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Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppidmentaires: L'Institut a microfilm* le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a At* possible de se procurer. l.r. »i;>: itl ■'■-'■; ' \ ..,!!•! . . » .. tf fe 14 - For further information on the subject, the Committee may refer Friends to the Report itself from which the follow- ing extracts are taken, and an edition of which has been published by the Aborigines' Protection Society, (London ; William Ball, Aldine Chambers, Paternoster Row ; Hatchard and Son, Piccadilly,) and to the several volumes of evidence taken by the Committee of the House of Commons, and published amongst the Parliamentary Papers. ' ;<, .r I ' t. • ) - .1 iitj :t :•!■; >\i\\ i.;.i>r Ul .'■3'i' I, «/ ^ ; . i ' 1 <.-i». ,.' 't m'i.rl V' M iri;-itf; t wl Ur*!".!* •U''.iJ ■A\ :{t> ,-•* .'4; t-. V > r. iii . (■:* : -^M'?; ■" ^;\r '■>,'• I IvlUnliv'O i'^'^ '■■ ^..ii-.yi ferri h4 moral, v-men, option, dark- mittee ollow- i been id on : chard dence f and w % Of. THE SELECT COMMITTEE •' appointed to consider what Mea- sures ought to be adopted with regard to the Native Inhabit- ants of Countries where Biirnsi Settlements are made, and to the neighbouring Tribes, in order to secure to them the due observance of Justice and the protection of their Rights; to pro- mote the spread of Civilization among them, and to lead them to the peaceful and voluntary reception of the Christian Religion ;" and to whom the Report of the Cr^mmittee of 1836 was referred ; and who were empowered to report tlieir Observations thereupon, together with the Minutes of Evidence takea before them, to The House; Have examined the Matters to them referred, and have agreed to the following REPORT : The situation of Great Britain brings her beyond any other power into communication with the uncivilized nations of the earth. We are in contact with them in so many parts of the globe, that it has become of deep importance to ascertain the results of our relations with them, and to fix the rules of our conduct towards them. We are apt to class them under tlte sweeping term of savages, and perhaps, in so doing, to consider ourselves exempted from the obli- gations due to them as our fellow-men. This assumption does not however, it is obvious, alter our responsibility ; and the question appears momentous, when we consider that the policy of Great Britain in this particular, as it has already affected the interests, and we fear we may add, sacrificed the lives, of many thousands, may yet, in all probability, influence the character and the destiny of millions of the human race. The extent of the question will be best comprehended by taking a survey of the globe, and by observing over how much of its sur- face an intercourse with Britain may become the greatest blessing, or the heaviest scourge. It will scarcely be denied in word, that, as an enlightened and Christian people, we are at least bound to do to the inhabitants of other lands, whether enlightened or not, as we should in similar circumstances desire to be done by ; but, beyond the obligations of common honesty, we are bound by two conside- rations with regard to the uncivilized : first, that uf the ability which we possess to confer upon them the most important benefits; and, secondly, that of their inability to resist any encroachments, how- ever unjust, however mischievous, which we may be disposed to make. The disparity of the parties, the strength of the one, and the incapacity of the other, to enforce the observance of their rights, constitutes a new and irresistible appeal to our compassionate pro- tection. The duty of introducing into our relations witli uncivilized na- tions the righteous and the profitable laws of justice is incontro- -i vertible, and it has been repeatedly acknowledged in the abstract, but has, we fear, been rarely brought into practice ; for, as a nation, we have not hesitated to invade many of the rights which they hold most dear. Thus, while Acts of Parliament have laid down the general prin- ciples of equity, other and conflicting Acts have been framed, dis- posing of lands without any reference to the possessors and actual occupants, and without making any reserve of the proceeds of the property of the natives for their benefit. Reference is then made to several declarations of the British Government, both in former and more modern times, proclaiming in terms a more just and Christian course of procedure towards the Aborigines. In furtherance of these views, your Committee was appointed to examine into the actual state of our relations with uncivilized na- tions ; and it is from the evidence brought before this Committee during the last two Sessions, that we are enabled to compare our actions with our avowed principles, and to show what has been, and what will assuredly continue to be, unless strongly checked, the course of our conduct towards these defenceless people. It is not too much to say, that the intercourse of Europeans in general, without any exception in favour of the subjects of Great Britain, has been, unless when attended by missionary exertions, a source of many calamities to uncivilized nations. Too often, their territory has been usurped ; their property seized ; their numbers diminished ; their character debased ; the spread of civilization impeded. European vices and diseases have been intro- duced amongst them, and they have been familiarized with the use of our most potent instruments for the subtle or the violent de- struction of human life, viz. brandy and gunpowder. It will be only too easy to make out the proof of all these asser- tions which may be established solely by the evidence above re- ferred to. It will be easy also to show that the result lo oursel"°s has been as contrary to our interest as to our duty ; that our sys- tem has not only incurred a vast load of crime, but a vast expen- diture of money and amount of loss. On the other hand, we trust it will not be diflficult to show by inference, and even to prove, by the results of some few experiments of an opposite course of conduct, that setting aside all considera- tions of duty, a line of policy, more friendly and just towards the natives, would materially contribute to promote the civil and com- mercial interests of Great Britain. It is diflficult to form an estimate of the population of the less civilized nations, liable to be influenced for good or for evil, by contact and intercourse with the more civilized nations of the earth. It would appear that the barbarous regions likely to be more imme- ■W l.li' '' M I! f i I! i6 regard to the natives of great part of this immense region, it is stated, *' any traveller who may have visited the interior of this colony little more than 20 years ago, may now stand on the heights of Albany, or in the midst of a district of 42,000 square miles on the north side of Graaff Reinet, and ask the question : Where are the aboriginal inhabitants of this district which I saw here on my for- mer visit to this country, without any one being able to inform him where he is to look for tliem to find them." The disappearance of the former possessors of this immense region cannot, indeed, be accounted for in a few sentences, but we will endeavour to give a brief sketch of the fate of some of tlie tribes who have held possession of South Africa, premising that the Abo- rigines of this country may be classed under two distinct races, Hottentots and Caffres. The first are divided into two branches, the ** tanie" or colonial Hottentots, and the wild Hottentots or Buslmien. To the Hotten- tots belong the Corannas, Gonaquas and the mixed tribe of Gri- quas. The appellation CafFres, though sometimes still applied in a more extensive sense, is generally used in the Cape colony to de- note the three contiguous tribes of Amakosa, Amatembee and Amaponda. Tambookies is a name the English have given to the Amatembee. Mambookies is our English name for the Amaponda, and the Amakosa comprehend the tribe under the family of Gaika, and who inhabit the country between the Kei and the Keiskamma, and lie nearest to this colony, along the chain of mountains stretch- ing from the sources of the Kat river to the sea. When the Cape was discoveied by the Portuguese, the Hotten- tots were both numerous and rich in cattle. It was observed of them, that they kept the law of nations better than most civilized people. The Dutch formed their first settlement at the Cape in 1652, and their Governor, Van Reibeck, gives vent in his journal to a very natural sentiment, and one which we fear has been too prevalent with succeeding colonists, when he describes himself as looking from the mud walls of his fortress on the cattle of the na- tives, and wondering at the ways of Providence, which cou4d bestow such very fine gifts on Heathen. In the same spirit are the following entries ; — December 18th, 1652. — '* To-day the Hottentots came with thou- sands of cattle and sheep close to our fort, so that their cattle nearly mixed with ours. We feel vexed to see so many head of fine cattle, and not to be able to buy to any considerable extent. If it had been indeed allowed, we had opportunity to-day to deprive them of 10,000 head, which, however, if we obtain orders to that eflfect can be done at any time, and even more conveniently, because they will have greater confidence in us. With 150 men, 10,000 or 11,000 head of black cattle might be obtained without danger of losing one man ; and many savages might be taken without resistance, in order to be sent as slaves to India, as they still always come to us unarmed." December 18th. — "' To-day the Hottentots came again with thou- ^ i sands of cattle close to the fort. If no further trade is to be expected with them, what would it matter much to take at once 6,000 or 8,000 beasts from them ? There is opportunity enough for it, as they are not strong in number, and very timid ; and since not more than two or three men often graze a thousand cattle close to our cannon, who might be easily cut off, and as we perceive they place every confi- dence in us, we allure them still with show of friendship to make them the more confident. It is vexatious to see so much cattle, so ne- cessary for the refreshment of the Honourable Company's ships, of which it is not every day that any can be obtained by friendly trade.** The system of oppression thus begun never slackened till the Hottentot nation were cut \ and the small remnant left were reduced to abject bondage. From all the accounts we have seen respecting the Hottentot population, it could not have been less than 200,000, but at present they are said to be only 32,000 in number. When the English took possession of the Cape, they found them the actual, though not the nominal, slaves of the boors, and after some feeble efforts on their part for emancipation, as such we suf- fered the boors to retain them. The law of passes, by subjecting the Hottentots to ** rigorous control in moving from one place to another," did indeed much towards rivetting their chains, as it had the efiect of placing them under the control of any inhabitants of the colony, who never wanted frivolous pretexts to detain them at compulsory and unpaid labour. Every obstacle continued to be opposed to their civil or moral advancement, and as late as 1828, we find it stated in the law passed by General Bourke for their relief, that doubts existed upon the competency of the Hottentots and other free persons of colour (the recent possessors, be it remembered, of the whole soil) to pur- chase or possess land in the colony. All parties agree in their account of the state of the Hottentots before the passing of the 50th Ordinance, a measure of admirable justice, by which their freedom was declared and their civil rights were recognised. These are the words of Colonel Wade : — I do not consider it requisite to enter into any detailed history of the state of utter degradation from which the 50th Ordinance was in- tended to rescue the Hottentots and o'.iier free persons of colour : suffice it to say, that, from all I have been able to learn, the state of the slaves was a thousand tines preferaol'^, in every point of view, to that of this unhappy race, who, amounting at the very least to a fourth part of the whole free population of the settlement, were held in the most degrading thraldom by their fellow-subjects, at the same time that both Dutch and English Governments over and over again ad- mitted, and, by the strangest of all inconsistencies, admitted it in the very Proclamations and Ordinances in which the compulsory servi- tude was provided for, that 'the Hottentots were a free people.' From the withering effects of this bondage (in truth, I know not how C IS to (lufiignate so monstrous an anomaly,) the 50th Ordinance was ia- tended to emancipate them. * * * * m 'W ,:il;i 1 \3 Decides the subjected Hottentots, there were other Africans of the same or of kindred tribes, who were early designated under the term Bushmen, from their disdaining to become bondsmen, and choosing lather to obtain a precarious subsistence in the fields or forests. From their fust uessus, they were apt to carry on a predatory warfare against the oppressors of their race, and in return were hunted down like wild beasts. This state of things is thus described by Captain Stockenstrom : — The white colonists having, from the fir t commencement of the set- tlement, gradually encroached on the territory of the natives, whose ejectment (as Is too well known) was accompanied with great injus- tice, cruelty and bloodshed, the most hostile feelings were entertained by the weaker party towards those whom they considered as their op- pressors. The Aborigines who did not become domesticated (as it was called) like the Hottentots, seeing no chance of retaining or reco- vering their country, withdrew into the interior as the whites ad- vanced, and beingdrivento depredations by the diminution of the game, which constituted their principal means of subsistence, and which gradually disappeared when more constantly hunted, and as the wa- ters became permanently occupied by the new comers, they often made desperate attacks upon the latter, and in their turn were guilty of great atrocities. Some of the rulers of the colony in those days were, no doubt, favourable to measures of conciliation, but the evilsoon got beyond their power of control. In proportion as the pastoral po- pulation increased, more and more land was taken possession of, and more desperate and bloody became the deeds of revenge on both sides, until the extermination of the enemy appeared even to the Govern- ment the only safe alternative, at least it became its avowed object, as the encouragement given to the hostile expeditions, the rewards of the Ruccesstul commanders of thesame, and many documents