THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID f A RESlDExNCE 2- / AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, London : Spottiswoode and Shaw, New-street- Square. JOURNAL OF A RESIDENCE THE CAPE OE GOOD HOPE; EXCDESIONS INTO THE INTERIOR, NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY, AND THE NATIVE TRIBES. BY CHARLES J. F. BUNBURY, F.L.S. Foreign Secretary of the Geological Society. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1848. :3B PREFACE. When my friend Sir George Napier was ap- pointed Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, towards the end of the year 1837, his kind- ness afforded me an opportunity of gratifying my taste for natural history, and especially for botany, by visiting, under very favourable circumstances, a country so rich in objects of interest and attraction for a naturalist. I accompanied him to the Cape, and remained there a little more than a year ; during which time I was occupied principally in collecting and examining the natural productions of the country. But my attention, as that of every one in the colony, was also much engaged by the questions connected with the state of the frontier, the policy pursued towards the Gaffers, and the emigration of the Boers or Dutch farmers ; and I noted in my journal whatever I learned respecting them. Not very long after my return to England, I pre- - pared an account of what I had observed at A 3 Ivi304044 VI PKEFACE. the Cape, with a view to publication ; but va- rious circumstances induced me to postpone this design, and afterwards to lay it altogether aside for some years. My botanical observa- tions, however, including local lists of the principal plants I had collected, were commu- nicated to Sir William Hooker, and appeared in the first, second, and third volumes of his '' London Journal of Botany," in the years 1842, 1843, and 1844. As the breaking out of a new Cafi'er war has of late attracted a certain degree of public attention to that interesting and important colony, I have been induced, by the advice of my friends, to resume the intention of pub- lishing my Cape journal, and to prefix to it a short sketch of the history of the colony pre- viously to Sir George Napier's appointment. I have added some chapters, containing a summary of the subsequent progress of the emigrant Boers, and of the settlement at Port Natal,, as also of the transactions with the Cafi*ers down to the commencement of the present war. Much of the information I have been able to communicate on these heads I owe to my friend, Mr. Clarke, formerly of the 72nd regiment, who possesses a more thorough knowledge of the resources and interests of PREFACE. Vil the Cape Colony, and of the condition and character of its inhabitants and its barbarian neighbours, than any one else with whom I am acquainted. For the materials of the last chapter, on the state of education at the Cape, I am indebted entirely to Sir George Napier and Sir John Herschel, both of whom paid particular attention to that important subject. I am happy to be enabled to make known to the public of this country (for the first time, as far as I am aware,) the principles of that admirable system of public instruction for which the Cape was indebted to Sir George Napier, and which will form a lasting and glorious monument of his regard for the wel- fare of the colony. I wish also to express, in the strongest manner, my obligations to Sir John Herschel for his kindness in allowing me to publish the valuable memoir which he pre- pared at Sir G. Napier's request, and which formed the basis of the system afterwards carried into effect by the latter. In what relates to disputed questions of co- lonial policy, and especially to the character and treatment of the Caffers, some incon- sistency may be observed between the opi- nions expressed in my journal, and those in the chapters subsequently written. I went Vlll PREFACE. out to the Cape strongly prepossessed in fa- vour of the views entertained on these subjects by what is called the "religious" party, or that of the missionaries ; and it was only by degrees that my prejudices yielded to a more intimate knowledge of the real state of affairs, and to the influence of subsequent events. I have farther to observe, that, although I en- joyed the advantage of constant and familiar communication with Sir George Napier during the whole of my stay at the Cape, I do not pretend to represent his opinions on these debated points. Except where I expressly state the contrary, I alone am responsible for the views and sentiments expressed in the present work. ChAELES J. F. BUNBURY. November, 184'; CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. (introductory.) Discovery of the Cape of (rood Hope. — Colony founded by the Dutch. — Conquest of it by the English in 1795, and again in 1806, — Transactions with the Natives. -^ The Hottentots. — The Amakosa Caffers, their Origin and Pro- gress. — Dealings of Lord Macartney's Government with the Caffers in 1797. — Their Expulsion from the Zuureveld in 1811.— Treaty with Gaika.— Caffer War of 1819. — Ma- kanna. — Expulsion of Macomo from the Kat River Country. — Hottentot Settlement on the Kat River. — Death of Seko. — Caffer War of 1835. — Death of Hintza. — Sir Benjamin d'Urban's Treaty. — Captain Stockenstrom's Treaty. — Sketch of the Geography of the Cape Colony. . . Page 1 CHAPTER II. Arrival at Cape Town. — Table Mountain. — Mixture of Na- tions. — Waggons. — Dust. — South-Easter. — Government House Gardens. — Botanical Walks. — Scarcity of Animal Life. — Vineyards. — Cape Honeysucker. — Legislative Council. Newspapers. — Green Point.— "The Table Cloth."— Cape Flats. — Colonel Smith, — The Caffers. — Taxation. — Educa- tion. — Public Library. . . . . .49 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. Ascent of Table Mountain. — Mineralogical Observations. — Excursion to Muysenberg. — South-Easter. — Massacre of Boers. — Emigration of the Boers. — Preparations for Jour- ney to the Eastern Frontier. . . . Page 75 CHAPTER IV. Departure from Cape Town. — Flats. — Hottentot Holland. — Sir Lowry's Pass. — Caledon. — Zwellendam Mountains. — Gauritz River. — Karroo. — Long Kloof. — Rademeyer. — Fingoes. — Camtoos River. — Arrival at Port Elizabeth. 88 CHAPTER V. Port Elizabeth. — Bethelsdorp. — Uitenhage. — Tract of Bush. — Sunday River. — Kuruka Mountain. — Bushman's River. — Sheep Farm. — Graham's Town. — Boers. — Winds. — Mountain Chains. — Neighbourhood of Graham's Town. — Makanna. — Course of Policy towards the Caffers. — Fish River Bush. — Wild Animals. — Climate. — Reasons for the Emigration of the Boers. — Retief. — Mode of Fighting of the Boers. ...... 120 CHAPTER VI. Excursion into Cafierland. — Eraser's Camp. — Mutiny of the Hottentot Soldiers. — Fort Peddie. — Conference with the Caffers of the Congo and Tslambie Tribes. — Block Drift. — — Conference with the Gaika Caffers. — Macomo and Tyali. — Queen Sutu. — Fort Armstrong. — Kat River. — Fort Beau- fort. — Return to Graham's Town. — The Hottentots. — Physical Characteristics, Dress, and Weapons of the Caffers. — Caffer Women. — The Fingoes. . . .148 CHAPTER Vn. Botany of the Neighbourhood of Graham's Town. — Departure for Cape Town. — Cradock's Kloof. — George. — Secretary Birds. — Brakke Rivers. — Gauritz River. — Arrival at Cape Town. — Travelling Accommodations. — Manners, Customs, and Characteristics of the Cape Farmers. . .172 CONTENTS. CHAPTER Vm. Residence at Cape Town. — Botany of the Environs. — Ex- cursion to Paarl. — South-west Wind. — News of the Emi- grant Farmers at Natal. — Simon's Bay. • — Sands. — Roads. — Thunder Storm. — Military Force sent to take possession of Port Natal. ..... Page 185 CHAPTER IX. Turtle-doves. — Cape Mole. — Table Mountain. — Plants on its Summit. — Useful Plants of the Cape. — Cultivated Fruits and Vegetables. — The Camp Ground. — Wynberg. — Heaths. — Locusts. — Van der Merwe. — Perverted State of Public Opinion among the Dutch Colonists. — The Natal Expedi- tion. — Snakes. — Concluding Remarks on Cape Botany. 202 CHAPTER X. Transactions at the Cape after the author's Departure. — Recall of the British troops from Port Natal. — War between the Emi- grant Boers and the Zooloos. — Final Success of the Boers. — Their Establishment in the Natal Country, and Assertion of Independence. — Expedition under Captain Smith, — Smith defeated, and besieged in his Camp by the Boers. — Landing of Forces under Colonel Cloete, and Submission of the Boers. — Causes which led to the Emigration. — Grievances of the Colonists. — Retief. — Spirited Reply of a Boer's Wife. — — Port Natal a British Colony. . . .222 CHAPTER XL Depredations of the Caffers. — Interview of the Governor with the Gaika Chiefs, in December, 1840. — Plausible Professions. — Temporary Improvement. — Sir George Napier leaves the Cape in a state of Peace. — He is succeeded by Sir Peregrine Maitland. — Breaking out of a new War. — Prevailing Errors respecting the Caffers. — Causes of the present War. — Mea- sures to be adopted for the Security of the Colony. — Re- flections. ...... 247 2 COLONY FOUNDED BY THE DUTCH. Chap. I. eiFected a landing there ; nor, as it appears, did the Portuguese follow up their discovery by any attempt to take possession of the country, till several years afterwards, when Francisco de Almeida, viceroy of Brazil, landed with the intention of trafficking with the natives, and of examining into the facilities for founding a settlement. But a quarrel having arisen between his men and the Hottentots (as the natives are commonly called), the latter used their poisoned arrows with so much effect, that they slew the vice- roy himself and seventy- five more of the Portuguese, and drove the rest back to their ships.* Whether deterred by this disaster, or by the apparent barren- ness of the country, and the absence of any indication of the precious metals, the Portuguese appear irom that time to have given up all thoughts qf^ colonising the Cape; and it remained, until the middle of the 17th century, neglected by Europeans, except that the Dutch fleets used to touch there, in their way to and from India, to traffic with the natives for pro- visions. At length, in the year 1650, the Dutch East India Company were induced by the representa- tions of Van Riebeck, a surgeon in their sertice, to form a settlement on the shore of Table Bay, 'where Cape Town now stands. They met with no opposition from the Hottentots, who were easily induced to give up to them, in exchange for a mkaip quantity * Kolben, vol. i. ch. 2. Chap. I. CONQUEST OF THE CAPE. 3 of European implements and trinkets, as much land as was required for their immediate purpose. Van Riebeck was the first governor of the Cape. The settlement throve, and its territory was rapidly ex- tended by purchase, and by the various arts of en- croachment which European nations have so com- monly practised against savages. The climate was healthy, the country was well suited to the breeding of cattle; and though the soil was not generally fertile, yet several tracts in the neighbourhood of Table Bay, and along the skirts of the first range of mountains, were found to be adapted to the cul- tivation of wheat and of the vine. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, many of the French Protestants, who had escaped into Holland from the tyranny of Louis XIV., emi- grated to the Cape, and formed a valuable addition to the population of the rising settlement. At the present day, there are many families in the colony which are descended from these exiles, and which bear French names, such as Dupre, Dutoit, &c., but they have become perfectly assimilated, in all other respects, to the Dutch inhabitants. The Dutch remained in undisturbed possession of the Cape of Good Hope until 1795, when, Hol- land having fallen under the dominion of the French Eepublic, the British government determined upon the conquest of a territory which was now become subject to a hostile power, and which was so pecu- b2 4 SECOND CONQUEST BY THE ENGLISH. Chap. I. liarly important to the masters of India. Accord- ingly, an expedition under the command of Admiral Elphinstone, and Generals Clarke and Craig, arrived at the Cape in July of that year, and landed in Simon's Bay without opposition. The Dutch forces took up a strong position at Muysenberg, but were soon driven out of it ; and although they attempted to make a stand at Wynberg, yet their resistance, on the whole, was feeble, and soon ended in a capitu- lation, by which the town and colony were given up to the British. The loss sustained by the latter was very small. The Cape was restored to the Dutch government by the treaty of Amiens ; but in 1806, the two na- tions having again become enemies, a fresh expedition was directed against this important colony. The land forces, amounting to about 4,000 men, under the command of Sir David Baird, effected a landing on the sandy shore of Lospard's or Lospert's Bay, a little to the northward of Cape Town, and were encountered at the Blauwberg by the Dutch army, not much superior to them in numbers, but provided with a much more powerful artillery. A sharp action ensued, in which the Highland brigade of our army greatly distinguished itself: the Dutch were entirely defeated, and Cape Town capitulated two days after the engagement. The Governor, General Janssens, had retreated towards the interior, by the Hottentot Holland pass ; Chap. I. TRANSACTIONS WITH THE NATIVES. 5 but, notwithstanding the strength of the positions which those mountains offered to him, he entertained no serious design of further resistance; and in a short time after, having entered into negotiations with the British general, he concluded a capitulation, by which the Cape again became subject to Britain. The possession of it was confirmed to us by the peace of 1814, and it has ever since remained a valuable dependency of the British crown. The most interesting part of the history of the Cape, is that which relates to the transactions be- tween the Europeans and the native tribes. When this part of Africa first became known to the people of Europe, it was inhabited by a peculiar race of savages, known to us by the name of Hottentots, — a name, however, quite foreign to their own lan- guage, and of which the origin is not recorded. They were a pastoral people, possessing abundance of cattle, which supplied them with food, and of which they likewise made use as beasts of burden. They were very filthy in their habits ; their language was singularly uncouth, and indeed scarcely articulate; they had no regular government, no definite religious belief, and altogether seem to have been in a very low state of civilisation. They were, however, a mild, inoffensive, and unwarlike race ; for their fierce encounter with the Portuguese viceroy, Almeida, mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, appears to have been a solitary instance of the kind ; and they B 3 6 THE HOTTENTOTS. — THE AMAKOSA. Chap. I. opposed no serious resistance to the encroachments of the Dutch settlers ; who, by degrees, not only made themselves masters of the country, but reduced the unfortunate Hottentots to a state almost worse than slavery. Ample and shocking accounts of the treat- ment to which these poor people were subjected by the colonists, may be found in the works of Barrow, Pringle, and others. When, however, the Dutch had extended their settlements as far eastward as the Sunday River, they came in contact with a very different race of men, who were not to be so easily swallowed up in the tide of advancing civilisation. These were the Amakosa, commonly known to us as the Caffers or Kafirs, — a name which would seem to have been originally given to them by the Mahommedans on the eastern coast of Africa.* The Caffers are a people of the Negro race, very different in physical characteristics, as well as in lan- guage, from the Hottentots, and far superior to them, not only in personal appearance and bodily strength, but in policy and martial spirit. Though they sub- sist mainly on the produce of ^their herds of cattle, which constitute their priritjijial wealth, they also cultivate the ground to a certain extent, and raise crops of vegetables, and of a kind of corn, from which they make both bread and beer. They are divided into a number of tribes (or clans, as they might be * Kafir^ in Arabic, signifies an infidel. Chap. I. THE AMAKOSA CAFFERS. 7 called), governed by hereditary chiefs, who are inde- pendent of one another, and exercise the power of life and death, each in his own tribe ; yet the authority of these chiefs is not altogether arbitrary, but is controlled by certain estabHshed customs and rules, which they dare not transgress. Some of the laws and usages which prevail among the CaflPers, seem to be relics of a higher state of civilisation than that in which they at present exist. But I shall have occasion to treat more fully of their manners and customs, as well as of their physical character- istics, in a subsequent chapter. At present I have to speak of the transactions between them and the European colonists of the Cape. The original country of the Amakosa is not known ; but there is no doubt that they migrated from the north-eastward to the territory which they now oc- cupy *pand settled on the Great Kei river f, some- what less than two centuries ago, as nearly as can be collected from their traditions. They were then led by a chief named Toguh, and from him all their present chiefs (with the exception of those of the Congo tribe) claim to be directly descended. The celebrated Gaika, of whom there is an interesting account in Barrow's Travels, was the eighth in descent from * Thompson's South Africa, Appendix. t This is about 120 miles beyond the present (or late) co- lonial boundary, and between 700 and 800 miles from Cape Town. B 4 8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SETTLERS. Chap. 1. Toguh ; and Hintza, who was slain in the CafFer war in 1835, was descended in the same degree from this great founder of the dynasty. * The Congo family are descended from a warrior who distinguished him- self in a war undertaken by Tshio, the grandson of Toguh, and was raised by him to the dignity of a chief, as a reward for his services. The Amakosa, as they increased and multiplied, gradually spread through the country to the west- ward; till in the course of a few generations they passed the Great Fish River, and occupied w^hat is now the district of Albany, even as far as the Sunday Biver. This tract of country, it is said, they pur- chased from the Gonaqua Hottentots, its previous occupants, for a large quantity of cattle. They thus came in contact with the Dutch settlers, who had been moving onwards from the opposite quarter. For some time, however, it is said, no hostilities oc- curred, but the Europeans and the Gaffers lived intermixed together in the same country, on amicable terms, and without interfering with one another. But the Dutch colonists were not of a disposition to remain long quiet and stationary, or to rest con- tented with the limits of their possessions ; they con- tinued, as had been their wont, to move gradually onwards, according as they were tempted by the prospect of better pasturage for their cattle, or by * Thompson's Southern Africa, vol. ii. 348. Chap. L TREACHERY TO THE NATIVES. 9 other natural advantages, or merely by a roving dis- position, till considerable numbers of them were established far beyond the acknowledged boundary of the colony. The colonial government, upon find- ing this to be the case, thought fit, without any regard to the rights of the natives, to alter and extend the boundary so as to take in all the territory which had been occupied in this unauthorised manner by the roving Boers* The latter, now considering themselves as lawful masters of the country, became desirous to get rid of their Caffer neighbours, whom they looked upon as troublesome intruders. The Amandanka tribe of CafFers, who, under their chief Jalumba, occupied the district called Bruintjes- hoogte, were particularly obnoxious to them: and, according to the statement of the Cafiers, as recorded by the Rev. Mr. Brownlee f, the Boers had recourse to a most atrocious act of treachery and barbarity, in order to effect their object of dispossessing these people of the lands which they still held. They invited the Caffers, it is said, to an amicable conference, threw down before them a quantity of beads and trinkets, and then retiring to a little distance, suddenly fired a volley upon them while they were engaged in col- lecting the tempting gifts. Whether this account be * The Dutch word Boer^ signifying a farmer, is applied to all the rural population, of Dutch origin, in the Cape colony, f Thompson's Southern Africa, vol. ii. 337. B 5 10 FEUDS AMONG THE NATIVES. Chap. I. strictly true in all its particulars, or not, it appears that the Amandanka clan was almost destroyed by the encroaching Boers ; so that in fact it ceased to exist as an independent tribe, the survivors seeking refuge among their countrymen of the other tribes. Still it would seem that no general hostilities ensued between the Dutch and the Caflfers for some time longer. But several feuds arose among the various clans of the Amakosa themselves, especially after the crafty and ambitious Gaika grew up to manhood, and began to signalise himself by predatory inroads upon the possessions of the other chiefs, and, among others, of his own uncle S'Lhambi or Tslambi. The colo- nists took part in some of these petty wars, enriching themselves by the capture of cattle from the tribes against which they sided. The sufferers retaliated by depredations on the property alike of their hostile countrymen and of the strangers. Thus began that long series of mutual injuries, of predatory incur- sions, and irritating petty warfare, which has proved so injurious to the colony, and of which the effects are still so deeply felt. When the Cape of Good Hope was conquered by the English, in 1795, the Great Fish Eiver formed the eastern limit of the colony, but the frontier districts were in a very lawless condition. The authority of the colonial government was seldom exercised and slightly felt in those remote and thinly- settled tracts, and the Boers of the frontier were in Chap. I. LORD MACARTNEY'S GOVERNMENT. 11 the habit of acting independently of it^ and in effect setting it at nought, in their transactions with the natives. Le Yaillant, who was in the eastern districts some years before (in 1782), states that the settlers actually laughed to scorn the notion of the govern- ment daring to interfere with them, or to check their lawless proceedings. At the time when Mr. Barrow was sent by Lord Macartney (in 1797) on that mission to the Caffer frontier, of which he pubHshed such an interesting account, the border districts were in a state of absolute anarchy. Matters soon improved under the British government : the lawlessness of the Boers was curbed, their encroachments on the country beyond the boundary were checked, and a treaty was concluded with the Caffers. The mistake was indeed committed, of treating with Gaika alone, who, although the most powerful chief on the frontier, and the highest in rank, had not, and did not even pretend to have, any authority over the other chiefs, or any right to control them. Nevertheless, it is admitted, even by the warmest advocates of the natives, that the conduct of the British government towards them, at this time, was characterised by a spirit of justice and benevolence.* The Great Fish River continued for many years to be the acknowledged limit of the colony, but great numbers of Caffers, of the tribes of Tslambie and * Pringle. B 6 12 EXPULSION OF THE GAFFERS. Chap. I. Congo, were settled within this boundary, in the district called the Zuureveld (now Albany). Such was the state of affairs when the Cape, a second time, fell into the hands of the English, in 1806. Much ill-will, however, existed between the Caffers and the frontier colonists, and the latter were continually harassed and irritated by the depredations committed by the natives on their most valuable property, their herds of cattle and horses. At length (1811) their complaints and demands for protection became so urgent, that the colonial government was induced to give orders for the expulsion of all the Caifers from the Zuureveld, and their removal beyond the Great Fish River. The truth is, that the Amakosa are most determined and incorrigible cattle-stealers. Nu- merous and fine herds constitute the wealth, the pride, the delight of a Caffer, the grand object of his desire and ambition. And as the colonial cattle are much finer (as Le Vaillant long ago remarked) than those of CaiFerland, and at the same time more negligently guarded, they offer a temptation which seems to be ijy^esistible. Indeed, these people, like the "honest Highland thieves" celebrated by Sir Walter Scott, think it neither sin nor shame, but rather a creditable exploit, to steal cattle, provided it be not from their own tribe. Their dexterity in the execution of these thefts is surprising, and such as it is most difficult to guard against. The effect of a Caffer's whistle upon a herd of cattle is said to be like I Chap. I. SEVERITY OF ITS EXECUTION. 13 magic. It may well be conceived how intolerably irritating such practices must be to their European neighbours, and how impossible it became for the two nations to live together on amicable terms. The order for the expulsion of the Caffer tribes from the colony (1811) was carried into effect with great severity. These people naturally thought it hard and unjust that they should be driven out, in this arbitrary manner, from a country which they and their fathers had inhabited for so many years; which they conceived themselves to have acquired by fair purchase from its original inhabitants, and which they not unreasonably considered as their own rightful property. What aggravated the hardship was, that this measure was carried into execution at the season when their crops of grain and vegetables were ripening, so that they were deprived of the produce of their agricultural labours, and exposed to the risk of famine.* No remonstrances, however, were heeded ; and the force employed in executing the decree was too considerable to be resisted with effect. Nevertheless, blood was shed ; the aged chief, Congo, who was disabled by an incurable disease, was murdered while asleep in his hut by a party of Boers f; and it is even said that many Caffer women were shot by the soldiers,^ — but this must surely have been accidental. On the other hand, the Landdrost Stock- * Thompson. Pringle. t Cringle. 14 DEPREDATIONS OF THE CAPPERS. Chap. I. enstrom *, a man of most estimable character, and of signal humanity, having sought an amicable parley with a body of CalTers that he met on the heights of the Zuureberg, was treacherously slain by them, together with his followers, t The result was, that the Coffers of the Tslambie and Congo tribes, to the number, it is said, of 20,000 souls, were driven across the Fish River, and great quantities of cattle taken from them. Gaika and his people, whose residence was beyond that river, remained neutral, and were not molested at this time. The rigour which had been exercised on this oc- casion towards the refractory tribes, had not the effect of securing the tranquillity of the frontier. On the contrary, the Caffers, who had now the sti- mulus of revenge, as well as of the love of plunder, continued to annoy the colonists by frequent depre- dations, crossing the boundary line in small parties at various points, driving off cattle and horses, and sometimes murdering the herdsmen. An attempt was made to check them, by establishing military posts along the Fish Kiver ; but such is the nature of the country along that line, that ten times the number of troops that could be spared for its defence would scarcely have been sufficient to keep out the * He was Landdrost^ or chief magistrate, of the district of Graaf Reynet, which at that time included the Zuureveld. I A very interesting narrative of this occurrence is given in Pringle's South Africa, chap. 6. Chap. I. TREATY WITH GAIKA. 15 marauders. They were not, however, disposed at this time to engage in any open or general hostilities against their powerful neighbour. When the Boers, on a part of the north-eastern frontier, attempted, in 1815*, to rise in arms against the British govern- ment, and solicited the co-operation of the Amakosa, the latter absolutely refused to take any part in their enterprise. In 1817, the governor (Lord Charles Somerset) visited the frontier, held an interview with some of the Caffer chiefs, and settled with them the terms of a new treaty, whereby all cattle of colonial breed, and all horses, in their possession, were to be given up. It was also arranged, that if cattle stolen from the colony were traced to any Caffer kraal f (or vil- lage), the people of that kraal should be held respon- sible, and should either find and restore the lost cattle, or give up an equal number. J The governor on this occasion also adopted the plan (as Lord Macartney had done twenty years before) of treating Gaika as the paramount chief and sovereign of Cafferland, and concluding the treaty with him as such. This was injudicious, as being offensive to the other chiefs ; who, while they acknowledged the superior wealth and power of Gaika, and allowed him a certain nominal pre-eminence in dignity, considered them- * See a full account of this abortive insurrection in Pringle's work, chap. 5. t See note A at the end of this chapter, % Thompson's South Africa, vol. ii. 16 CONFEDERACY AGAINST GAIKA. Chap. I. selves perfectly independent of, and irresponsible to, him, and absolutely denied that he had any right to interfere with or to control them. Accordingly, the new arrangement seems to have had no other effect than that of rendering Gaika unpopular among his own countrymen, and exciting jealousies and ani- mosities, which in the following year broke out into open war. A powerful confederacy was formed against Gaika, at the head of which were his uncle Tslambie, Dushani the son of Tslambie, and the cele- brated Makanna, who, though not one of the here- ditary chiefs, had, by his intelligence and enthusiasm, and by his magical and prophetic pretensions, acquired a wonderful influence over his countrymen. Gaika and his people were completely defeated by the con- federate chiefs in a battle fought near the river Debe (1818). How far the victors would have pushed their success is uncertain, but the colonial government thought it necessary to interfere on behalf of him whoni they had raised to the nominal sovereignty of CafFerland. A strong body of soldiers and armed Boers, commanded by Colonel Brereton, invaded Tslambie's country, ravaged it to a great extent, and captured (it is said) 23,000 head of cattle, which were divided between Gaika and his European allies. The confederate clans, in return, broke into the co- lony in great force, and laid it waste, even to the neighbourhood of Algoa Bay, committing tremendous havoc. Not content with ravaging the open country, they proceeded, at the instigation and under the Chap. I. CAFFER WAR OF 1819. 17 command of Makanna, to make a furious attack upon Graham's Town, which was then in its infancy, and in fact little more than a military post (1819). I shall have occasion, in a subsequent chapter, to give some particulars of this remarkable and daring attack, the boldest exploit ever attempted by tlie CaiFers against a European enemy, and which was repulsed with great difficulty. The arms and discipline of civilisation at length triumphed over the numbers and fury of the invaders. The attack on Graham's Town failed ; the whole mili- tary force of the colony was called out ; the territories of the hostile clans were laid waste with fire and sword, and the confederate chiefs obliged either to submit, or to escape far into the interior. Makanna surrendered, and, by a strange abuse of power, was treated as a criminal, and imprisoned in Robben Island, the receptacle of all the convicts of the colony. Even Gaika, although the war had been undertaken ostensibly for his sake, was required to give up to his formidable protectors a large tract of fine country between the Fish and Keiskamma Rivers, since known as the Ceded Territory. It is no wonder that he should have complained of being rather oppressed by his European friends.* Immediately after the close of this war, the govern- ment at home determined upon the plan of establish- ing a large body of British colonists in the nearly * Thompson. Pringle. 18 ENGLISH AND SCOTCH EMIGRANTS. Chap. I. unoccupied district of the Zuureveld, which now re- ceived the name of Albany. Accordingly a great number of English and Scotch emigrants, including many gentlemen of high character and education, were induced to embark in this enterprise ; and arriv- ing at Algoa Bay, in the beginning of 1820, took possession of the tracts allotted to them between the Bushman's and Great Fish Rivers. But the expe- riment was at first very unfortunate. The scheme had been framed under the erroneous impression that the district was very fertile, and particularly well suited for agriculture ; and, accordingly, the allot- ments Avere made too small to be turned to account as pasturage. The settlers were ill-prepared for the difficulties and disappointments they had to struggle with: year after year their wheat crops perished; and they were reduced to extreme distress. Many of them abandoned their locations in despair, and sought a subsistence in the towns of the colony ; some devoted themselves to the chase of the wild elephants (which then abounded in the forests of the Zuureberg and the jungles of the Fish River) for the sake of their ivory ; and a great number engaged in a trade with the frontier CafFers, which they found very lucrative. This trade, indeed, was strictly pro- hibited by the colonial government ; but it was never- theless carried on with great activity and success. Sir Rufane Donkin, who was acting governor of the colony in the absence of Lord Charles Somerset, I AP. I, TRADE WITH THE CAFFERS. 19 seeing the advantages of this traffic, thought that the best course was to legalise it; and in 1821 he issued a proclamation establishing an annual fair at a station on the banks of the Keiskamma, with many judicious regulations for the commercial intercourse between the colonists and the natives.* Lord Charles Somer- set, on his return to the Cape, annulled this, as well as all the other measures of Sir Eufane Donkin : but the frontier trade was not to be put down ; and only- three years afterwards he found himself obliged to adopt the very same plan, of establishing an annual fair on the Keiskamma, which for some years was very well attended. The trade, thus legalised, was carried on with all the energy, activity, and spirit of enterprise, and at the same time with all the ten- dency to- rash excesses of speculation, which charac- terise the commercial proceedings of Englishmen. The articles obtained from the CaiFers were chiefly ivory and hides, which they bartered for glass beads, knives, agricultural implements and garden tools, and various other European goods. The sale of arms, gunpowder, and spirituous liquors, to them, was forbidden, though it is to be feared that the prohibition was not of much avail. At length, in 1830, the trade was thrown completely open, full liberty being given to the traders to pass into Cafferland when and where they pleased ; and the * Sqg " Narrative of the Kafir War, by the Editor of the GraharrCs Town Journal'' Introduction, part 2. 20 ALBANY. — GEAHAM'S TOWN. Chap. I. fair on the Keiskamma consequently sunk into neglect. This successful traffic contributed very much to the prosperity of the settlement of Albany, which gradually triumphed over the difficulties that had beset its early progress, and rose into a considerable degree of wealth and importance. The colonists perceived the error that had been committed in regard to the agricultural capabilities of the district, and succeeded in obtaining such an enlargement of their locations as allowed them to turn their atten- tion successfully to grazing and sheep-feeding. Some enterprising settlers introduced the Merino breed of sheep, for which the nature of the coimtry proved to be perfectly well adapted, and their wool soon became an object of great commercial importance. Graham's Town, which at the first arrival of the British colonists in Albany, in 1820, consisted of only twenty-two houses besides the barracks *, had, by 1835, risen into a town of 700 houses and 3000 inhabitants. Port Elizabeth, the sea-port of the eastern districts, founded by Sir R. Donkin on the shore of Algoa Bay, flourished and increased in a corresponding proportion. For nearly fifteen years, — from the end of 1819 to the latter part of 1834, — no serious hostilities occurred between the Amakosa and their European * " Narrative of the Kafir War," as above. Chap. I. DEATH OF GAIKA. 21 neighbours. Depredations, indeed, were still fre- quently committed on the property of the frontier colonists, and the pernicious practice of retaliation by means of commandos, or military inroads, was still kept up. In these commandos (the term applied in the colony to expeditions made with an armed force into the Caffer teA-itories, for the purpose of recover- ing stolen cattle, or taking an equivalent) collisions frequently occurred, some of the natives were slain, and a sore and angry feeling was excited, which gra- dually prepared the way for a new war. For some time, however, the intercourse between the two races seemed to be, on the whole, sufficiently peaceful and friendly. Several missionary establishments were formed within the territory of the Caffers, and some progress was supposed to be made towards christian- ising and humanising both chiefs and people. Gaika died during this period, his constitution, it is said, worn out by intemperance ; for the native tribes of Southern Africa, like those of North America, have but too readily learned from the Europeans the abuse of spirituous liquors. His dignity and power descended, according to the laws and usages of Caf- fraria, to his son Sandili, who was not his eldest son, but the offspring of his principal wife, Sutu. It is to be observed, that the chiefs of the Amakosa have many wives, one of whom however is always acknow- ledged as the chief, the highest in dignity and rank ; and this "great wife" is invariably chosen from 22 MACOMO'S EXPULSION. Chap, I. another nation, usually from the Amatembu (Tamboo kies) or Amaponda, different branches of the Caffer race. The offspring of this principal wife are con- sidered superior in rank to their half-brothers, the sons of the chief by his other wives, and the inherit- ance devolves upon them in the first instance. As, however, Sandili was a mere child at the time of his father's death, his half-brother Macomo, the eldest son of Gaika, became the real head of the tribe, and acting ostensibly as regent, exercised all the power and authority of a chief. Macomo fixed his residence in the upper part of the valley of the Kat River, one of the principal tributaries of the Great Fish River, — a fine tract of country, fertile, well watered, and nearly enclosed by lofty mountains. This, it is true, formed a part of the Ceded or " Neutral " Territory, which had been yielded by Gaika to the colonial government in 1819.. so that Macomo occupied it only by sufferance ; but he and his people were nevertheless allowed to remain there undisturbed until the year 1829. In that year it was determined to expel them from the Kat River country, — whether on account of their depre- dations on the property of the colonists, or because, as was asserted, Macomo had insulted the colonial authorities by crossing the frontier with an armed force, in the prosecution of a petty war against a neighbouring Tambookie chief, — or because it was thought necessary that a part of the boundary, so Chap. I. HOTTENTOT SETTLEMENT. 23 important for the defence of the eastern districts, should be occupied by less doubtful friends. The expulsion of Macomo and his followers was effected accordingly, without bloodshed, though not without remonstrance. The plan was then adopted of plant- ing a colony of Hottentots, under missionary super- intendence, in the territory thus vacated, so as, for the first time, to elevate a portion of that unfortunate and degraded race to the dignity of citizens, and to make a fair trial of their capacity for civiHsed life. This most wise and benevolent scheme, proposed originally by Captain (Sir Andries) Stockenstrom, was warmly approved by Sir Lowry Cole, then governor of the colony, and under his auspices was carried into effect in the most liberal and judicious manner. The success of the measure has been such as to justify the most sanguine anticipations of its promoters. The Hottentots of the Kat River settle- ment have at once been a valuable defence to the colony, and have proved themselves perfectly quali- fied by nature to become industrious, docile, moral, and useful members of the community. It cannot, however, be denied, that the confiscation of the Kat River territory has been one of the great sources of discontent and irritation on the part of the Caffers, at least of the Gaika tribe. So late as 1839, when Mr. Backhouse was in Caffraria, he found that Macomo dwelt pertinaciously upon this point, repre- senting it as among the chief grievances and injuries 24 DEATH OF SEKO. Chap. I. which he had sustained at the hands of the English, and for which he had expected compensation. In 1830, another circumstance occurred which added to the exasperation of the Caffers, and in- creased their desire to take vengeance on the colo- nists. This was the slaughter of the chief, Seko or Sikou, a brother of Tslambie and Jaluhsa, and uncle of Gaika. A commando had penetrated into his country, and seized his cattle, in reprisal for depredations which his people, as it was believed, had committed on the frontier; according to the statement of the leader of the party (a Boer of the name of Erasmus), Seko attempted a rescue, and was shot dead, with many of his followers. The CafFer version of the story, and that believed by their advocates, is that Seko and his people were slain in cold blood, when unarmed and in the power of the Boers. Whatever the truth may be as to this, it is certain that the death of a chief of such high rank contributed to excite in the Caffers a spirit of revenge, and it was put prominently forward in their manifesto of 1835, as one of their reasons for taking up arms. Macomo and his younger brother, Tyali or Tjali, after their expulsion from the Kat Biver territory, settled in the beautiful country about the Chumie Biver, a tributary of the Keiskamma, where they lived for some years pretty peaceably, under the sanction (as I have been told) of an express per- mission from the Commandant of the frontier. But Chap. I. PRINCIPAL CHIEFS OF THE AMAKOSA. 25 still the old complaints of their thievery were renewed, and in 1833, these chiefs were suddenly ordered to retire beyond the Chumie, with all their people. Their expulsion took place, like that of the Tslambie tribe in 1811, at the season when the miUet was ripening, and when (to use the words of a British officer) the country into which they were driven was "as bare as a parade-ground." This act of rigour was doubtless one of the more immediate causes of the war. The principal chiefs of the Amakosa in 1834, when hostilities commenced, were : — Macomo and his bro- ther Tyali, Botma, and Eno, of the Gaika clan ; Umhala, Umkai, and Gacella, of the Tslambie clan*; Cobus, Pato, and Kama, of the Congo clan ; and Hintza, who resided the farthest from the colony, and ruled over the most powerful of the tribes. There were several subordinate chieftains, and the total population of the four tribes has been estimated at 34,000 men, and 136,000 women and children.! It was supposed, no doubt, that the severe proofs which the Gaffers had had of the superiority of European weapons and discipline, would deter them from ever again venturing on open war. No appre- hension seems to have been felt by the frontier colo- * Dushani, the son of Tslambie, had left a son, who was at this time a minor, and under the guardianship of his mother Noheebe. f " Narrative of the Kafir War, by the Editor of the Graham's Town Journal,'' Introduction, p. 216. C 26 CAFFERS ATTACK THE COLONY. Chap. I. nists up to the very eve of the irruption. The military force stationed in the eastern province was small, and no particular precautions were thought necessary against an attack. Of the numerous mis- sionaries residing in the Amakosa country, not one seems to have had any suspicion of what was pre- paring. The hostile chiefs must have arranged and matured their scheme of invasion with remarkable art and secrecy. At length, on the 21st and 22d of December, 1834, armed bands of CaiFers burst into the colony, almost simultaneously, along the whole line of the Eastern frontier,* from the Winterberg to the mouth of the Fish River, and in a very short time swept the country as far as Graham's Town. The cattle and horses belonging to the inhabitants were everywhere captured; the Hottentots who guarded them, and such of the colonists as were found scattered about the country, were slaughtered without mercy; the houses deserted by their frightened owners were given to the flames. The people, completely surprised and panic -struck, seldom attempted any resistance, but made their escape as fast as they could to Graham's Town. Yet, in most of the cases where resistance was made (which occurred chiefly in the country near the Winterberg), it seems to have been successful, at least so far as to save the lives of the parties attacked. It is evident indeed that plunder was the main object ©f the CaiFers, and that, although not reluctant to Chap. I. THEY RAVAGE THE WHOLE COUNTRY. 27 shed blood when the temptation or opportunity pre- sented itself, they were not so eager for the destruc- tion of their enemies as to brave any considerable risk in order to effect it. It appears that the number of non-military persons, English and Dutch, who lost their lives in the Caffer invasion, amounted to forty- four, of whom one only was a woman. But the loss of property was enormous : almost all the inhabitants of Albany (Graham's Town excepted), and of a large part of Somerset and Uitenhage districts, were de- prived of the whole or greatest part of their live stock, and most of their houses were burnt. The total amount of the losses sustained by them was estimated at more than three hundred thousand pounds. The troops at that time on the frontier were quite insufficient to guard such an extensive line against the barbarians, who avoided any open encounter with them, and availing themselves of the peculiar nature of the country, and their own intimate knowledge of it, easily passed between the detachments. Their progress was so rapid, that by the end of the month they had swept and ravaged the whole country, from the Winterberg down to the sea, and from the Great Fish River westward to within a very few miles of Uitenhage. The tract thus laid waste by their fury was at least 100 miles long by 80 in breadth. Gra- ham's Town itself was not attacked ; but it was found c 2 28 COL. SMITH EXPELS THE CAFFEKS. Chap. L necessary to abandon the flourishing village of Bath- urst, the only other considerable place in Albany. The CafFers who thus burst into the colony were mostly of Gaika's tribe, associated with a part of Tslambie's. The chiefs Pato, Cobus or Congo, Kama, and Umkai, remained either friendly, or at least neutral; and Hintza, though he was suspected of secretly abetting and encouraging the Gaika chiefs, took no active part. The invaders continued ravaging the country until towards the end of January, 1835, when, having pretty effectually cleared it of all that was worth carrying off, and knowing that the governor, with a considerable military force, had arrived at Graham's Town, they gradually retired into their own terri- tories. Measures were of course taken, not only to drive them entirely beyond the boundary, but to invade their country in return, and to make them suffer for their aggression. Colonel Smith*, who was second in command to the governor, and Colonel So- merset, commandant of the frontier, commenced ope- rations, early in February, against the enemy in the Fish River Bushf, and with no small difficulty suc- ceeded in expelling them from that rugged and formidable region. The design of the CafFers had • !N'ow Major-General Sir Harry Smith, G.C.B. f This is the name given to a tract of very rugged country, covered with an exceedingly thick jungle of succulent and thorny shrubs, extending several miles on each side of the Fish Biver. Chap. I. DECLARES WAR AGAINST HINTZA. 29 been, it is said, to lurk in the fastnesses about that river, until the British forces should have passed, and then to act on their rear; a scheme strongly indi- cative of the shrewdness and sagacity of these people. The warfare in the Fish River Bush was of a nature most harassing to the troops, although attended with little loss of life ; for the difficulty w^as not so much to conquer the enemy as to find them. Never- theless, by the 18th of February, they were effec- tually expelled from their lurking-places in the bush, driven across the Keiskamma, and a large number of cattle recovered from them. The army having advanced, without encountering any effectual opposition, as far as the Great Kei (or Kye), nearly seventy miles beyond the Keiskamma, the governor found it necessary to declare war against Hintza, whose dominions were bounded on the west by the former river. The reasons assigned for this step were — that Hintza, although he had not en- gaged in any open hostilities against the colony, had given assistance and support underhand to the fron- tier tribes; that a great quantity of cattle, taken from the colonists, had been brought into his terri- tory; that some British traders who resided there had been murdered by his people, and the mission- aries themselves threatened. At the same time the governor (Sir Benjamin d' Urban) took under his protection the people called FingoeSy who, driven c 3 30 HINTZA SUES FOR PEACE. Chap. I. from their own country by the terrible Chaka, king of the Zooloos, had taken refuge in Hintza's do- minions, had become slaves to him and his warriors, and had been treated with much harshness. On the advance of the British troops beyond the Kei, the Fingoes received them as liberators, and eagerly co- operated with them in carrying on the war against their late masters. Hintza was very soon reduced to sue for peace, and repairing to the British camp, gave himself up as a hostage for the fulfilment of the terms imposed on him. The principal of these were, — that the mur- derers of the traders above mentioned should be punished with death, and that a large number of cattle and horses should be delivered to the English, partly by way of compensation to the families of the murdered men, and partly by way of fine or penalty. Yet, although he had put himself (voluntarily, as it seems) into the power of his enemies, Hintza en- deavoured, with all the cunning of a savage, to evade the fulfilment of the treaty; and his people made a murderous attack on the Fingoes, even in the outskirts of the British camp. When the go- vernor expressed his indignation at this outrage, Hintza replied, with apparent surprise : — " What ! may I not kill my own dogs ? " The massacre was stopped only by a threat of hanging the chief himself if it should continue. As there seemed to be great difficulty in collecting eHAP. I. ATTEMPTS TO ASSASSINATE COL. SMITH. 31 even the first instalment of cattle required by the treaty, Hintza offered to go himself, with Colonel Smith and a party of soldiers, to assist in the search for them ; declaring that it was not by his orders, nor with his consent, that they had been driven away. It is probable, however, that he had already repented of his assent to the treaty, and that his real object was to make his escape, which he could more easily do from a detachment on the march than from the camp itself. He was allowed to accompany Colonel Smith, who took with him a strong party of soldiers, to guard against treachery ; but although Hintza was looked upon as a prisoner, and was repeatedly warned that he would be shot if he attempted to escape, yet he was treated with honour, and allowed to retain his weapons. The party had proceeded as far as the Xabecca (or Gnabakka) river, when the chief, who was well mounted, made a desperate attempt to escape ; Colonel Smith overtook him, and, although he de- fended himself fiercely with his assagai or spear, grappled with him, and threw him from his horse.* Hintza, however, disengaged himself, and after making another attempt (in which he very nearly succeeded) to pierce the colonel with his spear, escaped into the thickets bordering the river. Here he was overtaken by some of the English guides who attended Col. Smith ; and, still defending himself against them, was * " Narrative of the Kafir War," pp, 167—169. c 4 32 BRITISH TROOPS SCOUR THE COUNTRY. Chap. I. shot dead by Mr. G. Southey, one of the party. (May, 1835.) A violent and most unreasonable clamour was raised against Col. Smith by a certain party, both in the colony and in England, on account of the death of this chief, which was represented as a barbarous and unprovoked murder. How very far it was from deserving this character, must be evident to every one who considers the circumstances. Hintza had voluntarily given himself up as a hostage for the ful- filment of certain conditions; he had been treated with the greatest kindness, and even with an almost imprudent degree of confidence ; but at the same time he knew perfectly well that he was a prisoner, and that, if he attempted to escape, he did so at the risk of his life ; he thought fit to make the attempt, and he suffered the penalty which he had wilfully braved. We cannot, perhaps, blame him for yielding to the temptation to escape when a favourable opportunity seemed to present itself, but he knew the consequences ; he chose to run the risk ; and, as he would not be taken alive, his life was necessarily forfeited. This occurrence produced no immediate effect on the fortunes of the war. The British troops scoured and took possession of the country, to the utmost limits of Hintza's dominions ; but, in the mean time, the frontier Caffers continued to make predatory in- roads into the colony, and the troops left to guard Chap. I. TEEATIES OF SIR B. d'uRBAN. 