THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 C-*/v<*

 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED; 
 
 OH, 
 
 SKETCHES, 
 
 HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE, 
 
 TRIBES AND MISSIONS, AND OF THE BRITISH COLONIES OF 
 THE CAPE AND PORT-NATAL. 
 
 BY THE REV. THORNLEY SMITH, 
 
 SEVEN YEARS A WESLEYAN MISSIONARY IN THAT COUNTRY. 
 
 "Africa, from the earliest times to the present, has always excited, 
 .In a more lively degree than any other quarter of the world, the 
 curiosity of mankind." HEEREN. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN MASON, 14, CITY- ROAD; 
 SOLD AT 66, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1850.
 
 London : R. Needham, Printer, Paternotr-Row.
 
 TO 
 
 THOMAS FARMER, ESQ., 
 
 OF GUNNERSBURY, 
 
 THE LONG-IKIED FRIEND OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS, 
 AND OF EVERY GOOD AND NOBLE ENTERPRISE, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS, WITH HIS PERMISSION, 
 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 1963071
 
 LIST OF THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 The Town of Somerset Frontispiece. 
 
 Brookhouse's Poort, near Graham's Town. To face page 13 
 
 View on the Cowie River ,, 39 
 
 The Matawan Mountains 125 
 
 The Falls of the Tsitsa 141 
 
 Port-Natal Bay 205
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE substance of the following work has already ap- 
 peared in the pages of the "Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine;" 
 but, for re-publication, the greater part of it has been re- 
 written, some portions of it abridged, and others altered 
 and enlarged. The whole of the chapter on the Bechuana- 
 land is new, and so also are the statements respecting Port- 
 Natal. It is hoped that these alterations will be found 
 improvements, and that, notwithstanding the imperfections 
 of the book, of which the author is quite sensible, it will 
 meet with a favourable reception, especially from the friends 
 of Christian Missions. 
 
 When in Africa, the author had no intention of writing 
 such a work as this, or he might have gathered many other 
 particulars connected with its history, and obtained addi- 
 tional materials for the illustration of the manners and 
 customs of its tribes. He now regrets that he did not 
 take more pains in collecting facts, and in studying them, 
 especially in relation to the Natural History and Ethno- 
 graphy of the country ; but he has not advanced any views in 
 these pages without mature consideration, nor has he given 
 A 3
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 an exaggerated account of the results of Missionary opera- 
 tions. 
 
 Upwards of a century has elapsed since the first Christian 
 Missionary, George Schmidt, a member of the society of the 
 Unitas Fratrum, set his foot upon the shores of Southern 
 Africa. He settled in a beautiful valley called Baviaan's 
 Kloof, and there founded a Mission village, which still 
 exists, and is known by the very appropriate name of 
 Genadentkal, "the Vale of Grace." The Moravian Mis- 
 sions have been eminently successful in that country, and 
 are still in efficient operation in various parts of the Cape 
 Colony. One station, called Hemel-en-Aarde, "Heaven 
 and Earth," situated near the Caledon River, is an hospital 
 for lepers, that fearful disease (the elejihantiasis of the 
 Greeks) being not uncommon among the coloured popula- 
 tion of South Africa, 
 
 The London Missionary Society next entered this inter- 
 esting field, by sending Dr. Vanderkemp to attempt to 
 evangelize the native tribes. His labours, as a pioneer, 
 were owned by the Great Head of the Church; and being 
 followed up by several devoted agents, many noble conquests 
 have been gained, both in the Colony and beyond its borders. 
 To the Missions of the London Society in Kaffraria, &c., the 
 author has referred in the following pages, and would only 
 add that in the Colony it has upwards of twenty stations, 
 the residents of which are chiefly Hottentots. The early 
 history of the Missions of this Society may be found in the 
 works of Dr. Philip, of Cape-Town, and the Rev. R. MofFat. 
 
 The first Wesleyan Missionary at the Cape was the late 
 Rev. J. M'Kenny. On his arrival, he found a few pious
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 soldiers, members of the Wesleyan Society, who had written 
 to Dr. Coke, requesting him to send them a Minister of 
 their own persuasion ; but he was prevented by the Govern- 
 ment from exercising his ministry publicly, inasmuch as, 
 according to the regulations of the Batavian Government, 
 no Clergyman was allowed to preach in public who had 
 not previously gone through the regular Universities. Mr. 
 M'Kenny then went to Ceylon, and the Rev. Barnabas 
 Shaw, whose praise is in all the churches, succeeded him. 
 He contrived to make an entrance for the Gospel, and his 
 evangelic labours were eminently blessed. To his own 
 " Memorials of South Africa" the reader is referred for 
 the history of his Mission, and the results that followed, 
 and for an account of the Namacquas and other tribes on 
 the south-western coast, to whom it was not the author's 
 province to do more than just allude. 
 
 The Wesleyan Missions in the Eastern Province of the 
 Cape Colony owe their origin to the emigration of a num- 
 ber of pious families from England in the year 1820, and 
 to the well-directed efforts of the Rev. W. Shaw, their 
 Pastor, one of the princes of modern Missionaries, not 
 undeserving of being called " the Cyprian of South Africa." 
 The emigrants endured great trials at the first, and were 
 accustomed for some time to worship God in workshops and 
 in sheds, or in the open air, under the shade of a clump 
 of yellow-wood trees ; but now they have excellent and 
 commodious chapels, and the Wesleyan church is one of 
 the most nourishing of all the churches in that part of the 
 world. 
 
 These observations are offered, as introductory to the
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 facts detailed in the following pages; and the work is now 
 commended to the blessing of the God of Missions, with 
 the earnest prayer, that He may render it in some small 
 degree conducive to the interests of the cause of truth. 
 
 The Engravings which illustrate this volume are all from 
 original drawings, with the exception of the View of Port- 
 Natal Bay, which is from a sketch lent by an artist of 
 Cape-Town. They are given as specimens of the landscape 
 scenery of the country. 
 
 T. S. 
 Lynn, May> 1850.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OUE ARRIVAL. 
 
 Page 
 
 THE Cape of Storms. Algoa-Bay. Providential deliverance. 
 Disembarkation. Port- Elizabeth. Spread of Christianity. 
 Journey to Graham's Town. The Ada-bush. The 
 Hottentot tribes : their probable origin. Mountain-pass. . . 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE COLONY. 
 
 Extent Discovery. The Dutch colonists. French Protestant 
 refugees. The British Government Physical aspects of 
 the country. The river Cowie. Mountain-ranges. 
 Geological investigations. The Dutch farmers. Climate 
 of the Cape. Population. The Albany settlement 9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 Cradock. Remarkable journey. Thunder-storm. TheKoonap. 
 A Sabbath in the wilderness. Fording the river. Fort- 
 Beaufort Military road. Magnificent scenery. Native 
 kraals. Customs of the Heathen. Their utilitarian notions. 
 Strictures on Vaillant Views of Christian Missionaries. 20 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BATHURST AND LOWER ALBANY. 
 
 The village of Bathurst Locations of the British settlers. 
 Romantic prospect Clumber. Native Missionary Institu- 
 tion. Sabbath-day scene depicted. Baptism of native con- 
 verts. Romish Missions in Africa. Success of Protestant 
 Missions. John 'Ncapai, a native Missionary. Anecdote. 
 The Cowie-bush. A flight of locusts. Their ravages 
 described. 29
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 GRAHAM'S TOWN. 
 
 Page 
 
 Origin of the town. Its peculiar character. Nature of our 
 work. Progress of Wesleyan Methodism. The Fingoes: 
 their history. Liberation from bondage. Missionary Fin- 
 goes. Native chapel. The Liturgy. Mode of addressing 
 a native congregation. Divine influence. The Chief Kama. 
 
 Christian liberality of native converts. Educational 
 efforts. Importance of the Mission- schools of Graham's 
 Town. Their influence on the interior tribes 42 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 KAFFRARIA. 
 
 Extent of the Albany District. Sectional District- Meetings. 
 Extensive plain. Mirage. Beautiful scenery. Emotions 
 on entering a heathen land. Geography of Kaflraria. 
 Chains of mountains. Plains. Rivers. The Kei. 
 Natural history of the country. Population. Relative 
 position of the tribes under the new law. Claims of British 
 Kaffraria. D' Urban. The Fingoe Mission. Anecdote. 
 Use made of the Mission chapel. Native dance. Fort- 
 Peddie: attack upon the garrison by the Kaffir tribes. 
 New plans for the benefit of the Fingoes. The martyred 
 Missionary 56 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 KAFFEAEIA AND ITS TRIBES. 
 
 Probable origin of the Kaffir tribes. Physical characteristics. 
 Language. Intellectual character. The Kaffir not a savage, 
 but exceedingly degraded. His indolence. The Kaffir hut. 
 The village. Command over cattle. Pastoral habits. 
 Agriculture. Diet Government Polygamy. Condition 
 of woman. Lot of the widow. Custom among the Chiefs. 
 
 Clanship. Religion of the Kaffirs. Superstitions. 
 The rain- maker. The witch-doctor. Treatment of the 
 dead. Sacrificing to rivers. Necessity of the light of 
 Revelation 73 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 KAFFRARIA AND ITS MISSIONS. 
 
 Christianity aggressive. First Mission to Kafrraria. Dr. Van- 
 derkemp. The Chief Gaika. Cause of failure. Rev. J. 
 Williams. Rev. J. Brownlee. The Glasgow Missionary
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 Page 
 
 Society. Death of a Christian Kaffir. Opposition of the 
 Chiefs. Remarkable prayer offered by a native. Rev. W. 
 Shaw visits Kaffraria. The Amagqunukqwebi tribe. Wes- 
 leyville. Establishment of a Mission. Conversion of the 
 Chief Kama. Mount Coke. Extension of the work. 
 Results. No Romish Missions in Kaffraria. The Berlin 
 Mission. Collateral effects. Establishment of the Sabbath. 
 Elevation of woman. Translation of the Scriptures. 
 Incipient commerce 93 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. 
 
 Butterworth. Signs of civilization. Vicissitudes. Sabbath 
 services. Results of Missionary effort. Anecdotes. Tri- 
 umphant deaths of native Christians. Cruelty prevented. 
 Destruction of Butterworth. Generosity of the Chief Khreli. 
 Sub-station. The native Missionary Bethla. Importance 
 of a native agency. Beecham-wood. The Chief Gxaba. 
 Visit to the beach. The river Nabacha. Character of the 
 coast Prevention of slave-dealing. Intense thirst while 
 travelling. The Amampondo country. Morley. History 
 of the Mission. Wreck of the Grosvenor. Sabbath scene 
 at Morley. The District- Meeting. Anecdote. The Um- 
 tata river. Buntingville. The Chief Faku. Head-dress of 
 the Amampondos. Native service. An Albino Ill 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE WILDS OF HEATHENISM. 
 
 Mission with the Chief 'Ncapai established. Journey to his 
 country. Incidents on the way. Bushmen. Their charac- 
 ter and habits. Their language. Their origin : not distinct 
 from the Hottentots. Bechuana Bushmen. Bushman's 
 cave. Drawings. The falls of the Tsitsa. Eland ante- 
 lopes. Crossing rivers. Arrival at the station. Rev. W. 
 H. Garner. The Missionary's wife: her influence and 
 value. 'Ncapai. His tribe: the Amabatca. Barbarous 
 scenes described. The Sabbath. Missionary chapeL The 
 native service. Heights of the Umzimvooboo. Great 
 place of the Chief. Native dance. Need of the Gospel. 
 Motives of the Christian Missionary. Return to the Colony. 134 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE LATE WAR. 
 
 The note of preparation. The colonists vindicated. Policy of 
 the Government in 1835. Origin of the war. Proclamation 
 of martial law. Salem. Discomfiture of the British troops
 
 301 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 in Kara-aria. The Colony overrun with barbarous hordes. 
 Condition of the inhabitants. Visit to Graham's Town. 
 Death of Mr. Norden. The Mission Institution, Farmer- 
 field. Missionary anniversary. Speech of a Bechuana. 
 The station attacked by the enemy. Affecting incident 
 Renewal of hostilities beyond the border. Sir H. Smith's 
 policy. Missions defended. Views of the late Governor, 
 Sir P. Maitland. Appeal on behalf of British soldiers. 
 Military villages. Necessity of additional labourers. 
 New openings in Kaflraria. Cause of the author's leaving 
 Africa. 150 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE BECHUANA-LAND. 
 
 Position. Physical characteristics. Rumours of the existence 
 of a lake. Journey of a trader in search of it Its discovery 
 by the Rev. R. Livingstone. Probable results of this dis- 
 covery. The plains of the Bechuana- land. Game. 
 Anecdote of a lion. Climate of the country. Burning the 
 grass. Providential deliverance of the Rev. J. Allison. 
 The Griquas. The Bastaards, or Newlanders. Emigration 
 of tribes from the interior. The Korannas. The Mantatees. 
 Their history. Defeated by the Griquas. Mission estab- 
 lished at Imparani. Its success. The Baraputsi. Visit of 
 Messrs. Allison and Giddy. Commencement of a Mission. 
 The results of war. Destruction of the Mission station. 
 The Bechuana tribes. Their character. Form of govern- 
 ment Superstitions. Facts recorded by the Rev. P. Lemue. 
 Cannibalism. The French Missions. A Heathen seeking 
 after God. The Wesleyan Missions. The Missions of the 
 London Society. The Rev. R. MofFat's return to Kuruman. 
 The Bechuana dialects. Translations. The Dutch emi- 
 grant Boors. The country proclaimed under the sovereignty 
 of Britain. 171 
 
 CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 PORT-NATAL. EMIGRATION, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS. 
 
 Necessity of emigration. The colonies of Great Britain. The 
 Cape Colony, &c. Its fertility. Cultivation of cotton. 
 Sheep. Exportation of wool. Port-Natal. Its position. 
 Colonized by the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch 
 farmers in 1836. Their attempts to establish an independent 
 Government at Natal. Interference of the British Govern- 
 ment Extent of Natal. Division into districts. Soil. 
 Climate. Geology. Cotton Company. Native tribes. 
 Efforts to improve them. Advice on the subject of Emigra- 
 tion. Who should emigrate. Importance of Christian 
 emigration. Remarks on convictism. Prospects for the 
 future. Concluding observations 196
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OUR ARRIVAL. 
 
 The Cape of Storms. Algoa-Bay. Providential deliverance. 
 Disembarkation. Port- Elizabeth. Spread of Christianity. Journey 
 to Graham's Town. The Ada-Bush. The Hottentot tribes : their 
 probable origin. Mountain-pass. 
 
 IT was on the morning of a Sabbath, in the month of 
 March, 1840, that, after a long and tedious passage from 
 England, we drew near the termination of our voyage. We 
 had already called at Cape-Town, and visited its beautiful 
 environs, but, having re-embarked, were now doubling the 
 promontory, and pursuing our course to Algoa-Bay, the 
 principal port of the eastern province of the Cape Colony. 
 Not without reason did the Portuguese navigator Bartholo- 
 mew Diaz, who in 1493 made the discovery of this part of 
 Africa, call it Cabo dos Tormentos, "the Cape of Storms;" 
 for it is seldom that you can get round it without encoun- 
 tering a gale of wind; and the currents of the Atlantic, 
 meeting those of the Indian Ocean, often occasion a heavy 
 swell of the sea, so that your bark mounts up to heaven, 
 and goes down again into the depths, and your soul is 
 melted because of trouble. 
 
 We passed Cape L'Agullas (S. L. 34 3(X; E. L. 20 2') 
 soon after leaving Table-Bay ; but, the winds being contrary, 
 we were obliged to keep at a considerable distance from 
 the land, and therefore only caught an occasional glimpse 
 of the scenery of the coast. Eleven days were occupied in 
 tacking about for the port, though the passage from Cape-
 
 2, SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Town to Algoa-Bay is often made in four. At length, 
 however, we drew near to Cape-Receif, a ridge of rocks 
 running two or three miles into the sea, and forming the 
 south-western side of the Bay into which we were to enter. 
 At this juncture the wind became favourable, and our 
 vessel was carried along at the rate of nine or ten knots an 
 hour. But the shades of the evening began to gather 
 round us ; and our Captain, not being well acquainted with 
 the coast, greatly feared running upon the reef. In a state 
 of great excitement he threw off his coat, and ran several 
 times up and down the mizen to look out for breakers ; and 
 whilst one man was engaged in taking soundings, and two 
 others were keeping watch at the head of the ship, the 
 rest of the hands were ready to let go the anchor at a 
 moment's word. At that time there was no lighthouse on 
 the coast, which rendered it more dangerous ; but we 
 cleared the reef: and now the moon's pale beams broke 
 occasionally through the clouded sky, and served to cheer 
 the somewhat gloomy night. But the Bay being gained, 
 another danger looked us in the face. In the midst of this 
 opening, and not far from the anchorage, lies a rock, whose 
 surface is just covered with water, called the Roman Rock. 
 But neither the Captain, nor any of the crew, knew its 
 exact position. What was to be done ? We might have 
 stood out again for the sea; but the ship was running before 
 a favourable breeze, and it was highly desirable, as every 
 one felt, to terminate our voyage if possible. It was a 
 moment of fearful anxiety and suspense : but the ever- 
 wakeful eye of Providence was over us ; and at last the 
 Captain shouted, "Let go the anchor;" and in a few 
 moments we were riding safely at our cable's length. The 
 hour of this deliverance was between six and seven of the 
 Sabbath evening, when, as I then reflected, thousands in 
 our father-land were engaged in the solemnities of Christian 
 worship, and many a prayer for the Missionary of the 
 Cross was rising to the courts above. When the excitement 
 occasioned by the circumstance had subsided, we all retired 
 into the cuddy, our party consisting of seven Missionaries 
 and their wives, and there presented our thanksgivings to
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 6 
 
 our Divine Protector, and renewed our vows to serve Him 
 with fidelity and zeal. 
 
 We retired to rest, and in the morning rose with the 
 dawning of the day. It was only then that we discovered 
 the narrowness of our escape. We were informed by 
 parties from the shore, that we had anchored too near the 
 rock ; and that had we proceeded but a little further, our 
 bark would probably have been dashed in pieces. This 
 intelligence awakened fresh gratitude to God, whose hand 
 had thus graciously preserved us. In a few hours the ship 
 was moored to the proper anchorage, when preparations 
 were made for the long-looked-for disembarkation. Several 
 years have rolled away since this occurred, yet I remember 
 the circumstances as though they happened only yesterday. 
 There are some incidents in one's history, which, though 
 important at the time when they take place, after-events 
 almost erase from the tablet of the mind ; but there are 
 others one cannot possibly forget, and this was one of them. 
 Everything was so novel, and withal so real, that it was as 
 indelibly fixed in the memory, as an engraving in the 
 granite rock. There were several ships discharging or 
 taking in their cargoes; and the beach presented a very 
 lively and animating spectacle, similar in some respects to 
 those which are daily witnessed in the smaller ports on the 
 coast of England. We scarcely anticipated a scene of so 
 much life in a region so remote, having been accustomed 
 to associate with the name of Africa ideas of the most 
 romantic kind. How different are the notions which men 
 form of distant lands, whilst sitting at their own firesides, 
 from what they really are ! " Travelling," as a Bechuana 
 Chief once shrewdly said, " is not like staying at home : 
 travelling is seeing, and seeing is knowledge." 
 
 There being no pier in the bay, and the surf being 
 generally considerable, the mode of landing goods and 
 passengers is by large flat-bottomed boats, which are 
 hauled through the breakers, and drawn up to the shore. 
 In this business the Fingoes are employed. Some of us 
 were amused at their grotesque appearance. Half-clad in 
 blankets or in sheep-skins, the upper part of their bodies 
 B 2
 
 4 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 being entirely bare, they certainly looked wild enough. 
 Some were smoking pipes, and others, ever and anon, 
 took large quantities of snuff, not, however, with the 
 finger and the thumb, but with a small spoon, made of 
 ivory or brass, which they carry for the purpose, stuck in 
 their woolly hair. But, notwithstanding their barbarous 
 appearance, they were very expert in managing the boats; 
 and were highly delighted, as their loud vociferations 
 proved, with the task of conducting us on their backs 
 through the water, and setting us down upon the beach. 
 With the ladies they were remarkably gentle, not to say 
 polite, carrying them on a chair, and manifesting, by the 
 care they took of them, some idea of the preciousness of 
 their charge. In this way we were all conveyed to the 
 shore. And what words can describe the joy we felt, when, 
 after three months' tossing on the sea, we trode the earth 
 once more ? The recollection of our voyage, with its 
 storms and perils, seemed to be swallowed up in the 
 exulting thought that we had arrived at our destination ; 
 and every heart beat quickly with emotions of gratitude to 
 God whose providence had been our guide. 
 
 Port-Elizabeth, in which we now found ourselves, is 
 rapidly rising into a place of considerable importance, and 
 may be viewed as a monument of British industry and 
 enterprise. Thirty years have but just elapsed since the 
 foundation-stone of the first dwelling-house was laid by Sir 
 Rufane Shaw Donkin, the acting Governor of the Colony, 
 after whose deceased lady the place received its name ; 
 there being, at that time, not a single building on the spot, 
 except a little block-house, or fortified barrack, called Fort- 
 Frederick. The town now consists of a large and spacious 
 street, three-quarters of a mile in length, formed of com- 
 modious habitations and stores, some of which are elegant 
 and princely. The public buildings consist of a church ; 
 two excellent chapels, belonging to the Wesleyans and the 
 Independents ; a court-house, attached to which are the 
 news-rooms and library ; and extensive, well-erected bar- 
 racks. The population amounts to about two thousand 
 Europeans ; besides whom there are several hundred natives,
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 5 
 
 who reside in the vicinity of the place. An extensive trade 
 in shipping is carried on, large quantities of British manu- 
 factures being landed here annually for consumption in the 
 Colony, whilst the exports, consisting of wool, hides, gum, 
 ivory, and other articles, are also very considerable. 
 
 Our reception by the Rev. J. Edwards, the resident 
 Wesleyan Missionary, was most cordial ; and, in a few 
 hours, we were all comfortably domiciled in the houses 
 of different friends, or at some of the inns and lodging- 
 houses, in the town. Having to remain a few days before 
 we could proceed to Graham's Town, Mr. Edwards availed 
 himself of the opportunity of introducing the brethren to 
 his English congregation; and a series of special services 
 were held, which were attended by very excellent congrega- 
 tions. The foundation-stone of a new chapel was laid a few 
 days after our arrival ; and the edifice, being soon erected, 
 has since been occupied by a respectable audience. Chris- 
 tianity and civilization are thus diffusing themselves in this 
 distant corner of the earth, and are destined, doubtless, to 
 extend their elevating influences far into the interior of the 
 land. Already, indeed, has many a herald of the Cross 
 landed on the shores of Algoa-Bay, thence to penetrate the 
 wilds of Heathenism; and now the standard of Immanuel 
 waves on the hills of Kaffirland, and on the plains of the 
 Bechuana and Basutu country, full six hundred miles from 
 this part of the coast. From the thirty-fourth to the 
 twenty-sixth parallel of south latitude has the word of life 
 gone forth, and by hundreds of the most degraded of the 
 human race has the message been received. The chris- 
 tianizing of South Africa is no Utopian scheme. And 
 certainly if the idea of christianizing it be abandoned, the 
 idea of ameliorating the condition of its inhabitants must 
 be abandoned too. No philanthropic plans will be of any 
 avail without the Gospel. If ever the Hottentot, the 
 Kaffir, and the Bechuana, are raised from barbarism, and 
 placed among the ranks of civilized and enlightened men, 
 it will be by means of Christianity ; nor need we on any 
 account despair of the accomplishment of so great a work. 
 
 We had arrived on the shores of Africa; but we had
 
 6 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 now to prosecute a journey to the frontier, a distance of a 
 hundred miles. The mode of travelling still adopted in 
 South Africa is by waggons, drawn by teams of ten, 
 twelve, or fourteen oxen; and the rate of progress can- 
 not be estimated at more than two-and-a-half or three 
 miles per hour. Whilst " on the path," to use an African 
 phrase, your waggon is your home; and you carry with 
 you beds, food, cooking apparatus, and whatever else you 
 may require. 
 
 Our route lay first over an extensive flat, on which we 
 observed several salt lakes, whose waters are as strongly 
 impregnated with salt as the sea itself. A little to the left 
 of our road, was a lake of this kind, three miles in circum- 
 ference, from which the native inhabitants of the Mission- 
 station, called Bethelsdorp, not far distant, collect large 
 quantities of salt, which they carry to the colonial markets 
 for sale. These lakes probably owe their origin to springs 
 issuing from beneath. They are found in various parts of 
 the country, sometimes at a distance of several hundred 
 miles from the coast, and therefore cannot be supposed to 
 have any connexion with the ocean. 
 
 After crossing the Zwartkops River, and ascending a 
 steep and rugged acclivity, we encamped for the night; and, 
 the evening being fine, kindled a fire, and prepared a repast, 
 of which we partook with more than ordinary pleasure. We 
 then committed ourselves to the protection of the Most 
 High, and retired to rest. Most of us anticipated being 
 disturbed by the wild beasts of the desert; but we heard 
 nothing, except the distant howl of the hyena : and certainly 
 we slept far more soundly than we supposed it possible 
 under such circumstances. The next day was the Sabbath ; 
 and we intended, therefore, not to proceed, but to hold 
 divine service among ourselves, and spend the day in 
 quietness and peace. But whilst we were at breakfast, a 
 person approached us with a very sullen mien, and some- 
 what unceremoniously told us that we were trespassing on 
 private property, and that we should not be allowed to 
 remain. Hence, though very reluctantly, we proceeded on 
 our way.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. I 
 
 Our journey occupied six successive days. On the 
 second, we forded the Sunday River, which takes its rise in 
 the Zneuw-bergen or Snow-mountains, in the Graaf-Reynet 
 district, and, after pursuing a course of one hundred and 
 thirty miles, empties itself into the sea in Algoa-Bay. 
 The name was given to it by the old Dutch colonists, 
 because beyond its eastern bank the Sabbath was unknown. 
 After crossing it, we entered a jungle or forest, called the 
 Ada-bush, which was formerly occupied by herds of 
 elephants. It was several miles in length; and, the road 
 being exceedingly rough, our progress through it was but 
 slow and tedious. We emerged from it, however, at last; 
 and, ascending a steep and difficult hill, we found ourselves 
 on an extended plain, which once abounded with guaggas 
 and other wild creatures. At the extremity of this plain, 
 we could discern an elevated ridge called the Zuur-bergen, 
 beyond which our journey was to terminate. 
 
 The territory through which we passed was formerly 
 inhabited by the Gonaaqua, and other Hottentot tribes, 
 whose national appellation was the Quaiquae. Concerning 
 this branch of the human family, who, with the Namacquas, 
 Korannas, and Bushmen, form one race or people, much 
 has been written, and many singular opinions have been 
 advanced. Whence came they ? what is their origin ? are 
 they kindred with the human species? or are they, as 
 Gibbon has affirmed, "the connecting link between the 
 rational and the irrational creation," a step in advance of 
 the monkey and babboon 1 These are questions of consider- 
 able interest; but the theory of Gibbon has been long 
 exploded, and few will now have the boldness to maintain 
 it. The Hottentots, it is true, are a degraded people, and 
 the Bushmen are extremely so; but their claim to be 
 ranked with the human family has been established by 
 Dr. Prichard on philosophical grounds, and is confirmed 
 by the fact that many of them have embraced the doc- 
 trines of Christianity, and have proved themselves capable 
 of appreciating its blessings. It is now too late to class 
 these hapless beings with the brutes that perish. Wretched 
 as they are, they still are men; and noble is the enterprise,
 
 8 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 to whatever extent it may succeed, of attempting to 
 instruct them in the duties of religion. 
 
 Their origin is another question. They are entirely a 
 distinct people from the Kaffirs and Bechuanas, being 
 lighter in complexion, smaller in stature, and very dissimilar 
 in their form and structure. Barrow traced in them a 
 resemblance to the Chinese; and later travellers have 
 agreed in his opinion, that they are more like that people 
 than any other in the world. Professor Vater thought 
 that they had made their way from the north, along the 
 western side of Africa; but the more probable theory is, 
 that, having entered the continent by Egypt and the Red 
 Sea, they descended to the south, along the eastern coast, 
 through Nubia and Abyssinia. There can be no doubt 
 that they were the very earliest tribes that peopled the 
 southern extremity of Africa, and that the Kaffirs, who 
 succeeded them, made encroachments on their territories. 
 Their language, which consists of several dialects very 
 dissimilar one from another, is exceedingly harsh and 
 discordant, (stridor non vox,) consisting of a variety of 
 hissing, nasal, and clicking sounds, the latter formed chiefly 
 by striking the tongue upon the roof of the mouth. The 
 Rev. Mr. Elliott, of the London Missionary Society, who 
 has studied the language, discovers an affinity between it 
 and some of the Mongolian languages; a fact which goes 
 far to confirm the idea that the Hottentot tribes belong to 
 that great branch of the family of man. 
 
 When the first Dutch colonists became occupants of the 
 Cape, the Hottentots were a numerous and powerful people. 
 Kolben gives a list of eighteen tribes or families of them, 
 who at that time inhabited the country which now forms 
 the Cape Colony, and the territory adjoining. But many 
 of these tribes have disappeared. Oppressed and enslaved 
 by the Dutch settlers on the one hand, and frequently 
 assailed by their warlike neighbours, the Kaffirs, on the 
 other, they are now no longer a people, as they once were ; 
 but, with the exception of the Korannas and the Namacquas, 
 who reside towards the north and north-east of the Colony, 
 are scattered through the country, either wandering about
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 in hordes, or engaged as servants to the European popu- 
 lation. 
 
 After five days' travelling we came to one of those 
 rugged mountain-passes, so frequently described by African 
 travellers. The scene was remarkably bold and picturesque. 
 A range of hills, of considerable elevation, rose abruptly on 
 either hand, towards the bases of which a series of sand- 
 stone rocks, covered with beautiful shrubs and plants, pro- 
 jected over our path. The road was wretched, and it was 
 hard work for our oxen to pull the waggon up the long 
 steep hill we had to climb. By toiling half a day, during 
 which the driver often used his whip, as we thought, too 
 severely, we attained the summit, from which Graham's 
 Town, embosomed in a valley, presented itself to view. The 
 sight was cheering, as by this time we were not a little 
 tired ; and it was highly gratifying to us, to receive, on our 
 arrival, a most cordial welcome from the Rev. W. Shaw, 
 and many others, who, though strangers then, afterwards 
 became our very intimate friends. Our description of 
 Graham's Town we shall reserve for a future chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE COLONY. 
 
 Extent Discovery. The Dutch Colonists. French Protestant 
 Refugees. The British Government. Physical aspects of the 
 country. The River Cowie. Mountain- ranges. Geological inves- 
 tigations. The Dutch farmers. Climate of the Cape. Population. 
 The Albany settlement 
 
 "COLONIES," says Heeren, "are indispensable to every 
 seafaring and commercial nation." Great Britain is essen- 
 tially such. Girt around by the ocean, she must hold 
 intercourse with other lands by means of ships ; and hence 
 there is enkindled in the breast of her inhabitants a spirit 
 of enterprise, the almost necessary result of the command 
 
 B5
 
 10 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 of the seas. Her children have spread themselves to the 
 very antipodes of the globe. Some have gone in quest of 
 wealth, others to establish markets for our various manu- 
 factures, and others again to plant new homes for them- 
 selves and their descendants, where brighter prospects open 
 than- in this their father-land. 
 
 So much interest having been recently awakened relative 
 to our possessions in South Africa, we shall offer, before 
 proceeding with our personal narrative, some observations 
 relative to their history and character. 
 
 The entire Colony of the Cape of Good Hope is situated 
 between the twenty-eighth and the thirty-fifth parallels of 
 south latitude ; and, taking the Garriep, or Great Orange 
 River as the northern boundary, comprises an area of about 
 two hundred thousand square miles, exclusive of those 
 portions of territory which have been annexed to it within 
 the last three years. 
 
 If we may credit the story of Herodotus, Africa was 
 circumnavigated by the Phoenicians. Necho, King of 
 Egypt, being anxious to ascertain the boundaries of the 
 continent, sent out a number of Phoenician sailors, who, 
 proceeding down the Red Sea, entered the Indian Ocean, 
 and made the circuit of the southern promontory, returning 
 by the western coast of Africa, passing between the Pillars of 
 Hercules, and ascending the Mediterranean back to Egypt. 
 This account the father of history received from the 
 Egyptian Priests ; but he himself was inclined to disbelieve 
 it, for a reason which, to those on whom modern science 
 sheds her rays, would be an argument in favour of it, 
 namely, that these navigators said that they saw the sun at 
 their right-hand, or in the north. 
 
 But whether this story be true or not, we are indebted 
 for the actual discovery of South Africa to the Portuguese. 
 The fifteenth century was the age of maritime enterprise 
 and inquiry. Though navigation, as a science, was then in 
 its infancy, and the mariner's compass was but little under- 
 stood, there were a few bold spirits who, actuated by an 
 ardent passion for discovery, ventured to brave the terrors 
 of the deep, far from the sight of land. In the year 1487,
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 11 
 
 Bartholomew Diaz, under the patronage of John II., of 
 Portugal, fitted out a fleet, and, proceeding along the coast 
 of Africa, reached, at length, the southern promontory. 
 But it was " the Cape of Storms ;" and, his ships being 
 damaged, and his crew becoming mutinous, he returned 
 without effecting a landing on its shores. Ten years later 
 Vasco de Gama, whose exploits are immortalised in the 
 Lusiad of Camoens, the most celebrated poem in the Por- 
 tuguese language, doubled the Cape, and first set foot upon 
 its shores. But the treasures of the East were the object 
 of pursuit by the Portuguese ; and in " the naked cliffs and 
 cheerless vales" of this newly discovered territory, they 
 probably saw nothing to induce them to occupy it. Upwards 
 of another century elapsed ere civilized man there fixed his 
 abode ; for though the ships of the Dutch and of the 
 East India Companies touched at the Cape in their passage 
 to and from the East, it was not until the year 1652, that, 
 as Vaillant states, " Riebeck, the surgeon, returned from 
 India, and opened the eyes of the Directors of the East 
 India Company to the importance of a settlement at the 
 Cape ;" and that " they wisely thought that such an enter- 
 prise could not be performed better than by the genius 
 who had planned it." Van Riebeck proceeded to the Cape 
 with a considerable number of adventurers, and a colony 
 was then formed. For a few small presents of tobacco, 
 spirits, beads, and various other articles, the Quaiquae, or 
 Hottentots, who then occupied the country, were induced 
 to dispose of certain tracts of land ; and then, as the colony 
 increased, and additional territory was required, " the Dutch 
 took possession, indiscriminately at different times, of all 
 the land which Government, or individuals befriended by 
 the Government, thought proper or found convenient for 
 them." 
 
 There can be no doubt of the truth of this representa- 
 tion. Alas ! that so foul a blot should stain the history 
 of this delightful colony. But even in the nineteenth 
 century, avarice and ambition will lead men to sacrifice 
 every generous motive and every upright principle, and 
 forcibly to wrest, as in the aggressions of the French
 
 12 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 upon Tahiti, a beautiful island of the sea from the hands 
 of the rightful occupants of the soil 
 
 4 D. On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes many of the 
 French Protestant refugees emigrated to the Cape, where 
 they were settled by the Dutch Government in a fertile 
 valley, to which was given the name of Fransche-lloek, 
 " French-corner ;" a spot that has been rendered addi- 
 tionally interesting by one of the sonnets of the poet 
 Pringle. These refugees began to cultivate the vine, and 
 both the climate and the soil were found to be congenial to 
 its growth. From that time to the present the care of the 
 vineyard has occupied a considerable part of the attention 
 of the Cape farmer, and the wines of Constantia especially 
 have become celebrated nearly all the world over. In 
 many parts of the country the vine is trained over veran- 
 dahs in the front of dwelling-houses, and in gardens hangs 
 in rich festoons over poles and lattice-work ; but in the 
 vineyards, some of which are several acres in extent, it 
 is planted in rows of short bushy trees. The ordinary 
 wines made at the Cape are light and inferior, and are sold 
 at from three to five dollars (four and sixpence to seven 
 shillings) per gallon. 
 
 In the year 1795, the Colony was seized by the British 
 Government. But seven years after, at the peace of 
 Amiens, it was very injudiciously restored to the Dutch. 
 The folly of the step was soon apparent ; and on the 
 renewal of hostilities with France, a considerable force, 
 under the command of Sir David Baird and Sir Home 
 Popham, was sent to the Cape, with a view to its recapture. 
 It was taken without difficulty, and has ever since remained 
 in the possession of the British Crown. But the value of 
 this portion of our empire has not been duly appreciated. 
 Until very recently its interests have been neglected ; its 
 claims on the attention of the parent state but little 
 regarded ; and the representations which have been made 
 relative to its misgovernment, though founded on indis- 
 putable facts, unheeded. The consequences have been, 
 that its energies have been cramped ; and that, through the 
 discontent awakened in the minds of the Dutch inhabitants,

 
 

 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 13 
 
 and the calamitous wars which have been waged with the 
 native tribes, its progress has been very considerably 
 retarded. Let us hope that the time has come when a 
 more liberal and enlightened policy will be adopted ; and 
 that the future history of the Cape Colony will be marked 
 by events more pleasing and propitious than those which 
 signalize the past. 
 
 In describing the physical aspects of the Colony my 
 remarks will be confined to the Eastern Province, which 
 embraces the districts of Albany, Somerset, Cradock, 
 Graaf-Reynet, and Colesberg, to which has been added 
 recently the district of Victoria, which was formerly 
 a part of Kaffirland. It is bounded on the south by the 
 Indian Ocean, on the north by the Great Orange River 
 and the country of the Bechuanas, on the east by British 
 Kaffraria, and on the west by the districts of George and 
 Beaufort. 
 
 On the coast, the country is remarkably rugged. Deep 
 kloofs or ravines intersect each other in various directions, 
 the sides of which are covered with dense forests, extending 
 in some cases over an area of several hundred square miles. 
 Here the richest vegetation charms the eye. The spekboom, 
 the yellow-wood, the lofty euphorbia, putting forth its arms 
 like the branches of a huge candelabrum the baboon's 
 ladder, climbing to the tops of the highest trees, and 
 winding its way in every direction, over crags, and rocks, 
 and 'streams; together with the^aloe, the jessamine, and 
 numerous species of the beautiful^ geranium, form a cluster 
 of botanical treasures on which the naturalist might long 
 employ his hours. At the bottom of these ravines are 
 rivulets, and streams of water, many of which become, in 
 rainy seasons, rapid torrents, which have been known to 
 sweep away waggons, oxen, and horses, encamped on their 
 margin during the night. The higher lands, or ridges of 
 the mountains, are embellished with clumps of the yellow- 
 flowering mimosa, giving to the scenery a pleasing r aspect, 
 not unlike that of our English parks. 
 
 The Cowie is almost the only river on the coast which 
 is worthy of attention. It winds along through Lower
 
 14 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Albany in a deep and gradually-widening channel, and 
 gives a remarkable charm to the view from the heights 
 above it, its waters oft glancing between the thick copse- 
 wood in which it is enveloped. Dense jungles line its 
 banks, in whose sylvan recesses the lion and the elephant 
 formerly abode. At its mouth is a large estuary, into 
 which, by the enterprise and perseverance of W. Cock, Esq., 
 small coasting- vessels have been brought, although a bar of 
 sand crosses the entrance of the river, formed partly by the 
 action of the tide, and partly by the detritus from the lands 
 above. The scenery of the river, which is navigable by boats, 
 for upwards of fifteen miles, is quite enchanting. The course 
 is serpentine ; and at every fresh turn you take, in sailing 
 onward, the eye rests upon a new landscape of surpassing 
 loveliness and beauty. It often reminded me of the 
 Thames in the neighbourhood of Richmond. 
 
 Upwards from the coast, the country consists of elevated 
 table-lands, intersected by several ranges of mountains, and 
 watered by numerous rivulets and streams, which, like those 
 already mentioned, when swollen by the rains that fall in 
 the interior, assume the form of rivers, whose waters roll 
 with such impetuous force as to render any attempt to cross 
 extremely dangerous. The Bosch-bergen and the Winter- 
 bergen, from eighty to one hundred miles inland, are 
 upwards of six thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
 and during several months of the year are capped with 
 snow. In the vicinity of these mountains are some of the 
 most lovely valleys and glens which the hand of nature 
 ever formed. The glowing and poetical descriptions of 
 them given by Pringle are by no means over-charged : 
 indeed it is impossible either for the pencil or the pen to 
 do them justice. Still further inland is another range of 
 mountains, called the Zneuw-bergen, the loftiest peak of 
 which, the Compass-berg, is estimated to be six thousand 
 five hundred feet above the level of the sea. This region 
 is well watered, and contains rich pasturage, especially for 
 sheep. The bases of these mountains are formed of schistus, 
 upon which lies a stratum of sandstone, intermingled with 
 quartz. Beyond this range, stretching to the south and
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 15 
 
 south-west, is an extensive steppe, or terrace, which, on 
 account of its parched and arid character, has received the 
 name of the Great Karroo. It is about three hundred miles 
 in length, by seventy or eighty in breadth. Its aspect is for 
 the most part exceedingly sterile. It is covered with a thin 
 argillaceous soil, which, owing to the want of moisture, 
 assumes, in the summer season especially, the hardness of 
 brick. The vegetation, which in such a region is necessarily 
 scanty, consists of heath-like shrubs, together with numer- 
 ous species of the fig-marigold, (mesembrya7itkemum,) and 
 other succulents. After the rains fall in the spring of the 
 year, these plants put forth beautiful flowers, of various 
 hues and colours, and the air is filled with the fragrance 
 of their odour. 
 
 Recent investigations into the geological character of the 
 country, conducted by Mr. Bain, lead to the conclusion 
 that the whole territory is a fresh-water formation ; there 
 being nothing in the different species of shells, plants, and 
 other organic remains which have been discovered, that 
 indicates a marine origin. The lower silurian deposits, 
 resting on beds of granite or clay-slate, prevail extensively. 
 In these deposits numerous fossil remains have been found, 
 some of which were sent to England. Here and there, 
 and especially in the neighbourhood of Fort-Beaufort and 
 the Winterberg, strata of the carboniferous and oolitic 
 classes occur; but as yet no coal has been discovered, 
 though in all probability it exists. 
 
 The districts of Cradock, Somerset,* and Graaf-Reynet 
 are rich in valuable vineyards, and in pastoral and agricul- 
 tural farms. Wheat of the finest quality grows in these 
 parts of the country, as well as in the western districts. 
 Wooled sheep are now reared in considerable numbers, even 
 by the Dutch- African farmers, who were long prejudiced 
 in favour of the fat-tailed sheep, which produce no wool. 
 No idea of an African farm can be formed from the home- 
 stead of the English farmer. It generally embraces several 
 hundred acres of land, which, with the exception of the 
 
 * The frontispiece to this volume represents the town of Somerset, 
 the capital of this district, which lies at the foot of the Bosch-bergen.
 
 16 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 gardens and vineyards, lie unenclosed, the boundaries of 
 the farm being simply marked by head-stones, bearing, in 
 some instances, the proprietor's initials. The sheep and 
 cattle are therefore constantly attended by men whose 
 business is to keep them in a given locality, and to prevent 
 their being lost in the glens and forests of the neighbour- 
 hood. At night they are brought home, and secured in the 
 fold or kraal. 
 
 The residence of a Dutch Boer is much the same now as 
 it was when Barrow visited the Cape. It is similar in 
 appearance to a respectable thatch-covered barn. Along 
 the front of it, there runs a stoep, or step ; and on entering 
 the voor-kammer, or principal room, the floor of which is 
 generally of clay, you find the huis-vrouw, or mistress, 
 seated at a small table, with cups, saucers, and a tea-pot 
 before her, and a small kettle, placed upon a stand con- 
 taining hot embers, at her feet. The beams of the house 
 are generally hung over with Indian corn, pieces of bell- 
 tong, the dried flesh of the spring-bok, and here and there 
 with the skins of wild animals. An adjoining apartment 
 on the one side is the slaap-kammer, or sleeping-room ; and 
 on the opposite side is the kitchen, where, early in the 
 morning, the native servants will be found slaughtering a 
 sheep, a company of dogs being usually present, putting in 
 their claim for a share in the spoil. 
 
 The Dutch are remarkably hospitable. When travelling 
 in different parts of the country, I have frequently halted 
 at the house of a Boer, and have always met with a kind 
 and friendly reception. To whatever the dwelling could 
 afford, coffee, tea, a good supper, and at least a mattress 
 of straw, but often a very comfortable bed, I was ever 
 made welcome ; nor would Mynheer think for a moment of 
 asking for any remuneration. After the usual salutation, 
 Goeden dag, Mynheer, goeden dag, jevrouw, the subjects of 
 conversation generally touched upon are, the state of the 
 country, the visitations of the locust, and especially the 
 vexatious Kaffir question, together with the most recent 
 intelligence from Europe, respecting which many of the 
 Dutch farmers feel a lively interest. Nor are they by any
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 17 
 
 means strangers to religion. Though many of them live in 
 retired and solitary spots, far from any colonial town, 
 sanctuary, or Minister, yet they keep up some of the 
 observances of piety in their families; and, to be present at 
 the kirk on certain occasions, such as the nagtmaal, "sacra- 
 ment," and the bevestiging, "confirmation," they will travel in 
 their waggons from fifty to a hundred miles. They are 
 nearly all members of the Dutch Reformed Church, and are 
 thorough Presbyterians, and true Protestants. To Popery 
 they possess the greatest abhorrence ; and one of the many 
 grounds on which they find fault with the British Govern- 
 ment, is, that the Church of Rome is nourished in the 
 Colony, a fact too obvious to be denied. There is some- 
 thing remarkably primitive in the appearance of a Dutch 
 household assembled for family worship, very much remind- 
 ing one of the descriptions we have seen of the old Scotch 
 Covenanters. Before or after supper, the Groot^Bibel, 
 with huge brass clasps, and usually adorned with a number 
 of curious plates, which are deemed of great importance, is 
 placed upon the table, and, the inmates of the dwelling 
 being seated round it, a psalm is sung, and the patriarch of 
 the family reads a chapter, or perhaps catechises the children ; 
 and then, whilst all stand in an attitude of devotion, offers 
 up a prayer. Such scenes I have often witnessed with plea- 
 sure, sometimes taking part in the service of the evening. 
 
 The climate of the Cape, -though subject to great 
 variations of temperature, is perhaps on the whole one of the 
 most salubrious in the world. The spring commences in 
 October with refreshing showers. In December the south- 
 east monsoon begins. January and February are the hottest 
 months in the year, when the hot winds which blow 
 occasionally from the north and north-west, and are 
 probably the remains of the simoon which sweeps across 
 the South Sahara, are most oppressive. The air seems 
 charged with sulphureous vapours, which produce sensations 
 of the most painful kind. You pant for the cool refreshing 
 breeze, and, to prevent suffocation, are obliged to cover the 
 mouth and nostrils with a handkerchief. All nature feels 
 the withering influence. In the course of a few minutes,
 
 18 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 the flowers in the gardens die, and every green herb is 
 scorched ; as if to illustrate the words of the Prophet, " The 
 grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the spirit" (wind 
 or breath) "of the Lord bloweth upon it," &c. (Isaiah xL 7.) 
 Seasons of drought, too, are not unfrequent. Several 
 weeks will sometimes elapse, during which no rain will 
 fall, and not a cloud arise, save perhaps for a moment, to 
 speck the azure sky. The earth, parched up with thirst, 
 will literally open itself in large cracks and fissures, as 
 though it were calling to the heavens for showers. The 
 brooks and streams will be dried up, the hills assume a 
 sterile aspect, and the cattle, almost destitute of water and 
 of grass, will manifest their distress by peculiar moans and 
 cries. In such a country, the language of the Bible, 
 which speaks of pools of water, living water, ever-flowing 
 streams and springs, as emblems of happiness and joy, is 
 felt to be appropriate, beautiful, and expressive. 
 
 The autumn and the winter are the most agreeable 
 seasons of the year. During the latter the air is often 
 fresh and bracing: snow falls on the mountains, and some- 
 times near the coast ; but, compared with English winters, 
 the cold is not severe, though, after a hot relaxing summer, 
 it is often keenly felt by those who have long resided in the 
 country. But the entire circle of the seasons in South Africa 
 is decidedly favourable to health ; and to persons threatened 
 with pulmonary complaints, few spots can be found on this 
 green earth whose climate would be likely to prove more 
 beneficial. There is a remarkable clearness in the atmo- 
 sphere the whole year round, in consequence of which 
 mountains, and other distant objects, appear to the eye 
 much nearer than they really are ; and in crossing an exten- 
 sive plain, the traveller is often led to think that the 
 elevated ridge before him is at hand, when it is perhaps 
 twenty or thirty miles beyond. In an African sunset there 
 is so much brilliancy and glory as to baffle all description. 
 After pouring his beams upon the earth, and filling the 
 air with streams of dazzling light, Sol descends into the 
 west, amid tints and hues which no pencil can depict, amid 
 golden rays too gorgeous for the sight to bear. Nor can
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 19 
 
 aught surpass the loveliness of an African moon-light night. 
 Were it not that it would be injurious to the eyes, the 
 smallest type might be read with little difficulty ; and in 
 the desert wilds, when far from any human habitation, the 
 awful stillness which often pervades all nature, together 
 with deep broad shadows of the mountains, rocks, and 
 trees, produces an effect upon the mind of alternate joy 
 and sadness, as if you were in a region of enchantment. 
 
 The entire population of the Cape Colony is estimated 
 at about 170,000. Its affairs are directed by a Legislative 
 Council, at which the Governor presides ; but ere long a 
 representative assembly will probably be granted it. The 
 British settlers who emigrated in the year 1820 were 
 located by the Government in what was then designated 
 the Zuurberg, now the fertile district of Albany. In former 
 times this territory was occupied by tribes of Hottentots; 
 but at the period now referred to it was a comparatively 
 uninhabited waste. The Amakosa Kaffirs had previously 
 dispossessed the Hottentots of their country ; and they, in 
 their turn, whether justly or unjustly is a question difficult 
 to decide, were driven beyond the Great Fish River; the 
 original boundary of their own territory being the Keis- 
 kamma, thirty miles further to the east. No blame attaches 
 itself to the British emigrants in connexion with the ex- 
 pulsion of the Kaffir tribes. The thing was done without 
 their knowledge, and some years prior to their occupation 
 of the country. Nor have they ever, as a community, acted 
 with injustice towards the aborigines of the land, much as 
 their character has been traduced by their enemies. They 
 have, on the contrary, sought to extend amongst them the 
 blessings of religion, and the arts of civilized life; and 
 though they have met with but little encouragement, but 
 rather the reverse, their efforts to promote the highest 
 interests of their heathen neighbours have increased and 
 multiplied year by year. It would have been well if every 
 colonial settlement of the British Crown had been conducted 
 with as much regard to the principles of justice as that of 
 Albany in Southern Africa.
 
 20 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 Cradock. Remarkable journey. Thunder-storm. The Koonap. 
 A Sabbath in the wilderness. Fording the river. Fort-Beaufort. 
 Military road. Magnificent scenery. Native kraals. Customs of 
 the Heathen. Their utilitarian notions. Strictures on Vaillant. 
 Views of Christian Missionaries. 
 
 A CONSIDERABLE part of the first year of my African life 
 was spent in travelling from place to place. I set out 
 with my family on a journey to the Bechuana-land, having 
 been appointed by the Conference to labour in that District; 
 but being detained at Cradock by affliction, we took up our 
 abode in that place, for a short period, endeavouring, in the 
 meanwhile, to promote the cause of Christ. 
 
 Cradock is a small but gradually rising town, one hun- 
 dred miles north of Graham's Town. It was originally 
 founded by the Dutch, and is inhabited partly by families 
 of Dutch descent. On our arrival, we found a few 
 Wesleyans, who cordially received us ; and, having obtained 
 the use of the Court-house, we commenced an English 
 service, and a Sabbath-school. There were residing in the 
 vicinity of the town a number of Hottentots and emanci- 
 pated slaves, the greater portion of whom were addicted to 
 the most idle and dissolute habits, and living in the most 
 wretched habitations possible. They were willing, however, 
 to receive instruction ; and I held divine worship with 
 them, first, in one of their wattled huts, and afterwards, 
 under the mud walls of an old Tronk, or prison, which we 
 tried in vain to convert into a chapel. The appearance of 
 our little company was singular and grotesque ; but God 
 was often with us; for celestial light, like the light of the 
 sun, pours its beams as richly on the cottage as on the 
 palace, on the humble worshipper in the meanest sanc- 
 tuary, even as on those who assemble beneath the fretted 
 roof of the magnificent cathedral. The seed then sown 
 was not entirely lost. We have now a resident Missionary
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 21 
 
 in Cradock, an excellent chapel, an English and a native 
 congregation, and between seventy and eighty members, 
 including many coloured persons, who, there is reason to 
 believe, are truly Christians. 
 
 But we did not remain at Cradock long. No Missionary 
 could be spared to occupy the place at that time; and we 
 left it for Fort-Beaufort, where our services were required. 
 Our journey was a remarkable one. We set out in our 
 waggons on the morning of a brilliant day, followed by a 
 number of the coloured people, who regretted our departure, 
 a considerable distance; and, after crossing the Great Fish 
 River, pursued our course over a rough and stony path, until 
 the evening, when we arrived at the residence of a respectable 
 Dutch farmer. Here we obtained permission to spend the 
 night, and were freely invited to partake of a supper of broiled 
 mutton and vegetables. After we had been seated a short 
 time, several young men, members of the family, came in 
 from their employment; and presently a Hottentot servant 
 brought a bowl of water, and each one, taking off his shoes, 
 (veld schoenen,) washed his feet. The bowl was then placed 
 before my wife, but she declined the ceremony. We 
 preferred sleeping in our waggons to taking a bed in the 
 house; and early the next morning we proceeded on our 
 way. Some of the steppes over which we passed were 
 enlivened by the wilde beeste, or gnu, (catoblepas gnu,) the 
 swiftest beast that ranges the plains of Africa. There 
 were also herds of that beautiful creature, the spring-bok, 
 (gazella, eitchore,) which will often come in considerable 
 numbers, and stand within a few hundred yards of your 
 waggon, as if desiring to be friendly; but on hearing the 
 report of a gun, the whole herd will immediately bound away, 
 leaping over crags and hills, at a speed almost incredible. 
 