still extant clearly demonstrate. The contest being beyond comparison unequal, the colonial limits widened with great rapidity. A thin white popula- tion soon spread even over the great chains of the Suven andNewveld mountains, whilst the hordes who preferred a precarious and often starving independence to servitude, were forced into the deserts and fastnesses bordering on the frontier. It will be at once perceived that I am here alluding to a period of the colonial history not long previous to the close of the last century, and that the Aborigines spoken of are the Bushmen and some tribes of Hottentots, for our relations with the Caifres and others are some- what of a different nature, as I will show in the sequel. Thus the iso- lated position of most of the intruders afforded the strongest tempta- tion to the savages occasionally to wreak their vengeance. The nu- merous herds of our peasantry grazing on the usurped lands proved too seductive a bait for the hungry fugitives, who saw the pasturage of their flocks (the game) thus occupied; but their partial success against individual families was generally dearly bought by the addi- tional loss of life and land in the long run. In 1774, an order was issued for the extirpation of tlie whole of 19 )fter tlie Bushmen, and tliree commandos, or military expediiiuns, were sent out to execute it. The massacre at that time was horrible, and llie system of persecution continued unremitting, so that, as we have seen, Mr. Barrow records it came to be considered a meritorious act to shoot a bushman. In 1795, the Earl of Macartney, by proclamation, authorised the landdrosts and magistrates to take the field against the wild Bosjesmen, whenever such an expedition should appear requisite and proper ; a practice to which, in some parts, they needed not much urging ; for Mr. Maynier, in his answers to the Commission- ers of Inquiry, says, "When I was appointed Landdrosi of Graaf Reynet, I found that regularly every year large commandos, consist- ing of £00 or 300 armed boors, had been sent against the Bosjes- men, and learnt by their reports, that generally many hundred cf Bosjesmen were killed by them, amongst which number there were perhaps not more than six or ten men (they generally contriving to save themselves by flight,) and that the greatest part of the killed comprised helpless women and innocent children. *' I was also made acquainted with the most horrible atrocities committed on those occasions, such as ordering the Hottentots to dash out against the rocks the brains of infants (too young to be car- ried off by the farmers for the purpose to use them as bondmen,) in order to save powder and shot." ***** After a time, we find that a milder system was enjoined, and in some places the Bushmen became the willing herdsmen of the boors, and whenever they were well treated, they are described to have made faithful servants ; but the boors were too often tempted to buy or to kidnap their children, and to turn the parents off the lands which they took into occupation ; and so completely is th© country south of the Orange river now cleared of Bushmen, that in 1834, Dr. Philip wrote in a memorial to the Government, — * * * * * * ' A few years ago, we had 1,800 Boschmen belonging to two mission- ary institutions, among that people in the country between theSnew- bergen and the Orange river, a country comprehending 42,000 square miles ; and had we been tble to treble the number of our missionary stations over that district, we might have had 6,000 of that people un- der instruction. In 1832, I spent 17 days in that country, travelling over it in different directions. 1 then found the country occupied by the boors, and the Bosch men population had disappeared, with the exception of those that had been brought up from infancy in the ser- vice of the boors. In the whole of my journey, during the 17 days I was in the country, I met with two men and one woman only of* the free inhabitants, who had escaped the effects of the commando system, and they were travelling by night, and concealing themselves by day, to eseape being shot like wild beasts. Their tale was a lamentable one ; their children had been taken from them by the boors, and they were wandering about in this manner from place to place, in the hope of finding out where they were, and of getting a sight of them. * * * We proceed to take a brief retrospective review of our relations c 2 20 with tlie Caffre race ; a people geiicrically tlisliiu't from tlic tribes of Hottentots, Bushmen and Griquas, and superior perhaps, from the effect of circumstances, to the two former in valour and intelli- gence. For a considerable period, under the Dutch government, the Gamtoos river had been considered the limit of the colony. Pre- vious to our occupation of the Cape in 1780, the Dutch governor, in a proclamation of that date, fixed upon the Great Fish River as the utmost limit of the colony on the eastern frontier. This, how- ever, was only a restrictive and prospective boundary, as the Caflfres were still left in possession of the country, and in 1798 Lord Mac- artney claiming all that the Dutch assumed as belonging to them by the vague proclamation of Governor Van Plattenberg, this new boundary was declared by a proclamation of his Lordship, in which we find mention of our contiguity to the Caffres. The preamble of this proclamation states, *' Whereas hitherto no exact limits have been marked out respecting the proper boundaries between this co- lony, the CafFres and the Bosjesmen, and in consequence of such limits not being regularly ascertained, several of the inhabitants in the more distant parts of this settlement have united in injuring the peaceful possessors of those countries, and under pretence of barter- ing cattle with them, reduce the wretched natives to misery and want, which at length compels them to the cruel necessity of having recourse to robbing, and various other irregularities in order to sup- port life;" he therefore fixes the Great Fish River as the eastern boundary, and strictly forbids the inhabitants of the colony to pass beyond it. The terms of this proclamation are remarkable, compared with others, inasmuch as we thereby find that at various times two seve- ral reasons have been assigned for taking away land from the Caffres ; the one that they make inroads upon us, that they are troublesome neighbours, that we are not safe in their vicinity, we therefore pronounce their land forfeited ; the other, as in Lord Macartney's proclamation, that we have been the oppressors, that we have seized their land and reduced the people to be plunderers from starvation, we therefore pronounce their land forfeited. It is singular that from such diversity of premises such an uniformity of conclusion should have been deduced. After the return of the English to the Cape in 1806, disputes were continually occurring, and in 1811 the Caffres were driven completely out of the Zuurveld. " Up to 1811," says Captain Ait- chison, " the Caffres had possession of the whole Albany. In 1811, a large force was sent from Cape Town under Colonel Graham, and were about a year in clearing that country. A great many lives were lost on both sides." The same witness states the process of clearing to have been by •* merely sending: in small detachments, and constantly harassing theCatn-es." 21 The cost of this war of 1811, which was protracted four years, was deplorable in all respects ; many hundred lives were lost on both sides ; among the rest fell landdrost Stockenstrom, father of the Lieutenant-governor of the eastern district, and T'Congo, father of the chiefs Pato, Kama and T'Congo. It is not easy to calculate exactly the expenses so brought upon the Cape Colony, and upon the home Treasury ; but the Com- missioners of Inquiry notice the expense of the war of 1811 as a great evil ; and as they remark, that peaceful intercourse is endan- gered by the troops, so they anticipate saving of money from a peace- ful system. Tiie results of this war of 1811 were, first, a succession of new wars, not less expensive, and more sanguinary than the former ; se- cond, the loss of thousands of good labourers to the colonists ; and this testimony as to the actual service done by CafFre labourers, comprises the strong opinion of Major Dundas, when landdrost in 1827, as to their good dispositions, and that of Colonel Wade to the same effect; and thirdly, the checking of civilization and trade with the interior for a period of 12 years. The gain was some hundreds of thousands of acres of land, which might have been bought from the natives for comparatively a trifle. In 1813, it is stated that a** commando, under Colonel Brereton, took 30,000 head of cattle from the Caffres : a practice forming part of a system to which frequent reference is made in every his- tory of our Cape colony transactions. The inhabitants of the frontier have, it seems, from the earliest times,* been accustomed to unite in " armed assemblages, called commandos," for the purpose of recovering stolen cattle. The system was recognized by the Government, who appointed a field- commandant to each district, and a field-cornet to each sub-division of the district, In 1833 a proclamation of Sir Lowry Cole empowered any field- cornet or deputy field-cornet, to whom a boor may complain that he had lost cattle, to send a party of soldiers on the track and re- cover the cattle. It is on evidence, that this mode of recovering cattle is very un- certain ; that the cattle are often reported as lost, when they have only strayed ; so that, in nine cases out of ten, you punish the in- nocent; *' and here,'' says Captain Stockenstrom, ** lies the great evil, for it is the easiest and most lucrative mode of retaliation , yet at the same time the most demoralizing." * * * The late Commissioner of the frontier, now Lieutenant-governor, thus gives his opinion of the working of this system. * * » I had then long since made up my mind that the great source of misfortune on the frontier, was the system of taking Caffre cattle under any circumstances by our patrols, and I shall give my reasons : if Caffres steal cattle, very seldom the real perpetrators can be found, •V; ' in 2'i unlcBs the man lusiiig the cnltlu has been on hiH gnani, and ucc-s tiio robbery attiiiilly porpetratod, so timt he can immediately cullect a force an(i pursue the pluitderers) if the cattle be once out of sight of the pliiiiderod purty, there in si-hlom any getting them again ; our patrols are then entirely at the nuircy of the statements nmde by the farmers, and they may protend that they are leading then» on the trace of the stolen cattle, which may be tlie trace of any cattle in the world. On coming np to the first Ciitt're kraal, the CattVe, knowing the pur- pose for which the patrol comes, immediately drives his cuttle out of sight » we then use torce and collect those cattle, and take the number said to be stolen, or more : this the CatlVes naturally, and as it always appeared to me, justly resist; they have nothing else to live on, and if the cows be taken away the calves perish, and it is a miserable con- dition in which the Catt're women and children, and the whole party, are left: that resistance is usually construed into hostility, ontl it is almost impossible then to prevent innocent bloodshed. Italsootten hap- pens that when the patrol is on the spoor [track] of cattle really stolen, they find some individual head of cattle which is either knocked n]> or purposely left behind by the real perpetrators, near a kraal, and that is taken as a positive proof of the guilt of that kraal, and leads to the injustice which I have previously pointed out. There have be(Mi instances where the farmers have gotie into Caffreland with a patrol, pretending to be on the spoor of stolen cattle, and where cattle were taken from the Caftres on the strength of this supposed theft, and on returning home he has found his cattle in another direction, or found them ilestroyed by wolves, or through his own neglect entirely strayed away ; and thus men, not losing cattle at all, but coveting Caftre's cattle, have nothing more to do but to lead the patrol to a kraal, and commit the outrages above described ; and the CatlVes have frequently told me, '* We do not care how many Catfres you shoot if they come into your country, and you catch them stealing, but for every cow you take from our country you make a thief." This I knovy to be the case, and though I am aware that it is an unpopular view of the question, I must persist that as long as CaflVe cattle be taken, peace on the frontier is utterly impossible. 1005. Then do you attribute the disturbances, which have so con- stantly prevailed on the frontiers, and the acts of severity which we have been obliged to inflict occasionally, and the backward state of improvement of the natives, and the necessity of maintaining a largo military force on the frontiers, to this cause ; namely, the seizure of Caft're cattle, for cattle stolen or pretended to be stolen from the colonists ? — Decidedly. 1006. You think that is the great source of these evils? — Certainly. 1007. And the great source of expense to Government in keeping up a sutticient military force on the frontier? — Yes, decidedly; it leads to this, that when cattle are taken, those from whom they are taken have nothing else to live on ; they consequently try to keep possession and defend themselves: this is " resistance ;" we then use violence, they are shot, and at last comes war, and war without end. 1013. Do you think we can have a system of peace and tranquillity, and the introduction of civilization among the natives, so long as this system of seizing their cattle continues?