“On our arrival in Mossel Bay, we were most kindly and hospitably

welcomed by Mr. Obeen, a worthy Dane, long settled here, and whose name

has been frequently and respectfully mentioned by travellers who have

visited this place. He gave me some interesting information upon a

subject I had much at heart, and assured me that he did not consider this

bay as a dangerous anchorage, although exposed to the S.E. winds, which

in the offing blew with much violence, but seldom, to use the seamen’s

phrase, ‘blew hard.’ During the period of his residence here, more than

thirty years, he could remember more than one hundred vessels having

anchored here, not one of which ever met with an accident whilst riding

in it. An Englishman, named Murray, traded here ten years; though his

vessel was at last stranded on its passage round Cape Lagullos, which I

apprehend to be one of the greatest dangers on this part of the colony,

and should be accordingly avoided, not only by coasters, but by all

vessels. There is no reason why any should approach this dangerous point;

on the contrary, they may generally insure a quicker passage by keeping

a good offing; and as the coast, and the set of the currents are better

known, the danger will vanish in a great measure.

“We were so much struck with the situation of this bay, as an outlet for

the produce of the most valuable part of the colony, that we employed

ourselves on each day that we remained here in making such observations,

and obtaining such information as might direct our judgment in forming a

correct opinion as to the possibility of its being adopted as a depôt.

From the soundings we took, we became convinced that a mole carried out

about one hundred yards to the N.E. from a point running off from the

spot where the magazine is built, would give effectual shelter to as many

coasting vessels as might be employed in taking off the produce, not only

of the immediate neighbourhood, but of the Large Kloof. From two and a

half fathom to three and a half might be found the whole length of the

mole, and this might easily be formed by rolling masses of rock from the

elevated ground into the water without any artificer’s work. Such a mole

might be increased to any extent, that the trade might demand. Such moles

are formed in every part of the Mediterranean—witness Palermo, Messina,

Naples, Civita Vecchia, &c. &c., and particularly Gibraltar, where a mole

for refitting ships of the line is formed in seven fathoms water, exposed

to the whole fury of a western gale. Hence it is evident that a mole in

Mossel Bay of such immense value to the surrounding country, would be no

idle or useless speculation.

“Thirty labourers under an active superintendant would perform a

considerable part of this work in the course of a year; and the blocks of

stone, lying at hand on the shore, would soon form the foundation.

“I believe that the opinion I have ventured to offer respecting the

general fertility of the soil, and its adaptation to the growth of corn,

throughout the whole extensive tract comprehended between the Swartberg

and the sea, from the Gauritz to the Kayman on which the Capital of the

district of George is situated, will be confirmed by the general voice

of the inhabitants. It requires only an industrious and an increased

population, with an outlet for the produce, to bring it into the most

extensive and successful cultivation; for even the sour grass so

destructive to sheep and cattle, I was every where assured disappears

from the soil, when the plough comes upon it. With respect to manure,

let those who have travelled into the interior of the country say, what

immense heaps are collected in the immediate vicinity of the houses on

all the farms, especially on the cattle farms; of which no use whatever

is made; as the farmer prefers breaking up new land, which he is always

enabled to do from the improvident system of granting farms of such an

immense size. The consequence is, that the heaps of manure annually

accumulate, and the heavy rains falling upon them, bring away noxious

streams; which, where the ground is level, form into stagnant and fetid

pools, to the great danger of the health, if not of annoyance to the eyes

and noses of the inhabitants, accustomed to such objects.

“A considerable and a valuable fishery might also be carried on in

Mossel Bay. There is a great demand for salted fish in every part of

the interior for food for the slaves, and the Mahometans; and a very

profitable traffic might be carried on in this article, and be the means

of removing another great hindrance to agricultural progress; for the

division of labour, which does so much in all other countries, by leaving

to those who have been brought up to any particular calling the exercise

of the skill and talents they have acquired in it, is almost lost sight

of in this colony. The farmer, instead of devoting all his energies, his

people, his capital, and his time, to the improvement of his estate,

becomes his own carrier to a distant market, his own wood cutter,

carpenter, wheelwright, fisherman, &c., and makes but a very indifferent

figure in each capacity, when compared to those who confine themselves to

one distinct branch. Fishing is another very great source of temptation

to the Boor, and suits well with his restless and migratory habits.

Those even at a very considerable distance from the coast, will embark

their whole family, labourers, slaves and all in their wagons, provided

with seines, and other fishing gear, and salt; and proceed to the coast

in the larder[25] season, where they will encamp and remain for weeks

catching and curing fish, and at the same time enjoying all the pleasures

of the chase where game abounds. This recreation and enjoyment is only

censurable when the more important concerns of the farm and its produce

are neglected, and the public interest consequently suffers from the high

price of the necessaries of life, or what amounts to the same thing,

from the very high rate of exchange on remittance bills to the mother

country for want of the means of carrying on an expert trade. But upon

this subject the Dutch farmer has views and ways of thinking peculiarly

his own. In conversation with one of them upon the subject of the high

price of grain, he said, ‘Why Commissioner, I would rather it even were

at one hundred rix dollars a load than at fifty, although the high price

might arise from a scanty crop, on my own farm, as well as on those of

my neighbours; for in the former case, one wagon would take one hundred

dollars worth to market, and in the latter case it would require two.’

This hereditary calculator never had taken it into consideration, that by

superior talent and energy his farm might have produced its full amount,

and that he would have shared in the high prices caused by the neglect of

others.

“A few days before our arrival in Mossel Bay, a schooner belonging to

Mr. Van Rienan had come in there, and he had disposed of a considerable

quantity of iron, tea, sugar, wine, brandy, coffee, together with a

large stock of European manufactures, by auction, for money only, at

six months’ credit. A most ruinous system, holding out the strongest

incentive to extravagance and intemperance. The profits upon these

cargoes, or rather the difference between the original and the last

prices paid upon them, were stated by the purchasers to be 100 per

cent. and they were probably not above the fact in their estimate.

The temptation of long credit alone induced them to buy under such

circumstances, and the prices were farther supported by a monopoly in the

trade, arising from a want of competition, leaving the whole in the hands

of one enterprizing man.

“On the 11th of December we quitted Mossel Bay, at three p.m., on our

way to the Gulbecks River, on the banks of which we were to halt for the

night. The road winding round the N.W. shore of Mossel Bay, although

very rugged and difficult in many places, might with a little exertion

be rendered tolerable, if not good. Having ascended a gradual acclivity

of about five miles from the Bay, we had a most magnificent view of

the windings of the Hartebest River, through a beautifully diversified

valley, with the Swartbergs in the back ground, their summits illuminated

by and sparkling with the rays of the setting sun, catching upon the

broken crags by which many of the heights were terminated. The house

of Mr. Mayers, who was to be our host for the night, stood upon a

gentle eminence, sloping down from the mountain towards the sea, and

commanded a splendid view of the valley, the river, and the sea, with

the whole range of coast from Mossel Bay to the Kayman. Mr. Mayers is

an example of what may be done by industry and exertion. His family

and his house were highly creditable. Hospitality, neatness, and every

appearance of domestic felicity, gave a relish to this scene which is not

easily forgotten, and would have been a subject for admiration in any

part of the world. All that struck the eye conveyed an idea of comfort

and respectability, and shewed the effect of habitual attention to

arrangement and cleanliness. A group of beautiful and orderly children

gave promise that this valley would flourish in future generations.

“Mr. Mayers had long been afflicted with rheumatism, and had almost

become a cripple, he still walked with a crutch, but was recovering. He

appeared to have lost neither energy or cheerfulness. When one of our

party remarked to him how fine a family he had, his answer seemed to come

warm from his heart, and his feelings glistened in his eyes, while he

said, ‘Yes, and that was the reason why I was so anxious to recover my

health, that I might see them respectably brought up.’

“The most serious of all wants experienced by the colonial farmers in

general, is the great distance from all means of religious instruction. I

have already shewn how much property increases in value by lying in the

neighbourhood of a church; and the people are generally willing to make

sacrifices, in order to have places of worship amongst them. From Caledon

to George, a distance of a hundred miles, there is no church; and all the

families in the intermediate space are obliged to go either to the one or

to the other town for marriages or christenings; indeed they often, if

not generally, availed themselves of their occasional journies to Cape

Town with the produce of their farms, for these purposes. Impressed with

the deplorable state of ignorance, and in too many cases of vice, in

which some of the Boors’ families were living, for want of the care of

a pastor, I subsequently wrote to the Bishop of London, and stating the

effects produced by the exertions of the Moravians as an encouragement,

I ventured to suggest that Ministers of the Church of England should

be sent out, and located in different parts of the colony, where they

might live comfortably and respectably, on a very moderate income,

assisted by a certain portion of land; and I added, that were a clerk to

accompany the minister, a man of well known good character, and skilful

as a mechanic, particularly as a carpenter, mason, or blacksmith, it was

certain that a village would rise up in a very short space of time, and

that the religion as well as the language of England would rapidly spread

throughout the colony.

“The scene round the country churches on sacrament Sundays, which occur

about four times in the year, resembles a large fair, from the wagons

coming from every part of the country within a day’s journey of the

church, and sometimes even from a much greater distance. They remain the

whole day, and not unfrequently for several days together in the rainy

season, from the country being flooded. The people upon these occasions

also, as well as upon their more distant journeys, inhabit their wagons,

with the exception perhaps of a few, who may find accommodation with

friends residing near the church; but this general and periodical

assemblage too often leads to conviviality and intemperance, which

entirely defeat the religious intention of the journey, and render the

sacred rite which was intended for their benefit an additional cause

of iniquity. That there are many striking exceptions to this line of

conduct, I have already endeavoured to shew; but the effect of such a

state of things upon the great mass of uneducated people, must be evident

to every one who knows the propensities of mankind. It does then become a

most imperative duty on the mother country to administer to the spiritual

wants of her distant population, and neither labour nor expense should

be spared; though in this case, but little of either is required. The

bare selection of fit persons as pastors, with a very moderate income,

say £300 per annum, with a grant of land and proper encouragement to a

pious and skilful mechanic, as a clerk, would be all that is required,

for a considerable extent of this fertile wilderness, for such it may be

well termed, both in a moral and an agricultural sense. The respectable

character of Mr. Meyers, will at the same time account for and justify

this digression.