 We crossed the Baviaan's River (River of Baboons) on 
 the morning of the third day, with considerable difficulty, 
 as it was swollen with the rains that had fallen up the 
 country. This neighbourhood is inhabited by immense 
 numbers of baboons, of the species called the ursine, or dog- 
 faced baboon. These unsightly-looking creatures crossed 
 our path in various directions; and, climbing up into the
 
 22 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 trees with the greatest agility, sat upon the boughs, 
 watching us as we passed with apparent curiosity, and with 
 not a little impudence and daring. In this vicinity is the 
 Scotch location of the Pringles, called Glen-Lynden, a wild, 
 beautiful, and romantic locality, the scenery and productions 
 of which, to quote the language of the poet of South 
 Africa, " reminded us in the most forcible manner of the 
 imagery of the Hebrew Scriptures. The parched and 
 thorny desert; the rugged and stony mountains; the dry 
 beds of torrents; the green pastures by the quiet waters; 
 the lions' dens; the mountains of leopards; the roes and 
 the young harts (antelopes) that feed among the lilies; the 
 coney of the rocks; the ostrich of the" wilderness; the 
 shadow of a great rock in a weary land; these, and a 
 thoxisand other objects, with the striking and appropriate 
 descriptions which accompany them, recurred to us con- 
 tinually with a sense of their beauty and aptitude, which 
 we never fully felt before." 
 
 The weather hitherto had been serene and beautiful. 
 Seldom had a cloud appeared in the heavens; and though 
 the rays of the sun were hot, yet refreshing breezes 
 frequently fanned the air, which was perfumed with the 
 fragrance of the flowers of the mimosa. But now the sky 
 was overcast, thunder pealed in the air, and the rain began 
 to fall in overwhelming torrents, such as I never witnessed 
 either before or since. For several successive hours, the 
 clouds continued to discharge such floods of water, that, 
 though we pursued our journey, we seemed to be literally 
 immersed in showers; and the face of the country was 
 inundated in every direction, and assumed the appearance 
 of one vast river or lake. The scene was terrific; and one 
 might easily have imagined that the windows of heaven 
 were opened, and that a second deluge was about to over- 
 whelm the globe. Our path lay by the side of a lofty 
 range of hills, down which the waters rolled impetuously, 
 with the noise of a mighty cataract, increasing considerably 
 our anxieties and fears. How we were able to proceed, 
 I cannot tell; but our waggons were waterproof even 
 against so severe a storm; and our native attendant?,
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 26 
 
 though almost drowned, behaved with exemplary courage, 
 and resolved to move onward, however slowly, until we 
 could gain some place of shelter. The patient oxen, too, 
 though evidently fatigued, and sore in the neck with the 
 constant friction of the yoke, strove with all their might to 
 trek, (pull,) until at length we reached some miserable huts 
 occupied by a few Hottentots, where we found a fire, and 
 were able to prepare a supper before retiring to rest. And 
 0, how grateful were we for the refreshment we obtained, 
 and for the sense of comparative safety we experienced ! 
 Those only who have been exposed to an African thunder- 
 storm, can tell how joyous the sensations are when the 
 storm abates, or some habitation, rude as it may be, is 
 gained. 
 
 Showers continued to fall during the greater part of the 
 following day; and owing to the softness of the roads, the 
 soil being chiefly argillaceous, travelling was now exceed- 
 ingly difficult. Once we stuck fast in the bed of a rivulet; 
 and at another time, while ascending a steep acclivity, one 
 of the front wheels of our waggon fell into a deep rut, 
 formed by the action of the water ; and the pick-axe, spade, 
 and crow-bar were brought into requisition to get it out. 
 But now the rain was over and gone, and the sun again 
 shone upon our path, and we began to hope that we should 
 arrive at our destination before the day of rest. We 
 stopped for a short time at the residence of Sir Andries 
 Stockenstrom, formerly Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony, 
 who kindly invited us to remain over the Sabbath ; but on 
 the morning of Saturday we took our departure, hoping 
 that, in a few hours, we should reach the termination of 
 our tedious journey. But we had another river to cross, 
 called the Koonap, one of the numerous streams that take 
 their rise in the glens and kloofs of the Winterberg, a moun- 
 tainous region already mentioned. There was no bridge 
 over this river, and, like most of the rivers of Africa, it was 
 subject to sudden swellings, its waters being " now to the 
 ankles," and anon "waters to swim in, a river that could 
 not be passed over." The disappointment we experienced, 
 when, as we approached its banks, our waggon-driver David
 
 24 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 observed, "De rivier u vol, Mynheer" may be better imagined 
 than described. The river was indeed full, as the roar of 
 its waters indicated long before we saw them. Under such 
 circumstances there is no alternative but to wait with 
 patience until the flood subsides ; and we therefore made 
 up our minds to spend a Sabbath in the wilderness, a 
 privation which it is the lot of the African traveller often 
 to endure. 
 
 The Sabbath dawned. The day was clear, bright, and 
 lovely. The wilderness seemed glad of the recent rains, 
 and the earth was carpeted with tender grass, and adorned 
 with flowers of the richest hues. Myriads of the insect 
 tribe danced in the life-giving beams of the sun, as though 
 they were keeping holiday; and a gentle breeze rustled in 
 the reeds which grew on the margin of the river, the 
 murmur of whose waters as they rolled along seemed to 
 speak the Creator's praise. The willow of Babylon lined 
 the river's banks, from the slender branches of which were 
 hung the beautiful nests of the weaver-bird, which are 
 shaped exactly like a chemist's retort, and are suspended 
 from the head by a few fibres of grass, the aperture being 
 at the bottom of the shank, which is about eight or nine 
 inches long, and sometimes almost touches the water. 
 Perfectly free from the danger of attack by serpents, 
 monkeys, or baboons, this little bird inhabits her comfort- 
 able dwelling, gently swinging in the air. Who has given 
 it instinct so remarkable? Not chance or nature, but the 
 God of nature, in all whose works the manifestations of 
 design present themselves in the clearest light. Our 
 situation reminded us of the language of the captive 
 Israelites, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, 
 yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our 
 harps upon the willows in the midst thereof." We, how- 
 ever, were not disposed to yield to sadness, but rather to 
 give thanks and to rejoice. The remains of an old military 
 fort were not far distant from the place of our encampment ; 
 and, on wandering towards it, I met with a few Hottentots, 
 whom I invited to join us in the worship of Jehovah. 
 Some of them came, and under the shadow of a hill we
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 25 
 
 sang a hymn and prayed ; and then I read a chapter of the 
 New Testament in Dutch, and tried to explain it as well 
 as I was able. That Sabbath in the wilderness I shall 
 not forget ; for God was with us, and his presence sanctified 
 it, and dispelled the gloom, and made the spot like the hill 
 Mizar, a place to be remembered with thanksgiving. 
 
 The next morning the river was fordable ; but a deep bed 
 of mud had been deposited by its waters on the side 
 adjoining us, in which, had we ventured to cross, our 
 waggon would probably have stuck fast. Our men, there- 
 fore, set to work to construct a sort of causeway, by chop- 
 ping down trees, and throwing them across the path, and 
 by filling up the holes with stones and earth. This task 
 accomplished, our careful driver thought we might venture 
 through; and, tired as we were of a wilderness life, we did 
 not hesitate making the attempt. We succeeded; for 
 though the water was yet high, and the current was 
 rushing down with considerable force, yet the skill of our 
 attendants, who had been accustomed to such adventures, 
 enabled them to overcome all difficulties. 
 
 A few hours brought us to Fort*Beaufort, where we 
 were kindly welcomed by the Rev. G. H. Green. This is 
 a military town, in which the Government has erected 
 spacious and extensive barracks. The maintenance of a 
 large military force on the colonial frontier is a necessary 
 evil, of which even the most zealous advocates of the Peace 
 Society, if they understood the circumstances of the 
 country, would scarcely be disposed to complain. None, I 
 believe, would more greatly rejoice than the Colonists 
 themselves, could the tranquillity of the border be preserved 
 by any other means; but the restless and predatory dispo- 
 sition of the Kaffir tribes, and their frequent inroads on 
 the colonial territory, render it essential that the means of 
 defence should be at hand. And yet the effect produced 
 on the native mind must necessarily be injurious, as it 
 tends to keep alive the animosity which exists between the 
 black man and the white. Hence the philanthropist and 
 the Christian will rejoice, when, as the result of the diffusion 
 of the principles of the Gospel, the establishment of religious
 
 26 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 institutions, and the gradual elevation of the Kaffir tribes, 
 military forts shall give place to sanctuaries, and weapons 
 of war become instruments of husbandry. The sons of 
 Moshesh, the Basutu Chieftain, on visiting Beaufort and 
 the adjoining camps, observed, " The English are evidently 
 powerful by their arms and by their wisdom: they can 
 infuse terror into the Amakosae, and cut them in pieces if 
 it be necessary ; but would it not be better if they increased 
 the number of their schools instead of their forts, and of 
 Bibles instead of cannons'?" Doubtless it would; and, 
 though the time has not come when forts and cannons can 
 be dispensed with, we believe it has come when Missionaries 
 and Missionary operations should be increased a hundred- 
 fold. 
 
 Fort-Beaufort owes its origin to the war of 1835. It 
 stands on a small peninsula, formed by the Kat River, and 
 is eligibly situated as a place of defence. At the back of 
 the town is a range of mountains, forming part of the 
 chain of the Bosch-bergen, the appearance of which is some- 
 what imposing, giving to the landscape an air of grandeur 
 and magnificence. Through part of this range, and thence 
 across the Winterberg, leading to the Tarka, a military 
 road has been constructed, which is almost worthy of being 
 ranked with the celebrated Via Appia of ancient Rome. It 
 was projected by Major Selwyn of the Royal Engineers, 
 and executed under the superintendence of Mr. G. Bain. 
 In several localities it has been cut out of the mountain- 
 side, up which it gradually winds in a serpentine course for 
 several miles, supported by walls of solid masonry, or by 
 embankments of the firmest kind. From Fort- Beaufort it 
 extends likewise in the opposite direction towards Graham's 
 Town; and here, on the heights of the Kat River and of 
 the Koonap, and again in the jungle of the Great Fish 
 River the scenery is magnificent. On one side of the road 
 you perceive a densely wooded hill, rising almost perpendi- 
 cularly over your head, from fifty to two-hundred feet, and 
 on the opposite side you look down into a precipitous glen, 
 on the very verge of which you have to travel; and, as 
 there is no parapet or fence, a stranger to such travelling
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 27 
 
 would apprehend considerable danger. The execution of 
 this work reflects the highest credit on the Royal Engineers ; 
 and to the Colony the road is as valuable as one of the 
 principal lines of railway is to England. It was during 
 the construction of this and other roads, that the geological 
 character of the country was brought to light, and that a 
 number of fossil remains belonging to a peculiar species of 
 an extinct genus of Reptilia, to which the name Dicynodon* 
 has been given by Professor Owen, were discovered by Mr. 
 Bain, who sent them to this country. 
 
 In the vicinity of Fort-Beaufort there are several kraals, 
 chiefly belonging to the class of natives designated Fingoes. 
 Though living in the midst of a civilized community, these 
 people were, with few exceptions, wild and barbarous. 
 The heathen tribes of Africa are not incited by the influence 
 of example merely, to throw off" their indolent habits, and 
 to make any efforts for their social benefit. They will 
 admire your habitations, but they will not imitate them; 
 they will express their astonishment at your skill and 
 wisdom, but they will not be ambitious to be as wise as 
 you are. " Yes," said a Kaffir Chief who visited Graham's 
 Town, as he walked up its streets, gazing on the houses 
 and public buildings, "the English are very clever; but 
 what fools they are to take so much trouble ! Do they expect 
 to live for ever?" 
 
 Such are the utilitarian views by which the savage is 
 actuated; nor can any but motives of the highest order, 
 motives such as the Gospel only will inspire, lead him to 
 adopt a mode of life different from that which satisfied his 
 ancestors. Immediately opposite our dwelling, and at the 
 distance of two or three hundred yards, was one of these 
 Fingoe kraals; and during the moonlight nights we were 
 frequently disturbed by the monotonous song of its wild 
 inhabitants, who danced and sang for several successive 
 
 From Us, " two," and xt>oJot/j, " a canine tooth," the animals 
 having been distinguished by two immense teeth, or pointed tusks. 
 See a description of the fossils by Professor Owen, in the " Transac- 
 tions of the Geological Society of London, for the year 1845," vol. 
 vii., pt 2. 
 
 c 2
 
 28 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 hours. The French traveller, Vaillant, quotes with appro- 
 bation, from a writer whom he does not name, the following 
 remarks : " In a polished state dancing and singing are 
 two arts; but in the bosom of the forests, they are almost 
 natural signs of concord, friendship, tenderness, and 
 pleasure. We learn under masters to command our voice, 
 and move our limbs in cadence : the savage has no other 
 instructor, but his own passions, his own heart, and nature. 
 AN' hat he feels, we pretend to feel : the savage, therefore, 
 who dances and sings is always happy." To these views 
 we totally demur. What do they assume, but that the 
 savage state is the natural condition of the human race? 
 A civilized state of society, according to this notion, has 
 been superinduced on a more primitive form, and must be 
 considered a catastrophe wherever it obtains. Had we 
 been left to ourselves, our songs would have been the free 
 and spontaneous manifestations of our joy, and our joy 
 would have been far more abundant than it now is! Who- 
 ever can adopt such views as these had better return to 
 the savage state, and become an inhabitant of the forest 
 and the wilderness; and if man be merely an animal, irra- 
 tional, unaccountable, and destined for no higher state than 
 the one he occupies at present, it might be well. But if 
 he is an immortal being, if the Creator has designed him 
 for the bliss of heaven, if he is to become the companion of 
 angels and an inheritor of God himself, then must the 
 condition in which he is found, amid the glens, the 
 mountains, and the rocks of Africa, be one into which he 
 has degenerated, and from which he must be raised by the 
 lever of the Gospel. 
 
 ".The savage when he dances and sings is always 
 happy ;" and so is the hart that bounds across the 
 plain, and the bird that towers aloft upon the wing : 
 and what is the difference between the happiness of the 
 one and of the other? It is animal in both cases, not 
 intellectual, not spiritual. 
 
 Christian Missionaries adopt principles opposite to these. 
 They do not believe that the savage is happy in the sense 
 in which the term should be applied to man. Hence, in
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 29 
 
 Fort-Beaufort, as elsewhere, we have established schools, 
 and have brought into operation the various appliances 
 of the Gospel, not only for the benefit of the European 
 residents of the town, but with a view also to the 
 instruction and elevation of these wretched outcasts of 
 mankind. Upwards of two hundred of the Fingoes 
 now attend the sanctuary on the Lord's day, of whom 
 thirty have received the rite of Christian baptism, and 
 become consistent members of the church. Our European 
 congregation in Fort-Beaufort is likewise one of con- 
 siderable interest. It is often partly composed of soldiers, 
 over the conversion of several of whom we have had 
 occasion to rejoice. During the very short period of 
 our sojourn in this Circuit, I ministered frequently both 
 to the native congregation and the English, and though 
 sometimes amidst much discouragement, yet not without 
 indications of the presence of the Holy Spirit, giving 
 " testimony to the word of his grace." 
 
 Our appointment to Fort-Beaufort was only temporary. 
 We were directed by the District-Meeting to remove to 
 Bathurst ; whither, in the course of two or three months, we 
 went, leaving behind us, in a quiet and secluded cemetery, 
 the remains of our first-born child. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BATHURST AND LOWER ALBANY. 
 
 The village of Bathurst. Locations of the British settlers. 
 Romantic prospect Clumber. Native Missionary Institution. 
 Sabbath-day scene depicted. Baptism of native converts. Romish 
 Missions in Africa. Success of Protestant Missions. John 'Ncapai, 
 a native Missionary. Anecdote. The Cowie-bush. A flight of 
 locusts. Their ravages described. 
 
 BATHURST is a scattered village, containing a very small 
 population, but deriving importance from its being one 
 of the principal settlements of Lower Albany, a tract of
 
 30 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 country previously alluded to, exceedingly beautiful and 
 picturesque, and not unworthy of being designated the 
 garden of the eastern province. The village was originally 
 selected by Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin, as the seat of 
 Government for the British emigrants ; and, with this 
 object in view, a spacious Drosdy-house was erected at 
 considerable expense ; but ultimately Lord Charles Somerset 
 gave the preference to Graham's Town, which became, in 
 consequence, the capital of the district. 
 
 Within a circle of ten or fifteen miles round Bathurst 
 are numerous locations of the settlers of 1820, who, 
 notwithstanding the frequent aggressions of the Kaffirs, 
 whom they adjoin, and many other obstacles to their 
 progress and prosperity, are, with few exceptions, living in 
 circumstances of ease and comfort. They have brought 
 into cultivation some hundreds of acres of land, which, 
 without irrigation, produces excellent crops of oats, maize, 
 pumpkins, and potatoes. In several instances, large fields, 
 the soil of which proves remarkably rich, have been rescued 
 from the forests ; the trees having been cut down, and their 
 roots drawn out of the earth. The fundamental rock of this 
 part of the country is a red quartzose sandstone, upon which 
 lies a conglomerate stratum, consisting of the debris of the 
 parent rock; next to which are tertiary deposits of marl 
 and limestone rocks, extending from the coast upwards, a 
 distance of several miles. It has been observed by Mr. 
 Bain, that " in all the sandstone districts of the Colony, the 
 water is pure, but the grass is sour ; whereas in those 
 districts where argillaceous rocks prevail, the water is 
 brackish, but the grass is sweet. For this reason, the tracts 
 where clay predominates are greatly preferred for breeding 
 sheep and cattle." The neighbourhood of Bathurst, there- 
 fore, is not adapted for sheep, nor do cattle thrive so 
 well as in other parts of the country : indeed, the greater 
 part of Lower Albany is best fitted for agriculture ; and 
 some parts of it have been found suitable for the growth 
 of cotton. 
 
 Our first habitation at Bathurst was a cottage with 
 two rooms ; but afterwards we obtained a more suitable
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 31 
 
 residence, which was situated on a hill, and commanded 
 one of the most beautiful and romantic prospects in the 
 neighbourhood In the distant horizon was the Indian 
 Ocean, on the bosom of which, when the air was clear, 
 we could see the ships that passed ; and the roar of whose 
 waters we could hear distinctly, as they dashed upon 
 the shore. On the immediate coast was a range of 
 sand-hills, which have been washed up by the sea, and 
 through the lapse of years have become remarkably 
 lofty and extensive. Thence to the left was a rich 
 champaign country, covered with grass, which, except 
 in seasons of drought, was ever fresh and green. On 
 our right was the Cowie forest, extending from the 
 mouth of that beautiful river as far as the eye could 
 reach ; and almost immediately opposite us, and forming 
 the foreground of the landscape, was the Episcopal church, 
 together with several habitations, all neatly whitewashed, 
 giving to the scene something of the charm of an English 
 hamlet. The principal part of the village stood in the 
 valley below, embosomed in the most luxuriant foliage. 
 
 " Majestic woods of ever-vigorous green, 
 Stage above stage, high waving o'er the hills; 
 Or, to the far horizon wide diffused, 
 A boundless, deep immensity of shade: 
 Here lofty trees to ancient song unknown, 
 The noble sons of potent heat and floods 
 Down-rushing from the clouds, rear high to heaven 
 Their thorny stems, and broad around them throw 
 Meridian gloom." 
 
 My Circuit was extensive, and included several small 
 chapels erected by the settlers, to which they were 
 accustomed to repair on the Sabbath in waggons, or on 
 horseback, for -the worship of that God whose presence 
 was as manifest in the solitudes of Africa as in the 
 crowded cities of their father-land, I usually rode from 
 eight to ten miles on the Lord's day, preached twice 
 or thrice in one or other of these little sanctuaries, 
 returned home to Bathurst, and there preached again 
 in the evening. The labour was severe, but the work was 
 often pleasant, though, owing to the scantiness of the
 
 32 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 population, my congregations were but small. In con- 
 nexion with our chapel at Clumber (one of the settlements) 
 a day-school was established for the benefit of the children 
 of the settlers, who, but for such institutions, must have 
 grown up in ignorance and vice, and have ultimately 
 become as barbarous as the native tribes themselves. The 
 Colonial Government of the Cape appropriates annually 
 several thousand pounds for educational purposes ; and 
 schools thus supported are now rising up in various parts 
 of the Colony, which promise to become an inestimable 
 blessing to the entire community. This school was partly 
 supported by these means. 
 
 At the distance of two or three miles from Clumber, in 
 a rather wild-looking spot called Trap's Valley, is one of 
 our Native Institutions, established with the view of 
 locating some of the coloured inhabitants of the country, 
 and of thus bringing them under the influence of religious 
 instruction, and inducing them to cultivate habits of 
 industry. Indolence is one of the most prominent features 
 of the native character; and the disposition to a nomadic 
 life to roam about from place to place is calculated to 
 strengthen it. Give the native a homestead of his own, 
 let him possess a fixed and permanent abode, and let him 
 at the same time be taught to worship God, to fear and 
 love Him, and you may cherish the hope that he will soon 
 throw off his dissolute and idle habits, and will set himself 
 to the task of improving his condition. The experiment is 
 being tried, and not without considerable success. There 
 resided on the Institution now referred to a number of 
 Fingoes. Each family was required to erect for itself a 
 neat square cottage, and had allotted to it a portion of 
 ground for cultivation, having also the right of pasturage 
 for a certain number of cattle. The cottages were very 
 much superior to the native huts ; and, though only con- 
 structed of wattle and daub, presented a very neat appear- 
 ance, the whole of them forming three sides of a square. 
 In this little hamlet I occasionally preached on the 
 week-day, usually in the open air, the inhabitants leaving 
 for an hour their accustomed employment to hearken to
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 33 
 
 the word of life. On the Sabbath they attended the 
 chapel at Clumber, taking their seats at one end of the 
 building, whilst the English congregation occupied the 
 other. At the close of the English service I usually 
 addressed them, having for my Kaffir interpreter on these 
 occasions a little Fingoe girl, twelve or fourteen years 
 of age, who had been instructed in our Sunday-school, 
 and who spoke the English language as fluently and 
 correctly as she did her own. The aptitude of many 
 of the native children for learning languages is remark- 
 able. 
 
 It was most gratifying to witness, on the morning of the 
 Lord's day, the life and animation, together with the 
 sacredness and solemnity, which prevailed in that African 
 glen in which our chapel stood. In different directions 
 were seen groups of English settlers coming from a 
 distance of several miles to worship God in his holy 
 sanctuary ; and in one direction the inhabitants of the 
 native village, all decently clad, and with Hymn-books 
 or Testaments in their hands, to present their homage 
 also to the Father and the Lord of alL Nor could the 
 heart of any Christian be unmoved at the sight which 
 presented itself when the congregation was assembled. 
 There, white and black, Europeans and Africans, were 
 united together in the worship of the same God, and 
 occasionally celebrated together the sacramental supper of 
 their common Lord. No distinctions of caste were known ; 
 for the apostolic principle was recognised, " By one Spirit 
 are we all baptized into one body;" and, "there is neither 
 Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, 
 Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all." 
 Several of the coloured people were members of the 
 church, and exemplified in their lives the spirit of the 
 Gospel; and several others were catechumens, preparatory 
 to their receiving the rite of baptism. Six of the latter, 
 having given satisfactory proof of the sincerity of their 
 repentance, and having renounced their heathen customs 
 and superstitions, presented themselves before the con- 
 gregation one Sabbath morning as candidates for admission 
 c5
 
 34 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 into the bosom of the church. They had been taught that 
 baptism was the rite of initiation into the fold of Christ, 
 and the sign of that " inward spiritual grace," the regenera- 
 tion of their nature, which on the exercise of their faith in 
 Christ they would obtain; but they were not instructed to 
 believe that baptism would operate as a charm to expel the 
 principles of evil from their hearts : to inculcate such a 
 doctrine upon the Heathen, among whom amulets and 
 enchantments are so popular, would necessarily produce 
 effects the most pernicious. During the service they came 
 and stood before the pulpit. I addressed them for a few 
 moments; and, having proposed several questions to them, 
 which they answered with considerable emotion, I baptized 
 them with water in the name of the Holy Trinity, whilst 
 tears chased one another rapidly down their sable cheeks, 
 and the whole congregation gave thanks on their behalf. 
 One of them, a female, obtained a few days after a sense of 
 the forgiveness of her sins, and was filled with joy and 
 peace through believing. 
 
 Such occurrences are not unfrequent. It is true, we do 
 not number our native converts by thousands; for ere we 
 admit an individual to baptism, we require him to give 
 evidence of the genuineness of his repentance, and, if he 
 has been living in a state of polygamy, to put away all his 
 wives save one ; and nothing but the elevating principles of 
 the Gospel will enable him to do this, or to bear the 
 amount of obloquy and persecution to which the renuncia- 
 tion of Heathenism will expose him. I believe it would be 
 perfectly easy to persuade Kaffirs and Bechuanas to receive 
 the rite of baptism, if they might retain their heathen 
 practices ; and we could make converts by wholesale, as 
 Romish Missionaries have often done, and then proclaim 
 the country christianized. But this is not our plan. Not- 
 withstanding, we have every year to record, on almost all 
 our Mission stations, the addition of a few to the Redeemer's 
 fold; and there is needed only a more extensive proclama- 
 tion of the Gospel, and a larger measure of spiritual influ- 
 ence, to secure the accession of thousands more. The 
 results of Romish Missions in Africa bear no comparison
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 35 
 
 with those of Protestant Missions. It is stated by Dr. 
 Tarns, a German, who visited the Portuguese possessions in 
 South- Western Africa, in the year 1841, that since 1491 
 "the kingdom of Congo has not only made no progress in 
 civilization, but has even broken off all connexion with 
 Europe and European colonies on the coast. The churches 
 that were then built were pulled down, the Priests murdered 
 or expelled, and the supposed converts again returned to the 
 worship of their fetishes. It is only on the coast that 
 Portugal still possesses some few trading-places. The 
 so-called baptized Christians living in and about Loanda, 
 are far, very far, inferior to the people of Ambriz. In 
 general, they have gained nothing by Christianity, except 
 the name of ' Catholic,' of which most of them are very 
 proud; while, at the same time, they continue to worship 
 their fetishes, as I have had frequent opportunities of 
 witnessing in Benguela and Loanda."* It is certain that 
 Popery will not renovate the world. But I appeal to the 
 enlightened colonists of the Cape; I appeal to unprejudiced 
 travellers who have visited that country; I appeal to the 
 unexaggerated reports of our Missionary operations, the 
 truth of which none of our opponents have been able to 
 disprove; whether Protestant Missions do not bid fair to 
 renew the moral aspect of South Africa, I admit that the 
 process is at present a slow one; and that few of the 
 Heathen, comparatively, have as yet experienced the eleva- 
 ting and sanctifying power of the Gospel; for hitherto our 
 work has been that of preparation, of ploughing up the 
 fallow ground, and casting in the seed ; but already a 
 sufficient earnest has been given to assure us that the 
 harvest that shall be hereafter gathered in, will be copious 
 and abundant. It has been recently affirmed, indeed, by a 
 person who resided for a short period in the Colony, and 
 who appears to have made himself fully acquainted with 
 the semi-infidel phraseology so popular in some quarters, on 
 the subject of Christian Missions, that the natives who 
 
 * Visit to the Portuguese Possessions in South-Western Africa, by 
 G. Tarns, M.D., translated from the German by H. Evans Lloyd, 
 Esq., vol. ii.
 
 36 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 reside on our Missionary Institutions are invariably worse 
 than others, and that these Institutions are places of refuge 
 for the idle and abandoned, who will not work. That 
 individuals of this class occasionally repair to them, is 
 probable ; but let the judicial records of the colonial courts 
 reply to the question, whether the stated residents of our 
 Mission villages are deserving of the stigma thus cast upon 
 their character. Seldom, if ever, have any of them been 
 justly charged with a breach of the public laws, their 
 conduct generally being most exemplary, and, considering 
 their former ignorance and degradation, worthy of the 
 highest praise. During the seven years of my residence in 
 the country, I never heard, so far as the best of my recol- 
 lection serves, of one individual belonging to our Native 
 Institutions being arraigned before the courts of law. 
 Persons of abandoned character may resort to our Institu- 
 tions ; but the regulations which are enforced will not 
 permit them to remain there. 
 
 The residents of the Trap's- Valley Institution were under 
 the charge of an individual named John 'Ncapai, who was 
 considered their Captain, (Inkosi,) and sustained the offices 
 of Local Preacher and Class-Leader. He belonged to the 
 Fingoe tribe, and was a truly pious man. His disposition 
 was so mild, and his manners were so agreeable and soft, 
 that it could scarcely have been supposed he was ever con- 
 nected with a savage race. I had frequent intercourse with 
 him, and was often struck with the cheerfulness of his 
 looks, and with the happiness, depth, and fervour of his 
 piety. Intelligence lighted up his countenance, charity 
 beamed in his eye, and religion guided his steps. With 
 what simplicity and earnestness would he often pray! It 
 is one of those phenomena which the philosophy of this 
 world cannot explain, that even the most illiterate and 
 degraded of mankind, when born again of the Spirit, can 
 address their petitions to the throne of God, with a degree 
 of propriety which the most eloquent cannot command. I 
 have heard Kaffirs, Fingoes, and Bechuanas plead with the 
 Most High in such a manner as that it would have been 
 almost impossible even for the sceptical to deny that they
 
 SOUTH AFEICA DELINEATED. 37 
 
 were partakers of heavenly influence. Such were the 
 prayers of John : they rose on the wings of simple faith ; 
 and, Fingoe though he was, entered, doubtless, into the 
 ears of the Lord of sabaoth. After preaching one Sabbath, 
 I was riding home through a bushy path not far distant 
 from the native village, when my horse suddenly started, 
 apparently at the sight of some object in the bush. On 
 advancing a few paces, I perceived John 'Ncapai and some 
 of his friends engaged in the worship of Almighty God. 
 They had left their habitations, and retired to a secluded 
 spot to sing, and read, and pray, a practice of which the 
 Christian natives are extremely fond, and quite in accord- 
 ance with the joyful spirit of the Gospel 
 
 John was accustomed early on the Sabbath morning to 
 visit the scattered kraals in the neighbourhood; and, 
 during the week, he would sometimes take a long journey, 
 for the purpose of making known to his fellow-countrymen 
 the glad tidings of the grace of God. He was, in fact, a 
 native Missionary; and, in consideration of the time he 
 spent in his efforts to do good, he received from the Society 
 a small annual stipend. He was a shrewd and observant 
 individual. During one of our District-Meetings, held in 
 Graham's Town, he went to the General Superintendent, 
 the Rev. W. Shaw, and said, " I have come to ask if I am 
 to have a new station this year." " Why, John," was the 
 reply, "are you not happy and useful where you are 1 ? why 
 should you wish to remove?" "Yes," he said, "I am 
 happy; but then I see that the Missionaries do not always 
 remain in one place; that they remove from one station to 
 another: and I think it is time that I should do the same; 
 for I have been amongst these people long enough, and 
 have told them all I know." His request could not be 
 complied with; and, on the case being explained to him, 
 he was quite willing to remain. Since that, however, he 
 has been removed to another station; from one of toil, to 
 one of rest; from one on earth, to one in heaven. During 
 the recent war, whilst, with several of his people, he was in 
 charge of a number of cattle, a body of Kaffirs rushed upon 
 him and killed him, wounding also three of his companions,
 
 38 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 and sweeping the cattle away. His remains were found 
 and buried by a party of English settlers, who, at the 
 risk of their lives, went in search of them. One of the 
 three that were wounded, afterwards died of his wounds, 
 and was committed to the grave in the burial-ground 
 attached to the church at Eathurst, the Rev. J. Barrow, 
 the Clergyman, reading the usual service for the Christian 
 dead. 
 
 In company with a friend, who was acquainted with the 
 path, I one day rode through the dense recesses of the 
 Cowie forest. What a scene presented itself! No descrip- 
 tion can give the reader an adequate conception of the 
 extent and variety of the vegetation through which we 
 passed. We had to wind our way through a track made 
 by elephants, with which the jungle formerly abounded, 
 and were obliged frequently to dismount, and lead our 
 horses, the branches of the trees being so thick and over- 
 spreading as to forbid our progress in any other way. I 
 was astonished at the opulence of nature's productions, and 
 that she should have chosen these unpeopled solitudes in 
 which to put forth such rich beauties. Plants of every 
 form, and flowers of every hue, presented themselves before 
 us, whilst trees of majestic growth towered above our 
 heads, and sheltered us completely from the rays of the 
 sun. The spekboom, the cactus, the euphorbia, and the 
 strelitzia, were most exuberant, together with various species 
 of the geranium, the aloe, the jasmine, and a vast number 
 of parasitical plants and creepers, peculiar to exotic climes. 
 The very tops of the trees were covered with a beautiful 
 pea-green moss, which hung from their branches almost to 
 the ground in rich festoons. Animal life was likewise 
 abundant. Of the insect tribe the varieties were infinite. 
 Of birds, the lory, the turtle-dove, and the loxia. beautiful 
 but songless, were exceedingly numerous. Many of the 
 smaller kinds of monkeys also inhabit the bush, as well as 
 the baboon ; and a curious creature is here met with, called 
 the ratel, (ratellus mellivorus]) something like the badger, 
 having long claws, with which it digs into the earth for 
 food. Though the lion and the elephant have not been

 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 39 
 
 recently seen or heard in these localities, the straand wolf, 
 or hyaena, which is very injurious to the farmer's flocks, is 
 still an occupant of them; and the wild dog also, which is 
 most destructive to sheep, finds a dwelling here. We were 
 not molested by any of these animals; for in the day-time 
 they seldom make their appearance. I thought the bush 
 would prove interminable; but, after pursuing our course 
 for a distance of several miles, we at length emerged on 
 the opposite side, our horses immediately bounding over 
 the open plain, as though rejoicing on their escape to light 
 and freedom. 
 
 " Nature," observes Heeren, " seems to have destined 
 Africa for her mysterious workshop: there peculiar races 
 of men are formed; there the larger species of savage 
 beasts, inhabitants of the desert, wander in safety; there a 
 vegetable creation arises, the first glance of which tells us 
 that it belongs to a distant and unknown region of the 
 world." The exuberance of animal and vegetable life 
 cannot but strike the beholder with astonishment, and 
 greatly enlarge his conceptions of the amazing skill of the 
 Creator. I was one day in a distant part of my Circuit, 
 when a flight of locusts, which I had observed some time 
 upon the wing, alighted on a field of Indian corn, several 
 acres in extent. The effect produced was marvellous 
 beyond conception. It was the first time I had witnessed 
 the ravages of the insect; and never did the beauty, force, 
 and truthfulness of the Prophet Joel's description of God's 
 "great army" present themselves so vividly before me as 
 at that moment. In the space of fifteen minutes, the crop, 
 which was nearly ready for the sickle, was totally destroyed, 
 the stalks being stripped of all their heads and leaves, and 
 left completely bare. The flight was comparatively a small 
 one, but small as it was it ruined the prospects of the 
 proprietor of the field; and, after performing the work of 
 destruction here, it rose again upon the wing, and proceeded 
 onward, probably to alight elsewhere, and spread desolation 
 in its track. 
 
 This remarkable creature belongs to the Linnsean order 
 hemiptera, and the species gryllus. It is similar in form
 
 40 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 to the grasshopper, but its colour is usually red or brown. 
 It has two pairs of wings, remarkably light and transparent, 
 and six legs, two of which, however, may be considered as 
 hands or arms; so that Moses, who assigns to it but four 
 feet, (Lev. xi. 22,) is correct. Its visits are periodical, and, 
 it would seem, from several data which have been collected, 
 less frequent in the Cape Colony now than formerly; the 
 larger swarms, at least, only making their appearance 
 once in fifteen years. It has been supposed that Ethiopia 
 is the great cradle of locusts; but those which infest 
 the Colony are probably bred in the deserts of the interior 
 beyond the Garriep, or Great Orange River. Those that 
 fly are borne upon the air by the north or north-east 
 wind, and often come in clouds so thick and dense as to 
 eclipse the rays of the sun, and cast a deep broad shadow 
 on the earth. A column of them sometimes extends over 
 a space of several square miles. I once rode through one 
 in Kaffraria two or three miles in length, my horse being 
 greatly annoyed with the creatures striking his head, and I 
 myself often receiving a rather smart blow upon the face. 
 Whilst the sun is up they usually continue on the wing; 
 but towards evening they alight, and then the entire face of 
 the country is thickly covered with them; every tree, and 
 every branch of every tree, every herb, and every blade of 
 grass, being occupied ; when instantly the work of devasta- 
 tion is begun, all nature seems in motion, and a rustling 
 noise is heard "like the noise of a flame of fire that 
 devoureth the stubble." Nothing in the shape of vegetation 
 escapes their rapacity. The trees are stripped of their 
 foliage, and the branches of their tender bark. Plants and 
 flowers are destroyed, and their beauty wastes away. "The 
 land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind 
 them a desolate wilderness." 
 
 When a flight is seen approaching, the farmer attempts 
 to prevent its alighting on his grounds, by kindling fires of 
 grass and stubble, the smoke of which, rising in large 
 volumes, will sometimes deter its approach. Several persons 
 will at the same time be employed in cracking the long 
 waggon-whip used in the country, in order to frighten the
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 41 
 
 enemy by noise. The most destructive species,* however, 
 are the larvae, or young insects, devoid of wings, and called 
 by the Dutch wet-gangers, because they walk or leap. 
 Troops of these proceed along unchecked in their course by 
 any obstacle whatever. They will even rush into a fire, 
 until it is extinguished by their numbers. They will cross 
 a stream of water, the foremost of them forming a bridge, 
 over which the rest will pass. " They run upon the wall, 
 they climb up into the houses, they enter in at the windows 
 like a thief." An Independent Minister in the Colony was 
 preaching one Sabbath morning, from the second chapter 
 of Joel, when a large number of locusts poured into the 
 chapel through the open windows, thus furnishing an 
 illustration of his subject of the most impressive kind. To 
 destroy this species of the insect the farmer turns out 
 flocks of sheep and cattle, by which thousands upon thou- 
 sands are trodden to death. 
 
 Every creature of God is good, and is designed to answer 
 some useful purpose. Even the locusts, destructive as they 
 are, must be considered, on the whole, a blessing rather 
 than a curse. They have been called "the scavengers of 
 nature," "clearing the way," says Sparman, "for the reno- 
 vation of vegetable productions which are in danger of 
 being destroyed by the exuberance of some particular 
 species, and are thus fulfilling a law of the Creator, that of 
 all that he has made should nothing be lost. A region 
 that has been choked up by shrubs and perennial plants, 
 and hard, half-withered, impalatable grasses, after having 
 been laid bare by these scourges, soon appears in a far 
 more beautiful dress, with new herbs, superb lilies, fresh 
 annual grasses, and young and juicy shrubs of perennial 
 kinds, affording delicious herbage for the wild cattle and 
 game." They also furnish food to many of the natives, 
 
 * Not less than ten different words are employed in the Hebrew 
 Scriptures, to designate the locust Bochart, Credner, and others, 
 have attempted to show that each of these words denotes a different 
 species of the insect ; but this position is untenable, as several of the 
 words are used interchangeably. See Hengstenberg's Christology, 
 vol. iii., notes on Joel.
 
 42 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 who esteem them a luxury, gather them in sacks, and 
 prepare them for eating, first by boiling, and afterwards 
 drying them in the sun. The taste is said to be similar to 
 that of shrimps. Nearly all kinds of animals also prey 
 upon them, and the locust-bird, (passer gallinaceus^) which 
 Barrow calls a species of thrush, follows them in numbers 
 not less astonishing than that of the insects themselves. 
 The Turks affirm that one of these birds eats a thousand 
 locusts a day. Thus an antidote is provided for the evil: 
 and it may be added, that as the winged locusts cannot fly 
 against the wind, myriads of them are carried into the sea, 
 where they become food for the finny tribes, or are cast 
 dead upon the shore by the returning tide. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 GRAHAM'S TOWN. 
 
 Origin of the town. Its peculiar character. Nature of our work. 
 Progress of Wesleyan Methodism. The Fingoes : their history. 
 Liberation from bondage. Missionary Fingoes. Native chapel. 
 The Liturgy. Mode of addressing a native congregation. Divine 
 influence. The Chief Kama. Christian liberality of native converts. 
 Educational efforts. Importance of the Mission-schools of Gra- 
 ham's Town. Their influence on the interior tribes. 
 
 EARLY in the year 1842 we removed to Graham's Town, 
 where I succeeded my friend, and former fellow-student at 
 Hoxton, the Rev. John Richards, and where I had the 
 privilege of being associated with the Rev. William Shaw 
 and the Rev. William B. Boyce, and, during the second 
 and succeeding years of my residence in the Circuit, with 
 the Rev. Henry H. Dugmore. I mention their names 
 because of the honour in which I hold them as fellow- 
 labourers in the vineyard of the Lord, and because of the 
 advantages I derived from their counsel, society, and 
 prayers. How greatly would the minds of Christian Mis- 
 sionaries be sustained, if, in every place, two at least could
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 43 
 
 labour together, mutually assisting and praying for each 
 other! But nearly all our stations in South Africa (and 
 the remark applies to the Mission-field in general) are 
 supplied with only one Missionary, who, in many instances, 
 is separated from his brethren, by a distance of from fifty to 
 sixty miles, and can seldom, therefore, enjoy the privileges 
 of communion with them, or obtain that aid which his 
 circumstances require. In the Colony, the disadvantages 
 of this system are not so greatly felt; but in the interior 
 they often press severely, both on the Missionary and on 
 his work. The attention of the directors of our Missionary 
 Societies should be turned, as soon as possible, to this 
 question; and plans should be adopted for the appointment 
 of, at least, two Missionaries to every station, situated among 
 heathen tribes. 
 
 Thirty years ago, the spot on which Graham's Town is 
 built was comparatively a barren waste. It received its 
 name from Colonel Graham, the Commander of the British 
 troops, in one of the earlier wars with the. Kaffir tribes ; a 
 man who bore a very high character, and to whose memory 
 there is a cenotaph in the Episcopal church, which states 
 that he taught the Hottentots religion and morality, and 
 made them active and efficient * soldiers. From a military 
 fort of the very humblest character, the town has gradually 
 extended and increased, until it has become equal in size 
 and respectability to some of the smaller towns of England, 
 having a population of six or seven thousand souls, and 
 commanding a trade in the produce of the country of the 
 most flourishing and valuable description. Some travellers 
 have spoken of it with contempt; but, I think, unjustly, 
 especially if we consider the circumstances under which it 
 has risen up, and the comparatively short period that has 
 elapsed since it was first occupied by civilized man. It 
 may be said to owe its existence chiefly to the British 
 settlers of 1820, whose enterprise, industry, and perseverance 
 have already been crowned with a very rich reward, and, 
 but for the aggressions of the Kaffir tribes, would by this 
 time have rendered the Eastern Province one of the most 
 valuable colonies of the British Crown.
 
 44 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 The town stands in a basin formed by a range of lime 
 and sand-stone hills ; among some of which iron pyrites are 
 abundant, attracting often the electric fluid, which, in con- 
 sequence, sometimes proves fatal to cattle, sheep, or horses, 
 grazing in the neighbourhood. It is distant from Cape- 
 Town upwards of four hundred miles, from the borders of 
 Kaffraria thirty, and from the sea-coast, in a direct line, 
 twenty-five. No river flows through it, except one of the 
 branches of the Gowie, which is a mere streamlet; so that 
 all the transport to and from the town is effected by land- 
 carriage, and that of the most tedious kind. Our merchants 
 at home would not have patience to wait for their goods, as 
 the merchants here must do. They would imagine that 
 the world was about to stand still, and trade and commerce 
 to be utterly ruined. A bale of goods will sometimes be 
 as long in getting from Port-Elizabeth to Graham's Town, 
 as it was in crossing the ocean, so great is the unavoidable 
 delay before it can be forwarded, and so tedious the transit 
 across the country of the waggon in which it is conveyed. 
 The construction of a railway from Cape-Town has been 
 talked about; nor would it, I presume, be at all impracti- 
 cable, considering that by tunnels, viaducts, and bridges, 
 all kinds of difficulties are overcome ; but the chief obstacle 
 arises from the want of capital. Perhaps fifty years hence, 
 should the Colony continue to flourish, the scheme will be 
 seriously entertained; but at present the grand object 
 must be to improve the ordinary roads. 
 
 The principal buildings of Graham's Town are the 
 Episcopal church, a most unsightly structure in the middle 
 of the main street, the Baptist, Independent, Roman 
 Catholic, and Wesleyan chapels, the court-house, library, 
 and barracks, the latter erected by the Government at con- 
 siderable expense. Many of the private stores and dwellings 
 are beautiful and costly ; and, being all plastered or stuccoed, 
 present an appearance remarkably light and pleasing. In 
 the earlier part of the day the town is constantly alive. 
 Numbers of waggons laden with the produce of the 
 interior, or with merchandise from England and other parts 
 of the world, are observed in every direction. The move-
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 45 
 
 ments of troops also occasion considerable interest. Military 
 bands parade the streets, always headed by a number of 
 half-wild Hottentots, dancing to the music, in the most 
 grotesque and ridiculous manner. Now and then, too, you 
 are favoured with the visit of some Kaffir Chief, making 
 his entry on the back of an ox or of a horse, clad in a 
 filthy blanket or kaross, and accompanied by a retinue of 
 half a dozen wives, and several counsellors or amapakati. 
 More stringent regulations are necessary in reference to 
 the natives, both for their own sakes, and for that of the 
 order of the town. It is an outrage on society that they 
 should be permitted to appear in the Colony, unless they 
 are properly clothed; and were a law of this kind enacted 
 and enforced, it would have the effect of inducing them to 
 procure European apparel, as many of them have already 
 done. 
 
 Our work in this Circuit very much resembled that of a 
 Circuit in England, in addition to that which is peculiar to 
 a strictly Missionary station. The English chapel, which 
 was erected by the inhabitants in the year 1832, is capable 
 of seating eight hundred persons, and is crowded on the 
 Sabbath by attentive worshippers. It is the second chapel 
 built by the Wesleyans in Graham's Town since the arrival 
 of the settlers in 1820; and, having become much too 
 small, a third is now in course of erection, the foundation- 
 stone of which was laid by Mrs. Shaw on the 10th of 
 April, 1845, and which, but for the recent war, would ere 
 this have been completed. 
 
 The progress of Wesleyan Methodism in Graham's Town 
 has kept pace with that of the town itself. From a mere 
 handful of members, who met together in a carpenter's 
 shed, the church has multiplied to four hundred and thirty, 
 whilst numbers have been continually drafted from it, and 
 have gone to reside in different parts of the country. 
 Other denominations of Christians have also flourished, and 
 Zion is still extending her borders, and diffusing far and 
 wide the blessings of the Cross. Is she not destined to 
 embrace within her arms the whole of the continent of 
 Africa? Yes; and through the instrumentality of Christian
 
 46 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 emigrants, whom, perhaps, necessity drives from their 
 father-land, will she be aided in the accomplishment of her 
 evangelistic work. Our churches at home may lament, 
 that, through the pressure of the times, many of their 
 members, whom they have nourished and brought up, are 
 taking their departure to distant lands: but let them not 
 be discouraged; these individuals, if truly Christians, are 
 carrying with them the torch of truth, the savour of 
 religion, and the word of God; and they will spread, the 
 tidings of salvation in those regions far beyond, to which 
 an all-wise Providence directs their steps. 
 
 But it is to the native department of our work that I 
 would invite more special attention. In the suburbs of the 
 town, there is a considerable native population, chiefly of 
 the class designated Fingoes. These people are the 
 remnants of several once-powerful tribes, that resided far 
 in the interior, to the north-east of Port-Natal, in a country 
 contiguous to that of the Zulus, the most warlike and 
 terrible of the Kaffir tribes. Their national names, which 
 they still retain among themselves, (that of Fingoes, which 
 signifies " bondmen," having been given to them by the 
 Kaffirs,) are the Ama-Zizi* or "people that bring;" the 
 Ama-Hlubi, "the people that tear;" the Aba-Shwawa, 
 "the people that revile;" the Ama-Bele, "the people of 
 mercy;" the Aba-Sekunene, OF "right-handed people;" and 
 the Ama-Gobizembi, or "axe-benders," tc., &c. Between 
 twenty and thirty years ago, that portion of South Africa 
 inhabited by these tribes was visited by the scourge of 
 war. Chaka and Matawan, Chiefs of the Zulu nation, 
 having overrun the country in the neighbourhood of 
 Delagoa-Bay, proceeded to devastate the territory still 
 further to the west and south-west, and, falling upon the 
 above-named tribes, swept off their cattle, burnt their 
 houses, and drove them into the wilderness, a prey to 
 famine and to death. The progress of the warriors was 
 
 Some observations are made relative to this tribe by Thompson. 
 (Travels, vol. i.) They appear to have dwelt on the banks of the 
 Mapoota River, which empties itself into Delagoa-Bay, south lat. 
 26. 20 7 .
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 47 
 
 like that of a flight of locusts, and in every direction deso- 
 lation followed in their train. The poor Fingoes suffered 
 miseries incredible. Thousands of them fell before the 
 assegais of their enemies, and thousands more perished in 
 their flight, for want of food. The track over which they 
 travelled is to this day strewed with their bones, which lie 
 bleaching in the sun, and which tell a tale of woe that 
 would melt the hardest heart. " It was affecting," observes 
 the .Rev. William J. Davis, " when, not long since, they 
 were assembled by the Missionary (at Fort-Peddie) to 
 consult as to some plans for the more efficient education of 
 their children, to hear them say, ' Yes, we have children ; 
 but they are few, and very young. Time was when we 
 had many children; but we had the pain of seeing them 
 fall by the spear, the devouring flame, and the ravages of 
 hunger. Our elder children, therefore, are no more; but 
 those born since our arrival here must be educated : they 
 are a new generation; let them be taught those things now 
 proposed.'" 
 
 Chaka was one of the most cruel and despotic Chiefs 
 that ever attained to dominion in South Africa. He could 
 bring into the field about fifteen thousand warriors. Among 
 his own people his word was law, and the terror of his 
 name caused him to be obeyed. He would condemn hun- 
 dreds to execution out of mere caprice; and his orders 
 would be faithfully fulfilled. " The misery inflicted by the 
 wars of this barbarian upon the Kaffir and Bechuana 
 tribes," says Mr. Thompson, "is incalculable, and is far 
 from being confined to the massacre and destruction 
 directly occasioned by his arms. By plundering and 
 driving out the adjoining nations, he has forced them to 
 become plunderers in their turn, and to carry terror and 
 devastation throughout the remotest quarters of South 
 Africa."* It is seldom that the despot dies a natural 
 death. Chaka was assassinated by his younger brother, 
 Dingaan, who, on assuming the Chieftainship, became 
 equally tyrannical; and, in his turn, met with a similar 
 
 * Travels in South Africa, by G. Thompson, Esq., vol i., p. 359.
 
 48 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 fate; when Panda, the present Chief of the Zulus, rose to 
 power. Who can describe the miseries of Africa ? In 
 a state of hostility one with another, have the Hottentot, 
 Kaffir, and Bechuana tribes been living, perhaps for ages; 
 nor can any conception be formed of the amount of 
 wretchedness which their wars with each other have 
 originated. The pen of the historian has not chronicled 
 one-tenth of the calamities of war in Southern Africa. 
 Could they be related, they would form a narrative even 
 more appalling than that of some of the most deadly 
 national conflicts of ancient or of modern times ; for, of all 
 wars, those of savage tribes are generally the most terrible ; 
 wars of almost utter extermination, men, women, and 
 children being often slaughtered without mercy. But the 
 standard of the Cross, which is everywhere the sign of 
 fraternity and peace, has been planted in the land ; and 
 already its influence is beginning to be felt, insomuch that 
 these intertribal conflicts are becoming much less frequent ; 
 and, in several instances, the din of war has been hushed 
 by the still small voice of the Gospel. 
 
 The tribes thus driven from their territory by Chaka, 
 having rallied their forces, poured down upon the Bechuana 
 and Griqua clans, like a sweeping rain; by the latter of 
 whom, who were armed with guns, they were defeated, in a 
 battle which took place at a distance from the town of 
 Lattakoo, in the year 1823. These hordes were called by 
 the Bechuanas " Mantatees," or Invaders. Their numbers 
 were computed at fifty thousand. On their retreat before 
 the victorious Griquas, they appear to have separated into 
 two divisions, one of them taking a north-easterly direction, 
 and the other proceeding southwards towards Kaffraria and 
 the Colony. Upwards of one thousand of them are said to 
 have entered the Colony in a state of extreme destitution, 
 where they found a refuge, and became servants to the 
 colonists ; and another portion of them made their way 
 into the territory of Hintza, the great Chief of the 
 Amakosae nation. Here they were received with apparent 
 kindness. Hintza and his people professed sympathy for 
 them. They were permitted to "sit down;" and now they
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 49 
 
 began to hope that they had found a resting-place and a 
 home. But treachery and deceit are constant characteristics 
 of savage life. Hintza, like another Pharaoh, made bond- 
 men of them, calling them his dogs; and his people, to 
 prevent their increase, used every means to injure and 
 oppress them. For alleged crimes, of which they were 
 innocent, their cattle were confiscated, their crops seized, 
 and their daughters forcibly taken from their parents, and 
 carried off they knew not whither. But at length the day 
 of their liberty drew near. In the war of 1835, Sir 
 Benjamin D'Urban having conquered the tribes on the 
 colonial frontier, crossed the Kei, entered the territory of 
 Hintza, and set the captives free. On the arrival of Sir 
 Benjamin at Butterworth, the Fingoes, to the number of 
 nearly one thousand, threw themselves on his protection, 
 and became allies of the colonial forces. With their wives, 
 children, and cattle, and such other property as they then 
 possessed, they left the territory in which they had been 
 enthralled, and, under the protection of the British troops, 
 proceeded towards the Colony with songs of rapture and 
 of joy. The multitude numbered two thousand men, five 
 thousand six hundred women, nine thousand two hundred 
 children, and twenty-two thousand head of cattle, covering a 
 space of eight miles in length, and one and a half in 
 breadth. The scene exhibited at the passage of the Kei is 
 said to have been remarkably imposing. The bed of the 
 river is low, and the banks on either side are steep and 
 rugged. It was early in the morning when the cavalcade 
 began to move. From the heights above was observed a 
 long and continuous line of waggons, winding through the 
 bushy path, from the beginning of the descent down to the 
 water's edge. Hosts of Fingoes accompanied them on 
 either side, driving herds of cattle and goats, the women 
 and children carrying on their heads mats, baskets, skins, and 
 bags of corn, all that they possessed; whilst many a mother 
 had an infant slung at her back, whose little head was 
 scarcely visible beneath the folds of the kaross in which it 
 was enveloped. A veil of mist, now dense, and now more 
 rarefied and clear, hung over the valley, and for a moment 
 
 D
 
 50 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 or two obscured the scene, which again burst forth upon 
 the sight, as the vapour cleared away. " The group passing 
 the stream," says an officer who was present, " feeling their 
 way with their sticks, as well as keeping their balance 
 against the power of the current; the wading of children; 
 the slow motion of the waggons; the plunges in driving 
 the cattle; the timid bounds and rests of the sheep; and 
 the slipping and falling of the goats, as they passed the 
 drift ; was truly a picture worth beholding. The scene 
 was bounded on the opposite height by the white clouds 
 that hung over the valley of the Kei, from which were 
 seen issuing forth the advanced guard and the first of the 
 waggons. The latter began to arrive at noon, and it was 
 only with the close of the day that the last finished the 
 journey." 
 
