Settlement of Cape Town--Its productions--The Kaffir War
--Latest dispatches--Cause of the Rebellion--Description
of the Kaffir by the Traveller--Opinion of him by the
Resident--Authority of prominent men--Observatory, &c.
Within larger limits I would willingly indulge in a more extended
description of Southern Africa, which is set down by geographers as the
"Cape Region;" but as each day now diminishes our cruise, so does each
chapter deprive me of space for digression, and I must confine myself to
the Cape Colony, or more properly speaking, to Cape Town and its
environs.
The town is in latitude 33° 55' 30'' south, and as the Observatory has
been decided to be in longitude 18° 29', and is distant three miles and
a quarter from the town, due east, it would be placed 18° 25' 45'' east
longitude.
The Cape of Good Hope, which is _not_ the extremity of Southern Africa,
as some geographers have it--"Lagullas" protruding further into the
Indian Ocean--was discovered by Bartholomew Diaz in 1486, who gave it
the name of the "Tormenting Cape," as previously stated, which was
afterwards changed into its present title by the far-seeing Emanuel, and
the hopes he then entertained of his navigators reaching the rich shores
of the far "Inde," were made good by Vasco de Gama, eleven years after
its discovery. The Dutch made their settlement here in 1652, of which
they were deprived by the English in 1795, who afterwards restored it to
them by treaty at Amiens, in 1802. Eventually it was ceded to Great
Britain in 1815. The colony is quite extensive, and would be very
productive but for numerous local causes which impede its growth. One of
these has been named in the system of labor; but the most important
impediment is want of unanimity amongst the settlers themselves. The
Dutchman clinging to his ancient customs and habits, which are an
abomination in the eyes of the Englishman; and the natives having been
once subjected to the tender mercies of the white man, not understanding
the use of freedom, or the benefits of self-government, live literally
from "hand to mouth," in constant dread of recapture, and being forced,
under the eyes of intelligent masters, to properly support themselves.
But even with these drawbacks the colony may be said to be flourishing,
and when the Kaffir war is ended, and the Kat River rebellion put down,
numerous fertile valleys will be open to the squatter, and contribute
from their luxuriant bosoms bountiful supplies of wealth to the colony.
The principal productions of the Cape are grain of all kinds, and the
grapes from which the Constantia wines are made. The specimen of wheat
which I saw, was certainly superior to any I had ever seen in the United
States, and an intelligent merchant there informed me that it is
considered the best in the world. From the number of pounds he said it
would weigh to a bushel, and its clean large grain, should think it the
most profitable to the grower.
When we were at the Cape, the Kaffir war was dragging its slow length
along. The troops had been pushed into Kaffraria, and the latest news
from the scene of operations appeared in the Government Gazette,
published by authority on the 22d April, 1852. Dispatches had been
received from camp up to the 4th of that month. Major-General the Hon.
George Cathcart, with the local rank of Lieutenant-General, having
superseded Sir Harry G. W. Smith, was in command. The campaign was on
the Kei, and Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre, 73d regiment, following a spoor of
cattle, had captured 1,220 head of Gaika cattle, mostly cows, and
fifteen horses.
He had several skirmishes with the enemy, who came forth in considerable
numbers to protect their herds. Major Armstrong's passage of the Kei,
and charge, is spoken of in warm terms of commendation. In this affair
the Kaffirs numbered about 500, of whom 100 were mounted. The gallant
Major's command, including himself, was 100; with these he crossed the
river under a heavy fire, and dispersed five times his number.
A general order had been published at head-quarters, King William's
Town, dated 6th April, 1852, in which the Commander-in-Chief
congratulates the army on the prospect of a speedy termination of the
war, and states that the troops then occupied every stronghold in the
Amatolas, and it was impossible the enemy could retain a footing, so
closely was he pursued in every direction. Notwithstanding this cheering
announcement, I fear this Kaffir war will resemble in its pursuance and
general features our Florida campaigns, although the officers engaged in
it will receive more credit than our own; and if their duties are
arduous in chasing the Hottentots over mountains, and through rugged
defiles, yet they have the advantage of a healthy field of operations,
and can bivouac on the mountain ridge, or amongst the green valleys,
whilst our troops had to seek their damp beds amidst the miasmatic
everglades, or more pestiferous marsh. Again, the Kaffirs do
occasionally make a stand, and some very severe actions have taken place
between them and the British troops.
This war was caused by a rebellion of a portion of the Hottentots of the
Kat River settlement, at Fort Beaufort, and the Theopolis Missionary
establishment, in Albany. It is supposed to have originated because of
the application of stringent vagrant laws, and from apprehensions of
being again forced into slavery. It is carried on on the eastern
frontier of the country. The above are the surmised causes, but there
are thought to have been other motives. A representative from one of the
eastern districts, stated in his place in the Legislative Council, that
he considered the rebellion to be a _national movement_, that all the
documents found in the rebel camps were exhortations to stand up in the
defence of their nation. "General Orders" had been found which had been
scattered over a country 500 miles in extent, and these call upon the
colored men to unite and drive the white men into the sea, "of which
they are the scum."
Sir Andrew Stockenstrom, from the Kat River settlement, called the
rebellion "a Riddle," and the Hon. John Montague, Secretary to
Government, ascribes the hostile feelings of the Hottentots, to an idea
that they are to be made slaves. One gentleman asks in relation to the
subject: "What do we know of the rebellion? Why it was only the other
day that an officer of the Government was brought to Cape Town, a
prisoner for rebellion!"
A commission, appointed by her Majesty the Queen, consisting of Major
Hogge and Mr. Owen, had not then commenced their investigations.