33 the new conquests were perpetually harassed by a desultory warfare among the mountains and thickets. In general, the loss of life in these operations was small ; but on one occasion, a party of thirty Hotten- tot soldiers of the Cape Corps, under Lieut. Bailie, were surrounded by the enemy, and cut off to a man. Hostilities continued, with various success, through the greater part of the year 1835, and it was not until September that negotiations for peace were begun in earnest. By that time, both parties were pretty well tired of the war. The Caffers had not, perhaps, lost so much in the course of the campaign, as they had gained in the first instance by their suc- cessful inroad into the colony ; but their villages were destroyed, themselves driven into the wildest parts of the country, and the cultivation of their fields and gardens completely stopped. On the British side, the expenses of the war were enormous in proportion to the resources of the colony, and the protracted ser- vice was felt as a sore hardship by the burgher militia, many of whom had come from a distance of several hundred miles. Accordingly, a desire for peace was felt on both sides, and in the course of the month of September, treaties were concluded by Sir Benjamin d'Urban with the chiefs of the several clans which had taken part in the contest. These chiefs acknow- ledged themselves to be subject to England, and amenable to British laws, and the boundary of the c 5 34 ANNEXATION OF TEKRITORY. Chap. I. colony was removed to the Great Kei, which was considered a better frontier line than any of the rivers to the west of it. A tract of extremely fine and fertile country, extending nearly seventy miles from the Keiskamma to the Kei, and upwards of 120 miles from the sources of this latter river to the sea, was thus added to the British possessions ; and the name of " Province of Queen Adelaide " was given to the new acquisition. The Gaffers, however, were not expelled from the territory thus ceded ; but special tracts of land, limited in proportion to the numbers of the several clans, were assigned to them, where they were to dwell, under the control and sur- veillance of the British authorities. It was also pro- vided, that " the internal and domestic regulations of their tribes and families," and their established cus- toms, were not to be interfered with, or set aside by the English laws, except in cases where those customs were contrary to humanity or good morals. There is no doubt that this annexation of the territory as far as the Kei was a measure of excellent policy in reference to the defence of the colony ; for the Great Fish Kiver, with its jungle-covered banks and numerous fords, was as bad a frontier-line as could be, against such neighbours as the Gaffers ; and the Keiskamma little better ; while the Kei is de- scribed as having naked and precipitous banks, and few fords, and the country between it and the Buffalo river as being without covert for marauders. Chap. I. LOSS BY THE AMAKOSA WAR. 35 The actual loss in men sustained by the Amakosa in this war has been very variously estimated, as I shall afterwards have occasion to mention ; and there seems to be no possibility of arriving at a real know- ledge of it. In the official accounts, it was probably much overstated. The enemy, in fact^ neither attacked openly, nor awaited the attack of our troops, except in some very few instances ; and shots fired at scattered individuals half seen, or wholly hidden among the bushes, were not likely to cause any ex- tensive destruction. The loss on our side was small. In the advance of the army to the utmost boundary of the Amakosa country, between the 1st of April and 7th of June, the official returns show that nine men were killed (three of them by accidents), and seventeen wounded ; and this return includes the casualties among the burgher militia as well as the regular troops. It has been asserted, that in former wars against the CaiFers, women as well as men were killed ; but it does not appear that any thing of the kind hap- pened in this campaign. Indeed, I have been told that the Caffer women constantly came into the camp, without the least fear, and received food for them- selves and their families. There is no doubt that our soldiers behaved, as became their reputation, with humanity as well as courage ; and though it may well be supposed that the militia were far more exas- c6 36 SIR B. d'uRBAN'S treaty annulled. Chap. L perated against the enemy, they have not been charged with any act of cruelty. Colonel Smith was left in command of the con- quered provinccj and during the time that he remained there acquired and exercised a very salutary influence over the CafFer chiefs and people. Unfortunately, Lord Glenelg, who was then at the head of the colo- nial department in the English ministry, was induced to disapprove and annul the treaty concluded by Sir Benjamin d'Urban. The view which he was led to take of the transactions with the Caffers was in ac- cordance with the opinions of the (so-called) religious party, and entirely at variance with those entertained by the governor and the great majority of the colo- nists. In pursuance of these views. Captain (after- wards Sir Andries) Stockenstrom was sent out in the capacity of Lieutenant Governor of the Eastern Province, and empowered to conclude a new treaty with the natives, by which all the new acquisitions were given up, and the " Province of Queen Ade- laide " restored to its former possessors. The Great Fish River, in the lower part of its course, again b'ecame the boundary of the colony; but, as the Hottentot settlements on the Kat River were to be retained, the more northern part of the frontier line was carried along the hills between that river and the Chumie. The boundary-line thus established is con- sidered by those best acquainted with the country as an insecure and disadvantageous one. The Fish CHAP. I. CArFERS REINSTATED. 37 River Bush, as I- have before remarked, affords a covert peculiarly favourable to the enterprises of the Caifers; and the more northern part of the line, I have been assured, is so ill defined, that even persons familiar with the country may easily mistake it. There can be little doubt of the impolicy of thus suddenly resigning all our conquests, and reversing all the measures which had so recently been adopted. The CafFers, unacquainted with the mysteries of European statesmanship, and unable to comprehend the spirit of philanthropy which doubtless dictated the measures of the English minister, would naturally ascribe our concessions either to fear or to fickleness, and in either case would despise us.' To deal, on safe and satisfactory terms, with a barbarous people, we must be respected by them, and they will not respect those whom they do not believe to be stronger and more resolute than themselves. A firm and consistent, as well as just course of policy, is peculiarly necessary to be observed towards nations in that stage of society. The CafFers being thus re-instated as masters of the country as far as the Fish and Kat rivers, it was necessary to arrange anew the relations between them and their white neighbours, so as, if possible, to remove all causes of future misunderstanding and quarrel. The measures adopted by Captain Stocken- strom were (as subsequent experience has proved) ill calculated for this end, aijd were such as, excited deep 38 CAFFER POLICE ESTABLISHED. Chap. L and general dissatisfaction in the colony. The Com- mando system was abolished, which was indeed well ; but no efficacious substitute was devised for it. The charge of restraining depredations on the property of the colonists, of tracing out the stolen property, and enforcing restitution, was entrusted almost entirely to the Caffers themselves, who were as little likely to exert themselves for these objects as the Brazilians to take effectual measures for the suppression of the slave trade. The native chiefs were indeed willing enough that their people, if caught in the fact of plundering within the colonial boundary, should be shot by our patroles ; they were willing to make most ample and vehement professions of indignation against ma- rauders; but there is every reason to believe (as indeed one of their orators, in a conference with Sir George Napier, very frankly acknowledged) that chiefs and people were much alike in their taste for colonial cattle, and In the unscrupulous indulgence of this taste. Captain Stockenstrom, however, seemed to proceed altogether on the assumption, that the chiefs and their councillors could be trusted to make every effort for the suppression of these practices. A Caffer police was established along the frontier, and no colonist was allowed to enter Caffraria, to follow the track of stolen cattle, without the sanction and assistance of one of these men. Neither could any one cross the border without a passport ; and the delay occasioned by these formalities would give Chap. I. SIR GEORGE NAPIER/ GOYERNOR. 39 ample time for the plunderers to carry their booty to a place of safety, and to obliterate the track, or spoor, as it is called, which it was necessary for the colonist to follow without interruption, in order to establish any claim to compensation. Diplomatic agents were appointed to reside near the kraals of the several chiefs, to keep up an intercourse between them and the colonial authorities, to make them acquainted with the wishes and intentions of the Governor, and to demand reparation for injuries done by their people ; but these residents, however excellent and enlightened they may have been, were not supported by sufficient appearance of power to give weight to their repre- sentations. Sir Benjamin d'Urban, believing the new system to be seriously injurious to the interests of the co- lony, declined to carry it into eifect, and after vainly remonstrating against it, resigned his command. The government of the Cape of Good Hope was then offered to Sir George Napier, who accepted it. He kindly invited me to accompany him, not in any official capacity, but as a private friend ; and I gladly embraced the opportunity of visiting a country so interesting to the botanist. The following chapters contain an account of what I observed during my stay of about fourteen months at the Cape ; but, for the clearer understanding of them, it will be well to begin with a general outline of the geography of this part of the world. 40 DESCRIPTION OF THE COLONY. Chap. I. The colony of the Cape of Good Hope is com- prehended between the 30th and 35th degrees of south latitude, and between the I7th and 28th de- 2:rees of east longitude. It is bounded on the W. and S. by the ocean; its eastern limit has already been noticed ; on the N. E. it is bounded by the Nu Gariep or Cradock River, one of the principal tri- butaries of the great Orange River; on the N. it borders on the territories of the Namaquas, Ko- rannas, Bushmen, and other Hottentot tribes, but its boundary on that side, traversing a most arid and desert country, is somewhat arbitrary and indefinite. The length of the territory from W. to E., from the Cape Peninsula to the mouth of the Keiskamma River, is nearly 600 miles; its greatest breadth, from N. to S., about 300. It is divided into eleven dis- tricts, very unequal in size : first, that of the Cape, which occupies the south-w^estern corner, and in which the capital town is situated ; next to this, on the E., the district of Stellenbosch ; then, proceeding still eastward, those of Zwellendam, George, Uitenhage, and Albany, all of which are bounded on the S. by the ocean. On the N. of Albany lies the inland district of Somerset, extending northward to the Nu Gariep, or Cradock River; westward of Somerset is Graaf Reynett, and on the west of this again, Beaufort — both entirely inland districts of wide extent, but in great part desert. Next comes Wor- cester, another inland district, bounded on the E. by Chap. I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COLONY. 41 Beaufort, on the S. by Zwellendam, on the W. by Stellenbosch, and on the N. by Clanwilliam, which last is the north-westernmost district of the colony. ' Several well-marked chains and groups of moun- tains give its characteristic form and structure to this region. At the south-western extremity is a com- pletely insulated mountain-mass, of which the cele- brated Table Mountain, at the back of Cape Town, is the highest summit, and which terminates south- wards in the promontory called the Cape of Good Hope. Table Bay and False Bay lie respectively on the N.E. and S.E. of this group, and a broad ex- panse of level sand (the Cape Flats) divides it from the Hottentot Holland mountains on the E. of False Bay. These latter mountains, which are conspicuous and beautiful objects in the view from Cape Town, form a chain running southward from the neighbour- hood of the village of Worcester, and terminating in Cape Hangklip, opposite to the Cape of Good Hope. From the neighbourhood of Worcester, which is be- tween sixty and seventy miles N.E. of Cape Town, several chains of mountains strike off in different directions: first, the Western or Tulbagh chain, which consists of several parallel ranges, bearing various local names, and runs northward to near the mouth of the Elephant's River, separating the coun- try along the Avestern coast of the colony from the high, bleak, and barren inland plains called the Bok- keveld and Roggeveld Karroos. Secondly, the Dra- 42 DESCEIPTION OF THE COLONY. Chap. I. kenstein, or Hottentot Holland chain, already men- tioned as running down to Cape Hangklip, and bounding False Bay on the east. Of this chain, the mountains above Stellenbosch are a western spur, and to the E. it sends out two or three branches, one of which runs down towards Cape LaguUas, the southernmost point of Africa ; and another extends towards Zwellendam, separating the valley of the Breede Biver from that of its tributary, the Zonder Einde. The principal passes across this chain and its branches are, Dutoit's Kloof, on the W. of Worcester, leading from the coast region and the valley of the Berg River, into that of the Breede River ; the Fransche Hoek Pass, a little way farther to the S. ; the Hottentot Holland Kloof, or Sir Lowry's Pass, near the north-eastern corner of False Bay ; and the Houw Hoek Pass, a short distance to the E. of Sir Lowry's, crossing the branch which extends towards Cape LaguUas. A third chain of mountains, radiating from the group near Worcester, proceeds at first south-east- ward to the village of Zwellendam ; and then taking an easterly course, extends in that direction, without any considerable break or deviation, for more than 200 miles, till, near the mouth of the Kromme river, it sinks into the plain. This range, which, in its course from W. to E., bears successively the names of the Zwellendam, Outeniqua, and Zitzikamma mountains, divides the southern sea-coast of the t AP. I. DESCEIPTION OF THE COLONY. 43 colony from the elevated longitudinal valleys called Kannaland and the Long Kloof. It is cut through by two deep and narrow transverse valleys, through which the Gauritz and the Keurbooms Rivers find their way to the sea. The most frequented passes across it are, the Attaquas' Kloof, and Cradock's Kloof: the former about 100 miles E. of Zwellendam ; Cradock's Kloof between twenty and thirty miles farther eastward; both lead from the coast region into the Long Kloof. The fourth prin- cipal chain of mountains is the great Zwarteberg, of which the general bearing is from W. to E., and which, in the greater part of its extent, runs nearly parallel to the last-mentioned chain, being separated from it by the Long Kloof and the valley of the Kromme river. On the north of this chain lies the vast elevated plain called the Great Karroo ; bleak, arid, desolate, and utterly bare and barren, except after heavy rains ; on the south, between the prin- cipal range itself and the Long Kloof, are numerous subordinate parallel ranges of lower hills. The Great Zwarteberg is in general higher than the Southern or Outeniqua chain, though there are some particular peaks of this latter range which exceed any in the Zwarteberg. It is generally considered to terminate eastward in the valley of the Camtoos ; but beyond this river there are some other groups of mountains, such as the Kuruka or Wintershoek on the N. W. of Uitenhage, and the Zuureberg, between the Sunday 44 DESCEIPTION OF THE COLOKY. Chap. I. and Bushman's Kivers, which seem to be in some measure connected with the Zwarteberg chain. The Great Karroo, which has a breadth of seventy or eighty miles, communicates on the W. with the Roggeveld Karroo, already mentioned, and is bounded on the N. by a great chain of mountains, which in its western part bears the name of the Meuwveld Ber- gen, and farther eastward that of the Sneeuw Bergen. These last are the highest mountains in the Cape colony ; yet (notwithstanding their name) they are not covered with perpetual snow, and therefore do not give rise to unfailing streams. Their highest summit, the Spitzkop or Compas Berg, N. of the village of Graaf Reynett, has been variously esti- mated at 7000 and 10,000 feet of elevation above the level of the sea. The land between these several mountain-chains rises in successive stages, like terraces, as you proceed from S. to N. ; so that the Long Kloof is higher by some hundreds of feet than the country along the southern coast; the Great Karroo is much higher than the Long Kloof (having, it is said, a medium elevation of 3000 feet above the sea) ; and the country to the N. of the Sneeuw Bergen is more elevated still. Consequently, each range of mountains appears higher and more imposing when seen from the south than from the north. The easternmost district of the colony — that of Albany, is for the most part a region of undulating rAP, I. DESCEIPTION OF THE COLONY. 45 hills, without any very conspicuous eminences ; but to the N. and N. E. of it is another system of high mountains, in which the Kunap, the Kat River, and most of the other tributaries of the Great Fish Eiver, as well as the Keiskamma and its feeders, take their rise. These are the mountains of Somerset, the Tarka, and the ceded territory, which form a pic- turesque boundary to the view from the heights above Graham's Town. The Winterberg, supposed to rise to about 6000 feet above the level of the sea, is their highest point. This chain, which is scarcely connected with any of those previously mentioned, extends in somewhat of an irregular crescent shape, from between the Great and Little Fish Rivers, above the village of Somerset, to the upper valley of the Keiskamma, and links itself on to the Amatola mountains in Caifraria. The rivers of the Cape colony are numerous, but none of them have a sufficiently permanent depth of water to be available for navigation. The principal streams which discharge themselves into the sea on the southern coast, are (in succession from W. to E.) the Breede River, the Gauritz, the Camtoos, the Sunday River, the Bushman's River, the Great Fish River, and the Keiskamma. Those of secondary importance, but likewise flowing directly into the sea, are the Duyvenboks, the Kaff*erkuyl, the Keurbooms, the Kromme River, the Zwartkops, and the Kowie. Those flowing to the western coast are much fewer : 46 DESCRIPTION OF THE COLONY. Chap. I. the chief of tliem are the Berg River and the Elephant's River. The Great Orange River is not within the limits of the country I here treat of. !N^early all these streams are of the character of tor- rents, being reduced to a very scanty supply of water in the dry season, and sometimes being dried up altogether, or shrinking into a mere chain of pools ; whereas after heavy rains they rise very suddenly, and become extremely impetuous and formidable. And, as there are no bridges, the communications are often entirely cut off for a time, by this sudden flooding of the rivers. Many of them, especially those in the more eastern parts of the colony, flow in very deep channels, cut down fifty feet or more below the general surface of the country, between steep and nearly precipitous banks, which are generally covered with a thick vegetation. These ravines are very troublesome to cross, and cause great delay and in- convenience to travellers ; while the situation of the streams, thus buried, as it were, in deep hollows, ren- ders it very difficult to make use of their waters for irrigation. The general character of the country is sterile and uninviting. The environs of Cape Town, indeed, are picturesque ; some of the south-western districts have a considerable degree of fertility, and produce corn and wine in abundance; the southern faces of the Outeniqua and Zitzikamma mountains are clothed with forests of large trees, as are also [AP. I. COUNTRY OF THE AMAKOSA CAFFERS. 47 the Zimreberg and some other tracts near the eastern frontier; but the general characteristics of the scenery are rocky and arid mountains, naked uncultivated plains, stony valleys without a tree, a prevailing monotony, an absence of shade, of verdure, and of water. The country to the eastward of the Fish River has much more variety and picturesque beauty than the colony in general, and it is said to improve still more in proportion as you proceed farther in the direction of NataL The northern parts of the colony, and the regions beyond it, as far as the Orange River, are described as barren and desolate in the highest degree. The country of the Amakosa Caifers borders on that of the Amatembu, or Tambookies, to the N., and on that of the Amaponda to the N.E. These are nations of the same race with the Amakosa, speaking nearly the same language, and having, with a few modifications, similar customs, institutions, and manners. Farther along the coast, around and be- yond Port Natal, is the country of the terrible Zoo- loos, or Amazoola, another people of the same race, but more warlike and formidable than any of those hitherto mentioned. Their conquests, under their king Chaka, made them the terror of all the native tribes of South Africa; and of their wars with the emigrant Boers I shall afterwards have frequent occa- sion to speak. NOTE A. Explanation of some local names and peculiar words, wMcli are in frequent use in the Cape colony : — Dnjif.— Aford. Hoek. — A corner ; a tract of land enclosed in the bend of a river, or between a river and the sea, or between two converging ranges of mountains. Kloof, — A mountain pass, or a narrow ravine or glen ; the " Long Kloof" is the only instance I know of the term being applied to a large longitudinal valley.; Kop. — A summit or peak. Kraal. — Properly an enclosure for cattle, like the South American corral; commonly applied to a settlement or village of the natives. Kranz, — A cliff or precipice. Chap. II. AREIVAL AT CAPE TOWN. 49 CHAP. n. Arrival at Cape Town. — Table Mountain Mixture of Nations. — Waggons. — Dust. — South-Easter . — Government House Gardens. — Botanical Walks. — Scarcity of Animal Life. — Vineyards. -— Cape Ho- neysucker. — Legislative Council. — Newspapers. — Green Point. — " The Table Cloth:' — Cape Flats.— Colonel Smith. — The Caffers. — Taxation. — Edu^ cation, — Public Library. January 25th, 1838. — Government House, Cape Town. — We arrived here last Saturday, the 20th, after a voyage of sixty- six days from Portsmouth, which is considered a fair passage, and though we fell in with a good deal of bad weather in some parts of it, our voyage was on the whole pros- perous, and as pleasant as a long voyage can be: the vessel was very comfortably fitted up, and nothing could exceed the civility and good nature of the captain. We came in sight of the land early on Saturday morning, but it was not till late in the day that we entered Table Bay. As we approached from the S.W., we had an excellent view of the fine moun- tainous line of coast running down from Table Bay to the Cape of Good Hope, properly so called ; and 50 TABLE MOUNTAIN. Chap. II. it was with great interest that I looked for the first time upon the continent of Africa. The whole of this line of coast is very bold and high ; the moun- tains rising abruptly from the sea, steep, and rugged, and bare, in successive ledges, and massy beds of rock, with little appearance of vegetation, — their crests rough and craggy, but not shooting up into those sharp peaks which give such a peculiar charac- ter to the coast of Brazil. They reminded us of some of the lower secondary ranges of the Alps. As we ran in pretty near to the shore, and the day was beautifully clear, we saw these mountains to great advantage, with the noon-day light on their crags and projections, and the deep furrows of their steep sides thrown into dark shade, while the surf beat furiously on their bases. There was scarcely a tinge of verdure on them, — all that was not bare rock had the brown hue of parched and withered vegetation, — and it was not till we were under the hill called the Lion's Rump (which bounds the bay on the S. W.), that I saw a few gardens and plantations relicAdng the barrenness of the scene. The famous Table Mountain was a conspicuous object, being apparently the highest summit of the whole range, but in this point of view it does not show the tabular form for which it is noted, reminding one rather (in its general outline as seen from a distance) of Salisbury Crags, near Edinburgh. .>#^ Chap. II. APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 51 As we opened the bay, the picturesque mountains of Stellenbosch and Hottentots' Holland were «een far off in the back-ground. Long ranges of sand- hills extended along the shore northward of the bay, where the English forces landed when they took the Cape in 1806 ; and behind these appeared low moun- tains of a rounded form. About 5 p. M. we came to anchor in Table Bay. The appearance of Cape Town, and the mountains behind it, seen from hence, was pretty much what I had been led to expect, from the prints of them which I had seen ; for the principal features are so simple and strongly marked, that it would be difficult not to catch the likeness in some degree. The town, standing on nearly flat ground, makes no very con- spicuous figure. Immediately behind it, like a huge wall, rises the Table Mountain, so strongly charac- terised by its long and level top, and its precipitous sides, that it can never be mistaken. It has been very aptly compared to a part of the wall of a fortress with two bastions projecting beyond the general line of its front. Adjoining to this, on the left as viewed from the bay, is the bold and rugged peak called the Devil's Mountain ; on the right, a lower but very conspicuous rocky summit, known as the Lion's Head ; and the long round-backed hill, running out nearly north- ward from this last, bears the name of the Lion's Rump. In fact, these two together, when viewed D 2 52 MIXTURE OF NATIONS. Chap. II. from the S.W. and from some distance, have a rude resemblance to the figure of a couchant lion. Cape Town is about equal in population to Yar- mouth in Norfolk, but, being less closely built, probably covers more ground. The main streets are broad and regular, crossing one another at right angles; but they are unpaved, and consequently, at this season, excessively dusty ; many of them are shaded by rows of oak trees ; and a canal, at present nearly dry, runs down the whole length of the principal street, which is called the Heer-gracht. There are no regular foot-pavements ; but in front of most of the houses are brick terraces, more or less raised above the level of the street : this terrace is called the Stoep, and forms the usual evening lounging place of the inhabitants. The houses are rather low, always flat-roofed, either white-washed or painted, w^ith glass windows of numerous small panes. The mixture of English and foreign in all that meets the eye is one of the striking things in this town: a great proportion of the names over the shop-doors are English ; most of the advertisements, names of trades, and the like, are in our own lan- guage, and one meets English faces at every turn : all this makes an odd contrast with the foreign look of the town, and the motley mixture of various nations and colours which inhabit it, — Chap. II. WAGGONS. — DUST. — SOUTH-EASTER. 53 Dutch, Malays, Negroes, Hottentots, and inter- mediate breeds of every shade of colour. All heavy goods, such as wine, timber, &c., are conveyed in long low waggons, drawn by as many as twelve, fourteen, or even more oxen, and driven by a Hottentot with an immensely long bam- boo whip. These waggons are among the most sin- gular objects to the eye of a stranger. Those which carry lighter goods are drawn by horses, and driven often at a smart pace. Cape Town is defended by a castle of tolerable strength, and some lesser forts. It is exposed to great heat, in consequence of its situation, facing the noon-day sun, and immediately backed by naked mountains. But the greatest inconvenience at this season is occasioned by the dust, which is always more or less floating in the air, and during the prevalence of a strong south-east wind is almost intolerable ; it dims the whole air, penetrates every where, clogs one's pores, fills one's eyes, disfigures one's clothes, spoils books and furniture : the trunks of the trees in the town look as if they had been painted with red ochre, and the verdure of the leaves is half hidden by the same red incrustation. We were very lucky in getting ashore on Satur- day evening, for a south-easter has been blowing ever since, and yesterday and the day before with great violence, so that a good deal of the D 3 54 GOVEENMENT HOUSE GARDENS. Chap. II. luggage is not yet landed, nor can be till the wind abates.* We are pretty well sheltered by trees at Government House; yet even here we were much annoyed yesterday by the dust ; but in the town and the open country it was ten times worse. Like many other disagreeable things, this wind is considered very salutary. In the afternoon of the 23rd, I found it difficult to stand against the violence of the gale, which drove before it not only dust, but even small pebbles. The south-east wind is usually accompanied and announced by that peculiar cloud called the Table- cloth, which lies along the top of Table-Mountain like a wreath of snow, while the rest of the sky is perfectly clear. Portions of the skirts of this cloud are seen rushing down the cliffs like cataracts, for a certain distance, till they are dissipated by the hotter air below, but the great mass remains as stationary as if it were a fixed and solid body. Government House is a building of no external beauty, but it is spacious and comfortable. Its gardens are extensive, and very pleasant, and well stocked with trees and plants of various countries. It is a curious sight to see the English oak, the Indian bamboo, the casuarina and euca- lyptus of New Holland, flourishing side by side, * This wind, as it blows from off the shore, is not dangerous to ships in the bay ; but it often cuts off the communication between them and the land for several days together. Chap. II. BOTANICAL WALKS. 55 and all apparently in equal health and vigour. The myrtle, pomegranate, and oleander grow here with remarkable luxuriance and beauty. Adjoining the government gardens is the public walk, a long avenue of oak trees, affording an agreeable shade in this sultry weather. In the immediate neighbourhood of the town there are many neat-looking villas, with gardens and plantations, which relieve in some degree the general parched appearance of the country. The trees most abundantly cultivated are the common oak and the stone pine, both introduced from Europe, and both thriving very well. I have not, however, seen here any oaks of great size. This tree, I am told, both grows and decays much faster in this country than in England. Jan, 28. — Since the cessation of the south-easter, we have had very hot weather, as is usual at such times ; on the 25th, the thermometer stood at 94° in the shade, and yesterday at 90°. This is the most unfavourable season of the year for botanising, on account of the long-continued heat and drought : all the bulbous, and most of the herbaceous, plants are withered and dried up; yet even now there are many interesting things to be found. I spent some time in botanising on the rough, heathy, sloping ground about the foot of the Devil's Mountain, and was much struck with the great variety of forms of vegetable life observable even at this unfavourable season, although compa- D 4 56 BOTANICAL WALKS. Chap. IL ratively few of them were in a satisfactory state for examination. The general aspect of the vegetation, at this time of year, is certainly rather stunted, harsh, and rigid; and though there are some bril- liant flowers, there is no fine verdure nor develop- ment of foliage. The soil, composed of a hard red clay, mixed with the detritus of the sandstone rock, which lies immediately beneath it, is covered with heaths and other slender small-leaved shrubs, inter- mixed with prickly bushes, somewhat resembling furze, tufts of slender wiry grasses, and hard, tough, rush-like plants of the Restio tribe ; and these do not cover the ground closely, like the vegetation of our northern heaths and commons, but are rather thinly scattered, leaving spaces of bare soil between them. Among these appear, even now, the bright blossoms of a few herbaceous plants, in particular a beautiful pink-flowered Chironia, and two Lobelias, one with golden yellow flowers (an unusual colour in that tribe of plants), and the other rivalHng the gentians of the Alps in the splendid blue of its corolla. One of the most abundant shrubs is the Struthiola erecta, a neat little heath-like plant, bear- ing a profusion of delicate white flowers, deliciously fragrant. I found also the Erica cerintlioides, with its fine scarlet blossoms, — a pretty little Milkwort, — several everlastings {Helichrysum), — the Muraltia Heisteria, a prickly furze-like shrub, with small bright purple flowers peeping from among its spiny-pointed Chap. II. BOTANICAL WAXKS. 57 leaves, — and numerous other things. The only- species of the Protea tribe that I have yet seen in bloom is the Leucospermum conocarpum, or Kreupel hoom, a large shrub or small tree, with greyish hairy leaves and compact heads of tawny yellow flowers, which covers a great extent of ground about the foot of the Table and Devil's Mountains, forming a kind of dwarf forest. Jan. 29. — I rambled out again in the same direc- tion as before, and ascended a little way up the Devil's Mountain, as far as the wood of Silver-trees, which extends along the sides of that mountain and the Table. The Silver-tree, or Witteboom {Leuca- dendron argenteum), which appears to be the only tree of any considerable size indigenous to the neigh- bourhood of Cape Town, is very conspicuous from the brilliant silky whiteness of its leaves, which have a beautiful appearance when shaken by the wind. It grows to the height of from thirty to forty feet, with rather upright branches, not spreading widely. Its wood is soft and brittle, of no known use except for fuel ; its bark is very astringent, and appears to con- tain much tanning matter, but I am not aware that this has been turned to any account. I met with several plants to-day, which I had not seen in my former walk; in particular, a beautiful scarlet flowered Heath (^Erica Sebana), nearly out of bloom, however, — some Proteas, in seed, — a slender- leaved Diosma, with small white flowers,— a curious D 5 58 SCARCITY OF ANIMAL LIFE. Chap. IL little Hydrocotyle (^H. Centella), — and the Myrica quercifolia, which is nearly allied to the Sweet Gale or Bog Myrtle of our own country, and has the same aromatic smell. There is something in the general aspect of the vegetation here, which reminds me of that of Provence and Languedoc, although the pre- vailing plants are of quite different families. I have been struck, in my rambles hitherto, with the apparent scarcity of animal life, and particularly surprised at not seeing any of those lizards, which, in most warm countries, swarm in all dry and exposed situations. Grasshoppers and ants, of various kinds, are extremely abundant. Very few butterflies are to be seen, which may be owing either to the dryness of the climate, or to the violence of the winds. The cultivated grounds towards the base of the mountains are mostly covered with vines, which en- liven the scenery by their bright and cheerful green, but are not otherwise picturesque, being cut down into low stumpy bushes, not above three feet high. The general badness of the Cape wines is attributed by some to the soil, by others to want of skill in the cultivation and preparation. It is certainly not owing to want of sunshine. The pure and transparent at- mosphere of the Cape (when it is not obscured by dust) gives a great charm to the scenery, and espe- cially to the mountains : the lights and shadows on their rugged sides, in the mornings and evenings, are particularly beautiful. Chap. II. CAPE HONEYSUCE^ER. 59 Jan, 31. — I saw to-day a curious little bird, which seems to be the Cape Honeysucker (Melliphaga Cafer) of Swainson, not much bigger than a wren, of a brownish colour, with a tail of many fine, long, soft, wavy feathers, three or four times as long as the body; the beak slender and arched. Many of these birds were feeding on the blossoms of an American aloe, by the road-side, thrusting their bills into the flowers and sucking the honey. They do not, however, feed on the wing, like humming birds, but while perching : their flight is short, jerking, and unsteady, as if they were embarrassed by the length of their trains. Feb, 3. — The Legislative Council of the colony met to-day, and the new Governor's instructions were read. The Legislative Council consists of five ofiicial members, namely, the Governor, the Second in Com- mand of the forces, the Colonial Secretary, the At- torney-General, and the Treasurer of the colony ; and ^^Q unofficial members, inhabitants of the colony, and nominated by the Governor. It has been sug- gested, that these unofficial members ought to be elected by the people ; and this might be of some use as a preparation for a really free system of popular representation. The Legislative Council was esta- blished only four years ago, in Sir Benjamin d'Urban's time ; it permits the publication of its debates, a step which has proved very popular. When a bill (or ordinance, as it is called here) is brought in by any D 6 60 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. Chap. XL member of the council, and has been read a first time, it must be pubHshed in the colonial newspapers for three successive weeks, during which time ob^ jections may be made, modifications proposed, and petitions presented. It then comes on for a second reading, and if that be carried, it is referred to the Judges of the colony, who have a certain time allowed them to examine it, and to make their objections, if any. If they sanction it, it can no more be altered or modified in the colony, but is sent home for the opinion of the ministry in England ; and if approved of by them, it is read a third time, and becomes law. While waiting for the decision of the Home Govern- ment, however, the Governor and Executive Council Kave the power, if they think it necessary, of causing it to be enforced provisionally. This is no doubt a necessary regulation, as much inconvenience might arise from a delay of ^ve months. The Executive Council is a kind of privy council to the Governor, of which all the members are official, and the discussions secret. The Governor is obliged to consult both the Legislative and Executive Councils before he makes any new law or regulation; but, even if both of them disap- prove of his proposed measure, he may yet carry it into effect, subject, however, to the decision of the Home Government, to which he is obliged to send likewise the objections of the councils. Thus these bodies have no veto upon the Governor's measures ; Chap. II. EXECUTIVE COUJfClL. 61 yet, as most of the members may be expected to pos- sess more local and practical knowledge than himself, they may, through such knowledge, and by the di- versity of minds applied to the question under dis- cussion, throw new lights upon it, and start sug- gestions and objections which had not before occurred to him, and may very often induce him to adopt their views, though they cannot force these upon him. The freedom of debate in the Legislative Council has been much (I think injudiciously) curtailed by Lord Glenelg's last instructions, which have caused much dissatisfaction here : they provide that no mem- ber shall of himself propose or bring forward any bill whatever, public or private, but must communi- cate the draft of his proposed measure to the Go- vernor, who shall have the power of introducing or suppressing it, as he shall think proper; subject, however, to this condition, that any member who shall have communicated in writing, to the Governor, any proposition which he wishes to bring forward, shall have the right to enter such project or opinion, together with the reasons on which he founds it, on the minutes of the council, which are always trans- mitted to England. Another of the new regulations is, that the Governor shall have the power of stopping any speaker, who, in his opinion, wanders from the subject in debate, or introduces irrelevant matter; and another, that the unofficial members of the council, who were before appointed for life, shall be 62 NEWSPAPERS. Chap. IL removable at the pleasure of the Home Government. These restrictions, in fact, give the Government so entire a control over the unofficial members, as almost to reduce the latter to insignificance ; and as these members, though not elected by the people, are yet regarded in the colony as in some measure the representatives of public feeling, Lord Glenelg's re- gulations are very unpopular. There are at this time three newspapers published at Cape Town* : — " The South African Commercial Advertiser," which is the oldest of them, is con- ducted with much ability by Mr. Fairbairn; it is strongly liberal in its politics, and represents the principles of the missionaries, and the advocates of the native tribes. The " Meditator " and the " Zuid Afrikaan," which espouse the opposite side in politics, and especially in colonial politics, are ill-written papers. All of them are partly in English and partly in Dutch. Feb. 4. — I gathered the first ferns I have seen here, in a ravine of the Devil's Mountain : one of them an Adiantum, very like the European maiden-hair ; the other a Blechnum. One of the most common of all plants in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, is a large Mesembrianthemum, commonly called the Hottentot fig, with trailing stems, spreading widely over the ground, and bearing large straw-coloured flowers. It grows every where on the open uncultivated ground, by way-sides and on banks, covering large spaces * Several others have been set up since I left the colony. Chap. II. GREEN POINT. 63 with its matted stems and its succulent bright green leaves, which have a more lively verdure than most of the other indigenous plants. Feb. 5. — A thunder-storm last night cooled the air, and to-day the wind is N. W., the temperature very agreeable, and the air brilliantly clear. I walked out along the sea-coast, round Green Point, a low point of land which runs out a little way from the foot of the hill called the Lion's Eump, and forms the western boundary of the bay. A light-house is placed on it. The shore is immediately bordered by a ledge of low broken rocks, on which the surf breaks with great violence ; within these is a belt of shell-sand, and the rest of the space between the sea and the hill is a flat expanse of hard clay, baked by the sun. The vegetation of this tract, at the present season, is scanty and unattractive. One of its most remarkable productions is a strange, uncouth-looking, leafless Euphorbia, shaped like a crooked club, and rough all over with pyramidal knobs, like the rind of a pine-apple ; it grows in broad and dense patches, a number of stems radiating from a central point. Though tolerably abundant in some spots, on the hard clay near the sea, it grows in much greater plenty among the shivered sun-burnt rocks of the Lion's Rump, together with various kinds of Cras- sula, Cotyledon, and Mesembrianthemum, Feb, 8. — I walked part of the way up Table Moun- tain, to where the clifis begin, which, I should think. 64 " THE TABLE CLOTH." Chap. 1L is nearly 1000 feet above the level of the sea. The silver-tree disappears a little below this elevation. The shrubbery of heaths and other flowering bushes is very rich and beautiful on this middle stage of the mountain ; and as one ascends, many plants are found which do not make their appearance lower down. In a little swampy watercourse among the rocks, the vegetation was uncommonly luxuriant, and I found many novelties, — among others, the Psoralea aphylla, a slender broom-like shrub, with very pretty blue papilionaceous flowers. From this height I had a very pleasing view of Cape Town and its environs ; the numerous gay white villas scattered over the narrow plain and the lower slopes of the hills, among vineyards and groves'; the bright blue waters of the bay glittering in the sunshine, the graceful curve of its shores, the dazzling white line of sandhills ex- tending along them, and the fine range of craggy mountains in the background. My first impressions certainly did no justice to the scenery of this place. It has much of an Italian character, and is set off to advantage by a climate even superior to that of Italy. Some of our party compared the environs of Cape Town to those of Florence; but the latter have considerably the advantage in fertility and richness of effect. Feb, 12. — A furious south-easter is blowing to-day, and the "Tablecloth" is on a grander scale than I have seen it yet, entirely covering the tops of the % Chap. II. " THE TABLE CLOTH." 65 Table and Devil's Mountains with its magnificent billowy masses of vapour, as white as snow, and rolling in thick volumes half-way down the cliffs, but always dissipated by the hotter air before it reaches the bottom. All this while, the upper boundary of the cloud remains as level and strongly defined, and seemingly as motionless, as if it were really a mass of snow, while its lower part is in con- tinual agitation ; and the sky all around is cloudless and brilliantly blue, Feb. 15. — The weather here is apt occasionally to baffle and disappoint our plans of excursions, in a different way from that in which it does so in Eng- land. I had arranged a plan for going up Table Mountain this morning, in company with Mr. Har- vey, the colonial treasurer, who is an excellent botanist, and thoroughly acquainted with the vege- table productions of this country. We were to start at 3 A. M., and as yesterday was perfectly calm and clear, we confidently reckoned on a fine day ; but a south-easter arose in the night, the cloud came over the mountain, and our expedition was necessarily deferred. It is now blowing furiously. The ascent of the mountain is very unsafe during the continu- ance of a south-easter, not only on account of the violence of the wind, but because of the risk of losing one's way in the dense cloud which covers the mountain, and of falling over the precipices. Some persons are known to have perished in this way, and 66 CAPE FLATS. Chap. II. many have been obliged to remain all night, and even more than one night, on the exposed summit of the mountain. It is confidently maintained by many persons in this colony, that the former Dutch government of the Cape, as well as the colonists of that nation, have been unjustly accused of cruelty and oppression to- wards the native tribes ; that the statements of travel- lers on this subject were founded on false or imperfect information ; and that even the extracts from public documents, which seemed to support the charge, were partial and garbled. A party, headed by Mr. Cloete, who is one of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council, have taken up this cause with great zeal, have formed an association for the pur- pose of publishing statements in vindication of the Dutch colonists, and have petitioned the Governor to allow them to search the public records, and to make extracts, with this view. He has referred their petition to the Home Government. Feb. 19, — I am just returned from spending two very pleasant days at Colonel Bell's country house, situated about ^ye miles S. E. of Cape Town, on what are called the Flats. I botanised in company with Mr. Harvey (who was staying there at the time) on these Flats, a wide and level expanse of loose white sand, covered with a vast variety of heaths, and other low shrubs. They stretch across, without interruption, from Table Bay Chap. II. VIEW FROM THE FLATS. 67 on the N. W. to False Bay on the S. E., and form a broad low isthmus connecting the mountain group of the Cape itself with the main-land to the eastward. As there is not a hill nor a rock to be met with in the line between the two bays, — nothing but this dead flat of sand, — one is naturally led to suppose that the insulated group of mountains which runs south- ward from Table Bay to the Cape of Good Hope, and of which Table Mountain is the highest summit, was once really an island, separated from the main-land by a strait occupying the place of the present Flats, and that this passage was gradually filled up by a deposit of sand. The soil is quite pure quartz sand, except near the foot of the mountains, where one meets with ferruginous sandstone gravel, and de- posits of a whitish marl. The air out here is much cooler, pleasanter, and more bracing than at Cape Town, and the view from the Flats is very pleasing : on one hand the Devil's Mountain is seen to great advantage, appearing still finer from this side than from Table Bay, with its craggy peak, its deep ravines, its steep sides variegated with woods of silver trees, and the villas and plantations about its base ; a part of the Table Mountain is seen next to this, with a long but lower ridge jutting out to the southward from it, like a terrace; farther south again, the Muysenberg, Simonsberg, and other moun- tains running down towards the Cape ; and on the 68 YARIETY OF PLANTS. Chap. II. opposite side of the Flats, the fine Alpine range of the Hottentots' Holland Mountains. Although this is the least favourable season of the year for botany, yet the variety of plants on the Flats is still very great. The Heaths are particularly beautiful : some are tall stately shrubs, as high as a man, while others rise only a few inches above the ground; some have scarlet flowers, some crimson, some purple, some pale pink, some white ; in some the corolla is long and trumpet-shaped, in others tubular with a contracted mouth, in others short and bell-shaped, in others, again, almost globular. Inter- mixed with these grow numerous Brunias, Struthiolas, and GnidiaSy beautiful rose-coloured Chironias, Lo- belias with brilliant blue or yellow flowers, a variety of papilionaceous flowered plants, Pi-oteas, Cliffortias, rush-like Restiones, &c. A plant* allied to Oro- hanche, with large white blossoms, is frequent here, growing on the roots of the heaths ; and the curious Cassythtty very like our Dodder in its general ap- pearance, overruns many of the bushes, and loads them with a tangled web of long yellow threads. White ants are common on the Flats ; they appear very like those of Brazil, but their nests are little round domes, not above half a foot high. The sand is perforated in every direction by the deep burrows of the Cape mole {Bathyergus), but I could not see any of the animals themselves. * Harveya Capensis, Hooker. Chap. II. COLONEL SMITH. 6^ I had much conversation, while here, with Colonel Smith, who commanded in the late CaiFer war. He incurred, I believe, very unjust blame from a large party in England, on account of his conduct in those transactions, as if he had been guilty of unnecessary harshness and cruelty towards the Caffers. He has given me much information about that people. He speaks highly of them on the whole, as an uncommonly intelligent, acute, high- spirited, and brave people, though, like the ancient Spartans, they consider theft no crime. Subordina- tion is very strictly observed among them ; they have several different gradations of chieftains, whose rela- tive rights and degrees of authority seem to be almost as well defined as in the feudal system of Europe ; yet the power of the chiefs is not entirely despotic, but depends on public opinion, and though often guilty of acts of great cruelty and oppression, they are still bound by certain usages and customs which they dare not transgress. Even the greatest chiefs are obliged, in regard to all important measures, to consult their Pacati or counsellors, by whom they are not unfrequently thwarted. They have a great veneration for hereditary right. The worst point about the Caffers seems to be their belief in witchcraft, which leads to even worse horrors (if possible) than were formerly per- petrated on the same account in Europe. Among them, however, the fatal accusation does not fall upon 70 WITCHCRAFT. Chap. II. the poor, and old, and helpless, but generally upon rich men, who are worth plundering. It seems to be a state-engine, a kind of inquisition, encouraged by the chiefs (whether they believe in it or not), as a means of keeping up their power and wealth. The witch doctor or doctress (for it is very often a woman) is always (it is said) in the confidence of the chief, and the accusation is concerted between them. Then some others of the kraal are encouraged to come forward and complain of witchcraft; and when the plot is ripe, and the people sufficiently ex- cited, the doctor gives notice of a witch-dance, at which the whole kraal (including the intended vic- tim) are obliged to attend. They dance in a circle round the witch doctor, who stands naked in the midst, and after various mummeries, singles out and denounces the destined victim. The poor wretch is instantly seized and bound, and if he confesses his crime at once, he may escape with nothing worse than the forfeiture of his whole property ; if not, he is horribly tortured with red-hot stones, and with black ants, till he either dies, or confesses all they want to know. In any case his property is confis- cated. Colonel Smith mentioned one instance of a man who was accidentally discovered by his people, after he had been burnt in thirty -three different places, and left for dead ; he was a subject of the chief Um- hala, and had been tortured, and robbed of all he had, on a charge of this sort. He recovered, how- Chap. II. TAXATION. 