 It was undoubtedly a glorious deliverance. Sir Benjamin 
 won no fairer laurels in the Peninsular campaigns than he 
 won that day. To liberate the captive is a nobler .work 
 than to conquer an enemy in the field. The war of 1835 
 was in many respects calamitous, as indeed war must ever 
 be ; but this event in connexion with it, gave joy to many 
 a bleeding heart. The liberated Fingoes were, shortly 
 after their arrival, located in a tract of country in the 
 ceded territory, and were declared British subjects, the 
 principal Chiefs taking the oaths of allegiance to the 
 British crown. Here many of them have been brought 
 under religious instruction, and not a few have experienced 
 the renovating influence of the Gospel. Their freedom 
 from civil bondage has been followed by their freedom 
 from the yoke of Heathenism and sin; and, lifting up 
 their heads above their enemies round about, they can bear 
 testimony to the fact, that whom the Son makes free, they 
 are free indeed. 
 
 Considerable numbers of these Fingoes reside in various 
 parts of the Colony; and in Graham's Town there are two 
 large kraals or villages of them, one at the east of the 
 town, the other at the west. Between these two villages 
 there is a remarkable difference; the inhabitants of the 
 former, who call themselves " Missionary Fingoes," being
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 51 
 
 accustomed to attend the Christian sanctuary, and having 
 for the most part renounced the practices of the Heathen, 
 whilst those of the latter, to whom, by way of distinction, 
 the title " Government Fingoes " has been given by the 
 others, are seldom or never seen at the school or chapel, 
 and still retain their former habits. In the dwellings of 
 the one may be often heard the songs of Zion and the 
 voice of prayer: in the other, the silence of the midnight 
 hour is often broken by the noise of a heathen dance. 
 The indirect influence which the Gospel produces on the 
 mind of the barbarian and the savage is invaluable. If in 
 many instances it fails to convert, yet it corrects the 
 habits, elevates the conceptions, and refines the passions of 
 mankind. You will perceive in the Kaffir or the Fingoe, 
 who attends the house of God, though he has not believed 
 with his heart unto righteousness, an evident superiority 
 to others, as though he had been cast in a different mould. 
 You can see that conscience is at work. There are indi- 
 cations that the man is sensible of the truth of Christianity. 
 He knows that there is a God. He is conscious that he 
 has a soul. You can appeal to his honour, to his dignity, 
 to his fear of retribution; and his heart will respond to 
 such appeals. Thus it was with many of the " Missionary 
 Fingoes." Some had embraced the truth, and were 
 walking in its bright and cheering beams; others had not 
 advanced so far, but, actuated partly by the example of 
 the pious, and partly influenced by the instruction they 
 had received, were evidently raised above their former 
 state, ere the light dawned upon their minds, and the 
 tidings of the Cross sounded in their ears. The results of 
 Missionary efforts are not to be estimated by the number 
 of conversions that take place. These may be compara- 
 tively few; but, meanwhile, other indications of good 
 present themselves. Inquiry is awakened. Men begin to 
 think. The dormant faculties of the mind are quickened. 
 There is a noise in the valley of vision; the region is no 
 longer one of unbroken silence; the bones of the dead 
 begin to move. 
 
 Our native chapel was the one formerly occupied by the 
 D 2
 
 52 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 English congregation; an humble building, covered with 
 thatch, but, at the time of its erection, the largest in the 
 town, and, in the estimation of the settlers, quite a treasure. 
 It was here that I first heard the hum of a Missionary 
 school, and here that I first witnessed a native Christian 
 congregation. How animating the scene ! Two or three 
 hundred persons, once inhabitants of the forest and the 
 wilderness, and but little elevated above the beasts that 
 perish, were sitting at the. feet of the Ambassador of Christ, 
 clothed in European apparel, and listening with earnestness 
 to the words of life and peace. To this congregation I was 
 accustomed to minister in turn. It was originally composed 
 of Fingoes, Bechuanas, Hottentots, and emancipated slaves ; 
 but the number of hearers gradually increased, so that the 
 chapel was wont to be crowded to excess, and it was found 
 necessary to separate the different classes, and to form 
 distinct congregations of each. The service was conducted 
 in Dutch or Kaffir. On the morning of the Sabbath, an 
 abridgment of the Liturgy was read, the people repeating 
 the responses with the greatest readiness and propriety. 
 A liturgical service, or form of prayer, is admirably adapted 
 to the state of such a congregation, as it tends to awaken 
 attention, to excite interest^ and, by its frequent repetition, 
 to fix truth upon the mind. In the glowing strains of the 
 Te Deum many of the once-barbarous sons of Africa have 
 learnt to celebrate Jehovah's praise; and to hear such 
 words from the lips of such persons, their children likewise 
 joining in the song, is sweeter music to the Christian's ear 
 than the softest tones of the most admirable instrument, 
 even though the language should be strange to him, and 
 only the sentiments be known. 
 
 When addressing the native congregation, I was accus- 
 tomed to propose certain questions, in order to preserve 
 attention, and to ascertain how far the subject of discourse 
 was understood. Sometimes an answer would be returned 
 by one, sometimes by several, and occasionally by the 
 greater portion of the assembly. I sometimes made in- 
 quiries relative to the condition of the people prior to their 
 being visited by Christian Missionaries, to the following
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 53 
 
 effect : " Before you heard the great word, what did you 
 know respecting God 1 ?" The reply would be, "We were 
 dark, we knew nothing." " Did you not know that there 
 is a God?" "No: no one told us of him." "By whom 
 then did you think the world was made?" " We were 
 stupid, we did not think at all !" " Did you believe that 
 the rain-makers could bring rain 1 ?" " Yes." " Do you 
 believe this now?" To this inquiry a hundred voices 
 would answer, "No." "Who then sends the rain?" 
 " U-Tixo." (God.) Thus did it appear that the ignorance 
 of the native tribes in relation even to the elements of 
 religious truth was most profound. But light is now 
 beginning to dawn. The Day-spring from on high hath 
 arisen upon South Africa. Satan can no longer hold the 
 dominion of the land in peace. His empire there, though 
 mighty, has received a shock from the powerful battery of 
 the Gospel, from which (if the churches that have sent 
 forth their messengers be faithful in sustaining them) it 
 cannot possibly recover. As yet, however, (for the whole 
 truth must be told,) the noble warfare against barbarism 
 in those regions is but just begun ; and, instead of relaxing 
 in the enterprise, we must prosecute it with still greater 
 earnestness and zeal. 
 
 Ofttimes a considerable measure of spiritual influence 
 seemed to rest upon the congregation. A Kaffir or a 
 Fingoe thinks it unmanly to weep; but I have seen many 
 weep, some who were not Christians, but stout-hearted unbe- 
 lievers, and had come to the house of God by chance. One 
 Sabbath morning the power of God was specially manifested ; 
 and as I descended from the pulpit at the close of the 
 service, the Christian Chief Kama, who was present, and 
 who can spe^k a few sentences in Dutch, took me by the 
 hand, and said, Het is goed, Mynheer. Het is al te goed, 
 Mynheer. But it is not prudent to appeal much to the 
 passions of such an audience. All semi-barbarous tribes 
 are susceptible of very strong feelings, which, when highly 
 excited, it is difficult to control. Hence, the Christian 
 Missionary should use caution, and be careful, when 
 addressing a heathen congregation such as he meets with
 
 54 SOUTH AFBICA DELINEATED. 
 
 in South Africa, to appeal to the judgment, conscience, and 
 understanding. It is a mistake to suppose that a Kaffir 
 cannot reason. He can, and sometimes most acutely, even 
 on religious questions; and the soundest converts to 
 Christianity are always those who have obtained the best 
 acquaintance with its truths. We had several individuals 
 united with us in church-membership, whose piety was 
 remarkably intelligent, and who held the offices of Class- 
 Leaders, Local Preachers, or Teachers in the Sabbath- 
 school. With an excellent female, whose name was Hannah 
 Nokwenti, I was often highly gratified. She was the Leader 
 of a class that met in a room on my own premises; and 
 though she lived at a considerable distance, she was ever at 
 her post, in foul weather as in fair. Her class flourished 
 considerably, and she gained accessions to it almost every 
 month. At the conclusion of the service she would bring 
 to me her book, and the money paid by her members, 
 which she collected regularly; and the greater the amount 
 the greater was her pleasure and her joy. Hannah was 
 always happy. Her very countenance bespoke the Christian, 
 and the excellence of her deportment was observed by 
 all 
 
 The spirit of liberality begins to manifest itself wherever 
 the influence of the Gospel is experienced. On the minds 
 of barbarians, Christianity produces the same effects as it 
 does on those of the civilized and refined. It melts the icy 
 selfishness of the heart. It enkindles the divine affection 
 of benevolence. It expands the soul, and teaches it to feel 
 for the wants and woes of others. You will nowhere meet 
 with so avaricious a character as the Kaffir in his unen- 
 lightened state. His constant cry is Basela, Basdal "A 
 present, a present!" whilst he himself will seldom part with 
 anything, unless with the hope of getting something in 
 return. But let this self-same Kaffir come under the 
 influence of the Gospel, and he will readily contribute of 
 his substance in support of it. The members of our native 
 churches, both in Graham's Town and elsewhere, pay their 
 class-moneys cheerfully, and many of them are likewise 
 annual subscribers to the funds of the Missionary Society.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 55 
 
 At our Native Missionary Meetings, individuals who had 
 experienced the beneficial influence of Christian instruction, 
 would rise, and, in a modest speech, bear their testimony to 
 the truth, and then present a liberal subscription of ten or 
 twenty shillings to the cause they loved. The sum con- 
 tributed in Graham's Town by the Native Branch Missionary 
 Society, in the year 1846, was 51. 12s. 9d. ; whilst the 
 entire amount collected in the town from our several societies 
 and congregations was <475. 8s. 4e?. Facts like these 
 speak for themselves, and are indicative of the estimate 
 placed on Missionary efforts, by those who are best 
 acquainted with their operation. 
 
 The spread of education among such a community as 
 that of Graham's Town is of great importance; and, to meet 
 the wants of the rising population, white and coloured, day 
 and Sabbath schools have been instituted by the several 
 denominations of Christians, and are vigorously sustained. 
 The English Wesleyan Sunday-school numbered, in the year 
 1846, upwards of two hundred scholars, the Fingoe school 
 two hundred and sixty, and the Dutch school forty-five. 
 These schools were all supported by the voluntary contri- 
 butions of our people, and were conducted with the greatest 
 order and propriety. If Graham's Town had nothing else 
 of which to boast, she might well be proud of her numerous 
 Mission-schools. Situated in a distant portion of the 
 globe, but lately occupied by savage men, she has become a 
 centre of moral influence, and is spreading abroad among 
 barbarous tribes the invaluable blessings of civilization and 
 Christianity. In her English schools there have been 
 raised up many devoted youths, the descendants of the 
 settlers, who have become active agents in the diffusion of 
 the Gospel; and in her Native Institutions numbers of the 
 Heathen have been taught to worship God, and thence, 
 animated with the love of Christ, have gone forth into the 
 distant regions of the interior, with the lessons they had 
 learned upon their lips. And there is ample room in 
 Southern Africa for twenty more such centres. Towns 
 such as this might gradually be formed in various other 
 localities; and some, indeed, are already beginning to arise.
 
 56 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 England seems destined, by the Great Ruler of nations, to 
 carry the blessings of salvation to the world; and her 
 Missionaries, together with her Christian emigrants, are the 
 agents by whom the design may be accomplished. Nor 
 does a finer field present itself for evangelical enterprise 
 than Africa; vast regions of which are opening before us, 
 both in the South and in the East; and numerous tribes of 
 which are waiting for the light of truth. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 KAFFRARIA. 
 
 Extent of the Albany District Sectional District-Meetings. 
 Extensive plain. Mirage. Beautiful scenery. Emotions on enter- 
 ing a heathen land. Geography of Kafl'raria. Chains of mountains. 
 Plains. Rivers. The Kei. Natural history of the country. 
 Population. Relative position of the tribes under the new law. 
 Claims of British Kaffraria. D' Urban. The Fingoe Mission. 
 Anecdote. Use made of the Mission chapel. Native dance. Fort- 
 Peddie : attack upon the garrison by the Kaffir tribes. New plans for 
 the benefit of the Fingoes. The martyred Missionary. 
 
 I FIRST visited Kaffraria for the purpose of attending the 
 Annual District-Meeting, in the year 1840, a short time 
 after my arrival on the shores of Africa. The Albany and 
 Kaffraria District is upwards of five hundred miles, from one 
 extremity to the other; and hence, for the convenience of 
 those Missionaries residing on the more distant stations, it 
 was resolved, that the Meeting that year should be held at 
 D'Urban, the nearest station in Kaffraria to the Colony. 
 But, notwithstanding this arrangement, several of our 
 brethren were obliged to perform a journey, some in 
 waggons, and others on horseback, of from two to three 
 hundred and fifty miles, and to be absent from their homes 
 for several weeks. These are some of the difficulties con- 
 nected with the working of so large a field of labour ; 
 to obviate which sectional District-Meetings have more 
 recently been established, one in the interior of Kaffraria,
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 57 
 
 and another at Port-Natal ; which will greatly tend to 
 facilitate the operations of the Mission. 
 
 In company with the Revs. W. Shaw, J. Archbell, and 
 several others, I left Graham's Town for Kaffraria, on the 
 afternoon of a most brilliant day, in the month of March. 
 Our path lay across an extensive plain, over which I have 
 often travelled since, and have frequently observed that 
 remarkable phenomenon called mirage. When I first 
 witnessed it, I could scarcely be persuaded that there was 
 not, at some distance before me, an extensive sheet of 
 water, so perfect is the illusion to an unpractised eye. It 
 occurs only under certain states of the atmosphere; and is 
 occasioned by the refraction of the solar rays passing 
 through the air, the density of which increases towards the 
 surface of the earth. On reaching the end of the plain, 
 a magnificent landscape burst upon our view. Considerably 
 below us lay an extensive valley, in the midst of which was 
 the thick jungle of the Great Fish River, and, extending to 
 the right and left, a long line of willows, just discernible, 
 marked the circuitous course of the river itself. Here and 
 there could be seen a military tower or fort; and, stretching 
 far away in the dim horizon, Kaffraria, the land of darkness, 
 barbarism, and war, but the land of Missionary enterprise 
 and toil, could be observed, at once awakening in our mind 
 emotions of the deepest interest and sympathy. 
 
 Having crossed the Fish River, which at that time 
 formed the boundary between the Colony and Kaffraria, we 
 were at length beyond the confines of civilization, in the 
 desolate regions of Heathenism and superstition. I cannot 
 forget the sensations I experienced at that moment. An 
 indescribable sadness affected my mind at the thought that 
 I was now in a land where Satan had his seat, and reigned 
 with almost undisputed sway. For though the light of the 
 Gospel had penetrated these regions, it was comparatively 
 dim and feeble, and the great majority of their inhabitants 
 were still under the iron yoke of barbarism, and destitute 
 of the ennobling blessings of Christianity. Can the true 
 philanthropist set his foot in the territories of Heathenism, 
 without sorrow, when he thinks of the wretchedness and 
 
 D5
 
 58 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 misery which must there prevail? It may do for senti- 
 mental travellers to talk about the innocence of the children 
 of the forest, and to write glowing descriptions of their 
 happiness and simplicity ; but the Christian knows that 
 these descriptions, however beautiful, are nothing but the 
 productions of a poetical imagination, and that unregenerate 
 man, wherever he is found, has no hope, being "without 
 God in the world." 
 
 For the following sketch of the geography of Kaffraria, I 
 am chiefly indebted to the Rev. H. H. Dugmore, whose 
 intimate acquaintance with the country, and with the 
 language and customs of the people, renders him an 
 excellent authority in all such matters. Mr. Dugmore is 
 the son of an English settler, and one of the fruits of the 
 Wesleyan Mission in South Africa. Few, if any, are so 
 thoroughly conversant with the Kaffir tongue as he is; 
 and hence to him has been intrusted much of the work 
 of translating the Scriptures, and of preparing elementary 
 books for the use of the Mission-schools. Having resided 
 several years in a part of Kaffraria, he is also well acquainted 
 with the general character of the country. 
 
 The term Kaffraria has sometimes been applied to the 
 whole territory lying between the Great Fish River and 
 Delagoa-Bay ; a territory of very considerable extent, 
 embracing a line of coast to the Indian Ocean, of upwards 
 of six hundred miles. But this country is inhabited by 
 several different nations, distinct one from another, though 
 all possessing the same physical characteristics, and all 
 speaking nearly the same language. Farthest to the east, 
 from Delagoa-Bay to Port-Natal, is the country of the 
 Zulus; thence southward, to the Umtata, is the territory of 
 Faku, Chief of the Amampondo tribes; and from this point 
 to the Great Fish River, the country is properly designated 
 Kaffraria. These two rivers form its eastern and western 
 boundaries ; the line of sea-coast its southern ; and an 
 irregular chain of mountains, running almost parallel with 
 the coast, bounds it on the north. Its mean length is 
 about two hundred and fifty miles, and its breadth one 
 hundred and twenty. It is consequently thirty thousand
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 59 
 
 square miles in extent, or nearly the size of Scotland, 
 which is estimated at thirty thousand five hundred miles. 
 The tribes occupying it are called the Amaxosa and the 
 Abatembu. 
 
 Of this tract a considerable portion, extending from the 
 Fish River to the Keiskamma, and formerly known by the 
 name of the "Ceded Territory," has, by a proclamation 
 of the Governor, Sir Harry Smith, been recently annexed to 
 the Colony, and called the division of Victoria, whilst 
 the country from the Keiskamma to the Kei, has been also 
 annexed to the British Crown, under the title of British 
 Kaffraria, to be occupied by the various Kaffir tribes, 
 " under such rules and regulations as Her Majesty's High 
 Commissioner, or other Representative, who shall be the 
 Great Chief of the whole of the said territories, shall deem 
 best calculated to promote the civilization, conversion to 
 Christianity, and general enlightenment of the benighted 
 beings subject to her rule."* Nor has the general title of 
 "British Kaffraria" only been adopted; but the country has 
 been divided into several counties, to which the names, 
 Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, and Sussex, &c., &c., have 
 been attached ; which, in course of time, will probably 
 become familiar terms to the native inhabitants themselves. 
 The wisdom, policy, and justice of these measures are, in 
 the Colony, universally acknowledged; for experience, pur- 
 chased at considerable cost, has proved, that the predatory 
 disposition of the Kaffir tribes will never be effectually 
 checked, whilst they are governed only -by their own 
 Chiefs, who either have little control over their people, 
 or are themselves the instigators of the aggressions they 
 commit. 
 
 Two distinct chains of mountains (one to the east, called 
 " Fooboo's Mountains," from the name of a Tembu Chief, 
 who resides amongst them; the other to the west, known 
 as the Amatola range) are distinguishing characteristics of 
 the physical geography of Kaffraria. Here some of the 
 most magnificent scenes present themselves which a lover 
 
 * Proclamation of His Excellency Sir H. Smith, December 23d, 
 1847.
 
 GO SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 of the picturesque could wish to contemplate. In the 
 winter season of the year, the summits of these mountains 
 are capped with glittering snow ; both in winter and 
 summer, innumerable streams and silver springs gush forth 
 from every nook ; and noble forests, rich in valuable 
 timber, clothe their sides, giving them an aspect of fresh- 
 ness and of beauty the whole year round. 
 
 Through some portions of the tract lying at the foot 
 of these mountains I have myself travelled; and I still 
 remember the emotions awakened in my breast, now of 
 astonishment and awe, and now of calm delight, by the 
 scenes on which I gazed. Occasionally some bold and 
 majestic view would, as we journeyed, open before us sud- 
 denly ; and much oftener might we have stopped to employ 
 the pencil than our time would possibly admit. Yes, 
 Kaffraria has its beauties. True, it is a wild and nigged 
 country, nor has man done aught to change its aspect. 
 You find it just as it has been formed by nature. Its forests 
 are as dense as they ever were ; its roads, if roads they may 
 be called, almost as stony and impassable. No works of 
 art, no remains of temples or dwellings, to indicate that it 
 was once the abode of civilized man, anywhere present 
 themselves. Nor, except on the Mission stations, are there 
 any signs of modern industry. Here and there you fall in 
 with a native kraal, or "village;" but all that it consists of 
 is a few round huts, like large bee-hives, formed of the 
 branches of trees, and grass. From all that is apparent, 
 one would imagine that it possesses the same general 
 features, and wears the self-same aspect now, that it did 
 just subsequent to the deluge. But is not nature some- 
 times the most beautiful in her native garb ? If in many 
 instances the skill and taste of " the dresser of the field" 
 have given to the landscape a more calm and gentle air, 
 has he not in some cases robbed it of its grandeur, and left 
 it comparatively tame and lifeless? I am not questioning 
 the propriety and advantage of cultivating the land, clearing 
 away forests, planting gardens, and erecting works of art ; 
 I could wish that there were an industrious and civilized 
 population to do all this in Kaffraria; but, for scenes which
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 61 
 
 shall electrify the soul, and awaken in the breast a thrill of 
 inexpressible delight, and call forth the highest admiration 
 of the power and majesty of God, give me Nature as she is, 
 among the mountains of the Himalayas, among the Alps of 
 Switzerland, among the hills, the valleys, and the glens of 
 Africa. 
 
 The principal rivers of Kaffraria are, first, the Keiskamma, 
 (Ixesi,) and the Buffalo, (Iqonci,) which take their rise in 
 the Amatola range of mountains, and, after pursuing a 
 course of thirty or forty miles, empty themselves into the 
 Indian Ocean. The mouth of the latter has been recently 
 constituted a port, under the title of "East London;" 
 several coasting-vessels having crossed the bar, and dis- 
 charged cargoes on the banks with but little difficulty, to 
 the great advantage of the colonial forces during the recent 
 war. This fact is one of vast importance to British 
 Kaffraria and the Colony. Hitherto, the entire coast of 
 Kaffraria has been considered inaccessible; but, by the 
 opening of this and other rivers, ports and harbours will be 
 given to it, the result of which will be, that, in the course 
 of a few years, trade and commerce will be established on 
 an extensive scale, and the cause of Christianity and 
 civilization rapidly advanced. "East London," says the 
 Editor of the " Graham's Town Journal," " is the port of 
 communication with the extensive country just annexed to 
 the Colony, of which the mountains of the Amatola may be 
 considered the base, the Orange River the apex. Taking 
 King-William's Town and Shiloh as indicating the line in 
 question, (the line from the coast northwards,) it will be 
 seen to cut through the very centre of Amatola, the Kaffir's 
 stronghold, a conviction of the impracticability of which has 
 hitherto incited him to make his most daring inroads upon 
 the Colony. Along this line all obstructions to communi- 
 cation may, it is said, be easily removed," " and thus one 
 of the finest roads imaginable may be opened up to com- 
 mercial enterprise, extending from the coast through the 
 heart of Kaffirland, even to the tropic." 
 
 In addition to these rivers are the Kei (Inciba) and the 
 Bashee (Umbashe). The latter, and the principal tributary,
 
 62 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 the Umgwali, take their rise in Fooboo's Mountains, whilst 
 the sources of the former are beyond Kaffraria, in the range 
 designated the Storm-bergen ; several other streams joining 
 it in its course, the Klipplaat, (Umweli,) the Sunxe, and 
 the Kabusi, from the eastern side of the Amatola, and Kat- 
 River Mountains; and the Tsomo, from the western por- 
 tion of Fooboo's range. Towards its mouth it is by far the 
 largest river of Kaffraria, and runs in a deep and inacces- 
 sible bed, through frightful precipices and dense forests of 
 willows and acacias. In journeying through Kaffraria, you 
 must necessarily cross this river; and I assure the reader, 
 that, under the most favourable circumstances, it is no very 
 easy task. First, you have to make your way down a steep 
 and rugged road, upwards of a mile in length, which, if you 
 are in a waggon, is almost enough to shake your frame in 
 pieces, and, if you are on horseback, causes your steed to 
 stumble so frequently, that you are at length compelled to 
 dismount, and, dragging him after you, to scramble down 
 as well as you are able. On reaching the bottom, the river 
 itself, scarcely passable, presents itself before you ; and with 
 fear and trepidation you urge your horse into the stream, 
 and may think yourself fortunate if you escape on the 
 opposite side without a plunge into the water. You have 
 then a hill to climb, as steep and rugged as the one behind ; 
 and as you look upwards, and attempt to trace the path, 
 you are ready to conclude, that to gain the summit will be 
 utterly impracticable. However, English and African 
 notions of travelling are different things, and you soon 
 learn better, and one by one the difficulties are overcome, 
 until at length you reach the heights, and perceive, with 
 gratification and surprise, that you have actually performed 
 the feat. I confess I know not how the pass of the Kei is 
 to be improved; but perhaps the day will come when some 
 noble bridge will fling its arches over it, and give to the 
 entire scene a new character and aspect. 
 
 Numerous smaller rivers are also met with in Kaffraria, 
 of which the Beka, the Chalumma, the Gqunube, the 
 Shixina, and the Inklonyane, are some of the principal. 
 " The tides of the ocean," observes Mr. Dugmore, " flow for
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 63 
 
 several miles up these secondary streams, giving them the 
 appearance of canals, and keeping them stocked with 
 exhaustless supplies of fine fish." Many of these rivers are 
 of such a nature, that they might be led out to irrigate the 
 adjoining lands, the soil of which is generally rich and 
 fertile, producing, when cultivated, exuberant crops of 
 maize, millet, pumpkins, and potatoes. Industry and 
 civilization are alone required to constitute Kaffraria an 
 agricultural country, capable of sustaining a large and 
 flourishing population. 
 
 In nearly all the larger rivers of Kaffraria, the sea-cow, 
 or hippopotamus, takes up his abode, plunging in the water 
 like the great leviathan, or browsing upon the herbage with 
 which their banks are lined. This huge animal answers in 
 some respects to the description of behemoth given in the 
 book of Job : " His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his 
 bones are like bars of iron." " He lieth under the shady 
 trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees 
 cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook 
 compass him about." The inhabitants of the country have 
 several methods of destroying it, such as digging pit-falls, 
 fastening sharp posts into the ground, and attacking it 
 with poisoned darts, which they attempt to plunge into its 
 side. The flesh is esteemed a luxury; and on the occasion 
 of the death of one of these creatures, numbers of the 
 natives flock eagerly to the feast. The dense forests and 
 ravines of Kaffraria are also occupied by the buffalo, the 
 lion, and the elephant, together with many other beasts of 
 prey ; whilst more innocent creatures, large and small, such 
 as the antelope of several kinds, the jerboa, and the hare, 
 abound, and are often devoured by their cruel neighbours. 
 Here, too, as in the Colony, several species of reptilia are 
 found : the cobra-capella, the puff-adder, and the boomslang, 
 (tree-snake,) the first of which is a very noxious creature; 
 its bite occasioning the most dreadful paroxysms, which in 
 the course of a few hours generally terminate in death. 
 The boa-constrictor is also met with, especially in the 
 neighbourhood of Natal. Happily, cases do not frequently 
 occur, either in the Colony or Kaffraria, of persons being
 
 G4 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 mortally injured by these reptiles; which is the more 
 remarkable in reference to the natives, as they usually 
 travel bare-footed, and are therefore more exposed. An 
 antidote for the bite of a snake has recently been discovered 
 by a colonist, of which the basis is ammonia, and which has 
 proved in several instances signally beneficial. 
 
 The entomology of Kaffraria is as rich as that of 
 the Colony, as also are its ornithology and its botany. 
 The country everywhere teems with life. The plains 
 are dotted over with innumerable ant-hills, which at a 
 distance look like flocks of sheep, but, on closer inspection, 
 prove to be colonies of that industrious little insect, to 
 which Solomon directs the sluggard for reproof. Among 
 the birds with which we meet, are the crested kingfisher, 
 the pouw, and the honey-guide, so called from its indicating 
 to the traveller, by a very remarkable note, the locality of 
 a nest of bees. The blue crane is occasionally seen ; and a 
 peculiar species of crane, called the secretary-bird, or 
 serpent-eater, (falco serpentarius,) stalks about the country, 
 preying upon snakes and other reptiles, the largest of 
 which it will attack with boldness and great skill. The 
 trees, plants, and flora of Kaffraria are similar to those of 
 the Colony, and equally varied and beautiful. In general, 
 the grass is plentiful and luxuriant, but, on the immediate 
 coast, it is fit only for the larger kinds of cattle. I have 
 ridden through portions of the country in which it was so 
 high as to reach my horse's head, affording him a repast as 
 he pursued his way. 
 
 Kaffraria is by no means over-peopled. The entire popu- 
 lation of the territory we have described has been estimated 
 at three hundred thousand souls; the Amaxosa tribes being 
 calculated at two hundred and ten thousand, and the 
 Abatembu at ninety thousand. The latter occupy the 
 northern part of Kaffraria, (to which the name of Northum- 
 berland has been given,) having migrated from their 
 original territory, between the Bashee and the Umtata, in 
 consequence of the frequent inroads of those fierce and 
 warlike clans, the Amampondo and the Amabaca, who 
 reside further to the east. Of the Amaxosa clans, that of
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. Go 
 
 Khreli, which Mr. Dugmore estimates at seventy thousand, 
 called the Amagcaleka, dwell in the valley of the Kei; 
 whilst the rest of these clans have had lands assigned them 
 in British Kaffraria, according to their respective claims 
 and wants. The Gaika tribes, (Amangqika,) seventy 
 thousand in number, under the Chief Sandili, are to inhabit 
 the counties of Yorkshire, Middlesex, and Lincolnshire, the 
 tract immediately south of the Amatola Mountains. Next 
 to these are the Slambie tribes, under Umhala, part of 
 whose territory is to be designated Cambridgeshire, and 
 another part Sussex. And immediately on the coast, the 
 Amagqunukwebi tribes, of whom Pato is the Chief, are to 
 take up their abode : their county to be denominated 
 Bedfordshire. The relative position of the tribes is nearly 
 the same as it was prior to the war, only that the Ceded 
 Territory, portions of which some of them then occupied, 
 they now occupy no more. 
 
 But the question now arises, What shall be done to elevate 
 these tribes ? Compared with the countless multitudes of 
 India and China, or with the vast population of the British 
 Isles, their numbers, it is true, are insignificant. But, are 
 three hundred thousand souls of little value 1 And because 
 they are so few, are they to be left a prey to Heathenism 
 and death ? Where is the Christian, where the philanthro- 
 pist, that would entertain the thought ? The majority of 
 them, too, let it be remembered, are now subjects of the 
 British Crown. They have acknowledged themselves con- 
 quered. They have taken the oath of allegiance to the 
 Queen of England. Her Majesty's Representative is hence- 
 forth to be their Chief ; and, as far as practicable, they are 
 to be governed on the principles of British law. All this 
 is well; and, I am persuaded, whatever opinions may be 
 entertained on this subject here at home, will conduce to 
 the highest interests of the Kaffir tribes themselves. The 
 colonists, I am sure, have no wish to oppress them; neither 
 has the noble-minded Governor, Sir Harry Smith. But 
 none of the plans which have been devised will in them- 
 selves avail for the pacification of the country, and the 
 moral and spiritual advancement of the people. British
 
 66 SOUTH AFEICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Kaffraria must have Christian Missionaries. Without the 
 Gospel, its restless, barbarous, and warlike tribes will be 
 restless, barbarous, and warlike stilL 
 
 But it would be an error to suppose that three hundred 
 thousand souls are all that in South Africa demand the 
 sympathies of the church. The probability is, that the 
 whole of the tribes dwelling on the eastern coast, and in 
 the territory which stretches forward to the west, number 
 upwards of a million and a half ; and they are all accessible 
 to Missionary enterprise. The Christianizing of British 
 Kaffraria might then be but the prelude to a more extensive 
 diffusion of the Gospel in other portions of the country. 
 It is not for three hundred thousand only that we plead, 
 but for a million and a half of souls. Let the question be 
 viewed in this light. Let it be remembered, that if 
 Christianity be established in one part of Africa, the way is 
 paved for its establishment in another; and thus considered, 
 how momentous is the undertaking! 
 
 And now, if the reader will permit me, I will conduct 
 him to the Missionary station called D'Urban, for which, as 
 stated at the commencement of this chapter, we set out. 
 The site of it was by no means picturesque; but such a 
 spot it was gratifying to find in a land so desolate and 
 dark. The Mission premises consisted of a substantial 
 chapel, built of stone, a convenient residence for the Mis- 
 sionary, with two wings, and a verandah running between 
 them; and another building used as a printing-office; 
 together with one or two smaller cottages ; the whole 
 exhibiting a very neat and comfortable appearance. This 
 Mission was commenced a short time after the war of 1835, 
 with special reference to the Fingoes, whom Sir Benjamin 
 D'Urban, having rescued from bondage, placed in this 
 locality, and assigned to the care of the Wesleyan Mission- 
 aries. The name of the station was given to it in honour 
 of that distinguished Governor, to whom the Colony and 
 the native tribes are much indebted, and who, on his 
 departure from the country, three years ago, received the 
 highest testimonials of esteem from all classes of the 
 community.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 67 
 
 From the period of its establishment to the present, the 
 Fingoe Mission has steadily prospered. Several of this 
 degraded race have from time to "time embraced the Gospel 
 of the grace of God, and a few have become zealous and 
 devoted agents in the spread of Christian truth among the 
 surrounding population. Several minor schools are now 
 conducted at the adjoining villages, or kraals, by native 
 Teachers; and the Missionary is assisted in the Sabbath- 
 school by the same class of individuals. Some conception 
 of the indirect influence of Christianity upon this tribe may 
 be formed by the following narration: The Fingoes, in 
 common with the Kaffir and Bechuana nations, were 
 formerly believers in the art of witchcraft, and placed 
 implicit confidence in the rain-makers, whom they employed 
 in seasons of drought, to bring down rain from the clouds. 
 For any one to have questioned the ability of the rain- 
 makers would at one time have been considered madness; 
 and as great was the consternation caused by the Missionary's 
 denial of their power, as by Paul's visit to Ephesus, and the 
 consequent danger which threatened the great goddess 
 Diana. But I do not hesitate to affirm that the system of 
 superstition, deep-rooted as it was in the opinions of the 
 people, has, among the Fingoes in particular, been shaken 
 to its foundation, and now totters to its final overthrow. 
 In the year 1845, a very seasonable rain had fallen on the 
 earth, after a long and serious drought. It was peculiarly 
 favourable for the agricultural operations of Kaffraria, and 
 awakened joy and hope in the minds of many of its 
 inhabitants. The poor Fingoes were greatly benefited, and 
 recognised the boon, not as one which their rain-makers 
 had obtained, but as one bestowed by the Missionary's God, 
 the Lord of heaven and earth. Accordingly, the whole of 
 the adult population residing within a circle of six miles 
 round D' Urban assembled one day, each family or clan 
 headed by its respective Chief, to present their thanksgiving 
 to the Author of all good, and thus to recognise, in their 
 national character, that gracious Providence by whom all 
 the operations of nature are controlled. The air resounded 
 with their songs of praise ; they were addressed by the Rev.
 
 68 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 W. J. Davis, and T. Shepstone, Esq., the Diplomatic Agent 
 of the Government; and then a number of native Christians 
 prayed, and gave thanks to God, and the meeting terminated. 
 What but Christianity could have produced effects like these? 
 
 At the time of our visit to the station, so large a number 
 of Missionaries were present, that the Mission-house could 
 not accommodate them, and the chapel was used not only 
 as the seat of council for the District-Meeting, but also as 
 the dining-room, and even as a dormitory ; for there several 
 of us slept on benches, wrapped in a kaross, or " cloak," 
 thinking it no sacrilege whilst no other accommodation 
 could be found. Much more gratifying, however, was the 
 scene which exhibited itself within those walls on the 
 Sabbath, when several hundreds of the natives were 
 assembled, to listen to a messenger of the Cross. Every 
 sanctuary, and every Christian congregation, in such a 
 country as Kaffraria, is a witness for God, and a beacon to 
 direct the way-worn traveller to the land of rest and peace. 
 
 During our stay, we visited several of the surrounding 
 kraals, and on one occasion witnessed a native dance, per- 
 formed by a number of boys who had recently undergone 
 the rite of circumcision. They were daubed from head to 
 foot with white clay; and around their waists a singular 
 dress was fastened, made of the leaves of a tree, which by 
 their manoauvres they caused to fly about in all manner of 
 ways. The place in which they held their dance was the 
 cattle-kraal, a large round space, fenced off with bushwood. 
 Some of the older men sat and watched them, and several 
 women stood outside, beating the hide of an ox with sticks, 
 and singing a monotonous song. The whole scene was 
 disgusting in the extreme, and we turned away from it sick 
 at heart, and more than ever sensible of the demoralized 
 condition of the Heathen, and of their need of Christian 
 Missionaries and Teachers to guide their feet into the way 
 of peace. The white clay with which circumcised youths 
 are smeared is the outward sign of their uncleanness, which 
 usually continues upon them for a period of several months. 
 During their novitiate, they are excluded from society, and 
 occupy a separate dwelling, erected for their use. Their
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 69 
 
 bodies are afterwards washed, and anointed with some 
 unguent, a new kaross is given to them, spears are put 
 into their hands; and henceforth they are not boys, but 
 men and warriors. 
 
 On the eminence immediately opposite the Mission 
 premises, stands a large military post, called Fort-Peddie, 
 erected for the protection of the Fingoes, and for the 
 defence of the country generally against the aggressions of 
 the Kaffir tribes. It was the scene of one of the most 
 decisive engagements which took place during the recent 
 conflict. Upwards of nine thousand Kaffirs, led on by 
 several Chiefs, approached the garrison with determined 
 boldness, evidently with the intention of attacking it. The 
 military were posted in the interior, and under the walls of 
 the fort were the Fingoes and their cattle, protected by 
 the guns. The enemy advanced in skirmishing order; but 
 as soon as they approached within gun-shot range, shots 
 were fired, by which their progress was prevented, and 
 they did not venture to come nearer than within two or 
 three hundred yards. At one time, according to the 
 statement of an eye-witness of the scene, the valley below 
 the fort seemed like a mass of moving Kaffirs ; and, 
 extending themselves in a line six miles in length, they 
 advanced forward, as if to appal their adversaries by a 
 grand display of strength. But they could accomplish 
 nothing. Imposing and terrific must have been the sight 
 of such a foe ; but a few shells and rockets speedily dispersed 
 them. They fled, and were vigorously pursued by the 
 Fingoes, whose cattle, frightened by the guns, rushed into 
 the very arms of the enemy, and were captured. By the 
 Kaffirs this was considered a victory; for the question with 
 them in warfare is, not, Who lost the greatest number of 
 men? but, Who got the cattle] Yet, dreadful was the 
 scene of slaughter that succeeded. The Fingoes pursued 
 them for several miles; and a troop of the Dragoons, being 
 ordered out of the fort, made a spirited and noble charge, 
 which so took them by surprise, that they were put to 
 confusion, and scattered over the country in all directions. 
 Two hundred were left dead upon the field, and considerable
 
 70 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 numbers wounded, and carried off by their friends. This 
 was the first, and also the last, combined and open attempt 
 of the Kaffir forces to attack the British troops. Had they 
 succeeded in their plan, which, doubtless, was to draw out 
 the soldiers from the fort, and then to rush in and take 
 possession of it, they would probably have carried their 
 threat of an attack on Graham's Town into execution, the 
 consequences of which would have been most tragic. But 
 a wise Providence did not permit it. The designs of the 
 enemy were frustrated, and they were taught a lesson which 
 they could not soon forget. Our brethren, the Rev. G. 
 Green, and the Rev. J. W. Appleyard, and their families, 
 were within the fort at the time of the occurrence, having 
 left their stations at the commencement of the war, and 
 having been furnished with accommodations within the 
 garrison. Their anxiety at this critical period may be 
 better imagined than described. We heard of their situa- 
 tion, and we next heard of their deliverance; and, amidst 
 the distresses that surrounded us consequent on the war, 
 our minds were cheered by the intelligence of their safety. 
 The Mission station D'Urban escaped the war, and con- 
 tinues, as when I visited it, to be the scene of important 
 operations for the instruction and enlightenment of the 
 poor Fingoes. It is situated in the new province of Victoria, 
 and is consequently now within the Colony. The country 
 around is still to be occupied by the Fingoes; and the Rev. 
 H. H. Dugmore has been appointed their Missionary. 
 Additional efforts are about to be made, under the direction 
 of the Government, and with the assistance of the Missionary, 
 to improve the condition of this people, and to promote 
 amongst them civilization and Christianity. A chain of 
 villages is to be formed, of habitations much superior to 
 the ordinary hut, and every encouragement given to the 
 inhabitants to cultivate their lands, and to increase the 
 value of their property. " The Wesleyan Missionary Society," 
 says the Civil Commissioner, "which has long had the 
 spiritual oversight of these people, will place at each village 
 a native Teacher, until more efficient instruction can be 
 secured. The native Teacher must be treated with respect,
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 71 
 
 and his instructions attended to. All children must attend 
 school a part of their time; and, as soon as possible, a con- 
 siderable portion of the instruction in these schools shall be 
 in the English language." 
 
 Such a plan must be considered highly valuable and 
 important. If vigorously pursued, it will doubtless be 
 successful; and it is applicable alike for the Kaffirs and 
 the Fingoes, could an agency be obtained by which it might 
 be worked. It is to the rising generation of these heathen 
 tribes, that the special attention of the philanthropist must 
 be directed. The fathers have become old in folly; and, 
 as they themselves will say, they cannot learn, but the 
 children may be taught. They have no want of capacity; 
 they can be made to comprehend the doctrines and the duties 
 of religion as readily as the children of Europeans. And 
 they are willing, and even anxious, to be instructed. They, 
 then, are the objects to whom, specially, though not exclu- 
 sively, the Christian Teacher must direct his energies. 
 And who can tell but that, ere another generation shall 
 pass away, Kaffraria may become a Christian land? Faith 
 looks through the dense cloud in which it is enveloped, and 
 beholds a day of brightness rise, which shall shed upon its 
 hills, its valleys, and its glens, a flood of light, and shall 
 cause its now benighted sons to raise the universal song of 
 praise. Let its claims be met, and it may soon become a 
 beautiful and fertile country, bringing forth abundantly the 
 fruits of righteousness, and appearing pleasant to the eye as 
 the garden of the Lord. 
 
 In the burial-ground at D'Urban are deposited the remains 
 of the first martyred Missionary of Kaffraria. Ernst Scholtz, 
 a young man of zealous and devoted piety, born at Ganes, 
 in Silesia, having passed a course of theological training in 
 the Missionary Seminary at Berlin, was sent, with several 
 others, to reinforce the Missions in South Africa, in con- 
 nexion with the Berlin Missionary Society. He arrived at 
 Port-Elizabeth, together with three of his brethren, in 
 November, 1845, and, after some days, proceeded with them 
 to Kaffraria. They had but just entered the Kaffir terri- 
 tory, when, their waggons being outspanned on the heights
 
 72 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 of the Great Fish River, they were awakened in the night 
 by an unusual noise. In a few moments the waggons were 
 surrounded by a number of armed Kaffirs. The Missionaries, 
 being aroused, looked out to ascertain from their attendants 
 what was the matter, when one of them received a wound 
 from an assegai, which in a few hours terminated his 
 career. Assistance was obtained as speedily as possible. 
 The military Surgeon from Fort-Peddie, the resident Agent, 
 and the Missionary at D'Urban, were speedily on the spot. 
 An attempt was made to remove the sufferer to the station, 
 with the hope that there something might be done to save 
 his life; but the wound was mortal, and he died upon the 
 road, expressing to his companions his unshaken confidence 
 in God, and bidding them a tender and affectionate adieu. 
 
 The remains of the departed were brought to D'Urban, 
 and there interred; the funeral being attended by the civil 
 and military officers of Fort-Peddie, by the Missionaries 
 resident in the neighbourhood, and by the Fingoe congre- 
 gation and the children of the Sabbath-school. Thus is 
 Kaffraria sown with the blood of one of Christ's own 
 servants, and consecrated for Himself, a land which He 
 shall claim. 
 
 The cause and origin of this affair remain involved in 
 mystery. It is supposed that the murderers belonged to 
 the tribe of Pato; and the case was investigated by the 
 Lieutenant-Governor with a view to their discovery. But 
 they escaped detection; and though the Chief professed 
 the deepest sorrow, yet there is reason to believe that he 
 was privy to the whole design. It was not, however, a 
 Missionary whom the parties sought to kill, but, in the 
 opinion of some of the authorities, an Agent of the Govern- 
 ment. But, be this as it may, the Missionary has gained a 
 rich reward; for he fell in the service of his Lord, whose 
 promise to each of his followers is, " Be thou faithful unto 
 death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 KAFFRAKIA AND ITS TRIBES. 
 
 Probable origin of the Kaffir tribes. Physical characteristics. 
 Language. Intellectual character. The Kaffir not a savage, but 
 exceedingly degraded. His indolence. The Kaffir hut The village. 
 Command over cattle. Pastoral habits. Agriculture. Diet. 
 Government Polygamy. Condition of woman. Lot of the widow. 
 Custom among the Chiefs. Clanship. Religion of the Kaffirs. 
 Superstitions. The rain-maker. The witch-doctor. Treatment of 
 the dead. Sacrificing to rivers. Necessity of the light of Revelation. 
 
 WHENCE have the Kaffir tribes originated? is a question 
 of considerable interest, and one which is deserving of a 
 brief investigation. Ethnographical science has distributed 
 the several races of mankind into seven principal families : 
 the Caucasian, or Iranian ; the Mongolian, or Turanian ; the 
 American; the Hottentot; the Papuas, or woolly-haired 
 nations of Polynesia; the Alfouron and Australian races; 
 and the Negroes.* Among which of these families shall 
 we place the Kaffir? His history will not furnish a reply 
 to the question. All that we know respecting the Ama- 
 kosae Kaffir, (and we know still less of the other tribes of 
 Kaffirs,) is, that his progenitors settled on the river Kei, 
 about the year 1670, under the Government of a Chief 
 named Togah, who is said by the Kaffirs themselves to have 
 been the fourth in descent from another Chief called Xqsa, 
 whence originated the tribal name. Being destitute of 
 letters, and having no other mode of perpetuating their 
 history, except that of tradition, no further information can 
 be gathered from themselves; and hence we must have 
 recourse to other data, in order to settle the point in 
 
 * Such is the division adopted by Dr. Prichard, who observes that 
 " the nations comprised under these departments of mankind differ so 
 strikingly from each other, that it would be improper to include any 
 two of them in one section, and there is no other division of the human 
 family that is by physical traits so strongly characterized. There are 
 indeed some nations who cannot be considered as falling entirely 
 within either of these divisions, but they may be looked upon as 
 approximating to one or another of them." (Researches, vol. i.) 
 
 E
 
 74 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 question. It may be further observed, that the name "Kaffir" 
 throws no light upon the subject, being nothing more than 
 the Arabic word kafir, or " infidel," which, it appears, was 
 applied to these tribes by the Arabs and Portuguese. 
 
 There can be little doubt that all the tribes of Southern 
 Africa, with the exception of the Hottentots (with whom I 
 associate the Korannas, the Namacquas, and the Bushmen) 
 and the Griquas, who are a mixed race, belong to one 
 common type. These are the Amakosae, the Abatembu, 
 the Amampondse, the Zulus, the various Bechuana tribes, 
 who reside in the interior of South Africa, and the Damaras, 
 who occupy the territory further to the west. It is true 
 that there are considerable differences in the physical 
 character of these tribes, and that they differ too in their 
 customs, habits, and modes of life ; but these differences are 
 not so great as to warrant the opinion that they are 
 descendants of different stocks; whilst, on the other hand, 
 they possess so many traits in common, national, physical, 
 and intellectual, and speak dialects which are so closely 
 allied to one another, that no doubt can be left on an unpre- 
 judiced mind, that they are all members of one great family. 
 But to which division of the human race do they belong ? 
 
 Let us look first at the Kaffir himself. In stature he is 
 often tall; in form robust; in colour brown. The contour 
 of his countenance is partly that of the Negro, and partly 
 European. He has the thick lips and the woolly hair of 
 the one; the lofty forehead, the prominent nose, and some- 
 thing of the intelligent aspect, of the other. There is 
 about him an air of superiority which seems to indicate a 
 noble origin; but there is also something mean and servile, 
 which tells you of his degeneracy and fall. He is proud 
 and haughty in the extreme, when he chooses to be so; 
 and at other times he will crouch at your feet, begging for 
 tobacco, or a piece of bread. "Why," (as I heard it 
 reported,) said one of the Chiefs to the Lieutenant-Go vernor 
 of the Colony, at a meeting held with the Gaika clans 
 relative to their frequent thefts, "why does not the Queen 
 of England come herself to talk with me 1 Why does 
 she send you, her Amapakati, (Counsellors,) to talk 1 ?
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 75 
 
 Does she not know that I am great, that I also am a 
 King?" Yet soon after that same Chief would acknow- 
 ledge himself a child of the Governor; nay, would even 
 beg of any individual who, he thought, had aught to give. 
 But such are common features in the character of the 
 barbarian and the savage. 
 
 Mr. Barrow hazarded the opinion that the Kaffirs 
 are an Arab race. " To speculate upon their origin," 
 he observes, " it might not perhaps be far from the mark 
 to suppose them to have sprung from some of the tribes 
 of those wandering Arabs known by the name of Be- 
 douins." This would connect the Kaffir with the Semitic 
 nations of mankind, the Arabs being generally acknow- 
 ledged descendants of Abraham, through the line of Ishmael. 
 But there is reason to question the correctness of this 
 view. Lichtenstein doubted it ; and Dr. Prichard says, 
 " The difference of physical characters between the Kaffirs, 
 meaning the Amakosah, and the Negroes known to us in 
 Western Africa, is so great, as to have appeared to many 
 travellers to be distinctive of separate races, and of varieties 
 of the human species, very remote from each other. The 
 Kaffirs have been thought, by intelligent and accurate 
 observers, to resemble the Arabs more than the natives of 
 inter-tropical Africa. The conclusion to which we are led 
 by the most careful researches into their history, is, that 
 nothing in their physical or moral qualities confirms 
 the hypothesis of an Asiatic origin. -They are a genuine 
 African race, and, as it appears highly probable, only a 
 branch of one widely-extended race, to which all the Negro 
 nations of the empire of Kongo belong, as well as many 
 tribes, both on the western and eastern side of Southern 
 Africa. The skull of the Kosah Kaffirs, though still 
 retaining something of the African character, deviates very 
 considerably from that type, and approaches the form of 
 the European skull, or that of the Indo-Atlantic nations. 
 To the form described by Dr. Knox, as characteristic of the 
 Kaffir, the eastern Negroes of Africa appear generally to 
 approximate ; the skulls of the Mozambique blacks, or 
 Makuani, filling up the gradations that may be imagined 
 E 2
 
 76 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 between the depressed forehead, and strongly-marked 
 African countenances, of the Ibos, and the well-developed 
 heads, and bold and animated physiognomy, of the Ama- 
 kosah and Amazuluh." 
 
 With these views my own observations have led me to 
 coincide. Much as there is of the Caucasian, or, as Dr. 
 Prichard calls it, the Iranian, physiognomy in the Kaffir, 
 you cannot but perceive, also, so much of the Negro type, 
 as to produce the impression that, primarily, at least, he 
 belonged to the race of Ham. That there has been an 
 infusion into the parent stock of foreign blood, is, however, 
 more than probable. The Arab tribes, wandering, as they 
 did, over the continent of Africa, would, doubtless, inter- 
 marry with some of the African races, and in this way we 
 may readily account for the resemblance of the Kaffirs to 
 the Bedouins, both in their physical character and their 
 modes of life. Thus, different tribes may often blend 
 together, until the peculiar features of each become so 
 commingled, as to render it almost impossible to judge 
 which was the parent race. The human family is one ; and 
 hence, however diversified its tribes may be, they frequently 
 ally themselves to one another by the very closest bonds; 
 thus originating those gradations of colour and of form 
 which are found to exist in various portions of the globe. 
 
 In favour of the notion that the Kaffirs are descendants 
 of the Arab tribes, the fact that they practise the rite of 
 circumcision has been adduced. But that rite has been 
 practised by many of the nations of Africa, from time 
 immemorial According to Herodotus,* (and modern inves- 
 tigations have confirmed his statement,) the Egyptians were 
 circumcised, and so also were the Ethiopians, and, with one 
 exception, according to the testimony of Diodorus, the 
 numerous branches of the Troglodyte, (tptoy\i>S6ra,i, "dwell- 
 ers in caves,") who inhabited Libya, and other parts of 
 Africa. Nor should it be forgotten, that the practice 
 prevails in the Coptic Church, and among the Christians of 
 Abyssinia, to the present day. We cannot, then, conclude 
 that the Kaffirs have derived it from Islamism. Rather 
 
 * Lib. ii. 36.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 77 
 
 should we suppose that it exists among them as a relic of 
 ancient African customs common to many of the tribes 
 inhabiting that continent. They attach to it no religious 
 ideas. Why they practise it, they know not, except that 
 their fathers did it, and they must do likewise. So it is 
 with many of their customs. If you ask a Kaffir why he 
 does this thing and the other, he will most probably reply, 
 "I don't know." And yet, though the custom be ever so 
 foolish and absurd, he will not abandon it, because it is 
 ancient; and, in his opinion, what is ancient must be right, 
 a principle on which all superstition is based. 
 
 Another argument in support of Barrow's opinion has 
 been derived from the supposed connexion between the 
 language of the Kaffirs and the Arabic. But even could 
 this connexion be established, it should be observed, 
 as the learned Schlegel has remarked, that "it often 
 happens that one race adopts the language of another, 
 without, on that account, losing its national identity or 
 being totally confounded with the other : for, on the 
 contrary, its moral or intellectual character bears the 
 clearest traces of its original descent ; so that here, at 
 least, language alone will decide nothing." ' Before the 
 question of language can be introduced at all, in proof of 
 the connexion of one race with another, prior considera- 
 tions relative to physical and moral character must be 
 weighed, and strong presumptive evidence of their identity 
 be furnished on this ground, stronger, I think, than that 
 which has been furnished in the case before us. But what 
 are the facts in regard to the Kaffir language 1 Several 
 words have been found common to it and the Arabic; but 
 the structure of the Kaffir is not that of the Semitic 
 tongues to which the Arabic belongs, but has been found 
 remarkably similar to the Coptic or modern Egyptian, 
 which both Michaelis and Professor Vater maintain to be 
 distinct from the Semitic dialects. Whatever similarity 
 exists between the Coptic and the Arabic, is to be attri- 
 buted to the intercourse which existed between the Egyp- 
 tians and the Hebrews, and the several nomadic tribes 
 belonging to the Semitic stock.
 
