THE CHIEF GASEITAIVE'S TERRITORY OF THE BANGWAKETSE FAMILY OF THE
BECHUANAS.
The next and third Bechuana chief from the Cape Colony is the chief
Gaseitsive, whose territory is more extensive than Montsioa's; his
southern boundary joins on to the latter, along the entire length from
east to west. His chief town is at Kanya, sixty-five miles north of
Sehuba, Montsioa's town, situated on the summit of a lofty hill, the
highest of any in this part of the country. The chief lives in a
well-built house, furnished similar to any European residence. The hill
where the main part of the town is built, slopes gradually down towards
the north, on the east and west, more suddenly on the south by a cliff,
180 feet in height, composed of rounded and well water-worn stones, from
the size of a marble to an ostrich egg, forming a hard conglomerate,
with dark brown gritty sand, and it has every appearance of having once
been a shore-line, and the back of an ancient harbour. At the bottom of
this cliff the lower town is built, and is the mission station and
church of the London Missionary Society, under the Rev. Mr. Good. This
lower town stands at the upper end of an extensive level opening,
surrounded on three sides by hills, open to the south, where a small
sluit drains the land upon which the lower town stands. The principal
road from the colony after passing through Montsioa's territory at
Maceby's station, runs due north to Kanya; the distance from the former
is sixty miles, from Molapo river; half-way, at Vaalpan Fits, is the
division between Montsioa and Gaseitsive. The country is thickly wooded
and very pretty; all to the west of this road is part of the Kalahara
desert belonging to these two chiefs. A road from Melemo's station on
the Molapo joins this, and at Vaalpan Pits a road branches off to the
left, through the desert, to Lake N'gami, a distance of 420 miles to the
chief Molemo at Leshubatabe's station, east of that lake.
The principal watering-places along this road are Moshanen Kraal, thirty
miles; Seletse, forty miles; Tans, twenty miles; Kaikai, 110, with small
pits between; Makapolo Pans, 108, also small pans along the road; Goose
Vlei, sixty-four miles beyond, and to Molemo's station, near the lake,
forty-eight. The country through which this road passes varies in
character and scenery; the lower portion passes between isolated and
picturesque hills, well-wooded to their summits with a variety of
subtropical vegetation. Mokotontuane Hills are particularly noticeable
for their beautiful flora. The plains and valleys have many Kaffir
stations with their petty chiefs, under paramount chief Gaseitsive, who
belongs to the Bangwaketse tribe of the Bechuana family. They are
Moshanen, Montsioa's old station; Seletse, Gabatane, Ses, Khokhochu,
Lutlue, Tans, and several others, as also Bushman kraals where large
herds of cattle are kept.
The people are quiet and inoffensive, living the same kind of life their
forefathers lived, thousands of years before. The men have their skin
mantle, the women also, with their short kilt, beads of ostrich eggs,
also brass wire from Kanya, for feathers, karosses, skins, and other
native produce.
The climate is almost perfect; no frosts in winter, which is the dry
season, as rain rarely falls between April and October. Lions, wolves,
leopards, and a host of the cat tribe, some of which are beautifully
marked and make handsome karosses, which fetch a good price, are
numerous over the whole of this part.
The main transport road, already described, from Maceby station on the
Molapo, in Montsioa's territory, to Kanya, is the only road now open
from the Cape Colony to the interior, for carrying on the colonial trade
with the native tribes beyond, as now settled by the late Transvaal
Convention. All the others passing northwards go through that Republic
and are subject to a heavy tax, consequently they are closed to us.
