The renowned promontory of the Cape was first doubled by the Portuguese
navigator, Bartholomew Diaz, in the year 1487, but the discovery was not
looked on as of any other importance than as opening the maritime route
to India which that nation had so long sought after. Ten years later De
Gama passed along the southern and eastern coast of Africa, and coming
in sight of a fertile, pleasant country on Christmas day, he gave it the
name of the Land of the Nativity, (Terra Natal) whence the appellation
by which it is now known. In 1620, two of the officers of the English
Merchant Adventurers landed in Saldanha Bay, and took formal possession
of the country, in the name of James the First, but no European,
settlement was attempted until the year 1650, when the Dutch India
Company, at the recommendation of a surgeon of one of their ships, named
Van Riebeck, placed a colony on the shore of Table Bay, further
southward, for the purpose of affording supplies to their fleets.
Though the colony was at first composed, as was usual in those days, of
persons of abandoned character, it grew and prospered, and in the course
of about thirty years it received an accession of population of
admirable character in the persons of French and German Protestant
refugees, whom the atrocious proceedings of Louis the Fourteenth, in
revoking the Edict of Nantes, and ravaging the Palatinate with fire and
sword, had rendered homeless. These estimable exiles introduced the
culture of the vine and other improvements, and the colony gradually
spread itself along the belt of level land which extends itself eastward
between the Lange Kloof and the sea.
About the same time Natal was visited by order of the Governor, and some
idea was entertained of forming a settlement there, but, for some reason
not now known, the project was abandoned.
The Dutch continued in peaceable possession of the colony for more than
one hundred years longer, and had gradually spread themselves either as
settlers or elephant hunters almost to the borders of the Orange River,
when in 1795, a small English force, under General Craig and Sir Alured
Clarke appeared, and the whole territory was at once surrendered. At
the peace of Amiens, in 1802, it was restored to Holland; but in 1806 it
again came into the hands of England, and was finally ceded to us in
1814. [Note 2.]
From the period of our establishment in the colony in 1806 till 1827
(with the exception of a change in the currency very displeasing to the
Dutch), we were contented to stand by the laws by which it had been
governed, with only such occasional amendments and modifications as the
change of circumstances required. In that year, however, after three or
four years' notice and consideration, a code of English laws (not
exactly the laws of England) was adopted. As, from their
non-acquaintance with our language, it was impossible to make the Dutch
thoroughly conversant with the principles upon which these laws were
framed, they soon became discontented. The clerks in the public
offices, to whom they applied occasionally for information, were unable
to give their time to listen to their grievances; and, had they been
inclined to enlighten them, their ignorance of the Dutch language
rendered it impracticable. Previously to this, every district had been
governed by a magistrate, or Landrost. He had to assist him a council
of eight individuals, called Hemraaden, chosen from among the most
respectable and influential landholders, who informed the inhabitants of
all events and changes occurring in the colony and its laws, explained
all difficulties, heard all complaints, and were, in short, the medium
of communication between the people and the authorities. The English
Laws completely superseded these arrangements, and the utter want of
education among the Dutch, particularly the scattered farmers, rendered
them jealous and suspicious of their new legislators, whose system
(practically or theoretically) they could not understand.
It is true that the bad condition, and, in many cases, the ill-usage of
the Hottentots, called for investigation and amendment; but many
attempts that were made to ameliorate their condition proved vain, from
being as defective as they were ill-executed. General Bourke passed an
ordinance, freeing the Hottentot race from all those restraints which
are found absolutely necessary for the preservation of social order in
all civilised communities. The consequence of this ill-advised decree
is manifested to this day, for it is the cause of the gradual
self-extermination (so to speak) of the race. The mischief, however,
was done, and as a remedy the location of a number of them as an
agricultural community on the Kit River was tried. A few respectable
individuals are still to be found among them there, and in some other
localities, but these are a mixed race, and it may be said that the
original Hottentot race has been gradually but surely dwindling away
since the enactment of the above-mentioned 50th Ordnance.