“This is a considerable corn farm, called Hartenbosh Kraal. In tolerable

years the return is about twenty bushels for one, which although it falls

far below the produce of many other parts of the colony, especially

where new lands are brought under cultivation, is nevertheless a fair

average, but here again the great want is a market. Mr. Meyers assured

me, that could he procure forty rix dollars the load for his corn at

Mossel Bay, he would employ every one of his people in cultivating his

land, but that he could not afford to send it to the Cape. He had three

hundred head of cattle, forty horses, and a large flock of sheep; the

latter, however, were very subject to the rot, in consequence of the sour

grass. The large cattle were in excellent order.

“On the 12th December we left this interesting family, deeply impressed

with their kindness, and with all we had seen there. We were obliged to

wait till ten o’clock, before we could proceed on our journey, in order

that the tide might be out in the rivers we had to pass, and enable us to

ford them; these were the Grilbeck, and the great and little Braake. The

Grilbeck is a tributary stream to the little Braake. We crossed them both

near the confluence, the first about fifty yards in breadth, but at the

time not more than two feet deep; the latter is a considerable stream,

and in some parts of our passage nearly five feet in depth. The country

between these rivers is irregular, and sometimes precipitous. The valley

between the great and little Braake had the appearance of much fertility.

The road winds round the southern slope of a range of hills diverging

from the great chain of mountains, which runs parallel with the coast,

and stretches towards the sea. We crossed the great Braake about a mile

from its mouth, where it was lost at this period in a high ridge of sand

stretching across it, but which of course gives way to the winter’s

torrents. This blockade is of such constant occurrence, as to deprive the

great Braake of all prospect of being made navigable. This river was not

broader where we crossed it than the little Braake, but its banks were

steeper, and the depth much the same. In winter it must be a tremendous

torrent, from the great declivity of its bed, and the steep and

precipitous ravines running into it. From the summit of a high hill on

the eastern side of the great Braake we had one of the finest prospects

we had as yet enjoyed. It comprehended a most magnificent combination

of mountain, plain, deep wooded dells, the windings of the rivers, and

a most extensive line of the sea coast, including the whole of Mossel

Bay and Cape St. Blaize, the view extending and losing itself in the far

western distance. This spot called forth a rapturous description and

admiration from Lichtenstein, and well deserves both.

“We now approached the great forest of Uitenhage land, and already saw

fine timber trees skirting the southern slope of the Swartberg, and

flourishing in increased luxuriance in the deep ravines, where they

derived nourishment from the alluvial soil continually carried down by

the rains. The vegetation of these dells is rank and productive beyond

expectation, especially when contrasted with the stunted production of

the plains we had been so long traversing.

“From the great Braake to the Mudzikammer we crossed an elevated plateau,

well cultivated in many parts. The grass however is sour, and unfit

for grazing; but this pernicious quality wears off after having been

turned up by the plough. Here we had the first view of the rising city of

George, the chief town of the district; also the new road into the Lange

Kloof, made in the pass of a mountain called Craddock’s hing, after the

Governor in whose time it was begun, Lord Howden.

“The traveller is greatly deceived in his estimate of the distance from

his first sight of George, after having ascended the heights on the left

bank of the great Braake; to all appearance he thinks he could ride it

with ease to himself and his horse in an hour and a half; but the road is

so crossed by deep ravines, no appearance of which present themselves,

that we spent more than four hours in reaching that place.

“The banks of the Mudzikammer are most formidably precipitous, and here

was the steepest pass we had met with over any river. On reaching it

we found a wagon stuck in the bottom of the only narrow road which led

across the river, and in such a manner as precluded all possibility

of our getting over until it was removed. This is a circumstance that

frequently occurs, and the driver of the arrested wagon bears his

detention with the utmost degree of philosophy. He proceeds to light his

fire, and cook his meals, and then goes quietly to sleep, well knowing

that he is the master of the pass, and that none can proceed either east

or west until he is extricated; he is sure therefore of the assistance

of the first span of oxen or horses which may come. This extrication

must have fallen to our lot, had we not preceded our wagon on horseback

and found a person waiting for us at this place, with information that a

relay of horses had been sent for us to the pass of the Palmiet River,

about a mile higher up the ravine. We accordingly turned off in that

direction, and passed the Palmiet River, or more properly speaking the

Palmiet bog, for no water was visible. This was not effected without

great difficulty, even with fresh and vigorous horses, which had been

kindly sent by Mr. Van Kemper, the Landroost of George. It is a deep

slough, formed by the decayed roots of the Palmieto; and the waters

oozing from the surrounding ravines, in dry weather not being in a

sufficient quantity to form a stream, stagnate among the roots. The wagon

sunk into the floating mass up to the axle-trees; but what increased the

difficulty was the very steep height of the opposite bank, which was

to be ascended after getting over. The ground is so unequal that it is

almost impossible for the horses to draw together; but every effort is

made by the whip and the voice to urge them to simultaneous exertion,

and is generally successful. It was at length overcome, and we proceeded

gaily on the road to George, where we arrived at half-past five o’clock,

and were most cordially received and welcomed by our excellent friend the

Landroost.

“The town of George is increasing rapidly under the animating and

paternal direction of their excellent and amiable Landroost, Mr. Van

Kemper. The streets cross each other at right angles, and the houses

are built at such a distance from each other, as to place each in the

midst of a garden. The principal street is nearly a mile in length, and

is terminated on one side by the Landroost’s house, a comfortable and

substantial residence. There is a neat little church, also a court house,

surgeon’s house, and a gaol.

“The inhabitants of George at the time of our visit did not exceed six

hundred. Their chief employment when not engaged in building, was in

cutting wood in the forest of Uitenhage land, to send to Cape Town; some

of them were engaged in cutting wood near Plattenberg Bay for the naval

department.

“The expediency of Mossel Bay being made a port for the shipment of the

produce of this district was the universal theme of conversation at

George. It was justly considered that inestimable advantages would result

from such a measure being adopted, not only to this part of the country,

but to the Lange Kloof, and the whole eastern portion of the colony. All

concurred in opinion that corn and every other essential of life could be

raised to any extent were but the means of export open to them.

“The complaint of wanting manure was heard of for the first time at

George, and this may be accounted for by the very few cattle which are

kept in the vicinity on account of the sour grass; but the immediate

neighbourhood of the forest offers a never failing resource from the

abundance of vegetable matter in a state of decomposition and full of

fertility. The sour grass also, as has already been observed, will

disappear with cultivation.

“The church is a heavy building in the Dutch taste, but sufficiently

large to contain the population of the town and immediate neighbourhood.

It is kept in the neatest order internally and externally, and

notwithstanding its grotesque architecture, forms a fine feature when

relieved by the dark foliage of the forest in the back ground, with the

Swartberg receding in the distance. The ground on each side the streets

is marked out in building lots, ready for sale. A given time is allowed

for building a house on an established plan, and after the period is

expired, the owner is made to pay fifty rix dollars per annum until it is

finished. The place is remarkably well supplied with water from springs

rising at the foot of the Swartberg, and which is led in channels through

every street and into every garden.

“The town of George was began in 1812, under the government of Sir John

Craddock. Considerable progress had been made during the five years which

had elapsed. Artificers of all descriptions find abundant employment.

Carpenters, masons, blacksmiths gain from one and a half to two rix

dollars a day, a much lower price than what is paid at the Cape, nor

is the difference in the price of provisions such as to justify the

reduction. Consequently none but people of a very common skill in their

employments will remain there, as every thing finds its own level in this

colony as elsewhere, employment only is wanting.

“No medical man had yet offered for the town of George, notwithstanding

a house was provided for him. This was severely felt; a child was

dangerously ill without the possibility of medical advice being obtained;

we ventured to prescribe such treatment as would have been adopted in

our own families under similar circumstances, which was providentially

successful.

“Amongst the new inhabitants of George, the saddler appears to be the

most industrious, and deservedly the most flourishing. He not only

carried on an extensive business in his own line throughout the Lang

Kloof and the eastern parts of the colony, but was also a principal

builder at George, and an improver of land. He had formed a large

reservoir of nearly one hundred feet square, in the neighbourhood of his

house, by which he is enabled to keep all his grounds under cultivation

in the dry season.

“On the 14th December we went to visit a missionary establishment at

Hoet Kraal, where we found a solitary missionary of the Presbyterian

persuasion, who had been settled there several years before. His progress

among the poorer classes and the Hottentots had not been rapid, nor with

his limited means and unassisted efforts could it have been expected.

He has by his own labour erected a building, which answers at once for

a chapel and school house, and may contain from two to three hundred

people. He has built a small cottage for his own dwelling, and has also

a large and very productive garden, with abundance of vegetables. Nearly

three hundred Hottentots with their families have settled near him, and

many of them manifest much intelligence and industry; are increasing in

comforts; and are following the example of their brethren in Genadendahl

in their advance towards civilization; although they are in want of many

useful articles which these obtain from the Moravians.

