Henry Raikes

NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE MOUTH OF THE KNYZNA.

“The result of all the information obtained respecting the Knyzna, and the report of its being admirably adapted as a shipping place for the timber required for the use of the dock yard, as well as for cargoes to send to England, induced me to form the resolution of visiting it, for the purpose of ascertaining how far it might be made to realize the idea which I had formed of its being made useful on a large scale, not only to the naval department but to the colony. It was not until the month of November, 1817, that I was enabled to fulfil my intentions.

“On the 24th of that month I left Sans Souci, the residence of my talented and well informed friend, Colonel Warre,[22] the Deputy Quarter Master General, accompanied by him and Colonel Graham, the Commandant of Simon’s Town. This officer had long commanded the Hottentot or Kaffer corps, on the eastern frontier, by whom, and by all the inhabitants of every part of the colony where he was known, he was universally respected and beloved, as a gallant soldier and a most amiable man. His knowledge of the colony was perhaps greater than that of any other individual who had held military employment in it; and his knowledge of the character of the Dutch colonists and Hottentots, as well as his judgment in his intercourse with them was such, that a more valuable or more agreeable companion could not have been selected. His skill in field sports especially rendered him the idol of the Hottentots, who looked up to him as something more than mortal.

“For our convenience in travelling, the governor lent us one of the colonial wagons, admirably qualified by its strength, and as much lightness as such a vehicle is susceptible of possessing, for the purpose. In this we carried our baggage, and were enabled to take shelter from the weather, either from rain or heat. We had also our saddle horses and servants, and were supplied with such articles as we were not likely to find in the interior of the colony. Little however was needful, for we were assured of meeting with the most unbounded hospitality, wherever we might stop; nor were we disappointed in any one instance that I can recollect; and the only recompense that would ever be accepted, almost by the very poorest families, was the game that might have been killed by my two companions in the course of the day’s journey.

“We passed the first night in the hospitable and comfortable mansion of Mr. Lawrence Cloett, at Sandvliet; whose estate was daily increasing in value from the improvements he was making. His breed of horses bids fair to be very valuable to the colony, and was very numerous. He spared no pains or expence in procuring thorough-bred stallions, and the colts were in consequence in great demand.

“Mr. Cloett also paid great attention to his vineyards, from which he made annually 1000 leaguers of wine upon an average. Limestone is another very profitable production of this estate, which is sent in large quantities to Cape town; as well as many loads of hay. This hay is made from oats sown for the purpose, and cut in time to prevent the grain from being easily separated from the stem. It is mown while green, and treated in the same manner as grass in England. This is considered to be the very best forage that can be given to horses; such at least was the opinion of Lord Charles Somerset, who would be considered as good authority on such a subject.

“Mr. Cloett, aware of the object of my journey as regarding the timber of the colony, directed my notice to the durability of the different kinds of wood according to the season in which it was cut. Comparing the timber felled in midwinter, when the sap was down, with that which had been promiscuously cut at all seasons, he had found that the former lasted for many years, the other being of a very short duration. This information was of great importance, as the yellow wood is almost universally employed for house carpenters’ work where deal is used in Europe, but we had found it would not bear exposure to wet or damp.

“On the 25th, at 8 o’clock, our party left Sandvliet, and crossing the Erste river, the horse of Colonel Warre got into one of the quicksands, which are very frequent on all the beaches along this coast; but he was soon extricated, and we found a fine hard sand, on which we galloped to Gordon’s Bay. This little bay, which is completely sheltered from the prevailing south-east wind, the only wind to be much dreaded in False bay, lies immediately under Hottentots Holland Kloof; and offers to the resident, means of transporting the corn and produce of the eastern districts to Simon’s bay. But the Dutch always appear to have had a decided aversion to a coasting trade; and when I was endeavouring to persuade a farmer (and one of a description that might be called educated) of the great advantage of having a schooner of seventy tons, which would take seventy loads of corn to the Cape Town market; while, if carried by land, it would be the work of 980 oxen, 140 slaves, with 70 wagons; he replied, ‘True, Commissioner, but then you see, mine fader and mine grandfader always send his corn mid de bullock vagen; and why not I?’ This argument is rarely to be got over.

“Were a mole carried out in Gordon’s bay, it would be attended with immense advantages, not only to the Naval and Victuallers’ Establishments in Simon’s bay, but to Cape Town also; to which wagons drawn by fourteen and often by sixteen oxen, laden with only one ton of farm produce, are dragged, through a deep sand for at least thirty miles, out of the whole distance, which is forty. The coasting vessels would then be in perfect security with all winds, and only leave the port when there was a moral certainty of a quick passage. A moderate S.E. wind, the prevailing wind nine months out of twelve, would carry them to Simon’s bay in less than six hours, and in twelve or fourteen to Table bay. No coaster should be employed in False bay of a greater burthen than 100 tons, as a light draught of water would enable them to get close in shore for loading and unloading, not only in Gordon’s, but in Simon’s bay and Table bay.

“The road over the western extremity of the great branch of the Swartberg, or mountains which run parallel with the south-east coast, which is called Hottentots Hollands Kloof, commences at Gordon’s bay, and was at this time so steep and rugged, as to be attended with much difficulty, especially to the heavy wagons of the country. Our party however having their saddle horses with them, found great enjoyment in ascending it, as in the frequent halts which it was necessary to make, they had a most splendid view of the Cape Flat, as the level or the isthmus is called, which stretches between the Table mountain and those of the Blueberg.