— Decidedly not; they can- not be quiet, the people must eat. 1014. Do you think it is in vain to attempt to civilize and chris- tiiinize them as long as this system of plundering them of their cattle I continues? — Yes, it is in vain to attempt to civilize and christianize, if people have nothing to eat. 1015. Did you represent to the Government that the continuance of this system would render it ni'cessnry for the Government to annex tlio CttftVeland to our douiiniouH / — In both my stati'monts which are before the Committee, it will be found that almost the very words were used long before any of the late outrages began. As a natural consequence of our commando in 1818, followed the expulsion of the Catt'res, and the seizure of the ceded territory. We will go from one lino to another, and we will take one slice of the country after another, and as long as you continue to take the people's cattle, so long will this take place, and you will go from river to river till you get to Delagoa Bay. * * # * * >t tnu peace "I ► con- ch wo ) ite of largo ire of n the duly. jpiug y ; it y are keep hi use md. Illity, th IS cau- iris- pattle But we return to the history. In 1817 we entered into a treaty with Gaika, a Caffre chief of importance, but not, as we chose, or as a witness expresses it, '* wished," to consider him, paramount sovereign, to punish the depredations of the other chiefs, one of whom, T'Slambie, soon after quarrelled with Gaika. We took part with Gaika, and defeated his enemies, of whom a great number were slain, and we brought off an immense drove of cattle, which we divided with our ally. This involved us in the more serious war of 1819, when the Caifres, whom we had plundered in the pre- ceding year, made a desperate incursion into the colony. They were driven back with slaughter, and we then demanded of Gaika a large portion of CafFreland, for no reason that can be discovered, except that he failed in preventing the incursion, though he was then our ally, and aided us in repelling it. * * * * We thus pushed our boundary line to the Keiskamma, taking in about 2,000 square miles more. This tract was at first to be called neutral territory, but it soon came to bear the name of ceded terri- tory, altiiough the mode of cession was somewhat questionable. Gaika himself did not profess to have the entire disposal of the lands he thus surrendered ; the right was disputed by the chiefs of his own nation, and the treaty was merely verbal, and consigned to the memory of the parties alone ; but in those days, as a witness observed, a discussion with the Caffres was not treated with much formality. ***### It should be noticed, that in this treaty Gaika expressly reserved for the Caffres the basin of the Chumie, which became afterwards a point of further contention. * * * * The next fact that strikes us is the statement of Captain Atchison : ** The chief, Macomo, upon representing the hardship of his being removed out of the country and giving up the Kat River, which was formerly his, was allowed to return again ; but many robberies had been committed by his people, and traced to his kraals or huts. In 1822 or 1823 a large force, in which I was employed, surprised these kraals in the middle of the niglit, and we took from tlieui 7,000 beasts." ?4 We also (iiiil ollitr iiH'OnJs orcoiniiirtiKloH of the coluiiy, uii'J in 18'2() it iti uclniitlcd tliul one ui' llicsi; altackeil by inistuke the kruul of Footman. Still Macomo rcmaincrl, as it was said, on stiftcrancc; but in 1829 an attack of Macomo's upon the Tambookies was tlie occa- sion or the pretext of his expulsion. Macomo allopd that he had done nothing to deserve tlie displeasure of the British Government. But it is not our design to defend his treatment of the Tambookies. His expulsion, however, seems to have been u measure of severity, as described by a witness by no means favourable to iVIaoomo, and to have remained a lasting grievance in his mind. • * * The banks of the Chumic were still left in the possession of the Caftres, and their next remove was from thence. In 1833, before Sir Lowry Cole left the colony, he had given orders for removing Tyalie and his people from the Muncassanna ; he was accordingly removed, but by an error, as Colonel Wade says, not placed beyond the boundary. To remedy this error. Colonel Wade, without consulting the frontier authorities, gave order for a further removal, which must have appeared to the CaflTres, who had submitted quietly to the first order, an unac- countable decree. On this affair we would remark, that the actual boundary was at least a disputed point, few authentic witnesses remaining ; but there were two persons, who, from their station, must be regarded as com- petent to speak to the point, and they, without communication, concur in declaring that the Chumie basin (the tract in question, as we believe) had been reserved for the Caffres. These are Cap- tain Stockenstrom, who, in his account of the treaty, says, as we have seen, that Gaika did stipulate that his family should keep the Chumie basin; and Macomo, who, in a letter written in 1833, says, that ** I have lived peaceably with my people west of the Chumie river, ever since I have been allowed by Stockenstrom and Somerset to live theit! in my own country." Whatever may be Hie opinions of our witnesses on this and on other particulars of our border policy, on one point we observe tiiey are all agreed, in condemning and in lamenting its fickleness and inutility. This vacillation may be explicable, perhaps, to ourselves, who are aware of the variety of men and opinions concerned in the ad- ministration of affairs, and of the contradictory representations liable to be made at a remote seat of government ; but, as Lord Glenelg has justly observed, to the natives our proceedings must often have assumed an appearance of caprice, and of a confusion perfectly unintelligible. In no case has this vacillation been more awkwardly exemplified than in the further transactions with Ma- como, thus stated by Captain R. S. Aitchison : — i I'**. Have you ever been employed in removing any of the Caffre tribes onlerc dary, 116. Colon to En 117 Wade D'Ur 118. move abscn 26 tribcH out oi tliL> neutral territory / — 1 have : in Nuveinlier 1833 I wu his right to stay? — No ; but he distinctly said, which we found out afterwards to be the case, that he could not make out the cause of his removal, and asked me if I would tell him ; and I really could not : 1 had heard nothing, no cause was ever assigned to me for the removal ; and moreover I met a boor who lived close to where Macomo was, and he said} ** Pray what are you removing these people for?** I said, 25 W W. Li *' My orders are to do so." He said, " I am very sorry for it, for I have never lost, so long as they have been here, a single beast ; they have even recovered beasts for tne." 125. Then Macoino be *vod, in this interview between you and him, very well? — \t first, as may be supposed, he was very violent; the man was very mucli irritaced. I could not assign anv reason why he was ordered to be removed; and he absolutely stated, '• I will allow J^ou to inquire at Fort Willshire, whether or not I have not sent in lorses and cattle re-captured from other Caffres, which had been stolen from the colony." ■ ' ' -" ' 131 Did you see any instance of great distress amongst them? — Unfortunately it so hapi>ened for them that it was a particularly dry- season ; the grass, wMch generally is very abundant, was very scarce indeed, and also water ; and they were driven out of a country that was both better fo*" water and grass than the one they were removed to, which was already tuickly inhabited. They took me over the coun- try they were to inhabit, and I rssure you there was not a morsel of grass upon it more than there is in this room ; it was as bare as a parade. 132. On Colonel '"lomerset's return from Englar 1, was there any j>ermission given to Macomo and his followers to return? — i men- tioned. to Colonel Somerset on his return, what I had told Macomo ; I considered it my duty to do so, and he either obtained or gave the Caft'res permission to re-occupy the ground fiom which I had driven then . 149. As to Maccmo's tribe, did they reap the benefit of that harvest when they returned in January ? — No, I think not ; the corn would not be ripe till March. 150. You suppose the whole of that was los^? — A great part of that 161. They came in February ? — Yes. t^ ■:?.;; ; ^ i:^ 152. When were they driven out? — By return of post. Colonel Somerset allowed them to come in, and, upon a representation to the civil commissioners, they were ordered back again. In what light, may we again ask, must these changes have ap- peared to the Caffrfis, removed without cause assigned from theii liutb and springing corn in November 1833 — restored in February 1334 — sent away again by return of post — in the same year as we shall see, allowed to resettle themselves — and again ejected.* We might find cause for regret i.i these changes, if only on the * Sir Benjamin D'Urban thus speaks of the November expulsion : — '*For many years past the tribes of the chiefs Macomo, Bothman and Tyalie, had been allowed by the colonial government to reside and graze tLeir cattle immediately within (on the western side of) the River Keiskamma, upon the Gaga, Chumie and Mur.cassana. In the November of the last year the acting governor, under the impression that this indulgence had been abused (w'lic*^ probably it might have been to a certain extent), o»'dered their immediate expulsion from the whole of that line, and they were expelled accordingly. This unfor- tunately happened when a period of severe drought was approaching; so that these tribes, I am afrs'.d, but too certainly suffered much loss in their herds in consequence," — Despatch, 28th Oct. 1834; Cape Papers, Part II. 1835, No. 252, p. .'03. 27 ground of the fickleness of policy which they exhibit, but when we couple with tlicm the fact mentioned by Mr. Gisborne, that one only of these removals had produced in the minds not only of the chiefs immediately concerned, but in that of Hintza, feelings of dis- trust a'ld irritation, we cannot but consider these rtpetitions of the gri^vance us one of the prmcipal causes of the calamity which ha'i brfallen the colony. Of the last scene of removal. Colonel Wade was witness Oh the 21st October, 1834. He sajs, that "at this time, they had been returned about a month, had built their huts, established their cattle-kraals, and commenced the cultivation of their gardens." He states that, together with Colonel Somer- set, he made a visit to Macomo and Bolman's kraal, across the Keiskamma, and that Macomo rode back with them, when they had recrossed the river and reached the Omkobina, a tributary of the Chumie. *' These valleys werfe swarming with CafFres, as was the whole country in our front, as far as the Gaga; the people were all in motion, carrying off their effects, and driving away their cattle towards the drifts of the river, and to ray utter amazement, the whole country around and before us was in a blaze. Presently we came up with a strong patrol of the mounted 1 1e corps, which had, it appeared, come out from Fort Beaufort that morning ; the soldiers were busily employed in burning the huts and driving the CafFres towards the frontier." : The further procedures with the CafFres are thus described : — " The second time of my leavim!? Caifrelaikd was in October, last year, in company with a gentleman, who was to return towards Hantam. "We passed th, ough the country of the Gaga, at 10 o'clock at night , the CafFres we.e enjoying themselves after their custom, with then* shouting, feastik'g and midnight dances ; they allowed us to pass on un- molested. Some v'rae after 1 received a letter from the gentleman who was my traveMing conoanion on that night, written just before the breaking out of the Caftre ^v&r ; in it he says, *' You recollect !iOW joyful the CafFres were when we c^^ccd ♦he Gaga ; but on my return a dense smoke tilled all the vales, and the CtiiiVes »vere seen lurking here and there behind the Mimosa; a patrol, commanded by an officer, was c^riving them beyond the colonial boundary. (This piece of coun- try has very lately been claimed by the colony.) I saw one n'an near me, and I told my guide to call h'.m to me : the poor fellow said, ' No, I canno* come nearer ; that white mai; looks too much like a soldier ;' and all our persuasions could not induce him to advance near us.' * Look,' said he, pointing to the ascending columns of smoke, ' what the white men are doing.' Their huts and folds were all burned. When the boors cross the northern^ boundary, you hear the cWil commissioner and Colonel Bell saying the drought compels them to intrude into the country of the Griquas. I suppose boors are men, CaflFres are beasts, or why not use the same argument for all classc-i of our fellow-men?" Ihus much of this gentleman's letter, upon whose veracity I can implicitly depend. It was about this period that the case of the CafFre Goube came on, when the magistrate of Grjiham's-town, awarded to a Caffre 50 lashes on his bare back, and an imprisonment of two months, ** for resisting a scrjeant in the i 28 ki'. execution of his duty/* such being tlie civil charge, as may be seen in the records of the magistrates' court of Grahatn's-town. The poor Caifre being a subject of Macomo's, had, as it appears in evidence, built his hut on the part of the neutral territory, so called, probably the Gaga. The seijeant being about to set fire to the hut, the Caffre is said to have threatened opposition ; he afterwards went through the Caffreland, showing his wounded back to his countrymen, and calling down their vengeance. Numerous were the instances of com- mandos or patrols, of which I heard when in Caifreland, carrying off the cattle of the Caffres, burning their huts, besides the misconduct of the traders and farmers. Of the previous state of the country, and its appearance at the time we are speaking of, Dr. Philip says : — In passing through Albany and the neutral territory in the end of August or the beginning of September, the scenes where their depre- dations were said to have taken place, I made particular inquiry after the boors and settlers who could not send their cattle and herds with- out sending armed men to defend them •, and I endeavoured to ascer- tain where the hordes of CafFres were said to be within 'he .^'ony harassing the military, and, in spite ofthem, committing ur ".,!.