible of the French seamen to desert, as by so doing the ship might be crippled and her owners discouraged from sending her back again. Frederik Verburg, who understood the French language, was at the same time sent with a complimentary message to the master of the French ship. He was to say that Mr. Van Eiebeek regretted very much that he had no convey- ance by which he could send a supply of fresh provisions to Saldanha Bay, but if Monsieur would do him the honour of coming to Table Bay he would be very happy to furnish him with abundance of e\'erything, including geese, ducks, partridges, and salad, for his ov/n table. A letter was sent for the directors, but the most important paragraph in it was written in a strange language, which only two or three persons in Amsterdam were able to interpret. There was nothing gained, however, by this double deal- ing, for the French skipper suspected that hostile designs were entertained against him, anJ took such precautions that only four of his men managed to escape. With these the Boode Vos returned to Table Bay, having had no com- munication with any Hottentots from whom cattle were to be obtained. The parties who had *iravelled overland saw many rhinoceroses, and on two occasions were obliged to make a detour to avoid troops of elephants. On the 18th of October the second child of European parentage was born in the fort Good Hope. The infant was a son of Commander Van Riebeek, and was destined to become a man of distinction. In 1709, when he was fifty- six years of age, he attained the rank of governor-general of Netherlan ""s India, which he held until his death in 1713. Oi, the morning of Sunday the 19th of October the garrison was assembled in the great hall of the commander's residence, where reUgious services were regularly held. The sentries were at their posts on the ramparts, and Hendrik Wilders and David Janssen, the two cattle herds, were tending the oxen and cows, but nearly every one else was [i653 1653] Jan van Riebeek. 37 1 listening to a sermon which Dominie Wylant, the sick-com- forter, was reading. Ever since the Europeans landed, the beachranger Hottentots had been living mostly with them, the men idling about all day and the women and children carrying firewood and performing other trifling services in return for their food. They were now well clothed after their fashion, for the skins of the cattle that had been slaughtered were given to them to be made into karosses. As for Harry, the principal man among them, he lived in a hut not a pistol shot from the gate of the fort, but he had his food from the commander's own table, and was sup- plied with bread and other provisions for his family in return for his services as an interpreter. When the Europeans went to their devotions that morning, all was still and quiet as usual. There were no strangers in Table Valley, and no one was moving about, for a drizzling rain was drifting up from the Atlantic before a westerly breeze. When the sermon was over, one of the guards reported to the commander that Harry, with his whole family carry- ing his household effects, had left his hut during the service, but no notice was taken of this at the time. In a few minutes it was observed that Eva was missing, and then, just as the commander was sitting down to dinner, came Hendrik Wilders, the herdsman, with information that his companion had been murdered and that the beachrangers had driven off forty-two of the cattle, leaving only two behind them. His story was that he had come to the foxt for some food, leaving the youth David Janssen in charge of the cattle, which were grazing at the end of the Lion's rump. Upon his return he found the corpse of the lad, who had been murdered with assagais, and saw the cattle being driven hastily round the mountain. Mr. Van Riebeek had three Javanese horses, which had been sent from Batavia in the last ships that arrived here. Upon these, soldiers were mounted and sent round by Sea Point to follow up the robbers, while another party proceeded over the low neck between Table iyloun- 38 History of South Africa, [1653 tain and the Lion's head in hope of nitercepting them. But the pursuit was a failure, though it was continued for several days. On one occasion Corporal Jan van Har- warden with his company of seventeen soldiers nearly over- took the fugitives at the head of False Bay, but the sand was so heavy that the Europeans became exhausted, and though all the cattle were then in sight, only one cow was recovered. Since 1653 this scene has been repeated a thousand times in South Africa, but it was new to Mr. Van Kiebeek's experience. Its immediate effect was to incite an intense hatred of the Hottentots among the soldiers and other workmen. In consequence of this, the commander was compelled to make the regulations prohibiting intercourse with them more stringent even than they were before. During the next two months very few Hottentots visited Table Valley. Harry's people made their peace with the Goringhaiquas, among whom they took refuge, and probably persuaded them not to go near the fort. The supply of flat copper bars, the only sort in demand, was exhausted, and without this article in stock very few cattle were to be had at any time. And so there was little trade done, and a great deal of suffering was the result. In place of beef, the labourers were obliged to eat penguins, and even salted seals' flesh. The theft of the oxen imposed additional toil upon them also. The fort was being enclosed with palisades, cut in the forest behind the Devil's peak, and instead of being drav^ on a waggon these had now to be carried on the shoulders of the x^en. Besides this work, a sealing establishment was formed at Dassen Island, and a redoubt, which was first called Tranenburg and after- wards Duynhoop, was commenced at the mouth of Salt Eiver. In December the ships Naarden, Breda, and Lam arrived from Texel, and were supplied with vegetables in plenty, but only three oxen could be obtained for them. They were followed early in 1654 by the Vrede, Kalf, and Draak, \ m 1653] Jan van Riebeek. 39 these six ships formiug the outward bound fleet of the season. The Vrede belied her name, for her officers were quarreUing so violently with each other that th( council considered it necessary to place some one in authority over them all. For this purpose the secuade Jacob Ryniers was chosen, and to enable him to fill such a position, the rank of merchant was given to him provisionally. After his departure, the office which he had held here remained vacant for some time. When exploring along the base of the mountain, one day a stone was discovered which contained some glittering specks, and on quarrying deeper it was found in large quantities. The commander was nearly certain that the specks were silver, and to enable him to teat the mineral, he sent a party of men to a Hottentot horde encamped close by to purchase some earthenware pots, which would stand exposure to intense heat. It is by casual references of this kind that a good deal of information is often con- veyed. These naked Hottentots, it seems, understood how to make earthenware jars, and Mr. Van Biebeek had ob- served that the jars were so well tempered that they could be used as crucibles. Not one, however, was to be obtained. The commander then caused several crucibles to be made by one of the workmen who knew something of that busi- ness, and had a small quantity of charcoal prepared. The experiments made here with the mineral proved nothing, but specimens were afterwards sent to Batavia and to the Nethf,.;d. Harry was said to be lom-iwhere inlam.i, but the remairting beachrangers were se<;n with Gogosoa's people, and the Company's cattle were recognised amonj; herds grazing at the back of the mountaiiis. The sailors and sjiciieiii wtre eager to recover the stolen vvoperty aud to take venj.Teance for the murder of the youth Dnvic. Jansfjen, bcs. the com- mander v\-ould not permit any hostility wha-tever. He had j^eof.iv'xl instructions to inspire confidence by kindness, and thojigl he would gladly have seized a herd of cattle and m;ilf: slaves of .their owners, he would not disobey his orddi'f^, He states that it was hard to do so, but he allowed the very robbers to shake hands witli him, and actually re- purchased from tiiem two or three of the cows which they had stolen. This kind of treatment dispelled the fears of the Goring- haiquas so completely that by midsummer they came about the fort oiS freely as before, but would not barter their cattle for anything in the magazine. Most of the beachrangers also returned, and finding that they were not to be punished, took up their residence near the fort again. Their prin ,.:} service, as stated by the commander, was to collect fire- wood, but as that was a great relief to the labourers, he was verj' glad to encourage them. The 6th of April 1654, being the second anniversary of the arrival of the party of occupation, was kept as a day of thanksgiving to God for the measure of success which had been attained. It was Mr. Van Eiebeek's desire that this anniversary should be observed as a hr'iday in perpetuity, but it seems to have been forgotten - oon as prosperity returned. Probably the distress in wl 1 ; they were, owing i654] Jav van Riebeek. 41 gers shed, fire- was of ty of had this »ty, jrity i'ing I to the scarcity of br^ad and meat, and the anxiety with which they were lojking for the return fleet, caused them to keep this as a sacred day, for they had not so kept the 6th of April 1653. It was impossible for them to have a feast, but they abstained from labour and hstened to a long sermon, and thus made the most they could of the occasion. By the 15th of April the supply of imported provisions was so nearly exhausted that the people were reduced to two meals a day. All eyes were turned seaward for relief, but not a sail appeared from the east. On the 18th the galiot Tulp arrived from home, with information that secret orders had been sent to Batavia in 1653 that this year's return fleet was not to call at the Cape, but to push on to St. Helena and wait there for instructions. There was then only sufficient bread to last five or six weeks on the reduced scale, and no peas, beans, barley, or rice. It was therefore immediately resolved to send the Tulp to St. Helena to pro- cure a supply of food from the return ships. The galiot was hastily got ready for the voyage, and sailed, taking with her the clerk Frederik Verburg, who was to represent the condition of the garrison to the officers of the fleet, and the assistant gardener Willem Gerrits, who was sent to bring some young apple and orange trees from the island. The Tulp returned from St. Helena on the 11th of June, having been only forty-one days absent. She had found the return fleet at anchor there, and had obtained a supply of rice and other provisions sufficient to meet immediate wants. Frederik Verburg, who left a clerk, returned a junior merchant, having been raised to that rank by the admiral and council of the fleet, by whom he had also been appointed secunde at the Cape. The gardener brought back some young fruit trees, which he had obtained from those long since planted and at this time growing nearly wild upon the island. Aiier this the Tulp was sent to explore the coast of Africa froiu the Fish river to Delagoa Bay, and then to pro- ceed to Madagascar, where her of^''*^rs ware to endeavour :--WE--^ 42 History of South Africa. [1654 to procure a cargo of rice. In one of the ships that called here in 1653 there was a missionary of the Society of Jesus, Martinus Martini by name, a German by birth, who was returning as a passenger from China to Europe. This man professed to have obtained from others of his order much knowledge concerning the country along the south-eastern coast, and he informed Mr. Van Riebeek that gold, amber- gris, ivory, ebony, and slaves were to be obtained there in trade. He stated that the Portuguese obtained slaves and I gold at Rio dos Reys and Os Medaos do Ouro, for which / purpose they sent two or three small vessels yearly from Mozambique. Very few Portuguese, he affirmed, were at any time to be found south of Cape Correntes. In his instructions to the secunde Frederik Verburg, who was sent to ascertain if Father Martini's account was correct, Mr. Van Riebeek quoted Linschoten's description of the country as generally believed to be accurate. The galiot ran along the coast, but did nothing to rectify the errors on the chart. It was during the winter sea- son, and stcrmy weather was often encountered. A heavy surf was rolling in on the land, so that after leaving Mossel Bay no communication was had vdth the shore, and upon reaching the latitude of Delagoa Bay, the Tulp stood east- ward for Madagascar. At the bay of Antongil the natives were found to be friendly, and a considerable quantity of rice was purchased, with which the galiot returned to the Gape. In July two vessels arrived with supplies. The first was the yacht Goudsbloem, from home, bringing with her an English sloop of seventy tons, which she had captured on the passage. The name of this vessel was changed from the Merchant to the Kaap Vogel, and as she was too lightly timbered for use on this coast, she was sent to Java. A few days later the yacht Haas arrived from Batavia with a quantity of rice. With her came the first of a class of persons afterwards numerous in South Africa, and whose descendants form at the present day an im- 1654] Jan van Riebeek. 43 portant element in the population of Capetown. Four Asiatics had been sentenced by the high court of justice at Batavia to banishment and hard labour for life, of whom three were sent in the KaM to the island of Mauritius, which was then in the Company's possession, and one was brought to the fort Good Hope. On account of the war with England, the governor- general and council of India ordered a day to be set apart for prayer that the Almighty would bless their righteous cause and thanksgiving for the mercies vouchsafed to them. In the Indian seas *}hey had secured five rich prizes, and had not lost as yet a single ship. Mr. Van Riebeek con- sidered that in the case of the dwellers in the fort Good Hope there was cause for special thanksgiving. They had been in sore distress for want of food, and God had sent them abundance. He had so favoured the Tulp that she made the voyage to St. Helena and back in only forty- one days. Then He had given to the Goudsbloem such success that she had not only reached her destination safely and speedily, but also brought an English pr'ze with her. And lastly He had filled the sails of the Haas with a favouring breeze, so that now there was plenty 'a t.heir stores. The 23rd of July was for nil these reauon^. set apart and observed as a holy day. On the 15th of August the yacht Vlieland arrived from Texel, having made a very rapid passage, for she brought news to the 19th of May. She was sent by the directors to convey tidings of the peace which had been concluded between the States and the Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Hereafter the English were to be treated as friends, for one of the articles of ^ ; vas that ships of either nation visiting the harbours of the other were to be permitted freely to purchase stores, provisions, or any other necessaries. A few months after this, the English ship East India Merchant, bound to Bantam, put into Table Bay, and was 'berally supplied with vegetables. Her ofScers v.'ere entcr- 44 History of South Africa. L'655 tained on several occasioiib by the commander, and in return the officers of the fort were invited on board, where they were very well received. An exchfinge of presents took place, ' ' . ''"♦^^tle trade was carried on between them. T'le c )'i ision of peace with their groat maritime rival eiiableu Lue Company to send out this season without risit a large fleet to India, and in a short time no fewer than twenty-one vessels called at Table Bay on their way east- ward. All were supplied with vegetables in abundance. Some of these fib':~! 1 :.,; ^ust ps many as fifty men on the passage, and when they dropped anchor had over a hundred helpless with scurvy. It would have been impossible foi a little state like the United Provinces to keep great fleets afloat with such a terrible loss of life occurring year after year, if it had not been that the lower ranks of the service were very largely recruited from foreign countries. The advantage of the Cape as a port of refreshment can hardly be realised without a knowledge of the ravages caused by scurvy in those days. The fresh provisions obtained here saved hundreds of lives yearly, and the detr tion was not ^ very great, for it was usual to put the feeblest men ashore and to tt^ke healthy ones in their place. The officers, in order to gain the premium of fifty pounds sterling for mak- ing the passage to Batavia within six months, at first some- times ran past without calling, but when this became known the temptation v.as removed by adding to the six months the time spent here. raring tVis sumT"'>r from twenty to thirty men were kept exuployed at Dassen Island and Saldanha Bay in con- nection with the sealing establishments, and the galiot Boode Vos wp~ engaged pre^'y constantly in going backwards and forwards. The comnuuider believed t^^ut thb profits on the seal skins alone wou' ' inore than defra}/ the Company's expenses at the '^' oc, but the directors did not endorse his opinion. The I'" wap sent to St. Helena for some horses which were taken past n a ship from. Batavia, and to try to recover those set ashore there from Van Teylingen's fleet. L'6SS 1655] Jan van Riebeek. 45 were but she returned witli only two. It was in this season that the first vine stocks were introduced. They came from the borders of the Rhine, and were received by one of the out- ward bound ships. Since the robbery of the Company's cattle by the beach- rangers in October 1653, very little trade had been done with the Hottentots. These people were still treated by the commander with kindness, but it was only because he had no choice in the matter. In this early stage of the colony's existence, the policy to be pursued towards the natives was already regarded differently in the mother country and in South Africa. The directors wrote to Mr. "Van Riebeek that the actual murderer of the youth David Janssen shoi^'l be put to death, if he could be discovered, and that if necessary Harry could be sent as a prisoner to Batavia, but none of the other beachrangers were to be molested. Only the same number of cattle as were stolen should be seized in reprisal, and none were to be taken except from the robbers. The commander replied that it would be impossible to detect the real poi-petrator of the nmrder, and that the robbers had nothing to be seized. He admitted that to retaliate upon their allies v/ould cause a war, unless the whole were made prisoners at once. The correct way of relieving the settlement of a horde of idle and useless robbers would be to reduce them to servitude. He main- tained that the provocation received was ample to justify such a proceeding, while the advantages of obtaining ten or twelve hundred head of cattle to breed from, and a large number of slaves for service on the islands and in Batavia, would be very great. The Kaapmans had of late visited Table Valley in large parties, and their conduct had every appearance of hostility. The Europeans were replacing their frail wooden houses with suj stautial brick buildings, they had turned about twelve morgeu of ground into gardens, and dull as the Hottentots were, they could not but see that all this in- 46 History of South Afric%. [>655 dustry meant permanent occupation. This was not what they desired. They were willing for Europeans to oome and trade with them, even to remain for months, as the Haarlem's crew had done, but to be excluded for ever from any portion of their pastures was not to their liking. They came and made their huts on the very margin of the moat, and when they were requested to move a little farther away they replied that the ground was theirs and they would build wherever they chose. Everything that was left un- guarded was stolen by them. They even cut the brass buttons off the clothing of some children who were playing outside the fort. The workmen could only move about in companies and with arms in their hands. So apprehensive was the commander that they would proc(!ed to the length of attacking the fort, that he caused the sentries to be doubled and extraordinary precautions to be observed. He was under the impression that Harry was at the bottom of all the mischief, and that the Kaapmans were following his advice. If he could be communicated with and induced to return to the fort all might yet be well, but where he was no one would say. Meantime it was with difficulty that the workmen were restrained from avenging the insults daily received. It was evident also that as long as the Kaapmans remained here, the natives farther inland would not bring cattle for sale, because there were constant feuds between them. Mr. Van Eiebeek at this time began to conceive the idea of entering into a treaty of friendship with some of the distant clans, enemies of those who were giving him so much trouble. But nothing was then known of such clans beyond the fact that they were in existence. Their names, strength, relationship to each other, and places of abode, were yet to be discovered. The commander had, however, no difficulty in finding men ready to go in quest of the knowledge required, and as soon as he expressed his wishes a party of volunteers came forward. In the service of the East India Company, recruited as it i655] Jan van Ricbcck. 47 were was here, sale, Mr. ea of stant luch jyond rnies, >ode, lever, the [shes IS it was in all the Protestant countries of Europe, there were never wanting adventurers ready for any enterprise of hazard or daring. And it was a I'eat almost of rashness in the autumn of 1655 for a few men to attempt to penetrate the interior of this country. It was certain that there were enemies behind, and who was to say what foes and dangers there might not be in front ? Serving in the garrison of the fort Good Hope, in a capacity only one step higher than that of a common soldier, was a man named Jan Winter- vogel. He had been the leader of a band of explorers in the service of the Netherlands West India Company in Brazil, and had assisted in the discovery of a silver mine in that country. Then, starting westward from the Atlantic shore of the continent, he had travelled until he looked out upon the waters of the Great South sea. How he came into the East India Company's service is not stated, but here he was on the 15th of March 1655 ready to repeat in Africa his exploits in South America. Seven soldiers volun- teered to accompany him. The party was supphed with provisions for three weeks, and took six pounds of tobacco, six pounds of copper bars, and some beads, as samples of goods to be obtained at the fort in exchange for cattle. Their instructions were to learn as much as they could of the country, to try to induce some of the inland clans to come to the fort for the purpose of entering into aUiance with the Europeans, and to search for precious metals. The route taken by the exploring party cannot be accu- rately laid down, but it appears to have been in the direction of the present village of Malmesbury, that course being chosen to avoid the mountain barrier that extended north and south on their right hand as far as the eye could reach. The travellers came in contact with a party of diminutive Bushmen, who were making ready to assail the strangers with bows and arrows when Wintervogel went towards them with some tobacco in his hands and beckoning in a friendly manner. The savages thereupon dropped their arrows, and 48 History of South Africa. [i6s5 l|: accepted the tobacco, with the use of which they seem to have been acquainted. Wintervogel ascertained nothing more than that they had neither cattle nor huts, and that they were enemies of all their neighbours. He afterwards met 8ev<^ v-, >. small parties of Hottentots, by all of whom he was treated in a friendly manner, and a large horde with great herds of cattle, of which they seemed disposed to part with some for flat copper bars and tobacco. None of them could be induced to come to the fort while the Goringhai- quas were in the neighbourhood. One of the party, named Jan de Vos, died from having eaten too many bitter almonds, but the others met with no accident. The ex- plorers were absent from the fort nineteen days. They brought back some useful knowledge, but the most im- portant result of the expedition was in proving that such undertakings could be conducted with safety. The native difficulty came to an end for a time by the unexpected return of Harry to the fort. On the 23rd of June he made his appearancu with fifty strangers, who brought forty head of cattle for sale. He made some very lame excuses for his long absence, and denied flatly that he had taken part in the robbery of the Company's cattle or the murder of Janssen. The commander was so well satisfied with his return that he received him in a friendly manner and pretended to believe all that he said. From what occurred afterwards, it seems probable that Mr. Van Kiebeek's suspicions of the mischief caused by Harry during his absence were correct, for a brisk cattle trade at once commenced and continued during the winter. Towards spring the natives by whom it was carried on removed from the peninsula, and Harry then proposed that he should be sent with a trading party to the interior. The commander called together a council to consider this proposal. Frederik Verburg was absent in the Tulp, so that there was no one of the rank of a junior merchant at the fort, and the council consisted, besides the commander, of the pilot, the sergeant, and two corporals. The clerk Roelof 1655] Jan van Riebeek. 49 luring once Iwards loved Ihould \t this that U the 31, of loelof de Man kept a record of the debates. It was resolved to send inland a trading party, to consist of the interpreter Harry and nine soldiers under command of Corporal Willem Muiler. They were to take a good quantity of provisions, and for trading purposes flat copper btrs, brass wire, beads, pipes, and tobacco, all of which was \>o be carried by four pack oxen. The party left the fort on the 7th of September, and was accompanied by a number of Hottentots, men, women, and children. They crossed over to the shore of False Bay, and then continued for some distance close to the sea coast, travelling a few miles every day. When the pro- visions were nearly exhausted, the Europeans were obliged to turn back, but they left Harry to continue the journey, and gave the merchandise over to him. They were absent four weeks, but made no discovery of importance. The journal kept by Corporal Muiler contains only one item that is of interest. He says that they came to a certain great flat rock which was in their way, when the Hottentot women gathered some green branches, and holding these in their hands fell prostrate upon the stone with their faces to it, at the same time giving utterance to some words which the Europeans could not understand. When asked what this meant, the women pointed upwards, as if to signify that it was an act of worship. Harry did not return until the 8th of December, when he brought thirteen head of cattle to the fort, but it was discovered soon afterwards that he had acquired a large herd in exchange for the merchandise, and had reserved the best of them for himself. During his absence a clan that was very rich in cattle visited the peninsula. They came from the country about the north and east of Sal- danha Bay, and were under a chief named Gonnema, who, on account of his using soot instead of clay to paint himself with, was usually called the Black Captain by the Europcians. During the month of November there were not less than VOL. I. 4 n 50 History of South Africa. [1655 ten or twelve thousand head of homed cattle grazing with- in an hour's walk of the fort. One of Gonnema's encamp- ments at Eondebosch contained fully two hundrea huts, which were ranged in a great circle, according to the usual Hottentot custom. The spaces between the huts were closed in with thickly wattled fences, so that the whole formed an enormous corral, in which the cattle were secured at night. From this circumstance, a native village as well as an enclosure for cattle soon came to be spoken of in South Africa as a corral or kraal, a word then in common use in India and America, though unknown to the Dutch and to native languages. From Gonnema's people three or four hundred head of horned cattle and as many sheep were obtained in barter, and a thousand of each could have been secured if the supply of copper had not become exhausted. The sheep were placed on Eobben Island as a reserve stock, the pas- ture there being exceedingly good. The trade was carried on through the medium of two Hottentots who had picked up a smattering of the Dutch language. One of these was a beachranger called Klaas Das, because he had been sent ] to Dassen Island to learn Dutch from the seal hunters. The ; other was a Kaapman who was called Doman, because Mr. \ Van Eiebeek said he looked as innocent and honest as a ii . . ... ' Dominie. He had been for some time living with the Europeans, and was believed to be attached to them and faithful to their interests. Four years later they had reason to change their opinions concerning him. ' In September a cutter of eighteen or twenty tons burden was launched and named the Bobbejacid. She was built almost entirely of Cape timber, and was intended to be used in connection with the sealing establishments. The galiot Boode Vos was sent to Batavia, as she was needed there. During the winter the other galiot belonging to this place made a voyage to St. Helena, from which island she brought some more fruit trees, some pigs, and two horses. Then she was sent to Madagascar to re-open II i655] Jan van Riebeek. 51 tons le was to lents. was )nging I which |s, and 3-open the trade which had been commenced in the bay of Anton- gil. The secunde Frederik Verburg went in her, leaving here his wife, to whom he had been married only five months. The Tulp never returned to the Cape. In the following year tidings were received by a French ship which put into Saldanha Bay that she had taken on board fourteen slaves and some rice at Madagascar. From that date nothing more was heard until March 1657, when four of her crew returned in the French ship Mariclial. They reported that the galiot was wrecked in a hurricane on the 2nd of Decem- ber 1655. The crew got safely to shore, and proceeded to the French settlement on the island of St. Mary, where they were attacked by fever, of which Frederik Verburg and eleven others died. It was in this year 1655 that the directors first resolved to locate free families on ground about the fort, as a means of reducing the Company's expenditure. The plan had been found to answer well in India, and there was reason to believe that it would be equally successful here. Freemen would assist to defend the station, so that the garrison could be reduced, and they would grow food for sale at as cheap rates as the Company could raise it with hired servants. But as it would take some little time to make the necessary arrangements, the commander bethought him of a scheme by which a few of the most respectable of the Company's servants might be induced ultimately to make South Africa their home. He gave them permission to cultivate little gardens for themselves, with the right freely to sell their produce whenever there were ships in the bay. The wife of the chief gardener Hendrik Boom having been accustomed to dairy work at home, it was resolved at a meeting of the council to lease the Company's cows to her, by way of encouraging individual enterprise. Boom had a house in the great garden, and was a steady industrious man. His M'ife, after the custom of those days, was called from her occupation Annetje de boerin. The arrangement ^^^.K.^.^ 52 History of South Africa. [1656 made with her was that she was to pay yearly twenty shillings and ten pence for the lease of each co\\ , that she was to supply milk and butter at fixed charges to the com- mander, — who was not, however, to demand all, — and that she could sell freely to the ships' people at the best prices .which she could obtain. This lease of cows was the first / transaction of the kind in South Africa, and it is so fully ,' recorded in the documents of the time, together with the ' reasons for entering into it, that it merits a slight notice ' still. Besides the ships previously mentioned, before the close of 1656 eleven bound outward and twelve bound homeward called at the Cape, and were amply provided with refresh- ments. There were more vegetables, indeed, than could be made use of. Two English ships also called, both of which were liberally supplied with fresh food. One of them was eight months from London, and after losing many of her crew reached this port with the remainder almost helpless from scurvy. The weakest of her men were taken into the hospital on shore, where the same attention was paid to them as if they had been servants of the Company. The officers were frequent guests at the fort. And it may serve to show the price of garden pro- duce in 1655, to state that the charge made for as great a quantity of vegetables as the men chose to consume was at the rate of two pence a day for each individual. One of the principal objects of the Company in form- . ing the station was to have a hoipital in wlieh sick soldiers ■ and sailors could be left, thus doing away with the necessity of detaining the ships until their recovery, as they could be drafted into the next fleets that called and needed men. Early in 1656 a large building for this purpose was com- '■ pleted near the seaside in the enclosure in front of the fort, \ an objectionable situation m a military and, as afterwards 1 appeared, in a sanitary point of view. Still it answered ] for more than forty years the purpose for which it was intended. was form- )ldiers essity could men. com- e fort, wards wered was 1656] Jan van Riebeek. 53 The attention of the commander was then turned to the construction of a wooden jetty, to facilitate communi- cation with the shipping and to enable seamen easily to get water to their boats. Large and heavy beams were 'cut in the forests behind the mountain and transported to fthe beach. There they were formed into square trunks, I by fitting thsir ends across one another in the same way ? that log huts are built in Canada. The trunks were placed I fifteen feet apart in a straight line out into the bay, and '' as each one was put together it was filled with stones so as to form a pier. Upon these piers a heavy staging was laid down, and when, after two years' labour and by assistance from the crews of calling ships, the jetty was completed, it was an exceedingly solid structure. After the Eoode Vos was sent to India, the galiot Nachtglas was kept here for general purposes. Among other services she was sent to examine the islands of Tristan da Cunha, to ascertain if they could be made use of in time of war. The report upon them was unfavour- able, as no harbour was found. I There was at this time a considerable amount of cor- /respondence concerning the feasibility of converting the i Cape promontory into an island, by cutting a wide and deep canal across the isthmus between Table Bay and ij False Bay. The idea originated with Mr. Eyklof van Goens, admiral of one of the return fleets, who spent a short time at the Cape, After close mspection, the commander reported that to carry out the plan would cost millions of money, and that it would bi of very little use as a means of confining the natives to the mainland and leaving the Europeans undisturbed in the island. Nearly every garden plant of Europe and India was already cultivated at the Cape, though potatoes and maize were not yet introduced. It was ascertained that seeds attained great perfection here, and on this account large quantities were forwarded yearly to Batavia. Fruit trees of many kinds had also been introduced. Young oaks and firs 54 History of South Afi'ica. [1656 <^:W m \ I; were sent growing in boxes from Europe, and various kinds ,) of vines from the Rhine provinces and from France were \ sent out in the same way. Even strawberries and black- I berries had been brought from the fatherland. The foreign animals that had been introduced were horses from Java, and pigs, sheep, dogs, and rabbits from Europe. Some rams and ewes were selected from the best flocks in Holland, and were sent here to see how they would answer. Rabbits were sent out on several occasions, and the commander was instructed to have them turned loose upon the islands, but to take care not to allow them to become wild on the mainland, as they increased very rapidly and could do enormous damage to crops. Every season wheat and barley had been sown, but the crop had invariably failed. Just as it was getting ripe, the south-east winds came sweeping through the valley and utterly destroyed it. But it was noticed that even when a perfect storm was blowing at the fort, there was nothing more than a pleasant breeze back of the Devil's peak. The woodcutters in the forests there reported that the wind never rose to a gale, and the commander himself, after fre- iquently visiting the locality, was able to verify the state- ment. He determined then to try if grain could not be raised there. At a place where a round grove of thorn trees was standing, — from which it was called at first Ronde Doom Bossien and afterwards Rondebosch, — a plot of ground was laid under the plough, and some wheat, oats, and barley were sown as an experiment. A small guard house was built of sods, in which a couple of men were stationed to look after the ground. The experiment was most successful, for the grain throve wonderfully well and yielded a very large return. The pilfering habits of the Hottentots had always been a source of annoyance to the Europeans, but hitherto the commander had not proceeded to the length of punishing the offenders. The beachrangers in Table Valley were sup- posed to be under the jurisdiction of Harry, who was now V-- 1656] Jan van Riebeek. 55 t the 3, the and tien a thing The wind r fre- tate- t be trees onde t of oats, ard were was and I been the fhing 1 sup- no V7 a rich captain, having a large herd of cattle purchased, so the commander states, with the Company's goods. One day a plough was left in the garden, with a chain attached to it, which was soon missing. This article could not be of any use to the thieves, and must therefore have been stolen purposely to annoy the Europeans. Mr. Van Kiebeek here- upon caused three head of cattle belonging to Harry to be seized, and announced that he intended to keep them until the chain was restored. Harry protested that he was inno- cent of the theft, but the commander was firm in his refusal to give up the cattle. This course of action had the desired effect, for it was not long before the stolen article was brought back, when the cattle were released. The next difficulty with Harry was concerning the pas- ture. There was not sufficient grass in the neighbourhood of the fort for his cattle and those of the Company, and so Mr. Van Kiebeek informed him that he must move. Harry replied that the ground was his. The commander answered that the Company had taken possession of it, and would not permit him to remain unless he would sell some of his oxen. Mr. Van Kiebeek then proposed a plan which would be ad- vantageous to both parties. Harry should become a great cattle dealer, and undertake to supply ten head for each large and five for each small ship entering the bay, also one ox and one sheep every fourth day for the use of the garrison. For these, which he was to purchase from his countrymen inland, he was to be paid such quantities of copper and tobacco as would leave him a fair profit. Harry consented, but after the very first delivery he broke his con- tract by moving away. Many of the poorest of Gogosoa's people as well as the beachrangers were at this time living in Table Valley, where they managed to exist by cutting and carrying fuel and occasionally performing any light labour in return for food. \ The settlement was beginning to expand. In May the i council resolved to offer to all the men who had families \with them as much garden ground as they cared to culti- 56 History of South Africa. [1656 I i vate, free of rent or tax for the first three years. At the same time the women anc* children were struck off rations and a money payment instead was made to the heads of famiUes, according to the custom in India. This was a great incentive to gardening, poultry rearing, and other (industries. Annetje de boerin, wife of Hendrik Boom, who was farming the Company's cows, was privileged to jiopen a house of accommodation, chiefly for visitors from j|the ships. A similar license was gran':ed shortly after- ilwards to the wife of Sergeant Jan van Harwarden. The damage caused by wild animals was very great. The carnivora destroyed oxen, sheep, an^ poultry, and the grysbucks, besides trampHng down the beds in the gardens, ate the young sprouts off the vines. It was not safe for ; people to go out at night. On one occasion two guards ; at the cattle kraal were badly wounded by a leopard, and 1 once as the commander was walking in the garden a lion 1 was seen at no great distance. A fine large stud horse, I the only one in the settlement, was torn to pieces and devoured close to the fort. The council then decided to offer premiums for the de- struction of these ravenous animals. Twenty-five shillings was the reward offered for a lion, sixteen shiUings and eight pence for a hyena, and twelve shillings and six pence for a leopard. In every case the dead animal was to be exhibited to the commander. These premiums, be it re- membered, represent a much greater purchasing power than the same amounts nowadays. At that time twenty- five shilhngs was a larger sum of money than a labourer earned in a month, and there were very few individuals at the Cape who were getting such wages. The com- mander himself vas in receipt of only 7^. 10s. until 1656, when his monthly salary was raised to lOZ. IG.s. 8cZ. Such large rewards as these show, therefore, how destruc- tive the lions and leopards must have been. The skin of the first lion that was shot was hung up as a trophy in the great hall of the commander's residence, where 1656] Jan van Riebeck. 57 ; de- uals om- 66, uc- of in lere religious services were held. The next laws in reference to game were »'^<.de for the preservation of herbivorous animals. The Company kept two hunters employed in procu. Vi^r venison for the use of the garrison. Every one else was prohibited from shooting other animals than those for which a reward was offered, under penalty of a fine equal to forty shillings of our money and the for- feiture of the gun if it was private property. During the winter of 1656 there was a good deal of sickness among the people, which the council considered to be beyond doubt a punishment inflicted upon them for their sins. It was therefore resolved to set apart Thursday the 29th of June as a day of fasting and prayer to the Almighty to have mercy upon them. The people were ad- n monished not to sit down to their meals, as some of them I had been in the habit of doing, without asking a blessing from God before eating and returning thanks afterwards. Those who disobeyed this injunction were to be fined a I shilling for the iirst offence, two shillings for the second, |and so on, in addition to arbitrary correction. A few fiweeks later a placaat was issued against bathing or wash- ing clothes in the river above the place from which water ^or culinary purposes was taken, so it may be inferred ^^hat perhaps the parti-^ular sin of which the people had l^een guilty was a disre^ird of the laws of health. In October it was axianged that for the present the council should consist on ordinary occasions of the com- mander Jan van Riebeek, the sergeant Jan van Harwarderi, and the bookkeeper Roelof de Man. When sitting as a court of justice or as a military tribunal, the constable of the fortress and the two corporals were also to have seats. The records of proceedings were to be kept by the clerk Caspar van Weede, who was also to perform the duty of fiscal. On account of there t ing no clergyman here, marriages at this time took place before the secretary of the council, but it was necessary that the banns should be published 58 History of South Africa. {^(>%^ three times by the sick-comforter. The ceremouy was U8U ." (.orformed on Sunday mornings after the reading of the sermon. One or two marriages vi 'o solemnised by the chaplains of ships that called, as f^i instance that of the late secunde Frederik Verburg, whose bride was the clergy- man's sister. Up to the end of 1656 the marriages that took place in the fort were as follows : — Adolphus Beuge- voort and Janneken Willems, Jacob Ryniers and Elizabeth van Opdorp, Pieter van Duyne and Sebastiana van Opdorp, Jacobus van der Kerkhoven and EHzabeth Stadtlanders, and Jan Wouters and Catharina, a freed slave, daughter of Anthonie, of Bengal. Marriages such as this last were encouraged in those days. Mr. Van Riebeek has left on record his opinion of the advantages derived by the Portuguese from the large mixed population of their possessions in the East, without whose assistance their fortresses could not have been held ' so long, and he thought it advisable that the Netherlanders J should have a similar hnk between themselves and the I coloured inhabitants of their dominions. A hundred years k I'xtar very different views were held, but in the middle of * tl.e seventeenth century no distinction whatever appears 5, to h ive been made between people on account of colour. I A profession of Christianity placed black and white upon |the same level. The possessions of the heathen were the inheritance of God's people, and could be taken from them without sin. The heathen themselves could be enslaved, but Christians could not be kept in bondage. The archives of the Cape Colony contain numerous illustrations of this doctrine. A black professing Christianity was spoken of in identically the same language as a white. Thus Catharina, the Bengalese slave girl, who was placed in freedom by Admiral Bogaert, as soon as she was baptized was styled ' de eerbare jonge dochter,' and the commander's own niece was spoken of in precisely the same words. The number of foreign ships that touched at the Cape was very small. Mr. Van Riebeek asked the directors to give I6s6] Jan van Riebeek. 59 hira explicit inutructions as to the treatment of strangers, and was informed that thiy were to be allowed to catch fish and to take in water freely, but they were not to be supplied with refreshments, as the Company needed all that could be obtained for it own ships. Courtesy was to be observed, and thu > ommander was to use discretion and not give of nee w dlessly But the expense of keeping up an establishn ent ^ i ,ipe was incurred solely for id not for the accommodation tio^' orty-four vessels put into fi\e belonged to the Company, were French. The English and French were treated m as friendly a manner as could have been expected under the circumstances. They were permitted to purchase vegetables from those individuals who had gardens, and exchanges of presents were made, fj though the commander in writing to the directors excused A his hberality by stating that the beef which on two occasions Vhe sent on board was of unsound cattle. the Company's own oe of strangers. In t Table Bay. Of thi five were English, am .%yr,y^ M IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ^1^ hi 2.0 m 11.25 i 1.4 I 1.6 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREfT WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ *"">> .*%* z % \ 4 1^ 6^ 6o CHAPTEE III. MR. VAN RIEBEBK'S ADMRiISTRATION {contimted). The preliminary arrangements for releasing some of the Company's servants from their engagements and helping them to become farmers were at length completed, and on the 21st of February 1657 ground was allotted to the first burghers in the Cape Colony. Before that date individuals had been permitted to make gardens for their own private benefit, but these persons still remained in the Company's service. They were mostly petty ofiicers with families, who drew money instead of rations, and who co".ld derive a portion of their food from their gardens, as well as make a trifle occasionally by the sale of vegetables. The free burghers, as they were afterwards termed, formed a very different class, as they were subjects, not servants, of the Company. For more than a year the workmen as well as the officers had been meditating upon the project, and revolv- ing in their minds whether they ivould be better off as free men or as servants. At length nine of them determined to make the trial. They formed themselves into two parties, and after selecting ground for occupation, presented them- selves before the council and concluded the final arrange- ments. There were present that day at the council table in the commander's hall, Mr. Van Biebeek, Sergeant Jan van Harwarden, and the bookkeeper Eoelof de Man. The proceedings were taken down at great length by the secre- tary Caspar van Weede. The first party consisted of five men, named Herman i6S7] Jan van Riebeek. 6i Bemajenne^ Jan de Wsicht, Jan van Passel, Wamar Gor- neliesen, and Boelof Janssen. They had selected a tract of land just beyond the Liesbeek, and had given to it the name of Groeneveld, or the Green Country. There they intended to apply themselves chiefly to the cultivation of wheat. And as Bemajenne was the principal person among them, they called themselves Herman's Colony. The second party was composed of four men, named Stephen Botma,^ Hendrik Elbrechts,' Otto Janssen, and Jacob Comelissen. The ground of their selection was on this side of the Liesbeek, and they had given it the name of HoUandsche Thuin, or the Dutch garden. They stated that it was their intention to cultivate tobacco as well as grain. Henceforth this party was known as Stephen's Colony. Both companies were desirous of growing vege- tables and of breeding cattle, pigs, and poultry. The conditions under which these men were released from the Company's service were as follow : — They were to have in full possession all the ground which they could bring under cultivation within three years, during which time they were to be free of taxes. ' After the expiration of three years they were to pay a reasonable land tax. They were then to be at liberty to sell, lease, or otherwise alienate their ground, but not without first communicating with the commander or his representative. Such provisions as they should require out of tlie maga- zine were to be supplied to them at the same price as to the Company's married servants. . They were to be at liberty to catch as much fish in the rivers as they should require for their own consumption. 1 Galled Stephen Janssen, that is, Stephen the son of John, in the records of the time. More than twenty years later ho first appears as Stephen Botma. From him sprang the present South African family of that name. ' Also written Elberts and Elbers in the records of the period. His de- scendants in the male line died out at an early date, but in tho female line they are still to be found in South Africa. He and Botma were the only per- manent colonists among the nine. 63 History of South Africa. [1657 H They were to be at liberty to sell freely to the crews of ships any vegetables which the Company might not require for the garrison, but they were not to go on board ships until three days after arrival, and were not to bring any strong drink on shore. They were not to keep taps, but were to devote them- selves to the cultivation of the groTind and the rearing of cattle. They were not to purchase horned cattle, sheep, or any- thing else from the natives, under penalty of forfeiture of all their possessions. They were to purchase such cattle as they needed from the Company, at the rate of thirty-four shillings and nine pence for an ox or cow and four shillings and two pence for a sheep. They were to sell cattle only to the Company, but all they offered were to be taken at the above prices. They were to pay to the Company for pasture one-tenth of all the cattle reared, but under this clause no pigs or poultry were to be claimed. The Company was to furnish them upon credit, at cost price in the fatherland, with all such implements as were necessary to carry on »-heir work, with food, ftnd with guns, powder, and lead for their defence. In paymer Vey were to dehver the produce of their ground, and t yompany was to hold a mortgage upon all their possessions. They were to be subject to such laws as were in force in the fatherland and in India, and to such as should there- after be made for the service of the Company and the welfare of the community. These regulations could be altered or amended at will by ^ the supreme authorities. The two parties immediately took possession of their ground, and commenced to build themselves houses. They had very little more than two months to spare before the rainy season would set in, but that was sufficient time to run up sod walls and cover them with roofs of thatch. The forests from which timber was obtained were at no great t657] Jan van Riebeek. 63 distance, and all the other materials needed were close at hand. And so they were under shelter and ready to turn over the ground when tht first rains of the season fell. There was a scarcity of farming implements at first, but that was soon remedied. On the 17th of March a ship arrived from home, having on board an ofl&cer of high rank, named Eyklof van Goens, who was afterwards governor-general of Netherlands India. This ship had sighted the South American coast and had then run down to the fortieth parallel of latitude in order to get the west wind, but in the middle of February she fell in with icebergs and very cold stormy weather, so that all on board were delighted when the anchors were dropped in Table Bay. Mr, Van Goens had been instructed to rectify anything that he might find amiss here, and he thought the con- ditions under which the burghers held their ground could be improved. He therefore made several alterations in them, and also inserted some fresh clauses, the most impor- tant of which were as follow : — The freemen wrre to have plots of land along the Lies- beek, in size forty roods by two hundred — equal to thirteen morgen and a third — free of taxes for twelve years. All fanning utensils were to be repaired free of charge for three years. In order to procure a good stock of breeding cattle, the freemen were to be at liberty to purchase from the natives, until further instructions should be received, but they were not to pay more than the Company. The price of homed cattle between the freemen and the Company was reduced from thirty-four shillings and nine pence to sixteen shillings and eight pence. The penalty to be paid by a burgher for selling cattle except to the Company was fixed at eighty-three shillings and four pence. That they might direct their attention chiefly to the cultivation of grain, the freemen were not to plant tobacco, 64 History of South Africa, [1657 or even more vegetables than were needed for their own consumption. The burghers were to keep guard by turns in any re- doubts which should be built for their protection. They were not to shoot any wild animals except such as were noxious. To promote the destruction of ravenous animals the premiums were increased, viz., for a lion to thirty-four shillings and nine pence, for a hyena to twenty- seven shillings and nine pence, and for a leopard to thirteen shillings and ten pence. None but married men of good character and of Dutch or German birth were to have ground allotted to them. Upon their request, their wives and children were to be sent to them from Europe. In every case they were to agree to remain twenty years in South Africa. Unmarried men could be released from service to work as mechanics, or if they were specially adapted for any useful employment, or if they would engage themselves for a term of years to the holders of ground. One of the most respectable burghers was to have a seat and a vote in the court of justice whenever cases aflfecting freemen or their interests were being tried. He was to have the title of burgher councillor, and was to hold office for a year, when another should be selected and have the honour transferred to him. To this office Stephen Botma was appointed for the first term. The commissioner drew up lengthy instructions for the guidance of the Cape government, in which the commander was directed to encourage and assist the burghers, as they would relieve the Company of the payment of a large amount of wages. There were then exactly one hundred persons in the settlement in receipt of wages, and as soon as the farmers were sufficiently numerous, this number was to be reduced to seventy. Many of the restrictions under which the Company's servants became burghers were vexatious, and would be deemed intolerable at the present day. But in 1657 men i6S7] Jan van Riebeek. 65 heard very little of individual rights or of unrestricted trade. They were accustomed to the interference of the govern- ment in almost everything, and as to free trade, it was simply impossible. The Netherlands could only carry on commerce with the East by means of a powerful Company, able to conduct expensive wars and maintain great fleets without drawing upon the resources of the State. Indi- vidual interests were therefore lost sight of even at home, much more so in such a settlement as that at the Cape, which was called into existence by the Company solely and entirely for its own benefit. A commencement having been made, there were a good many persons desirous of becoming corngrowers and garden- ers. Most of them, however, soon found such occupations unsuited to their habits, and either re-entered the Company's service, or went back to the fatherland. The names of some who remained in South Africa have died out, but others have numerous descendants in this country at the present day. There are even instances in which the same christian name has been transmitted from father to son in unbroken succession. In addition to those already men- tioned, the following individuals received free papers within the next twelvemonth : — Wouter Mostert, who was for many years one of the leading men in the settlement. He had been a miller in the fatherland, and followed the same occupation here after becoming a burgher. The Company had imported a corn mill to be worked by horses, but after a short time it was decided to make use of the water of the Fresh river as a motive power. Mostert contracted to build the new mill, and when it was in working order he took charge of it on shares of the payments made for grinding. Hendrik Boom, the gardener, whose name has already been frequently mentioned. Caspar Brinkman, Pieter Visagie,^ Hans Faesbenger, Jacob Cloete,* Jan Keyniers, Jacob Theunissen, Jan Eietvelt, ^Numerous descendants now in South Africa. VOL. I. 5 66 History of South Africa. [1657 Otto van Vrede, and Simon Janssen, who had land as- signed to them as farmers. Herman Ernst, Cornelis Claasen,* Thomas Eobertson (an Englishman), Isaac Mauget, Klaas Frederiksen, Elaas Schriever, and Hendrik Fransen, who took service with farmers. Christian Janssen and Pieter Cornelissen, who received free papers because they had been expert hunters in the Company's service. It was arranged that they should continue to follow that employment, in which they were granted a monopoly, and prices were fixed at which they were to sell all kinds of game. They were also privileged to keep a tap for the sale of strong drink. Leendert Cornelissen, a ship's carpenter, who received a grant of a strip of forest at the foot of the mountain. His object was to cut timber for sale, for all kinds of which prices were fixed by the council. Elbert Dirksen and Hendrik van Surwerden, who were to get a living as tailors. Jan Vetteman, the surgeon of the fort. He arranged for a monopoly of practice in his profession and for various other privileges. Boelof Zieuwerts, who was to get his living as a waggon and plough maker, and to whom a small piece of forest was granted. Martin Vlockaart, Pieter Jacobs, and Jan Adriansen, who were to maintain themselves as fishermen. Pieter Kley, Dirk Vreem, and Pieter Heynse, who were to saw yellow wood planks for sale, as well as to work at their occupation as carpenters. Hendrik Schaik, Willem Petersen, Dirk Einkes, Michiel van Swol, Dirk Noteboom, Frans Gerritsen, and Jan Zacha- rias, who are mentioned merely as having become burghers. Besides the regulations concerning the burghers, the commissioner Van Goens drew up copious instructions on general subjects for the guidance of the government. He 1 NumeiouB descendantB now in South Africa. i657] Jan van Riebeek. 67 prohibited the Company's servants from cultivating larger gardens than thej' required for their own use, but he ex- cepted the commander, to whom he granted the whole of the ground at Green Point as a private farm. As a rule, the crews of foreign ships were not to be provided with vegetables or meat, but were to be permitted to take in water freely. The commander was left some discretion in deahng with them, but the tenor of the instructions was that they were not to be encouraged to visit Table Bay. Eegarding the natives, they were to be treated kindly, so as to obtain their goodwill. If any of them assaulted or robbed a burgher, those suspected should be seized and placed upon Eobben Island until they made known the offenders, when they should be released and the guilty persons be banished to the island for two or three years. If any of them committed murder, the criminal should be put to death, but the commander should endeavour to have the execution performed by the natives themselves. Caution was to be observed that no foreign language should continue to be spoken by any slaves who might here- after be brought into the country. Equal care was to be taken that no other weights or measures than those in use in the fatherland should be introduced. The measure of length was laid down as twelve Ehynland inches to the foot, twelve feet to the rood, and two thousand roods to the mile, so that fifteen miles would be equal to ^ degree of latitude. In measuring land, six hundred square roods were to make a morgen. The land measure thus intro- duced is used in the Cape Colony to the present day. In calculating with it, it must be remembered that one thou- sand Ehynland feet are equal to one thousand and thirty- three British imperial feet. The office of secunde, now for a long time vacant, was filled by the promotion of the bookkeeper Eoelof de Man. Caspar van Weede was sent to Batavia, and the clerk Abraham Gabbema was appointed secretary of the council in his stead. 68 History of South Africa. [i6S7 In April 1657, when these instructions were issued, the European population consisted of one hundred and thirty- four individuals, Company's servants and burghers, men, women, and children all told. There were at the Cape three male and eight female slaves. Concerning the protection of the settlement from the natives there was much discussion between Mr. Van Goens and the commander Van Riebeek. Regarding the Cape peninsula as ample territory for the needs of the Com- pany, — for as yet there was no intention to do more than raise grain, vegetables, fruit, pork, and poultry, together with a few sheep and the horses and horned cattle required for working, the Hottentots being depended upon for most of the beef and mutton needed for the garrison and the fleets, — both considered that if the isthmus could be made impassable the dwellers in Table Valley and along the Liesbeek would enjoy complete security. Mr. Van Goens brought forward again his old scheme of a canal, which the commander had written so unfavourably of to the directors. The land between Table Bay and False Bay he observed was as flat as Holland, and the soil was easily dug. He caiised the distance to be measured, when it was found to be five thousand one hundred and twenty-five roods, or a little more than twelve English miles. Jan van Har- warden, who had served long in the army under the prince of Orange and was well acquainted with digging and delv- ing, was called upon for an estimate of the labour required, the canal to be twelve feet wide and six feet deep. The sergeant did not take long to consider the question. He would undertake to complete the work in three months, he stated, with seventy good men. Mr. Van Goens believed that if there were plenty of tools it could be done within two months by the crews of the ships Orangien, Malacca, and Phoenix, then in port, and vdthout detaining the last two longer than fourteen days beyond the time they must in any case remain. The sea in winter, driven before the north-west wind, he i657] Jan van Riebeek, 69 thought, would then widen and deepen the canal, it might be even sufficiently to permit a ship to sail through or anchor within it. The only difficulty that was apparent was the drifting sand that would be carried to and fro, and that he regarded as a real danger, for in time it might even destroy Table Bay. Still, upon the whole, it would be worth risking, for there was no other way of securing the peninsula except by Mr. Van Eiebeek's plan of a hne of at least fifteen redoubts connected with walls, which would be vastly more expensive. Ultimately the matter was left for the decision of the directors, before whom both schemes were laid ; but they chose rather to endeavour to avert trouble with the natives than to undertake either. In the meantime, until instructions could be received from the Netherlands, the commissioner deemed it prudent to strengthen the fort Good Hope by enlarging the moat around it. Mr. Van Biebeek was of opinion that a width of ten feet would be ample, but Mr. Van Goens had seen how nimble-footed the Hottentots were, and he believed that they could spring over such a moat without difficulty. In his view it should be sixteen feet wide, which would ensure safety, for though the Hottentots were so agile on dry land they were very indifferent swimmers. This width was settled upon, 1/dt the work was postponed for more pressing duties, and eventually it dropped out of sight. Commissioner Van Goens permitted the burghers to purchase cattle from the natives, provided they gave in exchange no more t? iin the Company was offering. A few weeks after he left South Africa, three of the farmers turned this license to account, by equipping themselves and going upon a trading journey inland. TravelHng in an easterly direction, they soon reached a district in which five or six hundred Hottentots were found, by whom they were re- ceived in a friendly manner. The Europeans could not sleep in the huts on account of vermin and filth, neither could they pass the night without some shelter, as lions and III 70 History of South Africa. [1657 other wild animals were numerous in that part of the country. The Hottentots came to their assistance by col- lecting a great quantity of thorn bushes, with which they formed a high circular hedge, inside of which the strangers slept in safety. Being already well supplied with copper, the residents were not disposed to part with cattle, and the burghers were obliged to return with only two oxen and three sheep. They understood the natives to say that the district in which they were living was the choicest portion of the whole country, for which reason they gave it the I name of Hottentots-Holland. For many months none of the pastoral Hottentots had been at the fort, when one day in July Harry presented himself before the commander. He had come, he said, to ask where they could let their cattle graze, as they observed that the Europeans were cultivating the ground along the Liesbeek. Mr. Van Biebeek replied that they had better remain where they were, which was at a distance of eight or ten hours' journey on foot from the fort. Harry in- formed him that it was not their custom to remain long in one place, and that if they were deprived of a retreat here they would soon be ruined by their enemies. The com- mander then stated that they might come and Uve behind the mountains, along by Hout Bay, or on the slope of the Lion's head, if they would trade with him. But to this Harry would not consent, as he said they lived upon the produce of their cattle. The native difficulty had already become, what it has been ever since, a most important question for solution. Mr. Van Riebeek was continually devising some scheme for its settlement, and a large portion of his despatches liad reference to the subject. At this time his favourite plan was to build a chain of redoubts across the isthmus and to connect them with a wall. A large party of the Eaapmans was then to be enticed within the line, with their families and cattle, and when once on this side none but men were ever to be allowed to go beyond it again. They • i6s7] Jan van Riebeek. 