“From the summit of Hottentots Holland Kloof the view towards the north and the west is sublime and magnificent beyond description, and can scarcely be surpassed. The Table mountain, which forms a striking feature on the western side of the isthmus, appears from the height on which the spectator stands, diminished to a small island; whilst the Cape Flat, as the isthmus is called, which connects it with the range of mountains skirting the eastern side of it, is dotted with farms and vineyards, especially near the Table mountain, where the two Constantias, Newlands Wynburg, and Rendelins look like clusters of ornamental cottages; and even the tracts of bare white sand, which are interspersed amidst the colouring of every hue, from that of the dark cypress to the brightest green of spring, produced by the innumerable shrubs which clothe the plain and the sides of the mountains, become features of extraordinary beauty, lighting up the landscape with the most forcible touches.

“The view on the S.E. side of this range of mountains is far less interesting. A wide extent of barren and broken ground, offering to the eye a fatiguing monotony without any grand or striking features as in Scotland or Wales; and wanting the little pan of cultivated land occasionally seen in the vallies bordering the silver stream.

“We at last surmounted this pass, which could only be effected by putting oxen to the wagon, which being trained to the task, and by nature more patient than the horse, slowly but certainly get up the mountain with the heaviest load. Where one span, or team, is found insufficient, it is frequently the case that two are put on, and as many as thirty-two oxen may be seen crawling up the mountain, at a distance resembling an immense caterpillar. The road from Hottentots Holland to the Palmut river is broken and irregular. The river which we had now to ford was but of little depth. The greater part of the summer it is nearly dry, but in the winter it is frequently impassable from the violence and depth of the torrents. This circumstance occasions great impediments in travelling through the colony; a delay of many days is frequently experienced, and even whole families, who have left their homes for the purpose of going to a Church only a few miles distant, have been detained many days on the banks of one of these torrents, without the possibility of getting across: at the same time no house being near, they have been under the necessity of making their bivouac, in and under the wagon; the boor furnishing them with provisions by means of his gun, from which he is seldom separated, and which is his never failing companion in his journies.

“A most remarkable circumstance grew out of this uncertainty, as to passing the rivers, while I was a resident in the colony. Some farmers, residing within a few miles of Stellenbosch, were in the habit of going thither to church on the Sunday, and having to pass a river on the way, were frequently detained in the manner above mentioned. In consequence of this inconvenience, they determined to purchase a piece of land, on which they might, as they could collect the means, build a church for their own immediate neighbourhood; accordingly they collected amongst themselves 23,000 guilders—at that time about £330 sterling—and bought a considerable piece of ground with it. Having apportioned as much of this as they judged necessary for the church, the parsonage house, glebe, &c., &c., they divided the remainder into lots, for dwelling houses and gardens, and put them up to auction with a view of getting back some of the purchase money. Extraordinary as it may appear, it is nevertheless a fact, that the remnant of a piece of land, the whole of which had been purchased for 23,000 guilders, thus divided into small lots, fetched by auction the enormous sum of 163,000 guilders. It was of course the vicinity of the intended church, and the prospect of a town rising round it, which gave this immense increase of value to the land; and what encouragement does this hold out, even to worldly speculators, as to the expediency of building churches. We have heard it stated that the million sterling, which some years since, was appropriated by parliament for building churches, has brought in an immense interest in the shape of taxes of various descriptions levied upon the houses which have been built, and the population which has been collected round them; and if to these are added the produce of the excise, the gain must be very great—no money whatever, perhaps, ever brought in so large a return as this did.

“But the circumstance becomes deeply interesting in a much higher point of view. It shews the earnest desire even of the Cape Boor for religious instruction—and ‘that the fields are indeed white unto harvest while the labourers are few.’

“The Palmut river was not at this time very deep, but the water came up nearly to the bottom of the wagon. The dogs which accompanied the party had in consequence a very narrow escape from being drowned. In order to prevent their feet from being cut by the rough roads, and to keep them fresh against the time when their services might be called for, they were generally put in baskets in which their beds were made, and hung under the wagon, but so close to the bottom of it, as to prevent their jumping out. Upon this occasion they had been forgotten, and on passing through the river there was barely space between the surface of the water and the bottom of the wagon, to enable them to keep their noses out of it. Three inches more and they must have been lost. Towards evening the windings of the Palmut River, and the fine outline of the Swartberg mountains—the one contrasted with the deep shade thrown over the land, and the others with the bright blue sky, formed a magnificent picture.

“We passed the night at the house of a Dutch farmer, named Uric, where we were most comfortably accommodated. He was a very industrious man, and although a cripple from rheumatism, and only assisted by two slaves, had succeeded in the course of two years in building a house, in planting a large vineyard, and providing for his children and grand-children.

“On the 26th, having procured oxen for the purpose, we began to ascend the great Hac-hoek (or the great high corner) the road passing over a range of mountains diverging from the great chain of the Swartberg, and running towards the sea near Cape Lagullos. The view from the summit of this pass was highly picturesque. On the left, the grand chain of the Swartberg which runs along the coast from False Cape to Algoa bay was seen receding and losing itself in a vivid blue distance. At the foot of the Hac-hoek, on the eastern side, runs the Both Riviere, which in the summer like almost all the smaller Cape rivers, is little more than the bed of a winter torrent. Here we found again a labourious settler, living on a farm on the left bank of this river, in which but a very few years before he had considered himself with his large family as in a state of independence. He had built a mill just below his house, and by a lateral cut he had brought the water to turn it. This had cost him infinite labour to effect, but it answered admirably. His garden, containing abundance of fruit trees, and about two thousand vines, was contiguous to the mill, and was watered by the stream that turned it. But the river increased in the course of one night to a fearful torrent, which destroyed his garden and vineyard, ruined his mill, and covered the soil near his house with such a deluge of sand and rocks as to render it almost unfit for future cultivation. The worthy man was for some time in a state of despair, declared himself ruined, and saw nothing before him but a miserable old age. He however exerted himself with renewed energy, selected another spot for a mill and garden on the opposite side of the river, and his efforts have been crowned with success: only a very few years had elapsed when we saw him, with his mill restored and in use, and an extensive garden with a vineyard of twenty thousand vines. We found him in the full enjoyment of his well merited prosperity, an example of patience and industry to all his neighbours.