 78 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 What is the peculiarity of the Coptic language? It 
 differs from the Semitic and Indo-European in many 
 particulars. " Its words," says Dr. Prichard, " are suscep- 
 tible of but few modifications, except by means of prefixes 
 and infixes. In this and in almost every other peculiarity 
 of grammatical structure, the Coptic recedes from the 
 character of the Asiatic and European languages, and 
 associates itself with several of the native idioms of Africa. 
 The distinction both of gender and number in Coptic nouns 
 is by means of prefixes or articles, both definite and in- 
 definite, of which there are singular and plural, masculine 
 and feminine, forms; the nouns themselves being indeclina- 
 ble." Now let the reader look at the structure of the Kaffir 
 tongue. " With the exception of a few terminations in the 
 cases of the noun, and tenses of the verb, the whole busi- 
 ness of declension, conjugation, &c., is effected by prefixes, 
 and by changes which take place in the initial letters or 
 syllables of words subject to grammatical government."* The 
 principle, it will be seen, is precisely the same as in the 
 Coptic. In the Kaffir we have in-doda, "a man," ama- 
 doda, "men;" in-hlu, "a house," izin-hlu, "houses;" um- 
 lamho, "a river," imi-lambo, "rivers." "In Coptic," says 
 Dr. Prichard, "from sheri, 'a son,' comes the plural, nen- 
 sheri, 'the sons;' from sort, 'accusation,' kan-sori, 'accusa- 
 tions.' " 
 
 Again, " in the formation of verbal nouns and derivatives," 
 says Dr. Prichard, " the Coptic makes an extensive use of 
 prefixes." "All such modifications as the European lan- 
 guages express by terminations added to verbs are denoted 
 in the Coptic by these prefixes. Thus the prefix, mad, 
 indicates abstracts, ref is equivalent to our er in ' maker,' 
 or to or in 'orator,' and the prefix jin to ion in 'creation.'" 
 In like manner the Kaffir language forms nouns verbal, 
 abstract, concrete, &c., which, although never heard as 
 nouns before in that form, would be understood by every 
 Kaffir who understood the meaning of the word from 
 which they are derived : thus, from hamba, " walk," come 
 
 * Boyce's Kaffir Grammar ; a work to which the science of 
 philology stands greatly indebted. Introduction, p. 11., 8vo. edit
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 79 
 
 umrkambi, "a walker," ukurhamba, "to walk ;" from lumka, 
 "beware," come ubib-lumko "wisdom," um-lumki,"a. wise man." 
 
 There is, however, another peculiarity in the Kaffir 
 language, closely connected with that of prefixes, called 
 " alliteration," by which a considerable degree of euphony 
 is obtained, consequent, says the Rev. J. W. Appleyard,* 
 " upon the repetition of the same letter or letters in the 
 beginning of two or more words in the same sentence." 
 For example : Isono sam si kulu side singabi naku-xolelwa. 
 " My sin is greater than that it may be forgiven." Whether 
 anything analogous to this exists in the Coptic, I am not 
 prepared to say; but it is not improbable, and perhaps in 
 the progress of philological investigations, other data will 
 be furnished by which the relationship of the African 
 languages to one another will be explained. It is already 
 certain that the Kaffir language is allied to the Kongo 
 dialects, on the west, and to the language of the Gallas 
 on the eastern coast ; and the Chevalier Bunsen is of 
 opinion that these languages are allied to the family 
 whence the Egyptian also sprang. He is also of opinion 
 that the Hottentot language is a degraded dialect of the 
 Kaffir ; but, if so, it must have been singularly transmuted, 
 as at present the connexion is comparatively slight. Should 
 this view prove to be correct, the Mongolian origin of the 
 Hottentot tribes could no longer be maintained. 
 
 It would seem, then, from all the evidence that can be 
 adduced on the subject, that the Kaffir tribes are connected 
 with that great branch of the human family which, from 
 the earliest ages, has inhabited the principal part of the 
 continent of Africa, and to which the general term 
 "Negro" (niger, "black") has been applied, to denote the 
 prevailing colour of the skin. The ancient Egyptians and 
 the Ethiopians were branches of this stock, and the modern 
 Copts are descendants from it. We learn from the book 
 of Genesis that the sons of Ham were Gush and Mizraim, 
 and Phut and Canaan; and by the LXX. Gush (the name 
 
 * This indefatigable and devoted Missionary is preparing a new 
 Grammar of the language, in which its construction will be very 
 fully explained.
 
 80 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 of the country) is rendered AlQiowia, " Ethiopia," and 
 Mizraim, Aiyuv-ros, "Egypt:" (see Isai. xi. 11 :) so that the 
 original inhabitants of these two countries were brethren; 
 and from them, in all probability, have most of the African 
 tribes originated. Both the physical character of the 
 Kaffir, and the peculiar structure of the language which 
 he speaks, would lead to the conclusion, that he is a 
 descendant of this race, though, like several other branches 
 of it, he is much superior to the common Negro type. The 
 Negro tribes are very greatly diversified, according to the 
 circumstances in which they have been placed, and the 
 intercourse they have had with other nations of the earth. 
 Some of them have so greatly degenerated, as to present 
 but few indications of their noble origin; others retain 
 those marks in a greater or less degree, which tell at once 
 of their connexion with the human race. I claim for the 
 Kaffir a place among the latter. Physically and intellect- 
 ually, he is entitled to a superior rank; and were he freed 
 from the chains of superstition, and raised from his 
 degraded state by the influence of the Gospel, I doubt not 
 that he would soon prove himself capable of the highest 
 achievements of man. 
 
 That the Kaffir possesses the faculty of reason in a very 
 high degree, none who are acquainted with him will deny. 
 In war, he will form his plans, and carry on his purposes, 
 with the greatest dexterity and skill. In the councils of 
 his people, he will speak with fluency and eloquence, in 
 favour of the project he wishes to support. In conver- 
 sation with the Missionary, he will start objections to the 
 doctrines of the Gospel, to which it might be difficult to 
 reply. " You say," said an individual to one of the 
 Missionaries, "that all men, without exception, are 
 wicked?" "Yes." "But are none of them right?" 
 "None: all are wrong, all are sinful, and must repent 
 of their transgressions, or they cannot be saved." " But 
 do you not say that there is but one God?" "Yes." 
 " How do you know then, but that he, who is one, may be 
 mistaken, and that the many may be right?" 
 
 Such is the mode in which a Kaffir will often argue.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 81 
 
 He does not take things for granted. When the light of 
 truth shines upon his mind, he wishes to know the nature 
 of things; and on becoming a Christian he can generally 
 give "a reason of the hope that is in him," to those by 
 whom he may be persecuted and assailed. 
 
 But the Kaffir is greatly fallen. In the strictest sense 
 of the term, he is not a savage, though he has frequently 
 been called such; but may be designated a barbarian of 
 the lowest class. It is true, that in war he is cruel and 
 revengeful, and will take delight in inflicting on an enemy 
 the greatest tortures; and often does he mutilate the body 
 of a fallen foe, when life is extinct, in the most shocking 
 manner. But what atrocities will not even civilized man 
 commit, when his blood is heated with rage and anger ? 
 Some of the scenes exhibited during the late revolution in 
 France were as revoltingly cruel as any in which the 
 Kaffirs were engaged in the war that has recently taken 
 place ; and yet France has been represented as the centre 
 of the civilization of Europe, the peculiar characteristics 
 of her civilization being "perspicuity, sociability, and 
 sympathy;" "qualities which eminently fit her to march 
 at the head of European civilization." The dispositions 
 of men are not to be judged of only by what they are in 
 war: we must look at them when at peace, and form our 
 opinion of their character, as it displays itself in ordinary 
 life. 
 
 Thus judged, the Kaffir is not a savage. (I except, 
 however, some of the tribes of the interior of South Africa, 
 who are said to be cannibals, and also such individuals as 
 the Zulu Chiefs, Chaka and Dingaan, to whom that appel- 
 lation might certainly be given.) In times of peace, a 
 stranger may travel from one end of Kaffraria to another, 
 with the greatest confidence; and at whatever kraal or 
 village he arrives, he will meet with kindness and hospi- 
 tality. The inhabitants will come forward one by one, in 
 order to shake hands; and if he manifests a friendly 
 disposition, and wins the confidence of the Captain or head- 
 man of the village, a basket of thick milk will be presented 
 him, and perhaps a goat killed for his use; and should he 
 Ed
 
 82 SOUTH AFEICA DELINEATED. 
 
 wish to remain all night, a house will be prepared for his 
 accommodation, which, if it do nothing more, will serve to 
 shelter him from the wind and rain, though it is not very 
 probable that he will get much sleep. As a remuneration 
 for these acts of kindness, presents of tobacco, beads, or 
 brass wire, will be looked for; and his liberality, large as 
 it may be, will find channels sufficient for its ample 
 flow. 
 
 But according to the notions of happiness and comfort 
 which prevail in civilized society, in what a state of 
 wretchedness does the Kaffir live? His person is nearly 
 naked, being clothed only with a kaross or cloak, formed 
 of the skins of beasts, and worn after the manner of the 
 Roman toga. From head to foot he besmears his body 
 with red clay and fat; and as he is almost a stranger to 
 the purifying effects of water, he bears about with him a 
 mass of filth, and constantly exhales from his person an 
 odour by no means agreeable to the olfactory nerves of an 
 European. Abroad he seldom goes unarmed, but carries a 
 stick, and a bundle of assegais, "spears," more, I apprehend, 
 from custom, and with a view to the chase, than with any 
 apprehension of meeting an enemy; for when he goes 
 forth to war, he carries also a shield, made of the hide of 
 an ox, and sufficiently large to cover nearly the whole of 
 his body. But he is intolerably idle ; and far more disposed 
 to lie basking in the sun, than to occupy himself in the 
 pursuits of active life. Indolence, however, is a common 
 fault of human nature ; and hence it is not surprising, that 
 it should develope itself so strongly among a barbarous 
 people, whose wants are few and easily supplied, and who 
 have, therefore, no inducements before them to overcome 
 it. A civilized state of society is advantageous, for this 
 reason among others, that it creates wants which the 
 savage and the barbarian never feel, and thus brings into 
 operation the powerful activities of our nature, destroys its 
 vis inertice, and awakens a desire for further progress and 
 improvement. 
 
 Then look at the Kaffir's dwelling. In form it is like a 
 huge bee-hive. The frame-work consists of the branches
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 83 
 
 of trees, the covering of reeds and grass. One single 
 aperture answers the general purposes of door, window, 
 and chimney, except that the smoke will partially escape 
 through the thatch. You stoop to enter; and when you 
 have entered, you must stoop still, as it is impossible to 
 stand upright save in the centre, and there is the hearth 
 on which the fire is kindled. To any one but a Kaffir the 
 atmosphere of the place whilst the fire is burning is un- 
 bearable, and one wonders what sort of lungs he has got 
 that he can live and breathe in it at all. The only articles 
 of furniture in the house are a mat on which to sleep, two 
 or three earthen pots, a large leather sack, (into which 
 milk is poured, and then shaken, until it becomes curdled,) 
 and a few baskets of native manufacture, so closely woven 
 as to hold water. You find no table, chair, or stool : these 
 are the inventions of refinement; the Kaffir needs them 
 not, but makes the ground both his table and his seat. 
 So, Cowper tells us, was it with our ancestors in days of 
 yore : 
 
 " Time was, when clothing sumptuous, or for use, 
 Save their own painted skins, our sires had none. 
 As yet black breeches were not ; satin smooth, 
 Or velvet soft, or plush with shaggy pile : 
 The hardy Chief upon the rugged rock 
 Wash'd by the sea, or on the gravelly bank 
 Thrown up by wintry torrents roaring loud, 
 Fearless of wrong, reposed his weary strength." 
 
 A Kaffir village usually consists of a number of such 
 dwellings so situated as to form a large circle ; in the 
 middle of which stands the cattle-kraal, a round space 
 fenced off with bushes. Early in the morning this kraal 
 presents a very animating scene. Men, women, and 
 children are all there, more or less intent upon the cows 
 and calves ; the men milking, the women carrying home 
 the milk, and the children running after the calves, and 
 leaping on their backs, as they are liberated from the 
 kraal, with all the lightsomeness and glee imaginable. 
 The Kaffir is thoroughly pastoral in his habits, as much so 
 as the Hebrews in their earliest history. His attachment 
 to his cattle is sometimes superior to his love of life. They
 
 84 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 are his idols and his gods. Hence the greatest joy he 
 feels is when his herds increase and multiply; and the 
 greatest calamity that can befall him is, the loss of them. 
 However numerous his possessions, he knows every ox and 
 every cow in his kraal, and can describe it minutely by its 
 colour, its peculiar spots, and the size and shape of its 
 horns. It is not often that he kills a beast for food. He 
 likes to feast his eyes upon his flocks, rather than his 
 stomach. He will enjoy a repast provided by another man 
 more than one which he provides himself. 
 
 The command of the Kaffir over his cattle is surprising. 
 They seem to know his voice, and to understand his 
 meaning. By a shrill whistle he can make them run with 
 a speed that is remarkable; and now and then a sort of 
 steeple-chase is held, when, a number of cattle having 
 been collected together, the whole set off, headed perhaps 
 by a man on horseback, over rocks, and hills, and dales, 
 followed by a multitude of men and boys, shouting voci- 
 ferously, and greatly animated with the sport. 
 
 But, though the Kaffirs are a pastoral people, they also 
 cultivate the ground. Each family has its garden, in 
 which maize, pumpkins, and water-melons are produced, in 
 addition to a kind of millet, (liolcus sorgum,) which is their 
 favourite grain, and is exceedingly wholesome and nutri- 
 tious. Their seed-time is between August and November, 
 and is determined by the position of the Pleiades. The 
 fields are fenced by the men; the corn is sown by the 
 women. They first scatter it on the ground, and then dig 
 up the soil with a kind of hoe, to the depth of five or six 
 inches, taking great care to pull up the weeds, and to 
 leave their lands, when sown, as clean as possible. Of one 
 species of the millet, which they grow, bread is made, by 
 first grinding it with the hand between two stones, and 
 then forming it into a cake, which is baked in hot ashes. 
 But they often boil it whole, and eat it with a little milk ; 
 and an excellent dish it is. Of another species they make 
 a sort of beer, which is generally poor and insipid. A kind 
 of mead produced from wild honey is also common, and 
 sometimes drunk in considerable quantities. With no
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 85 
 
 other intoxicating liquors are they acquainted; and happy 
 would it be for them could they continue in their igno- 
 rance. But, alas ! one of the most pernicious results of 
 the intercourse of civilized man with the barbarian or the 
 savage, is, that he has taught him the use of wines and 
 spirits, and thus in many instances created an appetite, 
 which did not before exist, for things which must inevitably 
 prove to him a curse. Greatly is it to be feared, that 
 habits of intoxication will spread among the tribes of 
 Southern Africa; but if they do, upon whom will be the 
 guilt? Upon European colonists and traders who are 
 establishing canteens throughout the Colony, and are even, 
 contrary to law, vending spirits in the native territory. 
 
 The principal diet of the Kaffir is milk, which, as we 
 have already intimated, he eats, rather than drinks, in a 
 sour and curdled state. One good meal a day, taken in the 
 evening, consisting of this curdled milk, and a little corn, 
 is almost all that he requires; and with this he is strong, 
 vigorous, and robust; proving that large quantities of 
 animal food are by no means necessary for the sustenance 
 of the human frame. " Milk," indeed, as Dr. Prout assures 
 us, " is the only article actually furnished and intended by 
 nature as food. It is composed of three ingredients; 
 namely, saccharine, oily, and curdy, or albuminous, matter. 
 And all the alimentary matter used by man and the more 
 perfect animals may be reduced to the same general 
 heads." 
 
 Singularly enough, a Kaffir, like a Jew, will never touch 
 pork. To him it is unclean; though, why he thinks so, I 
 suspect he cannot tell. Fish is likewise abstained from by 
 him, as it is said to have been by the Egyptian priesthood. 
 Yet, with these antipathies, he will eat the flesh of an ox, 
 cooked or raw, when he can obtain it, not excepting 
 portions of the animal from which one would imagine he 
 would turn away with disgust. But his habits are in 
 every respect extremely filthy. There is nothing cleanly 
 about him, either in his person, his habitation, or his food. 
 Very few marks of distinction present themselves 
 between one class of the people and another. The
 
 86 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 aristocracy of Kaffraria are recognised as such; but they 
 intermingle freely with the lower orders, and think it no 
 disgrace. Even a Chief bears no remarkable badges of his 
 greatness : save that his kaross is often faced with the skin 
 of a leopard, which no one else is permitted to wear, his 
 dress is the same as that of a subject. And if you visit 
 his kraal, you find no signs of royalty. His habitation is 
 seldom any larger, or much more comfortable, than that of 
 another individual His residence is called " the great 
 place;" and the name would lead you to anticipate some- 
 thing much superior to an ordinary village; but you find 
 it just the same. On paying him a visit, there is usually a 
 good deal of ceremony; and if you are liberal with your 
 presents of brass buttons and wire, beads, knives, and 
 tobacco, &c., he will soon be at home with you, and, in 
 return for your kindness, will probably order an ox to be 
 slaughtered for your use. He is generally surrounded by 
 a number of counsellors, who take part in the conversation 
 into which he enters. 
 
 The Government of the Kaffir tribes has been compared 
 to the feudal system, as it existed among the ancient clans 
 of Scotland. A great modern historian, however, considers 
 the feudal system as a different thing from the ancient 
 clanship ; and if his opinion be correct, the term " feudal " 
 must not be applied to the Kaffir form of government. 
 Unlike a fief, the Kaffir Chieftain is the head or patriarch 
 of a large tribe, with whom, instead of secluding himself 
 from them, he lives in daily intercourse, sometimes feared, 
 but oftener respected and beloved. His authority is great; 
 but he seldom uses it, without first consulting with his 
 counsellors. These are persons selected from the tribe 
 on account of their superior skill and wisdom ; and, in the 
 art of legislation, some of them are most acute. To hear 
 disputes, and to judge cases of offence, the Chief sits in the 
 cattle-kraal, the great council-room of the tribe, and, after 
 listening with incredible patience to all the circumstances 
 of the case, pronounces his opinion, appealing to the 
 assembly for their concurrence. The punishment inflicted 
 in most cases of delinquency, is confiscation of cattle ; but
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 87 
 
 when witchcraft is the crime alleged, the culprit is very 
 often put to death. 
 
 A Kaffir Chief possesses as many wives as he chooses 
 to marry, and concubines without number. Polygamy, as 
 Mr. Kay has observed, ranks among the most formidable 
 obstacles to the progress of the Gospel in Kaffraria, and 
 constitutes a prolific source of many other evils. How 
 melancholy is the condition of woman in heathen lands ! 
 Instead of sustaining the place of an equal and a friend of 
 man, to whom she can cling, as the ivy to the wall, for aid, 
 she is debased and wretched, occupying the position of a 
 vassal and a slave, and often sold for a trifling consideration, 
 as if she were a common article of commerce. Such is 
 the case among the Kaffirs. When a woman is marriage- 
 able, she is sold by her father for eight or ten head of 
 cattle, to the father of some youth. The girl's father 
 takes the cattle, and gives his daughter in exchange. 
 Among some of the tribes, the daughters are betrothed in 
 early life; but among the Amakosse, they seldom know 
 anything of the men they are to marry before the marriage 
 ceremony takes place. Can anything like conjugal 
 affection then exist ? It cannot. It is not expected, or 
 even dreamt of. There may be exceptions to the rule, 
 but they are very few; and a man is seldom satisfied with 
 a single wife, provided he has cattle with which to purchase 
 more. Even when the first alliance is a happy one, what 
 then can be expected, when a second and a third take 
 place, but jealousy and grief? And yet the women of 
 Kaffraria are so familiar with these customs, and so long 
 have such practices existed in the land, that they submit 
 to them as if they thought it was their fate, and appear 
 perfectly indifferent to the whole affair. On the occasion 
 of a marriage, the wife is conducted to the husband's 
 kraal, adorned with beads, brass buttons, and various 
 attire, when a beast is slaughtered, and a feast takes place, 
 which sometimes lasts several days. If the woman be a 
 person of rank, she is addressed by one of the older men 
 of her tribe, who exhorts her to propriety of behaviour in 
 her new position.
 
 88 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 One object which the Kaffir has in view in obtaining 
 several wives, is that they may work for him, whilst he 
 indulges himself in idleness, or in the pleasures of the 
 chase. To the wife belongs the task of hewing wood and 
 drawing water, digging up the ground and grinding corn, 
 erecting the habitation, and doing all the drudgery of the 
 house; whilst my lord, during the greater portion of the 
 day, has no employment at all. It is true the women are 
 robust and strong, and capable of enduring great fatigue. 
 I have often been astonished at the enormous weight they 
 will bear upon their heads, and at the steadiness with which 
 they will carry, in the same way, a large bucket of water 
 up a very steep hill But surely this is no reason why they 
 should not be relieved of some of their toil; for they might 
 then attend to the wants of their children, and endeavour 
 to promote their happiness and comfort. 
 
 The mention of children brings the domestic circle to 
 the mind ; but in Kaffraria, what a circle it is ! It can 
 scarcely be called domestic; for you seldom see it in the 
 house, even if you enter, but outside the dwelling. It 
 usually consists of a swarm of little creatures, almost or 
 entirely naked, running about apparently uncared for, in 
 a most neglected and pitiable state. They are happy, I 
 admit; but their happiness is not that of heirs of immor- 
 tality. No pains are taken to instruct them, except in that 
 which is evil. As they are born they grow up, in ignorance 
 and sin ; as if they belonged to the inferior creation, and 
 were destined for no higher state than this. But their 
 parents know no more themselves, and cannot therefore 
 teach their offspring. 
 
 Melancholy is the lot of the widow in Kaffraria. She 
 has not, as in India, to ascend the funeral pile of her hus- 
 band; but, driven from the kraal at which he lived, his 
 dwelling and all the articles belonging to it having been 
 consumed, she retires into the bush, and there remains for 
 a considerable period, exposed to cold and want, no one 
 caring for her state, or taking the trouble to inquire whether 
 she is alive or dead. Even her own son will not pity her; 
 and the probability is that she becomes a hapless wanderer
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 89 
 
 in the earth, eking out a miserable existence as she can. 
 the cries of suffering humanity ! how they rise from the 
 shores of other lands, and, wafted by the winds of heaven 
 across the main, call on British Christians for redress ! 
 Hear them, ye philanthropists, ye servants of the universal 
 Father, ye standard-bearers of the cross of Christ ; and let 
 your tenderest sympathies be awakened, and your most 
 active energies aroused. To you is committed the task of 
 rescuing Africa from the thraldom of superstition, and of 
 planting on her shores the ensign of liberty and peace. 
 Delay not the glorious enterprise. The influence of British 
 Christians is already felt extensively among the tribes that 
 occupy that country, insomuch that, within the last half 
 century, their condition has been greatly ameliorated and 
 improved; but these conquests must be sustained, or the 
 enemy will again seize upon the territory which has been 
 won, and spread desolation and misery around. 
 
 One remarkable custom observed by the Kaffir Chiefs 
 from time immemorial, has been thus described by the Rev. 
 H. H. Dugmore: "At some specific period, the Chief of a 
 tribe, who, it is assumed, has a plurality of wives, assembles 
 his relations, with his principal officers and counsellors, to 
 decide as to the investment of two of his wives with the 
 respective dignities of ' the great one' (Omkulu), and ' the 
 one of the right hand' (Owasekunene). These two wives 
 rank superior to all the rest. The eldest son of the 'great' 
 wife is presumptive heir to his father's dignity, and succeeds 
 him in his general government. The 'right hand' wife, 
 however, lays the foundation of a new ' house,' as her eldest 
 son is constituted the head of a certain allotted portion of 
 a tribe, and assumes, on the death of his father, the separate 
 jurisdiction of that portion. He thus becomes the origi- 
 nator of a new tribe, acknowledging precedency of rank on 
 the part of his brother, ' the great,' but independent of him, 
 except in matters involving the general relations of the 
 tribes at large." 
 
 It is this custom that has given rise to the numerous 
 divisions and subdivisions of the Kaffir tribes, and which 
 effectually prevents any one Chief ever becoming paramount
 
 90 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 and obtaining universal authority. The system has a ten- 
 dency to break up the clans into smaller and yet smaller 
 families, and thus undoubtedly to foment the spirit of dis- 
 cord in the country, and, in the course of a few generations, 
 subvert all authority whatever. Perhaps it is in the order 
 of a wisely-superintending Providence, that before such 
 results occur, the system itself should be modified or 
 subverted, by the introduction among the Kaffir tribes of 
 British laws. To any one who reflects upon the subject, it 
 must be manifest that, whilst this system lasts, elements are 
 at work which, in course of time, must separate this remark- 
 able people into numerous petty tribes, and thus increase 
 the disposition to a wandering and nomadic life, to which 
 they are already prone. If, then, any principle of union 
 can be introduced amongst them, let it be done; and cer- 
 tainly nothing is so likely to prove effectual (among the 
 Amakosae tribes at least) as the establishment of British 
 authority, firm in its character, but at the same time 
 equitable and mild. 
 
 Returning to the customs of the Kaffirs, the inquiry 
 naturally arises, What are their religious views and cere- 
 monies? Are they idolaters] Have they any temples, gods, 
 or forms of worship? And the answer is, They have none. 
 They may be designated, in the strictest sense of the term, 
 a nation of infidels. They are Heathens ; but whether it is 
 correct to apply to them the term " Pagans," may be a 
 matter of dispute ; for with that term ideas of religion are 
 generally associated. They have no definite notion of a 
 great First Cause. God to them is an unknown Being. 
 It is true they speak of a being called Hlanga, " the Su- 
 preme," to whom also the Hottentot name Tixo is applied, 
 which, according to Dr. Vanderkemp's account, signifies 
 " one that causes pain ;" and to this being they sometimes 
 pray for success in battle, or for a good harvest. But the 
 probability is, that this is but a species of the hero-worship 
 from which the ancient mythology principally arose, Hlanga 
 being none other than an ancestor of the present line of 
 Kaffir Chiefs. And Mr. Moffat supposes that the case is 
 similar among the Hottentots and Namacquas, relative to
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 91 
 
 Tixo ; an aged sorcerer in Great Namacqualand having 
 informed him that he always understood that Tsiukuap 
 (another form of the same name) was a notable warrior, of 
 great physical strength. This is the sum of the knowledge 
 possessed by the native tribes of Southern Africa, relative 
 to the very first principles of religion. Then, if you ask 
 the Kaffir respecting the origin of things, he can give you 
 no further information, than that he supposes the sun, the 
 moon, the stars, and the earth, to have existed always, and 
 that men and cattle issued from two great caves or caverns 
 of the globe. 
 
 Superstition, however, exists among the Kaffirs, though 
 religion does not. Superstition, I admit, presupposes 
 religion ; but when the latter is lost, the former very often 
 stays behind. This probably is the case in Southern Africa. 
 The superstitions of its tribes may be the vestiges of some 
 system of religion formerly prevalent amongst them, but 
 since forgotten. And what is the character of the prevail- 
 ing superstitions of the Kaffirs 1 They may be described 
 as a species of witchcraft of the most foolish and diabolical 
 kind. One man sets himself up as a rain-maker, and 
 professes to be able to command the clouds, and they 
 shall give rain, in seasons when it is most required. 
 And the impostor is implicitly believed. In times of 
 drought, some celebrated rain-maker will be summoned; 
 and on his demanding a number of cattle, as the condition 
 on which he will bring rain, they are given him, and he 
 promises that the rain shall come. The probability is, how- 
 ever, that it does not come; but then the wily rain-maker 
 has always some excuse at hand. Some one is the cause of 
 the delay; and, to gain time, a number of strange ceremo- 
 nies must be gone through, or several head of cattle must 
 be brought, of a certain character, and having certain spots 
 and marks. At length, perhaps, the rain falls; and then, 
 of course, the impostor claims the honour of producing it. 
 Again, another individual, or he may be the same, is 
 acquainted with the properties of certain roots or herbs, 
 which he administers to any one who is sick, to charm 
 away the disease which troubles him ; or perhaps he
 
 92 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 charges a certain person with whom he has had a quarrel, 
 and who is possessed of a considerable number of cattle, 
 with having bewitched the sick man; stating that the fact 
 has been revealed to him in a dream, and professing to 
 discover the bewitching matter in the house of the accused ; 
 which consists of a piece of skin, or any other article, which 
 he or his accomplices had previously deposited in the place. 
 
 From the superstitions of Kaffraria arise the cruelties 
 which the aged suffer, and the barbarous customs of the 
 country relative to the dead. A corpse is considered 
 unclean, and to touch it is pollution. Hence, when an 
 individual is sick, and not expected to recover, or becomes 
 old, and is apparently about to die, he is dragged into 
 the bush, perhaps by his own sons, and there left to perish, 
 notwithstanding his entreaties and- his cries. When life 
 is extinct, the body becomes food for wolves, and the 
 bones lie bleaching in the sun. In some cases, persons 
 are interred alive, and are heard calling for help after 
 they are put into the grave. To Chiefs and other indi- 
 viduals of distinction, the rites of sepulture are, however, 
 granted. A Chief is buried in or near the cattle-kraal. 
 The grave is enclosed with a kind of fence, and three 
 or four men are appointed to watch over it for several 
 months. 
 
 Another superstitious practice is that of killing an ox, 
 and throwing part of it into a river, as food for the spirits 
 of individuals supposed to occupy it. Here, it may be 
 thought, is a vestige of sacrificial offerings; but may not 
 the custom have originated among some of the witch- 
 doctors, who can easily invent a scheme for the accomplish- 
 ment of their purposes, when they wish to enjoy a feast on 
 the property of others] Such, too, may be the origin of 
 many similar customs; and though the doctrine of the 
 immortality of the soul exists among the Kaffirs, it is doubt- 
 ful whether the bulk of the people entertain any notion 
 respecting it whatever. The mass of them do not think 
 upon such subjects. Their minds are occupied with the 
 things of sense. 
 
 The necessity of the light of revelation to such a people
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 93 
 
 ia manifest. They will never elevate and instruct themselves. 
 A nation so deeply degraded as the Kaffirs may as reason- 
 ably be expected to improve without instruction from others, 
 as a wild olive-tree to change itself into a vine. The fact 
 is unquestionable, though in a recent sceptical work the 
 attempt has been made to disprove it, that no savage or 
 extremely barbarous tribe has ever advanced to a state of 
 civilization unaided by others who were themselves civilized. 
 There is a state of degeneracy from which, if a people once 
 fall into it, they will never extricate themselves. A foreign 
 agency must be brought into operation, or they will con- 
 tinue in that state as long as they exist. And I am of 
 opinion, that at least the greater portion of the tribes of 
 Southern Africa have passed the line of demarcation whence, 
 if left to themselves, they would return no more. They 
 would sink, but they would never rise. They would become 
 more degraded, but they would never be elevated and 
 improved. They must, therefore, be instructed by those on 
 whom truth has shed its beams; and to enlighten them at 
 all, or to civilize them at all, you must lift up the blazing 
 torch of Christianity. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 KAFFRARIA AND ITS MISSIONS. 
 
 Christianity aggressive. First Mission to Kaffraria. Dr. Vander- 
 kemp. The Chief Gaika. Cause of failure. Rev. J. Williams. 
 Rev. J. Brownlee. The Glasgow Missionary Society. Death of a 
 Christian Kaffir. Opposition of the Chiefs. Remarkable prayer 
 offered by a native. Rev. W. Shaw visits Kaffraria. The Amag- 
 qunukqwebi tribe. Wesleyville. Establishment of a Mission. Con- 
 version of the Chief Kama. Mount Coke. Extension of the work. 
 Results. No Romish Missions in Kaffraria. The Berlin Mission. 
 Collateral effects. Establishment of the Sabbath. Elevation of 
 woman. Translation of the Scriptures. Incipient commerce. 
 
 IT was reserved for modern enterprise to make the 
 discovery of the southern portion of the continent of 
 Africa ; and it was reserved for modern Christians and
 
 94 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 philanthropists to attempt the evangelization of its heathen 
 tribes. Who, then, can reflect upon the introduction of 
 Christianity into Kaffraria, or among the Bechuanas or the 
 Damaras, without the deepest interest 1 The time will 
 come when this event will form an important chapter in 
 the history of the church, as the introduction of Christianity 
 into Britain does already; and it may therefore be desirable 
 to collect together and arrange the facts connected with it, 
 and in an abbreviated form to present them before the 
 reader. 
 
 Christianity is essentially aggressive. Is it surprising, 
 then, that when South Africa became colonized, and was 
 visited by men animated with the spirit of the Gospel, its 
 barbarous and benighted tribes should awaken their 
 Christian sympathies 1 The mere scientific traveller might 
 come in contact with the Hottentot and the Kaffir, and, 
 after inquiring into their customs and observing their 
 physical peculiarities, be satisfied to leave them as he 
 found them ; but the disciple of the world's Redeemer 
 could not do this. Recognising them as members of the 
 human race, and therefore as the purchased property of his 
 Lord, he will desire and attempt their rescue from the 
 vassalage of Satan, by the proclamation of the glorious 
 tidings of the Cross. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Vanderkemp, the indefatigable agent of 
 the London Missionary Society, was the first to venture 
 across the boundary of the Colony, for the purpose of 
 establishing a Mission among the Kaffirs. It was a bold 
 and difficult undertaking; for at that time the Kaffirs were 
 but little known, except for their cruelty, barbarism, and 
 superstition; and the friends of Dr. Vanderkemp thought 
 that he was rushing into the arms of death, and attempted 
 to dissuade him from his cherished plans. But he had a 
 lion's heart, and was resolved at every hazard to proceed. 
 In company with his fellow-Missionary, Mr. Edmonds, he 
 left Graaf-Reynet, the most distant town of the Colony, for 
 the Kaffir territory, in July, 1799. He was habited in the 
 plainest garb, without shoes, stockings, or hat, and conse- 
 quently presented no very attractive appearance to the eye.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 95 
 
 It may be supposed that he despised everything like out- 
 ward show, and was resolved to enter upon his Mission 
 with nothing to commend him but the message he pro- 
 claimed. Had he understood the character of the Kaffir a 
 little better, he would perhaps have adopted a somewhat 
 different course. 
 
 He presented himself before Gaika, at that time the 
 paramount Chief of a large portion of the Kaffir tribes. 
 This individual is said to have been extremely cunning and 
 deceitful; but he was probably not more so than are many 
 of his successors. Sir John Barrow, who visited him prior 
 to Dr. Vanderkemp's Mission, describes him as a young 
 man " of an elegant form and a graceful and manly deport- 
 ment," who had "the appearance of possessing, in an 
 eminent degree, a solid understanding and a clear head." 
 Between him and the colonists there existed much jealousy 
 and misunderstanding, which were by no means favourable 
 to the Doctor's enterprise ; and no sooner had the generous 
 and devoted Missionary entered his territory, than some 
 unprincipled men in the Colony sent a message to Gaika, 
 stating that he was a spy, and advising that he should be 
 made a prisoner by the Chief. But there was an unseen 
 hand that shielded the intrepid messenger of the Cross; 
 and the conduct of the barbarians towards him was like 
 that of the inhabitants of Melita towards St. Paul 
 
 Having found an interpreter in a man named Buys, he 
 told the Chief that their object was to instruct him and 
 his people in matters which could make them happy in this 
 life, and after death ; and that they only asked his leave to 
 settle in the land, expecting his friendship and protection, 
 and liberty to return to their own country when they 
 should judge it expedient. 
 
 Such words were strange to the ears of the barbarous 
 Chief : he had heard nothing like them before, and was 
 unable to comprehend the motives by which the Missionary 
 was actuated. " Did this plan spring forth out of your own 
 heart 1 ?" said he. How singular an inquiry from the lips of 
 a heathen King ! It implied that he thought the design 
 too generous and benevolent to have originated from man
 
 96 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 alone. And so it was. "This very question," says the 
 Doctor, " upbraided me for my unfaithfulness, and put this 
 answer into my mouth, that this my plan was indeed 
 formed only in my own heart, though it was never formed 
 by it ; but that the God of heaven and earth, in whose 
 hand were their hearts, and my heart, had put into it to go 
 to this people, and to communicate in his name things with 
 which their temporal and eternal happiness was connected." 
 
 Gaika, however, hesitated, and raised numerous objections. 
 His mind was probably prejudiced against all white men; 
 and he did not seem disposed to meet the Doctor's views. 
 A Kaffir can generally find reasons why he should not 
 comply with a request which does not suit him. " The 
 period was not favourable. The countiy was in great con- 
 fusion. I cannot entertain you as you should be enter- 
 tained ;" and numerous other difficulties were started. 
 But the Doctor urged his case, and waited patiently a 
 fortnight, until the Chief should finally decide. At length, 
 after numerous disappointments, permission was obtained 
 by the Missionary to remain and build his house. " I 
 thank God," said the Chief, in the course of a speech which 
 lasted about an hour, " that he has put it in the heart of 
 these men to come into my country: do with respect to 
 them" (addressing Buys) " as you have said ; and let 
 Sinkhanna" (Vanderkemp) "take the field which is on the 
 other side of the Keiskamma, and stay with you ; and let him 
 be free to go in and out of my country when he pleases." 
 
 This was enough; and the Missionary at once proceeded 
 to the spot where he purposed fixing his abode. It was in 
 the middle of an amphitheatre of high mountains, covered 
 with the richest verdure, and with timber-trees of beautiful 
 and luxuriant growth. Here the first ambassador of Christ 
 to the degraded Kaffir tribes fixed his dwelling; "hoping 
 that the place might encompass and cherish the first seeds 
 of a church among that people." The event was an era in 
 the history of Kaffraria, little thought of then, and by 
 many persons little thought of now ; but the results of 
 which, direct and indirect, will stand forth to view in ages 
 yet to come.
 
 SOUTH AFKICA DELINEATED. 97 
 
 But Vanderkemp was obliged to abandon his Mission. 
 In consequence of the unsettled state of the country and 
 of the feuds and jealousies which existed between the 
 colonists and the native tribes, he deemed it expedient to 
 return to the Colony until circumstances should be more 
 favourable for the accomplishment of his benevolent design. 
 He commenced a Mission among the Hottentots ; but the 
 task of resuming the Mission in Kaffraria fell to the lot of 
 others. He scattered seed, however, which was not per- 
 mitted to perish. The directors of the London Missionary 
 Society addressed him and his colleagues, on their departure 
 for South Africa, in the following terms : " Happy will it 
 indeed be for us, and glorious for you and your worthy 
 associates, if you are together honoured of God to make the 
 first serious and effectual inroad upon the territories of the 
 Prince of darkness, and to open the way for the deliverance 
 of the wretched Kaffirs from the idolatry (I) and barbarism 
 which involves their extensive country." These hopes were 
 to some extent fulfilled. An inroad was made on the 
 territories of Heathenism, which has been gradually widen- 
 ing and extending, as a river in its course, from that time 
 until now. Though the first attempt, in some great enter- 
 prise, may be comparatively feeble in itself, yet its results 
 and consequences may be most important ; for it may be but 
 the prelude to more vigorous and powerful efforts, which 
 shall be followed with complete success. 
 
 In the year 1816, the Mission in Kaffraria was resumed 
 by the Rev. J. Read and the Rev. J. Williams, who were 
 received by many of the inhabitants with the greatest 
 cordiality, as the sons or successors of Jankanna, (Vander- 
 kemp,) the fragrance of whose name was still known among 
 the people. Mr. Williams recommenced the work, and, by 
 his zeal and his devotedness, was likely soon to have pro- 
 duced a deep impression on the native mind. He erected 
 habitations, planted gardens, preached the word of life, and 
 instructed those who came to him in the elementary prin- 
 ciples of the Gospel. Thus he won the hearts of many, and 
 is said to have been the instrument of the conversion of the 
 first Christian poet of Kaffraria. The name of this indi-
 
 98 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 vidual was Sikanna. He composed a hymn, remarkable for 
 its beauty, and containing some of the most striking allusions 
 to the glorious character of the Deity, and to the atonement 
 of the Lamb of God. This hymn is still sung by our native 
 congregations; and the effect produced by it is sometimes 
 overwhelming. 
 
 But Williams died, and the Mission in Kaffraria was 
 again suspended. During my residence in Fort-Beaufort, I 
 visited his grave, two miles distant from the town. A heap 
 of stones was all that marked the spot ; and around it were 
 the graves of several natives, whom he had instructed in 
 the doctrines of Christianity, and who now rest by his side 
 until the resurrection morn, when the trumpet of the 
 archangel shall call both the Missionary and his converts to 
 the throne of God. Williams was a faithful and devoted 
 labourer: his name is not emblazoned among the learned 
 and the mighty of the earth; but great is his reward in 
 heaven. When many deeds which have attracted the 
 attention of mankind, and which have won for their authors 
 the loud applauses of this world, shall have been buried in 
 oblivion, the toils and the sufferings of such men as Williams 
 shall stand recorded still in the annals of the skies. 
 
 After an interval of some months, Williams was succeeded 
 by the Rev. J. Brownlee, who for a short period was em- 
 ployed as a Missionary to the Kaffir tribes by the Colonial 
 Government. The importance of a moral agency, in order 
 to improve the aborigines of the country, began to be per- 
 ceived by the Government, twenty years ago; and hence 
 Mr. Brownlee was appointed, under their auspices and 
 direction, to a Mission in Kaffraria. He, however, soon 
 relinquished his connexion with the Government, and has 
 since prosecuted his work in his original capacity as an 
 agent of the London Missionary Society. Others have 
 joined him in the noble enterprise; and prior to the war that 
 Society had several zealous labourers among the Gaika clans, 
 and numbered in its various little churches many promising 
 communicants, who had been rescued from the grasp of 
 Heathenism, and could bear testimony to the power of 
 truth. In 1821, the Glasgow Missionary Society sent
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 99 
 
 labourers into the field; and they too have been scattering 
 the precious seed, of which the harvest will be reaped in 
 future days. Numerous are the facts which they have 
 placed on record, illustrative of the beneficial influence of 
 the Gospel. I select the following: A Christian Kaffir 
 was seized with a complaint which was evidently mortal. 
 The Missionary visited him, and assured him that his end 
 was near. The intelligence caused him no anxiety; but, 
 with great composure, he requested that he might be placed 
 in a sitting posture. He then proceeded to deliver his 
 dying charge. He looked around. There was his father, 
 and there were several of his relatives; but his children 
 were not there. He inquired for them, and they were 
 brought; and then he said, with a feeble voice, but with 
 an air of calmness which betokened victory, " It is an 
 assured truth that no man abides upon the earth. I also 
 am departing : the earth cannot satisfy me : I love to go to 
 Jesus. God has taught me to hope in Him who died for 
 me : I desire to dwell with Him for ever : I am going 
 home." His friends wept aloud. He said, " Do not weep 
 for me : weep for yourselves. I am happy. Seek God 
 now : He receives all." Then addressing his father, he 
 said, with emphasis, " Watch over my children. Do not 
 drag them away from the feet of God's word : bring them 
 up here for God. Let the Chiefs remember this." Thus he 
 took leave of them; and, triumphing over the last enemy, 
 the spirit of the poor Heathen, once enslaved by supersti- 
 tion, but now liberated and ennobled by the Gospel, winged 
 its flight to the regions of immortality, a trophy of the 
 power of grace. 
 
 Such instances of the successful operations of Christian 
 Missions are sufficient to prove that they are stamped with 
 the approbation of Jehovah. But it must be admitted, 
 that, as nations and as tribes, the inhabitants of Kaflraria, 
 and of that part of it especially to which the above Socie- 
 ties have directed their attention, have hitherto rejected 
 Christianity. The Chiefs in particular, with but one or two 
 exceptions, though accustomed to attend the house of God, 
 and compelled in many instances to admit the truth of the 
 
 F2
 
 100 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Missionary's word, have set themselves to oppose its pro- 
 gress to the utmost of their power. It was offensive to 
 their pride : it threatened to overturn their long-cherished 
 superstitions: it denounced their systems of cruelty and 
 witchcraft. Hence they rejected it ; and when to the 
 question, "Have any of the rulers believed on himl" the 
 answer was, " None," the people were strengthened in their 
 hostility, and made the conduct of their Chiefs a pretext 
 and an apology for their own. A native Assistant once 
 prayed in the presence of a Chief, and said, " Great God, 
 open the eyes of the Chiefs. The people complained that 
 Gaika stood in the way, and did not receive the word of 
 God: thou tookest him out of the way, that the people 
 might have no excuse. The people complained that Hintza 
 stood in the way, by not receiving the word of God : thou 
 tookest him out of the way, that the people might have no 
 excuse. The people complained that Slambie stood in the 
 way, and was a hinderance, he did not receive the word of 
 God : thou tookest him out of the way, that the people 
 might have no excuse. They are removed : they are dead. 
 Therefore open the eyes of the Chiefs to their own interest, 
 and help them to receive into their hearts the word of life." 
 These words were descriptive of the real facts of the case; 
 for though the Chiefs professed attachment to the Mission- 
 aries, they did not like their doctrine. They preferred 
 superstition to religion, darkness to light, and Heathenism 
 to the blessings of the Cross. 
 
 The operations of the London and the Glasgow Societies 
 were confined to the Gaika clans ; and meanwhile the 
 Amagcaleka and Amagqunukqwebi tribes were still desti- 
 tute of the light of truth, and wrapped in the deepest 
 gloom of Heathenism. When the Rev. William Shaw had 
 been some time in South Africa, he became acquainted 
 with the moral condition of these tribes, and his heart 
 yearned over them with Christian pity; so that he longed 
 to go and proclaim to them the Gospel. In the year 1822, 
 he visited Kaffraria, accompanied by the Revs. S. Kay and 
 W. Threlfall, and obtained an interview with the Chief 
 Gaika, who ofiered no objection to his commencing a Mis-
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 101 
 
 sion with Congo, should he be willing to receive a Teacher. 
 Mr. Shaw then wrote to the Missionary Committee at home, 
 and, having obtained their permission to begin the work, 
 entered Kaffraria in November, 1823; leaving Mr. Kay in 
 charge of the Mission in Albany. His journals, containing 
 the account of his entrance in among the people, are replete 
 with interest. After a long and tedious journey, during 
 which, with the help of natives, he had frequently to cut 
 his way through a thick jungle, he arrived with Mrs. Shaw, 
 and a Local Preacher and his wife from Albany, in the 
 country occupied by the Chiefs Pato, Congo, and Kama, 
 where great numbers of the inhabitants welcomed them with 
 joy, " as though they had been making a triumphal entry." 
 These Chiefs and their people are not purely Kaffirs. Many 
 years ago a powerful tribe of Hottentots, called the Gonaa- 
 quas, who resided in the neighbourhood of the Great Fish 
 River, being greatly oppressed by the Boors on the one 
 hand, and by the Kaffirs on the other, were at length dis- 
 persed; some of them entering the Colony, and becoming 
 servants to the colonists; and others mingling with the 
 Kaffir tribes themselves, adopting their language, and con- 
 forming to their manners. Intermarriages took place, and 
 several varieties of form and colour were thus introduced 
 among these Kaffirs, which are still observable in certain 
 instances, though in general they differ little in their phy- 
 sical appearance from the tribes and clans around them. 
 It may be observed, also, that the first Chief of these tribes, 
 Kwane, was not of royal blood, but was a Counsellor of the 
 Chief Tshiwo, and was raised by him to this honourable 
 position, because, instead of executing sentence against the 
 people for the crime of witchcraft, which duty devolved 
 upon him, he had systematically spared their lives, and 
 permitted the accused to retire with their families to the 
 mountain-region of the Orange River. This practice he con- 
 tinued for several years; and when at length Tshiwo became 
 acquainted with the fact, he was gratified, and constituted 
 the people whom Kwane had thus saved, and who now 
 amounted to a considerable band, a distinct clan, with their 
 benefactor for their Chief. "His insignia of rank," says
 
 102 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Mr. Dugmore, " consisted of a milk-sack, a selection from 
 the Chiefs' milking-cows to replenish it with, and an allot- 
 ment of blue cranes' wings for war-plumes for his bravest 
 warriors. These, bestowed by the hand of Tshiwo, served 
 instead of the ribands, stars, and garters, as eagerly sought 
 after, though not more highly prized, in a higher state of 
 society." 
 
 These were the tribes among whom Mr. Shaw, the first 
 Wesleyan Missionary in Kaffraria, lifted up the standard of 
 the Cross. He selected a spot for the Mission village about 
 ten miles from the coast, in a beautiful locality, contiguous 
 to the residence of the Chief Pato, and in the midst of a 
 population of a thousand souls. The place was designated 
 Wesleyville, a name which it still bears, although, since the 
 commencement of the Mission, the buildings erected on it 
 have been more than once destroyed. I visited the spot in 
 company with Mr. Shaw in the year 1842. The appearance 
 it presented at that time was remarkably pleasing and de- 
 lightful The Mission premises stood on the side of a hill, 
 and consisted of a substantial chapel built of stone, and a 
 convenient residence for the Missionary, with a verandah 
 of lattice-work over the door, and a neat little garden in 
 the front. On one side of these buildings were several 
 native huts of superior construction, and a number of 
 mimosa-bushes dotted the side of the hill, whilst at its 
 base there was a clump of yellow-wood trees, the deep rich 
 green of the foliage of which contrasted well with the other 
 objects of the scene. There was something charming and 
 romantic too in the character of the surrounding country. 
 The Kaffirs have no taste for beautiful scenery, and hence 
 it matters not to them where they dwell, providing they 
 have enough to eat and drink; but a Christian Missionary 
 would desire, if possible, to fix his residence amid nature's 
 charms, that when solitary and alone, he might yet be not 
 alone, but hold converse with Jehovah through his glorious 
 works, as well as through his written word. I could not 
 but accord with the choice that had been made for the site 
 of Wesleyville. 
 
 At the commencement of such a Mission as Mr. Shaw's,
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 103 
 
 great toil and labour were requisite. It is no ordinary 
 task to erect buildings in a country like Kaffraria; and at 
 first the difficulties would be greater than they now are. 
 But Mr. Shaw obtained assistance from the natives, who 
 manifested great readiness to help him ; and with their aid, 
 and that of the individual who accompanied him into the 
 country, he was soon enabled to erect his dwelling, and then 
 to build a temporary chapel. The Chiefs and many of the 
 people attended divine service, and listened to the proclama- 
 tion of the Gospel with delight. A few embraced the 
 truth, and took up their residence near the Missionary; and 
 thus a work was commenced which has been steadily 
 advancing until now, and which will still advance, until not 
 a vestige of Heathenism in Kaffraria shall be left. 
 
 One of the earliest results of this enterprise, and one 
 which has proved highly important to the interests of the 
 Colony, as well as to the Missions themselves, was the con- 
 version of the Chief Kama, and his wife, a daughter of the 
 late Chief Gaika. Kama heard and believed the Gospel, 
 and was baptized into the profession of the Christian faith. 
 From that period to the present, he has maintained his 
 integrity, and has frequently evinced the sincerity of his 
 attachment to the truth, by resisting the most powerful 
 temptations to return to the practices of Heathenism, and 
 by sustaining with considerable heroism and fortitude the 
 persecutions to which his profession of Christianity has 
 exposed him. Another Chief sent to him his daughter as a 
 second wife; but Kama, contrary to the customs of the 
 country, and to what would then be considered a mark of 
 etiquette and propriety, refused to take her, alleging that 
 he was a Christian, and was already married, and that the 
 word of God forbade him having more than one wife. His 
 conduct in this matter drew down upon him much obloquy 
 and reproach, even from many of his own people ; and 
 ultimately he was obliged to leave his country, and to seek 
 another territory where he might abide in peace. But he 
 bore his trials' with exemplary patience ; and since the con- 
 clusion of the war, during which he proved himself a faith- 
 ful ally of the Colonial Government, he has been permitted
 
 104 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 to return to his own land, a reward of his fidelity, and an 
 illustration of the mysterious operations of the providence 
 of God on behalf of those that truly fear Him. 
 
 The Mission in Kaffraria being once commenced, openings 
 presented themselves for an extension of the work, among 
 the various tribes in the interior of the country. In com- 
 pany with Mr. Whitworth, Mr. Shaw visited the Slambie 
 and Tambookie tribes, and found the door open among them 
 for the introduction of the Gospel " The land is all before 
 you," said an old Chief : " choose for yourselves where you 
 will live. I am old; but my children are young, and they 
 shall all learn of you." Then, with joy glistening in his 
 eyes, he said, " Gaika has a school, Enno has a school, Pato 
 has a school; and now Slambie and Dooshani will have a 
 school : this is very great." Vosanie, the Tambookie Chief, 
 also listened to the messengers of truth, and promised to 
 receive them, if they would come and dwell among his 
 people. The travellers were like angels of mercy, scattering 
 precious seed on ground which had hitherto produced 
 nothing but thorns and briers, and diffusing light where 
 the densest darkness had prevailed. 
 
 Another visit was paid to Slambie, in 1825, by the Rev. 
 Messrs. Kay, Davis, and Young, the result of which was the 
 establishment of a Mission among his tribe by Mr. Kay, and 
 the rise of another important station beyond Wesleyville, to 
 which the appropriate name Mount-Coke was given.* That 
 the name of the Founder of Methodism should be attached 
 to the first Mission village in Kaffraria, and the name of the 
 originator of its Missions to the second, was as it should be ; 
 and though not a vestige now remains of the buildings 
 which were first erected on these sites, yet the names 
 themselves remain, and will be perpetuated to the latest 
 generations that shall inhabit Kaffraria. In 1842 Mount- 
 Coke was situated on the banks of the Buffalo, a beautiful 
 stream, which flows through a rich and grassy country, and 
 empties itself into the sea fifty miles eastward of the mouth 
 of the Great Fish River. The first site of the station was 
 
 See the Rev. S. Kay's very valuable " Researches in Caffraria."
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 105 
 
 in another locality, somewhat further from the coast. This 
 Mission proved highly valuable and important. The diffi- 
 culties with which Mr. Kay and his coadjutors had to 
 contend were numerous ; and one cannot be surprised at 
 his saying on one occasion, " Who is sufficient for these 
 things ]" The task of instructing Heathens, of attempting 
 to instil into the minds of ignorant barbarians, and that in 
 a strange language, or by means of an indifferent interpreter, 
 the vital doctrines of Christianity, is one of no ordinary 
 kind ; and then, at the commencement of a Mission, in 
 such a country as Kaffraria, much mechanical labour is 
 required, and a considerable portion of the Missionary's 
 time must be occupied in attending to mere secular affairs. 
 But these pioneers in the mighty undertaking may now 
 look back upon their years of toil, and, standing as on an 
 eminence, survey with satisfaction the result, giving glory 
 to God who called them to so honourable a work, and 
 who caused them to " triumph in Christ, and made manifest 
 the savour of his knowledge by" them " in every place." 
 