“Mr. Pachault, the missionary here, has the character of being a most

worthy, pious, and consistent man; he devotes himself entirely to the

performance of the duty he has undertaken, and appears to derive great

happiness from the employment. His flock seem to reverence him with

filial affection, and what is a still more striking proof of the mildness

and the usefulness of his conduct, the inhabitants of the district are

all loud in his praise. We attended divine service, which consisted of

a hymn sung by the Hottentots, whose wild and untaught notes were still

more delightful, or at least affecting, than those at the Moravian

establishment. This was followed by a sermon in Dutch, which was received

with very marked attention; and he then expounded the seventh chapter of

St. Matthew, verse by verse, in a manner which appeared to my companions

who were acquainted with the language, calculated to leave the most

salutary impression upon the minds of his hearers.

“A Hottentot boy of twelve years old is Mr. Pachault’s assistant, and

acts as schoolmaster. His scholars are said to make a great proficiency.

This boy has an additional finger on each hand.

“From Hoot Kraal we visited Wyt Fonteyne, a beautiful spot upon the

skirts of the forest, near the town of George, belonging to Mr. Van

Kervel. He is building a house of some magnitude there, delightfully

situated, and in the neighbourhood of the finest forest scenery in

the world. A great variety of stately trees abound there, and a most

extraordinary creeper, the wild vine, called by the natives the Bavian’s

tew (or the baboon’s rope, as these animals climb the trees by them,)

which having crept up the trunk, and over-run all the branches, hang down

in all directions in a most extraordinary and picturesque manner, having

sometimes the appearance of a large ship coming out of a severe action.

“We were delighted with our Sunday at George; the day was remarkably

fine, and the inhabitants of the district had assembled from great

distances to attend the service of the church. They arrived in numerous

wagons, which were collected round the church. The clergyman, Mr. Harold,

is a very respectable man, his congregation is always numerous, but

particularly on sacrament days, which are once in a month; when all

who can attend, make a point of doing so; a convincing proof of their

favourable disposition towards religion. That there are many lamentable

instances of this being confined to the mere external ceremony must

be acknowledged and deplored, but the charge is not to be confined to

the Boor. It is but too common under infinitely superior advantages

of light, and knowledge, and education. The evil which appears most

generally prevalent amongst this class of people arises from the want of

education, and were this removed, they would stand high in their claim to

the respect of their brethren. The fault I allude to is cruelty to their

slaves; but this is the unavoidable consequence of slavery itself, which

debases the mind of the master, whilst it lies like a deadly incubus

upon that of the wretched bondman; too often extinguishing every spark

of good feeling in each towards the other, less frequently however in

the latter than in the former. The children of the Boor have in general

been taught to consider the slaves as brute beasts, without souls, and to

treat them accordingly; and hence comes the opposition so often made to

every effort for instructing them, or for civilizing the Hottentot. Still

we may hope that these feelings and these prejudices are fast wearing

away, and that the intelligence of the rising generation both of blacks

and people of colour, will shew the blessings of liberty upon the human

mind, a liberty which will lead him to that state in which all shall be

free indeed, to pure and life-growing Christianity, a state in which the

labourer will work for love, and the master rule in kindness, and with a

sincere desire that all around him shall be happy. This digression arises

more from a desire to vindicate than to condemn the Boor, for it is too

much the fashion to deny him any good quality.

“The benevolent and exemplary conduct of the Landroost, Mr. Van Kervel,

is producing the happiest results as regards the situation of the slaves

and Hottentots. It was delightful when driving through the town in his

wagon, to see the slave children running after it, and climbing into

it, some of them even accompanying him in his airing, uninvited, and

unrebuked. The good man quite enjoyed their happiness.

“The country produces all the necessaries of life in abundance, but they

must import their luxuries. The grapes will not ripen sufficiently to

make wine, and this is brought in general from Cape Town, at the rate of

forty rix dollars the pipe; thus adding greatly to the price; whilst the

value of the wine must be greatly lessened by being shaken in a wagon for

two hundred miles over the roughest roads than any wine ever travelled

upon.

“Several large ponds are made in the neighbourhood of the town, in the

centre of which are placed little islands for breeding rabbits and

poultry, and for securing them from the devastation made among them when

not so protected, by jackals and mooshunts, (the latter is a species

of weazle.) The enclosures to the gardens are made of large blocks of

blue clay, which becoming indurated by exposure to the sun, are very

substantial and durable.

“We here saw the slave who had been discovered by Colonel Collins in a

residence which he had made for himself in the heart of the Zitzakamma

forest; and I give the story of this extraordinary man in the words of

Colonel Collins, an officer who had been employed in ascertaining the

resources of the Colony, and from whose most valuable reports, (copies of

which I found in the Commissioner’s office in the dock yard,) much useful

information had been gained respecting the forests. Colonel Collins

says—‘Soon after we passed the Doll River, we found the former residence

of a Maroon slave, a native of Malabar, who had been brought from it

(the hut) a few weeks before in the hope of reward by the Kaffers, whom

we had been in search of. The poor fellow had been six years in this

unfrequented spot. A companion, whose grave we perceived at the distance

of several miles beyond his habitation, for the first four months cheered

his retreat, but he passed the remainder of his time without the company

of a human being.

“‘The first hut he had constructed was concealed in the woods; the second

shewed that he had built it with more confidence, for it was placed

outside the forest, and an undisturbed residence of several years having

given him reason to suppose that he might end his days in that peaceful

abode, he had begun to build on a larger scale, but had only completed

half his new mansion, when he was deprived of his possession. Whether

he supposed the land under the large wood, better than that naturally

without any, I cannot say, but he had cleared at least two acres, which

he had converted into an excellent garden, containing vegetables,

tobacco, and fruit trees, which his labour had appropriated to his own

particular use. The dung of the Elephants and Buffaloes, which are both

exceedingly numerous in that quarter, had served him for manure, a heap

of their bones, and those of Elands, Boshbocks, and other antelopes,

of whose skins he had manufactured good clothing, cut according to the

European fashion, manifested his success in the chase, or rather his

ingenuity in contriving pits and snares to catch these animals. His

industry had even extended to the baking of earthenware; and this new

Robinson Crusoe had contrived by his own exertion, to unite in his

solitude all the comforts that are enjoyed in civilized life. Indolence

had certainly no share in prompting his flight, nor had the fear of

punishment been the cause of it, for he had never committed any crime.

“‘Desirous to obtain some information respecting the country I was about

to enter, I sent for this extraordinary man. The fear of his escape,

and the weight of his fetters, had made it necessary to bring him in a

wagon thus chained. It was his master’s intention to avail himself of

his future services, but observing to him that it was possible he might

frustrate his vigilance, and draw other Maroons to the distant country he

had lately inhabited, I directed that he should be immediately taken to

the Cape, and there charged or otherwise disposed of.’

“In conversing with this energetic and interesting being, he confirmed

all that Colonel Collins had stated, and gave us many additional

particulars; amongst others, that he was frequently pursued by the

Buffaloes, which often broke down his enclosure; and that his house

was only saved by being built against a tree, and under the shelter of

its low and protecting branches. He had carried with him a quantity of

garden seeds, which produced all he required. After having been brought

to Colonel Collins by the Kaffers as before stated, and sent by that

officer to Cape Town, he received his freedom from the liberality of the

Colonial Government, who directed that it should be purchased for him,

and he became a resident at George. He appeared to be about forty years

of age, stout and muscular, full of animation, and every way answering to

the idea which would be formed of one capable of putting such a plan in

execution as he carried through.

“On the 17th December we left George on our road to the Knysna. The

scenery on the left was extremely beautiful and picturesque, from the

truly Alpine appearance of the Swartberg, the base of which is richly

clothed with a superb forest stretching in the plain, and exhausting

itself in scattered clumps, which gave the front ground a very park

like appearance. The yellow-wood tree rising to a great height without

a branch, and covered to its summit with a light green moss was

particularly conspicuous; and from its branches the Bavian’s tew hung in

the wildest profusion, giving to the tree a most fantastic form.

“On the right, the plain stretched away to the southward as far as the

eye could reach, sometimes varied with a gentle acclivity, or intersected

with a deep ravine; though but little wood is to be seen in this

direction. The grass is sour and hurtful to the cattle which graze upon

it. The Swart River skirts the lower extremity of the forest, a small but

beautifully transparent stream; a variety of trees grow so close to its

banks as nearly to cross each other, and form by their reclining position

the appearance of a rustic bridge. The foliage was broken into large

masses of deep green, relieved by the brightest tints, and these with the

catching lights as the sun emerged from flying clouds, presented one of

the most captivating prospects I had ever beheld.

“Immediately after crossing this stream we ascended a steep hill,

and found ourselves on a small level plain, on which was formerly a

Hottentot station, called Pampoo’s Kraal. It is now occupied by wood

cutters, who are employed in preparing loads of timber, plank, fellies

and naves for wheels, and all kinds of materials for wagon work, to be

in readiness to load the wagons for the Cape Town market. Many, and

these chiefly Hottentots, were busied in preparing thongs cut from hides

for the purpose of making harness. This is done by cutting the whole

hide into one circular strip about an inch in breadth. A frame is then

raised on two very strong posts, with a cross piece communicating one to

the other in the form of a gallows; the thong is then passed over and

over, in bites, until it nearly reaches the ground; when a heavy weight

is attached to it, and by means of a lever the whole turned round and

twisted, until the weight nearly reaches the cross piece, when the lever

being withdrawn, the hide untwists itself with great velocity; this

process frequently repeated stretches the hide to its proper length for

use, and gives it the proper degree of flexibility. The harness made

in this manner is very durable; and smaller strips treated in the same

manner, are used for every purpose where small ropes would be employed in

England.