“After passing the Both Riviere the country lost its precipitous character, but was intersected by deep ravines extending from the base of the mountains to the sea on the S.E. coast, the hills sloping gradually into them, their sides abounding in verdure, but with few trees. The vallies were in general well supplied with water, and consequently fertile, better calculated for vines than corn, although the latter grows in abundance where there is moisture.

“We arrived in the middle of the day at Caledon, a town which may be supposed by its name to have had its origin under the British Government. It is situated in the Brandt valley, and near the hot baths. It was founded in 1810, and had at this period a very imposing appearance, with its church, town house, and magistrates’ houses; the other dwellings have also a pretty appearance, being white-washed and neatly painted. There is but little taste displayed in point of architecture, in which the Dutch taste is not only prevalent but exclusive.

“We here were most hospitably received and entertained by the chief magistrate, Mr. Frawenfeller, and passed a day with him in viewing the baths, the hospital, and the leper establishment. This hideous disease of leprosy is held perhaps in greater horror by the Dutch than by other nations, who are careful to keep those affected by it as separate as possible from the population; in which they are undoubtedly right, provided the afflicted are not made to suffer from these restrictions, which, from the information obtained here, was not suspected to be the case.

“From Caledon I proceeded with my friends to Bavian’s Kloof, as we were very desirous of seeing the Moravian establishment in that neighbourhood, called by them Genadendahl, or the vale of grace. The road on leaving Caledon, and until near Bavian’s Kloof, was very bad, winding round the sides of the mountain. The country had much of the same undulating appearance as that between the Hac-hoek and Caledon, but on approaching Bavian’s Kloof it became level and good. The morning had been wet, but clearing up as we approached the Moravian settlement, we saw it to great advantage. The Swartberg mountains, elevated, bleak, and bare, formed the back ground of the view, and appeared to overhang Genadendahl. The road ran between two moderately elevated hills on each hand, with a fertile and well cultivated valley between them, and led winding through extensive corn grounds, and large tracts of heath to the Moravian establishment. These corn grounds are in general the property of the Hottentots, who have sought refuge among the Moravians from the persecution of the boors, and many of them evince great proofs of skill and industry; others again shew that their owners had not entirely conquered that aversion to labour, which is so strikingly manifested by that people. The first view of Bavian’s Kloof and the vallies surrounding the missionary establishment is very striking, and reminded us forcibly of those affecting descriptions of the pastor and his flock in the wild and mountainous parts of Scotland, to which the Presbyterians had been driven in that country, in the days of persecution. The church, a modest but spacious building, with its roof of thatch, rose to a considerable height amidst the cottages of the Hottentots, which surrounded it in every direction, and in every variety of form and grade of civilization. They appeared to have sought and to have obtained protection under the shadow of the house of God, and the valley appeared to be at once the vale of grace, and the vale of peace. It was truly delightful to observe the gradual, but in many instances the very high degree of improvement, which had taken place in the habits of this most interesting race, and the reverence, and gratitude, and love many of them shewed towards their kind and single-hearted protectors.

“The establishment was originally founded in 1733, by the Moravian Smyth, but in consequence of the hostility of the Dutch colonists it was broken up in 1742. A pear tree planted by Mr. Smyth during the period, now remained in the garden, as a monument of the first existence of the retreat. It was re-established in 1792; but during the government of Sir James Craddock, a conspiracy was formed by the Boors to murder the Moravians, and to seize upon the defenceless Hottentots. Timely information having however been sent to the Governor, due precaution was taken, and the conspirators dispersed.[23] Since that time the inmates have been suffered to remain in peace, although hated by the neighbouring Boors, as they prevent their exercising upon the Hottentots, the fraud and oppression which these people formerly suffered from them.

“The church, although a heavy unsightly building, with its very deep thatched roof and sharp gables, becomes deeply interesting, when filled with its attentive congregation. It is not possible to conceive more genuine and artless devotion than that which is manifested externally by the Hottentots; and we are justified in the hope, that a very large portion of them are deeply impressed with the blessed truths, which they hear from their truly pious instructors. We cannot guess the heart, but if consistency of character, and a life evidently formed on true Christian principles will entitle people to be considered as genuine followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, that title may safely be conferred upon them. They themselves will never claim it, but they pursue the peaceful tenor of their way, through good report, and through evil report, having apparently only one object in view, which is the faithful fulfilment of their duty to their God, and to their fellow creatures. And what but the divine blessing upon their sincere and humble endeavours to promote the happiness of their fellow creature, could give that power, authority, and stability to their society, which they evidently possess? Neither having, nor wishing for the means of coercion, their influence over their flock is founded on love; and the fear of that love being withdrawn, is the only but effectual restraint by which the Hottentot is kept from infringing the rules of the society. It would be impossible on a hasty visit to form a just estimate of these most useful missionaries. We passed some days with them, and were delighted with their truly consistent method of civilizing the Hottentots. It seemed to be their object to make them feel that they were not only rational but immortal beings; and to guide them not only to improve the blessings which God had bestowed upon them for their advantage in this world, but also to use these blessings in such a manner as might prepare them for the everlasting happiness of heaven. In this system, the first use that man is taught to make of his reasoning powers is to learn that he is a sinner, as helpless with regard to the renovation of his soul from the state of corruption, into which for the first time he was made sensible that he had fallen, as he was in the state of savage nature, in which he had hitherto lived, to obtain the comforts and advantages possessed by the more enlightened European. In this way religion and civilization went hand in hand, and it was very remarkable that on observing a particularly neat cottage, and a well kept garden, it was almost always found to belong to the most advanced Christian; and this may in a great measure be accounted for by the unwearied patience observed by the Moravians over their charge. They are so far from being precipitate in making the Hottentots nominal Christians by the external rite of baptism, that it is possible they err on the other hand, and exact too much. If this be an error however, it is one on the safe side. But a long series of good conduct, an evident reformation from old habits, and a considerable acquirement of knowledge of the New Testament are considered indispensable before they can be baptized; and a much greater advance in Christianity is required before they can be admitted to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