 Advanced posts continued to be established in the 
 country from time to time. Butterworth, in Hintza's 
 territory, was founded by the Rev. W. J. Shrewsbury; 
 Clarkebury, in the Tambookie-Land, by the Rev. R. Haddy ; 
 and now a line of Mission institutions in connexion with 
 the Wesleyan Society runs through Kaffraria, from the Colony 
 to Pori^Natal. On a moderate calculation, some thirty 
 thousand souls are more or less under the influence of 
 Christian teaching, and have no other means of instruction 
 whatever than those furnished by this Society. Between 
 two and three thousand persons are taught in the day and 
 Sabbath schools. Five hundred communicants are attached 
 to the several churches ; and many, who, through the instru- 
 mentality of the devoted men who have laboured in this 
 field, were conducted to the Cross, and found redemption in 
 the Saviour's blood, are now before the throne of God, and 
 will be their "joy and the crown of their rejoicing in the 
 presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming." 
 
 Popery has no Missions in Kaffraria. The Romish 
 institution for the Propagation of the Faith has had it in 
 
 F5
 
 106 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 contemplation to send agents to that country; and in its 
 survey for the year 1841, it is observed, " Five Vicariates- 
 Apostolic will shortly be established in Australia, or 
 throughout the rest of Oceanica. At the same time, 
 Africa, which is already pressed on several different points 
 by the efforts of the Church, will be soon visited on its 
 other shores ; and, while the occupation of Kaffraria will 
 complete the Missions of the Cape, other angels of peace 
 will carry the Divine Word to the black children of 
 Guinea. Grace holds its dews suspended over the ways 
 which it opens to us : the people are filled with expecta- 
 tion: apostles are ready to set out: Rome has already 
 appointed them to cast their net ; and who knows but that 
 the winds and waves, aware of the will of their Master, 
 are murmuring with impatience to waft these Messengers 
 of Salvation to the shores to which they are called?" 
 
 There is poetry in this language; but the design in 
 reference to Kaffraria has not yet been executed, nor have 
 the Romish Missions at the Cape produced much effect on 
 the inhabitants, or been attended by any remarkable results. 
 But were the emissaries of Rome to enter Kaffraria, we 
 should tremble for the consequences. The breath of 
 Popery is pestilential everywhere. It has blighted the 
 fair fruits of Protestant Missionary toil in some of the 
 lovely islands of the Pacific ; and it would produce similar 
 effects, if it were permitted, on the churches which have 
 been planted in the wilds of Africa. But let Protestantism 
 maintain and extend its Missions; let the ambassadors of 
 the Cross already in the field be supported by a large 
 additional agency, and our opinion is that Popery will 
 come too late. 
 
 Great Britain, however, has not been alone in her efforts 
 to Christianize the inhabitants of Kaffraria. The Berlin 
 Missionary Society has several agents in the field ; and 
 prior to the war their stations were in a flourishing 
 condition, and gave promise of a large amount of good. 
 That calamitous event was the means of their destruction, 
 and I am not aware that they have been yet resumed. 
 One of the Missionaries is now labouring at Natal; but
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 107 
 
 could we address the Directors of the Society at Berlin, 
 we would urge them to re-enter the territories of Kaffraria, 
 and would tell them that the Christian public of this 
 country will rejoice in their efforts, and pray earnestly for 
 their success. 
 
 Having thus glanced at some of the circumstances con- 
 nected with the introduction of Christianity into this wild 
 and barbarous country, we shall close this chapter with a 
 few observations on the various results, direct and indirect, 
 which have already presented themselves, as the fruit of 
 thirty years' toil and labour. Instances of success, in the 
 actual conversion of the barbarian, have already been 
 adduced in the preceding pages, and many others might 
 have been enumerated; but even where the Christian 
 Missionary fails to accomplish this great end, he is animated 
 with hope, and encouraged to prosecute his work, from a 
 view of the collateral effects produced among the Heathen 
 by the Gospel 
 
 In Kaffraria the Sabbath has become known. Time was 
 when that holy institution was unheard of in South Africa; 
 and but thirty years ago no Sabbath sun arose upon the 
 wretched Kaffir, but every day to him was just the same. 
 But Kaffraria has her Sabbaths now. Soon after Mr. 
 Shaw's introduction among the Congo tribes, the Chiefs 
 made proclamation amongst their people, that the day of 
 the Lord should be observed; and, accordingly, within the 
 neighbourhood of the Mission village all unnecessary labour 
 was then suspended on the Sabbath, and the inhabitants 
 were given to understand that it was God's day, and that 
 they were to leave their work, and repair to the station to 
 be instructed. At first this seemed strange to them, and 
 well it might. Sometimes many of the people would forget 
 when the day returned; and now and then an individual 
 would come to the Missionary in the middle of the week, 
 and inquire if it was the Sabbath; for the Kaffirs had not 
 been accustomed to such a division of time. But the 
 practice began soon to be understood; and now, on all our 
 Mission institutions in Kaffraria, from the Great Fish River 
 to the Umzimvoobo, and within a circuit of several miles
 
 108 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 around them, this sign of Christianity is set up and recog- 
 nised, a day of rest. 
 
 Woman Juts been elevated, and the ordinance of Christian 
 marriage introduced among the Kaffirs. The condition of 
 woman in the country has already been described. Who 
 ever thought of interfering on her behalf? or of claiming 
 any rights and privileges for her? No one, until the 
 Missionary did. A custom existed in the land in relation 
 to a certain class of females of the most oppressive and 
 demoralizing tendency. The Rev. W. Shaw appealed to 
 the Chief, over whom he had obtained considerable influence, 
 urging the propriety of its abandonment. A council was 
 summoned. The subject was discussed. It was resolved 
 that the advice of the Missionary should be adopted, and 
 that the practice should be abrogated throughout the 
 tribe. What a triumph of principle ! What a boon to 
 the hapless females of Kaffraria ! It was felt to be such, 
 and Mr. Shaw received the honourable appellation of 
 Kakalabafazi, or "the shield of women." Since that 
 period woman has been gradually rising to her proper 
 dignity and station. She begins to see that it is beneath 
 her to be sold to a man for a few head of cattle; and 
 parents too begin to see that it is dishonourable in them 
 to sell their daughters. The Chief Umhala sent to an 
 individual residing on the Mount-Coke station, to demand 
 his daughter in marriage, promising at the same time to 
 give for her a considerable number of cattle. The father, 
 who was a Christian, sent a message in reply, saying, " The 
 Bible teaches me to honour the King; but it also teaches 
 me to fear God. Therefore, though I respect the Chief, I 
 cannot sell him my daughter ; for that would be to commit 
 a sin : he must therefore ask me no more." The Chief was 
 angry, but he could not succeed, and afterwards the 
 daughter was married as a Christian to a Christian man. 
 Marriages are now frequently performed by the Missionary, 
 even where the parties are not professedly Christians; and 
 thus polygamy is discountenanced, and acknowledged to be 
 wrong. I have often joined the hands of natives in the 
 name of the holy Trinity; and though the ceremony was
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 109 
 
 sometimes gone through with a degree of awkwardness 
 sufficient to provoke a smile, yet its moral influence 
 on the persons married was invaluable. They retired 
 with the impression that they were united in the 
 most solemn manner, and might not, after the customs 
 of their country, break their pledge without disgrace 
 and sin. 
 
 The Kaffir language has been reduced to writing, and the 
 greater portion of the sacred Scriptures translated into it 
 and published. When Christian Missionaries went into 
 Kaffraria, the art of writing was unknown. The inha- 
 bitants had a language, constructed, as investigation 
 proved, on strict grammatical laws; but they had no 
 symbols of speech, no letters or hieroglyphics ; and one of 
 the earliest tasks of the Missionary was to put down the 
 words he heard from the lips of the people upon paper, 
 and to form a written vocabulary. By degrees this was 
 accomplished; and then the peculiarities of the language 
 began to exhibit themselves, and, by the persevering labours 
 of the Rev. W. B. Boyce, a Grammar was published; and 
 meanwhile, that mighty engine, the press, having been 
 brought into operation, various portions of the word of 
 God were printed, and recently the whole of the New 
 Testament was sent forth, to be speedily followed by the 
 Old. Elementary works, for the use of schools, Catechisms, 
 and Hymn-books, have also been prepared; and thus the 
 basis is laid of a " Kaffir literature," which, as it diffuses 
 itself among the people, must exert an influence of the 
 most benign and elevating kind. It is a wonderful thing 
 to a Kaffir that a book should talk, or that one individual 
 should be able to express his meaning to another by written 
 signs. "Your child can read," said a Missionary to an 
 individual who had been induced to send his offspring to 
 the school. " No," said he : "I cannot believe that. You 
 white people may be able to read, you are so clever; but 
 you cannot teach us to read: it is impossible." "Come 
 here," said the Missionary to the child. The child stepped 
 forward. " Let your father hear you read this," continued 
 the Missionary. He read; the father listened, he was
 
 110 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 astonished, and, clasping his child to his breast, he wept 
 over him with joy. 
 
 One other point is worthy of remark : an incipient 
 commerce has been establisJied in Kaffraria. The Christian 
 Missionary has been almost invariably followed by the 
 trader; and the inhabitants have been induced to barter 
 the produce of the country, such as hides, horns, ivory, 
 and gum, for articles of British manufacture, pick-axes, 
 spades, hatchets, beads, brass wire, and blankets. This 
 trade, prior to the war, was valued at 20,000 per 
 annum, and gave employment to upwards of four 
 hundred persons; and, though suspended for a season, 
 it is being now resumed, with prospects far more cheering 
 than were ever known. It awakens, in the mind of the 
 degraded savage, a desire for advancement, a thirst for the 
 comforts and conveniences of life. Whole congregations 
 may now be witnessed in Kaffraria, in the Christian 
 sanctuary on the Lord's day, clad in apparel manufactured 
 in Great Britain; and as the light of truth spreads itself 
 among the people, the filthy skin-kaross will everywhere 
 give place to decent garments. On such grounds as these, 
 the Missionary enterprise has claims upon the patronage of 
 commercial men. Would they create new markets for 
 their commodities? Let them aid in sending forth to 
 heathen lands the ambassadors of Jesus Christ, who will 
 prepare the way for the trader where previously he could 
 not gain access, and thus will the produce of British 
 industry meet with a return, and whilst we confer a 
 benefit on the Heathen, we shall also benefit ourselves.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. 
 
 Butterworth. Signs of civilization. Vicissitudes. Sabbath ser- 
 vices. Results of Missionary effort. Anecdotes. Triumphant deaths 
 of native Christians. Cruelty prevented. Destruction of Butterworth. 
 Generosity of the Chief Khreli. Sub-station. The native Mission- 
 ary Bethla. Importance of a native agency. Beecham-wood. The 
 Chief Gxaba. Visit to the beach. The river Nabacha, Character 
 of the coast Prevention of slave- dealing. Intense thirst while tra- 
 velling. The Amampondo country. Morley. History of the Mis- 
 sion. Wreck of the Grosvenor. Sabbath scene at Morley. The 
 District-Meeting. Anecdote. The Umtata river. Buntingville. 
 The Chief Faku. Head-dress of the Amampondos. Native service. 
 An Albino. 
 
 LET the reader imagine himself pursuing a journey over 
 a dreary tract of country, the aspect of which is tame and 
 monotonous, and which is apparently void of inhabitants, 
 and destitute of the slightest sign of cultivation and im- 
 provement. Here and there a few head of cattle may be 
 seen attended by a solitary herd, and occasionally a clump 
 of trees relieves the longing eye ; but for a considerable time 
 nothing striking, nothing picturesque, presents itself before 
 his view, and he begins to feel weary of the way, and to 
 wish for some indication of a change. He ascends a gentle 
 hill, hoping that at the summit he shall discern a livelier 
 scene ; but on reaching it, he perceives the same uniformity 
 as before. He ascends another, and meets with disappoint- 
 ment again. He is travelling on horseback, or in a waggon 
 drawn by oxen, and his progress is comparatively slow and 
 tedious; and perhaps he becomes discouraged and impatient, 
 and asks, When shall the journey end? At length the object 
 of his desire is realized. On an eminence there stands a 
 smiling little village, consisting of several white-washed 
 cottages, and other buildings and habitations, indicative of 
 the industry and skill of man. .How cheering is the sight ! 
 How the spirits of our traveller are revived! With what 
 joy and gladness does he hasten forward to the spot! 
 
 And what is the name of this village? and how has it
 
 112 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 sprung up, in a land so desolate as this 1 ? It is a Missionary 
 station, called Butterworth, and owes its origin to the 
 persevering labours of a few ambassadors of the Cross. 
 
 It was on the Saturday evening that I reached this village, 
 having left Graham's Town in company with the Rev. William 
 Shaw (for the purpose of making a tour through Kaffraria) 
 several days before. On our arrival, numbers of the inha- 
 bitants came forth to welcome us, and most hearty was the 
 reception which we met with from the Rev. H. Pearse, the 
 Missionary, and his excellent wife, who were fellow- voyagers 
 with me to Africa, in 1839. We soon obtained refreshment, 
 and I then accompanied Mr. Pearse around the village, to 
 inspect the chapel and the native habitations, and to take 
 a general view of this beautiful oasis. A scene of the 
 greatest liveliness and activity presented itself before me. 
 On a sloping ground opposite the Mission-house, there was 
 a considerable population of Fingoes, in the midst of whose 
 dwellings was seen the cottage of the trader, and in another 
 direction the dwelling of W. H. Fynn, Esq., the resident 
 Agent of the Government. The Mission premises them- 
 selves stood in a conspicuous position, and presented a very 
 beautiful appearance. In addition to the Missionary's resi- 
 dence, and the sanctuary, which stood hard by, there was a 
 row of neat little cottages, after the English style, several 
 of which had been erected by natives for their own accom- 
 modation, in which, on entering, we found them as comfort- 
 ably situated as many of the poorer cottagers of our native 
 land. It was gratifying to witness the life that pervaded 
 the village. In every direction individuals might be seen 
 engaged in some sort of manual employment. Some were 
 digging in their gardens ; others were building habitations ; 
 and one man was occupied as a blacksmith at the forge, a 
 lad assisting him to blow the bellows. These were some of 
 the results of Missionary operations. If " progress and de- 
 velopment" are "the fundamental ideas contained in the word 
 'civilization,'" then civilization was here. Who then had 
 introduced it, but the Christian Missionary? What had 
 paved the way for it, but the glorious Gospel of the blessed 
 God? Suppose it be admitted that a people may be civilized
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 113 
 
 independently of the Gospel ; yet is their civilization in that 
 case based on a dangerous foundation; for, as it has been 
 truthfully observed, " so long as the moral part of man is 
 wholly neglected, and is left rude and barbarous, or suffered 
 to become degenerate, then science works, indeed, but only 
 as a destroying element." The safest and the surest plan 
 of elevating the various tribes of men is to place them 
 under the moral training of Christianity. You may intro- 
 duce civilization into a country like Kaffraria; that is to 
 say, you may send traders and artisans, with a view to teach 
 the inhabitants to till the ground, erect dwellings, and cul- 
 tivate the various mechanical arts; but you will fail to ennoble 
 and elevate its tribes, unless you also send the Gospel. "In all 
 the successful efforts of Missionaries among savages," as Arch- 
 bishop Whately observes, " civilization and conversion have 
 gone hand in hand." The Archbishop, however, seems to 
 intimate that civilization must precede conversion; for he 
 says, "All experience shows that a savage (though he may 
 be trained to adore a crucifix, or an image of the Virgin) 
 cannot be a Christian." There is some ambiguity in these 
 expressions. If the meaning is, that a man cannot be a 
 savage after he has become a Christian, the sentiment is 
 admitted, and is, in fact, but a mere truism: but if it be 
 meant that the savage must be civilized before he can be 
 converted, the position is denied ; for some of the fiercest 
 and most barbarous of mankind, both in Africa and the 
 South Sea Isles, have been thoroughly renewed by the 
 preaching of the Gospel, ere they had advanced a step 
 above the lowest stage of their condition. Let Christianity 
 have its full share of merit. Let it be considered, not as a 
 secondary, but as the primary instrument of the regenera- 
 tion of our species. It is not a mere satellite in our moral 
 hemisphere : it is our sun, giving light, and life, and beauty 
 to the world. 
 
 Butterworth is situated in the territory of the Chief 
 Khreli, thirty miles east of the Great Kei River, and up- 
 wards of one hundred miles from the boundary of the Colony. 
 It was first established in the year 1826, by the Rev. 
 W. J. Shrewsbury, the Chief Hintza being at that time
 
 114 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 in authority, and having given his consent to the 
 commencement of the Mission. Since that period what 
 scenes has it witnessed ! Soon after its establishment 
 it was in danger of being destroyed by the hordes 
 of the Zulu Chief Chaka, who having attacked the Amam- 
 pondo Chief Faku, and spread devastation among all the 
 tribes eastward, meditated a war with Hintza, and led his 
 forces as far as within seventy miles of Butterworth, which 
 must inevitably have fallen, had he proceeded on his march. 
 But the infant station, shielded by Omnipotence, was pre- 
 served. In the war of 1835, between the Colony and the 
 Kaffir tribes, it fell. The Rev. J. Ayliff was at that time 
 residing on the station, and, having ascertained that Hintza 
 contemplated its destruction, he was compelled to leave it, 
 under cover of the night, when some time afterwards it was 
 consumed to ashes, and not a vestige of it left. 
 
 But sixteen months after, peace having been restored, the 
 Mission was resumed by Mr. Ayliff. Hintza had been slain, 
 and his son Khreli had succeeded in the government. The 
 young Chief entreated the Missionary to return; and, his 
 request being seconded by Colonel (now Sir Harry) Smith, 
 he readily complied. He found the place in a state of 
 desolation ; but it gradually assumed another aspect, and at 
 the time of our visit, which was in the year 1842, Butter- 
 worth was flourishing like a green bay-tree. 
 
 The morning of the Sabbath was beautiful and lovely. 
 Balmy breezes rendered the atmosphere agreeable; and the 
 sun, as he pursued his course, poured upon the 'earth a 
 flood of dazzling light. At an early hour the chapel-bell 
 was heard, and speedily groups of smiling children were 
 seen hastening to the school, which was conducted in the 
 chapel by a native teacher. Thither we ourselves repaired, 
 and highly were we gratified with the scene we witnessed. 
 Upwards of two hundred swarthy children, many of them 
 clothed in European garments, were earnestly engaged in 
 reading portions of the Word of God, or in other school 
 exercises of different kinds. We heard them repeat from 
 memory, in their own language, the whole of the first Wes- 
 leyan Catechism, and thirty or forty read to us, with great
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 115 
 
 propriety, several chapters of the New Testament. Such 
 scenes may be witnessed in our own country every day, 
 and do not therefore excite much interest: but this, be it 
 remembered, was in a heathen land; the children of this 
 school were the offspring of parents who, for the most part, 
 knew not God ; this institution existed in the midst of sur- 
 rounding darkness, where the light was but just beginning 
 to arise. It was like the morning star, shining through a 
 gloomy sky, the harbinger of approaching day. 
 
 The school closed, and the chapel-bell again rang, when 
 the inhabitants of the village assembled for morning worship. 
 The place was filled, and the Rev. W. H. Garner, who was 
 on a visit to Butterworth, his own station being further in 
 the interior, preached in the native tongue. He employed 
 several words and phrases, not common to that part of the 
 country, there being certain idioms peculiar to different 
 tribes and clans. This, we understood, was observed by 
 the congregation, and was afterwards made the subject of 
 remark. For a Kaffir or a Fingoe is often a severe critic; 
 and not unfrequently will a number of persons sit down on 
 the ground, and converse together on the style and manner 
 in which the Missionary has addressed them. Hence he 
 feels it necessary to be as careful and correct as possible; 
 though when he first begins to speak the language, blunders 
 are excusable, as the natives readily allow. We found that 
 nearly all our brethren labouring in Kaffraria had acquired 
 the language of the people, and could preach in it with toler- 
 able ease and fluency. This was highly creditable to them, as 
 several had been but a very short period in the country ; but 
 they were men fitted in every respect for their arduous work. 
 
 The services of the Sabbath spent at Butterworth were 
 to myself peculiarly cheering. The congregations mani- 
 fested great order and decorum, listened with attention to 
 the word of life, and sang the praises of Jehovah with 
 much Christian feeling. It was evident that the Gospel 
 had come to many, not in word only, but in power. The 
 small-pox had, some time prior to this, committed great 
 ravages among the people, and several of them had fallen 
 under its deadly hand ; but the visitation had been sancti-
 
 116 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 fied, and the truths of religion had made a deep impression 
 on hearts that had been softened by sorrow and affliction. 
 In the midst of very arduous toils, attendant upon visiting 
 the sick and dying, and on employing as extensively as 
 possible the art of vaccination, the Missionary had been 
 cheered by the anxious inquiries of many after truth, and 
 by the conversion of not a few. Triumphant deaths were 
 among the signs and proofs of the efficacy of the Gospel. 
 One individual, being asked, when dying, how he felt, raised 
 his trembling arm, and said, " I am holding on to Christ ;" 
 and another, whilst suffering from hemorrhage, and whilst 
 the blood was issuing from his mouth, observed, " Though 
 I am in this state, I have joy superior to all : the world 
 boasts of riches, men boast of possessing cattle, but I have 
 none of these, and yet I am rich, for Christ is with me." 
 
 That among a people, who were but just emerging from 
 the darkness of superstition, however, there should be found 
 some, who, after having assumed the profession of Christian- 
 ity, would prove faithless, and return to the practices of 
 Heathenism, and others who, though convinced of the truth 
 of the Missionary's word, should still reject the Gospel, is 
 not at all surprising. To the depraved affections of man- 
 kind, superstition, even in its very worst forms, presents pecu- 
 liar attractions, so that men once taken in the snare, are not 
 easily delivered. Conversing with one of the principal 
 Chiefs, said Mr. Pearse, I asked him why the people did not 
 listen to the Gospel and embrace it. He replied, " The 
 Kaffirs know God, and many often pray to him ; but they 
 love sin : that is the reason." I said to the Chief, " If you 
 were called upon to prove that God exists, what would you 
 say, and what arguments would you use 1 !" He replied, "By 
 referring to the evidences of design which I see in my own 
 body. Why," said he, lifting up his arm, " do not my 
 fingers grow here at the elbow, or why are not my nails 
 on this side of the fingers'?" One might have supposed 
 that this man had been a student in the school of Paley; 
 but he was a Heathen, and until the Gospel had visited his 
 country, had perhaps never given himself much trouble in 
 reference to subjects such as these.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 117 
 
 The following circumstance, related by Mr. Pearse, further 
 illustrates the character of Heathenism, and the value of 
 Missionary operations. An old man, having a son who was 
 subject to fits, went to the Chief to ask permission to cast 
 his child from a kind of Tarpeian rock, into the Bashee 
 river; the Chief said, " No; do not kill your son, but let 
 him go to the Mission station : perhaps the white people 
 may cure him." He was sent, and, care being taken of 
 him, his recovery was effected. But this was not all : his 
 spiritual maladies were removed, and he became a decided 
 Christian, and a useful Local Preacher. Some years after- 
 wards, the father, aged and infirm, sought his son's assistance, 
 and threw himself upon his generosity and care. The son 
 received him with filial affection, and, although he knew 
 that it was once the intention of his father to put him to 
 a cruel death, nourished him in his declining years, and 
 treated him with due respect. Heathenism would have 
 taught that son revenge : Christianity taught him pity and 
 compassion. 
 
 Butterworth has been again in ruins. A second time 
 the firebrand of the barbarian laid it waste, and the labours 
 of the Christian Missionary were again for a while suspended. 
 During the late war, the Rev. F. P. Gladwin being at the 
 time resident on the station, the scenes of 1835 were re- 
 enacted. A plan being formed by a number of mischievous 
 individuals, who had probably been long hostile to the 
 Mission, for making an attack upon the place, the Missionary 
 and the Fingoes were obliged to flee, the enemy set fire to 
 the chapel and adjoining premises, and the following day 
 witnessed one sad picture of desolation where so much 
 loveliness had been. But this event gave rise to one of the 
 most remarkable displays of generosity on the part of a 
 Kaffir Chief that, perhaps, was ever known. Khreli, the 
 son and successor of the notorious Hintza, parsimonious 
 and niggardly as he is, like every Kaffir in a state of 
 Heathenism, came forward when the war had closed, and 
 voluntarily offered to contribute in cattle, the sum of 600 
 towards the erection of the station. It was destroyed by 
 his people, but, as he affirmed, without his knowledge ; and,
 
 118 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 anxious as he was that the Missionary should return, he 
 made this noble and unprecedented offer. The cattle have 
 been given, and were sold some months ago in the market 
 at Graham's Town; and now will Butterworth, like the 
 fabled Phoenix, rise again from its ashes, more beautiful 
 than before, to become, we trust, the birth-place of many a 
 benighted soul. 
 
 In connexion with Butterworth, at the time we saw it, 
 there were several sub-stations, situated in the neighbour- 
 hood, under the charge of native agents. One of these we 
 visited. It was a village consisting of a large number of 
 dwellings, two of which were remarkably conspicuous. Of 
 these one was the Teacher's habitation, and the other was 
 the chapeL They were circular, and consisted, first, of a 
 wall three or four feet high; on which was placed a roof, 
 having something of the form of a dome. This kind of 
 dwelling is much superior to the native hut, and, being 
 easy of erection, is not unfrequently adopted. We received 
 as cordial a welcome on our arrival from the Native 
 Missionary, whose name was Bethla, and were treated with 
 as much respect, as we could have had in the most refined 
 society. This individual was a Fingoe, and at one time a 
 wretched and degraded Heathen; but divine grace had 
 produced in him a mighty change, and on account of his 
 piety, his knowledge, and his zeal, he had been appointed 
 to the charge of this sub-station. In a very short period 
 he had gained considerable influence over the people, and 
 even one of the Kaffir Chiefs, who formerly would have 
 despised him as a dog, was accustomed to listen to him on 
 the Sabbath when he preached the word of God. That 
 Chief, and a number of his people, having heard that 
 Missionaries from the Colony had arrived, came to pay 
 their respects; and towards evening Mr. Shaw suggested 
 that divine service should be held, Bethla himself being 
 requested to conduct it. We crowded into the native 
 chapeL There were no benches, so we sat upon the 
 ground. The hearers, for the most part, were ckd in their 
 karosses. The Native Teacher had on a suit of duffel. 
 The greatest decorum was manifested, and the greatest
 
 SOTTTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 119 
 
 attention paid, whilst a hymn was sung and prayer offered, 
 and this poor African addressed his countrymen, and told 
 them of the love of Christ. With what fervour did he 
 pray ! I could not understand his sermon; but it seemed 
 to be delivered from the heart, and to produce a deep 
 impression on the people's minds. Some perhaps would 
 have looked with contempt upon that scene : I observed it 
 with emotions of delight. The raising of a native agency 
 for the carrying on of our work in Africa, has long occupied 
 the attention of the directors of our Missions. That such 
 an agency is necessary, must be manifest to every one ; and 
 the history of the church warrants us to expect that it will 
 be given us, inasmuch as in every country into which 
 Christ's ambassadors have entered, and in which churches 
 have been formed, Ministers and Pastors have arisen from 
 among the inhabitants themselves. An Institution has 
 been for some time in operation in South Africa, bearing 
 the honoured name of " Watson," for the training and 
 instruction of native youths, with a view to their being 
 employed as Teachers and Assistant Missionaries; and 
 already it has been attended with considerable success; 
 but may we not anticipate the day when hundreds of con- 
 verted Africans, swarthy though they be, shall stand forth 
 and raise the ensign of Immanuel ? Already there are 
 several thus engaged; and a District-Meeting of Native 
 Missionaries is held on one of the stations in Kaffraria, 
 annually, when the usual forms of such meetings are 
 observed, candidates proposed and examined, and, if 
 approved, appointed to some sphere of, labour under the 
 superintendence of their Ministers. This is a step in the 
 right direction, and will ultimately lead to more extended 
 efforts. In the rising of this little cloud may be dis- 
 cerned the promise of a shower of blessings, which shall 
 descend with fertilizing influence on the soil of Southern 
 Africa. 
 
 Of these Native Missionaries, thus set apart to the work 
 of evangelizing their heathen brethren, the individual 
 above-mentioned is one. His piety is unquestionable, and 
 his usefulness considerable. His character and office have
 
 120 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 given him a status among the people ; so that they regard 
 him with great affection and respect. 
 
 Bethla did not forget the rites of hospitality. "I must 
 not," said he, " let the Missionaries come and see me, and 
 allow them to starve. I must give them something to eat. 
 But," said he, " I am only a poor man, and cannot give an 
 ox. Will you accept this calf 1" The calf was a very fine 
 one, and of course it was accepted. The Chief, a person of 
 very subordinate rank, then said, " I too must give the 
 Missionaries a present;" and he produced a fine large goat. 
 Thus we were provided with food for ourselves and our 
 attendants, which served us several days. 
 
 Leaving our waggon in charge of the driver, to follow 
 after us as quickly as it could, we took our horses, and 
 proceeded on our journey towards Beecham-wood, a station 
 that had recently been formed. The country through which 
 we rode was exceedingly rich and fertile. So tall and luxu- 
 riant was the grass, that we were sometimes almost lost in 
 the midst of it. No beaten track presented itself before 
 us; but here and there we could discern the course which 
 had been taken by the Missionary's waggon, the first, in all 
 probability, that ever passed that way ; and, with the assist- 
 ance of our native guide, we safely journeyed over hill and 
 dale, through forests and through glens, and arrived, towards 
 evening, at our destination, another of those bright and 
 charming spots which now adorn the moral wilderness of 
 Kaffraria. It was situated on an eminence above the river 
 Shixeni, about five miles distant from the coast, and com- 
 manded a most beautiful and extensive prospect of woodland 
 scenery on the one hand, and of the Indian Ocean on the 
 other. On the east was a large and noble forest, and on 
 the south-west another, from one of which timber was easily 
 obtained for the erection of the necessary buildings. These 
 consisted of an humble chapel, a residence for the Mission- 
 ary, and another for the Assistant; all constructed of wattle 
 and daub, being designed only for temporary use, until more 
 permanent buildings could be reared. At the commence- 
 ment of a new Mission, no unnecessary expense is incurred 
 in erecting habitations. The Missionary lives for some time
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 121 
 
 in his waggon or his tent, and is satisfied if at first he can 
 rear a cottage, consisting of but two or three apartments, 
 of the frailest kind; nor is it until the locality has been 
 tried, and prospects of success present themselves, that he 
 begins to construct a more commodious habitation. This 
 station was founded by the Rev. Horatio Pearse; but at 
 the time of our visit was under the care of the Rev. J. S. 
 Thomas. A large population dwelt in the neighbourhood, 
 the moral condition of which is thus described by Mr. 
 Pearse : " The occurrences of every successive week serve 
 to show me more fully the awful depth of depravity in 
 which this people are sunk. 0, if temporal wretchedness; 
 if heathen darkness; if the violation of the laws of our 
 common humanity ; if civil anarchy and misrule ; if defiance 
 to the laws of heaven ; if national barbarism ; if bloodshed 
 and crime, and woe, and death, should excite our deepest 
 sympathy, then these exist here in an awful degree." 
 These statements were fully confirmed by facts related to 
 me by Mr. Thomas, facts which I cannot stain my paper 
 to repeat. 
 
 But the influence of Christianity soon presented itself 
 even in this region where Satan had his seat. The Sabbath 
 became recognised by the surrounding tribes. A con- 
 siderable number of persons began to attend the house of 
 God. Several families took up their abode within the 
 precincts of the station ; and a few became anxious inquirers 
 for the truth, and were formed into a class of catechumens. 
 A short period after the commencement of the Mission, 
 Mr. Pearse was called to act as umpire between two Chiefs, 
 Gxaba and Makass, who were about to settle their disputes 
 by war, when, listening to his instruction and advice, the 
 former said, " If you say that I must not fight, I will not:" 
 and further hostilities were prevented. 
 
 Gxaba, accompanied by several of his counsellors, made 
 his appearance at the station soon after our arrival There 
 was nothing prepossessing in his countenance: he seemed 
 a stern and avaricious man, and only came in expectation 
 of receiving presents. He is now no more; for, some 
 months afterwards, a quarrel arose between him and a 
 
 o
 
 122 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 neighbouring Chief, and he was slain in battle. His tribe, 
 which was designated the Amavelelo, had suffered greatly 
 from the terrible incursions of Faku and 'Ncapai, Chiefs of 
 the Amampondo and Amabaca, whose names were a terror 
 among all the clans of the country, from the Bashee to the 
 Kei. To calculate the amount of human suffering which 
 Kaffraria has witnessed within the last half century alone, 
 is impossible. Multitudes of men, women, and children, 
 have been put to death in the most cruel manner, and 
 thousands have been driven to seek refuge in the forests of 
 the country, where many of them have perished for the 
 want of food. It was time, it was high time, that the 
 ambassadors of the Cross should visit these desolate regions ; 
 and nowhere can the feet of the messengers of peace be 
 more beautiful than on these mountains; for nowhere can 
 there be found tribes and nations who are more in need of 
 the Gospel's sovereign aid. 
 
 Anxious to survey the beauties of the country, I rode 
 round the station with Mr. Thomas, and afterwards we 
 proceeded to the beach, which we reached in the course of 
 an hour and a half. Here two rivers, called respectively 
 the Great and the Little Nabacha, empty themselves into 
 the sea; the mouth of the former presenting to the eye 
 one of the most charming landscapes on which I remember 
 to have gazed. The estuary was broad; and on either side 
 there was a range of undulating hills, covered with the 
 richest foliage; whilst the track of the river could be 
 discerned for some distance, the eye at length resting on 
 its gentle banks, which were clothed with verdure, and 
 adorned with willows and mimosas. It is navigable by 
 boats for some miles upwards; but a formidable bar of 
 sand crosses it at the entrance, forbidding all communication 
 with the ocean. Standing upon a ridge of rocks, covered 
 with immense quantities of sea-weed, I made a hasty 
 sketch of the scene, as a memento of our visit. The 
 mouth of the lesser river presented a very different aspect. 
 A mass of dark rock rose precipitously on the right, and 
 another of inferior elevation on the left, there was some- 
 thing so dreary and desolate about it, that .but for its
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 123 
 
 locality, you might have taken it for the Acheron of the 
 Greek and Roman poets. 
 
 The coast of Kaffraria is remarkably bold and rugged. 
 The tides of the ocean have washed up huge sand-banks, 
 by which almost all the rivers are rendered inaccessible to 
 commercial enterprise, and masses of basaltic and other 
 rocks lie at the water's edge, against which the surf usually 
 dashes with unbridled fury, so as to render landing, by 
 any means whatever, exceedingly perilous. No bays or 
 havens present themselves, in which ships can ride at anchor 
 safely; and the whole line of coast, from the Great Fish 
 River to Port-Natal, is exposed to the most violent south- 
 east winds. It is this feature in the character of Kaffraria 
 that has prevented slave-dealers from landing in the 
 country. Could these traffickers in human flesh have 
 gained access to the inhabitants, the probability is, that 
 they would have attempted to seize some of them as their 
 prey; but the hand of nature, or rather of the God of 
 nature, has protected the Kaffir from their grasp. Whether 
 ports will ever be opened on this coast, so as to render 
 Kaffraria a maritime country to any considerable extent, is 
 doubtful. Attempts have been made to enter one or two 
 of the rivers, which in some cases have been attended 
 with success, but in others with the loss of valuable lives. 
 
 After leaving Beecham-wood, we prosecuted our journey 
 over an extensive table-land, richly covered with grass, but 
 almost destitute of wood. It was summer, and the rays of 
 the sun were exceedingly oppressive. The air often glowed 
 as a furnace ; and, as we rode along, we sometimes felt 
 it difficult to breathe. For a considerable period there 
 had been no rain in the country, and many of the brooks 
 and springs were dry. We suffered considerably from 
 thirst. Our waggon, on one occasion, had been sent on 
 before us, and we were pursuing our way on horseback. 
 The water in our flagons which we carried with us was 
 gone; and not a drop could be obtained to cool our lips. 
 We came first to one spot, and then to another, hoping 
 to find a pool or stream; but were disappointed again, and 
 yet again. At length, in a retired nook, sheltered from
 
 124 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 the sun by a clump of trees, we descried a pool, such as it 
 was, to which our horses hastened with impetuous speed, 
 and of which both they and we eagerly drank, thick and 
 muddy as the water was, with as much delight as, under 
 other circumstances, we should have done at the purest 
 crystal spring. When placed in such a situation, how 
 forcible and expressive are many of the promises of 
 Scripture ! Never did the memorable .words recorded 
 by Isaiah, for example, appear so beautiful as on this 
 occasion : " When the poor and needy seek water, and 
 there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the 
 Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not 
 forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and 
 fountains in the midst of the valleys : I will make the 
 wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of 
 water." 
 
 Having crossed the Bashee, (Umbashee,) we had entered the 
 Amampondo country, the territory of the two Chiefs just 
 named. It contains about seven thousand two hundred square 
 miles, and is bounded on the west by the Bashee, on the east 
 by the Umzimvooboo and Natal, on the south by the ocean, and 
 on the north by a range of mountains, somewhat undefined, 
 called the Umtata range. It is a rich and fertile country, 
 watered by two or three noble rivers, on the banks of 
 which, and in the neighbouring valleys, there resides a 
 considerable population. The third day after our departure 
 from Beecham-wood brought us to Morley, another of 
 those lovely spots, whence light is emanating through 
 these moral wastes. Here we found several of the 
 Missionaries and their wives from different stations, who 
 had come to attend the sittings of the Sectional District- 
 Meeting which was to be held in the following week. It 
 is impossible to describe the joy which is experienced on 
 occasions of this kind, when, after several months of 
 almost solitary toil in the midst of a heathen land, during 
 which the Missionary has probably had no intercourse what- 
 ever with civilized man beyond the circle of his own 
 family, he is permitted to meet his brethren, and to 
 converse with them. It is an event which he anticipates
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 125 
 
 six months before it occurs, and on which memory dwells 
 with pleasure six months after. 
 
 Morley is situated in a charming locality, near the 
 Umtata River. The grandeur of the scenery around 
 baffles all description. Undulating hills, magnificent 
 ravines, and extensive forests, present themselves to the 
 eye, and awaken in the breast emotions of delight and 
 awe. The climate is somewhat different from that of 
 Kaffraria Proper and the Colony, the atmosphere being 
 much more humid, and subject to very heavy fogs. One 
 morning during our visit the whole country seemed enve- 
 loped in a cloud, when gradually the sky above our heads 
 became brilliant and clear, whilst the valleys below remained 
 immersed in vapour. It was then delightful to witness 
 that vapour, rising in fleecy patches higher and yet higher 
 in the heavens, and to gaze upon the beauteous landscape 
 as, by degrees, it was uncurtained to the view. The effect 
 was very remarkable, and brought to the recollection the 
 words of the Psalmist and the Prophet, " He causeth the 
 vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth;" words 
 which were probably penned in reference to some such 
 phenomenon as this. Part of the scene thus disclosed is 
 exhibited in the annexed engraving, in the foreground of 
 which stands a native village. The most distant range of 
 mountains in the view are called the mountains of 
 Matawan, a powerful Chief, who at the head of his people, 
 the Fitcani, (destroyers,) spread terror and dismay for 
 several years among the tribes inhabiting the northern side 
 of the Witle-bergen, or Quathlamba mountains. Un- 
 checked in his progress, this mighty warrior, like another 
 Hannibal, led his army across the mountains, and in the 
 year 1828, threatened to attack the Amatembu and 
 Amampondo clans. The consternation which he caused 
 was terrible. Even the Colony was supposed to be in 
 danger, and some of the Kaffir Chiefs having applied to 
 the Colonial Government for assistance, Colonel Somerset 
 was sent with a military force to repel the attacks of these 
 invaders, and Matawan was met by the Colonial forces in the 
 neighbourhood of these mountains, and compelled to retreat.
 
 126 SODTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 The Mission-station itself presented an exceedingly 
 pleasing aspect. A beautiful cottage covered with thatch, 
 having in front of it a neat little garden fenced off with 
 rails, and stocked with roses, geraniums, and numerous 
 other plants and trees, formed the residence of the 
 Missionary. On the left of it was another cottage, 
 occupied by the Catechist; and on the right the chapel, a 
 very humble but substantial edifice of stone, also covered 
 with thatch, and capable of holding three or four hundred 
 people. Several out-buildings were also connected with 
 the station, and numerous native kraals surrounded it on 
 every hand. The moral influence of such a place as 
 Morley, (exhibiting as it does the comforts of civilized life,) 
 on the mind of a population like that in the midst of 
 which it stands, must be of the highest value, indepen- 
 dently of its chief design. It is no wonder that the 
 natives look upon it with reverence, and that it is known 
 as " the bush," or place of refuge, throughout the country. 
 
 Morley was originally established in the year 1829, by 
 the Rev. W. Shepstone, with special reference to the moral 
 and spiritual wants of a highly interesting tribe, the 
 descendants of shipwrecked Europeans, who dwelt in this 
 neighbourhood. In the year 1782, the "Grosvenor," East 
 Indiaman, was totally wrecked upon the coast, in south 
 latitude 31 KV, east longitude 29 5CX. Many of the crew 
 perished in their attempts to gain the land; but one 
 hundred and twenty-seven were saved, among whom were 
 several ladies and gentlemen, passengers in the ship. Of 
 these some were murdered by the natives; and the rest 
 were sought for, but in vain, by a colonist named Van 
 Reenen, who, however, met with some mulattoes, together 
 with three white women, who had been shipwrecked many 
 years prior to the loss of the " Grosvenor," and whom the 
 native Chiefs had taken as their wives. As the result of 
 these occurrences, in the course of years, a considerable 
 tribe of mixed blood arose, whose Chief Dapa was visited 
 by the Rev. W. Shaw, in 1828. An account of his visit 
 was given in the Wesleyan Missionary Notices for the year 
 1829. Dapa and his family were living on the banks of
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 127 
 
 the Umnenga River. He was the son of a white woman 
 called Betsy, who was wrecked, as Mr. Shaw supposed, 
 eighty years before his visit. He was an infirm old man, 
 and bore indications of his descent from Europeans. But 
 he was living as a Heathen, and was as ignorant as the 
 rest of the inhabitants of the country. Most gladly, how- 
 ever, did he listen to the proposal that a Missionary should 
 be sent to reside among his people; and so great was his 
 anxiety on this subject, that when Mr. Shepstone was 
 appointed to commence the station, he (the Chief) was 
 ready to quarrel with some other branches of the tribe 
 relative to the locality in which it should be situated. 
 " The institution must be mine," said Dapa : " I first sent 
 for the Missionary, and he comes at my request." The 
 Mission was commenced; but, since that period, through 
 what vicissitudes has it passed ! what trials has it sustained ! 
 Chapters might be written on the native wars which have, 
 at different times, been waged, within a circle of a few 
 miles round this lovely spot; and many a story might be 
 told of human sufferings, which would cause the heart to 
 bleed. But the shield of the God of Missions has been 
 over his servants who have laboured here; and though 
 once Mr. Shepstone was obliged to flee before a host of 
 warriors, and the station was abandoned for a season, yet it 
 was afterwards resumed under more favourable auspices, 
 and has been eminently beneficial to the heathen clans 
 around. Hundreds, if not thousands, of some of the 
 wildest of earth's sons, have here heard words they never 
 heard before, the words of life and peace; and the hearts 
 of not a few, though hard as the flinty rock, have here 
 been melted and subdued. With some of the converts on 
 the station, who were employed as Class-Leaders, Local 
 Preachers, and Teachers in the Sabbath-school, I was 
 gratified exceedingly. What stronger proof of the divinity 
 of the Gospel can be found, or required, than that which is 
 furnished by a man once savage and cruel, " sitting at the 
 feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind," exhibiting 
 virtues of the highest order, and not only illustrating in 
 his life the principles of truth, but so understanding them
 
 128 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 as to be able to teach them to others ? We do think that 
 the history of modern Missions supplies one of the plainest 
 and most palpable refutations of infidelity that the mind 
 can desire. 
 
 The Sabbath morning after our arrival, Morley pre- 
 sented a very lively and animating scene. At an early 
 hour numbers of the natives began to flock towards the 
 station, and as I stood at the garden-gate of the Mission- 
 house, I observed several companies marching up the hill 
 in something like military order. They were coming to 
 the house of God. Their appearance at first sight was 
 wild; but they had left their assegais and shields at home, 
 because it was the Sabbath-day. The chapel was soon 
 crowded. Numbers could not gain admission. A second 
 congregation met in the open air, and the praises of Imma- 
 nuel were sung that day by many voices that had been 
 formerly accustomed only to the war-whoop and the battle- 
 cry. We have entitled our chapter, " Light in the Dark- 
 ness:" it was the recollection of such scenes as these, that 
 suggested that title to our mind. Kaffraria is indeed a 
 land of darkness; but its Mission institutions are like cities 
 set on hills, whence light irradiates and dispels the gloom. 
 But they are too few and far between. Where there is 
 one, there should be ten. The evangelization of the 
 country is retarded only by the inadequacy of the means 
 employed. It will be won to Christ when the church 
 sends forth an army equal to the enterprise. 
 
 During the sittings of the District-Meeting, many inter- 
 esting statements were made relative to the influence of 
 Christianity, and the progress of religious truth. Among 
 others was the following: At Clarkebury, in the Tam- 
 bookie country, a station which I afterwards visited, one of 
 the Chiefs came to ask for rain. The Missionary endeavoured 
 to show that it was not in his power to make rain; (for 
 this was the idea which the Chief actually entertained;) 
 but that prayer must be made to God, who alone causeth 
 the rain to descend upon the earth. The Chief said he 
 would come on the Sabbath to pray for rain; and he came 
 with several of his attendants, when prayer was made
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 129 
 
 accordingly. Was it in answer to prayer, or merely by 
 fortuity and chance, that the rain began to fall 1 The 
 morning of that day was clear and beautiful; in the 
 evening copious showers came down, until the parched 
 ground was as a pool. The Chief presented himself before 
 the Missionary again. He came to return thanks; and a 
 day of general rejoicing was appointed, when multitudes 
 assembled, and the incense of thanksgiving ascended up to 
 God. Is it fanaticism to recognise in such occurrences the 
 hand divine 1 Far be it from the Christian Missionary to 
 foster superstitious views in heathen minds, or even to 
 take advantage of men's ignorance, as Columbus did, when 
 he predicted an eclipse to the wild men of America; but 
 far be it from him also to deny the power of prayer, or to 
 interpret such events as the above on the cold principles of 
 rationalism. 
 
 I strolled one day on the heights of the Umtata, and I 
 could have wandered there for hours. Before me lay an 
 extensive valley, bounded on the left by hills which seemed 
 to meet, but open to the right, as far as the eye could 
 reach. Its depth was considerable; and at the bottom 
 flowed the river in a circuitous course, twisting 'itself about 
 like a mighty serpent. The sides of the mountains were 
 clothed with verdure, and the nooks and recesses filled 
 with bush, " in which one can scarcely distinguish the 
 stems to which the several blossoms and leaves belong." 
 
 The Umtata takes its rise in the chain of mountains 
 previously mentioned, and is joined in its course by several 
 tributaries. It empties itself into the sea in latitude 31 5', 
 longitude 29 15'. The tide flows into it for upwards of 
 seven miles ; and it is not improbable that some day it will 
 be entered by the merchant-ship. I have not heard that 
 the geological character of this region has been carefully 
 observed; but it appeared similar to that of the Colony, in 
 the neighbourhood of the coast. The rocks are formed 
 chiefly of trap and sandstone. Iron ore is found in con- 
 siderable quantities as you approach the sea. The soil is 
 rich and fertile, and, when cultivated, yields abundance of 
 maize, Kaffir corn, and pumpkins. In the garden at Mor-
 
 130 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 ley the cotton-plant has been reared, and would doubtless 
 flourish in this neighbourhood, as well as at Port-Natal, 
 where it will soon become a staple commodity of trade. 
 It is not improbable that Southern Africa is destined to 
 become a very important field for the production of this 
 valuable plant. The great desideratum at present is la- 
 bour; but as the infant colony at Natal becomes inhabited, 
 and as the aborigines of the country rise in the scale of 
 civilization, all difficulties will give way, and the cotton- 
 plant will cover thousands of acres, the soil of which has 
 never been turned up.* 
 
 Leaving Morley, we crossed the Umtata by the bridle- 
 path, having sent our waggon round by the ordinary route. 
 The river, that seemed but a streamlet as we viewed it 
 from the heights above, proved, on our approach, a for- 
 midable current. By the aid of natives, we succeeded in 
 fording it, though not without a wetting; and my sketch- 
 book, which was fastened to my saddle-bags, was thoroughly 
 saturated with water. However, making the best of it, we 
 rode along, and, after journeying nearly a whole day over 
 hill and dale, plain and valley, came at length to Bunting- 
 ville, where Mrs. Jenkins, the Missionary's wife, provided us 
 with a refreshing cup of tea. 
 
 Buntingville does not disgrace its name. The neatness 
 of the Mission premises, the number of the inhabitants, and 
 the character of the surrounding country, constitute it a 
 very lively and interesting place. It is situated in the 
 midst of the territory of Faku, though at a considerable 
 distance from the Chiefs own residence. Faku is the head 
 of a large and powerful tribe, said to consist of several 
 clans, each of which was at one time very considerable, 
 and probably inhabited the country contiguous to that of 
 
 * At the time of our visit, the Rev. S. Palmer was the resident 
 Missionary at Morley, where he had laboured zealously for thirteen 
 or fourteen years. During the late war, he was suddenly called to his 
 reward. Having gone out to meet the refugees from Butterworth, and 
 to conduct them to Buntingville, he was seized with a fit, and died 
 instantly, there being no one near him but a Kaffir servant. He has, 
 however, left behind him in Kaffi-aria an imperishable name, and was 
 the means of accomplishing a large amount of good.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 131 
 
 the Zulus. The tribe is called the Amampondo, and is 
 remarkable for its warlike character. Its numbers have 
 been estimated at twenty thousand. The authority of the 
 Chief is almost unlimited; and though he does not bear 
 the character of a despot, his government is much more 
 arbitrary than that of the Chiefs of the Amakosae. Prior 
 to the establishment of Missions in his country, he was 
 constantly at war with the neighbouring tribes ; and 
 wherever his warriors approached, consternation seized the 
 inhabitants. His enemies were often slaughtered without 
 mercy. He spared neither women nor children, neither 
 the aged nor the young. But a change has taken place. 
 Faku has become an ally of the Colonial Government; and 
 partly from political motives, but, to a considerable extent, 
 through the influence of Christian Missionaries, he has 
 partially abandoned war, and has resolved, to use a Kaffir 
 phrase, " to sit still," and cultivate the ground. He was 
 anxious that a Missionary should be appointed to reside 
 with him, near " the great place," and sent a letter to the 
 General Superintendent of the Missions, in the shape of 
 two elephant's tusks, urging his request. The Rev. T. Jen- 
 kins paid him a visit, for the purpose of conversing with 
 him on the subject. The Chief said, " I want you to come 
 and live with me." The Missionary replied, " You are a 
 man of war : I am a man of peace. If I come to live with 
 you, how do I know that I shall be safe?" Faku hesitated 
 for a moment, and then said, " If you will come, there shall 
 be peace in the land: you love peace, and I will love it 
 too." The Missionary went ; and the result has been the 
 rise of another promising Mission in the country, which has 
 been designated Palmerton, and is situated on the eastern 
 side of the Umzimvooboo, where the Chief himself has taken 
 up his abode. The Mission at Buntingville, however, is 
 still in efficient operation. The establishment of the new 
 station will not interfere with the older one. The mother 
 and the daughter will exist and work together. 
 
 We had not an opportunity of witnessing the Sabbath 
 congregation at Buntingville ; but in the evening of Mon- 
 day, the day of our arrival, a religious service was held of
 
 132 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 a somewhat novel character. The object of it was to give 
 an opportunity to any person who had heard the sermon 
 on the Sabbath, and who was desirous of receiving clearer 
 information, to ask questions of the Missionary relative to 
 the subject of the preceding day's discourse, and by this 
 means to ascertain how far the instruction that had been 
 given was appreciated and understood. A goodly number 
 of persons assembled at the appointed hour; and it was 
 manifest that not a little interest was felt in the proceed- 
 ings of the meeting. It was impossible to look upon such 
 a congregation without emotion. The appearance of the 
 men was extremely singular. Their head-dress consisted 
 of a natural wig, formed by turning up the hair all round, 
 and securing it at the top by a ring made of wax. Whence 
 this strange practice originated I am not aware; but it is 
 common to all the Amampondos, and gives to their phy- 
 siognomy a very peculiar aspect. I was told that they 
 take great pains with these wigs, and that the profession 
 of a hair-dresser amongst them is both lucrative and 
 respectable. It was gratifying to witness persons such as 
 these, wild and barbarous though they seemed, engaged in 
 the worship of Almighty God; and it was peculiarly grati- 
 fying to find that some of them had become acquainted 
 with the elements of religious truth, and were in possession 
 of something more than the mere theory of Christianity. 
 The questions elicited from several members of the congre- 
 gation, and the observations which they made, showed that 
 both the mind and the heart had been improved, that 
 'thought and reflection had been awakened, and that the 
 affections of the soul had been called to act their part. 
 Five years after the commencement of the station, the 
 Missionary then in charge of it uttered this note of sad- 
 ness, as though he were ready to despair : " The fact must 
 not be disguised, whatever may be the result, that this 
 Mission has not in five years produced as many converts to 
 Christianity." But what then] Was it to be abandoned? 
 Did the Missionary desire to leave his post ? No. He 
 continued to sow the precious seed, weeping as he went ; 
 and at length the fruit appeared. At the period now al-
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 133 
 
 luded to, there were not less than thirty persons who were 
 recognised as members of the church at Buntingville ; and 
 subsequently the number has increased to sixty. 
 
 One individual in that congregation was most conspi- 
 cuous. He was an Albino, a white man, of a black race. 
 His skin was as fair as that of an European, the iris of his 
 eye of a reddish hue, and his hair light and soft. We were 
 informed that the complexion of both his parents was very 
 dark, and that they had other children who were likewise 
 dark; but this individual was thus distinguished from his 
 brethren, and stood amongst his people like a speckled 
 bird. He seemed deeply conscious of his position; and 
 there was an air of melancholy about him which intimated 
 that he would rather have been black than white, a feel- 
 ing which was doubtless natural. Several instances of this 
 kind have occurred among the Kaffir tribes. One is men- 
 tioned by Mr. Burchell, of a female ; and the Chief Eno, of 
 the Amakosae clans, had a white son, similar in appearance 
 to the individual above-mentioned. This variety of the 
 human species is found amongst almost all dark-coloured 
 races. Dr. Prichard designates it the leucous variety, and 
 furnishes numerous examples of it, from the works of tra- 
 vellers in different parts of the world. But whence does it 
 originate 1 ? In some instances it has been ascertained that 
 one of the earlier ancestors of such Albinoes was of Eu- 
 ropean origin; but this cannot be supposed to have been 
 always the case, as they have been found amongst tribes 
 that could have had no connexion with Europeans. The 
 phenomenon may be viewed as a lusus naturae; but it 
 furnishes evidence in favour of the principle, now denied 
 by a few only that the human race is one, that, notwith- 
 standing the varieties of form, complexion, and language, 
 that exist among the tribes and nations of mankind, they 
 are all one species all descendants from a common stock.
 