71 ' i were to be compelled to sell their cattle, but were to be I provided with goods so that the men could purchase more, j and they were to be allowed a fair profit ou trading trans- i actions. The women and children were to be kept as (guarantees for the return of the men. In this manner, / the commander thought, a good supply of cattle could be ' secured, and all difficulties with the natives be removed. But the directors would not give him an opportunity to make the experiment, for the expense frightened them. During the five years of their residence at the Cape, the Europeans had acquired some knowledge of the condition of the natives. They had ascertained that all the little clans in the neighbourhood, whether Goringhaikonas, Gora- chouquas, or Goringhaiquas, were members of one tribe, of which Gogosoa was the principal chief. The clans were often at war, as the Goringhaikonas and the Goringhainuna in 1652, but they showed a common front against the next tribe or great division of people whose chiefs owned rela< tionship to each other. The wars between the clans usually seemed to be mere forays with a view of getting possession of women and cattle, while between the tribes hostilities were often waged with great bitterness. Of the inland tribes, Mr. Van Biebeek knew nothing more than a few names. Glaus calling themselves the Grigriqua, the Cocho- qua, and the Chainouqua had been to the fort, and from the last of these one hundred and thirty head of cattle had recently been purchased, but as yet their position with regard to others was not made out. The predatory habits of the Bushmen were well known, as also that they were enemies of every one else, but it was supposed that they were merely another Hottentot clan.^ 1 There is great confusion of names in the early records whenever native , clans are spoken of. Sometimes it is stated that Qogosoa's people called them- \ selves the Qoringhaiqua or Ooringhaina, at other times the same clan is \ called the Ooringhaikona. Harry's people were sometimes termed the Water- 1 mans, sometimes the Strandloopers (beachrangers). The Bushmen were at \ first called Visman by Mr. Van Biebeek, but he soon adopted the word Sanqua, m n History of South Africa. [1657 \' Some stories which Eva told greatly interested the com- mander. After the return of the beachrangers to Table "Valley she had gone back to hve in Mr. Van Biebeek's house, and was now at the age of fifteen or sixteen years able to speak Dutch fluently. The ordinary interpreter, Doman with the honest face, was so attached to the Euro- peans that he had gone to Batavia with Commissioner Van Goens, and Eva was now employed in his stead. She told the conmiander that the Namaquas were a people living in the interior, who had white skins and long hair, that they wore clothing and made their black slaves cultivate the ground, and that they built stone houses and had religious services just the same as Netherlanders. There were others, she said, who had gold and precious stones in abundance, and a Hottentot who brought some cattle for sale corro- borated her statement, and asserted that he was familiar with everything of the kind that was exhibited to him except a diamond. He stated that one of his wives had been brought up in the house of a great lord named Cho- bona, and that she was in possession of abundance of gold ornaments and jewels. Mr. Van Eiebeek invited him press- ingly to return at once and bring her to the fort, but he replied that, being accustomed to sit at home and be waited upon by numerous servants, she would be unable to travel so far. An offer to send a waggon for her was rejected on ,the ground that the sight of Europeans would frighten her to death. All that could be obtained from this ingenious storyteller was a promise to bring his wife to the fort on some future occasion. After this the commander was more than ever anxious i which he spelt in various ways. This is evidently a form of the Hottentot name for these people, as may be seen from the following words, which are used by a Hottertot clan at the present day : — Nominative singular, Sap, a Bushman ; dual, Sahara, two Bushmen ; plural, Sakoa, more than two Bush- men. Nominative singular, Sas, a Bushwoman ; dual, Sasara, two Bush- women; plural, Sadi, more than two Bushwomen. Common plural, Sana, Bushmen and Bushwomen. When the tribes became better known the titles given in the text were used. V >—.,- \ 4> 4 1657] Jan van Riebeek. 73 /Pto have the interior of the country explored, to open up a I road to the capital city of Monomotapa, as laid down on I, the hest maps of the time, and to the river Espirito Santc ^ where he believed gold was certainly to be found, to make the acquaintance of Chobona and the Naraaquas, and to induce the people of Benguela to bring the products of their country to the fort Good Hope for sale. The commissioner Van Goens saw very little difficulty in the way of accom- pUshing these designs, and instructed Mr. Van Biebeek to use all reasonable exertion to carry them out. The immediate object of the next party which left the fort to penetrate the interior was, however, to procure cattle rather than to find Ophir or Monomotapa. A large fleet was expected, and the comir.ander was anxious to have a good herd of oxen in reaJi^ess to refresh the crews. The party, which left on the 19th of October, consisted of seven servants of the Company, eight freemen, and four Hottentots. They took pack oxen to carry provisions and the usual articles of merchandise. Abraham Gabbema, fiscal and secretary of the council, was the leader. They shaped their course at first towards a mountain which was visible from the Cape, and which, ou account of its having a buttress smrmounted by a dome resembhng a flat night- cap such as was then in common use, had already received I the name Klapmuts. Passing round this mountain and over the low watershed beyond, they came to a stream run- ning northward along the base of a seemingly impassable chain of mountains, and for this reason they gave it the name of the Berg river. In its waters they found barbels, and by some means they managed to catch as many as they needed to refresh themselves. They were now in one of the fairest of all South African vales. To the west lay a long isolated mountain, its face covered with verdure and here and there furrowed by little streamlets which ran down to the river below. Its top was crowned with domes of bare grey granite, and as the rising sun poured a flood of light upon them, they sparkled 74 History of South Africa. [i6S7 like gigantic gems, so that the travellers named them the Paarl and the Diamant. In the evening, when the valley lay in deepening shadow, the range on the east was lit up with tints more charming than pen or pencil can describe, for nowhere is the glow of light upon rock more varied or more beautiful. Between the mountains the surface of the ground was dotted over with trees, and in the month of October it was carpeted with grass and flowers. Wild animals shared with man the possession of this lovely domain. In the river great numbers of hippopotami were seen ; on the mountain side herds of zebras were browsing ; and tramphng down the grass, which in places was so tall that Gabbema described it as fit to make hay of, were many rhinoceroses. There were little kraals of Hottentots all along the Berg river, but the people were not disposed to barter away their cattle. Gabbema and his party moved about among them for more than a week, but only succeeded in obtaining ten oxen and forty-one sheep, with which they returned to the fort. And so, gradually, geographical knowledge was being gained, and Monomotapa and the veritable Ophir where Solomon got his gold were moved farther backward on the charts. During the year 1657 several public works of importance were undertaken. A platform was erected upon the highest point of Kobben Island, upon which a fire was kept up at night whenever ships belonging to the Company were seen off the port. At the Company's farm at Eondebosch the erection of a magazine for grain was commenced, in size one hundred and eight by forty feet. This building, afterwards known as the Groote Schuur, was of very sub- stantial construction. In Table Valley the lower course of the Fresh river was altered. In its ancient channel it was apt to damage the gardens in winter by overflowing its banks. A new and broader channel was therefore cut, I so that it should enter the sea some distance to the south- least of the fort. The old channel was turned into a canal. i K t6s8] Jan van Riebeek. 75 H and sluices A^^ro made in order that the moat might still be filled at pleasure. In February 1658 it was resolved to send another trad- ing party inland, as the stock of cattle was insufficient to meet the wants of the fleets shortly expected. Of late there had been an unusual demand for meat. The Amhem and Slot van Honingen, two large Indiamen, had put into Table Bay in the utmost distress, and in a short time their crews had consumed forty head of horned cattle and fifty sheep. This expedition was larger and better equipped than any yet sent from the fort Good Hope. The leader was Sergeant Jan van Harwarden, and under him were fifteen Europeans and two Hottentots, with six pack oxen to carry provisions and the usual articles of barter. The land sur- veyor Pieter Potter accompanied the party for the purpose of observing the features of the country, so that a correct map could be made. To him was also entrusted the task of keeping the journal of the expedition. The sergeant was instructed to learn all that he could concerning the tribes, to ascertain if ivory, ostrich feathers, musk, civet, gold, and precious stones, were obtainable, end, if so, to look out for a suitable place for the establishment of a trading station. The party passed the Paarl mountain on their right, and crossing the Berg river beyond, proceeded in a north- easterly direction until they reached the great wall which bounds the coast belt of South Africa. In searching along it for a passage to the interior, they discovered a stream which came foaming down through an enormous cleft in the mountain, but they could not make their way along it, as the sides of the ravine appeared to rise in almost per- pendicular precipices. It was the Little Berg river, and through the winding gorge the railway to the interior passes to-day, but when in 1658 Europeans first looked into its deep recesses it seemed to defy an entrance. The travellers kept on their course along the great bar- rier, but no pathway opened to the regions beyond. Then 'Wi^. 76 History of South Africa. [1658 dysentery attacked some of them, probably brought on by fatigue, and they were compelled to retrace their steps. Near the Little Berg river they halted and formed a tem- porary camp, while the surveyor Potter with three Nether- landers and the two Hottentots attempted to cross the range. It may have been at the very spot known a hundred years later as the Boodezand pass, and at any rate it was not far from it that Potter and his little band toiled wearily up the heights, and were rewarded by being the first of Christian blood to look down into the secluded dell now called the Tulbagh basin. Standing on the summit of the range, their view extended away for an immense distance along the valley of the Breede river, but it was a desolate scene that met their gaze. Under the glowing sun the ground lay bare of verdure, and in all that wide expanse which to-day is dotted thickly with cornfields and groves and homesteads, there was then no sign of human life. It was only necessary to run the eye over it to be assured that the expedition was a failure in that direction. And so they returned to their companions and resumed the homeward march. The increasing weakness of some of the party caused them frequently to halt, but now they came across some small encampments of Grigriquas, and managed to obtain a few oxen and sheep in barter. One man died, and another could hardly bear to be carried along for a day or two, when he followed his companion to the grave. The night before they reached the fort they were all sitting down partaking of the last ration of bread, when without any warning an enormous lion sprang upon one of them. Sergeant Van Harwarden fortunately had his firelock at his side, and raising the piece he presented the muzzle to the lion's forehead and instantly shot him dead. The man upon whom the beast sprang saved his life, but lost his right arm. Such were some of the perils attending exploration in those days. Previous to the year 1658 the only slaves in the settle- \ 1 i658] Jan van Riebeek. 77 ment were some ten or twelve individuals, brought from Batavia and Madagascar. But as labourers were now urgently needed, the Company sent out the yachts Hasselt and Maria to endeavour to obtain some negros on the west coast of Africa. These two vessels cruised for some time off St. Paul de Loanda, in hope of obtaining a Portu- guese prize, and when that scheme failed the Maria came to the Cape, and the Hasselt sailed to the gulf of Guinea. In the meantime, on the 28th of March, the Indiaman Amersfoort arrived in Table Bay with one hundred and seventy negros. On the passage from Holland, she had fallen in with a Portuguese ship bound from Angola to L Brazil, with more than five hundred captives on board. iThe ship was old, and upon examination it was found that tshe could not be brought to the Cape. The officers of the Indiaman, therefore, permitted her to proceed on her voyage, aftei they had selected and removed to their own vessel two hundred and fifty of the most valuable slaves, including all the big boys and girls. Of these, eighty died before the Amersfoort reached Table Bay, and the remaining hun- dred and seventy were landed in a miserable condition. A few weeks later the Hasselt arrived with two hun- dred and twenty-eight slaves, out of two hundred and seventy-one which her officers had purchased at Popo, the remainder having died on the passage. The number at the Cape was now greater than was considered necessary, and one hundred and seventy-two were sent to Batavia. Of those that were left, eighty-nine were sold on credit to the burghers at prices ranging from 4Z. 3s. 4i. to 81. 6s. 8d. each, and the Company retained the remainder in its own service. One of the first regulations concerning them was that they were to be taught the doctrines of Christianity. On the 17th of April a school for their instruction was opened by the commander's brother-in-law, Pieter van der Stael, who in 1656 had succeeded Willem Barents Wylant ae sick-comforter of the settlement. To all of them pronounce- 78 History of South Africa. [1658 able names were given, and they were then sent to school for a short time every day. The reward of diligence which was held out was not exactly in accordance with modern ideas, for it consisted of a glass of brandy and a little tobacco. For some days after the opening of the school the commander himself attended, for the purpose of seeing that everything was conducted in strict order. He has left on record that the prize offered was observed to stimu- late the pupils to application. As to their food, it consisted principally of seabirds and seals* flesh. Mr. Van Eiebeek's testimony is that they were very fond of seals' meat, and there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the statement. It was procured in large quantities from Saldanha Bay. Four burghers, named Thomas Christoifel Muller, Jurien Appel,^ Joachim Elberts, and Gerrit Harmanssen, took out free papers upon condition of becoming coast traders. They purchased a large boat from the Company, with which they plied between Saldanha Bay, Dassen Island, and Table Bay, bringing eggs, fish, oil, seals' skins, salted birds, and dried seals' flesh for dis- posal. They had liberty to sell freely to any one who chose to purchase, at the highest price which they could obtain^ and the surplus was delivered to the Company at fixed rates, — the seals' flesh at 45. 2c2. the hundred pounds. The captives were subject to the caprice of their owners, though regulations were issued to protect them against gross ill-usage. But whether treated well or ill, the natives of Guinea and Angola could not be reconciled to a state of slavery at the Cape, and as soon as they recovered from the effects of the sea voyage they commenced to run away. They knew that their own country was somewhere to the north, and in that direction they set their faces. Their desertion caused no little alarm among the burghers, who had purchased them upon credit, and who now saw no hope of freeing themselves of debt. They at once jumped to the conclusion that the Hottentots — a good many of 1 Descendants now in South Africa. / ' 1658] Jan van Riebeek. 79 I whom were then in the neighbourhood — were enticing the slaves from service, an opinion which was shared by Mr. Van Eiebeek. Some Hottentot women, he observed, had often been detected giving them trifling presents of food, the object of which must have been to induce them to desert, and doubtless the Kaapmans were disposing of them by sale to people living farther inland. A few weeks before this the burgher Hendrik Boom had lost seven head of cattle, which had either strayed away or been stolen from the pasture in open daylight. Old Gogosoa, the fat captain of the Kaapmans, happened at the time to be vdthin reach, and Jan Keyniers vdth some other friends of Boom immediately arrested him and de- clared they would keep him in custody until the cattle were brought back. This bold act at first alarjied the com- mander, who feared that it would create enmity far and wide, but no other consequence seemed to follow than that the whole Kaapman clan instantly set about searching for the lost cattle, so that they were recovered within a few hours. Upon the desertion of the slaves, the principal burghers came to the fort and urged the commander to adopt the same course to insure their restitution. Thereupon Mr. Van Eiebeek called together a council, consisting of the senior merchant Willem Bastink, of the ship 'Prins Willem, the secunde Boelof de Man, and the sergeant Jan van Har- warden, when it was resolved to seize the son and heir of Gogosoa, who was called Osingkima by the Hottentots and Schacher by the Dutch, his brother Otegno alias Pieter, and another named Osaoa. These persons were sitting in the courtyard of the fort, unsuspicious of any danger, when they were arrested and conducted to the surgeon's kitchen, where a guard was placed over them. It was then an- nounced that the prisoners would be kept in confinement until the runaway slaves were brought back. Next morning, Sunday the 23rd of June, there was much excitement among the Hottentots near the fort, and matters 8o History of South Africa. [1658 seemed so perplexing that the commancler called the council together again. As soon as it assembled, came the inter- preter Doman with the simple face, and tendered his advice. This individual had recently returned from Batavia, where he had picked up more knowledge than the commander at first was disposed to give him credit for. However, he came back apparently as much attached to the Europeans as before, and even requested to be called Anthony, so that he might have a name like a Hollander. He now recom- mended the seizure and detention of Jan Cou, one of the chief men among the beachraugers, in order that they as well as the Eaapmans might be compelled to go in search of the fugitive slaves. No one suspected the beachraugers of having had anything to do with their disappearance, still it was resolved to have Jan Cou arrested, that all men might see that the council did not favour one clan more than another. No time was lost in carrying out the resolu- tion, for Jan Cou, who was with his people in the court- yard, was immediately seized and confined with the others. A strange scene then took place in the council chamber. Eva presented herself, and passionately protested that the beachrangers were innocent of crime, but she accused the Kaapmans of all manner of roguery. Doman retorted, and repeated an old story of Jan Cou having stolen fourteen of the Company's sheep, besides bringing to remembrance the murder of David Janssen and the robbery of the cattle five years previously. Each abused the other and the clan to which the other belonged. Then Harry entered and informed the commander that the prisoner Schacher wished one of the principal men of the Gorachouquas also to be seized, so that all three of the clans might be interested in the restoration of the runaway slaves. The council at once resolved that the leading men of the Gorachouquas should be enticed into the fort with fair words, and that the chief should then be seized and confined with the others. This resolution could not be carried into effect, however, i6s8] Jan van Riebeek. 8i md led be ked at luas that Ithe Iver, for as soon as the detention of Jan Cou became known the Gorachouquas fled from the neighbourhood. The Eaapmans and beaohrangers scoured the country in search of the slaves, but only succeeded in recovering two of them. Three others returned of their own accord, having been compelled by hunger to give up their hope of freedom. Then the Hottentots abandoned the pursuit, and reported that they could do nothing more. On the 3rd of July the council met again, and as the position of a£fairs was critical, two officers of ships in the bay were invited to assist in the deliberations. All were by this time convinced that the Hottentots had nothing to do with the desertion of the slaves. It was believed that the Gorachouquas, who had fled inland, would cause mis- chief, r.nd that the seizure of Schacher, becoming gener- ally known throughout the country, would deter others from bringing cattle to the fort for sale. The prisoners were becoming desperate, for they feared that they would be put to death. They made an offer to purchase their liberty with cattle, and gave it as their opinion that Harry was the proper person to be kept in prison. Then the misdeeds of the old interpreter were all gone over, and it was asserted that the stock in his possession belonged of right to the honourable Company, having been purchased with goods entrusted to his care. It was resolved to entice him into the fort with fair words, to seize him, and then to take possession of his cattle, which were grazing near the old redoubt. An hour later Harry was in prison with the others, and Sergeant Jan van Harwarden, with a party of soldiers, was on the way to Salt Kiver. That evening the council was hastily called together again, for it was feared that the Hottentots would attack the settlement. Sergeant Van Harwarden, upon reaching Harry's kraal, had found the natives hostile, assagais had been hurled at him, and before the cattle could be driven away one Hottentot was shot dead and another was wounded. VOL. I. 6 82 History of South Africa. [1658 The sergeant succeeded in bringing in one hundred and ten head of horned cattle and two hundred and sixty sheep, but it was feared that the natives would retaliate upon the farmers. There were then only ninety-seven European men, all told, resident at the Cape, and twenty of these were invalids who had been left behind by the last fleet. It was therefore resolved to land from the Trins Willem without delay twenty soldiers with a thou- sand pounds of gunpowder and two hundred hand grenades, and to mount two pieces of artillery upon the redoubt Koren- hoop, which had recently been built to protect the grounds of the farmers at Eondebosch. The burghers were also to be armed, and any one who did not possess a gun was to apply for such a weapon at once under penalty of being fined eight shillings and four pence. The next morning Pieter Otegno was released and sent with a friendly message to Gogosoa, requesting him to come to the fort and make an imperishable alliance, as the commander was disposed to settle all differences between them amicably. The chief of the Kaapmans with fourteen of the leading men of the clan returned with the messenger, and stated that on their part they were most anxious for peace. This being the case on both sides, the terms of a treaty were arranged without any difficulty. The clauses were in substance as follow : — Past offences on both sides were to be forgotten. In future, offenders on each side were to be punished by their own countrymen. The Kaapmans were to move to the east of the Salt and Liesbeek rivers, and to leave the pasture on the Cape side for the use of the Dutch. But if they were attacked by enemies they were to be at liberty to remove to the back of the Lion's head, where they would be under the protection of the Europeans. The Kaapmans were to see that their cattle did not trespass upon the cultivated grounds of the Company or of the burghers. " .' < i6s8] Jan van Riebeek. 83 ( not ly or The Eaapmans agreed to do their utmost to fecover fugitive slaves, and for each slave brought back they were to receive as much copper and tobacco as for the purchase of an ox. The Kaapmans were not to prevent other Hottentots from coming to the fort to trade. The Eaapmans agreed to sell for copper and tobacco ten head of horned cattle and ten sheep for every large ship that arrived, five of each for every small ship, and two of each every Sunday for the garrison. One of the Eaapmans with the interpreter Doman should go on board every ship that arrived, and there should be given to him two sacks of bread or rice, two or three pieces of pork, and a small keg of brandy. These terms having been agreed to, Schacher and Osaoa were released from confinement, when to ratify the treaty the Eaapmans presented the commander with ten cows and nine sheep, and received from him liberal gifts in return. The beachrangers desired to make terms of peace at the same time, but the council declined their proposals. Doman and others of his clan were inveterate in their animosity against these people, and, acting upon their advice, the coun- cil finally resolved to transport Harry to Eobben Island and detain him there. With him were sent two others, named Ehamy alias Jan Cou, and Boubo alias Simon, who were informed that they would be kept upon the island until the murderers of David Janssen were surrendered by their clan, when they would be released. After a detention of about two months, however, these last were restored to liberty, upon the urgent solicitation of their friends. As for Harry, he remained upon the island, no one excepting Eva pleading for him. He might have had his wives and children with him if he wished, but he preferred to be without them. In the meantime the slaves, the original cause of all thia trouble, continued to desert from service. Some were re- covered by the Hottentots, but many made good their MUtory of South Africa. [1658 esoftpJ, probftbly to die ifl the wilderness. The burghers were ktept in 8iich a statf "' anxiety that at length many brought back those they had purchased, and requester the commander i< take them off their hands. They preferred, they said, to employ onlv such Europeans as the Company m(;ho8e to release for thai ^)urpose, rather than be worried jfby slaves. Finally the council resolved to place all the |»males except infants and very old men in chains, as the I X)iily means of keeping them in service. For some months after the settlement of the difficulty with the Kaapmans, matters went on smoothly between the Europeans and the natives. They did not come muoh in contact with each other. Gogosoa and his people kepL at a distance, and so evaded the fulfilment of the clause concerning the sale of cattle. The Gorachouquas avoided the neighbourhood of the fort, and only the beachrangers, who were few in number, remained. They were permitted to make a kraal at the foot of the Lion's head, and there they lived in a miserable manner. Sometimes they were induced to collect a little firewood in return for brandy and tobacco, but no otbei reward was tempting enough to overcome their aversion to labour. Occasionally a party belonging to one of the inland clans brought a few cattle for sale, but the number of oxen so obtained was insufficient to meet the needs of the Com- pany. In October a large and powerful clan of the Cocho- qua migrated to within a few hours' journey from the fort, when it was resolved to open up a trade with them. This resolution was carried into effect through the instrumen- tality of Eva, one of whose sisters was a ^''^e of Oedasoa, chief of the Cochoquas. The Hottentot gin acttc" yo faith- fully in the interests of the Europeans tJ '• j ' .r- supply of cattle was obtained in barter, and the Cochoquas were brought to regard the Dutch with great favour. There was ' perpetual feud between them and the Kaapmans. Eva v;\ *: d the clan on several occasions, the first time alone, <y the county authorities. A dozen regulations of as despotic a nature as any enforced in South Africa could probably be selected from the records of the freest country in T^iurope. h^arly in 1662 the ancient ieud between the Cape clans and the Cochoquas under the chief Oedasoa, which had been dormant for a short time, was revived, when the Cape clans drove "-heir cattle as close as they could to the European settlement, and sent messengers to the commander to im- plore his protection. Hereupon Mr. Van Riebeek with a small guard rode out to see for himself how matters stood, and just beyond Wynberg found four kraals containing in all one hundred and four huts, occupied by fully two thousand Goringhaiquas and Gorachouquas. The commander dis- mounted and sat down under a screen which the natives hasitily made by planting poles in the ground and spreading a mat upon them. The chiefs then informed him that from Oedasoa they did not expect mercy, that unless they could fall back upon the mountains they were unable to defend themselves, and as the Europeans now held those mountains they thought they were entitled to protection. Mr. Van Riebeek replied that if they would undertake to deliver ten head of horned cattle and ten sheep for every vessel that entered the bay he would take them under the guardianship of the honourable Company. The chiefs requested the commander to allow them to consult with their people about this important matter, and asked him to remain till the consultation was over. This being agreed to, an old man was sent round to call the sages together. They met, and under the presi- dency of Choro discussed the question for fully four hours, when a small committee of the leading men went apart and finally arranged an answer for the commander. This was, that it would be impossible for them to dispose of so many cattle without des^.iroying their breeding stock, but they were willing to sell all that could be spared, without, however, [i662 1662] Jan van Riebeek. 119 binding themselves to any number. Mr. Van Kiebeek tried to persuade them that by his plan they could easily enrich themselves through barter with their countrymen inland, but his reasonings were of no avail. Finding that his terms would not be agreed to, he at last left the Hottentot encamp- ment, after informing the chiefs that as the grass was then becoming scarce in that neighbourhood they must at once move away. Yet at that moment Mr. Van Riebeek had no intention of leaving the Goringhaiquas and the Gorachouquas to the mercy of the Cochoquas. He says that although Oedasoa was the friend and ally of the honourable Company, he was so powerful that it would not be judicious to allow him to destroy the others and to become the immediate neighbour of the settlement. In that case he would probably soon become troublesome, and would certainly prevent intercourse between the fort and the tribes inland. The commander chose therefore to watch the course of events and to main- tain the balance of power. On the morning after the con- ference Gogosoa and Choro with Harrj and a troop of followers, in hope of appeasing him, brought fourteen oxen and eleven sheep for «ale, when they were liberally enter- tained and given to understand that the Europeans were friendly to them, though no promise of protection by means of arms would be made. The vision of obtaining control over rich gold mines and stores of ivory if possession were taken of the eastern coast of Africa, which had dazzled the Company in the early years of its existence, was still floating before the eyes f f the directors in Holland. At this time they were preparing a fleet to attack Mozambique, and orders were sent out to the Cape to detain two handred and fifty soldiers from homeward bound ships and to hold this force in readiness to embark upon the arrival of the expedition. In April the soldiers were landed, and were placed under command of Lieiioen- ant Fran9ois TuUeken, who, during the short period of his residence here, took military precedence of Sergeant Everaert. T I 20 History of South Africa. [1662 The accounts of the con^ tion of the aettlement given verbally to the directors by the skippers of their vessels did not always accord with the despatches prepared by Mi. Van Eiebeek. There was a tendency on the part of the commander to overrate the advantages of the Cape station, and a tendency on the part of the skippers to underrate them. It was, said the commander, a plar;e abounding with fresh meat and vegetables, and having a certainty immediately before it of an equally plentiful supply of fruit. It was, said the skippers, the dreariest place in the world, where the meat was so tough and lean that they could hardly eat it, and where often the ships were straining and chafing their cables half the time of their stay, riding in a heavy sea with a furious gale blowing. It was, said the commander, a place with many conveniences and comforts for the officers and sailors whenever they wanted to take a run ashore. It was, said the skippers, a place where the town burghers obtained a living by keeping lodging houses and brandy shops, and selling poultry and eggs, without having the fear of God before their eyes when making charges, but as for such comforts as could be procured in the smallest village of Europe or India, they were entirely wanting. On board every return fleet some of the garrison or freemen managed to secrete themselves, and these run- aways, upon arriving in the fatherland, naturally supported the statements of the skippers. The directors called the commander's attention to the complaints of the skippers, which, they observed, they were inclined to believe must rest upon a good foundation, as in one instance beyond dispute he had misled them. He had often held out prospects of the Cape being able to furnish its own food, and still the Company was compelled to import rice. Most certainly this charge was unjust, for the imported rice was a very small item to be placed as a set-off against the supplies of provisions to the fleets. But the belief had come to be general in the fatherland that the resources of the Cape were by no means so great as [i662 t given vessels by Mi. of the station, iderrate aunding ertainty of fruit. 3 world, y could ing and [ding in said the jomforts to take acre the 5 houses vsdthout making jured in entirely garrison 3se run- ipported to the ey were tion, as m. He able to mpelled ust, for ed as a 8. But id that Teat as 1662I Jan van Riebeek. 121 Mr. Van Eiebeek was constantly representing. Strict orders were therefore sent out that no more men were to be released from service to become town burghers. We do not see, said the directors, of what advantage they are in a country that does no raise its own food. Farmers are needed first of all. Mr. Van Biebeek had long been anxious for removal from South Africa. He had a high opinion of his own abilities, and believed that he deserved promotion. Further advancement here being impossible, he had more than once requested an appointment in India, though he always added that he was content to abide by the decision of his superiors. In 1660 the directors resolved upon his removal, and appointed Mr. Gerrit van Harn as his successor, with- out intimating their intentions regarding himself further than that he was to proceed to Batavia and there receive instructions. Mr. Van Harn sailed from Texel in the Waipen van Holland, a first-class Indiaman of which David Coninck, formerly of the Dromedaris, was then skipper. Soon after leaving home sickness broke out among the crew, and before they had been many weeks at sea the ship was like a hospital. Twenty-five corpses had already been com- mitted to the deep, when, on the 17th of March 1661, Mr. Van Him died. As soon as intelligence of the decease of the commander designate reached Batavia, the council of India appointed in his stead Mr. Zacharias Wagenaar, who was then serv- ing as a merchant in the Company's service, and with the first return ship Mr. Van Eiebeek was apprised that he might shortly expect his successor. He received the an- nouncement with satisfaction, for his arrangements to leave South Africa had been sometime made. His two sons had been sent to the Latin school at Kotterdam to receive their education. His farm had been handed over to the council as representing the honourable Company, and it had been arranged that the next commissioner who should 'm 122 History of South Africa. [1662 call at the Cape should appraise the amount to be allowed him for improvements. On this farm a good deal of labour must have been bestowed, for there were then growing upon it one thousand one hundred and sixty-two young orange, lemon, and citron trees, ten banana plants, two olive, three walnut, five apple, two pear, nineteen plum, and forty-one other fruit trees, besides some thousands of vines.* ' A list of the successive owDers of this estate and the sums paid for it will show the value of land ad property in the Cape peninsula at different periods. Unlike nearly eve.*y other plot of ground originally given out in this part of the colony, Mr. Van Riebeek's farm has never been sub- divided, but remains intact to the j, resent day, v^ith the same boundaries as were assigned to it in 1658. The council was of opinion that it would make a good garden for the use of the Company, and agreed to keep it for that purpose; but the directors decided against this arrangement, and issued instructions that it should be sold by public auction for Mr. Van Riebeek's benefit. It was purchased by Jacob Rosendaal for llOZ., to be paid in yearly instalments extending over a long period. The next person who is found in possession of it is Tobias ISIarquart, but what he gave for it cannot be ascertained, as there was no registry of deeds before 1686, and no mention is made of the transaction elsewhere. In 1686 titles were issued to the individuals who were then in possession of estates, and an accurate record of transfers began to be kept. In Marquart's title it ist stated that the ground was the same hundred and one morgen that had been first granted to Mr. Van Riebeek, and it is termed Boschheuvel, but no particulars are given as to when or how it came into his possession. In August 1690 Comelis Linnes purchased it from the executors of Mar- quart's estate for 437/., and in June 1691 he sold it to Willem Heems for 5002. The next purchaser was also named Willem Heems, who in July 1726 bought it for 9202. from the estate of the heirs of the former pro- prietor. In February 1758 Jacob van Reenen bought it from the heirs of Heems for 2672., and in September of the same year sold it to Jacob Neethling for 4002. In February 1773 Jan Roep bought it from Neethling for the same sum that the latter had paid for it, and in May 1783 he sold it to Pieter Henkes for 2,2672. In June 1804 Henkes sold it to Justus Eeer for 2,8672., and in August 1805 Keer sold it to Honoratus Christiaau David Maynier for the same amount, 2,8672. Maynier changed the name of the farm from Boschheuvel to Protea. On the 10th of June 1818 he received from Lord Charles Somerset a grant of seventy-seven morgen and one hundred square roods of waste land adjoining the old estate, at a yearly quitrent of 12. lis. 6d., and in subsequent transfers this ground was included. After his death his widow became insolvent, and under an order of the supreme court the property was sold at public auction on the V [i66a 1662] Jan van Riebeek. 123 On the 2nd of April 1662 Mr. Wagenaar arrived at the Cape, having come from Batavia in the capacity of com- modore of the two ships Angelier and Ojevaer, which formed part of the return fle>it of 1662 under command of Arnold de Vlaming, ordinary councilloi of India. Three other ships of the same fleet, with Joan van der Laen as com- modore, were already lying at the rendezvous in Table Bay. There were four others still behind, one of which was afterwards known to have gone down at sea in a gale, and the remaining three were never again heard of. Mr. Wagenaar was warmly welcomed upon landing, but the reins of government were not handed over to him before the 6th of May. On the afternoon of that day the freemen were all assembled at the fort, where the gar.ison was drawn up under arms before a temporary platform. The ceremony of inducting the new commander was very simple. Hendrik Lacus, the secretary, read the commission of the governor-general and council of India, the troops presented arms, the secunde Eoelof de Man, the lieutenant Fran9ois Tulleken, the fiscal Abraham Gabbema, and the minor officers of the government engaged to support the authority of the new commander, the freemen repeated a formula promising obedience to his lawful orders, and the whole ceremony was over. On the 7th Mr. Van Eiebeek with his family embarked in the Mars, and early on the following morning he sailed for Batavia. He had governed the settlement ten years and one month. A lengthy document which by order of the directors he drew up for the use of his successor con- tains a statement of the condition of the infant colony, 3rd of May 1836. It was purchased by Andries Brink, who received transfer on the 14th of March 1837. Brink sold it to Honoratus Christiaan David Maynier, a grandson of the former proprietor, and transfer was passed on the 23rd of August 1842. This Maynier sold it in June 1851 to the trustees of the colonial bishopric fund — one of tliem being the right honourable William Ewart Gladstone — for 3,100?. Since that time the bishop of the English church has resided on the estate. ill If- ii 124 History of South Africa. [i66« ii ' i'l remarks upon planting at various seasons of the year, an account of all the Hottentot clans that were then known, and a great deal of hearsay information, much of which was afterwards discovered to be inaccurate. The settlement was then in a fairly prosperous con- dition. The Javanese horses had increased to over forty, old and young, so that a body of eighteen mounted men could be kept patrolling the border. The hedge was grow- ing well, and promised in the course of three or four years to be so high and thick that nothing could be driven through it, consequently from the Hottentots there was- little or no cause to fear trouble. Of horned cattle, sheep, and pigs, there was a good stock on hand. Every farmer had at least twelve working oxen and six cows, every one whose wife had arrived from Europe had at least twelve cows, and as they were permitted to exchange any inferior animals for the best that the Company purchased from: the natives, their stock was the choicest in the country,. Each had his little freehold farm marked out, and beyond the agricultural lands the whole open country was common pasture. The directors had reproved Mr. Van Kiebeek for the severity of his regulations, and by their order many re- strictions upon trade had been removed. The farmers could not legally purchase cattle from the natives, they could not legally sell a muid of wheat, an ox, or a sheep, except to the Company, but they could dispose of anything, else freely, even to the master of a foreign vessel, at the best price which they could obtain. The town burghers^ were dependent upon strangers for their living. During the decade 1652-1661 twenty-five of the Company's ships on an average put into Table Bay yearly. One with another, there were on board each of these ships about two hundred men, so that every twelvemonth there were five thousand visitors, remaining usually ten or twelve days. In addition to these, during the period of Mr. Van Eiebaek's government seventeen English and six French. J i662] Jan van Riebeek. 125 ships dropped anchor in Table Bay, and their crews were customers foe many articles which the freemen had for sale. It is true that foreign ships were not encouraged by the government to make this a port of call, but it is no less true that in none of the colonial possessions of England or France were Dutch seamen better treated at that time than English and French seamen were treated here. That was an age in which foreigners had nowhere the same commercial privileges as the owners of a country. At the Cape the government would sell them nothing, but they had the use of all the lodging-houses and taverns, they could purchase vegetables, pigs, and poultry from the burghers, and in some instances at least the authorities closed their eyes to sales of cattle. The instructions of the directors were to give the burghers a helping hand, not to enforce harsh regulations when unnecessary. It was fre- quently considered unnecessary to enforce the regulations against the sale of cattle, if the Company was fully supplied and a foreigner offered a high price to a burgher. This mode of procuring a livelihood was somewhat precarious, and was adapted to form a class of petty traders not over scrupulous in their transactions, rather than such a body of colonists as the Company was desir- ous of establishing at the Cape. Mr. Van Riebeek re- ported that many of them were doing so well that they were never seen with their shirt sleeves rolled up, but only a few years later another commander stated that some were in extreme poverty. Both were right. When Mr. Van Riebeek left South Africa he antici- pated great profit from the cultivation of a particular plant. That plant was the olive. Nowhere in the world could there be a finer specimen of a young olive tree than on the farm which had once been his. In the preceding year it had been overloaded with fruit, which had ripened well, and now he had hundreds of young trees ready for trans- planting in July and August. Yet to the present day it '§t' 126 History of South Africa. [i66a is an open question whether the olive can be cultivated with profit in South Africa. Among matters to which Mr. Van Riebeek directed his successor's attention were the taming of young ostriches and the stocking of the islands in Saldanha Bay with rabbits. On several occasions tame ostriches had been sent to the Indien, where they had proved acceptable presents to native potentates, and it was for this purpose alone that they were needed. Their feathers were saleable, but it does rot seem to have occurred to \ y one in those days that it would pay to tame the bird for the sake of its plumage. The object of stocking the islands in Saldanha Bay with rabbits was to increase the food supply there for the crew of any ship that might arrive in distress. These animals were already swarming on RobLen Island, but it was noticed that a species of snake, harmless to men, had of late so greatly multiplied that the rabbits would likely not increase further. The native clans that were known in 1662 were the Goringhaikonas, the Goringhaiquas, and the Gorachouquas, inhabiting the country in the immediate vicinity of the fort ; the Cochoquas, in two divisions under the chiefs Oedasoa and Gonnema, and the Little Grigriquas, occupying the country along the coast from the neighbourhood of the Cape to the Elephant river ; the Namaquas and the Great Grigriquas, north of the Elephant river ; and the Chainou- quas, to the east of the Cochoquas. Altogether, these well- known clans were supposed to number from forty-five to fifty thousand souls.^ Scattered over the whole country, f il 'llil 'I have arrived at this estimate, not from any single statement of Mr. Van Riebeek, but from observations scattered throughout his writings. Where he has given only the number of fighting men in a clan, I have multiplied that number by five to represent the total of men, women, and children. In two instances he has given no information further than say- ing the clans were about as strong as some others which he had previously named. The spelling of these tribal names is that generally, though by no means uniformly, employed in the early records. The letters g and ch were in those days used for each other apparently at the pleasure of [663] Jan van Riebeek. 127 i wherever it had been explored, were a few diminutive Bush- men living by plunder and the chase, but of their number the commander did not venture to give an estimate. The Hessequas, whose pastures were next to the east- ward of the Chainouquas, had sent a messenger to the fort to ascertain all that he could of the strangers who had come from over the sea and made themselves homes at the end of the land. But of the Hessequas only the name was known. Mr. Van Riebeek had heard of the Hancumquas, whose chief, called Choebaha, was believed by him to be the head of all the Hottentot race, of the Chamaquas, the Omaquas, the Attaquas, the Houteniquas, and the Chauquas, but he had never seen any oiie be- longing to any of these clans. The boundary of the Chauquas he believed to be the great river on whicV Vigiti Magna was built, and beyond that stream "'e thought an entirely different peopi' from the F:,'^'nitot8 would be found. These he called the Chobon s. They wore clothing, dwelt in substantial houses, were in pos- session of gold and jewels, — in short, were the civilised people of Monomotapa. Besides all these, Mr. Van Rie- beek had been told of amazons, of cannibals with hair so long that it reached the ground, and of a race that tamed lions and used them in war; but of their exact place of abode he professed himself ignorant. Within the last three years several farmers had taken out free papers, but though each man's ground was sur- veyed, a neat chart of it framed, anu x^ title deed issued every writer, e.g., Gorachouquas, Chorachouquas, dag, dach. etc. Tribal names given in the text, and also the names of individuals, must be taken to represent the closest approximation to the sounds as spoken by Hotten- tots, which could be written in the letters of the Dutch alphabet. That these words contained clicks, which could not be represented by Mr. Van Riebeek and the early secretaries, is certain. It would doubtless be of advantage to an ethnologist if they were written in all instances in their correct Hottentot form, but as in that case they would be utterly un- pronounceable by English tongue, in a book such as this it seems prefer- able to retain the Dutch spelling. I il % .11.1 1 W J ■ 128 History of South Africa. [1662 as soon as the terms of occupation were completed, the most methodical of all governments — the government which has left detailed information concerning every ship that entered the bay — neglected by some unaccountable oversight to keep an accurate record of its land grants. This is not, however, a matter of any great importance, as out of all those who became burghers at this time, only three men remained and left descendants behind them in South Africa. Those three were Willem van der Merwe, Hans Eas, and Pieter van der Westhuizen, ancestors of colonial families now widely spread. The character of the first commander of the colony is delineated in the thousands of pages of manuscript which he left behind. A more dutiful servant no government ever had, for he endeavoured to the utmost to carry out in spirit and in letter the instructions which were given him. He was sanguine in temperament, energetic in action. So active was he that he accomplished, in addition to all his other duties, more mere writing than any ordinary clerk would care to undertake. On the other hand, his judgment was weak, and his ideas of justice were often obscured by the one object ever present in his mind, — the gain of the honourable Company. He was inclined to be tyrannical, and, as is not unusual with men who rise above the rank in which they are born, he treated with contempt the class from which he sprang whenever he cculd do so with impunity. He was religi- ous after the fashion of his day, but his religion did not prevent him from acting falsely and treacherously when- ever there was any immediate gain to the Company to be made by a falsehood or a treacherous act. Perhaps this was rather a vice of the age than of the man. He, at any rate, did not regard it as a vice at all, for he recorded with the utmost simplicity how on one occasion he sent a false message, on another made a pro- mise with no intention of fulfilling it, on a third entrapped a Hottentot by means of fair words. Nor did any of the ji u [1662 ipleted, the ment which ■ ship that le oversight s. This is ice, as out time, only id them in 3er Merwe, ncestors of 5 colony is ript which [ovemment carry out \iveie given 3 in action, tion to all r ordinary and his )bject ever Company. >t unusual are born, he sprang i^as religi- a did not jly when- j,ny to be 1662] yan van Riebeek. 129 ^directors, or commissioners, or Indian authorities, ever pen a line of censure on account of such doings. In addition to these remarks upon the most prominent features of his character, it may be added that the first commander was a man of no great delicacy of feeling, and that in refine- ment of mind he compared unfavourably with most of his successors. — ->^-'' After his arrival in Batavia, Mr. Van Biebeek was ap- pointed head of the Company's establishment at Malacca, which post he filled until 1665. Subsequently he became secretary^ of the council of India, and remained in that situation for many years, but never had a voice in the \ debates or proceedings. m of the ce at all, on one le a pro- ntrapped y of the VOL. I. I30 CHAPTEE V. ZAOHARUS WAGENAAR, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 6th MAY 1662, RETIRED 27th SEPTEMBER 1666. Commander Wagenaar was a man whose habits and dis- position formed a striking contrast with those of his pre- decessor. Mr. Van Biebeek was a little man of restless energy and fiery temper, who got into a passion whenever he fancied a shght was offered to his dignity. His con- temporaries called him ' the little thomback ' (de luttel rogh), and the nickname was decidedly appropriate. Mr. Wagenaar, on the contrary, was an elderly man of grave demeanour, who never allowed a passion to disturb him. He possessed no ability, either mental or physical, natural or acquired, in any high degree. He was dull, impassive, averse to exertion. If he had over been ambitious of fame or rank, the feeling had died before he came to South Africa. He was not, however, without considerable experience in the management of business, and he had once filled a post as important as that of head of the Company's fac- tories in Japan. Long residence in different parts of India had shattered his health, and at times he was laid up for weed's together, unable to do anything beyond at- taching his signature to official documents. There was no fear of such a man pushing the settlement forward too rapidly, as some of the commissioners thought Mr. Van Eiebeek had been doing. Rather, he was one under whom it was unlikely that any expense not specially authorised by superior authority would be incurred. The ,J0 i662] Zacharias Wagenaar. 131 ra MAY 1662, its and dis- of his pre- of restless Q whenever His con- (de luttel priate. Mr. m of grave sturb him. cal, natural impassive, ubitious of le came to experience ice filled a mny's fac- parts of le was laid jeyond at- ?here was brward too Mr. Van one under specially rred. The only relatives who accompanied him to the Cape were his wife and a widowed daughter-in-law. Shortly after his assumption of office, deputations from the various Hottentot clans with which his predecessor had been acquainted waited upon him to ascertain if the relationship in which the Europeans stood towards them was likely to continue as before. They were received with every mark of kindness, were hberally entertained, and were assured that the commander desired nothing more than that the firm friendship between the two races should be unbroken. Sufficient merchandise would con- stantly be kept on hand, that when they brought cattle for sale all their wants could be supplied. The first council over which Mr. Wagenaar presided renewed the regulations forbidding every one from molest- ing or insulting a Hottentot. The Cape clans were de- clared to hav^ a perfect right to come and go where and when they chose, the only exception being that within the boimdaries of the settlement they were required to keep to the recognised thoroughfares. When the rainy season was over, the commander re- solved to visit the Cochoquas in person, as by so doing he thought they would be flattered and very likely could be induced to sell cattle more freely. A fleet was then expected for which a large supply was requisite, and as the encampments of Oedasoa and Gonnema were within a day's ride of the fort the enterprise did not seem very formidable. Mr. Wagenaar took Eva with him to act as interpreter, and ten horsemen and twelve foot soldiers as a guard. He was absent from his quarters eight days, and his observations show that these were days of little enjoyment. At the Hottentot kraals he found no one from the chiefs down to the poorest individuals ashamed to beg. From small and great there was an unceasing request for tobacco and brandy as long as he had any to give. It is true, the chiefs made him presents of cattle and sheep, IHI m :):;! 132 History of South Africa. [1662 '4 ir I tfn ; and offered abundance of such food as they had, but they looked for ample gifts in return. As for the milk, it was served in such filthy utensils that he could not touch it, and he was therefore in doubt whether he had not offended them. His only satisfaction arose from the fact that his people were getting together a good flock of sheep by barter. For this purpose he remained at each of the kraals a couple of days, but upon the whole his experience of life among the Hottentots left such a dis- agreeable impression upon him that he never again paid them a visit. Soon after his return to the fort a party of Hessequas arrived, bringing with them a goodly herd of cattle for sale. These strangers stated that the country in which they fed their flocks was far away to the eastward, beyond a range of lofty mountains, where no European had ever been. It was a district somewhere between the present villages of Caledon and Swellendam, and the mountain range was the nearest of those seen from the Cape peninsula, or the one which is now crossed by the high road over Sir Lowry's pass. The Hessequas knew of no other people than pas- toral clans like their own in that direction. Mr. Wage- naar did not gain much geographical knowledge from these visitors, nor did he question them very closely after he as- certained that they were ignorant of any place which would correspond with Vigiti Magna. In hope of discovering that long-sought town, thirteen volunteers left the fort on the 21st of October 1662. They were under command of Corporal -?ieter Cruythof, with Pieter van Meerhof as assistant. The party followed up the old northern path until they reached an encampment of the Namaquas deep in the wilderness beyond the Elephant river. This should have been their real starting point, for the country through which they had passed was already well known, but the Namaquas would not permit them to go farther. The clan was at war with its neighbours, and therefore gave the Europeans only the choice of assisting i662] Zacharias Wagenaar. ^2, 1, but they ilk, it was not touch 3 had not Q the fact 1 flock of d at each whole his ich a dis- s-gain paid Hessequas le for sale. \ they fed id a range been. It Ullages of ;e was the yc the one Lowry's than pas- [r. Wage- ram these ter he as- ich would thirteen 2. They lof, with lowed up pment of Elephant Joint, for s already them to ours, and assisting them or of turning back. They chose the last, and thus the expedition was a failure. It was, however, attended by an occurrence which deserves mention. One night as the travellers were sleeping round the.r watchfire a shower of darts was poured upon them by an unseen foe, and four of them were severely wounded. The asuaiUnts were believed to be Bushmen, though who they were could not be positively ascertained, as they fled be- fore the white men recovered from their surprise. Not long after this event the expedition suddenly came upon d Bushman encampment in which were some women and children. Corporal Cruythof hereupon gave orders that these should be put to death, and that all their effects should be destroyed in revenge for the injuries which the Europeans had sustained. But he met with an indignant and unanimous refusal from the volunteers, who stood by Pieter van Meerhof and replied that they would not shed innocent blood. Cruythof was therefore compelled to aban- ( don his atrocious design. Upon the return of the party to the fort, which they reached on the 1st of February 1663, the authorities expressed approval of what under other ciicumstances would have been treated as mutiny, and Cruythof, though he underwent no trial, at once lost favour. Shortly afterwards he committed a trivial offence, of which advantage was taken to degrade him in rank. Being a good soldier he was restored at a later period, and even rose to a higher military position, but he was never again employed in dealings with natives. Towards the close of the year 1662 anof^er expedition, but of a different nature, left the Cape. A fleet of six large ships and a tender, under command of Admiral Hubert de Lairesse, put into Table Bay, where the soldiers who had been waiting some mor^bs were taken on board, and the fleet then left for the purpose of trying to wrest Mozam- bique from the Portuguese. All weiii well until the Lu'- tude of Delagoa Bay was reached. Then stormy weatht- s; was encountered, with a head wind which blew violently .1*1 'm:\ f!'il!S| m in;' :ii; ^ l! ! k 'i f I !^ J 34 History of South Africa. [1663 for nearly two months. The crews at length became ex- 'liusted, scurvy broke out, and the admiral was compelled ^>o seek a place of re&eshment. The ships were put about, and by the following noon were as far south as tbey had been five week? before. They were theu olone to the coast some distance above Delagoa Bay. Ueie (^ood holdinf^ ground was found in a haven or bight, so they !.;t \^: th'^ii' anchors and sent some ir^en ashore to aacartain if any le- fceshments were to be had, In a short time it was Vaown that cattle in plcaty were to be obtained from the natives in excbiinge for iron or other articles of merchandinB v/iuch they had on board. Every one jiow thougat that all woukl yet be wfH for as Boon as the V were assured of refreshment they coxisideifMi tlvdi* tioubJes as past, and anticipated the time when the mv.asuoKi bhould change and permit them to renew their design j%f;ai!\ai; Mozambique. But their joy was of short duration The scurvy had not left them when the fever which is endemic on that coast suddenly made its appear- ance, prostrating Wiiole companies at once. One hundred and fourteen men died within a few days, and half the remainder were laid up when the admiral gave orders to raise the anchors and set sail for Batavia. At this time another effort was made to open com- mercial intercourse between the Cape and the island of Madagascar. By order of the directors a small vessel was fitted out and sent to the bay of St. Augustine, with " trading party and a wooden house ready for putting up, as it was intended to form a permanent establishment there if the prospects should be found at all good. The directors appointed the secunde Koelof de Man head of the expedition, but that faithful and deserving officer died on the 6th of March 1663, before the vessel was ready to sail. The council of policy then selected Joachim Blank, the ablest clerk on the Cape establishment, for the com- mand. In December Blank returned to be Cape with a report of failure. He stated that th \7as very little [i663 1663] Zacharias Wap-^naar. 135 lecame ex- compelled put about, 1 thay had ) the coast >d holdini^T ^t or th«i:r if any le- in plenty [6 for ^roa on board. 