71 ever, under medical treatment, and Colonel Smith obliged the chief to restore all his property to him. Colonel Smith disapproves much * of the measure adopted by our Government, of giving up to the Caf- fers all the territory beyond the Great Fish River, and this for two reasons : first, that the Caffers (like any other barbarous or half-civilised people) will most assuredly ascribe our concessions either to fear or fickleness, and despise us accordingly; secondly, that the chiefs of that district, thus suddenly released from all control, will commit (and in fact have al- ready begun to commit) great cruelties upon the less powerful people who have hitherto been screened by British protection from their revenge or rapacity. Feb. 26. — The taxation of this colony does not appear to be very heavy. Some of the taxes are different in kind from those of England : in par- ticular, there is a capitation tax, at the rate of six shillings a year on every free male above sixteen (with some exceptions, however), and every free un- married woman or widow; but this tax is found troublesome to levy, and there are many who cannot pay it. There are no excise duties. The stamp duties form a large item, owing, in particular, to the great number of stamped licences which are required. The auction duties are also considerable in amount. A duty of three per cent, is levied on all British * Subsequent events have fully proved the correctness of his opinions on this subject. 72 EDUCATION. Chap. II. commodities imported into the colony, and ten per cent, on all foreign goods. Some of the merchants here wish to have these duties raised, in order to admit of the taking off some of the more trouble- some and vexatious taxes. There are no local taxes, I am informed, of the nature of tithes, poor-rates, or county-rates ; all public expenses, local as well as general (including the maintenance of the clergy), are defrayed by the Colonial Government itself. It would seem, however, that the depending thus entirely on one central authority, and being obliged to recur to it on every occasion, is likely to produce . a kind of apathy and helplessness not to be desired in the subjects of a free state. There are some con- veniences, no doubt, in this extreme centralisation of authority, especially in a backward and thinly^ peopled country, but the advantages of accustoming people to a certain degree of self-government and self-dependence are more important and lasting. Education in this colony, generally speaking, is said to be at a low ebb ; but the attention both of the government and the governed has at length been strongly drawn to the deficiency, and it is probable that some good will be done. The government free- schools throughout the colony are under the nominal management of a board or commission at Cape Town, composed of the clergy of the English, Scotch, Dutch, and Lutheran churches; but they can exercise no effectual superintendence over the schools in the re- Chap. II. PUBLIC LIBRARY. 73 moter districts. The schoolmasters' salaries are very- low ; and, owing partly to this, and partly to the disreputable character and conduct of some who set up for teachers, it is said that there is a strong pre- judice against the profession, especially amongst the Boers. There are, however, some good schools at Cape Town. In several places in the interior, the missionaries have set up schools for the instruction of the Hottentots and other coloured races. I have been assured by those who had good opportunities of observing the fact, that, while mere children, the Hottentots are generally more acute and quick in learning, as well as more docile, than European children of the same age and condition in life ; but this precocious development of intellect is not long sustained. The Public Library at Cape Town is a good col- lection, and its regulations are uncommonly liberal. Any respectable person, though not a subscriber, is at liberty to read there, but subscribers alone can borrow books. There are two different rates of subscription, three pounds and two pounds per an- num ; the higher rate entitling one to borrow more books at a time, and sooner after they come out. The collection is particularly rich in voyages and travels, and contains several splendid works on natu- ral history, such as Kedoute's Liliacees, Andrews's Heaths, Le Vaillant's Parrots, &c. It is contained in a large building at the western end of the parade E 74 PUBLIC LIBEARY. Chap. II. ground ; in another part of which building balls take place during the winter, and in another auctions are held. The library was originally founded by a Dutch gentleman many years ago, but was placed on its present footing by an ordinance of the council, while Sir Lowry Cole was governor. Chap. III. ASCENT OF TABLE MOUNTAIN. 75 CHAPTER in. Ascent of Table Mountain. — Mineralogical Observa- tions. — Excursion to Muysenberg. — South-Easter. — Massacre of Boers. — Emigration of the Boers. — Preparations for Journey to the Eastern Frontier, Feb. 28. 1838. — I started at 4 o'clock this morning to ascend Table Mountain, in company with Mr. Harvey. The stars were shining brightly in a clear sky, though there were some suspicious- looking clouds about the top of the mountain; and the only sound was the shrill song of the grasshoppers and cicada. For nearly two miles the road is practicable for horses, and the ascent gentle; then we arrive at the Platte Klip^ a broad smooth sheet of rock, over which flows the small stream which comes down from the mountain, and which here turns a water-mill. The horse-road ceases here, and we enter on what may be called the second region of the mountain, a kind of shoulder or buttress, sloping up to the foot of the cliffs. The path by which we ascended was rough and narrow, winding among scattered Silver-trees, thick bushes, £ 2 76 ASCENT OF TABLE MOUNTAIN. Chap. III. and masses of rock. As the morning lis^ht became stronger, the town and bay appeared far below us ; and presently we could distinguish the sea over the summit of the Lion's Rump, which showed that we were already at a higher elevation than that point. The path became continually steeper as we pro- ceeded, and soon after 5 o'clock we entered the great ravine which leads to the summit. I have already said that the northern face of Table Mountain looks like part of the wall of a fortress with two bastions : the ravine in question is in the re-entering angle, between the right-hand or west bastion and the curtain; it is of considerable width at the base, but narrows continually upwards, till at the top there is a space of only three or four yards between the walls of rock. I found the ascent very laborious, the path being not only excessively steep, but every where encumbered with loose sharp stones and fragments of rock, which both bruise the feet, and are very apt to give way under one. Long tufts of coarse grasses and tough pliant rushes (^Restiacece) grow in the interstices of the stones, and afford a useful support to one's hands ; heaths, ferns, and various dwarf shrubs, adorn the crevices of the enor- mous cliffs of horizontally stratified quartz sand- stone, which rise like colossal walls on both sides of the pass. At half-past 6 o'clock we emerged from the poort, or gorge, and stood on the summit of Table Mountain, 3582 feet above the sea. Chap. III. BOTANY. 77 The sun was now up, and the air around and above us quite clear, but it felt cold and damp, and the herbage was all dripping wet; I could have fancied myself in quite a different latitude from Cape Town. We proceeded immediately in search of the Disa grandiflora, the celebrated beauty of Table Mountain, which had, in fact, been our chief inducement to ascend at this season. The top of the mountain, though varied with rocky knolls in some places, and marshy depressions in others, is in gene- ral singularly level, and forms a narrow plain about two miles long, extending from S. E. to N. W., with a precipitous descent on each side : a large part of its surface is a kind of pavement of flat or rounded rocks, with herbage in the interstices ; other parts are swampy, and covered with moss, or with tall rushes and fern. The Disa grandiflora grows in a marshy hollow near the eastern extremity, where it is abundant among the rushes on the margins of small pools and streamlets, in a black boggy soil: this is the only known locality. It is certainly one of the most splendid flowers I ever beheld, and may rank, I think, among the very first, even of the lovely Orchis tribe. Besides this, we gathered two other rare species of Disa (Z>. ferruginea and tenui- folia), — a delicate cream-coloured Gladiolus, — the brilliant Crassula coccinea, — several pretty heaths, some peculiar to this elevation, others common to the summit and base of the mountain, — some curious £ 3 78 SAFE DESCENT. Chap. III. ferns, — a variety of Compositce, &c. Pencea mu- cronata is one of the most abundant plants on the top of the mountain. A large and handsome fern ( Todea Africana) grows plentifully in the wet hol- lows and among rocks in the Poort. Clouds approaching from the S.E. warned us to return to the neighbourhood of the gorge, lest we should be lost in the vapour, and fall down the cliffs, or be obliged to remain all night on the summit, as has happened to many people. We had not long reached a safe station before the south-easter began to be felt; the clouds came drifting fast over the mountain, and it soon became bitterly cold. About 9^ A. M. we began to descend, but lingered a good while in the gorge, collecting mosses and lichens, which we found in abundance on the rocks.* In the mean time the wind increased, the clouds descended lower on the mountain, and we were enveloped in a sort of '' Scotch mist," which presently thickened into a pouring rain, so that we were soon wet to the skin. To mend the matter, when we were about half way down, a sudden shift of wind drove the rain right in our faces. The descent was almost as fatiguing as the ascent ; but we met with no acci- dent, and 1 reached Government House before one * Sticta crocata, a very fine lichen, grows here in great per- fection ; it is found also in Scotland, (where, however, it is very rare,) in North America, and in the Falkland Islands. Chap. III. MINERALOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 79 o'clock, tired and wet, but loaded with botanical treasures. March 8. — There is a bridle-road over what is called the Kloof, the connecting ridge (or col, as it would be called in the Alps), between the Table , Mountain and the Lion's Head : this road descends on the other side to Kamp's Bay, at the western base of Table Mountain, and thence runs north- ward along the coast to Green Point. The highest point of it may be, perhaps, 700 feet above the sea- level, and commands a fine view of the mountainous line of coast to the southward. The rock of which the connecting ridge and the slopes of the mountains on both sides of it are composed, is a coarse-grained whitish granite, containing a large proportion of crystalline white felspar, and extremely subject to decomposition; the earth into which it decomposes is cut by the winter rains into remarkably deep gullies. In ascending from Cape Town to the Kloof, one may observe several trap-dykes traversing the granite, and easily distinguishable from it by their dark colour ; and a little below the top of the pass, on the side towards Kamp's Bay, a remarkable dis- located dyke of the same substance is visible in the steep bank by the side of the road. It appears as if it had been broken across in the middle, and the one half pushed sideways out of the line of the other, but still preserving the same direction. The rock of E 4 80 MINERALOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. Chap. III. tills dyke is of a greenish-black colour, and has the appearance of being composed of spheroidal con- cretions, as is not unfrequently the case with rocks of that class. In the ascent of Table Mountain, one meets, in the first instance, with a vast quantity of sandstone in loose blocks strewed over the lower slopes ; at the Platte Klip Mill, a dark gray rock, excessively hard and tough (probably of igneous origin), shows itself in the bed of the little stream; immediately above this, the granite makes its appearance on the sur- face, composing the whole of what I have called the second region. A little way before the commence- ment of the great ravine, and probably about 1600 feet above the sea-level, one can trace very distinctly, in the bed of the streamlet, the junction between the granite and sandstone, the latter resting directly on the former, without any apparent dislocation: the smooth rounded forms of the granite rocks, and the abrupt escarpments, sharp angles, and very conspi- cuous horizontal stratification of the sandstone, make the line of demarcation very apparent. The lower beds of the sandstone are of a dark reddish colour, thin-bedded, and somewhat schistose ; but these are presently succeeded by the hard, white, large-grained quartz sandstone, forming the whole of those mag- nificent cliffs which give such a peculiar character to the mountain. The thickness of this sandstone must be nearly 2000 feet ; its stratification is remarkably Chap. III. TABLE VALLEY. 81 distinct and regular, and, to the eye, almost per- fectly horizontal. On the Lion's Head, only a small, insulated, tower-like mass of it has been left, capping the granite. This latter rock may be traced along the shore, northward from Kamp's Bay to within a short distance of the Green Point lighthouse, where it is covered by a hard dark-coloured slate with veins of quartz. The other mountains of the Cape Peninsula, to the southward of the Table, appear to be of similar nature and formation. March 13. — The name of Table Valley is com- monly given to the small tract of comparatively level ground enclosed between Table Bay and the moun- tains. These latter are, as it were, pushed forward, on each side of it, nearly to the sea ; the Devil's Moun- tain, on the one hand, and the Lion's Rump on the other, being in advance, to the northward, of Table Mountain, though connected with it ; so that alto- gether they sweep round in an irregular curve, which reaches, at each end, nearly to the shore of the bay. Table Valley is not absolutely level, but rises from the sea with an evident though gentle slope, which gradually increases as one approaches the mountains. The narrow strip of flat ground between the sea and the foot of the Devil's Mountain, forming the eastern outlet of this valley, is crossed by an old line of for- tifications, intended for the defence of the town, but now neglected. Two block-houses, at different heights on the side of the mountain above, were E 5 82 EXCUESION TO MUYSENBERG. Chap. III. designed to aid in the defence. It is remarkable that, neither in 1795 nor in 1806, when the English attacked the Cape, was any attempt made to defend these lines. The road from Cape Town to the Flats, and to all the interior of the country, runs along the above- mentioned narrow strip of ground, past the lines, and round the base of the Devil's Mountain. The only other carriage-road out of the town goes round the foot of the signal-hill, or Lion's Rump, by Green Point and the lighthouse; but it ends abruptly. The Kloof road is only a bridle-way, not practicable for carriages. March 14, — Mr. Harvey drove me in his gig to Muysenberg, situated at the N. W. angle of False Bay, about sixteen miles from Cape Town. Our way lay at first along the foot of the Devil's Moun- tain, and skirting the Flats, past the pretty little village of Rondebosch ; in this part, the broad level road, bordered by high hedges, and shaded by oak or fir trees, the neat cottages and gardens by the way- side, and the public-houses with English names on their signs, put me much in mind of my own country. Afterwards we traversed the Flats in a southerly direction, leaving the Wynberg and Constantia hills on our right. Wynberg, which is a low hiU jutting out from the roots of the Table Mountain, towards the sandy plain, is thickly studded over with well- built country houses, surrounded by groves of pine Chap. III. EXCURSION TO MUYSfiNBERG. 83 trees, and is a favourite place of residence, both for invalids from India, and for the wealthier inhabitants of the Cape. There is nothing deserving the name of a village at Muy senberg, — only a very few scattered cottages on the sea-shore, along the foot of the Muysenberg mountain, which is of moderate height, and, like most of the others in this peninsular group, has a flattish top, and nearly precipitous rocky sides, thinly sprinkled with bushes. Between its base and the sea there is but a very narrow strip of sand, along which the road is carried. This pass was once guarded by several batteries, now abandoned and dilapidated. In 1795, when the English, having landed in Simon's Bay, advanced by this road against Cape Town, the Dutch forces took up a position here ; but the English succeeded in turning it, and drove them out with little loss. We spent some hours in botanising on the sea shore, and on the lowest slopes of the mountain, where, in spite of the dry season, we had very good sport. I collected above a score of plants entirely new to me ; among which were the Indigofera juncea, with its slender broom-like twigs, and fine crimson flowers, — the Sebcsa ambigua, very gay with its profusion of bright, starry, yellow blossoms ; a small species of Statice or Sea-lavender, much resembling the English S, reticulata; the neat Geranium inca- E 6 84 EXCURSION TO MUYSENBEEG. Chap, III. num, and the Tarchonanthus camphoratus^ a shrub re- markable for its powerful smell of camphor^ and for the white wool which envelopes its seeds. The su- perb Chandelier lily {Brunsvigia multijiora) grows plentifully here in the loose sand : its thick succulent stalk rises straight out of the ground, without any leaves, supporting an ample spreading umbel of more than twenty flowers of a glowing crimson colour, curving upwards like the branches of a chandelier. March \5. — There is a strong tendency to spiritual despotism in this place, especially on the part of the Presbyterians. I have heard a story of a preacher of that sect, in Sir Benjamin d'Urban's time, who, hav- ing quarrelled with his congregation, addressed them at the close of the service, thus — "I will not bless you, for how can I pronounce a blessing on those whom God has cursed ? " March 18, — The south-east wind blew with greater fury during the 15 th and 16th, especially the latter, than it has ever done before in the two months we have been here. A man and horse, it is said, were literally blown down on the road, and the man broke his leg in the fall ; two waggons were overturned by the violence of the wind ; some houses in the town unroofed, and a schooner driven ashore near Green Point, a thing which seldom happens in a south-easter. The Governor sets out in a few days for ^the eastern frontier, and I am to be of the party. I Chap. III. EMIGKATION OF BOERS. S5 suppose we shall be about four months absent. There have lately been some alarms on the frontier, arising chiefly out of a mutiny in the Hottentots Cape Corps, which it was suspected might have been instigated by some of the Caifer chiefs. There is also a report that the Boers who emigrated from the colony to the Natal country have been suddenly and treacherously attacked by Dingaan, the great chief of that region, and that 250 of them, men, women, and children, have been massacred. This, as yet, is only a rumour, which wants confirmation ; but it does not seem unlikely, considering the character of Dingaan, who is a noted savage, though he at first made a show of befriending and encou- rao:ino: the new comers. This emigration of the Boers has now been going on for some time, and the passion for it seems to have been increasing of late; and even spreading from the frontier Boers to those in the interior of the colony, but it is likely to be checked if this news should prove true. Their avowed object in emigrating was to remove themselves out of the control and jurisdiction of the British government : and their motives appear to be manifold. In the first place, they have never forgiven the Slave Emancipation Act, interfering, as it did, with what they were used to look upon as their most valu- able property, and it seems they are afraid of being entirely deserted by their present apprentices as 86 EMIGRATION OF BOERS. Chap. III. soon as the time for their liberation arrives; ac- cordingly they anticipate this evil, and defeat the law, by carrying off their apprentices with them. They have also been led to believe that the British government is under the control of the missionaries (the objects of their mortal aversion), and conse- quently so hostile to them that they can expect no justice from it. It is said, too, that the Boers were urged to this measure of emigration by the continual attacks and depredations of the Caffers, Bushmen, &c., though how they expected to escape from this evil by plunging deeper into the midst of the savage tribes, is not very evident. It would seem they had formed an exaggerated idea of the fertility of the country along the eastern coast, and the first emigrants kept up the delusion by the brilliant accounts they sent to their countrymen in the colony. It is probable, also, that a wish to escape from the increasing restraints of law, and from the burden of taxes, were additional inducements. Whether their departure will ulti- mately prove an evil to the colony, may be doubted ; at any rate it is clear it cannot be directly prevented.' To hinder them from crossing a frontier of such enormous extent, and so open, would require a regu- lar cordon of troops and police; in fact, an army. The lands of these malcontents have, as I under- stand, been bought up on speculation by the great merchants of Cape Town, one of whom is making arrangements to import a great number of new colo- Chap. III. PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 87 nists from Germany, probably a very advantageous substitute for the Boers. March 21. — Intense heat for the last four days. We are making our final preparations for our journey to the eastern frontier. 88 DEPARTUKE FROM CAPE TOWN. Chap. IV. CHAPTER IV. Departure from Cape Town. — Flats. — Hottentot Holland. — Sir Lowrys Pass. — Caledon. — Zwellen- dam Mountains. — Gauritz River. — Karroo. — Long Kloof. — Rademeyer. — Fingoes. — Camtoos River. — Arrival at Port Elizabeth. I HAD now been about two months at the Cape, when I set out from Cape Town in the suite of the Governor, who had determined to proceed with the least possible delay to the eastern frontier, which was by no means in a tranquil or satisfactory condition. Our party amounted to six, namely, the Governor, his military secretary Major Charters, his aide-de-camp Lieutenant George Napier, Major Michell, surveyor-general of the colony, Mr. Clarke of the 72d regiment, and my- self. I found the journey more fatiguing, and (until w€ reached the eastern province) considerably less interesting than I had expected ; for the rapid rate at which the Governor thought it necessary to travel was very inimical even to accurate observation of the face of the country, and still more so to the collecting of plants, or other objects of natural history. I do Chap. IV. WAGGONS. — FLATS. 89 not therefore myself feel entire confidence in the observations which I was able to make under such unfavourable circumstances. March 22. — The waggons of the party, three in number, set out from Government House at 9 A. M. ; the leading waggon, in which were Major Michell, Lieut. Napier, and myself, being drawn by eight horses, the others (containing the servants and the baggage) each by ten. Beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the town, these waggons are the only vehicles that can travel on the horrible roads of the country ; the generality of them, especially those which come from distant parts of the in- terior, are drawn by oxen, of which an enormous number are yoked to each. It is a curious sight to see, as one may any day at the Cape, a team of twelve, fourteen, or even as many as twenty bullocks drawing one of these waggons; appearing from a distance, as they wind slowly over the sands, like some strange centipede ; the crack of the driver's huge whip resounding like a musket shot. The first day's journey, of thirty-five miles, was tolerably easy. We crossed the Flats in a direction to the southward of East, and about 3 p. M. reached their limits at the Erst (or First) Kiver, a stream at this time inconsiderable, but often formi- dable in winter. In some spots on tlie most barren parts of the Flats I found abundance of Myrica cordifolia, a shrub bearing round berries covered with 90 HOTTENTOT HOLLAND. Chap. IV. white wax, from which candles are made. The soil is a fine white sand, with here and there rocks peeping through. I could not stop to examine them, but Major Michell told me they were of limestone. After passing the Erst River, the loose white sand of the Flats was succeeded by a hard ironstone gravel. Presently we entered the fine vale of Hottentot Holland, half enclosed by craggy and picturesque mountains, which, curving round like part of an amphitheatre, bounded the view on our left and in front. On the right was False Bay, hemmed in by a continuation of the same chain of mountains, which terminates to the south in Cape Hangklip, the point opposite to the Cape of Good Hope. The ground in this district is little culti- vated, but there is much wild heath and shrubbery. We stopped for the night, after eight hours' tra- velling, at a small inn situated at the foot of the mountains, and I admired the beautiful rich tints of sunset on their rugged, stony crests. After dusk we were joined by the Governor and the rest of the party, who, journeying on horseback, had set out much later from Cape Town. March 23. — The next morning we started at half-past six, and crossed the mountains by " Sir Lowry's Pass," an excellent road constructed over this formidable barrier by Major Michell, while Sir Lowry Cole was Governor of the colony. A thick mist came suddenly over the heights just Chap. IV. SIR LOWRY's PASS. 91 as we began the ascent (although the morning was beautifully clear when I looked out about 6 o'clock), so that I saw nothing of the Pass at this time, but I had a good view of it when return- ing to Cape Town, in June. The mountains are so tremendously steep, that one wonders how a road up them could ever have been formed, and still more, that it cost only 3000Z. The road is narrow, but good, and its inclination so gentle, that a carriage may be driven down it at full trot with perfect safety. On one side (the right hand, as you ascend) it over- looks a sheer precipitous descent of great height, and the parapet bordering this gulf is lower than would be at all agreeable to a nervous person. Before the construction of this road, the Hottentot Holland Pass or Kloof * was one of the worst mountain defiles in the colony, which is saying a great deal. Mr. Burchell and other travellers give a formidable description of its steepness and ruggedness. And as this is the only direct way from Cape Town to all the Caledon and Zwellendam country, and indeed to the southern part of the colony generally. Sir Lowry's Pass has been of very great benefit to the inhabitants. One of the Boers of the interior told a friend of mine that this new road saved him a waggon per year. It is said that twice as much grain as formerly is now sown in the districts adjoining Sir Lowry's Pass, and twice as * See note A., Chap. I. 92 PALMIET RIVEE. Chap. IV. many waggons cross the mountain; and the toll levied here now amounts to 365Z. a year, being 12 per cent, on the cost of this most useful undertaking. * The Hottentot Holland mountains, like the gener- ality of those in the Cape colony, are huge scarped masses of stratified sandstone, with very scanty vege- tation, but their outlines are remarkably fine. At the top of the pass, the rocks, shattered and worn by the weather, exhibit a variety of strange fantastic forms, like ruined buildings, pillars, and colossal statues. The mist here suddenly cleared off, and the sun shone out brightly. From Sir Lowry's Pass the descent to Palmiet River is gradual, the road sandy and bad, traversing wide and open moors, with rocky peaks seen here and there. The sugar-bush {Protea mellifera), and many others of the same genus, are abundant on the mountains, as well as beautiful heaths and everlastings, but in our present mode of travelling I could collect none. We forded the Palmiet Piver, a shallow stream at this season, but, like all the other rivers in these parts, subject to terrible inundations. Between Palmiet and Bot Pivers (which last is the boundary of the Stellenbosch and Zwellendam dis- tricts) we cross another mountain range, or rather another branch of the same range, known under the * See a paper, by Major Michell, in the Journal of the Geographical Society, vol. vi. part 2. Chap. IV. STERILE ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. &3 name of the Houw-Hoek. The road over this mountain, which may be considered a kind of con- tinuation of, or supplement to. Sir Lowry's Pass, was the work of the same officer and the game government, and cost no more than 600/.* It is hardly necessary to add that it is very well executed. With the exception of this Houw-Hoek Pass, (and even this can hardly be called picturesque) the country that we travelled over in this long day's jour- ney, from the Hottentot Holland Mountains to the Zonder-Einde (Endless Kiver), was drearily monoto- nous; wide plains and low round hills, uniformly covered with stunted bushes, without trees or culti- vation, oiFering nothing either to please the eye or excite the imagination. In truth, the same remark might be applied to a great part of the country between Cape Town and the Eastern frontier. The want of verdure in the scenery of this colony generally, (though, of course, there are exceptions here and there,) is very striking ; there is little grass, and most of the shrubs, which make up the great mass of the vegetation, have either leaves so minute, and of a substance so dry and juiceless, that they give no ver- dant or cheerful effect to the landscape, or else are covered with a whitish wool or down, which entirely hides their green. In this latter class is to be ranked the prevailing Rhinoster bosch, or Rhinoceros bush * See a paper, by Major Michell, in the Journal of the Geographical Society, vol. vi. part 2. 94 UNPLEASANT TRAVELLING. Chap. IV. (^Stoebe rhinocerotis), whlcli literally covers leagues and leagues together in the districts of Zwellendam and George ; it is a low, half-shrubby, grey, cottony plant, in form resembling a miniature cypress or juniper. The soil of all this tract is a very hard ironstone gravel; the road execrably rugged, in spite of the goodness of the material, for no care whatever is bestowed on it ; and as it is generally on a slope, the rain water from the higher ground cuts furrows across it, which are deepened by every succeeding winter. The jolting occasioned by travelling in a horse-waggon on such roads, is beyond all descrip- tion ; I despair of giving an idea of it to those who have never experienced the like ; suffice it to say, that at the end of the second day's journey I ached in every joint and muscle from the shaking, and felt pretty much as Don Quixote is described as feeling after his adventure with the carriers. It is in crossing the deep gullies and dry torrent beds, which are very numerous, that the jolting is most severe : the de- scent into these is almost always excessively steep and rough; arriving at the brink, the drivers put their horses to their speed, thunder down headlong into the ravine, and dash up the other side at the same pace with a prodigious uproar. In spite of the excessive discomfort of this mode of travelling, it is impossible not to admire the skill with which the Dutch farmers drive eight or ten horses in a team, at Chap. IV. CALEDON. 95 a smart trot, and not unfrequently at a gallop. The office of coachman, however, is divided between two : the more important personage brandishes the im- mense bamboo-handled whip, near twenty feet long, which is the principal instrument of guidance ; the other, usually a Hottentot, holds the reins. What I have here said of the roads and jolting will apply to many of the succeeding days' journeys, although this was, perhaps, the worst of all. The farmer at Bot Kiver gave me the best bunch of grapes I have tasted in the colony. Caledon is a small, neat village, situated at the foot of a rugged black mountain, and near it are hot springs, issuing out of beds of brown ironstone. This, how- ever, was not our resting place ; the Governor (who rode at a pace which astonished the Boers) had stopped at Caledon, and after seeing what was to be seen there, had left it before we reached it, and proceeded to the house of the field-commandant Linde*, on the south bank of the Zonder-Einde River. We followed him, and reached our destina- tion an hour and a half after him, thoroughly tired, having been thirteen hours in the waggon. The dis- tance travelled this day was sixty-five miles. March 24. — Refreshed by a good night's rest, set off about half past 8 A. M., and travelled for about three hours along the Zonder-Einde River, a pretty * The field-commandant is the commander of the burgher force of the district. 96 PRODUCTS OF THE COUNTRY. Chap. IV. stream, the course of which was easy to trace through the barren plain by the fresher vegetation on its margin. It runs eastward, and joins the Breede River, which we crossed in the course of the day a little above the junction. The valley of the Zonder- Einde River is bounded on the N. by a black wall of mountains, ranging from W. N. W. to E. S. E. ; in other directions our view extended over wide dreary plains. This river, like most others in this part of the colony, is thickly fringed, and in some places half filled with the Palmiet {Juncus serratus), a large and curious rush, the foliage of which looks very like that of the Pine apple. It was in the course of this day's jour- ney, near a house called Ecksteen's, that I first saw the white- thorned Acacia {A, horrida), called by the colonists Doornboom or Wittedoorn, which in the more eastern parts of the colony is one of the com- monest of plants, but does not appear nearer to Cape Town than this point. It grows on the banks and in the stony channels of streams, and here does not grow into a tree, but forms a large bush. It is remarkable that Le Yaillant when he tra- velled this way, not more than sixty years ago, saw large herds of Bonteboks and Hartebeests in this part of the country, near the hot springs of Caledon and the Zonder-Einde River. At the present day these quadrupeds are not to be met with except on the extreme limits of the colony, or beyond it. The famous blue antelope, which was supposed to have Chap. IV. ZWELLENDAM MOUNTAINS. 97 been peculiar to Zwellendam district, is now be- lieved to be merely a variety of the roan antelope*; but, whatever it may have been, it has long since disappeared ; indeed, in Le Yaillant's time, it was so rare that he never saw more than three spechnens. After crossing the rugged stony bed of the Breede river, in which at this time there was but little water, we approached the very picturesque range of the Zwellendam Mountains, which, furrowed with deep ravines and serrated with crags, rose in great majesty on the north. This chain, branch- ing off from the great cluster of mountains near Worcester, and running at first S. E., takes a more easterly direction near the village of Zwellendam, and is continued under various names through the whole length of this district and that of George. It is separated by the valley of the Breede river from the mountains which bound the valley of the Zondereinde, and which terminate near the conflu- ence of that river with the Breede. The village of Zwellendam, which stands just at the foot of the aforesaid mountains, is remarkably neat and pretty, composed of well-built white cottages, which are not crowded into a street, but stand far apart, among trim gardens, orchards, and groves of trees; so that though the population, as I was in- formed, does not exceed 1200, the village extends * See Dr. Smith's " Illustrations of South African Zoology," No. 12. 98 A DAY OF REST. Chap. IV. above a mile in length. Here we were hospitably- entertained by Mr.- Eivers, the Civil Commissioner of the district. From Linde's to Zwellendam is a nine hours' journey by horse waggon, and may be estimated at forty-five miles. March 25. — As the 25th was Sunday, we remained quiet at Zwellendam, and, I believe, the whole party were glad of a day of rest : I am sure I was. After making up my journal, which had fallen into arrear, I walked out towards the mountains to botanise, and though, on account of the drought, I did not find many plants in flower, I had a very enjoyable ramble. Ascending the course of a clear stream, which flowed through a quiet little valley, really green, I presently entered one of the wooded ravines of the mountains, where the vegetation was far more luxuriant than I had yet seen it in this colony, and even partook in some degree of a tropical character. A beautiful arborescent fern (HemiteUa capensis) put me in mind of Brazil. This is the largest and most beautiful fern that is known in the Cape colony, though inferior in size to several of the South American and Indian species, as it does not exceed the height of twelve feet. It is not peculiar to Zwellendam, though that was the first place where I saw it, but grows also in some of the ravines on the eastern side of Table Mountain, and I believe in other places.* * It has also been found, by Mr. Gardner, on the Organ Mountains in Brazil. Chap. IV. PUESUE OUR JOURNEY. 99 The stream, which flowed through this glen, was of that bright amber brown colour which one sees in the mountain rivulets of Scotland and Ireland, and ran sparkling among mossy rocks, under the shade of large trees. Undoubtedly the charms of the scene were heightened to me by the contrast with the two disagreeable and fatiguing days which had preceded. The weather, too, was delightful. Having ascended one of the underfalls, or spurs, of the mountains, I enjoyed an extensive view towards the south, though it could by no means be called beautifuL With the exception of the rugged mountains border- ing the valley of the Zondereinde river, which were conspicuous in the S. "W., nothing was to be seen but open plains of a uniform dull brownish hue. The village, with its white houses and groves of trees, looked like an oasis in the desert. March 26. — This day and the next we had the Zwellendam chain of mountains on our left hand, our route being on the whole nearly parallel to it. On the 26th we performed a hard day's journey of ten hours over an ugly, dreary country, strangely cut by deep water-courses, which were very troublesome to cross. In the course of the day we forded six dif- ferent rivers ; the first and largest was the Buifel- jagts, a tributary of the Breede river, a rapid, clear, dark brown stream, showing by its wide bed of huge rolled stones what it must be in floods. Its banks are richly ornamented with the white -thorned Acacia F 2 100 ALOES. Chap. IV. (A. horrida), which, in its mode of growth, and the colour of its foliage, much resembles our hawthorn as it appears in spring, when first coming into leaf. From hence, eastward, this handsome shrub is very- general along the banks of the streams, to which it gives a cheerful appearance, that is strongly con- trasted with the general character of the country; but in Zwellendam and George districts it occurs, as far as I observed, in such situations only ; whereas, in the eastern part of the colony, and still more in Cafferland, it is universally diffused. We afterwards crossed, in succession, the Slange, Duyvenhoeks, Krombeks, Yet, and Kafferkuyl rivers, and spent the night at Jan Dupre's farm, on the banks of the last-named stream. On the hills be- tween these rivers I saw the first aloes ; that is to say, of the true aloe kind: for what is commonly called the American aloe is of another genus {Agave), and very different in its properties, as well as in the structure of the flower. This aloe is a strange un- couth-looking plant, with its thick columnar stem, from five to ten feet high, crowned with a bunch of large, sharp, spear-like leaves, and clothed below with the black and rugged remains of its foliage. The flowers are of a very rich orange red, closely crowded, forming extremely thick and long spikes, with the stamens projecting considerably beyond the petals. These flowers contain much honey. This is the most important medicinal plant of the colony; Chap. IV. GAURITZ EIVER. 101 the people collect its leaves and extract the juice by boiling till it is of the consistence of glue, in which state they send it down to Cape Town, and it forms a considerable article of export from thence to Eu- rope, where it is familiar to us by the name of bitter aloes. The estimated value of the exports of aloes from the Cape, in one year, amounted to two thousand seven hundred and ninety-four pounds. March 27. — I observed these aloes again to-day in great abundance in the Bush country, near the Gauritz river. This was a sort of country quite new to me, and might be considered as a foretaste of what we afterwards saw on an immensely .larger scale in the eastern province. Here, in fact, a traveller proceeding eastward first meets with many of the singular forms of vegetation which characterise that province; such as the succulent, leafless, thorny Euphorbias, the Spekboom {Portula- caria afro), which is the favourite food of the ele- phant, — the Boerboontjes {Schotia speciosd), a legu- minous shrub with beautiful scarlet flowers growing in clusters out of the old wood, — the Nojeboom (^Cussonia spicata), sl small tree of very singular ap- pearance. Many of these do not occur again till we cross the Camtoos. The wild rough shrubbery of these plants, which forms a belt of some miles in width on both sides of the Gauritz, is much less dense than the eastern Bush ; the soil appeared to be a crumbled shale or slaty clay. F 3 102 REACH HAGEL KRAAL. Chap. IV. The Gauritz, a considerable river, comes down from the great Karroo, through a gap in the moun- tain chain which we had had on our left since quitting Zwellendam, and separates the district of that name from George. It flows in a very deep, narrow, and steep-sided valley ; and, for some time before reaching the place where we were to cross, we could see the stream far below us, winding round the tongue of high land on which we were travelling ; on our right hand was a descent all but perpendi- cular, sheer down from the edge of the road to the river-bed, a depth of more than 600 feet. The place where we crossed is called Helle Drift, the stream not very large, but a great breadth of shingle. Here we were met by a cavalcade of many of the principal people of George, headed by the Civil Commissioner, who came to welcome and pay their respects to the Governor. There was, however, no relay of horses for the waggons, and oxen were yoked instead : the consequence was that we made very slow progress. We proceeded between green hills, up a long narrow valley called Heunigklip (Honey Rock) Kloof. Here much Indian corn is cultivated. Kain came on, and it was dark long before we reached our night's quarters at Hagel Kraal. The whole day's journey occupied twelve hours. March 28. — We crossed the mountains by the Attaquas Kloof, the least formidable, though not the most frequented of the various passes which lead Chap. IV. ATTAQUA's KLOOF. 103 across them, connecting the maritime portion of George district with the great valley called the Long Kloof. The Attaqua's Kloof is, indeed, for the most part a good mountain road, though some portions of it are (or were at the time I speak of) very steep. It had been partly executed by Major Michell, who calculates that a further outlay of 300/., with the employment of a small party of convicts, would complete all that is necessary to make it a safe and easy pass.* Indeed, the obstacles do not appear so formidable here as in the case of the Hotten- tot Holland Kloof. There is no such mural barrier as in that instance : the road winds among huge green hills, above which here and there appear rocky peaks ; but there is nothing striking in the way of mountain scenery. Proteas are remarkably abundant on these mountains, some very beautiful, in par- ticular jP. cynaroides and longiflora ; the largest kind, P. grandiflora, is very common here; it is called Wagenhoom, on account of its wood being used for the naves of wheels, &c. ; it grows as large as an apple tree, and has very grey leaves. From the heights the sea was plainly visible, being not more than twenty miles distant in a straight line ; and in the opposite direction we had a good view of the Great Zwarteberg, or Black Mountains, a chain * See a paper, by Major Michell, in the Journal of the Geographical Society, vol. vi. part 2. F 4' 104 KARROO COUNTRY. Chap. IV. which runs nearly parallel to that we were now crossing. The day's journey from Hagel Kraal to Saffraan Kraal (Raubenheimer's), at the northern extremity of the Kloof, was about twenty-four miles, which, as we were drawn by oxen most part of the way, took eight hours. Major Michell informed me, that the zebra is still found among the mountains near Attaqua's Kloof; and he once saw four of them so far tamed by a colonist of the neighbourhood as to be harnessed to draw a light Avaggon. March 29. — The weather very hot both this day and the preceding. Between Saffraan Kraal and Groot Doom river (which latter flows from the moun- tains about Cradock's Pass, and joins the Olifant's river), the country is of a Karroo-like character : it is destitute of grass, heath, large shrubs, and trees, but produces a great variety of low-growing succulent plants, of the genera Mesembryanthemum, Euphorbia, Crassula, and Cotyledon, thinly covering the hard dry ground. The soil appeared to be nothing but the superficial detritus of the soft shaly rock. There are ostriches on this Karroo, but we had not the good fortune to see any. About 2 p. M. we halted at Roelof Kampers farm, a poor place situated about three miles north of Cradock's Kloof, a pass celebrated for its steepness and difficulty. Here the Governor, Major Michell, Chap. IV. LONG KLOOF. ' 105 Major Chartres, and Mr. Clarke, left us to ride over to the villaoje of Georo;e. March 30. — Lieut. Napier and I proceeded with the waggons to the house of a younger Roelof Kamper, situated in the Long Kloof, only seven miles and a half from our former station, and a much better quarter than the last. In these two days I had a tolerable opportunity of botanising, but did not find much that was new to me. The country was of an extremely arid character, except along the course of the little streams ; and on the hills near the younger Kamper's residence, the bushes had been burnt to a considerable extent, a practice general in this country, and advantageous to the cattle, but very provoking to a botanist. Here, however, was plenty of that curious plant called by the colonists Paarde kapok, or horse-cotton {Lanaria plumosa, Ait., Argolasia lanata, Juss.), with its stem and flowers enveloped in a dense woolly coat of sin- gular whiteness. A beautiful everlasting — the Heli- chrysum foetidum — bearing a profusion of golden yellow flowers, is common on the edges of streams in the Long Kloof, together with the graceful and pretty shrub Gnidia oppositifolia. On the parched and barren hills which bound the Long Kloof, a few species of everlasting were the chief plants in flower at this season; and another of the same tribe. Me- talasia muricata, is as common along the road all through this Kloof, and, indeed, throughout the dis- F 5 106 A TEDIOUS JOURNEY. Chap. IV. tricts of Zwellendam and George, as the Ragwort is in England. The different species of Bestio, and other plants of that tribe, which have quite the ap- pearance of rushes, form the principal part of the herbage, both on the hills and along the sides of streams. In most of the rivers there is abundance of our common reed mace or bull-rush — Typha latifolia — which appears to be as truly wild here as in Europe. The Governor and the rest of his party rejoined us in the evening, and gave a terrific account of the diflaculties of Cradock's Kloof. Major Michell left us to return to England, to my regret, for I had found him a very agreeable travelling companion, fuU of knowledge relating to the country and its productions, and most obliging in communicating the information he possessed. March 31. — A wearisome journey of eleven hours and a half brought us from hence to the house of the Field-commandant, Rademeyer, in the middle of the Long Kloof. This Long Kloof, which took us two long days to travel through, is a narrow and rather elevated valley, running from W. to E., bounded on the north by a chain of hills running parallel to the great Zwarteberg ; on the S. by the range of mountains, which I have already often mentioned, and which runs eastward through the whole length of Zwellendam and George districts, and a part of Uitenhage, ending at the Kromme Chap. IV. DEFICIENCY OF VEGEtATION. 1 ^ river. Some general and comprehensive name is very much wanted for this important chain, which is known in various parts as the Zwellendam, the Auteniqua, and the Zitzikamma mountains. In the " Encyclopaedia of Geography " it is erroneously called the Langekloof, a name which belongs to the valley, and not to the mountains that bound it. This long valley, although crossed by numerous streams, is on the whole of a remarkably arid and monotonous appearance. Indeed, short of actual desert, I can hardly imagine any thing more weari- some : not a tree, not a house, or trace of cultivation for miles together ; scarcely a bush above three feet high ; nor a tinge of green, except along the margins of the streams, whose course is indicated by a narrow^ stripe of reeds and rushes. A great part of the ground is covered exclusively with the melancholy grey rhinoceros bush. The mountains on the south are extremely steep and rugged, rising into a number of sharp pyramidal peaks, and would be picturesque if set off by a tolerable foreground; but without this they are too barren and savage for beauty ; as their flanks exhibit nothing but naked, grey, stra- tified rock, like the cliffs of Table mountain, without a tree or blade of grass. The streams, as I have said, are numerous, and though small, are never entirely dried up, so that it surprises one to see their fertilising influence extend so little way. An indus- trious and enterprising people would have turned F 6 108 OFFICE OF FIELD-CORNET. Chap. IV. them to good account in irrigating the land. As it is, I travelled through the Long Kloof at two different seasons, and both times it appeared equally barren. Yet, in a modern work on the British Colonies*, this is termed a delightful valley ! Le Yaillant, on the other hand, seems to have been as little delighted with it as I was, for he calls it a " valley of deso- lation." It must be owned, however, that it pos- sesses an advantage of which not every part of the colony can boast ; namely, excellent water. We breakfasted at the Field-cornet's house, on the bank of the Diep river. The functions of this office do not appear to be very clearly defined ; nor do they correspond to any thing we are acquainted with in England. The Field-cornet is the executive authority of his district, and combines functions, which, in more populous and settled countries, are vested in several different hands. He acts as con- stable and sheriff's officer in executing the warrants of the magistrates ; when the burgher force is called out on commando, he commands the men of his division under the Field-commandant; when a farmer loses any cattle by theft, he has recourse to the Field-cornet, who is obliged to take measures for tracing the cattle, and if he finds their track, to follow it as long as is practicable. In short, the duties of the Field-cornet are many and arduous, * History of the British Colonies, by Mr. Montgomery Martin. Chap. IV. THE DIEP RIVER. 