There were some Kaffirs in Cape Town, sent in as witnesses, but did not
see them. The following is Barrow's description of this people: "They
are tall, robust, and muscular, and distinguished by a peculiar firmness
of carriage. Some of them were six feet ten inches, and so elegantly
proportioned that they would not have disgraced the pedestal of the
Farnese Hercules." Further on, he states: "The natives of Kaffraria, if
taken collectively, are perhaps superior, in point of figure, to the
inhabitants of any other country on earth; they are indeed exempt from
many of those causes which, in civilized society, tend to debilitate and
impede the growth of the human body. Their diet is perfectly simple,
their exercise conducive to health, and the air they breathe salubrious.
Strangers to the licentious appetites which frequently proceed from a
depraved imagination, they cheerfully receive the bounteous gifts of
nature, and when night sways her ebon sceptre o'er the scene,
'Sweetly composed the weary shepherd lies,
Though through the woods terrific winds resound,
Though rattling thunder shakes the vaulted skies,
Or vivid lightning runs along the ground.'"
After that read the opinions held of them in Cape Town. I make the
extracts from the published debates of the Legislative Council of the
colony, in assembly there. The Secretary to Government says: "We have
before us the most remarkable fact, that hundreds of these people on the
frontier, who had lived with the farmers, many of them ten or twelve,
and even a greater number of years, suddenly, and without the _smallest
provocation_, turned round and murdered them, or turned them out of
their houses with hardly a rag upon them, destroyed their property, and
walked over to the enemy." Hardly a man who speaks of them, that does
not complain of their pilfering propensities; the farmers grievously as
regards their sheep.
There were at one time some 800 rebels at Fort Hare; a great number were
allowed to depart. Some 3 or 400 were thrown into a regiment and armed;
50 only of the 800 were convicted. This black regiment became so
dangerous, after all the confidence bestowed upon them, that their
officers would not go out with them, fearing more to be shot by their
own men than the enemy. Shortly after they were found sending ammunition
in large quantities to the rebels, and had to be disbanded. One of the
members of the Council contended that the Kaffir and the Hottentot (they
appeared, indeed, to make little distinction between them) are not to be
purchased with favors, or conciliated by constitutional privileges; in
his own forcible language, "I feel that no man of experience with regard
to the Kaffir and Hottentot, will come to such a conclusion. Like the
wild fox, they may, indeed, accept your favors and concessions, but it
is only to await a more favorable opportunity of seizing their prey."
Mr. Godlonton, from those provinces, asserted that _idleness_ had been
the bane and ruin of the colored classes of the colony, and in the
eastern provinces has led to rebellion, anarchy, robbery, and murder.
To prove that I have not made my assertions in a previous page, in
regard to the condition of the colored population, and the little
benefit conferred upon them by emancipation, hastily and without
authority, I quote the opinions of many of the best informed men of the
colony, which have the greater weight as coming from persons whose
positions placed them above the power of petty prejudices.
A Mr. Stegman gives in evidence that a portion of the Hottentots who
went from Cape Town, were in communication with the rebels in the field,
and at one time hesitated whether they should use their arms against
them, or her Majesty's troops.
Mr. Cock stated, in debate, that within his own knowledge, there was a
general fear of the colored races in the eastern districts of the Cape
Colony, and he fears that the seeds of disaffection, if not rebellion,
are deeply sown within their breasts, and that, if they saw any
probability that her Majesty's troops would be subdued, they would at
once go over to the rebels; and after asking what has brought this state
of things about--what led to the war on the frontier--the desolation of
some of the finest districts--desecration of their homesteads, and the
spilling of the best blood of the colonists--attributes it to the want
of a firm and efficient government.
In relation to the Hottentots enrolled in the Western provinces, it is
stated that when they went into the field under Colonel Mackinnon, and
were attacked near the Amatola, they were saved from destruction by the
interposition of the seventy-third regiment.
A gentleman, who is called a "native foreigner," thus expresses himself:
"I know the Hottentot character well, as well as any man in the colony.
I am a colonist born, and I believe from my soul, that it will be the
most _dangerous_ experiment ever made to allow these men to vote under a
franchise amounting to universal suffrage."
The Secretary of Government stated: "We had nearly a rebellion here (at
Cape Town), amongst the same class of colored people as those at the
East, and although the panic had partially subsided, the hostile
disposition of that class against the whites had assuredly not." So much
for the fidelity of, and the confidence reposed in, the colored classes
of the Cape Colony.
The population of the Cape is heterogeneous; composed of Dutch, English,
French, Germans, Malays, Hottentots, emancipated Slaves, Betjouanas,
Fingoes, and others coming under the name of native foreigners; which, I
take it, means the same as the West India word "_creole_"--one born of
European parents in a colony. The Dutch, as being the earliest settlers,
are most numerous, of those laying claims to white blood; but all the
power is in the hands of the English, of course, who are too
quick-witted for the phlegmatic "Boer," the term they apply to the
Hollander. After the French and Germans, a small proportion, and the few
Malays now left, comes the Hottentot--the Aborigine. With them are
enumerated the other colored races, as having the mark of degradation
stamped by the Almighty upon the first-born of mankind. The "emancipated
slaves," having, with a few exceptions, originally sprung from that
race, have been but little raised in the scale of humanity, during their
term of servitude to the Dutch.
Wished much to have visited the celebrated Observatory, but understood
its interior had been destroyed by fire, a few weeks before. There are
many constellations seen at the Cape not visible elsewhere.
Was disappointed also in examining the Library; I wanted to overhaul the
celebrated Cape Records, said to be interesting.