 134 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE WILDS OF HEATHENISM. 
 
 Mission with the Chief 'Ncapai established. Journey to his 
 country. Incidents on the way. Bushmen. Their character and 
 habits. Their language. Their origin: not distinct from the Hot- 
 tentots. Bechuana Bushmen. Bushman's cave. Drawings. The 
 Falls of the Tsitsa. Eland antelopes. Crossing rivers. Arrival at 
 the station. Rev. W. H. Garner. The Missionary's wife: her 
 influence and value. 'Ncapai. His tribe: the Amabatca. Barbarous 
 scenes described. The Sabbath. Missionary chapel. The native 
 service. Heights of the Umzimvooboo. Great Place of the Chief. 
 Native dance. Need of the Gospel. Motives of the Christian 
 Missionary. Return to the Colony. 
 
 IN the year 1839 it was resolved to establish a Mission 
 with the Chief 'Ncapai. He had, from motives of policy, 
 repeatedly sent to request that a Christian Teacher might 
 be appointed to reside in his immediate neighbourhood, 
 and had promised to protect him, and to listen to his 
 instructions. He was, however, a man of the fiercest and 
 most warlike character. His name was the terror of the 
 country. He was everywhere renowned for his sanguinary 
 deeds; and whenever he led his warriors to the field, the 
 weaker tribes, who were the objects of his attacks, fled 
 before them in the wildest consternation. His people, too, 
 were like himself. They were the most barbarous of the 
 Kaffir clans, and were continually engaged in hostilities 
 with their neighbours, which they carried on with a degree 
 of cruelty that has perhaps seldom been surpassed. To 
 plant the Gospel in this part of the country was therefore 
 an enterprise of no ordinary difficulty. It required a 
 " lion-hearted " man to undertake it. Faith, zeal, and 
 courage of the highest order were demanded : they were 
 found, and the Mission was established. God can supply 
 his church with fitting agents for every sphere of toil, 
 however hazardous and difficult. God can do it. He alone 
 can do it. 
 
 Our tour through Kaffraria was to be completed by a 
 visit to this interesting station. We left Buntingville in a
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 135 
 
 drizzling rain, hoping that it would clear away; but in this 
 we were disappointed. After an hour's ride, we found our- 
 selves enveloped in a fog so dense, that we could not see 
 our guide ten yards before us. Once we lost him altogether, 
 and rode along a considerable distance, not knowing whether 
 we were right or wrong. Our waggon had been sent on 
 before us; and when we reached it we were in a miserable 
 plight; nor could we then find shelter from the rain. But 
 such adventures are not much thought of by the traveller 
 in South Africa; and we made the best of it by keeping 
 up a fire of wood, as well as the wetness of the fuel and 
 other circumstances would permit. Happily, the following 
 day was bright and cheerful. The clouds had disappeared, 
 and the sun shone forth with his wonted brilliancy ; so 
 that we pursued our journey with enlivened spirits. The 
 general aspect of the country was uninteresting to the eye, 
 and the slowness of our progress rendered travelling most 
 tedious. Now and then, however, some remarkable scene 
 presented itself to view, or some strange circumstance 
 occurred which served as a relief to the ennui we expe- 
 rienced. When the shades of evening gathered round us, 
 we sought some sheltered spot to bivouac for the night; 
 and, though our only table was the ground, and our fare 
 served up in the very simplest style, we generally found an 
 appetite for our supper. Lions inhabited the country, and 
 it was necessary that our attendants should be prepared 
 for an attack ; but the monarch of the forest did not make 
 his appearance, and we all thought his absenpe more agree- 
 able than his company. The dimensions of our waggon 
 were small, and four of us could not find room in it to 
 sleep with comfort; so, once or twice, I made my bed un- 
 derneath it : but the couch was rough, and I was glad to 
 rise again; and not unfrequently have I sat for hours by 
 the fire, sometimes talking with our coloured servants, and 
 sometimes contemplating the phenomena of the heavens 
 those beautiful nebulae called the Magellanic clouds, and the 
 constellations that adorn the southern sky. 
 
 Part of the country through which we passed was in- 
 habited by a few wandering tribes of Bushmen, (Bosjesmans,)
 
 136 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 the most hapless and degraded race belonging to the family 
 of man. The territory principally occupied by these people 
 lies along the banks of the Great Orange River ; but they 
 have spread themselves in bands through other portions of 
 South Africa, to the great annoyance of the tribes with whom 
 they come in contact. Looking at the mental and phy- 
 sical characteristics of the Bushman, one can scarcely wonder 
 that he has been ranked among inferior creatures; for it 
 must be acknowledged that, in appearance, he is almost as 
 despicable as the baboon or as the monkey. In stature he 
 is seldom more than four feet and a half, and very often 
 less; his frame seems feeble, and his countenance exhibits 
 but very few signs of intelligence and thought. He is, 
 however, quick and agile, and his eye will sometimes flash 
 with animation, especially when in pursuit of game. He 
 lives a nomadic life, and subsists either on plunder, or on 
 the meanest fare that comes within his way. The wild 
 inhabitants of the field, the larvae of ants, roots dug 
 out of the ground, the fruit of the mesembryanthemum, 
 called the "Hottentot's fig," ostrich-eggs, locusts, and various 
 kinds of snakes and reptiles, are some of the articles which 
 compose his food. He has no habitation but the cave, or 
 a hut formed of a few branches of trees covered with a 
 mat; and his clothing is of rags, or of the skins of sheep. 
 The quiver and the bow hang suspended from his shoulder, 
 and he has generally three or four arrows sticking in his 
 woolly hair. These arrows are made of reeds, pointed with 
 bone or some other hard substance, which is covered with 
 a deadly poison, extracted from some noxious plant, or from 
 the bags of poisonous matter found in the heads of several 
 kinds of serpents. The effect of this poison is remarkable. 
 On the point of an arrow entering the body of an antelope, 
 the poor animal will presently swoon, and in ten or fifteen 
 minutes will be unable to rise from the ground. The 
 Bushman, watching his opportunity, will then fall upon his 
 prey, and kill it; and after cutting out the poisoned flesh, 
 will feast upon the rest. 
 
 It has been said that the Bushman pays his homage to 
 the mantis, a certain kind of beetle ; and Kolben enter-
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 137 
 
 tained a notion that he offered adoration to the moon. 
 But Sparrman says, that, so far from worshipping the 
 mantis, Bushmen had more than once caught some of 
 them, and given them to him to preserve as he did other 
 insects ; and, in reference to the latter notion, he observes, 
 that they merely take advantage of the moon's pale beams, 
 to amuse themselves with dancing, and have no more 
 thought of worshipping her than the colonists themselves. 
 The Bushman is a superstitious creature; but he possesses 
 no idea of a God : he dreads death, but has no notion of 
 eternity or of a future state. And in this condition, 
 wretched, ignorant, and brutalised, he has lived for ages, 
 and must have still remained, but that now at length the 
 messengers of peace have visited him, and the light of 
 Christian truth has arisen upon the land in which he 
 dwells. 
 
 The language of the Bushmen consists of numerous 
 dialects, all which have had a common origin, and are 
 connected with the Hottentot family of languages. These 
 dialects are full of clicks and gutturals ; " in addition to 
 which," says the Rev. J. W. Appleyard, " they have a still 
 more disagreeable sound of croaking in the throat." In 
 respect to language, as in several other particulars, the 
 Bushmen very much resemble the Troglodytae spoken of 
 by Pliny, " a people of Ethiopia, who dig caverns in the 
 ground which they make their habitations, who feed on the 
 flesh of serpents and make a croaking kind of noise, but 
 have no speech."* How remarkably, too, do they resemble 
 the Hylophagae, and other tribes, described by the ancient 
 writer Agatharcides ! These tribes lived on the banks of 
 the Astobaras, which flows on one side of the island of 
 Meroe ; and " their nourishment," says the above-named 
 writer, " is the fruits that drop from the trees, and herbs 
 that grow in the valleys, and even the soft ends of twigs. 
 They consequently possess an extraordinary facility for 
 climbing trees. To these follow, in a westerly direction, 
 the hunting tribes, who live upon the wild beasts which 
 
 * Hist Nat, lib. v., sec. viii.
 
 138 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 they kill with their arrows. There is also another race 
 whose food is the flesh of elephants and ostriches; besides 
 these there is still another less numerous tribe, who feed 
 upon the locusts which come in numerous swarms from the 
 unknown regions to the south."* Are the Hottentot and 
 Bushman tribes descendants of some of these people? The 
 hypothesis is surely not without foundation, and was, I find, 
 entertained by Lichtenstein. 
 
 That the Bushmen are not a distinct race from the 
 Hottentots, is the opinion of nearly all travellers who have 
 written upon the subject; nor is there any reason to sup- 
 pose that this opinion is not correct. Sceptical philosophers 
 would fain discover in the Bushman the connecting link 
 between the human race and the baboon; but let not the 
 advocates of this theory triumph. We claim for the poor 
 Bushman a place among the family of mankind. He pos- 
 sesses the same general characteristics of form and feature 
 as the Hottentot and the Namacqua ; and speaks, as we 
 have stated, a dialect of the same language. If more 
 wretched and degraded than the Hottentot, it is because, 
 being destitute of flocks and herds, he has been dependent 
 for subsistence on the meanest food, and compelled to live 
 a wandering and unsettled life. Any race of people adopt- 
 ing, for a length of time, habits such as those adopted by 
 the Bushmen, would soon degenerate, and become, both 
 physically and morally, as hapless and as miserable as they. 
 Mr. Moffat informs us that among the Bechuana tribes 
 there is a people called the Balala, or "poor ones," " who 
 stand in the same relation to the Bechuanas as the Bush- 
 men formerly stood in to the Hottentots, and whose origin 
 doubtless was of the same nature." These Balala are a 
 wandering race, who, having no property, live on the chase, 
 wild roots, berries, and locusts, and are exceedingly mean, 
 both in stature and appearance. And yet they are 
 Bechuanas, and were once inhabitants of towns; but, being 
 permitted to reside in country places, for the purpose of 
 
 * Quoted by Heeren, in his Reflections on the Politics, &c., of the 
 Ancient Nations of Africa. VoL I. English Trans. See also Burck- 
 hardt's Travels.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 139 
 
 procuring skins, wild honey, and roots, for their respective 
 Chiefs, they have gradually imbibed habits of a degenerat- 
 ing tendency, and are now reduced to the very meanest 
 position in the scale of human life. Give certain plants a 
 genial soil, and let them have the benefits of moisture, air, 
 and light, and they will shoot upwards into lofty trees, and 
 will spread their branches wide, covered with a foliage of 
 the richest green : but let those self-same plants be found 
 upon the barren rock, where there is but little moisture 
 and no depth of earth, and where they are exposed, now 
 to the scorching rays of the meridian sun, and now to the 
 biting frosts of night; and they will be stunted in their 
 growth, mean and insignificant in appearance, and scarcely 
 worthy of the name by which they are distinguished. It 
 is just so with the races of mankind. Under favourable 
 circumstances, they will exhibit qualities of the highest 
 order; but in the desert or the wilderness, they often sink 
 almost to an equality with the brutes that perish. 
 
 We did not fall in with any of these wanderers; for 
 they are generally timid, and do not often muster courage 
 to meet a company of horsemen. Alas ! they have been 
 hunted by the white man as a beast of prey; and no 
 wonder that their fears are awakened on his approach. 
 Near the ford of the Tsitsa River, one of the branches of 
 the Umzimvooboo, we found an immense cave, which had 
 evidently been a Bushman's habitation, and in which, we 
 were informed, the army of 'Ncapai once took shelter from 
 a dreadful thunder-storm. It was a large hollow place in 
 the side of a hill, formed chiefly of blocks of sandstone. 
 There was a narrow opening, which led into a chamber of 
 considerable dimensions. On the sides of the cavern, near 
 the entrance, were portrayed, in different coloured pig- 
 ments, a number of figures of men and animals, the work 
 of the despised Bushman, who, notwithstanding his degraded 
 state, thus exhibits his artistic skill. Some of the figures 
 were but rude caricatures; but others were depicted with 
 considerable accuracy. These exhibitions of Bushman 
 ingenuity are found in various parts of the country, some 
 of recent, and others of earlier, production. The materials
 
 140 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 with which they are executed are, charcoal, pipe-clay, and 
 different kinds of ochre : among the animals portrayed you 
 find the zebra, the gazelle, the quagga, the eland, and the 
 giraffe. 
 
 Whence, it may be asked, did these wild inhabitants of 
 the rocks derive their art ? May it not be considered as 
 an evidence of mind 1 Is such skill ever manifested save 
 by man ? 
 
 Lower down the river was a beautiful cascade, to which 
 our guide conducted us. We had to ride through a thick 
 bush; and, as we journeyed, two large elands crossed our 
 path, which we might easily have shot, had we been pro- 
 vided with a gun. These were the only specimens of the 
 animal I ever saw in Africa. Formerly it inhabited the 
 Colony in considerable numbers; but it has been hunted 
 down, and is now but seldom seen. The eland is the 
 largest species of the antelope, being nearly as tall as an 
 ox, and weighing from seven hundred to a thousand pounds. 
 It is exceedingly awkward in its gait; and as it does not, 
 like the gnoo or the springbok, possess rapidity of flight, 
 it is easily pursued and taken. Its flesh, though coarse, is 
 good for food; and the hide, being remarkably tough, is 
 considered valuable for making traces, which, for a South 
 African waggon, require to be as strong as possible. In 
 the Systema Naturae, the eland is designated the antelope 
 oreas. We reached the falls towards sunset, and by the 
 very first sight of them were struck with admiration. At 
 this point the bed of the river abruptly sinks to the depth 
 of fifty or sixty feet, and the water pours itself down the 
 sides of a rock, in four distinct streams, like quantities of 
 molten silver, and so gently, that it makes but little noise. 
 I have seldom witnessed any scene in nature which occa- 
 sioned me so much delight. It was not the wild, the 
 boisterous, and the turbulent, but the calm and the 
 majestic; and left impressions on the mind, not soon to be 
 erased. From the most favourable spot I could command, 
 I took a hasty sketch ; but in depicting scenes of this kind, 
 art fails, in being unable to impart motion to the stream, 
 which gives to falls of water their peculiar charm. We

 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 141 
 
 remained as long as we were able; but presently the sun 
 went down, and we returned to our waggon, favoured by 
 the moon's pale beams : twilight there was scarcely any. 
 
 We crossed the Tsitsa without much difficulty; but on 
 arriving at the Tina, another branch of the Umzimvooboo, 
 we found that it would be dangerous to venture through 
 on horseback. The stream had swollen by interior rains, 
 and the bed was full of holes, into which we might have 
 fallen, to the endangering of our necks. But what was to 
 be done? Proceed we must. We therefore engaged the 
 natives who accompanied us first to convey our horses 
 through the water, and then to aid us in attempting to 
 get through ourselves. The former task was soon accom- 
 plished ; the latter not so easily. It was necessary to take 
 off nearly all our clothes; and then, one after another, 
 with a Kaffir on each side of us, we plunged into the 
 stream, and were glad enough to get safely to the opposite 
 side. Happily, no accident occurred; and we did not 
 forget to ascribe thanks to Him who has promised to 
 uphold the footsteps of the traveller. Such adventures 
 are among the ordinary events of the life of a Missionary 
 in Kaffraria; and to perform a journey through the country 
 without some occurrence of this kind would be impossible. 
 A century hence, or less, and the traveller may find roads, 
 and bridges, and houses of accommodation here ; for, in the 
 onward march of civilization and Christianity, who can tell 
 what changes will be effected, even in a region so wild and 
 desolate as this? It doubtless possesses great capabilities 
 of improvement. The soil is fertile, and in many localities 
 the streams by which the country is watered might be led 
 out to irrigate the adjoining lands, with comparatively 
 little trouble. It requires but the hand of industry to 
 convert this somewhat uninviting territory into smiling 
 fields and fruitful gardens, which would supply the wants 
 of a numerous population. 
 
 Five days after leaving Buntingville, we arrived at the 
 Mission-village in the territory of 'Ncapai. It was situated 
 in a fertile valley, not far distant from the Umzimvooboo, 
 and, though but recently established, presented a very
 
 142 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 pleasing aspect, in striking contrast with the surrounding 
 country. There were two humble cottages, inhabited 
 respectively by the Missionary and the Catechist; there 
 was a chapel, such as it was, of which I shall give a 
 description presently; and, two or three hundred yards in 
 front of these erections, there was a number of superior 
 native huts, forming a large circle, in the midst of which 
 was a kraal or fold for cattle. And then there was the 
 hum of human voices, and all the stir and activity of a 
 little hamlet, which, after travelling for several days through 
 an almost uninhabited region, was quite a relief, both to 
 the eye and to the ear. The Missionary, Mr. Garner, had 
 accompanied us from Buntingville, and with him and his 
 excellent wife we found ourselves perfectly at home. I 
 could not but admire their devotedness and zeal. Here, 
 amidst the wildest of the Kaffir clans, and far away from 
 the society of civilized men, they had taken up their abode, 
 with no other object in view whatever than to make 
 known the tidings of salvation to a heathen race. For a 
 female, such a position is one of no ordinary trial; and 
 surely no consideration of an earthly kind could induce her 
 to encounter difficulties so numerous, much less volun- 
 tarily to sustain them for a lengthened period. It is faith 
 in the invisible, the prospect of a heavenly inheritance, 
 that nerves the Missionary's arm, and inspires his breast 
 with courage, and that enables Christian females to take 
 up the cross, and bear it with the noblest fortitude and 
 zeal And what could a Missionary do in such a land as 
 this without the society of a wife? His spirits would be 
 depressed, his soul would sink within him. In the eyes of 
 the natives, too, he would seem less respectable. The 
 Kaffirs suppose that a man who has no wife is too poor to 
 keep one ; and hence they look upon him with some 
 degree of suspicion, and imagine that he is beneath them- 
 selves. Nor should it be forgotten, that the influence 
 which a Missionary's wife may exert on the female part of 
 the community will, in some instances at least, be of the 
 highest value. She gains access where her husband 
 cannot. By her example and deportment she raises the
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 143 
 
 tone of moral feeling, enkindles a desire for knowledge and 
 instruction, and awakens in the breast emotions that had 
 never dwelt in it before. The success of many of our 
 Missionary institutions in Kaffraria may be attributed in a 
 considerable degree to the zealous co-operation of our 
 Missionaries' wives. 
 
 The residence of the Chief was near the station, and 
 tidings of our arrival soon reached his ears. Presently a 
 number of persons flocked to the village, in anticipation of 
 his coming ; and soon after 'Ncapai himself, attended by 
 several of his counsellors, and two or three wives, made his 
 appearance. He had no covering but a blanket loosely 
 thrown over his shoulders, and most of his attendants were 
 habited in the same manner. He stood before us, and 
 shook us by the hand. We looked at him from head to 
 foot ; for, having heard so much of the terror of his name, 
 we were anxious to see if his person corresponded with his 
 character. Certainly there was nothing in his features 
 indicative of ferocity: on the contrary, the expression of 
 his countenance was rather mild and friendly. In his eye, 
 however, there was something cunning ; and, moreover, 
 there was a certain air about him, which seemed to tell 
 you, that haughtiness and pride were nurtured in his 
 breast. He was about five-and-thirty years of age, tall, 
 well-made, and marked with the small-pox, the ravages of 
 which had visited his tribe when he was but a youth. 
 Though he was recognised as the Chief, and possessed full 
 authority in the State, he was only Regent for his nephew 
 Dooshani, a very fine young man, whose father, Sonyanga, 
 was killed in war by Umdingi, Chief of the Amabele. 
 'Ncapai's people are called the Amabatca. They formerly 
 resided in the Quathlamba mountains, near the sources of 
 the Umzimvooboo, whence they were driven by an army 
 of the Zulu Chief, Dingaan. They joined themselves to 
 the Amastutse tribes, who resided on the other side of 
 those mountains, and some time after made an incursion 
 on the Tambookies. Having wandered about the country 
 for several years, spreading desolation in their track, they 
 at length took up their abode in the locality in which we
 
 144 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 found them ; and now the banner of the Prince of Peace 
 is waving on their hills. 
 
 The Amahatca are as fine a Kaffir tribe as I have seen. 
 The men are generally tall and muscular: the women are 
 inferior, but equal to the majority of females in Kaffraria. 
 Both the Amabatca and / the Amampondos take great pains 
 in making mats and baskets, the workmanship of which is 
 really beautiful. In carving ivory and wood they possess 
 superior skill. Rings, spoons, sticks, and a few other 
 articles, are wrought with a degree of taste, which indicates 
 the possession of abilities that might be turned to very 
 good account. Some of their habitations, too, are con- 
 structed with much greater care than those of the Ama- 
 kosae ; and, though they are a wild and barbarous people 
 now, they may not improbably have descended from a 
 much more civilized race. They have degenerated in the 
 course of years ; but in the course of years they will doubtless, 
 through the instrumentality of the Gospel, reach an eleva- 
 tion even higher than they before possessed. There are 
 elements amongst them on which, if remoulded by the 
 Gospel, a social system might be superinduced, of the most 
 happy, peaceful kind. Bring Christianity to bear upon these 
 tribes fully and efficiently, and you will transform them 
 into an industrious and contented peasantry. 
 
 But to proceed. After the ceremony of introduction, 
 the Chief presented us with an ox, as a mark of hospitality. 
 It was a fine, large animal, and almost as fierce as a buffalo 
 of the forest. The people who had assembled were to 
 share in the feast : the ox was therefore killed immediately. 
 As he rushed into the crowd, he was seized by a few athletic- 
 fellows, who dexterously threw him on the ground, amidst 
 the loud vociferations of the standers by ; and, plunging a 
 knife into his throat, they speedily despatched him. .It 
 was just such a scene as the multitudes who thronged the 
 gladiatorial exhibitions of Rome would have gloried to 
 behold ; but what followed was even more revolting. In a 
 few minutes the beast was cut up into portions, (half of it 
 being reserved for us, whenever we chose to eat it,) and 
 presently groups of men, women, and children were seen,
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 145 
 
 squatted on the ground, devouring the flesh raw, or but 
 just put into a fire that had been kindled near, with the 
 greediness which distinguishes a savage or semi-savage 
 people. With all the sang-froid possible, some selected as 
 their dining-room the verandah of the Missionary's house to 
 screen them from the sun; and there they sat as though 
 the place belonged to them, feasting, with but little delicacy, 
 on their meat. I confess I was sickened at the sight; 
 for a spectacle so barbarous I had not seen before. And 
 yet what was this compared with the cannibalism of the 
 South-Sea Isles or Ashanti? Degraded as these people are, 
 they would, unless driven to it by hunger, revolt from 
 eating human flesh ; so that there was a bright side also 
 even to such a scene as this. But by what instrumentality 
 other than the Gospel, can human beings, sunk so low, be 
 raised? 
 
 The Chief anticipated a present, and, taking the Mission- 
 ary aside, he said, " Tell Mr. Shaw that he must not let 
 these fellows see what he intends to give me, or they will eat 
 it all up themselves." This was quite in keeping with the 
 character of 'Ncapai, or with that of any other Kaffir Chief. 
 He will get all he can, and he will generally keep what he 
 gets : his people, however, are as avaricious as himself, and 
 sometimes he finds it no easy task. The request was com- 
 municated to Mr. Shaw, who accordingly reserved the 
 present until an opportunity should occur for giving it to 
 the Chief, alone. 
 
 The following day was the Sabbath, and at the appointed 
 hour we repaired to the chapel for divine service. The 
 chapel how shall we describe it? It was built, if that 
 term may be applied to it, with a view to economy, until, 
 after the Mission had been tried, a more substantial edifice 
 could be erected. No unnecessary outlay is incurred in 
 buildings on our stations in Kaffraria : every shilling that is 
 expended, is expended with the greatest care. It is this 
 fact only which accounts for the existence of a place of 
 worship so humble and unsightly : a better might have 
 been erected, but it would have cost more money than it 
 was thought warrantable to lay out in the infancy of the 
 
 H
 
 146 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Mission. It was about forty feet in length by fifteen broad, 
 and was constructed of poles, rough as from the forest, fas- 
 tened together, and forming, with the ground, a triangle, 
 placed upright. It was covered in with reeds and rushes, 
 a few holes being left to let in light and air. Into this 
 singular-looking place, numbers of the natives crowded, and 
 it was completely filled from one end to the other. The 
 Missionary took his stand within a rail which served instead 
 of a pulpit; a few chairs and stools being placed on either 
 side of him to be occupied by ourselves, whilst the majority 
 of the congregation sat upon the ground. This, I thought, 
 is primitive enough and yet how cheering to behold this 
 people thus assembled, listening to the word of life, and 
 bowing at the throne of Him whose name had heretofore 
 been scarcely heard in this dark corner of the earth ! 
 'Ncapai himself was present, but there was an air of hauteur 
 in him which seemed to indicate that he thought himself 
 above being there : yet the Preacher did not fail to speak to 
 him, with plainness, of the authority and power of God. 
 The congregation, on the whole, behaved with great de- 
 corum, and heard attentively the message which the Mis- 
 sionary proclaimed. 
 
 Thus, in this "vale of desolation," are scattered the 
 first seeds of eternal truth ; and these are destined to spring 
 forth, until ultimately harvests shall wave over the whole 
 land, as a field which God hath blessed : thus a little rill 
 of the water of eternal life has been opened in the desert, 
 which shall flow onwards in an ever-widening channel, 
 to bless the generations yet unborn. Who would not 
 assist the Missionary enterprise ? Who would not give 
 countenance and support to a scheme so benevolent and 
 glorious 1 The timid, the heartless, the indifferent, will 
 stand aloof; but the genuine philanthropist, and the faith- 
 ful Christian, will espouse the Heathen's cause, and will 
 listen to the cry of Afric's swarthy sons, who are perishing 
 by thousands because " there is no vision." Grounds of 
 encouragement are not wanting to the prosecution of the 
 work of Africa's evangelization : they present themselves 
 in every portion of the field where the husbandman has
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 147 
 
 laboured : they exhibited themselves here, amid these wild 
 and savage clans. This Mission has received the name of 
 Shawbury; and Shawbury has its thirty converts to Chris- 
 tianity, its ninety scholars under Christian training, and its 
 hundreds of attentive hearers of the preached word. And 
 these are but the first-fruits of a glorious harvest, the early 
 tokens of a victory that for real grandeur shall infinitely 
 transcend the proudest conquests ever gained by man. 
 
 " In moral death dark Afric's myriads lie ; 
 But the appointed day shall dawn at last, 
 When, breathed on by the Spirit from on high, 
 The dry bones shall awake, and shout, ' Our God is nigh !'" 
 
 The day after the Sabbath we took our horses, and rode 
 to the heights of the Umzimvooboo. This river takes its 
 rise in a range of mountains called the Quathlamba, which 
 runs almost parallel with the coast, and separates Kaffraria 
 and the territory of Port-Natal from the country occupied 
 by the Bechuana tribes. These mountains are from five to 
 nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, and are 
 often capped with snow. Some of the sources of the Garriep, 
 or Great Orange River, which runs across the country from 
 east to west, lie on the opposite or northern side of the 
 chain ; whilst further in the interior, whence the chain 
 extends, other streams arise, both on the one side and the 
 other. The Umzimvooboo (literally the Sea-Cow River) is 
 the Sinwowoe of Van Reenen, and the St. John's River of 
 several of our maps. It flows in a channel so deep that it 
 appears as if " some extraordinary convulsion had split the 
 solid mountain in two, to allow the escape of its impetuous 
 waters." As we stood upon the rocky heights, and looked 
 down into the depths below, our eyes were giddy ; and 
 though a considerable body of water was rolling at the 
 time, we could only hear a faint and gentle sound. The 
 course of this river is upwards of a hundred miles ; and 
 there are but two or three points where it can be crossed, 
 one of which is near the mouth in connexion with the road 
 leading from the Cape Colony through Kaffraria to Natal. 
 
 On our return we visited the " Great Place " of the Chief, 
 the royal residence ; and here a scene presented itself 
 H 2
 
 148 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 such as can be witnessed only in a heathen land. It hap- 
 pened to be the birth-day of one 'Ncapai's daughters, and 
 crowds of people were assembled to celebrate the event. 
 A number of cattle had been slain, and in several direc- 
 tions fires were burning, and groups of men, women, and 
 children were sitting round them, eating flesh, as on the 
 day previously referred to. On a level spot of ground, a 
 wild and fantastic dance had just commenced, performed 
 by upwards of a hundred persons. The women, who were 
 clothed in skins, stood or sat down in a line, and the men 
 formed a semi-circle opposite them. The latter were 
 nearly naked. On their legs and arms pieces of the tails 
 of oxen were suspended, and each individual held in his 
 hand a short knob-stick, which he constantly moved up and 
 down in the most violent manner. The dancing consisted 
 of stamping the ground with the feet, with so much 
 violence that the whole frame was agitated, and poured 
 forth such streams of perspiration, that the earth seemed 
 literally saturated with it, as if it had been wet with rain. 
 The chief 'Ncapai occupied a position in the midst, and 
 was distinguished by the feather of a crane which was fas- 
 tened in his hair. He was so completely absorbed in the 
 sport, that he took no notice of our presence, but con- 
 tinued dancing with a degree of earnestness which showed 
 that he was one of the principal actors in the scene. A 
 monotonous song accompanied the performance, in which 
 both the men and women joined ; and we observed that 
 when an individual was tired, he left the circle, and his 
 place was occupied by another. In this way the dance was 
 kept up during the greater portion of the day. 
 
 Though there was nothing immoral in this scene, yet it 
 was calculated to awaken the most painful reflections, and 
 to produce feelings of the deepest grief and sadness. As 
 I witnessed it, I was ready to ask, Are these beings men ? 
 And is it possible to turn them from these vanities to the 
 service of the living God 1 This is the object of the 
 Christian Missionary ; but how strong must be the faith 
 that can rise above the hinderances which present them- 
 selves, among tribes so barbarous as these ! Yet the
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 149 
 
 promise stands secure : " I have sworn by myself, the 
 word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall 
 not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every 
 tongue shall swear." We retired from the spot, and a few 
 hours after bade adieu to Shawbury, more deeply and 
 seriously impressed than ever with the sad condition of the 
 heathen world, and more fully satisfied that nothing short 
 of the appliances of the Gospel will be found adequate to 
 its amelioration. Who, indeed, but the Christian will 
 attempt it? Who else will isolate himself from civilized 
 society, and go and take up his abode among the most 
 degraded of our species 1 Motives of a higher order than 
 those which actuate the generality of mankind, or even 
 many of our great philanthropists, are requisite for a work 
 like this; it is a work which none will undertake, but 
 men upon whose hearts a flame has been enkindled, pure, 
 quenchless, and divine. 
 
 We returned to the Colony, passing through theTambookie 
 country, and visiting Clarkebury, where we might detain 
 the reader with many interesting details relative to the 
 progress of the Gospel, if our limits would admit ; but 
 enough, we trust, has been advanced to satisfy the friends 
 of Missions, that a work is going forward in Kaffraria, 
 which is deserving of their best support, and which gives 
 promise of results that shall amply recompense the church 
 for all her toils.
 
 150 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE LATE WAR. 
 
 The note of preparation. The colonists vindicated. Policy of the 
 Government in 1835. Origin of the war. Proclamation of martial 
 law. Salem. Discomfiture of the British troops in Kaffraria, The 
 Colony overrun with barbarous hordes. Condition of the inhabit- 
 ants. Visit to Graham's Town. Death of Mr. Norden. The 
 Mission Institution, Farmerfield. Missionary anniversary. Speech 
 of a Bechuana. The station attacked by the enemy. Affecting in- 
 cident Renewal of hostilities beyond the border. Sir H. Smith's 
 policy. Missions defended. Views of the late Governor, Sir P. 
 Maitland. Appeal on behalf of British soldiers. Military villages. 
 Necessity of additional labourers. New openings in Kaffraria. 
 Cause of the author's leaving Africa. 
 
 IT was one fine morning in the month of April, 1846, 
 that, as I was standing at the door of the Mission-house, 
 in Graham's Town, a grand military procession passed down 
 the street, in the direction of KafFraria, followed or pre- 
 ceded by a long train of waggons, laden with stores and 
 ammunition, and other appurtenances of war. The first 
 note of a conflict had been sounded, which, ere it closed, 
 proved most calamitous to our possessions at the Cape, and 
 cost the British Government upwards of a million sterling; 
 which ruined many a family, and made many a wife a 
 widow; and which, for a season, checked the progress of 
 the Colony in its efforts to surmount the peculiar diffi- 
 culties of its position. Ten years only had elapsed since 
 the infant settlement was overrun with barbarous tribes; 
 and the inhabitants were but just recovering from the blow 
 which their energies had then received, and by dint of 
 that perseverance for which the British character is re- 
 markable, rising again into circumstances of respectability, 
 when now another stroke descended on them, severer than 
 the former one, by which, but for the rich resources of the 
 country, and the elasticity of their minds, they would have 
 been crushed beyond recovery. No sentiments of false or 
 of hyper-philanthropy shall prevent us from maintaining
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 151 
 
 the righteous cause of the British colonists of the Cape. 
 Whatever injustice may have been done to the native tribes 
 in former years, (and we admit that there was injustice to 
 a very sad extent,) the English inhabitants, and especially 
 the British settlers of Albany, by no means bear the blame. 
 Located by the Government in a tract of country on the 
 immediate frontier of the warlike Amakosae, they endea- 
 voured to live with them in amity and peace. They sought 
 to introduce trade and commerce into their country; they 
 strove to extend towards them the blessings of Christianity ; 
 they attempted to elevate and civilize them by whatever 
 appliances they could devise, which were likely to succeed; 
 and even after the war of 1835, in which they had suffered 
 so wrongfully, they maintained the same conciliating policy ; 
 and up to the commencement of hostilities in 1846, "so 
 far as a feeling of hostility amongst the Kaffirs might be 
 provoked or palliated by even one solitary act of violence, 
 outrage, or injustice committed by any colonist in Kaffir- 
 land, the Kaffirs were without excuse." * 
 
 We make these statements once for all ; and we trust 
 that no garbled representations that may be made in this 
 country will be able to produce the impression that the 
 recent war originated in consequence of the impropriety 
 of the conduct of the colonists towards the Kaffir tribes. 
 We wish that we could as easily uphold the policy of 
 Governors and of the Government on this question. How 
 vacillating has been the course pursued in dealing with the 
 native tribes ! Now they have been threatened and coerced, 
 and now flattered and cajoled. Treaties have been made 
 with them, and they have been suffered to break them 
 with impunity. At one time we have seemed to be afraid 
 of them, at another we have looked upon them as foolish 
 children. " We can never rely upon the white man's word," 
 they have said: "why does he change]" Is it then sur- 
 prising that they should view us with contempt, and talk 
 very largely of driving the English into the sea ? But the 
 
 * Address of Sir P. Maitland to the inhabitants of the Cape Colony, 
 March 31st, 1846.
 
 152 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 grandest mistake ever made in our Cape history was the 
 abandonment of the system of the good Sir Benjamin 
 D' Urban, after the war of 1835, and the return to a former 
 line of policy, which had already proved impracticable. To 
 that one error the more recent conflict may be traced; 
 and now we have virtually gone back to the very plans 
 which Sir Benjamin was not permitted to work out. Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel (now Sir Harry) Smith, who in 1835 
 administered the affairs of Kaffraria under that able 
 Governor, thus addressed him in reference to the abandon- 
 ment of his system: "Had it been permitted to your 
 Excellency to establish schools, and to follow up those many 
 beneficent views designed by you for the welfare of our 
 coloured neighbours, equally ready for good or for evil as 
 they may be guided, and which plans would have found 
 sufficient support in our mercantile intercourse with the 
 natives, I venture to say, that within the ten years I have 
 named, the results I have predicted would have been 
 fully accomplished, to the mutual benefit of all classes 
 and colours of the most mixed society. Instead of this 
 happy consummation of things, or even now its remote 
 promise, we have to endure the perilous experiments of 
 those theorists who set out with the absurd axiom, that the 
 Kaffir is an innocent man, and then as wildly jump to the 
 conclusion that he is an injured being. These soi-disant 
 friends to the race for whose welfare I have so laboured, 
 will soon be fatally discovered by him as his most bitter 
 enemies; and they will leave him, not as they found him, an 
 improving savage, under your Excellency's system, but an 
 unconfiding, unhappy, disappointed, and restless barbarian, 
 having learned just enough by our late intercourse and 
 connexion to make him dangerous to us, and miserable 
 within himself; and this abused, ill-treated, yet loyal 
 Colony will groan under the horrors of the uncertainty of 
 life and property to which it has been reduced by listening 
 to false advisers, and their recommendations of a most 
 expensive and false economy, all contained in the words, 
 'Break the treaties of peace and general harmony,' and, 
 'Give up the province.' " All this, or nearly all this, actually
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 153 
 
 came to pass; and most remarkably, most providentially, 
 as it must be thought, Sir Harry Smith, the very individual 
 who penned these lines, is now the Governor of the Cape, 
 and is endeavouring to establish almost the self-same 
 system which he was not allowed to carry out before. 
 
 There is an " inherent propensity in the Kaffir character 
 to rob and to pillage, and especially to carry off cattle, the 
 passion for the possession of which seems to be the leading 
 principle of all his views and actions." As for treaties 
 binding him to respect his neighbours' property, what 
 cares he for them 1 ? He has no national or personal honour 
 to sustain ; and hence, if he chooses to keep them, he will 
 do so; if he pleases to break them, he will do it just as 
 soon. So perverted, too, is conscience, that to lie or to 
 steal is, by a Kaffir, scarcely deemed a sin: the sin consists 
 rather in permitting himself to be found out. His skill in 
 the art of theft surpasses that even of the wily Arab. He 
 will take up a position on some eminence, overlooking a 
 tract of country where the farmers' flocks are grazing; 
 and, watching his opportunity, will pounce upon them in a 
 moment, like the tiger on his prey, and driving them into 
 the bush, where he cannot easily be followed, will generally 
 succeed in getting them over the boundary of the Colony, 
 whence they seldom will return. One of the most annoying, 
 and often hopeless, tasks of the frontier farmer was, up to 
 a very recent period, to be obliged to set out, with a 
 number of attendants, perhaps in the night, to follow the 
 spoor of his cattle, that had been swept off by his neigh- 
 bours. The Fingoes and Hottentots are remarkably clever 
 in this business. If they can once find the foot-prints of 
 a horse, or of a herd of cattle, they will often trace them 
 to a very considerable distance; but the Kaffir knows 
 pretty well how to elude this mode of being discovered. 
 He will drive the cattle he has stolen through a river, at a 
 distance from the ford; or he will efface, at a certain spot, 
 the spoor that they have made, by driving them over it 
 again, so that it may not be known which way the herd 
 has really gone. Hence, though the farmer might recover 
 his cattle if he could trace them into the territory of a 
 H 5
 
 154 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Chief, the Chief being responsible for the conduct of his 
 people, yet it generally happened that ere long the spoor 
 was lost; and thus, not only was the fanner cheated of his 
 property, but his time was occupied and his pains bestowed 
 in its pursuit without success. 
 
 To such an extent was this practice of stealing carried, 
 that for several months prior to the outbreak of the war, 
 there was not a week, nay, seldom was there a day, which 
 did not bring intelligence of some daring act of this kind, 
 accompanied, not unfrequently, with the murder of a colo- 
 nist, or of some poor Hottentot or Fingoe. The fanners 
 sought redress. They sent petitions to the Governor and 
 the Legislative Council. They (perhaps not very politely) 
 remonstrated against the system that could permit such 
 evils. But nothing effectual was done to remedy it. Sir 
 Peregrine Maitland tried to introduce amendment into the 
 system ; but the system itself was essentially at fault, and 
 utterly incapable of improvement. It might be a humane 
 system, as far as the natives were concerned; but to the 
 farmer it was unjust, because impracticable. 
 
 At length the following circumstance occurred : A 
 Kaffir, belonging to the tribe of Botman, had stolen a 
 hatchet in the Colony, and, being detected, was imprisoned 
 at Fort-Beaufort. The following morning he was on his 
 way to Graham's Town, guarded by a civil escort; when a 
 party of Kaffirs rushed out of the bush, and rescued him, 
 killing at the same time another prisoner, a Hottentot, to 
 whom he was handcuffed, in the most wanton manner. 
 Such an outrage of the law could not be tolerated; and 
 the Gaika Chiefs were required by the Lieutenant-Governor 
 of the Colony, Colonel Hare, to deliver up both the rescued 
 person and the murderers of the Hottentot. This they 
 peremptorily refused; and in the course of a few days, Sir 
 Peregrine Maitland issued an address to the colonists, in 
 which he stated his intention of declaring war against 
 those Chiefs and their confederates; and the note of pre- 
 paration soon began to sound. The inhabitants were called 
 to arras. The frontier was placed in an attitude of defence. 
 Martial law was proclaimed in both districts of the Colony.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 155 
 
 Burgher forces were summoned to assist the military; and 
 Sir Peregrine himself left Cape-Town for the Eastern Pro- 
 vince, to direct and watch over its interests during this 
 eventful crisis. Never did I witness such a change in 
 the aspect of a community as that which took place in 
 Graham's Town and the neighbourhood, within the space 
 of two or three days. I had removed, with my family, to 
 Salem, a pleasant little village, fifteen miles from Graham's 
 Town, originally founded by the Wesleyan party of the 
 emigrants of 1820; and after the cavalcade had passed 
 that was about to enter the territories of the enemy, I 
 hastened home, to assist in devising means for the pro- 
 tection of the inhabitants of as quiet and peaceable a spot 
 as any which I ever knew. 
 
 But Salem also, peaceful as it was, must share in the 
 calamities of war. It was deemed necessary to prepare for 
 the coming of the enemy; for should the Kaffirs rush into 
 the Colony, our locality would be exposed to their attacks. 
 The farmers in the neighbourhood, therefore, left their 
 habitations, where, because of their isolated and solitary 
 nature, they could not remain with safety; and repaired to 
 the village for mutual defence. Their cattle, and such 
 articles of furniture as they required, they brought with 
 them : the rest they left behind, buried in the ground. 
 With an anxious breast did many an industrious family 
 bid farewell to their comfortable little home, fearing that 
 on their return they would find it reduced to ashes : but 
 they bore the trial with fortitude and patience; for they 
 were chiefly pious persons, and knew that they had in 
 heaven a more enduring habitation. Our chapel was 
 turned into a barrack-room and guard-house, and exhibited 
 an appearance very different from that which it was wont 
 to wear. Numbers of Fingoes and Hottentots, living in 
 the vicinity, flocked for refuge to the place, and were per- 
 mitted to build themselves huts within the chapel-ground. 
 An immense kraal was constructed in the middle of the 
 village for the reception of the cattle; and here about two 
 thousand head were guarded every night by an armed watch 
 appointed, in rotation, to the task.
 
 156 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 These plans and precautions were not unnecessary, as 
 events subsequently proved. Intelligence soon reached us 
 of the discomfiture of the British troops who had entered 
 the territory of the enemy. They met with a reception, 
 such as they little anticipated. A force of five thousand 
 Kaffirs, armed with guns and assegais, rushed forward to 
 oppose their progress, and opened upon them from every 
 possible direction a heavy and incessant fire. Yet the con- 
 flict was not a fair and open one; for the Kaffirs do not 
 meet their enemies in the face, but carry on a kind of 
 guerilla warfare, for which the rugged character of their 
 country is peculiarly favourable. Hence the British troops, 
 being taken almost by surprise, and finding themselves in 
 the midst of a bushy country that seemed literally alive 
 with the exasperated foe, were compelled to retreat, leaving 
 in the enemy's hands a long train of baggage-waggons, 
 which were speedily pillaged and destroyed. Eighteen 
 hundred head of cattle were captured by the troops, and 
 numbers of the foe were slain; but several losses were 
 sustained by the forces of Her Majesty, and the destruction 
 of the waggons was a calamity not easily repaired. The 
 intelligence of this victory spread throughout the country, 
 as with the speed of the electric telegraph, and instantly 
 inspired the native tribes with fresh courage and determi- 
 nation. The war-party multiplied on every hand. The 
 Slambie and the Congo clans, who had promised to remain 
 neutral, were induced to join the Gaikas in the contest. 
 Foolishly did they suppose, that now the English would be 
 beaten, and that they would be able to accomplish their 
 design of driving them beyond the Sunday-River. Poor 
 creatures, how little did they know of British power ! The 
 older men, who had been engaged in former wars, were 
 wiser; but the young men who had grown to man's estate 
 subsequent to prior contests, and had never tried their 
 strength against the white man's arm, were infatuated 
 enough to think that they could grapple with him success- 
 fully. Since the war of 1835, they had made themselves 
 acquainted with the use of guns. By some means, they 
 had got possession of large numbers of muskets, and of
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 157 
 
 a vast supply of ammunition. Thus they had certainly 
 become a far more formidable enemy than they were before ; 
 but in their own estimation their strength was greatly 
 magnified, and their confidence waxed bold with every 
 advantage which they gained. 
 
 The troops were under the necessity of falling back upon 
 the military post, and several weeks elapsed ere they 
 were in a position to resume hostilities. Fas est et db hoste 
 doceri, is a true and wholesome maxim; and it was found 
 necessary, before entering the field again, to study the 
 tactics of the foe, and to adopt a somewhat different kind 
 of policy. Meanwhile the enemy took advantage. Rushing 
 into the Colony by thousands, and spreading themselves out 
 in bands over the greater part of the Eastern Province, they 
 swept off numerous herds of cattle ; set on fire habitations, 
 stacks of corn, and grass; attacked, in the night, the en- 
 campments of the farmers, and caused the utmost conster- 
 nation and alarm, from one end of the country to the other. 
 All communication between the colonial towns was cut off, 
 except for large and well-armed parties; and the greatest 
 difficulty was experienced in obtaining for the troops and 
 burgher forces the necessary supplies. Provisions suddenly 
 advanced in price, and Boards of Relief were established 
 for the sustentation of such families as were plunged into 
 poverty by the loss of nearly all that they possessed. Salem, 
 and the neighbourhood, shared largely in the general dis- 
 tress. Night after night we were in a state of agitation 
 and alarm, expecting an attack upon the village and the 
 cattle. In almost every direction we could see the signal- 
 fires of the enemy, or the abandoned farm-house wrapped 
 in the destroying flame. Oft-times when we had retired 
 to rest, the report of musketry would arouse us, and, sup- 
 posing that the enemy was at hand, we sat up to await the 
 issue. But the shield of Omnipotence was over us, and no 
 actual assault was made upon the place. The vigilance of 
 our watch, the sheltered position of the village, and espe- 
 cially the hand of Providence, deterred the enemy's approach, 
 and kept us safe. The usual services of the sanctuary were 
 suspended; but we met together as often as we could for
 
 158 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 prayer, sometimes in the Mission-house, and sometimes in 
 the school-room of Mr. W. Impey; and, not unfrequently, 
 amidst the implements of war, did we realize the presence 
 of the God of peace. War was not our choice, we hated 
 it, and longed more ardently than ever for the day when 
 " men shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their 
 spears into pruning-hooks ;" and hence we could confidently 
 address our prayers to Him who has enjoined on all his 
 creatures universal love. 
 
 The ammunition of our people being exhausted, it was 
 deemed requisite that a party should visit Graham's Town, 
 to wait upon the authorities and ask for an additional 
 supply, as well as to lay before them the case of those, 
 now amounting to a considerable number, who were almost 
 destitute of the necessaries of life. I agreed to accompany 
 W. H. Matthews, Esq., the Justice of the Peace, provided 
 a strong escort could be sent to protect us on the road. 
 Twenty young men volunteered their services; and early 
 one morning we mounted our horses, and set out upon the 
 way. My companions bore arms; but I resolved that, as 
 a Minister of Christ, I would carry none. We should not 
 have been surprised had we fallen in with a number of 
 the enemy, for they were ranging the whole neighbour- 
 hood, and way-laying passengers in every direction : but 
 we reached our destination safely, though not without ex- 
 periencing considerable fear. What a scene presented itself 
 as we entered Graham's Town! The shops were for the 
 most part closed; the windows of the houses strongly 
 boarded up; the streets deserted, and crossed, at different 
 points, with barricades; whilst the countenance of every 
 one we met wore an aspect of intense anxiety and care. 
 The Kaffirs had meditated an attack upon the town; and. 
 the troops being absent on the immediate border, the in- 
 habitants themselves were obliged to mount guard, and 
 to act on the defensive, as best they could. Many an 
 individual became a soldier then, who had never dreamt 
 of it before ; and many a wife and many a mother was 
 filled with anxious fears relative to the safety of her 
 husband or her son. Intelligence had just reached town
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 159 
 
 of the death of Mr. J. D. Norden, a respectable and worthy 
 inhabitant of the place, under circumstances the most 
 grievous. He was the Captain of a corps of Yeomanry, 
 and had gone out with his little band to meet the foe, in 
 the dense ravines of the Cowie and Kareiga Kivers, when 
 a ball from the gun of a Kaffir, who had crouched behind 
 a rock, pierced his head, and he fell lifeless to the ground. 
 The body was seized by the barbarians, and dragged into 
 the bush ; but afterwards recovered, though in a very 
 mutilated state. This event had caused the deepest grief 
 both to the family of the deceased, and to a large circle of 
 acquaintances. Mr. Norden was in the vigour of his days, 
 of Jewish descent, and generally esteemed as an upright 
 citizen and a faithful friend. It was wisely said by Croesus, 
 King of Lydia, that " no man is so void of understanding 
 as to prefer war to peace; for in peace children bury their 
 fathers, but in war fathers bury their children." During 
 the conflict I am describing, several illustrations of this 
 fact occurred, equally as distressing as the above. And 
 fathers also were cut off. I had not been long in the 
 town ere I was informed, that an individual who had 
 arrived in the country as an emigrant, but a few months 
 prior to the commencement of the war, had been slain, 
 whilst endeavouring to protect some sheep, on a rather 
 solitary farm. The two daughters of this man were living 
 as servants in my family; and on my return to Salem in 
 the evening, after having successfully accomplished our 
 design, I had the painful task of communicating to them 
 their loss, and of witnessing such bursts of grief as may be 
 better imagined than described. 
 
 Two miles from Salem stood our Native Institution, de- 
 signated Farmerfield,* where many families reside, belong- 
 ing to the various tribes inhabiting South Africa. Here 
 were Kaffirs, Bechuanas, Fingoes, Hottentots, and emanci- 
 pated slaves, living in harmony and peace, rearing flocks, 
 cultivating the ground, and enjoying the benefit of Christian 
 instruction in their native tongue. The settlement, prior 
 to the war, was in a state of prosperity the most cheering. 
 * So called after Thomas Farmer, Esq.
 
 160 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Our congregation on the Sabbath numbered between two 
 and three hundred adults, a day and Sabbath school was in 
 vigorous operation, one hundred and sixty persons were 
 recognised as members of the church, and a neat stone* 
 chapel was in course of erection, towards which the in- 
 habitants of the village had contributed a considerable sum. 
 Many happy hours did I spend at Farmerfield, ministering 
 the word of life to a sable but attentive crowd, or listening 
 to the statements of some happy African, made free by 
 truth and grace. Our Missionary anniversary was held 
 before the outbreak of the war ; and it was on that occa- 
 sion, if my memory is correct, that, after several addresses 
 had been given, a Bechuana youth rose up and said, " I 
 also wish to speak. I lived in a far-distant part of the 
 country beyond the Orange River, and was very ignorant 
 and dark. But I came into the Colony, and here I heard 
 that there was a God who lived in heaven. I looked up, 
 but did not see a place for him to sit upon, nor could I see 
 any steps by which he could get there. I wondered much. 
 When I went to Graham's Town, I was taken to the chapel 
 to hear the white man preach, and was surprised to see that 
 he had arms and legs and eyes, as I have. I only looked 
 at him, but did not listen to what he said. Then I came 
 to Salem, where I often went to chapel, and began to listen 
 to the Preacher. The word went into my ears, and touched 
 my heart, and I felt very sad, but did not know why. 
 Some one showed me the great Bible, and told me that 
 the great Bible said there was a God; so I thought there 
 must be one, if that book said so. But I said to myself, 
 ' There is a God for the white man, but not for the black 
 man.' But gradually I received more light, and saw that 
 there wzte a God for the black man too. I felt myself a 
 sinner, wept, prayed, heard of Christ, and found mercy 
 through his blood, the forgiveness of my sins; and I am 
 happy." That young man was one of our accredited Local 
 Preachers. In connexion with the same meeting we wit- 
 nessed several noble instances of Christian liberality on the 
 part of native members of the church. During the pro- 
 ceedings a considerable number of persons stepped up to
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 16 1 
 
 the table, and laid down their contributions of ten or 
 twenty shillings to the Missionary cause; and one indivi- 
 dual, who was unable to attend, sent a note to Mr. Roberts, 
 the Catechist, stating the reason of his absence, and enclos- 
 ing what he called his dubbeltje (penny,) which proved, 
 when the note was opened, to be a sovereign. The total 
 amount contributed that day was 20. Is. Id. In the 
 Annual Report of the Wesleyan Missionary Society may 
 be found the names of Kaffirs, Fingoes, and Bechuanas, 
 (inhabitants of Farmerfield,) as contributors of 1. Is. and 
 upwards to its funds. The fact is worthy of attention, as 
 it surely proves, that the influence which Christianity is 
 exerting on the minds of our native converts is not super- 
 ficial, but deep and true. 
 