109 and he is liable continually to be called away from his farm and his business, often for many days to- gether. It is strange, that an office so laborious, and in many respects of great importance and re- sponsibility, should be so ill paid ; indeed, the Field- cornets receive no remuneration, except an exemp- tion from taxes, which is not sufficient to compensate for the loss of their time, and the inevitable neglect of their farms. Consequently, it is every day becoming more difficult to induce respectable men to undertake the charge. It would be much better to pay them a fixed salary, sufficient to cover their expences and loss of time. The Diep river is, in fact, one of the deepest rivers we have met with yet, and very clear : it runs northward. All the streams of the Long Kloof flow northward, and faU either into the Kammanassie or the Kouga, with one exception, the Keurbooms river, which finds its way to the south through a narrow break in the mountain chain, and discharges its waters into Plettenberg's Bay. It divides the Long Kloof in a manner into two parts, of which the eastern is the more elevated. The Keurbooms is but a small stream where we crossed it, but the ascent from it to the higher ground is tremendously steep and rugged : it is astonishing how any horses can drag a waggon over such places, and how any combination of wood and iron can stand such jolts. The lower part of this hill was covered with beautiful 110 UNSUCCESSFUL BOTANISING. Chap. IV. proteas, especially P. mellifera and lepidocarpon, now in full bloom; and higher up were abundance of large aloes. We saw to-day several Fingoes who were wander- ing about the country begging, having been nearly starved in the Zitzikamma district, where they were planted by Stockenstrom. They are a much better looking race than the Hottentots, nearly black, with the negro hair, and much of the negro physiognomy, but the nose less flat, and lips less thick. There was not room enough for all of us at Rade- meyers, so we pitched the tent, and three of us slept very comfortably in it ; the first night I ever slept under canvas. April 1. — This day, being Sunday, we remained at Rademeyer's. It was intensely hot, yet I em- ployed myself for some hours in botanising, though with very poor success. A large part of the surface of the hills had been ravaged by fire, so that nothing remained but charred, leafless sticks ; and where this was not the case there were very few plants in flower. Those which I observed were principally of the fleshy or succulent tribes, which delight in the most parched, barren, and rocky situations. Here, also, I saw an antelope, of that very pretty and graceful species known by the name of Steenbok, which lives among the rocks and stones on these barren hills. Chap. IV. EXPLOIT OF RADEMEYER. Ill Past the house flows another Diep river, a beautiful clear stream, winding through a thick covert of reeds, palmiet*, and tall rushes. Its course may very easily be traced through the valley by the lively verdure along its margin, contrasted with the parched and withered hue of the country in general. I bathed in it with great satisfaction. The hills near Rade- meyer's consist of a granular and somewhat schistose quartz, or siliceous sandstone. A fine triple peak visible to the S.S.E. Our host, Rademeyer, had distinguished him- self by a very gallant action in the late CaiFer war, of which I heard the following account. He had penetrated, with about forty of his country- men, into a very narrow ravine in the Fish River Bush, when his little party was suddenly attacked, and almost surrounded by a very superior force of Gaffers, who not only assailed them with missile weapons, but, confiding in their own numbers and in the effect of the surprise, charged them with much greater resolution than usual. The Boers, excellent at long shots, but not so fond of close fighting, were giving way, and, in attempting to effect a retreat, were falling into confusion; Rade- meyer suddenly threw his hat on the ground, and vowed that he would not retreat an inch farther; and rallying his men, he made them draw up in a close circle, facing the enemy on every side. In * Junciis serratus. 112 DETAINED AT JAGERSBOSCH. Chap. IV. this situation, animated by liis example, they kept up such a fire as to repulse the Caffers with heavy loss. April 2. — From the eastern extremity of the Long Kloof (which is not indicated by any very distinct natural limit), the ground falls considerably to the source of the Kromme river, where we enter the district of Uitenhage. We were met here by Cap- tain (now Sir Andries) Stockenstrom, who was at that time Lieutenant-governor of the eastern pro- vince; and, in company with him, we went on to Meeding's or Jagersbosch, about forty-four miles from our last station. The narrow valley of the Kromme river, in which this place is situated, is not much superior in appearance to the Long Kloof, and is bounded, like that, by rugged, stony, and barren hills. I had just time before dinner to ascend the hill inmediately behind the house, which abounds with proteaceae and heaths, and promises a good harvest of plants at a more favourable season. I gathered a Leucospermum* , which I had not before seen in flower. I have seen no Acacias since we crossed the Great Doom river, on the morning of the 29th March. April 3. — We had heavy rain all night, and all this day, which detained us at Jagersbosch. The people here said, that they had had no such rain for the last two years. We were lucky to be caught by it * L. attenuatum. Chap. IV. ROMANTIC SCENERY. 113 in such good quarters, for the house was a comfort- able one, and our hostess, Mrs. Meedlng, a jolly, good-humoured, hospitable woman, who laughed vo- ciferously at every thing and at nothing. April 4. — The morning was very threatening, but the weather cleared up towards noon ; yet the swollen state of the river still detained us at Jagersbosch. 1 was not sorry for the delay, for I spent some hours very pleasantly, rambling over the neighbouring hills, among which I found some pretty and romantic liooks, though the general aspect of the country is very uninviting. I was much struck with the ap- pearance of one of these secluded hollows, which was as pleasingly wild and picturesque a spot as any I had yet seen in the colony; a deep, still, dark pool of water reflected, with the most perfect dis- tinctness, the high and shattered walls of sandstone rock by which it w^as almost completely enclosed; these rocks, broken in some places into the likeness of rude steps, were adorned with tall aloes, with the large palm-like leaves of the Zamia or CafFer bread, and with a variety of heath-like shrubs ; the rugged hills seemed to close in upon the narrow ravine which formed the only outlet to this hollow; no where could be discerned a trace of the presence or operations of man. All was so wild and lonely, yet so romantic and pleasing in its ' loneliness, — so un- like European nature, and so characteristic of a far distant region. No doubt this scene, which made 114 ABUNDANCE OF THE ZAMIA. Chap. IV. SO much impression on me, like a green spot in a desert, owed a good part of its charm to the force of contrast. This was the first time I had seen any of the Zamias growing wild : indeed, from all I could learn, this place, situated about six degrees east of Cape Town, seems to be the westernmost limit of their geographical range in South Africa. The Zamias are among the forms of vegetation which characterise the eastern part of the Cape colony, and especially the great tract of thicket or hush, extending along the Caffer frontier. But the species which I saw at Jagersbosch was different from that which is most abundant in the Fish River Bush : the latter {^Za- mia horrida) is about three feet high, its leaves very glaucous, and every leaflet armed with two or three strong and sharp spines; the other is considerably larger, its leaves dark green, the leaflets much longer and narrower than those of the Jwrrida, and without spines. The stem is very thick, and (in Z. horrida more particularly) has a tesselated appearance from the scars of the old leaves. The hills near Jagersbosch abound with the small tree called Wagenboom (Protea grandiflora), which was indeed common in many parts of the country we had traversed, but this was the first time I saw it in flower. It is one of the largest kinds of Protea ; for though it does not attain such a height as the silver tree, it is fully as thick in the trunk: its Chap. IV. LEAVE JAGEESBOSCH. 115 flower-heads, of a delicate straw-colour, measure five inches across ; its peculiarly grey foliage, and crooked and twisted mode of growth, give it a cer- tain general resemblance to the olive-tree. Its name is derived from the use made of its wood for waggon wheels and the like. A beautiful sugar-bird {Le sucrier a plastron rouge of Le Yaillant) of a golden green colour, with a scarlet breast, was here perching on its flowers, climbing about them, and thrusting his slender beak into every floret. The moist hollows between the hills, as well as the valley of the Kromme river, were nearly filled with the Palmiet rush (Juncus serratus) a common plant throughout the country we had traversed, from the Hottentot Holland mountains eastward. It is eminently a social plant (to use Humboldt's expres- sion), growing very thick together, and forming large masses, unmixed with any thing else. In its herbage and general appearance, it is quite unlike a rush, and has more the look of an aloe, or of the crown of a pine-apple mounted upon a thick, black, spongy stem, which varies in height from less than one foot to three or four, according to the depth of the water in which it grows. I started an antelope on the hills, nearly the size of a roebuck, and of a reddish brown colour: he went bounding over the bushes in a most graceful manner. April 5. — Leaving Jagersbosch, we travelled for some hours along the valley of the Kromme river. 116 THE FINGOES. Chap. IV. which well deserves its name (signifying crooked), for it winds so much, that we had to cross it half a dozen times in the course of the day's journey : the last time the water was up to the floor of the waggon. Afterwards, quitting this river, we traversed a country more elevated, open, and comparatively level, but intersected by two or three formidable ravines. A journey of between seven and eight hours from Meeding's brought us to Leeuwenbosch, a poor,, miserable house, in a hideous country, where, a few months afterwards, I had the misfortune to be detained a whole day, by rain. April 6. — A considerable number of Fingoes were hutted near this farm-house; and in the morning the Governor held a conference with them by means of an interpreter. These are the remnants of several tribes of Gaffer race, which had inhabited the country near Port Natal, but had been exter- minated or driven into exile by Ghaka, the ter- rible chief of the Zooloos. Of those whom we met here, some were under the middle size, others considerably above it, slenderly, but actively, made ; their colour not quite black, but a very dark umber brown, totally different from the dirty yellowish brown of the Hottentots, to whom, indeed, they have no resemblance, except in the woolly hair. They were, however, considerably inferior in personal appearance to the Gaffers whom we afterwards saw : the women, in particular, were far from prepossess- Chap. IV. CAMTOOS EIYER. 117 ing. Some of the men wore English clothing, which had been given them as a mark of favour or distinction ; but the greater part had nothing but the sheep-skin cloak or kaross : the women wore the same kind of cloak, and a scanty petticoat. The Governor explained to these Fingoes that his plan was to establish them all in the Zitzikamma, a country at present nearly uninhabited, to give them land for cultivation (for they are of a much more agricultural turn than the Caffers), and for the pas- turage of cattle, to appoint a missionary to instruct them, and a resident government agent to protect their interests, and by these means to check their vagrant and pilfering habits. They seemed well satisfied when this was explained to them. From Leeuwenbosch we travelled in a south-east direction, over an open and uninteresting country, to the Camtoos river, which we crossed by a float- ing bridge, a little above its mouth. This is one of the largest rivers in the colony; yet it is only after receiving the waters of the Kouga from the Long Kloof, that it becomes a perennial stream. At the time of Thunberg's travels, 1773, the Camtoos was the eastern limit of the colony, and the country immediately to the east of it was inha- bited by the Gonaquas, a mixed race, now extinct. It is likewise mentioned with honour by Le Vail- lant, who spent some time on its banks, and met with many animals which he had not previously 118 BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY. Chap. IV. seen. At the place where we crossed it, the Camtoos is 220 yards wide, and its waters are beautifully clear; a chain of wooded hills runs along its left bank. As soon as we cross this stream, a remarkable change takes place in the appearance of the country, which from thence to Van Staaden's river is really pretty, with a pleasing variety of hill and dale, and great masses of evergreen wood, or rather shrubbery, with broad grassy lawns between. Here begins the proper region of the Spekhoom, the Boerboojitjes, the succulent Euphorbias, and many other curious shrubs, which may be considered characteristic of the eastern province, though a detachment, as it were, of them is found on the banks of the Gauritz.* I was much struck with the sight of a wood of gi- gantic Euphorbias, growing thirty or forty feet high, and of a most singular appearance, with their fleshy, leafless branches arranged like those of a chandelier. After a journey of forty-five miles from Leeuwen- bosch, we arrived at the brow of the tremendous hill overlooking Van Staaden's river. The deep and narrow valley through which this little stream finds its way to the sea, is quite a gem compared to the ge- neral scenery of the colony, and really puts one in mind of some of the smaller valleys of Switzerland : it is 'beautifully verdant, partly cultivated and partly in pasture, enlivened by a cluster of uncommonly neat, white farm buildings, and hemmed in by moun- * See Journal of the 27tli March. Chap. IV. ARRIVAL AT PORT ELIZABETH. 119 tains, not indeed of great height, nor of very bold outliDes, but excessively steep, and richly clothed with thick evergreen woods. The descent from either side is formidably rugged, abrupt, and difficult, beyond any thing else of the kind that I saw in this colony, with the single exception of Cradock's Kloof. April 7. — On emerging from this valley we left all the beauty of the country behind us, and proceeded across a naked, arid plain, to Port Elizabeth, which has itself nothing prepossessing in its appearance. The day was excessively hot ; and though our journey was only twenty-five miles, we were eight hours performing it with oxen; and it was nearly six o'clock when we entered Port Elizabeth. Here we found the first inn on this side of Sir Lowry's Pass, and the first military post between Cape Town and the frontier. A detachment of soldiers was drawn out to receive His Excellency with due honour ; but its appearance struck me as somewhat grotesque : the men were of the Hottentot or Cape corps, little, wizened, monkey-faced, meanlooking fellows, like baboons in uniform, but commanded by a very tall English officer, who looked as if he would have out- measured his whole detachment put together. 1^0 PORT ELIZABETH. Chap. V. CHAPTER V. Port Elizabeth. — Bethelsdorp. — Uitenhage. — Tract of Bush Sunday River. — Kuruha Mountain. — Bushman^s River. — Sheep Farm. — GraharrHs Town. — Boers. — Winds. — Mountain Chains. — Neigh- bourhood of GrahanpLS Town. — Makanna. — Course of Policy towards the Caffers. — Fish River Bush. — Wild Animals. — Climate. — Reasons for the Emigra- tion of the Boers. — Retief. — Mode of Fighting of the Boers. April 9. — We remained two days at Port Eliza- beth, where the Governor received a deputation of the inhabitants, and transacted other business. I was not much pleased with this, the only sea-port of the eastern province. It is an ugly, dirty, ill- scented, ill-built hamlet, resembling some of the worst fishing villages on the English coast; backed by low stony hills of the most barren character, while long ranges of sand-hills extend along the shore on both sides of it. Yet it is a place of considerable importance, being the only sea-port of this prosperous and improving division of the colony. In the year I was at the Cape, the value of the exports from Port Elizabeth (of the produce of the colony) amounted to 39,768/.; the declared value of the goods imported To face begmnine of Chap. V. VEGETATION OF FISH RIVER BDSH. a. £,tJPHORBIA ORAN.OIUENS b. EnPHORBli. C. STRELITZIA KEGIN-.4. d. Zamia eorrida. e. e. Aloe arborescens. f. PORTUI.ACARIA AFRA, With an tJSNEi hanging from its branches. ^ Chap. V. POET ELIZABETH. 121 into the same place in British shipping was 103,077/. The anchorage of Algoa Bay is quite open to the S. E. winds, and has been generally supposed to be dangerous ; but I was assured by more than one naval officer at the Cape, that it is not unsafe for well-provided vessels, if proper care be taken. The landing, however, is bad, and often impracticable, on account of the heavy surf, and a pier or jetty is much wanted. It is proposed, also, to erect a lighthouse on Cape Recife, which bounds the bay to the south- west. This unpromising neighbourhood produces many curious plants, particularly of the fleshy kinds. Aloes of several species, Crassulas and Cotyledons, with fine scarlet flowers, and Euphorbias, whose fluted columnar stems are beset with formidable prickles, flourish in the crevices of the sandstone rocks, and among loose fragments of stone, exposed to the full glare of the sun. In company with these are some beautiful Everlastings, and various plants of a hard, rigid, stunted character, but with handsome blossoms. The sand-hills along the coast are partially covered with dwarfish evergreen bushes, seldom more than three feet high, intermixed with succulent plants of the strangest shapes. The Boerboontjes ( Schotia spe^ ciosa), with its hard, knotty, twisted branches, its scanty dark green foliage, and brilliant carmine- coloured flowers, is plentiful here, but in the form of a low scrubby bush ; whereas on the banks of the G 122 BETHELSDOEP. Chap. V. Camtoos it grows to the size of an apple-tree. It is a very general plant in the eastern province. The little stream which comes down to the sea at Port Elizabeth is covered with beautiful blue water-lilies. There was at this time a kraal of Fingoes near the port, and we were told that the inhabitants found them very useful as servants and labourers. April 10. — From this place, turning to the N.W., we proceeded over dreary plains to Uitenhage, only nineteen miles distant. The little village of Bethels- dorp, where we stopped for a short time on our way, is one of the oldest missionary establishments in the colony (except those of the Moravians), and the first that I had seen. It appeared to be thriving and in good order, and made an agreeable impression on me, though the situation is unfortu- nate, the soil being so barren that no gardens can be cultivated. There were at this time nearly twelve hundred coloured people (Hottentots, Bastaards, and others) on the books of the institution, but scarcely half the number were resident. They are all taught some trade or useful employment, and go into the service either of the farmers or of tradesmen at Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage. Those who remain at Bethelsdorp live in decent cottages of their own building. We saw the Infant School, which, as far as could be judged by a single visit, seemed a well- managed and useful institution ; — the children were very perfect in their lessons, looked clean and cheer- Chap. V. UITENHAGE. 123 ful, and appeared to be as well taught as any poor children of their ages in England. The town, or rather village, of Uitenhage, had a very pleasing appearance when we first caught sight of its bright white houses spread over a fertile valley, surrounded by wooded hills of various ele- vations; nor was this agreeable impression dissi- pated when we entered it. A large party of the inhabitants, with the civil commissioner and other functionaries at their head, came out on horseback to meet the Governor, and saluted him, after the colonial fashion, with repeated discharges of their muskets. April 1 1. — A day of excessive heat. We remained at Uitenhage, which is one of the most agreeable places in the colony. Though called a town, it has the appearance of a large rural village; its houses, which are (almost without exception) neat and well built, and of the most cheerful appearance, are placed at some distance apart from one another, with well- stocked gardens, orchards, and green fields inter- vening. There is scarcely a sign of poverty to be discerned in the whole place. It enjoys also the advantage (inestimable in this country) of a copious and never-faihng supply of good water. The sur- rounding country, though not beautiful, is certainly pleasing. The Zwartkops, which flows near the town, is a beautiful little river, slow, still, and clear, winding gracefully through the valley, and fringed G 2 124 UITENHAGE. Chap. V. with thickets of tall reeds, ferns, acacia, and a pretty kind of willow. High and broken banks of red clay rise immediately behind these thickets, on the S. side, and set off their delicate verdure to advantage. The surface of the river is most beautifully decorated with a profusion of the sky-blue water-lily *, one of the loveliest plants of Southern Africa. On each side of the valley are steep but rounded clay hills, covered with the succulent and thorny bushes which charac- terise this part of the country. The inn at Uitenhage is by far the best I met with in the colony. It was proposed by the late Governor of the Cape, Sir Benjamin d'Urban, to remove the seat of govern- ment to this place from Cape Town, a measure which would certainly be attended with many advantages, now that the eastern province is become the most important part of the colony, and that which most requires the constant and vigilant superintendence of the authorities. But the dissatisfaction which this scheme excited at Cape Town probably caused it to be laid aside. At any rate, however, Uitenhage seems to have a better claim to be the metropolis of the Eastern province than Graham's Town, which is too far from the port, and too much within the reach of the Caffers in case of a war. April 12. — Another burning day. We travelled * Nymphaea scutifolia, De C, IST. caerulea of the Bot. Mag. Chap. V. TRACT OF BUSH. 125 from Uitenhage north-eastward to Addo Drift * on the Sunday River, twenty-five miles, over a hilly country, covered for the most part with low but thick " bush ;" the soil a hard clay. Though the general appearance of this kind of country is in some degree monotonous, yet its rich and singular vegetation is very attractive to the eye of a naturalist. The strange, stiff, gaunt forms of the leafless euphorbias, which suggest the idea of some monstrous Indian idols ; the aloes, with their spear-like leaves, and tall scarlet spikes ; the pale green foliage of the spekboom (^portulacaria Afra\ which is said to be the favourite food of the elephant ; the crassulas, covered with milk-white blossoms ; the cotyledon, with its bluish leaves and bright red flowers ; the scarlet geraniums peeping from amidst the other shrubs, — altogether form a combination extremely interesting to a bota- nical eye, and which must strike every traveller of ordinary habits of observation by its dissimilarity to any thing that is to be seen in other countries. There cannot, indeed, be a vegetation more peculiar or of a more marked character. This tract of bush is of great extent; from the Van Staade's mountains, on the S. W. of Uiten- hage, it stretches, with few breaks, by the Sunday and Bushman's Rivers, and the Zuureberg, to the banks of the Fish River, along both sides of which it forms a belt of several miles in width. * See Note A. Chap. I. G 3 126 SUNDAY KIVER. Chap. V. We arrived, after dark, at Addo Drift, where is a very small but not uncomfortable inn, kept by an Englishman, on the right bank of the Sunday River, and here we passed the night. This inn- keeper (Samuel Rowe, a native of Fressingfield, in Suffolk) told us that he had had several horses eaten by lions quite lately, and that there were buffaloes also in the neighbouring "bush." This house was attacked during the late war on the frontier by a party of Caffers, and the marks of the assagais* which they threw are still visible on the door-posts and window-sills. The Sunday River is here a strong and very muddy stream, flowing in a deep channel, with high broken cliffs (apparently of clay and sandstone) ranging along its right bank. It is subject to great floods, and has been known to swell above these cliffs, and overflow all the surrounding country. It rises in the Sneeuwbergen, about 32^ S. lat., flows by Graaff Reynet, and across the easternmost part of the Great Karroo, and falls into Algoa Bay. April 13.— We set off rather late, and forded the Sunday River. For several miles to the east of it the country is hilly, and rather picturesque, and entirely covered with very thick bush, of much taller growth than what I had previously seen, though of the same nature. Most of the shrubs here exceed the height of a man, and there are plenty of trees, * Assagais are the light spears used by the Caffers. Chap. V. KURUKA MOUNTAIN. 127 though not of great size. Trees and shrubs" alike are loaded in a strange way with a whitish thready- lichen*, hanging down in tangled bunches of extra- ordinary length. It is the very same which encum- bers in a similar manner the scattered trees on the campos of Brazil. In this day's journey I first saw the beautiful, glossy, dark green starling which Le Vaillant calls nahirop, and which is abundant on the CafFer frontier. This tract of bush near the Sunday River is called the Addo or Adow bush. From the high grassy table land beyond it (known by the name of the Addo heights) we saw distinctly, though at a distance of more than fifty miles, the bold outline of the Wintershoek or Kuruka mountain, which is a conspicuous object from Algoa Bay, and, by reason of its isolated situation and remarkable form, constitutes a good landmark for ships. The sailors call it the Cock's-comb mountain, a name which gives a good idea of its outline. We saw it first from near the Camtoos, and it had been more or less in view every day since we crossed that river. Traversing the Quagga Flats, wide, open, grassy plains, which formerly abounded with various kinds of the larger game, we reached the Bushman's River, the boundary of Uitenhage and Albany, where we spent the night at a comfortable little inn. April 14. — There is some bush and rather pretty * Usnea florida, or a form intermediate between that species and U. plicata. a 4 128 SHEEP FARM. Chap. V. scenery in the neighbourhood of the river, to which succeed huge, green, treeless, round-backed hills, al- most mountains in point of magnitude, but utterly unpicturesque. Such is the character of the country for many miles before we reach Graham's Town. This tract is excellent for feeding sheep. We break- lasted at the house of Mr. Daniells, the greatest and most successful sheep-farmer in the colony ; the land which he occupies was previously supposed to be worthless, but has been rendered extremely valuable by his skill and perseverance. All his sheep are Meri- nos, which are found to be not only infinitely more profitable, but at the same time more hardy, than the Cape breed. It is said that a few of the first Albany colonists, in 1820, brought fine-woolled sheep with them, and that Lord Charles Somerset, when Governor, was very anxious to encourage the importation of a superior breed of these animals; but the subject was not taken up in earnest till several years afterwards. Mr. Daniells was one of the first who devoted any attention to the growth of fine wool, — an object now pursued by a great many of the colonists of Albany. The first considerable export of wool from AlgoaBay took place in 1830, since which time this branch of industry has made rapid progress; and it is to be hoped that the wool of the Cape may eventually vie with that of Australia. At Mr. Daniells' I saw a tame Springbok, one of the most graceful and beautiful creatures it is pos- Chap. V. GRAHAM'S TOWN. 129 sible to conceive. This species of antelope is still found on the Quagga Flats, though much less com- mon than formerly. We reached Graham's Town in the middle of the day, and His Excellency was escorted into the town by a numerous cavalcade of the inhabitants. The distance of this place from Cape Town is about 500 miles, which we had accomplished in seven- teen days, not including those during which we remained stationary. For three days after our arrival at Graham's Town, the heat was oppressive, a hot wind blowing strongly from the N. ; afterwards, the wind having changed to the S. E., the weather became cold, and much rain fell, continuing for three days with little intermission. I am told that in this part of the co- lony, indeed in all lying to the east of the Houw Hoek and Fransche Hoek, rain almost always comes from the S. E. or S., never from the W. ; whereas at the Cape, and northward of it along the west coast, the W. and N. W. winds are those which bring rain. The clouds, coming from the ocean with those winds, are caught by the ranges of mountains which run nearly parallel to the coast through the western part of Clanwilliam and Worcester districts, and which terminate in the Hottentot Holland and Houw Hoek mountains on the eastern side of False Bay. Consequently the westerly winds deposit all their moisture on those mountains, and on the country G 5 130 NEIGHBOURHOOD OF GRAHAM's TOWN. Cmap. V. lying between them and the sea, and are dry winds when they reach the districts to the east of them. Again, the S. E. and S. winds arrive at Graham's Town loaded with vapour from the sea, being checked by no intermediate barrier; while the N. winds blow from the naked and arid regions beyond the Tarka mountains. Graham's Town, the second town of the colony in point of size, and (at present) of importance, is an ugly ill-built place, very inferior in appearance to Uitenhage and Zwellendam, and in fact a bad imita- tion of an English country town. It is situated at the distance of about twenty-five miles from the sea, and at an elevation of nearly 1000 feet above it, yet in a hollow, surrounded by long flat-topped hills of mo- derate height and gentle slope, which are in some places rocky, but for the most part clothed with short herbage. Nothing can be tamer or more unpic- turesque than their outlines, and in a general view the country appears miserably naked and dreary. But there are many pretty wooded ravines and shady nooks concealed among these bare hills, which are well worth exploring. In such situations the vege- tation is often luxuriant and beautiful; the trees grow to a considerable height, and various climbing plants twine round them, and hang from • their branches, or interlace them with rich festoons of foliage. The massy sandstone rocks, grey with lichens, and often assuming the appearance of ruined Chap. V. NEIGHBOURHOOD OF GRAHAM'S TOWN. 131 buildings, half hidden among the evergreen bushes, add to the beauty of these little dells. Here grows in great abundance the singular tree called the Noje- boom {Cussoma spicata), with large and curiously divided leaves of a very fine green colour, springing in radiating tufts from the ends of the branches, which are themselves arranged in an umbrella-like form. The Doornboom (^Acacia horrida), a tall aloe {A, arborescens\ and numerous thorny shrubs, are characteristic of the vegetation of these ravines ; but the most remarkable of all their plants is the arbo- rescent Euphorbia (JE. grandidens ?), which grows to the height of forty or fifty feet, with a thick rough-barked trunk, and with its branches aU rising to nearly the same level, so as to form a broad flat head. It has no leaves; but its young branches are extremely succulent, thick, green, and angular, like those of a cactus, and beset all along the angles with pairs of spines. Its flowers, which are of a yellowish- green colour, comparatively small and inconspicuous, are likewise seated on the angles of the branches. The whole plant is full of an excessively acrid and caustic milk, which gushes out in great quantities wherever an incision is made. Several smaller species of Euphorbia grow among rocks and stones on the most exposed and sunny parts of the hills around Graham's Town, in com- pany with various kinds of Crassula and Mesem- bryanthemum, and other succulent plants. Numerous G 6 132 NEIGHBOURHOOD OP GEAHAM's TOWN. Chap. V. Everlastings (Helichrysum), mostly with yellow flowers, abound on tlie dry grassy slopes. Ferns are not abundant, but four or ^^o, kinds* are to be met with in the deep ravines, and on the shady sides of rocks. Formerly, I am told, there was a great deal of brushwood in the immediate neighbourhood of Gra- ham's Town, but much of it has been cut for fuel. The places that I found most favourable for botany in this neighbourhood, were a ravine above the house at that time occupied by the Lieutenant-Governor, on the west side of the town, and the southern face of the long and high ridge of hill behind the barracks on the south side of it. This hill rises from the town with a long, smooth, grassy slope of very easy ascent ; its ridge is narrow, and the descent on the other side very steep, in some places quite precipitous and rocky, in others covered with bushes, and affording a vegetation far more copious than that of the town side. From the top the view extends in one direction to the sea, over an undulated grassy country varie- gated with wood; in the other, to the high moun- tains of Cafferland, among which the Winterberg, distant about sixty miles, makes a conspicuous figure. The hills on the north and east of Graham's Town are considerably lower than those near the barracks, and expand at the t(Jp into smooth grassy * Aspidium coriaceum, Pteris Calomelanos^ Pteris hastata, Darea rutcefolia. Chap. V. MAKANNA. 133 plains of great breadth. A peculiar rocky knoll, in the shape of a truncated cone*, overlooking the town from the east, is known by the name of Lynx's Kop, and noted as being the station from which the famous Caffer Chief Makanna, or Lynx as the Dutch called him, directed the desperate at- tack on Graham's Town in 1819. This was a re- markable deviation from the usual military system of the Caffers, whose practice is to avoid open fight- ing, to expose themselves as little as possible in battle, and not to attack in a body, unless they have an immense superiority of numbers. Makanna, who pretended to have a divine mission, had acquired by his arts a prodigious influence over the Caffers, and succeeded in engaging several of the tribes in a com- bined attack on the town, which was then in its infancy. His object was nothing less than the total expulsion of the whites from Albany and the adjoin- ing districts; and he had contrived to persuade his followers that by his magical arts, he would be able to render harmless the bullets of the enemy. Aban- doning, therefore, the insidious mode of fighting which is usually practised by the frontier Caffers, they advanced openly to the attack in dense masses and with great fury, but were at length routed by the severe fire of the English troops. Upwards of * It has, at a distance, something of the appearance of a volcanic cone, but really consists of stratified sandstone, like the rest of the hills hereabouts. 134 COURSE OF POLICY Chap. V. five hundred of them, I am told, remained dead on the spot ; and, considering their extreme tenacity of life, the mortally wounded must be estimated at a much greater number. For some time afterwards, it is said, the bush between this town and the frontier swarmed with vultures, attracted by the corpses of those who had perished in their retreat. If there^ had been a force of cavalry at hand to follow up the victory, the Cafiers would, probably, not have be- come again troublesome to the colony in the present generation. Makanna himself did not fall in the battle, but was taken prisoner soon after, and sent to Robben Island, in Tabla Bay, the ordinary place of confinement for felons. By what right we could treat an independent chieftain as a criminal, is not easy to say. April 22. — A wet morning again. The course of policy enjoined by Lord Glenelg, and carried into effect by the Lieutenant-Governor Stockenstrom, in reference to the Gaffers, is extremely unpopular in this district, and the opposition to it is headed by the Graham's Town Journal, a newspaper published here. A few days after the Governor's arrival, a deputation waited on him to present an ad- dress from the inhabitants of Albany, in which they censured in strong terms the new policy adopted towards the Gaffers, the treaties concluded with them by the Lieutenant-Governor, the institution of a Gaffer police, and, in short, the whole system; attributing Chap. V. TOWARDS THE GAFFERS. 135 to these causes the emigration of the Boers, and the general distress and discontent which are alleged to prevail in the colony. The Governor's answer took away any hopes they might have entertained of seeing this system overthrown by him. The Gra- ham's Town Journal is very indignant at his reply, and declares that the colony will be ruined unless a change of ministry shall speedily bring a change of measures. It is very true that the Caffers are determined thieves : like the Scotch Highlanders and Borderers, in former times, they reckon it neither sin nor shame, but rather a creditable exploit, to carry off cattle, so that it be not from their own tribe; and they are said to be extremely dexterous in their depredations. But the Lieutenant-Governor and others affirm that much of the loss sustained by the colonists is occa- sioned by their own negligence, in letting their cattle and horses wander without a guard, and not shutting them up at night. Captain Stockenstrom says that many of the Albany settlers received grants of land from Sir Lowry Cole under the express condition of maintaining four servants capable of bearing arms; one to guard their house, the others to guard their flocks and herds in the field, and to be available for military service in case of need: with these condi- tions they have altogether failed to comply. No doubt, whatever care may be taken, it is not to be expected that property of this description should 136 COURSE OF POLICY Chap. V. be perfectly safe in the immediate vicinity of a bold, crafty, savage people, of inveterate predatory habits, especially where the nature of the country oiFers such facilities to the plunderers. And it is certainly hard upon the settlers that they should be robbed of their most valuable property. But, on the other hand, it would be manifestly unjust, if every time that a colonist lost a cow or a horse, whether by his own negligence or otherwise, he could call together an armed party, march into Cafferland, seize the cattle of the first kraal he came to, and repay himself in whatever proportion he chose. Yet this is said to have been the case under the old system, which they so much regret. The natural and necessary results of such a course were a constant succession of petty irritating contests, often ending in bloodshed, a series of aggressions and retaliations, and a continually increasing feeling of soreness and ill- will on both sides, ending at last in all the desolation and misery of a war. It was a hard case, too, that the colonist in the districts far from the frontier, who had paid a high price for his land expressly to secure the advantage of a safe and peaceful situation, should be called out on a commando, and obliged to leave his farm and his family, because the frontier farmer, who had received a grant of land for nothing, was unable to protect his own cattle from the Caffers. From the statements I have heard, the Caffer chiefs appear on the whole to have adhered faith- Chap. V. TOWARDS THE NATIVES. 137 fully, as yet, to the last treaty ; and I am told that, in very many instances, where stolen cattle have been clearly traced into their territories, restitution of the spoil, and punishment of the offenders, have been obtained from them. At the same time it is true that the peace between the two nations does not stand on a secure foundation, and that the treaty has left more than one bone of contention, which may any day give rise to a new war.* The Hottentot settlement on the Kat river is very offensive to the Caffers, who maintain that the country about the Mancasana and Kat rivers is as much theirs, by right, as the lower part of the " Neutral Territory " which was given up to them by the late treaty. But a still worse griev- ance in their eyes is the location of the Fingoes, their former slaves, on their very frontier, and almost in their territory, as if on purpose to beard and insult them. I am told that Macomo (one of their prin- cipal chiefs) does not disguise his deterihination to take the very first opportunity of exterminating these unfortunate people. This cause of quarrel will be removed, however, if the Governor fulfils his inten- tion of removing the Fingoes to the Zitzikamma. Another point to be borne in mind is, that the Caffers are rather encouraged than dismayed by the result of the last war with us; for it is, at least, doubtful whether we really had the best of it. In the ofiicial despatches it was asserted that four thou- * This was written at Graham's Town, 22d April, 1838. 138 FISH RIVER BUSH. Chap. V. sand Caffers were slain in the war ; but I have heard the testimony on this subject of many persons, both English officers and Boers, who had the best oppoi'- tunities of judging, and they all agree that if five hundred were killed in the whole course of the war, it was the very utmost ; some say not more than one hundred. I am positively assured that not twenty Caffers were killed in any one action. It is true that our loss was very small ; but we were the first to propose peace, which it was convenient for the Caffers to accept, because they wanted to take ad- vantage of the rains for sowing their corn. The great concessions made to them by Stockenstrom's treaty would naturally tend to confirm a barbarous people in the belief that we were afraid of them. April 23. — I rode out with Captain Selwyn, of the Koyal Engineers, to see a part of the Fish Eiver Bush, lying about N. E. of Graham's Town, through which he is making a fine road. We crossed the race-ground, an extensive and open table-land, very level, and covered with a fine, short, close turf, like Newmarket Heath. The scene changed entirely Y/^hen we reached the Bush. The Great Fish River is distant, in the nearest part, about twelve miles from Graham's Town, and the great tract of jungle which borders it throughout its course approaches in some places within six miles of the town. This Fish River Bush, so noted in the history of the late Caffer war, is a tract of country Chap. V. FISH RIVER BUSH. 139 of most rugged and savage character; not exactly- mountainous, but a chaos of great hills, which run generally in long flat ridges, with very steep but not rocky sides, and are divided by extremely deep, narrow, gloomy valleys ; hill and valley alike covered with impenetrable thickets, as dense as the under- growth of a Brazilian forest, and much more thorny. I cannot conceive a country more intricate or diffi- cult. The shrubs are in general the same as those which occur near the Sunday River ; but, in addition, there is abundance of the great Tree Euphorbia (which I have described a few pages back), of the Strelitzia (at this time out of flower), and of the Zamia horrida, with its stiff, spiny, palm-like leaves springing from the top of a short thick stem, which looks like a pine-apple. I never saw, in any other part of the world, any, thing resembling the Fish River Bush ; nor, I should think, does there exist a tract so difiicult to penetrate or to clear. The vegetation is so succulent that fire has no effect on it, even in the driest weather, and at the same time so strong and rigid, and so excessively dense, that there is no getting through it without cutting your way at every step, unless in the paths made by wild beasts. Yet the Caffers make their way through with wonderful skill and activity, creeping like snakes among the thickets, where no white man can follow them ; and this covert, extending so far along the frontier, is of great advantage to them, both 140 WILD ANIMALS. Chap. V. in their predatory and hostile incursions, as they can muster in force, and even approach to within a few miles of Graham's Town, without being observed. Not more than twenty years ago, I have been told, the Fish River Bush swarmed with elephants and other wild beasts. Mr. Clarke once saw fifty elephants together near Trompeter's Drift, about thirty miles from Graham's Town ; but the active war waged against them for the sake of their ivory, by the Albany settlers, the more frequent passage of men and cattle through those wild tracts, the patrolling and fighting in the bush during the late Gaffer war, have put these aboriginal inhabitants to the rout. At the present day, it is said, not an elephant is to be found in any part of the Fish River Bush. The rhi- noceros and buffalo still exist there ; but the former, the most dangerous of all the wild beasts of this country, is become extremely rare. The hippopo- tamus, or sea-cow, as the Dutch call it, though much reduced in numbers, is still to be found near the mouth of the river. All the large kinds of antelope have become far scarcer than they were formerly within the bounds of the colony, and some are quite extinct. The high, open table plains, called the Bontebok Flats, lying to the north-east of the Winterberg, are still famous for the abundance of large game. Many officers who had visited them for the sake of hunting, assured me that the immense multitudes of wild quadrupeds, especially of the quagga, the gnoo or wildebeest, the Chap. V. WILD ANIMALS. 141 blesbok, and the springbok, which were there to be seen, were really astonishing. Lions are frequently to be met with on these Flats, though much reduced in number by the exertions of the sportsmen. It is said that the lion will seldom attack a man, at least a white man, unless provoked; when roused, he generally walks away at a slow pace, and with an air of great delibe- ration and tranquillity, seeming to say, " I will let you alone, if you let me alone ;" but if pursued or fired at, he attacks in his turn with great fury. I had always supposed that he was an animal of solitary habits, but the officers who had hunted on the Bon- tebok Flats all concurred in asserting that it was usual to meet with several lions together, sometimes as many as seven or eight. I must not enlarge on the wild sports of South Africa, which I did not myself witness, and of which a copious and amusing account has been given by Captain Harris. When I was at Fort Beaufort, I saw some admirable drawings, executed by an officer of the 27th regiment, and which gave a most lively idea of the style of hunting on the Bontebok Flats. In the neighbourhood of Graham's Town I met with few wild animals, though I wandered over the hills for several hours almost every day. The ground, indeed, is everywhere perforated by the burrows of the ant-eater or Aardvark, and the broken and exca- vated ant-hills bear witness to his operations ; but he very rarely stirs out of his hole by day, and I never 142 CLIMATE. Chap. V. was able to meet with him. The hyasna, which is common in this neighbourhood, is likewise a nocturnal animal. One day, as I was walking along the top of the high hill already mentioned behind the barracks, I had a good view of a large bird of prey, which I easily recognised as the bearded eagle, or Lammer- geier of the Swiss. I was already aware that this noble bird was a native of Southern Africa, as well as of the Alps and the Himalaya, but I did not expect to see him at such a moderate elevation above the sea. Perhaps he had his home among the cliffs of the Winterberg, and had come thus far in quest of prey. The climate of Albany is considered very healthy, although subject to sudden and violent changes of temperature. It is, on the whole, remarkably dry; rain is unfrequent, and very uncertain in the time of its occurrence, but when it does come (as I hive already mentioned), it is always from the south or south-east, as in that direction the country is open to the sea. The dry winds from the west, north-west, and north, often blow with great violence, and are excessively annoying ; for, like the south- easters at the Cape, they raise stifling clouds of dust. During part of the time we remained here, indeed, whenever it did not blow hard, the weather was ex- tremely pleasant, and the air singularly clear and pure. The sunsets were often strikingly beautiful, the western sky being all in a glow of the deepest and clearest gold or orange, while the light clouds oppo- Chap. V. THE BOEES. 143 site to it were tinged with an exquisitely pure rose colour. April 26. — The heat has returned in full force after the rain of last week. In my journal of the 18th of March, I noted down such reasons for the emigration of the Boers as I had been able to collect at Cape Town ; but since coming hither I have heard of another cause of discontent, which seems the best founded of all. In the late campaign against the Caffers, numbers of farmers on the line of march had their cattle slaughtered, and their horses seized for the use of the troops. When the war was over, these men naturally expected to receive compensation, and sent in their claims ac- cordingly ; but nothing whatever has been done for them. I am assured that heaps of these claims are lying in the Civil Commissioner's office here unex- amined, while the unfortunate farmers are obliged to put up with their losses. It is no wonder these men should be discontented. There can be no doubt that the discontent and disaffection which led, in the first instance, to the emigration, were much height- ened by the factious misrepresentations of the opposi- tion newspapers (the Zuid Afrikaan, &c.), which have continually laboured to make the Boers beheve that the Home Government was their enemy, and that they could expect no justice from it. At the same time, I think, it is clear, from what we heard on our journey, that disaffection to our Government was by 144 RETIEF. Chap. V. no means a universal feeling among the emigrants, and that many of them were influenced by much more ordinary and simple motives. Many seem to have been impelled merely by some vague hope and expectation of bettering their condition: they felt the pressure of distress in consequence of the long droughts ; they heard from the leaders of the emi- gration the most flattering accounts of the fertility of the Natal country, and they resolved to seek their fortunes in this new Eldorado. With many more, I believe, the ruling motive was nothing more than the spirit or instinct of imitation: they emigrated be- cause their neighbours did so. Whatever may be the causes of this movement, the immediate effects are very hurtful to the colony : the Trek-hoers (as the emigrants are called here) have carried off" with them such immense quantities of cattle, as not only to raise materially the price of meat, but to excite serious apprehensions of a scarcity: they have also carried no small sum of money out of the colony ; and this drain is still continuing. The report we heard at Cape Town, that many of the emigrant Boers had been massacred by Dingaan, the Zoola chief, turns out to be true. Retief, the original leader of the emigration, and sixty of his men, went on a kind of embassy to Dingaan, who at first pretended to receive them kindly, but, having inveigled them into laying aside their muskets, on a sudden caused them all to be seized, and Chap. V. THE EMIGRANT BOERS. 145 butchered in cold blood. Dingaan then attacked, by surprise, a detached camp of the Boers, and slaughtered two or three hundred of them, mostly women and children. The main body of the emi- grants, however, were untouched, and they immedi- ately marched against Dingaan, and are now engaged in a war which, however it may terminate, is sure to be bloody and cruel. There is much difference of opinion as to the probable result. The Zoolas are a very numerous people, — some say they can muster 80,000 warriors; and their weapons and mode of fighting are said to be more formidable than those of the frontier Caffers : they do not throw the assagai from a distance, but rush on to close fight, and stab with short spears. On the other hand, the Boers are still a numerous body, and their skill in the use of fire-arms, and mode of fortifying their camps, give them an advantage which I can hardly conceive that any number of savages would be able to overcome. Their mode of encamping (as Captain Stockenstrom tells me) is this : they form a double circle of waggons, place the women and children in the centre, and their cattle in the space between the two circles, — fill up the inter- stices of the outer row with thorn-bushes, and fire from the waggons themselves. They are well known to be admirable marksmen, and the Lieutenant- Governor says they are as quick in loading and firing as any troops whatever. On the whole, it seems H 146 THE EMIGRANT BOEES. Chap. V. probable that while they remain together in a body, they will be an overmatch for any savage force that can be brought against them ; but whether so large a body will be able long to find subsistence, is very doubtful, and if they disperse in quest of food, they are likely to be cut off in detail. A colony of English had established themselves at Port Natal, without any sanction or authority from the Home Government; these, on hearing of the massacre perpetrated by Dingaan, set out on a com- mando, ostensibly to punish the Zoola chief; but in their way they attacked another tribe, and carried off several hundreds of women and children as slaves, besides a multitude of cattle. There is in the Graham's Town Journal a curious account of the massacre of Retief, taken from the journal of a missionary who was at the time a resident in Dingaan's kraal : that chief seems to be an uncommonly shrewd and crafty savage, and to have reasoned very acutely, from the conduct of the European settlers towards other native tribes, as to his own probable fate. The Lieutenant-Governor, Captain Stockenstrom, has been constantly with us since the 2d of this month. He is a remarkable man : there is a vehe- mence, and something declamatory, in his manner, which does not impress one with an idea of his impar- tiality ; and he appears too impetuous and irritable for the peculiar situation in which he is placed ; but my Chap. V. CAPTAIN STOCKENSTROM. 