“In conversing with Mr. Lestner, the chief of the Missionary establishment, upon this subject, I learnt that even the qualifications last mentioned of an exemplary life of piety were not all that was expected from the candidate for the sacrament; but that he must, notwithstanding the most spotless character, be exposed to the lot—his name being put to into one vase, and when drawn out, a paper was drawn out of another vase, containing either an affirmative or a negative. I put a case to Mr. Lestner, in which I supposed the candidate to have been educated under his own eye, and personally known to him; to have been from infancy most exemplary, as a child to his parents, as a servant to his master, as a companion to those around him, and, I asked, would he still be subjected to the lot? The answer was, ‘Most certainly,’ and the precedent of Matthias was given as a reason. It consequently happened that in some instances several negatives followed each other, but at length the affirmative came, and the candidate became a communicant. Whatever opinion may be formed of the apparently unnecessary strictness, it produced the very best effects in many instances; and could not well be abused, as the testimony of good character was necessary before the experiment of the lot could be tried, and there were therefore very few instances of unworthy members being admitted.

“The assistance and countenance the Hottentots received from the Missionaries depended much upon the grade the latter had taken as constituting the Christian, and this will readily account for the superior appearance of their dwellings.

“The service in the church was short, and very impressive, consisting of prayers, exhortations, hymns, and a sermon; and the greatest attention was observable in the congregation. Some manifested a most ardent devotion; and many undoubtedly felt it. The singing of the female Hottentots was delightful, and added powerfully to the effect produced by this view of the worship of God in the wilderness.

“The same gradation of improvement was observed in the dress of the Hottentots as was apparent in their dwellings. In the rows nearest the reading desk the females were clad in European manufactures, and displayed great neatness and cleanliness; some indeed went further, and had added what might be termed finery; but this was much discouraged by the Moravian ladies, who, while employing them in the beautiful work so well known and appreciated in Europe, taught them to consider that it should form no part of their own attire.

“On the middle benches there were mingled with an approach to the costume of the white inhabitant some remains of the sheep’s skin covering of their early state, and less of cleanliness might be remarked; and on those most remote, the genuine Hottentot was seen in the habiliments of his early days.

“On the first arrival of the Hottentot at the establishment, he is provided with a piece of ground, his only claim being the recommendation of one of his countrymen; and on this spot he is left to act at perfect liberty, without either direction or restraint. He is required, as the only tenure by which he holds the property, to attend the church at stated periods, and to receive religious instruction. The Missionaries are too wise to expect that these people should instantaneously throw off their habits of indolence; they are generally certain that these will disappear, as well as the sheep’s skin and the kraal, with the moral darkness which the light of the gospel will dispel; and leave them to experience gradually the change of disposition and habits which is likely to result from the change in the mode of life. Their education is powerfully advanced and accelerated by observation, which with all savages is very acute. Man is an imitative animal, and easily induced to follow that which he sees in the conduct of those whom he is led to respect or love. Here every effort is made to give the mind a right bias; and there is no doubt that the fervent humble prayer, which is daily offered up for them by these single hearted Moravians, is accepted, and brings down many a blessing upon the early convert, who as yet is only capable of seeing the source of his progress in second causes. Habits of industry thus acquired are likely to become fixed and progressive, and are associated with all the instruction they receive, as effects proceeding from one first cause, and that cause Christianity.

“There is service in the church every evening, at which above 200 attend, but on the sabbath nearly 1200 assemble. The whole number under the care of Moravians at this time was rather more than 1300. On Mondays and Fridays they were instructed in singing. The catechism was the course of instruction for the adults. A school room had been built for the daily instruction of the children. The girls are received into this school in the morning, and the boys in the evening; they are educated upon Dr. Bell’s system, and many have made very considerable progress, reading the Bible in Dutch with great fluency.

“The Missionaries are naturally very anxious that the children thus educated should settle amongst them, and see them go away with great reluctance. They however seldom migrate, but marry at an early age, and settle under the immediate protection of their kind friends. We visited several of the cottages, which would have been admired for their neatness and cleanliness in any part of England.

“The Moravians receive all Hottentots from whatever part of the colony they may come, but admit with some jealousy such as have been long inhabitants of Cape Town; and this for a very obvious reason, as they have but too probably acquired habits of intemperance and profligacy, from which these were perhaps free in their savage state.