■ ed outrages ; but I met with none who had either seen or heard of such things. Herds of cattle and horses were seen wandering in diflferent directions, some of them attended by herdsmen without any arms, and others of these herds without any one appearing to look after them. Everything within the colony wore the aspect ot peace; and the prin- cipal things'which seemed to occupy the people's minds.'were the emi- gration of ,he boors beyond the frontier, and the expectation that when the Governor came to the frontier he would grant them new farms beyond the limits of the colony. We heard in every direction that the patrols had been very active ; and on approaching the CaiFre frontier the first thing which struck my travelling companions and myself was a patrol coming out of Caifreland. Du: Ing the two weeks I spent at the Kat River, I was constantly hearing of patrols driving the Caffres over the Chumie, burning their huts, and going into Caf- freland to bring out cattle said to Tiave been stolen. Having re- mained at Kat River about a fortnight, I went into Caifreland, ac companied by Captain Bradford, J. H. Tredgold, esq. and the Rev. Mr. Read. We spent about a fortnight in the Caffre country, and in every part that we visited we found the Caffres in a state of continual alarm ; and we seldom met a few of them together but one or the other of them had to tell us how they had been ruined by the patrols. It was truly heartrending to listen to their complaip.ts, and the com- plaints of the men were almost forgotten in the discress of the women and children, who were literally perishing, being stricken through for want of the fruits of the field and the milk that had been the means of their support, their cows having been carried away by the patrols. Having visited the missionary stations of Lovedale, Burn's-hill auii the Buffalo River, I returned by way of Knapp's-hill, the missionary station of the Rev. Mr. Kayser, which was on Macomo's ground, and near his kraal. There we net with several of the Caffre chiefs who had been invited to meet me there ; namely, Macomo, Botman, Kama, nd Tzatzo. We had a public meeting, which occupied the greater part of a day, and at which there was much s^ieaking. My sole object on 29 that occasion was to procure any additional information for the Go- vernor which I could obtain. I stated to them that I had come amoi ^ them as their friend ; I neither was in fact« nor appeared to them to be, in any other character. In reply to the remarks which the chiefs made about their 8u£ferings, I stated that I hoped the Governor would soon be on the frontier, and that I had reason to think he was a just man, and would redress any real grievances of which they might have to complain. I told them at the same time, that they mnst not expect anything more than was reasonable from his Excellency ; that he was obliged to protect the colonists from any depredations that might be committed on thent by the Caifres, and that any future plan that might be proposed to the chiefs by the Governor would necessarily embrace the restoration of cattle stolen frc::; the colonists by the Caifres, and other things of a similar nature. I found the Caifres reasonable, and 1 had not the least doubt that had the Governor gone to the frontier at the time I was there, they would ha\e embraced the plan he had to propose for the peaceable settlement of the frontier aftairs with transports of joy. Having stated rather strongly the necessity the chiefs would be under of preventing all stealing from the colony as the condition of any peaceable rela- tions the Governor might enter into with them, Botman made the fol- lowing reply : " The Governor cannot be so unreasonable as to make our existence as a nation depend upon a circumstance which is be- yond the reach of hnman power. Is it in the power of any Governor to prevent his people stealing from each other? Have you not within the colony, magistrates, policemen, prisons, whipping-posts and gibbets; and do you not perceive that in spite of all these means to make your people honest, that your prisons continue ful?, and that you have constant employment for your magistrates, policemen and hangmen, without being able to keep down your colonial thieves and cheats? A thief is a wolf; he belongs to no society, and yet is the pest and bane of all societies. You have your thieves, ana we have thieves among us ; but we cannot, as chiefs, extirpate the thieves of Caffreland, more than we can extirpate the wolves, or you can extir- pate the thieves of the colony. There is, however, this difference be- tween us: Ave discountenance thieves in Caffreland, and prevent, as far as possible, our people stealing from the colony ; but you counte- nance the robbery of your people upon the CafTres, by the sanction you give to the injustice of the patrol system. Our people have stolen your cattle, but you have, by the manner by which you nave refunded your loss, punished the innocent ; and after having taken our country from us, without even a shadow of justice, and shut us up to starva- tion, you threaten us with destruction for the thefts of those to whom you left no choice but to steal or die by famine.*' My last interview with the chiefs took place in the beginning of October 1834. After this interview, I returned to the Kat River, where I waited, expecting daily tlie arrival of the Governor. Finding that he delayed his proposed journey, and that I had no certainty as to the time of his arrival on the frontier, I drew up a document, com- municating additional information, and at the same time laying before Sir Benjamin the principle on which it was necessary to base the sys- tem of international law proposed to be introduced. Finding that I could not wait longer for his Excellency on the frontier, I wrote a letter to him, in which I stated that circumstance, assigning my rea- sons for leaving Caffreland at that ]:>eriod ; and as he was daily ex- i 30 Ml pected in Graham's Town, the above document, with the letter in question, I forwarded to Graham's Town, to be put into the hands of his Excellency on his arrival there, that he might see them before he went into Caffieland. I then left Kat River on the 4th of November, by way of the Man- kassana and Gaga. On a ridge which separates these two districts, I met several parties of CattVes. Goobie, a CaftVe, who had been im- prisoned and Hogged at Graham's Town by order of the civil magis- trate, had returned to that neighbourhood ; and oive of the first ques- tions asked me was, what right the English Government had to punish the subject of a Caffre chief? I was assured by the people then around me, that it was the first example of a Caft're ever having been flogged } that the man could never again lift up his head in society i that it would have been better had he been shot dead ; and that when the Governor should arrive among them, he would hear of it from e\try tongue in Caffreland, as one of the greatest indignities that could have been oiFered to their nation. I said everything in my power to soothe them ; "^I't no people can have a keener sense of injustice in cases where », < *' »mselves are the suttercrs, or can be more alive to what they dee I. ional aftVonts, than the CatFres are ; and I found that any argume . I used to quiet their minds tended only to increase the excitement to which this circumstance had given rise. Some of the Caffres asserted that the man was arrested on what was till then con- sidered Caffre territory ; but this is a circumstance of small conse- quence ; he was the subject of a Caffre prince, and he had only lifted his hand to protect his hut, and his wife and child, who were in it. Leaving the Mankassana, I proceeded along the western edge of the Chumie Basin, and during a ride of perhaps 20 miles, I did not find a single Caffre kraal or hut which had not been burnt or other- wise destroyed by the military. Immediately above Fort Willshire, and below the junction of the Chumie and Keiskamma Rivers, I saw with my own eyes the kraals and huts of the Caffres burning. This was on ground that was of use to no one. It was on the boundary of the neutral ground (within the territory which goes by that name), and at a great distance from any colonists. The people were sitting in small groups looking at their burning habitations. Being asked why they did not go over the river, they said there was no grass on the other sicie, and they niight as well perish by the patrols as by famine ; they added, that the patrols who fired their kraals and huts had in- formed them, that the next day every one of them was to be driven over the river at the point of the bayonet. On the 5th of November, the day after 1 left Kat River, I halted near Fort Willshire, about mid-day. Macomo, hearing that I was there, came to the place, accompanied with about 20 of his men. They remained with me about two hours. On his way he called at Fort Willshire, where he was reminded of a demand which had been made upon him a short time before by Colonel Somerset for 480 head of cattle, said to be due to the colony. The chief stated in reply to that demand, that there were no colonial cattle among his people ; that he had always been ready, whenever cattle had been stolen from the colony, and reported to him, to recover them ; that in the course of a year he had sent back a great number he had recaptured from CaftVes thatdid not belong to them. Colonel Somerset had stiil urged that the 480 head of cattle were to be demanded, adding that he had orders from the Governor to make this demand, but the Governor was 1 31 not willing to use force till he knew whether Macoino would comply with the demand or not. To this the chief replied, that he could only repeat what he had before said, that he had done everything in his power to recover cattle said to have been stolen from the colony ; that he would be answerable for his own people, but that he could not be answerable for catile stolen by vagabond Caffres in the bushes. Hav- ing given this reply, and being conscious that he had done everything in his power, and seeing no end to the demands made upon him, he received this last demand as a proof that his ruin was resolved upon ; for he had just been told at Fort Willshire that a commando was about to enter his country to take the 480 head of cattle, and this threat seemed to add greatly to his distress. The chief then entered upon further detail of his grievances, and declared that it was impossible for human nature to endure what he had to suffer from the patrol sys- tem. I reasoned with him, and did all in my power to impress upon his mind the importance of maintaining peace with the colony. I stated again that I had reason to believe that the Governor, when he came to the frontier, would listen to all his grievances, and treat him with justice and generosity. "These promises," he replied, *' we have had for the last 15 years ;" and, pointing to the huts then burn- ing, he added, '* things are becoming worse : these huts were set on fire last night, and we were told that to-morrow the patrol is to scour the whole district, and drive every Caffre from the west side of the Chumic and Keiskamma at the point of the bayonet." He asked to what ex- tent endurance was to be carried? and my reply was, " If they drive away your people at the point of the bayonet, advise them to go over the keiskamma peaceably ; if they come and take away cattle, suflFer them to do it without resistance; if they burn your huts, allow them to do so; if they shoot your men, bear it till the Governor come ; and then represent your grievances to him, and I am convinced you will have no occasion to repent of having followed my advice. He was deeply affected, and the last words he said to me were, (grasping my hand,) '♦ I will try what 1 can do." These events bring us to the breaking out of the late war. On this most iniportant subject we abstain from entering. Though much evidence has been laid before us, and many circumstances ap- pearing therein have excited our deep regret, (amongst the most painful of which we may allude to the death of the CafFre Prince Hintza,) yet as the evidence on this head has not been completed, and as the events are so recent, we have been led to the belief that an analysis of the statements already before us might not be con- sidered either impartial or conclusive : we therefore waive the inves- tigation. It is sufficient to express our opinion, that the system which has long been pursued in our intercourse with the natives of South Africa bas baen productive of most injurious effects both to the colonists and the Caffres, exposing the former to constant inse- curity and frequent severe suffering and loss, and subjecting the latter to great injustice, and to treatment which could not fail to occasion feelings of irritation and hostility. We look upon the late war as one among many illustrations of these evils. While we purposely abstain from dwelling upon the circumstances which immediately produced it, m'c, without hesita- I tlon, name its real, though perhaps remote cause — it was the syste- matic Ibrgetfulness of the principles of justice in our treatment of the native possessors of the soil. That any substantial benefit can accrue from border conflicts, either to the British or the Caffre nation, may well be questioned. What has either party gained by recent hostilities ? It is proved that both have sustained immense detriment — civilization has been retarded ; commerce has been interrupted ; the vanquished party has endured immense loss in property, in territory and in life ;* and the victorious nation, besides suffering in all these particulars, has in- curred an actual outlay of money far more than commensurate to the value of the territory acquired. The cost of this war to the British nation is estimated at 241,884/. 145. S^d. With respect, however, to this part of our investigation, we wish it to be understood, that it is not against individuals, much less against the colonists or the military as bodies, that we would direct our reprehension ; we are convinced that a large proportion of both are well and kindly disposed towards the natives : but it is the sys- tem that has been permitted to prevail in the colony, which, in our opinion, requires a complete alteration ; a system which puts it into the power of the few who are rash, reckless or greedy, to hazard the peace and the welfare of the whole community. We are aware that the results of a long system of erroneous policy are not to be reme- died without much time and patience, and we fear that the weight of the calamity which it has produced has in many instances fallen on those of our colonists who have least merited it ; but we enter- tain a confident hope that, by the measures which have been lately adopted and recommended by the Government, peace and harmony between us and our neighbours may be restored and established on a sure and lasting basis ; and it is chiefly to the enlightened princi- ples, and to the just directions of the head of our Colonial Depart- ment, exemplified as they are in his late despatches before us, and to laws embodying and carrying into effect those directions and principles, that we look for this happy accomplishment of our de- sires. Thus much at least is sufficiently obvious, as has been stated by Sir Benjamin D'Urban in his despatch to Mr. Secretary Rice, of 28th of October 1834, "that a complete and effectual reformation of our system of proceeding with the native tribes (if that may be called a system which seems to have been guided by no fixed prin- ciples, certainly by no just one) had become absolutely i ecessary." * This consisied in the slaughter of 4,000 of their warriors, or fight- ing men. ** There have been taken from them also, besides the con- quest and alienation of their country, about 60,000 head of cattle, al- most all their goats — their habitations everywhere destroyed and their gardens and corn-fields hid waste." — Sir B. D'Urban to Lord Glen- clg, November 1835. 