147 impression is, that he is an upright and sincere man, and vehement in what he conscientiously believes to be a good cause. He is undoubtedly an able man, and thoroughly well acquainted with the people of this colony, and with every thing relating to it. And, as far as I can perceive, he is desirous to do equal justice to all, and to promote the real interest of the colony by maintaining peace and good under- standing with the native tribes. He is in very bad odour with the Albany people, and with what is called the "colonial party," because, having in his youth shared their feelings of enmity towards the CafFers, (most naturally, since his father was trea- cherously slain by that people,) he has since seen reason to change his views, and to become the advo- cate of a different system. Such were my first impressions of this remarkable man. H 2 148 EXCURSION INTO CAFFERLAND. Chap. VI. CHAPTER VI. Excursion into Cafferland. — Fraser's Camp. — Mutiny of the Hottentot Soldiers. — Fort Peddie. — Conference with the Caffers of the Congo and Tslamhie Tribes. — Block Drift. — Conference with the Gaika Caffers. — Macomo and Tyali. — Queen Sutu. — Fort Armstrong. — Kat River. — Fort Beaufort. — Return to GraharrCs Town The Hottentots. — Physical Characteristics, ' Dress^and Weapons of the Caffers. — Caffer Women.*-^ The Fingoes. April 29. — We set out this day for Cafferland, and journeying eastward over a high and open country, reached Eraser's Camp, a small military post about twenty-five miles from Graham's Town, and six from the Great Fish River. From the highest hill on our route, called the Governor's Kop, we had an excel- lent view of the mountains of Cafferland and the Ceded Territory, some of which are supposed to exceed six thousand feet in height. Fraser's Camp, where we passed the night, had been, a little before this, the scene of a tragical event. Some soldiers of the Hottentot corps, or Cape Rifles, who were quartered here, mutinied, at the instigation, as it is supposed, of the Caffers, fired into a hut where a party of officers were sitting, and Chap. VI. FORT PEDDIE. 149 killed one of them, a Mr. Crowe. The mutineers were, however, disarmed by the other troops; and being tried by a court-martial, fourteen of them were sentenced to death. The Governor caused only two of these to be executed ; some who were least guilty were pardoned, and the rest sent to work in chains on Eobben Island. If credit could be given to the confession made by one of the criminals, this abortive outbreak was connected with an extensive conspiracy, of which the Caffer chief Umkai, of the Tslambie tribe, was the prime mover. The Caifers, aided by the Hottentot mutineers, were to have seized on the military post of Fort Peddie, on the other side of the Fish River, marched upon Graham's Town by night, surprised the 7 2d regi- ment in their barracks, and fired the town ; indeed, according to the same authority, they expected no less than to be able to drive the English back to Cape Town, and to divide the colony between them. There is little doubt that Umkai had been in corre- spondence with the mutineers, and had secretly in- stigated them to violence, probably hoping that such a degree of confusion might be created as would give hii?i an opportunity of breaking into the pro- vince of Albany and sweeping off the cattle, which are the grand objects of Caffer warfare. But it may very well be doubted whether this crafty chief had ever really entertained a design so extravagant as that imputed to him in the confession. H 3 150 TEOMPETER's drift. Chap. VL We passed a comfortable night here under a tent. April 30. — Leaving Fraser's Camp, we crossed the Great Fish River at Trompeter's Drift, and pro- ceeded to Fort Peddie, which is situated on an ele- vated grassy plain near the little river Chusie or Clusie, about twenty miles from our last station. The Fish River Bush (which we entered immediately after leaving Fraser's Camp) does not extend to so great a breadth in this part as in many others, pro- bably not more than six miles on each side of the river, but it is of most intricate and formidable cha- racter; the hills of very considerable height, and tremendously steep, but of a remarkable uniformity of shape. They might be compared to inverted sarcophagi. At Trompeter's Drift there is a small military post, in a most burning spot. The officer who commanded here at this time had adorned his hut with various spoils of the chase ; in particular the skull of a hippopotamus, the skin of a leopard, heads of baboons and wild boars, horns of the buffalo and of several kinds of antelope, all which animals he had killed in the neighbouring bush. The Great Fish River, where we crossed it, did not appear to me to be wider than the Wye at Monmouth, and had but little water in it, except in some places where it formed deep pools among the rocks; be- tween these hollows its stream was rapid and shallow, with a hard rocky bottom; its margin beautifully fringed with the weeping willow, and other trees of Chap. VI. CONFERENCE WITH THE CAFFERS. 151 a like graceful character. This willow, which abounds also on the Kat River, and other streams of the Caffer country, is not the true Babylonian willow commonly cultivated in England, but a distinct spe- cies*, very similar in its mode of growth, and almost equally beautiful. The Great Fish River is subject, at uncertain times, to violent floods, and has been known to rise as much as seventy feet above its ordi- nary level ; sometimes, on the contrary, it is so far dried up as to become a mere string of pools, without any current at all. May 1. — We rode about six miles farther eastward, to a missionary station at the head of the Beeka River, where the CafFer chiefs of the tribes of Congo and Tslambie had assembled to meet the Governor. There were present, of the former tribe, the chiefs Cobus Congo, Pato, and Kama ; of the latter, Um- hala, Umkai, Gacela, and Noneebe, the widow of Dushani, together with about three hundred Caffers of inferior rank. The chiefs were in English dresses, mostly old uniforms which had been given them by the Lieutenant-Governor and other authorities on the frontier, and which did not become them at all ; but the multitude, in their national dress, with their cloaks either wrapt around them, or hanging in loose folds over one shoulder, so as to expose the greatest part of their athletic figures, had a most picturesque appearance. Many of them had smeared their hair * Apparently the Salix Gariepina of Burchell. H 4 152 CONFERENCE WITH THE CAFFERS. Chap. VI. all over with red ochre, which they consider a great ornament. The conference took place in the church ; the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and their party occupying a platform at one end of it, while the natives filled the rest of the building. It was a curious and striking sight to behold these dark warriors, some wrapt in their cloaks, others naked, but armed with their clubs or kirries, sitting on the floor in profound silence, and in attitudes of earnest -attention, with their intelligent countenances and keen eyes turned towards the speakers. I never saw a public meeting in England half so orderly. I was reminded of the accounts that are given of the North American Indians, and of their demeanour on occa- sions like the present. Several of the chiefs spoke, but not at any great length, — all professing the greatest aversion to war, and the utmost satisfaction at the pacific and friendly language used by the Governor. The principal topic of discussion was the charge against Umkai, of instigating and abetting the recent mutiny in the Cape corps. He defended himself with considerable art and ingenuity, but by no means so as to satisfy us of his innocence. The conference, however, ended very amicably. After it had broken up, when the Gaffers had resumed their assagais, and were standing or lounging about in knots and groups in the open air, I was more than ever struck with the picturesque Chap. VI. FORTri^EDDIE — BLOCK DRIFT. 153 and noble appearance of these fine barbarians, whose tall and well-proportioned figures, with the unstudied grace and ease of their attitudes, and the disposition of their scanty drapery, would have delighted an artist. There were no CafFer women present on this occa- sion, except the Queen* Noneebe and one attendant, who wore European dresses. As we were riding back to Fort Peddie, these two ladies passed us on horseback, riding astride, with their petticoats up to their knees, and trotting along in gallant style. Mmj 2. and 3. — From Fort Peddie to Block Drift, on the Chumie, the country is beautifully varied with hill and dale, wood and pasture ; and in many parts the broad grassy lawns, dotted with trees and clumps of shrubbery, give it quite a park-like cha- racter. The variety of surface, and the richness of the verdure, make it very superior to any thing I saw within the bounds of the colony, and the broad, open, elevated ridge along which we travelled gave us a good commanding view. The direction of our jour- ney was to the westward of N. After travelling a distance which was variously estimated at fifteen, twenty, and twenty-two miles, we pitched our tents in a very pretty wooded valley, near the deserted post of Fort Willshire, on the Keiskamma. Here we passed a miserable night, for a bitter wind blew with such fury, that it every minute threatened to overthrow the tents, and the H 5 154 CONFERENCE WITH GAIKA CAFFERS. Chap.VL cold was so intense that it was impossible, for me at least, to sleep at all, though I heaped all the clothes I had upon me. May 3. — During the whole of the next day, the wind continued to blow with such violence as to rival the terrible " Yent de Bise " of the south of France, and to make our journey very unpleasant. We arrived early in the afternoon at the house of Mr. Stretch, the political agent or resident of the British government. It is situated near Block Drift on the banks of the Chumie River. Here we were very hospitably entertained ; but as there was not room in the house to lodge any besides the Governor, I passed the night in one of the waggons, where I found myself more comfortable than I had been in the tent. May 4. — The Governor held a conference with the chiefs of the Gaika tribe, of whom the principal were Macomo, Tyali, Botma, and Eno. This was a still more picturesque scene than that at the Beeka, for the meeting was held in the open air, in a wide green meadow, dotted with fine acacia trees. The prin- cipal Caffers seated themselves on the grass in a semicircle, around the little group of English who attended the Governor; the rest stood on the out- side; and the rich uniforms, the scarlet and gold, and swords and feathers of the officers, made a striking contrast with the appearance of the dusky and naked savages. Then the rich verdure of the Chap. VI. CONFERENCE WITH GAIKA CAFFERS. 155 spot on which we were assembled, the scattered groups under the trees, the tents, and the horses grazing, completed this wild and striking picture. What added, perhaps, to the exciting interest of the scene, was the feeling that we were quite in the power of these people, who, being between three and four hundred in number, and all armed, could, in all probability, easily have overpowered the little hand- ful of Europeans ; and though, in point of fact, there was no reason to distrust them, one could not but reflect that they might, if they chose, cut off at one blow the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, and the Commandant of the frontier. The discussion, though it ended peaceably, was much more animated than on the former occasion ; many of the CaiFers speaking with much vehemence and warmth of manner, and with great fluency of language ; and even through the medium of an inter- pretation, it was impossible not to be struck with their art and address in debate. All the speakers professed, whether sincerely or not, an aversion to war, and a desire to remain on good terms with the English; but they complained of the insufficient extent of their territory, and dwelt much on the injustice done to Gaika by a former government, in depriving him of a part of his country, after professing to look on him as a friend and ally ; they asked why, when the greater part of their territory was restored to them by the last treaty, which professed to redress 156 CONFERENCE WITH GAIKA CAFFERS. Chap. VI. all their wrongs, the Kat River settlement was not restored likewise ? This was evidently a sore point with them, and some of their speakers dwelt upon it with great force and pertinacity. It was urged par- ticularly by Macomo, and by one of Gaika's old captains, a man of most noble appearance. When this man stood up with his staff in his hand, and harangued with a grave earnestness of manner, and with much but not extravagant gesticulation, throw- ing back his cloak, and displaying his naked and statue-like form, I thought that a finer specimen of uncultivated human nature could hardly be conceived. Much being said concerning the depredations com- mitted within the British frontier by the Caffers of this tribe, the chiefs disclaimed all participation in . these practices, professed great indignation against the thieves, and urged the colonial authorities to punish without mercy all whom they could detect ; but an old man, who spoke subsequently, declared very frankly that in the matter of thieving they were all alike, chiefs and people, and illustrated his mean- ing by a metaphor more forcible than delicate. I remarked that in general, on this as well as on the former occasion, the Caffers behaved with great de- corum, and were very careful not to interrupt any of the speakers. Their language seemed to me soft and agreeable to the ear ; they spoke very distinctly, and in general slowly, with much emphasis, and with more or less Chap. VI. MACOMO AND TYALI. 157 of a peculiar cadence, which often amounted almost to a chaunt. Their speech was perfectly free from the strange gohUing sound which I have often re- marked in that of the negroes. In their language, as in that of the Hottentots, many words are pro- nounced with a certain click of the tongue, which is difficult to imitate; yet this peculiarity was but slightly perceptible in the pronunciation of the speakers whom I heard at the two conferences. It is said to belong, among the CafFers, only to the Amakosa, who inhabit the country between the Great Fish River and the Bashee, and who are supposed to have borrowed it from the Hottentots.* The celebrated chiefs Macomo and Tyali, who took the most prominent part in the late Caffer war, dined with us at Mr. Stretch's, and behaved like gentlemen, seeming quite accustomed to Euro- pean habits, and perfectly at their ease. "We had much conversation with them by means of an inter- preter. They showed a quickness of repartee, and a tact and dexterity in conversation which would have done credit to civilised men. Macomo is of * It is a curious fact, stated in Dr. Pritchard's work on the History of Mankind (ed. 3rd, vol. ii. page 213), that the Caflfer language resembles the Coptic, in forming the tenses of verbs, and the numbers and cases of nouns, by prefixed syllables, not by changes of termination, as in the European languages. The prefix Ania, in the Cafier tongue, marks the plural number, as in Amalwsak, the plural of Kosah / and they have a great variety of other prefixes. 158 QUEEN SUTU. Chap. VI. shorter stature than the generality of the CafFers, with a very keen, shrewd, intelligent countenance, though he is said, unfortunately for himself, to be excessively addicted to drinking. Tyali, his brother, is considerably taller and handsomer, but does not look equally clever. I do not think that the appear- ance of the chiefs is improved by the European dresses which they wear on these occasions as a mark of honour ; they would look better in their karosses ; but perhaps the value and the idea of dignity attached to these dresses, may be regarded as a sign of approxi- mation to civilised tastes and feelings. Among the CafFers who assembled at Block Drift, was a very strange-looking personage, a son of the chief Eno, and known by the name of " Eno's white son." His form and features were like those of the other Caffers, but the colour of his skin a dis- agreeable reddish-white, not like the ordinary com- plexion of Englishmen, but with a stronger and more uniform tint of red, so that he looked some- what as if he had been scalded or half flayed, and had certainly a most repulsive appearance. His hair was of a sandy-yellow colour, but as woolly as that of his countrymen. I was not near enough to him to see the colour of his eyes. He was tall and robust, and was considered as a bold and able war- rior, though said to share in the weakness of sight which has often been remarked in Albinos. Another remarkable personage present at the Chap. VI. FORT ARMSTRONG. 159 conference was Sutu or Sootoo, the chief widow of Graika, and stepmother of Macomo; her bulk was immense, and her figure most extraordinary, the projection behind rivalling that of the famous Hot- tentot Venus. This truly marvellous accumulation of fat in the rear is, as it appears, not quite confined to the Hottentot race, for Sutu is a Tambookie CaiFer, as the " great wives" of the chiefs of the Amakosa most usually are. It is very possible, however, that she may have some Hottentot blood in her. May 5. — We left Block Drift very early in the morning, and travelled over a beautiful, verdant, hilly country, with much wood, to Fort Armstrong on the Kat River. It is surprising how superior the country beyond the Great Fish River is, in point of beauty, to that on the colonial side of the stream ; and it is said to improve still farther, after one crosses the Keiskamma. But this fine territory is not considered so valuable for grazing, as much of that within the colony, for the grass is in general what is called " sour ;" that is, rank and unwholesome for cattle. Leaving behind us the rich and picturesque basin of the Chumie, and taking a direction about N. W., we passed under the brow of the Katberg, a fine mountain-range clothed with wood, and descended to the valley of the Kat River, which is one of the principal tributaries of the great Fish River. 160 CAFFER WOMEN. Chap. VI. The situation of Fort Armstrong is remarkably- picturesque. The river comes winding with a grace- ful sweep round the high tongue of land on which the fort is built, and the hills on the opposite bank rise steeply from the water's edge, in parts covered with thick woods of Euphorbias, and other strange trees, in others showing bold escarpments of sand- stone rock, half mantled with creeping evergreens. At some distance, on the N. and N. W., are high and picturesque mountains, among which th-e craggy peak of the Didima is the most conspicuous. The cliffs near the river are stratified with re- markable distinctness, in thick horizontal beds, which are divided by vertical fissures into regular rectan- gular blocks, so as to give the whole a striking resemblance to the ancient Etruscan walls of Cor- tona and Fiesole. In this day's journey we met several Caffer women: they are not in general so well made or good-looking as the men, but have very good-hu- moured countenances. Almost the only thing in their dress which distinguishes them from the men is, that they always wear a cap, or kind of turban, on their heads. The Caffer huts are of a hemi- spherical form, and, at a distance, look very like the large ant-hills with which the country is covered. May 6. — We remained at Fort Armstrong the whole of this day. The cutting wind from which we had suffered two or three days before, had died Chap. VI. THE GNOO. 161 away, and the severe cold was succeeded by very great heat ; such are the rapid alternations usual in this climate, which is said, nevertheless, to be very healthy. Fort Armstrong, standing on a naked rock, and half surrounded by steep hills which re- flect the glare of the sun, is extremely hot, nor is it considered by the officers as an agreeable quarter. At this place I saw a young Gnoo, which belonged to Mr. Gordon, an officer of the 75th regiment, and was so tame and fearless, that it took food from off the breakfast table, and could hardly be driven away. In the structure of this animal there is a curious mixture of the characters belono-ing: to the buffalo and to the antelope tribe ; the former predominating in the shape of the head, the horns, and the neck ; the latter, in the slender and flexible limbs, while the thick mane standing upright along the ridge of the neck, and the flowing tail, which resembles that of a horse, complete the singularity of its appearance* In their wild state, as I have been told, when chased or alarmed, the gnoos always run in single file, one following another, often to the number of several hundreds, butting with their heads, and kicking up their heels, as they go. The young one that I saw seemed good-natured, though very bold ; but the full- grown animal is fierce and dangerous. Ma^ 7. — This day, turning towards the S.W., we proceeded along the green valley of the Kat River, between very high and steep hills, indeed almost 162 FORT BEAUFOET. Chap. VL deserving the name of mountains, which are partly- covered with thick wood, and partly with a kind of open shrubbery of acacias.* The hills throughout this part of the country have a general tendency to the flat-topped or table shape. We repeatedly crossed the river, which flows in a very tortuous channel, deeply sunk between steep banks, and overhung and almost concealed by a thick growth of weeping willows and other trees. In the spot where we " outspanned " (the common colonial phrase for unyoking the oxen, and resting in the middle of the day), the beautiful glossy thrush or starling, whose plumage shines with brilliant metallic reflections of blue, purple, and green, was more common than I have seen it elsewhere. It is not a ^egarious bird like the starling, but nearly solitary like the black- bird, which it very much resembles in its flight ; its note, also, when it takes wing, is a good deal like the blackbird's, but fainter. Our day's journey of about twenty-seven miles, ended at Fort Beaufort, where, as every where else in this frontier tour, I met with the greatest hospitality and kindness from the oflScers. May 8. — We spent this day at Fort Beaufort. This military post is situated on a somewhat elevated peninsular tongue of land, almost encircled by the Kat River, which is a rapid and muddy stream, * Acacia horrida. Chap. VI. TOMLINSON'S INN TO GKAHAM'S TOWN. 163 neither broad nor deep, and confined between very- high, almost precipitous, thickly wooded banks. A scattered village has grown up around the fort. I spent the greater part of the day very idly, but botanised for a while, with moderate success, my ramble being much limited by the CaiFer frontier on one side, and the river on all the others. Captain Butler entertained us much by showing us his very clever sketches of South African sports. These last three days were very hot, a great contrast to the 3rd and 4th of the month. May 9. — We proceeded nearly south to Tomlinson's Inn, situated on the Koonap, a little above its junc- tion with the Great Fish River. The greater part of the journey was over a pleasant hilly country, verdant and comparatively open, but variegated with scattered clumps of thicket. Towards the end of the day we re-entered the wild and rugged tract of hill and " bush " which extends along the course of the Fish River. May 10.— "We forded the Great Fish River near Fort Brown (or Hermanns Kraal), where it is much narrower than at Trompeter's Drift. The country between this river and the Koonap, and southward to within five or six miles of the town, is extremely rugged, and covered with thick bush. From Fort Beaufort to Graham's Town is a journey, not in- cluding stoppages, of fifteen hours in an ox waggon, and may thence be estimated at about forty-five 164 THE HOTTENTOTS. Chap. VI. miles. We reached Graham's Town after a journey of nine hours from Tomlinson's Inn. We had been escorted in our little tour into Caffer- land by detachments of the Hottentot corps or Cape Mounted Kifles, who are, or were at that time, the only cavalry in the colony, and seem well suited for the frontier service. The officers are English, the men partly of mixed breed and partly genuine Hottentots. These latter people, of whom I saw a considerable number in Graham's Town and its neighbourhood, have a most peculiar and repulsive physiognomy. The form of the face is singularly angular, owing to the excessive projection of the cheek bones, the shrunk and pinched appearance of the lower part of the cheeks, and the sharpness of the chin; the mouth is prominent and the lips thick ; the eyes very small and narrow, and rather obliquely placed ; the forehead depressed ; the nose flattened in a remarkable degree, so that the upper part of it appears to be quite obliterated, while the nostrils are large and wide. The plates in Le Yail- lant's Travels do not at all exaggerate the usual ugli- ness of this strange race ; but whether his account of their moral qualities be correct, I cannot tell. I never saw any of them in their original state of wild inde- pendence, and if they ever w^ere such as he describes them, they have become sadly deteriorated from their intercourse with civilised man. Many people are struck with the likeness of the Hottentots to the Chi^ Chap. VI. THE HOTTENTOTS. 165 nese in physiognomy, and Dr. Pritchard considers this approximation as confirmed by the formation of the skull ; the woolly hair, in which they differ remarkably from the Mongolian nations, may be a character of secondary importance. The Hottentots are mostly of small stature ; the majority of those in the Cape corps (at least of the new levies) are under five feet high, and they are possessed of very little muscular strength. Their hands and feet are small and deli- cate ; in which particular they differ very remarkably from the negroes. The number of genuine Hottentots within the colony at the present day is small, compared with that of the mixed breeds, or Bastaards, as they are called, in whom the blood of the aboriginal race is crossed with that of the Dutch, the negro, or the Malay. The Bastaards are much superior in size and strength to the Hottentots. It is now pretty generally admitted that the Caffers belong to the negro race of mankind, but the characteristic peculiarities of that race, with the ex- ception of the woolly hair, are less strongly marked in them than in the natives of Guinea or Mozam- bique ; the lips are less thick, the nose less flat, the lower part of the face is not remarkably prominent, and the forehead is often as high and as amply de- veloped as in Europeans. The colour of the skin appeared to me, in most of the individuals I saw, to be a dark umber brown, frequently approaching to 166 THE CAFFEKS. Chap. VI. black, while in others it had a tinge of yellow or red ; but the skin is so often smeared with red ochre, that it is not easy to judge accurately of its real native tint. The CafFer men are in general tall, though not gigantic, and extremely well proportioned ; in- deed, their fine forms and easy attitudes often remind one of ancient statues ; but they are more remarkable for activity than for strength, and, it is said, have generally been found inferior in muscular power to British soldiers. They wear no clothing except the skin cloak or kaross, and this is worn only as a pro- tection against weather, not with the view of conceal- ing any part of the body. The skins of which these cloaks are made are dressed in such a manner as to be as soft and pliable as glove leather, and acquire a red-brown colour, which is not at all unpleasing to the eye. The Caffers call these cloaks inguho : kaross is, I believe, a word borrowed by the Dutch from the Hottentots. Many of the chiefs wear mantles of leopard's skin, prepared with the hair on. They ornament their hair on great occasions with red ochre, which is applied in a very elaborate manner, the hair being twisted up into a multitude of little separate knots or lumps, and every knot carefully covered over with grease and ochre. This process, which is performed by the women, is said to be very long and tedious ; but the appearance which results from it, though whimsical in our eyes, is considered by them as highly ornamental. In truth, I do not see that this Chap. VI. THE CAFFERS. 167 practice is in any degree more barbarous or irrational than that of covering the hair with white powder, which not long ago was so fashionable in the most civilised parts of Europe. The Caifer women, as I have already mentioned, are inferior in personal appearance to the men, and diifer from them, in point of costume, by constantly wearing a cap of dressed leather, shaped a little like a turban, and decorated with beads and brass buttons. Their cloak, which is usually much orna- mented with these same articles, is arranged more decently than that of the other sex, being in general wrapt close round them, and covering them from the throat to the ancles ; but the unmarried women some- times fasten it round the waist in the manner of a petticoat, leaving the upper part of the person exposed. All the CafFers at Block Drift, with the exception of their chiefs, were armed with their national weapon, the light spear or javelin, which they themselves call Umkonto, but to which the colonists have given the name of Assagai, It has a slender shaft about five feet long, made of the very tough and elastic wood which the Dutch call Assagaihout*, and an iron head or blade, somewhat like that of a lance, generally without any barb, but sharp at the edges as well as at the point. The whole thing is very light, and is but a paltry weapon for warfare against European troops ; it can be thrown fifty or sixty yards with * The wood of the Curtisia faginea. 168 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CAFFERS. Chap. VI. effect ; but beyond that distance they have no cer- tainty of aim. Another weapon used by the Amakosa is the Kirrie or Keerie, which is simply a thick stick of a very hard and heavy wood, with a knob at one end ; this is likewise used as a missile, and it is said that they can bring down birds on the wing with it. A considerable number of these people are now pro- vided with fire-arms; and though, as yet, few are expert in the use of them, there seems to be no reason why the Caffers should not in time become as skilful marksmen as the North American Indians. They will in that case be truly formidable enemies in the bush. Macomo, I have been told, is a good shot. The frontier colonists, notwithstanding their dread and hatred of these people, have been induced by the allurements of gain to supply them with muskets and ammunition; and it is said that an active contraband trade in these articles has been carried on in spite of the military posts. It is esti- mated that Macomo's tribe can muster about 300 mounted men, and the Tslambie tribe as many more. Whether the Amakosa can be called a brave people, may admit of doubt ; certainly, the mode in which they carry on their warfare, at least against the English, does not exhibit this quality, if they possess it ; but it may be policy, rather than want of courage, that induces them to avoid meeting a civilized enemy in fair fight. They lurk in the bush, hang on the flanks and rear of the hostile troops. Chap. VI. THE FINGOES. 169 throw their assagais from behind thickets and rocks, and disperse and creep away under covert if attacked. Their desperate assault on Graham's Town, in 1819, was the most remarkable deviation from this system, and their disaster on that occasion has probably de- terred them from repeating the experiment. Accord- ingly, in the last war, they inflicted but little loss on our troops, and as far as could be ascertained, did not suffer very severely in return. Nor can they, with any reason, be blamed for avoiding open encounters with men whose superiority of weapons and of skill they have experienced, or for carrying on the war in the manner most safe and advantageous to them- selves. These people are, I am told, remarkably tenacious of life, so that hardly any wound, which is not imme- diately fatal, will prevent them from effecting their retreat ; and often, when mortally hurt, they will run like deer for miles before they drop. Living in a peculiarly fine and healthy climate, subsisting chiefly on milk, and neither wasted by toil, nor pampered with indulgence, they are subject to few diseases. But many of them, especially the chiefs, have suffered much from the introduction of spi- rituous liquors. The late Gaika, of whom there is an interesting account in Barrow's Travels, is said to have perished mainly from this cause. The Fingoes (as I have already mentioned) are of Caffer race, and very like the Amakosa in personal I 170 THE FINGOES. Chap. VI. appearance ; but marked by the large holes which they bore in their ears. The name of Fingo, given them by the Gaffers, signifies poor man, beggar, or outcast. They are the remains of a tribe which formerly inhabited the country to the S.W. of Port Natal, bordering on the Zoolas : the terrible Zoola chieftain, Chaka *, overran their country, and reduced it to a wilderness, destroying most of the inhabitants, while those who were able to escape sought refuge in Hintza's country, on the further side of the Great Kei, and became vassals of the Amakosa. There are very conflicting statements as to their treatment by these people. Sir Benjamin D'Urban, when he marched into Hintza's country in May, 1835, eman- cipated the Fingoes, who were then supposed to amount to 6000 souls, removed them into the colony, and established them in the country between the lower courses of the Fish River and the Keis- kamma. A part of them still remain there, in the neighbourhood and under the protection of Fort Peddie; a part were removed by the Lieutenant Governor to the Zitzikamma, a country very fit for agriculture, but unhealthy for cattle ; a part are dis- persed over the colony, either in the service of the farmers, or earning a subsistence as hewers of wood and drawers of water, or wandering about in a state of destitution, and begging, or stealing, or starving, as * Chaka was the brother and predecessor of Dingaan, whose warfare with the emigrant Boers has already been noticed. Chap. VI. THE FINGOES. 171 it may happen. They seem to be a well-disposed people, and if they do commit petty thefts on the farmers, it is probably owing to want and misery. They are a more industrious and more agricultural people than the Amakosa Caifers. If the Governor carries into effect his plan of concentrating them in the unoccupied lands of the Zitzikamma, under the superintendence of a missionary and a special ma- gistrate, and with land enough for their subsistence, there is a reasonable prospect of their turning out well.* There are a great many of them settled in the neighbourhood of Graham's Town ; and here, as at Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage, they are found very useful in performing various menial and laborious offices, such as washing, and carrying firewood : the women go out to a considerable distance, to the patches of coppice which still remain in the deep hollows and on the southern slopes of the hills, and collect sticks and brushwood, which they bring back to the town on their heads. * After I quitted the Cape, Sir George Napier's plan for im- proving the condition of the Fingoes was carried into execution. A sufficient tra^t of land was assigned to them in the Zitzikamma; by the help of a subscription raised in England, they were pro- vided with agricultural implements, with seed for sowing, and with means of instruction ; they were placed under the care of one of the excellent missionaries of the Moravian persuasion, and a special magistrate was appointed for their protection. According to the accounts, since received, down to the expiration of Sir G. Napier's term of government, the Fingo settlement in the Zitzikamma, to which the name of Clarkson had been given, was in a thriving and satisfactory condition. I 2 172 BOTANY OF GRAHAM's TOWN. Chap. VII. CHAPTER Vn. Botany of the Neighbourhood of Graham! s Town. — De- parture for Cape Town. — CradocKs Kloof. — George. — Secretary Birds. — Brakke Rivers. — Gauritz River. — Arrival at Cape Town, — Travelling Accommodations. —Manners^ Customs, and Characteristics of the Cape Farmers. I REMAINED at Graham's Town until the 11th of June, occupying myself chiefly in botanical pursuits ; and notwithstanding the generally bare and mono- tonous aspect of the surrounding country, it afforded a considerable variety of curious plants. The succu- lent tribes are very abundant, especially three large kinds of Aloe, which form striking and characteristic features of the scenery: they grow, irregularly scat- tered over the parched and naked faces of the hills, but most abundantly among the low broken ledges and knolls of sandstone rock, and are often seen spiring up above the evergreen bushes in the ravines, and crowning the cliffs. One kind grows to the height of fifteen feet, and even more; the other two are usually about the height of a man. They are plants of a strange, rigid, and ungraceful appearance, but To face beginning of Chap. VII. a. Aloe feeox? b. Al-OE LINEATA? c, c. Aloe arbobescens. d, d. Euphorbia. e. Euphorbia melohormis. Chap. VII. BOTANY OF GRAHAM'S TOWN. 173 with very handsome flowers, which form tall and dense spikes, of a fine coral-red colour in two of the species*, and of an orange-scarlet in the third. f When in blossom, they are conspicuous at a great distance, and might really be mistaken, when seen from far off*, for soldiers in red uniforms. Numerous succulent Euphorbias, of a variety of uncouth shapes, are abundant among the rocks, some looking like clusters of green fluted columns, some like prickly clubs, and some like vegetating pin- cushions. There is also an endless variety of com- pound-flowered plants ( Compositce), mostly with yel- low flowers, and some very showy. The proteas and heaths, so characteristic of the more western part of the colony, occur here in very small numbers; and the rush-like plants called Restios are much less prevalent than in the western districts, while true grasses are proportionably more abundant. A very handsome corn-flag J, with a tall spike of large pale pink flowers (now frequent in our gardens), grows here and there on the open grassy hills. Mosses and lichens are pretty numerous in the thickets, and often occur in a state of remarkable luxuriance and perfection; a large proportion of * Aloe arborescens, and A. lineata ?. f Aloe ferox ?. % Gladiolus floribundus. I 3 174 DEPARTURE FOR CAPE TOWN. Chap. VII. them are common to this country and to Europe*, while others are South American forms. The Tecoma Capensis, a remarkably ornamental climbing shrub, with trumpet-shaped flowers of a beautiful orange-scarlet colour, abounds in the woods and thickets of the country beyond the Great Fish River ; but I did not meet with it in the neighbour- hood of Graham's Town. A characteristic shrub of this eastern tract is the pretty Plumbago Capensis, well known in English greenhouses, with its delicate pale blue blossoms ; it is scarcely seen to the west- ward of the Camtoos, but is frequent among rocks and bushes about Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, and Graham's Town, and abounds in all the thickets of the Ceded Territory. As it seemed quite uncertain how long the Governor might be detained at Graham's Town, I became impatient of a prolonged stay at a place affording so little variety, and seized the first oppor- tunity of returning to Cape Town. Accordingly, on the 12th of June, I set off on my return, in company with Captain Dundas, E. N. As far as to nearly the western extremity of the Long Kloof, our route was the same which had been followed in the Governor's journey up the country, and it would therefore be superfluous to dwell upon it. Having * Neckera pennata, Pterogonium Smithil, Hypnum cupressi- forme, Sticta fuliginosa et limbata, Collema saturninum, Par- melia herbacea. Chap. VII. CRADOCK's KLOOF. 175 arrived at the farm of Ganse Kraal, not far from the foot of Cradock's Kloof, we took the road to the left (June 21), and crossed over the mountains, by that noted and formidable pass, to the village or town of George. The day's journey, performed chiefly with oxen, occupied about nine hours. I walked all the way over the Kloof, and was only one hour in ascending from the valley to the top of the pass ; the descent towards the south is much longer. The chain of mountains separating the Long Kloof from the coast, here forms a single, narrow, undivided ridge, very steep and rugged, — a kind of wall, up which the road is carried so directly that, from the toll-house at its northern foot, the whole ascent from the base to the summit is visible at once. The pass is thus of an entirely different character from the Attaquas Kloof. The scenery is grand and savage : huge walls and pyramids of naked rock tower above the road like giants' castles, the extreme abruptness of the mountains, and the want of vegetation, giving them an appearance of magnitude beyond the truth. The crest of the ridge is very narrow, not expanding into a plain or basin, as is so generally the case with the Cols of the Alps : it commands a good view of the maritime plain of George, the coast, and Mossel Bay. I saw but very few plants while ascending Cradock's Kloof : the principal were gigantic rushes (^Restiacecs) of a most stately appearance, growing in thick tufts at z 4 176 CRADOCK'S kloof. Chap. VII. least ten feet higb ; and a shrub * which had much the look of a dwarfish form of the common cypress. On the southern side, the mountains, though excessively steep, are less abrupt and craggy, and the vegetation is much more abundant and varied : here I found a very beautiful Pelargonium^ some fine Everlastings, a scarlet Antholyza, and several other novelties ; and towards the bottom of the descent, before coming quite into the plain, I walked for some distance through a beautiful natural shrubbery of proteas, heaths, and a variety of other fine plants, very tall and luxuriant. I saw no animals, except a kestrel f (very like the English kind, but not exactly the same) hovering and poising himself in the air above the top of the pass. The day happened to be cloudy and changeable, and the clouds floating around the mountain peaks, by turns veiling them and leaving them bare, heightened the effect of the scenery. The road over Cradock's Kloof certainly deserves its reputation, being the most formidably bad, if not of all roads I ever saw, assuredly of all that pretended to be passable by wheels. Its steepness, the ruts, or rather chasms, by which it is furrowed, the masses of rock that obstruct it, can hardly be conceived by one who has not travelled beyond the civilised countries of Europe. The very attempt to drag any vehicle over such places would seem incredible without the * Callitrls (Pachylepis) cupressoides. f " Le Montagnard " of Le Vaillant. Chap. VII. GEORGE. 177 testimony of one's own eyes. It is said that an enormous outlay would be required to render this Kloof any thing like an easy passage, whereas the Attaquas might by a moderate expenditure be made into a good carriage-road. This latter is in every respect the best and most convenient line of commu- nication between the maritime districts and the in- terior ; and the only reason against the entire aban- donment of the Cradock pass, is the injury that would result to the pretty village of George, which would then be thrown entirely out of the course of traffic. That place is, indeed, unfortunately situated, the access to it from the north being impeded by the difficulties of Cradock's Kloof, and from the west by two very troublesome rivers (the Great and Little Brakke), which are apt to become impassable for several days together. A gentleman whom I met at the Civil Commis- sioner's at George, told me that the Cradock Moun- tain (by which, I believe, he meant the peak imme- diately above the Kloof) was 1200 feet higher than Table Mountain. This would give it an elevation of nearly 4800 feet. The escarpments of these moun- tains exhibit the strongly-marked, regular, thick- bedded, and apparently horizontal stratification, which every where characterises the Cape sandstone. The following day, June 22, we proceeded west- ward from George to a farm called Melkboom, a journey of twelve hours with oxen. The weather I 5 178 SECEETARY BIRDS. Chap. VII. was delicious. We travelled over wide grassy plains, as open and bare as Newmarket Heath, but here and there cut by strangely deep gullies, through which the waters from the Outeniqua chain of mountains find their way to the sea. These gullies are not seen till one is very near them, and the effect is quite start- ling when, travelling over what appears a level and uniform plain, one comes suddenly to the brink of a deep and rugged ravine, for which nothing had pre- pared one. Mossel Bay was on our left, at a few miles' distance; and the fine mountain-chain above men- tioned formed a picturesque boundary to the view on our right. I observed that the rock of this maritime plain is granite, instead of the quartz sandstone so general in the interior; and I believe that this granite extends along the coast from the neighbour- hood of the Cape for a great way eastward, not rising to any considerable height above the sea, but consti- tuting the foundation on which the sandstone moun- tains are raised. It is extremely subject to decom- position, and hence is readily cut by the action of water into the deep gullies already noticed. In this day's journey I saw two or three secretary birds (^Gypogeranus serpentarius) stalking over the plain with their grave and measured pace and dignig fied air, with their crests erect, and making a very handsome appearance. There is something remark- ably sedate and stately in the carriage of these birds ; one might fancy them animated by the souls of Chap. VII. BRAKKE RIVERS. 179 Spanish grandees. Although a true bird of prey, the secretary has, especially when walking, more of the air of a crane ; but its flight, though not rapid (at least in the instances I saw) is smooth, and with- out that heavy flapping of the wings which is so observable in the heron and other large waders. It did not appear to me to be shy and difficult to approach, as Le Vaillant describes it : those which I saw on this occasion seemed not at all disturbed by the waggons passing near them ; one of them allowed me to approach on foot within twenty yards of him, before he would take wing, and then he flew but a little way, and alighting, stalked on with the same gravity as before. This was the first time I had had a good view of the bird in its wild state ; I after- wards met wi-th it again on the barren hills between the Houw Hoek and the Palmiet River. Besides the secretaries, I saw here some flocks of a pretty kind of plover, grey, with black and white wings, and red legs : they run fast, and when dis- turbed take short wheeling flights, screaming loud and shrilly. We crossed, in this day's journey, the Great and Little Brakke Rivers, both of which gave us some trouble. The Great Brakke is choked up at its mouth with sand, which makes it spread out into a considerable sheet of water, too deep to be forded. Here our waggon was entirely unloaded, and the luggage ferried over in a boat ; then, a rope being I 6 180 ARKIVAL AT CAPE TOWN". Chap. VII. made fast to the oxen, and carried over to the other side, they were driven, not without difficulty, into the water, and made to swim across, guided by the rope, and dragging after them the waggon, of which the tilt alone was seen above water. The Little Brakke Eiver is neither so broad, nor so perma- nently deep, but, being influenced by the tide, is fordable only at certain times of the day. The tide was rising when we arrived on its margin ; but we were just in time to cross, with the water reaching up to the floor of the waggon. The next day, June 23, we crossed the Gauritz River, at some distance below Hell Drift, where we had passed it in going up the country : it was here a muddy stream, barely fordable, probably as much as a quarter of a mile broad from bank to bank, but more than half of this width was dry sand ; the banks very high and steep, in some places precipitous, and composed of a soft argillaceous schist or shale. The bushy country near the river was at this time very gay with the scarlet flower spikes of the aloes. I saw several antelopes, of the kind called reebok (from their resemblance in size and colour to the European roebuck), feeding on the hills between this river and our last night's quarter. Not long after passing the Gauritz, we rejoined the road by which I had travelled up the country in the preceding March ; and on the 28th of June, I arrived at Cape Town. Chap. VII. TRAVELLING ACCOMMODATIONS. 181 I will now mention what I observed concerning the habitations, manners, and condition of the Dutch colonists in the interior, and the accommodations which travellers meet with. The Boers' houses, in that part of the colony which I saw, are always low, consisting merely of a ground-floor, with a terrace of brickwork, called the stoep, in front, on which the principal apartments open : the sitting-room is gene- rally in the middle, the bedrooms on each side of it, and the kitchen behind. The apartments are sub- stantially, though not handsomely, furnished; but what struck me most was, that almost all the windows have glass casements, whereas, in the interior of Brazil, glass is not seen except in houses of the highest class. I should have supposed that the safe carriage of it would be as difficult on the roads of the one country as of the other. The floors are in general of clay; but in the better sort of houses they are partly covered with skins, especially of the springbok, which make very handsome carpeting. The beds are remarkably uncomfortable: they are feather beds, so soft and unsubstantial, that you sink down in them lower and lower, till you wonder whither you are going; and at last, when you can descend no farther, you find yourself almost buried in a huge mass of feathers, and yet very insufficiently protected from the hard bedstead under you. There are no fire-places in the Boers' houses, so that how- ever cold and wet the weather may be, your only 182 MANNERS OF THE CAPE FARMERS. Chap. VII. chance of warming yourself is by going into the dirty kitchen. The men, under such circumstances, wrap themselves up in thick cloaks ; the women put under their feet little boxes contaiiiing hot charcoal, a practice which, I believe, stiU subsists in Holland also. The Cape Dutch in general have a strong dislike to the English ; yet I found them tolerably civil, even on my journey back from the frontier, when I was not in company with the Governor. They will not, however, put themselves out of their way for any body, so that a traveller must conform to their habits and hours, and at whatever time he arrives at a house, he must wait for food tiU the customary meal-time of the family. Coffee, indeed, is always ready, and a cup of it is offered to the stranger on his arrival, but they have no notion of making any other preparation for him ; nor perhaps would it be reasonable to expect this. They eat two plentiful and substantial meals of animal food in the course of the day, one about noon, the other at 7 or 8 o'clock in the evening. They offer you coflPee or tea again in the morning before you start, but seldom anything else, as they are not in the habit of eating breakfast. The national character of the Dutch appears to have been greatly modified in this colony by the abundance of the means of subsistence, the scanty intercourse with strangers, and the system of slavery. The Cape farmers have neither the cleanliness, the Chap. VII. MANNERS OF THE CAPE EARMERS. 