“The Boors make great complaints against the Moravians for encouraging the Hottentots in their disinclination to work, and in the preference they give to remaining in wretchedness and want in the neighbourhood of Genadendahl, to what they consider more useful labour upon the farms of the colony. The charge of indolence made against the Hottentots while in the service of the Boor may be admitted to a certain degree; but this must in a great measure be attributed to the treatment they receive from the Boor—where they are invariably overworked, wretchedly clad, and cruelly punished for the slightest offence, and even for no offence at all. This is a fearful weight in the scale, when the only counterpoise is a sufficiency of food. The wages rarely exceeded five rix dollars a month, and this payment was often withheld on the plea of a debt, for clothes, tobacco, or spirituous liquors; by which means from utter inability to pay what is demanded, the poor Hottentot became to all intents and purposes a slave for life; but even should he by the utmost exertion and frugality, succeed in getting rid of this debt, he might be involved in others, being accused of having lost an ox by carelessness, or by breaking a wagon by an accident over which he could have no control. Conviction soon followed accusation at the field Cornet’s tribunal, and unless rescued by remonstrances from influential persons, there was little hope of their ever obtaining freedom. Dr. Philip by his arduous exertions, at length broke the neck of this most odious system of tyranny, and succeeded in placing the Hottentot in a situation nearer to that of the white colonist. But among the Boors of the Cape there are many who have dealt very differently with the Hottentot; who have been just and humane towards them, and who in consequence have had occasion to speak of them in a very different manner. Instead of denouncing the whole race as indolent, dishonest, and treacherous, they have found them active, industrious, faithful, and attached in an extraordinary degree, not only to the master and his family, but to his interest, which they hazarded their lives in defence of; as has been frequently evinced by the conduct of these people in defending their master’s property or cattle from wild beasts, or from Kaffer invaders. In truth perhaps there is no description of person who has evinced more ardent gratitude and self-devotion than the Hottentot has done when under kind treatment; there was also one trait of character in itself most honourable, which was so frequently manifested as to place them very high in moral eminence, and that was their determined adherence to truth. Colonel Graham, our companion on this occasion, assured me, that during the whole time he commanded the Hottentot corps, which was some years, he remembered very few instances in which these people had recourse to falsehood; and that even in cases, when the offence from having been often repeated, must necessarily meet with punishment, it was confessed by the culprit with the same frankness as though it had been the first offence, and the confession pleaded in the hope of forgiveness. It is painful to think how much of this native morality of character has been lost, by communication with civilized Europeans.

“I confidently believe, that were the Hottentot always treated with kindness and paid his just due, his labour would far exceed the work assigned him, and that he would be, when uncorrupted by bad example, a most valuable and attached servant. Of this there are many instances, not only in the memory, but in the actual experience of respectable persons at the Cape.

“The Hottentots are in general remarkably intelligent, and are very quick sighted in discovering the track or footsteps of wild animals; they will even trace the steps of man over wild and extensive heaths, so covered with a stunted vegetation as to leave no apparent traces. Their vision is also particularly correct and clear. These last mentioned faculties seem to be possessed in a high degree by all savages, a circumstance easily accounted for by the supposition that their faculties are sharpened by the necessity of exerting them to the utmost, in the absence of those aids, which invention in civilized states has rendered so universal, and so indispensable.

“A Hottentot delights in the chase, a pursuit he was born to; and he is admirably adapted to it from his almost intuitive knowledge of the haunts and habits of wild animals, to whom he is a most formidable enemy.

“We have already adverted to the corps formed entirely of Hottentots, and in justice to them we should give the opinion formed of these people by General Sir James Craig, by whom they were embodied. It has already been given in the excellent and accurate work of Mr. now Sir John Barrow, but it should, whenever the Hottentot character is brought before the public, be referred to. ‘Never were people more contented, or more grateful, for the treatment they now receive. We have upwards of three hundred, who have been with us nearly nine months. It is therefore with the opportunity of knowing them well that I venture to pronounce them an intelligent race of men. All who bear arms exercise well, and understand immediately and perfectly whatever they are taught to perform. Many of them speak English tolerably well. We were told that so great was their propensity to drunkenness, we should never be able to reduce them to order or discipline; and that the habit of roving was so rooted in their disposition, we must expect the whole corps would desert the moment they had received their clothing. With respect to the first, I do not find they are more given to the vice of drinking than our own people; and as to their pretended propensity to roving, that charge is fully confuted by the circumstance of only one man having left us, since I first adopted the measure of assembling them, and he was urged to this step by having lost his firelock. Of all the qualities that can be ascribed to a Hottentot, it will be little expected that I should expatiate upon their cleanliness, and yet it is certain, that at this moment our Hottentot parade would not suffer in comparison with that of some of our regular regiments. The clothing perhaps may have suffered more than it ought to have done, in the time since it was issued to them, from their ignorance of the means of preserving it; but those articles which are capable of being kept clean by washing, together with their arms and accoutrements, which they have been taught to keep bright, are always in good order. They are now likewise cleanly in their persons; the practice of smearing themselves with grease being entirely left off. I have frequently seen them washing themselves in a rivulet when they could have in view no other object but cleanliness.’[24]

“The Missionaries having received many who had belonged to the corps, are very rigid in prohibiting the use of fire arms amongst the people, lest they should be led away from the habits of industry they are anxious to bring them to, by their pursuit of game.

“Besides the schools there are two workshops in which the young Hottentots learn the useful craft of the blacksmith, and the carpenter. The work done here is highly creditable to them, and were there a great demand for their labour, they would soon equal the European artificers. Chairs, tables, bureaus, and other cabinet work, as well as cutlery of every common description is the produce of these workshops. They also build excellent wagons, and are accounted capital wheelwrights. The smith’s house (a Hottentot) was in remarkable good order. They have also among them many respectable masons and thatchers. Their houses produce a very picturesque effect, as seen under the mountains, neatly white-washed. The white-wash is made by pouring boiling water upon bran, and then letting it run off upon lime.

“A very considerable business is carried on by the Missionaries, in the produce of their handicrafts, by trafficking with the interior. All implements for farm purposes are supplied by them of a good quality, and moderate prices; and the Boors of Graaf Reynet deal largely in the purchase of these articles in exchange for cattle.

“The produce of the girl’s workroom is too well known and estimated in Europe to require any account of it; but the neat, cleanly, and cheerful appearance of the young female Hottentots assembled is very striking to the strangers who visit the establishment, and offers a very convincing proof of the success of the Moravians in this most benevolent undertaking.

“The Hottentots express themselves surprisingly well upon the subject of religion, and are evidently capable of much serious reflection; this the Missionaries confirmed by quoting many instances.