“On our approach to Kayman River the country assumes features entirely

new to us, and most strikingly picturesque and bold. The pencil and not

the pen should be used to describe it. The river runs through deep and

tortuous ravines, the sides of which sometimes awfully precipitous, are

composed of strata of sand stone, on which the aloe and other plants are

seen growing from the fissures, in which a sufficiency of rich soil has

been carried by the rains to afford them ample nourishment. Other parts

of the banks sloped down to the river with a very steep descent, and the

road by which the wagons descended to the ford, was seen winding in every

direction, in order to render the descent as practicable as possible. I

could with pleasure have devoted many days to sketching this bewitching

scenery. Every step we made seemed to bring forth fresh beauties, and

solicited a fresh application to the portfolio. The difficulties and

even the dangers of the road were forgotten or unheeded. I had been left

a little way behind in taking a sketch, when turning an angle in the

road on my pursuit after the wagon, I saw it some yards beneath me with

the wheels uppermost, having overset and fallen over a descent of some

feet, where it was arrested by some shrubs and rocks. The oxen had been

liberated, and formed a picturesque group round the wreck of the wagon,

while the drivers and attendant Hottentots, as well as the servants who

had been employed in leading our saddle horses, completed the picture, as

they were endeavouring to collect the scattered cargo; a more animated,

and at the same time, a more romantic scene never presented itself to an

artist.

“Our vehicle had received but little damage, being constructed of a very

hard and durable wood; but our baggage suffered greatly, especially the

more fragile parts, such as bottles and glasses. Providentially we were

in the land of hospitality, and were well assured that we should want

but little, at whatever place we might arrive for our night’s lodging.

This event therefore was considered of very little moment, being of very

frequent occurrence, and it in no ways interrupted our pursuits, or our

enjoyment of the sublime scenery around us, where every feature was of

the grandest description. The contrast of form and colour in the several

objects was striking to a degree; and the whole seemed at the same time

to be so delightfully harmonized, shade softening into shade, that our

admiration was unbounded. The view from the western summit included the

ford and the Kayman’s Gut, as the dark precipitous and very narrow mouth

of the river is called, into which a heavy surf was rolling and expending

its fury upon the cliffs on each side in clouds of foam; while only a few

hundred yards higher up, the water was of a glassy smoothness, reflecting

the deep green tint of the foliage on its banks. The coast here is of

very considerable elevation, perhaps more than six hundred feet, and the

chasm through which this little stream finds its way to the sea is but

a few yards in breadth, whilst the sides rising abruptly to this great

height form an object of indescribable interest. The distant blue horizon

of the sea viewed from the elevation on which we were placed, cut the

cliffs nearly two-thirds of the way up, and rendered our altitude more

apparent.

“The wagon having been put to rights, and all damages repaired by the

never failing thongs of hide, we proceeded on our way down to the ford;

but to prevent a recurrence of disaster, it was carefully supported

on each side by the whole party, and reached the stream in safety. The

stream was just fordable by raising the baggage from the floor of the

wagon; it was rapid, but smooth. If the view from the summit of the hills

which overhang the banks of the Kayman was magnificent, that from the

river was hardly less striking; we stood there surrounded on all sides

by precipices and steep acclivities, with deep woods of every hue, and

no apparent outlet, except the chasm in which the waters of the river

met the roaring surf; the whole combined in forming a scene, beyond

description grand and interesting.

“In ascending the opposite hills, the view, on looking back, was equally

magnificent with that which we had previously enjoyed, although of a

different kind. The Swartberg now formed the back ground, and was seen

towering in great sublimity over those ravines, and the extensive plains

by which they were separated; and the road by which we had travelled,

winding in a most remarkable manner round the apparently precipitous

sides of the hills, excited our wonder that wheels could ever have passed

through such a country. The occasional view of a wagon crawling along,

with its enormous length of train, and its white canvass top, gave great

life to the picture. In the course of three hours after leaving the

Kayman’s Gut, we came to another pass equally celebrated by travellers

in this country, called the Fraka de Vrow, or the Maiden’s Ford. It was

not quite so steep as the Kayman’s Gut, but, if possible, more striking,

from the circumstance of the road descending into the depth of a forest

of almost midnight darkness, in which the road wound for a considerable

distance, shut out from the light of the sun. On approaching the bottom,

gleams of light were seen lighting up here and there a broken rock, or

the moss-grown trunk of a tree, and sparkling in the ripple and foam of

the brawling torrent of deep green water, which formed the little river

running through it. Near the ford the river expanded into a small lake,

in the centre of which appeared a little verdant island, with cattle

apparently grazing upon it; but this, on our approach, was found to be

only a shoal left dry by the diminution of the waters; and the cattle

belonged to a wagon, probably waiting for assistance to mount the hill.

The effect, however, of these objects, with the chequered light playing

upon them through the broken mass of rock and foliage, was extremely

beautiful.

“The weather now suddenly changed from excessive heat to extreme cold, so

that I could hardly stop to make a sketch of this romantic spot. Having

ascended the eastern bank we came upon an excellent road, but intersected

with many deep ravines. We reached Neepoth’s farm at half-past three,

where we dined; and proceeded through a country almost as picturesque

as that which we had passed, but not possessing the same grandeur of

scenery. The weather too was unfavourable to it. On approaching the widow

Wren’s, whose farm is situated in a valley near the Swartz River, we had

a fine view of a magnificent forest, with a lake in front. The forest

seemed to stretch to the sea coast on our right. We found the Swartz

River too deep to ford, and had again to unload our wagon and float it

over, crossing ourselves in a boat.

“We slept here, and found it a most miserable abode. The night was very

cold with rain, and there was no glass to the windows; still every effort

was made for our comfort by the kind hearted inhabitants of this wretched

dwelling. They soon procured us a meal of salt mutton and salad, with

tea; and we managed to get through the night very tolerably. There was a

very fine group of children, and we much regretted to see the family in

such abject poverty. I sincerely hope the younger part have grown up to

better fortune than that which seemed likely to await them.

“In the course of our journey, when employing oxen for getting over the

steep passes which our horses were unequal to effect, I had often been

struck by the manner in which the oxen were stimulated by being spoken

to by name; and I had at this place an opportunity of witnessing the

manner in which they are taught to know it. There were two enclosures,

surrounded by fences adjoining to each other, with a small wicket gate

communicating between them. In one the cows are all arranged, tied to

the fence at a few feet distance from each other, and into the other the

calves are driven. A Hottentot stands at the wicket gate, and calls for a

calf by a name which has frequently been repeated to him while sucking;

and if he comes at the call, he is immediately rewarded by being taken to

his mother. Should a wrong calf approach the wicket, he is beaten away.

They soon learn to know when the voice is addressed to them, as becomes

evident when the voice of the driver is heard; and Boschman, or Dunker,

or Engeland, &c., no sooner hear themselves addressed, than their efforts

are very visible, as they know that inattention to the sound is always

followed by the whip or goad.

“At seven a.m. we proceeded on our journey, and soon crossed the Ruchti

River, a few miles beyond which we came to the farm of Mr. Meeding, a

most respectable, industrious man, whose wife, children, and house were

all neat and cleanly. He was at this time building a new house, the frame

of which only was up, and being prepared like those intended in England

for what is called ‘brick nogging’ very much resembled a huge bird-cage.

“In the preceding night they had caught a wild dog in a wolf trap. This

is one of the most fearfully destructive animals in the country. They

generally hunt in packs, spreading over a great breadth of ground, and

having both scent and speed, it is very difficult for the object of their

pursuit to escape them. In some districts they have almost exterminated

the antelope tribe. The trap is a very simple contrivance, being a strong

frame of about eight feet long, and four broad, and four or five in

height, fixed firmly on the ground, and boarded over; a hole for entering

is left at one end, and a live sheep is tied at the further end. The wolf

in trying to reach it unavoidably passes over a board, with which is

connected a rope suspending a sliding door; the least touch is sufficient

to cast it loose, and the door falling, the wolf is enclosed, without

the possibility of escape, and is shot.

“The farmers have also traps with spring guns, by which they kill many

of these dangerous enemies of different descriptions. Colonel Graham had

been sometime before at the house of a Boor, farther to the eastward, in

a place much infested by lions, when he received the following detail of

a circumstance which had recently taken place. The farmer, assisted by

his Hottentot, had in the evening set one of these traps, and early the

following morning he went to see if any animal had been taken in it. He

used the precaution most providentially of taking his gun with him, and

coming to the place, observed that the trap had been sprung, and as a

quantity of blood was on the ground near it, and traces of the same were

seen leading to an adjoining thicket, he followed the track, looking

cautiously before him, with his gun cocked, expecting to find the wounded

animal. Instead of that, to his great horror, he saw his unhappy servant

actually lying under the paw of a huge lion, who was playing with him in

the same manner that a cat acts with a mouse it has taken, previously

to putting it to death. The farmer took a deliberate aim, and shot the

lion through the head; his death was instantaneous, and the Hottentot was

rescued from his apparently inevitable fate, very little injured by the

teeth of the lion, in being dragged from the trap to the wood. The poor

fellow it seems had been beforehand with his master in visiting the trap,

but had not thought it necessary to arm himself. The blood on the ground

was from the lion, which had been caught in the trap, and was supposed

to have extricated himself by a sudden exertion on the approach of the

Hottentot.

“Soon after leaving Mr. Meeding’s, we reached the Gowkamma, another

stream, having its source in the Swartberg, and finding its way through

broken crags and ravines, to the shores of the Knysna. Here we had a view

of a little hamlet, delightfully situated in a valley at the foot of a

gentle slope, covered with wood, with an extensive range of corn fields

on each side, and in front. On a nearer approach the forest lost much of

its imposing appearance, being composed chiefly of the milk-wood, and

other stunted and insignificant trees. There was also an extensive marsh,

which at first sight we took for pasturage; but although the hamlet lost

much of its importance on our reaching it, the scene was full of beauty.