Previous to the Transvaal rebellion, we had six different roads for
conveying merchandise from our two colonies, Natal and Cape Colony, free
from taxation. The interior trade from Natal is entirely closed against
English traders, in consequence of the distance being too great to go
round to the only one now left to us. The other main roads to Kanya,
besides the one already described, pass through the Transvaal and
Zeerust, which has been given to the Boer Government, since Keats' award
has been so unwisely abandoned and their north-west border extended, the
result of ignorance on the part of the British Government as to the
importance of keeping in our own hands so valuable a part of Montsioa's
territory, for the purpose of greater freedom of communication with that
vast native region beyond. The transport over them would have been much
easier and cheaper, in consequence of good roads and an unlimited supply
of water. The only road we have willingly confined ourselves to, from
Maceby's to Kanya, has only one permanent water, at Vaal-pan-pits, for
sixty miles with a heavy road, which for heavy transport-waggons is a
loss to the trader. The roads which the colonial trade passed over, now
closed to us by the extension of the Transvaal boundary beyond Keats'
award, which should have been maintained, are as follows: From Kimberley
to Taungs. Melema on the Molapo to Rinokano, and the river road along
the Limpopo or from Rinokano to Kanya by two routes; another is _via_
Maamousa; a fourth passing along the open plains by the two salt-pans,
and the other two, one to the north of Bloemhof, and from that town by
the Vaal river roads--all concentrating on Molapo and Molmane, then
through the new land given to the Transvaal by the Convention. This is
the position in which the British Government has placed the two colonies
with regard to the interior trade.
The country through which these roads pass to Kanya is very lovely, and
superior to any part of the colony. One of these passes through a drift
of the Molmane river, a branch of the Klein Marico, passing on past John
Mentji's farm; a small lake in front of the house, surrounded with
beautiful trees, and a pretty fountain at the back, with rising ground
in the distance, is a spot to be remembered. Beyond is the fountain at
Ludic's, passing between hills clothed in every variety of foliage, on
to Kanya; the distance is eighty miles. The other principal transport
road to Kanya from Rinokano passes through a more lovely country than
the one just described, the rich alluvial soil of the valleys, well
watered by fine springs, which are small branches of the Notuane river,
fine grass-lands studded with beautiful groups of trees and bush. On
every side of the road, well-wooded, lofty, and picturesque hills--they
may be termed mountains; others in the distance rearing their lofty
heads, visible between the openings of those near. The subtropical
plants, scarlet creepers climbing up and between the isolated rocks,
piled one upon another, complete a landscape seldom to be surpassed for
the beauty of its scenery.
The distance to Kanya is fifty-four miles, ten miles from Rinokano,
which is a large Kaffir station. When I first paid it a visit, an old
chief Moelo lived there. It is a mission station of the German Mission
Society, in charge of the Rev. Mr. Jansen, who is noted for his
hospitality to travellers; he has a beautiful garden well stocked with
fruit, also orange and lemon trees. Monata, ten miles north of
Rinokano, is the old station of the chief Marshelale, who, owing to the
continual inroads of the Boers from the Transvaal stealing his cattle,
removed to the other side of the mountains beyond Kanya, where Pelan
lived. This old station has now been occupied by several Bastard
families, who have built quite a town of good brick houses situated on a
branch of the Notuane river, which runs through a pass in the mountain
of great beauty. Above the poort near the springs are many Korannas;
some spoke very good English, and gave me much information respecting
the locality. Six miles beyond, the road takes a short turn to the
left, passing between high hills for one mile, the road being very steep
and stony, and a mile beyond you arrive at that singular and isolated
hill called Moselekatze Kop, a lofty conical hill; the height from its
base to summit is 275 feet, by my aneroid barometer. This is composed
of hard sandstone and shale; great quantities of ironstone, and
conglomerate in large boulders, cover the ground at the base, which
appears to have fallen from the top; the rocks round about are blue and
white metamorphic.
As my intention was to scale it the next day, I outspanned under some
fine trees close to the hill for the night, that I might be on the
topmost point at sunrise, which at that season of the year (April) is
about five o'clock; and as the sun rose above the cloudless horizon,
with the pure clear atmosphere, it threw out all the distant mountain
peaks in bold and well-defined outlines, although some of them were more
than sixty miles distant; and as the sun rose, casting the deep shadows
of the surrounding hills, and bringing out the rich green foliage of the
trees and shrubs, it was a sight seldom to be seen. There are many
cattle and vieh-posts for sheep and goats in these valleys, that belong
to the people at Kanya, and other kraals, in the country belonging to
the chief Gaseitsive.