“The holy sacrament is administered every month; there were generally about 400 communicants, and an individual examination takes place previously to their receiving it. The females are all dressed in white when they approach the holy table. If any of the Hottentots are known to have quarrelled, they are not permitted to communicate until they are reconciled to each other; or rather they are enjoined to stay away, which in general produces the same effect.

“It is not to be expected that these people should be without their share of vices, which are so common among all communities of their fellow creatures, and amongst others that of drunkenness has been especially charged against them, but perhaps unjustly; for what Sir James Craig says of them as a military corps, may be urged in their favour in every other situation of life in which they are found, that they are not more given to drinking than Europeans. They are in addition surrounded by temptations, as the Boors in the neighbourhood are always pressing upon them wine and brandy of a most wretched description, in payment for any service they may render them; or if by sale, at a very low price. The Hottentots have also a great temptation from the abundance of a plant called the Daka, or wild hemp, which they smoke, and which has as intoxicating an effect as ardent spirits, and may even be considered as having more deleterious effects.

“The Moravians are not only anxious to avoid the exercise of any coercion or restraint over these Hottentots, but to remove all suspicion from the minds of the Boors that the establishment derives any interest or advantage from their labour. For this reason, they are particularly careful never to employ them, without coming to an immediate settlement, as soon as the work is performed; and they make it a rule, never to accept any presents from them, however disposed from gratitude these people might be to offer them.

“A stream winds its way through the valley in which the settlement is situated, and the Hottentots having built their houses on the higher part of the ground allotted them, carried their gardens to the banks with the view of facilitating the watering of them; but two years before our visit, a torrent from the neighbouring mountains swept away the greater part of the gardens, and their labours have since been confined to the more elevated parts of these grounds.

“The Missionaries have tried the cultivation of flax in Genadendahl, but without success. They were in hopes to have produced the material for an useful employment to the Hottentots, and there is no good reason assigned for the failure. As the Commissioner I was so convinced of the advantage which might be derived to the Naval department from the growth of hemp, that I twice imported seed from England in the hope of establishing its culture; but in both instances the seed never germinated, which I attributed to the vital principle having been destroyed in the heated hold of the vessel in which it was brought out; and before I could make a third effort, the establishment was broken up. It is very probable that further endeavours may have been subsequently made, and it is to be hoped that they have been more fortunate.

“On the 29th of November we continued our journey to the Moful Bay, the road lay through a country wild and broken, but highly picturesque; the Swartberg and Hottentots Kloof on the left, and the valleys interspersed with numerous patches of fertile corn ground. We had to cross the river Sender End (without end) twice in the course of the day, but this is attended with no difficulty in the summer season. In the winter it is generally a furious torrent, and opportunities must be diligently sought, and readily made use of for getting over it. This river Sender End terminates among the sand-hills, through which it discharges itself into the sea.

“We arrived at six in the evening at the beautiful farm of Mr. —— in the Soctindals valley, and we were most hospitably received by that gentleman, who is highly respected throughout every part of the colony. He has brought up a large family, and his children are now settled round him, not only in comfort, but in opulence, promising him a happy old age. His house, which was originally a hospital, is still called Sicken Huis, and stands on the right bank of the Sender End river.

“It is generally observed that hospitality is the virtue most practised in the earliest stage of society, and that it declines as the conveniences of life multiply, and accommodations are provided for travellers on the road, by persons who look to them as the means of acquiring property. This is undoubtedly true, but it appears in the colony to have out-lived its term, and to continue to flourish where the absolute necessity for it has passed away; for such are the arrangements made for travelling by means of tents and beds fitted to wagons, and the custom of making a bivouac on the open heath, that no person undertakes a journey without the means of being independent in the course of it; and should there be an invincible repugnance to passing the night without the shelter of a roof, and a sure defence against wild beasts, there are farm houses of an inferior description, where admittance might be obtained on the payment of a small sum. It is true there are not many of them, for the principle of hospitality descends to the lowest class of farmers. Arrangements however may be made of this description, so as to prevent the necessity of intruding upon the domestic privacy of respectable families. Notwithstanding this, the master of the house near which respectable travellers should find themselves, expects that they would unhesitatingly come to him; and on their doing so, evinces the utmost readiness to accommodate them. Every effort is made by the whole family to shew that their hospitality comes from the heart; and the traveller, his servants, and his horses, are liberally provided for. No matter at what hour he arrives, a sumptuous, or at least an abundant repast is prepared for him, with the best of everything the house affords, and the best bed-room for his accommodation. At whatever hour the traveller proposes to continue his journey, he is sure to find his horses and his breakfast ready for him, with warm demonstrations of friendship and invitations to come again, should he return by the same road. This was the reception and hospitality that we met with, not only from Mr. ——, but in almost every part of the country; not always upon the scale of comfort which we experienced here, but with the warmest welcome according to the means possessed of offering it.

“On the 29th we continued our route, and as the day’s journey was to be a very long one, Mr. —— kindly supplied us with a span of oxen to take the wagon as far as the Zout kraal, by which our horses were greatly spared. We arrived about two o’clock on the banks of the Salt lake, and dined on its banks. The water in this lake is too salt for use; and that which we procured from an adjacent farm was so brackish as to be scarcely drinkable; but this quality in water is by no means objectionable to those who are accustomed to it; on the contrary, persons visiting Cape Town from these districts have been known to put salt to the water to render it palatable before they could drink it.

“We traversed extensive plains this day, and saw abundance of game, consisting of stein bocks, riebocks, partridges, pavus, koar hens, &c. the two last a species of the bustard, and very good eating, resembling the Turkey in size, but of a fine wild flavour. We arrived in the evening at the extensive farm of Mr. Odendals, a most respectable and hospitable gentleman, whose estate lies on the western side of the Potteberg, a minor range of hills diverging from the Swartberg, and terminating near the S.E. coast.