33 We can hardly leave the subject of South Africa and its wrongs, without noticing two very gratifying facts of recent occurrence, the one, that Lord Glenelg has ordered the restoration to the Caffres of a consi- derable tract of territory of which th^y had been un- justly deprived : and the other, that he has appointed as Lieutenant-governor of the eastern part of the colony, and in fact as protector of the natives, Captain Stock- enstrom, a man whose chief merit in the eyes of our Government, and his chief offence in those of the colo- nists, appears to have been his zealous miintenance of the rights of the African Aborigines. Effects of Fair Dealing^ combined with Christian Instruction^ on Aborigines. In the foregoing survey we have seen the desolating effects of the association of unprincipled Europeans with nations in a ruder state. There remains a more gratifying subject to which we have now to direct our attention — the effect of fair dealing and of Christian in- struction upon heathens. The instances are unhappily less nu- merous than those of an opposite character, but they are not less conclusive ; and in reviewing the evidence before us, we find proof that every tribe of mankind is accessible to this remedial process, and that it has actually been partially applied, and its benefits ex- perienced in every quarter of the world, so that the main feature of the case before us being the ravages caused by Europeans, enough has been incidentally disclosed to show that those nations which have been exposed to our contamination might, during the same period, have been led forward to religion and civilization. Inde- pendently of the obligations of conscience to impart the blessings we enjoy, we have had abundant proof that it is greatly for our ad- vantage to have dealings with civilized men rather than with bar- barians. Savages are dangerous neighbours and unprofitable cus- tomers, and if they remain as degraded denizens of our colonies, they become a burthen upon the State. We have next to express our conviction that there is but one ef- fectual means of staying the evils we have occasioned, and of im- parting the blessings of civilization, and that is, the propagation of Christianity, together with the preservation, for the time to come, of the civil rights of the natives. • * ♦ * We further find, in the evidence before us, that benevolent at- 34 m tempts Iiave been made to instruct savages in the arts of civilized li:e, for the purpose of improving their condition, and gradually pre- paring them for the truths of the Gospel, and that these attempts have been signally unsuccessful. The cause of this failure is explained by Mr. Beecham. ,': rJ- ; )'. The higher motives of the gospel must be brought to bear upon the mind of the savage t he must be made to feel the importance of the truths of religion before he will discover anything desirable in the quietness and sobriety of civilized life, or will dare to break through his superstitions in order to subdue it. I was aware that the Governor of Upper Canada had made many attempts to induce the Indians to renounce their wandering life, and I wished to ascertain from the chief himself what were his views of the endeavours made by the Governor in their behalf, and how it was that they failed. He said the fact was simply this, that the offers of the Governor had no charms for them ; they could see nothing in civilized life sufficiently attractive to induce them to give up tbeir former mode of living for the sake of it. He told me that they gave the Governor credit for very kind and benevolent intentions ; yet, in answer to all hi applications, while they thanked him for his kind intentions, they uniformly told him that they preferred their own mode of living to that followed by Europeans. This again was the case with the Indians who are situated in the neighbourhood uf the river St. Clair. The Governor made several attempts to induce them also to renounce their wandering habits, and devote themselves to civilized pursuits ; but they also refused, arguing in the following strain : ** Who knows but the Munedoos (gods) would be an'^ry with us for abandoning our own ways?" and concluded by saying, ** We wish our great father, the Governor, to be informed that we feel thankful to him for his good will towards us, but cannot accept of his kind oilers.** It is true that, after some time, one of the tribes so far acceeded to the Governor*s proposals as to consent that he should build them some houses. He built a small number for their use, but it was altogether a fruitless experiment; the Indians only occupied them occasionally as they used their own huts, without any reference to the comforts or pursuits of civilized life. I have here a letter from the chief himself in his own hand-writing, in which he says, in re- ference to the attempts that had thus been made to promote civilization without Christianity, *' I have heard of no instance in this part of the country, where the plan of first civilizing the heathen Indians ever succeeded.** # * * * So complete indeed has been the failure of the merely civilizing plan with various tribes of Indians, that intelligent Americans have been led to adopt the conclusion, that it is necessary to banish the Indians from the neighbourhood of the white population, on the supposition that they are not capable of being reclaimed or elevated into a civilized or well-ordered community. This was not the opinion of William Penn, whose conduct to- wards the Indians has been deservedly held up as a model for legis- lators, and who, ** notwithstanding he purchased their lands'* by 35 an equitable treaty, " did not desire their removal," but '* admitted them to full participation in the benefit and protection of the laws," and who also took pains to promote their religious instruction, and to render the intercourse with their white brethren beneficial to them. That the good which he contemplated has been frustrated by many untoward circumstances, we are aware ; but we do not therefore doubt the feasibility of producing a permanent impression upon uncivilized men. We consider that the true plan to be pur- sued is that which we find thus recommended by the Church Mis- sionary Society, in their instructions to two of their emissaries. *• In connexion with the preaching of the Gospf^l, you will not overlook its intimate bearing on the moral habits of a people. One effect arising from its introduction into a country is, the ' beating the sword into a ploughshare and the spear into a pruning-hook.' Seek then to apply it to the common occupation of life ; and instead of waiting to civilize them before you instruct them in the truths of the Gospel, or to convert them before you aim at the improvement of their temporal condition, let the two objects be pursued simul- taneously." The Governors of the Canadas, as we find in their despatches, seem to have been brought to the conviction that religious instruc- tion and the influence of missionaries would be the most likely means of improving their condition, and, eventually, of relieving the Government from the expense of the Indian department. Both Sir James Kempt and Sir J. Colbourne advise the sending of mis- sionaries among them. A remarkable instance of the power of the gospel in reclaiming savages has been afforded by the Mississaguas and Chippeways, the very Indians who had, as we have seen, rejected civilization, and who were notorious for drunkenness and debauchery. Their improvement began with their conversion : ** as soon as they were converted, they perceived the evils attendant upon their former ignorant wandering state ; they began to work, which they never did before ; they perceived the advantage of cultivating the soil; they totally gave up drinking, to which they had been strongly attached ; they became industrious, sober and useful." The Bishop of Quebec writes, — The Methodist S jciety have been very successful in converting a great portion of the Mississagua tribe from heathen ignorance and im- moral habits to Christian faith and practice; and this improvement has been so great and rapid within these few years, that the hand of God seems to be visible in it; and it must be acknowledged that they have done much in the work of their civilization. An extraordinary reformation and conversion to Christianity has taken piace in this tribe within a few years. It commenced on the river Credit, and has extended to various settlements of the nation to a considerable dis- tance. A great proportion of the tribe have become sober and indus- D 2 30 triouB in their habitR, wull clad as to their pcrsoiiR, and religious in their lite and conversation. M Mr. Magrath also mentions that they no longer desire the gifts of trin- kets and gaudy coloured clothes, in which they formerly delighted, in lieu of which they request twine, for the purpose of making fish- ing-nets for the Lake Ontario, The half-caste chief Kahkcwa- quonaby, generally known by the name of Peter Jones, in an- swer to the question, whether the Chippeways, on embracing the gospel, did not immediately ap|a9sing out of tlu tent he said, " Perhaps I shall be for war, ])erhflii>; I phall be for p* ice, but I think I shall be for war; perhaps we shall liplit, perhaps we shall not fight, but I think we shall fight." We then tru d to work ipon his fears ; he was an enormously large man, and Mr. Williams called out to him, " Take care, Tareha, you are a very big man, and no musk L-ball can pass by you." 1624. Was the result of your interferei e, that what would have Erobably been a bloody battle was prevented, and that peace was made etween the contending tribes ? — Yes ; and they have remained upon the most friendly terms ever since. 1625. Do you believe that if it had not h- . for the interference of the missionaries this conflict would have tuken place? — There is no question In my own mind, nor in the mind of any New Zealander I have ever met with. 1626. Did the measures which the missionaries took upon that occa- sion tend to extend and enlarge their influence afterwards? — Yes, throughout the whole country. It was made known in the southern parts of the island, and brought great numbers to request our interfer- ence in their quarrels also. 1627. Do you recollect any other instances in which the missionaries have been engaged in promoting peace ? — Not in which I myself have 44 been engaged ; but many in which my brethren have, at the diiFereut stations. 1628. Can you speak of those from that kind of information \hat you can confidently state that you know the facts ? — Yes. 1629. Will you state any that have come to your knowledge in that way? — There was the battle of Tauranga: the first rise of that was, the captain of an English vessel, a whaling ship, had a quarrel w ith some women ou board nis vessel ; he was very angry about it, and deter- mined to get the natives of the interior to punisn those on the coast for the insult which those two women had offered to him in that quarrel. He sent into the interior to fetch the chiefs, telling them they must come to fight a battle for the insult of those two women. They refused to do so, saying, that it was not according to New Zealand custom ; that they only fought when people had done some real injury, but that they never fought when it was all mouth, and that this had been nothing but mouth, and consequently they refused to fight. He told them that he would make it known in England; that every one in England thought the New Zealanders were a brave people ; but he would let the English people know, and let the King know that they were cowards ; but that if they would fight he would supply them with arms and am- munition. They could not bear this, and therefore they resolved t j fight. They brought down a great number of people. We were rather too late in going over ; we did not know so much of it as we do some- times ; and about a quarter of an hour after the battle we saw a hun- dred of the people dead and wounded upon the beach. Then, according to the custom of the country, a number of the New Zealanders went to the south to seek satisfaction for the death of their friends. Those per- sons who went down intending to cut off some of the tribes of the south as a payment for the death of their friends, were fallen in with by a large armed party of the natives, and were all cut off themselves ; 41 went and only one returned. This caused the whole of the Bay of Islanders to arm themselves and to go and fight with the tribes of the south for the loss of those 40. There were between 60 and 60 canoes. The canoes were attended by our missionary ship, the Active, the mis- sionary boat, and a small cutter that we have. Mr. Williams accom- Eanied the flotilla. They were five weeks before the fortification of the esieged, negociating with the besiegers, but without effect, the first five weeks. The missionaries then returned home, and afterwards, not satisfied, they went back agaii' Mr. Williams went down in his boat a second time, with Mr. Chapiiifin, Mr. Kemp, and Mr. Fairburn, and effected a reconciliation between the two parties. The Bay of Island- ers returned home without having destroyed a single individual. Mr. Coates, the secretary of the Church Missionary Society, gives a long list of improvements effected in New Zealand ; we take this paragraph as being of the latest date, 14 December, 1835 : — • • • * i< 'Y\i(^ scene in the Waim 'te and its vicinity is much changed, and we may truly be said to live in a civilized country. Our neighbours, those not connected with the seaports, are civil, courteous, honest and teachable. Locks and bolts are but little used, and but little needed ; working tools are safe, although lying in all directions. Ten years ago a person scarcely dared to lay a tool down, as it was almost sure to be stolen." 