 But at Farmerfield, as well as at Salem, the war caused 
 gloom and sadness; blasted, for a time, our brightest 
 prospects; and gave rise to scenes of bitter sorrow and 
 distress. The village was situated in the very track 
 chosen by the Kaffirs, in passing from their own territory 
 into one part of the Colony where large flocks of cattle 
 were pastured, the neighbourhood of the Bushman's 
 River; and hence it was exposed to their attacks, and 
 became the object of their frequent visits. A pious Kaffir, 
 named Dabula, resided on the station, to whom repeated 
 messages were sent, by women, from the people of his 
 tribe, saying that he must leave the Institution, and join 
 them in the war, for that they intended to destroy it, and 
 to sweep off all the cattle. Dabula sent back a reply, that 
 they might do their worst, for he was resolved to put his 
 trust in God, and to remain. They attempted to fulfil 
 their threats. Large parties menaced the inhabitants both 
 by day and night. The Catechist, Mr. Roberts, was 
 obliged to leave his house, being a thatched dwelling, and 
 with his family to take up his abode in the new but un- 
 finished chapel ; and the women and children, forsaking their 
 habitations, erected temporary sheds around the sacred 
 building, which proved a valuable defence. The men kept 
 guard, and endeavoured to protect their cattle; but the 
 enemy succeeded in capturing, on one occasion, four
 
 162 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 hundred head, and on others, more; so that our faithful 
 people lost nearly all their stock, and were reduced to the 
 greatest indigence and distress. The Catechist was holding 
 service one Sabbath morning under the shadow of the 
 newly-erected sanctuary, when, towards the close, a body 
 of two hundred Kaffirs approached the Institution, and 
 challenged the inhabitants to battle. The men, to protect 
 their families and their property, instantly seized their 
 guns, and went to meet the foe. Within two or three 
 hundred yards from the chapel, an engagement followed, 
 which was kept up between the parties for about half an 
 hour, but which terminated in the victory of our people, 
 and the total discomfiture of the enemy. Several of the 
 latter were left dead upon the field, whilst none of the 
 inhabitants of the village were so much as injured. They 
 attributed their deliverance to God, and to Him presented 
 their thanksgivings. 
 
 I had ridden over to the station with an escort, one 
 morning, when, just as we arrived, a messenger appeared, 
 bringing information that a number of the enemy had 
 attacked the Salem cattle, as they were feeding on the 
 plain above the village. Reinforcements were immediately 
 despatched to assist the men in charge, and a desperate 
 battle was fought, between two or three hundred Kaffirs, 
 and twenty or thirty Europeans and natives. The cattle 
 were taken, and driven into a deep ravine; but, with the 
 greatest spirit and determination, they were followed, and 
 recaptured, with the loss on our side of one man only, a 
 Fingoe. When boldly met, the Kaffirs did not evince 
 much courage. A few resolute individuals could repel a 
 hundred of them; but it was dangerous to encounter them 
 in the bush, as they could there conceal themselves from 
 observation, and then pounce suddenly on their foe. The 
 whole of the cattle were brought home to the village in 
 the evening with great rejoicing. The natives sang a war- 
 song, and danced in the most grotesque and earnest 
 manner. I endeavoured to restrain their feelings, but for 
 some time unsuccessfully. At length they became more 
 calm; and I addressed them on the goodness of Divine
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 163 
 
 Providence in giving them success, exhorting them to pray 
 that peace might soon return, and war prevail no more. 
 The scene was one of painful interest, and gave rise to 
 reflections of a gloomy cast. I thought of the souls of the 
 poor Kaffirs that had fallen. I thought of the desolation 
 which prevailed throughout the land. I thought of the 
 check which war thus gave to the progress of the Gospel; 
 and (I am not ashamed to say it) I wept much. Ardently 
 did I long for the cessation of hostilities. Earnestly did I 
 pray that God would be gracious to the land. We know 
 not the value of peace until we have seen something of 
 the fruits and effects of war. With all the splendour with 
 which war has been invested, and notwithstanding the 
 heroism it enkindles, the patriotism it inspires, and the 
 honour and renown it brings, what a curse it is! what 
 misery it entails ! 0, what a jubilee will the nations hold 
 when war is exterminated from the earth! Let every 
 philanthropist and every Christian put forth his energies 
 to hasten on the day. 
 
 Another sad incident may be recorded here. A party 
 of burghers, consisting chiefly of young men from the 
 neighbourhood of Cradock, who had been sent by the 
 authorities to assist us, went one day after a number of 
 Kaffirs who had swept off a herd of cattle belonging to 
 the inhabitants of Farmerfield. They encountered the 
 enemy in a dense ravine on the Cowie River, and retook 
 the cattle; but one young man named Murray, whose 
 father had been a Minister, received a fatal wound from 
 the gun of a Kaffir, and presently expired. This event had 
 a most depressing influence on the minds of the whole 
 party, and indeed on the minds of all who heard of it. The 
 body was recovered and taken to Farmerfield, whence, the 
 day after, it was brought to Salem to be interred. Mournful 
 was the spectacle which we witnessed that day. The 
 corpse was conveyed in a waggon, guarded by the rest of 
 the burghers, carrying arms; and on its arrival in the 
 village was first taken into Mr. Impey's school-room, where 
 I read the usual service for the dead, and thence to the 
 burial-ground, near the chapel, where it was deposited in
 
 164 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 the silent tomb. A considerable number of persons were 
 assembled on the spot, to whom I gave a short address, 
 the tears of many witnessing, the while, the deep emotions 
 of their breasts. 
 
 Soon after this, troops, under the command of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Somerset, (decidedly the most energetic officer on 
 the frontier,) took up a position in the neighbourhood; 
 and, by scouring the bushy country around, succeeded in 
 driving the enemy from their strong-holds, so that we 
 began, in the course of a fortnight, to enjoy a little quiet. 
 About the same period, hostilities were renewed beyond 
 the border. Her Majesty's forces, aided by the burghers 
 who had arrived from every district in the Colony, re- 
 entered Kaffraria, and attacked the several clans at different 
 points. The details of the campaign, its successes and 
 reverses, its victories and toils, I deem it unnecessary to 
 relate. It was a long, tedious, and very harassing conflict. 
 Many brave men, and some distinguished officers, fell; 
 and on the side of the enemy hundreds were cut down 
 and slain. If the Colony was a scene of desolation, and if 
 there the hearts of parents and of children bled; still 
 greater must have been the sorrow, and still more poignant 
 the distress, which prevailed among the inhabitants of 
 KafFraria. For the Colony's sake, but much more for the 
 sake of Kaffraria and the native tribes, it is to be hoped, 
 that this will be the last contest of the kind which South 
 Africa will ever know. Let a wise and firm, but at the 
 same time gentle and humane, liberal and enlightened, 
 policy be adopted and carried out, and we doubt not that 
 a permanent and settled peace will be established between 
 the Colony and the native tribes. War between them is 
 not inevitable. The colonists abhor it, and the native 
 tribes have learnt that it is productive of no good. If, 
 then, the government of the country be vigorous, and law 
 be firmly ministered and upheld, a new era will dawn upon 
 the land, and both the Colony and KafFraria, being kept in 
 peace, will rise and flourish in the scale of nations beyond 
 their highest hopes. But upon Kaffraria a more extensive 
 moral influence must be brought to bear. The heralds of
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 165 
 
 the Cross must enter, and Christian schools must be esta- 
 blished. Our hope for Africa is the Gospel, the harbinger 
 of peace, civilization, and prosperity, to nations and the 
 world. 
 
 In Sir Harry Smith the Cape Colony has now a Governor 
 worthy of all confidence and respect. Sir P. Maitland was 
 advanced in life, and was unable to sustain the hardship of 
 his office. He was recalled, and succeeded by Sir Henry 
 Pottinger. That officer did not understand the Kaffir 
 character, nor the difficulties of the mission which he 
 undertook. He signally failed of restoring peace and con- 
 fidence; and on his removal to Madras, Sir Harry took the 
 government. A wiser choice could not possibly have been 
 made. It was of Providence, and not of man; for Sir 
 Harry had but just returned from India, laden with the 
 honours of his victory at AliwaL He arrived in Africa, and 
 with unwonted energy entered on his task. He proclaimed 
 a truce, called together the now humbled Chiefs, laid before 
 them his plans for the future government of the country, and 
 then required them to decide for peace or war. His own 
 account of the transaction, though it has been ridiculed in 
 the British House of Commons, honourable members being 
 altogether unacquainted with the Kaffir character, is worthy 
 of insertion. "A custom," observes Sir Harry, " of great 
 antiquity prevails among the Kaffirs, the obeying all 
 mandates by messengers bearing a long stick of the Chiefs ; 
 and to disobey a mandate thus conveyed entails outlawry. 
 This custom I maintained when formerly in command in 
 this province, a species of magic wand they well under- 
 stood I rode into the circle formed by their followers, 
 
 the Chiefs having all assembled in the centre, bearing in 
 my right hand a sergeant's halberd, well sharpened, the 
 emblem of war; in my left, my baton of peace and 
 authority, surmounted by a brass knob. I directed each 
 Chief to come and touch whichever he pleased : it was 
 immaterial to me. They all most cheerfully touched the 
 symbol of peace. I then, in a very impressive manner, 
 read and explained the proclamations, with various com- 
 ments, threats, and promises, as the tenor of the documents
 
 166 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 turned; which being concluded, each Chief came forward 
 and kissed my foot, a custom of their own in doing 
 homage, exclaiming, 'Inkosi Inkulu' (Great Chief). I 
 then shook hands with each, not having previously done 
 so, and three cheers were most sonorously given by the 
 'British Kaffrarians' and the troops, in honour of Her 
 Majesty; and thus I trust has commenced the foundation of 
 the improvement of their social condition, and the future 
 tranquillity of the border."* 
 
 After this, not another blow was struck, nor a drop 
 of blood shed. The country was restored to peace, and 
 the new system for the government of the native tribes 
 was brought into operation as speedily as possible. That 
 system is working admirably. In an address presented to 
 Sir Harry, by a number of the frontier farmers, so recently 
 as September or October last, the parties say that, if main- 
 tained in full efficiency, it cannot fail of being productive of 
 peace on this side of the border, and of results of the highest 
 moment to the Kaffir tribes concerned; and further, that 
 during the last two winters, while it has been in operation, 
 they have experienced a greater degree of peace, and of 
 exemption from the depredations of the Kaffirs, than 
 was the case for many previous years. Into a description 
 of this system it is unnecessary that I should enter: it is 
 sufficient to observe that it is characterised by firmness and 
 humanity, and is eminently calculated to improve the 
 native tribes. It encourages civilization, and gives counte- 
 nance to Missions. It subjects both the Chiefs of the 
 country, and the people, to British or Colonial law. It 
 protects their rights, and it enforces the protection of the 
 rights of others. In fine, it brings the colonist and the 
 Kaffir into mutual friendship, and establishes between them 
 reciprocal privileges and claims. Let it have a fair and un- 
 restricted trial, and, by the Divine blessing on the efforts of 
 an enlightened Government, and on the evangelistic opera- 
 tions of the church of God, Africa shall yet see prosperity, 
 and her tribes be won to Christ. 
 
 Correspondence with the Home Government Presented to both 
 Houses of Parliament, July 1848.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 167 
 
 In relation to the conflict of which I have given this 
 brief sketch, a certain class of persons, not very favourably 
 disposed towards Missionary operations, will be ready to ask, 
 "Where are the evidences of the success of Christianity 
 among the Kaffir tribes, when they could thus rise up 
 against the Colony, and commit such outrages as we have 
 heard described ?" So foolish is this cavil, that, had it not 
 actually been raised, I should not have considered it 
 needful to allude to it. Does it follow that Missionary 
 operations have proved a failure, because they have not, in 
 the course of thirty years, evangelized and civilized the 
 whole of the Kaffir tribes 1 If so, Christianity is a failure 
 everywhere, a failure even in the British isles; for there 
 are thousands of our population, who, but for the restraints 
 of law, are ready to rise up in opposition to the Govern- 
 ment, and to scatter strife and discord through the land. 
 But, no : Christianity is not a failure. She has not effected 
 all that she wishes to effect, either in Great Britain or in 
 Kaffraria, on the banks of the Thames, or on the banks of 
 the Keiskamma : nor has she effected all she will effect; for 
 her triumphs are progressive, and will be even to the end. 
 But she has done much for Britain, once barbarous and 
 wretched; and she has done something for Kaffraria, though 
 it be barbarous and wretched still. Even the war itself 
 proved this. Few, if any, of our native converts took up 
 arms against the Colony, and those few were dragged into 
 the conflict by their friends who threatened them with 
 the losa of all their cattle if they would not join in it; 
 whilst, to their honour be it spoken, many, when the war 
 broke out, enlisted on the side of law and right, and 
 became valuable allies to the British forces. The Chief 
 Kama and his people did essential service; another Chief 
 stood neutral; and of the Fingoes a considerable number 
 were engaged in repelling the enemy's attacks, and proved, 
 in several instances, his most formidable foes. During the 
 hottest period of the war there were more than four thou- 
 sand natives, drawn principally from the various Missionary 
 institutions, within and beyond the border, who bore arms 
 in the defence of the Colony and its inhabitants. Let
 
 168 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 these facts be fairly weighed ; and then let the attacks which 
 have been made on Missions by a portion of the press, in 
 connexion with the history of the Kaffir war, be estimated 
 at their real worth. The colonists themselves are not af- 
 fected by them. They know, and their judgment on the 
 question is formed on the very best evidence, that Christian 
 Missionaries are effecting, gradually but surely, a moral 
 revolution in the tribes of Africa; and, as a proof of their 
 confidence in Missionary operations, there was contributed 
 by the Albany and Kaffraria District, immediately after 
 the war, the sum of 1,100 to the funds of the Wesleyan 
 Missionary Society alone. 
 
 The views of Sir Peregrine Maitland on the value and 
 importance of Christian Missions may also be adduced. 
 In reply to an address sent to him by the Wesleyan Mis- 
 sionaries, on his retirement from office, as Governor of the 
 Colony, that distinguished officer observes : " As I am 
 now delivering over the administration of Kaffir policy, as 
 well as of the general government of the Colony, into the 
 hands of my successor, I desire to impress upon you, that 
 the character of a barbarous people cannot be changed by 
 the force of arms, nor by any political settlement of their 
 affairs. Other means of a moral kind are indispensable, in 
 order to remould their nature; to raise them in their 
 standing as men; and to teach them to love and practise 
 virtue, as well as to advance in the arts of civilization, and 
 the social order of a well-regulated community. Many of 
 you have, under the influence of philanthropy governed by 
 religion, devoted yourselves to the work of rescuing the 
 Kaffir people from the frightful barbarism in which they 
 are sunk, and guiding them to superior knowledge, better 
 hopes, and more virtuous habits. It is my earnest wish, 
 that you will not withhold your hands nor relax your efforts ; 
 but that rather, with increased opportunities, you will 
 augment your endeavours to fulfil your chosen task ; and I 
 trust that Divine Providence will grant you to see the fruit 
 of your labour, to the welfare alike of Kaffirland and the 
 Province." These are the sentiments of a Christian gen- 
 tleman, and of a gallant British soldier: they do honour
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 169 
 
 to his head and to his heart; and are a sufficient answer to 
 all the objections that have been advanced against the 
 efforts of the Christian Missionary. 
 
 And here let me appeal to the reader on behalf of 
 British soldiers. Not only are our Missions in South Africa 
 calculated to promote the interests of the native tribes, 
 and of the colonists, but they have also been beneficial 
 to the troops which have been stationed in that country. 
 Many, a brave spirit has landed on those shores and been 
 engaged in harassing and painful conflicts, and many a 
 one has fallen in the field; perhaps many a prodigal, 
 who had left his country and his home in some wild 
 freak, to the agony of a tender mother's breast. What 
 would become of the British soldier when in foreign 
 service, if he were deprived of religious instruction? But 
 in many instances he can obtain it only from the Christian 
 Missionary. During this war, Missionaries were the 
 Chaplains of our troops; and Missionaries attended on the 
 wounded and the dying. In one case, an individual who 
 fell in an engagement, was watched over by a Missionary 
 with the greatest care, pointed to the Cross, and directed 
 to believe in Christ, until at length he died, but died in 
 peace and hope. In Graham's Town, Fort-Beaufort, and 
 Fort-Peddie, and, indeed, in almost every military town 
 and fort, both within the borders of the Colony and beyond 
 them, religious services are held, the means of grace esta- 
 blished, and little companies of men won over to the 
 service of the Prince of Peace. Many soldiers meet in 
 class, some of whom we have ascertained to be the sons of 
 pious Wesleyans, who doubtless oft remembered them in 
 their fervent prayers. "Are you a Methodist?" said I, one 
 Sabbath morning, to a soldier who was coming out of our 
 chapel in Graham's Town. " No, Sir," he replied ; " but 
 my father is." " And have you any wish to save your 
 soul?" He seemed to hesitate; but answered, "Yes." 
 I introduced him to a class, and he became a steady 
 member of the church. 
 
 One part of the plan for the future government of 
 Kaffraria involves the establishment of military villages, in
 
 170 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 the new province of Victoria. These villages are to be 
 peopled by non-commissioned officers and soldiers, who are 
 discharged as pensioners, or who have merited their dis- 
 charge by their faithful services. But shall they settle on 
 the borders of Kaffraria, and be deprived of the means of 
 Christian instruction? Shall British soldiers be induced to 
 fix their residence on the confines of a heathen land, and, 
 after having served their country with fidelity, and braved 
 the cannon's mouth, be left without provision for .their 
 spiritual wants, without Pastors, Ministers, and schools? 
 This is a question which the churches of this country, and 
 our Missionary Societies, should seriously ponder. The 
 recently appointed Bishop of the Cape is, we understand, 
 meeting this case to some extent, by the appointment, to 
 certain localities, of Catechists and Schoolmasters ; but 
 there will be ample room for the labours of the Christian 
 Missionary in this field, and both the London and the 
 Wesleyan Missionary Societies ought now to multiply the 
 number of their agents in South Africa, with a view to 
 the benefit alike of the soldier, the colonist, and the Kaffir 
 tribes. 
 
 During the war many of our Mission stations Wesley- 
 ville, Mount-Coke, the Beka, and some others were 
 destroyed; but they have already been recommenced, and 
 both in the province of Victoria and in British Kaffraria 
 Christian sanctuaries are beginning to rise up, the 
 foundation-stone of one of which was laid by the Governor, 
 Sir Harry Smith, himself. Never were the openings in 
 Kaffraria, for Missionary effort, so numerous; never were 
 the fields so white, and the prospects of success so fair, as 
 now. that we could send forth men, by tens and fifties, 
 to take possession of the land! When will the liberalities 
 of the church warrant such an effort? 
 
 Deep family affliction, induced by the trials of the war, 
 rendered it necessary that I should leave the frontier ere 
 the conflict was at an end; and ultimately the cloud which 
 goes before the Christian directed me to England, the 
 land of light and peace. The reminiscences of this 
 chapter are painful; but the events themselves were not
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 171 
 
 without their benefit. They left impressions on the mind, 
 which I trust will never be erased: they taught some 
 valuable lessons which I hope will never be forgotten. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE BECHUANA-LAND. 
 
 Position. Physical characteristics. Rumours of the existence of 
 a lake. Journey of a trader in search of it. Its discovery by the 
 Rev. R. Livingstone. Probable results of this discovery. The plains 
 of the Bechuana-land. Game. Anecdote of a lion. Climate of the 
 country. Burning the grass. Providential deliverance of the Rev. 
 J. Allison. The Griquas. The Bastaards, or Newlanders. Emigra- 
 tion of tribes from the interior. The Korannas. The Mantatees. 
 Their history. Defeated by the Griquas. Mission established at 
 ImparanS. Its success. The Baraputsi. Visit of Messrs. Allison 
 and Giddy. Commencement of a Mission. The results of war. 
 Destruction of the Mission station. The Bechuana tribes. Their 
 character. Form of government. Superstitions. Facts recorded 
 by the Rev. P. Lemue. Cannibalism. The French Missions. A 
 Heathen seeking after God. The Wesleyan Missions. The Missions 
 of the London Society. The Rev. R. Moffat's return to Kuruman. 
 The Bechuana dialects. Translations. The Dutch emigrant Boors. 
 The country proclaimed under the sovereignty of Britain. 
 
 NOETHWAED of the Garriep, or Great Orange River, lies 
 an extensive tract of country, to which the general title of 
 the Bechuana-land is given. It may be considered as 
 included within the 23d and 29th degrees of longitude 
 east, as commencing at the 30th parallel of latitude south, 
 and as stretching upwards far within the tropic, consider- 
 ably beyond the most distant point that has hitherto been 
 reached by the enlightened traveller. It embraces, there- 
 fore, an area of at least two hundred and nineteen thousand 
 square miles. On the east it is bounded by the Quathlamba 
 mountains and the territory of the Zulu tribes ; and on the 
 west by the Kalagaree desert, or South Sahara. 
 
 Its physical characteristics are not unworthy of attention. 
 It is a vast steppe or plateau, six thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea, intersected here and there by hills and 
 i2
 
 172 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 mountains, formed of sandstone and basaltic rocks, some of 
 which, like the pyramids of Egypt, stand isolated and alone ; 
 whilst others are united, so as to constitute chains, in some 
 instances of considerable length. From their sides and 
 bases, most of the streams and rivers take their rise, which 
 are tributary to the Garriep, the largest river of South 
 Africa. The five principal branches of this river, however, 
 were found by the French Missionaries, Messrs. Arbousset 
 and Daumas, to originate in a mountain, at the northern 
 extremity of the Blue Mountains, in lat. 29 S., long. 28 E., 
 to which they therefore gave the name of " Mont aux 
 Sources." From this point the Garriep, continually receiving 
 accessions, gradually swells; and, after running across the 
 continent from east to west, at length empties itself into 
 the ocean between the 28th and 29th parallels of latitude. 
 In several parts of the bed of this river, large pebbles of 
 agate, jasper, and chalcedony are found, some of which 
 are of great beauty. Its banks are ornamented with the 
 zizyphus mucronatus, commonly called the buffalo's thorn, 
 and with mimosas, willows, and innumerable shrubs. It is 
 frequently swollen by the rains, when it overflows its banks 
 to a considerable extent, and can be crossed only by means 
 of rafts or boats. 
 
 None of our maps represent the river system of this 
 country, or its mountain-ranges, accurately, though much 
 has been done recently to correct the errors that existed. 
 A minute acquaintance with the geography of such a region 
 can only be obtained, as the result of the observations of 
 scientific travellers, and must be the work of time. But 
 progress is being made. An interesting fact, the existence 
 of a lake of fresh water, far in the interior, has recently 
 been confirmed by an enterprising Missionary, the Rev. R. 
 Livingstone. Rumours of this lake had frequently been 
 heard, some of the Bechuanas having stated to several Mis- 
 sionaries, that they had received intelligence respecting it, 
 and that it was only thirty days distant from the country 
 of the Basutus. From the eastern coast, a native of Zanzi- 
 bar was said to have reached a lake, called the Lake Maravi, 
 which has been laid down by some of our geographers in
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 173 
 
 longitude 30 east, and latitude 8 45' south ; but this could 
 not be the same as that reported of; for to have penetrated 
 so far into the interior would, even if at all practicable, 
 have occupied some weeks. Travellers had attempted, 
 therefore, to find this second lake, but hitherto without 
 success. During my residence in Graham's Town, I heard 
 of a trader who set out on a journey with his waggon and 
 oxen, with a view, if possible, to discover it. He crossed 
 the line of vegetable life, and entered on a sandy plain. 
 For several days he pursued his course, until, both water 
 and herbage entirely failing him, he was compelled to 
 return, and would have lost his oxen in consequence of 
 thirst, but that he found, growing on the sand, a kind of 
 melon, which, on being opened, gushed with a supply of 
 most refreshing water. With this water he saturated some 
 cloths, moistened the mouths of the poor animals, and thus 
 preserved them, until he reached again a region of fertility 
 and life. How true it is that God is everywhere, " in the 
 void waste, as in the city full!" Traces of his wonder- 
 working hand, signs of his wisdom and his skill, present 
 themselves to the eye, even in the most desolate regions of 
 the globe. That melon, in the sandy desert, said, "Lo, God 
 is here." 
 
 But persevering enterprise has at length met with its 
 reward. The Missionary, whose name I have already 
 mentioned, and who is the son-in-law of the Rev. K 
 Moffat, left his station called Kolobeng, in company with 
 two friends, in the month of June or of July last, and after 
 a journey of five hundred and fifty miles further into the 
 interior, stood upon the margin of the lake, and surveyed a 
 vast expanse of waters which the eye of no European had ever 
 seen before. Writing to Mr. Mofiat, under date August 2d,he 
 says, " We are now at the Batauana-Town, and yesterday 
 rode down about six miles to look on the broad blue waters 
 of the lake. We cannot tell how broad it may be ; for we 
 could not see an horizon, except one of water, on the south 
 and west." The name given to the lake is Noka ea Nama. 
 A large tribe, called the Batouana, a branch of the Bechuana 
 nation, occupies the adjacent country, who are darker in
 
 174 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 complexion than the Bechuanas, and speak a language 
 having a slight click. An observation of the sun gave the 
 position of Mr. Livingstone and his companions, when at 
 the lake 19 7'. On their journey towards this point, they 
 first passed through a desert country, and afterwards pursued 
 their course for two hundred miles along the banks of a 
 large river running S.S.E., the waters of which were 
 remarkably clear and soft, leading to the conclusion that 
 they came from melted snows. The travellers compare 
 this river to the Clyde, and describe the scenery on its 
 banks as exceedingly fine and beautiful. They found 
 numerous trees, most of which were new to them, and one 
 of which produced a fruit like a small yellow pumpkin, 
 three inches in diameter. The natives of the country fish 
 in this river, in canoes hollowed out of the trunk of a 
 single tree. 
 
 /?/*< *f Such are the principal facts, connected with this valuable 
 
 a f'^ ^ v , discovery, which we have been able to gather from the 
 
 ^' information that has hitherto been sent to this country. 
 
 },'' ./A.iiFor additional particulars, the lovers of science, and all 
 
 //C/r^7. / f t. who are interested in the welfare of South Africa, will 
 
 (XJT^'T. > look with considerable interest; for who can tell how 
 v 'important the existence of this lake may prove to the 
 future destinies of that country] A new field both for 
 Missionary and for commercial enterprise now opens itself 
 to view; and as one discovery is frequently the key to 
 others, this may lead to the removal of that obscurity 
 which has so long rested on the physical character of the 
 interior of the vast continent of Africa. But we must 
 now return to the general subject of this chapter. 
 
 The plains of the Bechuana-land teem with the larger 
 kinds of game. Here the wild gazelle, the swift-footed 
 ostrich, the stately camelopard, and the beautifully-striped 
 zebra, roam at pleasure, frequently in herds whose 
 numbers appear countless. Nowhere, perhaps, can the 
 sportsman find a field so rich and inviting as this: hence 
 both natives and Europeans go out in parties, almost 
 every day, to attack these wild inhabitants of the plain. 
 Smaller kinds of animals are also numerous, such as the
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 175 
 
 jackal, the gerboa, and a species of wild cat. These the 
 natives hunt; and of their skins, which they sew together 
 with the greatest care, make mantles or karosses, hundreds 
 if not thousands of which are purchased annually by 
 traders, and, together with ostrich-feathers, ivory, and 
 other articles, sent into the Colony, and sold in the 
 markets.* The lion, the leopard, and the buffalo inhabit 
 the mountains; and some of the larger rivers, whose banks 
 are lined with reeds, are infested with hippopotami. With 
 the king of the forest the natives have many a warm 
 encounter. He will sometimes walk into the towns, when 
 he is immediately set upon by a host of dogs and men ; but 
 more frequently he will present himself before the unsuspect- 
 ing traveller, and either pounce upon him suddenly, or set up 
 a tremendous roar. One of the French Missionaries, when 
 travelling, with a number of attendants, encamped one day 
 by the side of a wood, when presently they heard the 
 roaring of a lion. It was night, and, though fires were 
 kindled, and the oxen guarded as carefully as possible, the 
 animal, bidding defiance to the company, walked round the 
 encampment, put the cattle to confusion, and springing 
 upon an ox, killed it, and carried off the carcass. The 
 following evening he made a second attack, and was again 
 successful; but at sun-rise the party were resolved to give 
 him battle, and, following his track, they came upon him in 
 a deep ravine. On seeing them, and hearing the report of 
 their guns, he sprang from side to side, with the agility of 
 a cat, and, furious with rage, seemed to threaten the 
 destruction of them all. But in such engagements man is 
 usually the conqueror; and, after two or three shots had 
 been fired, he fell. 
 
 The climate of this country differs considerably from 
 that of the Colony, the cold of the winter being more 
 severe, and the heat in summer rather more intense. 
 During the months of June, July, and August, snow is 
 not unfrequent; and in the night the thermometer will 
 
 * On one day in December, 1847, ivory, ostrich-feathers, and 
 karosses were sold in the market at Graham's Town, which realized 
 the sum of 2,848.
 
 176 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 often sink considerably below the freezing point, so that in 
 the morning the ground is covered with the hoar-frost. 
 But before the rays of the ascending sun it speedily dis- 
 appears, and at noon the atmosphere glows with summer's 
 heat. So great and so sudden are the changes of tempe- 
 rature between day and night, in some parts of the 
 country, that I have heard a Missionary who resided there 
 some time observe, that at noon he felt oppressed even in 
 the lightest clothing, and at night was scarcely warm, 
 when wrapped in the warmest he could wear. In the 
 summer months, thunder-storms prevail Previous to their 
 coming, the heat is frequently insufferable, vegetation is dried 
 up, and the springs and streams flow sluggishly, or not at 
 all; but on their appearance the air is suddenly cooled, 
 and the greedy earth, drinking in the showers that fall 
 upon it, speedily assumes a fresh, luxuriant, and cheering 
 aspect. 
 
 Many of the plains are almost destitute of trees, but are 
 covered over with grass, which in some localities the 
 natives, at certain seasons of the year, set on fire, for the 
 purpose of destroying the withered herbage, and of securing 
 afterwards the fresh and tender verdure, which, subsequent 
 to the fall of rain, speedily springs up. The fires thus 
 enkindled have, during the darkness of the night, a 
 very magnificent appearance. The flames, carried by the 
 wind, run along the ground wherever there is grass on 
 which to feed, and the atmosphere is illumined with their 
 glare for several miles around. But not unfrequently the 
 fire will spread further than was intended, and sometimes 
 travellers are exposed, in consequence, to dangers the most 
 fearful and appalling. When the Rev. J. Allison was 
 journeying to the Baraputsi country in his waggon, attended 
 by his family, and a number of pious Bechuanas, he came 
 upon a plain covered with long dry grass, in the midst of 
 which, there being no beaten track, he was obliged to 
 wend his way. On a sudden, there appeared in the 
 distance a vast sheet of fire, which gradually increased, and 
 came nearer and yet nearer. Not a moment might be 
 lost; and the Missionary, with remarkable presence of
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 177 
 
 mind, leaped from his waggon, struck a light, and imme- 
 diately set on fire a portion of the herbage near to them, 
 which was speedily consumed. A space was thus left bare, 
 forming a circle, several yards in diameter, into which he 
 led his waggon, oxen, and people, and very soon after, the 
 body of the flames came rolling past them, with a noise 
 which resembled that of artillery, and with a heat that 
 almost suffocated the party. But they were thus provi- 
 dentially preserved, and were afterwards enabled to pursue 
 their way. 
 
 We shall now proceed to give the reader an account 
 of the several tribes inhabiting this territory, and of the 
 progress and success of Missionary operations. Numerous 
 notices of them are found scattered in the works of 
 travellers and Missionaries; but their history (and it is by 
 no means an unimportant one to Southern Africa) has 
 never yet been written. Nor will our limits permit us to 
 supply this history, even if we had all the information 
 necessary, at command : a brief glance at the subject is all 
 that we can attempt. 
 
 The tribes occupying the country now described are 
 numerous, consisting of several distinct races, some of 
 which are divided into separate clans. Among the prin- 
 cipal tribes, the Griquas claim the highest rank, being a 
 mixed race, the descendants of Africans and Europeans. 
 They were originally designated Bastaards, and some of 
 them, who are probably of later origin than the rest, still 
 retain that name, though recently, at the suggestion I 
 believe of the Rev. W. Shaw, that of Newlanders has been 
 given to them. The Griquas occupy that part of theBechuana 
 country which lies on the south-west, their principal town 
 being situated on the edge of an extensive lime-stone 
 plain, near the Yellow River, a branch of the Garriep, five 
 hundred and thirty miles north-east of Cape-Town. The 
 Mission to this people, was commenced in the year 1799, by 
 the devoted Anderson, of the London Missionary Society. 
 They were at that time in a most wretched state of bar- 
 barism, exhibiting no marks of civilization, but living in a 
 manner the most disgusting, and utterly devoid of shame. 
 i5
 
 178 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 Long and arduously did the Missionary toil, sometimes at the 
 hazard of his life, and amidst discouragements and difficulties 
 that might truly be compared to mountains; but faith inspired 
 him with courage, and gradually the hinderances to success 
 gave way. Four years after the commencement of his labours, 
 he was visited by Lichtenstein, who speaks of him in the 
 highest terms, but observes that he complained that he had 
 done but little; yet some time afterwards Mr. Anderson 
 states in a letter to a friend, that the Griquas had abandoned 
 their former manner of life, had begun to cultivate the ground, 
 and to acquire habits of industry and skill. As early as the 
 year 1809, the congregation consisted of eight hundred per- 
 sons; and from that time to the present, Griqua-Town and 
 the Griqua Mission have shared largely in the blessing of the 
 God of Missions. Mr. Backhouse, who visited Griqua-Town 
 in 1839, found the schools in a very flourishing condition, a 
 considerable number of children, and nearly the whole of the 
 adult Griqua population, being able to read the Scriptures, 
 whilst some of the children had also made considerable progress 
 in arithmetic. The Christian Chief Waterboer, who is said to 
 be, on his mother's side, of Bushman origin, once declared 
 in Cape-Town that he owed everything to the Gospel; and 
 that, but for it he should have been nothing better than a 
 wandering savage. At present the Christian church at 
 Griqua-Town numbers upwards of seven hundred members, 
 some of whom are Bushmen and Korannas. 
 
 The Bastaards or Newlanders, another tribe of similar 
 origin to the Griquas, now live at Plaat-berg (Flat mountain) 
 a Wesleyan Missionary station, situated near the Caledon 
 River, about three hundred miles east of Griqua-Town. They 
 emigrated to this part of the country in company with the 
 Baralongs, Korannas, and a few Griquas, from a territory 
 further to the north, being compelled to do so in consequence 
 of excessive drought. The history of this emigration is 
 remarkable. These tribes had been, for several years, under 
 the care of Christian Missionaries, Messrs. Broadbent, Kay, 
 Hodgson, and Archbell, having introduced the Gospel 
 among them, and laboured assiduously, and not without 
 considerable success, to bring them to the knowledge of the
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 179 
 
 truth; and when they left the territory they occupied, in 
 search of a more fruitful soil, they were accompanied by 
 the Missionaries then labouring amongst them, Messrs. 
 Archbell, Edwards, and Jenkins. They travelled upwards 
 of three hundred miles, a large and numerous band ; and 
 yet they did not commit a single act of depredation on 
 any of the tribes through whose territory they passed. 
 Can the annals of interior Africa furnish another instance 
 of the* kind 1 Prior to the planting of the standard of 
 the Cross in these desolate regions, one tribe could scarcely 
 ever come in contact with another, but the war-whoop 
 would be raised, the clattering of spears be heard, and the 
 cattle of the weaker party taken by the stronger; but such 
 collisions are, to say the least, much less frequent now, and 
 will, eventually, be quite unknown. 
 
 The emigrants found the country on the Caledon River 
 nearly depopulated by wars. A few of the inhabitants re- 
 mained ; but they had fled for safety to the tops' of the 
 mountains, and could not be induced to come down, till 
 after repeated assurances, on the part of the strangers, of 
 the most friendly and pacific intentions. With the consent 
 of these mountaineers, they took possession of the country 
 in a manner the most peaceable; and the several tribes or 
 clans settled themselves down in different localities under 
 their respective Chiefs. The Mission at Plaat-berg, the 
 residence of the Newlanders, has, from that time to 
 the present, continued in operation, and is now in a more 
 flourishing condition than in any former period of its 
 history. An excellent chapel has recently been erected by 
 the inhabitants; one hundred and seventy persons are united 
 to the church; twelve Local Preachers are employed in 
 proclaiming Christ; and the superstructure of Heathenism 
 totters to its fall. 
 
 Ignoble as the origin of the Griquas and of the Newland- 
 ers may have been, they are not only multiplying in 
 numbers, but advancing rapidly in the scale of civilization. 
 It is not improbable that they may hereafter occupy a very 
 important position among the tribes of Southern Africa, 
 and, if evangelized themselves, become the instruments of
 
 180 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 spreading Christianity through the interior portions of the 
 country. They speak the Dutch language, but many of 
 them are acquainted with the Sichuana and Sisuto; and, 
 being partially descended from a European stock, they may 
 be considered as forming a connecting link between the 
 Iranian or Caucasian tribes, and the African or Negro 
 race. 
 
 If we except the Bushmen, many of whom inhabit por- 
 tions of the Bechuana-land, the Korannas are perhaps 
 the most degraded of the tribes occupying this territory; 
 and next to them, or even beneath them, if we take as a 
 criterion the fierceness of their disposition and their love 
 of war, are the Mantatees. The Korannas are a tribe of 
 Hottentots, who took their name from a Chief named 
 Kora. Lichtenstein says that they were originally a 
 numerous race, divided into several clans, of which the 
 principal were called the Kharemankis and the Khure- 
 mankis: 
 
 Their habits are most filthy, and their indolence is intoler- 
 able. They are, however, a good-looking people, in size 
 and structure resembling the Hottentots, but somewhat 
 superior to them in the contour of the countenance, 
 and the general form of the skull Their language is a 
 dialect of that spoken by the Bushmen and Namacquas; 
 their clothing of the skins of antelopes, or of any other 
 animal; and their habitations are constructed of a few 
 staves and mats. Polygamy is permitted among them, but 
 not common. They have no forms of religious worship, 
 but sorcery entwines them in its artful net ; and in sickness 
 they are accustomed to repair to one of their magicians, 
 who perhaps advises them to cut off the first joint of the 
 little finger, of which many of them are consequently 
 found to be deprived. A considerable number of Koran- 
 nas were among the emigrants to whom reference has been 
 made; and, on their arrival in the new territory, settled 
 with their Missionary at Umpukani, whence they subse- 
 quently removed to Mirametsu, where, at the time that Mr. 
 Backhouse visited them, they were found clothed as Euro- 
 peans, and where fifty of them were members of the
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 181 
 
 Wesleyan church. Tradition says that this tribe once 
 occupied the spot on which Cape-Town is now situated. 
 
 The Mantatees are a fierce and warlike people, originally 
 belonging to the Bakora, a nation living eastward, from 
 whom it is said they separated themselves, about a hundred 
 years ago. They then made war upon the Zulus, and 
 were conquered, and afterwards settled, in alliance with that 
 people, on the Donkin River, between the 26th and 27th 
 parallels of south latitude. Restless and dissatisfied, they 
 subsequently journeyed towards the Bechuana country; and, 
 rushing on the several tribes of Bechuanas, who were un- 
 able to compete with them, spread destruction through the 
 land, and awakened terror in the minds of multitudes of its 
 inhabitants. One hundred thousand people are supposed to 
 have perished by famine and by war, as the marauders marched 
 victoriously along. At length, however, they were repulsed 
 by the Griquas, who, armed with guns, went forth to meet 
 them, under the command of their Chieftain Waterboer. 
 A narrative of the battle that took place, and of its dread- 
 ful consequences, is given by Mr. Moffat, who was an eye- 
 witness of the scene ; and heart-rending is the account of 
 the miseries which they suffered. A few of the survivers, 
 under a Chief named Sikonyella, were found by the Wes- 
 leyan Missionaries a few years ago; and, with a view to 
 check them in their incursions on their neighbours, and to 
 induce in them habits of contentment and of peace, one of 
 those Missionaries was appointed to Imparani, a spot on 
 which some of them had settled down. Here he erected 
 the standard of Immanuel; here he proclaimed to them 
 the word of life ; and here, after years of patient toil, 
 many of them became partakers of the blessings of the 
 Gospel. The indefatigable Missionary who commenced this 
 station was Mr. James Allison, a man whose name is scarcely 
 known in England, but whose labours in South Africa have 
 been signally successful, and who has perhaps done more 
 for the Mantatees and the Baraputsi, than any other indi- 
 vidual connected with our Missions. A history of his toils, 
 his difficulties, and his triumphs, at Imparani, would be 
 deeply interesting. He received into his house a num-
 
 182 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 her of young men, among whom was the Chief's son, who 
 became a follower of Christ, and exerted all his influence 
 in favour of Christianity; and these youths he taught to 
 read and write, trained them in the service of the world's 
 Redeemer, and then sent them forth to preach. A little 
 church being formed, persecution rose against it, and the 
 Chief himself, furious with rage, commanded several of the 
 converts, who were charged with sorcery, to be put to death. 
 They were not afraid to die; but met their fate with calm- 
 ness and submission, knowing that in heaven they had a 
 better and an enduring substance. 
 
 " Whilst Mr. Allison was labouring among the Manta- 
 tees," says the Rev. James Cameron, " he was visited by 
 two men belonging to the Baraputsi, or Amasuase, a large 
 nation of Kaffirs," (whose territory was considerably to the 
 north-east of Imparani,) "who, seeing the house and chapel 
 which he had built, the garden which he had planted and 
 fenced, the fatherly care which he exercised over the people 
 in reference to both their temporal and spiritual concerns, 
 and the general improvement which had resulted from his 
 efforts, returned to their Chief Raputsi with a highly 
 favourable report, which so fully convinced him of the 
 utility and importance of Christian Missions, that he lost 
 no time in sending a formal deputation to Mr. Allison, 
 urgently requesting Missionaries." This deputation con- 
 sisted of several individuals, who were ten days on the 
 road, and travelled a distance of about three hundred 
 miles, crossing on their route eight rivers which were 
 infested with hippopotami and alligators. They were ex- 
 posed to very considerable danger, but arrived safely at 
 the station, and there presented their request. Some time 
 elapsed before it could be granted; and meanwhile the 
 Chief, who was aged and infirm, was taken dangerously ill. 
 His affliction terminated in his death; but previous to his 
 departure he sent for his son and for his counsellors, and 
 said, " I have requested Missionaries to come and visit me ; 
 but they have not yet arrived, and now I shall die before 
 I have seen the white man's face, or heard the white man's 
 voice. When I am gone, you must send again for Mis-
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 183 
 
 sionaries, and you must not rest until the Missionaries 
 come." Renewed applications were consequently made, 
 and Messrs. Allison and Giddy performed a journey for the 
 purpose of visiting the Baraputsi nation, and of ascertain- 
 ing the nature of the openings thus made for Christianity. 
 They set out in May, 1844; and, after travelling fifty days 
 in a north-easterly direction, reached Matemba, the great 
 place of the Chief Mosuasi, where they were cordially 
 received as the messengers of truth and peace. They found 
 that the Baraputsi-land contained a population of at least 
 eighty thousand souls; and they heard that beyond them 
 other tribes existed, far more numerous than the Baraputsi, 
 all speaking languages allied to the Sichuana, and all ready 
 to receive the Gospel. What has the Christian church 
 done, as yet, for Southern Africa 1 She has but skirted 
 the shores of it : of its interior tribes she knows compara- 
 tively little. But the time is come when she should send 
 forth her agents into the very heart of this extensive terri- 
 tory, and claim it for her Lord. 
 
 Subsequently to this visit, Mr. Allison was appointed to 
 commence a Mission among the Baraputsi. I have already 
 adverted to his journey, and his providential deliverance 
 from fire. He took with him a party of native teachers, 
 " principally," observes Mr. Cameron, " selected from the 
 Mantatee converts, his own spiritual children." and with 
 their help he entered on his work. Success attended his 
 disinterested efforts. A station was formed on a suitable 
 spot, at the foot of Mount Mohamba, about three hundred 
 miles north of Thaba Unchu, and here prospects the 
 most cheering soon presented themselves before his view. 
 A congregation of from five to six hundred persons was 
 formed in a few weeks, and several individuals of this dark, 
 barbarous, and wretched tribe, became inquirers after truth ; 
 but now war, the scourge of Southern Africa, broke out 
 between Mosuasi, the Chief of the Baraputsi, and some 
 petty Chieftains of adjoining tribes; and one Sabbath morn- 
 ing, a commando, led on by four Dutch Boors, attacked the 
 little station, and slew numbers of the natives before the 
 Missionary's eyes. The scene of Christian toil was suddenly
 
 184 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 changed into a scene of slaughter, and dreadful were the 
 sufferings, as described by Mr. Allison, which fell upon this 
 hapless tribe. The Missionary and his family escaped un- 
 injured, but the work was thus retarded, and the station 
 broken up. He has, however, established another Mission 
 in the territory of Natal, and thither hundreds of the Bara- 
 putsi have repaired, saying, " Where our teacher lives, there 
 we must live, that we may hear his % words, and learn the 
 will of God." 
 
 The Bechuanas, properly so called, consist of numerous 
 tribes or clans, of whom the Basutus, the Baralongs, and 
 the Batlapis, are among the principal, and inhabit various 
 portions of the country, from the territory of the Zulus 
 on the east, to the sandy desert on the west. From what 
 I have seen and heard of them, I quite agree with Lich ten- 
 stein's opinion, who describes them as much more indus- 
 trious and persevering than the Kaffirs, milder in their 
 disposition, more engaging in their physiognomy, and more 
 disposed to cultivate the peaceable arts of industry, in which 
 they have had considerable experience. They are far more 
 social in their habits than the Kaffirs, and live in towns of 
 considerable size, usually situated on the sides of the moun- 
 tains, where they cultivate the soil, and grow quantities of 
 corn, maize, and water-melons. The town of Thaba-Unchu, 
 (literally Mountain of the Night,) one of the stations of 
 the Wesleyan Missionary Society, contains a population of 
 from ten to twelve thousand souls, all of whom are, more 
 or less, under the influence of Christian instruction. The 
 habitations of the Bechuanas are circular, and are chiefly 
 formed of mud walls, on which a conical roof is placed, on 
 a plan similar to that adopted by the inhabitants of Nubia 
 and Abyssinia, and many other semi-barbarous tribes. At 
 Thaba-Unchu these dwellings are surrounded by a fence, 
 formed, says Mr. Backhouse, of the briery stems of a 
 thorny species of shrubby asparagus. 
 
 A higher degree of civilization is found among the 
 Bechuanas than among the Kaffir tribes, as the above 
 remarks would lead the reader to suppose. They are 
 acquainted with the art of smelting iron, and of making
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 185 
 
 elastic rings of brass; they are better clothed; and they 
 pay more attention to agriculture, fencing their grounds 
 with greater skill, and gathering in their harvests with the 
 utmost assiduity. The aborigines of Southern Africa occu- 
 pied, originally, a position in the scale of civilization very 
 superior to that which they hold at present. A wandering 
 and nomadic life necessarily tends to barbarism : and hence, 
 generally speaking, those tribes are the most degraded 
 who roam about the country, living together in very small 
 bands; whilst others, who are more settled, and who live 
 in large communities, retain for a much longer period the 
 civilized habits of their ancestors. 
 
 The form of government existing among the Bechuana 
 tribes is more despotic than that which is found among 
 the Kaffirs; "a natural consequence," says Lichtenstein, 
 " of their having permanent habitations, which renders the 
 means employed with so much effect by those more wan- 
 dering tribes to resist all encroachments in power, on the 
 part of the Prince, impracticable." The Chief's authority is 
 almost unlimited. Moshesh, the Basutu Chieftain, boasted, 
 that when he spoke, the mountains moved. Among the 
 Zulu Kaffirs, however, the Chief is still more tyrannical; 
 for Chaka would order a number of his people to go 
 unarmed, and catch a hippopotamus alive, and they 
 would make the attempt, though at the certain sacrifice 
 of life. 
 
 But the demon of superstition has the greatest sway over 
 these tribes, subjecting even Chiefs themselves to constant 
 fear. In the Bechuana-land, no temples rise, no altars smoke, 
 no priesthood offers sacrifice, for religion there is none; 
 the ideas that exist even of a Great First Cause, being, 
 according to Mr. Moffat's testimony, lost, amidst a mass 
 of notions the most foolish and absurd. Respecting the 
 origin of things, the Bechuanas suppose that the world 
 existed always, for they have no word in their language 
 to express the idea of creation out of nothing; and the 
 aged among them say that the first man came out of a 
 hole in the earth, whence there also issued two serpents, 
 the one named Katoani, which said that men should die;
 
 186 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 the other, a much larger one, called Leobu, which said that 
 they should live again. The Rev. J. Cameron, to whom I 
 am indebted for this fact, thinks that in these traditions 
 there is a ray of supernatural light issuing from the fount 
 of Revelation, and continuing to shine even through the 
 dense gloom of heathenish superstition. It may be so ; but 
 how faint that ray ! and how dreary the condition of a people 
 upon whom no brighter beams arise ! But, it may be asked, 
 have the Bechuanas no notion of any beings superior to 
 man? The reply to this inquiry is, that their barimo, or 
 gods, are none other than their departed ancestors, whom 
 they suppose to exist in some undefined region, whence 
 they exert an influence, malignant or benign, upon their 
 friends on earth. To these barimo they offer sacrifices, 
 and pray, a long life, with exemption from pain and sick- 
 ness, and abundance of corn and cattle, being the utmost 
 limit of their desires.* There are no traditions among 
 them to intimate that they ever worshipped the sun or the 
 stars, as the Sabeans did : " They look upon the sun," said 
 the traveller, Campbell, " with the eyes of an ox." 
 
 Sorcery and witchcraft prevail extensively among them; 
 and, to shield themselves from their influence, they 
 adopt various arts, and carry about with them a con- 
 siderable number of charms and amulets. " The head of a 
 Mochuana," observes the Rev. P. Lemue, of the Paris Mis- 
 sionary Society, " presents a singular spectacle. Besides 
 articles of mere ornament, such as the feathers of every 
 kind of bird, there are some who wear also serpents' skins 
 tied up like cap-ribbons, claws of hawks and panthers, 
 whilst others have beetles fastened in their hair, and others 
 little bags. It is the universal belief that the skins of ser- 
 pents can secure the wearers from the attacks of enemies; 
 that beetles have the property of making them prolific; 
 and that the little bags, which are nothing more than the 
 bladders of foxes, screen them from the evil influence of 
 sorcerers, who are endowed with great power, and rove 
 about in the night" Mr. Lemue once saw a Chief catch- 
 ing toads, and stringing them together on a stick; and on 
 
 * Rev. J. Cameron, in the "South African Christian Watchman."
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 187 
 
 asking to what use they would be applied, was told that 
 they would be dried and pounded, to make medicine which 
 would render him invulnerable to the attacks of enemies! 
 and a Chief told Dr. Smith, who was at the head of the 
 expedition for exploring Southern Africa in the year 1835, 
 that if he collected the perspiration of a person, no one 
 would afterwards have power to injure him ! 
 
 So valuable, in the estimation of the Bechuanas, are the 
 genial showers that water and refresh the ground, that, in 
 their language, one word, pula, signifies both "rain" and 
 "blessing." Men, they imagine, are endowed with the power 
 both of making rain, and of preventing it. But the rain- 
 makers frequently fail in obtaining it; and then the cause 
 is attributed, not to their want of skill, but to some cir- 
 cumstance or other of the most trivial nature, as the tolling 
 the Missionary bell, or the dragging of thorns upon the 
 ground when they ought to be carried on the head. 
 Thunder, says Mr. Lemue, conveys no sublime ideas to 
 the mind of a Bechuana. It is caused by a mysterious 
 bird, whom no one ever saw, called tlari. That excellent 
 Missionary being one day on a visit to Mahura, saw, with 
 surprise, a branch of the thorn-tree on the top of every hut. 
 He inquired the reason, and was informed that a thunder-bolt 
 having fallen on a house and killed a woman, the rain- 
 maker had advised the people to put these thorns upon the 
 roofs of their dwellings to turn away the thunder; "for," 
 said he, "it will be afraid of pricking itself!" 
 
 These and many other strange notions, too numerous to 
 particularise, were extensively prevalent among these tribes 
 prior to the introduction of Christianity among them ; and, 
 though the foundations of Heathenism are already under- 
 mined, the superstitions of the country still maintain their 
 ascendancy over the people's minds. The destruction of 
 the mighty fabric cannot be effected suddenly. It is by 
 slow degrees, as the history of our own country testifies, 
 that false and superstitious views are eradicated from the 
 minds of men. Centuries have elapsed since Christianity 
 was established in these islands; and yet, but fifty years 
 ago, the belief in witchcraft and in the virtue of amulets
 
 188 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 and charms, was, among the peasantry of the land, all but 
 universal. 
 
 The witchcraft of the Bechuanas does not lead to scenes 
 of so much cruelty as those which frequently take place 
 among the Zulus and the Kaffirs. Seldom is a person put 
 to death on a charge of this kind; for the Bechuana is 
 not generally blood-thirsty or revengeful But of injustice 
 and oppression, of calumny and reproach, of sorrow and 
 distress, witchcraft is a fruitful source. The sentimentalist 
 must not go among the Bechuanas to find innocence 
 and peace; for though the passing traveller may imagine 
 them a happy race, such is not the impression made upon 
 the minds of those who live among them for any length 
 of time. Can there be happiness where polygamy is prac- 
 tised ? where wars incessantly prevail ? where ignorance 
 enthralls the mind 1 Impossible. " The dark places of the 
 earth are full of the habitations of cruelty;" and "where 
 no vision is, the people perish." 
 
 In the recesses of the Blue Mountains, previously 
 mentioned, there resides a tribe of Bechuanas, whom 
 extreme poverty and hunger have driven to cannibalism. 
 They were formerly a numerous people, and lived to the 
 north of the country which they now inhabit; but, being 
 plundered by a celebrated conqueror from the east, called 
 Pacarita, they became plunderers and robbers in their 
 turn, until at length necessity induced them to eat human 
 flesh. For a time they resisted the temptation, and their 
 Chief, Engabi, died of hunger, rather than he would touch 
 it; but his successors yielded to the horrid practice, and 
 then the fury of this people knew no bounds. " Pressed 
 by famine, they set themselves to attack travellers in 
 broad day, to spread snares for them in the night, to fall 
 on them as on a prey, and to devour them to satisfy their 
 hunger."* This tribe was formerly called the Bafoukings : 
 now they are known by the name Marimos. 
 
 They were visited, a few years ago, by the French Mis- 
 sionaries Messrs. Arbousset and Daumas, who describe them 
 
 * Relation d'un Voyage d' Exploration au Nord-est de la Colonie 
 du Cap de Bonne Esprance, &c. Par Thorn: Arbousset Paris, 1842.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 189 
 
 as exceedingly sanguinary and fierce, armed with clubs, 
 knives, and hatchets, and as fond of human flesh as the 
 natives of the South Sea islands can be. Some thousands 
 of persons, it is said, have, within a very short period, been 
 entrapped by them, slain, and eaten; and when they have 
 no other victims, they take even their own wives and 
 children, of whom they make mutual exchanges, and feast 
 greedily upon them. They are the terror of the surrounding 
 country, and parents scare their children into obedience, by 
 telling them frightful stories of the Marimos. 
 