'f^W, for aa coxisideted when the new their of short the fever is appear- huudred half the orders to pen corn- island of essel was with •- itting up, )lishment od. The head of icer died ready to a Blank, ihe com- with a jry little trade to be done either at ^'ae bay ot St. Augustine or at other places which he ^.ad visited, as the inhabitants were impoverished by cor.stant wars which they carried on among themselves He had only been able to obtain eight or nine tons of rice and seven slaves. The many failures in the efiforts to find Vigiti Magna by a northern route had not yet caused the Cape authori- ties to try in another direction. Accordingly, the explor- ing expedition of 1663 followed the path of those which had preceded it. The leader was Sergeant Jonas de la Guerre, Fieter van Meerhof was second in command, and there were besides these fourteen European volunteers and three Hottentots. Among the volunteers was a soldier named Hieronymus Cruse,^ who was for many years after- wards a prominent person at the Cape. The instructions given to De la Guerre were that he was to take no part in any native quarrels, but to endeavour to induce the interior clans to make peace with each other and to come to the fort to trade. If the Namaquas should act as they had done towards Cruythof's party, he was first to threaten them with the enmity of the commander, and if that had no efifect he was to march his men forward, when if they attacked him he was to pour a volley of small shot in among them. The sixteen men with firearois in their hands, it was believed, would be more than a match for the Namaqua horde. They had with them a waggon, ^ in which their stores were conveyed as far as the Elephant river, where they ^ Descendants in the female line now in South Africa. ^The Cape tent waggon is nothing more than the waggon in common use in the Low Countries when the first settlers came to South Africa, except that the wheels are somewhat higher. When the first waggon makers set to work in this colony, they modelled axle and schamel, draaiboard and tongue, disselboom and longwaggon, precisely as they had done in the fatherliinc!. The .era and the sand flats necessitated higher wheels, then U.i.t; jouriijys oalied for enlargement of the vehicle, but the model remained oiialtered in all cior respects down to the days of iron axles and patent brakes. i: il s li f 'ti:. i3: il: I ■i • 136 History of South Africa. [1664 took it to pieces and buried it in the ground, together with some provisions. Starting fresh from this point with pack oxen, and having a supply of food in reserve against their return, they had hardly a doubt that they would be able to reach the great river of the map. But the want of water in that arid region destroyed all their hopes. They pushed on bravely, though their sufferings were in- tense, but at length they were compelled either to turn back or to lie down and die. Fainting with thirst they reached the Elephant river again, and found that during their absence their stores had been discovered and removed. The waggon had been burnt, probably for the sake of the iron work. Still the oxen were left, so that they were in no danger of starvation, but they arrived at the fort after an absence of more than three months in a very different condition from that in which they left it. In this year a public work of considerable importance was completed. A water tank one hundred and seventy- eight feet long, fifty feet wide, and from four to five feet deep, was constructed about a stone's throw westward of the fort and near the margin of the bay. It was intended for the convenience of the shipping. Shortly after the establishment of a residency at the Cape, the East India Company had withdrawn its garrison from Mauritius, as that island was not in a good position for a victualling station and nothing of commercial value except ebony and a small quantity of ambergris was pro- curable there. Before they embarked the Dutch turned loose a number of cows, goats, and pigs, which in a few years multiplied into large herds. Mauritius remained un- peopled from this date until 1664, when the directors resolved to take possession of it again, more for the pur- pose of keeping other nations away than for any direct profit which they could draw from it. Just then the French were making strenuous efforts to form settlements in that part of the world. Their king had taken into his own hands the direction of the factories [i664 1664] Zacharias Wagenaar. m together K)int with re against would be the want »ir hopes. were in- • to turn ^ lirst they , ^^j it during .1?.; ;';■ removed. . :'-' ' < ke of the J were in fort after different iportance seventy- five feet tward of n intended y at the garrison position n al value was pro- i turned w Q a few ined un- Jirectors iJHj ;he pur- y direct kforts to cir king factories at Madagascar, an(' that great island seemed likely under his guidance to become a place of importance. Bishop Estienne had at length succeeded in reaching the field upon which his hopes had so long been set, and now with a large staff of ecclesiastics he was engaged in erect- ing a monastery near Port Dauphin, from which mission- aries were to be sent out to convert the natives. The French had also just taken possession of Mascarenhas, and placed a small garrison upon that island, which they named Bourbon. It was evident therefore that Mauritius must be reoccupied, or the Company would be excluded from a large portion of tht Indian sea. It was not in- tended, however, to form an expensive establishment there, but merely to keep a few men upon the island, which was to be an outpost of the Cape residency. In May 1664 a small party was sent from this place under the leadership of Jacobus van Nieuwland, an officer selected in Holland and sent out for the purpose. On the 26th of June they landed on the island and resumed pos- session on behalf of the honourable Company. They had with them a wooden house, a quantity of seeds and tools, and a twelve months' supply of provisions. These were put on shore, and then the vessel in which they arrive^ set sail, leaving the little garrison in loneliness. For a whole year after this the island remained unvisit- ed. Then a cutter was sent from the Cape with supplies, ^nd in case the garrison had in the meantime met with any disaster, a fresh party of men and a new command- ant were sent also. This party found the establishment at Mauritius completely disorganised. Jacobus van Nieuw- land was dead, and the soldiers had thrown off all restraint. Most of them had left the residency as soon as i\ j .. ; keg of spirits was drawn off, and were then leading a half savage life, depending upon wild goats for food, though the stock of foreign provisions was still ample and the garden only wanted attending to. The now commandant was unable to restore order until three of the chief mutineers tiil,-; I I I •38 History of South Africa. [1664 were neized and put in irons on board the cutter. They were brought to the Cape, where they were tried and punished, one of them very severely. From this time matters went on smoothly at Mauri- tius, thov r tiT growth of the establishment there was very I-^w. V-f^ry year a vessel sailed from Table Bay witb supplies, and brought back ebony logs. Sometim^^s a boldier would request to be discharged there, when he became a burgher just as at the Cape. Once, three families were forcibly transported from Eondebosch to that island by Commander Waf; 'ji„., ,jccaus? their heads were worth- less characters, and tbe council of policy thought a change of residence might bring them to their senses. In process of time councils were formed there similar to those in this country, but all were subordinate to the Cape authorities. Thus a man who lost a case in the court of justice at Mauritius could appeal to the court of justice at the Cape. Mauritius, in fact, stood in the same relationship to this country as this country did to Batavia. The commandant who was sent to that island in 1665 was a man who deserves more than mere \ ssing notice. His name was George Frederick Wreede. A runaway German student, like many others in similar circumstances he enlisted as a soldier, and came to South Africa in 1G59. At that time no government in Europe offered such oppor- tunities of advancement to men of merit as did the East India Company of the Netherlands. Many of its foremost commanders and go\ern( is had risen from the ranks, and the dir^:;lors '"3re alw s ready to make use of ability wherever they could find it. Whatever the fault was which caused Wreede to leave Germany, it could not have been connected wUh want of «)rain power or distaste of study. He was no sooner in Atrica among a st:a,nge race of sav- ages, of whose inner lif absolutely nothing was known, than he set himself the • ask of studying their character- istics. In a few yi ^ he lad acquired a thorough know- ledge of their langarge, so chat after the death of the old I [664] Zacha ''s Wagenaar. 139 at Mauri- there was Table Bay Sometimes , when he ree families that island 5'ere worth- t a change In process ose in this luthorities. justice at I the Cape, lip to this id in 1666 ng notice. runaway umstances a in 1659. ich oppor- the East foremost anks, and of ability vas which lave been of study. !e of sav- known, :haracter- »h know- f the old i interpreters Harry aud L>oman the commander employed him jn all important occasions as his messenger to chiefs at a distance. He was at this time utilising his spare hours by arranging a vocabulary of Dutch and Hottentot words, two copies of which he sent to the directors, to whom he dedicated it, in November 1663. The command- er, when forwarding the work, requested that it might be printed, and asked that some copies might be sent to the Cape, where it would be useful. "What became of these manuscripts cannot be ascertained from any documents hitherto found in Soutl Africa or in the archives of Hol- land, but there is strong reason to believe that they were lent to the historian Ludolf, and were among his papers at the t:me of his death. The directors, though they deemed it more ad sable that the natives should learn the language of the Dutch than that the Europeans should learn that of the Hottentots, promised to have the work printed, but whether that promise was carried out appears to be doubtful. The first Cape author had no reason to complain of his labtuir not being remunerated. The directors instructed tlie commander to present him in their name with a sum of money equal to twenty pounds sterling, and they ordered him to be promoted to a good situation in any branch of their service that he should select. There was then a d-.^sign to establish a residency on one of the islands of iviartin Vaz, which were believed to be suitable for a vic- tualling station in time of war. A vessel was being fitted out at the Cape for that purpose when the despatch of the directors was received, and upon the order being com- municated to Wreede he asked for the commaiid mtship of the new station. His request was at once acceded to, but upon arriving with his party at Martin Vaz, he found that his government cojnprised nothing more than a group of bare and almost inaccessible rocks. It was impossible to form a station, and as the master of the vessel objected to cruise about in search of a habitable island, be was m 'V ' -!'! ;5 §f1 il ill! ■li^'i ' 140 History of South Africa. [1664 obliged to return disappointed to the Cape. His journal of the voyage to Martin Vaz and his report to Commander Wagenaar are still to be seen in the colonial archives. Upon his return from this expedition he was sent to Mauri- tius, and assumed the command there. In September 1664 intelligence was received at the Cape of the likelihood of war between England and the Nether- lands. The directors wrote that the government of Charles II seemed bent upon a rupture, though the States were anxiously striving to maintain peace, if that was possible without loss of honour. It would appear that commercial rivalry was at the bottom of this ill-feeling, and that the English government could not suppress the war spirit of the people. But though it is usual for historians of air nations to throw the blame of the humiliating war which followed entirely upon the English, there is proof extant that outrages were by no means confined to one side. Piratical acts were committed in distant seas by Dutch and English alike, without the perpetrators being punished. In the colonial archives there is a detailed account of one such act, which was committed by the crew of an Indiaman that put into Table Bay. On the passage out they overhauled two English vessels and searched them for treasure. The officers of one they tortured with burn- ing ropeyarn to make them confess whether they had any- thing of value on board. For many months matters remained in a state of sus- pense. On the 24th of October the directors wrote that news had been received at the Hague of the capitulation of the West India Company's possessions in North America to an English fleet. The Dutch factories on the coast of Guinea had also been attacked, though war was not yet formally declared. At length, on the 9th of June 1666, tidings reached South Africa that the English had seized a great number of ships in the Channel, that the Dutch WBBe retahating, and that the two nations were openly at war. i665l Zacharias Wagenaar. 141 t the Cape te Nether- of Charles iates were >s possible 3mmercial I that the spirit of ins of all irar which >of extant one side. )y Dutch punished, count of »w of an isage out ed them th burn- lad any- of sus- ote that itulation America coast of not yet le 1665, seized 5 Dutch )enly at During the period of uncertainty preceding the formal declaration of hostilities, the directors took into considera- tion the importance of their residency at the Cape, as commanding the highway to India, and its defenceless condition in the event of a sudden attack. The old earthen fort was indeed sufficient protection against the largest force that the natives could bring against it, but it could not be held against a European enemy of any strength. Its walls were frequently falling, especially after heavy rains, and the guns mounted upon it were harmless to a ship at the usual anchorage. After much consideration the directors resolved to erect in Table Valley a strong stone fortress capable of sus- taining heavy guns, and sufficiently commodious for the accommodation of a large garrison. With this view they caused plans to be prepared, and having approved of the one which seemed most suitable, they gave the necessary orders for putting their design into execution. Instruc- tions were sent to Commander Wagenaar to detain three hundred soldiers from passing ships, and to employ them in getting materials ready. Pieter Dombaer, an engineer, was appointed to superintend the work. The selection of a site for the new fortress, being a matter of the first importance, was entrusted to the commissioner lobrand Goske,^ one of the ablest officers in the Company's service. A scene of imwonted activity was now presented at the Cape. The three hundred soldiers were landed and were immediately set to work quarrying stone. A party of con- victs and slaves was sent to Bobben Island to gather shells, and three or four large decked boats were kept busy trans- porting these shells, as well as fuel from Hout Bay, for the limekilns. On the 18th of August Mr. Goske arrived in the Nieuw Middelburg, and after eight days' inspection of the valley, with the approval of a board consisting of the ordinary council of policy and a number of naval and military officers he selected the site of the castle. The ' Spelt variously in the documents of the period Oodsken, Qotsken, Godske, and Goske. The last was his own way of spelling his name. mi \U fH m it}" ' I 142 History of South Africa. [1666 \ spot chosen was two hundred and forty-eight imperial yards south-east of the old fort. It was supposed that solid rock would be found near the surface, but upon opening trenches this supposition was proved to be incorrect. At no point could the foun- dation walls bf .ommenced nearer to the surface than eleven feet, while in some parts excavations more than double that depth were needed. All the waggons in the settlement which were not required for agriculture were engaged in the transport of building material. The farmers were paid at the rate of six shillings and three pence a day for each waggon with oxen and one man, whether a hired servant or a slave. On Saturday the 2nd of January 1666 the ceremony of laying the first stones took place. The trenches of only one of the five points were completed, for as the founda- tions were to be twelve feet in thickness the excavation of itself was a work of some magnitude. It was a gala day at the Cape. At an early hour the farmers with their wives and children came in from Kondebosch and Wyn- berg, the sailors came ashore from the cutters, and all the Company's servantt; and other residents in Table Valley appeared in their best attire. There were four large hewn stones ready to be lowered to the bottom of the trench where during the years which have since sped away they have supported the walls of the castle of Good Hope. The first was laid by the commander Zacharias Wagenaar, the second by the clergyman Johan van Arckel, the third by the secunde Abraham Gabbema, and the last by the fiscal Hendrik Lacus. When they were all laid, a sum of money equal to six pounds sterling was presented by the commander on be- half of the Company to the master mechanics. This concluded the formal part of the proceedings, and the remainder of the day was devoted to pleasure. Two oxen ana six sheep, the choicest in the Com- pany's herds, were slaughtered for the occasion, and a hun- \ 1 <■. I i666] Zacharias Wagenaar. 143 dred huge loaves of bread had been specially baked. Eight casks of Cape ale stood ready for tapping. The tables were spread on the levelled ground inside the trenches, and if they were not covered with such delicacies as are essen- tial to a modern pubhc dinner, those who sat round them were probably quite as happy and contented as if the fare had been a feast for kings. A holiday was not properly kept in the opinion of the people of the Netherlands without a recitation of poetry specially composed and containing allusions to the event which was being celebrated. Such a time-honoured ob- servance in the fatherland could not with propriety be omitted in its South African dependency. Accordingly, some lines had been prepared — by an amateur poet says Commander Wagenaar, without mentioning his name — which were considered so appropriate that after they were recited a copy was placed for preservation with the re- cords of the colony. Whether they display poetic genius may be questioned, but that they clearly record the event celebrated is beyond dispute.^ 'The following are the lines referred to. It will be observed that the poet has taken care to record the date, though in a rather unusual man- ner: — Den Eersten Steen Van't NIeuwe CasteeL Goede Hope Heeft VVageQaer gelecht Met hoop van goede hope. Ampliatie. Soo worden voort en voort de rijcken uijtgespreijt, Soo worden al de swart en geluwen gespreijt. Soo doet men uijtter aerd een steene wall oprechten, Daer't donderend metael seer weijnigh can ophechten. Voor Hottentosen warent altijts eerde wallen, Nu oomt men hiei' met steen voor anderen oock brallen. Dus maeckt men dan een schrich soowel d' Europiaen, Als voor den Aes- Ameer- en wilden Africaen. Du^: v/ort beroemt gemaeckt 't geheijligst Christendom, Die zetels stellen in het woeste heijdendom. Wij loven 't groot bestier en seggen met malcander, Augustus heerschappij, noch winnend Alexander, Noch Caesars groot beleijd, zijn noijt daermee geswaerd Met 't leggen van een steen op 't eijnde van de Aerd. m m. ] iji: ii- i I III!* 144 History of South Africa. [1665 i» \ \. >. I M Just a fortnight later there was another gathering of the Cape community on the same ground. In the centre of the area inside the trenches the framework of a wooden building was being put together, part of which was in- tended for use as a place of worship. To that framework the coffin of the man who laid the second stone of the castle was borne, and there in the ground beneath the spot where the pulpit was to stand was placed what was mortal of Johan van Arckel. It was a custom of those days to bury persons of note within the walls of churches, so that the minister's was not long the only grave there. Within a few months the wife of Commander Wagenaar found a last resting-place in that ground, and soon the walls were studded thickly with the memorial escutcheons^ of those who lay beneath. In the afternoon of the 20th of September 1665 an Indiaman with the red flag of England floating at her mizen peak stood into Table Bay and dropped an anchor without furling her sails. The Loosduynen, a clumsily rig- ged, slow sailing flute, just in port after a long passage from Texel, was the only vessel lying in the roadstead at the time. The stranger sent ashore a small boat with a petty officer, who informed the commander that the ship was the Boyal Charles, of thirty-six guns, bound home- ward from Surat with a cargo of pepper and calico. The captain, James Barker by name, requested permission to take in a supply of water and to purchase some fresh pro- visions. The English had not the faintest suspicion that their country was at war with the Netherlands, and as soon as Commander Wagenaar became aware of this he determined 'At the head of the funeral procession a small framed board was carried, upon which the coat-of-arms of the deceased was painted, which board was afterwards hung on the walls of the church. It was often care- fully prepared and kept in readiness for years before it was used. It ■:vas customary for every nooary and every one who rose to the rank cf a mer- chant to unocse a coat-of-arms for himself. m m [1665 1665] Zacharias Wagenaar, 145 lering of ■ le centre ■ I wooden 1 was in- 1 •amcwork 1 le of the a eath the 1 ;vhat was .■ of those 9 churches, 9 ve there. '^^^B Vagenattr S soon the « atcheons^ 9 1665 an 1 g at her 9 n anchor f nsily rig- ; passage J 1 dstead at it with a 1 the ship d home- 1 co. The .x ission to ■>■; :e8h pro- v lat their -h soon as -•j termined i board was 1 ted, which often care- a. It -^vas t cf a mer- i to take advantage of their ignorance and get possession of their ship by strategy. The four men who had come on shore were therefore hospitably entertained, their request was apparently acceded to, and when they returned to their ship a present of fruit and wine was sent to Captain Barker. The object of this was to induce the captain to visit the fort, so that he could be detained as a prisoner without any trouble or danger. The scheme was nearly thwarted by a drunken mate of the Loosduynen, who happened to be coming on shore with a strong crew as the English were going off. He pulled alongside of them, took their boat in tow, and forced them to return to the fort. There he was instantly committed to prison for his trouble, and many apologies were offered to the Englishmen for the rudeness and vio- lence to which they had been subjected. During the night arrangements were made to carry the Boyal Charles by surprise as soon as the captain should land. About two hundred and fifty men were armed and distributed in the Loosduynen and the large decked boats which were employed to bring shells from Kobben Island. It was intended that these should approach as if by chance, and suddenly board the unsuspecting stranger. At daybreak next morning the Boyal Charles sent her empty water casks ashore in the longboat, with the cap- tain's brother and ten seamen, who took a present of some value for the commander in retuin for his courtesy of the preceding evening. The EngUshmen were invited into the courtyard of the fort, when to their astonishment the gate was closed upon them and they were inforn:ed that they were prisoners of war. Meantime all the non-combatants of the settlement, male and female, betook themselves to the side of the Lion's rump to witness the capture of the Indiaman. About seven in the morning Captain Barker became suddenly aware that something was wrong. There was no sign of the re- turn of his longboat, a couple of cutters were evidently VOL. I. 10 'ICtlH t^ -^i H '> I 1 ! i ■ g m& 1 if 1 ^ f i 1. ■i 1 il t'- 146 History of South Africa. [1665 creeping alongside, the Loosduynen was shaking out her canvas, and two or three shallops full of men were seen at different points along the shore. The sails of the Boyal Charles were still hanging loose from her yards, and a hght breeze from the north-west was ripphng the surface of the bay. There was not a moment to be lost. In a few seconds the topsails were sheeted home, the hempen cable was severed by a couple of strokes from an axe, and the Indiaman, gathering way as her canvas was spread to the breeze, was soon standing over towards the Blueberg shcie. All hope of carrying her by sur;)rise being now dis- pelled, the Loosduynen and the cutter.-, hoisted their colours and followed in pursuit, keeping close together. Then com- menced a chase which may have .«ieemed exciting to the onlookers from the Lion's rump, but the story of which is calculated only to create mirth at the present day. The Eoval Charles had the weather-gauge and was the fastest sailer, but she could not beat out of the bay, and so she kept tacking about for three or four hours, the pursuers in vain attempting to get alongside. About eleven o'clock the breeze died away, and then she let go an anchor and fired several shots of defiance. There were not enough rowing boats in the bay to attack her with, so she was safe as long as the calm should last. At noon Captain Barker waved a white flag as a signal that he would like to communicate with his pursuers. A boat was sent alongside, when he demanded to know the cause of all the commotion, and whj his men wtre detained on shore. He was informed that he would learn all par- ticulars if he would go on board the Loosduynen, and he was then requested to strike his flag. To this request his reply was more emphatic than polite. It was to the effect that he had no intention of doing anything of the kind. He was so obliging, however, as to throw to the boat a package of letters he had brought from Surat, but added to it a scornful message for the commander. I6651 Zacharias Wagenaar. 147 Towards evening the breeze sprang up again, and the chase began once more. After a couple of tacks, however, the 'Royal Charles was fortunate enough to weather Green Point, passing close to the hostile squadron as she did so. The pursuers and the pursued had not been within range of each other during the whole day, but at last there was a chance for a shot. It was getting dusk when the Loos- duynen fired a broadside, to which the Boyal Charles re- plied with her four stern guns. Nobody was hurt on either side, and before the culverins could be loaded again the Englishman had disappeared in the darkness. Commander Wagenaar was disappointed, but he made the most of what had fallen to him. That evening he calculated to a gulden the value of the longboat and the water casks, the present that the captives had brought ashore, and the two anchors and cables in the bay, allow- ing, of course, a reasonable margin for the expense of searching for these last and fishing them up when found. The prisoners offered to work without payment if the commander would promise to send them to Europe with the first return fleet. This offer was declined, and they were sent to Batavia, after having been provided vvith a very scanty outfit. For thirteen years after its foundation the settlement was considered too small to demand the services of a resident clergyman. A sermon and prayers were read regularly every Sunday and on special occasions by the sick-comforter, and the other rites of the church were performed occasiionally by ships' chaplains. Marriages were usually celebrated before the secretary 01 the council. The first sick-comforter, Willem Barents Wylant, and his suc- cessor, Pieter van der Stael, have already been mentioned. Van der Stael left the Cape for Batavia in September 1663, when Ernestus Back, who had previously held the same office on board a ship, was appointed to the vacant place. This man was so addicted to intemperance that at times m m ■ill 1 :^:^ m I '»^ 148 History of South Africa. [1665 he was unfit to perform his duties. He was repeatedly suspended, on which occasions the fiscal conducted the services, but punishment and disgrace seemed only to har- den him. The commander was fearful that his conduct would bring down divine vengeance upon the community, all the members of which by some method of reasoning were considered subject to the consequences of his guilt. Mr. Wagenaar's alarm was increased by the appearance of a comet, which for two months was seen nightly in \ the sky. He and his council did not doubt that the ter- rible star with a tail was put there by God as a threat of righteous punishment, and therefore they considered it 1 high time to get rid of the chief oiiender.* A yacht was 1 lying in the bay ready to sail for Batavia. Back and { his family were unceremoniously hurried on board, and the office was once more vacant. A fortnight later it was filled by the transfer of a sick-comforter named Jan Joris Graa from a ship that called. Tbis man was giving every promise of a useful and honourable career, when he was removed by death in June 1665. Thus there had always been some one whose special duty it was to represent ths church, though in a very humble capacity. But when it was decided to replace the old earthen fort with a substantial stone castle, it was also decided to provide a resident clergyman who should attend to the spiritual instruction of tbs constantly growing congrega- tion. The reverend Johan van Arckel, who received the appointment, arrived in South Africa in the ship Nieuio 1 ' Omdat ons Godt alreede met sijn rechtvaerdige straff over onse vuijU en sondich bedrijfl nu wel twee maenden alle nachten achter een door een ijzelicken steert sterre aen den hemel is comen te dreijgen, weswegen dan nu oock hooch noodich geacht hebben ons de gemelte onwaerdige leeraer quijt te maken en de selve nevens sijn familie per dit jacht mede na Bata- via vertrecken te latan.' Despatch of the Cape council to Governor-Gene- ral Joan Maetsuijker aad the councillors of India, of date 7th February 1665. Stringent regulations against sabbath breaking also followed the ap- pearance of this comet, and wera a-ttributable to it. — Proclamation of 15th January 1665. [i665 1665] Zackarias Wagenaar. 149 the ap- of 15tli Middelburg, which cast anchor in Table Bay on the 18th of August 1665. A few days later an ecclesiastical court was established, the constitution of which shows the in- timate relationship that then existed between the church and the state. The court consisted of a member of the council of policy, who was termed the political commis- sioner (commissaris politicque), the clergyman, who was a servant ol the Company, the deacons, who were se- lected by the council of policy from a double list of names furnished yearly by the court itself, and the elders, who were indeed elected by the court as representatives of the congregation, but who could perform no duties until the elections were confirmed by the temporal authorities. Such was the constitution of the consistory or ecclesi- astical court, which had primary control of all purely re- ligious observances, and the direction in the first instance of all educational institutions during the whole period of the East India Company's government of the colony. It was in one sense merely an engine of the state, and it was always and in every case subordinate to the council of policy. In practice it was guided by the decrees of the synod of Dort and by precedents of the courts of the father- land, which were never disputed, and its decisions appear generally to have been in accord with public opinion. Not long before this time a fierce dispute had arisen among the clergy of the reformed church in India, and the strife was hotly carried on in every congregation and often in the very households of the laity. The question debated was whether the children of unbelieving parents should be baptized or not. At the Cape the custom had been for the ships' chaplains to baptize all slave children that were brought to them for that purpose, at the same time admonishing the owners that it was their duty to have such children educated in Christian principles. Many of these children were half-breeds, and on that account en- titled by law to freedom ; but even in the case of pure blacks baptism and a profession of Christianity were al- i ri 11 I' m WA i ! !' ■'■■ i 150 History of South Africa. [1665 ways at this time considered substantial grounds for claim- ing emancipation. Yet it does not seem to have been a mercenary spirit so much as a genuine conviction that the act was not in accordance .vith the teaching of the bible which induced many persons at the Cape to object to such baptisms. The members of the council of policy as well as the burghers were divided in opinion, and as no agreement could be come to here, reference was made to Batavia. A reply was received from the governor-general and council of India, dated 25th of January 1664, in which the authorities at the Cape were informed that the ecclesias- tical court at Batavia, in conjunction with the olassis of Amsterdam, had decided that the children of unbelieving slaves ought to be baptized, provided that those with whom they lived bound themselves to have such children edu- cated in the Christian religion. They had arrived at this opinion, it was stated, from the precedent furnished by the patriarch Abraham, all the males of whose household had been circumcised on account of their master's faith. In conformity with this decision, the honourable Company had established a school at Batavia for the education of the children of its own slaves, all of whom were baptized ir infancy, and the Cape government was directed to act in the same manner. In some of the Company's possessions, however, the burning question could not be set at rest even by all the authority of the Indian government and the Amsterdam classis, supported by the precedent of the Hebrew patri- arch. Many clergymen took a different view of that pre- cedent. The laity continued to be divided, so much so that not a few congregations were rent asunder and were ranged anew in hostile order. The strife even extended into famihes and created bitterness between the nearest relatives. Mr. Van Arckel embraced the views held by the classis, and baptized all the children that were brought to him. 1 666] Zackarias Wagenaar. 151 whether they were of believing or unbelieving parents. The Company's own slave children were sent to school, )j, where they were taught to ,j,y their prayers and to repeat |the Heidelberg catechism. For a time all strife ceased in matters ecclesi . ioal, for the clergyman had won the affec- tion of the peop.e by his gentleness and piety. But he had hardly time to do more than take his work well in hand when, on the 12th of January 1666, less than six months from the date of his arrival, he died after a very brief illness. To supply bis place temporarily the council detained the chaplain of tho next ship that called, pend- ing the appointment of a permanent successor by the su- preme authorities. The chaplain so detained, Johannes de Voocht^ by name, remained at the Cape for several months, during which time he followed the same course as Mr. Van Arckel. The recent burning question of the day was nearly forgotten, when an incident occurred which revived it for a moment. On the afternoon of Sunday the 21st of March 1666 the congregation was assembled for worship in the great hall of the commander's house in the old lort. The room did not much resemble the interior of a church in its fit- tings, but as yet the building which was to be specially set apart for religious services was not completed, and this apartment had always been used for the purpose. Round the walls hung various trophies 0* the chase, chiefly skins of slaughtered lions and leopards, d-^d over the end windows and the doors which on each side opened into smaller rooms were polished horns of some of the larger antelopes. At the end opposite the entrance usually stood the figure of a zebra made by stuffing the hide of one of those animals with straw, but this was removed before the service com- menced. When Commander Wagenaar came to the colony the windows of the hall like those of the private rooms were unglazed, Mr. Van Riebeek having been satisfied 1 Thi8 name is spelt variously in the documents of that date Voocht, Vooght, and Voogt. 1 ;] m m. m 3. '\ i ■ ! ¥>m 152 History of South Africa. [1666 !: )■ II s \ If \k 1 •V 1 w 1 with calico screens, bat this defect had been remedied, and now the congregation had plenty of hght to read their bibles and '^''olrn booke. The pi.et»cher was the reverend Johanr • ?. de Voocht. Occupying an elevated seat just in front of tb.«3 httle plat- form which served for a pulpit was the commander, behind whom sat the secunde and the fiscal. The elders and the deacons had stools to themselves on one side of the plat- form, and on the other side sat the reverend Philippus Baldeus, chaplain of the ship Venenhurg^ the same man who six years later published at Amsterdam a large and beautiful folio volume descriptive of Malabar, Coromandel, and Cej'lon. The body of the hall was filled with people of less note. After the sermon a child of European parentage was brought forward and baptized. Then a slave woman went up to the platform with her infant in her arms, but be- fore Mr. De Voocht could dip his fingers in the water up rose the reverend Mr. Baldeus and protested against the performance of the rite. The commander was astonished at the audacity of the man who dared in such a manner to interfere with a service conducted with the approval of the Indoa authorities in one of their own forts, but he chose ; > leiuain silent. Mr. Baldeus went on to say that he Wd.s bettor informed in such matters than any one here, and that the practice in vogue was decidedly wrong. Upon this interruption, the officiating clergyman desisted from performing the baptism, and the service was abruptly terminated. Next morning the council met and went over in de- bate the whole history of the dispute. It was then unani- mously resolved that the orders received be implicitly obeyed, so as to preserve harmony and peace in religious as well as in political matters, and that therefore the reverend Mr. De Voocht be instructed to baptize the slave child on the following Sunday, together with any others brought to him for that purpose. This settled the ques- i666] Zacharias Wagenaar. '53 slave children from 3 ' w weeks, owing Towards the end of 1 Ernestus Back as tion for a time at the Cape, but some years subseqnently it came to the surface again, and down to a recent date continued to cause disruptions, happily however not at- tended by the violent animosities of a bygone age. Subsidiary to the church was the school of the period, in which the children were tau^rht tci read and write, to cast up accounts in gulden and stivers, to sing psalms, and to repeat the cat bism ind sundry prayers. The first school at the Cape A^a* ^ ^pti.ed by Pieter van der Stael for the instructio i c the west coast. It was c! ^ to events that have been 1663 a school was again opeur teacher. The fees were at first nxed at two shillings a month for each child of a burgher, but this charge was shortly reduced to one half. Slave and Hottentot children were to be taught without charge, for God (pro Deo), as stated in the regulations. The school was commenced with seventeen pupils, four being slave children, one a youthful Hottentot, and the remaining twelve Europeans. Back's misconduct, however, soon necessitated his suspen- sion as a teacher of youth, when a steady well-behaved soldier named Daniel Engelgraeff was appointed school- master. Under his care the pupils increased in number, and nothing occurred until his death to interrupt the work. The early settlers at the Cape showed even by their school regulations how thoroughly practical a people they were. Thus, there was no fixed time for holidays, be- cause the loft in which the school was kept was needed for the accommodation of visitors if a fleet was in the bay, when the children were of necessity released. During the period of Mr. Wagenaar's government the Europeans and Hottentots lived generally on the best of terras with each other. Once only an event occurred which caused a little unpleasantness. A party of Cocho- quas with cattle for sale encamped one evening close to I fir IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. 1.0 I.I lis no 1^ us 2.0 IM • 1.25 III 1.4 1.6 < 6" ► ■^^ '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation m \ :\ \ V ^6^ Ci^ ^ <^<^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 \ c i^ A. 154 History of South Africa. [1666 the watch-honse Eeert de Eoe, where the gate was through which they mast pass to enter the Company's territory. There a soldier on guard detected some of them in the act of breaking down the fence to make a fire, and upon his ordering them off they belaboured him severely with their sticks.^ Next morning they came on to the fort as if nothing had happened, but the soldier was there before them, and upon making his complaint two of them were arrested and placed in confinement. The others were in- formed that upon their producing the actual assailants the prisoners would be released, but not until then. There- upon they returned to their clan to arrange as to what should be done, and after a short delay ten good oxen and as many sheep were sent to the commander as a recompense for what had occurred. Mr. Wagenaar ac- cepted the cattle instead of the hostages, with a promise on his part that they would be returned at any time upon the production of the disturbers of the peace. These never were produced, and so after waiting some months a pecuniary award was made to the soldier and the cattle were slaughtered for the benefit of the Company. Tbd Cochoquas and Chainouquas^ were by this time so well supplied with copper and trinkets that they seldom brought cattle for sale except when they were in want of tobacco, but from the Hessequas large herds were fre- quently bartered. All were anxious to procure iron, and the commander could at any time have obtained from the 'The word kerie, by which this weapon is now generally known to Dutch and English alike in South Africa, had not yet come into general use. This word closely resembles in sound the native name for a short stick with a jackal's tail attached to it, used for brushing away flies and other purposes, and which the Hottentot men carried about with them just as the Betshuana do now. There being no Dutch name for either this or the fighting stick with a clubbed head, the latter may easily have had the native name of the former given to it. 'About this time the Chainouquas began to be called Soeswas by the Europeans, though the old chief Sousoa, from vrbom the new name was derived, died in 1664. In the same manner, one branch of the Ooohoquas had now the name Qonnemas given to it. i666] Zacharias Wagenaar. 155 nearest Cape clans as many oxen as be required in ex- change for the mach-coveted article, had he chosen to snpply it. Bat onder no circumstances would he part with as much iron as would make an assagai, for fear of the ultimate consequences to the Europeans. Some of the natives understood how to smelt this metal for themselves, but the quantity in general use was very small In the disputes between the clans the policy of Mr. Wagenaar was that of strict neutrahty whenever he could not mediate so as to preserve peace. In 1664 the Cocho- quas and the Hessequas were at war with each other, when Oedasoa offered to pay six hundred head of good cattle in advance for military assistance, and as many more after the return of an expedition which he was plan- ning, if it should succeed in crushing his enemy. The •offer was declined without hesitation, and Oedasoa was in- formed that the Dutch were determined to quarrel with no one unless they were compelled in defence to do so. In the following year the Hottentots suffered very severely from a disease which broke out among them. What its nature was is not stated, but as the Europeans were not attacked by it, it is improbable that it was in- troduced by them. It was certainly not small-pox. Mr. Wagenaar computed the loss of the Goringhaiquas and Oorachouquas at one-fifth of their original number, so that they were left with only about eight hundred fighting men. The Cochoquas suffered even more. In the words of the commander, they melted away. Whether other clans were affected is not mentioned, but the disease, whatever it was, can hardly have been confined only to those nearest the Cape. The number of Hottentots residing permanently in Table Valley increased during Mr. Wagenaar's administration to about eighty souls. This increase was owing to an influx of some of the most worthless individuals from the pastoral clans. They had a kraal of their own on the slope under i;he Lion's head, where after Harry's death in 1663 they 156 History of South Africa. [1666 were nominally under the government of Jan Cou. The commander never interfereu in any quarrel among them- f On the 22nd of April 1664 the directors authorised the different ehambere to send to the Gape two or three respectable girls, from orphan houses or elsewhere, with suitable families proceeding to India, in whose service and under whose care they were to be regarded while on board ship. Before leaving the Netherlands the girls were to bind themselves to remain fifteen years in the colony. None, however, availed themselves of the ofter at the time, except one or two who were affianced to men living here. j I 1 60 CHAPTER VI. CORNELIS VAN QUAELBERQ, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 27th SEPTEMBER 1666, DISMISSED 18th JUNE 1668. JACOB BORGHORST, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 18th JUNE 1668, RETIRED 25th MARCH 1670. METER HAOKIUS, COMMANDER, INSTALLED 25th MARCH 1670, DIED 80th NOVEMBER 1671. THE COUNCIL OF POLICY, 80th NOVEMBER 1671 TO 25th MARCH 1672. ALBERT VAN BREUOEL, SECUNDE, ACTING COMMANDER, PROM •JSth march to 2nd OCTOBER 1672. Of Commander Van Quaelberg, previous to his arrival in South Africa, no information is given in the colonial ar- chives, except that he was the head of the Company's factory at Masulipatam from 1652 to 1657, and that he had amassed considerable property. He was a younger and more active but in many respects a less estimable man than Mr. Wagenaar. It is impossible to read a dozen pages of the mass of documents bearing his signature without observing that he was intensely selfish, harsh to- wards his dependents, cringing towards his superiors, a man who studied no one's happiness but his own. He was a skilful naval commander, however, and must have possessed some special qualifications for the post he now filled, or the directors of the East India Company would not have selected him for it, though what these were cannot be ascertained from his writings. In his letters he was fond of calling attention to the mistakes of his predecessor, and of boasting of the different way in which he was managing affairs, but neither the supreme author- i666] Comelis van Quaelberg. i6i ities nor the residents at the Cape looked upon that differ- ent way as a better way. To the burghers he was a tyrant, who acted on the principle that prosperous subjects are insolent subjects and therefore they should be kept poor. The freemen were not long in finding out that if Commander Wagenaar had personified King Log, Com- mander Van Quaelberg knew well the part of King Stork. As soon as the Hottentot clans in the neighbourhood heard that the Europeans had a new head, their chiefs sent compUmentary messages and presents of oxen and sheep to him, as was customary among themselves. These friendly greetings were replied to in the same manner, for upon the cattle trade rested to a large extent the utility of the Cape residency, and the instructions of the directors were emphatic that the natives were to be conciliated in every possible way. Mr. Van Quaelberg found the walls of the point of the castle nearest the anchorage rising slowly out of the ground. One of the difficulties which the workmen com- plained of was the scarcity of timber such as they needed for a variety of purposes at the quarries as well as at the walls. The forests which Mr. Van Kiebeek had found in the kloofs of the mountain side above Eondebosch were already exhausted, so that no timber was obtainable closer at hand than Wynberg. Thf government issued orders against reckless waste, but as cie wood-cutters were left without supervision, the orders were constantly neglected. The forests — like all others in South Africa — were com- posed of a variety of trees mingled together, in which it rarely happened that half a dozen of one kind were found growing side by side. Often the kind of timber required at the time was far from the outer border, and then, to get the log out, a pathway was opened broad enough for a team of oxen to move in and straight enough to prevent jamming. For this purpose great numbers of small trees were cut down, and left either to decay or to furnish material for a destructive fire. With such a system of VOL, I. 1 1 'M -^rr,rTn;iflt, l62 History of South Africa. [1666 working, the forests, which were at first of no great size, soon disappeared altogether. About three months after Mr. Van Quaelberg took over the government a fleet of twelve ships, under command of the marquis De Montdevergue, viceroy of the French pos- sessions in the East, put into Table Bay. The equipment of this fleet had been watched with unusual anxiety in the Netherlands. During the preceding sixty years the French had made frequent but fruitless efforts to form a powerful East India Company, but now the minister Colbert had organised an association which Louis XIV was determined should prove successful. It was modelled generally after that of the Netherlands, but the share- holders had various privileges which those in the Low Countries did not enjoy. They had a guarantee from the government against loss during the first ten years, their fleets were to be convoyed by national war ships free of charge, everything needed by them for shipbuilding was to be admitted into France duty free. In addition to these and other substantial aids, honours and titles were freely offered by the court to those who should display the greatest zeal in the new Company's service. With these odds against them, the traders of Holland and Zee- land felt that they had cause for alarm. There was yet another reason for them to regard with anxiety the first large fleet fitted out by the Company which was trying to wrest from them a portion of the eastern trade. France had enormous wealth and resources, her king had inspired his nobles and his people with en- thusiasm for the new enterprise, but she had no men with the knowledge and training necessary to conduct* it suc- cessfully. The alarm of the directors was therefore in- creased when they learned that an officer who had grown grey in their service, and whose ability was unquestioned, had taken employment with their rivals. Fran9oi8 Caron, the officer here alluded to, was of French descent, but had long held positions of trust under the Batavian govern- i666] Cornells van Quaelberg. 163 ment. He was intimately acquainted with every branch of the Indian trade and with the poUtics of the various eastern courts. And now, stung to the quick by some shght, fancied or real, he had left the Dutch service, and offered himself to Colbert and the French Company. But in the post assigned to him a blunder was made such as the ministers of Louis XIV can seldom be charged with. He should have had the chief command in the East, instead of which the title and power of viceroy were given to a man of high rank but with no quahfications for the post, and Caron was forced to take the second place. The mistake of giving the authority to one man when another had the ability was discovered only after the expedition had undergone almost incredible suffering and disaster in endeavouring to form settlements at Madagascar, but not too late for Caron to form the first French factory on the coast of Hindostan. Notwithstanding all the trouble that was taken in France to equip the fleet, it was sent to sea ill-conditioned for a long voyage. The ships were crowded with landsmen and soldiers, but of seamen there was great lack. Order was wanting on board, and although they left Bochelle with larpe supplies of provisions, the waste was so great that when the fleet put into Pernambuco for refreshment symp- toms of distress were beginning to be apparent. A Dutch sailor who was there rt the time visited the admiral's ship, and immediately afterwards wrote to the directors at Amsterdam a description of what he saw. He described the ship as so filthy that it would be a wonder if pesti- lence did not break out, and so ill-provided vdth every- thing requisite that he did not believe she could ever reach Madagascar. From Pernambuco the fleet sailed for Table Bay. Though the French could not be regarded as allies of the Dutch, they were also at this time at' war with England, and therefore De Montdevergue might reasonably have looked forward to a friendly reception here, in outward ii \ ^'\ ' ■ !'' ! f 14 164 History of South Africa. 1666 form at least. His fleet was scattered on the passage, and his own ship was the first to reach South Africa. As soon as he let go his anchors he saluted the fort with five guns, which courtesy was promptly returned with three, according to the custom of the day. Mr. Van Quaelberg immediately sent a messenger on board to welcome the French viceroy and to invite him to land. The viceroy excused himself for that afternoon, upon which the commander himself visited the St. Jean and tendered his services to supply the fleet with anything that was to be had in the settlement. Of this offer De Montdevergue availed himself to its fullest extent. He not only thoroughly refreshed his people, but he drew a considerable quantity of sea stores from the Company's magazines. One of his vessels was so leaky that it was considered dangerous for her to proceed farther. Mr. Van Quaelberg had her repaired with materials kept for the Company's own use and by carpenters maintained for the Company's own service. Upon the whole as much was done to assist this French fleet as if it had been the property of the owners of the settlement and not of their declared rivals, so that by the aid thus given the viceroy was enabled to reach Madagascar with his forces undiminished. The commanding position of the Cape of Good Hope had not escaped the observation of Louis XIV, and he had accordingly instructed his deputy to take possession of Saldanha Bay and establish a residency there. Against this design the council of policy entered a protest, on the ground that the honourable Company was already in occu- pation. A dozen men were sent overland with all haste to Saldanha Bay, where two were stationed on each of the islets Jutten, Marcus, and Schapen, and five with a petty officer formed a camp at the watering place. The French surveyed the bay and set up landmarks with their arms upon them, but left without forming any establish- ment. 1 666 1667] Cornciis van Qiiaclberg. 165 As soon as his visitors had gone, Mr. Van Quaelberg took a careful view of the situation. They had eaten nearly everything, so that little was left for the return fleet from Batavia, which might be expected in three or four months. The chief want was slaughter cattle, and without loss of time trading parties were organised and sent to the different clatis. Hchacher, who had succeeded his father the fat captain Gogosoa as head of the Kaap- mans, appears now in the character of a trader. He was entrusted with a good stock of merchandise, with which he went inland bartering cattle on commission for the honour- able Company. The commander's wife headed another party, which took a Cochoqua encampment across the bay for its field of operations. Mrs. Van Quaelberg was out three days, and returned boasting ul a fair measure of success. Hieronymus Cruse, now promoted to the rank of cor- poral, with a third party struck away to the eastward, crossed the Hottentots-Holland mountains, and collected some hundreds of oxen and sheep among the kraals of the Hessequas. Pushing still farther on his next journey be encountered a tribe called the Gouriquas, from whom he bartered the finest herds yet seen in the settlement. The kraals of these people were on the banks of the river which has since that time been called from them the Gourits. The corporal went as far as the bend in the coast to which Paulus van Caerden sixty-five years earlier had given the name Mossel Bay. There the Gouriquas informed him that their next neighbours were the Atta- quas, who were also rich in cattle, but there was now no necessity for him to go farther. In May 1667 letters were received from home with an account of the victorious career of the Dutch fleet and of the memorable exploits of De Euyter in the Thames. The directors believed that there was no longer anything to be feared from the naval power of England, and there- fore deemed it unnecessary to be at the cost of completing i W:i r I ;! 1 66 History of South Africa. [1667 the castle in Table Valley. They gave orders that the work was to be suspended forthwith, and that all the soldiers who could be spared were to be sent to Batavia. When these instructions were received, four out of the five points of the castle had not been commenced, and the one which had absorbed the labour of nearly three hundred men for more than twenty-one months was not fully completed. Its walls were a little higher than the stone bearing the date 1667 which can be seen from the side of the bay a few feet from the angle nearest the present railway station. It was intended that the vessel which took the sup- plies for Mauritius in 1667 should call at Madagascar for trading purposes and then explore the south-east coast of Africa, but the last design was frustrated by a tragic event. Pieter van Meerhof, the most energetic of early South African travellers, was sent as director of trade and ex- ploration. It will be remembered that he had married the interpreter Eva, to whom some interest attaches on account of her being the first Hottentot to profess Chris- tianity and to conform to European habits of living. By the time of her marriage her services as interpreter could be dispensed with, as nearly all the children of the beach- rangers, and particularly the girls who were in service, could speak Dutch fluently. Soon afterwards Van Meer- hof was appointed superintendent of the party on Kobben Island, and she went there with him. Then for a couple of years her name disappears from the documents of the period, excepting in a brief paragraph concerning her com- ing from the island to the fort with a child to be bap- tized. In 1667 it occurs again to record the particulars of an injury which she sustained by an accidental fall, after which for another twelvemonth her name is not men- tioned. When the building of the castle was suspended there was no longer any need for the eatabUshment at Eobben II i668] Cornells van Quaelberg. 167 \ 1 Island, and so Van Meerhof was appointed head of the expedition to Mauritins and Madaga? v men by public tender. The duties of each member of the government were accurately defined. Cornells de Cretzer was promioted from fiscal to be secunde, and Jacob Granaat from se»cretary to be fiscal. In the council of pohcy, the secunde, Cornelis de Cretzer, the Heutenant, Johannes Coon, the fiscal, Jacob Granaat, and the bookkee} er, Anthonie de Eaaf, were to have seats, while liberty was left to the com- mander to admit one or two other fit persons, if he should deem it necessary to do so. In the written instructions of the commissioner the Cape authorities were directed to ncourage and assist the farmers, not alone on account of the produce of their fields, but because of the assistance to be derived from them in time of war. The freemen then constituted a company of miUtia eighty-nine strong. Mr. Van der Broeck, in ordering the lease of the Company's farm at ' The plantations were never laid out, however . as upon further con- sideration the commander came to the conclusion that they would be dangerous in Table Valley on account of the shelter they would afford tO' ravenous ftnimftls. .•;il i8o History of South Africa. [1670 Rondebosch, had in view an immediate increase of this number. He directed also that as soon as the Company had made a good start at Hottentots-Holland, that tract of country should hkewise be given out to freemen. During Commander Borghorst's administration licenses were first granted to the burghers to hunt large game wherever they chose. Hippopotami abounded at that time in the Berg river, and parties were frequently fitted out for the purpose of shooting them. The flesh of these animals was brought in large quantities to the settlement, where it was used for food, and the hides were soon found to be useful for making whips. During these ex- peditions the burghers were exposed to the temptation of bartering cattle from the natives, but the government kept a watchful eye upon their flocks and herds, and con- fiscated every hoof that could not be satisfactorily ac- counted for. Owing to the commander's ill-health he had no desire to remain long in South Africa, and only a few months after his arrival the directors sent out instructions that the merchant Jan van Aelmonden, who was expected with the next return fleet, should be detained here as his suc- cessor. But that ofl&cer was not on board the fleet, and Mr. Borghorst then sent a pressing request for the ap- pointment of some one else to relieve him. The directors selected Pieter Hackius, another of their old servants whose health was completely shattered by long residence in India, and who was then on furlough in Europe. Mr. Hackius and his family sailed from home in the Sticht van Utrecht on the 7th of December 1669, and reached Table Bay on the 18th of the following March. The new commander landed a more confirmed invahd even than the officer whom he had come to reUeve. But he too, like Mr. Borghorst, hoped that after a short term of service in this country he would be permitted to return to the fatherland to end his days there. On the 26th of March 1570 the government was formally transferred, and n t ^ 1670] Pieter Hackius. 181 i a few weeks later Mr. Borghorst embarked in the Beem- ster and returned to Europe. For several months after the arrival of Mr. Hackius nothing beyond the ordinary quiet routine of life occurred in the settlement. The commander himself was for some time unable to take an active part in the administration of affairs, and it was not until June that he held his first council meeting. It had become necessary to make greater efforts to destroy the lions and leopards, which were preying upon the flocks and herds in the settlement, and the hyenas, which had even scraped up dead bodies in the churchyard and devoured them. As this was a matter affecting the taxation of the burghers, their coun- cillors were invited to assist in the deliberations. It was resolved that the premiums for the destruction of raven- ous animals should be increased, and that in general half the rewards should be paid out of funds raised by the burghers. In the particular case of lions killed between Table Mountain and the Tigerberg the premium was raised to 61. 5s. for each, two-thirds of which was to be paid by the freemen. In September the second large fleet fitted out by the French Company put into South African waters on its way to the east. Admiral De la Haye saluted the fort with five guns, and was answered with only one, which he complained of as an insult to his king. He expected to be able to get here whatever fresh provisions and sea stores he needed, but he was soon undeceived. Com- mander Hackius made no objection to his purchasing vegetables from the farmers, but informed him that the Company could not furnish him with anything from its own gardens or magazines. The admiral was indignant at receiving such treatment, but at the very time he was asking for supplies he was acting towards the Dutch as enemies. Six of his ships had put into Saldanha Bay. They found at the place now called the old post a station -' Sf"' W l82 History of South Africa. [1671 occupied by a few soldiers under command of Sergeant Hieronymus Cruse. Of this station they took forcible possession, and made prisoners of the soldiers. Some burgher fishermen who were carrying on their ordinary employment in the bay were also seized and made prison- ers. The Company's flag was taken down and its beacons were destroyed, the French substituting the flag and arms of their king. The council of policy entered a formal protest against these acts of violence, but they had no force with which to resist, and so they prudently did nothing to provoke the French further. After a short de- tention. Admiral De la Haye was good enough to release his prisoners, and he sailed without leavii.;, any of his people behind. The French flag was not disturbed for four months. Then the garrison at the Cape was rein- forced with three hundred men, and ihe station at Sal- danha Bay was again occupied. At this period there was less distinction made between black men and white than between professing Christians and heathens. A baptized black, indeed, enjoyed all the rights and privileges of a European, but a heathen could hardly be said to have any rights at all. At the Cape there were a few Mohamedan slaves, natives of the Indian f islands, who had been banished to this country as a punishment for crime. The first of this particular class arrived on the 21st of May 1667, but at an earher date one or two Asiatic convicts who were not Mohamedans were sent from India. Some of these were sentenced to I slavery for a limited number of years, after which they I became free, others were condemned for life. The great majority of the slaves were negros from Madagascar or ( the mainland of Africa, mostly males, who had been made prisoners in war and had been sold by the chiefs of vic- torious tribes. Of the children born here of slave mothers only about one-fourth were black, the remainder being half-breeds. The commissioner Isbrand Goske, who visited tue settlement in jreuruary 1G71, considered this circuiii- jipB ' ^^ A I I* 1671] Pieter Hackius. 183 stance so scandalous and demoralising to the whites that he attempted to legislate against it. The commissioner had no idea that heathen Africans understood the obligations o^ marrias^e or respected fldeUty between man and wife. In his opinion, therefore, the slaves could not be married as long as they remained heathens, but he issued instructions that the females should be matched with males of their own class. They were all to be sent to church twict on Sundays, and every evening they were to be assembled for instruction. The sick-comforter was then to recite prayers slowly, which they were to repeat after him. As soon as they should be sufficiently advanced in knowledge and should profess behef in Christianity, they were to be baptized and married. All the children were as heretofore to be sent I to school, so that none might grow up heathens. And, lastly, special care was to be taken that no half-breeds / were retained in slavery. For a long time the secunde Cornelis de Cretzer had been the most active member of the Cape government. He was a favourite with the burghers and stood high in the estimation of the superior ofi&cers with whom he had come in contact, for he was able, honest, and attentive to his duties. From being a copying clerk he had suc- cessively held the offices of secretary to the council, fiscal, and secunde, and had now the title of merchant and a good prospect of being commander of the settlement at no very distant date. It was customary for the principal officers of ships in the bay to be invited frequently to dine on shore, and as both Mr. Borghorst and Mr. Hackius were confirmed in- valids, the duty of receiving and entertaining guests was sometimes undertaken by Mr. De Cretzer. On the 10th of April 1671 the skipper of an Indiaman and a passenger by the same ship dined at the secunde's house, where they revived an old quarrel between them. De Cretzer endeavoured to pacify them, but the skipper at length m: .t'A: f 184 History of South Africa. [1671 became so violent that be assaulted tbe passenger, and it was necessary to employ force to remove bim. He went out of the bouse, but presently returned using threaten- ing language, when the secunde, giving way to passion, drew his rapier and ran the brawler through the body. It was the act of an instant, but its penalty was life- long. De Cretzer at once fled from his home and concealed himself somewhere in the settlement. As a matter of form the government cited him to appear before the court of justice and offered rewards for his apprehension, but no one wished to see him brought to trial, and he was never arrested. After a time he left the colony quietly in a homeward bound ship, and returned to Amsterdam. There the case was investigated, and he was pronounced free of blame. The directors then restored him to the position of secunde at the Cape, but the ship in which he took passage was captured at sea by a Moorish corsair, and the last that is known of De Cretzer is that he was sold as a slave in Algiers. This unfortunate event left the Cape vnthout any man of note to direct affairs. The commander was so feeble that be seldom appeared abroad. Jacob Granaat had gone to Batavia some time before. The three oflices of se- cunde, fiscal, and dispenser of the magazines, had all been filled by De Cretzer, and there was no one to succeed to any of them. The chief military officer was Lieutenant Coenraad van Breitenbach, who had only been a month in the settlement, and whose experience was confined to matters connected with his own profession. Next to him was Brevet-Lieutenant Johannes Coon, who was little more than a cipher. The two ablest men at the Cape were both in sub- ordinate situations. One of these, by name Hendrik Cru- dop, was a young man of good birth and education, who had taken service with the East India Company as a means of pushing his fortune. He had passed through the I [671] Pieter Hackius. 185 stages of copying clerk and bookkeeper, and was at this time secretary of the council, with the rank of junior mer- chant and the address of sieur, but had no voice or vote in the proceedings. The other was Sergeant Hieronymus Cruse, a man with little education, but intelhgent, active, and capable of carrying through any business that he undertook. He was the explorer of the day, the man who knew most of the interior of the country and of the native tribes. But, though his opinions had weight out- side the council, and men of lower rank were often ad- mitted in an emergency, he had no voice given to him in the management of affairs. Such being the personnel of the government, it was fortunate that no disturbing ele- ment was at this time brought to bear upon the harmony of the settlement. For ten or a dozen years the authorities of the East India Company had been endeavouring to induce garden- ers and small farmers to migrate from Europe to South Africa, but with little success. Now and again they were able to send out to their eastern possessions a few families who were attracted by the glowing tales told of those wondrous isles from which wealth was being poured into the Netherlands. But the Cape had no charms of this kind, for its inhabitants were savages and it contributed nothing to commerce. Of all the Dutch dependencies it was the one that possessed least attraction for emigrants. In October 1670, however, the chamber of Amsterdam was able to announce that it had secured a few families v.'ho would be sent in the next fleet, and in the following December another party is spoken of as being about to leave for the Cape and Mauritius.