45 The general results of the mission in New Zealand are thus stated : — 1782. What have been the eifccts of the exertions of the mission- aries in a general manner? — Abolishing their superstitious observ- ances, establishing the Sabbath, rendering the natives more indus- trious, bringin^^ a Targe proportion of their land into a state of culti- vation, preventing war, ameliorating the condition of the slaves, and making the language a written one/' Amongst other benefits conferred by Christianity, the ameliora- tion of the laws of the islanders is undoubtedly one of the most im- portant. ♦ • • We Rnd that the missionaries have often been successful me- diators between the natives and those who have injured them. The missionaries made it their business to teach their converts useful trades. * ♦ ♦ They are ** very apt indeed" at learning mechanical trades. It is a remarkable feature in this work, that it has been greatly extended by the agency of the converted natives themselves, since it has always formed a part of the missionary system to employ native teachers to propagate Christianity. » ♦ • Thus, then, amidst these clusters of islands, containing a popu- lation known to o.cceed a million, and perhaps of several millions, a change (as we have seen) of unequalled importance, because affecting fo large a mass of mankind, has been begun in our own time, and has been almost imperceptibly going forward. The first attempt made for their conversion was in 1797 ; for 17 years the work appeared to make no progress, and in Europe no other notion was entertained of these people than that they were idolaters and cannibals, and their country a rude and barbarous wilderness, without arts, without commerce, without civilization, and without the rudiments of Christianity. Such was the estimate, not inaccurately formed, of their state 20 years ago. Within this brief space, under no other agency than the influence of Christian truth, they have conveyed a cargo of idols to the dep6t of the Missionary Society in London ; they have become factors to furnish our vessels with provisions, and merchants to deal with us in the agricultural growth of their own country. Their language has been reduced to writing, and they have gained the knowledge of letters. They have, many of them, emerged from the tyranny of the will of their chiefs into the protection of a written law, abounding with liberal and enlightened principles, and 200,000 of them are re- ported to have embraced Christianity. With respect to the native tribes of South Africa, the copious evidence taken by your Committee, has related rather to their P' 46 civil affairs than to tlieir moral and religious condition. It is not now necessary to repeat the circumstances of oppression under which, till within a late period, the Hottentots laboured. They had fallen, as we have seen, into a state of bondage to the farmers, through a system of forced contracts of service, and of apprentice- ship of their children ; both of which arc noticed with strong dis- approbation by the Commissioners of Inquiry. • ♦ • , After noticing some of the attempts made by the different missionary societies for the improvement of the Hottentots, the Report proceeds thus : — At this time an experiment was made which proves what may be done for men by merely giving fair play to the motives which stimu- late honept industry. It is thus detailed by the present Lieutenant- governor of tne frontier : '"' The Government, wishing to give full effect to the provisions of the 60th Ordinance, and well aware that this law could never operate to its full extent in favour of the class in whose behalf it had been framed, without a fair field being opened for the exertions of its industry, de- termined on the experiment of allotting lands to a certain number of Hottentot families. This experiment was intended to be upon a small scale. Hottentots of good character, or possessing property, were in- vited to settle in the branches of the Kat River. They were to be lo- cated in the immediate vicinity of the CafFres, who were then in a state of great irritation against the colony. Some families of Hottentots soon made their appearance on the spot ; few of these possessed property to any amount ; they were poor, as might be expected, but were generally known to be steady men. It was soon, however, found to be impossi- ble to draw a line of distinction. Hottentots flocked in from all quar- ters, many of them known to be indifferent characters ; even some of those who till then had been vagabondizing came and begged to be tried. To exclude these became difiicult ; to refuse a man the opportunity of bettering his condition only because it was suspected that he would prove unworthy, appeared cruel. In the mean time the Caffres threat- ened the new settlements, and it became necessary to arm the new set- tlers, or to expose them to be massacred ; ruin was anticipated from such a step. Tne Caffres with their assagais were thought less dangerous to the colony than a congregation of Hottentots armed with muskets, with little or nothing to eat. That these men would turn the weapons which we had put into their hands against ourselves as well as against the Caffres, and that the country would be deluged with blood, was confidently predicted. The clamour became loud, and the projectors themselves began to doubt whether they might not have acted too rashly ; but the step, whether wise or rash, was taken ; hundreds of able-bodied men, well armed and supplied with ammunition, but with little food, were within hail of each other ; hungry men so circumstanced, might (it was thought) make short work of the numberless flocks of the Caffres and colonists on both sides and all round them. Such were the pre- dictions then expressed ; but the conduct of the Hottentots soon gave them a practical contradiction. They were told " Show yourselves worthy of freedom, and your farther improvement is in your own 47 >> f)OM'er." Instead of collectiug in a mass, eating and sleeping until the ittle they then had should be consumed, and then carrying fire and de- struction over the coutitrv, and allowing the Caffres to surprise them, cut all their throats, and with their muskets carry on a more equal warfare with the colony, as was anticijiated, they set immediately to work, cut canals which, considering their tools and the rock and indurated soil through which they had to penetrate, would have been thought imprac- ticable. They cultivated, by means of the most miserable imple- ments, an extent of country which surprised every body who visited the locations, including the governor. Those who had no food lived upon wild roots and by working for those who had something ; these again were obliged to economise to support their families, until in a few months they had an abundance of pumpkins, Indian com, peas, beans, &c. Instead of apathy or indifference about property, they be- come (now that they had property to contend for) as covetous and li- tigious about land and water as any other set of colonists. They dis- play the utmost anxiety to have schools established among them. Se- veral of these schools are in a flourishing state, and so eager are they for instruction, that if they find only one amongst them who can spell, where nothing better can be obtained, they get him to teach that Httle to the rest. They travel considerable distances to attend divine service regularly ; their spiritual guides speak with delight of the fruits of their labours. Nowhere have temperance societies succeeded half so well as among this people, formerly so prone to intemperance. They have themselves petitioned the government that their grants may con- tain a prohibition against the establishment of canteens or brandy houses. They have repulsed the Caffres on every occasion on which they have been attacked, and are now on the best of terms with that nation. They have cost the government nothing beyond the salary of their minister, from 15 to 20 mudes of Indian com, and a few more of oats given them for seed the first year, 1899 and the loan of the mus- kets, together with a little ammunition given them for their own protec- tion as well as that of the country in general. They pay every tax like the rest of the people ; they have rendered the Kat River decidedly by far the safest part ot the frontier ; and the same plan, followed upon a more extensive scale, would soon enable Government to withdraw the troops altogether, and put an end to that desultory warfare which must retard the improvement both in the colony and its barbarous neighbours, whilst no excuse would be left for Hottentot vagrancy. Petty misdemeanors we must suppose occur in this as in every com- munity, but they have not hitherto cost the public a magistrate, and the nearest functionary of the kind is two long days' ride distant. I only recollect two cases tried before the civil courts in which settlers of the Kat River were the accused ; one was a Bushman who had stolen some goats before he had joined the settlement, and was taken up after he had reached it, and the other was the case of two Hottentots who had stolen a Caffre cow, which was discovered by the vigilance of the head of the party to which they belonged, who arrested and sent them pri- soners to Graham's Town, though the owner of the cow wished to make up the matter, by receiving back another cow. In short, the most prejudiced men who have travelled through the locations admit that the Hottentots have done wonders ; that as far as the land is arable they have made a garden of it froir one end to the other ; they have already supplied the military posts with forage and provisions to a considerable extent, and just as I was embarking the commissary-general handed 48 to me a memorandum of some of their tenders which he had iust ac- cepted. The above statement may possibly by some be consiaered as too favourable, and individuals may be found who, jealous of the success of this experiment, inrefutation of all their sinister predictions, may point out indolent and bad characters in the Kat River settlememi, such of course existing there as well as in every other place where numbers of men are congregated. But to these objectors I would reply, that I never meant to represent the Hottentots as faultless or better than any other race of people in the aggregate. I have only wished to she V that as soon as they were treated as reasonable beings they actevi reasonably, and the facts now stated can be proved to the letter. The difficulties of the undertaking are further told. Dr. Philip says, speaking of the Kat River settlement, " I saw in one instance, in 1832, a Bushman location, and at that time they had been very recently established on that location, and they had nothing what- ever when they were first located there. They borrowed a hatchet ; they made a wooden plough without one iron nail in it, entirely of wood, and with this they cultivated their land. They received from the first crop enough to supply them through the winter, and some- thing to sell. In the second year they cultivated to a greater ex- tent; they had then a very excellent plough, which they made, themselves with an iron coulter ; they had also made a waggon for themselves ; they had had no previous advantages whatever ; they were literally in the situation which Captain Stockenstrom mentions, when they asked him what they were to do for means to cultivate their ground. * If you are not able,' said he, * to do it with your fingers, you need not go there,' But they had resources in their own minds, and those resources were brought into action, and with the most complete success." The Rev. J. Read states, " They had to form dams across the river and water-courses, sometimes to the depth of 10, 12 and 14 feet, and that sometimes through solid rock, and with very sorry pickaxes, iron crows and spades, and few of them. These works have excited the admiration of visitors; they had to cut roads also on the sides of mountains of considerable height. An obstacle was raised, in the beginning, to the Hottentots residing alone ; a mixture was recommended of Dutch and English. The Hottentots begged and prayed to be left alone for a few years, and Captain Stockenstrom entered into their feeling, and said to them, * Then show to the world that you can work as well as others, and that without the shambok (the whip).* " They did work, and as a proof that they did not relax in their industry, we may mention that, according to Colonel Wade, they had, in 1833, completed 55 canals for irrigation, of which 44 measured nearly 24 miles. They were not disheartened by common accidents, such as a drought and a sickness amongst the horses, and the settlement continued to prosper beyond the most sanguine expectations of Captain Stockenstrom, who planned, and the 49 n to y le ip •» Government wlio promoted the experiments ; and as Colonel Wade remarks, the statement of its progress afforded the " best evidence that the Hottentots could be industrious, and were as capable of contending with ordinary difficulties as their fellow-men." But there is another important fact to be noticed with regard to the Kat River settlement. It took, at its very commencement, a religious character, to which, as we believe, may be ascribed its subsequent well-doing. Many of the leaders and the men, who set the example of industry, had been educated at missionary establish- ments, and so impressed were they with the necessity of religious administrations, that they would not remain without a missionary, and sent for Mr. Read within a few months after their establish- ment. The Rev. W. Thompson was also appointed Dutch minister at the Kat River, and both nave spoken with the greatest satisfac- tion of the people. Mr. Read says of them : — " The people were moral ; many had been addicted to drink- ing brandy, and that to excess; but when the temperance society was established, about 1,700 signed its rules, and when I left only four or five persons in three years had broken through the rules. Although wine is not included in the rule, yet most ofthe people refrain from taking any ; they also sent a memorial to the governor, requesting that their grants for their lands might be given so as never to admit a can- teen in the settlement. Religion flourished among them. I baptized about 260 adults during the four years and a half that I was with them, besides children, and the number of church members was about 400 ; the attendance on religious worship was great ; on Sunday we were obliged to divide into two congregations, and the conduct of the people was most uniform. The older people were most zealous for in- struction themselves, and very anxious to nave their children educated, and for the latter object bore some of the expenses themselves. We had seven schools for the larger children and one school of industry, besides five infant schools, mostly carried on by native teachers, receiv- ing a small salary from the Missionary Society, and generally sup- ported in provisions by the people. There are connected with our congregation about three-fourths of the settlement. * * * Had it indeed depended on the Hottentots, we believe the fron- tier would have been spared the outrages from which they, as well as others, have suffered. Their flourishing settlement was thrown into confusion by the CafTre invasion, and the predominance of martial law, and the missionaries were ordered from their stations. We are informed that the " Kat River loca^ force" behaved steadily and bravely in the war, and we hope i^at their loyalty may be speedily rewarded by a restoration of the privileges of which they were disposed to make so good an use. The native teachers are, we are told, carrying on the work of education to the best of their power ; but they are extremely anxious for the return of their mis- sionaries. The northern frontier of our colony, an extent of 300 miles, is bordered by the Griquas, a mixed race, " the offspring of colonists by Hottentot females, who finding themselves treated as inferior by £ » I I 50 their kinsmen of European blood, and prevented from acquiring tlie possession of land, or any fixed property, within the colony, about fifty years ago sought a refuge from contumely and oppression among the native tribes beyond its limits, where their numbers were gra- dually augmented by refugees of the same class from the colony, and by intermarriages with females of the Bushmen and Coranna tribes around them." In these people we find a striking instance of the benefit of missionary restraints ; and they afford a remarkable contrast with the Caflfres on the north-eastern frontier, whose un- settled state has not allowed them as yet to take the mould of their teachers. * • * ♦ A fact mentioned by Dr Philip marks the influence which the missionaries early acquired over the Griquas in leading them to acts of justice. They have been accused, and with much probabi- lity of truth, of having, whilst themselves in a savage state, treated the Bushmen with barbarity, and expelled them from the greater part of their country. This, however, was before the missionaries went to them. ** I never understood that when the missionaries discovered the fountains, where Griqua Town now stands, there were any tribes or persons in occupation of the place. They found that part of the country empty^ and they took possession of it. Shortly after, they discovered some springs of water at a place which was named Campbell. This place was about 40 miles distant from Griqua Town, and there was only one Bushman and his family upon it; and Adam Kok, late chief of Philippolis, paid him 150 dollars for the fountain he claimed as belonging to him. This trans< action shews, that at a very early period, the Griquas had imbibed some principles of justice, towards the Bushmen from the mis- sionaries. This fact was brought to my knowledge by the following circumstance. When Campbell was put under the jurisdiction of Waterboer by the treaty Sir Benjamin D'Urban entered into with that chief, Adam Kok, the chief of Philippolis, preferred his claim for the 150 dollars he had paid for that fountain, which claim, after an investigation of the circumstances, was allowed, and the money was paid to him.