“We were here received with the utmost hospitality, and every provision made for our comfort, not only for the night, but for the day and night following, as the day of our arrival was Saturday. We were delighted with the manner in which the family passed the sabbath, no church being within many miles of them. Mr. Odendals read the service to his household in the great hall, which appeared to be the constant practice. He had five children who bid fair to be a comfort to him.

“The farm was a very extensive and most productive one, and had it been cultivated to its full extent, would have yielded a very large supply of grain for the colonial market; but the want of vent for the produce prevented this being done. The distance from the farm to Cape Town required four days to perform it, and a wagon with two men, or a man and a boy, with sixteen oxen, could only take one load of corn, which taking the average prices of grain whilst I was residing at the Cape, may be taken at about sixty rix dollars, or £6 sterling, by far too small a sum to remunerate the farmer for his seed, his labour, the rent of his land, and the absence of his people, oxen and wagon nine days, independent of the probable loss of one or more oxen on the road, and the wear and tear of the wagon. It is true they brought back from Cape Town the articles of European produce required for the consumption of the family, but this was to a very small amount.

“What renders this want of a market more surprising is, that on the other side of the Potteberg, at a distance of only a few hours from this farm, was a river, with a safe port at its entrance, into which vessels of from 70 to 100 tons might enter with safety, and receive cargoes of grain, or other rural produce, lying in perfect security during the whole of the summer, and within two days’ sail of Simon’s Bay or Table Bay. Had a coasting trade existed, and a magazine been erected at the mouth of the Bride River, this district might have furnished a very large supply of grain; and had similar measures been adopted in other parts of the colony where the same advantages existed, not only would this valuable possession of Great Britain have abounded with corn for its own consumption, but it might have had a valuable article of export even to the mother country. It is to be hoped that British enterprize may before this time have laid the foundation of a very extensive coasting trade, which shall at once be the means of bringing into cultivation much valuable land now entirely neglected; whilst it supplies the interior of the colony with every article of European manufacture, of which it stands in need, at a moderate price. It may not be amiss to give here, by anticipation, a calculation which I made some weeks afterwards at George, when conversing with the leading inhabitants upon the subject of a coasting trade as indispensable to the prosperity of this new town.

“A merchant of George is supposed to order a ton of goods, either Manchester, or Birmingham, or Sheffield, (as it may be) from England, for the purpose of supplying the wants of his neighbourhood. These goods are accordingly shipped to his consignment in London, and arrive at the Cape in the course of ten or twelve weeks afterwards, paying a freight to the Cape of £l 10s. per ton. These goods have now to be carried by land to the town of George, a distance of scarcely two hundred miles from Cape Town, and for the freight for this distance, not less than the sum of £9 sterling must be paid, and enormous as this sum must appear, it cannot be done for less, as the following calculation will shew.

“To bring one ton of goods from Cape Town to George would require one man, one boy, one wagon, and sixteen oxen, and the freight charged by the farmer, is five rix dollars per cwt., or one hundred rix dollars for the ton.

“A whole month is required for the journey, including the days of departure and arrival, and one day loading the wagon, in Cape Town, at little more than three rix dollars per day.

“But under the supposition that he might carry a load of the produce of his farm, say corn to Cape Town, the highest price of which in the market would be one hundred rix dollars, he could only estimate the freight at ten rix dollars at the utmost, making one hundred and ten rix dollars for freight going and returning.

“The least which can be set off against this profit would be—

	R. d.
The wages of the man and boy during the month	20	0	0
The repairs of the wagon after the journey	20	0	0
The loss of one ox—but this is a very low average, as they frequently lose many	30	0	0
	70	0	0
Leaving a balance to the farmer, without any mention being made for the loss of the labour of his oxen on the farm	30	0	0
	100	0	0

or about 2s. sterling per day.

“Mr. Odendals assured me that he could afford to deliver 7000 muids of grain to a vessel at the mouth of the Bride River, at thirty rix dollars per load under the current price in Cape Town; and that were the means of exportation furnished to him by the river, the quantity of grain might be increased to a very great amount. Here would be a freight for a schooner, a small vessel of seventy tons, of £210 sterling, to be divided as profit between the merchant and the owner of the vessel, for a voyage that might be performed in a week, but which upon a fair average of winter and summer, might be certainly done eight times in the year; but in all probability twice that number of voyages might be performed. In addition to this freight, another sum might be added for that of European manufactures carried back, in exchange for the corn, and nearly equal in amount to the former. Iron, cutlery of all sorts, agricultural tools, brandy, tea, coffee, sugar, &c. &c. are in great demand in the interior, and having to pay the heavy land carriage already mentioned, reach the inland consumer at an enormous price.

“Mr. Odendals appeared to be very happy in his family, and much respected and beloved by his slaves. A very pleasing practice was observed in his house, which was, that of all the servants, slaves as well as others, coming in, in succession in the morning, to wish their master a good day. This was considered as a family muster.

“The garden here would probably have been very productive, had it been more sheltered from the S.E. winds, which might easily have been done, many shrubs such as the Rhinoceros bush, and many Proteas, braving its violence; under the lee of which the stunted oak, such as many of the vineyards in the Cape district are sheltered by, might be made to grow. The water is generally brackish through the extensive plains at the foot of the Potteberg; a quality for which it is not disrelished by the inhabitants, however objectionable to strangers. A beautiful specimen of the wild Jessamine was seen here, armed with thorns as sharp as those of the Mimosa.

“The roads in the neighbourhood are generally good, that from Sickenhuis to this place was excellent, running over level ironstone; and but for the ravines by which it was so frequently intercepted, might have been travelled upon at as great a rate as the best roads in England; and being formed on a hard surface, never wanted repair, in fact the only labour required in making them was to clear away the heath.