The banks of the Gowkamma were less steep than those of the Kayman, but

at the same time highly picturesque. We were now approaching the country

of the elephants and buffaloes; both of these are dangerous at times,

but the buffalo is always so. Some time before, the horse of a Boor had

been killed by one of these ferocious animals, whilst he providentially

escaped, I believe, by taking to a tree. The event took place close to

the house we were approaching,—Turnbull’s.

“From a hill which we ascended on the left bank of the Gowkamma, we got

our first view of the Knysna, and splendid indeed was the prospect;

this beautiful harbour, for such it has proved to be, appearing like a

large lake, with a very narrow entrance from the sea, enclosed on each

side by high and rocky cliffs; the eastern side of the lake clothed

with magnificent forests to the water’s edge, green and level islands

dispersed in various parts of the harbour, offering secure pasturage to

herds of cattle. The western side of the Knysna is as bare and apparently

barren as the opposite is fertile. Those who have only seen the Knysna

from this spot would be justified in supposing that all entrance to it

from the sea was impracticable. A range of breakers is seen apparently

stretching quite across the mouth; but this arises from rocky points

running out from each shore, intersecting each other in the direction in

which they are viewed.

“On the left of the entrance, and on a gentle declivity sloping down to

the water, stands the house of the principal proprietor of this part of

the country, Mr. Rex. It is called Milkwood Kraal. The grounds round

this delightful spot had all the appearance of a park, from the clumps

of large trees dispersed over a wide extent of grass land. The house

is beautifully situated, the high hills in the back ground are clothed

with timber to the very summit; it commands in front a view of the whole

estuary of the Knysna, from the nearest part of which it is not half a

mile distant. The water in the harbour is in general smooth as a small

lake.

“We reached the banks of this beautiful river at a place called the west

ford, the only spot were it can be crossed in safety, and this only

after half ebb. On the right bank is a small plain abounding in good

pasturage for cattle, and it is accordingly reserved for an out-span

place. It is enclosed between an abrupt turn of the river and a range

of hills to the northward, finely wooded. There is a farm on the rising

ground overhanging a part of the stream, in a most romantic situation,

surrounded by the most delightful scenery imaginable, in which every

feature of the picturesque is combined; mountain and stream, cascade and

still water, precipices, over-hanging rocks, and gentle declivities,

all are included in the view, but so mingled as to excite universal

admiration.

“The water at the time of our reaching the ford being too high to enable

us to pass on horseback, we availed ourselves of some wood wagons laden

with planks, which were crossing, on which we got over dry, unloading

our wagon and taking our baggage with us. From the left bank our road

lay over a high hill, from which we had a prospect of the same character

with those which had kept our admiration on the stretch for the last

two days. On descending from this hill we had to cross a small stream

running into the Knysna, from the eastward, called the east ford. From

this place the river becomes navigable for small vessels, and a road runs

along the banks of the Knysna for wagons up to Milkwood Kraal. It was at

this time very bad, but capable of being made tolerable by carrying it

further back, out of the reach of the high tides. A quantity of underwood

skirting the forest must first be cleared away, after which the road

might be made good with little labour.

“We arrived at Mr. Rex’s at three o’clock, and were received with the

utmost hospitality. The arrival of the Cornelia Arnoldina, a small

schooner belonging to Mr. Van Rienan, the following morning, was a

remarkable coincidence. The moment we heard that she was in the offing,

we mounted our horses and galloped to the eastern head, nearly two miles,

where we had a fine view of her, entering with a light breeze, and the

disadvantage of a heavy swell, occasioning a tremendous surf on the

shore. She was loudly cheered by all our party, now tolerably numerous,

as every one from Milkwood Kraal had collected to see her. The master had

never been in before, nor had any one on board. He followed the direction

of Mr. Walker, the master of the Dispatch, and found no difficulty. The

appearance of this narrow inlet is certainly alarming. It is not nearly

as wide as the entrance to St. John’s Harbour, Newfoundland, which it

much resembles; and the projecting rocks on each side throwing back

the breakers, spread the foam a great way over, and render the passage

still more awful. But the vessel had no sooner entered the narrows than

the tide sent her through with great velocity. The wreck of the Emu was

lying under the eastern head, on the bank to which she had drifted after

striking on the rock.

“We next proceeded to inspect that part of the forest lying between the

Poort and the sea. The Poort is a pass through the great forest, running

over a very steep ridge, on each side of which are deep ravines, and

others branching out from them in various directions into the depth

of the forest, all thickly wooded, and in some instances filled with

very large timber trees. The slope from the ridge to the right is

more gradual than that on the other side, and leads to the forest of

Springfield, where the greater part of the timber for the Dutch and

English governments has been cut from the earliest period. On the left

a part of the forest overhangs some tremendous ravines, from whence

it had hitherto been deemed impossible to get out the noble timber

which is growing in them. In the present state of abundance, it is not

necessary perhaps to make the effort, but should a scarcity of valuable

timber ever be felt, there is little doubt of the energy of the Dutch

settlers procuring it from situations even still more difficult. We

were accompanied in this inspection by Mr. Rex and Mr. Squire, the

naval Resident and Inspector, and by several active and intelligent

wood-cutters, and were highly gratified with the opportunity thus

afforded us, of forming a judgment respecting the means which this part

of the forest held out, for a supply of timber and plank, for naval,

colonial, and commercial purposes.

“We returned to Mr. Rex’s with the intention of setting out early on

the following day, on a visit to that part of the great forest lying

between the Knysna and the Gawkamma, called the Levenbosch. Mr. Rex had

recommended this place as best calculated to supply the demands made by

the Navy, now that the entrance of the Knysna had been found practicable,

as the timber might be brought down to the west ford with ease.

“This part of the forest lies upon the western slope of the range of

hills, and there are none of those precipitous ravines which intersect

the country in almost all other directions; so that an admirable timber

road would soon be formed from thence to the river; even by dragging the

logs as they were cut over the hard soil of which the surface of the

intervening ground is formed, the distance from the Knysna being only

five miles. We accordingly began our excursion on the morning of the

18th. We found in the forest timber of every size and description, but

particularly the Stink wood so much required for naval purposes. I shall

reserve what we have to say on the subject of timber in general for a

chapter intended to be devoted to that purpose, confining myself for the

present to a brief account of our journey, and to a description of the

impressions made upon us by the first view of this extraordinary country.

I quite concurred with Mr. Rex in the opinion that whatever establishment

I might be permitted to form, for the purpose of procuring timber for the

Navy, should be in the Levenbosch; and I decided accordingly upon placing

it there; having the timber carried to the west ford, and from thence

floated down to the east ford, the place intended to embark it from;

where also I proposed to have a depôt of timber, and a slip for building

vessels.

“We found here a few wood-cutters with their huts on the skirts of

the wood; they were employed in sawing planks and cutting beams for

household purposes. It is impossible to conceive a more wretched degree

of mismanagement and want of energy than this little settlement offered

to our observation. In the first place it was made at an unnecessary

distance from the forest, in consequence of which, the trees when

felled, were brought to the pit with much more labour and expence than

was needful. In the next place, in order to procure a beam of nine inches

square, a tree of eighteen inches diameter when stripped of its bark was

taken and lined out, leaving the beam required in the very heart of the

tree, and cutting off all the strength in the side slabs. These again

became offal wood, in consequence of the manner in which they were taken

off; not being sawn, but chopped as Robinson Crusoe is described to have

prepared his plank.

“One of the Boors who had set up his party here, had come unprovided

with the means of supporting them; depending as he said upon finding a

supply of corn in the neighbourhood; although he must have known, that

the inhabitants never grew sufficient for their own use. He was obliged

in consequence to take his slaves, his wagon, and his oxen a journey of

five days to procure what he wanted; and at the end of this period he was

equally unsuccessful; for without any previous enquiry he proceeded to

the Gauritz River, in order to get a load of corn from a relative, which

he expected to have at a low price. The relative had none to spare, and

with great difficulty he got a supply elsewhere. To this expedition of

ten days in time, was to be added the injury done to his cattle and wagon

in passing such formidable places as the Traka de Vrow, the Kayman’s Gut,

&c. He acknowledged to have lost two of his oxen. Such improvidence was

but too frequent among the Boors.

“On our way to the woods I observed two small patches of wheat,

apparently in excellent order, but lying at a great distance from each

other. On enquiry I found that they both produced a fair amount of crop;

that the spots had not been selected on account of any particular quality

in the soil; but that the whole of the plains over which we were passing

to the forest was of the same description, and might with a very little

trouble be made equally productive; and yet there was neither energy

nor judgment sufficient among these people to induce them to devote the

labour of their slaves and cattle, for one week in the year, to growing

corn here, instead of passing many weeks on the road in search of it.

“In passing the Knysna this day, both Colonel Warre and his Hottentot

had a narrow escape. We were fording the river on horseback, and the

Colonel and his man having diverged a little from the direction in which

the others of the party were following the steps of their guide, both

disappeared; the top of the Colonel’s hat, and the floating carcase of

his attendant only appearing above water. We had scarcely time to feel

alarmed, when they were seen to emerge from the river, and to gain the

bank. They had fallen into a deep hole, of which many exist in the bed

of the river, and render it very dangerous to strangers. A smart gallop

of some miles soon dried their clothes again, and restored the Colonel

at least to comfort; that of the Hottentot probably had never been

interrupted.”