^ ' These families numbered in all sixty-one individuals, and at the time they accepted the proposals of the Company were engaged as agriculturists in the county of Meurs, which was not annexed to Prussia until 1707. How they came there, or what led them to wish to emigrate, is not stated in the documents of the time, but all of those among them whose birthplaces are given were Dutch. See Resolu'^^ions of the Assembly of Seventeen of 21st May and 28th August 1670. % 1 86 History of South Africa. [1671 The families were dispersed among the ships in sucli a 'manner as best to secure their comfortable accommo- dation. Some vessels had only one spare cabin, and thus took only one family as passengers, others took two or three. Among the new names of burghers at this time are found those of Jan van As, Jacobus van den Berg, Adriaan van Brakel, Jan van Eeden, Albertus Gilden- huyzen, Hans Helm, Matthys Michiels, Jan Mostert,^ Jan Lambert Myburgh, Jacob and Dirk van Niekerk,^ Her- manus Potgieter, Abraham Pyl, Gerrit Romond, Hendrik Verschuur, and Fran9ois Villion (now Viljoen).' To the tyranny of the government has usually been ascribed the small number of free immigrants that arrived in South Africa between the years 1652 and 1820. But upon close examination this will be found incorrect. It is true that if we judge by the standard of the present day, and take representation of the people by election and parliamentary institutions into consideration, the govern- ment of that period will appear to be an arbitrary des- potism. But before the French revolution the nations of Europe judged by a very different standard. The people of the United Netherlands were in name and reality the freest on the continent of Europe, yet the great majority of them had no direct voice in the govern- ment. The municipalities, which were the seats of power, 'The founder of the large Mostert family of the present day. He was a younger brother of Wouter Mostert, who has been frequently men- tioned in these pages, and who left no children. ^Cornells van Niekerk, the founder of the large South African family of that name, was probably either a younger brother or a son of one of these. His name is first found in the records of 1691. Neither Jacob nor Dirk van Niekerk left children, unless Cornelis was a son of one of them. All the others named above have numerous descendants either in the male or in the female line scattered over South Africa now. ='01of Bergh, the founder of the South African family of that name, was at this time a military officer in the Company's service in Capetown. Among the burghers there was one named Jan Botha, who may have been the father of Frederik Botha, the founder of the present widely dis- persed family of that name ; but this is doubtful. \ I m i67i] Pieter Hackius. 187 He men- were self-perpetuating corporations. On the part of the masses the idea of good government was Hght taxation, <;oupled with the making and administration of laws that agreed with their views and prejudices. They did not care to be at the trouble of assisting to make the laws themselves. That was in their opinion the duty of the authorities as constituted by the customs and traditions of time immemorial. The veto of the citizens consisted in the right of protest, a right which they sometimes exercised in the form of an armed and clamorous body. The requests of burghers made in this manner were not to be disregarded, and hence in a country where prudence is the commonest of virtues, those in authority usually took care to avoid any action which might lead to dis- content. Without being a representative government, the government of the United Netherlands existed for the good of the people and by the will of the people. It was their ideal of what a good government ought to be. The directories of commercial bodies were modelled after this pattern. In the first charter of the East India Company, which was signed at the Hague on the 20th of March 1602, the directors of the different chambers were appointed by name, and provision was made for filling any vacancies that might thereafter occur by the siiates-provincial selecting from a triple number nominated by the remaining directors. Yet the capital of the Com- pany was subscribed at once, no shareholder imagining that his interests would be safer if he had a direct voice in the management. The charter terminated in 1623, and when it was renewed some fresh clauses were added. By one of these the shareholders were empowered to assist in certain elections, but in no manner resembling the pro- ceedings of a commercial association of the present day. Such then was the ideal of good government, and to sus- tain this ideal there was the plain fact that the people ■of the United Netherlands were the most prosperous on ihe face of the globe. i Kf! 1 88 History of South Africa. [1671 It was taken for granted that the institutions of the parent country would as far as practicable be transplanted to the colonies. No Netherlander thought then that by going abroad he would lose the rights to which he was born, any more that an Englishman of the present day thinks he forfeits his privileges by residing in a crown colony. Looking back upon those times it is easy to see that the colonial institutions were but shadows of those to which they corresponded in name in Holland, that the power of the colonial authorities was infinitely greater than that of the Dutch town governments, because they had not the fear of an offended and indignant populace always before their eyes. But these simple truths were only discovered after long experience, and could not have been predicted in 1671. Modern colonisation was then in its infancy. The most advanced nations, among which were England and Holland, had as yet no conception of colonies governed as they now are. There was no ma- chinery in their systems either to build up or to regulate distant dependencies, hence all of them created powerful trading companies for the purpose. The Netherlands East India Company was then the greatest and most powerful trading association in the world, and it was even more than that. It was the owner of vast and wealthy provinces. Yet it was itself subject and responsible to the states-general, and its ad- ministration was watched with a jealous eye by all who were not shareholders in it. There was always a strong party ready to arraign it when guilty of oppression or abuse of power. That in later years it was on many occasions oppressive and often did abuse its power is no less true, but at this time such charges could not fairly be made against it. The dread of its tyranny probably did not prevent a single individual from settling in its dependencies. The cause of so few Dutch families setthng in South Africa at this period was the absence of any necessity for I1 [67i] Pieter Ha 'vs. 189 a large number of the people of the Netherlands to leave their homes. A prosperous country, where there is abun- dance of employment for all, is not a country from which men and women migrate. The people of the Netherlands were attached to their fatherland, there was no sectarian persecution to drive them into exile, and so they did not choose to remove to far-away regions, where the condi- tions of life were uncertain or unknown. Their territory is small, and though it was thickly populated it could not send forth large bands of colonists without exhausting the parent state. The Cape was but one of its many depen- dencies, and received its fair share of the few Dutchmen of that period who chose to settle abroad. Foreigners, in- deed, could have been obtained, but no nation has ever yet chosen to plant colonies of ahen blood. The Dutch went as far in this direction as prudence would permit, by settling in their dependencies as many foreigners as could be absorbed without danger of losing their own language and predilections. There was little communication between the Europeans and the natives at this time, and that little was not alto- gether friendly. In December 1670 the branch of the Cochoquas under the chief Gonnema paid a visit to the settlement. Their presence caused quite a panic among the frontier farmers at Wynberg, some of whom abandoned their houses, which the Hottentots afterwards broke into. Happily they did not remain long in the neighbourhood. In the following year a war broke out between the Cocho- quas and the Chainouquas, and the first-named tribe was nearly ruined. While the clans were fighting with each other, two burghers who went into the country to shoot game were surprised by some Bushmen and murdered. An account of this event was brought to the fort by a party of Chainouquas, who asserted that the obiquas had been instigated by Gonnema to commit the crime. Their statement was beheved, but the accusations of their enemies bv savaees can seldom be received as trustworthy .\ 'l i 1- w M I90 History of South Africa. [1671 evidence, and there is no other proof of Gonnema's guilt in this matter. The illness of Commander Hackius at length assumed a form which forbade all hope of recovery. For some months after his arrival he had buoyed himself up with the prospect of a speedy return to the fatherland, but as time wore or this comfort failed him. The spring of 1671 found him bedridden and hardly conscious of what was transpiring about him, and in this condition he lingered until his death on the night of the dOth of November. The funeral took place three days later. It was attended by all the inhabiti^nts of the settlement, but could not be conducted with much pomp owing to the circumstances of the time. The body was laid be- neath the floor of the building used as a church, in the ground now enclosed by the castle walls. Another escut- cheon was added to those already hanging there, but in the course of a few years grave and escutcheon were alike uudistinguishable, and nothing was left to perpetuate the memory of Commandci Hackius. On the morning after his death the council assembled for the purpose of making arrangements to carry on the government. There were present the two military officers, Coenraad van Breitenbach and Johannes Coon, a junior merchant named Daniel Froymanteau, who had been de- tained from a ship some time before to act as issuer of stores, and the secretary, Hendrik Crudop, to whom a vote in the proceedings was now for the first time given. There was no one in the settlement whose rank would warrant the council in placing the administration of affairs temporarily in his hands. It was therefore arranged that each member of the government should retain the exact position which he held before the late commander's death, and that there should be no other distinction between the councillors than that reports of unusual occurrences were to be made by the officers at the outposts to Lieu- tenant Van Breitenbach, who was immediately to lay ^^1 1672] The Council of Policy. 191 them before his colleagues. The settlement was thuhs for a few months governed by a board of officers without any local head or chief. There was at this time throughout the tlnited Nether- lands a general feeling of impending danger. Hostihties with France were believed to be inevitable at no distant date, and it was beginning to be suspected that England would not much longer abide by the Triple AlUance. That the conquest and partition of the Free Netherlands had actually been arranged by Charles II and Louis XIV as long before as May 1670 was unknown to the Dutch people. But, though the treaty of Dover was a secret to the intended victims, the unfriendly conduct of the English court gave abundant cause for alarm. With so gloomy an outlook the directors of the East India Com- pany considered it advisable to strengthen the defences of their possessions, and the Cape was one of the points which they resolved to secure more firmly. The castle, the building of which had been for some time suspended, was to be completed according to the original design, the garrison was to be increased, and the administration of affairs was to be confided to a class of men superior to those hitherto employed. Instructions were received here in February 1672 to utilise all the available force of the settlement in collect- ing shells, quarrying stone, and conveying these materials to the site of the new fortress. The woodwork for the various buildings connected with the castle was being prepared in Amsterdam, and was sent out as opportunities offered in the fleets that followed. Large quantities of bricks and tiles were also sent out, and in the same ships came skilled mechanics to do the work. The position of the castle is considered so faulty by modern engineers that it is difficult to realise that when it was built it was believed to be almost impregnable. Yet that it was so considered is beyond all question. A few years after its completion, a constable ventured ij , ij';: w 192 History of South Africa, [167a I to express an opinion that if the French were to land and take possession of the slope of the Devil's peak they would be able to shell the garrison out. The governor came to hear of this, and as he considered that if such a belief gained ground among the burgher militia it would cause them to lose confidence, he ordered the constable to be placed in confinement. His Honour, with Lieu- tenant Cruse and Surveyor Wittebol, then measured the distance carefully, and came to the conclusion that no cannon which could be brought out in a ship and landed here could harm the castle. After a few days the con- stable's wife went to the governor, and asked that her husband might be set at liberty. Everybody knew, she said, that he was a man who allowed his tongue to run too freely, but just on that account no one paid any attention to what he said, and so there was no harm done. He was a sober and diligent person, and if his Honour would but pardon him this time she would guarantee that he would never again be guilty of talking so foolishly of the Company's stronghold. ' He does not get drunk, I will admit,' replied the governor, ' and he does his duty reasonably well, but this is a serious matter of which he has been guilty. He must be brought before the council.' The council decided to be lenient with him, but that he must counteract the mischief which his sedi- tious language might have occasioned. He was there- fore to select the two best cannons at the Cape, which should be conveyed to the place that he had asserted commanded the castle. There he was to load them with full charges, and if he could throw a ball into the fortress he was to be free of fine or punishment. The experiment was carried out, and the castle remained unscathed. The constable was then compelled to proclaim himself a fool- ish fellow, and was fined three months' wages to cover the expense of removing the cannon.^ 'A dozen years later the authorities admitted that their predecessors had been mistaken. In 1685 a commissioner of high standing informed 1673] The Council of Policy. 193 I with rtress lent The fool- ;over pessors jrmed \\\ K« \ The officers selected at this troublous time to con- duct the government were Isbrand Goske, Albert van Breugel, and Pieter de Neyn. The first was a man who had filled various responsible situations in the Indies, and had always acquitted himself creditably. He had won distinction in Ceylon and on the coast of Malabar. Twice he bad been commissioner at the Cape. It was he who selected the site of the castle, when on his way from Europe to Persia to assume direction of the Com- pany's trade there, and again when returning home in 1671 he was charged with the duty of rectifying anything here that might be amiss. Judged by the standard of the nineteenth century his views would be called narrow; in his own day he was held to be not only a good but a wise and liberal man. In rank he was already higher than a commander, and when he was requested to assume the direction of afifairs at the Cape the residency 'vas raised to be a government, and he was entitled governor. At the same time he was appointed councillor extraordi- nary of India. His salary was to be at the rate of 25^ a month, or double that of a commander, with a very liberal table allowance, and besides quarters in the fort he was to have a pleasure house or country seat with an ornamental garden at Kondebosch, where he could enter- tain visitors at his ease. Albert van Breugel, who was appointed secunde, was a man of less experience than Mr. Goske, but was believed to be a staid, upright, and able officer. Advocate Pieter de Neyn, who was sent out as fiscal, was a good-natured, witty personage, well read in law, and thoroughly competent for his post as far as talent was concerned, but his moral character was not altogether above reproach. A book of poetry which he composed and published after his return to Europe bears the im- the directors that there was no site in Table Valley upon which a fortress could be built to command the anchorage without being itself commanded by higher ground. VOL. I. 13 I' i. •tyii '!'t VV • ;'*;■■ I' Is: 194 History of South Africa. [1672 press of a man of some genius, to whom close thinking was familiar. Many of the verses are characterised by the same peculiarities as the writings of Sterne, but the expressions are coarser. He also prepared a work upon the marriage customs of various nations, which gives proof of extensive reading. The fiscal was the first of the three new officers appointed, and when he arrived at the Cape he experienced some difficulty in getting himself recognised by the grave godfearing councillors who were then ruling the settlement. During the ten years fi:om the 1st of January 1662 to the 31st of December 1671, three hundred and seventy of the Company's ships put into Table Bay, either on the outward or homeward passage, and all found ample re- freshment. In the same period twenty-six French, nine English, and two Danish ships cast anchor here. The only other stranger was a small Portuguese vessel brought in as a prize. There were no wrecks or losses in Table Bay during this period, but on the coast nearly opposite Dassen Island a cutter was run ashore by a drunken skipper in June 1668, when two men were drowned, and in May 1671 another small vessel was wrecked on the Foundlings, when the crew got safely away in the boat. It was estimated that for the refreshment of the Com- pany's ships three hundred and fifty head of horned cattle and three thousand seven hundred sheep were required yearly. This was exclusive of the hospital and the people on shore. The average number of men on board each vessel that called in time of peace was about one hundred and eighty, but first-class Indiamen carried from three to four hundred. It needed seventy or eighty hands to set the enormous mainsail of such a ship, for they were igno- rant of many of the modem appliances for multiplying power. Shipbuilders were only beginning to learn that by reducing the size of the sails and increasing the num- ber they could do with fewer men. Large crews were needed also for defence in case of attack by pirates, and 1672] The Council of Policy. 195 ;om- attle lired jople . leach Idred ie to set igno- [that im- /ere and allowance had to be made for at least one-third of the complement being laid up with scurvy in a passage ex- ceeding four months. Thus, notwithstanding the number of ships appears small, over seven thousand strangers visited the Cape every year, who after consuming fresh provisions for ten or twelve days carried away with them as much as would keep good. Nearly every year the branch of th*^, Cochoquas under Gonnema paid a visit to the Cape peninsula, where they seldom failed to create trouble by their pilfering propensi- ties. The normal condition of this particular clan was that of a roving band, always at feud with its neighbours^ either plundering the Namaquas, or the Chainouquas, or the Kaapmans of their cattle, or itself plundered and re- duced to want. They had yet to learn that a European settlement was not to be dealt with in this manner. At this period the Europeans felt themselves more se- cure than ever before. There was a garrison of three hundred men in Table Valley. The burghers formed a body of militia one hundred strong, a fair proportion of them mounted on Javanese ponies. The council was in no mood to brook either a£&ont or wrong. The members were plain men, who looked at the native question as a very simple one. They had no thought or desire of harm- ing a Hottentot or of interfering in the slightest manner with the internal government of the clans, but they were determined to punish any one who should molest a Euro- pean, and to do it in such a manner as to inspire all others with a feeling of terror. On the first opportunity that offered they put this principle into practice. Five of Gonnema's people were taken redhanded in the act of sheepstealing, three of the number being guilty also of assaulting the herdsmen. They were bound and carried to the fort, where shortly a party of their friends appeared with cattle for their ransom. The council declined to release the prisoners on any terms. Day after day came messengers offering more and 1 .:• m\t m 196 History of South Africa. [1672 more cattle, but always without effect. The five prisoners were brought to trial, and were sentenced all to be soundly flogged, the three most guilty to be branded and to be banished to Bobben Island for fifteen years to collect shells for the public benefit in return for their food, the other two to be banished for seven years. The first part ,'? of the sentence was strictly carried out, and the latter ] part would have been so likewise if the convicts had not \ made their escape from the island in a boat. On the 23rd of March 1672 the Macassar arrived from Texel, having as passenger the secunde Albert van Breu- gel. The councillors went on board to welcome him and to escort him to the fort, but a strong south-easter springing up suddenly, they were unable to return to land before the 25th. Mr. Van Breugel's commission em- powered him to act as commander in case of no one higher in rank in the service being at the Cape, so that he at once assumed the direction of affairs. On the same day there arrived in a homeward bound ship a commissioner of the Cape residency in the person of Arnout van Overbeke, member of the high court of justice at Batavia and admiral of the return fleet of 1672. The commissioner was received with the ordinary state observed towards ofl&cers of his rank. The walls of the old fort would not admit of the cannon being used too freely, but the ships at anchor lent assistance with their great guns. Amid the roar of their discharges Mr. Van Overbeke landed on the jetty, where the officers of the settlement met him. The troops, with as many of the burgher militia as could be assembled, were drawn up and presented arms as he passed along the lines, and as he entered the fort his flag was hoisted and saluted. After investigating the affairs of the settlement, the commissioner Van Overbeke thought it would be expe- dient in order to prevent future disputes to make a formal purchase of the country about the Cape from the Hottentot claimants. A negotiation was accordinglv entered into '■r 1672] TAe Council of Policy. 197 with the chief formerly called by his countrymen Osing- kima and now Mankagou, to whom the Dutch had given the name Schacher. "When Mr. Van Eiebeek arrived in South Africa, Schacher's father, the fat captain Gogosoa, was the princi- pal chief of the three clans, Goringhaiquas, Gorachouquas, and Goringhaikonas, in occupation of the Cape peninsula, and the adjacent country. Since that time some changes in the condition of these clans bad taken place. The larg- est of them had been subdivided into several little bands. The permanent residents of the peninsula had increased in number, owing to the facility of obtaining food afforded by the presence of the European settlers. The others had not yet recovered from the loss sustained during the pesti- lence of 1665. But to them all Schacher's position was the same as his father's had been, so that if any one had a right to barter away the country, that one was he. The Hottentot chief, when applied to, readily con- sented to the conditions proposed, for they took nothing from him which he had not already lost. The agreement, which is still preserved in the registry of deeds in Cape- town, contains eight clauses. In the first, the Hottentot prince, as he is called, agrees for himself and his heirs in perpetuity to sell to the honourable East India Company the whole district of the Cape, including Table, Hout, and Saldanha bays, with all the lands, rivers, and forests there- in and pertaining thereto, to be cultivated and possessed without remonstrance from any one. With this under- standing, however, that he with his people and cattle shall be free to come anywhere near the outermost farms in the district, where neither the Company nor the free- men require the pasture, and shall not be driven away by force or without cause. In the second, he agrees for himself and his people never to do harm of any kind to the Company or its subjects, and to allow them the rights of transit and trade not only in the ceded district. sM but in his other possessions. In the third, he promises 198 History of South Africa. [1672 to repel all other Europeans who may attempt to settle in the district. In the fourth, he engages that he and his descendants for ever shall ' remain the good friends and neighbours of the Company, and be the enemies of all that seek to do the Company or its subjects harm. On the other hand, the Company engages in the fifth clause to pay to Prince Schacher goods and merchandise such as he may select to the value of 800Z. The sixth clause guarantees to him and his people the peaceful pos- session of his remaining territory, and gives them the right of passage through the Company's ground wherever the ■exercise of this privilege may not cause damage or an- noyance to the Company or its subjects. The seventh secures to Schacher the right of refuge in the Company's territory in case of his being defeated by his Hottentot enemies, and binds the Company to protect him. It also refers tribal disputes to the decision of the Company, and provides for a present to be made yearly to the protecting power. The last clause is Schacher's acknowledgment that the foregoing having been translated to him he agrees to all, and that he has received the amount stipu- lated. The document is dated in the fortress of Good Hope on the 19th of April 1672. It is signed on behalf of the Company by Aernout van Overbeke, Albert van Breugel, Coenrad van Breitenbach, and J. Coon, and has upon it the marks of Prince Schacher and 'T Tachou, who is stated to be the person next in authority to the prince. The secretary, Hendrik Crudop, signs as a wit- ness. The document is drawn up in precise legal language and it is clear in its statements, but it cannot be held to give the Company any claim to the Cape district not possessed before. The seller had no choice in the matter. If he had declined to agree to it, the result, so far as the Company's retaining possession of the soil, would have been precisely the same. Saldanha Bay is included in the purchase, though the country thereabouts was known - V 1672] The Council of Policy. 199 n n to be occupied by the Cochoquas. The price paid is stated to be 800Z. ; in a despatch to the directors the value of the goods actually transferred to Schacher is put down at 2Z. I65. 5d. It was not, and under the circum- stances could not be, an honest open bargain made by two parties who thoroughly comprehended what they were doing and knew the value given and taken. An agreement identical with that signed by Schacher was concluded on the 3rd of May between Albert van Breugel and Coenrad van Breitenbach on the part of the Company, and the two leading men of the Chainouquas on behalf of their minor chief Dhouw, wherein the district of Hottentots-Holland adjoining the Cape, with all its lands, streams, and fofests, together with False Bay are ceded to the Company in return for merchandise amount- ing in value to 800Z. The goods actually transferred were worth no more than 6/. 16s. ^d. At this time experiments were being made in the cul- tivation of various useful plants from other parts of the world. Sugarcanes and cocoanut trees were brought from Ceylon, and cassava plants were introduced from the west coast of Africa, but these all failed. The olive was still regarded as a tree that would untimately succeed. Some seasons the fruit fell beforis it was ripe, in other seasons it was small and of very inferior quality. But the trees looked so well that the gardeners always maintained that they had not yet procured the best kind for bearing, and that if they could only get proper stocks or grafts the plant would to a certainty answer here. In this year the first brandy was distilled at the Cape. It was made as an experiment to ascertain if the wine of this country could not be turned to some account. The general opinion of the quality of the brandy was, however, even less favourable than of the wine of which it was made. On the 31st of July intelligence arrived that war had commenced betwewi France and England on one side and 20O History of South Africa. [1672 the United Provinces on the other. Orders were there- fore sent out to take every possible precaution against surprise. The council hereupon made the best arrange- ments which they could for the defence of the settlement. Th3 establishment on Dassen Island was broken up, and the five hundred sheep which were kept there were re- moved to the mainland. At Saldanha Bay and Eobben Island preparations were made for abandoning the posts upon the first appearance of an enemy, and destroying everything that could not be carried ofif. In case of need the women and children with the cattle were to be sent to Hottentots-Holland. The work at the castle was mean- time diligently carried on. On tlie 2nd of October Governor Goske arrived in the ship ZuiA Polshroek, after a passage of five months from Texel. The Zxiid Polshroek had lost eighteen men, and there were sixty down with scurvy when she dropped her anchors. The governor landed at once, and was received by the garrison under arms. As soon as his flag was distinguished on the ship the news was signalled to Eondebosch and Wynberg, so that the burghers were fast assembling on the ground which now forms the parade. To them the governor was presented by the secunde Van Breugel, and was saluted with loud acclamations of wel- come, mingled with discharges of firearms from the troops and the roar of cannon from the Zuid Polshroek and the finished point of the new fortress. The governor's com- mission was then read, and the ceremony of induction was over. 201 CHAPTER VII. I ISBRAND • GOSKE, GOVERNOR, INSTALLED 2nd OCTOBER 1672, RETIRED 14th MARCH 1676. JOHAN BAX, ENTITLED VAN HERENTALS, GOVERNOR, IN- ^TXLLED 14th march 1676, DIED 29th JUNE 1678. HENDRIK CRUDOP, SECUNDE, ACTING COMMANDER, 29th JUNE 1678 TO 12th OCTOBER 1679. At the time -when the Cape settlement was raised tem- porarily to the dignity of being called a government, the European population consisted of sixty-four burghers, thirty-nine of whom were married, sixty-five children, fifty-three Dutch men-servants, and about three hundred and seventy servants -of the Company and soldiers, in all not exceeding six hundred souls. But there are circum- stances under which the deeds of six hundred individuals may be of greater importance in an historical retrospect than are ordinarily those of six hundred thousand. These few white men were laying the foundations of a great colony, they were exploring a country as yet very imper- fectly known, they were dealing with the first difficulties of meeting a native population. Their situation was the most commanding point on the surface of the earth, and they knew its importance then as well as England does 1 now. The Cape castle, wrote the directors, is the frontier ' fortress of India, an expression which shows the value they attached to it. At this time the Free Netherlands were engaged in the most unequal struggle that modern Europe has wit- nessed. The kings of England and France, the elector of Cologne, and the bishop of Munster were allied together I !' I 1 ' 202 History of South Africa. [1672 \ for the suppression of Batavian liberty. In May 1672 Louis XIV in person with a splendidly equipped army invaded the provinces from the south and within twenty- eight days no fewer than ninety-two cities and strongholds fell into his hands. To Utrecht, in the very heart of the repubhc, his march was one continued triumph. The ecclesiastical princes poured their forces into Overyssel, and completely subdued that province. Charles II fitted I out a large fleet, but fortunately for English liberties the I Dutch were able to hold their own on the sea. The unhappy country in its darkest hour was distracted by rival factions. The Perpetual Edict, by which the prince of Orange was excluded from supreme power, was the law, but most men felt that the only hope left to the republic was to place the guidance of affairs in his hands. The towns called for the repeal of the edict, the states obeyed, and William of Orange, destined at a later day to wear the crown of England, was appointed stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland and captain and admiral-general of all the provinces. Then followed (20th of August 1672) the murder by a furious mob of the two most eminent men of the Loevestein party, Johan de Witt, pensionary of Holland, and his brother Cornelis de Witt, burgomaster of Dordrecht. Of the seven provinces three were at this time entirely occupied by the enemy, but internal discord was at an end. One clear head guided the forces of the country, and hope began to take the place of despair. The sluices were opened, and the dykes were cut. The whole of the low lands in South Holland were laid under water. An army sprang into existence, an army indeed of boors and artisans, but animated by intense patriotism and capable of meeting any dangers and any fatigues. In the harbours of Zeeland and North Holland a great fleet was got together, ready in the last extremity to convey two hundred thou- sand free people to the islands of the East, to form a new Batavian republic there. W 1672] Isbrand Goske. 203 new In the face of such opposition the allies were compelled to ' ise. Then a change in the situation took place. A combination of great European powers was formed against France. The English government, which had entered into the war and carried it on against the wishes and interests of the people, was obliged to make peace (February 1674). Six months later the Dutch had recovered all their terri- tory except the towns of Maestricht and Graave, their fleet was keeping the coast of France in continual alarm, and the prince of Orange with seventy thousand men, half of them Germans and Spaniards, was preparing to attack the prince of Conde at Charleroi. The effect of the troubles of the mother country upon the Cape settlement was felt for many years. The number of ships that called fell off very considerably, for even after the recovery of their territory by the Dutch, it took a long time to establish again their European trade. In the East the Company suffered no reverses o*" "mportance, but its commerce was crippled by the necessity of maintaining a large fleet on a war footing. The high admiral there was the elder Eyklof van Goens, subsequently governor- general of Netherlands India, and associated both before and after this date with Cape affairs. Under him, com- manding a division of the fleet, was Cornells van Quael- berg, once commander of the Cape settlement. The best contested battle fought in Indian waters during the war was between Van Quaelberg's division of the fleet and a squadron of ten English ships that met off Masulipatam. The English were outnumbered, but they fought bravely, and it was not until one of their ships went down and two others were surrounded and reduced to wrecks that the remaining seven made sail for the Hooghly. The first and most important object that Governor Goske had to attend to was to prepare the Cape for de- fence in the event of its being attacked, and for this pur- pose he had authority to land from passing ships as many men as could be spared and he might require. But the i :i 1 Wi ■ '1 ( : 204 History of South Africa. [i67» I ! ii troubles in Europe caused a falling-otf in the number of ships sent out, and further made it so difficult to obtain soldiers and seamen that for some years hardly a vessel sailed with her full complement of hands. Urgent, therefore, as was the necessity for completing the castle, it was not possible at any time to employ more than two- hundred and fifty to three hundred men upon it. What the Free Netherlands did in those days cannot be com- pared with what the present mother country is capable of doing. But, if measured by their resources, and especi- Jally by the number of their inhabitants, the efforts which ithey put forth are worthy of the warmest admiration of all liberty-loving people. The governor resolved as a temporary measure to re- pair the old fort, the earthen walls of which had by this time so crumbled away that he described it as being like a ruined molehill. It was hastily built up again, and then every man that could be spared from ordinary duty was set to work upon the castle. Nearly three years had elapsed since the commissioner Van der Broeck authorised the Cape government to form a farming establishment at Hottentots-Holland, but, owing to the illness of Commander Hackius and the absence of any one of high authority after his death, nothing had yet been done in the matter beyond surveying the ground. Now, however, besides the original object in view there was a special reason for forming an outpost in the country,, as a place was needed to which the cattle could be sent, and upon which the garrison could fall back if compelled to abandon the Cape. On the 18th of October 1672 Sergeant Cruythof and twelve men left to put up the necessary buildings, and thus the first step was taken to extend the settlement towards the interior. The description of Hottentots-Holland which was sent to the Netherlands for the information of the directors would seem at the present day to be too highly coloured if we did not know that within the period which has. [1677 167a] Isbrand Goske. 205 i since elapsed the face of the country has undergone a change. Western valleys were then covered with long rich grass, just as Kaffraria is now. Every summer a party of men used to be sent out with scythes to the Tigerberg, and thirty or forty waggon loads of hay were brought back to the Company's stables as forage for the horses. The recesses in the mountain sides facing the sea contained patches of evergreen forest, in which were found great varieties of useful timber. The grass at Hottentots-Holland and the forests in the immediate neighbourhood were mentioned as being superior to those of any other part of the country yet visited. The soil was described as rich, a^id the south- east wind, that scourge of the husbandman in Table Valley, was far less violent there. It was a bountifully watered land, its streams were stocked with fish, and on its pastures at certain seasons browsed elands and harte- beests and other game. It was easy of access by sea. A cutter could run up to the head of False Bay, where without any difficulty produce could be shipped, and thus the journey through the heavy sand of the Cape flats be avoided. It seems to have been almost a natural law in South Africa that all the advantages of a locahty should be seen at first, and its defects only become known gradually afterwards. With a view of crippling the Enghsh East India Com- pany, orders were at this time received from Holland to fit out f.n expedition to attack and endeavour to destroy its victualling station at St. Helena. For this purpose the ships Vi'yheid, Zuid Polshroek, Cattenhurgh, and Vlie- gende Swaan were made ready at the Cape, and a hundred and eighty soldiers and a hundred and fifty sailors above their ordinary crews were embarked in them. The ex- pedition was placed under the direction of Jacob de Geus, skipper of the Vri/heid, and subject to his general orders Lieutenant Coenrad van Breitenbach had command of the land forces. lit' ii mm I i .1 IP m Li: ■! i '■.\. !•)' ^A. 2l8 History of South Africa. [1674 she free from control than she showed an utter absence of stability, a want of self-respect and self-reliance, which left her exposed to every temptation. After Van Meerhofs death she remained some time upon Bobbeu Island, and then requested to be brought over to Table Valley. Here her manner of hving attracted the attention of the officers of government, and after re- peated warnings she was brought to account. She had I been guilty of drunkenness and other misconduct, had / more than once gone to live at a Hottentot kraal and I whil<' there had fallen into filthy practices, and had '< neglected her helpless children. For these offences she \ was sent back to the island, and her children were placed under the care of the deacons. Bi:t there was no desire to be harsh with her, and upon a promise of reformation she was again permitted to reside in Table Valley. Then the same thing happened as before, and so it continued, removal to Bobben Island alternating with short periods of scandalous conduct in Table Valley, during the re- mainder of her life. The conclusion which Governor Goske arrived at from a review of her career was that the hereditary disposition of the Hottentots was too unstable to admit of their adoption of civilisation otherwise than very slowly and gradually. As Eva was the first baptized Hottentot, the governor decided that she should have an honourable funeral, and the day following her death she was buried within the church in the castle. Three years after this date a burgher who had been a personal friend of Van Meerhof, when removing with his family to Mauritius, requested of the council that he might be allowed to take two of the children with him as apprentices. This was agreed to by the council and by the church authorities, at whose expense the children were being maintained. Formal contracts were entered into by which the burgher bound himself to educate them and bring them up in a proper manner, and in which [i674 1674] Isbrand Goske. 219 they were placed under the protection of the commander ol Mauritius. The boy when grown up returned to the Cape, but fell into wild habits and died at an early age. One of the girls subsequently became the wife of a well- to-do Cape farmer. The fate of the others is unknown. The duty of supporting destitute orphan children de- volved, as has been seen, upon the deacons. There was a fund at their disposal for the purpose of relieving the poor of the congregation, out of which all such charges were paid. This fund was raised partly by church collections, partly by certain fines and fees, and was often augmented by donations and bequests. The first person who be- queathed money for this purpose to the Cape congregation was Commander Wagenaar, but since his death other contributions had been received in the same manner. In the year 1674 the capital of this fund amounted to rather more than a thousand pounds sterling, which was invested as loans on mortgage of landed property, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent per annum. The collections were more than sufficient to meet the current expenses, so that the fund was constantly increasing.^ For the protection of the rights of children of another class, an orphan chamber was at this time established. The necessity for such an institution was apparent from the fact that recently several widows had remarried with- out previously securing to the children their legitimate portion of the property of the deceased parent. It was enacted that in future no marriage of a widower or widow, whether a servant of the Company or a burgher, could take place in the colony without a certificate being first obtained &om the orphan chamber that the rights of the children by the previous marriage were secured. The chamber was empowered to invest money belonging to orphans, and to collect interest therefor at the rate of six per cent per annum. It was constituted guardian of orphans in all cases where none were named by the will iln 1679 it was equal to 1,5352.. and in 1684 to 1,824Z. iv 1 iiil' ir. 11 ii i'f 4m ! il i' 220 History of South Africa. [1674 of the deceased parent, and was authorised to provide for the maintenance of minors under its care by a reasonable allowance from the property belonging to them. The orphan chamber thus created consisted of a presi- dent appointed by the governor in council and four mem- bers, two of whom were servants of the Company and two burghers. It was provided with a secretary, who received payment for his services. The first president was Hendrik Crudop, the first secretary Jan Pretorius, formerly secunde Mauritius and now a burgher at the Gape. Every yeax one servant of the Company and one burgher retired, and were succeeded by two new members . chosen by the council of poUcy from a hst of four names I presented by the chamber itself. It was thus to some ex- ', tent a self-perpetuating corporation. The large sums of I money which the orphan chamber had charge of were '; commonly invested on mortgage of landed property, so that ; it served the purpose of a loan bank.^ 'In the report of the president and membere of the board of orphan masters prepared in 1824 for the commissioners of inquiry sent from Eng- land it is stated that the chamber was created in 1691. As authority for this statement, reference is made to their oldest ledger then in existence, which was commenced in that year. They report, however, that the book opens with the accounts of twenty-seven warda whose inheritances were of an earlier date ; but it does not seem to have occurred to them that a new set of books began then to be used, to which previous ledger accounts were transferred. They enter into a series of speculations — all wide of the mark — as to how these accounts could have arisen, and never once thought of referring to the resolutions and debates of the council of policy for a correct explanation. But theirs is by far the best of all the reports supplied to the commissioners by local boards. Conjecture everywhere took the place of that long and diligent research in the ancient records of the colony which alone could have supplied accurate information. In 1834 the duties of the orphan chamber were transferred to the master of the supreme court, and the records of the institution are now in charge of that officer. They are of considerable value for historical purposes. After 1699 the board consisted of six members, including the president, who was always a government official, and the vice-president, who was always a burgher. It continued to be perpetuated as described above. From that date onward its instructions were carried out by a secretary, a clerk, and a messenger. Since 1711 It has been required by law that all wills should be regis- [t6T4 1674] Isbrand Goske. %tl Some regulations regarding church matters which were made in December 1674 show how complete was the control exercised by the council of policy. The church council submitted two names for the election of an elder iu place of the one retiring, but objections were taken to both, and fresh nominations were called for. The church council was informed that one of the elders should be a servant of the Company and the other a burgher, and that the officer who held the position of political commissioner should not be nominated as an elder. Another question which was referred to the council of policy for decision had reference to baptism. Some Boman catholics had settled in i:he colony, and though they were at liberty in their ov i house to worship God in the manner approved by their consc .»nces, they could not assemble together for public wdauip nor have the services of their church perforr'"! by any cler;."'man who might chance to call in a fcreigi ship. Under these circumstances, one of them requested permission of the consistory to have his children baptized in the Keformed church, and offered sponsors who were also Roman catho- lics. Hereupon the church council expressed its opinion that the children should be baptized if other sponsors were not forthcoming, but that the parents ought first to be admonished to endeavour to procure sponsors of the true reformed faith. Before taking action, however, they submitted this opinion to the council of poUcy for ap- proval. The council of policy referred them to the in- structions concerniag baptism which had been received from Batavia in the time of Commander Wagenaar, which accorded with the view they had taken, and informed them that the customs of India were to be observed in every respect. At this time the reverend Rudolphus Meerland was tered in this office before being acted upon, and since 1746 testament. ary executors have also been required to register inventories of the estates under their administration. I \ I' I M JA :j:ii; 222 History of South Africa. [1676 clergyman of the Cape, having succeeded the reverend Adriaan de Voocht on the 12th of February 1674, when the last named left for Batavia. The return fleet which put into Table Bay early in the year 1676 was under command of Nicolaas Verburg, who occupied a position in the Company's service next only to the governor-general of the Indies, and who, upon his arrival, produced a commission from the Indian authorities empowering him to examine into and arrange the affairs of the Cape settlement. Mr. Goske had stipu- lated when he accepted the appointment of governor that no one should act as commissioner here during his stay, but he cordially assented to an inspection of the various departments of the public service and to the issue of instructions for the guidance of his successor. The visit of this commissioner had little effect upon the settlement one way or other, but a petition which was presented to him in the name of the whole body of freemen by the burgher councillors, who had been increased in 1675 to three in number, is deserving of mention, as showing their view of the laws and regulations under which they were living. In this petition the burghers enumerated their griev- ances and asked for redress. Their first request was that some cattle which had been taken from Gonnema and lent to them might be given to them in full possession. Next that they might be allowed to sell wine, grain, and fruit to any one at the best price which they could ob- tain, upon payment of such taxes as might be considered proper. That they might be allowed the same rights of trade in merchandise as the freemen enjoyed in Batavia. That those among them who had no ground might have freehold farms assigned to them at Hottentots-Holland, and might be supplied with cattle on lease. And, lastly, that for the comfort of those who were poor, rice should be sold out of the Company's stores at reduced rates. These requests were forwarded to the directors for m [1676 1676] Isbrand Goske. 223 consideration, as Commissioner Verburg did not choose to incur the responsibility of deciding upon them. In course of time the first request was fully acceded to, the second, third, and fourth were partly granted, and the fifth was refused. The Company, it was asserted, in- tended to discontinue the importation of rice as soon as possible, and to reduce its cost would discourage the cultivation of wheat and thus frustrate one of the most important objects kept in view. During the last three years the officers at the head of the several departments had been entirely replaced. The secunde Albert van Breugel had been charged by the governor with inattention to his duties, and though upon investigation of the matter the Batavian authorities ac- quitted him of carelessness, he was removed from the post. Hendrik Crudop, now advanced to the rank of mer- chant, was appointed secunde in his stead. The fiscal De Neyn had gone to Batavia in October 1674. The explorer Hieronymus Cruse had chmbed the ladder of promotion in the army, and was now a lieutenant. The council of policy consisted of the governor, the secunde Hendrik Crudop, the captain Dirk Smient, the Heutenant Hiercny- mus Cruse, the treasurer Anthonie de Vogel, and the chief salesman Marthinus van Banchem, the last named being also the secretary. ' In 1671, when the Company was making preparations for the defence of its Indian possessions, the island of Mauritius was raised from being a dependency of the Cape to a separate seat of government, and Mr. Hubert Hugo, an officer of some note, was appointed commander. But after the conclusion of peace with England the island was reduced again to its old position. It was at this time of very little advantage to the Company, as except a little ebony, which was brought back to the Cape every year in the despatch packet, it exported nothing. Very few ships called there for supplies. A few burghers and a garrison of thirty or forty men were its only inhabitants. So de- I Hi: m & ■ % iv' ;l 224 History of South Africa. [1676 pendent were its authorities that they could uot even carry their sentences into execution, unless in cases of extreme urgency, until they were reviewed by the court of justice at the Cape. The government of Mr. Goske is associated with the building of the castle and the establishment of an out- station and farm at Hottentots-Holland, but with little else of interest now. He had no opportunity to originate any improvements. He kept the large garden in Table Valley in order by means of slave labour, but to obtain ten or twelve men to work on the castle he leased the vineyard and garden Eustenburg, at Eondebosch, to free- men, retaining only the lodge there for his own use. With a like view he leased the corn mill to a burgher. One experiment, indeed, he made, which his predecessors do not appear to have thought of. He caused oysters to be brought from the south coast and deposited in Table Bay with a view to their propagation in a convenient place. The experim^^nt was twice made, and on each occasion it failed. The farmers increased very slightly in number during his administration. Only five new names of burghers whose descendants are now in South Africa are found in the records of his time : Jan Pretorius, two brothers Hendrik and Ockert Olivier, Hendrik Smidt, and Gerrit Visser, the last named being a younger brother of Jan Coenraad Visser already mentioned. Immigration, owing to the war, had ceased, and no one who could be kept in the service was permitted to leave it. Governor Goske was sent to the Cape for a particular purpose, namely, to hold it for the Netherlands at a time of great peril. That time was now past. Peace had been made with England, the only naval power capable of in- juring the States, and, in addition, a special treaty had been entered into (18th of March 1674) by the two East India Companies, in which each engaged to promote the honour and profit of the other. There was no necessity to retain here any longer an officer of Mr. Goske's rank 1 fVn' 1676] Johan Box. 225 and ability, more especially as he reminded the directors of their engagement to relieve him at an early date, and requested permission to return to Europe. In November 1674 the assembly of seventeen appointed Johan Bax, the second officer in rank at] the island of Ceylon, to succeed Mr. Goske as governor of the Cape, but without the additional title of councillor extraordinary of India. At the same time they complimented the out- going governor very highly upon his administration, and issued directions that he was to supersede any officer of lower rank who might be returning to Europe as admiral of a fleet. The new governor embarked at Galle in the Voorhout, and arrived in Simon's Bay on the 1st of January 1676. Two days later he took part in the de- hberations of the council at the Cape, but as no ships were then leaving for Europe Mr. Goske retained the direction of affairs until the 14th of March, on which day Governor Johan Bax was installed with the usual ceremony. The Netherlands were still at war with France, but as no fear was entertained of an attack upon the Cape by a hostile fleet, the attention of the authorities could be directed to some other object than the completion of the castle. The settlement was still in a condition of blockade, inasmuch as Hottentots from beyond the first range of mountains could not bring cattle to the fort ior sale, through fear of being intercepted by the C'oohoquas. The farmers at Bondebosch and Wynberg wete pressing their claims for protection, and it was necessary to do something to allay their apprehensions of Gonnema mak- ing such a raid upon them as he had recently made upon the people of Schacher and Kuiper at the Tigerberg. In the open field they felt confident that the whole Cocho- qua tribe would not dare to attack them, but their cattle might easily be swept off and their houses be burnt by a sudden foray on a dark night. To prevent such a disaster the redoubts Kyk uit and Keert de Koe, which had long VOL. I. 15 ;i;,i ' t'l ' ' "^ jHif 1 1 lii i ?■' -i 226 History of South Africa. [1676 since fallen into decay, were now rebuilt with stone, and parties of horsemen were stationed in them for the pur- pose of patrolling along the outermost farms. A few days after Governor Bax assumed office intelli- gence reached the castle from Hottentots-Holland that three burghers, who were so foolhardy as to venture across the mountains, had been murdered by Bushmen at the Breede river, where they were shooting seacows. Upon the evidence of Captain Klaas and of a European who escaped from the massacre, ihese Bushmen were termed dependents of Gonnema, and the murder was set down as a charge to his account. But it is by no means certain that he had anything to do with the matter. When the Dutch came to South Africa they found a nomadic pastoral people living in separate small com- munities, each community or clan having a name by which it was distinguished from the others. A group of two, three, or more such clans formed a tribe, nominally under one paramount chief, but the bond of cohesion among the members was so weak that there were frequent feuds among them. The tribes, or groups of clans having a recent common origin, were usually at war or watching their neighbours with suspicious eyes. This was the high- est form of society known to the natives. Sometimes a clan which had lost its cattle would be reduced to such circumstances as those in which the beachrangers were found on the shores of Table and Saldanha bays, but there was always a nossibility for people in this state to regain their former poiition. There was no race prejudice to prevent their amalgamation with other clans of their own tribe, to whom they bore the same relationship that the poor bear to the rich in all countries. But wherever the Europeans penetrated they found a class of people whose homes were among almost inacces- sible mountains, and who maintained themselves entirely by the chase and by plunder. That these people were of a different race from the herdsmen was not even "uo- [6761 Johan Box. 227 !# X ; Ind a Icces- birely of pected by the Dutch, who beheved them to be simply Hottentot robbers or brigands who had thrown off all the restraints of law.^ There are peculiari ies in the personal appearance of Bushmen — such as the greater breadth of the upper part of their faces, the absence of projecting chins, and the want of lobes to the pars — which enable men Hke the late Dr. Bleek to pronounce unfailingly, at first sight, and before a word has been spoken, as to their nationality; and scientific examination into the structure of their language has shown them to be a people far removed in point of relationship from the other races of South Africa, but the Europeans who first came into cortact with them did not detect these differences. Very likely a party of Afghans, if transported to Ireland without any previous knowledge of the country and its people, would be a long time in making the discovery that the Saxon speaking English and the Celt speaking Irish were not closely related in blood. To them the Celt would be undistinguishable from the Saxon. And this was precisely the position that the Bushmen and the Hottentots stood in to the Dutch of the seventeenth century. The Hottentots called the Bushmen Sana, a title dis- tinguishing them as a distinct race from their own, but spoke of them usually as Hobiqua, or robbers and mur- derers. They seldom spared any who fell into their hands. Still, necessity had in some instances brought about an arrangement by which parties of Bushmen were either in alliance with Hottentot clans or were in a condition of dependence upon them, serving as scouts and spies and receiving in return a precarious protection.^ The ' The first notice of any one having fonned an opinion that the Hottentots and Bushmen were distinct races does not occur until more than ten years after this )>te. The word race is here used in the same signification as when speaiviiig of a Celtic rare as distinguished from a Teutonic. ''This is the case with jgard to the Bushm / long the eastern margin of the Kalahari and the Betshuana clans ii. ^' at country to the present day. All the natives of South Africa have distinct race names for Hottentots and Bushmen. The KafSrs on the frontier of the • ,ne Colony- call the Hottentots Amalawo, and the Bushmen Ahatwa. '^^S: 1 1 !!: ' UP* 1 i :1 :.ii ' f"'il 'ii\ m^v y*" i li Mm •*tBbi' > 1 *''f.Vi'«»'*' • '-''''-M ' ! •Vt-t' i1 ■ '-.^J , 1 ^y% p '4Mli 1 ii :■ 228 History of South Africa. [1676 Hottentot chiefs without exception denied that they had any right or means of control over the Bushmen in their neighbourhood. The Europesii authonties frequently called npon them to preserve order in the diatricis in which they were residing by suppres jing 'b ? brigandage of their sub- jects, but their reply was always to the ,3iict that the robbers were not ticir suijccts, and that ll't;- would cheer- fully extermiiuite thera if tl.oy could. It is thus imlikeiy iV^at Goimema had anything to do with ihe murder of the burghers by the Pnshmen. The council decided to '^end an expedition against the mur- derers, for whioli purpose a commaudo was assembled consisting of fifty I'ooi soldiers a^x-i twenty-three horse- men, fifty burghers under Woater Mostert, and a large band of Hottentots under the captains Klaas, Koopman, Schacher, Kuiper, and Sousoa. The commando was pro- visioned for three weeks, and ?;as under the general orders of Lieutenant Cruse. Soon after setting out, a strai>ger who was held to be a spy was seized and com- pelled to act as guide, but as he led the expedition to some abandoned kraals, he was handed over to Captain Klaas, who put him to death. The Bushmen could not be found, and after a wearisome march the commando returned to the castle without having effected anything. Six months after this a petty captain, who was called Jacob by the Dutch, came round from Saldanha Bay in a small vessel belonging to a freeman, ani. ».-idered his ser- vices to look for Gonnema. Under pretence of purchasing cattle this man was sent out as a spy, and returned with information that the enemy was encamped in the Sugar- bergen only a day's march beyond the Berg river. Be- hind were the Namaquas and the Grigriquas, hereditary enemies of the Cochoquas, so that escape in that direc- tion would be impossible. Hereupon a large comrii.ndo was assembled, and unde*" guidance of Jacob left 1 Cape in expectation of bt -'g able to surprise Goune;u md to punish him severely. |i W' \ !!' ¥ ■> unde*- be -'g verely. 1677] Johan Box. 229 The expedition marched only at night, and took every precaution to avoid detection, but by some means the enemy became aware of its approach and escaped in good time. Foiled in its principal object, the commando then made a detour to Saldanha Bay, and fell upon Captain Kees, who had destroyed the Company's post there three years before. Several of his followers were killed, and the whole of his stock, which consisted of one hundred and sixty-five head of horned cattle and thirty sheep, was seized. The booty taken on this occasion being so small, the Hottentot allies were rewarded for their fidelity by presents of such articles as they most desired out of the Company's stores. This was the last expedition sent out during the war with Gonnema, which for four years kept the country in a disturbed condition. On the 8th of June 1677 Kuiper and another petty captain appeared at the castle accom- panied by some messengers from the Cochoqua chief, who reported that their mission was to ascertain if peace could not be established. They were persons of no rank, and brought no peace offerings, having merely been sent to make inquiries. They asserted that if the prospects were favourable it was Gonnema's intention to visit the governor, and thereafter to trade in friendship with the Europeans. He and his people had become weary of living like Bushmen in the mountains, always on the alert against attack. The council hereupon decided to let the messengers know that the overture was agreeable, and that if the Cochoquas would send a more respectable deputation to make due submission to the honourable Company, the government was prepared to enter into a firm peace, in which, however, the allies of the Europeans must also be included. A safe conduct to hold good for three months was given to the messengers, and a small present was :=?ent to Gonnema as coming from Lieutenant Cruse. On th 11 ' I ■■( ":ir' • 11 i* I'! ■ I < \\ II' l^'^l f •■ li: ^'':' ;f!i ■ \ \ .r 24th the same messengers returned to m^ II 230 History of South Africa. [1677 caaUe, bringing with them a present of nine head of cattle, and accompanied by three men of position, named Nengue, Harru, and Nuguma, who were empowered to ask for peace. The ambassadors with their followers were admitted to the council chamber, the burgher coun- cillors and the chief officer of the militia being present also. There the conditions, which were purposely em- bodied in a few short clauses, were interpreted and ex- plained to them, and to these they signified their assent by a general exclamation of ' Sam ! sam ! ' or * Peace ! peace ! ' They were as follow : — In the first place the ambassadors request forgiveness for the acts which occasioned the war, and ask that a friendly intercourse may be established es before. They offer and p' jmise to dehver as tribute thirty head of cattle upon the arrival of the first return fleet in every year. They promise to punish their people in the same mam ar as the honourable Company does.