 The mention of the French Missionaries leads me to 
 offer a few remarks on their attempts to evangelize the 
 Heathen. It is certainly a gratifying fact that Paris 
 should have sent forth Protestant Missionaries to Africa. 
 In consequence of the late Revolution, these devoted men 
 were placed in great pecuniary difficulties, and were obliged 
 to appeal for help to their friends in England and at the 
 Cape; but it may be hoped that now the crisis of their 
 trials has gone by, and that they will still be able to main- 
 tain their operations, which have already been crowned 
 with considerable success. We have no wish to monopolise 
 the conversion of South Africa. The field is extensive, and 
 the work is great; and there is therefore ample room for 
 the labours of all who have a disposition to go and scatter 
 the good seed of life. Let France send forth her Mission- 
 aries; and let Germany send forth hers; and let America, 
 if she will, also send forth hers: and yet the churches of 
 Great Britain may multiply their agents to any extent 
 they please; nor need any jealousy arise among the 
 different Societies relative to results, since all will have 
 their share in the harvest that shall finally be reaped. 
 
 The Paris Missionary Society has at present nine or ten 
 stations, chiefly situated in the Bechuana-land, and employs 
 ten Missionaries, three assistants, a printer, and a physician. 
 On the Moriah station, most of the inhabitants of which 
 are Basutus, the members of the church number upwards 
 of a hundred, whilst those who attend the public services 
 of the sanctuary exceed four hundred and fifty. The total 
 number of communicants under the care of the Missionaries
 
 190 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 is nearly six hundred, and the number of scholars in the 
 several schools is upwards of eleven hundred. The influence 
 of Christianity is beginning to be felt by the Basutus to a 
 very great extent. Moshesh, the Chief, though not decidedly 
 a Christian, is an enlightened man; and two of his sons, 
 with one of whom I became acquainted on his visit to the 
 Colony, are converts to the faith of Christ, and are zealously 
 engaged in propagating that faith amongst their people. 
 The younger of them received, at his baptism, the name of 
 David. One of his companions, who was baptized at the 
 same time, owed his religious impressions to a terrific 
 storm which occurred whilst he was attending his father's 
 flocks. In his alarm, he cried, " Heavenly Father, whom 
 the whites of Thaba Bossiou proclaim ! " He then put his 
 little shield upon the ground, knelt down, and said, " Je- 
 hovah, I do not know thee; but have pity upon me, and 
 permit me to return to my father and mother." From 
 that time he became a faithful follower of Christ. 
 
 The state of a Heathen's mind, feeling after God, if haply 
 he might find him, is beautifully illustrated in the following 
 narration, given by a Basutu convert : "Your news, white 
 man, are what I wanted and sought for before I knew you, 
 as you shall judge for yourself. A dozen years ago I went, 
 in a cloudy season, to pasture my flock along the Tlotse, 
 among the Maloutis. Seated on a rock in sight of my 
 sheep, I asked myself sad questions, yes, sad, because I 
 could not answer them. 'The stars, who touched them with 
 his hand] on what pillars do they rest? The waters are 
 not weary; they know no other law than that of running 
 without ceasing at night and morning alike; but where do 
 they stop, or who makes them thus run? The clouds also 
 go, return, and fall in water on the earth; whence do they 
 arise? who sends them 1 ? It surely is not the Barokas who 
 give us the rain; for how could they make it? and why 
 do not I see them when they raise themselves to heaven 
 in search of it 1 I cannot see the wind ; but what is it in 
 itself? who brings it, or removes it, makes it blow, roar, 
 rebound, and frighten us? Do I know how the corn 
 grows? Yesterday nothing was visible in my field; to-day
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 191 
 
 I return thither, and I find it. It is very small, scarcely 
 perceptible, but it gradually increases and developes itself, 
 as a young man grows : who can have given the ground 
 wisdom and power to produce it 1 ?' Then I buried my fore- 
 head in my hands. Again I reflected with myself, saying, 
 'We all depart, but this country remains; it remains alone, 
 for we all quit it to go away; but whither do we go?' My 
 heart said, ' Perhaps there exist other men besides us : we 
 shall go to them.' A second time it said, 'Perhaps those men 
 live under the earth : when we depart hence, we may go 
 to join them.' But another thought arose, 'Those men under 
 the earth, whence came they 1 ?' On this my heart could 
 think no longer: it wandered. In its turn my conscience 
 spoke to me, saying, 'All men do much evil; and thou, thou 
 also, hast done much evil: woe to thee!' I recalled many 
 wrongs that I had done to others; and because of them 
 my conscience gnawed me, as I sat solitary on the rock, 
 and I was afraid. I got up, and ran after my sheep, en- 
 deavouring to enliven myself; but I trembled much."* 
 
 Here were a few scintillations of the light of nature, 
 but they only served to make the darkness visible. Ques- 
 tions such as these will frequently arise in the mind of an 
 untutored Heathen ; but he repairs to nature's oracle for an 
 answer to them, in vain. Man needs the light of Revela- 
 tion; and until that light breaks upon his vision, ignorance 
 enthralls him, and superstition holds him under its potent 
 spell. 
 
 The Missions of the Wesleyan Society among the Bechu- 
 anas have not been less successful than those of the Paris 
 Society. To some of them we have referred already, and 
 would only add, that they now number upwards of seven 
 hundred church members, and nearly one thousand scholars 
 and catechumens, whilst about one hundred and twenty active 
 agents are employed in the spread of Christianity, in addi- 
 tion to the regularly ordained Missionaries. If our limits 
 would permit, we could relate many facts connected with the 
 establishment and progress of these Missions of a highly in- 
 teresting character. Much toil and self-denial were endured 
 * ArbousseL
 
 192 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 by those who laid the foundations of the work ; and those who 
 have succeeded them are men of zeal, courage, and perseve- 
 rance ; and now a superstructure is being raised, which gives 
 promise of a noble and extensive edifice, a spiritual temple, 
 which will be filled and animated with the presence of the 
 Holy One. Further westward than the Wesleyan and French 
 Missions, are those of the London Missionary Society, which 
 have also, after many years of patient labour, been emi- 
 nently successful in the elevation of the native tribes. 
 The work of Mr. Moffat, which is in the hands of every 
 one interested in the history of Christian Missions, gives 
 a very full account of the triumphs gained by that Society, 
 and of the aspect which its labours now assume. I had 
 the pleasure of meeting with that eminent Missionary 
 in Graham's Town, on his return from England, and 
 shall never forget the impression which his addresses, on 
 one or two occasions, made upon my mind. How joyous 
 was the welcome he received at Kuruman, when, after an 
 absence of three or four years, he appeared again among 
 his flock ! " For many successive weeks," he observes, "the 
 station continued to be a scene of bustle, the great influx 
 of strangers and believers from the different out-stations, 
 made us feel something like what we did among the ex- 
 citements of England. At one time there were not fewer 
 than twenty waggons belonging to Bechuanas, which had 
 arrived laden with visiters, including almost every member 
 of the Batlapi royal family, besides several subordinate 
 Chiefs. Mothibi, the old King, stooping with age, came 
 with his wife Mahuto, on whose brow the evening shades 
 of life were fast spreading, both members of Christ's mys- 
 tical body, a brother and sister beloved. Here they were 
 met by their children from Lekatlong, who had come with 
 a company from that place, including the native Teacher 
 Gasibonoe. Mothibi's son and Regent, from Borigelong, 
 and also his uncle, Mahura, the influential Chief at Taung, 
 with their respective trains of followers, came to bid us 
 welcome. The most perfect harmony prevailed. We had 
 the Communion of the Lord's Supper with about four 
 hundred persons."
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 193 
 
 Among the labours of Christian Missionaries in this part 
 of South Africa, as well as in Kaffraria, that of forming 
 Grammars of the languages of the people^ and of transla- 
 ting and printing the Sacred Scriptures, is one of 
 the most valuable. The dialects spoken by the Bechuana 
 tribes are closely allied to the Kaffir dialects, the grammati- 
 cal construction being the same, though the roots of the 
 words are often different. The alliteral family of languages in 
 which both the Kaffir and Bechuana dialects are included, 
 extends, as we have before observed, through a very large 
 portion of the interior of the continent, having been traced 
 beyond the equator to the second degree of north latitude. 
 The Bechuana dialects are divided into two classes, which 
 have been called respectively the Sisuto and the Sitlapi, the 
 chief difference between them consisting in consonantal 
 changes; the Sisuto dialects being softer and nearer the 
 Kaffir, than the Sitlapi. " The strong guttural of the 
 latter, is a soft aspirate in the former, whilst there are se- 
 veral other mutations, such as b, sh, and tk, into /; ts into 
 p, and sometimes k; and r into I, and sometimes s; which 
 tend to render the enunciation of the Sisuto dialect more 
 melodious and pleasant than that of the Sitlapi." * Both 
 these dialects contain several sub-divisions, which vary from 
 one another in different degrees. The Sisuto dialects are 
 chiefly spoken by those tribes who occupy the eastern 
 portions of the Bechuana-land ; as for example, the Basutus. 
 the Batlokwa or Mantatees, the Batau, and many other 
 tribes further to the north : the Sitlapi dialects are spoken 
 by the Barolongs, the Batlapis, the Baharutsi, and others, 
 who inhabit the western part of this extensive territory. 
 In both these dialects the basis of a literature has been 
 formed. The first grammar of the Sichuana language, a 
 term under which all the dialects of both classes are inclu- 
 ded, was published by the Rev. J. Archbell, in the year 
 1837, adapted to the Sitlapi, and other western dialects; 
 and the second by the Rev. E. Cassalis, adapted to the 
 
 Essays on the languages of South Africa, in the " South African 
 Christian Watchman," by the Rev. J. W. Appleyard. 
 
 K.
 
 194 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 eastern, in 1841. In the Sitlapi dialect Mr. Moffat printed, 
 when in England, the whole of the New Testament, and 
 the book of Psalms, together with a Hymn-book, and several 
 other works; and from the Wesleyan Mission press have 
 issued several portions of the Scriptures, both of the Old 
 and New Testament, in the Siralong and the Sisuto dialects. 
 Thus one of the first and greatest difficulties that present 
 themselves before a Christian Missionary when he enters 
 among a people having no written language, has been over- 
 come : and now he may, with comparatively little trouble, 
 acquire a knowledge of the Sichuana dialects; and then, 
 without the aid of an interpreter, proclaim the word of 
 life. And when it is remembered that these dialects are 
 spoken so extensively, how important will the success that 
 has attended the labours of the Christian Missionary in 
 this department of his work appear! A key has been 
 furnished to the languages of all, or nearly all, the tribes 
 and nations of South-Eastern Africa; and the man of 
 science, or the Christian Minister, who is in possession of 
 this key may unlock the stores of knowledge and of truth 
 to thousands who are wrapt in ignorance and gloom. 
 
 By the Griquas, the Bastaards, and many of the Koran- 
 nas, the Dutch language is spoken, and will probably extend 
 among the Bechuanas. Many of the Dutch Boors who 
 left the Cape Colony a few years ago, have settled on the 
 banks of the Vaal and other rivers, where, for a considerable 
 period, they have greatly annoyed the rightful proprietors 
 of the soil, and occasioned strife and war to a very wide 
 extent. The Colonial Government has been frequently 
 obliged to interfere, and on one or two occasions to send 
 troops into the country to suppress the spirit of revolt. 
 Into the details of events that occurred during my residence 
 in the Colony it is unnecessary that I should enter; but the 
 reports that often reached us of the state of the Bechuana- 
 land were most alarming; and sometimes we were appre- 
 hensive lest the Missionaries and their families, as well 
 as the native tribes, should suffer. In 1845 a British Re- 
 sident was sent into the country, with a view to the 
 establishment of authority and order; but the emigrants
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 195 
 
 were dissatisfied; and the most inveterate enmity existing 
 between them and the Griquas, they took up arms against 
 them, and afterwards threatened an attack upon Moshesh 
 and the Basutus. In this unsettled state the country re- 
 mained until the arrival at the Cape of the present Governor, 
 Sir Harry Smith, who, after the establishment of peace 
 between the Colony and Kaffraria, proceeded to the Bechu- 
 ana-land, where he held interviews with many of the 
 leading Boors, and with the principal Chiefs of the 
 country, in order, if possible, to settle, on a permanent 
 basis, the relationship between the two contending parties. 
 It was acknowledged " that peace, harmony, and tran- 
 quillity could neither be established nor maintained, with- 
 out the existence of some great paramount authority ;" and 
 therefore, with the full concurrence of the Chiefs Moshesh, 
 Moroko, and Adam Kok, and in accordance with the wish 
 of at least the best-disposed of the Dutch emigrants, the 
 whole of the country beyond the great Orange River as 
 far north as the Vaal River, and as far east as the Quathlamba 
 mountains, was proclaimed under the sovereignty of Her 
 Majesty the Queen.* 
 
 This proclamation does not interfere with the hereditary 
 rights of the native Chiefs; it protects and upholds them: 
 but it places all British subjects, living in these territories, 
 under British law, granting them, at the same time, the 
 privileges of citizens, and all other advantages civil and 
 political, which, in their peculiar circumstances they can 
 enjoy. They are to pay to the native Chiefs whose lands 
 they occupy an annual quit-rent, and to cultivate towards 
 them amity and friendship. All the Missionary stations in 
 the country are under the especial protection of Her Ma- 
 jesty; and countenance will be given to every effort to 
 extend the blessings of civilization and Christianity through 
 this extensive region. 
 
 The results of this important measure it is impossible to 
 foresee. That they will be highly beneficial, few perhaps 
 
 * See the Blue Book containing the Correspondence of Sir H. 
 Smith with the Home Government, July, 1848. 
 K2
 
 196 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 will be disposed to doubt. Already European towns and 
 villages are beginning to rise up in several localities which 
 were formerly but barren wastes; and the tide of civilization 
 will flow onward through the native tribes until it reaches 
 even the borders of the newly-discovered lake. Providence 
 has called Great Britain to the performance of a great 
 work in South Africa. He has given her the colonies of 
 the Cape and Port-Natal; He has permitted her to plant 
 her standard in Kaffraria; and He has granted her "the 
 northern sovereignty" that she may diffuse the inestimable 
 blessings of the Gospel, elevate the barbarian, and establish 
 peace. If she is faithful to her trust, she will be had in 
 honour by nations yet unborn: if she is unmindful of it, 
 her possessions will be wrested from her, and her glory will 
 depart. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PORT-NATAL. EMIGRATION, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS. 
 
 Necessity of emigration. The colonies of Great Britain. The 
 Cape colony, &c. Its fertility. Cultivation of cotton. Sheep. 
 Exportation of wool. Port-Natal. Its position. Colonized by the 
 Dutch East India Company. The Dutch farmers in 1836. Their 
 attempts to establish an independent Government at Natal. Inter- 
 ference of the British Government. Extent of Natal. Division 
 into districts. Soil. Climate. Geology. Cotton Company. 
 Native tribes. Efforts to improve them. Advice on the subject of 
 emigration. Who should emigrate. Importance of Christian 
 emigration. Remarks on convictism. Prospects for the future. 
 Concluding observations. 
 
 THE resources of a country are not illimitable. However 
 rich its soil, and however industrious its inhabitants, it can 
 only sustain a given amount of population. When, therefore, 
 population multiplies more rapidly than the means of support, 
 there will necessarily be a scarcity of food ; and, consequently, 
 among the labouring classes of the community, a large amount
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 197 
 
 of distress, which will gradually increase with their increasing 
 numbers. 
 
 Now, that Great Britain has arrived at a point beyond 
 which her resources cannot be multiplied, is by no means 
 evident. If, indeed, this were the case, her prospects would 
 be fearful; for with all the checks to the increase of her 
 population, arising from emigration, or any other source, it 
 cannot be doubted that, with occasional exceptions, her 
 population is increasing, annually, to the amount of several 
 thousands. But, though she could sustain a much larger 
 number of inhabitants than she now does, her resources 
 are not developed with that rapidity with which she 
 multiplies her population; and hence the difficulties which 
 hundreds feel, in their efforts to obtain a subsistence for 
 their families. In every branch of trade competition is so 
 great, that the complaint is often made, that it is scarcely 
 possible for an honest man to live; and, among the working 
 classes, there are multitudes who are destitute of employ- 
 ment four days out of six. 
 
 The' question then arises, and becomes one of deep 
 national interest, What can be done to relieve her of these 
 difficulties ] One mode of relief is found in the establish- 
 ment of colonies in lands but very imperfectly occupied, and 
 whose resources, probably most abundant, have, as yet, been 
 scarcely opened up. This method has been adopted from 
 the earliest ages. " It was customary," says Schlegel, "when 
 the population became too numerous, for the younger 
 brethren, or a certain number of youths chosen by lot, to 
 quit their country, under the guidance of a leader of their 
 choice, or of one marked out by fame; and, proceeding on 
 an expedition of adventure, conquer other homes for them- 
 selves, and seek out their fortunes towards the east or 
 towards the west, or beneath the fairer sky of a southern 
 region. Even in a more advanced, nay, in the most 
 advanced, stage of civilization, every state and nation is 
 necessitated by nature, if I may so speak, to disburden 
 itself of a redundant population, and to extend itself in new 
 settlements, in one word, to found colonies, and to possess 
 them. This is the standing law, the fundamental rule
 
 198 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 of health, in the progressive development of nations; and 
 where this necessity does not exist in an equal degree, we 
 must consider it only a case of exception, and we shall be 
 sure to find out that some special cause precludes the 
 operation of this principle for a time; for, sooner or later, 
 nature will force us to this expedient." 
 
 Great Britain already possesses colonies, some of them 
 the finest in the world. It was once thought that they were 
 an encumbrance to her, costing more than they were worth : 
 but this opinion is now discarded; and it is generally 
 admitted that she owes much of her prosperity, as well as 
 of her power and greatness, to her vast colonial empire. 
 She holds possessions in almost every latitude. Her sons 
 are spreading themselves in every portion of the globe. 
 The wealth of India is hers ; and the fifth continent of the 
 globe, with its multitude of islands, is under her control; 
 considerable portions of America still own her sway; and 
 in both Western and Southern Africa she has planted her 
 standard, and established her authority. To the question, 
 How has she gained these vast accessions? it is not needful 
 to advert. In some instances they may have been won by 
 power, not always mindful of justice; but, be this as it may, 
 they are now in her possession, and it is impossible that 
 she should abandon them, even were she so disposed. Her 
 children, then, oppressed by poverty at home, or unable to 
 procure a decent maintenance, may betake themselves to 
 other lands, where industry is demanded and will meet 
 with its reward, and where brighter prospects are presented 
 to their view. Australia is comparatively unpeopled. The 
 Canadas are far from being filled. And the Cape of Good 
 Hope and Port-Natal, as well as the islands at our antipodes, 
 are earnestly inviting the emigrant to their shores. 
 
 But the love of country is deeply fixed in the human 
 heart, and men are not easily induced to leave their father- 
 land. Besides which, as Dr. Arnold has observed, "ignorant 
 persons are unwilling to emigrate, because they know 
 nothing of the country to which they are urged to go, nor 
 of the nature of the journey to it. The sea with all its 
 wonders is, in the first place, a great terror to them; but
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 199 
 
 suppose the voyage over, still their minds can find nothing 
 to rest upon. The face of the country, the climate, the 
 society, the way of living, the work which they may be 
 called to do, all are strange and incomprehensible; and 
 whatever their distress may be at home, still they would 
 rather endure it than wrench themselves from all that they 
 know, to venture upon a new world, in which there is not 
 a single object, animate or inanimate, from which they can 
 expect a friendly welcome." These difficulties are, however, 
 being rapidly removed; the former by the pressure of the 
 times, and the latter by the spread of knowledge and 
 information. Thousands annually forsake these islands, 
 with very few prospects of ever beholding them again ; and 
 thousands more are ready to depart, could they be assured 
 that the enterprise would be attended with success. Which 
 of our colonies shall we choose ? is a question that also 
 presents itself to the mind. " We cannot maintain our 
 families with comfort in this country," we have heard it 
 said by several individuals ; " and we therefore think of 
 emigrating. Whither would you advise us to go ? Within 
 what latitude shall we take up our abode?" 
 
 Without intending any disparagement to the rest of our 
 colonial possessions, we would offer a few observations 
 relative to the Cape of Good Hope, and the territories 
 connected with it, believing that, notwithstanding some 
 disadvantages, it possesses claims on the attention of those 
 who are looking forward to emigration for themselves, and 
 on this country generally, quite equal to those of some 
 other colonies which are at present much more popular. 
 The British public has not been favourably impressed 
 respecting it; for, whilst Australia, New-Zealand, and the 
 Canadas have had their advocates in Parliament, and have 
 been frequently described in glowing terms in the popular 
 periodicals of the day, few individuals possessed of much 
 influence have felt interested in the welfare of South Africa, 
 and but comparatively little information has been diffused 
 relative to its character. Thus, while two hundred and forty- 
 eight thousand and eighty-nine persons, under the auspices of 
 Government, emigrated from this country during the year
 
 200 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 1848, of these only one thousand four hundred and forty-five 
 proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope.* And yet there 
 can be very little doubt that, independently of Natal, 
 which is a separate province, and still more valuable than 
 its eldest sister, the Cape would annually absorb a population 
 flowing into it from other shores, of four or five thousand. 
 
 For a general description of the Colony, and more par- 
 ticularly of the Eastern Province, we must refer the reader 
 to our second chapter. Of the Western Province, as a field 
 for emigration, we cannot speak in very favourable terms; 
 though at Cape-Town the industrious will soon gain employ- 
 ment; and few places are to be found possessing greater 
 advantages of a moral and religious kind, than this. The 
 Editor of the " Commercial Advertiser," a journal published 
 in that city, referring lately to the progress of education and 
 its beneficial tendencies, affirms that "there was not a single 
 sinner, old or young, presented at the last Quarterly Sessions, 
 from the twenty-five thousand inhabitants of Cape-Town ; a 
 town holding many thousands of emancipated slave and 
 prize Negroes; a seaport-town, also, abounding in brandy 
 and tobacco shops." Such a testimony could not be given 
 respecting many towns in England. The Western Province 
 generally, however, is not so promising to the emigrant as 
 the Eastern ; and to this part of the country, and Natal, 
 our remarks will be principally confined. 
 
 To the fertility of the soil we have alluded in several of 
 the preceding chapters. Considerable portions of it are 
 
 * In the Lusiad of Camoens, there is a most graphic description of 
 a monstrous phantom, with which Vasco de Gama and his companions 
 come in contact when doubling the promontory of the Cape, and 
 which heing asked, "What art thou?" answers, 
 
 " I am the Spirit of that mighty Cape 
 So long conceal' d now call'd ' the Cape of Storms,' 
 Unknown to all philosophers of old, 
 To Strabo, Pliny, and to Ptolemy. 
 The whole of Africa's extended coast 
 I terminate with this, till now unseen, 
 Projecting land, which towards the' Antarctic Pole 
 Extends, and which you impiously invade." 
 
 One would think that this phantom were still there ; but really, no 
 one need to fear it, if it is.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 201 
 
 alluvial, and its productions are both numerous and abun- 
 dant. Wheat of the finest quality, barley, oats, rye, Indian 
 corn, and millet, grow in many parts of the Colony, most 
 luxuriantly. It is true that the country is subject to long 
 periods of drought, and that it is intersected by very few 
 rivers that can be made available for irrigation, without 
 considerable expense : hence the farmers' crops are depend- 
 ent on contingencies, and sometimes fail entirely; but one 
 bad season is often succeeded by a good one, when, watered 
 by abundant showers, the earth brings forth in plenty. 
 The time will probably come when grain will be exported 
 from the Cape in large quantities. Skill and labour are 
 required to improve the capabilities of the soil; and they 
 will meet with ample recompence in the course of time. 
 What the application of agricultural chemistry might effect 
 in such a country as South Africa, it is impossible to surmise. 
 Fruit is likewise plentiful. Grapes, oranges, figs, peaches, 
 pomegranates, if not indigenous to the climate, flourish 
 luxuriantly under proper cultivation; whilst many other 
 fruits grow wild, some of which are valuable for domestic 
 purposes; as, for example, the Cape gooseberry, (physalis 
 pvhescens^) and several kinds of blackberries. In the 
 market fruit is cheap; but vegetables, on the contrary, are 
 scarce and dear. This, however, is owing, not to the un- 
 suitableness of the soil or climate to produce them, but 
 rather to the want of labour. When the ground is well 
 supplied with water, and proper attention is bestowed on 
 them, vegetables of all kinds flourish. In a communication 
 now before me, it is stated, that in the neighbourhood of 
 Sidbury, a rising village between Port-Elizabeth and 
 Graham's Town, five roots of the common potatoe, in a 
 light alluvial soil, yielded seven hundred and nine tubers, 
 weighing upwards of thirty-four pounds. Asparagus grows 
 wild in various parts of the Colony. In reference to the 
 botany of the country, we may quote the observations of 
 the traveller Burchell: "All that I had pictured to myself 
 respecting the riches of Cape botany was far surpassed by 
 what I saw in one day's walk. At every step a different 
 plant appeared ; and it is not an exaggerated description of 
 
 K5
 
 202 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 the country, if it should be compared to a botanic garden 
 neglected and left to grow in a state of nature. As I walked 
 along, I could not divest myself of feelings of regret, that at 
 every step my foot crushed some beautiful plant." 
 
 The attention of the colonists resident on the coast is 
 now being directed to the cultivation of the cotton-plant : 
 and an Association has recently been formed in Graham's 
 Town, the objects of which are, to procure supplies of seed 
 from various parts of the world, to diffuse information as 
 to the best modes of culture, and to introduce suitable 
 machinery for cleaning the raw material The cotton-plant 
 will grow along a line of coast twenty miles in breadth, 
 from Algoa-Bay to Port-Natal ; and there can be little doubt 
 that this valuable commodity would soon become an article 
 of export from the shores of Southern Africa in considerable 
 quantities, were commercial men, interested in its growth, 
 to lend their aid in the forming of plantations. To the 
 manufacturing districts of Great Britain the cotton trade is 
 so important, that it constitutes the basis of their pros- 
 perity. "Let Glasgow flourish," has been interpreted, 
 " Success to the cotton trade." " Cotton," says a writer in the 
 British Quarterly Review, " is of more consequence to Great 
 Britain than any other raw produce, excepting corn, and 
 perhaps iron. Indeed, a proper supply of cotton-wool, of 
 good quality, and at a cheap rate, may be shown to be a 
 matter of more vital concern to the northern Englishman 
 than even cheap corn." And after an elaborate dissertation 
 on the growth of cotton in India and America, the writer 
 asks, "But are there no other climes, no other soils, warmed 
 by the 'bright circle of the sun,' if not equally, yet excel- 
 lently, suited to produce the same material]" The answer 
 is, Yes. Our hitherto despised possessions in South Africa 
 would furnish us with the article. A virgin soil there 
 waits to receive the seed; and labour, skill, and capital are 
 alone required to establish a new field for the production 
 of this article. Intended emigrants would do well to study 
 this question, and to make themselves acquainted with the 
 theory of cotton-growing, in order to fit themselves for 
 future practice; for it is not improbable that many who
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 203 
 
 leave these shores for Albany or Port-Natal will find it 
 advantageous to employ their energies in the cultivation of 
 this useful plant. 
 
 But vast tracts of land, especially in the upper districts 
 of the Colony, will never be suitable for anything but 
 pasturage. The rearing of cattle and of sheep must 
 therefore be the principal business of the Cape farmer. At 
 present, I believe this branch of industry proves the most 
 remunerative. Wool is now the most important article of 
 export from the Colony; and the Cape wools have realized 
 in the London markets prices nearly equal to those of the 
 finest texture from Australia. The quantity now annually 
 shipped from Port-Elizabeth considerably exceeds two 
 millions of pounds.* But the best sheep-walks in the 
 country are either already occupied, or can only be obtained 
 at high prices: hence, generally speaking, none but capi- 
 talists, going to the Cape, are able to enter into this 
 department of labour; shepherds, however, and superin- 
 tendents of farms, obtain very fair wages, and have com- 
 monly some interest in the increase of the flocks. Let not 
 the intended emigrant speculate, on any account, in the 
 purchase of land whilst in this country. Until he arrives 
 at the Cape, he is not in a position to judge of the real 
 value of a farm, and may easily be deceived. English 
 farming, and farming in a country like South Africa, are 
 two very different things. There are considerable quantities 
 of Crown Land yet undisposed of, the upset price of which 
 is two shillings per acre, and upwards; but the character of 
 it depends upon the locality, and a variety of other circum- 
 stances, which can only be understood upon the spot. 
 
 It was never my lot to visit Port-Natal, although, when 
 travelling in Kaffraria, I was but a short distance from it ; 
 but as it is now attracting so much of the attention of the 
 public, and as several events connected with its history 
 occurred during my residence in the country, a few remarks 
 
 * The quantity of wool shipped direct from Port-Elizabeth during 
 the year 1848, was 2,079,968 Ibs., the valueof which was 86,010. The 
 total value of the colonial exports for that year was 1 44,992, and of 
 the imports for consumption, 311,504.
 
 204 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 respecting it, in connexion with the question of emigration, 
 may not be inappropriate. 
 
 This Colony is situated on the eastern coast of Africa, 
 between the twenty-eighth and thirty-first parallels of 
 south latitude, and is bounded on the south by the Amam- 
 pondo country, on the north by the territory of the Zulus, 
 on the west by the Quathlamba mountains, and on the 
 east by the Indian Ocean. A more favourable position 
 for trade and commerce cannot be desired. Its proximity 
 to the Mauritius and to the island of Madagascar; the 
 readiness with which communication might be established 
 with Australia and the isles of the Pacific; and the advan- 
 tages it affords as a place of call for ships trading in the 
 East, can scarcely fail to render it a prosperous and thriving 
 Colony. 
 
 Its history is briefly told. About ninety years after the 
 discovery of the Cape, Port-Natal was visited by a Portu- 
 guese navigator of the name of Perestrello, who gave a very 
 flattering description of its beauty and fertility; and, in the 
 year 1689, the Dutch East India Company, having pur- 
 chased of the aborigines a large tract of land, founded a 
 settlement under the jurisdiction of Holland. Little is 
 known of the success of that enterprise; but the Colony 
 continued in the hands of the Dutch until the year 1814, 
 when both it and the Cape were ceded to the British Crown. 
 No further attempts, however, were made to colonize Natal, 
 except by private individuals ; for although it was described 
 by those who visited it, as a most enchanting country, the 
 British Government did not deem it right to encourage 
 enterprise, or to promote emigration to a land so far away. 
 
 But in the year 1836 an event occurred, fraught with 
 the highest interests to our possessions in South Africa, 
 though viewed at the time with comparative indifference. 
 A large number of the Dutch farmers, living chiefly in the 
 Eastern Province of the Cape Colony, having become 
 dissatisfied with the Government, resolved to withdraw 
 themselves from under its jurisdiction, and, disposing of 
 their lands for comparatively trifling sums, took their 
 families, their flocks, and their herds, and crossed the
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 205 
 
 boundary, with a view to establish themselves in the country 
 to the north-east. Here some of them were attacked by 
 the Zulu Chiefs, Matzilikatzi and Dingaan, and suffered 
 great disasters; others crossed the Tugela, and settled in 
 Natal, where they attempted to establish an independent 
 Government, in its character decidedly republican. 
 
 These circumstances compelled the British Government 
 at the Cape to interfere; and in the year 1842 a Commis- 
 sioner was sent from Cape-Town to Natal to take possession 
 of the country, and to establish British law. The Commis- 
 sioner was accompanied by a military force, under the 
 command of Captain Smith. I remember well the day that 
 the troops set out upon their journey from Graham's Town. 
 All was bustle and excitement ; and not a little anxiety was 
 experienced relative to the reception that would be given 
 them at Natal. The farmers had threatened to resist 
 them ; but hopes were entertained that they would receive 
 them peacefully, and submit to the terms which the Govern- 
 ment would propose. But these hopes proved to be delu- 
 sive. The troops, whose numbers were but small, marched 
 through Kaffraria, and through the territories of Faku and 
 'Ncapai, as friends ; but on their arrival at Natal, they found 
 the Boors in an attitude of the most determined opposition ; 
 and it was with difficulty that Captain Smith was able to 
 throw up an entrenchment, within which he might defend 
 himself, ere they made an attack upon his men, and 
 threatened their destruction. Here, for several weeks, he 
 was obliged to act on the defensive; and, being unable to 
 obtain supplies, was at length reduced to the necessity of 
 shooting his horses, and taking them for food. Fortunately 
 he found means of communicating with the Cape : an 
 individual succeeded in eluding, under cover of the night, 
 the vigilance of the Boors, and, mounting a horse, set off 
 on a journey to Graham's Town through Kaffraria, calling 
 at the Mission stations in that country, and obtaining such 
 assistance as he required. The intelligence communicated 
 by this individual roused the authorities to action, and a 
 force was immediately dispatched, by sea, for the relief of 
 Captain Smith and his gallant little band. The Boors
 
 206 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 again resisted; but the landing of the forces was easily 
 effected under the guns of a ship of war, the enemy soon 
 put to the rout, and Captain Smith relieved. 
 
 Some of the leaders in this rebellion fled, and rewards 
 were offered for their apprehension. The country was then 
 formally proclaimed British territory, and such measures 
 adopted as were requisite to place it under proper govern- 
 ment. The Boors, however, were obstinate, and resolved that 
 they would not yield allegiance to Great Britain ; and many 
 of them foolishly crossed the Drakenberg, and "trekked" 
 into the interior, or towards the vicinity of Delagoa-Bay. 
 Their principal plea for taking this step was, the uncertain 
 tenure on which they held their lands : but, as subsequent 
 events proved, this ground of complaint might have been 
 speedily removed; for though these farmers had no real 
 right to the lands on which they had settled, yet the 
 Government was not disposed to treat them harshly, and 
 titles would, no doubt, have been granted them in the 
 course of time. But a large amount of rashness exhibited 
 itself in the conduct of the Boors, for which some of them 
 have been called to suffer considerable hardships and 
 privations. When men complain of the tyranny of the 
 law, and try to escape from under its jurisdiction, they 
 often find that their condition is far from being improved, 
 and that if their necks have been delivered from a yoke of 
 wood, it has only been to be placed under a much heavier 
 yoke of iron. 
 
 Letters patent, declaring Port-Natal a British colony, 
 were issued in England in the year 1844; and, in the year 
 following, a Lieutenant-Governor was appointed, to watch 
 over, and direct, its interests. Subsequently, a Legislative 
 Council was granted to the Colony; and now Natal has its 
 own Government, subject, of course, to that of the parent 
 state, and promises to become one of the most valuable 
 dependencies of the British Crown. 
 
 Natal embraces an area of about eighteen thousand square 
 miles; so that it is somewhat more than half the size of 
 Ireland. This territory has been divided into six districts, 
 to which magistracies have been appointed, and in which
 
 SOOTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 207 
 
 sites for towns and villages have been selected, destined 
 perhaps to become places of considerable importance, where 
 trade will flourish, and the flag of commerce wave, and 
 sanctuaries rise up to bless both a native, and an Anglo- 
 Saxon, population. The division of D'Urban includes the 
 magnificent bay, twelve miles in length and three in 
 breadth, in which vessels find a haven and a port, as 
 peaceful, if not yet so busy, as any on our native coasts. A 
 bar of sand, however, crosses the narrow entrance of this 
 bay, so that larger ships cannot enter without danger; but 
 it is probable that this difficulty will, to a considerable 
 extent at least, be overcome. The town of D'Urban is 
 situated on the margin of the bay, and begins already to 
 assume a very promising appearance. The entire district 
 is exceedingly rich and fertile, is well supplied with water, 
 and produces cotton, indigo, the sugar-cane, barley, oats, 
 and vegetables in abundance. The scenery is described by 
 those who have witnessed it; as most enchanting, and the 
 reports in general of this part of the country are such as to 
 awaken the most romantic visions. Considerable portions 
 of it are inhabited by natives; but they are British sub- 
 jects, and are, moreover, peaceful, and disposed to work. 
 In the forests of mangroves, which exist in this locality, 
 a more formidable neighbour takes up his abode, the 
 elephant; but before the advancing tide of civilization he 
 will " trek," as the Boors call it, into the interior. 
 
 The district of Pieter-Mauritzberg lies inland, and is a fine 
 grazing-country, especially for larger cattle; that of the 
 Umvoti joins the sea, to the eastward of the division of 
 D'Urban, and is described as suitable both for agriculture and 
 grazing ; and the divisions of Impafane, the Upper Tukela, 
 and Umzingati, though differing in some respects one from 
 another, are all similar in character, fertile and productive, 
 and capable of sustaining a very considerable population. 
 The town of Pieter-Mauritzberg, situated in the district of 
 that name, is the capital of the Colony, and the head- 
 quarters of the troops. From D'Urban, or the bay, it is 
 distant about fifty miles, and some parts of the road are 
 difficult and rugged; but one of the first results of the
 
 208 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 occupation of the country will doubtless be the improve- 
 ment of this road, which must be an object of very great 
 importance. 
 
 One of the first questions that present themselves to the 
 mind of the intended emigrant respecting the country to 
 which he turns his thoughts, relates to the character of its 
 climate, health being a blessing on which all his hopes 
 depend. Of the climate of Natal it is scarcely possible, 
 according to the testimony of all who have visited the 
 country, to speak too highly. It is evidently superior to 
 that of the Cape, being somewhat more equable, and, in the 
 summer months, less sultry and oppressive. The Quath- 
 lamba mountains, which separate it from the Bechuana- 
 land, and which reach an elevation of from three to nine 
 thousand feet, shelter it considerably from the hot winds of 
 the interior; and, by attracting the clouds, secure for it, 
 during summer, a genial supply of rain. The thermometer 
 during this season of the year ranges as high as 85 in the 
 shade; and during the winter season often reaches 60.* 
 The country is watered by numerous streams and rivers, 
 which in some localities may be led out to irrigate the land 
 with comparatively little difficulty or trouble. It might be 
 supposed that this feature in its character would give rise 
 to malaria, and would have a tendency to produce ague, 
 fever, and dysentery; but this is not the case, diseases of 
 this kind being unknown, except as the result of the 
 improper use of spirituous liquors. 
 
 The Quathlamba mountains are formed of granite, (which 
 also abounds in many of the kloofs and valleys of the inte- 
 rior districts,) and of basalt, greenstone, shale, and feltspar. 
 Sandstone and shale are the prevailing rocks of Pieter- 
 Mauritzberg, and slate of a friable character is found in the 
 immediate vicinity of the capital of that district. Coal has 
 
 * The mean annual temperature of Cape-Town, according to Hum- 
 boldt, and the mean summer and winter temperatures, are expressed 
 by the following notation : 65 7, =53-3 ; in which the number standing 
 before the fraction indicates the mean annual temperature, the 
 numerator the winter, and the denominator the summer temperature. 
 Those of Port- Natal will probably be a little higher.
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 209 
 
 been discovered in two or three localities, and will probably 
 be found to exist in considerable quantities; in which case 
 it will become an article of export to Cape-Town and Port- 
 Elizabeth, and will greatly add to the importance of Natal 
 in a commercial point of view. Limestone rocks occur in 
 various parts of the country, which may be easily rendered 
 available in building. 
 
 The soil, as we have already intimated, is most pro- 
 ductive. " The land in many parts," observes Sir Harry 
 Smith, "is rich and fertile beyond description; capable of 
 producing cotton, tobacco, and, I think, indigo, as the 
 latter plant in its wild state abounds." Maize, oats, and 
 barley, are also cultivated successfully; and coffee, aniseed, 
 and the sugar-cane, will grow luxuriantly.* Mr. Byrne 
 observes that he has visited many climes, has dwelt beneath 
 the burning sun of India, has traversed Australia, visited 
 New-Zealand, and many other lands, but has never seen a 
 country blessed by a bounteous Providence with a more 
 fertile soil than the Colony of Natal. 
 
 For the cultivation of cotton, a joint-stock Company has 
 been formed, with a capital of .20,000, in 2,000 shares, 
 which have been readily taken up by the merchants of 
 the Cape and of Natal. Twenty-five thousand acres of 
 land have been purchased of the Crown, and operations 
 have already been commenced. A number of emigrants 
 from Germany are associated with this scheme, which was 
 partly originated by Mr. Bergtheil, of the firm of Messrs. 
 Jung and Co., who, having obtained an extensive tract of 
 land fifteen miles from D'Urban, induced a considerable 
 number of Germans to leave their native soil and settle in 
 this fertile spot. Here thirty-five families are located, and 
 the number is likely to increase. Large quantities of land 
 are under cultivation, comfortable cottages have been 
 erected, gardens tastefully laid out, a school-room and a 
 place of worship raised, and a Minister engaged, I believe 
 the Rev. Mr. Posselt, formerly a Missionary in Kaffraria, 
 
 * Wheat grows only in the interior districts, twenty or thirty miles 
 from the coast This is the case through the whole of Southern 
 Africa.
 
 210 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 with whom I had the pleasure to meet on several occasions, 
 and who is eminently fitted for the position now assigned 
 him. The success of the Cotton Company is all but certain, 
 if a sufficient amount of labour can be procured to carry 
 out the objects contemplated. 
 
 The question, Is any danger to be apprehended to the 
 Colony from the native tribes 1 is one of great importance. 
 To this inquiry, a very satisfactory reply is furnished by the 
 fact that there are resident within the Colony itself upwards 
 of one hundred thousand natives, the remnants of numerous 
 tribes belonging chiefly to the same class as the Fingoes, men- 
 tioned in a previous chapter, who have taken refuge in the 
 country from the terrible attacks of such savage despots as 
 Chaka and Dingaan. These people have a natural aver- 
 sion to the Zulus, and will form a bulwark of defence 
 against their incursions on the Colony, should they ever 
 threaten an attack. But the present Chief of the Zulu 
 nation, Panda, is disposed to cultivate the friendship of the 
 English, whom he calls his fathers, and in August, 1847, 
 signed a document to that effect, in the presence of an 
 agent of the Government. The continued peace and pros- 
 perity of the Colony will, however, greatly depend upon 
 the efforts made to evangelize the native tribes ; and hence 
 it is gratifying to find that plans are likely to be formed 
 which will tend to elevate them in the scale of social life. 
 A capitation-tax has been laid on all the natives resident 
 within the Colony; respecting which Earl Grey observes, 
 in a despatch addressed to Sir H. Smith, " I consider that 
 tax, to which might be added a quit-rent upon the land 
 which they occupy, to be calculated to be of great use, not 
 only by affording a revenue for the most important pur- 
 poses, such as the establishment of schools and other insti- 
 tutions for their benefit, but also by imposing upon them 
 the necessity of working, in order to obtaining means of 
 paying their taxes." Let schools be established, Christian 
 Missionaries encouraged, and the religious instruction of 
 the native tribes promoted, and they will prove of essential 
 service to the Colony ; not only as labourers, in which 
 capacity many of them are now employed at the rate of
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 211 
 
 four or five Shillings per month, but also as a protective 
 force against the aggressions of the Zulus. Happily 
 Christianity is already established in Natal. The Ameri- 
 can Board of Foreign Missions had an agent there prior 
 to the re-occupation of the country by Great Britain; and 
 since that event the Wesleyan Missionary Society has 
 planted the standard of the Cross, not only at D'Urban 
 and Pieter-Mauritzberg, where chapels have been opened 
 for the public worship of the God of all nations, but also 
 in other localities, where the natives are collected together 
 and instructed, with fidelity and zeal. The Christian emi- 
 grant who may repair to Port-Natal will not find it a scene 
 of desolation where he might sigh in vain for the ordinances 
 of the sanctuary; for the Christian Minister has preceded 
 him, and is there to give him a most cordial welcome. We 
 would advise, however, that parties of emigrants should, if 
 possible, take a Minister with them; for then religious 
 privileges would be multiplied, and the sound of the 
 Pastor's voice be heard in every valley and on every hill 
 One of the strongest temptations in the life of an emigrant 
 is, to become indifferent to religious duties; and hence it is 
 essential that he should have a faithful Pastor near him, 
 and be continually reminded of the importance of eternal 
 things. 
 
 That Natal is an inviting country, there can be no doubt 
 on the minds of unprejudiced individuals. Labour is in great 
 request ; thousands of acres are ready for the plough, which, 
 to patient industry, would yield a rich reward; and towns 
 and villages are rising up, which, in less than half a cen- 
 tury, may become the emporiums of a flourishing and 
 healthy trade. Still I should not advise people to emigrate 
 from England, by far the happiest country in the world, 
 unless their circumstances compel them to the step. If they 
 can obtain a comfortable subsistence here, by all means let 
 them stay ; but if they cannot, and if they have rising 
 families around them, whom they find it difficult to settle 
 in any kind of business, or if indigence and poverty have 
 become their lot, then may they improve their circum- 
 stances by adventuring to a foreign shore. And yet, with
 
 212 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 all the advantages which our colonies in South Africa hold 
 out to emigrants, not one of them is an El-Dorado, where 
 wealth may be obtained, or fortunes realized, in a day. 
 There are metals there, iron, copper, tin; but gold there 
 is not, as in California; and the individual who is deter- 
 mined to be rich, or who would fain get money, without toil 
 and effort, must seek some other field. Whilst we can re- 
 commend them as colonies admirably suited for the patient, 
 the industrious, and the well-disposed, we cannot recommend 
 them to the idle and the dissolute, nor yet to the tender and 
 effeminate. The question, Who should emigrate? is quite 
 as important as the question, Whither should we emigrate? 
 There are some who leave this country for a distant settle- 
 ment, with the erroneous idea, that there, wealth will flow 
 in upon them like a mighty stream; that they will find an 
 abundance of everything they could wish for; and that with 
 very little effort they will be able to maintain a family, 
 and perhaps return to their native shores, in the course of 
 a few years, with their pockets filled with gold. But, 
 
 " 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view." 
 
 And in a few short weeks after their arrival their expecta- 
 tions vanish, and sad disappointment is their lot. But 
 why ? Not because the Colony, as they would represent, is 
 a desert, rather than a paradise; but because they went to 
 it with false notions of its character. Let the intended 
 emigrant entertain moderate expectations. Let him under- 
 stand that neither in the Cape, at Port-Natal, nor in any 
 other colony, is man exempt from the necessity of labour. 
 There is no Eden for him on earth. He must be willing, 
 wherever he fixes his abode, to toil industriously; for "in 
 the sweat of his face shall he eat bread." The emigrant 
 should be an active man, having his energies, both physical 
 and mental, in full vigour, and ready for exercise. He 
 should be a skilful man; should know how to build, and 
 plant, and sow, and reap, or, to use a very homely phrase, 
 " should be ready to turn his hand to anything." He 
 should be a persevering man; not discouraged by minor 
 difficulties, but willing to dig through a tunnel, if necessary,
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 213 
 
 until the light appears at the other end of it. He should 
 be a self-denying man; not too fond of ease, or of the 
 luxuries of refined society, but content to put up with 
 inconveniences; to live, at least for a time, in a wattled 
 cottage, with an earthen floor; to forego the comforts of a 
 well-furnished apartment; and to drink his tea out of a 
 common basin. He will be better off some day, perhaps; 
 but on his entrance into life, as an emigrant on a foreign 
 shore, he must be willing to assume a very humble station, 
 and to ascend gradually, and by gentle steps. And although 
 he may not live to reap the fruits of so much industry, yet 
 he will probably transmit an inheritance to his children, 
 sufficient to raise them to a state of comparative independ- 
 ence : and rich will be his reward, in the decline of life, to 
 know that, by God's blessing on his efforts, his posterity 
 have been placed above the trials of a life of poverty. We 
 know several individuals who emigrated to South Africa 
 some twenty years ago, and who, when they arrived, 
 found themselves without any habitation but a tent, and for 
 weeks, months, and even years, knew little of the comforts 
 they had left behind; and, perhaps, often wished that they 
 were back again in England; but who are now, if not in 
 affluent, yet in easy, circumstances, with rising families 
 around them, whose prospects are as fair as they could well 
 desire, and who would not leave the land of their adoption 
 for the loveliest spot on earth. 
 
 But there is another aspect in which this subject should 
 be viewed. The welfare of our colonies depends consider- 
 ably upon the moral and religious character of those who 
 emigrate. If they are peopled by the refuse of this coun- 
 try, the vicious, idle, and profane, what will they 
 become? Flourishing states and communities they cannot 
 be; for no social system can be consolidated without 
 religion.* Rather will they become hot-beds of anarchy 
 
 * The following remarks are so appropriate and just, that no 
 apology can be required for quoting them. " Christianity, felt to be 
 indispensable to what may be called colonial health, and to the actual 
 preservation of settlements existing under precarious circumstances,
 
 214 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 and strife, where lawlessness will reign, and order be 
 subverted, and a moral pestilence incessantly prevail Let 
 emigration be supported ; but let it be on Christian princi- 
 ples ; for on the moral character of the population that may 
 flow into the Cape for the next half century, is the future 
 welfare of South Africa contingent. In the towns already 
 formed, religious institutions have been established, Christian 
 churches raised, sanctuaries erected, and the worship of the 
 one true God proclaimed; but what if henceforth the 
 
 will be cherished and sustained, wherever the habits of the settlers are 
 of the kind most likely to render a colony permanently prosperous ; 
 while simultaneous settlements, not governed by Christian principles, 
 and within which all the vices of old civilization collapse with the 
 ferocities of savage life, will work their own ruin ; for this mixture of 
 the worst elements of the two forms of society cannot but be self- 
 destructive. Such settlements must run their course take their fate 
 and always pressing as they do toward disorder, dispersion, decay, 
 must ere long become extinct Colonies which, by renouncing the 
 Gospel and contemning its forms, abandon themselves to the miasmas 
 of those swamps, whereinto the old world drains itself, shall die out ; 
 leaving the desecrated wilderness to enjoy its Sabbaths, until a company 
 fearing God, comes to redeem the desolation which Atheism has left as 
 her most significant monument Thus by what may be regarded as a 
 natural process of colonial purification, and especially if aided, as it 
 should be, by the paternal discretion and Christian-like feeling of the 
 Government of a Christian country, the wastes of the earth must 
 gradually be Christianized ; until, the world itself having become at 
 once Christian and English, the very names shall almost be convertible. 
 Can we then refrain our happy and hopeful feelings as Christians, as 
 patriots, and as philanthropists, at a moment when Britain sits at home, 
 like a watchful mother of a rising world ; at a time when, by her 
 direct or by her moral influence, she keeps in awe many whom she 
 does not rule ; and when the sceptre of England has become a symbol 
 of safety, and a pledge of justice to many nations; and when the 
 hand that holds that sceptre is screening from wrong the hut and 
 hearth of savage tribes, on both sides the equator ? At such a time, 
 how does every motive, secular and religious, combine to enhance the 
 earnestness of the desire, that a bright triumph of spiritual Christianity 
 at home, its purification from ancient corruptions, its diflusion among 
 the neglected heathen of our great towns, and not less, its taking anew 
 a firm hold of the convictions of the upper and educated classes; that 
 by all these means, the Gospel, the only hope of man, may, even in 
 our times, plant its banner of love on every shore ; and moreover, 
 that, by the means of England, and through her influence, ' the 
 multitude of the islands' may rejoice, and howling wildernesses be 
 reclaimed, until the old civilized world, hemmed in on all sides by a 
 new and better social order, shall itself be reclaimed and regenerated." 
 Isaac Taylor's " Spiritual Christianity."
 
 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 215 
 
 majority of the adventurers to these shores should be the 
 dissolute and the profane, how deplorable would be the 
 results to the colonists themselves ! how fatal to the 
 interests of the native tribes ! I cannot, therefore, but 
 rejoice at the result of the struggle made by the inhabitants 
 of the Cape against the introduction of convicts into these 
 colonies ; for the European population have enough to 
 contend with in the barbarism of their heathen neighbours, 
 and to have admitted convicts into the country, would have 
 been highly detrimental both to the aborigines and the 
 white inhabitants. 
 
 These Colonies are still unstained by convictism, and we 
 earnestly hope that they may thus remain; and now let 
 Christian emigration be encouraged, and their future pro- 
 spects will then be increasingly hopeful and propitious, their 
 various settlements will prosper, and their inhabitants will 
 do honour to the British name. Whether the Cape will ever 
 become a great country, may be somewhat doubtful Its 
 physical characteristics the want of rivers, bays, and har- 
 bours would intimate the contrary ; yet art and science 
 may considerably improve it. And if the Cape itself pos- 
 sesses disadvantages, what may not Natal become, where 
 they exist in a much smaller degree 1 ? The Ruler of nations 
 has given South Africa to Great Britain ; and she must raise 
 it, civilly, morally, and religiously, until it becomes a noble 
 state, embracing in its generous arms not only a large po- 
 pulation of the Anglo-Saxon race, but the aborigines of the 
 land, rescued by the Gospel from the grasp of Heathenism, 
 and transformed into enlightened Christian tribes. This is 
 the mission of Great Britain to South Africa. It is given, 
 not merely to her merchants, that they may increase their 
 wealth ; to her men of science, that they may study botany 
 and zoology ; to her surplus population, that they may build 
 new cities ; but to her churches and her Ministers, that they 
 may send, or carry, to vast multitudes of Heathens, the 
 glad tidings of redemption. But it will not be by Mis- 
 sionary efforts, merely, that the evangelization of the native 
 tribes will be effected. Christian emigrants must also be 
 the agents of the work. " The harvest truly is plentiful,
 
 216 SOUTH AFRICA DELINEATED. 
 
 but the labourers are few." To persons who have them- 
 selves experienced the regenerating influence of the Gospel, 
 and whose circumstances require that they should leave 
 their father-land, a wide field of usefulness presents itself 
 in South Africa; and there their children and their chil- 
 dren's children might be honourably employed in spreading 
 Christian truth. Let them go, then, not with the motives 
 which actuate the men of this world, to seek a fortune 
 merely, or to improve their' temporal condition, but to do 
 good, to carry out the gracious purposes of Heaven, to be 
 instrumental in the grand and mighty work of evangelizing 
 heathen tribes. Then will the blessing of the Most High 
 go with them; and then may they indulge the hope that 
 He will cause their efforts to succeed. The promise is 
 recorded on the page of inspiration, " In all -thy ways 
 acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy paths." 
 
 In the preparation of these pages conciseness has been 
 studied. To have amplified my illustrations, and to have 
 added many other facts, would have been an easy task ; but 
 the object has been, to keep within certain bounds and 
 limits. Those limits are now reached, and here my remi- 
 niscences of South Africa must close. If it be thought 
 that I have written enthusiastically respecting it, my 
 apology must be, that, having spent several years in the 
 country, (the earliest of my ministerial life,) under some 
 peculiar circumstances, I feel deeply interested in its 
 welfare. But I am not aware of having made any 
 exaggerated statements, either in reference to the prosperity 
 of the Colony, or to the success of Christian Missions. My 
 conviction is, that in many respects the designation given 
 to the Cape, as "the Cape of Good Hope," is as just as it is 
 happy; and now that peace pervades the territory, that 
 the din of war is hushed, the expectation may be enter- 
 tained, that it will become, ere long, one of the most 
 flourishing possessions of the British Crown. 
 
 London-. R. Needham, Printer, Paternoster-Row.
 
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