The narrative of the journey closes here, and though that journey

terminated, as has been already stated, under circumstances so

distressing to a parent’s mind, the observations which were made during

its progress, and the information which was gained, were not lost sight

of afterwards or neglected. Sir Jahleel brought back with him strong

convictions of the importance of the Cape as a Colony; while at the

same time the misery which he had seen in some of the settlers, and

the general want of that, without which earthly prosperity is but a

very doubtful advantage, led to long and reiterated efforts for the

improvement of the Colony, both in a religious and commercial view. And

these efforts might have been attended with the happiest effects, had

they been appreciated and received as they ought to have been.

Perhaps it is not saying more than is due to the profession to which he

belonged, that if ever patriotic feelings were really and effectively

developed, it was among the officers of the Navy at the close of the

last war. Accustomed to traverse the whole surface of the globe in

their country’s cause; conscious that the character, the interests,

the security of their country were entrusted to them individually;

they looked at every thing in this connection, and considered how it

might be turned towards the public good. The dream of universal empire

never crossed their minds, but the hope of universal influence was

unquestionably theirs; and while the liberties of the world seemed to

find their best defence from the flag of Britain, it was not unnatural

that men thus formed, and educated in their country’s service, should

identify the world’s welfare with the extension of their country’s power,

and think that every increase of British influence was a fresh security

for the happiness of mankind.

The Journal which has been just presented to the Reader is no inadequate

exhibition of the spirit which was at that time so characteristic of

the British Navy, and which made every officer alive to the means of

enlarging or strengthening the resources of his country.

Sir Jahleel perhaps may be thought to have had an official duty to

perform; and to have been required as Naval Commissioner to remark on the

resources which the colony included, and which might be called for by the

Arsenal at Simon’s Town. But it is evident that his views were extended

beyond any such temporary advantage; and that he delighted in describing

the resources of the colony, while regarding it as a constituent part

of the empire, as offering fresh fields for the diffusion of the

power and influence of Great Britain, and of the numberless blessings

connected with the principles which seem belonging to that influence. He

anticipated the moment when the varied surface of its territory might

be brought into cultivation by the energy and intelligence of British

settlers, and a fresh field for the manufacturing industry of the mother

country might be opened in the prosperity of the colony. He saw what the

country was, its natural advantages and capabilities; and he wished to

see those advantages improved, and those capabilities employed, by the

introduction of an active, intelligent, and well principled population.

Above all he looked forward to a time, when under the influence of the

gospel, and through its stated ministrations, that wilderness might

be made to blossom as a rose, and the desert be like the garden of the

Lord. He saw that the settlers scattered as they were along the line of

coast, and surrounded as they were with a redundancy of the means of

subsistence, were still, if contemplated in a higher sense, like sheep

scattered in a wilderness, cut off by distance from all opportunity of

religious observances, and separated from every influence that could

restrain or regulate their inclinations. The occasional insight that

he had gained into their domestic arrangements, supplied a painful

contrast with the external welfare of their condition; and he brought

back with him the conviction, that no real improvement of the Colony

could be effected, unless something was done for the moral and religious

improvement of the people. His feelings naturally led him to look to

the Church of England, as the agency by which this good work should be

undertaken; and it would have been well for the Colony, if the Church

of England had had the power of extending its influence so far; or if

the Government of the mother country would at once have given to the

church, the power of amalgamating and uniting to herself, the distant

dependencies of the Empire. Had the suggestions which Sir Jahleel Brenton

then addressed to the Bishop of London been adopted, had some large and

comprehensive scheme for the religious organization of the Colony been

introduced, it is hardly necessary to say, that the affairs of the Cape

of Good Hope would have stood on a very different footing from that which

they occupy now; and that the painful and insurrectionary movements which

have retarded its advance, and which have sown widely and deeply the

seeds of future trouble, might have probably been avoided. Had schools

and churches been generally built, and provided for at the time of which

we write, the population of the country would by this time have assumed

a more stable and advanced character. Settlers of a superior quality,

and in larger numbers would have been attracted to the Colony. The old

inhabitants would have been more attached to the British Government,

and the Hottentot population would have been reclaimed. The transition

from slavery to freedom in their case would have been more completely

accomplished, and with less disturbance to the prejudice of the Boors.

The influence of law would have been generally felt throughout the

province, and civilization would have proceeded more rapidly, while it

was pressed on principles which all could recognize, and which all felt

to be beneficial to themselves.

But it was not likely that a man situated as Sir Jahleel Brenton was,

should know the difficulties which beset every endeavour to do good,

and the obstacles which in every old and remote government retard or

hinder the efforts of benevolent individuals. He did however what he

ought, for he did what he could. He addressed to the one Bishop, who by

a strange legal fiction was supposed to be charged with the spiritual

care of the Colonies, a letter on the subject; pointing out what he had

seen, and suggesting the steps which he thought it would be desirable

to take. That the letter was read and acknowledged by the venerable

individual to whom it was addressed, there can be no doubt; though no

copy of the Bishop’s answer remains. That it excited in his mind a deep

and painful feeling, by the mention of a destitution which he could not

relieve, and of opportunities which he could not improve, may be assumed

as equally certain; and though no result followed; and though this was

to be numbered among the many efforts which it would seem must in every

case be made, before any thing of real importance is to be accomplished;

it still is due to the subject of this memoir, that this instance of his

zeal should meet with a record here, if it has obtained no better record

in the effects which it produced.

TO THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDON.

“CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 24 MARCH, 1818.

“MY LORD,

“My professional duty as Commissioner of His Majesty’s Navy

resident in this Colony, lately induced me to take a journey

through the south eastern parts of it, in order to visit a

port recently discovered at the mouth of the river Knysna;

and in the course of it, I have made such observations upon

the state of the country, through which I have passed, with

respect to its inhabitants, as appear to be deserving of your

Lordship’s notice. Under such an impression I take the liberty

of offering them, in the conviction that should they open any

means of extending the influence of the Church of England, and

consequently of diffusing the knowledge of the gospel, your

Lordship will excuse the intrusion.

“Throughout the whole extent of country between Hottentots

Holland and Plattenberg Bay, there are but three clergymen,

viz. one at Caledon, one at Georges, and the third at

Zwellendam. The population exceeds seven thousand, and is

constantly increasing. The dwellings of the inhabitants,

generally speaking, are scattered through these districts at

such a distance from the places above mentioned, that very

few can form a part of the weekly congregation. The farmers

have no means of instruction within themselves; in some few

instances a schoolmaster is kept in the family, or rather a

person, who can barely read and write, of low origin, and often

of vicious habits. Books of any description except the Bible

(and not always that) are seldom to be seen in their houses.

The Boors of this colony are by no means deficient in capacity,

or good dispositions; on the contrary, I have generally

remarked amongst them great intelligence, much frankness, and

disinterestedness; and their hospitality is a theme of praise

with all who have had recourse to it.

“Their defects and privations arise from inveterate prejudices,

inherited from the early colonists, and fostered by the state

of gross ignorance, in which they have been brought up.

“No amelioration can take place whilst these obstacles exist;

and I feel convinced they can only be removed by religious

instruction. No legislative measures for the improvement

of the country (of which it is greatly susceptible) can be

efficacious, until the understandings of these people are made

parties in the cause. At present, they are in direct hostility

to any change however advantageous. The radical evil, I

consider to be the state of slavery in this country, or rather

the manner in which this wretched class of men are viewed

by the colonists. The slaves here labour under disabilities

which I believe are peculiar to this country. They are, by

the existing laws of the colony, prohibited from becoming

Christians and from marrying.

“The first of these cruel restrictions has in a few instances

been dispensed with, but the latter never. On the contrary it

is most pertinaciously adhered to. The effect of such laws is

but too evident, not only to the judgment, but to experience.

The first gives the utmost facility to the diffusion of

the Mahometan tenets, whilst it impedes the progress of

Christianity; and the most immoral and pernicious consequences

inevitably result from the latter. These are too obvious and

too well known to admit of their being dwelt upon. I will only

observe that the youth of some of the most opulent families,

are, in consequence of such a system brought up, in total

abandonment of those principles, from which alone they can

ever be expected to become worthy and exemplary fathers of

families. The most unquestionable authority may be referred to

in support of these observations. Many of the principal slave

proprietors, it is notorious, give a preference to their slaves

being Mahometans instead of Christians; in the first place,

because they conceive that it induces sobriety; and in the

next, as it gives them a power over their female slaves which

is incompatible with Christianity. These practices, which in

the educated colonists are to be viewed with just abhorrence,

must amongst the illiterate Boors be deplored as the effect

of dark ignorance. A total reformation of the former class I

consider as almost hopeless. They may be awed by the expression

of public reproach, but the inclination will remain, and

every means will be resorted to, to retain their power. With

the latter class (the great majority) it is very different.

They err from want of knowing better, and I am convinced

possess feelings which, if properly directed, would glorify

their God, and bring down his blessings upon their country.