Just as matters stood a chance of finding their level, the farmer
beginning to try to accustom himself to bear the inconveniences arising
from the Hottentot's freedom from all restraint, and consequent contempt
of servitude (for on the enactment of the 50th Ordinance they had taken
to a life of vagrancy, spurning all work), the Kaffirs sounded their
war-cry, and burst upon the colony. This was in 1834. It arose thus.
From the depredations and encroachments of the Kaffirs on the Hottentot
location in the Kat River settlement, the authorities ordered the
expulsion of the Kaffir chief, Charlie, (so called by the express desire
of his father, Gaika, after Lord Charles Somerset), from a portion of
the neutral territory [Note 2] which he had been allowed to occupy on
sufferance during good behaviour. This indulgence he had clearly
forfeited, the depredations being almost invariably traced to his
locality. Though, on solemn promise of amendment, he had been
subsequently permitted to resume his position, yet, from the natural
ingratitude of his race, and the pains taken by his _soi-disant_ and
injudicious European friends to persuade him how ill he had been treated
by his original expulsion,--after a few months of smothered ill-will,
the volcano burst, and these savages poured, _en masse_, into the
colony; fire, devastation, and the murderous blade marking their
progress throughout this astonished, peaceable, and, with trifling
exceptions, unprotected frontier, to the ruin of thousands--a ruin from
which many have never recovered, notwithstanding the strenuous exertions
of their best friend, Sir Benjamin D'Urban. Under his able
governments--crippled as it was by a change in the Ministry--the colony,
after the war, resumed the appearance and probability of peace, when
another great event altered the face of everything. Suddenly there was
a voice, which went through all the countries of the known earth, crying
aloud, "Let the slave be free!"
The Dutch were quite ready to listen to the voice that cried shame at
the idea of seizing our fellow-creatures, packing them like herrings in
slave-ships, and bartering for them in the market. Every one of good
feeling revolted at the custom, and looked for the remedy. But how to
set about the remedy should have been considered. The chain was broken,
and the people of England hurrahed to their heart's content. And the
slave! What, in the meanwhile, became of him? If he was young and
vicious, away he went--he was his own master. He was at liberty to walk
to and fro upon the earth, "seeking whom he might devour." He was
free--he had the world before him where to choose, though, squatted
beside the Kaffir's fire, probably thinking his meal of parched corn but
poor stuff after the palatable dishes he had been permitted to cook for
himself in the Boer's, or tradesman's kitchen. But he was fain to like
it--he could get nothing else, and this was earned at the expense of his
own soul; for it was given him as an inducement to teach the Kaffir the
easiest mode of plundering his ancient master. If inclined to work, he
had no certain prospect of employment, and the Dutch, losing so much by
the sudden Emancipation Act, resolved on working for themselves. So the
virtuous redeemed slave had too many temptations to remain virtuous. He
was hungry--so was his wife--so were his children; and he must feed
them. How? No matter.
And the aged slave! He sat himself down on the hearth to which he had
been accustomed, but he had no longer a right to the shelter of the
roof-tree under which he had lived and his children had been born. He,
too, must beg for food; but he was so old he could hardly crawl. He
grew sick; there was none to take care of him but the charitable; and,
fortunately for the poor, the aged, and the sick, there _was_ charity in
the land. Of what availed the slave's freedom, under such
circumstances? Still, some were harmless. It was the vicious negro who
rejoiced in his freedom, and taught the Kaffir how best to rob and
murder, till most probably the Kaffir murdered him, or made him toil
harder than he had ever done under the Boer.
Then, the Dutch grumbled not so much at the emancipation, as at the
manner of it. Even when they were willing to hire those who had been
their slaves, they hesitated to receive as servants those over whom the
law gave no control. As an indemnification for the loss of their
slaves, the owners obtained, on the average, about one-third of the
value of them. From their not being paid their compensation-money in
the colony, but being obliged to draw it from England, their loss by
agencies and misunderstanding was very great.