Leaving Moselekatze Kop, going to Kanya, the road turns west, then
north-west for thirteen miles, to a deep and stony watercourse, that
comes down from the mountain two miles distant, which is a branch of the
river Tans and Sand, into the Notuane. Many picturesque sandstone hills
of every variety of form, covered with rich subtropical vegetation to
their summits, with gigantic rocks peeping out between the bushes, give
a peculiar feature to the landscape. Some of the finest tree-aloes grow
here to perfection, the stems measuring twenty-five feet, and in girth
six feet, their long light-green pointed leaves measuring four feet, and
when in bloom their many crimson flowers are beautiful objects. The
country being so lovely, I remained at this stony river three days to
sketch and prospect, and was rewarded by finding in the bed of the
river, mixed up in the large stones, ancient flint implements, that had
been washed down in heavy rains. Several of them were so jambed in
between large boulders of many tons weight, that I had to get a crowbar
to remove them. Some of these boulders measured over four feet in
diameter, showing the force of the stream and quantity of water that
falls in these thunderstorms.
The temperature at night in my waggon in April was 68 degrees, and at
mid-day 84 degrees. No large game has been seen, although the natives
tell me there are koodoos, blue wildebeest or gnu, hartebeest and
springbok.
From this river the road winds through these beautiful valleys, passing
a remarkable granite rock standing alone in the veldt, round like a
Kaffir hut, twenty feet in height, continuing on through the same kind
of country to Kanya. Another, in fact two other roads, leave Rinokano,
and go direct to Molapololo, the chief Sechele's station; one round by
Ramoocha Khotla, named after an old chief, passing through Base Poort, a
lovely spot, plenty of baboons and beautiful birds; we cross the Sand
river four times, very stony, on to Sneyman's farms, past the Spitz Kop,
another remarkable hill, over an open flat, park-like, with beautiful
clumps of trees, to Dwasberg, passing on the right Kolobekatze mountain,
leaving on the left the Quagga and Kopani hills, and on to Ramoocha,
where the chief Makose has a large station. These people belong to the
Bamankitse tribe of the Bechuana family. It is a mission in charge of
the Rev. Mr. Schonenburg, of the Berlin Society. From this kraal the
road divides, one going to Chene Chene, where the chief Maklapan lives
on the bank of the Notuane, and then to Motsode, taking the Limpopo
river road to Ba-Mangwato. The second goes direct to Molapololo; the
third to the same town, through the Kaffir station Monope, under the
chief Kuanette, of the Bahurutsi-Bamangane of the Bakatla tribe of the
Bechuana family. Monope is also a Berlin Mission station, in charge of
the Rev. Mr. Tanson.
The large Kaffir station of Monope is well situated on elevated ground,
a gentle rise from the river Coloben, a branch of the Notuane, being
protected by several large stone koptjies. The people are very quiet
and civil, cultivate extensively Kaffir corn, and make karosses, which
they sell to traders. When I first knew the people, twenty years ago,
there was not a man or woman that dressed in European clothes; at the
present time most of them are getting into the way of dressing. The men
wear clothes, and will have the best.
The Notuane river has many tributaries, that take their rise in this
territory and at Rinokano, which drains the whole of this district, and
falls into the Limpopo. The town of Kanya, as I have stated, stands on
a hill, much higher by several hundred feet than the surrounding
country. There are seven stores kept by colonial traders, who did,
before the Transvaal rebellion, a good trade with the natives in corn,
cattle, feathers, ivory, skins, karosses, and other native produce, but
which have been almost destroyed through the Boer disturbances. The
chief Gaseitsive is a quiet and peaceful man, and his son Bathoen is
also well-disposed. All the men dress in European clothes, and the
women are taking to them. It is one of the most difficult things to
change the habits and customs of a people, but in my time great strides
have been made in this direction up even to the Zambese. The large
station at Mashonen, eighteen miles to the west of Kanya, is now
occupied by this chief's people, since Montsioa left to live on his own
ground at Sehuba. The country between Kanya and Masepa station is very
picturesque, lovely valleys, some well cultivated; many of the hills
that surround them are clothed in lovely vegetation--the euphorbia, wild
fig, and other subtropical plants; creepers of every variety climbing up
between the large masses of sandstone rocks that stand out in grotesque
forms, piled one upon another, add much to the beauty of the landscape.