^ They promise not to wage war against any of the honourable Company's allies without the knowledge of the government. In this peace are included the captain!? Kuiper and Schacher, also the petty captain Kees, and all who are subject to Gonnema, Schacher, and Kuiper. The above conditions having been placed on record with the signatures of the offic'als and the marks of the envoys attached, presents were made to each of the Hottentots, and a good quantity of tobacco, pipes, beads, etc., was sent to Gonnema in return for the nine head of cattle. And so the country was restored to a state of tranquilhty again. ^This clause would seem to be somewhat obscure, but subsequent transactions show that it was intended to mean that the Gochoquas should regard certain offences, particularly thefts of stock, as crimes of magnitude to be punished severely, and not to be lightly passed over aa had been their custom. i677] Johan Box. 231 The wai' with the Cochoquas, though in itself a petty matter, had very important effects upon the European settlement. The Company had learned &om it that the supply of cattle from the Hottentots was precarious, that at any time the hostile action of a single clan might cut off access to the tribes beyond and prevent the barter which furnished the garrison and ships with meat. The establishment in Table Valley was too expensive to be kept up merely for the purpose of providing vegetables for the crews of the Indian fleets. It was necessary therefore to increase the number of colonists, and to induce some of them to turn their attention to cattle breeding, so that the danger of being left without animal food might be averted. Hitherto the burghers were regarded as being useful chiefly in furnishing poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and grain when required, and the Hottentots were mainly relied upon to meet the other pressing need : henceforth a larger field of industry was placed before Europeans, and a system of colonisation was encouraged which when fairly entered upon tended to the rapid expansion of the settlement. Notwithstanding the strict regulation? that had from time to time been enacted prohibiting - o between the burgh«rs and the Hottentots, it had not been prevented. It was now discovered that the forbidden trafl&c was being carried on to a large extent, and laws even more severe than the old ones were therefore issued and enforced. It was nade a capital offence to furnish a Hottentot with firearns or any kind of munitions of war. Two guns that lad been bartered by farmers to Hottentots for cattle were recovered with great difficuU^' and at considerable expense. It was made a penal ofil< 1 .:. lo pay natives for labour in money, because they did not know the value of it, ani rated their services altogether too dear, '^r in half- breed sheep, because robberies could not be traced if they were in possession of such animals. One of the reasons assigned for desiring to prevent traffic between the two I • ''^ . ■II 'si I l-,!U-: t:ii 232 History of South Africa, [1677 I it i races was the fear of the government that the farmers might imprudently commit some act which would lead to serious difficulties. No doubt there was good cause for such fear. There are instances on record of some lawless e'^ if, committed in Commander Borghorst's days, and at t' i'^' time there was a case which was giving no little trouble. In the year 1672 a lawless character named Willem Willems deliberately shot a Hottentot upon very slight provocation, ajr' then escaped to Europe in a Danish ship. Tuoii alter his arrival in Holland, he presented himself before the prince of Orange, and by means of false representations procured a safe conduct to return to this country, where he had a family and some property. Upon making his appearance here again, the council felt itself bound to respect the safe conduct, but as the Hottentots far and wide clamoured for justice, thi crimi- nal was placed upon Robben Island until instructions could be received from the directors. A close invBstiga- tion into the particulars of the homicide was made, and the evidence was sent to Euroi In course 0. time in- structions came back to send Willems with his .' aily to Mauritius, but his wife, who in the meantime ha^ been causing a great deal of trouble by her misconduct, r^i, 'ied to this scheme, and some delay took place. Eventually the family was deported to Batavia, but as they returned agaiu to the Cape they were banished to Mauritivs and not permittt d afterwards to leave that island. 'nother mson f-^r prohibiting the burghers from trad- ing with the Hottentots was to keep down the price of cattle. In this traffic the Company could not permit its subjects to 1 ecome its rivals. The government was anxi- ous that the farmers should bo in possession of large herds and flocks, a- ' it not only supplied them with stock at rates Vc little above cost price, but it hired breeding cows ati vVf to them on equal shares of the increase. It even proLjised that if they would bring to its stores any i677] Johan Box. 233 Hottentots who might come to them with anything for sale, they might purchase it again out of the stores at exactly cost price. Offering these inducements to obedi- ence, it prohibited the purchase of cattle by a burgher from a Hottentot under penalty of severe corporal punish- ment, and the purchase of any other merchandise, such as ivory, ostrich feathers, peltries, etc., 1 nder penalty of a fine of 4/. and such other punishment as the court of justice might deem proper to inflict. To protect its cattle trade, the Hottentot captains who were under the influ- ence 0" the government were required not to purchase from those farther inland, under pain of being considered unfriendly. All these restrictions, combined with police regula- tioj for searching waggons passing the barrier beyond the castle and the watch-house Keert de Koe, as well as frequent inspection of the kraals of the farmers, could not entirely suppress the forbidden traffic. That these severe regulations produced no remonstrance from the burghers shows bow different were the opinions then held from those of the present day. There was never a people more unvdlling than the Dutch to keep silent when they felt themselves aggrieved. They never scrupled to raise their voices and claim what they believed to be their rights whenever they thought they were oppressed. But in this case they did not consider that their privi- leges had been invaded. A quarter of p, century had now elapsed since the arrival of the Europeans, during which time the habits of the natives living permaiiontly in the Cape peninsula seem to have undergone very little change. They had increased considerably in number, and had a kraal in Table Valley, on the upper side of the present Hottentot- square, but in general they were to be found lounging about the houses of the burghers. The men could not be induced to do any other work than tend cattle, but the women gathered fuel for sale, and the young girls :' I i ' -1 !,: 234 History of S-ntlh Africa. [1678 were mostly in service. They were dressed in sheepskins and cast-ofif European clothing, and depended for food principally upon supplies of rice obtained in return for such service as they performed. They had become passionately fond of arrack and tobacco. Early in 1678 there was such a scarcity of rice in the settlement that the burghers were compelled to dis- charge their dependents, and as these were no longer able to live as their ancestors had done, they were driven by hunger to seize sheep and even to plunder the houses of the Europeans in open day. Just at that time a party of Bushmen took up their abode in the mountains at the back of Wynberg and descended at night upon the kraals of the farmers. In great alarm the burghers ap- pealed to the council for protection, and measures were promptly adopted to suppress the disorder. There was a large supply of ships' biscuits in the magazines, and it was resolved to sell these at a very cheap rate to the burghers, so that they might again employ and feed the Hottentots. Food was to be offered in payment to all who would work at the moat which was then being made round the castle. The country was to be patrolled night and day by horsemen. Eewards were offered for the apprehension of robbers. Schacher and Kuiper were sent for, and upon their arrival at the castle were in- formed that they would be detained as prisoners until their followers brought in such of the robbers as were known to be their people. These were accordingly cap- tured and delivered over without delay, when with some others they were transported to Kobben Island. These captains subsequently captured five of the t tush- men, whom they brought to the castle and delivered to the governor, requesting that the prisoners might either be punished by the Europeans or be given back to them to be put to death. The council decided that as their crimes had been committed against the honourable Com- pany, they should be tried by the court of justice. A i676] Johan Bax. » 1 r present of goods to the value of 61. was made to «ihc captains in return for their faithful services, and to en- courage them to search for such of the brigands as were still at liberty. The prisoners were tried by the court of justice, were sentenced to death as highwaymen, and were executed. The principles upon which the government dealt with the natives were that the European power was supreme, entitled to take cognisance of all cases between whites and Hottentots, and to settle all differences between the clans 80 as to preserve peace and to secure its own interests, but it rarely interfered in matters affecting natives only. The Hottentot captains accepted without murmur the posi- tions assigned to them, and at this time Klaas, Koopman, Oedasoa, Gonnema, Schacher, Kuiper, and the others were on such good terms with Governor Bax that they were ready to do whatever he wished. A large cattle trade was carried on with them and the Hessequas. Occasion- ally there were cases of violence on one side or the other, and in one instance two Hottentots were shot in a quarrel with the Company's hunters, but the government did all that was in its power to prevent such disturb- ances, and upon the whole succeeded very well. In 1676 a matrimonial court was estabhshed. It con- sisted of four commissioners, two being servants of the Company and two burghers. Half the members retired yearly, and their places were supplied by election of the council of policy from a double list furnished by the court itself. Before these commissioners all persons in- tending to marry were obliged to appear, for the purpose of showing that no legal impediment existed. As long as the frontier was only a few miles distant this was no hardship to any one, but with the extension of the colony it came to be felt as oppressive. The slave population was at this time considerably increased by importations from Madagascar and Ceylon. Most of these slaves were men, but there were a few I ^1 n 236 History of South Africa. [1677 |i . ' \\ y\ i I IM women and children among them. The children were sent to school, but it was resolved not to baptize them until their parents should be instructed in Christianity, wh >n all could be baptized at the same time. A person was employed to recite prayers morning and evening, which the adults were required to repeat. Some of the cleverest youths were selected and placed with master mechanics to be taught trades, so that they might be- come more useful. The price charged by the Company to the burghers for an adult slave was equal to six pounds sterling, barely the cost of introduction, and it could be paid in thirteen hundred pouads weight of wheat. In January 1677 a little yacht named the Bode was sent along the west coast to examine it carefully, to as- certain how far the Hottentot race extended, and to endeavour to discover the island of St. Helena Nova. She was accompanied by a cutter drawing very little water and therefore adapted to run close inshore. The Bode, went as far as latitude 12° 47' S., where she found a small Portuguese fort named Sombreiro. Some distance to the southward the last Hottentots had been seen, but the line of demarcation between them and the negro tribes could not b'^ exactly ascertained. The Portuguese knew nothing whatever of such an island as St. Helena Nova, and from this date its existence was held to be a fiction. Along the coast various bays or bights were dis- covered, but all were found wanting in fresh water and fuel. It is surprising that the mouth of the Orange river was not noticed in passing. The Bode returned to Table Bay at the end of May, having been rather more than four months engaged in the survey of the west coast. The seaboard of the district now called Zululand was at this time carefully examined by the Voorhout and Qt'Mrtel, two small vessels that were sent to the bay of St. Augustine to trade for slaves. As the work at the castle was proceeding very slowly f, 1678] Johan Box. 237 owing to the small number of labourers engaged, a plan which seems somewhat whimsical was adopted to expedite the excavation of the moat. On the 25th of November 1677 the governor himself, his lady, his little son, all the Company's officers and their wives, the burgher councillors, and other leading inhabitants with their wives, set to work for a considerable time carrjdng out earth. The governor carried out twelve baskets full and his lady six. After this a regulation was made that every one who passed the castle, male or female, irrespective of rank, should contribute labour to the same extent. The little wooden church inside the fortress was now quite full of graves. The ground on which it ^tood was higher than the general surface, and it was considered advisable to level it and to remove the building. It was therefore necessary to select a site for a new church, and for this purpose a portion of the lower end of the great garden was chosen, as the garden could be extended with advantage towards the mountain. A plot of ground suf- ficiently large for a cemetery was enclosed with a strong wall, and on the 9th of April 1678 the foundation stone of a church was laid in the centre of it. The edifice was not completed until December 1703, but the ground was used as a cemetery. The first inter- ment in it was the body of the reverend Petrus Hulse- naar, who upon the removal of Mr. Meerland to Batavia in March 1676 succeeded him as clergyman of the Cape, and who died on the 15th of December 1677. He was buried in the middle of the site on which the church was afterwards to stand. Subsequently the remains of thoFo who had been interred beneath the old building were re- moved to this ground and deposited in a common grave. A fee of five pounds was thereafter made payable to the funds of the consistory for a grave inside the church, and eight shillings for one outside. The project of settling European cattle !)reeders on the tract of land which stretches beyond the Cape flats from I! ill; "11 m 238 History of South Africa. [1678 In li '> t ■i I the Atlantic shore to the first range of mountains had been under consideration since the war v'"th Gonnema, but it was difficult for the Company to carry it into effect. Where were the men who were io be turned into cattle breeders to come from? The free Netherland pro- vinces were occupying stations in the Indian islands and carrying on an ocean commerce that required a number of soldiers and sailors altogether beyond the capability of their own people to supply, and though many hundreds of yoimg Germans, Swiss, and Scandinavians tool' service yearly with the East and West India companies, they were not usually the sort of men to make good pioneer colonists. They came chiefly from towns, and — the Ger- mans especially — were better adapted for mechanical work and military employment than for either agricultural or pastoral pursuits. Many of them, indeed, as well as many Dutch seamen were willing to make an experiment in farming, but experience had proved that such experiments were costly. The Company had to provide them with food, live stock, and implements to commence with, and after failure in more than nine cases out of ten had to take them back into service in its stronghold 1 and fleets with debts that could never be paid. In some instances discharged men had turned out so badly that after re- peated warnings it had been necessary to place them by force on board ship and send them to India. A few, more industrious and more prudent than the others, were left by this kind of selection ; but the cost of establishing a colony in this manner was not to be lightly regarded. Still there was no other way of obtaining cattle breeders and gardeners, for the number of suitable persons that could be induced to emigrate from the Netherlands to South Africa was too small to be taken into account. The best that could be done was to exercise great care in releasing from service only those men who appeared hkely to be able to get a living as burghers. These were chiefly either married men of Dutch birth or foreigners IH H 1678] Jo/ian Box. 239 who had married Dutch women, though single men were often discharged for the purpose of taking service with farmers. It needed no small amount of courage for any one to hazard living beyond the Cape peninsula at this time, as — except in two localities — he would be secluded from companionship and exposed to the depredations of the natives. To men provided with no better weapons than the firelocks and flint muskets of those days, the wild animals with which the country swarmed were also a source of danger as well as of heavy loss. In a single night at one of the Company's cattle kraals no fewer than a hundred and twenty sheep were destroyed by lions and hyenas. There was, however, the outpost at Hottentots-Holland, where corn was cultivated, and a station at the Tigerberg, where a party of soldiers guarded the cattle kept for the use of the fleets, so that in their neighbourhood graziers would feel they were not alto- gether secluded from the society of their kind. In January 1678 a beginning was made. The govern- ment arranged with two men named Jochem Marquaart and Hendrik Elberts for the lease of a tract of land at Hottentots-Holland with stock of horned cattle and sheep, and they became the pioneer graziers of South Africa. They were followed in February by two others named Henning Huising and Nicolaas Gerrits, who established themselves as sheep farmers on the adjoining land, and in August by another named Cornelis Botma, who also set up as a sheep farmer. Thesi were the only freemen who settled beyond the isthmus at this period, so small was the first ripple of that wave of European colonisation which now after the lapse of little more than two cen- turies is flowing into territories drained by the Zambesi. It has been mantioned already that the servants of the Company, including the oflicers of ships, were per- mitted to trade for themselves to a small extent. They brought various articles to the Cape, which they sold t|ii ' iiii! J <; 1 fj ■ ■ ' ■ \ ' ''■.■: i '.-■■ {■ 'I . :.f ih J^^^^ 240 History of South Africa. [1678 't f either to the privileged dealers or the burghers generally, under supervision of the council. This trade was found to interfere with the Company's sales, and therefore in 1678 it was resolved to levy duties upon it equivalent to the loss sustained. As this is the first tariff of customs duties levied here, and as it shows some of the articles in which private trade was carried on, the list is given in full: — For a keg of brandy 33s. 4(/., a keg of arrack 16s. 8(/., a half aam of Ehenish wine 33s. 4c?., a half aam of French wine 25s. a cask of mum 25s., a pound of tobacco Is. 4c?., a gross of pipes 2s. 6c?., a thousand pounds of rice 20s. 8c?., a canister of sugar 4s. 2c?. On the 'ith of January 1678 died Joan Maatsuyker, governor-general of Ivstherlauds India during the preced- ing quarter oi a century. He was succeeded by Kyklof van Goens the elder, who has been mentioned several times in connection with Cape affairs. Governor Bax was in robust health previous to the winter of 1678, when he caught a severe cold which settled upon his lungs and completely prostrated him. He was confined to his bed for fifteen days before his death, which took place on the morning of the 29th of June. Just before his decease he gave instructions for carrying on the government, and appointed the secunde Hendrik Crudop to succeed him, with the title of acting commander, until the pleasure of the authorities at Ba- tavia or i.a the Netherlands should become known. On the 4th of Jilv- his reruains were laid with as much state as possible in the ground where the new church was to stand. It was a dark and rainy day, but all the Europeans in the settlement attended, as did also several Hottentot captains and their chief men, for the late governor had been esteemed by whites and natives alike. A neat slab was afterwards brought from Kobben Isb>nd and laid over the grave, but ic has long since dis- appeared. During the administration of Mr. Crudop very little 1679] Hendrik Crudop. 241 Ba- occurred that calls for mention. It was a time of peace, there was no important work in hand, and nothing new could well be undertaken. For ten months after the death of the reverend Petrus Hulsenaar there was no resident clergymac at the Cape. Services were occasionally held by the chaplains of ships, and a sermon was read every Sunday and on special occasions by the sick-comforter, just as in the early days of the settlement. On the 18th of October 1678 the ship Wapen van Alkriaar arrived with a chaplain named Johan- nes Overney on board, and as he consented to remain here the council appointed him acting clergyman until the pleasure of the supreme authorities should be known. He was afterwards confirmed in the appointment, and re- mained at the Cape for several years. On the 10th of February 1679 intelligence was re- ceived of the conclusion of peace between France and the Netherlands. This was followed by another reduction of the garrison at the Cape, and by the release of all the European labourers employed on the castle. The com- pletion of the moat was the only work of importance that then remained, and that could be performed by slaves at a trifling expense to the Company. On the 26th of April the council resolved to name the five points of the castle in honour of the stadtholder. The one first built — that near the shore of the bay on the side towards ibe Lion's rump — was named Buren, the next — that near the shore of the bay on the side to- wards Salt River — was named Nassau, keeping round in the same direction the third was named Catzenellenbogen, the fourth Oranje, and the fifth Leerdam. Within the massive walls there were residences for the officers of government, storehouses for grain and wine, barracks for soldiers, and apartments for the transaction of public busi- ness. It was the head quarters of civilisation in South Africa. Of o.'naraentation it had little, but above tbe en- trance, which was between the bas^^^ions Buren and Leer- voL. r. 16 * ■: '-"s -'■ \ I r-. ■ M Sv: lU; ^^ I 242 History of South Africa. [1679 dam, were the arms of the six cities in which the chambers were established, with the monogram of the Company on either side, and over all the lion of the Netherlands, carved in stone. The archway was also sur- mounted with a neat bell turret. In August 1679 permission was given to Henning Huising and his partner to graze their sheep along the Eerste river, provided they could satisfy the Hottentots who generally used the pasture there, and so prevent ill feeling. At the same time the burghers Pieter Visagie and Jan Mostert obtained leave to occupy a tract of land on the eastern side of the Tigerberg, the place where the Company usually gathered its hay. The tenure upon which the seven burghers who were now residing beyond the isthmus held the ground titey were using was merely a license of occupation, and they were not required to pay rent. The country, in fact, was before them to select the pastures that would best suit their flocks and herds, and everything that the government could do to encourage and assist them was done. It was different in the neighbourhood of the castle, because there agriculture was the chief industry, and on that account the plots of land that were occupied by burghers at Eondebosch and Wynberg were defined by survey, and were held in free- hold, or in full property as the tenure was termed in those days. During the time that Mr. Bax was governor two or three families of immigrants and several women whose husbands were already here arrived from the Netherlands. In the records of this period are found the names of eleven new burghers whose descendants are now scattered over South Africa : Franc Bastiaans, Dirk Coetsee, Simon Faasen, Paul Heyns, Jan Hendrik de Lange, Nicolaas Loubser, Koelof Pasman, Diederik Putter, Jan Wessels, and the brothers Willem and Adriaan van Wyk. Accord- ing to the census of 1679 there were eighty-seven free- men, with fifty-five women, one hundred and seventeen the the the 8ur- 1679] Hendrik Crudop. 243 children, thirty European men servants, one hundred and thirty-three men slaves, thirty-eight women slaves, and twenty slave children in the settlement. Upon intelligence of the death of Governor Bax reach- ing the Netherlands, the directors of the East India Com- pany considered that it would be unnecessary to appoint a successor of higher rank than a commander. The colony was, therefore, reduced again to its position before the arrival of Mr. Goske. The officer whom they selected to fill the vacant post was then living in Amsterdam, and was in the service of the chamber there, but he readily consented to remove to the Cape in the way of promo- tion. His name was Simon van der Stel. He embarked in the ship Yrye Zee, which arrived in Table Bay on the 12th of October 1679. The secunde Crudop, with the members of the council, went off to welcome him, and amid discharges of cannon and musketry he landed and was received by the garrison and militia under arms. In the council chamber in the castle the commission was read by the secretary, the officials all promised lawful obedience, and the new commander assumed the direc- tion of affairs. m I ■ ii.r free- in i > 4 it 244 CHAPTER VIII SIMON VAN DER STEL, COMMANDEa, INSTALLED 12th OCTOBER 1679, RAISED TO THE RANK OF GOVERNOR IST JUNE 1691, RETIRED llTH FEB'~ URY 1699. , a The officer who was now at the head of the Cape govern- ment was destined to exercise a greater influence upon the future of South Africa than any of his predecessors had done. He was a son of Adriaan van der Stel, com- mander for the honourable East India Company of the island of Mauritius. Born there on the 14th of November 1639, Simon van der Stel when very young was sent to the fatherland, and received a liberal education in the best schools of Holland. Connected by marriage with an ancient and influential family of Amst'^rdam, he had hitherto maintained the character of a highly respectable burgher, though the situation which he held in the ser- vice of the East India Company brought him in but a very limited income, and he had inherited little or nothing. He was poor, and so when an opportunity of improving his fortune was offered to him he gladly accepted it. In person Simon van der Stel was small, with a dark complexion, but open cheerful countenance. His habits were refined, and as far as his means would permit he surrounded himself with objects of taste. His courtesy and exceeding hospitality to strangers are dwelt upon by more than one visitor to the Cape, as is also his fondness for telling marvellous tales of his adventures and creating merriment at his own expense. Witty, good natured, and polite, he was also shrewd and possessed of a very large '': i679] Simon van der Stel. 245 5BER 391, vern- upon ssors com- ; the mber it to the h an bad table ser- ut a hing. )ving dark abits he rtesy 11 by uess iting and large .: i amount of plain common sense. Against all these good qualities, however, must be placed an inordinate desire ^or wealth, which was hardly noticeable during the early jeriod of his government, but which increased as he ad- vanced in years, and which towards the close of his life drew upon him a suspicion of not being over particular as to the method of making money. The most prominent trait of his character, as it af- fected South Africa, was perhaps his intense patriotism. In his eyes everything that was Dutch was good, and whatever was not Dutch was not worthy of regard. From the day that he landed on our shores to the day that he resigned the government he constantly studied how he could best make the district round the Cape resemble as closely as possible a province of the Netherlands. The Dutch language, Dutch \ iws, Dutch institutions, Dutch customs, being all perfect in his opinion, he made it his business to plant them here uncorrupted and unchanged. Commander Van der Stel brought here with him his four sons, of whom the eldest, Wilhem Adriaan by name, was in after years governor of the colony. The youngest, Frans, became a farmer; and the remaining two, after farming, speculating, and holding various appointments in South Africa, -emoved elsewhere in the service of the East India Coi -^tany. The commander's lady was unable or unwilling to accompany him from Amsterdam. She remained there with her friends, and never again saw her husband, though he continued to regard her with much affection. When Simon van der Stel arrived in South Africa the colony comprised only the settlements around the foot of Table Mountam, the outposts at Saldanha Bay and Hottentots-Holland, a cattle station at Tigerberg, and the ground held on lease beyond the isthmus by the seven burghers whose • ames have been mentioned. The in- terior had been explored eastward about as far as the present village of George, and northward forty or fifty ■l:;i il' 246 History of South Affica. [1679 miles beyond the mouth of the Elephant river. The boundary between the Hottomtot and Bantu races had not yet been ascertained, ^t'l'j existence of the fabulous stream Camissa was firmly believed in, and it was laid down in the charts as entering the sea by two mouths, one of which was named Rio Infante and was placed in the position of the present Fish river. The Orange had never been heard of. The commander devoted a few days to a thorough in- spection of the government offices and of the country in the neighbourhood of the castle ; after which, on the 3rd of November, he left the Cape for the purpose of visiting the station at Hottentots-Holland. He was attended by a few servants and a small escort of soldiers. The party encamped that night at a place called the Euilen, close by a stream which still bears that name. The follow- ing morning the commander rode to Hottentots-Holland, where he was greatly pleased with the condition in which he found the farming estabHshment. After making him- self acquainted with all particulars there, he resolved to examine the country inland, towards the mountains which seemed to forbid farther progress in that direction. In the afternoon of the 6th or 7th of November, — it is not certain which but it was probably the 6th, — the com- mander with his attendants rode into the most charming valley he had yet seen. The hills which enclosed it were diversified in form, but all were clothed with rich grass, and in their recesses were patches of dark evergreen forest trees. Through the valley flowed a clear stream of sweet water, which at one point divided into two channels and uniting again farther down enclosed an is- land of considerable size. There, under a wide-spreading tree, the commander's pavilion was set up, and close by was pitched a tent which was to serve him as a bed- chamber. At the beginning of November the heat, even at mid- day, has not become oppressive, and the mornings and i68o] Simon van der Stel. 247 vn n. le that me that its so be made time ther mander's o\ have been visi evenings in the pure air and under the clear sky are al< most invariably pleasant. The commander, fresh from a long sea voyage, and at all times capable of appreciating the beauties of nature, was enchanted with the scene before him, as ideed a man of much colder temperament than Simon van ^or Stel might have been. He obs.^rved was not only beautiful to the eye, bnt \\ ind its water abundant. It miijt!;, of many thriving families. At ri : IS of human life beyond the com- npment, though the spot must often J bands of nomad Hottentots bringing their herds to graze upon its pastures. The island was dotted over thickly with fine trees, which suggested to the commander a name that should perpetuate his own memory in connection with the grove. He called it Stellenbosch. On the 8th of November the party reached the castle again, but during that journey of five days extensive plans of colonisation had been forming in the commander's mind. He would build up a thriving settlement here at the extremity of Africa, which should furnish not only the cattle needed by the Company, but articles suited for commerce. He would begin at the place which bore his own name, and plant there a body of freeholders who would become attached to the soil. The great difficulty was to find men and women to make colonists of, for the fatherland could not furnish people in large numbers, and the commander objected to foreigners. The process of fill- ing up the country must therefore be slow, and could only proceed as suitable men were discharged fi:om service and settled in the Cape peninsula, so that those who had ex- perience might remove to wider fields beyond. Before the close of the year the first farmer of Stellen- bosch had put his plough into the ground there, and in May 1680 he was followed by a party of eight families, who removed together. The heads of these families were ''^' Hi I i ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I ■ so '"'■™ ffl^B4 u Mm ^ U& 12.0 »«i; • 1-25 ||.4 ||.6 ^ 6" "*1 4 0) Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAtN STRIET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 248 History of South Africa. [1680 induced to leave the Cape district by an offer of as much land as they could cultivate, with the privilege of select- ing it for themselves anywhere in the Stellenbosch valley. It was to be theirs in full property, and could be re- claimed by the Company only upon their ceasing to cultivate it. Like all other landed property in the settle- ment it was burdened with the payment of a tithe of the grain grown upon it and not consumed by the owner. The cultivation of tobacco was prohibited under severe penalties, but the farmers were at liberty to raise any- thing else that they chose. To encourage the breeding of cattle unUmited use of all ground not under cultivation was permitted, and upon this branch of industry no tas of any kind was levied for the benefit of the Company. Before the arrival of Simon van der Stel the large garden in Table Valley was used chiefly to produce vege- tables for the garrison and the fleets. Very little had been done in it in the way of ornamentation. But one of the earliest acts of the commander was to prepare a plan which he steadily carried out until the Company's garden at the Cape became something wonderful in the eyes of visitors. For nearly a hundred years from this date writers of various nationalities could hardly find words to express their admiration of this famous garden, and to the present day a remnant of its original beauty remains in the oak avenue which was once its central walk.i By Simon van der Stel the ground was divided into a great number of small parallelograms separated from each other by hve hedges high enough to break the force of the vdnd. Some of these plots were devoted to the production of fruit, others to the production of vege- 'The trees novr forming the avenue are not of very great age. Those first planted were orange trees, which were shortly afterwards replaced by other kinds which could be used fur timber when full grown. On two or three occasions the avenue has been utilised in this manner, but when- ever a row or part of a row was removed, young trees were set or.t again in the same order. i68o] Simon van der Stel. 249 tables, others again were nurseries of European timber trees. In some of them experiments were made with various foreign trees and shrubs, in others the wild plants of Africa were collected in order that their properties might be ascertained. Twenty years after Simon van der Stel laid out the ground afresh, visitors who had seen the most celebrated gardens of Europe and India were agreed that nowhere else in the world was so great a variety of trees and shrubs, of vegetables and flowers, to be met with together. The commander enlarged the garden towards the mountain, but he cut off a narrow strip at the lower end on which he intended in course of time to erect a hospital and a building for the accommodation of the Company's slaves. Just inside the new main 'entrance, on the ground where the statue of Queen Victoria now stands, he had a pleasure house or lodge put up, and there he usually entertained visitors of rank.* The whole garden could be irrigated by the stream then called the Sweet river, and its drainage was also carefully attended to. Over a hundred slaves were usually employed in keeping it in order. These slaves worked under the supervision of skilfal Europeans, who in their turn re- ceived directions from a chief gardener or superintendent. Next to Simon van der Stel the credit of beautifying the Company's garden is due to Hendrik Bernard Olden- land, a native of Lubec, who occupied the post of superin- tendent shortly after this date, while the most important improvements were being made. Oldenland, who had studied medicine for three years at Leiden, was a skilful botanist and a man devoted to his work. Apart from his duties in the Company's garden, he collected and dried specimens of a great number of South African plants, 'After the erection close by of the slave lodge — the present public offices — this pleasure house was removed, and a commencement was then made farther up the garden with the building still used as the governor's residence. l! ■ , ■ 5 ■: .1 i': ! I H m %%^l "t- ■ i li' 'i' i! i I 250 History of South Africa. [1681 which he intended to send to the Netherlandb to be pre- served for the use of botanists there, and he was preparing a descriptive catalogue of these plants in the Latin lan- guage when sudden death arrested the work. Before that time Commander Van der Stel had retired from the government, and Oldenland's collection of plants together with his papers fell into the hands of a man who could not make use of them. They were seen some years afterwards by the historian Valentyn, who speaks very highly of the herbarium, and copies several pages of the 'Catalogue of Plants.* Kolbe quotes even more largely from the same work, though he has given the author's name incorrectly. Stavorinus also gives an abstract of it. Long after Oldenland's death the herbarium was sent to the Netherlands, where, in 1770, Thunberg found it in possession of Professor Burmann of Amsterdam. The under-gardener, Jan Hertog by name, was also a skilful botanist, though less highly educated than the superintendent. At this time the Hottentots were living on the best of terms with the Europeans, but now and again a party of hunters was molested by Bushmen. A large cattle trade was carried on, principally with the Hessequa ;iie com- mander was anxious to become better acqut»..uted with the Namaquas, as he was of opinion that there must be some sources of commercial wealth in the part of the country in which they resided. In August 1681 he sent Captain Kees to endeavour to induce some of the leading men of this tribe to visit the Cape, and a few months later he was gratified to hear that a party of them had reached the Grigriqua kraals on their way to see him. He immediately sent a sergeant and some soldiers with pre- sents and complimentary messages, and under their escort the Namaqua deputation arrived at the castle on the 21st of December. The men were accompanied by their wives, all riding on pack oxen. They brought their huts with them, these [68i] Simon van der Stel. 251 consisting merely of a framework of long twigs fastened together in the form of a beehive and covered with rush mats. These huts could be toiken from the backs of the oxen and be put up almost as quickly as tents could be pitched. They were habitations such as none but nomads would use. To furnish food, the travellers brought with them a herd of cows, for they depended almost entirely upon milk for subsistence. The Namaquas presented some specimens of very rich copper ore, which they asserted they had taken out of a mountain with their own hands. This information was exceedingly interesting to the conmiander, who concluded with reason that the ore must exist there in great abun- dance when such specimens could be collected without any appliances for mining. He questioned them eagerly about their country. Were they acquainted with the great river Camissa and the town of Vigiti Magna? They had never heard of any town near their country, but they knew of e great river, very wide and deep. Was it far from their kraals, and in what direction was it? It was far, and it was on the side of the sun at noon. In what direction did it flow ? Across that in which they had come to the castle. Were they sure of this ? Quite sure. And 80 the first authentic information of the Gariep or Orange river was obtained, though it was long yet before European eyes were to see it. The Namaquas, of course, knew nothing of the fabu- lous empire termed Monomotapa on the maps. They in- formed the commander that they were acquainted with a race of people whom they called Briquas, the same who are known to us as Betshuaua. They also told some stories wliich they had heard of tribes still more distant, but these accounts were merely visionary tales. Of their m\ ' ' ' ' ? i^ rt 1 ffljHI '\ Iff iSj : ; III [11'; . :f' ;ii-:i % '. 1 ■fi 1 1: 252 History of South Africa. [1681 own tribe they gave such information as satisfied the commander that the only trade to be carried on with them would be in cattle, unless something could be done with the copper ore. After a stay of five days the visitors left the castle to return to their own country, taking with them a variety of presents, including a staflf of ofi&ce for their chief. They promised to return in the following year with cattle to trade and more specimens of copper ore. At the beginning of his government Simon van der Stel interpreted the instructions received from the direc- tors concerning the treatment of foreigners to mean that he was not to permit them to obtain other refreshment than water. Some Danes and Englishmen who visited Table Bay were unable to purchase anything whatever. The commander treated the officers with politeness, and invited them to his table, but declined to supply their ships with meat or vegetables. He informed some of them that they were at liberty to purchase what they could from the burghers, but privately he sent messengers round to the farmers forbidding them in some instances to sell anything under very heavy penalties, and in other cases requiring them to charge four or five times the usual rates. Complaints of such treatment as this speedily reached Europe, and representations were made to the assembly of seventeen which caused that body to issue instructions that foreigners were to be treated as of old. They were not to be supplied, except in very urgent cases, with sea stores out of the magazines, as such stores were sent here solely for the use of the Company's own ships. They were to be at liberty to purchase refreshments from the burghers. No wheat or fuel was to be sold to them, as the Company needed all and more than all that was procurable of both. They were to be at Uberty to refresh themselves in the lodging-houses kept by the town burgh- ers. They were not to be permitted to sell merchandise in bulk. I ■■I!!' 1683] Simon van der Stel. 253 The restrictions of Commander Van der Stel lasted only until November 1683, after which date foreigners, though not encouraged to visit the Cape, were treated here quite as fairly as subjects of the Netherlands were in the colonies of other European nations. A system was gra- dually introduced by which they were indirectly taxed for the benefit of the Company. This was done in the farming out of the privilege to sell bread, meat, wine, etc. The exclusive right to sell bread, for instance, was put up for sale with the condition that a certain fixed price should be charged to burghers, but foreigners might be charged a higher rate, which was sometimes fixed and sometimes as much as could be obtained. There were two methods of holding sales of this kind. One was to farm out a privilege for the highest sum obtain- able at public auction, when the bids were successively enlarged, and a sum of money was paid into the revenue. The other was when the Company required for its own use supplies of the same article, when the bids were successively reduced, and something was saved to the revenue. Thus A might bid up to twenty-five pounds for the sole privilege of selling salt for a year to burghers at one penny, and to foreigners at a penny halfpenny a pound. B might bid down to seven-eighths of a penny a pound to supply the Company with beef, with the right to sell to burghers at two pence and to foreigners at three pence halfpenny a pound. In each case the foreigner was taxed for the benefit of the Company. But where was this not the custom in those days ? The colony had now fairly commenced to expand, though its growth was necessarily slow. In 1681 several families were added to those already living in the Stellen- bosch valley. That season the wheat crops there were so exceptionally good that for the first time the soldiers as well as the burghers could be supplied for several mouths with as much fresh bread as they needed, instead !ii :!N' .if. m lit y ir I*' Wi it'^r 254 History of South Africa. [1683 :.. "' of the biscuits and rice to which they had beisn accus- tomed. The farmers had been permitted to select ground for themselves, but this liberty had given rise to various disputes and contentions, to settle which the commander paid them a visit. His presence and the friendly interest which he took in the welfare of all had the effect of restoring concord, and after fixing limits to each man's estate he arranged for a proper survey of the ground and the issue of title deeds. The fruitfulness of the soil, as proved by the abundant crops, caused many of the most industrious individuals in Bondebosch and Wynberg to turn their attention towards Stellenbosch, and in May 1682, when the ploughing season commenced, a party of fifteen or sixteen farmers removed to the new district. But this year a plague appeared which caused much loss to the settlers, for the crops were attacked by prodigious swarms of small insects, which nearly destroyed them. On the same ground where in November 1681 the commander had counted one hundred and five grains of wheat in ear on a single stalk, in No- vember 1682 there was hardly a sound ear to be seen. This plague continued for several successive seasons to inflict severe loss upon the farmers, though it was never again so destructive, and gradually it disappeared. To provide for the settlement of trivial disputes be- tween the burghers of the new district, a board of heem- raden was established on the 30th of August 1682. This court consisted of four of the leading inhabitants, who held office for two years, without receiving salaries for their services. The powers of the board of heemraden were not at first very accurately defined, but its decisions appear in every instance to have been treated with re- spect. Two members retired annually, when the court itself sent to the council of policy a list of four new names from which to select successors. The first heem- raden were Gerrit van der Byi, Henning Huising, Hans Jurgen Grimp, and Hendrik Elberts. At the end of 1683 1683] Simon van der Stel. 255 be- the two first-named retired, when Douwe Steyn and Matthys Greef were elected to take their places. Grimp and Elberts retired at the end of 1684, and were suc- ceeded by Jan Mostert and Harmen Smit. In 1683 the first school at Stellenbosch was estab- lished. On the 28th of September of that year the burghers presented a petition to the council of policy, in which they represented that there were then about thirty landowners in the district, many of whom had families, but as yet there was no school in which the children could be taught the principles of Christianity as well as to read and write, so that the young were in danger of grow- ing up as barbarians; that they were living at too great a distance from the castle to be able to attend divine service on the Lord's days, and were thus Uable to fall into careless habits ; that on this account the condition of both young and old was very unsatisfactory, and if it continued God's blessing could not be expected upon them- selves or their crops. They therefore requested that a suitable person should be appointed to keep a school, to read a sermon on Sundays, and to act as visitor of the sick. They asked further for some assistance towards the erection of the necessary building. The council of policy viewed this petition with great favour. The members resolved at once to send rj (.nons and carpenters at the expense of the Company to pu^ up a residence for the teacher with a large hall in it for a schoolroom, and also to supply the nails free of charge, the inhabitants providing the other materials. As soon as the building could be got ready a teacher was appointed, by name Sybrand Mankadan, and the school was opened. The commander took as warm an interest in it as did any of the parents, for he regarded Stellenbosch as a place of his own founding, and anything that tended to the wel- fare of its people secured his sympathy. It was his custom whenever it was possible to spend his birthday- there. He usually arrived in the village a few days earlier, so as to i»t i ;1; '. 1 \i Mi rfi 256 History of South Africa. [1683 ■ I have time to inspect all the improvements made daringx the preceding twelvemonth, to inquire after every one's prospects, and to make himself acquainted with all that was branspiring. On these occasions he did not fail to visit the school and ascertain what progress the pupils were making. His birthday was, of course, a general holiday. Every man and woman in the district, dressed in their best, came to his pavihon to compliment him and to drink his health in a glass of wine. The school- children came also, marching in procession with Dominie Mankadan at their head, and carr3ring a banner which he had presented to them. Each was sure of a friendly greeting, and of receiving some little token of kindness. The boys over nine years of age were drilled every Saturday in the use of arms, and the juvenile corps always took part in the parade in honour of the com- mander. The course of instruction at the school did not extend in secular subjects beyond reading, writing, and the ele- ments of arithmetic, a large portion of the time being occupied with religious teaching. At the age of thirteen years the pupils were supposed to have completed their education. The standard aimed at was the ability to pass an examination before the consistory preparatory to being publicly admitted as members of the church. It was necessary to be able to read the bible, to repeat the Heidelberg catechism, and to write a little. The pupils were also taught to sing psalms in the tunes then com- monly used. At Christmas prizes were given at the ex- pense of the Company. Each of the three most advanced and best behaved pupils received a prize of the value of four shillings, the next three carried off prizes valued at two shillings, and each of the others received one shilling in money. The commander added a cake for every child, the size to depend upon the merit of the recipient. Dominie Mankadan, the first teacher at Stellenbosch, remained there in that capacity for many years. He le ex- knced lue of lied at lining child, Dosch, He 1683] Simon van der Stel. 257 acted also as sick-visitor and conducted divine service every Sunday. After a time he united with these duties that of district secretary, so that he was by no means an idle man. Yet his salary for all these services com- bined was only about fifty shiUings a month, in addition to which, however, he had a free house, a large garden, and some small school fees. Probably he was as well off with that trifling salary in those simple times as many district schoolmasters are at the present day, for there was no ordained chaplain in the Company's service who was paid more than ten pounds a month, and only a few old and tried men among them drew that amount. In 1681 the Cape was first made a place of con- finement for prisoners of state of high rank, who were sent into exile by the Indian authorities. Some Macassar princes with their families and attendants were at this time lodged in the castle, but owing to their violent conduct it afterwards became necessary to disperse them among the out-stations. As long as South Africa re- mained a dependency of the East India Company it continued to be used for this purpose, and many tragic narratives might be written in connection with the un- fortunate exiles who Wore doomed to pass weary years in banishment here. Their treatment varied according to their offences. The name of one of these prisoners is associated with an event which nearly caused a war between England and the Netherlands. It took place at Bantam, in the island of Java. On the 1st of May 1680 Sultan Ageng, the last really independent prince in Java, resigned the government of Bantam to his son Abdol Eahar, commonly called the Sultan Hadji, on account of his having made a pilgrimage to Mecca. The young sovereign immediately formed a close alliance with the Dutch East India Company, be- tween whom and the agents in Bantam of the English Company there was a strong feeling of jealousy. The VOL. I. 17 If 1 i /- I ■ I!-:! !■ , i i !■ j'1 ■; ■■ 258 History of South Africa. [:683 !! English were as yet far behind the Dutch in foreigL commerce, the tonnage of mercantile shipping which sailed out of English ports at this time being less than two- thirds of that which sailed out of the Netherlands; but in some parts of the Indies they were already formidable rivals. The old sultan Ageng, after a brief period of retirement, began to regret the step he had taken, and in February 1682 he raised an army and endeavoured to drive his son from the throne. He was assisted by the Enghsh and Danes in the country, by his younger son Pourbaya, and above all, by the sheikh Joseph, a Moslem religious teacher of great reputed sanctity and enormous influence. Sultan Hadji was unable to hold his own against the forces of his father, so he shut himself up in a castle garrisoned by troops under command of a Netherlander named Jacob de Eoy, and sent to Batavia to beg for help. The governor-general and council thereupon di- rected one of their officers, Isaac de St. Martin, to proceed to the rehef of their ally with three hundred European soldiers and some native auxiharies. De Boy, who was by calling a baker, but who had become by force of cir- cumstances the chief military officer of the young sultan, managed to hold the castle of Soeroesoeang until the arrival of the Dutch troops, when at once the fortune of war was changed. Ageng was soon in the same position that his son had been in, reduced to the possession of a single stronghold. This he was obliged to abandon on the night of the 28th of December 1682, when he caused the building, which was the most beautiful edifice in the island, to be blown up; and he with a few followers sought concealment in a mountainous district. Ageng himself soon afterwards fell into his son's hands. He was treated with barbarous cruelty until the Dutch East India Company in pity came to his rescue, supplied him with a residence at Batavia, and provided for his decent maintenance until his death in 1695. '683 1682] Simon van der Stel. 259 :'--^^ m on laused the )werB He East him leceut Sultan Hadji, in return for the assistance given, ceded to the Dutch East India Company a monopoly of the commerce of his dominions, thus excluding the Enghsh and the Danes. This affair caused great excitement in England, and many narratives of it in angry language were written and printed. When Sultan Ageng surrendered Sheikh Joseph es- caped, and for nearly another twelvemonth he kept the country in a disturbed condition. At length, at the close of 1683, he was obliged to abandon the unequal strife, and was induced to give himself up to the Dutch. The governor-general and council of India considered it unsafe to keep him in Java, as he was held in the highest venera- tion by the whole of the natives, not only as a saint and a man of great ability, but as the last champion of Bantamese independence. He was therefore sent to Ceylon for a time, but in 1694 with his family and numerous attendants he was removed to the Cape Colony as a prisoner of state. On the 23rd of May 1699 he died, and was buried on the farm Zandvliet, in the district of Stellenbosch. During all the years that have since passed away, the Kramat, or tomb of Sheikh Joseph, has been regarded by the Moslems as a holy place. It is kept in repair by a special custodian, who permits no one to enter the enclosure with covered feet. To it pilgrims wend their way, though few, if any, of them know the true history of him who was buried there. Various tradi- tions, however, have gathered about his name, and it is commonly believed by those of his creed at the Cape that he performed many miracles. Thus it is asserted by them that when he was on the passage to this country the fresh water in the ship failed, upon which he dipped his foot in the sea and told the crew to replenish the casks, when to the amazement of all on board that which they took up in buckets was perfectly good to drink. On the 16th of February 1682 the retired governor- general, Eyklof van Goens, arrived at the Cape on his 1) i' : \ : ;: 1; I 26o History of South Africa. [1682 1 ; 1 I way to Europe in pursuit of health. Though he was very feeble he managed to visit Stellenbosch, and to issue instructions upon a good many subjects. He directed that experiments should be made in the cultivation of flax, hemp, and indigo, but none of these were found on trial to answer sufficiently well to encourage the farmers to undertake their growth. He strictly prohibited the plant- ing of tobacco, lest it might interfere with the existing trade, from which a large profit was derived. The governor-general remained here until the end of April. Before embarking he ordered the 13th of May to be kept as a day of prayer that God would be pleased to avert warlike attacks and protect the homeward bound fleet. He died soon after his return to Europe. In the follow- ing year his widow called at the Cape on her way to the fatherland, and was treated while here with all possible respect and attention. On the night of the 8th of June 1682 the English Indiaman Joanna, from the Downs bound to Bengal, was wrecked twelve miles to the westward of Cape Agulhas. One hundred and four of her crew saved themselves on a raft, the remainder were drowned. Those who reached the shore found themselves destitute of provisions, and were beginning to suffer from hunger when some Hotten- tots made their appearance who conducted them to the kraal of Captain Klaas. There they were supplied by this hospitable native with abundance of milk and meat as long as they remained, and were provided with food for the journey and guides to conduct them to the Cape. The master of the Joanna, who was too infirm to walk any farther, stayed behind as the guest of Elaas until a waggon could be sent for him. The shipwrecked seamen met with equal kindness from the Company's officers. They were comfortably lodged and furnished with pro- visions until they could get away. The Joanna had a large amount of specie on board, and as the wreck could be reached with a boat in calm weather a party of men ■; ■ i683] Simon van der Stel. 261 was sent from the Cape to try to recover it. They succeeded only in getting coin to the value of a little over two thousand four hundred pounds sterling, but a considerable quantity of cargo and wreckage which was washed ashore was also secured. With the growth of the settlement, it was found that too much of the time of the high court of justice was taken up with hearing petty civil cases, and it was there- fore decided to establish an inferior court to have juris- diction within the Cape district. This court was to be composed of four members, two of whom were to be servants of the Company, and two burghers. It was to sit at least once a week, and had power to adjudicate in all cases wherein the am.niat in dispute was less than twenty pounds, sixteen shilhngs, and eight pence sterling. For convenience sake ii was arranged that the last re- tired burgher councillor could at any time take a seat instead of one of the burgher members. The body thus constituted was termed the court of commissioners for petty cases. It was first estabhshed on the 31st of August 1682. The specimens of copper ore brought to the Cape by the Namaqua visitors in 1681 excited the curiosity of the directors to know more about the country in which the metal was found, and instructions were sent to Com- mander Van der Stel to cause it to be carefully explored. At the end of October 1682 an expedition consisting of thirty soldiers, a journalist, and a chart-maker, under command of Ensign Olof Bergh, was despatched for that purpose, but after a month's absence it returned with a report that the country was so parched with drought that it was impossible to proceed. The attempt was renewed on a larger scale in the following year. On the 27th of August 1683 an expedi- tion better equipped than any that had previously left the Cape set out for the Namaqua country. It consisted of forty-two Europeans — among whom were draughtsmen, '<• SI il K ■ .: Ill i'ii t!', : wf \ . 1 : ii hi; i 11 hb 262 History of South Africa. [1683 miners, and journalists — and ten Hottentots, all under command of Ensign Olof Bergh. It was provisioned for four months. It bad a train of waggons and carts to convey its supplies as far as possible, two boats, so that no delay need be caused by swollen rivers, and a herd of pack oxen and five horses for use when the waggons could get no farther. The expedition proceeded by the way of Eiebeek's Kasteel to the Berg river, which was found too deep to be forded. The boats were then brought into service, and after everything was ferried over the march was resumed. At the Elephant river it was the same. There a camp was formed, as the boats would not be needed again. Across this river a party of Grigri- quas was encountered, and with them were four or five Namaquas who offered to act as guides. Soon after this a sterile district was entered, but they pushed on until they reached the nearest of the Namaqua kraals. Close to the kraal was a high mountain, from the top of which the Atlantic could be seen at no great distance. Beyond it to the north the whole country was a desert without grass or water, for rain had only fallen once within the preceding twelve months. It was impossible to get any farther. The ensign was obliged to retrace his steps, and on the 24th of October he reported at the castle that the expedition had failed. In February 1684 a party of Namaquas visited the Oape, and when they returned Sergeant Izaak Schryver •with fifteen soldiers and three miners was sent with them. The sergeant succeeded very little better than Ensign Bergh, though he managed to proceed somewhat farther and to collect from the people he visited a number of pieces of copper ore which he brought back on a pack ox. This ore was melted in crucibles, and the pure metal w^as sent as a specimen to the directors. In 1683 a tract of ground at Klapmuts was turned into a stock-farm for tbe Company's use, so that the cattle kept at Hottentots-Holland might have a change 1684] Simon van der Stel. 263 of pasture. In 1684 the Company discontinued sending trading expeditions into the interior to purchase cattle, and handed over that business to Captain Klaas, who bought up large herds at very low rates upon receiving one head for himself out of every five. By this agency 80 many oxen and sheep were obtained that it was neces- sary to select fresh stock-farms. The Company, there- fore, formed outposts at the Kuilen, Diep Kiver, Visser's Hok, and Eietvlei. At each of these places four or five soldiers and a few slaves were stationed, the same as at Hottentots-Holland, Tigerberg, and Klapmuts. Burghers who could be induced to become cattle farmers could now be supplied with as many cows and ewes as they needed, and they had further the protection and com- panionship which the new outposts afforded. The ofl&ce of secunde had for some time been vacant, owing to Hendrik Crudop having been advanced to a higher post in India, when in June 1684 the assembly of seventeen appointed the fiscal Andries de Man to it. In October 1684 Eyklof van Goens the younger, ordin- ary councillor of India, and previously governor of Ceylon, arrived in South Africa, on his way from Europe to the East, and assumed authority here above that of the com- mander. He remained in this colony until the following May, but as he was an invalid during the whole of that period he seldom left his room in the government country house at Eustenburg, where he resided. He made some changes in the official staff by the promotion of the clerk Jan Willem de Grevenbroek to be secretary of the council, and the bookkeeper Cornelis Linnes to be chief sales- man. He also appointed the junior merchant Albert van Breugel to act as fiscal, but this officer was obliged soon afterwards to resign the situation to Jan van Keulen, who was sent out by the supreme authorities. To all the officers in the Company's service who desired it he allotted ground for cultivation, but titles were not to be issued until the directors should approve of the measure. ■ 5 j| III ;li ■ ;i.;r lli i %-\ ■•'1 i .1; : IP '!:i!l It X*?to»-" 264 History of South Africa, [1684 To Adriaan van der Stel, a son of the commander, he granted several exclusive privileges. This young man had been issuer of stores,^ but he now became a burgher, and obtained a grant of land in full property. The right to put up a fowling net, within five hundred roods of which no one was to shoot, nor was any one else to put up another within a distance of five hours' journey, the right to catch fish in False Bay without pa3rment of taxes, the right to shoot all kinds of game and birds, were privileges granted by Mr. Van Goens to his favourite, and at his instance approved of by the council. These monopolies naturally caused dissatisfaction to the other burghers. The commander Van der Stel him- self was beloved by all, and no one would have thought of offending him, but from this time it began to be freely said that the sons were not likely to follow in the father's footsteps. The privilege of shooting game at any time and in any quantity was regarded as particularly unfair to other farmers, because they were all bound by stringent regulations to kill nothing without special per- mission, and no one of them was ever allowed to shoot more in a year than a single rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, an eland, and a hartebeest, for his own family's con- sumption. In the year 1684 the first exportation of grain from South Africa took place. The crops of that season were very good, and the insect scourge had been less destruc- tive than usual. To encourage the growth of grain, the governor-general Van Goens had relieved the burghers from payment of tithes for two years, and this had the desired effect. In February and March, after the har- vest was gathered, fifteen hundred muids of wheat were brought by the farmers for sale, so that there was more than sufficient for the supply of the garrison. A quantity ' Shortly after this Adriaan van der Stel entered the Company's service again. He rose to be governor of Amboina and councillor extraordinary of Netherlands India. \ 1685] Simon van der S*.el. 265 of rye was also stored in the magazines, and of this grain twenty-five muids were sent to India. This export, small as it may seem, shows, as the commander exultingly wrote, that the settlement was no longer dependent upon foreign countries for its food. In October 1684 the assembly of seventeen appointed a commission of three members to examine into the affairs of their possessions in Hindostan and Ceylon, and at its head they placed an ofi&cer with very extensive powers. His name was Hendrik Adriaan van Eheede, but he was commonly known by his title of lord of Mydrecht. He had previously served the Company in various capacities, and had only recently filled the post of councillor of India. In the administration of affairs in Hindostan and Ceylon various abuses had crept in, which the directors considered could only be rectified by some one on the spot possessing unbounded authority and with- out any interests to serve other than those of duty. The high commissioner had power given to him to appoint or displace governors and admirals as well as of&cers of lower rank, to proclaim new laws, to issue new regula- tions concerning trade, to create new offices and to abolish old ones, to enter into treaties with native rulers, in short, to do anything he might think advisable in the Company's interests. Before leaving Europe he was instructed to rectify anything he might find amiss at the Cape, where also he was to exercise supreme power as representing the assembly of seventeen. Some of the changes which he effected here as well as elsewhere were afterwards found not to be improvements, but at the time he made them the Netherlands were only beginning to acquire experi- ence in the government of colonies. Nearly all was as yet experiment, and it would have been surprising indeed if every experiment had been wise and successful. The high commissioner arrived in Table Bay on the 19th of April 1685, and remained here until the 16th of :1 ijw; •1 \\ x^ liiiV- \M 266 History of South Africa. [i68s July, during which time he put in force a great number of regulations. A few days after his arrival he issued a notice calhng upon all persons who had complaints or grievances to make them known, so that he might rectify whatever was felt to be oppressive. He then proceeded to examine the constitution of the various public bodies, and to inquire into their efficiency. The result of this was that the church council, the board of militia, the matrimonial court, the orphan chamber, and the court of commissioners for petty cases were approved of as they existed, and no alterations were made in any of them. The council of policy was enlarged so as to consist of eight members, and seats in it were assigned to the commander as president, the secunde, the two military officers highest in rank, the fiscal, the treasurer, the chief salesman, and the garrison bookkeeper. This council was never again enlarged during the government of the East India Company, though the officers who had seats in it were not always those who held the situations here named. The secretary at this time had no vote, but merely kept a record of the debates and resolutions. The high court of justice was reconstituted, and was made to consist of the following members : the com- mander, Simon van der Stel, president ; the secunde, Andries de Man ; the captain, Hieronymus Cruse ; the lieutenant, Olof Bergh; the junior merchant, Albert van Breugel; the chief salesman, Cornelis Linnes; the garri- son bookkeeper, Jan Hendrik Blum; the secretary of the council of policy, Melchior Kernels ; and the two oldest burgher councillors. Jan Blesius was appointed secretary, but had no voice in the proceedings. The fiscal appeared in this court as public prosecutor. In the court at Stellenbosch great alterations were made. It was in future to be presided over by an officer called a landdrost, who was also to have supervision of the Company's farms and out-stations, and who was gener- ally to look after the Company's interests. This officer ire er of it- er [68s] Simon van der Stel. 267 was to have two Europeans to assist him, and was to be provided with a horse and a slave. He was to receive 22. a. month as salary and 16s. as maintenance allowance. In the court of landdrost and heemraden civil cases under 2Z. I5. 