183 industry, nor the love of money, which are said to be characteristic of the Hollanders in their own country. They are not without education ; on the contrary, the knowledge of reading and writing is, I believe, general among them; and in almost every house where we stopped, we saw a Bible, which seemed to be preserved with great care. The Cape farmers are said, by those who know them much better than I can pretend to do, to have a great reverence for reli- gion, and to be very observant of all the ordinances of their Church. They are said also to have strong family affections, and a remarkable veneration for their parents ; and certainly, as far as appearances and outward demeanour go (for I had no further means of judging), this appears to be quite true. The families are generally very numerous, and the sons (unless they emigrate) mostly remain in their father's house even after they are grown up and married ; so that there is something very patriarchal in the aspect of society in these thinly-inhabited districts. As to their physical characteristics, the Boers ap- peared to me, in those districts through which we travelled, to be in general a tall and large-limbed race of men, but often with something heavy and ungainly in their movements, as if their joints were not com- pactly knit. I have heard the same thing remarked of the inhabitants of North Holland. In the district of George, more especially, I was much struck with the almost gigantic stature of many of the young men. 184 LITERARY RESOURCES. Chap. VII. The young women are often handsome. After the prime of life is past, both sexes are apt to become very corpulent. The English language is spoken but by few, even along the frequented line by which we travelled, and of course by much fewer in the more remote districts of the interior. As may be supposed, the literary resources of the Boers are few, their opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of other countries scanty, and their prejudices strong in proportion. I observed the " Zuid Afrikaan " newspaper in many of their houses, but rarely any other ; and that publication, while it is well calculated to foster their prejudices, is but ill adapted to improve either their understanding or their taste. To face befiinning of Chap. VIII. 0GAR BO Chap. VIII. RESIDENCE AT CAPE TOWN. 185 CHAPTER Vni. Residence at Cape Town. — Botany of the Environs, — Excursion to Paarl. — South-west Wind. — News of the Emigrant Farmers at Natal. — Simon^s Bay. — Sands. — Roads. — Thunder Storm. — Military Force sent to take possession of Port Natal. August 12. — I HAVE been quiet at Cape Town since the end of June, my farthest excursions having ex- tended no farther than Simon's Town. The weather has been very changeable ; indeed, during these winter months, it is almost as uncertain as in Eng- land. At one time, not long after my return, the peaks of the Hottentot Holland and Stellenbosch mountains were covered with snow for several days together, which gave them a beautiful appearance, the weather being particularly bright at the time. This was after very heavy rains had fallen at Cape Town. Last winter, I am told, snow lay for some time on the top of Table Mountain ; but this is an unusual event. The oak trees (which are of the common European kind, introduced by the Dutch) lose their leaves in the cold weather, adapting themselves to the inverted seasons of the southern hemisphere; they are now 186 BOTANY NEAR CAPE TOWN. Chap. VIII. coming out again into leaf and flower, as the winter is nearly over. There were but few wild plants in blossom when I first returned ; but the alternating rains and sunshine have since brought out a great number, and fresh species are making their appearance every day as the season advances. The Proteacece, which abound in this neighbourhood, are now for the most part in bloom ; one of the most beautiful, as well as the most common of them, is the sugar-bush*, with its large, cup-shaped flower-heads, shaded with bright pink, brown, green, and white (or sometimes entirely white), and overflowing with honey, which attracts swarms of bees, and beetles of all kinds ; the quantity of honey in these flowers, when they first expand, is so great, that by merely inverting them one can pour it out as from a cup. Another species, perhaps equally beautiful, and more singular, is the Protea melaleuca, which abounds in the Kloof, and under the clifis of Table Mountain ; its flower-heads, of a more cylindrical form than those of the sugar-bush, and four or ^YQ inches long, are clothed with a kind of glossy black fur, and beautifully feathered at the top with tufts of silver white hairs. The Protea Scol^mus, an inhabitant of the sandy flats between the two bays, though smaller and less showy than these spe- cies, is remarkably neat and pretty, both in its foliage * Protea mellifera. Chap. VIII. BOTANY NEAR CAPE TOWN. 187 and flowers ; while the Protea grandiflora^ which I have mentioned in other parts of my journal, attracts the eye by the size and delicate straw colour of its heads. Several species of Leucadendron grow on the hills and flats ; they are mostly low shrubs, with neat foliage, and small flowers, but some of them are rendered conspicuous by the bright colours of the leaves which immediately surround their blossoms; in L. decorum these leaves are of a vivid yellow, and give the whole bush a very showy appearance. The silver tree, which is the largest and one of the most remarkable of this tribe, is not now in bloom. Several of the Cape Proteacece are what Humboldt calls gre- garious or social plants, growing usually in great quantities where they occur at all, and occupying considerable spaces of ground, without much mixture. This is particularly the case with Protea mellifera, Leucospermum conocarpon, and Leucadendron argen- teum. The first forms a thick belt of shrubbery along the eastern side of the Devil's Mountain, and entirely covers many parts of the Flats; while the second predominates in like manner along the northern base of the Devil's and Table Mountains. In some parts of the interior I noticed a similar tendency, though less decided, in the Protea lepidocarpon. The hills and flats about Cape Town are already decorated with a variety of Irideae, though the full season for them is not yet arrived. These are cer- tainly among the most attractive plants of the Cape. 188 BOTANY NEAE CAPE TOWN. Chap. VIII. They are not confined to any particular soil or situa- tion. The species of Gladiolus are numerous and very various, some rising to the height of three or four feet, with a stately spike of large scarlet flowers, while others are of humble growth, bearing on their slender stem only one or two flowers, of a pale blue, or a greenish brown colour. The Antholyza ^ihi- opica is common in wet places and by rivulets, dis- playing its tall spikes of orange-red blossoms above the grass and rushes. The Bahiana ringens, with its scarlet flowers just peeping above the surface of the ground, flourishes in the moist sand of the flats near Muysenberg ; several Trichonemas, with bright starry flowers, are common in open ground in the imme- diate neighbourhood of the town, together with a pretty little Morcea, singularly variable in its colours. Of the Orchis tribe I have seen only one species in bloom at this season, the Disperis Capensis, which is not uncommon among bushes on the hill-sides ; it is known by the name of the Hottentot Bonnet, on account of the peculiar shape of its purple and green flowers. The Arum tribe, so numerous in tropical coun- tries, is here represented by a single species, well known in our English conservatories, the Calla (Zantedeschia) ^thiopica*, very common in all wet places, and along the margins of rivulets, where its large, brilliant white spathes, and glossy green leaves * Commonly called at the Cape the Pig Lily. Chap. VIII. BOTANY NEAR CAPE TOWN. 189 have a very ornamental effect. This is one of the comparatively few plants which are common through- out the colony (at least wherever I have been) from Cape Town to the Caffer frontier. August 15. — One of the pleasantest places for botanising within an easy walk of Cape Town is " the Kloof," between Table Mountain and the Lion's Head, together with the adjacent slopes of those mountains. Here, at this season, the rough stony ground is profusely decorated with the beautiful glossy white and pink blossoms of Diosma unijlora, together with several delicate heaths, fine yellow- flowered Hermannias, and various species of Gladiolus, Oxalis, Mesembryanthemum, Zygophyllum, Dimorpho- theca, &c. Here, also, the Protea melaleuca is more plentiful than anywhere else ; and a closer search is rewarded by many plants curious and interesting to a botanist, though not generally attractive. Another very favourable ground for botany is on the eastern face of the Devil's Mountain, near the farther blockhouse. Owing to the different exposure, this side of the mountain has the advantage of much more moisture than that next the town, and has quite a different vegetation. Here I have gathered the beautiful Lobelia pinifolia, Anemone Capensis, Knoiultonia hirsuta, Pencea squamosa, a large Helio- phila, and several other plants which I have not ob- served elsewhere. Some curious mosses and lichens are to be found near a little waterfall on the same side of 190 EXCURSION TO PAARL. Chap. VIII. the mountain. Our common Eno^lish bramble grows in vast quantities near this waterfall. August 29. — I have lately made an excursion, in company with my friend Mr. Harvey, to the village of Paarl, between thirty and forty miles N. E. of Cape Town. We staid there two days, and collected a great number of plants. The Paarl Mountain is an insulated ridge of granite, a few miles long, and of moderate height, running nearly N. and S. parallel to the much higher and more rugged range of the Drakensteen mountains, from which it is separated by a wide and rather fertile valley ; its outlines are smooth and rounded, its sides covered with bushes, and its top studded with enormous roundish masses of naked granite rock, which are visible from a great distance, and give it a very peculiar character. At its foot in the valley lies the pretty village of Paarl, consisting of neat white houses very widely scattered, intermixed with vineyards, gardens, cornfields, and rows of pine and oak trees. The Berg river (even here a considerable stream, though it rises not much more than ten miles S. E. of the village) winds through the valley, running northward, and dividing the district of Stellenbpsch from that of Worcester ; it falls at last into St. Helena Bay, in about 32° 45' S. lat. The Drakensteen mountains are a part of that great chain or system of mountains, which, com- posed of many subordinate ranges, and distinguished by various local names, runs southward from the Chap. VIIL THE DKAKENSTEEN MOUNTAINS. 191 Elephant River to Cape Hangklip on the E. of False Bay, and forms a barrier between the climate and productions of the coast region, and those of the in- terior. A few miles south of Paarl, a branch juts out to the westward from these mountains, advancing several miles into the plain, and separating the Paarl valley from that of Hottentot Holland. The village or town of Stellenbosch lies immediately under this branch ; and just in the angle where it strikes off, is the Fransche Hoek Pass, leading across the main range to Worcester. The Drakensteen mountains are bold and rugged, and appear evidently, by their forms and by the horizontal lines of stratification visible on their sides, to consist of the same sand- stone which is so general in the southern parts of the colony. In this country it is easy to dis- tinguish at a distance the two prevailing rocks, granite and sandstone, — by the smooth rounded surfaces and lumpy outlines of the former, contrasted with the sharp, abrupt, angular or tabular forms, and strongly marked straight lines of the latter. I saw traces of snow still lingering about the highest peaks of the Drakensteen mountains. Although less than forty miles distant from Cape Town, the Paarl hill and valley produce a great number of plants which are not to be found in that neighbourhood. Among these is a small Aloe, grow- ing among the granite rocks on the top of the hill : this appears to be the most westerly point to which 192 BOTANY. Chap. VIII. that genus extends, at least in the southern part of the Cape colony. The prevailing Proteacece are dif- ferent from those of the Cape peninsula : the sugar- bush is replaced by a distinct, though nearly allied, species, and the Leucospermum conocarpon by two other handsome shrubs of the same genus. We found several Hermannias, a fine Drosera with large purple flowers, a very beautiful Diosma, and numerous other novelties, of which I have given a list in the " London Journal of Botany." The low grounds are spangled with a variety of delicate little annual plants. The sandy banks of the Berg river are clothed with a thick jungle of flowering shrubs and tall rushes : one of these shrubs is the Metrosideros angustifolia, re- markable as the only South African species of a group of plants*, which, in the same latitude, forms the great mass of the vegetation in Australia. This African Metrosideros is a graceful shrub, with slender upright branches, narrow glossy leaves growing in pairs, and tufts of small white flowers placed in the axils of the leaves. Sept. 2. — Captain Stockenstrom, who is just ar- rived from Graham's Town, says that there has been little or no rain in the interior, and that even in Zwellendam there are heavy complaints of the drought, and apprehensions of a failure of the crops in consequence. A great deal of rain has fallen * That section of the myrtle tribe to which the Eucalyptus^ Leptospermum^ and Melaleuca belong. Chap. VIU. SOUTH-WEST WIND. 193 here this winter, but it seems to have been all spent on this side of the great western chain of mountains. During the last days of August, a south-west wind (or Kloof wind, as it is called here) prevailed, and the nearest mountains, especially the Lion's Head, were half covered by clouds, which however were light and variable, quite unlike those brought by the North- westers, and equally dissimilar to the " Table-cloth." The South-wester is a very damp wind, and comparatively cold, but rarely blows with violence. It is called the Kloof wind, on account of its coming to Cape Town from the direction of the Kloof or pass (already mentioned) between the Table Mountain and the Lion's Head. Although frequently agreeable on account of its coolness, it is dreaded by the experienced inhabitants of the Cape as treacherous and unhealthy, being very apt to bring on severe rheumatic affections. Owing, I suppose, to the situation of the Cape peninsula at the meeting of two great oceans, and to the grouping of the mountains, the currents of air are singularly capricious : it often happens that a south- wester is blowing on one side of the mountains, and a south-easter at the same time on the other side ; and not unfrequently these two winds encounter each other, and strive, as it were, for the mastery. Then one may see the light clouds driven to and fro, and whirled about in the most fantastic evolutions, like the patches of foam in the eddies of a torrent. One 194 EMIGRANTS AT NATAL. Chap. VIII. of our party used to compare them to light troops engaged in skirmishing. The north-west winds, which prevail very much in the winter months, are often extremely violent, and bring with them immense masses of black lowering clouds. They are the most dangerous to the ship- ping in Table Bay, and often cause distressing acci- dents ; Simon's Bay, on the contrary, is quite secure from them. Sept. 3. — The Graham's Town Journal has lately contained some interesting accounts of the emigrant Boers, by a man of the name of Boshof, who has re- turned from a visit to them. He says that their number now amounts altogether to about 640 men, 3200 women and children, and perhaps 1260 blacks, with about 1000 waggons ; and that they calculate their live stock at 300,000 sheep, 40,000 head of cattle, and 3000 horses (including mares and colts). They are encamped in parties of from 50 to 100 waggons, near the Tugala, and other rivers to the N. of Port Natal, on the E. side of the great chain of mountains which they caU the Draakberg (Quath- lambain Arrowsmith's map) : the country is described as very fertile and well watered, much more favour- able to agriculture than any part of the colony ; and they have begun ploughing in several places. If these accounts are to be depended on, the emigrants have established a regular system of government among themselves, vesting the supreme power, both Chap. VIII. COMPLAINTS OF THE BOERS. 195 legislative and executive, in a council of twenty-four members elected for one year by " the people," — I presume by the majority of their number. They have also appointed magistrates for the trial of petty offences, and a court of justice for more serious cases ; and it is stated that they pay much attention to public worship and religious instruction. But they feel severely the want of some one qualified to take a decided lead, and to acquire the confidence and respect of all. One statement made by Boshof is so unexpected that I wiU extract it word for word. He says : — " There are not a few slave apprentices with the emigrants ; but it has been determined by the council that these shall be set at liberty on the 1st of December, the same as in the colony. The emigrants do not seem to have the slightest idea of entering into any slave trade whatever, and are even ofiended at a question on the subject being put to them. They say, ' We are not averse to the eman- cipation of the slave, — the colonists never introduced the slave trade, the European governments forced it upon us, — what we complain of is, that our slaves have been emancipated by England under a promise of full compensation, whereas we have scarcely received a third of their value.' " I have heard the same thing repeatedly stated by Boers within the colony, and by others well ac- quainted with their feelings and circumstances ; and if it be true that the slave-owners at the Cape have K 2 196 ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ZOOLAS. Chap. VIII. received a much less amount of compensation, in pro- portion, than those of the other colonies, they have certainly some reason to complain of unfairness. It seems that the emigrant Boers have had no engagement with the Zoolas since April, when a body of about 350 of them marched under the com- mand of a certain Piet Uys, for the purpose of revenging the massacre of Retief and his party ; they were however repulsed, and ten of them slain, among the rest Uys and his son. It is supposed that the force of the Zoolas on that occasion amounted to 6000 or 7000 men, and that about one tenth of these were killed in the action: but these estimates are no doubt very vague. Dingaan is probably waiting for some favourable opportunity of attacking his enemies with more advantage, for it cannot be sup- posed that, after the provocation given on both sides, there will ever be peace or reconciliation between this bold, crafty, ferocious chief and the invaders of his territory. That the Boers are not hemmed in by the savages, nor reduced to the desperate situation in which they have been sometimes stated to be, is pretty clear from the fact that small travelling parties can go to them from the colony, and return in safety ; but they must be still liable to be cut off in detail if they straggle or divide into small parties. It is said, too, that they are much cramped by the exhausted sickly state of their horses. Bept, 24. — Simon's Bay, the station for ships of Chap. VII I. SIMON's TOWN. 197 war, is a cove or indentation of the coast on the west side of False Bay : it is not capable of containing any great number of vessels, but being sheltered from the westerly winds, and in part from the swell sent in by the south-easters, it is a safer anchorage than Table Bay, Simon's Town is a small place, consist- ing of little more than a single row of houses stretch- ing along the shore of the bay, and backed by steep barren stony hills. It is rather more respectable in appearance than Port Elizabeth, but has the usual disagreeable accompaniments of a seaport; and the coast on which it is situated is deplorably barren ; between the sands of the shore and the naked stony hills there is no space left for cultivation, and there is scarcely a tinge of green in the landscape. It is no wonder that the Scotch emigrant farmers should, as Pringle mentions, have been dismayed at this first specimen of the " promised land." The neighbour- hood of Simon's Town is less rich in wild plants than that of Cape Town, but affords some which are not found here. It abounds with ProteacecB, which generally delight in the most barren soil. The distance from Cape Town to Simon's Town is about twenty-four miles; as far as Muysenberg (which is at the head of False Bay) the road is good ; but beyond this, in the indentations of the coast, wherever the hills recede from the water's edge, the road is interrupted by wide tracts of drift sand, which fills up what appear to have been formerly shallow K 3 198 FALSE BAY. Chap. VIII. bays or gulfs. The passage across the sands is very- tedious and toilsome; nor could they be avoided unless by going very much out of the way and cutting a road along the hill sides. The sand, being very loose and fine, and exposed to the full effect of the prevailing S. E. winds, is continually encroach- ing, and has even accumulated on the faces of the hills to a considerable height, making them look at a distance, and on a sunny day, very much as if they were half covered with snow. It is remarkable that the seaweeds, shells, and fish of False Bay, are in a great measure different from those of Table Bay. Sept. 30. — A thunder-storm last night, the first that I have witnessed at the Cape. I am informed that several attempts have been made, without success, to use the sandstone of these hills in repairing the roads on Macadam's principle. The drought which prevails through a large portion of the year, and the violence of the winds, which sweep away all the dust and small fragments of stone as fast a§ they are produced by the breaking down of the larger pieces, prevent the stones from ever binding into a compact mass. The only material which is found to answer this purpose, is the iron- stone gravel mixed with a good deal of clay, which covers the bases of some of the mountains. This, when it is first laid on the roads, seems a very unpromising material, soft, loose, and incoherent: Chap. VIIL PROJECTED NEW ROAD. 199 but it soon acquires consistency and hardness. In many parts of the interior, where the surface of the country, over extensive tracts, is composed of this gravel, covering the sandstone rock, nothing seems to be wanting to the formation of excellent roads, except the skill to choose the best lines of direction, and the labour and capital required for throwing bridges over the streams. But to construct good roads over the deep and shifting sands of the Flats, or over those between Muysenberg and Simon's Town, would be an undertaking of much greater difficulty. There has been much talk of making a road across the Flats to Stellenbosch ; and Major Michell con- siders the undertaking to be practicable. Supposing that the physical difficulties, arising from the nature of the ground, could be overcome, the colonists seem to be deficient in capital and enterprise for such a work. Oct 5. — A south-east wind, with its usual ac- companiment the " Table-cloth." During the con- tinuance of this wind, and indeed before it is actually felt here, the horizon towards the E. and S. E. is always obscured, and the distant mountains almost or quite hidden from view. Oct 9. — The forenoon cloudy and overcast, yet sultry, with heavy gusts of wind. Towards 4 P. M. the clouds thickened, and there were repeated claps of thunder, but distant, and accompanied with only a few drops of rain ; about an hour later, heavy grey K 4 200 PORT NATAL. Chap. VIII. masses of cloud came rolling slowly up from the south-west, and gathering about the Table and Devil's Mountains, which were soon entirely hidden ; and presently a violent thunder-storm set in, with such torrents of rain as I have never witnessed before in this country. Oct 17. — The sunmier seems to have begun in good earnest ; the heat has been intense for the last five or six days. The Governor (who returned from his travels in the interior about ten days ago) has determined on taking military possession of Port Natal. About 100 men, with three guns and the requisite stores, are to be sent thither without delay, under the com- mand of Major Charters, to construct a fort, and to take possession of the country adjoining the harbour, in the name of the British Government. The imme- diate objects of this step are, as it appears, to hinder supplies of arms, ammunition, and other stores, from being sent by sea to the emigrant Boers, as has hitherto been done ; to establish a more secure and easy channel of communication, on the part of Government, w^ith the emigrants; to afford protec- tion to such of these people as may be tired of the contest with Dingaan, and willing to return under the dominion of British laws ; and, perhaps, to faci- litate the bringing about a pacification between the contending parties. But it is probable that the post will hereafter serve another purpose, and wiU form Chap. VIII. PORT NATAL. 201 the nucleus of a new colony, the establishment of which, notwithstanding the reluctance of the British Government, appears to me almost inevitable. Sup- posing that the emigrants, who amount to several thousand persons, should now be willing to submit themselves to our government, to own its laws and solicit its protection, I do not see what else could be done with them, than to allow them to occupy, as British subjects, and under proper restrictions, the uninhabited yet fertile tract of country adjoining Natal. Indeed, it is principally with a view to this contingency, that the occupation of the port by our forces appears to be of importance. It seems that a considerable party of the emi- grants, numbering about 100 waggons, are actually at Port Natal, and have begun to form a settlement there ; but it is not supposed that they will attempt any active resistance to our troops. The great mass of them are encamped at a considerable distance to the north of the bay. K 5 202 TURTLE DOVES. Chap. IX. CHAPTER IX. Turtle-doves, — Cape Mole, — Table Mountain, — Plants on its Summit. — Useful Plants of the Cape, — Culti- vated Fruits and Vegetables. — The Camp Ground, — Wynberg. — Heaths. — Locusts, — Van der Merwe, — Perverted State of Public Opinion among the Dutch Colonists, — The Natal Expedition. — Snakes. — Con- cluding Remarks on Cape Botany. Oct.X^. — The trees around Government House are frequented by pretty little turtle doves, of a pale delicate brown colour mixed with grey, with an in- complete black ring round the neck : they seem to be of the kind described by Mr. Selby, in the " Naturalist's Library," as a variety of the Turtur risorius, or collared Turtle-dove. In fine weather particularly, their peculiar cooing, quite different from that of the ring-dove or of the common pigeon, is heard all day long, and though very pleasing at first, becomes wearisome from its monotony and long continuance. They sit generally on the tops of the trees, often on dead and naked boughs ; but I have several times seen them alight on the ground, and run about the gravel walks, picking up crumbs of bread which had been thrown out for the peacocks. In the spring, I have been much amused with watch- Chap. IXT. CAPE MOLE. ' 203 ing a pair of them chasing each other among the branches of the trees, in short, playful, wheeling flights, and intricate circumvolutions. They are common about here, wherever there are many trees ; but I have never seen more than two of them together ; they do not seem to collect in flocks, as many of the pigeon tribe do. Oct 23. — The Cape Mole {Bathyergus Capensis) is very common in gardens here, and very mischiev- ous, not only disfiguring the walks and borders by the earth which it throws up, but devouring great quantities of bulbs and roots. Though it resembles the European mole in its subterranean habits, in the absence of external ears, and in the minuteness of its eyes, it is quite different in other respects, and really belongs to the Rat Tribe, as is evident from the structure of its teeth. It is about 8 inches long, with a remarkably large thick head, short legs, and scarcely any tail ; the fur is thick and soft, but not nearly so much so as that of our mole ; the colour a pale grey on the lower parts, greyish-brown on the back, deepening into a dark brown on the head ; the muzzle, which is short, thick, and abrupt, is whitish, and there is a space of the same colour around the orifice of each ear. The lower jaw is much shorter than the upper, and its two front teeth (incisors), which are remark- ably long and stout, and brought to a sharp edge at the end like a chisel, project straightforward; the two incisors of the upper jaw are likewise extremely 204 CAPE MOLE. Chap. IX, powerful, but shorter than these, and meet them at right angles. There are five toes on each foot, fur- nished with broad, strong, flattened nails, calculated for digging; but the fore feet are much narrower, and appear weaker than in the mole. This descrip- tion is taken from one which I found this afternoon in our garden. I do not know what had induced him to come out to the surface of the ground, but there he was, and seemed much bewildered, and at a loss to find his way. He showed no fear, however, nor attempted to run away, but when threatened, turned fiercely towards me, with open mouth, snap- ping at every thing near him, and showing a degree of boldness which one would hardly have expected. The Sand Mole of the Cape Flats is another species of the same genus. Oct, 29. — Besides these mole-rats, there is another animal here nearly related to the real moles, though referred by Cuvier to a different genus {Chryso- chloris). It is very remarkable for the changeable metallic or iridescent gloss on its fur, resembling that of the marine animal called the Sea- mouse, or the plumage of some birds. It is a small animal, scarcely as large as the European mole, much like it in form, but with a broader and more depressed muzzle ; the fore feet have only three claws, one of which is very large and powerful. I have seen but one specimen of this animal, caught in a trap in our garden ; and I can say nothing of its habits. Chap. IX. TABLE MOUNTAIN. 205 Nov. 10. — I ascended Table Mountain a second time in company with Mr. Harvey. "We set off from his house at four in the morning, reached the summit at half-past six, and did not return to Cape Town till 3 p. M. At the time we started, a thick bank of mist lay across the face of the mountain, not, however, reach- ing to the top ; and when we looked down from the gorge, the view was very singular, for an ocean of dense white vapour covered the whole extent of the bay, and of the low country, even to the distant chain of the Stellenbosch and Drakensteen mountains, which rose sharp and clear above it. The mist by degrees broke up, though not till late in the morn- ing; but the prospect from the summit of the mountain, though tolerably extensive, is of no re- markable beauty. Cape Town looks from hence like a town built of cards. The plain of Table Mountain has a direction from N.W. to S. E. nearly; and at the N.W. extremity, a little way from the ravine by which we ascend from Cape Town, there is another descending to- wards Kamp's Bay ; but whether accessible or not, I cannot say. A small (but perennial) spring of water, the only one on the summit, issues from the rocks near the head of this ravine, and is well known to pic-nic parties. The top of the mountain was at this time very dry (more so than Harvey had ever seen it before). 206 PLANTS OF THE CAPE. Chap. IX. and consequently we were less successful in botanis- ing than we expected; yet I added about twenty species to my collection. The most remarkable of these was the Aulaya Capensis (Harvey), a curious parasitical Orohanche-VikQ plant, beautifully coloured with shades of rich scarlet, orange, and yellow: it grows plentifully among grass near the spring. Villarsia ovata, and a very handsome white Ever- lasting*, are abundant all over the summit : and we found likewise Dilatris viscosa, Pterygodium atratum, and several heaths. Lizards are common among the rocks: I saw one with a greenish blue head, and a body variegated with dark and light brown. I was disappointed at not seeing any ba- boons, which are well known to inhabit this moun- tain. Nov, 25. — Westerly and northerly winds have prevailed for the last eight days, and the weather has been cool, at times even cold, with frequent mists and heavy showers. The Natal expedition, under the command of Major Charters, sailed on the 20th, At this season there are but few plants in blossom on the hills, and vegetation in general appears much withered and parched up; the beautiful flowers of the Gladiolus, Ixia, and Orchis tribes, as well as the gay annuals, which were so abundant two months ago, have almost entirely disappeared. Two of the most * Helichrysum sesamoides. Chap. IX. PLANTS OF THE CAPE. 207 ornamental plants now in blossom are the Pelargo- nium cucullatum and Leonotis leonurus, which grow abundantly in most of the ravines and water-courses among the mountains, usually together, in thick clumps; the bright purple flowers of the one, and the deep glowing orange of the other, produce a rich effect. Dec, 14. — It has often struck me as remarkable that among the immense variety of plants which this country produces, there are comparatively so few that are directly useful to man either as food or medicine. The only native fruit (as far as I am aware) is that of the Mesembryanthemum edule, the Hottentot fig, which is the most common and most generally diffused of all plants in the colony : it is insipid in a raw state, but makes a tolerable sweet- meat. The Physalis puhescens, though known by the name of the Cape gooseberry, is supposed to be a naturalised plant. The nuts of the Brabeium stel- latum, the Caffer chestnut, are said to be eatable, if prepared by soaking for some hours in fresh water. The bulbs of many Ixias, and other plants of the same tribe, constitute, together with ants and locusts, the food of the Bushmen and Korannas*, when they cannot procure game or milk ; the inside of the enor- mous roots of the Testudinaria elephantipes^ and the soft, pithy interior of the stems of the Zamia, are * An independent trilae of Hottentots, inhabiting the country to the north of the colony. 208 FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. Chap. IX. also occasionally eaten by the natives, — perhaps for want of better food. The flowering tops of the Apo- nogeton distachys, a pretty, white-flowered, floating plant, frequent in pools of water in various parts of the colony, are sometimes used both as a pickle and as a substitute for asparagus. But though this country aflbrds so few esculent vegetables of native growth, it is favourable to the cultivation of those of other regions. Most European vegetables succeed very well here, especially arti- chokes, which grow larger and finer than I have seen them any where else. Asparagus does not grow to any considerable size, but is well tasted. The fruits of the Cape have been over-rated, judging from my own experience: the grapes, though good, are not equal to those of some parts of Italy : the bananas and oranges are much inferior to those of Rio Janeiro, and the figs are seldom very good. The strawberries are small, and not high-flavoured ; gooseberries and currants do not succeed. As useful in medicine, the aloes are the most im- portant plants of this colony : the juice of their leaves boiled down to a solid consistency, is exported in con- .siderable quantities to Europe. The estimated value of the exports of aloes from the Cape in one year amounted to 2794Z. The species which was pointed out to me as the most valuable in this respect was, I believe, the Aloe ferox. Several species of Diosma, known by the common name of Boekoe or Buku, have Chap. IX. MEDICINAL PLANTS. 209 a high reputation for their medicinal powers in the colony (where they are looked upon as almost uni- versal remedies), and have of late years been intro- duced into European practice, — I do not know with what success. The Arctopus echinatus is recom- mended as a very efficacious medicine in certain maladies : it is an ugly, prickly, repulsive plant, with broad rough leaves lying flat on the ground, and small inconspicuous umbellate flowers, which spring directly from the crown of the root, without any stem: it is very common on the hills about Cape Town in the winter months. The honey, which is yielded in such abundance by the flowers of Protea mellifera, is said to be of some use as a pectoral medicine. Among the useful plants of the Cape, the wax- berry (^Myrica cordifolia) should not be omitted : it is a bush about three or four feet high, with slender upright twigs, covered with small, roundish, rigid leaves, and bearing great quantities of hard globular berries, about the size of black currants, and coated over with a crust of white wax. This wax is fre- quently collected, and used for making candles, which aflbrd a tolerable light. But the Protea tribe in general, the very numerous and beautiful families of the heaths and Pelargoniums, the syngenesious plants (which are believed to con^ stitute, in number of species, at least one-eighth of the whole vegetation of the Cape), the Orchis tribe. 210 THE CAMP GEOUND. Chap. IX. the Lobelias, Crassulas, Oxalids, and numerous others, are commonly looked upon as entirely useless. Un- doubtedly they all are important in the economy of nature, and we may be sure that so much beauty has not been bestowed on them in vain. Assuredly, plants were not created merely to supply the physical wants of man, nor are they the less admirable, nor the less worthy of our attention, for not being directly useful to us, in the ordinary sense of that word. The beauty which we meet with, in so many various forms and modifications, in every part of creation, seems suffi- cient to show us, that this quality is of more import- ance, and deserving of more attention, than certain utilitarians are willing to allow. January^, 1839. — We have now been established, for some days past, in a house on that part of the Cape Flats which is called the Camp Ground, near Colonel Bell's residence. We are near the south- eastern base of Table Mountain, and at a short distance from the pretty hill of Wynberg, the fa- vourite summer retreat of the wealthier inhabitants of Cape Town. Of the general scenery and charac- teristics of the Flats, I have already given an account in my second chapter. The difference of climate between this situation and Cape Town is really surprising. In the Table Valley, the heat is so Chap. IX. TLOWEES ON THE FLATS. 211 reflected and concentrated by the wall of mountains behind and on both sides, that after a very few days of hot weather the atmosphere becomes perfectly suffocating, and the nights are as oppressive as the days; while on this open plain lying between two seas, however powerful the sun may be, there is always a fresh aud exhilarating air, and the nights are always cool. While, on the hills and in the Table Valley, all vegetation is parched up, the Flats are still gay with a multitude of pretty flowers, among which the heaths are conspicuous. The most abundant plants of this genus, on the Flats, are the Erica corifoUa, ramentacea, pedunculata, and pulchella, which grow socially, like our European heaths, and cover large spaces of ground ; while the more splendid Erica mammosa^ and E, concinna, though sufiiciently plen- tiful, grow singly, scattered here and there among other shrubs. These two are very handsome plants, with large tubular blossoms. Erica mammosa varies in the colour of its fine waxy-looking flowers, from a rich crimson to a pale flesh-colour, and in one variety they have nearly the tint of red lead. Erica con- cinna, which grows to the height of a man, and bears large blossoms of a light purplish-pink colour, flou- rishes chiefly in the marshy hollows, and along the margins of the little streams which intersect the Flat^ in various directions, where it is intermixed with Clif- fortia strobilifera, Psoralea pinnata, and various species 212 LOCUSTS. Chap. IX. of Rhus, Brunia, and Leucadendron. Of the beautiful Gladiolus tribe, there are but few in blossom at this season ; the principal are the stately Watsonias (called Afrikaaner by the colonists), with their tall scarlet spikes, and the pretty little Aristeas, whose brilliant blue flowers remain open but a few hours. Although the vegetation of these sandy plains is so various and beautiful when examined, yet, in its general effect in the landscape, it much resembles that of our English heaths, and has none of the strangeness and peculiarity of the frontier vegetation. Grasshoppers of all sizes swarm on these Flats : the sand seems absolutely alive with them, and one's ears are incessantly worried by their shrill notes. A large and beautiful kind of locust is common here ; its upper wings are of a greenish-black colour, speckled with yellow ; the head, thorax, and under- wings scarlet, and the abdomen yellow. It does not seem to be gregarious, nor is it, I believe, one of those kinds which occasionally cause such awful de- vastation. It is remarkable in this insect, that the female is much larger than the male, — almost in the proportion of three to two : her colours, however, are less vivid. I hear that snakes are numerous on the Flats, but I have not yet seen any. Small tortoises, scarcely larger than the palm of one's hand, are not unfre- quent. Jan, 31. — The Dutch inhabitants of this colony Chap. IX. VAN DEE MEEWE. 213 seem to have a notion that they — the white men, or " Christian men," as they call themselves, — have a right to exemption from punishment, whatever crimes they may commit. In the course of last winter, a young man of the name of Van der Merwe, of a powerful and wealthy family in the district of Clan- william, was convicted of the barbarous murder of his wife ; the greatest exertions were made, not only by his own family, but by multitudes of the most influential Dutch people in the colony, to obtain a pardon for him ; but as the evidence against him was conclusive, and his guilt atrocious, the Governor very properly resisted all solicitations. At last an attempt was made to enable him to escape from prison, but this also failed, and he underwent the punishment that he deserved. Now, this Van der Merwe was a man of notoriously bad character, and by no means personally popular; but it was thought, by the pseudo-aristocracy of this country, a hard and cruel thing, that the sentence of the law should be executed upon one of themselves. So much is public opinion perverted among them, that they thought themselves degraded by his punishment, and not by his crime. Another wealthy Dutchman, one Van Reenen, has since been tried for assisting Van der Merwe to escape, — has been convicted, and sentenced to two years' hard labour on Robben Island. His country- men, however, I am assured, look upon him as an unfortunate victim, not as a culprit ; though, if he 214 NATAL EXPEDITION. Chap. IX. had been a man of colour who had assisted the escape of another of his own race, they would all have thought such a sentence too lenient. Feb. 1. ■ — It appears, by the last accounts from Port Natal, that the emigrant Boers had made another expedition against Dingaan, but without decisive success. They indeed defeated the Zooloos in a general engagement, — slew a great number of them (it is said more than 4000, an estimate which may probably be exaggerated), and penetrated as far as the chief kraal, or capital of the country ; but Din- gaan had removed all his cattle out of their way*, and on their approach he burned the kraal, and took up, with the remainder of his forces, an inaccessible position, so that the Boers were obliged to return without giving him a final blow. They lost only six or seven men, but they failed entirely in one of their chief objects, which was that of collecting cattle. The British force under Major Charters, arriving while the greater part of the Boers were absent on this expedition, landed without opposition or loss, though not without difficulty, on account of the vio- lence of the surf. At the time the last accounts came away, they were living in tents, on a neck of land on the north side of the entrance to the bay. They were in good health, well supplied with pro- visions, and on good terms with the emigrants. Their * See, however, the next chapter. Chap. IX. SNAKES. 215 position, which they had fortified with stockades^ appears to be sufficiently strong, and to have little to fear from any hasty attack. Feb, 25. — I killed a remarkable snake*, among some sand-hills near the road from Cape Town to Hottentot Holland. Mr. Bell tells me, that it is called by the Dutch the ^^ Kous-band^^ (literally, stocking-hand, or garter), and is one of the most venomous snakes of this country. In fact, it has all the marks which are supposed to be characteristic of poisonous serpents ; — the broad flattened body, the flat head, the sharp ridge along every scale on the back and sides. It is about twenty-two inches long ; the colour black, prettily variegated with white and straw-coloured spots, which are so arranged as to form irregular, broken, wavy bands across the back and flanks ; the head entirely black ; the under side of the body of a dark steel-colour, with a fine metallic gloss. The skin of the neck is puffed out laterally, when the animal is excited, in the same manner as in the Cobra de Capello, but in a less degree. I found this creature among the sand-hills, where he lay basking in the sun, on the bare dry sand, and did not move till I almost touched him ; then he raised himself up half erect, hissing, puffing out his neck, and waving his body to and fro, but showed no inclination to * It is Naja Hamachates of Dr. Smith's " Illustrations of South African Zoology ;" previously described, by the same author, under the name of Naja Capensis. 216 CONCLUDING REMARKS. Chap. IX retreat. A single blow with a cane made him my prize. I have not met with the " PufF-adder," which is the most noted of the poisonous serpents of this coun- try, and is said to be particularly dangerous from its sluggish and torpid habits, as it will lie still until it is actually trodden on ; its dusky colouring, also, which is difficult to distinguish from that of the ground where it lies, adds to the danger. Mr. Clarke has told me of two instances of the effects of this reptile's bite, which came under his own observation at Gra- ham's Town. In the one case, an officer's servant was bitten, upon the top of the hill behind the barracks at that place ; and though assistance was quickly pro- cured to carry him down to the hospital, which is but a short distance, he expired before he could arrive there. In the other case, Mr. Clarke succeeded in saving the patient's life, by scarification of the wounded part, and large doses of ammonia ; but the man was in extreme danger, and continued ill for a long time. Feb. 28. — The Belladonna Lily (Amaryllis Bella- donna), one of the most beautiful of South African plants, is now in bloom on various parts of the sandy flats ; its large blossoms are of the most exquisitely delicate tints of rose-colour, shaded off into white. It is said to be a native also of Madeira, and even of Sicily. Another plant of the Flats, which is common to widely distant countries, is the Hydrocotyle Asia- tica, an inconspicuous little herb, but remarkable for Chap. IX. ON CAPE BOTANY. 217 the extent of its geographical range, since it is found, apparently, in all the temperate and warmer parts of the southern hemisphere. Several of the Cape grasses are identical with those of the south and west of Europe, — such as Polypogon MonspeliensiSf Cynodon Dactylon^ Andropogon liirtus, Andropogon Allionii, Cynosurus aureus, Briza minor and Briza maxima. This last, indeed, has been supposed jto be an intro- duced plant, but it grows on the top of Table Moun- tain as well as in the low grounds about the town. The Cynodon appears to be spread over all the warmer parts of the world, on both sides of the equator. The splendid Protea cynaroides, the most remark- able of all the Proteas for the great size of its flowers, grows rather plentifully on the Flats, and occurs also on the summit of Table Mountain ; while its range in longitude is greater than that of almost any other of its tribe, extending as far to the eastward as Gra- ham's Town. It is a very dwarf shrub, scarcely more than a foot high, but its cup-shaped flower- heads, of a pale pink colour, are as broad as the crown of a man's hat. The beauty and diversity of the wild flowers of South Africa are certainly very striking, and perhaps there is no part of the world which offers greater at- tractions to a botanist. Notwithstanding all that has been done, from the days of Thunberg's travels to the present, to illustrate the vegetable productions of this country, which has enriched our greenhouses L 218 CONCLUDING EEMAKKS Chap. IX. with so many beauties, it is probable that much yet remains to be discovered. Many of the Cape plants are confined, in a wild state, within very narrow limits, so that one may explore for a long time the district in which they grow, and yet not hit on the precise spot ; others continue in perfection but a very short time ; and there are some, particularly in the Karroos of the interior, which require, for their full development, circumstances that recur only after in- tervals of several years. If we divide the surface of the globe into botanical provinces, according to the geographical distribution of plants. South Africa will be one of the most distinct and strongly marked of these provinces, although, in proceeding towards the north-eastward, its, peculiarities seem to be in some measure shaded off into those of the tropical regions. It would seem that the distribution of plants, and that of animals, are not governed by precisely the same laws: Le Vaillant, Dr. Smith, and Mr. Swain son, have shown that very many birds are common to Senegal and the Cape of Good Hope ; whereas I believe that these two countries possess not a single flowering plant in common (introduced species being excepted), and scarcely even a genus of plants, with the exception of such as are almost universally diffused. Not a single example of any of the tribes most characteristic of the Cape vegetation was found by Mr. Brown in the collections from Congo. The zoology of the Chap. IX. ON CAPE BOTANY. 219 Cape, as far at least as the quadrupeds and birds are concerned, would appear to be of a much more tho- roughly African type than its botany. A great number of the most conspicuous and characteristic mammalia of the regions near the Cape, are either identical with those inhabiting tropical Africa to the north of the Equator, or, if distinct species, they are at least closely allied, and often with difficulty dis- tinguishable.* 'Not that the Cape has not several peculiar forms, such as the Ant-eater {^Orycteropus), the Gnoo, the Eland, and some of the subgenera of Antelopes ; but its Fauna certainly appears to be much more similar to that of the tropical regions of Africa, than its Flora. In Abyssinia alone, as it would seem, do any of the dominant and characteristic forms of the Cape Flora re-appear. The beautiful blue water-lily, in- deed, has been supposed to be common to Egypt and South Africa, but the forms of the plant occurring in these two countries are a little different, and are considered by De Candolle as distinct species ; their distinctness, however, may perhaps be doubtful. The vegetation of the Cape is most strikingly dif- ferent from that of Buenos Ayres in South America, which lies nearly in the same latitude, and has nearly the same mean temperature. It is not merely that * As in the case of the Giraffe of South Africa, which is con- sidered by some naturalists as a different species from that found to the IST. of the Equator. L 2 220 CONCLUDING EEMAEKS Chap. IX. the species, the genera, and the prevailing tribes of plants are different, but the whole aspect of the ve- getation is dissimilar. A very large proportion of the Cape plants are shrubs ; those of Buenos Ayres are almost entirely herbaceous. Both countries agree, indeed, in the very great scarcity (generally speak- ing) of trees ; a scarcity which is much less surprising on the arid rocks and stony wastes of South Africa, than on the marly plains of the Kio de la Plata. Nearly all the remarkable families of plants which predominate at the Cape, are wanting in the Buenos Ayrean region, where the prevailing forms are a great variety of Nightshades, Tobaccos, Petunias^ Niereynhergias, and plants allied to these, numerous Verbenas, Amaranths, Chenopodiums, Mallows, and Grasses. Some gay-flowered plants of the Iris and Amaryllis families, which grow in great abundance on the banks of the Bio de la Plata, are nearly all that show an affinity to the Flora of the Cape. On the other hand, the botany of Australia, in the same latitude, seems to have many striking points of similarity to that of the Cape of Good Hope. This similarity appears both in the general external aspect of the vegetation, and in the presence of several re- markable families of plants common to both coun- tries : in particular, the ProteacecB and Restiacece, On the other hand, there is a remarkable diiference be- tween them, in the absence from Africa of the Euca- lypti, or Gum-trees, which constitute the great bulk of the vegetation of Australia. To face end of Chiap. IX, NAJA CAPENSIS. Chap. IX. ON CAPE BOTANY. 