The disposition of the present government of this colony to

annihilate these evils, is all that can be wished. Repeated

efforts have been made by his Excellency the Governor, to

ameliorate the situation of the slaves, and lower classes; but

his power is not sufficient to produce the desired effect. The

persons of influence amongst the colonists are too jealous of

the articles of capitulation to hear of the smallest alteration

being made in these laws; they instantly take the alarm, and

join unanimously to reject every idea of improvement, which

they suspect may in any way, however remote, interfere with

their interests; and their slaves are considered as the most

valuable part of their property. All hopes of reform must be

derived from the exertions of the mother country; not by an

infringement of its engagements with the colonists, but by

earnest recommendations and persevering efforts to increase

the Christian population; by the instruction of the Hottentots

and Negroes, as well slaves as free. I am prepared to find

that the first endeavours may not be greatly successful, but

they will gradually increase in influence, and the public

mind, may in the meantime be improved and enlightened by

religious instruction. The success of the Moravians at their

establishment, for the conversion and civilization of the

Hottentots at Bavian’s Kloof, which I visited on my journey,

affords the strongest encouragement to similar efforts being

made by the Church of England. The contemplation of the truly

benign effects, resulting from the mild and patient conduct of

these excellent people—the rapid progress their converts were

making in religion, and in the acquisition of the comforts of

life, first excited in me the wish to address your Lordship,

firmly impressed with the conviction, that one amiable,

benevolent, and consistent clergyman of the Church of England,

would in the course of a very short time, produce effects

equally salutary not only on the poor and destitute inhabitants

of the colony; but that his influence would extend to the

wealthy farmer, and his dependents. The expence of such an

undertaking need not be great. A certain extent of land given,

in the first instance, by the Crown, for a Church and Glebe,

and another for distribution amongst free persons of every

description, whether Europeans, Hottentots, Negroes, or Malays,

might be granted whenever required. These settlers should be

assisted in the infancy of the institution with a small—but a

very small—portion of capital, so as to enable them to provide

articles of the first necessity, such as clothes, furniture,

implements for building, cattle, and corn for the first

year, the amount of which might be paid off by very moderate

instalments.

“I am firmly convinced, my Lord, that the happiest effects

would very soon result from such an undertaking. It would be no

wild speculation, but one that must be of essential benefit to

the colony, and thence to the mother country, for the expences

would in a short time be defrayed by increase of trade, and

national property. I beg leave to give your Lordship an

instance of the value that becomes immediately attached to land

in this colony, when put under cultivation, or rather when it

is only in contemplation to cultivate it.

“The proprietors of different estates in Hottentots Holland,

about thirty miles from the Cape, were desirous of building a

church to which their families might resort on the Sabbath,

instead of having a journey of twelve miles to perform, in

going to the church at Stellenbosch. A piece of ground was

selected for the purpose, and purchased by subscription for

23,000 guilders; a portion of it was marked out for the

church, another for the clergyman’s house and garden, and

as there remained a considerable quantity beyond what was

required for these purposes, it was sold by auction in small

lots, for building houses near the church, and brought the

extraordinary price of 161,000 guilders. A similar effect,

although probably not so great in degree, will result whenever

a Government establishment may take place. By building and

endowing a church, Government would be enabled to sell the

contiguous ground so advantageously, as to remunerate them for

all the expences; and by sending inhabitants from England for

these new settlements, the chief want of the colony would be

supplied, that of population; whilst numbers now starving and

destitute in the mother country would be provided for, and the

poor rates relieved in proportion. But what is of still greater

importance, the Christian religion would be promoted in every

part of this extensive colony. An establishment of this kind

would be particularly desirable in the vicinity of the Knysna,

of Mossel Bay, and the Brede River. The Knysna and the Brede

River are secure and valuable ports, only ascertained to be

such within the last two years, and Mossel Bay, may at a very

trifling expence become such in a very short time. They are

all situated in fertile corn countries. The Knysna has the

additional advantage of being in the immediate vicinity of an

extensive and valuable forest, where timber for building the

largest ships is to be had in abundance and with facility.

“Upon an attentive consideration of all these circumstances,

I cannot resist the impulse I feel to entreat your Lordship’s

notice of them, and that you would be pleased to recommend

the measure of even one Clergyman of the Church of England

being sent out, and established in either of the places above

mentioned, with a very limited number of poor families from

England, by way of an experiment, upon the success of which

may depend the extension of the plan.

“The sum required for such a beginning as might settle twenty

families in comfort, need not exceed one thousand pounds

sterling, including their passage out to this country. The

materials for building, if in the neighbourhood of the Knysna,

are to be had, as well as fuel, without any other expence than

that of labour; the soil is excellent, easily cultivated, and

may provide for any number of inhabitants after the first

year. Meat is at two pence half-penny sterling the pound, and

would be considerably cheaper, were the families sufficiently

numerous to share an ox among them. The whole of their labour

will be necessarily required during the first year of their

establishment to provide for their immediate wants; but in the

second, many may begin to pay off the sums which have been

advanced to them, by cutting timber for Government, or in any

other way in which their industry may turn to account.

“I have the honour to be, &c.

“JAHLEEL BRENTON.”

“TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON.”

But if these efforts for public improvement were unsuccessful, a mind

like that of Sir Jahleel Brenton did not suffer the disappointment to

cool his ardour, or to check similar endeavours. He had done what he

could in that direction, and when he failed there, he did what he could

in another. Some men offended at the indifference with which these

representations were received, might have given up all attempt at doing

good; and considered themselves as justified in their inactivity by the

treatment they had met with. But the religion by which he lived, had

taught him patience, and the spirit of the profession he belonged to had

given him perseverance. His desire to do good remained unbroken, and

the failure of one scheme, merely turned his attention to others, which

seemed more within his reach, and less dependent on the support to be

derived from distant friends; for while there was no object so great,

which he would not have endeavoured to grasp for the sake of doing good

to others, there was no evil so trifling which his sensibility was not

ready to notice. It may easily be supposed then, that the black servants

of such a family would not be neglected; but that they would be carefully

taught the principles of that religion, the fruits of which they saw

exhibited in their master’s daily practice. The observance of the sabbath

naturally became more strict as the importance of its employments was

more distinctly understood; and though the kindness of Sir Jahleel’s

character, as well as the simplicity of his religious views, saved the

sabbath from all appearance of rigour, and rendered it in the fullest

sense of the word a delight to every one within his influence; he could

not but see more clearly the necessity of a strict observance of the

institution, as he felt the difficulty of inculcating the knowledge of

religion on the uneducated and half civilized natives. Men of various

countries and of different dispositions were here placed under his

charge; either as domestic servants, or as labourers in the Dockyard.

Each, according to the opportunity which their situation offered, were

made the objects of his Christian kindness and care; and many it is hoped

carried into other services, or into other lands, the seed which had

been sown through his instruction, and the impression that had been made

on their hearts by his example. Of all these, the most singular, and

perhaps at one time the most hopeful, was a lad belonging to that strange

and degraded tribe called the Bushmen, to whom the name of Hermes had

been given, and who was well known among the friends of Sir Jahleel in

England by this significant denomination. Dr. Barry, the talented young

Physician who was mentioned above, as having attended Lady Brenton during

her last illness, had rescued this boy, when a mere child, from the

tyranny of a Dutch woman, his mistress, who abusing the power which the

law gave her over a slave, was about to commit him to prison on account

of some trifling theft, which he had been guilty of. Dr. Barry, touched

with compassion at the boy’s appearance, ransomed him from slavery, and

was then glad to consign his purchase to the care of his benevolent

patron. The boy thus admitted into Sir Jahleel’s family, gave remarkable

evidences of intelligence and quickness. Irritable and revengeful when

wronged, he was in no ordinary degree attached and grateful when treated

kindly; and his readiness of answer, and activity, made him a general

favourite in the house; while his docility, and rapidity of comprehension

encouraged hopes, that this child of the wilderness might be sent back

as a messenger of peace, and a herald of mercy to his persecuted and

benighted countrymen.

With Sir Jahleel this boy came to England, where the peculiarity of his

appearance (for of all the sections of the human race, the Bushman most

nearly resembles the monkey) attracted general observation; and in his

family he remained discharging with correctness the several duties of

a domestic servant; subject to no other interruption than that which

his vivacity and quickness of temper contrived to draw from the common

occurrences of the day. One of these may be mentioned, as exhibiting the

character of the boy’s mind, and the strength of feeling which may exist

even in the most uncouth representation of our nature. A Lady of rank

who had heard of Hermes, expressed so strong a wish to see him, that

he was sent to her house; and under the directions that had been left,

was turned into the drawing room, where the lady intended to meet him.

Poor Hermes who had never been in such a place before, looked round with

wonder on articles of luxury, of which he hardly knew the use; and at

last, when his mind was bewildered by the splendour of the scene, turning

suddenly round he beheld an object still more astonishing than sofas,

and tables, and porcelain vases, a Bushboy of his own height and colour,

looking at him with features of surprise. To dart towards his brother,

and to rush into his embraces, was the act of a moment. A loud crash was

heard, the servants hurried into the room; a large pier glass was found

shivered, and Hermes lying stunned with the blow, and senseless on the

floor. It is hardly necessary to say, that the bushboy was the figure

of Hermes reflected in a glass which reached to the ground, and that

the illusion arose from the fact, that he had never before seen his own

figure exhibited in such a manner.

It is satisfactory to know that the hopes entertained concerning this lad

have not been entirely frustrated. After having remained some time in

England, after having acquired and adopted all the usages of civilized

life, and apparently overcome his earlier propensities; the irritability

of his temper and restlessness rendered it inconvenient to retain him in

the family; and as his health was suffering from the climate of England,

it was thought expedient to send him back to the Cape, and to place

him in such a situation there, as might maintain the influence of his

new habits, and prepare him for future usefulness in the country. It

was reported that the original nature of the boy had resumed its sway,

when he was placed in his original situation. It was said that he had

disappeared from the Colony, plunged again into the bush, and become

the wild timid wanderer that he had been; but the Editor is happy to

add, that recent information received from the Cape, describes Hermes

as settled in a respectable situation there, and as retaining a lively

and grateful recollection of the kindness he experienced from his former

master.

In these benevolent employments Sir Jahleel formed the acquaintance of

the Rev. Dr. Philip, who has long filled the important situation of

Missionary to the Cape, in connexion with the London Missionary Society,

and whose name is well known to every one acquainted with the progress

of missions in Africa, and as generally and deservedly respected.