8 t685] Simon van der Siel. 269 Slaves imported from abroad, whether male or female, after thirty years' service, and negro slaves bora at the Gape, at the age of forty years, were to have their freedom as a favour, not as a right, upon payment of 8/. 6s. 8c?., provided they professed Christianity and spoke Dutch. Each case was to be considered on its own merits, so that well-conducted slaves might be emancipated, and those of bad character be kept under control of a master. Slave children under twelve years of age were to be sent to school, where they were to be taught the prin- ciples of Christianity as well as to read and write and to conduct themselves respectfully towards their superiors. Slaves over twelve years of age were to be allowed two afternoons in the week for the purpose of being instructed in the Christian religion. The females were to be taught by themselves. All were to attend the church services twice on Sundays, and in the afternoon when the sermon was ended the clergyman was to require them to repeat the Heidelberg catechism. As schoolmaster for the slaves, a well-behaved mulatto named Jan Pasqual, of Batavia, was appointed, and as schoolmistress Margaret, a freed- woman of the Cape. Marriage between Europeans and freed slaves of full colour was prohibited, but Europeans and half-breeds could marry if they chose. It was a common occurrence for slaves to desert from service and lead lawless lives thereafter, sometimes even forming themselves into bands and maintaining them- selves by robbery. Care was to be taken not to drive them to such a course by cruel treatment. But fugi- tives who were captured were to be severely flogged and heavily chained as a warning to others. Slaves belonging to private persons could be moder- ately punished, but were not to be tied up and flogged without an order from the fiscal and the consent of the commander. This consent, however, was not to be refused if a crime deserving such punishment had 270 History of South Africa. [i68s been committed, for it was not meant that the slaves should be allowed to become unruly, but that they should be protected from the caprice of harsh and cruel masters. Concerning the treatment of the Hottentots, the high commissioner laid down some general regulations, but made no definite laws. There was at the time a very friendly feeling between them and the Europeans. The different chiefs and their people came to the castle to trade in perfect security, and as yet there was no lack of pasture for the use of all. On one occasion, indeed, Schacher trespassed upon the ground where the Company made its hay at the Tigerberg, but upon being requested to move he did so very civilly. Gonnema had failed to pay his tribute, and it was not thought necessary to irri- tate him by speaking .bout it any longer. Klaas was so anxious to serve the Europeans that on one of his trad- ing expeditions just before the commissioner arrived he took by force the cattle of the Goringhaiquas because they declined to part with any in barter. The injured people appealed to the commander for protection, and obtained justice. On another occasion the young men of Schacher's clan rebelled against their chief. Schacher and the old men who adhered to him thereupon went to the castle, when the rebels were summoned to appear, and by the commander's mediation peace was restored in the clan. Thefts were not unusual, but robbery with violence was seldom committed except by Bushmen. When it was, and the perpetrators could be discovered, the chiefs were always ready to punish them. At this very time four Hottentots were convicted of the murder of a Dutch servant, and were executed by being beaten to death with clubs by their own people. The Company's interests, however, were always regarded as having a pre- ference above those of the natives. For instance, in August 1684 three dead whales drifted up on the beach, when a party of Hottentots began to feast upon them. i685] Simon van der Stel. 271 '\r, but were driven away by the commander's instructions, in order that the oil might be secured. The high commissioner directed that nothing should be done to disturb the peaceful and friendly intercourse then existing. He thought it was wisdom to keep the clans in a condition of jealousy, but not to allow them to fight or to plunder one another. The Company was desirous of increasing the number of colonists, and there- fore it would be necessary to occupy more land. But it would not be just to take the pasture from the Hottentots in such a manner as to expel them or to force them to make war upon those farther in the interior. The com- missioner was an upright and humane man ; his remarks on the land question are those of a philanthropist. But here he was confronted with a great difficulty. How could colonists be introduced without expelling the orig- inal occupiers? There was only one way, and that was by inducing the natives to adopt other habits, to cease being nomads. The lord of Mydrecht directed that efforts should gradually be made by means of presents to induce them to consent to have certain boundaries laid down, so that both they and the Europeans might have their grounds defined. In other words, his idea was to per- suade them to retire within certain reserves. This plan was thereafter kept in view, though it was not carried out in the neighbourhood of the Cape until more than thirty years after the instructions of the high commissioner were issued, because there was no necessity for restricting the liberty of the Hottentots to wander wherever the ground was not cultivated. The greatest abuse which was at this time prevalent in the East India Company's possessions arose from the private trade carried on by the officers of government. Their salaries were miserably small, but they were per- mitted to supplement them by buying and selling to a hmited extent on their own account any articles except spices. The object in granting this liberty was to attach ! ! f r I ;i ;i'' ■ll i' 1 ii ■ ; I; if' n Hi vi m Ir n^ Hisiory 0/ South Africa. [1685 I them to th« Company's service hut in many instances it had developed into a struggle on their part to amasa wealth at the C(. t of their employers. In some of the easterii dependencies the whole machinery of government Wo. thrown out of working rder by the rapacity of the officer who had the greatest amount of power. Various plans were from time to time suggested for the rectifica- tion of this abuse, but none of them succeeded. No mean could be found between absolute prohibition of private trade and its enlargement into rivalry of the Company's own commerce. At the Cape there was not as yet an opportunity for the officers of government to carry on business on their own account, except in a very small way, and they bad therefore seldom been content to remain here. To go to the East, where fortunes were to be made, was the aim of their ambition. As a remedy, the high commissioner approved of a grant of land in full property being made to each of them, that they might carry on farming and sell their produce to the Company on the same terms as the burghers. There was no lik^Jihood of rivalry, he thought, because the demand in India lor various products was much greater than any supply the Cape could be made to yield. Subsequent events proved how greatly he was mis- taken, but at this time no one objected to the experiment being tried. The commander Van der Stel selected for himself a tiact of land next to the last farm that was occupied at Wynberg. Most of the burghers who had once been living on that side of the mountain had reujosvol to Stellenbosch, so that there were then only "./^i -. ur families remaining between this ground and me castle. The boundaries chosen were agreed to by the high com- m^'^aioner, a surveyor was instructed to measure the land and u vks a chart of it without delay, and on the 13th of July fc\ i.io 'wrq/j issued. In it the commissioner granted to Si:t.o.> f^a- der Stel eight hundred and ninety-one mor- t ■ r 1685] Simon van der Stel. 273 gen, three hundred and eighty roods, and twenty-eight \ square feet of ground, V be held iy liim in full property. | This farm the commander named Constautia. For several years a number of miners bad been en- gaged in searching about the Cape for valuable ores. Be- fore 1671 the country as far as Biebeek's Easteel was examined for this purpose, but the search was then •'•a loned, and it was not resumed until the specimens ot ccen were stolen, and their two v^aggous wore Lr.rnJ;. There was no possibihty of retahating in the sam i w.iy %..> with an agricultural or even a pastoral people, for ■*: was useless looking for Bushmen when they did not wisb io be seen. The Chainouqua country was inl'ciited with them, so that travelling was ansafe. The commander called upon Captains Klaas and lioopman to suppress their depredations, but Klaas was himself so sorely pressed by the marauders that on one occasion he was compelled to abandon his kraals and tiee to the neighbourhood of Cape Agulhas. At length this good and faithful friend of the Company, as he is often called, appeared at the castle and stated that he had succeeded in inflicting a slight punishment upon the common enemy. His account was that as he was preparing to attack them they sent three women to request a renewal of the friendship that had once existed between them. He returned a favourable answer, with a present of tobacco, by which means he decoyed eleven of them, including their leader, to his kraal. There he caused a sheep to be killed for their entertainment, and while they were dancing and rejoicing he had them seized and ordered them to be put to death. ■J'he order was instantly carried out upon eight of ther- he other three having managed to escape by the flee .u of their feet. For this • ■■-: of retaliation for the i:u .es done to [i686 1686] Simon van dfr Stel. 319 the Europeans, as the coun'jil chose to view it, Klaas was rewarded with a presont of twenty pounds of Vir- ginia tobacco, an anker of arrack, one hundred and fifty pounds of rice, and a few trifles. Among the various placaats which had been issued from time to time since the formation of the settlement, there were many which had fallen into disuse. Some were no longer adapted to the condition of affairs, others were only enforced by particular commanders. It thus became necessary to revise and publish them afresh, so that there might be no uncertainty about the local laws. Most of the revised placaats had reference to what would now be termed municipal matters, and by them not only was individual liberty more restricted, but the penalties for infringement were much severer than at present. In these respects, however, the Cape did not differ from the most enlightened European countries. A few of the gen- eral placaats are here given to show the character of the collection : — (•■■ 'I r! "The breed of horses in this country having degener- ated in size, any one who shall use for labour a horse under three years of age shall be subject to a penalty of ten pounds." " Many slaves having deserted from service and caused great trouble and danger by forming themselves into bauds of roboers, no one is to permit a slave to carry a gun, even when tending cattle, under penalty of a fine of twenty pounds." "No one is to sell any implement of war, even a knife, to a slave, under penalty of arbitrary correction." " To prevent ^^raud, the Company's cattle are to be bran v't.l C k on both ears, and no one is to keep cattle wi.'i clipped ears, under penalty of confiscation." Another useful measure ,as the more perfect registra- tion of titles to land. On the Isi of July 1686 a reso- I fi 320 History of South Africa. [1687 \\: II lution was passed by the council of policy, calling upon all persons to produce within two months their title-deeds and leases, for the purpose of having them copied into a :Ltrong book and authenticated by the secretary. The existing records were also to be copied into the same book, so that all cause of dispute and actions at law might be prevented. The volume framed in accordance with this resolution is now in the office of the surveyor- general in Capetown. From this date a record of titles has been kept, but it must not be inferred that the names of all, or even a majority, of those who obtained grants of land will be found recorded at the time of their arrival in this country. As a means o' tracing the pro- gress of immigration, for instance, these records are nearly valueless. Title-deeds were never issued until the ground was surveyed, and this was sometimes delayed twenty-five or thirty years after it was allotted. The occupant in the meantime held merely a note authorising him to take possession of and cultivate the land. In many instances the original occupier died or sold out and removed, in which case the titles were issued in the name of the one in possession when the survey was made.^ This will account for the apparently defective condition of the land record books for a long series of years. Towards the beginning of the winter of 1C87 the colony was visited by a destructive disease, a kind of fever which carried off many of the inhabitants. The natives suffered very severely from it, so much so that one kraal is mentioned in which half the people were dead while the others were all sick. Schacher, chief of the Goringhaiquas or Kaapmans, died at this time. The clan was so thoroughly subject to the Company that the ap- pointment of his successor was made by the commander. He chose a nephew of the deceased chief, whom he named Massanissa, and to whom he gave one of the ^ Thirty years' undisputed possession of ground gave the occupier a legal claim to a free title. [687] Shun van der Siel. 321 m one one dead the clan ap- ider. he the ordinary staffs of office. Among the Europeans who were carried off were the reverend Johannes Overney and Captain Hieronymus Cruse. The clergyman died on the 5th of May. The pulpit was not long vacant, for on the 4th of June the reverend Johannes van Andel called here in a ship of which he was chaplain, and consented to remain. The old explorer Captain Cruse, often mentioned in former years, died on the 20th of June. He was succeeded in the command of the garrison by Lieutenant Dominique de Chavonnes. In June 1687 a fleet of six ships of war, sent by the king of France with a second embassy to the king of Siam, put into Table Bay. The admiral's request to be permitted to purchase refreshments and to lodge his sick in the hospital was at once acceded to, but on condition that all healthy men were to go on board before sunset and that arms were not to be carried by any of them when ashore. The garrison of the castle was at the time very small, but to make a brave show, the commano^r called in some men from the outposts and required the Cape militia to mount guard. Stellenbosch also furnished a contingent of forty armed burghers.^ In October 1687 a fresh tract of land was given out to seitlers. About fifty individuals belonging to the home- wurd bound fleet which put into Table Bay in September, being charmed with the appearance of the country, peti- tioned the commander to allow them to make a trial of farming. He would very cheerfully have done so if they had been married men, but as only a few had wives he thought it best to reject two-thirds of them. At the c ^ of the fair at Stellenbosch there were twenty-three in- dividuals in all ready to take possession of farms. The commander therefore resolved to found a new settlement with them, and for this purpose he selected the beautiful 'Thert ws a system of signals by means of guns and flags between the caii \<.d the drostdy at Stellenbosch, by means of which the militia coi id be called to the defence of the Gape at very short notice. VOL. I. 21 * \\M IX' i ■' !l •t ■ ■ 322 History of South Africa. [1687 ■ , ii M : I Ii I I 1 ii valley visited first by Abraham Gabbema thirty years before. At dayV^rM ^n the morning of the Ifith of Octo- ber the new boi^L^rs lext Stelleubosch, and were followed a httle lattti by Mj Honour with a party of attendants on horseback. At Simonsberg they halted to rest, and there the commander overtook them. It was a lovely view that met their eyes as they looked down into the valley where they were about to make their V:,. -^s. A stranger cannot gaze upon it in the pleasant spring-time without feeling a thrill of delight, and if to-day the many homesteads and groves add to its beauty, it has lost almost as much in th vt rich carpeting of grass and flowers which covered it ir? 1687. It had as yet no name, so the commander called it Drakenstein, after an estate in the Netherlands belonging to the lord of Mydrecht. That afternoon the frontage of the twenty-three farms was marked out along the Berg river. Each farm was to extend backwards six hundred roods and was sixty roods in width, thus containing nearly one hundred an'I wenty- seven English acres. Like all other landed property in the colony, that now given out was legally burdened with the payment to the government of tithes of the produce of grain. This tax was, however, Jiot very rigidly ex- acted, and was generally either wholly or in part re- mitted in bad seasons or when the occupants of the ground met vvith any heav\ losses. An experiment was once made in farming it out at public auction. The pur- chaser had the right to every eleventh sheaf as it stood in the field, foi ilough called the tith •, a full tenth was seldom demanded. But the j_)lan gave rise to complaints, and it was soon abandoned, aft^v which the tenth part of all grain brought to the ^ape ior sale was deducted as it passed the castle. The , / o* ner charge upon the ground was the cost of measurt^nent H-nd title-deeds when it was surveyed. The farms were given out in full property, sub- ject to these conditions only, but they could be forfeited if the grantees neglected to commence cultivating them [i687 1687] Simon van der Stel. 323 within a year, or if they afterwards abandoned them. It was necessary to make this provision, as the great major- ity of the Company's servants who became farmers soon got tired of that occupation. In November of this year False Bay was examined by the commander in person. In March 1682 it had been surveyed, but not so carefully as to satisfy the directors. The galiot J^oord, conveyed the commander with some surveyors and a draughtsman round from Table Bay, and while she was engaged taking soundings, a party proceeding along the shore was measuring distances and angles. The bight previously known as Yselstein Bay was found to be capa^ ^ of affording good shelter for a small fieet. It was ascertained that fresh water was to be had there, and fish of excellent quality in great abundance. Its advantages were observed as a place of call and refreshment for the Company's ships in time of war, when an enemy's fleet might be watching Table Bay. "T^he commander gave it his Christian name, and as Si ion's Bay it has ever since been known. The colonists were at this time in a fairly prosperous condition. There were no avenues to great wealth open to them, but on the other hand no one was suffering frojii want of the necessaries of life. There were no begg 3 in the colony. The thriftless and unstable burghers who had given so much trouble in the earlier days of the settlement had died out or returned into the Company's service, and their places were occupied by a more industrious class of men. Still, there was one cir- cumstance in connection with the colonists wi)ich caused the commander much uneasiness. Only about one-third of them were married, and none but these could be con- sidered permanently settled. Everything that was possible had been done to procure female immigrants, but the number that arrived was very small indeed. Notwith- standing the laws against European men forming con- nections with slave and native women, immorality of 'i 1 II 324 History of South Africa. [1687 !l' : 1^ V !< I A that kind could not be entirely checked, and many chil- dren of mixed blood were born in the settlement. These naturally grew up as a class inferior to Europeans, but priding themselves upon being better than either pure Hottentots or negros. The burghers of the town, who were all discharged servants of the Company, were chiefly dependent upon the shipping for means of living. They showed their prosperity by a tendency to display in dress, which the commander deemed so unbecoming that he forbade it. He did not want any spurious grandees here, he said, but honest, industrious people, of whom alone good colonists could be made. His ideas in this respect were those of the cleverest statesmen of his age.^ When, for instance, he prohibited the wives of mechanics from carrying sun- shades and expressed an opinion that such a practice was too outrageous to be tolerated, he was but following the example of the most advanced people of Europe. Toward the close of the year 1687 a plague of locusts did much damage to the gardens, but notwithstanding this the crops were so good that there was not room in the magazines for all the grain and wine and other produce that was brought in. On the Slst of December, when the yearly census was taken, it appeared that the Company had at Eustenburg in round numbers one hundred thou- sand vines bearing, and had on the several farms one thousand one hundred and sixty-four head of horned cattle, one hundred and forty horses, anu nine thousand two hundred and eighteen sheep. The returns in connection with the colonists, ^ their stock and produce, were as follow : — 1 In October 1686 certain sumptuary laws were put in force in India by the directors. * The number of burghers is always understated in the yearly lists, owing to the omission of names through carelessness or for some other cause. [i687 1687] Simon van der Stel. 325 Burghers 264 Wives of burghers and widows • i . 88 Children of burghers 281 European men servants 89 Men slaves 230 "Women slaves 44 Slave children 86 Horses in possession of burghers . . . ISS Homed cattle 2,951 Sheep 80,142 Muids of wheat from last crop . . . 1,8S7 Muids of rye 197 Muids of barley 205 Vines bearing 402,900 During the last twenty years of the sixteenth century the population of Holland and Zealand was largely in- creased by immigrants of the Protestant faith from the southern Netherland provinces. Many of these immi- grants spoke no other language than French, and wher- ever they settled in sufficient numbers clergymen using that language were appointed to conduct rehgious services for them. In this manner numerous French and Walloon congregations were established throughout the free Nether- lands. These congregations, however, did not form separate churches, but only new branches of churches which pre- viously existed in the towns where they settled. To each ecclesiastical fabric several clergymen were usually attached, and when a French congregation was formed one of these clergymen was selected to attend to it. In the same building where the ordinary Dutch services were held French services were conducted at different hours, the whole body of worshippers being united in one church, with its deacons, elders, and other officers.^ * The baptismal and marriage registers of these churches have been carefully examined by the French and Walloon Church Historical Society, as they furnish a great amount of curious as well as valuable information. The names and dates have been written on slips of paper and arranged alphabetically, so that investigation is now very easy. Through the kind- •!!■ ' i 326 History of South Africa. [1687 Pi !i ' During the century following the Pacification of Ghent, these congregations were constantly being aug- mented in size f ; a in number by immigrants from France and Belgium, though gradually the settlers became undis- tinf^uishable, except by name, from other Netherlanders. Strong sympathy in religious matters and facility of obtaining employment were the attractions which drew French Protestants in numbers that more than compen- sated for the loss of those who by long residence became thoroughly Dutch. When, therefore, about the year 1670 the larger stream of emigration, which was the result of the cruelties inflict- ed by Louis XIV upon his Protestant subjects, com- menced to set out of France, there was no country to which the refugees looked more hopefully than towards the United Provinces. Numerous Protestant French fami- lies had branches already long settled there, so that when the immigrants arrived, they found men of their own tongue and blood, and very often of their own name, ready to welcome them. The world-wide commerce also, which had its centre in the free Netherlands, had created such a demand for labour of all kinds that many thousands o£ them found no difficulty in making new homes. But owing to this very cause the republic, though it had vast foreign possessions, could not become a great colonising country. A few of the refugees who left France between 1670 ness of Mr. Enschedd, the highly esteemed archivist of Haarlem, in whose charge these slips are, I had an opportunity of inspecting them, and thereby of obtaining in the course of a few hours some Icnowledge which I needed, and which otherwise would have taken me weeks to acquire. The Walloon Library, belonging to this Society, is kept in two rooms at Leiden. It contains only onu South African work, a French sermon preached in the colony shortly after the arrival of the Huguenots. Tho talented secretary, Dr. Du Rieu, who is also librarian of the university, kindly gave me all possible assistance in prosecuting researches. (This note was written in 1882. Mr. Enschede died several years ago, and Dr. Du Rieu iD December 1896.) \ It. sse [i687 1687] Simon van der Stel. 327 and 1685 entered the service of the Bast India Com- pany, and some of these were stationed in South Africa. On the 3rd of October 1685 the assembly of seventeen passed a resolution to send out French refugees with other emigrants, but so few were found willing to leave Europe that in the course of two years only three or four were obtained. These were persons of irreproachable character, who gave no trouble to the government or em- ployment to the courts of law. The ordinances which annulled the edict of Nantes — issued by Louis XIV in October 1685 — though they for- bade the emigration of the Protestants, gave a tremendous impetus to the movement. But now, as it was not pos- sible to leave the kingdom openly, every kind of property except money and jewels was of necessity abandoned. The fugitives, escaping in various disguises, were glad to cross the frontier in utter destitution as far as worldly wealth was concerned. One of the saddest features in this sad chapter in the history of human woe was the small number of women and children who escaped, com- pared with that of young and strong men. Very often a single youth found himself in safety after every other member of his family had perished or had been lost to sight for ever in prisons and convents. During the two years that followed the revocation of the edict of Nantes the towns of the free Netherlands were filled with refugees, still those who were suited to make good colonists generally managed to find employ- ment. At the same time the Protestants were migrating in great numbers from the valleys of Piedmont, and, though most of these found homes in Switzerland and Germany, a few made their way to the United Provinces. When the directors of the East India Company met in the autumn of 1687 it seemed possible to obtain some Piedmontese and French families as colonists, and they therefore resolved to make another attempt. With this view they promised, in addition to the ■■i|.' ' m '! •: I I/! !l ii' I'll ii 328 History of South Africa. [1687 advantages previously held out, that a clergyman speaking the French language should be engaged to accompany the emigrants, and that any refugee desiring to return to Europe after the expiration of five years should be at hberty to do so. On the 28th of October they engaged the reverend Pierre Simond, minister of the French con- gregation at Zierickzee, at a salary of 11. 10s. a month, to proceed to the Cape, and on the 5th of November they resolved, as a further inducement, to offer a gratuity of firom hi. to 8/. 6s. 8c?., according to circumstances, to every head of a family, and from 2/. 10s. to U. 3s. 4c?. to every young unmarried man or woman, to assist in pro- curing an outfit. Several small parties then consented to emigrate, and on the 16th of this month the directors wrote to the commander and council that these would be sent out at once. The conditions under which the Huguenots agreed to come here as colonists were, with the exception already named, the same as those pre- viously offered to natural subjects of the Netherlands. They were to be provided with free passages and with farms in full property without payment. They were to be supplied with all requisite farming stock at cost price on credit. They were to subscribe to the same oaths of alle- giance as those taken by persons born in the United Pro- vinces, and were to be in all respects treated in the same manner and to enjoy the same privileges. While making such efforts to procure Huguenot emi- grants, however, the directors had no intention of making the Cape a French colony. Owing to the competition arising from the influx of such numbers of refugees, it was now less difficult than it had hitherto been to obtain emigrants of Dutch blood, of whom more families than of French origm were being sent out at the same time, so that these, together with the settlers already in South Africa, would absorb the foreign element without under- going any change. At no time did the French exceed in number one-sfxth of the colonists, or one-eighth of the w cl [i687 1687] Simon van der Stel. 329 ; \ with to be whole European population, the Company's servants in- cluded. The directors hoped that the Huguenots would supply the knowledge which the Dutch colonists lacked in some particular kinds of industry believed to be suited to South Africa, such as the manufacture of wine and brandy and the cultivation of olives. The vine bor^ grapes here equal in flavour to any in the world, yet the wine and brandy hitherto made were greatly inferior to those of Europe. The olive tree was found wild, and the varieties intro- duced flourished as well apparently as in France or Spain, but the production of fruit had so far been a failure. Some of the Huguenots sent out were men who had been reared among the vineyards and olive groves of France, and who were acquainted not only with the best methods of cultivating the vines and trees, but vvdth the manufacture of wine, brandy, and oil. At the same time, the directors were careful to lay down the rule tbit such occupations were not to be pursued to the neglect of the more important industries of growing wheat and rearing cattle. Arrangements were made by the different chambers of the East India Company for the passages of the Hugue- not emigrants to this colony, as they had been engaged in different provinces and could not all embark at the same port. As much as possible, fami'ies and friends were kept together. The emigrants were sent out in the ships FoorscJioten, Borssenburg, Ocsterland, China, and Zuid Bcveland. The Voorschoten sailed from Delftehaven on the 31st of December 1687, with the following passengers, according to a despatch from the chamber of Delft to the Cape government : — Charles Marais, of Plessis, Catherine Taboureux, his wife, Claude Marais, 24 years old, Charles Marais, 19 years old, Isaac Marais, 10 years old, Marie Mai-ais, 6 years old, their children. 1|' m fi. I ■•^'^^^'^v^. I ! I .i ! 330 History of South Africa. [1688 .) their children. old. years old. brothers, of Blois. Philippe Fouoh^, Anne Fouch^, his wife, Anne Fouch^, 6 years old, Esther Fouch^, 5 years old, Jacques Fouche, 8 years old, Jacques Pinard, a CEurpenter, 28 years old, Esther Fouch(5, his wife, 21 y^ars old. Marguerite Bach6, unmarried woman, 28 years Etienne Brufere, a waggon-maker, bachelor, 23 Flarre Sabatier, bachelor, 22 years old. Jean le Eoux, bachelor, 21 years old, Gabriel le Boux, 17 years old, Gideon Malherbe, bachelor, 20 years old. Jean Past^, bachelor, 25 years old. Paul Godefroy, bachelor, 22 yt^ars old. Gaspar Fouche, bachelor, 21 ye?.rs old. The Borsscnburg sailed on the 6th of January 1688. Her passenger hst has been lost from the archives of this colony and also from those at the Hague. The Oosterland left Middelburg on the 29th of January 1688, having as passengers, according to a despatch of the chamber of that place to the Cape government : — Jacques de Savoye, of Ath, Marie Madeleine le Clerc, his wife, Antoinette Camoy, his mother-in-law. Marguerite de Savoye, 17 years old, Barbfere de Savoye, 15 years old, J- his children. Jacques de Savoye, 9 months old, Jean Prieur du Plessis, surgeon, of Poitiers, Madelome Menanteau, his wife. Sarah Avice, young unmarried woman. Jean Nortier, agriculturist. Jacob Nortier, do. Daniel Nortier, carpenter, Marie Vytou, his wife. Isaac Taillefer, vinedresser, of Thierry, Susanno Briet, his wife, Elizabeth Taillefer, 14 years old, Jean Taillefer, 12 years old, Isaac Taillefer, 7 years old, Pierre Taillefer, 5 years old, Susanne Taillefer, 24 years old, Marie Taillefer, 1 year old. IV a 1 - their children. t r t 1 x688] Simon van der Stel. 331 Jean Cloudon, shoemaker, of Ooncl«S. Jean du Bnis, agriculturist, of Calais. Jean Parisel, agriculturist, of Paris. The China sailed from Rotterdam on the 20th of March 1688, with the following passengers, according to a despatch from the chamber of that place : — 1 their children. Jean Mesnard, Louiss Corbonne, his wife, Jeanne Mesnard, 10 years old, Georges Mesnard, 9 years old, Jacques Mesnard, 8 years old, Jean Mesnard, 7 years old, Philippe Mesnard, 6 years old, Andre Mesnard, 5 months old, Louis Corbonne, bachelor, 20 years old. Jean Jourdan, bachelor, 28 years old. Pierre Jourdan, of Cabri^re, bachelor, 24 years old. Marie Eoux, 10 years old, "j orphans, nieces of Jean and Marguerite Eoux, 7 years old, / Pierre Jourdan. (A secona) Pierre Jourdan, also a bachelor, 24 years old. Pierre Joubert, 23 years old, Isabeau Richard, his wife. Susanne E<5ne, 20 years old, young unmarried woman. Jacques Verdeau, 20 years old, \ brothers Hercule Verdeau, 16 years old, / Pierre la Grange, bachelor, 23 years old. Matthieu Frr.cass(i, bachelor, 26 years old. Andr6 Pelanchon, 15 years old. And twelve others who died before the ship reached her desti- nation. From the orphan chamber of Rotterdam eight young women at this time consented to emigrate to South Africa, and were sent out with the French refugees in the China. They were described as being of unblemished reputation, industrious, and skilled in farm work. They were all married in the colony within a few months after their arrival, the last of them on the 8th of May 1689 to a young burgher of Stellenbosch. Their names .vere, Adriana van Son, Wilhelmina de Witt, Adriana van den ii ! 332 History of South Africa. [1688 Berg, Judith Verbeek, Petronella van Capelle, Judith van der Bout, Catharina van der Zee, and Anna van Kleef. The ZvAd Beveland sailed from Middelburg on the 22nd of April 1688. She brought out a number of passengers, but the list is missing at the Hague as well as in Capetown, and the only names known are those of Pierre Simond, of Dauphine, minister of the Gosjjel, and Anne de Berout, bis wife. The lists of names show that more men came out than women. This disproportion of the sexes was just what the Company wished to prevent, for it was the very evil that Commander Van der Stel was continiudly com- plaining of. And yet it could not be rectified, as in every group of refugees who escaped from France the number of males was enormously greater than that of females. Among the immigrants were several individuals who had occupied very good positions in their own c'untry before the commencement of the persecution. The surgeon Du Plessis was of an ancient and noble family of Poitiers, though he was now penniless. Mr. De Savoye had been a wealthy merchant, but had saved nothing except his life and his family. On the 13th of April 1688 the Voorschotcn arrived in Saldanhp Bay, having put into that harbour on account of a strong south-east wind, against which she could not beat up to Table Bay. The rocky islands covered with sea-birds and the desolate country around formed a strik- ing contrast to the beautiful France which the emigrants had left. Yet they would be cheered by the knowledge that in this secluded wilderness there was at any rate freedom to worship God in the manner their consciences approved of. From the Company's outpost at Saldanha Bay a message was sent overland to the castle reporting Ihe Voorschoten's arrival, and stating that as the ship xieeded some repairs her officers thought it would be advis- able to remain there to effect them. The cutter Jupiter I [i688 [688] Simon van der Siel. 333 was therefore sent from Table Bay with fresh provisions, and when she returned she brought the immigrants to the Cape. On the 26th of April the Oosterland cast anchor in Table Bay, having made the passage from Middelburg in eighty-seven days then one of the quickest runs on record. She was followed on the 12th of May by the Borssenburg. On the 4th of August the China reached Table Bay, after a disastrous run of seven months from Eotterdam. Her crew and passengers were nearly all sick, and twenty individuals, twelve of whom were French refugees, had died during the passage. Fifteen days later the Zuid Beveland cast anchor in Table Bay, The arrival of their pastor had been looked forward to with anxiety by the Huguenots already here, 80 that by the time the first boat put off there was a little crowd of people waiting to welcome him on the wooden jetty, then the only pier in Table Bay. But just after the boat left the ship she was capsized by a sudden squall, and those on the jetty had the horror of seeing eight men drown before their eyes- without being able to render them any aid. A few hours passed before com- munication could be had with the Zuid Beveland, when it was ascertained that the drowned men were three officers and five seamen of the ship. The Dutch were accustomed to treat their clergymen with great respect, but they were incapable of participat- ing in such feelings as those with which the Huguenots regarded their pastor. A French Protestant clergyman in those days was of necessity a man of earnest faith, of great bravery, of entire self-devotion, and such a man naturally inspired strong attachment. In the great perse- cution under Louis XIV the pastors stand out prominently as the most fearless of men. Nothing short of death could silence them, there was no form of suffering which they were not prepared to endure rather than forsake what they believed to be the truth. It was not from any Hi I i i i4 I.,! 1-^ i' ' i' r 334 History of South Africa. [1688 II i i superstitious reverence for their > ffice, but on account of their force of character, that they were regarded with the highest esteem and affection. The reverend Mr. Simond was a man of determined will, who possessed just those qualifications which would cause him to be regarded by his fiock as a fit guide and counsellor in secular as well as in religious matters. A quantity of his correspondence is still in existence, and in it he shows himself to have been sadly lacking in charity towards those who differed from him in opinion, but that was the fault of the age rather than of the man. For his faith he gloried in having suffered, and for those of his own religion there was no honest sacrifice which he was not capable of making. As for the members of his congregation, their interests and his own were insepar- able. The little band of refugees who were about to make a home on South African soil for themselves and their children therefore felt their circle more complete after his arrival. The Huguenots landed in South Africa without any p>-operty in goods or money. The East India Company sent out a quantity of ship's biscuit, peas, and salt meat, to be served out to them as provisions for a few months, and deal planks to make the woodwork of temporary houses. Whatever else they needed was to be supplied on credit from the Company's stores. From Europe they had no assistance to expect, for the demands upon the purses of the benevolent there were unceasing. A fund for their benefit was raised in the colony, to which each individual contributed in cattle, grain, or money, accord- ing to his circumstances. The amount subscribed is not mentioned, but Commander Van der Stel reported that it was very creditable to the old colonists and very service- able to the refugees. It was given to the reverend Mr. Simond and the deacons of Stellenbosch for distribution. The burgher councillors furnished six waggons free of charge to convey the immigrants to their destination. [i688 [688] Simon van der Stel. 335 The heemraden of Stellenbof"'. supplied six more to be used until the refugees should be all settled. Some of the Huguenots wt^ located in and about Stellenbosch, but the larger number at Drakenstein and 5'rench Hoek.. Particular care was taken not to locate them by them- selves, but to mix them as much as possible with the Dutch colonists who were already here or who were arriving at the same time. This was almost from the day of their landing a point of disagreement between them and the commander, for they expressed a strong desire not to be separated. Several even refused to accept the allotments of ground which were offered to them, and in preference engaged themselves as servants to some of the others. With regard to church services, an arrangement was made that Mr. Simond should preach in French on al- ternate Sundays at Stellenbosch and at the house of a burgher at Drakenstein. The sick-comfortev Mankadan was to read a sermon and prayers in Dutch at Stellen- bosch when the minister was at Drakenstein, and at Drakenstein when the minister was at Stellenbopch. Once in three months Mr. Simond was to preach at the Cape, and then the reverend Mr. Van Andel was to hold der- vice in Dutch and administer the sjtcraments at Stellen- bosch. This was in accordance with the custom of the Netherlands, or as closely so as circumstances would per- mit. There, the refugees as they arrived formed branch congregations of estabhshed churches ; here, they formed a branch congregation of the church of Stellenbosch. That church, though as yet without a resident Dutch clergyman, had a fully organised consistory, which was presided over by the minister of the Cape acting as con- sulent. It was an arrangement w' ich was designed to meet the wants of both sections of the community, but it did not satisfy the French, who desired to have a church entirely of their own. i:: 33<5 History of South Africa. [1689 III!; 1] ■ : \ • M . 1 I' 'i i The refugt-ea commenced the work of building and planting with alacrity. Those who had b« on accustomed to manual labour soon erected rough dwelhngs of clay walls and thatched roofs and laid out vegetable gardens, but there were men among them who had been bred in the lap of ease, and to whom such toil was exceptionally severe. These fared badly at first, but with some assist- ance in labour from their countrymen they also were able to make a good commencement in farming. The Com- pany had promised to supply them with slaves as soon as possible, but was at this time unable to procure any. Those who were located at Drakenstein had hardly got roofs above their heads when they addressed the com- mander upon the subject of a school for the education of their children. He approved of their request, and on the 8th of November 1688 Paul Roux, of Orange in France, who understood both languages, was appointed schoolmaster of Drakenstein. He was to receive a salary of 26s. And a ration allowance of 12s. 6c?. a month, and in addition to his duties as a teacher he was to act as church tlerk.^ A fsw months after the first party of Huguenots left the Netherlands a number of others were engaged to come out as colonists. They embarked in the ships Wa'pen van Alhnaar and Zion. The first of these vessels left Texel on the 27th of July 1688, and arrived in Table Bay on the 27th of January 1689. She brought out about forty immigrants, young and old. The Zion arrived on the 6th of May 1689, and in her came three brothers named Abraham, Pierre, and Jacob de Villiers, who were vinedressers from the neighbourhood of La Rochelle. jlil :i||l 'This was not an exceptionally small salary. The schoolmaster of the Cape received only \l. 7s. 9d. a month, in addition to a fee of eight pence for each pupil, 'if the parents, whether Company's servants or burghers, could afford to pay it.' The schoolmaster of Stellenbosch received more, but he had various other duties to perform. All of them were provided with a free house and a garden. 1690] Simon van der Stel. 337 ted it with the .•taT)le purposes. Mf. J amount, but onsidered it will lioble gift, and it Shortly after the refugees arrived in South Africa, the consistory of Batavia sent 11 sum of money (jqual to twelve hundred and fifty English sovereigps to be distri- buted among them according to theii needs. This money had constituted the poor fmids of a ciiurch at Formosa which was destroyed by an en- ' but be guardians managed to save their trust, ar t deacons at Batavia to be used ^^ Nowadays 1,250/. may not seen, if its purchasing power at that tiiii' be found to have been a generous was appreciated as such by those whoso wants it was intended to relieve. It was decided that all the Hugue- nots should share in this present, except a very few who were otherwise provided for. The money was distributed on the 18th and 19th of April 1690, by commissioners who had taken every indi- vidual's needs into consideration. A copy of the hst of distribution is in the archives at the Hague, and it is given here, as it contains the names of those who arrived in the Borssenhurg, Zuid Beveland, and Wapen van Alkmaar, and shows further what havoc death had made in the little band of refugees previous to this date, with some other particulars. With a few names added from another document, it forms a complete list of the Huguenots who settled in South Africa at this period. Pierre Lombard, a sick man, with wife and one child Isaac Taillefer, with wife and four children . Pierre Jacob, with wife and three children . Widow of Charles Marais, with four children Philippe Fouchd, with wife and two children Abraham de Villiers, with wife and two brothers Matthieu Amiel, with wife and two children Hercule du Pr^, with wife and five children Louis Cordier, with wife and four children Jean le Long, with wife and two children Widow of Charles Pr^vot (remarried to Hendrik Eek hof), with four children by her deceased husband VOL. I. 22 52 1 8 50 44 8 io§ 41 13 4 41 13 4 39 11 8 38 3 lOf 35 8 4 32 19 8J 32 12 9J 31 & I ti : IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I |io ■^" niB ui lis ^ US, 12.0 IL25 III 1.4 1^ 6" ■^ Photographic Sciences Corporation SJ \ A >v [v o^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, K.Y. MS80 (71&)S72-4503 €^ V 338 History of South Africa. [1690 Ir- Margaerite Perrotit, widow with two children Jean da Pleaais, with wife and one child Daniel de Buelle, with wife and one child Jean Mesnard, widower with four children Pierre Joubert, with wife and one child Nicolas de Lanoy, with mother and brother Pierre Bousseaa, with wife and one child Guillaume Nel, with wife and two children Daniel Nortier, with wife and one child Gideon Malherbe, with wife Jacques Pinard, with wife .... Etienne Bm&re, with his espoused, Esther de Buelle Marie and Marguerite Boux, two little orphans . Esaias and Susanne Gosteux, two orphans now living with Nicolaas Gleef Jean Jourdan, with wife Jean Margra, with wife Widow Antoinette Gamoy Louis Fourid . Jacob Vivier and Etienne Viret, each jEIO 8 4 Jean Cloudon and Jean Durand, each jE9 14 5^ Louis Barr4, Pierre Jourdso), Pierre Boux, Jacques Th^rond, Francois B^tif, Jean le Boux, Gabriel le Bovix, David S^n^chal, ^ialomon Gonmai, Jean Jou- bert, Jean Nortier, Daniel Couvat, and Pierre Meyer, each ^£9 6§ Jean Boi and Jean Boux (or le Boux) of Provence, and Matthieu Fraca6s4, together .... Marie le Long (married to Adriaan van Wyk) Daniel Hugod, Michel Mortineau, and Hercule Yerdeau, each je868 Antoine Gros, Daniel Terrier, and Paul Godefroy, to- gether Jacques Malan and Pierre Jourdan, each SH 19 8§ Nicolas la Tatte and Jean Gard4, each ^£7 12 9^ Abraham Vivier and Pierre Vivier, each £7 6 10 . Elizabeth du Pr4, young unmarried woman . Andr^ Pelanchon, Louis Gorbonne, Pierre la Grange, Pierre Batt^ Antoine Martin, Zacharie Mantior, Jacob Nortier, Jean Parisel, and Pierre Bochefort, each ^ee 18 lOf Jean Magnet Pierre Sabatier and Pierre Beneset, together . Jean du Buis jESO 11 29 17 29 3 28 2 28 2 27 15 27 16 26 24 6 21 10 20 16 19 16 10 19 8 10§ H 4 6 6 6* 6} H 8 17 7 16 19 13 17 13 17 11 2 20 16 5i 2f 8 19 8 10} 117 7 2f 26 7 9i 8 6 8 26 24 13 0* 16 19 H 16 6 6§ 14 11 8 6 18 lOf 62 10 6 6 11 16 H 6 11 ij [1690 S30 11 H 89 17 2i 29 3 4 28 2 6 28 2 6 27 16 6J 27 15 6} 25 24 6 H 21 10 6§ 20 16 8 19 16 10 19 8 io§ 17 7 H 15 19 H 13 17 H 13 17 9i 11 2 n 20 16 8 19 8 10} 17 7 2f 26 7 H 8 6 8 25 :4 13 Of 5 19 H 5 6 6| 4 11 8 6 18 io§ 2 10 ) 5 I 16 H i 11 H 11 1690] Simon van der Stel. 339 Abraham Belaztf £542 Jean Boux, of Normandy % 4 17 2} Jean Mysal 434 Pierre le F^bre (wife and three children) . . . 3 9 5| Guillaume du Toit (wife and one child) . . . . 3 9 5} Fnin9ois du Toit (wife) 3 9 5| Those who were otherwise provided for, or who did not need assistance from this fond, were: — Bev. Pierre Simond, with wife and one child, Jacqnes de Savoye, with wife and two children, Loois de Berout, with wife and three children, Pierre Barilla, with wife, Andr6 Gaucher, Paul Brasier, and Paul Boux. This list gives a total of one hundred and seventy-six Bouls, while in despatches of nearly the same date from the Gape government the number of Huguenots of all ages in the colony is stated to be one hundred and fifty- five. But in the last case those in the service of the Company were certainly not included, and possibly those who were married into Dutch families would not be reckoned. It is more than likely also that out of these hundred and seventy-six souls there must have been several who, from long residence in the Netherlands, would not be considered refugees by Commander Van der SteL This supposition is strengthened by the fact that many names in the list had been famihar in the Low Countries for two or three generations. Thus, a branch of the family Le Febre had been settled at Middelburg since 1574, there had been De Lanoys at Leiden since 1648, Nels at Utrecht since 1644, Du Toits at Leiden since 1605, Cordiers at Haarlem since 1627, Jouberts at Leiden since 1645, Malans at Leiden since 1625, Malherbes at Dordrecht since 1618, and Mesnards at Leiden since 1638. Before the Wwptn van Alkmaar sailed, the directors had it in contemplation to send out a party of six or thk U m 340 History of South Africa. [1689 til seven hundred Yaudois, all of the labouring class, and most of them understanding some handiwork as well as agriculture. This party had taken refuge in Nuremberg, where they were in such distress that they sent deputies to beg assistance from the states-provincial of Holland and West Friesland, and offered to emigrate in a body to any colony of the Netherlands. Their wretched condition in- cited the warmest compassion of the states, who, after providing for their temporary relief, addressed the di- rectors of the East and West India Companies, asking whether either of those associations would be wiUing to receive the applicants as colonists. The assembly of seventeen replied, offering to settle these poor people, their oldest co-religionists as they termed them, at the Cape of Good Hope; and arrange- ments were thereafter made for sending them out. The states-provincial agreed to contribute a sum of money, equal to 4/. 3s. 4c?. for each emigrant, towards the expense of furnishing them with outfits for the voyage and con- veying them, from Nuremberg to Amsterdam, v/here they were to embark. The Company was to ide them with free passages, to supply them on credit v^uh building materials and provisions for seven or eight months after their arrival in the colony, and was farther to treat them in every respect as Dutch subjects and to allow them all the privileges granted to previous emigrants. But when the arrangements were concluded, the Vaudois de- clined to go so far away, so that the project of sending them here fell through. During the next twenty years individuals of French origin continued to arrive with other immigrants occasion- ally in the colony, but never more than two or three families at a time. The subject of emigration, from having been a prominent one in the discussions of the directors of the East India Company, disappears from their records after June 1688. Exciting events were taking place in Europe, which occupied their attention to the exclusion of I If [1689 iss, and well as remberg, deputies and and r to any ition in- 10, after the di- , asking illing to to settle as they arrange- it. The money, expense knd con- ere they le them building ;hs after )at them them But idois de- sending French jccasion- )r three a having directors records place in usion of 1689] Simon van der Stel. 341 everything that was not of primary importance. The summer of this year was passed in anxiety, for it was feared that war with France and England combined was imminent, and the first thought of the directors was the protection, not the enlargement, of their possessions. In the autumn the garrison of the Gape was increased by one hundred and fifty men. Then followed the landing of the prince of Orange in England, the seizure of Dutch ships and the imprisonment of their crews by the French government, and finally war with France. While such events were transpiring, no thought could be bestowed upon colonisation. The commander, Simon van der Stel, would much rather have seen Netherlanders alone coming to South Africa, but as the supreme authorities chose to send out French refugees he could not do otherwise than receive them and deal with them according to his instructions. It was impossible for him to be as friendly with them as with his own countryiaen, still he did not at first treat them with undue reserve. In 1689 he appointed Jacques de Savoye a heemraad of Stellenbosch, and he stood sponsor at the baptism of one of his children and of a child of the reverend Mr. Simond. With most of the Huguenots the first difficulties of settling in a new country were speedily overcome; houses were built, very small and rough it is true, but still giving shelter from sun and storm, gardens were placed under cultivation, and as the crops of the first season were par- ticularly good there was no want of the necessaries of life. A few, however, who declined to accept farms at Stellen- bosch, were in very poor circumstances. The manner in which they had been located was by all felt as a griev- ance, though as each one gradually improved his property it was a grievance which would naturally soon disappear. But there was another cause of discontent, which was that they were considered by the government as part of the congregation of Stellenbosch, whereas they understood rl'l' 1 ,' ' I- . 't : ■ *^ f! \ ■J I i'\ ■i..\< Hi' i^ t : I 'II ! 342 History of South Africa. [1689 the promise of the directors that they should have a clergjrman of their own as implying that they should form a congregation by themselves. The commander declined to take any notice of individual representations on this subject, and the Huguenots therefore resolved to proceed in a more formal manner. On the 28th of November 1689 a deputation, consist- ing of the reverend Pierre Simond, Jacques de Savoye, Daniel de Buelle, Abraham de Villiers, and Louis Cordier, appeared at the castle, and on behalf of their country- men requested to be permitted to establish a separate church of their own. The commander broke into a fur- ious passion. He declared that the project was rank sedi- tion, and that the French were the most impertinent and ungrateful people on the face of the earth. It is not only their own church, said he, that they want, but their own magistrate and their own prince. They shall have nothing of the kind. Here have we been treating them actually better than our own Netherlanders, and this is the way they turn upon us. The commander called the council together, but not to ask advice so much as to express his opinion of the French. The deputation was for some time left waiting in an outer room. By-and-bye they were reminded of the oath of allegiance which they had taken, and were ordered to return to their homes, the commander inform- ing them that they must be satisfied to remain as they were, a branch congregation of the church of Stellenbosch. The clergjrman Simond had written to the supreme authorities concerning the grievances of the Huguenots some iSve months previously, and nothing further could be done until a reply to his letter should be received. And now for a time the two nationalities, which were so soon thereafter to be inseparably blended together, regarded each other with a bitter spirit of hostility. The commander saw in the projects of the Huguenots nothing but an attempt to thwart his darling scheme of m\\ [i689 [690] Simon van der Stel. 343 a pure Dutch colony, they saw in him nothing but a de- termination to compel them to be Dutch, whether they v^ould or not. On both sides very rash words were utter- ed In open meeting the French resolved not to inter- marry with the Dutch, forgetting apparently that if such a resolution could be carried out, most of them could never marry at all. There were individuals among them who did not scruple to say that having braved the anger of the great king of France, they would be ashamed of themselves if they were afraid of the commander Van der Stel. Many of the Dutch colonists ceased to hold inter- course with the French, and some were even reported to have said that they would rather give bread to a Hotten- tot or to a dog than to a Frenchman. On the 6th of December 1690 the assembly of seven- teen took the request of the reverend Mr. Simond on behalf of the Huguenots at the Cape into consideration, and resolved to permit them to establish a church at Drakenstein under the following conditions: — 1. The deacons and elders chosen yearly were to be approved of by the council of policy, which meant in practice that a double list of names should be submitted by the consistory, the same as at Stellenbosch, from which the council should make a selection of deacons, and that the elders nominated by the consistory could be rejected if they were not considered suitable persons. 2. A political commissioner was to have a seat in the consistory. 3. Important matters were to be brought before the church council of the Cape, in which deputies from the country consistories were then to have seats. 4. The consistory of Drakenstein was to have control of poor funds raised by the congregation, but contributions sent from abroad were to be under the control of the combined church council. With regard to schools, the teachers at Stellenbosch and Drakenstein were to be men who understood both i.i ?i>l I; 'if ■'i m. W. \\- ^ \. i:f ■'>; I , 344 History of South Africa. [1691 i^ \ languages, and care was to be taken that the French children should be taught Dutch. Lastly, the request of the Huguenots to be located to- gether was refused, and the government of the Cape was instructed, when granting ground, to mix the nationalities together so that they might speedily amalgamate. The despatch in which these resolutions were em- bodied reached the Cape in June 1691, and on the 30th of the following December the people of Drakenstein were formed into a separate congregation by the appointment of elders and deacons from among themselves. The elders chosen by the council were Claude Marais, Louis de Berout, and Louis Cordier, and the deacons were Abra- ham de Villiers, Pierre Meyer, Pierre Beneset, and Pierre Bousseau. This arrangement satisfied the Huguenots, though in all other respects matters ecclesiastical remained several years longer as before. The clergyman Simond continued to reside in the village of Stellenbosch, and held services alternately in the church there and in a room at Draken- stein. Early in 3694 he moved to a residence built for him among the Huguenots, and after that date only preached occasionally at Stellenbosch. The earliest bap- tismal entry in the church books of Drakenstein is on the 29th of August 1694. The first pages of the register were written by Paul Eoux, who was clerk and schoolmaster, and they show clearly that the proportion of Dutch members in the congregation was from the very commencement large. Before 1691 most of the Huguenots who had been located elsewhere managed to purchase ground at Dra- kenstein, and when the next census was taken only three French famihes were found residing in Stellenbosch. Already there had been several intermarriages, and hence- forward the blending of the two nationalities proceeded so rapidly that in the course of two generations the descendants of the Huguenot refugees were not to be distinguished from other colonists except by their names. 345 f \ \ i, CHAPTER XI. (If: SIMON VAN DER STEL'S ADMINISTRATION (cmUinued), At the same time that the Huguenots were settling in South Africa Dutch colonists in equal numbers were set- tling here also. Some of them had families, others were just married, and others still were single men and women, precisely as was the case with the French. A few Ger- mans with Dutch wives also settled in the colony at this time. Some of these immigrants left no children, but all of those whose names follow have descendants here at the present day, though two or three of them in the female line only : Lourens Backstroo, Pieter Bekker, Booy Booysen, Frederik Botha, Hans Jacob Brits, Theunis de Bruyn, Barend Burger, Lourens Campher, Bastiaan Colyn, Jan Cruywagen, Jan van Dyk, Adriaan van Eck, Pieter Erasmus, Albertus Gildenhuyzen, Christofifel Groene\ i,'i, Hans Hendrik Hattingh, Gornelis Knoetzen, Jan Eotzo, Matthys Krugel, Barend Lubbe, Godfried Meyhuyzen, Philip Morkel, Andries Oelofse, Jan Oosthuyzen, Wemmer Pasman, Pieter van der Poel, Michiel Cornelis Smuts, Christofifel Snyman, Jan Swart, Adam Tas, Hendrik Venter, Jan Vosloo, Gerrit van Vuuren, Matthys Wieg- man, Gerrit Willemse, and Willem van Zyl. The new settlers were provided with farms sufficiently large for agricultural purposes, chiefly in the valley of the Berg river as far down as the Green mountain beyond the present village of Wellington, though a few were scattered about the Koeberg and the Tigerberg, and a few others over the land near the head of False Bay. ">■ i' ■ ^, i' i' 1 l^i ■'" 346 History of South Africa. [1691 There was no longer a feeling of isolation among the residents beyond the isthmus, for their houses were no great distance apart. The farms were held in freehold, and were too small for cattle-rearing purposes, but the whole land that was not given out was regarded as a common pasture. The Goringhaiquas and Gorachouquas were thus losing every year more and more of the country that had been theirs as long back as their traditions reached, yet they were never more friendly. There was still room enough and to spare for all. The kraals of the Hottentots were thinly scattered over the country, and were moved from place to place just as in olden times, except that they could not be erected on ground occupied by white men. These people had become poor in cattle, owing partly to the waste caused by their perpetual feuds, partly to de- predations by Bushmen, and partly to their willingness to exchange oxen for brandy and tobacco. The burghers were forbidden to trade with them, under severe penalties, but in defiance of the placaats and of the punishment which invariably followed conviction, some of the least respectable carried on an extensive barter. At length the clans became so impoverished that, to assist them, in 1696 the government supplied them with some cattle to tend on shares, but the effort to restore them to their former condition was fruitless. Of their own accord they referred their most weighty disputes to the European authorities for settlement, and upon the death of a captain they always applied for the con- firmation of his successor. A staff with a copper head, upon which was engraved on one side the Company's monogram and on the other the name given to the new captain, was considered indispensable to the exercise of chieftainship. The colonists would gladly have employed some hun- dreds of Hottentots, if they could have been induced to take service, but the men loved their wild, free, idle life [I69I 1692] Simon van der Stel, t . 