*' Long after the settlement of the Griquas, they not only tolerated the Bushmen in the land, but in 1832, when, as we have seen, Dr. Philip did not see a single Bushman kraal in the Bushman coun- try within the colony, he passed 11 kraals between Philippolis and the Yellow River, the inhabitants of all of which spoke of the Gri- quas as their benefactors, and the only people to whom they could look up for protection. The Griquas are said to have once held the Bushmen in slavery. *• They now," says Mr. Moifat, " regard the practice with abhorrence." We regret to say that our farmers are less scrupulous, as is proved by the following fact mentioned by Mr. Moffat: — "The Bushmen in general are attached to their children. Many applications for them have been rejected by the parents, though the price offered has been raised with a view to HMnwraHWAHi 5\ ivmpt them. Onv Bushman was induced to yield hii consent to give up his child for a cow, and a Griqua farmer was applied to, to lend one for the purpose of effecting the bargain. The Griqua seemed to appeal to me for advice how to act, stating that bis heart forbade him ; and as I discouraged him, he refused to give the cow, and the bargain was consequently broken off. The Bushmen in question were living from choice with the Griquas, and perfectly free ; and application was made to Derandt^ one of the Griqua captains, to influence the Bushmen to sell their children, and he observed to me, that he could not do it ; that it was slave*trade to barter for cliildren : and what was he to think of our people who could make such a proposal to him," Having got the Griquas to settle^ Mr. Anderson next induced them to adopt a more regular form of government, and also got the Colonial Government to confirm a chief of their electing. They do not, however, appear to have been willing to profess entire subjection to the Colonial Government, and their refusing to furnish reciaits in 1814 gave great umbrage. It wa» with some difficulty that Dr. Philip obtained leave for the continuance of the mission among these people :. the missionaries were, however, suffered to remain, and in 1819 the connexion with the colony was strengthened by the establishment of a fair at Beaufort, for the mutual benefit of the colonists and the native tribes, of whom the Griquas were the principal dealers. " At the first fair the business done by that people amounted to 27,000 rix dollars ; and on most of the goods sold to the Griquas by the colonists the latter had a profit of from 200 to 500 per cent. In 1820 a second fair was held, which terminated as successfully as the first. On that occasion about 200 people attended^ with 27 w ^gons, loaded with elephants' teeth, salt, skins of all sorts, wheat, honey,, and various cunosities, driving before them upwards of 700 oxen. This circumstance shows that missionaries have been tlie instruments of elevating con- siderably the character and condition of this people. I was in- formed by several respectable and intelligent individuals present^ that the strangers not only vied with the colonists in preserving order, but that the praise of sobriety was so decidedly on their side, as on several occasions to induce the chief magistrate present to speak of their conduct with admiration, and point them out as ex- amples to the colonists. '*^ ♦ * ♦ ♦ That education is rapidly advancing among the Griquas, we have a casual illustration in a paper relating to the succession to one of the chieftainships, in which it is observed that a certain candidate " cannot write, and therefore will have no support among the peo- ple.** Now the majority of the tribe, consisting of that portion to whom instruction has been afforded, are, as we are told, *' well dis- posed, and anxious to live at peace with us;" and they afford a fresh instance of the natural connection of an appreciation of the advantages of education, with a friendly feeling towards Europeans. 62 1 1 This is a fact which, whether we look at it in reference to the in- terests of religion and humanity, or to its effect on the security of property, or to its influence in procuring us at once the best and the cheapest defence against the inroads of the neighbouring tribes, deserves peculiar notice ; and an instructive contrast may be drawn between the tranquillity of this large extent of our northern frontier, protected by tribes humanized by Christianity, and treated with some consideration by our Government, and the constant disturb- ances along the 80 mdes of the north-eastern boundary, fortified, as i^ has been, by a large military establishment against the inroads of exasperated natives. " As it is,*' says Captain Stockenstrom, " you will find, by the statements of the military commandant himself of 1831, that then, after so many years of military coercion, the fron- tier was in as deplorable a condition as it ever had been. Would any man tell you that it is because there are not troops enough ? Let him then say how many it would take to protect a front'-r of 800 miles, if 1,000 cannot do so with 80 miles."—'* If the present system be persevered in, we may require the troops to be increased tenfold, for every cottage and every flock may require a guard ; and, by an opposite course, we may hope to see them dispensed with al- together.*' • * * . * We have yet another example to bring of the benefit we have de- rived from missionary influence upon bordering nations ; and it shall be taken from the quarter to which we have of late beei es- pecially led to look with apprehension. So great has been th. eC'^ct of missionaries upon the Caifre race, that Captain Stockenstrom (as we however think erroneously) would even estimate their political beyond their religious usefulness. He says, " Their influence is really wonderful ; but it is more of a political than a religious na- ture. Look at what Mr. Shaw's influence has done with one set of CafTres in the midst of all this last war; that decidedly is political ; and if we look at the number of real converts which they have made in a religious point of view, I should think they would be found few in proportion to those who have been kept out of harm's way in other respects." The Committee next advert to the introduction of Christianity among the Caffres. Under these favourable circumstances, Christianity gradually took hold of the people's minds. They disputed every inch of ground with us ; they were willing to go into inquiry, but we found them very different in that respect to the Hottentots in the colony, who always receive with implicit credit what is stated to them by their teachers. The Caffres exhibited considerable powers of mind, and were not willing to receive any dogma until it was proved to their satisfaction. At length, however, *' the truths of the Chris- tian religion made a deep impression on many of them ; the chiefs regularly attended divine worship; some of their own children 53 learned to read and write. Kama and his wife, a daughter of the late Oaika, embraced the Christian faith, and were baptized ; and mv successors," writes Mr. Shaw, " have favourably reported since of the continued progress of Christianity amongst tliem." The Sabbath has been recognized by proclamation of the chiefs; and it is stated that the ** effect of the Gospel in promoting public morals and humanizing the people is observable by all who visit that tribe." Whilst inculcating the doctrines of Christianity, Mr. Shaw neg- lected not the civilization of the people ; and he succeeded in raising them from purely nomadic to agricultural habits. He taught them the use of the plough, an implement difficult for them to purchase, but seeing the advantage or it, they managed to acquire ploughs, and also waggons with teams of oxen. They have built a beau- tiful village at Wcsleyville, with houses much in the same style as those of European settlers. Many of the tribe adopted an European dress ; and such was their demand for British manufactures, that Mr. Shaw applied to the Government to found a shop or store for the sale of British goods. The Wesleyan missionaries have pub- lished a grammar of the Caffre language, and have translated and printed nearly the whole of the New Testament and a portion of the Old ; and the school children (who are described as being very in- telligent) can read the Scriptures in their own language. Many barbarous customs have given way before the light and knowledge introduced by missionaries. ''Their heathenish cruelties," say? Mr. Kay, '* have been materially checked. On every mission sta- tion the various superstitious ceremonies to which the people have been accustomed from time immemorial, are almost wholly laid aside. Some of these were of the most inhuman character, in- flicting torture and excruciating pain, by means of stinging insects; of branding with hot stones; of roasting or of burning, until nearly dead. Their sorcerers or rain-makers, also, a class of impostors, and the universal ringleaders in all this kind of cruelty, with whom every missionary has had more or less to contend, have been put to flight ; being, confessedly, unable to dwell where the light of the Gospel shines. I very much question, therefore, whether one of these men could now be found within a circle of many miles round about any of the stations. This circumstance will appear the more important when 1 state that the living stand in constant dread of them ; their property, and even life itself, being placed in jeopardy the moment they begin to call an assembly ; and all being kept in perfect suspense, as to the object of vengeance, until they announce their verdict, which is uniformly based upon some supposed witch- craft." On the first appearance of hostilities Pato, Kama, and Cobus, sent messengers to every part of Caffreland, with the hope of stopping them. They afforded refuge to all the British traders who fled to them, patrolled their boundary to stop marauders, and reinforced a post under the command of a Britisli officer. In the feeling of the Christian chiefs that to destroy the bonds of 54 ii union with Christian aiid civilized men, is to replunge their people into barbarism, and to annul the advantages that they have learnt to pr' ft, lies, we are convinced, the main security we have for peace and qui.^tness on our borders. To bring barbarians, however, to this opinion, must require a cer- tain continuance of equable and temperate policy towards them ; and the experiment of subduing their fierceness, by the mild influ- ence of civilization, remains to be tried on those tribes who have most distinguished themselves in the late lamentable hostilities. We fear that Macomo has had too much reason to allege to Dr. Philip, who was urging him to have his children sent to school, ** All that you have said is very good ; but I am shot at every day ; my huts are set fire to, and I can only steep with one eye open, and the other eye shut ; I do not know where my place is, and how can I get my children to be instructed ?" Tzatzoe,who is himself a CI iristian, and who has himself laboured for the conversion of his countrymen, says that the ** word of God bad once made a deep impression upon the CafFres ;" but the com- mando of Colonel Frazer put a stop to the labours of the missionaries, and that since that time commandos have continued, and the people have not been able to learn. The CafFres say, " We might learn if we were not teazed every day ;" and Tzatzoe adds, " Whenever the missionaries preach to the CafFres, or whenever I myself preach or speak to my countrymen, they say, * Why do not the missionaries first go and preach to the people on the other sid€ ; why do not they preach to their own countrymen, and convert them first.' " Some progress was made in the instruction of these turbulent, ir- ritated spirits, v/hen affairs came unhappily to the crisis, which put a stop to all attempts of the kind. Tzatzoe himself had at his place a missionary, Mr. Brownlee, and a church, capable of containing 300 persons^ generally filled on the Sunday ; together with schools ; and though these incipient improvements have, we fear, been crushed by the events of the war, and the occupation of the station by the British troops, it is yet satisfactory to find him expressing his opinion, that ** If peaceable relatione and a good nnderstanding be- tween the CafFres and the colony were established, and if a state of tranquillity were restored to the CafFre nation, they would yet gladly receive missionaries, and attend to instruction." * * * In reviewing the general case before us, we have endeavoured to fix our attention rather on the requirements of justice and morality than on the motives of interest. It may not, however, be irrelevant to observe, that the latter are in close alliance with the former, and that we cannot infringe on these without sacrificing true economy. We again beg to be distinctly understood, that we are making no charge against the body of English settlers : we believe them to have been great losers by a course of mistaken policy : and we commiserate the misfortunes which this has brought upon great numbers who have taken no active part in abetting a system of irri- 55 tation. In the matter of commerce alone they hav« been losers ; for we have abundant evidence to show that the Caffres were ac- quiring an increasing desire for British manufactures, and that this unhappy war interrupted a trade which, though of late growth, had amounted to at least 30,000/. per annum in the purchase of Euro- pean commodities.