His acquaintance with Dr. Philip does not appear to have taken place

before Lady Brenton’s death; but the common interest they took in all

measures for the improvement of mankind, soon after that time produced

an intimacy, which led to much and confidential correspondence; and

this correspondence was probably very beneficial to Sir Jahleel at

this period in his life. His religious convictions had been gradually

gaining strength, and his religious views acquiring maturity. He had

seen the insufficiency of that formal religion, which, at first, had

been contemplated as the end and object to be aimed at; and the regular

study of the Scriptures, combined with other books, and particularly

that of Mr. Wilberforce’s Essay on Practical Christianity, had enabled

him to take a wider and a juster view of the privileges and requirements

of the gospel, than he at first possessed. Trials, repeated trials, had

been the blessed means by which these clearer views of truth were made

matters of experience. He knew in whom he had believed. He had felt that

there was a power in the gospel, by which he had been enabled to overcome

the world, and to realize in himself a change, which, at an earlier

period of his life, he might have thought visionary, or improbable.

He had resigned to the God who gave it, the blessing which up to that

moment had seemed to be the substance of happiness, the object on which

the warmest feelings of his heart had been centered; and in which he

had experienced as much of earthly comfort as usually falls to the lot

of man; and he had found that he could resign it, and still have such

comfort within his reach, as enabled him cheerfully to fulfil the duties

of his office, and to go on rejoicing in the hope of a more perfect rest,

a more abiding happiness hereafter. To a mind thus constituted, and thus

prepared, led by a gradual process to the knowledge of the truth as it is

in Jesus, and having had that knowledge proved by trial, and confirmed

by experience, the intercourse of one like Dr. Philip, a man advanced

in spiritual things, and familiarized with the difficulties which beset

the believer’s path, must have been welcome, if not necessary; and it was

natural, therefore, that under the circumstances in which Sir Jahleel

was placed, the society and counsel of Dr. Philip should be sought with

that peculiar eagerness with which an awakened mind, and a wounded

spirit are apt to seek the only consolations that meet their wants. On

the other hand it was equally natural that Dr. Philip should be struck

by the characteristic openness and integrity of the Commissioner, and

that he should be drawn towards him by that irresistible charm, which

the sweetness of his temper threw over his conversation and address. He

must likewise have felt, that in the position which he himself occupied

at the Cape, where he was viewed with coldness by the Government, and

with jealousy and hatred by the Boors, who suspected the effect that his

missionary efforts would have on the Hottentot population, and imagined

that every attempt to raise that degraded race was a wrong to themselves,

and an injury to their interests; the friendship and patronage of a man

of high professional character, and holding a distinguished government

office, was a help of no ordinary magnitude, and might have been

regarded, at the time, as a support vouchsafed by providence. But it is

certain that he must soon have found, in the state of Sir Jahleel’s mind,

in the anxiety of his enquiries, and in the sincerity of his pursuit

of truth, the grounds for a deeper and more abiding feeling; and he

must have rejoiced, that in a country where there was much to sadden a

Christian’s heart, there was one case before him, where the grace of

God was so manifestly working, and where the fruits of the Spirit were

so largely brought forth. Acquaintance under such circumstances soon

ripened into friendship. They found themselves, in many cases, united in

one common work; and still more frequently, the only two who felt alike

on the subjects that came before them; and each had reason to rejoice

in the associate thus unexpectedly discovered. A long correspondence on

religious questions is still preserved; but as the letters are chiefly

occupied in the discussion of books, which had then recently appeared,

but are now generally known, it does not seem necessary to repeat remarks

or arguments, which must be familiar to most, and which do not tend

directly to illustrate the character of the writers.

Of these, Dr. Chalmers’ address to the inhabitants of Kilmaney seems

to have engaged a large share of their attention; and there can be

little doubt that the intercourse which was thus maintained, and the

free discussion of the great and momentous truths which were involved

in these subjects, tended to clear Sir Jahleel’s views on the essential

doctrines of the gospel, and to give the same correctness to his theory

of religion, which had long been exhibited in its practical application.

The Works of John Newton had been a favourite study with him. To them he

owed much of what he had learned; in them he met with the breathings of

a heart, congenial to his own, and the records of an experience which

might have reminded him of his own trials; and in Dr. Philip he not

only found a man of a kindred spirit with Newton; but one who had had

the advantage of personal knowledge, and easy confidential intercourse

with him. One letter of Dr. Philip’s, therefore, it seems allowable to

introduce, not merely as exhibiting the tone of correspondence between

him and the subject of this memoir, but also on account of the original

and characteristic sketch which it gives of the venerable old man whose

writings they are discussing.

“MY DEAR SIR JAHLEEL,

“I am ashamed when I look at the date of your last kind letter;

you must think me a very poor correspondent, I scarcely know

what apology to make. I cannot altogether begin with the old

stale excuse ‘I have been so busy that I could attend to

nothing but what forced itself upon me,’ for there have been

several days in which I have done nothing, if I except the

ordinary routine of business in the way of writing. The truth

is, I have lately been under the necessity of writing so much,

that I have contracted such an aversion to writing, such a

horror of mental exertion, that the very thought of doing

anything which requires application of mind is ready almost to

turn me sick. I do not know whether you can sympathize with

me in this, shall I call it loathing of exertion, this mental

despondency.

“Accept of my best thanks for your introductory letter to

the Admiral; it was very gratifying to my worthy friend, and

after what Admiral Lambert has heard from Captain Vernon and

others, he will be pleased to see our African traveller and his

curiosities. I mentioned to Mr. Campbell, that if Buonaparte

had heard of him and his horn, they might be sent for to

Longwood. He was flattered by the joke.

“In my former letter I believe I informed you, that I was busy

correcting Mr. Campbell’s Journal. My labours have been more

connected with blotting, than with filling up; but if I have

not added much to its beauty, I have pared off things, which

might have offended—deformities; and reduced it to a more

reasonable size than my worthy friend would have been disposed

to confine it to, had he been left to follow his own judgment.

Mr. Campbell is a man of sterling principle, he lives with God,

and he would not for the world do what he might consider as

an unjust, or a dishonourable thing: but when we can say all

this for him, as a man, and as a Christian, we must confess we

cannot say so much for him as a writer of Travels.

“I am not at present in possession of Newton’s Works, and

the passage respecting which you ask my opinion, I do not

recollect; but I perfectly agree with him, that a continuance

in sin is inconsistent with assurance. But it must be wilful

transgression which Mr. Newton intends in this passage. I have

known few men more sensible of the depravity of human nature

than Mr. Newton was. The language he used respecting himself

was always expressive of the deepest abasement and humility.

Complaining to him one day of the badness of my own heart, he

comforted me rather in a singular way, by assuring me that if

I had lived as long as he had done, I should feel ten times

more of it. ‘I know,’ said he, ‘more evil of my own heart in

one day, than I know of the greatest profligate I have ever

known.’ I think he was seventy-two years of age when he used

this language, and yet while he had those views of himself, he

had the firmest assurance. It was the same morning he expressed

himself in this manner, that he observed to me, ‘I am like a

ship waiting the first fair wind to carry her out of port; I

have everything on board, I am quite ready for sea. I never lay

my head down at night, but I feel it matter of indifference

whether I awake in this world or the next.’

“I must confess, though I have failed to make the matter

so intelligible as I could have wished, that there is to

my apprehension some difference between Mr. Newton and Dr.

Chalmers, in the Kilmaney address on this point. The one

requires certain things should be done to prepare us for the

consolations of the Gospel, the other brings us to the Saviour

for those consolations, as necessary to enable us to do those

things. The difference is most visible in the first approaches

of the penitent to the Saviour for consolation; although all

through Mr. Newton’s writings it appears to me, the amiable

saint was more intimately, and experimentally acquainted with

the way of access to God, and the grounds of a sinner’s peace

with God, than Dr. Chalmers was, when he wrote the address in

question.

“If a man oppresses the fatherless and the widow, if he

accumulates a fortune by unrighteousness, or if he has done

these things, or things of a similar nature without repentance

and restitution as far as in his power, he can have no claim to

the consolations of the Gospel; but a man may feel a constant

invasion of vain thoughts, the burden of a worldly spirit, evil

passions occasionally struggling for the mastery; and still

have the comfort of assurance. If sin is the cause of grief, if

it is resisted, it is not inconsistent with a lively hope in

the mercy of God. The sin which grieves us, and is resisted,

says an old writer, will not condemn us. I frequently feel

these evils. I feel that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

I frequently feel cold and formal in my devotions, and these

feelings occasionally disturb my peace; but I invariably feel

my consolations restored by a renewed application to the blood

of Christ. If any man confess his sin, God is faithful and just

to forgive him his sin, and to cleanse him from all iniquity.

I believe we are both travelling in the same road: that we are

both minding the same things: and if we are not exactly of the

same opinion in all things, the things in which we are not

quite agreed are minor points, and God according to his promise

will eventually reveal those things unto us.

“There is an excellent Sermon among Mr. Newton’s Discourses on

the doctrine of Assurance. I do not know whether you noticed

that sermon; if you have not seen it, I would recommend it to

your attention. It is many years since I read it, and I cannot

state in a particular manner, but I derived much advantage from

it, at the time I read it, and the impression made upon my mind

by it remains fresh even now. I shall be glad to see the volume

you mention, but you need not be in any hurry sending it; I may

perhaps see you before I can read much of it.

“With best respects to Miss Brenton, and Miss Isabella, in

which Mrs. P. desires to unite with me.

“I am, my dear Sir Jahleel,

“With unabated affection and esteem,

“Your’s sincerely,

“JOHN PHILIP.”

“CAPE TOWN, FEBRUARY 27, 1821.”