347 too well to exchange it for one of toil. They had no objection, however, to do light work occasionally to earn tobacco and spirits, and in harvesting especially they were very useful. They were willing also to hire out their female children, and by this means a few household ser- vants were obtained and a knowledge of the Dutch lan- guage was spread. None of them had yet progressed so far in civilisation as to make gardens for themselves, or in any way to cultivate the ground. The clans could not always be prevented from engag- ing in hostilities with each other. The two captains of the Ghainouquas, Klaas and Eoopman, were frequently quarrelling, but before 1691 whenever they came to open war the commander interfered on behalf of Klaas, who was held to be a faithful ally of the Company. Through his agency large herds of cattle were obtained as they were required, though the farmers were constantly en- couraged to breed oxen and sheep for slaughter, so as to insure a supply of meat under any circumstances. A savage, however, is incapable of continuing long in any pursuit that demands much exertion, and Klaas got weary of travelling about the country purchasing cattle for the Company, whose wants must have seemed to him in- satiable. It became necessary again to send out trading parties of Europeans, and these so excited his jealousy that he did his utmost to put obstacles in their way. This conduct led rapidly to something more unfriendly, and in 1692 he used threatening language towards Ensign Schryver, the head of a bartering party. Koopman was not slow to take advantage of the new condition of things. He came to the castle with an accu- sation against Klaas of being in league with those burgh- ers who were carrying on an illicit trade, and he professed to have so great a regard for the Company's interests as to be willing to place his services entirely at the disposal of the government. In the minute details of these events entered in the records of the time, there is found an exact 'I J !l } I I i 1 i' h;' \ 1 i. w i ■ ■ t i, ■■. '.'■ 1, . > . 'I f i • R ii 348 History of South Africa. [»693 counterpart of numerous well-known transactions of native chiefs of the present day. The result was that Koop- man became an ally of the honourable Company, and Klaas was regarded as an ill-affected mischief-maker. Thus the government completely changed sides with the rival branches of the Chainouqua tribe. Klaas had as wife a daughter of Goukou, paramount chief of the Hesse- quas, who was commonly called the oude beer by the colonists. His people and the Hessequas were living in close friendship. On the 20th of April 1693 an urgent request for help was received at the castle from Eoopman, who represented that he was about to be attacked by Klaas and the Hes- sequas. It was therefore resolved to send Captain Willem Padt vdth a hundred soldiers and a hundred burghers to Koopman's assistance, with instructions to endeavour to capture Klaas. The commando, aided by Koopman's adherents, sur- rounded Klaas's kraal in the night, took possession of his cattle, and arrested him and two of his leading men. Some of his followers who attempted to escape were killed by Koopman's people. The cattle were driven to the Kuilen, where they were counted and divided between Eoopman and the honourable Company. On the 8th of August the three prisoners were brought before the council of policy. Klaas admitted some of the charges against him, but endeavoured to give a satisfac- tory explanation of his conduct. He denied having ever had hostile designs against the Company. The council admitted that he had not been guilty of any overt act of war, and, on the 17th of August, resolved that as no Christian blood had been shed, further proceedings against the prisoners should be dropped, but to secure tranquillity Klaas should be detained on Eobben Island. The fate of the unfortunate Hottentot, who had once been regarded as the most trustworthy of his race, and who had befriended many Europeans in distress, called nil [»693 1693] Simon van der Stel. 349 forth a large amount of sympathy. Intercession wa» made to the government on his behalf, and. in January 1694 he was released from confinement and permitted to live near Muizenburg^ with some of his retainers. He had previously been ill, and had been brought to the mainland for medical treatment, but upon recovery had been sent back to the island. When he was allowed to reside at Muizenburg, his wife, the daughter of Ooukou„ was sent for. She had lived with him about ten years, but when he was arrested by Captain Padt, Koopman had taken her with other spoil. Her father had never visited the Cape, but as a partisan of Klaas he came to the castle on this occasion. The woman was asked by the governor if she desired to live with her husband, and re- plied that she preferred to remain with Koopman. A little later Klaas was allowed to return to his old kraal, upon giving a promise to live quietly and peace- ably. But he and Koopman at once resumed their quarrel. In February 1697 both were summoned to the Cape, and an apparent reconciliation was effected. Goukou, whose friendship was valued, as he was considered the most wealthy and powerful of all the Hottentot chiefs in the neighbourhood of the colony, appeared again on this oc- casion as the friend of Klaas. The captains had hardly returned to their kraals when fighting between them was renewed. Goukou's daughter changed her mind and attempted to return to Klaas,. upon which Koopman put her to death. In retaliation Klaas and the Hessequas attacked Koopman, and took his cattle together with some belonging to the Company which were in his charge. A sergeant and twelve men were then sent from the castle to request Klaas to re- i ( I \ \ „,:J t"i \ 'Of recent years this place has usually come to be known as Muizen- berg, a mode of spelling that may possibly become fixed, as the moun- tain behind it is now also called by the same name. In olden times the mountain was known as the Steenberg, and the ground at its- eastern base as Muizenburg. iJf 350 History of South Africa. [1693 h h ■ store the Company's property, but he could not comply, as the oxen had already been killed and eaten. This matter brought him into disfavour again, and thenceforth he was regarded as the principal mischief-maker in the country. Occasionally he visited the Cape in company with Goukou, and promised to live in peace with Koop- man, but the promise was soon disregarded. The feud between the two captains was kept up until in a skirmish between them in June 1701 Elaas was killed. The story, as written at the time in minute detail, might be copied as a faithful description of a quarrel between native clans to-day. Other Hottentot communities farther from the Euro- pean settlement were engaged in the same way destroying each other. '' In March 1689 the Namaquas and Grigriquas crossed the Elephant river in such force that fifty-two kraals were counted on the southern side. Less than two years previously the Grigriquas had sent a present of six oxen to the castle, and had stated their wish to continue in friendship with the Europeans. The messengers had been well received, and had left pleased and satisfied. Though nothing had occurred since that time to disturb the peace with either them or the Namaquas, this inroad alarmed the settlers, anu the farmers of Drakenstein and Stellen- bosch prepared for defence. But it soon appeared that the Cochoquas, not the Europeans, were to be the victims. The invaders attacked a kraal near Saldanha Bay, killed the chief and as many of the men as they could get hold of, and carried off the women, children, and cattle as booty. The commander did not see fit to interfere in this disturbance, though the Cochoquas were said to be under the protection of the Dutch. But when a similar raid was made at the end of the following year, he sent thirty or forty soldiers to preserve order. The invaders were then attacked, and several thousai ucai ii M [1693 1693] Simon van der Stel. 351 were captured. The whole of the booty was restored, however, and in addition some presents of tobacco and spirits were made, upon the late disturbers of the peace entreating a renewal of friendship and promising not to repeat the offence. In the interval between these events the old chief Oedasoa died. One of his brothers there- upon applied to the commander to be appointed in his stead, when he received a staff of o£&ce and was named Hannibal. A few years later the Grigriqua tribe gave offence by harbouring runaway slaves. In December 1696 En- sign Schryver was sent with thirty soldiers and twenty burghers to endeavour to obtti'n the fugitives in friendly barter. If the Grigriquas would not restore them, the ensign was instructed to seize some individuals, male or female, and bring them to the castle as hostages. The expedition was not successful in finding the tribe. Some friendly Hottentots, however, secured two Grigriquas, who were detained at the castle for a couple of months. One of them was then sent to his people with a friendly message asking for the slaves. He did not return, and the other was shortly afterwards released. In March 1693 four Hessequa kraals were pillaged by the Attaquas. As this was the normal condition of all the tribes that were known, there can be little doubt that those at a greater distance were engaged in the same kind of strife. It happened occasionally that crimes were committed by Hottentots against Europeans, and in such instances the offenders were tried by the Dutch tribunals, and punished according to Dutch law. Thefts were not un- common, but other offences were rare. During a long course of years only one crime more serious than cattle- lifting occurred, a colonist, the elder Charles Marais, having been murdered by a Hottentot at Drakenstein in April 1689. The offender was tried and executed. Natives committing crimes against their own people were left to " i f-^: 11 i ■ Ei. 'i > ; ]' 'i if 352 History of South Africa. [1693 be dealt with by their own laws, the policy of the govern- ment being not to interfere with them further than was necessary for the safety and welfare of the Europeans. The Bushmen had retreated from the open country occupied by the white people, but parties of them oc- casionally came down from the Drakenstein mountains and committed depredations in the valley below. They were regarded as outlaws, and if any had been captured they would have received very little mercy. But they were too wary and fleet of foot to be made prisoners of. The Hottentots pursued them with greater success. Before Captain Klaas fell into disfavour, he was almost constantly scouring the mountains in his neighbourhood in search of them, and though on several occasions they nearly brought him to ruin by sweeping off his herds, he managed to destroy a large number of them. In April 1694 some of these robbers made a descent upon Koop- man's kraals, and drove off fully half of his cattle. The Hottentot captain applied for assistance to the governor, and ten soldiers under a sergeant were sent to his aid. The Bushmen were followed up, most of the cattle were recovered, and sixteen or seventeen of the marauders were shot. Agriculture was now so far advanced in the colony that sufficient grain was produced for the consumption of the inhabitants and the garrison and the refreshment of the people of the fleets. In good seasons there was a sur- plus of fifteen hundred or two thousand muids of wheat, which was exported to Batavia. Experience had taught the go"" jrnment, however, always to keep two years' sup- ply in the magazines, so as to provide against a season of drought, or the destruction of the crops by locusts or caterpillars. The Company had not yet altogether aban- doned farming operations, but it was gradually doing so, as it could depend upon obtaining supplies of food from the colonists. It had still, besides the garden in Table Valley and the vineyard at Bondebosch, seven farms, or [i693 1609] 3imon van der Stel. 353 >■ cattle places as they were called, in different parts of the country, the most remote being at Hottentots-Holland. On two of these farms a few hundred muids of wheat were grown, but the others were merely stations for breed- ing cattle and for keeping oxen and sheep purchased from the Hottentots until they were required for the fleets. The Company was also making efforts to improve the existing stock of cattle and to introduce new breeds. Horses, originally brought from Java, had increased satis- factorily in number, but had deteriorated in size and ap- pearance. These useful animals were so indispensable, however, that small as they were they brought at auction from 4^. to 5/. each, or as much as four or five large oxen in prime condition. To improve the breed, in 1689 the Company imported some stud horses from Persia. At the same time some Persian asses were introduced, and during several years thereafter stock of this kind continued to arrive by way of Ceylon. Spanish rams were sent out, as the directors thought it possible that the valuable kirman wool might be produced by a cross between those animals and South African sheep. The cultivation of wheat was the first object with the farmers, because it brought relatively a higher price than any other product. Next to growing wheat, rearing cattle was the most profitable occupation. The production of wine followed, the Company purchasing it at hi. a legger for the use of the fleets. It was not saleable in India, on account of its being of very inferior quality. Some of it was converted into vinegar for the use of the sea- men. In March 1689 intelligence reached South Africa that all Dutch ships in French harbours had been seized, and that on the 26th of the preceding November the king of France had declared war against the United Netherlands. It was feared that England would join the enemy, but that apprehension was removed a few days later, when despatches were received in which it was stated that the VOL. I. 23 V\\ m . I !■ [ i 354 History of South Africa. [1689 prince of Orange had landed at Torbay and had been welcomed by the English people as their dehverer. On the 26th of April the French ship Normande, from Pondicherry, with a valuable cargo on board, put into Table Bay. Captain De Courcelles, her commander, knew nothing of recent events in Europe, and believed he was anchoring in a friendly port. He sent a boat ashore with a complimentary message to the Dutch authorities, the bearers of which were made prisoners as soon as they entered the castle. The boat was then manned with Dutch sailors dressed like the French, who kept her flag flying, and pretended to put off from the shore. The Normande now commenced to fire a salute, and while her people were thus engaged, she was boarded by the crews of the Dutch ships in port. There was a short scuffle, in which no one was killed, though two Dutch- men and eight Frenchmen were wounded, and which ended in the surrender of Captain De Courcelles and his crew. The French flag was left flying on the Normande^ so as to decoy her consort, the Coche, to a similar fate. On the evening of the 5th of May the Coche came to anchor, and shortly afterwards saluted the Dutch flag with nine guns, a compliment which was at once returned with the same number. She had no communication with the shore, but late in the evening she sent a boat to the Normande. As the boat did not return, and as a large Dutch ship was evidently ranging alongside, shortly after midnight Captain D'Armagnan became alarmed, and com- menced to prepare the Coche for action. Seeing this, the master of the Nederland poured in a broadside at less distance than his own ship's length, when Captain D'Ar- magnan and three of his crew were killed and eight others were wounded. With five hostile ships around them, the officers of the Coche saw no chance of defend- ing her successfully, and they therefore surrendered. Both the prizes were plundered by the Dutch seamen immediately after their capture. The value of their car- [i689 been , from t into knew le was B with s, the s they [ with er flag ,e, and ded by a short Dutch- which Bind his rmande^ fate, ame to ih flag (turned »n with to the large ly after ,d com- lis, the ,t less D'Ar- eight around iefend- [ed. ;eamen lir car- 1689] Simon van der Stel. 355 goes was estimated at 50,000^. The Normande and the Coche were renamed the Goede Hoop and the Afrika, and were sent to Europe with the next fleet of the Company. The prisoners, one hundred and forty in number, were forwarded to Batavia, to be detained there until an ex- change could be effected. The capture of these vessels was a fortunate occur- rence for Commander Van der Stel. Some time before the war broke out he had received from the king of France a present of a gold chain and medal with a por- trait of that monarch, in return for the civilities shown by him to the fleets which called at Table Bay in 1685 and 1687. The directors did not approve of his receiving this present, and it might have fared ill with him if for- tune had not furnished an opportunity of clearing himself of suspicion. At this time a change in the form of conducting public business was made, which continued in operation during the next century. The simplicity of manners and honesty of purpose which were characteristic of the early Dutch traders in the Indian islands disappeared with the establishment of the great power which they built up, and before the close of the seventeenth century corruption in the administration of affairs had become widespread throughout the Asiatic possessions of the Company. There were many men of sterling honesty and of great ability in its service, but the majority of the higher officers were unscrupulous in their pursuit of wealth. In some of the dependencies private trading was practised to such an ex- tent as to destroy the whole of the Company's profits. Worse still, many officials used the power entrusted to them to make money in ways that were decidedly crimi- nal. The remedy would seem to be in making the service attractive by offering liberal salaries to men of talent, while prohibiting every description of private trade and making it penal to take bribes under the name of fees or presents. But in those days of experiments in governing is i: m \\ 356 History of South Africa. [1689 dependencies, this remedy did not occur to the directors, or if any one made such a suggestion it was not acted upon. The only commerce reserved exclusively for the Company was that in the various kinds of spices, and had any one dared to deal on his own account in a pound of pepper or cinnamon, cloves or nutmegs, he would have been very severely punished. With this ex- ception, the old system of small salaries, with permission to receive fees for various services and to trade to a moderate extent, continued in favour. The directors tried to check the evil by a kind of dual government. In March 1688 they created the new office of independent fiscal, differing greatly from that of the guardians of the law in former times. Before 1690 the fiscals at the Cape were only junior merchants in rank, and the most important duty which they performed was to conduct prosecutions in criminal cases. They were subject to the head of the government just as much as ordinary clerks were. The independent fiscals were re- sponsible to the supreme directory alone, and were free of all local control. To them was confided the regulation of justice. By right of their office, they had a seat in the council of policy next to the secunde, and had access to records, registers, and state papers of every kind. They had entire control of all accounts connected with ships' cargoes, supplies of food for the garrison, and other expen- diture. Such were the duties assigned to those appointed to the possessions of the Company in India, and the system at the Cape was made uniform with that else- where. It was hoped that with these extensive powers the independent fiscals would be a check upon corrupt gover- nors, commanders, and subordinate officers of every grade. But no care was taken to put them in a position where they would be unexposed to temptation themselves. Their salaries were inadequate, and they were permitted to charge various fees. They had summary jurisdiction in 1689] Simon van der Siel. 357 petty criminal cases, and were allowed to retain for tbeir own benefit one third of the fines which they inflicted. The first independent fiscal at the Cape, Mr. ComeUs Joan Simons, who was appointed in 1689, had a salary from the Company of only 100^. a year. There seemed now to the directors to be a good pros- pect of attaining the objects which the East India Com- pany had in view when forming a settlement at the Cape. Befreshments for the crews of their fleets could be had in ample quantities. Hitherto, however, the expense of their establishment had been so great that they looked upon it as the dearest victualling station in the world. The formation of what was for those days a considerable colony should, they thought, enable them to reduce their expenditure, first, by furnishing a body of militia, so that a large garrison would be unnecessary, and secondly, by producing food at cheaper rates than formerly. In their despatches they pointed out that while wheat was being sold in the Netherlands at 6s. 8<^. the muid, they were then paying 12s. %d., and even 13s. lid., the muid for it at the Cape. In the Netherlands the farmers had to pay rent as well as tithes and heavy taxes, while at the Cape they had no rent whatever to pay, and hardly any taxes. They were of opinion, therefore, that the price could be gradually reduced to that of the fatherland, and that the farmers would still be left in a much better condition than those in Europe. They were further of opinion that the colony ought to produce for exportation a sufficient quantity of wheat, wine, and olive oil to enable them, after paying a fair price to the farmers, to defray a considerable portion of the cost of government out of the profits of the sale of such articles. With this view they directed the commander to continue making experiments with different kinds of vines until he should ascertain which was best, that the colo- nists might know what was the right sort to plant. With regard to the olive, they expressed great disappointment "if! : I %\ ';■ M' ^ i I ! \ ! \ li I ' 358 History of South Africa. [1689 that its cultivation had apparently not been persevered in, and directed that it should be carefully attended to. The commander replied that experiments with vines were being made in the Company's gardens, by several of the farmers, and by himself at Constantia. As for the olive, he had spared no pains with it, and though it had hitherto been a failure, except in occasional seasons, it was still being tried. A few of the Huguenots were making experiments with it also, and were not only try- ing the cultivated variety, but were grafting upon the wild olive of the country. Generally, however, the burghers could not be induced to take any trouble with it, because not only was its success doubtful, but under any circum- stances they would have to wait a long time before enjoying the profit. The plans of Table Valley of this date show the town as covering part of the ground between the Company's garden and the shore of the bay, while extensive private gardens occupied a large portion of the remaining space. There were no private residences beyond the present Plein street on one side and Burg street on the other. On the north side of the Heerengracht — now Adderley street — the Company's garden extended as far down as the present Long-market street, but on the opposite side it terminated where it does still. There was a reservoir near the site of the original earthen fort on the parade ground, to which water was conducted from the Fresh river in a wooden pipe laid down in the year 1686, and from which it could be conveyed along the jetty to the ships' boats. Close to the reservoir was a mill for grind- ing corn. As far as the buildings extended the streets were regularly laid out, and crossed each other at right angles, but none of them bore the same names that they do now. The directors of the East India Company considered that a settlement of such importance as the Cape Colony had now attained should have as its head a man of I69I] Simon van der SteL 359 higher rank than a commander, and as Simon van der Stel was regarded as deserving promotion, on the 14th of December 1690 they raised him to the dignity of governor, and granted him a salary above his mainte- nance expenses of 16/. 138. 4rf. a month. On the Ist of June of the following year the ship Java arrived in Table Bay vdth despatches to this effect, since which date the colony has always been presided over by an officer with the rank of governor. In 1691, when this change took place, the council of policy consisted of the governor, Simon van der Stel, the secunde, Andries de Man, the fiscal, Cornelis Simons, the captain, Willem Padt, the treasurer, Ludowyk van der Stel, the garrison bookkeeper, Jan Hendrik Blum, and the secretary, Jan Willem de Grevenbroek. There were still but two clergymen in the colony. In January 1689 the reverend Johannes van Andel had been succeeded in Capetown by the reverend Leonardus Ter- wold, and had gone to Batavia as chaplain of the Wapen van Alkmaar. The church of Stellenbosch was still with- out a resident Dutch clergyman, though it had a con- sistory. The sick-visitor continued to read the services, except when the minister Simond preached there in French or Mr. Terwold in Dutch. Jan Mulder, the first landdrost of Stellenbosch, re- tired from office at his own request, and on the 12th of June 1691 was succeeded by Mr. Cornelis Linnes. In the board of heemraden and in the consistory men were taking part whose descendants are to be found there to the present day. The same may be said oi many of the members of the various boards at the Cape, for in the consistory, the orphan chamber, the matrimonial court, and the court of commissioners for petty cases, were men with names now well known throughout South Africa. In a roll call of the militia a large proportion of the names would be familiar to-day anywhere between Cape Point and the Limpopo. 'i I i ' ! ' ■ A '^1 36o History of South Africa. [1691 i I According to the census returns of 1691, corrected by entries in the church registers, the most notable burghers in the Cape district were : — van As, Louis, with wife, Backstroo, Lourens, with wife and three children, *de Beer, Jan, with wife and six children, Bezuidenhout, Wynand, ^an der Bol, Jan, with wife and three children, van den Bosch, Jan, with wife and two children, Botina, Comelis, with wife and seven children, Bouwman, Hendrik, with wife and two children, van Brake], Adriaan, widower, with six children. Burger, Barend, with wife and one child, Colyn, Bastiaan, with wife and four children, Cruywagen, Jan, with wife and one child, Diemer, Abraham, ^^Diepenauw, Hendrik, Ti.th wife, Eems, Willem, with wife and one child, Oerrits, Comelis, with wife and one child, Gildenhuyzen, Albertus, with wife and five children, Oildenhuyzen, Albertus, with wife and three children, ^Gunnewoud, Christiaan, with wife, ^Harst, Hendrik, with wife and three children, Hartog, Abraham, with wife and three children, Heyns, Paul, with wife and two children, ^Huising, Henning, with wife, Eotze, Jan, with wife, Loubser, Nicolaas, with wife and three children, Louw, widow of Jan, with one child, Louw, Pieter, Lubbe, Barend, with wife and two children, Meyer, Willem, with wife and one child, Meyer, Gerrit, Meyhnyzen, Godfri^d, with wife and two children, Michifels, Matthys, with wife and three children, Mniler, Hendrik Christoffel, with wife and seven children, Mostert, Jan, with wife and six children, Myburgh, Jan Lambert, with wife and two children, * Those marked with an asterisk, though married and many of them with children, have no descendants in South Africa at present, as far as can be traced. The names of some of the unmarried men in these lists have also died out. > ', 1691] Simon van der Stel. 361 Olivier, Hendrik, with wife and six children, ^Persyn, Hendrik, with wife and five children, ^Phyffer, Jan, with wife and one child, du PleBsis, Jean, with wife and two children, van der Poel, Fieter. '^Pousioen, Marthinus, with wife and three children, Pretorius, Jan, with wife and six children, '*^PretoriaB, Dirk, with wife and tliree children, ♦Prevot, Carel, with wife and one child, Prinsloo, Adriaan, with wife and three children, Putter, Diederik, with wife and five children, Bas, widow of Hans, with three children, ^Beyniers, Willem, with wife and one phild, BuBBOuw, Frederik, with wife and one child, van Schalkwyk, Theunis, widower, with two children, ^Simons, Lambert, with wife and two children, Smidt, Hendrik Evert, with wife and three children, Smit, Jan, with wife and three children, Stunts, Michiel Cornells, with wife and three children, ^Sneewind, Hendrik, with wife and three children, Strydom, Jooat, with wife and three children, Versohaur, Hendrik, with wife and six children, Victor, Comelis, with wife and one child, Victor, Gerrit, with wife and one child, Villion (now Viljoen), widow of Fran9oi8, with five children, Visagie, widow of Pieter, with two children, Visser, Coenraad, with wife and three children, Visser, Oerrit, with wife and eight children, Visser, Jan, with wife and one child, Visser, Jt^ Coenraad, *Vlok, Jan Hendrik, with wife and five children, Weasels, Jan, with wife and two children, van der Westhuyzen, Pieter, with wife and six children, Wiegman, Matthys, with wife, Willemse, Gerrit, with wife and one child. The most notable inhabitants of Stellenbosch were: — Appel, Ferdinand, with wife, van den Berg, Jacobus, Beyers, Andries, with wife and four children, Boshouwer, Pieter, with wife and four children, ''^Botha, Jan, with wife and two children, Botha, Frederik, i, h t \ ■1 ;62 jMitff/ of South Africa. [1691 fiotmo, Jan, Botma, Stophanus, with wife, Brand, Borchard, ♦van flen Brink, Bait nd, with wife and two children, /I'TitSi lliins Jacob, with wife *ijfc»- v', Wemmer, with wife and one child, ♦ro*,ev. .0; Jan. with wife and one child, Ptvji'ii-. H»:' ttiAnus, with wife and six children, Pji, Av. -haiu Sebastiaai.- with wife and two children, I69I] Simon r " der Stel, 363 Soheepers, Izoak, with wife (tnd two chiU'''?n, ♦Slmond, Pierre, with wife ami two children, Steyn, Douw Gerbrand, with wife and two children, Tm, Adam, da Toit, Ouillaurae, with wife and one child, Venter, Hendrik, with wife and one child, *Ver^ !Tigt;e, Lourens, with wife, Vevniiulen, Jan, with wife and three children, V, ;r's op- le men nbroek, ve part hed to on the wledge actices imme- 1706] Wilhem Adriaan van der St el. 399 diately concluded that similar charges would be forwarded to the Netherlands, and that a memorial embodying them must be in existence; but he was unable to learn where it was, or who were parties to it. The danger of his position now drove him to acts of extreme folly as well as of tjrranny. He caused a certificate to be drawn up, in which he was credited with the highest virtues, and the utmost satisfaction was expressed with his adminis- tration. The burgher residents of the peninsula were invited to the castle, and were then requested to sign this certificate. The landdrost of Stellenbosch, Jan Starren- burg by name, who had held office since July 1706, \.'a8 directed 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 threats that they would be marked men if they did not. The governor suspected that Adam Tas v/as the writer of the memorial, so the landdrost was directed to have him arrested. Early in the morning of Sunday the 28th of February 1706 his house was surrounded by an armed party, he was seized and sent as a prisoner 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 opponents, 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 immediately 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 directors had been copied. It was un- ' This document is in as good a state of preservation as if it had been drawn up yesterday. j{ 'III i I 400 History of South Africa. [1706 signed, but a list containing a number of names and various letters which were with it indicated several of those who had taken part in the compilation. The com- pleted memorial was at the time in the house of a burgher in Table Valley, where it was intended to be kept until it could be sent away with the return fleet. The governor thus became acquainted with the nature and terms of the charges against him. Some of the ac- cusations were so overdrawn that h* felt confident the directors upon reading them would acquit him of all, and in this belief he did not hesitate to request that a com- petent and impartial person might be sent out with the first opportunity to examine matters. On the 4th of March a number of shii^s' ofl&cers were invited to assist in the deliberations of the council of policy, and the retired and acting burgher councillors were summoned to give evidence. These answered a few ques- tions put to them by the governor, in a manner favour- able to him. The broad council then consented to the issue of a placaat, in which all persons were forbidden to take part in any conspiracy or to sign any malicious or slanderous document against the authorities of the country, under pain of severe punishment. The ringleaders in such acts were threatened with death or corporal chastisement. The fiscal and the landdrost were authorised to seize persons suspected of such offences, and to commit them to prison. This placaat was on the following Sunday affixed to the door of the Stellenbosch church. Within the next few days the governor caused the burghers Wessel Pretorius and Jacob van der Heiden to be arrested and committed to prison, Jan Botterdam to be sent to Batavia, and Pieter van der Byl, Henning Huising, Ferdinand Appel, and Jan van Meerland to be put on board a ship bound to Amsterdam. The burghers deported were informed that they must answer before the supreme authorities at the places of their destination to the charges of sedition and conspiracy that would be forwarded by the '!«( [1706 tmes and everal of rhe com- a burgher [ept until he nature )f the ac- &dent the •f all, and ,t a com- with the cers were souncil of llors were few ques- Br favour- pd to the bidden to icious or country, rs in such jtisement. to seize mit them Sunday .used the [eiden to am to be Huising, 3 put on deported supreme e charges 3d by the 1706] Wilhem Adriaan van der Stel. 401 Gape council, and if they had any complaints they might make them there also. By these highhanded proceedings the governor hoped to terrify his opponents into signing the certificate in his favour and denying the truth of the charges against him. But not one of those who were confined on board the ships in the bay 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 truehearted women indignantly refused. The arrest and committal to prison of Nicolaas van der Westhuizen, Christiaan Wynoch, Hans Jacob Konter- man, and Nicolaas Meyboom followed shortly. In the meantime the memorial had been committed to the < . making extensive experiment! there. The ground ,vas the most skilfully tilled \\\ tlie wivJe country. But the directors Laid that such a farm as this, owned by one individual and cultivated chiefiy by slave labour, could not be of the saru'; advantage to the infant colony as a number of smaller ones, each in posBession of a sturdy European proprif'tor. For this r^'ason Frans van der Si"el wcs requir '' to t'-eil bis property, and remove to some country nof included in th Co.«z;pany's charter. The former governor Simon van der Sty; whs left in possession of his farm Con- btaiitia. bu' iirections were given that upon his deat.h the otbet laii«"; which he held should revert to the Company. Emphatic instructions were issued that for the future no servant of the Company, from the highest to the lovi^est, was to own or lease land in the colony, or to trade directly or indirectly in corn, wine, or cattle. Those who had landed property cotild sell it, but if they should not do so within a reasonable period, it would be confis- cated. The burghers were not to be molested in their right to dispose of their cattle or the produce of their ground in any way that suited them. They 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 fatherland. They held that any restrictions to which the early burghers had agreed were of a temporary' nature, and affected only those who consented to them. In their opinion they had forfeited nothing by removal to a dependency, and the violence displayed by the governor towards A.dam Tas and his associates was as outrageous as if it '/J taken place in the city of Amsterdam. They asserted x undoubted light to per::: lal liberty, to exempt' '"1 f . arrest unless under reaso* t'-e suspicion of crime. -: unission to bail, [1707 y people Stel }iad ?: foreigD i'.i there. le -wri . 'e 1 as this, by slave le infant ession of j[uir^^ to included ir Simon cm Con- leat.h the mpany. tie future b to the y, or to 3. Those sy should )e confis- in their of their re to be 1707] Wilhetn Adriaan va/i der Stel. 409 to speedy trial before a proper ^ourt of justice, to freedom to sell to any one, burgher or foreigner, whatever their land produced, after the tithes had been paid and the I Company's needs had been supplied, except under special circumstances when restriction was needed for the good of the community. 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. The directors were fully aware that a colony of free Netherlanders was to be ruled in a diflferent manner from a dependency inhabited by Asiatics. ^i he same They burghers jted only they had and the Tas and en place ndoubted st unless to bail, I 410 CHAPTEK XIII. ( ■ 1 i JOHAN CORNELIS D'ABLEING, SECUNDE, ACTING GOVERNOR, 3bd JUNE 1707 TO IsT FEBRUARY 1708. LOUIS VAN ASSENBURGH, GOVERNOR, INSTALLED IST FEB- RUARY 1708, DIED 27th DECEMBER 1711. WILLEM HELOT, SECUNDE, ACTING GOVERNOR, 28th DECEM- BER 1711 TO 28th march 1714. MAURITS PASQUES DE CHAVONNES, GOVERNOR, INSTALLED 28th march 1714, DIED 8th SEPTEMBER 1724. The only circumstance deserving note during the few months that the secui.de D'Ableing was at the head of the government was the violent conduct of the reverend Mr. Le Boucq, which caused much disquiet in the community. That clergyman had arrived at the Cape at a time of clamour and strife, and instead of preaching peace, at once became a promoter of further discord. He took side with the colonists, though there was no good object to be gained by his entering into the question of party politics, since all that the burghers had contended for was secured. He was conversant with the Portuguese language, and could therefore have been of greater service in India than here, but as he was of quarrelsome disposition the authori- ties at Batavia were glad to get rid of him. Upon Mr. Le Boucq's arrival at the Cape, the reverend Mr. Bek removed to Stellenbosch, that the new clergyman might enter upon his duties ; but as soon as he ascer- tained that there was neither church nor parsonage at Drakenstein, he declined to take up the work. Before any pressure could be put upon him, the reverend Mr. Kalden was suspended, and the government then decided that Messrs. Bek and Le Boucq should conduct the seirvices at 1707] Johan Cornells d^Ableing. 411 OVERNOR, IST FEB. a DECEM- fSTALLED the few id of the :end Mr. omunity. time of at once ide with to be politics, secured. -ge, and iia than authori- •everend rgyman 5 ascer- lage at ore any Kalden id that T'ices ni the Cape on alternate Sundays. After a little, the two ministers arranged between themselves that Mr. Le Bo acq should take all the services at the Cape, Mr. Bek gomg occasionally to Drakenstein; and to this the government made no objection. The Dutch sick-comforter of Drakenstein had been transferred to the Cape, and the council now resolved to send some one else there. On the 8th of June 1707 Mr. Hermanus Bosman, sick-comfor' er of the ship Overryp, was selected for the post. Thereafter he conducted service in Dutch, and Mr. Paul Roux in French, at the houses of farmers at Drakenstein, except when Mr. Bek went over from Stellenbosch. In the morning of Sunday the 28th of August 1707 the congregation of the Cape assembled in the church and listened to an exciting sermon prepared and read by Mr. Le Boucq. He had chosen as text the first verse of the 29th chapter of Proverbs, and had previously given out the last two verses of the 149th psalm to be sung. A - cording to his exposition, the saints were the burghers who had recently made a stand for freedom, the noble who hardened his neck and was in consequence destroyed was the recalled governor Van der Stel. At the last election of church officers, Abraham Poulle, who was in the government service, had been chosen elder, and the burgher Jan Oberholster, who submitted quietly to the ruhng of the authorities, had been appointed deacon. When the service was ended, the clergyman announced that these persons were deprived of their offices, and r horted the congregation not to acknowledge them a^;y longer. This proceeding took most of the congregation by sur- prise, and caused great excitement to many individuals. One woman fainted, and was carried out of the church to the hosrit»'^ No member of the government or of the consist- Anticipated anything of the kind, though they Were acoastomed to very eccentric acts of the clergyman. n m '■ (f^tj 412 History of South Africa. [1707 The members of the council of policy at once retired, and held a consultation, ?fter which they sent a request to Mr. Le Boncq uo. ". iiJuct service in the afternoon, a request vhich h «joii8trued into an order. Next morning he sent a letter to the council, in which he asseited his right as a clergyman to depose elders and deacons without assigning any reason for doing so, and protested against interfererco ' 'ly officials in spiritual matters. He followed this up by a letter on the 6th of September, in which he stated that he did not intend to perform service again until the council admitted his views to be correct. Thereupon the council suspended payment oi his salary, and instructed Mr. Bek to assume duty at the Cape. Mr. Kalden was requested to assist in the emergency, and showed himself very wiUing to do so, by holding service occasionally so as to allow Mr. Bek to visit Stt'Uenbosch and Drakenstein. By the more violent members of the party which he had espoused Mr. Le Boucq was now regara^i as a martyr. He went about declaiming against the govern- ment, and stirring up people's passions until it was con- sidered necessary to bring him to task. Certain language of his was reported to the government, upon which it was intended to bring a charge. The principal witness was Maria Lindenhof, daughter of a clergyman in Overyssel, vnie of Henn^ng liaising, an*' aunt of Adam Tas. Upon being question ^ 1, she asserted .hat she had forgotten what he said. The court of justice then decided to confine her for eight da.s to her own house, tnd then to place her under civil arrest if she d, i not in the mean time give correct evidence. She remained obdurate, and after eight days was confined in a s ite 01 rooms in the castle. A petition for her release, ^ ed ' y Tas, Grevenbroek, Van der Byl, and twenty-foiii. othe. -, men and women, was sent in, and after nine days' detention in the castle the government thought it best to hberate her. Mr. Le Boucq next appeared before the court of justice as til vX cl s^ si t€ [1707 ired, and it to Mr. moon, a n which ders and 80, and spiritual B 6th of itend to is views payment duty at in the > so, by Bek to hich he i as a govern- as con- mguage it was ss was eryssel, Upon what confine place H^. give eight tie. A i, Van 1, was lie the justice [708] Louis van Assenburgh. 413 as a litigant in a case with Mr. Kalden, and, upon judg- ment being recorded against him, appealed to Batavia. There also the decision was against him. In the mean time the council of policy, in the belief that concord could not be expected at the Cape as long as this quarrelsome clergyman was here, resolved, 17th of January 1708, to send him back to Batavia with the first outward bound ship; but it was not until the 13th of the following Sep- tember that this resolution c^uld be carried into effect. On the 25th of January 1708 Governor Louis van Assenburgh arrived in Table Bay, and next morning he presided at a meeting of the council of policy, though he did not at once assume e direction of affairs. He had been eight months on the passage from Holland, and had been obliged to put into a port on the coast of Brazil. In the same ship with the governor was the reverend Johannes Godfried d'Ailly, who had been appointed clergy- man of the Cape, and who preached here for the first time on the 6th of February. Henning Huising, one of the d I )rted burghers, was also on board. He had entered into V contract with the directors for the supply of half ';he meat required by the Company at the Cape during tne nnxt three years, the object of dividing the contract being '0 secure competition. Pieter van der Byl and Ferdinand Appel had reached the colony seven months before. When the arrival of the governor was known at Ver- gelegen, Mr. Van der Stel sent a petition to the council of policy requesting that he might be allowed to retain the estate a few months longer, as he had hopes that by the next fleet from Europe intelligence would be received that the directors had raitigated their decision. The. coun- cil refused to comply and the utmost that he could obtain was permission to press the grapes then ripening and dis- pose of half the wine on his own account, the other half to be for the Company. The quantity pressed was fifty- six leggers. 414 History of South Africa. [1708 On the 23rd of February Henning Huising summoned Mr. Van der Stel before the court of justice for 3,056/. in addition to the value of nine thousand sheep. The late governor then requested the council of policy to allow him to remain in South Africa another year, in order to get evidence to defend himself in this case; but upon Huising stating that he preferred bringing the action in the fatherland to being the means of keeping Van der Stel longer in the colony, the council declined to accede to his request. On the 23rd of April the return fleet sailed, taking to Europe the late governor, secunde, and clergyman of the Cape, with their families. Nineteen of the burghers em- powered Adam Tas and Jacob van der Heiden to continue pressing their charges against the recalled officials, for these, though deprived of authority, were still servants of the Company and receiving salaries. Tas and Van der Heiden therefore left in the same fleet. Another investi- gation took place in Amsterdam, which resulted in the absolute dismissal of Van der Stel, Elsevier, and Ealden from the Company's service. They left agents in the colony to dispose of their estates and transmit the pro- ceeds. Vergelegen was divided into four farms, which were sold by auction in October 1709. It was found on measure- ment to contain six hundred and thirteen morgen. The large dwelling house was broken down, and the material was sold for Van der Stel's benefit. The other buildings were taken over by the Company for 625/., though the materials of which they were constructed were appraised at a much higher sum. The four farms brought 1,696/. at public sale, the purchasers being Barend Gildenhuis, Jacob van der Heiden, Jacob Malan, and the widow of Gerrit Cloete. Frans van der Stel returned to Europe in the same fleet with his brother, and took up his residence in Amsterdam. His wife, Johanna Wessels, was a daughter 1708] Louis van Assenburgh. 415 neasure- of one of the leading burghers of the colony. She re- mained behind with her parents to dispose of the property to the best advantage, and did not leave to rejoin her husband in Amsterdam until April 1717. On the 1st of February 1708 Governor Louis van Assenburgh was installed in office. He had been a brave and skilful miUtary officer, but in this country he speedily developed a fondness for the pleasures of the table, which caused him to be described as a winebibber. He carried out the instructions of the directors, however, in letter and in spirit, so that he won the regard of the burghers. The return fleet of 1708 was under command of Cor- nelis Joan Simons, who had been the first independent fiscal at the Cape, and had resided here in that capacity from 1690 to 1694. He had recently been governor of Ceylon, and was now empowered by the governor-general and council of India to act as commissioner during his stay in South Africa. He issued a number of regulations, but the only one which needs to be mentioned here is that referring to the emancipation of slaves. During the period that had elapsed since the first appearance of the Dutch in India and Africa, the views of Europeans vdth regard to African slavery had been gradually changing. At first blacks were enslaved on the plea that they were heathens, but a profession of Chris- tianity sufficed to free them and to place them on a level in civil rights with their former masters. As time wore on, it became apparent that in most instances emancipa- tion meant the conversion of a useful individual into an indolent pauper and a pest to society. Habits of industry, which in Europeans are the result of pressure of cir- cumstances operating upon the race through hundreds of generations, were found to be altogether opposed to the disposition of Africans. Experience showed that a freed slave usually chose to live in a filthy hovel upon coarse and scanty food rather than toil for something better. Decent clothing was not a necessity of life to him, neither 1 1 H i . i W"» ii j i L ii > i a'l »I M:U-Mm' 4i6 History of South Africa. [1708 did he need other furniture in his hovel than a few cooking utensils. He put nothing by, and when sickness came he was a ' .rden upon the public. Such in general was the negro when left to himself in a country where suflftcient food to keep life in his body was to be had without much exertion. Emancipation then became less common, and the view began to be held and asserted that slavery was the proper condition of the black race. But it sometimes happened that a slave was set free from a desire on the part of the owner to be rid of all responsibility with regard to him. It was evident that if a check were not put upon such a practice, it might lead to people evading their liabilitiei, and to old, infirm, or otherwise helpless slaves being set free, in other words, cast upon the compassion of the community. To prevent this, the commissioner Simons, in his instructions to the Cape government, dated 19th of April 1703, directed that no slave was to be emancipated without security being given by the owner that the freed person should not become a charge upon the poor funds within ten years, according to the statutes of India. This was henceforth the law in South Africa. There was, however, one notable exception to this law. It frequently happened that ladies returning from India to Europe took slave girls vdth them as waiting maids, and sometimes gentlemen were in the same way accom- panied by their valets. These slaves were almost invari- ably sent back again, as they could be of no service in the Netherlands. The directors issued instructions that such persons were to be treated as free people, proof of their having been on the soil of the republic to be equivalent to letters of manumission. This was the last y^ar in which nominations from the Drakenstein consistory were sent in the French language. Upon receipt of the usual documents, written in French, the council of policy directed that in future the nominations of church officers and letters to the government must be in Dutch. [i7o8 I a few sickness I general ry where be had ame less rted that set free lid of all it that if light lead nfirm, or er words, o prevent IS to the !cted that rity being lould not ten years, lenceforth this law. om India g maids, accom- st invari- jervice in ions that )le, proof ic to be from the language. :ench, the lations of in Dutch. 1707] Louts van Assenburgh. 417 The island of Mauritius, hitherto a dependency of the Cape Colony, was at this time abandoned by the East India Company. It was of hardly any use as a station for refreshment, and beyond a little ebony and ambergris it contributed nothing to commerce. It was further one of the usual places of resort of the numerous pirate ships which at that time infested the Indian seas, and whose crews were in the habit of landing on different parts of the coast and keeping the little Dutch settlement in a state of alarm as long as they remained ashore. The directors came 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. Of late years the Company had sustained severe losses there. During the night of the 9th of February 1695 the residency and magazines were destroyed by a violent hurricane. In 1701 a pirate ship was wrecked on the coast close to the settlement, when two hundred armed men got safely to shore, together with twelve English and thirty Indian prisoners out of captured vessels. The master of the buccaneers was an old acquaintance of the Dutch Company, having been in the Amy when she was seized in 1693 in Saldanha Bay. The colonists thought it prudent to take refuge in the fort. The commander of the island, Eoelof Diodati, to get rid of the unwelcome visitors, was obliged to sell them at half price the Com- pany's packet, for which they paid him 167/. out of money saved from the wreck. On the 15th of November 1707 the Company's premises on the island were totally destroyed by fire, the books, records, and goods in the magazine being burned with everything else. The build- ings were thatched with palmetto leaves, so that the pro- gress of the flames was extremely rapid. In February 1707 instructions were received at the Cape to withdraw the garrison. The colonists were to have the choice of removal to Java or the Cape, When this intelligence reached the island, the burghers were VOL. I. 27 mi iii;.. ijii : ir 1; :ll m 4i8 History of South Africa. [1710 ifl f jr found to be very averse to the breaking up of their homes, but as a matter of necessity nine heads «f families elected to come to the Cape, the remainder preferring Batavia. In September 1708 two vessels, the Carthago and Mercuriiis, were sent to commence transporting the people and their effects. The Carthago went on to Batavia, the Mercuriiis returned to the Cape, and landed her passengers here on the 26th of January 1709. Among them were Daniel Zaaiman, Gerrit Eomond, and Hendrik de Vries, with their families. The names of the others need not be given, as they have long since died out. The Beverwaart was then sent to remove the garrison, and on the 25th of January 1710 Abraham Momber, the last Dutch commander, with the subordinate officers and the troops embarked in her and set sail for Batavia. Before going on board, the garrison destroyed everything within reach that could not be taken away. Even the forests were damaged as much as possible. All the hounds were left behind, that they might become wild and exterminate the game. The object of this wanton waste was to prevent the abandoned station being of service to any one else, but that object was defeated, for in the same year the French took possession of the island, and it was held by that nation until 1810, when it was annexed to the British dominions. On the 10th of January 1710 the retired governor- general Joan van Hoorn, accompanied by his wife^ and ^ Joanna Maria van Biebeek, eldest daughter of Abraham van Bijbeek, and granddaughter of the first commander of the Cape station. She was still very young when after the death of her first husband, Gerard de Heere, governor of Ceylon, Mr. Van Hoorn, then a widower and advanced in years:. offered her his hand, and on the 16th of November 170C she became his wife. Her father suoceeded her husband as governor-general of Netherlands India. Mr. Van Hooin had amassed enormous wealth, it being generally believed that he was worth a hundred tons of gold, that is 833,333Z. of English money. He could be generous at times, but ordinarily he was thrifty, if not miserly, to an extreme degree. At the Cape he presented a trifling amount to a domestic who had served him well, with the remark " keep that coin, it comes from Joan van Hoorn, and luck accompanies it." [i7io of their families referring \ago and e people ivia, the issengers 3in were ie Vries, aeed not garrison, iber, the icers and Batavia. ?erything jlven the All the wild and 3n waste ervice to in the and it annexed ^overnor- dfe^ and n Ri^^beek, he was still de Heere, in years', ne his wife, mds India, ly believed lish money, ot miserly, ount to a n, it comes id 1 710] Louts van Assenburgh. 419 daughter, arrived in Table Bay on his passage back to the Netherlands. He remained several weeks in the colony, where he acted as commissioner, presiding in the council and on all occasions taking precedence of the governor. On the 26th of February the three burgher councillors appeared before him, and on behalf of the whole body of freemen preferred a complaint. Instructions had recently been received from the supreme authorities to demand tithes of the whole quantity of corn gathered, and not of that portion only which was brought for sale, as had pre- viously been the custom. The burgher councillors re- quested that the farmers might be relieved from payment of tithes of such grain as they required for their own consumption and for seed. The commissioner considered their request reasonable, and suspended the levy upon the whole until further instructions should be given. The directors took another view, and in despatches received here in February 1711 the farmers were reouired to pay tithes upon all grain harvested, as those in Europe had to pay. In vain they represented to the council of policy that in the fatherland the tithe was collected upon the ground, whereas here it was delivered at the Com- pany's magazines. They were informed that the council had no power to make concessions in opposition to com- mands of the supreme authorities. An effort was made in 1712 to farm out the tithes by pubHc auction, the pur- chaser to collect upon the ground; but no ono would make an offer of any kind. Then the directors required their share of the corn to be dehvered in Capetown as before, and persisted in their claim, though it soon became evident that it was evaded to a very large extent. It would be impossible to devise a worse method of taxation than this, so far as influence upon the character of a people is concerned. Once a year the farmers were required to make a return of the quantity of grain of dif- ferent kinds which their lands yielded and of the number of cattle that they owned. Of the first, one-tenth was de- i fi' f \m . luu, ^ I -iim-ji 420 History of South Africa. [17 10 manded by the Company; and on the last the district tax called lion and tiger money was collected, at the rate of five pence for every thirty sheep or six large cattle. The people who regarded as grossly unjust the claim to a tithe of all their grain had thus the temptation placed before them of eluding payment by making false state- ments. The result was that only a fraction of the pro- duce of the country was given in, and the burgher rolls, as far as property is concerned, are s-^ misleading as to be worse than useless. Under this eystem of taxation four generations of colonists were bori'., for nearly three- quarters of a century passed away b*iore a reform was made. That the whole of the people were not demoralised by it was owing solely to the strong hold which the prin- ciples of Christianity had upon them. For four years the government kept possession of the writing desk of Adam Tas, which was seized when he was made a prisoner. A council, presided over by Mr, Van Hoorn, appointed a committee to examine its con- tents. A report was brought up that some of the papers were seditious, when it was resolved that they should be destroyed and the others be returned to Tas. On the 10th of March, at another meeting of the council of policy under the presidency of Mr. Van Hoorn, various regulations were made with regard to the manner in which the church books should be kept, the poor funds be administered, and other matters ol the kind. There was a very well informed clergyman, named Jan Marens, returning to Europe with the homeward bound fleet, and he was requested to give his views on these subjects, which he did in writing. The reverend Mr. D'Ailly did the same. Mr. Marens was of opinion that a classis or presbytery should be formed, to meet every three months, and to be composed of the full consistory of Capetown with the clergymen of Stellenboscli and Drakenstein and an elder from each of those congregations. When instruc- tions wtre received from the directors in 1G91 concerning lit;: :ii! !!: [I7IO rict tax rate of 3. The n to a L placed e state- ihe pro- er rolls, g as to taxation y three- •rm was aoralised ;lie prin- n of the jvhen he by Mr. its con- e papers lould be of the 1 Hoorn, manner or funds There Marens, eet, and subjects, \illy did lassis or months, apetown tein and instruc- ncerning \7io] Louis van Assenburgh. 421 the establishment of the congregation of Drakenstein, such meetings were provided for, but they had never been held. Mr. D'Ailly was of opinion that they would be productive of strife, and he stated his conviction that the church authorities in the fatherland would certainly object to them. The council therefore decided that the matter must await the decision of the directors, and by them the formation of a presbytery was not approved of. The three churches thus remained independent of each other, their clergymen were regarded as chaplains of the East India Company, and the classis of Amsterdam continued to be the final court of appeal in matters ecclesiastical. The schools were closely connected with the church, and the consistory of each parish had control over those within its limits. But it was now resolved that the secunde and the clergyman of the Cape should act as scholarchen or general supervisors. In that capacity their principal duty was to examine the qualifications of persons desirous of becoming teachers, and reporting thereon to the government, as by law no one was allowed to keep a public school without special permission from the authori- ties, though before 1715 such permission was not neces- sary in the case of any one employing a private tutor in his own family. On the 3rd of September 1716 a regula- tion was made that no one released from the Company's service should follow any other occupation than the one mentioned in his (iertificate of discharge except with the written conseni, of the council, undjr penalty of being compelled to return to duty as a soldier or a sailor. Another matter settled at this meeting of the council under the presidency of Mr. Van Hoorn was the direction in which Capetown should be enlarged when an increase of population required it. There was a desire on the part of some persons to encroach upon the open space between the castle and the Heerengracht, that is the great parade, but the burgher councillors objected to that design. They presented a memorial, recommending that the parade I'MI]'' w 422 History of South Africa, [1710 li should not be built upon, and that when needed an en- largement of the town should take place along the sides of the Company's garden. Of this the council approved. At the same time the first grant of ground was made where the village of Caiedon now stands. The burgher Ferdinand Appe? had twelve morgen of land given to him in freehold there, in order that he might plant a garden and build a house of accommodation for persons making use of the hot springs. These springs had already come to be regarded as efficacious for the cure of rheumatic affections of all kinds, and were often visited by people with those ailments. On the 15th of March 1710 a young man mimed Jan de la Fontaine arrived in Table Bay as bookkeeper of the ship Horstendaal. The commissioner Van Hoorn took a liking to him, and gave him the appointment of master of the warehouses, thus introducing him to a career of official life in this colony which ended mary years later in his occupying the post of governor. On the 30th of April 1710 the secretary to the council of policy, Willem Helot by name, who had been sixteen years in service at the Cape, was by order of the direc- tors raised to the rank of senior merchant and took over the duties of secunde, Mr. D'Ableing having been in- structed to proceed to India to fill an office of greater importance. The late secunde left South Africa on the iOth of the following July. On the 17th of December 1710, at ten o'clock in the morning, a fire broke out in the village of Stellenbosch. There was a high wind, and a slave who was carr3'ing a lighted fagot allowed some sparks to be blown into the thatch with which the landdrost's office was covered. In a minute the roof was in flames. The fire spread to the ad- joining buildings, which were all covered with thatch, and in a short time the church, the whole of the Company's property, and twelve dweUing houses were burned down. Fortunately the church books and district records were saved. Hi lyiij Louis van Assenburgh. 423 There was not so much attention paid now to the cultivation of trees as there had been in the time of the governors Van der Stel, still this useful work was not altogether neglected by the authorities. In the winter of 1709 a number of young oaks were sent to Stellenbosch to be planted aloLg the streets. Some of those previously planted in the same places had been wantonly or thought- lessly destroyed. In consequence, on the 8th of August of this year a placaat was issued, in which damaging trees on public property was prohibited under penalty of a sound flogging at the foot of the gallows, and a reward of %. Is. 8rf. was promised to any one bringing offenders to justice. There was a regulation under which any one felling a tree on his own ground was to plant an oak in its stead, but it was generally neglected. The farmers of Stellen- bosch and Drakenstein assigned as a reason for not carry- ing it out that as they had only sixty morgen of land they had not sufficient space, because trees in the neigh- bourhood of vineyards and cornfields attracted and har- boured birds. The forests in the mountain kloofs near the Cape were by this time exhausted, but a commission which was sent to examine the land of Waveren reported that a considerable quantity of timber suitable for waggon making and house building was still to be found there. On the 13th of April 1711 the council, presided over by the commissioner Pieter de Vos, admiral of a return fleet, decided to press upon the landdrost and heemraden of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein the necessity of plant- ing trees along the roads and of selecting suitable places for laying out groves. A commission, consisting of the acting fiscal Willem van Putten and the master gardener Jan Hertog, was appointed to examine the mountainous country along the left bank of the river Zonderend, and report upon the forests there. The commission found a supply of timber sufficient for existing needs, which set the question at rest for a while. 