221 I must not quit the subject of Cape botany with- out making some mention of the very interesting botanical garden of Baron von Ludwig, a gentleman remarkable for his zeal and liberality in the cause of science, in a country where it has but too few votaries. Baron von Ludwig is a native of Prussia, but long settled at the Cape. His garden, which is situated in the outskirts of Cape Town, towards the Lion's Mountain, contains a rich collection of rare and curious plants from all parts of the colony, as well as from Australia and other countries, and its treasures are open in the most liberal manner to all who can appreciate them. L 3 222 TRANSACTIONS AT THE CAPE. Chap. X. CHAPTER X. Transactions at the Cape after my Departure. — Recall of the British troops from Port Natal. — War between the Emigrant Boers and the Zooloos. — Final Success of the Boers. — Their Establishment in the Natal Country, and Assei^tion of Independence. — Expedition under Captain Smith. — Smith defeated, and besieged in his Catnp by the Boers. — Landing of Forces under Colonel Cloete, and Submission of the Boers. — Causes ivhich led to the Emigration. — Grievances of the Colonists. — Retief. — Spirited Reply of a Boers Wife, — Port Natal a British Colony. Major Charters, having fulfilled the immediate object of the commission with which he had been charged, by landing a British force at Port Natal, and establishing it in a position where, with due vigi- lance, it might be secure against any hostile enter- prises on the part either of the Boers or of the Zooloos, returned to Cape Town early in the month of March ; and a few days after, I sailed in company with him for England, oil board the True Briton. Our passage homewards, though rough and some- what tedious, offered no incidents worthy of particu- lar notice, and I will not dwell upon it, but will pro- ceed to mention the principal events which occurred Chap. X. TROOPS WITHDRAWN. 223 at the Cape, during the remainder of Sir George iNapier's term of office. The detachment at Port Natal, having constructed and occupied a good stockaded fort in an advanta- geous situation, continued to hold this post without molestation for some months. But the Dutch emi- grants, in spite of the dangers and hardships to which they had been exposed, showed an utter aversion to the thought of placing themselves again under British protection, or acknowledging the authority of our government. It was indeed not unnatural nor un- reasonable that, after having borne the whole brunt of the desperate and mortal struggle with their savage enemies, they should dislike submitting to our interference just as they began to feel their supe- riority, and to foresee a triumphant issue to the strife. The women, it is said, were peculiarly vehe- ment and determined in their rejection of all thoughts of submission, urging their mates to undergo every privation, and brave all the fury of the savages, rather than resume their allegiance to the detested govern- ment of England. It was soon evident that no good was to be done in this respect ; the force was much too small to be able to overawe the Boers, or to put a stop to hostilities between them and the natives ; and as the British government decided against forming a settlement at Natal, the detachment was withdrawn in the course of the year 1839, and the emigrants L 4 224 WAR BETWEEN THE EMIGRANT Chap. X. were left in undisturbed possession of the bay and the neighbouring country. It would be useless to enter into a detail of all the engagements which took place between the emigrant Boers and the forces of Dingaan, more especially as they have been related with great minuteness by Captain Harris.* The main result, except in one or two of the first encounters, was always the same : all the courage, and fury, and numbers of the savages, uniformly proved unavailing against the more deadly weapons and superior skill of their white enemies. The very system of warfare which had made the Zooloos so terrible to the other native tribes of South Africa, served only to render their defeat more sanguinary and destructive, when opposed to the fire-arms and the tactics of the Boers. Their mode of fighting was quite different from that prac- tised by the Amakosa and the other nations of the Caffer race ; instead of skirmishing, and throwing the javelin from a distance, they rushed on to close com- bat in dense masses, protected by their large shields, and, armed with a short stout spear, engaged their enemies hand to hand. This system, which is said to have been devised and introduced among them by their tyrant Chaka, had hitherto rendered them invincible in all their wars with their neighbours. They had found no people, among the native races, * Wild Sports of Southern Africa, 3d edit., chap. 41, 42, 43. Chap. X, BOERS AND THE ZOOLOOS. 225 that could withstand the fury of their onset; but when they came in contact with enemies possessing such superior means of offence as did the Boers, their peculiar system proved the cause of their destruction. The emigrant farmers, excellent marksmen, and accustomed from an early age to the use of arms, employed in a very skilful manner the advantages which were afforded them by the possession of fire- arms and of horses. Their manner of fighting against the savages, as I have repeatedly heard it described, was this : a part of them would ride for- ward, armed with their long heavy muskets, which carry much farther than the firelocks used by our soldiers ; and, when within shot of the enemy, they dismounted, took a deliberate aim, fired, remounted instantly, and rode off at speed till they had gained a sufficient distance to be able safely to halt and reload; while, in the mean time, another party ad- vanced and fired in their turn. Every shot was sure to take effect on the crowded masses of the Zoo- loos, and the latter, with whatever impetuosity they might charge, could never, on open ground, come to close quarters w^ith their mounted enemies. Equally judicious and effectual was the manner in which the emigrants fortified their position whenever an attack was to be apprehended: their waggons, closely arranged in a double circle, and well lashed together, with the interstices filled up with thorn-bushes, formed a barricade which the savages could not force, L 5 226 FINAL SUCCESS Chap. X, and from behind which the fire of musketry came with deadly effect. The consequence was, that in every engagement, (after the first surprise and mas- sacre, where the success of the assailants was owing to a want of due precaution on the part of the Boers,) the disproportion between the losses of the two par- ties was enormous. In the first expedition, indeed, when about 350 Boers, under the command of Pot- gieter and Piet Uys, marched against Dingaan'& capital, with the purpose of avenging the murder of Retief, one of their divisions was repulsed, in conse- quence of the horses taking fright; and the other division, becoming entangled in a ravine, where the ground was broken and difficult, lost ten men, among whom were Uys and his son. The enemy, however, though in some degree successful, were supposed to have lost ^nearly 1000 men on this occasion. In every, subsequent Engagement, the Zooloos slain were countM by. Miotisands, while the Dutch never lost more than-half a dozen men, sometimes not more than one or. two. At the time -when the British detachment under Major ChaHers landed at Port Natal, most of the Boers who* were able' to bear arms were absent, as well frdnl fhdr encampments near the port as from their Aiaiii camjf farther north, 'being engaged in a great expedition', -iJnder tlie ' comr^ahd of Andriea Pretorius, agaihst ' Dlngaan^s* o\Vii capital. Indeed, it was probably owing to the absertce of the fighting Chap. X. OF THE BOERS. 227 men on this expedition, that the English were allowed to land without opposition. The inroad of the emi- grants was successful : Dingaan's army sustained so severe a defeat, in a battle fought within a short dis- tance of his own residence, that, in despair, he set fire to his hraalf and fled into the interior of the country. Some time before this, he had suffered another heavy loss from a different quarter. Apprehensive of the invasion of the Boers, he had sent off his chief trea- sures, his vast herds of cattle, under a strong escort, into the interior ; but they were intercepted and cap- tured by his old enemy Moselekatse *, the great chief of the Matabili. These repeated disasters at length exhausted the resources and subdued the spirit of the Zooloo king. A part of his subjects were encouraged to revolt against him ; one of his brothers joined the invaders ; and Dingaan, completely worsted, was in the end obliged to abandon his dominions, and to take refuge with a neighbouring chief, who, not long after, took an opportunity of destroying him. Victorious in this desperate struggle, the emigrant Boers quietly esta- blished themselves in the conquered country, to which fresh swarms of emigrants of course speedily flocked. They founded a town, to which they gave the name of Pieter-Maritz-burg, about fifty miles from Port Natal, in a coijntry said to be very fertile and well- * See a copious account of this chief in Captain Harris's « Wild Sports of South Africa." L 6 228 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BOEKS Chap. X, watered, and formally abjuring their allegiance to the British government, they constituted themselves an independent republic, under the protection (as they said) of the King of Holland. They had, somehow or other, persuaded themselves, or had been induced by some intriguers to believe, that that sovereign would be willing to uphold their cause, and to protect them in case of need against the government whose authority they had defied. As the British Ministry had determined against attempting to colonise Natal, and as the port was not of sufficient value to be worth holding for its own sake, there was no object in interfering w^ith the emigrant republicans so long as they did not en- danger the safety or tranquillity of the colony, or of any of the native tribes in alliance with us. Accord- ingly, they remained undisturbed until some time in the year 1841 ; when the Governor of the Cape, having received information that they were about to attack some of the Amaponda Caffers, with whom we had established an alliance, sent to warn them against committing any such violence. They returned a haughty answer, asserting their absolute independence, and their resolution to deal with the natives as they thought fit, denying any right on the part of the British Government to interfere with them, and de- clarino; their determination to defend with their blood what they had gained by their blood. Upon this, a detachment of troops, amounting to about 250 men^, Chap. X. IN THS NATAL COUNTRY. 229 with five guns, was sent by land from Graham's Town, in the hope of overawing and bringing them to terms. It was under the command of Captain Smith of the 27 th regiment, a brave and experienced officer. After a march of 600 miles, through a rug- ged and savage country, in great part deserted, and intersected by upwards of a hundred rivers. Captain Smith, with his small force, arrived at Port Natal in the beginning of May, 1842. He immediately noti- fied his arrival, and the commission with which he was charged, to the commander of the emigrant Boers, A. W. Pretorius, who in return sent him a peremptory order to quit the territories of the re- public. Finding these people resolutely hostile. Cap- tain Smith thought it advisable to attack their set- tlement on the shore of the bay. On the night of the 24th of May, accordingly, he advanced against it with a part of his force by land, while another divi- sion, with a howitzer, proceeded up the bay in a small vessel, to throw shells into the camp from the seaward side. The Boers however were prepared ; they were far more numerous than the assailants ; their position, screened by thick jungle, was difficult of access ; and, skilfully availing themselves of the covert, they maintained so severe a fire from their long muskets, that after an hour's fighting, the En- glish, unable to make any impression on them, were obliged to retreat, having lost three officers and forty- one men, killed and wounded. Two guns fell into 230 CAPTAIN smith's EXPEDITION. Chap. X. the hands of the enemy, who, following up their ad- vantage, immediately attacked the English camp, but without success. Two days afterwards, however, they succeeded in capturing an outpost at the point, near the entrance of the bay, where the provisions and stores had been left, under the guard of a small detachment; and here another gun fell into their power, together with some prisoners. Captain Smith and his party were now closely besieged in their camp, which they fortified as well as time and cir- cumstances would permit, with a line of waggons, an earthen breastwork, and a ditch. The enemy, having in vain summoned them to surrender, brought up all their force against the camp, enclosed it on every side, and cutting off all the communications, opened a furious fire of cannon as well as musketry against the intrenchments, employing the captured guns in addition to two or three which they originally pos- sessed. For a whole month this little band of British sol- diers held out most gallantly, against an immense superiority of numbers, and under the most discou- raging circumstances ; their provisions were scanty and bad, they had no supply of water within their encampment, and could obtain it only by exposing themselves to the fire of the enemy. Before the end of the siege, they were reduced to half rations of horse-flesh. The commander of the Boers made many efforts to induce them to capitulate, but they rejected Chap. X. ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS. 231 all offers, and held their post with unshaken reso- lution till the arrival of succours from the colony. At the beginning of the siege. Captain Smith had I. despatched a person of the name of King, to carry information to Graham's Town of the difficult situ- ation in which he was placed ; and this messenger, having with equal adroitness and good fortune made his way through the enemy's posts, reached the colony in safety, and communicated the news of what had happened. Preparations were made with all speed to relieve the gallant detachment, and on the 25th of June a considerable force, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cloete, appeared before Port Natal, escorted by H. M. frigate Southampton. The Boers, who had brought down their guns to the point commanding the entrance of the harbour, and had made preparations for defence, refused to treat ; and on the following morning, the troops under Colonel Cloete proceeded to effect a landing, covered by the fire of the frigate, which lay at anchor outside the bar. The enemy received them with a heavy but ineffectual fire ; the broadsides from the frigate, and the discharge of shells from the howitzers which some of the boats carried, soon cleared the shore; the troops landed without any serious loss; and the Boers, abandoning all their positions, fled into the interior of the country. The brave men of Captain Smith's detachment were thus relieved, after defendins: their weak intrenchmenta against overwhelrainsc 232 SUBMISSION OF THE BOEES. Chap. X numbers, for a whole month, in a manner the most honourable to them. By this time they had eaten all their horses, and had no provisions remaining but a most scanty allowance of damaged biscuit, on which they intended to have held out for twenty days longer, if assistance had not arrived. It is remark- able, that, although the enemy kept up, for nearly the whole of this time, an almost incessant fire of cannon and musketry, they only succeeded in killing four of the defenders of the camp, and wounding three more. Preparations were made by Colonel Cloete for following up this first success, by the attack of the enemy's head-quarters at Pieter-maritz-burg ; but no farther hostile operations were required. The emigrants, apparently satisfied of their inability to cope with the force now brought against them, speedily entered into negotiations, which terminated in their complete submission. They acknowledged" themselves subjects of the Queen of England, released the prisoners they had taken, gave up all the cannon in their possession, and restored all the property, as well public as private, which they had seized. In return. Colonel Cloete granted an amnesty to all of them, with the exception of four of their principal leaders, who were specified by name. He likewise announced, that all their private property should be respected ; that they should be allowed to return to their farms^ with their guns and horses; Chap. X. SUBMISSION OF THE BOERS. 233 that assistance should be afforded to them in case of any attack from the Zooloos; that the tenure of their lands should not be disturbed, nor their admi- nistration and civil institutions interfered with, till the determination of the British Government on those points should be known. Matters being thus settled, and hostilities terminated. Colonel Cloete returned to the Cape with the principal part of his force. Captain Smith being left in command of the post of Natal (July, 1842), with a detachment of 350 men. Such was the " lame and impotent conclusion " of the attempt to found a new Dutch republic on the shores of Natal. Something different might have been expected from the courage and determination which the emigrants had shown in their contests with the natives. Their dissatisfaction with the British Government was not altogether unfounded ; their aversion to it seemed deeply rooted; their vaunts were lofty, and their proclamations breathed the most inflexible determination and the most im- placable hostility. They had threatened, that if the English should send ao;ainst them such a force as they could not resist in the open country, they would betake themselves to the mountains and forests, and carry on a guerilla warfare, after the example of the Carlists in Spain. They had declared, that the war between themselves and the English, if once begun, should be a war of extermination. And, considering 234 GEIEVANCES OF THE BOEES* Chap. X. the nature of the country ;, it seemed a very for- midable undertaking, to reduce to obedience a people numbering some thousands of fighting men, well armed, thoroughly skilled in the use of their weapons, and apparently animated by such a spirit of ferocious resolution. But, with every advantage of position and preparation, they were unable to hold their ground for one hour ao;ainst Cloete's force; and after one defeat, they made no farther attempt at resist- ance, but submitted without reserve. It can hardly be denied, that they had had some real grievances, which afforded some justification for the step they had taken, in withdrawing themselves from the authority of our Government ; and if the spirit with wdiich they defended their independence had been in proportion to the lofty tone in which they asserted it, they would, even if ultimately unsuccessful, have commanded general sympathy and respect. I have touched, in more than one place in my Journal, on the various causes which led to the emigration of the Dutch farmers from the colony; but it may be well, here, to recapitulate them in one general view. According to the best information I was able to collect, the chief grievances which they alleged were these : — 1. The inadequate compensation allotted to them on the emancipation of their slaves by the Act of 1833. It does not appear that they complained, at least in any great degree, of the emancipation itself. Chap. X. GEIEVANCES OF THE BOERS. 235 nor that they were very desirous to malntam the system of slavery ; but they complained that, whereas the English Government had emancipated their slaves under a promise of full compensation, they had in reality received scarcely a third of their value ; and in this complaint there appeared to be a considerable degree of justice. I have been assured, that the share of compensation-money allotted to the slave- owners of the Cape was much less, in proportion, than that received by the other colonies. The average value of slaves in the Cape Colony was nearly double of what it was in the West Indies, and the compensation was calculated w^ith reference to these latter colonies. What was worse, the money was to be paid in London, so that the slave-owners of the Cape had to pay discount and commission to the amount of 12 per cent, and upwards, in order to receive their share at Cape Town, and for this, many of them had to travel five or six hundred miles. An English speculator, taking advantage of this state of things, went out to the Cape with a large sum of money, to buy up compensation claims, which many of the owners, disgusted with the trouble and loss they were exposed to, were willing to sell cheap ; and it turned out, I believe, a very profitable speculation. 2dly. The want of adequate protection against the inroads of the Caifers, Bushmen, and other aborigines, was always urged as one of the grievances of the colonists residing near the frontier. At first, it 236 GRIEVANCES OF THE BOERS. Chap. X. strikes one as rather singular that they should seek to remedy this evil by plunging into the very midst of the savage tribes, and braving the utmost effects of their hostility. But their object was, to be able to take the law into their own hands, without the restraints imposed by the British Government. They thought that they could defend themselves more effectually, if unchecked by those restraints, than they were defended by our troops; and the event proved that they thought rightly. But it is evident, that this grievance could be alleged only by the frontier colonists, not by those of the interior districts, who nevertheless emigrated in great numbers. 3dly. A real and sore evil was the prevalence of vagrancy. Great numbers of Hottentots, Bastaards *, emancipated or runaway slaves, and others, roamed about the colony, without any employment or regular means of subsistence, taking up their temporary re- sidence w^herever they thought fit, refusing work when offered to them, and committing numberless depredations on the property of the farmers; and this without any check, owing partly to the absence of a regular police, and more to the want of a law for the repression of vagrancy. It certainly did appear to me, and, 1 believe, to most strangers at the Cape, that some such law was one of the things most needed, for the maintenance of order and for the security of property. But the answer to this * Men of mixed race, between the Hottentot and European. Chap. X. GRIEVANCES OF THE BOEES. 237 always was, that the fiftieth ordinance (passed by Ge- neral Bourke in 1828, and placing the Hottentots on a footing of legal equality with the white inhabitants of the colony) ^vas an insuperable obstacle to the passing of a Yagrant Act, which would in effect press chiefly on that race. It is true, also, that there would have been considerable difficulty in making such a law really fair and useful in practice, because, in some of the interior districts, there were but very few, if any, men qualified by education and moral training for the office of magistrates ; and a Vagrant Act, if its administration were entrusted to unfit hands, might easily be rendered a serious engine of oppression. It is not the less certain, that the want of any such provision was generally felt as a serious and harassing evil, and contributed to that dissatis- faction with the existing state of things in the colony, which induced so many of the Boers to emigrate. 4thly. A great number of farmers, whose cattle and horses were seized for the use of the army during the Caffer war of 1835, were afterwards unable to obtain any compensation for the losses thus sus- tained. To these causes of discontent was added the dis- tress occasioned by protracted droughts in the north- ern and north-eastern districts. The farmers of those regions, unable to subsist with their large families, on those parched and exhausted lands, naturally felt a wish to better their condition, and, after the ex- 238 CAUSES OF THE EMIGEATIOX. Chap. X. ample of their forefathers, to seek more fertile pos- sessions beyond the colonial boundary. It must not be forgotten that, from a very early period ^of the settlement, it had been a common prac- tice of the colonial farmers, to remove themselves and their families beyond the frontier as often as they found themselves distressed by unfavourable seasons or by want of room, and had any expectation of finding more abundant resources in the country not yet colonised. Thinly peopled as are all the in- terior districts of the Cape colony, the population, nevertheless, is soon found to press hard on the means of subsistence ; for so great a proportion of the land is utterly and irreclaimably barren, on account of the want of water, that a tract of many square miles in extent may be fit to support but very few families. The country being almost every where unsuited to agriculture, the colonists require, in the best times, a wide, range for the feeding of their flocks and herds ; and the severe droughts which al- most periodically afflict the northern and north-eastern districts, reducing to utter sterility the greater part even of those lands which are usually fit for pas- turage, occasion most severe distress. The pressure thus occasioned may perhaps be looked upon as the primary cause of the emigration, although, without the grievances which have been above enumerated, it would not have led to any general or systematic movement, and certainly not Chap. X. CAUSES OF THE EMIGRATION. 239 to any assertion of independence. For some time pre- vious to the commencement of the great emigration, many farmers had crossed the boundary, singly or in small parties, and wandered far into the more promis- ing country to the north-eastward, in search of grass and water for their cattle. Some of them penetrated as far as Port Natal, and sent back such brilliant accounts of the fertility of that district, that many others were incited to follow them. But there was no combined plan of emigration until after the close of the Caffer war, when great dissatisfaction began to be felt on account of the Stockenstrom treaty, and of the insufficient protection provided for the frontier colonists. One of the first leaders of the emigration, Peter Retief, who is said to have been a respectable and intelligent man, had entered into a correspondence with the Lieutenant-governor, Captain Stockenstrom, on the subject of protection against Caffer depreda- tions; and receiving no satisfaction, he determined to quit the country : a large party of his neigh- bours joined him, and they proceeded towards Port Natal. It would seem that even at this time, the gene- rality of the Boers, so far from having any fixed intention of throwing off the yoke of England, were not aware that what they were doing was illegal. I am assured that the Lieutenant-governor Stocken- strom, in reply to a question as to the legality of the emigration, publicly and distinctly declared that 240 CAUSES OF THE EMIGRATIOIS-. Chap. X. " he knew of no law to prevent tlie inhabitants from crossing the boundary, and if there were such a law, it was arbitrary and tyrannical." This declaration is said to have had a great effect in encouraging and accelerating the movement. Indeed, some persons, well acquainted with the colony and its people, are of opinion that the Lieutenant-governor might at this time have checked, or even prevented, any ge- neral emigration, if he had treated his fellow-colonists with consideration, shown a disposition to listen to their complaints, and distinctly warned them against the step which they were taking. It is said also that his declaration was quite erroneous in point of fact, for that there was a law of old standing, enacted before the English conquest of the Cape, by which the colonists were expressly forbidden to cross the frontier without a written permission from the authorities. In this state of things, the movement spread ra- pidly, and multitudes from all parts of the colony began to emigrate, some impelled by discontent, some by a desire to improve their condition, some by the spirit of imitation. A young man, one of seven sons, being asked by a friend of mine whether he intended to emigrate, at first hesitated to give an answer, — evidently having misgivings in his own mind as to the legality of the act, — but being farther pressed on the subject, he acknowledged that he had some thoughts of it, — " for he did not see what he could Chap. X. CAUSES OF THE EMIGKATION. 241 do ; he could not remain a burden to his parents." (This anecdote may serve in some degree to illustrate the feeling by which many were actuated in the first instance.) Thus, influenced by a variety of motives (a part of which were really praiseworthy, and an- other part at least innocent), and assured, on the authority of the Lieutenant-Governor, that they were doing nothing illegal, continually increasing numbers swelled the tide of emigration. The desire to " trek " (as it was called) became a perfect passion, and infected even the long-settled districts near Cape Town ; and, by the time when we arrived in the colony, the numbers of the emigrants had become so great as to excite both astonishment and anxiety; but it was then too late to check the movement. One of the first considerable parties of emigrants, which quitted the colony soon after the close of the Caffer war (1836), was headed by a man of the name of Louis Triechard ; crossing the Orange Eiver, they followed a north-easterly course, keeping along the western side of the great Quathlamba chain of mountains; but, being little acquainted with the country, they penetrated too far to the northward, and, having entered upon the swampy and pesti- lential plains in the neighbourhood of Delagoa Bay, were cut off in great numbers by the fever which prevails there.* The great body of the emigrants, although they took the same direction, did not ad- * Harris's Wild Sports, 3d edit chap. 39. and 43. M 242 ATTACK OlST THE EMIGRANTS. Chap. X. vance so far, 'but spread themselves along the banks of the Likwa or Yaal River, which formed the southern boundary of the dominions of the great Matabili chief, Moselekatse. This savage, of whom a copious account w^ill be found in Captain Harris's *' Wild Sports of Southern Africa," had rendered himself the scourge and terror of all that part of the country, as Chaka and Dingaan were of the regions to the east of the mountains. He had shown himself not unwilling to receive European strangers who came by way of Kuruman, or New Latakoo, con- sidering the missionaries at that place as his best friends ; but he had positively forbidden all strangers to enter his dominions by way of the Yaal River. Seeing the Boers totally regardless of this prohibition, and finding that they brought him no presents, and made no attempt to conciliate him, he regarded them as enemies, and at once determined on their de- struction. Accordingly, in May 1836, the emi- grants, who were scattered in small parties along the banks of the river, unsuspicious of danger, and taking no precautions against it, were suddenly attacked by the Matabili warriors, many of them slain, and a part of their flocks and herds carried off. In October of the same year the attack was repeated, with more formidable numbers, and under the command of Moselekatse's chief captain ; but this time the Boers were on their guard, and the assailants were repulsed with great loss. Not many months afterwards, being Chap. X. FATE OF EETIEF. 243 reinforced by fresh swarms from the colony, the emigrants retaliated by an attack on Moselekatse's own kraal, in which they were completely successful. The chief himself, however, escaped ; and the victors, instead of prosecuting farther hostilities against him, turned their enterprises in another direction. Peter Retief was elected, in the course of the year 1837, to be their governor and commander-in-chief; and under his guidance they succeeded in finding a way across the Quathlamba mountains into the fertile country about Port Natal, where they were desirous to settle. The fate of Retief has been already related. It would seem that he entertained no thoughts of aggression upon the Zooloos, but was honestly de- sirous of purchasing land from them on fair terms for his intended settlement; and that it was with this view he had sought that conference with Din- gaan, wherein he was entrapped and mercilessly butchered. But neither his cruel death, nor the dangerous and apparently desperate situation of his followers, had any effect in abating the rage for emigration. Dangers and obstacles seemed but to strengthen the determination of the Boers ; the fate of their predecessors acted as a fresh stimulus to them ; one spirit spread through all, and the women, far from shrinking from the fearful prospect that seemed to be before them, were at least as eager and resolute as the other sex. Soon after the intelligence M 2 244 FEMALE HEROISM. Chap. X. arrived of tlie massacre of Relief and his party, the same friend, whom I lately mentioned, was conversing on the subject of the emigration with the wife of a very respectable man, an elder of the Presbyterian church, who was preparing to depart for Natal : the fate of Retief being mentioned, she declared that she did not believe the report ; my friend assured her that there could be no doubt of its truth. " Well, then," she exclaimed, " we will go and revenge his death." This is a fair specimen of the spirit which animated the emigrants, when the prospect before them seemed the most gloomy and terrible. In this spirit they went on, and with what success has been already shown. Port Natal is now a part of the British pos- sessions, having been formally annexed to the dominions of the crown while Lord Stanley was at the head of the Colonial Office. It is ruled by a Lieutenant-Governor, subordinate to the Go- vernor of the Cape ; it has a Recorder to preside over the judicial department, with a Clerk of the Peace under him; and a Collector of Customs is stationed at the port. Pieter-Maritz-burg, the chief settlement of the emigrant Boers, some distance in- land from Port Natal, has grown up into a consider- able town, which now boasts of a press, and of a newspaper. The settlement appears to be thriving and peaceful, and the neighbouring native tribes, taught probably by severe experience to dread the Chap. X. STATE OF PORT NATAL. 245 power of the white men, appear to be far more tract- able and submissive than those on the frontier of the old colony. The soil and climate are thought to be suitable for the cultivation of cotton, of which several plantations have been formed, and hitherto with very- promising success. A correspondent of one of the Cape newspapers, w^ho visited, early in the present year, a cotton plantation distant about three hours' ride from Pieter-Maritz-burg, states that the plants, raised from seed in the previous December, were, at the time of his visit, six feet high, and in the finest condition ; " the planting of ten acres did not cost 5/., and they will yield about 120Z. worth of cotton next month." A company had been projected to carry on this branch of industry, and to keep up the requisite supply of labour, by encouraging emigration from Europe ; but it was thought by some that the labour of the natives, who seemed willino; to eno-age in such occupations, would be both cheaper and more efficient. It is stated, that a large proportion of the grants of land already made by the Government, in the neighbourhood of Natal, have fallen into the hands of a few great speculators, who have accordingly become the owners of immense tracts of land ; two are mentioned, whose possessions extend respectively over 130, and 124 square miles. Although a considerable part of the emigrant farmers remained quietly in the Natal territory, when it became subject to British rule, another part M 3 246 DISADVANTAGES OF POET NATAL. Chap. X. moved away into the interior, to the north-westward, beyond the Quathlamba mountains; and it would appear that the commandant of this party still assumes much of the authority of an independent potentate. Panda, the present king of the Zooloos, is said to be very desirous of removing the whole of his subjects into the interior, as he finds that he cannot keep up his despotic authority over them, in its full extent, in the neighbourhood of a British colony ; and his power is much reduced by the fre- quent desertion of his discontented subjects, who escape from his tyranny by placing themselves under the protection of our laws. The disadvantage of Natal, as a settlement, is the difficulty of entering the harbour, the mouth of which is closed by a sand-bar, which at low tide has but six feet of water on it ; even small vessels can enter •only in the finest weather. The surf on that coast is described as tremendous. Chap. XI. DEPKEDATIONS OF THE CAFFERS. 247 CHAPTER XL Depredations of the Coffers. — Interview of the Governor with the Gaika Chiefs, in December 1840. — Plausible Professions, — Temporary Improvement. — Sir George Napier leaves the Cape in a state of Peace, — He is succeeded by Sir Peregrine Maitland. — Breaking out of a new War. — Prevailing Errors respecting the Caffers. — Causes of the present War. — Measures to be adopted for the Security of the Colony. — Reflec- tions, The chiefs of the frontier Caffers, when visited by the Governor in May, 1838, professed, as I have already mentioned, to feel much indignation at the outrages and depredations committed by their de- pendents, while, at the same time, they expatiated on the difficulty of restraining them. Their stren- uous disavowal of any participation in these mis- deeds, obtained, even at the time, but little credit ; yet it was hoped, at least by those who had no practical acquaintance with the character of these people, that they would be able to appreciate the advantages of continuing on good terms with the colonial authorities, and that they would really exert themselves to check the incessant thievery which rendered impossible any good understanding or M 4 248 INTERVIEW OF THE GOVEENOR Chap. XI. kindly feeling between the two races. For a certain time after the Governor's visit, it did seem as if some improvement had been produced; but it was not very long before the complaints of the colonists again became as loud, and the lists of stolen property as formidable, as ever. Nor did the Gaffers always confine themselves to theft: the Hottentots and Fingoes who were employed as herdsmen, and who were required by the Stockenstrom treaty to be armed, were in many cases assassinated by the plun- derers, in order to facilitate the abstraction of the cattle placed under their charge. Matters went on thus, from bad to worse, until the latter part of the year 1840, when Sandilli, the son of Gaika and Sutu, attained the age at which, according to Gaffer customs, he was qualified to take on himself the duties and authority of a chief. The Gaika tribe had hitherto been ruled by his half- brothers, Macomo and Tyali, who, though much older than him, were considered as chiefs of lesser dignity, on account of the inferior rank of their mother; and who, accordingly, were supposed to exercise authority only as regents for him. It was therefore thought necessary to renew and ratify, with Sandilli, the treaties which had been previously concluded with Macomo and the other chiefs of his tribe. This seemed a favourable oppor- tunity for making some necessary alterations in the Stockenstrom treaty, which experience had shown to Chap. XI. WITH THE GAIKA CHIEFS. 249 be utterly inefficient for the prevention of robbery and for the maintenance of tranquillity on the bor- ders. To accomplish this object. Sir George Napier considered it advisable to have a personal interview with the chiefs ; and having proceeded to the frontier, in December, 1840, he met the Gaika tribe at the missionary station on the Chumie. They assembled there to the number of more than 4000 ; of whom, it is said, at least 500 were armed with muskets. The chiefs professed, as on the former occasion, the most peaceful and friendly intentions, and disclaimed all participation in the thefts and outrages committed on the colonists, but dwelt upon the difficulty of repressing them. Tyali, addressing the Governor, said * : — " You are our father, and we are your children ; and if, after this, any thing goes wrong, do with Sandilli as you would with your own son. Be patient and long suffering: give him your advice, and refer him to his father's laws. We cannot entirely put an end to the stealing, because we do not know of it ; perhaps, while we are here speaking, the thieves are out and moving about. You are like a parent to us ; be patient with us, as we are your children." In the next day's conference the Governor parti- cularly called the attention of the chiefs to the fre- * These particulars are extracted from the Graham's Town newspapers of December 10. 1840. m 5 250 PLAUSIBLE PROFESSIONS. Chap. XI quent instances which had lately occurred of the murder of colonial herdsmen by the Caffers ; which, he observed, was quite a new feature in the Caffer character. He most earnestly urged them to put a stop to this crime, by punishing the murderers with the utmost severity, according to their own laws. A conversation on this subject ensued, in the course of which it was mentioned, that one of these mur- derers was known to have formerly been flogged for another offence; but that as soon as he found out that he was known as the perpetrator of the recent murder, he had absconded from his kraal, and had not since been heard of. The Governor was of opinion that if the chiefs would proclaim that man throughout Cafferland, and offer a reward for his apprehension, as was the custom in England, they might succeed in discovering him, Tyali said, the difficulty was this : — If the man put himself under the protection of another chief, that chief would be grlad to add him to his strength. He added, that his father, Gaika, was as anxious as any one to punish a murderer, but found it difficult to do so. The Lieutenant-Governor (Colonel Hare) sug- gested the propriety of offering a reward of ten head of cattle for the discovery of the murderer ; to which Tyali merely replied. That he would have been put to death if he could have been caught. Being asked, whether the chiefs would proclaim this Chap. XI. ALTERATIONS IN THE TREATY. 251 throughout CafFerland, — he replied, that all the people should hear it. The Lieutenant-Governor said, that they would not be required to give up the murderer to the colonial authorities, the punishment would be left to their own law ; but the resident agent must see that it was duly enforced. The discussion on this topic continued for a long time, one chief after another reiterating the same observations as to the difficulty of apprehending a murderer ; and especially urging the probability, that if the criminal were to abscond from his kraal, and place himself under the protection of another chief, that chief might refuse to give him up. Tyali ob- served, that it would be necessary to confer with all the chiefs on this point. The discussion, however, ended in Sandilli's pledging himself, as head of the Gaika tribe, to use his utmost exertions for the apprehension and punishment of murderers. The alterations in the Stockenstrom treaty, which had been laid before the chiefs a fortnight previously by the diplomatic agent, and discussed by them, were now again explained to them, and agreed to. The substance of the new clauses was as follows : — 1. Farmers who should lose cattle were to be per- mitted to pass freely into Caiferland (unarmed, howe%er,) without requiring passes. If they should succeed in tracing their property, they were to lay the case before the chief and the diplomatic agent ; M 6 252 -ALTEKATION^S IN THE TREATY. Chap, XI. and if the claim were established by such proof as the nature of the case admitted, their loss was to be made good, together with reasonable damages (as- sessed by the agent and the chief), as compensation for the trouble and loss of time occasioned by the pursuit. The farmer might trace his cattle, either with or without the assistance of the Caffer police, but was not to be accompanied by a large party. 2. The cattle were not required, as before, to be guarded by an armed herdsman. This alteration was much approved by the chiefs at the conference. Botma, in particular, thanked the Governor for not requiring the herdsmen to be armed, which, he said, was an additional temptation, to those who could not command their passions, to commit murder. 3. In cases of murder, the chiefs pledged them- selves to endeavour to apprehend the assassin ; and if caught, he was to be brought to trial in the pre- sence of the diplomatic agent, and to suffer according to the laws of the natives. It was also agreed that a mixed commission, to consist of the Lieutenant-Governor, the diplomatic agent, and a few of the principal chiefs, should sit from time to time at Fort Beaufort, to decide on all matters in dispute between the parties. These modifications of the Stockenstrom treaty appear to have given, at the time, much satisfaction to the people of Albany; and great hopes were excited that the depredations of the Caffers would at Chap. XI. TEMPORARY IMPROVEMENT. ' 253 last be really checked, and that they might gradually be converted into peaceful and serviceable neigh- bours. Even the Grahani*s Town Journal, not usually disposed to adopt a friendly tone towards the natives, observed, on the occasion of this conference, that "it was quite evident that the CafFers were becoming daily more sensible of their dependence on the colony." For a time these flattering hopes seemed to be justified by facts. Thefts decreased ; those which occurred were no longer accompanied by assassination; and the CafFer chiefs seemed to show a friendly feeling, and a desire to comply with the provisions of the treaty. But by degrees things began to return into something like their old course ; the chiefs were again found to be either unable, or more probably unwilling, to restrain the depredations of their people ; they made plausible professions, but did nothing: the great CaiFer business of cattle- stealing again began to flourish almost as vigorously as ever ; and the old complaints and heart-burnings were renewed. Still, however, no actual hostilities took place ; whatever may have been the secret de- signs and projects of the natives, they were kept in check by the firmness, activity, and judgment of Sir George Napier. The period of his administration expired without any outbreak ; and he returned to England in 1844, leaving the Cape in a state of peace, and of as much prosperity as was compatible with the unfortunate system of frontier policy 254 FRESH OUTBEEAKS. Chap. XL which he had been obliged by his instructions to maintain. His successor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, was less fortunate : he had scarcely held the government of the Cape for two years, when that cruel war broke out, which has for the last year and a half continued to desolate the frontier districts of the unhappy colony. It is not my intention to enter into any details of this contest. I possess no information concerning it, beyond what may be gathered from the ordinary newspapers; and, moreover, it is evi- dent that the stru^^ofle is not at an end. Even since I began this chapter, intelligence has arrived that Sandilli's Caffers, who had pretended to make their submission and to give up their arms, have broken out into fresh hostilities, and have even gained some advantages over our troops. Their success will, doubtless, have raised the spirits and inflamed the animosity of the other tribes, and the next arrivals from the Cape may very probably bring the news, that the Caffer war is again raging as fiercely as ever. It is quite evident, that these people have become much more serious and resolute enemies than they showed themselves in 1835, and that they have not yet been sufficiently taught the superiority of European arms and resources. Strenuous and per- severing exertions will be required before they can be effectually subdued ; as they must be subdued if the colony is to hope for any future quiet or pros- Chap. XI. ERRONEOUS OPINIONS. 255 perity. Fortunately, the affairs of the Cape are now entrusted to the guidance of a man peculiarly fitted for the charge, not only by his well-known activity and decision of character, but by his intimate acquaintance with the country and the people, and by the ascendency which, during the period of his former command, he acquired over the native tribes. If not fettered by injudicious restrictions. Sir H. Smith is more likely than any man to restore the Cape colony to a state of lasting peace and security. The events of the present Caffer war have ex- posed in a strong light the erroneous nature of some opinions, respecting the affairs of the Cape, which have been industriously inculcated by a numerous and active party in this country. The public have been taught to believe, in the first place, that the Caffers were an oppressed and persecuted race, crushed and hunted down by their white neighbours, driven from their own country, and likely, without special protection, soon to vanish from the face of the earth; and secondly, that the missionaries not only acted as their protectors against this sort of persecution, but were making great progress in reclaiming them from the errors of their unenlight- ened state, and converting them into good Christians and peaceful members of society. Yet it is certain, that in the present outbreak, the Caffers have shown themselves far more powerful and formidable, and at the same time have displayed a more sanguinary and 256 CAUSES OF THE Chap. XI. merciless spirit, than at any former time. The task of reclaiming and civilising these people is evidently not to be accomplished by missionaries alone. The causes of the present war are, perhaps, not difficult to discover. The CaiFers did not suffer so much in the war of 1835, as to be at all deterred from renewing the trial of strength at a more favour- able season. They knew, indeed, that they could not cope with our soldiers in open fight, but they gained so much booty in their first inroad into the colony, as, probably, more than compensated for any loss that they afterwards suffered. Yet, if Sir B. D'Urban's treaty had remained in force, and its provisions had been carried into effect in the same spirit in which they were framed, it is probable that the frontier tribes might have been effectually deterred from a renewal of hostilities. But the great concessions made to them by the Stockenstrom treaty, strongly confirmed them in the idea that they had had the best of the struggle, and that our Government was afraid of them. Barbarous nations never believe in the reality of a romantic generosity in political transactions ; accustomed, themselves, to make the utmost of any advantage that they may gain, they attribute all concessions to fear and weakness. When a conflict, which they have them- selves provoked, terminates in our favour, it is mere Quixotism to restore to them the means of committing fresh aggressions. Moreover, the Stock- Chap. XI. PRESENT WAR. 257 enstrom treaty, while it conceded so much as to encourage the presumption and stimulate the cu- pidity of the Amakosa, was far from conceding enough to satisfy them ; for it withheld that which (to the Gaika tribe at least) was the grand object of desire, — the Kat River territory. It is certain that the possession of this tract of country was coveted by Macomo and his kinsmen with an extraordinary degree of earnestness. It was not merely on account of its fertility that they prized it so highly, but they looked upon it as more peculiarly their own especial patrimony. They assert that Gaika was born there : it is certain that Macomo was. This latter chief, being asked why he did not build a house, instead of living in a straw hut, replied, " That he would never build a house till he built one on the Kat Kiver." When Mr. Backhouse visited Macomo's country in 1839, the chief dwelt with bitterness on the injustice that had been done to him in the confiscation of this territory, and ended the conversation by saying, that " he should not cease to complain of the Kat River affair."* I am far from maintaining that the Kat River territory ought to have been ceded, and that the in- teresting and prosperous colony of Hottentots esta- blished there ought to have been sacrificed ; but it is evident that a treaty which gave up so much to the * Backhouse's Narrative of a Visit to the Mauritius and South Africa, p. 218. 258 MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED Chap. XI. Caffers, and yet did not give up the one thing that they especially coveted, was well calculated to incite them to a new war. The boundary, moreover, fixed by this treaty, was in one part of its line so ill-defined, and so liable to mistakes, as to be a ready source of disputes. Even when we were at Graham's Town, in the early part of 1838, the continuance of peace was looked upon as very far from secure; and it was thought by persons of the greatest experience and most thorough knowledge of the Caffer character, that a renewal of the war, at no distant period, was almost in- evitable. It is unfortunate that the colony should have been left, by our Government, in a state so ill-prepared to meet such a contingency. The measures to be adopted for securing the colony against a recurrence of similar calamities, are a most important subject for consideration. It is to be hoped that our Government, warned by past disasters, will not again insist upon dealing with the barbarous hordes of the Amakosa as with civilised nations, to be conciliated by liberal concessions, and bound by the faith of treaties. I am far from con- curring with those who look upon the CafFers as irreclaimable barbarians; I think it probable they may in process of time be reclaimed and civilised, in the same way as Agricola reclaimed the bar- barous natives of Britain. It is necessary, in the first place, and above all, that they should be Chap. XL FOR SECURING THE COLONY. 