Such charming scenery could not be passed over in haste, particularly
when surveying the country, which, detained me from time to time many
weeks in treking through.
The different streams that drain this part rise to the west in the
Kalahara desert and fall into the Sand, Tuns, and Coloben branches of
the Notuane river. The climate is splendid, so far as perpetual
sunshine for eight months of the year goes; the summer from December to
April being the rainy season, when severe thunderstorms and a downpour
of rain are almost of daily occurrence; but with such a long drought
vegetation does not seem to suffer.
The natives are most friendly, bringing milk, green mealies, sugar-cane,
pumpkins, anything they possess, to the waggon, in exchange for beads,
tobacco, or such trifles as they might require.
At one of my outspans, close to the highest range of hills between
Masepa and Coloben, I formed my camp under some fine trees, as it was my
intention to ascend the highest hill, to take observations with my
servant, the next day. During the night several wolves visited us; the
smell of the fresh meat in the waggons brought them nearer than was
prudent, for we shot two very large ones in the early part of the night.
Their skins are very useful for many purposes. This occurred when few
white men visited Africa; consequently, lions, wolves, and other animals
were seen and heard daily, and therefore necessary precautions had to be
taken to guard against any attack upon my oxen. In the early morning of
the following day I saddled-up my horse, and with my rifle started for
the hills. It is always a practice in such a country never to be
without your rifle, for it is impossible to say when you may require to
make use of it. Finding the hill much too steep to ride up, I led the
horse along a winding path between bushes and trees, and reached the
top, which was level and open. The view from this point repaid me for
the trouble of ascending. The lofty and well-wooded hills in the
immediate vicinity, the distant mountains with their rugged outlines,
clothed in purple mist, with the rich valleys beneath, was a landscape
worth looking at. The clear atmosphere brought out all the inequalities
and projecting rocks of quaint forms into prominence. I was not,
however, allowed to remain long in this peaceful solitude before I
became aware I had invaded Mr. Baboon's stronghold and look-out station.
Making a more minute survey of my surroundings, I observed that many of
the trees and bushes concealed one or more of these monkeys, and others
perched upon rocks not far off intently watching my movements. Not a
sound escaped them; I believe the presence of my horse had much to do
with keeping them quiet, for horses then were never seen in those parts.
If I had been alone some of the old ones might have given me trouble;
many of them appeared to be nearly my own size. To see what effect a
shot would have, I fired one chamber of my revolver. Then the music
commenced--barks, screams, half-human grunts sounded from a hundred
different places as they scrambled from branch to branch to gain cover
amongst the rocks and small caves in the side of the hill, which, in
days long since passed away, were occupied by Bushmen. The height of
this elevation was 4560 feet above sea-level.
On arriving at my waggon I found one of my oxen stuck in a mud-hole, and
with difficulty released him and proceeded on to Masepa, the petty chief
Pelan's station, where the Kaffir women brought me thick milk, which is
very good and acceptable in this hot weather. There are many Kaffir
stations along these roads of the Bakwana and Bangweketse tribe of
Bechuana, who live under their respective chiefs. From my earliest
visits in this country, up to the present time, the Boers have been a
murdering and unprincipled people, over all these parts, stealing the
native cattle and encroaching on the land. In 1852 Dr. Livingstone, in
a letter to Sir John Pakington, states,--"Frequent attempts were made by
the Transvaal Boers to induce the chief Sechele to prevent the English
from passing him in their way north; and, because he refused to comply
with this policy, a commando was sent against him by Mr. Pretorius,
which, on the 30th September last, attacked and destroyed his town,
killing sixty of his people, and carried off upwards of 200 women and
children. I can declare most positively that, except in the matter of
refusing to throw obstacles in the way of English traders, Sechele never
offended the Boers by either word or deed. They wished to divert the
trade into their own hands. They also plundered my house of property
which would cost in England at least 335 pounds. They smashed all the
bottles containing medicine, and tore all the books of my library,
scattering the leaves to the winds; and besides my personal property,
they carried off or destroyed a large amount of property belonging to
English gentlemen and traders. Of the women and children captured, many
of the former will escape, but the latter are reduced to hopeless
slavery. They are sold and bought as slaves; and I have myself seen and
conversed with such taken from other tribes, and living as slaves in the
houses of the Boers. One of Sechele's children is amongst the number
captured, and the Boer who owns him can, if necessary, be pointed out."