The discontented Dutch, who had been gradually irritated by these
proceedings, now began to migrate with their families over various
branches of the Orange River, to the north-east of the colony. They
were forbidden to take their apprentices with them; but in many
instances they disregarded this order, and parties of military being
sent after them, to bring the apprentices back to the colony, this
measure increased the feelings of resentment already excited in the
minds of the Dutch towards the English, and the commanders of such
military parties ran imminent risks of their lives in the execution of
these duties. Having established themselves in various localities
beyond the north-eastern boundary, and having no legal executive among
themselves, the Boers occasionally returned to the colony when any
appeal to justice was required; but, by degrees, the stream of
emigration having set steadily outwards, it swelled to such an extent
that it called for more room in its progress, and, spreading itself
beyond the limits of British jurisdiction or restraint, at length
reached Natal. The most determined emigrants came to a resolution to
establish for themselves, in the neighbourhood of that port, a colony
totally independent of British rule, and regulated by their own laws.
Meanwhile the Kaffir war had been, by the energy and decision of Sir
Benjamin D'Urban and Colonel Smith (now Sir Harry Smith, the hero of
Aliwal, and the Governor of the Cape), brought to an end. The
aggressors were driven from the colony, and also from a neighbouring
district between the Keiskama and the Kei, which was erected into a
province called Adelaide, and stringent measures taken to prevent their
again bursting into the colony. But these measures were disapproved of
by Lord Glenelg, then the Colonial Secretary, the new district was
abandoned, Sir Benjamin D'Urban resigned, and, under the auspices of Sir
Andries Stockenstrom, the Lieutenant-Governor of the eastern province,
new treaties, since known by his name, were formed, which public opinion
in Africa almost universally condemns as the real cause of the late
deplorable warfare. Since then, the policy that framed them has been
abandoned, and the statesmanlike views of Sir Benjamin are at the
present day being carried out by his former coadjutor, Sir Harry Smith.
About the year 1841 the settlement of the emigrant Boers had attained
something like the appearance of a regular state. They had, partly by
force and partly by purchase, obtained possession of a considerable
tract of country, and had founded a town, which they called
Pietermaritzburg, and after some correspondence with the Government at
the Cape, they declared themselves independent. On this a small British
force was despatched to Port Natal, but it was unable to effect anything
against them until the arrival of reinforcements, when the Boers
promised submission to the Queen's authority; but soon after they began
again to move onward, under their general, Pretorius, and it was not
until Sir Harry Smith came among them, at the close of the Kaffir war,
that they could be considered as fully under the control of the British
Government. Even up to the present time their position with regard to
it is anything but satisfactory, as the following extract from a letter
recently received from the Cape (September 14, 1850), will
show:--"Matters have looked a little portentous over the Orange River.
The Boers, far beyond Bloem Fontein, under Pretorius, are determined
that no one shall pass through their territory to the newly-discovered
lake (Lake Ngami), and have already fined some severely. The lake will
be easy of access down the Limpopo (river), which runs through the
Boers' country into it, as is believed; all other ways, as far as is
known, are through deserts, and the ignorant people (Boers) will not
suffer the missionaries to teach the natives about them. It would be
unsafe to send any expedition under seven hundred men there, as
Pretorius is more than 250 miles beyond any military station."
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Note 1. The Boers, however, had little liking for this arrangement,
which severed them from their parent country, and their hearts yearned
towards a reunion with it. Of this I had a positive assurance before it
was my fate to visit the colony myself. In the year 1838 I had the
honour of making the acquaintance of H.R.H. Prince William Henry of
Orange, who was on his voyage home in the "Bellona" frigate from Java,
_via_ Saint Helena. He dwelt with great pleasure on the circumstance of
several Dutch families having travelled many miles from the interior to
meet him at Cape Town, when he touched there. Aged men and women, who
had scarcely moved out of their farm sitting-room for years, hastened to
meet a Prince from their beloved Fatherland.
Note 2. Shortly after Lord Charles Somerset succeeded to the government
of the Cape, in 1817, Graham's Town being attacked by Makanna, the
pretended Kaffir prophet, a witch-doctor, Colonel, now Major-General Sir
Thomas Wiltshire, after defeating a horde of these savages, followed up
his success by pursuing them into their own country, where he forced
them to sue for peace. This was granted, on condition of their
surrendering Makanna, and giving up in atonement for their past, and as
security against future offences, that tract of country lying between
the Fish and Kat Rivers on the one side, and the Tyumie and Keiskama on
the other.