259 thoroughly subdued. Hostilities should not cease until all the country, at least as far as the Great Kei, is reduced into absolute subjection to the British Government. No unnecessary severity should be used; nothing done in a vindictive spirit; the object is not to punish the CafFers for their past misdeeds, but to secure the future tranquillity of the frontier, to protect the colonists from fresh outrages, and to pave the way for the introduction of civilisation among the native tribes themselves. When conquered, they should be permanently kept in awe by means of numerous military posts, of adequate strength, established in advantageous situ- ations, so as to have ready communication with one another, and to be able to patrole the country in all directions, whenever there may be occasion. Perhaps it may be necessary, in order to exclude the CafFers from the Fish Kiver Bush, which affords them such an advantageous base for their operations against the frontier colonists, that they should be again expelled from the ceded territory, and pro- hibited from occupying any of the lands on the west of the Keiskamma. But there can be no reason, when they have once submitted, for driving them out of the country to the east of that river ; no land should be taken from them beyond what may be absolutely required for the security and subsistence of the garrisons. The natives should be carefully protected in all their rights, possessions. 260 3IEASUEES TO BE ADOPTED Chap. XT. and enjoyments; in particular, the people and the lesser chiefs should be protected against the rapacity and tyranny of the great chiefs; and they might gradually be taught to look up to the British autho- rities as their patrons and friends. It would be very undesirable to allow any Europeans to settle per- manently, or acquire land, to the eastward of the Keiskamma ; but missionary establishments might be formed in the vicinity and under the protection of the military posts. The utmost care should be em- ployed, on the part of the Government, to induce the missionaries and the military authorities to act harmo- niously together, and co-operate in eifecting a moral conquest over the savage nature of the CaiFers. As, unfortunately, those reverend gentlemen have, in many instances, shown a disposition to foster and inflame the animosity of the natives against their white neighbours, it might not be prudent to allow them a perfectly free and unlimited access into the conquered country, and it might perhaps be necessary even to place them under a certain degree of sur- veillance. Traders should by no means be admitted into the country beyond the Keiskamma, except under very strict regulations; and the traffic (which it would probably be desirable to restrict to certain specified localities) should be absolutely under the control of the British authorities in the conquered territory. Schools should be established, to which the CaiFers should by every means be encouraged to Chap. XT. FOR SECURING THE COLONY. 261 send their children ; and every effort should be made to direct their attention to agriculture, and to the other pursuits of a peaceful, settled, and civilised people. I believe I may say that, in the views which I have here expressed, with regard to the measures most likely to be efficacious in securing the peace of the colony, I have the concurrence of some of those most intimately acquainted, from long ex- perience, with the character and circumstances of the frontier Caifers. It is evident that such a system of policy will require no ordinary degree of discre- tion, prudence, steadiness, and perseverance on the part of those who are to carry it into effect, and will call for the most anxious and vigilant attention from the colonial Government. But it seems to be the only practicable plan which promises any good results ; for the truly barbarous notion of " exter- minating the Gaffers from off the face of the earth," (as has been actually, and it would seem seriously, recommended*,) is one which would not for a mo- ment be listened to by any party in this country ; and experience has shown that no treaties which can be concluded with these tribes will be of any avail in protecting the colony against their predatory hos- tilities, so long as they are left in a state of in- dependence, and allowed to retain the means of doing mischief If, unfortunately, our Government * Harris's Wild Sports of Southern Africa, 3d edit. p. 288. 262 FURTHER REFLECTION'S. Chap. XI. should again decide upon recognising their inde- pendence, and treating with them as with a sovereign power, I really believe that nothing less than the erection of a continuous line of walls and watch- towers along the edge of the Fish River Bush, throughout its whole length, will suffice to protect the frontier colonists against future depredations and outrages. It is not to the purpose to urge, that the CafFers have a prior right to the country, and that we are unauthorised intruders. It may be quite true that the forefathers of the present Amakosa chiefs ac- quired possession of the Zuureveld by fair purchase from its former owners, the Gonaqua Hottentots, and that they were established there before the Dutch settlers had penetrated so far ; it may be quite true that they endured much wrong and violence, and many unjust encroachments, at the hands of the Dutch borderers, and that their rights were often disregarded by the governors of the colony ; it may be quite true that their expulsion from Albany in 1811 was an act of injustice ; but we have to deal with the existing state of things. The present colonists of Albany and Somerset are not answerable for the misdeeds of former governors, or of other settlers with whom they had no connection. They cannot be accused of any encroachment* on the rights of the natives. They were brought by our Govern- ment into the territory they now occupy, and were Chap. XL FUKTHER REFLECTIONS. 263 established there by the authority and under the sanction of that Government; and there they have lived peaceably and inoflfensively, as honest men and loyal subjects. If the natives were wrongfully dis- possessed of their lands, the blame must rest, not on the settlers of Albany, but on the Government which invited them thither. They did not expel the CafFers from that country ; they found it unoc- cupied. Such being the case, they think, with great justice, that they have a rightful claim to pro- tection from the Government of their native country, a claim which they have done nothing to forfeit. The Government which invited them to settle in the district which they now inhabit is bound to protect them, as far as its power extends, in the peaceable enjoyment of their property ; and if it cannot protect them, it ought to leave them at liberty to adopt the most efficacious measures for their own defence. Protection and allegiance are reciprocal duties ; and a Government which cannot, or will not, defend its subjects against the inroads of hostile neighbours, has no just claim to their obedience. Moreover, it must be remembered that, in the present war, the CafFers are altogether the aggressors. It certainly cannot be maintained that they have suffered any ill-usage, or been exposed to any unjust encroachments, since the conclusion of Sir Andries Stockenstrom's treaty with them in 1836. They have wilfully and without provocation rushed into a 264 FURTHER REFLECTIONS. Chap. XL new contest, and wantonly braved all the chances of war. That, without being expelled from their lands, they should be reduced into subjection to the British laws and government, can hardly, under such cir- cumstances, be considered as a measure of unreason- able severity. Chap. XII. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 265 CHAPTER XII. State of Public Education in the Cape Colony. — Atien- tion of Sir G. Napier to this Subject. — Memoir upon it by Sir John Herschel. — System of General Edu- cation planned by Sir G. Napier. — Government Memorandum of May, 1839. — Dr. Innes, the Super- intendent General. — Obstacles encountered by the New System. — Its Success. — Concluding Remarks. When Sir George Napier arrived at the Cape, one of the first objects to which he directed his attention was the state of public instruction in the colony. He found it to be most unsatisfactory. There was no provision for general education, no efficient supervision, nothing approaching to a system. At Cape Town, indeed, there were some good schools, and an institution called the South African College, for more advanced education : but in the provinces every thing was left to the vague and random exertions of individuals. With the exception of the missionaries' schools, (which were principally, if not entirely, de- signed for the instruction of the coloured races,) and perhaps a very few others, the only teachers, in most parts of the country, were old discharged soldiers, ge- nerally very ill qualified for the office, in point either of intellectual acquirements or moral character. These men were in the habit of going about from one N 266 PUBLIC EDUCATION. Chap. XII. Boer's house to another, staying a month or two at each, to teach the children to read. In return for this service, they were lodged and fed, and sometimes (but by no means generally) received some trifling payment. Even where there existed free schools nominally supported by the Government, the teachers were miserably ill-paid, were often inefficient, some- times of very indifferent character, and were regarded w^ith great contempt by the farmers. Sir George Napier at once determined upon making every effort to give to the Cape colony the benefit •of a comprehensive, uniform, and liberal system of general education. Wishing to obtain the best assist- ance in the preparation of such a plan, he addressed himself, very shortly after his arrival, to Sir John Herschel, (who was still at the Cape, though on the eve of his departure for England,) and requested him to give in a statement of his views, as to the educa- tional system most suitable to the condition and wants of the country. At the same time he forwarded to him a " Memorandum," which had been drawn up by the Secretary of the Colony, on the actual state of education. Sir John Herschel, in compliance with his request, presented a most valuable memoir on the subject, in which he pointed out, first, the general principles which should regulate all assist- ance given to education by the government of a country, and next, the particular provisions specially applicable to the circumstances of the Cape colony. Chap. XII. TUBLIC EDUCATION. 267 Sir John Herschel has kindly given me permission to publish this interesting document, and it will be found in the Appendix to the present volume. Much valuable information and advice were ob- tained also from the Secretary of the colony. Colonel John Bell, whose long residence in the country, and intimate knowledge of the people, gave great weight to his opinions. Another person who was consulted by the Governor in this matter, and who afforded much assistance, was Dr. Eose Innes, at that time a Pro- fessor in the college at Cape Town. Availing himself of the advice and co-operation of these gentlemen, the Governor soon drew out a plan for a general system of education, which he submitted to the British Government ; and having obtained their approbation, he published, on the 23d of May, 1839, a Govern- ment Memorandum, in which he made known the views that he intended to carry into effect. One of the first principles of his plan, (and one upon which the three able and enlightened persons above men- tioned were perfectly agreed,) was the exclusion of all sectarian influence or interference from the Government schools. " The parents, and they alone," (to use the words of Sir George Napier) " were to be consulted as to the religious instruction to be given to their children." But the Government Memorandum itself, which I here insert, will give the clearest notion of the views and principles on which he proceeded. N 2 268 PUBLIC EDUCATION. Chap. XII. " Colonial Office, Cape of Good Hope, "May 23, 1839. " GOVERNMENT MEMORANDUM. " EDUCATION. " On the arrival of his Excellency Major General Sir George Napier to assume the Government of this Colony, his attention was speedily drawn to the defective and inefficient state of the Government Schools w^hich had been established in the several Districts, — and his Excellency lost no time in re- presenting to her Majesty's Government the neces- sity of re-organizing the Educational Establishment of the Colony, and of placing the Public Schools in charge of men professionally qualified to undertake the important oflSce of Public Instructors. " In maturing the Plan which ^vas then trans- mitted to the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, his Excellency received the invaluable assistance of that distinguished philosopher Sir John Herschel, of whose visit to this Colony, and interest in its moral and intellectual improvement, the System of Education, now about to be introduced, will, it is hoped, be a lasting record. His Excellency has, also, pleasure in acknowledging the important sug- gestions which were furnished him by other Gentle- men resident in the Colony. And he feels assured that those who have thus co-operated with him in Chap. XII, PUBLIC EDUCATION. 269 promoting this important measure, will be gratified to learn that their sound and enlightened views on Public Education have received the sanction of her Majesty's Government. " In laying before the Public a detail of the Plan on which the Government Seminaries will be con- ducted in future, his Excellency thinks it proper to state, in the first placCj what he conceives to be the legitimate objects of a System of Public Instruction. " The objects to be attained by the Educational Institutions of any country are, in the language of the distinguished individual already alluded to, — *^ 1st, To form in the individual advantageous per- sonal habits. " 2d, To store the mind with useful knowledge and practical maxims, available for the demands of life. " 3d, To enlarge the powers and capacities of the mind, and to elevate his propensities by familiarizing him with trains of connected and serious thouo-ht, and with high examples of moral and intellectual conduct. " 4th, To form good citizens and men, by instruct- ing them in the relations of social and civil life : — - and to fit them for a higher state of existence, by teaching them those which connect them with their Maker and Redeemer. " To these, which constitute the chief scope of every sound System of Public Instruction, his Ex- N 3 270 PUBLIC EDUCATION. Chap. XII. cellency has to add one of paramount importance in this Colony, viz. to render its Educational Esta- blishments effective in diffusing a correct knowledge of the English language among all ranks of the people. And whilst His Excellency respects the attachment which is naturally felt by the Colonists of Dutch extraction to their own language, associated as that feeling must be with the dearest relations of life, and has met their wishes in this respect by making the Dutch language a part of the Elemen- tary Course of Instruction in all Schools where it is required, he feels confident, from what he has learnt of the extent to which the study of the English language has been voluntarily prosecuted in the Class-rooms of the South African College, that the whole body of the Colonists is prepared to regard, with him, the cultivation of the English language as inseparably connected with the future prosperity of this Colony. " To attain the important objects above enume- rated, his Excellency is satisfied that at several Stations in the interior of the Colony, provision must be made, even under existing circumstances, not only for Elementary Education, but also for Instruction in those branches of knowledge which constitute a liberal Education. It will, therefore, form a part of the Plan to establish at such Stations, so soon as qualified Teachers arrive. First Class or Principal Schools, in which both a Primary and Chap. XIL PUBLIC EDUCATION. 271 and Secondary course of Instruction will be insti- tuted. " The subjects to be taught in the respective Courses will be thus arranged ; — ** Primary or Elementary Department " 1. Reading, "Writing, and the Principles of Ab- stract and Commercial Arithmetic. " 2. A sound Grammatical knowledge of the English language. " This, as it regards Dutch Pupils, can only be attained by making a well-arranged course of oral and written translation from Dutch into English, and from English into Dutch, an essential part of Elementary Instruction. *' A grammatical knowledge of the Dutch lan- guage will be communicated to all Pupils who require to join the translation classes. " 3. Descriptive Geography, — the Outlines of General History, — Chronology. " 4. The Elements of Linear Drawing, and Per- spective. " This important branch of Elementary Education will be applied to the construction of Outline Maps, the drawing of Geometrical Forms, Architectural Designs, &c., on Slates and Black Boards, or on Paper, at the expense of the Pupil. " 5. The Rudiments of Natural History, and Physical Science, — the Principles of Mechanics. N 4 272 PUBLIC EDUCATION. Chap. XII. " These departments of Elementary Knowledge will be embraced in a Series of Conversational Lec- tures, founded on approved Text-books selected for that purpose. " 6. Religious Instruction. — This will consist in the daily perusal of the Holy Scriptures, at an hour set apart for that purpose. " Every facility will be afforded the Pupils of attending the Catechetical Instructions of their re- spective Pastors. " Should any Parent conscientiously object to his child engaging in the Religious Exercises of the School, leave of absence, during the hour set apart for such Exercises, will be granted to the child, on due application. " Secondary, or Classical and Scient>Jic Department " 1. Languages, — Latin, Greek, French. " 2. Science, — an Elementary Course of Mathe- matics, embracing the higher departments of Arith- metic — Elementary Algebra — Plane and Solid Geometry, and the Doctrine of the Conic Sections — Plane and Spherical Trigonometry. " 3. The application of the Mathematical Sciences to Mensuration, Surveying, Navigation, and prac- tical Astronomy. " 4. Physical and Mathematical Geography — the Outlines of Geology. Chap. XIT. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 273 " To each School there will be attached a Library, formed of Books calculated both to amuse and in- struct. These Libraries will also contain Works of Reference, which, from their expense, might other- wise be placed beyond the reach both of the Master and Pupil, — and such Models and other Philoso- phical Apparatus as may be necessary to illustrate the subjects referred to in Article 5. of the Ele- mentary Course. " In the Second Class Schools, which will occupy the remaining stations, the Elementary course, as above described, will be alone taught. But in selecting Teachers, preference will be given to individuals possessing a knowledge of some of the Higher Branches. This, however, will have no weight when determining on the competency of the individual in the more important and indispensable qualifications of an Elementary Teacher, " In all the schools the Elementary Course of in- struction will h^free, and at all times every Government Seminary will be accessible to every individual of the community. For the Higher Branches, which "will be taught in the Principal Schools, a moderate fee will be charged. But a certain number of Free scholar- ships will be retained by Government, for the purpose of advancing deserving youths of poor parents. " Besides the First and Second Class Schools to be established in the Country Districts, a Normal In- stitution will be formed in Cape Town, for the S 5 274 PUBLIC EDUCATION. Chap. XII. purpose of training Teachers for the Elementary Department. " In order that this Seminary may be conducted on the most approved principles, the gentleman selected for its superintendence will have an opportunity afforded him of visiting institutions of a similar cha- racter in Germany, previous to his sailing for the Cape. " In order to maintain the efficiency of the system, and to secure its improvement as circumstances require, a General Superintendent of Public Educa- tion has been appointed under the sanction of her Majesty's Government, whose duty it will be to visit every school at least once a year, to examine the ordinary routine of daily instruction, the arrangement of subjects, classification of pupils, &c., and to insti- tute a strict inquiry into the state and progress of the Schools generally. "He will also be required to call for Monthly Returns from every school, of the attendance, con- duct, and progress of every Pupil, and Quarterly Reports of the stated examinations in presence of the Local School Commissions, detailing the subjects taught in the various classes during the Quarter, the comparative merits of each pupil, and the Report of the Board on the result of the Examination. From these data the General Superintendent will be enabled to form a correct estimate of the character and attainments of every Pupil, and he wiU be autho- Chap. XII. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 275 rised to grant certificates to such Pupils accordingly as shall have finished their course of study with honour to themselves, and credit to the institution. These certificates His Excellency feels assured will always be considered favourably by Government when selecting officers for the Public Service. *^ It will also be the duty of the General Superin- tendent to hold constant communication with the Instructors of the several Schools on the method of Instruction, — the progress of Education in various parts of the world, — the local difficulties with which the Teacher may have to contend, — and generally on every topic that can contribute to advance the cause of Education in the colony. He will likewise be called upon to supply the Government with all necessary information on the Educational Statistics of the colony, and to draw up Periodical Reports from the Monthly and Quarterly Returns, as also from his Annual Visitations, of the state of each School, and the efficiency of the System. " By His Excellency's command. " (Signed) John Bell, " Secretary to Government." This document, w^hich explains so clearly the en- larged views entertained by Sir G. Napier on this important subject, renders it unnecessary for me to add any thing by way of comment. Dr. Innes, who was appointed to the post of Superintendent General, N 6 276 PUBLIC EDUCATION. Chap. XII. proceeded, as a necessary step towards the carrying out of tlie system, to visit Great Britain, for the pur- pose of engaging efficient schoolmasters. He was successful in his mission; and Sir George had the satisfaction of seeing the improved system brought into full and prosperous operation before his return to England. Government schools were established in numerous places ; the Superintendent made a tour of inspection every six months, visiting all these schools, and on his return made a report to the Government on their condition and progress. The choice of books to be used, and the whole course of education, were prescribed by him, and no deviation from this course was allowed to take place without his sanction. In every place where a Government school was established, there was also appointed a School Commission, consisting of the Civil Commissioner of the district, the clergymen of each persuasion, and others of the principal inhabitants, nominated by the Governor. The members of this Commission were empowered to inspect the schools, and, whenever they thought proper, to attend them during the hours of tuition ; but they were not on any account to thwart the master, or interfere with his authority. If they observed any thing which struck them as objectionable, they were to report it to the Superin- tendent General. The schoolmasters employed were mostly natives of Scotland, and all of them laymen ; they were provided with salaries on a graduated Chap. Xlf. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 277 scale, sufficiently liberal to remunerate them for the devotion of their time and of their best energies to the occupation, and to remove from them the tempta- tion to consider it as merely a temporary resource. Retiring pensions were likewise assigned to them. The new system, as might be expected, had some difficulties to encounter when it was first brought into operation. As has happened in so many similar instances, a great outcry was raised against the ex- clusion of sectarian doctrines (or those confined to peculiar denominations of Christians) from the course of instruction, — which was represented as the exclu- sion of religion itself; and thus the new scheme had at first to encounter either the indifference or the positive hostility of nearly all the clergy, of whatever denomination, in the colony. There was another part of the measure which, in the beginning, excited still greater clamours. Sir George Napier's inten- tion was, that the white and the coloured children should be taught in the same schools, without any distinction of class, caste, or race. This excited great indignation among the white population, who had been used to consider themselves as immeasurably superior to the rest ; and the resistance was so strong, that after one year's experience, Dr. Innes, the Superintendent, advised the Governor to give up this regulation ; saying, that the objection might in time be overcome, but that if an attempt were made to enforce the rule at that period, it might very pro- 278 PUBLIC EDUCATION. Chap. Xll. bably be fatal to the whole system. The Governor yielded to his representations, and consented that dis- tinct schools should be established for the instruction of the white and of the coloured races, wherever ob- jections should be made to the enforcement of the original rule. Dr. Innes proved to be right : the concession he had recommended contributed much to the popularity and success of the measure ; and the force of prejudice gradually yielded to his judicious management. A few days before Sir George quitted the Cape, he had the satisfaction of learning that the people of Uitenhage, who had been the most vehe- ment in their dislike to the mixture of races in the schools, had of their own accord withdrawn their opposition, and consented to the regulation at first proposed. A similar change of feeling took place in other parts of the colony, and the system of educa- tion without distinction of race is now in force (as I am told) in all the Government schools. In spite of the prejudice at first excited by the arrangements relating to religious instruction and to the union of the different races in the same schools, and in spite of the coldness or jealousy with which many of the Dutch colonists, and even the clergy of that nation, viewed the Governor's efforts to promote the diffusion of the English language, the progress of the new system was satisfactory. The zeal, ability, and discretion of Dr. Innes, seconded and supported on all occasions in the most energetic manner by Sir Chap. XII. PUBLIC EDUCATION. 279 George Napier, gradually overcame or smoothed away all obstacles. When Sir George quitted the Cape, the number of children educated at the public expense amounted to several thousands ; and besides the Government Free Schools, there were numerous others supported in part by private resources, and not wholly under the management of the Government, yet receiving aid from it, and complying with its regula- tions in the most essential points. The sums voted by the Council for the maintenance of these various schools formed an important item in the annual estimates. I have not been able to obtain any detailed inform- ation concerning the progress of this system of edu- cation since Sir George's departure from the Cape ; but I understand that the Government schools, after having declined considerably for a time, (in conse- quence, principally, of the coldness or hostility of the clergy,) had again begun to recover their ground, and to increase at a pretty regular rate in the num- ber of their pupils. The general distress and con- fusion occasioned by the present Caffer war will probably have been injurious to the cause of educa- tion, as to all social progress or improvement; but we may confidently hope that so excellent a system, having been once fairly established and brought into full operation, will continue to flourish and gain ground, and will be more valued in proportion as its nature and effects become better known. The glory 280 PUBLIC EDUCATION. Chap. XII. of permanently" securing the peace and safety of the frontier districts may be reserved for another: but Sir George Napier will for ever be remembered as one of the great benefactors of the colony, — as the author of a most important measure of social im- provement, which he planned and carried into effect without any suggestion or assistance from the Govern- ment at home, — and of which the benefits will be more and more extensively felt by every succeeding generation. 281 APPENDIX. Remarks on the Subject of the Government Free Schools, and other Means of promoting Education among all Classes of the Inhabitants of the Cape Colony, in a Note addressed to the Honourable the Secretary to Government, intended for the Perusal of his Excellency the Governor, by Sir John Herschel. My dear Sir, I have read with all the attention in my power your " Memorandum " on the state of the Govern- ment Free Schools, and, generally, on the state of Education in this colony; and although, of course, any opinion I may be thereby enabled to form on practical points of detail, dependent on the peculiar circumstances of the colony, and the actual state of society in districts which I have never visited, must be liable to a variety of errors, yet, partly from your very distinct exposition, and partly from a good deal of previous reflection, as regards the more general bearing of the subject, I feel enabled to form some- thing like opinions on which I can rest with confi- dence. 282 APPENDIX. I need not now enter into any discussion of the question, whether the education of the people is or is not a branch of the duties of a Government. It is sufficient to say that, agreeing entirely in the affirm- ative view of the subject, I rejoice to find my own opinion ranged on the side of the actual Executive. I will presume, therefore, that it is the serious inten- tion of the colonial Government to afford an increased degree of direct support to education, — which, to be efficient, must not only be adequate in extent, but also systematic, and steadily maintained in appli- cation, — and it only remains to consider by what means the result may best be made to correspond with the intention. The means which Government possess of influ- encing the progress of education, are : — 1st. The institution and maintenance in a state of activity and improvement of a well-organised system throughout the country. 2dly. The furnishing of direct pecuniary support in the payment of salaries, maintenance of buildings, and all the requisite materiel of instruction. 3dly. Encouragement and reward of successful exertion as well on the part of the taught as of the teacher. Under the head of organisation I comprehend, first, the adoption of a sound practical educational course, adapted not merely to the immediate wants of the colony in its present state, but to what ought APPENDIX. 283 to be the wants of a country pretending to civilisa- tion, and therefore essentially prospective and pro- gressive ; considering that the boy of to-day is the man of to-morrow, and that, as his part is cast in the next generation, so his education ought to be in ad- vance of the habits and maxims of the present. The choice of such a course — its due limitations for the present, and the nature and the rate of its extension for the future, are matters of the highest moment, and must form very serious subjects for consideration whenever Government throws its enor- mous weight into the scale. To leave them to the judgment of individual teachers, or even, entirely, to the direction of local committees, would be in effect to abandon one of the most valuable advantages of Government interference, — that of securing the at- tention of youth to subjects deliberately selected, on general principlies, by men of high information, un- biassed by local or temporary prejudices. While, on the other hand, to leave nothing to individual or local judgment would neither accord with the spirit of our free institutions, nor be likely to engage the confi- dence and support of parents, and of the higher classes of the community in general. However, it is unnecessary at present to enter upon this branch of the subject. Reading, writing, and arithmetic, the perusal of the Scriptures, as the foun- dation of moral instruction, and the formation of orderly and moral habits, by conformity to a well- 284 APPENDIX* regulated distribution of time, occupation, and amuse- ment, — must form essential features in every plan of education ; and, when these are effectually provided for, it will be time to superadd : — an epoch, which^ as it would appear from the statements of the ^^ Me- morandum," is yet far from attained. I would only remark, in general, that so long as Christian prin- ciples are broadly laid down as the basis of all pro- ceedings, an avoidance of every thing calculated to perpetuate religious or civil distinction between members of the same community, or to foster a spirit of domination on the part of any religious sect, ought to be most studiously and pointedly avoided. An essential character of a well-organised system, is the direct responsibility of every member of it to a recognised official superior; and, ultimately, to a central opinion and power, acting on consistent prin- ciples, and calling for constant information on every point of practical detail. The shorter the chain the more perfect the organisation, and for the purpose in question I agree entirely with the concluding sug- gestion of the " Memorandum," that the central responsibility should be lodged in one individual. A Board of Education Commissioners in a community like this, must, from the very nature of the thing, be either a constant scene of dispute, or a body in which some prominent member suggests and acts for all, while the responsibility of his measures is divided among the number. The function is not one calling APPENDIX. 285 for any very extravagant qualifications. Good plain sense, a general good education, with a high impres- sion of its value, and a proper appreciation of its ends and means, together with the talent of supervision and insight into human character, seem all the posi- tive qualities needed. The absence of party spirit and religious bigotry on the one hand, and of the opposite extreme of indifference for all religion on the other, seem to include the negative. Such an officer must, of course, be in direct com- munication with, and supported in the execution of his duty by, the Government, and I should think it highly desirable, or rather indispensable, that he should visit personally at least the most important *, and by deputy all, the schools, at uncertain but not too distant intervals (say annually, but not at fixed seasons), and call, not for public examinations of the pupils, but for the ordinary routine of their daily instruction, to be gone through in his presence ; and also that he should require monthly returns from every school, of the attendance, progress, and conduct, of each individual pupil, as well as an annual or semestral summary of these particulars (stating the age of each) ; and a report on the state of every part of the establishment in other respects, including the conduct of ushers, and other subordinate members of it. Attached to such a summary will of course be * *' This is wrong : all, in so limited a number, should be visited personally." (Subsequent Note by Sir John Herschel.) 286 APPENDIX. forwarded examination lists, embodying the result of annual public examinations — the more fully stated the better. These returns, reports, and visits, will put it amply in his power to estimate the efficiency of each master in his sphere; and (whatever may be the course adopted in placing new men on the list) his recom- mendations for promotion from .a less to a more advantageous school-station ought to be invariably attended to, — as, on the other hand, his demand for dismissal on proof of misconduct, or on the direct showing of negligence on the face of the returns, and annual reports and visitations, should be acted on with equal certainty. Such an officer should, of course, be adequately salaried, with a proper allowance for his travelling expenses. Under the head of organisation, it seems to me worthy of consideration whether the unavoidable deficiencies of any educational course which may be adopted, and especially of that very imperfect one which must be adopted in the first instance, may not be in some considerable degree supplied (and that in a highly influential manner) by founding one or more Itinerant Lectureships, to embrace subjects of which available knowledge can be so communicated. Every Government school, in which sufficient pupils of an age to receive benefit from such in- struction should be found, or the neighbourhood of APPENDIX. 287 which should be sufficiently populous to make their visits useful to the general cause of instruction, might in turn be visited by these lecturers, who might remain a longer or shorter time at a station according to the audiences they should attract. They might increase their emoluments by the attendance on their lectures of the parents or friends of the pupils, and the surrounding public ; and the greater the attend- ance the greater the public benefit. Something of this kind seems especially needed in a country where adult education is at a low ebb, and where curiosity and the desire for instruction have to be awakened or rather created. The choice of the lecturers, the direction of their instructions to the points most likely to profit by them, and to the subjects most useful, &;c., might be left to the management of the general superintendent. I come now to consider the subject of direct pecu- niary support. To make any impression at all, the colonial Govern- ment must be prepared for a liberal expenditure. It appears by the "Memorandum" before me, that the estimation in which " the schoolmaster" is held by the colonists, and especially the Boers, has been, from divers causes, unhappily lowered. It has, there- fore, not to be merely maintained, but raised from its present degradation. The most broadly intelligible and universally re- cognised social distinction in civilised society, is that 288 APPENDIX. of apparent wealth. Abstraction made of the im- portance conferred by being engaged in the Govern- ment service, and in offices of trust, the salaries of civil servants to a material extent mark their status in the communities in which they live ; so far at least as this — that it is not in human nature that a service which is considered as adequately remunerated by a salary barely^ sufficient to maintain an individual, insufficient for a family, and accompanied by no power, no privilege, no honorary circumstances of any description, but on the contrary associated with proverbial drudgery, should carry with it any share of public respect. It is to the extreme lowness of the salaries named in the " Memorandum," that I am disposed to attribute the effect complained of, quite as much as to the disreputable conduct of the indivi- duals there alluded to. I should consider 150Z. as the very lowest remuneration which ought to be secured to a schoolmaster on the Government establishment, with his house, and the present etceteras. "Whatever hope may be entertained of being one day enabled, under a better general system, to supply masters, colonially educated, for the schools, judging from the tenor of your "Memorandum," I should conceive that no such idea can exist at present. If, therefore, the schools are to be re-organised on a more efficient plan than heretofore, there seems no practi- cable way of filling up the existing vacancies, other than by resorting home. And although an induce- APPENDIX. 289 ment of no higher attraction than 80/. or 100/. per annum did^ many years ago, most fortunately secure, among six persons engaged, two such men as Mr. Innes and Mr. Robertson, yet, in the first place, it should be recollected that it proved inadequate to retain them ; and, in the next, that it is more than doubtful whether, on any thing like an average, such men could now be allured hither by any such pro- spect. On resorting home for candidates for vacant ap- pointments now existing, or likely to occur within a few years, a question of moment at once arises, viz. Whether the clerical profession, or the declared in- tention of taking orders, shall be regarded as an indispensable requisite in their qualifications. My own impression is, that it decidedly ought not. Independent of the thorny question of religious dis- tinctions, the field of competition is thereby narrowed to less than the hundredth part of its natural extent. It may be argued that the colony is deficient in clergy- men of established persuasions. But so it is also in medical and surgical practitioners, in engineers, in surveyors, in artists of a thousand descriptions, among which classes liberal education is now very generally diffused in- Great Britain, and among which men may be found in abundance who have exercised those pro- fessions or arts with ill success, but with no fault, or who, though educated for them, have been discour- aged from entering on them as a means of livelihood o 290 APPENDIX. by their enormous competition. Men admirably qualified for every purpose of education, of blameless life, and of the soundest Christian principles. In some points of view, indeed, men of these classes may be regarded as even better adapted for the business of teaching in this country than merely clerically educated candidates. Supposing them to be guaran- teed by previous character, competently imbued with classical knowledge, and armed with Scripture as their text book, there is no ground for assuming that they must prove inadequate teachers of religion and morality, while, on the other hand, they bring with them a knowledge of sciences and arts, of which the clergy, as a class, must be presumed comparatively ignorant ; which it is one of the especial objects of the present demand for national instruction to diffuse, and which, in the remote situations to which some of them may be consigned, may really prove of the greatest practical benefit. I am not sure that I fully understand the scope of that part of your "Memorandum" in which you propose a clerical profession or destination of the schoolmaster as a means of relieving parochial minis- ters of a part of their laborious duty, and suggest a plan, the essence of which seems to be, that the masterships of schools in certain districts now regarded as Episcopalian shall be held by gentlemen intended for the English Church, and in certain other, and more numerous ones, by gentlemen educating for the APPENDIX. 291 Dutch and Reformed Church. I should differ with regret from your views on this head, but however apparently economical, both in respect of pecuniary and intellectual resource, I must consider the plan in question as open to serious objections ; the chief of which is its tendency to perpetuate a line of religious demarcation between particular districts and localities in the colony, with the obnoxious feature of national distinction superadded. That certain localities are, in fact, at the present moment more especially inhabited by persons of En- glish extraction, to whom Episcopalian institutions are familiar, and certain others by persons of Dutch origin, imbued with a respect for their national forms of worship, and that in consequence it may be pru- dent, politic, or just, for the present to allow this accidental circumstance a share in the choice of can- didates, it would be idle to dispute; but it is one thing to give a temporary weight to temporary cir- cumstances, another to lay down a rule of action, the effects of which will be felt the generation after next. As to the general policy of making the masterships of the Government schools a passage to the parochial ^ ministry, independently of the above consideration, I should fear that a system which holds out as one of the inducements to enter into it, the prospect of speedily quitting it for another more lucrative or more respectable, would be little likely to engage the o 2 292 APPENDIX. hearts of its professors, or stimulate their zeal in the discharge of its duties. To make the profession of education truly respectable, it must be made an in- dependent profession ; one within the pale of which an ample reward may be found, and without quitting which proficiency may be followed by promotion. It is only when the sphere of promotion may be too narrow to admit of adequate stimulus, that general prospects of advancement in life, or preferment in a collateral profession, may be called in aid ; but then it should be recollected that ^such prospects, when made to stand in the place of salary for service done, constitute, not claims but debts ; and if not realised (even by reason of the subsequent misconduct of the parties induced by them to embark in a profession) afford just grounds of serious complaint. On the other hand, when service done is fairly paid for on an average scale, when without holding out promises or prospects, it is found, by experience, that to fall below the average is speedily visited with dismissal, and to exceed it, with promotion in the line best suited to the talents of the individual, then and then only can we hope to get out of men all the good that is in them ; and it would really seem that the stock is inexhaustible. Supposing, however, the present exigencies pro- vided for, the vacancies filled up, and the system in satisfactory action, there can be no doubt that an adequate supply of teachers for the future might be APPENDIX. 293 relied on without going, except perhaps occasionally, beyond the limits of the colony in their selection. A constantly progressive standard could be kept up by means of the South African College in Cape Town, and a similar or better institution, which if not now, ere long it is to be hoped, will be established at Graham's Town. The means of bringing this stand- ard to react on the schools I shall consider pre- sently ; and this brings me to the last, and not the least powerful of the means possessed by Govern- ment of promoting the cause in hand, viz. the encou- ragement and reward of proficiency (accompanied by general good conduct) on the part of the pupils, as well as of the teachers ; and such general elevation in the condition of the latter as the mere weight of Government, and the routine of service, unattended with additional expenditure, can command. To begin with the masters. One such obvious mode of encouragement is to place each new master, on his entry into the service, on the minimum scale of salary (150Z.), but to increase his emolument, and at the same time make it in part depend on his exertions on the principle suggested and acted on by the exist- ing school commission. ( Vide Memorandum, Art. 2.) This, however, supposes scope for exertion, and a population in the neighbourhood numerous enough, and sufficiently impressed with the value of educa- tion, to answer increased exertion by increase of numbers. o 3 294 APPENDIX. When this is not the case removal to more pro- ductive stations on the recommendation of the gene- ral superintendent, on the occurrence of vacancies, is the next and most obvious means of encouragement ; and the longer the gradation, and higher the ultima- tum, the more powerful and universal in its opera- tion would this motive prove. The establishment of a Superannuation Fund on the principle of mutual insurance, in which Govern- ment should hold the deposits, and guarantee the full amount of the calculated annuity resulting, without deduction for duty, agency, or profit, might also act as an encouragement to frugal habits on the part of the contributors, and as a means (always desirable) of freeing the establishment from persons rendered incapable by age of performing its duties, and with- held, by the prospect of destitution, from resigning their places. Consideration and honour will always act as a po- tent auxiliary to salary in commanding the services of a better class of teachers. Whatever marks of consideration it may be practicable for influential men in the community, and most especially the Go- vernment, to show to a class of persons charged with one of the most important of human duties, will be amply repaid in this manner. How far the civil administration of the country may aiford an opening for indications of such consideration, I have no means of knowing ; but the mere assigning to them a rank among Government officers, which shall class them APPENDIX. 295 as gentlemen, and entitle them to be received as such on public occasions of ceremony or festivity, would, I presume, do all that is needed. Why should not the master of a Government school at the Cape be de- clared by a Government order to rank (at the Cape) with an officer in the army or navy drawing equal pay ? If this be inconsistent with general rules of another kind, it is still worth considering whether the same end could not be accomplished by compari- son with another standard. As respects the pupils, although not altogether adverse to the system of prizes under certain limited conditions, and at certain stages of education, yet I should scarcely recommend the institution of prizes for annual competition in the Government schools. The best kind of prize which can be held out, is that which refers to the whole conduct and Jinal result of a youth's career at school ; which is a real prize, and which places him in a better situation for his start in life. The certainty, that an exact knowledge of his merits has been officially laid before an officer, whose chief pleasure, as well as whose bounden duty it is to bear these early indications of character carefully in mind, and who is in immediate connection with the sources of all public patronage and employment, is in itself such a prize. But for merit of a more distinguished kind something more distinct and im- mediate is desirable. In this view I should recom- mend that " Exhibitions," as they are called in Eng- land, or " Bursaries" in Scotland, should be founded; 296 APPENDIX. by aid of which a certain number of the best youths leaving school in each year {provided their merits surpassed a given minimum) may be enabled to meet the expense of residing two or three years at Cape Town as free students of the South African Collegfe, in the higher classes, for the completion of their education on a more extensive scale than the district schools can accomplish. In such a system of reward (which would strongly engage the feelings and in- terests of parents) an ulterior and important end is kept in view. The best plant is transplanted into the best soil, and natural capabilities brought out to advantage for future use. It is from such " exhibi- tionists" that the ranks of education itself would naturally, at a more advanced stage, be recruited. And, in pursuance of the same view, I should feel strongly disposed to urge the foundation of one or more such " exhibitions " for the purpose of maintain- ing students of that college, similarly distinguished, at one of the English Universities, with the express condition, however, annexed, of returning to the Cape, after attaining the Bachelor of Arts degree. In awarding these exhibitions, beyond all doubt the only proper judge must be the Director General, or Central Board. He or it alone would, in fact, be in possession of the annual returns "from all the schools. From these he would be enabled to make a prima facie selection, as of candidates for that award, among whom his choice might be finally determined by a variety of means equally obvious and impartial. APPENDIX. 297 His personal examination, however, would be needed to ratify that choice, and to check any disposition on the masters' part to overrate the proficiency of their own scholars. There is a point of some delicacy referred to in your " Memorandum ;" it is the case of contributions volunteered as an inducement for Government to come forward and assist in forming a school at particular places. In such cases it appears to me that Govern- ment ought to stipulate for the schools, so established, to be carried on under the same system and general superintendence as those maintained entirely at the public cost, except in so far as relates to the nomi- nation, removal (by transfer to another station) of the master, and to all other matters in which, with- out departure from fundamental principles, the wishes of the local contributors can be consulted. Should conditions so reasonable be rejected, they might be left to act for themselves, and Government might yet assist them by the grant of an exhibition durante bene placito, and by including their school in the circuit of its own itinerant lecturers. I have the honour to be, my dear Sir, Very faithfully yours, J. F. W. Herschell. February 17, 1838. THE END. NEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY ME. MURRAY. Now first published, , MEMOIRS of the COJJRT of GEORGE II. and QUEEN CAROLINE. By Lord Hervey, Vice- ChanAer- lain. Edited by the Right. Hon. John Wilson Croker. Portrait. 2 vols. 8vo. LATEST JOURNALS of Mr. BROOKE of EVENTS in B O RNEO ; with a NARRiVTivE of the Expedition of H. M. S. Iris. By Capt. Rodney Mundy, R. N. Plates and Maps. 2 vols. 8vo. 3. LIVES of LORDS LOUGHBOROUGH, ERSKINE, and ELDON. . By Lord Campbell. Completing the Lives OF THE Chancellors. 2 vols. 8vo. 4. PERSONAL ADVENTURES in MEXICO and the ROCKY MOUNTAINS. By G. F. Ruxton, Esq. Post 8vo. 6s. 5. HAND-BOOK 6f the SPANISH and FRENCH SCHOOLS of PAINTING. By Sir Edmund Head, Bart. Post 8vo. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. 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