The above statement is perfectly true in every particular. This
murderous attack on Sechele and his people took place at Monope, and the
old men at the station took me up into one of the stone hills close to
the town, and showed me the small cave, about ten feet square, in the
side of the hill, where Sechele and his wife took refuge with several
guns and ammunition, and were pursued by the Boers, who kept up a
constant fire into the cave, whilst Sechele and his wife, protected by
the projecting rock, kept them off, Sechele firing, whilst his wife
loaded the pieces. And the Kaffirs called my attention to the
bullet-marks on the opposite rocks, where portions of the bullets still
remained. Finding that Sechele shot a Boer whenever he showed himself,
killing five, they withdrew, and Sechele and his wife came out. After
this affair Sechele went a few miles north with his people, and settled
at Coloben, and then on to his present station, Molapololo. There is no
denying the fact that the Boers, from the time they crossed the Vaal
river into Transvaal, have been a greater curse to the country, wherever
they have set foot, than Moselekatze ever was when he marched north from
Zululand. Some think they are excellent pioneers in a new country.
They advance into native territories, killing the people by thousands,
enslaving women and children, robbing them of all their lands and
cattle, and occupying their country, with no ulterior benefit to
themselves or others, but merely as a field for further cruelties and
spoliation of native races, so that the country may be cleared of them,
but not for civilisation or improving the country, because they leave a
dark spot wherever they settle from the ruthless cruelties they
perpetrate upon unoffending and innocent people. Are they then good
pioneers? All the sophistry in the world cannot make it right. To
murder, enslave, and rob innocent human beings, living on their own
lands, who have done no harm, and have as much right to live and enjoy
their own as any other people, black or white, that they should be so
ruthlessly treated by men who profess Christianity and to be a
God-fearing people, is an anomaly, and cannot be tolerated by a just and
upright people like the British nation. And yet these atrocities are at
the present moment being carried on in Bechuanaland by the Boers of the
Transvaal and Orange Free State and other scum of European nationality,
who have lost all sense of honour and justice, for the purpose of
gaining a footing in the country; and we allow them to commit these
lawless and criminal acts unchecked. They do not even civilise or
improve the country they take. Look at the Transvaal; for forty years
the Boers have had possession of it. What is it now? No more civilised
than when they entered it, but the contrary. The Boers are more
demoralised, as we know, who know them. Their acts alone are a
sufficient answer to this question, and South Africa will not advance in
prosperity and wealth until the Boer element is brought to a sense of
justice; and that will never be while the Boers hold an independent
position in the Transvaal.
The population of the Bechuanas in Gaseitsive's territory, including
those under the chief Kuanette at Monope and Pelan at Masepa, does not
exceed 35,000, exclusive of Bushmen; and against this the entire white
population of the Transvaal at the present time does not exceed 40,000,
including English and other nationalities. Then why should this handful
of men be allowed to keep all South Africa in a perpetual state of
disquietude, to the immense injury of the trade of the country? The
gold re-discoveries, however, will settle this question, and that within
the next year or two. The bulk of the most intelligent and influential
Boers are determined to be annexed, and the hoisting of the British flag
is only delayed by the savage, ignorant "Doppers," with whom the diggers
will make short work whenever they think fit to do so. The population
now cannot be less than 50,000, of whom 20,000 are Europeans, and all
fighting-men, whilst the Boers cannot muster more than 10,000, of whom
the half are on our side.