Uys was in the field, a complaint, afterwards proved to be frivolous,
was made against his wife to the nearest special magistrate for the
protection of apprentices, who issued a warrant, and she was taken
to Port Elizabeth to be tried. Upon her innocence being clearly
established she was liberated, and an action was then brought
before the circuit court against the special magistrate for false
imprisonment. The chief justice, who was the circuit judge, and before
whom the case was tried, condemned the special magistrate to pay the
costs, but these were defrayed for him out of the district treasury,
on the ground that otherwise he would be deterred from doing his legal
duty when complaints were made to him.--See Chase’s _Natal Papers_.
[103] Sir Benjamin D’Urban provisionally extended the boundary of
the colony to the Kraai river, and on the 6th of November 1835
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Somerset, who visited the north-eastern
districts as an agent of the governor, issued a notice that Stephanus
Petrus Erasmus was to be fieldcornet of the newly annexed ward. In
September of this year one hundred and sixty families were reported to
be living on the Stormberg spruit and the Kraai river. See the D’Urban
papers in the South African Public Library. A full account of the
massacres and robberies by the Matabele will be found in my _History
of South Africa_.
[104] See his _Fifty Years of the History of the Republic in South
Africa (1795-1845)_, published in London in 1899, Volume II, pages 23
to 28.
[105] I am unable to add to or amend the accounts of these events
given by me a quarter of a century ago in my _History_, except in
one particular. The number of men and boys murdered at Umkungunhlovu
on the 6th of February 1838 (page 318, volume ii, _History of South
Africa since September 1795_) should be sixty-seven, not sixty-six,
and to the names should be added that of Pieter Retief, junior. This
is found in Mr. Boshof’s list, but not in most of those made shortly
after the event. These vary from each other, and some trouble must be
taken to verify many of the names. In a letter from Magdalena Johanna
de Wet, widow of Mr. Retief, to her brothers and sisters, dated at
Pietermaritzburg on the 7th of July 1840, published in Mr. Preller’s
work, she mentions the murder of her son Pieter Retief with his
father, and also of Abraham Greyling, her son by a former marriage, at
the same time.
[106] For the particulars see my _History of South Africa since
September 1795_, Volume II, pages 323 to 326.
[107] The difficulty of giving a reliable account of all the details
of this event is insurmountable, as it is impossible to reconcile
the narratives of those who took part in it with each other. I give
therefore only the leading features. Readers who may imagine that
every incident should be obtained by thorough research are requested
to consult the different statements given by Mr. Bird in his _Annals
of Natal_, and to believe that others consulted by me long before the
publication of that work are equally as conflicting.
End of Project Gutenberg's Willem Adriaan Van Der Stel, by George McCall Theal