* This fact, coupled with the knowledge of the proRt we already derive from other nations in an incipient state of civilization, proves the utility to ourselves of cultivating with them the relations of peace and of mutual good understanding; and we repeat our conviction, that the most effectual mode of making such nations desirable neigh- bours, is the giving them Christian instruction, and allowing them, through the equity and the moderation of our political conduct, a fair opportunity to profit by the instruction afforded. CONCLUSION. Your Committee cannot recapitulate the evils which have been the result of the intercourse between civilized and barbarous nations more truly, than in the summary contained in the interrogation and responses of the secretaries of the three Missionary societies most conversant with the subject, and to which we have already re- ferred. 4329. To Mr. Coates.'^ Is it your opinion that Europeans coming into contact with native inhabitants of our settlements tends (with the exception of cases in which missions are established) to deteriorate the morals of the natives ; to introduce European vices ; to spread among them new and dangerous diseases; to accustom them to the use of ardent spirits ; to the use of European arms and instruments of de- struction ; to the seduction of native females ; to the decrease of the native population ; and to prevent the spread of civilization, education, commerce and Christianity : and that the effect of European inter- course has been, upon the whole, a calamity to the heathen and savage nations. In the fi st place, is it your opinion that European contact with native inhabitants, always excepting the cases in which missions have been established, tends to deteriorate the morals of the natives ? — Yes. 4330. To Mr. Beeckam.] Do you concur in that opinion ? — Yes. 4331. To Mr. Ellis.] Do you concur in that opinion? — Certainly. • Lord Glenelg's Despatch to Sir B. D'Urban, 26 December, 1834, p. 64. The Rev. S. Kay states, that not a trader was travelling in Caffraria at the time the missionaries commenced their labours ; when the war broke out 200 traders were in that country. if 56 4332. Does it tend to introduce European vices? — Mr. Coaies.] Yes. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes. — Mr. Ellis.] Yes. 4333. Does it tend to spread among them new and dangerous dis- eases? — Mr. CoatesA Yes. — Mr. Beeckam.] Yes.— Mr. Ellis.] Yes. 4334. Does it tend to accustom them to tlie use of ardent spirits ? — Mr. Coates.] Yes. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes. — Mr. Ellis.] — Yes. 4335. And to the use of European arms and instruments of destruc- tion ? — Mr. Coates.] Yes ; but might I add a word which would go rather to express a doubt whether the ultimate result of that be injuri- ous to the savage nations ? but that it has the tendency suggested in the question, I have no doubt. — Mr. Beecliam.] Yes. — Mr. iMlis.] Yes. 4336. To the seduction of native females? — Mr. Coates.] Yes. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes. — Mr. Ellis.] Yes. 4337. To the decrease of population ? — Mr. Coates.] Yes. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes. — Mr. Ellis.] Yes. 4338. Does it tend to impede that civilization which, if Europeans properly conducted themselves, might be introduced? — Mr. Coates.] Certainly. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes. — -Mr. Ellis.] I have no doubt that it does. 4339. The same as to education? — Mr. Coates.] Certainly. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes. — Mr. Ellis.] Certainly. 4340. The same as to commerce? — Mr. Coates.] Certainly. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes. — Mr. Ellis.] Yes. 4341. Is it your opinion that it tends to prevent the spread of the Christian Gospel? — Mr. Coates.] Most assuredly. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes.— Mr. ElUs.] Yes. 4342. Is it generally your opinion that the effect of European inter- course, saving where missions have been established, has been, upon the whole, hitherto a calamity upon the native and savage nations whom we have visited ? — Mr. Coaxes.] That I have no doubt about. — Mr. Beecham.] Yes, generally. — Mr. Ellis.] Generally, I should think it has. 4343. As far as you know, in instances of contention between Euro- peans and natives, has it generally happened that the Europeans were in fault ? — Mr. Coates.] Universally, so far as I have information upon the subject. — Mr. BeecTiam.] Yes. — Mr. Ellis.] I have not met with an instance in which, when investigated, it has not been found that the aggression was upon the part of the Europeans. These allegations have, we conceive, been clearly proved in the evidence of which we have given an abstract ; and we have also seen the effects of conciliatory conduct, and of Christian instruction. One of the two systems we must have to preserve our own security, and the peace of our colonial borders ; either an overwhelming mili- tary force with all its attendant expenses, or a line of temperate con- duct and of justice towards our neighbours. " The main point v/hich I would have in view," said a witness before your Committee, ** would be trade, commerce, peace and civilization. The other alternative is extermination ; for you can stop nowhere ; you must go on ; you may have a short respite when you have driven panic into the people, but you must come back to the same thing until you have shot the last man.'' From all the bulky evidence before us, we can come to no other conclusion ; and ^il cousideritig the power, and the mighty resources of the British na- tion, we must believe that the choice rests with ourselves. Great Britain has, in former times, countenanced evils of great magnitude, — slavery and the slave-trade ; but for these she has made some atonement ; for the latter, by abandoning the traffic ; for the former, by the sacrifice of 20 millions of money. But for these offences there was this apology ; they were evils of an ancient date, a kind of prescription might be pleadedfor them, and great interests were entwined with them. An evil remains very similar in character, and not altogether un- fit to be compared with them in the aniount of misery it produces. The oppression of the natives of barbarous countries is a practice which pleads no claim to indulgence ; it is an evil of comparatively recent origin, imperceptible and unhallowed in its growth ; it never has had even the colour of sanction from the legislature of this country ; no vested rights are associated with it, and we have not the poor excuse that it contributes to any interest of the state. On the contrary, in point of economy, of security, of commerce, of re- putation, it is a short-sighted and disastrous policy. As far as it has prevailed, it has been a burthen on the empire. It has thrown impediments in the way of successful colonization ; it has engen- dered wars, in which great expenses were necessarily incurred, and no reputation '^ould be won ; and it has banished from our confines, or exterminated, the natives, who might have been profitable work- men, good customers, and good neighbours. These unhappy results have not flowed from any determination on the part of the govern- ment of this country to deal hardly with those who are in a less ad- vanced state of society ; but they seem to have arisen from igno- rance, from the difficulty which distance interposes in checking the cupidity and punishing the crimes of that adventurous class of Eu- ropeans who lead the way in penetrating the territory uncivilized man, and from the system of dealing with the rights of the natives. Many reasons unite for apprehending that the evils which we have described will increase if the duty of coming to a solemn determina- tion as to the policy we shall adopt towards ruder nations be now neglected ; the chief of these reasons is, the national necessity of finding some outlet for the superabundant population of Great Bri- tain and Ireland. It is to be feared .hat, in the pursuit of this be- nevolent and laudable object, the rights of those who have not the means of advocating their interests or exciting sympathy for their sufferings, may be disregarded. This, then, appears to be the moment for the nation to declare, that with all its desire to give encouragement to emigration, and to find a soil to which our surplus population may retreat, it will tole- rate no scheme which implies violence or fraud in taking possession of such a territory ; that it will no longer subject itself to the guilt of conniving at oppression, and that it will take upon itself the task 58 of defending those who are too weak and too ignorant to defend themselves. Your Committee have hitherto relied chiefly on arguments, show- ing that no national interest, even in its narrowest sense, is sub- served by encroachments on the territory or disregard of the rights of the aboriginal inhabitants of barbarous countries; but they feel it their duty to add, that there is a class of motives of a higher order which conduce to the same conclusion. The British empire has been signally blessed by Providence, and her eminence, her strength, her wealth, her prosperity, her intel- lectual, her moral and her religious advantag«s, are so many reasons for peculiar obedience to the laws of Him who guides the destinies of nations. These were given for some higher purpose than com- mercial prosperity and military renown. ** It is not to be doubted that this country has been invested with wealth and power, with arts and knowledge, with the sway of distant lands, and the mastery of the restless waters, for some great and important purpose in the government of the world. Can we suppose otherwise than that it is our office to carry civilization and humanity, peace and good government, and, above all, the knowledge of the true God, to the uttermost ends of the earth ?" He who has made Great Britain what she is, will inquire at our hands how we have employed the influence He has lent to us in our dealings with the untutored and defenceless savage ; whether it has been engaged in seizing their lands, warring upon their people, and transplanting unknown dis- ease, and deeper degradation, through the remote regions of the earth ; or whether we have, as far as we have been able, informed their ignorance, and invited and afforded them the opportunity of becoming partakers of that civilization, thai innocent commerce, that knowledge and that faith with which it has pleased a gracious Providence to bless our own country. SUGGESTIONS. Having thus adverted to some of the more remarkable of those incidents by which the intercourse between the British Colonies and the Aborigines in their vicinity has been characterized, it remains to consider how the recurrence of similar calamities can be most ef- fectually averted. :; ;n ^ « . ? > s; • - It is obviously difficult to combine in one code rules to govern our intercourse with nations standing in different relationships to- wards us. Some are independent communities ; others are, by the nature of treaties, or the force of circumstances, under the protection mmmm 59 of Great Britain, and yet retain their own laws and usages ; some are our subjects, and have no laws but such as we impose. To this variety in their circumstances must be added a variety as great in their moral and pliysical condition. They are found in all the grades of advancement, from utter barbarism to semi-civiliza- tion. To propose regulaitions which ^all apply to our own subjects and to independent tribes, to those emergmg from barbarism, and to those in the rudest state of nature, is a task from which your Com- mittee would shrink, were it not that all the witnesses, diMering as they do upon almost every other topic, unite in ascribing much of the evil which has arisen to the uncertainty and vacillation of our policy^ Your Committee cannot too forcibly recommend that no exertion should be spared, and no time lost, in distinctly settling and declaring the principles which shall henceforth guide and govern our intercourse with those vast multitudes of uncivilized men, who may sufier in the greatest degree, or in the greatest degree be bene- fited, by that intercourse. The regulations which we would suggest for that purpose are either general or special ; that is, they either extend to all parts of the globe in which we are brought into contact with uncivilized tribes, or they apply only to the particular case of some one settle- ment. In the first place, therefore, we will advert to those general regulations which we have to suggest, and which may be reduced under nine separate heads. I. — Protection of Natives to devolve on the Executive- If.— Contracts for Service to be limited. III. — Sale of ardent Spirits to be prevented. IV. — Regulations as to Lands within British Dominions. V. — New Territories not to be acquired without Sanction of Home Government. VI.— Religious Instruction and Education to be provided. VII. — Punishment of Crimes. VIII. — ^Treaties with Natives inexpedient. IX. — Missionaries to be encouraged. Each of these is treated of at some length by the Committee. NORTH AMERICA. On the subject of the relations between the British colonies in North America and the Aborigines on that continent, your Com- mittee abstain from offering any specific suggestions, because they understand that Her Majesty's Government have for some time past 60 r i been engaged in correspondence respecting it with the Lieutenant- governor of Upper Canada, and that the case, although as yet im- mature for decision, will probably engage the attention of Parliament whenever the estimates for the expenses of what is called the Indian department shall be brought under the consideration of the House of Commons. Your Committee are unwilling to embarrass the Go- vernment by suggestions, which, being offered during the pendency of the discussions on the subject, might proceed upon imperfect grounds and point to erroneous conclusions. ■t . ; ;l .;i.,l.: it. • ..ril:).;')^ V ;,:i/::»i^l;'.u: .uii^^d- >•( I ' ■ ■ «■ ,. J THE END. '< 1- : . ■ ■ i , " t 'i ' - '■ ! 1 ( . 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