'vM • ih I ii.ii iii 424 History of South Africa. [1711 17 If' In consequence of an attempt of the landdrost of Stel- lenbosch to press for the pubhc service some waggons be- longing to residents of the Cape peninsula, the burgher councillors appealed to the council of policy to define the bounds of that officer's jurisdiction, and on the 15th of December 1711 it was decided that he had no authority on the Cape side of the luosselbank and Kuils rivers. Beyond those streams his jurisdiction extended as far as Europeans were settled. Governor Van Assenburgh was taken seriously ill early in the year 1711. He had never interfered wita the pur- suits of the farmers, and had given the colonists that protection to which they were entitled, so that he stood fairly well in their regard. He had not indeed mixed with them and interested himself in their personal affairs, as Simon van der Stel in his earlier years had done, so there was not that affection for him that there had once been for the other. He seldom left the castle. On new year's dey and on his birthday it was the custom for the principal burghers with their wives to call at the castle between ten and eleven in the morning, and present theii cooapliments. They were then invited to remain to dinner, and did not usually leave until nine in the evening. Also on the yearly muster of the militia of the Cape district, when the company of cavalry and two companies of in- fantry had gone through their exercises and been in- spected, the officers were entertained at the castle. At these receptions the governor was very friendly, and he waiS at all times easy of access, but he did not court society. There was only one instance of departure from his usual habits, and that somewhat startled the steady burghers of the Cape. When the afternoon service was concluded on Sunday the 11th of November 1708, the governor invited the principal townspeople to the castle, and made an effort to entertain them with a fight between bulls and dogs. When he was taken ill, the burghers suspected that he his [i7ii 1712] Willem Helot, 425 had been poisoned, and one wr'^r of the period does not hesitate to affirm that the poison had been administered to him in a glass c, vine when on a visit at Constantia. The dates of the visit and of his illness, however, over- throw this statement. He was confined to his room about eight months, and died on the afternoon of Sunday the 27th of December 1711, five days after he had completed his fifty-first year. Next morning the council of poHcy met, when the secunde Willem Helot was elected to act as head of the government until the pleasure of the directors could be signified. The election was a matter of form, for there was no one else eligible. On the 2nd of January 1712 the body of the late governor was buried beneath the pave- ment of the church, with a great deal of state. His administration had not been an eventful one, and his name was soon forgotten. Some years before this date immigration from Europe had practically ceased. Occasionally a family Irom abroad was added to the burgher population, but the increase of the colonists was now due chiefly to the excess of births over deaths and to the discharge of servants of the Com- pany. Cattle farmers were pushing their way from the land of Waveren down the valley or .'he Breede river and from Hottentots-Holland eastward alon^^' the course of the Zonderend. The town in Table Valley was growing also. It had not yet become the custom to call it Capetown, it being usually termed the Cape, or sometimes the town at the Cape. Official letters were addressed from and to the Castle of Good Hope. At the daie of Governor Van Assenburgh's death the town contained about one hun- dred and seventy private houses, besides the buildings belonging to the Company. In October 1712 a report reached the castle that four or five thousand Hottentots of the Great Namaqua tribe had made an inroad upon the natives living along the HI ■ 1 ■ ' ii 426 History of South Africa. [1713 Elephant r' d, and had threatened to plunder some gra- ziers at Piketberg, who had in consequer' been obliged to retire from their farms. The government thereupon instructed Jan Mulder, who was again landdrost of Ste'- lenbosch, to call out twenty-five burghers from Draken- stein and twenty-five from Stellenbosch. The same number were called out in the Cape district, and with twenty-five soldiers were sent on to meet the country contingents at the farm of Fran9oi8 du Toit. Lieutenant Slotsboo was in command of the expedition. His instruc- tions were to endeavour to come to an amicable under- standing with the Namaquas, if possible to induce them to return to their own country, and not to attack them unless they had done some harm to the burghers. The commando returned to the castle on the 22nd of Novem- ber, and reported that there were no Namaquas at Piket- berg and no burgher had been molested. In 1713 a terrible calamity fell upon the country. In March of this year the small-pox made its first appear- ance ia South Africa. It was introduced by means of some elothmg belonging to ships' people who had been ill on iut pa.Bsage from India, but who had recovered before they reached Table Bay. This clothing was sent to be washed at the Company's slave lodge, and the women who handled it 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. From the slaves the disease spread to the Europeans 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 chil- dren ceased to play their usual games in the squares and open places. At last it was impossible to obtain nurses, though slave women were being paid at the rate of four to five shilhngs a day. All the planks in the stores were 1 7 13] Willem Helot. 427 used, and in July it became necessary to bury the dead without coffins. For two months there was no meeting of the court of justice, for debts and quarrels were f rgottcn in presence of the terrible scourge. The minds of the people were so depressed that anything unusual inR-^'red th* 'n with terror. uo served to fall overnor's house hi ' ' were found ^rceptible. This iSter. The very Thus on the 10th of May twr dc to the ground from the parape* of in the castle, and after flutterinf to be dead, without any injury was regarded by many as an omen i clouds and the darkness of winter storms seemed to be threatening death and woe. 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, though the death rate among the white people was very high, the proportion 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 practically isolated, and the farmers in general avoided moving about. The burgher rolls are not to be regarded in any year as more than approximately correct, but, in common with all other contemporary documents, they bear witness to the great loss of life. According to them, in 1712 the number of colonists — men, women, and children — was one thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine, and in 1716, three years after the cessation of the plague, notwith- standing the natural increase, only one thousand six hundred and ninety-seven. The records of the orphan chamber show that the board was perplexed with the administration of the large number of estates that fell under its management, and in many instances had a diffi- culty in the division of property, especially in cases where families had become wholly or nearly extinct. iin^ i,: y^w^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT.3) 1.0 I.I 11.25 Hi §23. |25 m m 1^ us Ki lit 2.0 14 IIIIII.6 III 6" <% 7 f ^/ ? s // med to Qe com- ;er8 who it after- i almost tu were aly diffi- Owing disaster 1 Assen- nu] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 429 burgh reaching the Netherlands, the directors appointed as his successor Lieutenant-Oolonel Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes, a native of the Hague, who had commanded an infantry regiment in the army of the States, but had been thrown out of employment by the reduction of the troops at the peace of Utrecht. He had the rank, title, and salary of a councillor extraordinary of the Indies given to him. The new governor arrived at the Cape on the 24th of March 1714, and was formally installed on the 28th of the same month. The first object to which the new governor turned his attention was an attempt to make the revenue of the colony more nearly meet the expenditure than had pre- viously been the case. Though the returns were made out yearly to fractions of a farthing, it is impossible to say exactly what was the expenditure of the colony, as the accounts of the Cape were kept as of a branch busi- ness. Every penny received from every source was entered on one side, and every penny paid out, no matter for what purpose, was entered on the other. ThuG, in the charges against the Cape were included all sums paid for refreshment of the crews of ships, wages paid to sailors in such ships, the expenses of the hospital, and other items which should not fairly be placed against the colonial revenue. But these items cannot be wholly struck oflf. The hospital, for instance, afforded accommoda- tion for the sick of the garrison, and thus a portion of its cost was a proper charge against the colony. Then again, sums paid in the Netherlands and in India for strictly colonial purposes do not appear in the accounts. The most that can be done is to state the expenditure approximately, and probably no two persons examining the records would do this in exactly the same figures. The principal source of revenue was the money paid for the exclusive right to sell wines and spirituous liquors by retail, and this was determined by public auction on the last day of August. During the first quarter of the 430 History of South Africa. [17T4 eighteenth ceutary it averaged 3,1672. Besides this, there were the tithes of grain, transfer dues on sales of ground, and profits on sales of goods. On an average, these together amounted at this date to 4,7392. yearly. The colonial revenue was thus about 8,0002. a year. In con- verting the money of that day into British coinage, the heavy gulden generally used in accounts transmitted to the Netherlands is valued at one shilling and eight pence,, and the light gulden used in transactions in the colony and in India at sixteen pence and two-thirds of a penny. Before 1743 it is often doubtful which was meant. In that year an order was given that the heavy gulden should be exclusively used in accounts prepared for the directors. The expenditure, after deducting all expenses con- nected with shipping, cannot be estimated at less than 14,5002. a year. It was kept at the lowest possible sum by the payment of very small salaries and allowing privi- leges of different kinds to the officials, by permitting from one hundred and fifty to two hundred out of a garrison of about five hundred and fifty men to take temporary service with farmers, and by employing slave ^»^our in building and gardening. The cost of transport muni- tion, building materials sent from the Netherx<»uds, and various other items are not considered in this calculation^ because it cannot be even approximately given. There was thus a large excess of expenditure over revenue, though it is not possible to state the exact amount in figures. The directors instructed the governor to try to devise means of meeting it, in part if not wholly. No revenue had yet been derived from leases of land used for cattle runs. After the 3rd of July 1714 a rental of twenty-five shillings for six months, or fifty shiUings a year, was charged, in addition to the tithe of grain pro- duced. Old residents in the land of Waveren and else- where were permitted, however, to take out freehold titles [i7H 1715] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 431 on application to the governor, in order to encourage them to improve the ground. All building sites given out in the town were to revert to the Company if houses were not put up on them within twelve months. After the 20th of July 1714 it was required that stamps should be affixed to different kinds of documents to make them legal. These documents included deeds of transfer of land and slaves, wills, contracts of marriage, certificates of inheritance, licenses to trade, powers of attorney, and generally all notarial acts and papers pass- ing through courts of law. The stamps required ranged in value from six pence to twelve shillings and six pence. On the 12th of March 1716 a tax of four shillings and two pence was laid upon every legger of wine pressed in the colony. This article had not been subject to tithe or any tax whatever before this date. The fundamental law of the colony was that of the Netherlands, or in other words the body of law of the Boman empire, with such alterations from the code of Justinian as had been mad*-^ by the legislature of Holland and embodied in the commentaries of the foremost Dutch jurists. The forms of proceedings in the courts were identical with those of the fatherland. But the circum- stances under which the East India Company took pos- session of distant parts of the globe were so different from any previous experience of the Dutch that numerous laws and regulations varying from those of the Nether- lands had been framed for its dependencies. Some of these were not adapted for a European colony, and from their nature could only be applied to certain Asiatic com- munities ; but it was doubtful to the high court of justice which of the general statutes, if any, were to be regarded as of force. The question was referred to the council of policy, and on the 12th of February 1715 it was decided that the statutes of India were to be strictly followed, except when they were modified by placaats issued by competent authority at the Cape. The question was not riib 432 History of South Africa. [1715 considered whether laws made in Holland after the for- mation of the colony in 1652, or only those prior to that date, were to be regarded as having force in South Africa. In 1716 the summary jurisdiction of the court of land- drost and heemraden was extended in civil cases to lOZ. 8s. U. In May 1714 the secunde Helot, who had recently been acting head of the government, was suspended for appropriating to his own use property belonging to the Company, and upon the circumstances being reported to the directors, the council was instructed to send him to the Netherlands without rank or salary. Abraham Cranen- donk, recently fiscal of the establishment on the Hoogly, who was named as his successor, arrived at the Cape and took over the duty on the 4th of March 1715. For some time back the Bushmen had not been giving much trouble, but in 1715 their depredations were renewed. These people would not change their mode of living, and, as the game was being destroyed, a conflict between them and the farmers was inevitable. At that time no one questioned the right of civilised men to take possession of land occupied by such a race as the Bush- men, and to the present day no one has devised a plan by which this can be done without violence. In August 1715 the wife of a Drakenstein farmer ap- peared at the castle and informed the governor that the Bushmen had driven off over seven hundred sheep belong- ing to her husband, after murdering the shepherd. There- upon the governor gave a general permission in writing to the neighbours of the man who had been robbed to follow the plunderers and retake the spoil. A notification to this effect was also sent to the landdrost. With this permission the first purely colonial com- mando took the field. It consisted of thirty mounted burghers, who chose as their commandant a farmer named Hermanus Potgieter. They did their utmost to trace the robbers, but without success. [I7I5 i7i6] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 433 com- ounted farmer lOSt to The Bushmen then commenced plundering generally the farmers along the Berg river and in the land of Waveren. They murdered some herdsmen, set fire to several houses, and drove off a large numher of cattle. It was feared that they would bum the ripening com. Some of the most exposed farmers abandoned their homes, and a few families were quite ruined. Several commandos in succession were raised and sent to expel the marauders, the government supplying ammunition, but giving no other aid. The instructions under which the commandos took the field were emphatic that bloodshed was to be avoided if possible, and women and children were not to be molested, but this was a kind of warfare in which men's hearts were apt to become hardened. It was easy to resolve to drive the marauders from a stated tract of country, but very difficult to carry the resolution into effect. The keen-sighted Bushman, when he observed the approach of an enemy, concealed himself and his family ; and as soon as his pursuers retired, worn out in looking for him, his depredations were resumed. None of the commandos sent out in this year effected their object, though some of them believed they had done so until they learned that as soon as they were disbanded the marauders were busy again. Early in 1716 one of the commandos lost a man killed with a poisoned arrow, and had another wounded. A sergeant and twenty soldiers were then directed to guard the most exposed positions, and a strong party of the Company's servants and burghers was sent vnth some arrack, tobacco, and beads to try to make peace. This party succeeded in obtaining a meeting with a company of Bushmen, and returned to the castle with a report that an agreement of friendship had been entered into. And it certainly was the case that robberies ceased for a time. In August the newly-formed military posts were with- drawn at the request of the burghers, who had a hvely VOL. I. 28 .mmmammamt^-^''^^r^ 434 History of South Africa. [1719 dread of tyranny being established by means of troops. The old outposts at Waveren, Saldanha Bay, Groenekloof, and Klapmuts were still maintained ; but there were never more than seven men at each. Until January 1719 no fresh charge of depredations by Bushmen was made, and then the complaint came from another direction. Seven hundred head of cattle were driven away from Jacob van der Heiden's farm on the river Zonderend. The Bushmen asserted that this raid was in retaliation for injuries inflicted upon them by people who gave out that they were sent to barter cattle for the Company. The records do not supply sufficient evidence in this instance to enable it to be said whether they had, or had not, received such provocation as they complained of. At Van der Heiden's request, permission was given for a commando to assemble; but the cattle could not be recovered. At this time fugitive slaves were giving a great deal of trouble to the colonists. These wretched beings formed themselves into bands, and plundered the farmers when- ever necessity impelled and opportunity offered. Though they usually selected a retreat in some place difficult of discovery and access, they were much more easily found than Bushmen. A subject that occupied a good deal of attention during the whole of the eighteenth century was the relative rank of the different individuals in the community, and, as the church was the placo where all met, the position which each should occupy in that building. The directors desired that the burghers should be as nearly as possible of the same station, but when civil and military offices of various kinds were created, some distinctions were inevit- able. There was, however, a general feeling of respect for legitimate authority properly exercised, so that with the burgher population each one's place was recognised with- out much difficulty. In the country the landdrost ranked first, as the representative of the honourable Company. [I7I9 i7i8] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 435 troops, aekloof, e never lions by le from le were on the bis raid bem by )r cattle lufficient whether as they irmission le cattle reat deal s formed :8 when- Though fi&cult of ly found during ive rank and, as position directors possible offices of re inevit- spect for with the ed with- ranked 'ompany. He had the front seat in the church, which was sUghtly elevated and distinguished by a canopy. Next to him in rank came the clergyman. The heemraden followed, and had a special seat in church just behind the landdrost. The elders and deacons had seats on each side oi the pulpit, and the military officers had recognised places in the body of the building, according to their grade. The wives oi all these notables sat on chairs placed in the order mentioned above, it being one of the duties of a chiurch officer called the koster to see that the seats were in their proper positions. Among the servants of the Company the struggle for place was constant. In the army and navy it was easy to define the grades, but outside of these branches of the service complicated questions were constantly arising. There were the grades senior merchant, merchant, and junior merchant, yet these did not meet the difficulty. The following instance will show how important such matters were considered. The supreme authorities having decided to erect addi- tional fortifications in Table Valley, on the 20th of Feb- ruary 1715 the governor laid the foundation stone of a battery which he named Mauritius, near the sea shore at the foot of the Lion's rump. But the assembly of seven teen then thought that before proceeding further, plans and specifications should be drawn up by an engineer and submitted to them, and Mr. Pieter Gysbert Noodt, director of fortifications in Netherlands India, was instructed to visit the Cape for that purpose. He arrived on the 6th of May 1718, and remained until the 18th of April in the following year. He was a surly quarrelsome man, who would not so much as show the governor the plans he was making, though repeatedly requested to do so. He had not been here long when a quarrel arose between him and the secunde Abraham Cranendonk upon the question of precedence. They disputed as to which should receive the highest military salute, whose wife shonld u ^ p— imni i w iWiWBl«ww WBPHwr?ww^as"^as== 436 History of South Africa. [1717 occupy the foremost seat in church, whose carriage was to keep the crown of the street when they met, and other similar matters. They came before the council of policy, each with a long written statement of his claims. The council took the matter into serious consideration, and after some discussion decided in favour of Mr. Noodt. On the 24th of June 1716 the directors submitted a series of questions, upon which they required the opinions of the members of the council of policy. The principal queries were whether the country could maintain a larger number of colonists ; whether it would not be more advantageous to employ European labourers than slaves ; whether such articles as coffee, sugar, cotton, indigo, olive oil, tobacco, flax, silk, and hops could not be produced, so as to enable a larger number of people to gain a hving; and whether a direct tax could not be im- posed on provisions supplied to foreign ships. Each member of the council was required to take these questions into consideration and to bring up a re- port. Probably no subject of equal importance to South Africa has ever since engaged the attention of the au- thorities, for upon these reports was to depend whether the country should be occupied solely by Europeans, or whether there was to be a mixture of races in it. As yet slavery had not taken deep root, and could easily have been done away with. The number of slaves was small, and nearly five-sixths of them were adult males. "With- out further importations, the system would have rapidly perished. It must ever be deploref'l that of the men who sat in the council in February 1717 there was but one who could look beyond the gains of the present hour. The governor, Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes, the secunde, Abraham Cranendonk, the fiscal independent, Cornelis van Beaumont, and the junior members, J. Cruse, J. de la Fontaine, K. Slotsboo, and H. van der Meer, were all in favour of slave labour. They stated that a slave cost [I7I7 i7»7] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 437 ' have small, With- rapidly less than 3/. a year for maintenance, whereas a white labourer would cost at least as much as a soldier, whose pay and rations amounted to more than 122. a year. The slave was tractable, whereas the European was prone to be rebellious. White men often became addicted to drunkenness, and none could be obtained who would be wiUing to perform the severer kinds of labour in this cUmate. The commander of the garrison. Captain Dominique Pasques de Chavonnes, a brother of the governor, was alone in advocating the introduction of European work- men only. Slaves in this country, he observed, were like a maUgnant sore in the human frame. They kept the colonists in a state of unrest, and notwithstanding the terrible punishments inflicted upon them, they were not deterred from running away and committing atrocious crimes. If the cost of purchasing them — about 4/. each — bringing them to this country, providing for them, and guarding them, were taken into consideration, their labour would not be found much cheaper than that of white men, especially as they required supervision, and did neither so much nor such good work. On the other hand, Euro- peans would give security to the country, and would help to increase the revenue. Tnere is Httle doubt that if these views had been held by the other members of the council, and Lad been pressed upon the directors, the many evils which the introduction of negros produced in South Africa would have been prevented. Nothing was said of the bearing of the question upon the African : it was almost a century too early in the world's history for his interests to be taken into consideration. "Whether coffee and the other plants named would thrive at the Cape was regarded as doubtful by all the members. Some of these plants, such as the olive and indigo, had already been fruitlessly experimented with. In any case, men having special knowledge would be needed -^i 438 History of South Africa. [1718 to test them, for no one in the colony understood their cultivation. Whether a larger number of Europeans could exist here without being a burden upon the Company or the poor funds would depend upon the result of such ex- periments. All were agreed that it would not be advisable to levy a direct tax upon provisions supplied to foreigners, as it would not amount to much, and might drive away strangers who brought money into the country. None of the members thought that any profit could be made from an alleged discovery of coal on Pierre Eousseau's farm at French Hoek. Nor were any of them of opinion that manufactures could be introduced. Isaac Taillefer, it was stated, had made good hats from Cape wool ; but when he died that industry ceased. Others had knitted socks and gloves of woollen yarn made by themselves, but that also had been discontinued. Upon receipt of these reports, the directors resolved, 17th of April 1718, that experiments should be repeated with all diligence in the cultivation of tobacco, silk, indigo, and olives ; and that a person having special knowledge in the production of each should be sent out to superin- tend the work. Sheep's wool was not referred to, as all attempts to encourage the growth of a marketable article had hitherto failed. In 1714 six hundred and fifty pounds were sent to Europe, but the quality was so bad that it did not produce at public sale as much as it had cost. Another experiment was made in 1716, when three thousand pounds were purchased at seven pence a pound and sent to Amsterdam. The quaUty of this shipment was like- wise so inferior that it was unsaleable for spinning pur- poses. It was then resolved to let this industry remain in abeyance until another breed of animals could be intro- duced, and as the greatest difficulty was now being ex- perienced in getting as much meat as was needed, wool, which was of less importance, was not spoken of. [i7i8 1719] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 439 In 1719 a large quantity of indigo seed was sent from Batavia with a man who understood its cultivation, and for many years experiments were made with it. There was no difficulty in getting the plant to grow well in sheltered positions and in rich soil; but it was found that it would not answer as a general crop. Silkworm eggs from Persia and Bengal were sent at the same time, but were found to be bad on their arrival. The white mulberry trees which were planted throve as well as could be desired. The chief experiment in the production of silk was not, however, made until a few years later, and will be noticed in another chaptei. A man who had large experience in the cultivation and manufacture of tobacco, Cors Hendriks by name, was sent from Amsterdam in 1719. He made a tour through the colony, and upon his return to the castle pronounced very unfavourably upon the appearance of the soil. The most suitable place for an experiment that he had found was a plot of land about two morgen in extent, adjoining Eustenburg at Bondebosch. There and in the Company's garden in Table Valley a large number of tobacco plants were set out by slaves under direction of the manager. At first they throve well, but after a time some were de- stroyed by violent winds, and others by the heat of the sun. The seed had been carefully selected, but the leaves which reached maturity were so bad in flavour that Hen- driks, who attributed the quality to the soil, despaired of success, and advised that the experiment be given up. The members of the council of policy were of the same opinion, and in 1722 further trial was abandoned. The experiments with the olive had the same result as on every previous occasion. The trees grew most luxuri- antly, but many of them suddenly died without any ac- countable cause. From others the fruit dropped when still young, and the few olives that ripened in exceptionally good seasons were of very inferior quality. The directors were of opinion that if the flavour of 440 History of South Africa. [1719 Gape wine were improved, a large market could be found both in Europe and in India, to the advantage of the colonists as well as of the Company. They were then paying 6^. a legger for ordinary wine for the use of the fleets, and 8/. for old wine for use in the hospital. On the 27th of June 1719 they wrote for some selected samples, and with the next return fleet six half aams were sent. When it reached Amsterdam it was found unfit for use. It was the same with six half aams sent to Batavia. The directors supposed that the reason might be the small size of the casks, and therefore directed another trial to be made with half leggers instead of half aams. In 1722 ten half leggers were sent to Amsterdam and Middelburg, but the result was the same as before. An experiment was then made with bottles, a thousand of which were sent out to be filled with wine and returned. It succeeded no better than the others. The wine made at Gonstantia had, however, a good reputation in Europe. Jan Golyn, the owner of Great Gonstantia at that time, produced yearly fi:om ten to twelve leggers of red wine, for which he received 16/. 13s. 4c2. a legger, and about twenty leggers of white wine, which he sold readily at 10/. 8s. Ad. In 1714 a fatal cattle disease, unknown before, made its appearance in the settlement, and attacked both oxen and sheep. By ''.718 it was so difficult to obtain animals for slaughter that when the contract to supply the Com- pany with meat was oflfered for sale by auction there was not a single bidder. The sheep in possession of the burghers had decreased by nearly fifty-six thousand. It was necessary to make a private arrangement with Jacob van der Heiden, by which he undertook to supply meat at three pence a pound and live sheep at twelve shillings and six pence each. On the 2nd of July 1720 the sale of live animals to foreigners was prohibited by placaat, and henceforth no sheep were sent on board the Company's ships. Meat had now risen to ^\d. a pound. 1723] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 441 English captains had been in the habit of purchasing cattle in considerable numbers, slaughtering them, and salting the meat. They had also generally taken away a number of sheep. Upon the prohibition being applied to them, they made loud complaints in Europe, and the directors issued instructions that they should be treated as well as possible. After a time Van der Heiden informed the council that he could not continue to supply meat unless permis- sion was given him to procure cattle from Hottentots at a distance. Leave was therefore granted, but in February 1723 it was withdrawn upon the Drakenstein consistory complaining that the trading parties had used violence to- wards the natives, and had even murdered some Hotten- tots. The matter was investigated by the fiscal and the landdrost, but sufficient evidence could not be obtained to secure the conviction of the offenders, though there was no doubt that very atrocious crimes had been committed. The price of sheep sold at public auction at this time was from lis. Id. to 13s. lid. taking one with another in a flock, and of draught oxen 4tl. 3s. 4d. each. The scarcity was increased by the tongue and hoof sickness making its first appearance in 1723. By order of the directors, a placaat was then issued, 24th of February 1723, prohibiting the sale of fresh meat or vegetables to strangers, under penalty of deportation to Europe and a fine of nearly 70/. This was construed to mean that permission must first be obtained from the council, for upon English captains requesting to be allowed to purchase supplies of fresh provisions for their sick, leave was invariably granted. On the 6th of April of the same year another placaat was issued requiring the farmers to provide the Company with meat at two pence a pound and sheep at ten shillings each, under penalty of a tithe of all animals reared being required. But legis- lation such as this was fruitless. An attempt had previously been made to procure cattle I ig III 442 History of South Africa. [1723 from the Hottentots of the interior, and even from the Xosas, by licensing a certain burgher to carry on the trade mider surveillance ; but the great distance caused the scheme to fail Ensign Bhenius was then sent with a trading party to the Namaquas. In November 1724 he returned unsuccessful. He reported that the Namaqua tribe had been fearfully reduced in number by a disease resembling small-pox, that the Bushmen had taken advan- tage of their weakness to rob them of most of their cattle, and that in reckless despair they had slaughtered and consumed the remainder. The Company was then compelled to submit to circum- stances, and to pay the high prices determined by public tender. The troubles ol the community were increased by the horse sickness making its appearance in a very severe form early in 1719. Between sixteen and seventeen hun- dred animals had perished when in July there were some frosty nights, and the disease disappeared. There is no mention of it in the records before that date, and it is described as a new plague. It has never left South Africa since. On the 11th of April 1713 the peace of Utrecht con- cluded a war with France of twelve years' duration. The Company then resolved to enlarge its commerce, and a number of ships of the first class, carrying from two hun- dred and eighty to three hundred and fifty men each, were speedily built. After 1715 the number of persons visiting the Cape every year was much greater than before. During the fifteen years from 1st January 1700 to 31st Decembei. 1714 one thousand and seven ships put into Table Bay, or on an average sixty-seven yearly. Of these, six hundred and eighty-three were Dutch, two hundred and eighty English, thirty-six Danish, six French, and two Portuguese. During the ten years from 1st January 1715 to 31st December 1724 the number that called was eight hundred and seventy-one, or on an average eighty-seven 1723] MaurUc Pasques de Chavonnes. 443 yearly. Of these, six hundred and forty-five were Dutch, ■one hundred and ninety-two English, seventeen French, ten Danish, four Portuguese, and three Flemish. The Company's ships assembled in Table Bay to re- turn to Europe in a fleet. The slowest sailers were de- spatched first from Batavia, and usually arrived here in January. Then came the Ceylon squadron, and last the late ships from Batavia. They endeavoured to leave Table Bay about the end of March or beginning of April, and it must have been something worth seeing when twenty to thirty large ships set their sails and stood away together. This was called the summer fleet, and it usually carried to Europe merchandise which had cost from five to seven hundred thousand pounds sterling. Sometimes a number of English vessels sailed in its company. The vvdnter flefet was much smaller, often consisting of only three or four ships. At a date somewhat later than the period to which we have now arrived, it became usual for the summer ships also to sail in small squadrons, as they <;ould be got ready. The English government had protested against the as- sistance formerly given to private traders at the Cape, and an arrangement had been made between the assembly of seventeen and the directors of the English Company that neither would permit interlopers to obtain anything what- ever in their ports. In consequence, when an English vessel arrived, unless her master could produce a royal commission or proper credentials from the East India Company, she was warned to make sail at once, and no intercourse was allowed with the shore. The Flemish ships which put in for supplies were treated in the same manner. About the commencement of the eighteenth century — the exact date cannot be given — the Portuguese ceased sending vessels from Mozambique to trade at Delagoa Bay. They had found that very little profit was to be made there, and the port was frequented by pirates, l i M iiiiilMW ft iij' 444 History of South Africa. [1721 whose visits caused it to be a dangerous locality. The last vessel sent from Mozambique had been taken by these rovers of the sea. She had a crev^ of blacks, v^ith only a. European master and supercargo. A ship flying the vehite flag of France sailed in and dropped anchor close by, and the tv^ro white men, who did not suspect the real char- acter of the stranger, very imprudently went on board. They were not allowed to leave, so during the night the blacks in the trader became alarmed and thought it well to have their firearms ready. At daybreak next morning the pirate got out three boats to seize the Portuguese vessel, and in one of them sent the captive bookkeeper. As the boats approached, the prisoner, who must have been a man of the highest fortitude, shouted to the blacks to defend themselves, and they, after firing at the rowers,, quickly hoisted sail and tried to escape. The little vessel, however, ran aground, but the crew got to land, and were sheltered by the natives. The pirates then took every- thing that was of value out of the prize, and set fire to the empty hull. Sofala was the farthest station south permanently occu- pied by the Portuguese, but occasionally a trading vessel was sent from Mozambique to Inhambane, where she re- mained five or six months. Some mixed breeds who had their home at that place then went about the country collecting ivory and wax, and occasionally travelled for that purpose as far as the Tembe river.^ 1 For a full account of the condition of the Portuguese stations see my volume entitled Ttie Porttigticse in South Africa. The manuscript records of the Dutch settlement at Delagoa Bay are much more complete in the archives at the Hague than in those at Capetown. At the Hague they are bound in seven large volumes, and comprise letters, reports, in- structions, judicial proceedings, a continuous journal with daily entries of occurrences, etc. I have made exact copies of several of the most inter- esting papers, in order to publish them in the series of pamphlets issued by me under the title Belangrykc Historishe Dokumenten, At the Hague there are also several plans of the fort Lagoa and of Fort Lydzaamheid,. which was built at a later date. [l721 1721] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 445 In 1720 the Dutch East India Company resolved to take possession of Delagoa Bay and establish a factory there. It was intended that the station should be a dependency of the Cape government, just as Mauritius had been. Thus important cases were to be sent for trial to the Cape, and in all cases except the most trivial there was to be a right of appeal to the high court of justice at the castle of Good Hope. Towards the close of the year the advance party sent from the Netherlands to form the station, consisting of forty-four soldiers, as many sailors, and a few mechanics, with the officers one hundred and thirteen souls in all, arrived in Table Bay in two small vessels, the Kaap and Oouda. The officer who had been appointed head of the expedition died soon after reaching South Africa, when the council of policy selected a clerk on the Cape estab- lishment, Willem van Taak by name, as his successor. A council was chosen to assist him, and a petty court of justice was constituted. On the 14th of February 1721 the expedition, accom- panied by a small vessel named the Zeelandia, sailed from Table Bay, and on the 29th of March reached its destina- tion. The natives near the mouth of the Espirito Santo were found to be very friendly. They were under a chief named Maphumbo, who was a vassal of another named Mateke, though he seemed to be the more powerful of the two. Among his people was a black from Mozam- bique, who spoke the Portuguese language fluently, and who was at once engaged as an interpreter. This man stated that in his early days he had frequently come from Mozambique in the trading vessel, and it was on his seventh visit, about twenty years before, that he escaped from the pirates. Since that time no Portuguese had visited the place. He pointed out where the huts in which they had resided formerly stood, but as these had been made of reeds, no vestiges of them were left. The site was on Shefina island, which the Dutch afterwards 446 History of South Africa. [1721 called on that account the Portuguese possession. The interpreter stated also that during the period of their stay^ which was often six or seven months, the Portuguese formed little stations along the Manisa river, but never at any great distance from its mouth. The country as far as it was knovm to the Delagoa Bay natives was occupied by little tribes or clans, which were almost constantly at feud with each other. Farther to the south the Bantu have traditions of a time of general peace, but certainly wherever and whenever Euro- peans have come in contact vnth these people they have been found in a state of war. Maphumbo readily gave the strangers permission to build a fort, and near the bank of the river, where the town of Louren^o Marques now stands, they commenced to make a pentagonal earthen wall capable of carrying cannon, within which a storehouse and quarters for the garrison were put up. Male blacks could not be induced to work, but offered the services of their wives and daughters in exchange for beads, and often over two hundred women were employed in digging and carrying ground. Before much building was done fever attacked the Europeans, and within six weeks over two-thirds of them died, including the commander and the engineer. At length, however, the fort was ready for occupation, and then the Zeelandia was sent back to the Cape with letters and a little ivory and wax obtained in barter. She re- turned in August, together with the yacht Utio, taking provisions and eighty soldiers to strengthen the garrison. Upon learning what had occurred, the council of pohcy appointed Caspar Swertner successor to Mr. Van Taak, with the rank of junior merchant and a salary of 2/. 15s. %d. a month. He was then at Delagoa Bay, but he died before the news of his appointment reached the station. A subaltern, named Jan Michel, was the next head of the party of occupation. The council hoped that by this 1723] Maurits Pasques de CAavonnes. 447 time the survivors from the fever were seasoned to the climate, and that henceforth all would go well. But the outpost was destined to further trouble. Time passed in trading, exploring, and gathering infor- mation, until the 19th of April 1722, when a report was brought by some blacks that three ships had entered the bay. These proved to be manned by buccaneers, who at- tacked Fort Lagoa, took possession of it after a short cannonade, and plundered the store. They did not, how- ever, otherwise illtreat the garrison, eighteen of whom joined them. "When they were ready for sea they com- pelled one of the officials, named De Bucquoi, to pilot them out, as he had surveyed the bay and made a chart of its soundings. They also took with them the vessel which was employed as a packet, to be able, as they said, to send the pilot back when they got outside. They failed to keep their word, however, and De Bucquoi and the crew of the Kaap were obliged to remain with the buccaneers until they reached another port, from which they made their way to India. The garrison was by this disaster cut off from com- munication with the outer world. But in course of time relief came, and the exploration of the country around the bay for a few miles inland was then completed. A little gold was brought by blacks from the interior to ex- change for beads, and though the whole quantity was less than two ounces, it was sufficient to excite hope. The natives who brought it asserted that they had travelled three moons and a half, but this statement was not credited. The first who came had a little scale, with pebbles of diflferent sizes for weights, from which it was known that he had dealt before with traders. Over two tons of ivory and four hundred and ninety pounds of copper were procured. The locality in which the copper mines were situated could not be ascertained, as the natives either could not or would not give information concerning it^ 448 History of South Africa. [1713 A report of an iron mountain some distance inland lured a party of nineteen men, under the secunde Jan Christofifel Stefler, to go in search of it. They left Fort Lagoa on the 9th of August 1723, with three pack oxen to carry provisions. At the end of a week they were in a charming country. In mountain kloofs were magnifi- cent forests, the soil was rich and covered with long grass, streams of fresh water were numerous, and different kinds of game, particularly elephants, were seen in great abundance. When crossing a river, the leading division of the exploring party was attacked and destroyed by a band of natives, and as no one capable of giving direc- tions was then left, the survivors returned to the bay. In May 1724 an active junior officer, named Jan van de Capelle, who had come to the station as a soldier with the first party under Mr. Van Taak, but who shortly afterwards became a clerk, was appointed secunde and provisional commandant of Fort Lagoa, as Jan Michel had requested to be relieved. It was not a place to which people went willingly, for the chmate had the repu- tation of being in the summer season one of the most deadly in the world. During the first quarter of the eighteenth century there were some notable shipwrecks on the South African coast. On the 16th of February 1713 the Bennebroek, home- ward bound from Ceylon, after being disabled in a storm ran ashore in broad daylight on the coast of Natal, at some point which was never exactly ascertained. She commenced to break up immediately. Fifty-seven Euro- peans and twenty Malabar slaves intended for the Cape got to land on pieces of the wreck, the remainder of the crew perished. Those who were saved collected some food which washed up, and then set out to travel to the Cape. But they could not cross a deep river which was in their way, and after a few days some of them turned back to the neighbourhood of the wreck. There they i7M] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 449 lome- I storm [al, at She lEuro- Cape )f the some the was lurned they remained until June, Bubsisting upon milk, meat, and millet which they obtained from the natives for pieces of iron and copper. At last the metal in the wreckage was exhausted, and they then made another attempt to reach the Cape by going far inland to avoid the lower courses of the rivers. But they did not succeed, and, after wander- ing about for some weeks, hunger and fatigue compelled the Europeans who still survived — seven in number — to take refuge with a tribe of natives, who treated them with great kindness. Here they found a Frenchman who had been wrecked thirty years before. The na.,ives with whom they thenceforth lived were carrying on perpetual war with Bushmen. Their resi- dence was near the coast, on the bank of a river with a navigable mouth. The food of the tribe consisted chiefly of milk, varieties of pumpkin, and bread made by rubbing soaked millet between stones, then mixing the pulp vnth water, and baking it in ashes. Of those who did not turn back to the wreck, all perished except one Malabar slave. He pushed on westward for a whole year, overcoming every diffi- culty in his way. At length a burgher found him near the mouth of the Breede river, and sent him on to the castle, which he reached on the 26th of February 1714. Six months later, on the 4th of September, a decked boat twenty-eight feet long by nine feet beam arrived in Table Bay under English colours. Her master reported that she had been built in England purposely for trading on the south-eastern coast of Africa, and had been taken to Delagoa Bay in pieces in a vessel named the Clapham Galley. She had been put together there, had since been trading on the coast, and had now come to Table Bay according to arrangement to wait for the return of the Clapham Galley from India. She had entered a river, the name of which is not given, and had there found the seven surviving sailors of the Bennebroek, four of whom VOL. I. 29 450 History of South Africa. [1733 she brought to the Cape. The most interesting part of the narrative of the master of the boat is that at various places at which he had touched below Delagoa Bay he had obtained a large quantity of ivory in exchange for beads and copper rings that had been expressly manufac- tured in England for trade with the Bantu. In November the galiot Postloojaer was sent to search along the coast of Natal for the wreck of the Bennebroek, and if possible to recover her cannon and anchors as well as the three surviving sailors ; but after an absence of nearly six months she returned with a report that neither men nor wreck could be found. The year 1722 was the most disastrous one yet known for the Company's fleets in these seas. On the 17th of January the richly-'aden ships Sampson and Armtelveen, belonging to a large return fleet, encountered a great gale off the southern coast, and went down in the open ocean. Two men belonging to the first and one belonging to the last were found by other ships of the fleet some hours later floating on pieces of wreckage. The remainder of their crews perished. On Sunday the 14th of June a gale from the north- west set into Table Bay. There were lying at anchor, belonging to the Company, two second class outward bound ships, the Standvastigheid and Rotterdam, together carrying four hundred and fifty-three men, two third class outward bound ships, the Zoetigheid and Lakemcn, together carrying two hundred and eighty-three men, a small out- ward bound vessel, the Schotsche Lorrendraayer, carrying fifty-two men, the packet boat Gouda, ready to sail to Delagoa Bay with supplies, and the brigantine Amy, which had been in use at the Cape ever since her seizure in Saldanha Bay in 1693. There were also lying in the bay three English Indiamen, the Nightingale, bound to Madras, with a crew of one hundred and forty men, and the Addiso'fi and Chandos, with crews respectively of eighty and seventy men, homeward bound from Bengal. The i7aa] Maurits Pasgues de Chavonnes. 451 irrying Isail to Amy, ■seizure I in the md to [n, and eighty The last named had put in a fortnight before in distress, having been dismasted in a gale at sea. All that day the danger to the shipping was great, but no accident worse than parting cables and swamping boats occurred. On Monday the gale lulled, but during the night the wind shifted to north-north-west, and on Tuesday morning the bay seemed to be covered with breakers. Still up to dusk the ships held to their anchors. As darkness set in the gale increased. At seven o'clock minute guns were heard between the gusts, and the firing continued until midnight. The sea was break- ing on the beach with such violence that it was danger- ous to pass along the road between the castle and the shore. At dawn in the morning of the 17th, it was seen that not a single vessel was afloat in the bay. The Amy was under the castle, and had broken up, but her crew had got safely ashore. The Chandos was next, close to the castle. She had partly broken up, but only two of her crew had been drowned.^ Then came fragments of the Zoetigheid, nearly half of whose crew had perished. The Lakeman was high on the land a little farther on, with only one man missing. Just beyond were the crushed fragments of the Standvastigheid, Rotterdam^ and Schotsche Zorrendraayer, all together, and of their crews only forty- five men were living. The Gouda and the Nightingale were some distance off, both high on the land and not much broken. The Nightingale had lost one man, the other none. The Addison had struck in the mouth of Salt Eiver, and had overturned and broken up. Only ten of her crew had got to land. In all six hundred and sixty men perished in that dreadful gale, and property valued at nearly a quarter of a million sterling was lost. On the 20th of November of this disastrous year the ^ In the Chandos was a Portuguese boy, Ignatius Ferreira, who re- mained in South Africa, and was the ancestor of the present largo family of that name. History of South Africa. Vm Schoonhern , homeward bourifi vrith a valuable cargo, was run ashore near (Jape Agulhatt in broad daylight and in iine weather, tii ough the culpable negligence of her officers. The ship broke up, but all on board got safely to shore. The next wreck that oc«-*»rred on the coast was on the 7th of November 1723, when a little vessel named the Meteren, which was on her passage out to be employed as a. packet between the Cape and Delagoa Bay, was lost on the coast a little to the north of the mouth of the Elephant river. She had left Texel with a crew of twenty-nine flouls. Scurvy made its appearance, and six died on the passage ; while of the others, only ten were at length able to work. In a calm her anchor was dropped close to the coast, but a swell set in, when she dragged, and was cast ashore a complete wreck. Five men were drowned. The remaining eighteen got to land, where nine of them, who could walk, wandered about for twenty-five days before they were found. The others were believed to have died of want. In the church, matters had assumed a very satisfactory aspect. The reverend Mr. iJ'Ailly remained as first or chief minister of the Cape. lu 1714 a high school was established in Capetown, when the reverend Lambertus Slicher, of Middelburg, who had been six years chaplain of the garrison at Lillo, but had then of his own accord resigned and engaged as a midshipman in the ship 7 Vaderland Getrouw, upon the arrival of that vessel in '^able Bay was found anxious to abandon his new calling, and was appointed rector by the council of policy In this school instruction was given in the Latin auX Dncch languages, and pupils from any part of the . i:*^;. le taken into the rector's house as boarders. But it received such scanty support from the burghers that after being bolfltered up by the government for some years it seemed a 7/ "te of energy for an educated man to devote his wh'>'3 . i to it. Mr. Slicher then, at the request of the couu^^-jj' o' johtiy and with the consent of the directors, lyaa] Maurits Pasjues dc Chavonnes. 453 actory rst or )1 was bertus aplain iccord ship el in lling, this )'iiiich :'e jeived I being eemed his )£ the ictors, began to assist in the church. His first service was held on the 16th of June 17'2I He still continued to perform the duty of rector of the school, though in lobnirtry 1723 he was formally inducted as s( ;oud clergyman ul the Cape congregation. In 1720 some persons subscribed the necessary funds for the purchase of an organ f(>r use iu tb(< church. rin- reverend Petrus van Aken, who had been ap- pointetl by the directors clergyman of Drakenstein, arrived it' August 1714, and took over the duty at once. In 1717 a commencement was made with building a church at the Faarl for the Drakenstein congregation. The funds were derived from a legacy of 208/. 68. %d. bequeathed for the purpose by Henning Huising, 314/. Ss. 6rf. left with the government here for charitable purposes by individaalh in the fleet under the governor-general Van Hoorn, 698^. 128. 2rf. lent by the consistory of the Cape, and 715/. ll->. 6d. raised partly by special collections and partly by making use of the poor fund. The building was com- pleted in 1720. When Paul Boux died, the consistory requested the council of policy to appoint another French sick-comforter in his stead, as there were still some twenty-five or twenty-six old people living who did not understand Dutch. The council, 23rd of February 1723, declined to do so until the pleasure of the directors could be made known, and their decision was unfavourable. At Stellenbosch, where the reverend Mr. Bek was clergyman, a commencement was also made in 1717 with building a church in place of the one that had been de- stroyed by fire. The cost was borne by applying the poor fund, by special collections, a loan from the Cape consis- tory which had then over 9,300/. to the good, and by a lottery for which permission was obtained from the direc- tors. On the 8th of October 1721 Abraham Cranendonk died, when Jan de la Fontaine, who had been working his way upward during the eleven years of his residence 454 History of South Africa. [1724 in South Africa, was chosen by the council of policy to act as secunde until the pleasure of the directors could be known. In 1724 the appointment was confirmed by the assembly of seventeen. On the 14th of June 1724 the fiscal independent^ Cornelis van Beaumont, died. He had held office since March 1713. The council selected Adriaan van Kervel, who had been sixteen years in service at the Cape, to act until a new appointment could be made by the directors. He also was confirmed in his office. Governor De Chavonnes managed to preserve the good will both of the directors and the colonists. He embarked in no costly undertakings, did his utmost to keep down expense, and precsrved concord in the settlement. He was a quiet, religious man, who might have taken for motto a verse which closes the journal for one of the years when he was at the head of a£fairs : — 'Geluckigh is hy die syn tyd In Btille rust en weldoen slyt, Die al betgeen den Hemel geeft Nooyt in syn hert mispreesen heeft.' The directors were so well satisfied with his adminis- tration that they raised him to the rank of ordinary coun- cillor of India, a dignity enjoyed by none of his prede- cessors. The letter containing the announcement of his elevation reached the Cape on the 1st of June 1721. 'The governor, who had just passed his seventieth year, was suddenly taken ill on the 7th of September 1724, and died early on the following morning. A few hours later the council of policy met and decided that Jan de la Fontaine should act as head of the government until an appointment could be made by the assembly of seventeen. His nomination as secunde had not yet been confirmed by the directors, and he was only in rank a merchant ; but there was no other officer at the Cape in a better position. Within a few months despatches were received 1724] Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes. 455 year, 24, and Is later de la itil an jnteen. Ifirmed Ichant ; better jceived in which he was promoted to be a senior merchant, and was approved of as secunde. On the 14th of September the body of the late gover- nor was buried under the pavement of the church, with all the state that was possible, nearly the whole of the colonists of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein as well as those of the Cape district attending the funeral. His vddow and daughters returned to Europe with the next fleet from India. A complete account of the seasons is given in the harvest returns preserved in the records of the eighteenth century, though the rainfall was not measured. From 1700 to 1704 the crops were poor, owing to insufficient rain. In 1705 a series of good seasons set in, and it became possible to send a considerable quantity of wheat to Batavia. From 1706 to 1711, both years included, the average export was rather over four thousand muids. The Company paid a little less than twelve shillings a muid for it at the magazines. Eye, barley, beans, and peas were also grown in quantities sufficient to supply the wants of the shipping and of the Indian government. There was, however, a very limited market for these pro- ducts in India. In 1708 the quantity of rye and beans grown was in excess of the demand, and a notice was issued discouraging their cultivation and stating that the Company would not purchase any more of either. The crop of 1710-11 was a poor one. There was a quantity of grain in store, however, which enabled the government to keep up the supply to Batavia. But in the two following seasons also insufficient rain fell, and the yield of the harvest was so small that only one thou- sand and twenty muids in 1712 and nineteen hundred and fifty-six muids in 1713 could be exported. In 1713 the fall of rain was ample, but the small-pox prevented extensive cultivation. The returns for seed sown were, however, exceptionally large, and in 1714 the quantity of 456 History of South Africa. [1724. wheat exported amounted to four thousand three hun- dred and seventy-five muids. The crops of 1714 to 1716 were so good that fifteen thousand four hundred muids of wheat were sent to Batavia, or more than five thousand muids on an average yearly. But in the Company's possessions in India the demand for wheat was Umited, and it could be obtained elsewhere at a lower rate than was paid at the Gape. The governor-general and council of India were of opinion^ that their requirements could be supplied from Bengal and Surat to greater advantage. They were satisfied with the quality of South African wheat; but it was too dear, and the quantity produced fluctuated so greatly from season to season that a constant supply could not be de- pended upon. They proposed to allow the Cape farmers to send it to any part of India, and sell it there at what- ever price could be obtained. But to this the burghers objected, as they asserted that they were not in a posi- tion to carry on a trade of this kind, and could not afford to wait long after harvest without any return. The colony would be ruined if the Company ceased to pur- chase their grain. The directors decided that it would be better to sup- port the burghers than natives of Hindostan, but the price of wheat was reduced to ten shillings and eight pence a muid. As it was asserted that they must pur- chase all that was grown, or ruin would follow, they wrote that no more ground v/as to be given out for the production of wheat and wine, without their approval being obtained in each instance. To encourage the colon- ists to grow other produce, they gave directions that ships from India were to be supplied at the Cape with peas, beans, and husked barley sufficient for the passage home, though peas were then bringing the high price of twenty- nine shillings, and beans twenty-five shillings a muid. This arrangement had hardly been made when a series of dry seasons set in. In 1718 the harvest was poor, but [1724 •ee hun- it fifteen sent to I average ndia the obtained be Gape. f opinion L Bengal fied with too dear, tly from ot be de- i farmers at what- burgbers a a posi- lot a£ford ^ The pur- 1724] Mauriis Pasques de Ckavonnes, 457 n to ad to sup- 3ut the eight lust pur- )w, they for the approval le colon- at ships ih peas, home, twenty- uid. e a series oor, but a small quantity of wheat was exported. It was the same in 1719. In 1720 less than a hundred muids were sent out of the country. In 1721 it was not possible to supply the ships with beans, peas, and barley, and rice was served oat to the garrison instead of bread ; but fifty-one muids of wheat were sent to Batavia to keep up the name of exportation. In the winter of 1721 the seasons changed for the better. In 1722 nearly three thousand five hundred muids of wheat were exported, followed in 1723 by over four thousand, and in 1724 and 1726 by over five thousand muids. The principal persons who settled in South Africa during the first quarter of the eighteenth century, and whose descendants are still in the country, were Genit van Aarde, before 1714, Jaa Bronkhotst, before 1718, Ghristiaan Ackerman, 1720, Andries Bruyns, before 1714, Marthinns Ackerman, before 1713, David du Buisson, before 1708, Adam Albertyn, before 1723, Casper Hendrik Badenhorst, be fore 1713, Jan Izaak van den Bank, 1713, Jan Barnard, before 1713, Jan Zacbarias Beck, before 1722, Josu4 Cellier, 1700, Matthys Andries de Beer, before Elaas Claasen, 1720, Garel Diederik Buitendag, before 1722, Barend Buys, 1715, Jan Hermanns Carstens, before 1711, 1706, Andries Bester, 1712, Jan Beukes, before 1705, Jan Frederik Bierman, 1725, Bernardus van Billion, 1724, Jan Blankenberg, before 1706, Jan Blignaut, 1723, Jan Pieter Blom, before 1724, Pieter Boeiens, before 1717, Hermanns Lambertus 1707, Bobert Brand, before 1719, Jan Lodewyk Bouwer, 1724, Pieter van Breda, 1719, VOL. I. Jacob Coetzer, before 1716, Hermanns Gombrink, before 1720, Jacques Delport, 1701, before "Willem Dempers, 1712, Jean Durand, before 1701, before Daniel Duuring, before 1725, Jan van Ellewee, before 1718, Albert Gerritse van Emmenes, before 1704, Jan Engelbrecht, 1717, Antoine Alexander Faure, 1714, Bosman, Ignatius Ferreira, 1722, Thomas Ferreyn, before 1716, Anthonie Fick, before 1711, Jan Franke, before 1713, Jan Melohior Frick, 1721, 20* 458 History of South Africa, [1724 Steven Qauohet before 1718, Christiaan Gobrecht, before 1722, Otto EmBt van Oraan, before 1714, Jan Grobbelaar, before 1716, Andries Grov4, 1719, Ilrans Haarhof, 1719, Jnrgen Hanekom, before 1714, Pieter Willem van Heerden, be- fore 1708, Pieter van den Heever, before 1726, Johan Ernst Heger, 1720, Jacobas Heuning, before 1714, Nicolaas Heyning, 1709, Johan Andries Holtshausen, 1717, Jan Hoppe, before 1715, Jan Andries Horak, 1718, Jan Human, befoife 1711, Adriaan van Jaarsveld, before 1711, Pieter Christiaan de Jager, before 1707, Daniel Godfried Eamspek, 1721, Pieter Kemp, before 1713, Paul Keyser, 1707, Hendrik Frederik Elopper, b<3fore 1714, Servaas de Eock, 1707, Jochem Eoekemoer, before 1718, Albertus Bartholomeua Eoopman, before 1709, Hermanns Eriel, 1719, Willem Adolph Erige, 1721, Jacob Eruger, 1713, Daniel Erynauw, before 1711, Hans Euun, before 1715, Jacobus van Laar, before 1713, Amos Lambrechts, 1717, . . . Langeveld, before 1724, Michiel Ley, before 1703, Christiaan Liebenberf, 1715, Gerrit van der Linde, 1714, Bareud Lindeque, before 1724, Jan van Looherenberg, 1717, Jan Lourens, before 1706, Christiaan Maasdorp, before 1701, Ignaoe Mare, before 1708, Jan Maritz, 1718, Dirk Marx, 1721, Jan Hendrik Meintjes, before 1709, Andries Mellet, before 1726, Hans Willem Minnie, before 1716, Andries Muller, before 1718, Jan Hendrik Munnik, before 1714, Jacob Naude, 1720, Frans van der Nest, before 1718, Adriaan de Nicker, 1711, Johan Niemand, before 1702, Izaak Nieuwoudt, before 1718, Jan Oberholster, before 1706, Willem Odendaal, before 1711, Michiel Otto, 1714, Abraham Peltzer, before 1718, Barend Pieterse, before 1716, Hendrik du Plooy, before 1714, Simon du Plooy, before 1716, Marthinus Prins, 1716, Jasper Baats, before 1714, Christiaan Itabe, 1723, Jurgen Badyn, 1716, Jacob van Beenen, 1721, Nicolaas van Bensburg, before 1708, Jan Boos, before 1714, Cornells van Booyen, 1713, Hercules Sandenbergh, 1714, Jan Christoffel Schabort, before 1724, Jan van Schoor, 1719, Harmen Barend van der Schyfi^ before 1714, Erasmus Smit, 1717, Dirk Smith, before 1711, Melt van der Spuy, before 1716, Jan Steenkamp, before 1714, Godfried Stolts, 1712, [1784 1717, »6, ore 1701, 8, I, before 726, tore 1716, 718, Eore 1714, ore 1718, 1702, > 1718, 1706, 1 1711, 1718, 1716, re 1714, 1716, ;, before 13, 714, t, before Schyf^ Lre 1716, 714, 1724] Maurits Pasques de Chavounes. 459 Georg Frederik Strauss, 1723, Willem van Taak, before 1716, Andries vsm Tonderen, before 1703, Jan Andries Trater, 1722, Comelis Uys, before 1704, Gerrit Augustinus Vermaak, be- fore 1713, Amoldus Vlok, before 1711, Anthonie Vlotman, before 1701, Jan Vorster, 1717, Wouter de Vos, before 1717, Hendrik de Vries, 1709, Willem van der Vyver, 1714, Jan de Waal, 1716, Samuel Walters, before 1711, Hendrik van der Wat, before 1717, Nioolaas van Wielligh, before 1710, Benjamin Wiese, before 1713, Christoffel de Wit, before 1718, Jan de Wit, or Jobn White, be- fore 1713, Pieter Wimn, before 1724, Fieter Zaaiman, 1709. END OP VOL. I.