“On Monday, Dec. 1st, it rained too hard during the early part of the day for our party to begin their journey; but in the afternoon the weather clearing, our kind host insisted upon driving us in his wagon to Cape Lagullos. The road lay over a very extensive plain, capable of being made very productive in corn. In the neighbourhood of the Recty Lake the ground is so frequently flooded, that it produces only a rank coarse grass. There are many pools in the course of the Kleine River, called by the inhabitants “Sea cow holes,” from the resemblance to the haunts of these animals in the eastern parts of the colony, and probably from their having been found here in the earlier part of the settlement; tradition being very common here of the country having been infested with all descriptions of wild animals, and particularly lions and buffalos, which are now rarely seen to the westward of the Gauritz River.

“From the Recty Lake a quantity of salt is collected every year, as much as 3000 muids. The plain formerly afforded excellent pasturage for horses, but the grass having become coarse, and rank, the value of the property has much diminished. The Boors on the small farms which are dispersed about this extensive tract of land, are of an athletic make, but of most indolent habits, as is evident from the wretched appearance of their farms and all around them. Their chief occupation is hunting, and here, and here only, their energies seem to be aroused; but the neglect of their farms has already been accounted for, in the want of a market for their produce. A little corn is sufficient for the consumption of their families, and as they have abundance of sheep, and plenty of game at hand, they want but little besides clothing and brandy, which they procure from Cape Town in exchange for what they send thither.

“On the evening of this day we reached Recty, a small horse farm, situated on the eastern side of a Lake, about seven miles from Cape Lagullos, a wretched hovel in a most dilapidated state, and bearing evident marks of the absence of its master. From the failure of the grass already alluded to, but few horses are used here. We passed the night with as much comfort as the means offered us would admit of; but to travellers of cheerful disposition, good health and appetite, with wagons so provided, as to set scarcity at defiance, we did not suffer much; there was during the night a severe storm of thunder and lightning.

“On the following day we set out for Cape Lagullos, but found the Boor who conducted us, entirely mistaken as to the point they called the Cape; upon reaching it, another was seen bearing S.W. by W. from it, consequently further to the southward; and having got to this point, another appeared, at the distance of five or six miles, bearing W.S.W., which was probably the real Cape. The wrecks of many vessels were lying on the part of the shore we visited, which had been lost in the course of the preceding thirty years. One of the ships lost here a few years before, had a cargo of slaves, who having gained their liberty, marched up the country in a body, but they were too dangerous at liberty, and too useful in bondage, to be allowed to enjoy their freedom any length of time. An old woman then living in the house now occupied by Mr. Odendal’s, took great credit to herself, for having defended it against these invaders, and for being the cause of their being finally secured.

“At four p.m. on the 2nd, we continued our journey, crossing the Carse River, on our way to Morkels, a farm on the River, called a horse farm: there is another near it, but both evincing at this period a want of capital. Morkels is a valuable property, a good dwelling house, spacious out-buildings, capacious stables and barns, but in a ruinous state for want of repair, the water here is excessively brackish, so much so, as to be scarcely drinkable to an European.

“We met here at dinner with young Schwartz, the person who first discovered the wreck of the unfortunate Arniston, a large East Indiaman, which was lost upon Cape Lagullos in June, 1815. He gave us a very interesting and most affecting account of the awful scene, which came suddenly before him as he rode down to the beach. The shore was covered with wreck of every description, masts, sails, timber, and planks, hove high upon the beach, which was strewed with dead bodies. The fatal event had taken place some days, as he learnt from the survivors. Six men whom he found in a small cavern on the coast, impressed with the idea that the ship had passed the Cape of Good Hope, and that she had been wrecked to the westward of it, had walked along the beach for two days, expecting every moment to see the Table Mountain, but at the end of that time were stopped by the Bride River, which convinced them of their error, and they had to retrace their steps to the wreck, which they reached at the end of the fourth day, worn out with fatigue and hunger, having only subsisted upon the shell fish they found on the coast. Their first object was to bury as many of their dead as they could, during the two days previously to their being discovered by Mr. Schwartz; they pointed out to him particularly the spot in which they had laid the four children of Colonel Giels, of the 72nd Regiment, who had been sent home as passengers in the Arniston, under the care of Lord and Lady Molesworth, who also perished in her. These poor fellows had evidently taken a very deep interest in the fate of these children, as it was the only grave which they distinctly marked. They had of course procured some salt provisions from the wreck, which had been washed ashore, but every thing else was spoiled by the salt water. They were also enabled to clothe themselves from the raiment of their unfortunate shipmates. They were afterwards most hospitably and kindly treated by the farmer, and having been sent to the nearest Magistrate, gave the deposition of which the following is a copy, and which was forwarded to the Commissioner of His Majesty’s Dock Yard, a few days afterwards.

“‘A narrative from the surviving crew, relating to the loss of the Arniston, Transport, wrecked near Cape Lagullos, on the evening of the 30th of May, 1815.

“‘Charles Stewart Scott, late carpenter’s mate of the Arniston, Transport, and others, assert to the best of their knowledge, that she sailed from Point de Galle on or about the 4th of April, under convoy of H.M.S. Africaine, and the Victor Brig, with six Indiamen. About the 26th of May parted company from the convoy, owing to stress of weather, having blown away most of her sails; other sails were then bent, but the weather continued very squally, with a heavy sea. On the 29th, about seven a.m. the land was discovered right ahead, bearing about N. by W. a long distance off, the wind then S.S.E. about half-past four p.m. still blowing very strong, hauled to the wind on the larboard tack, under a close reefed maintopsail, and stood on till half-past two a.m. on the 30th; then supposing the land seen was near Table bay, the hands were turned up, bore up steering N.W. and set the foresail, intending to run for St. Helena; continued on till 10 a.m. when the land was again discovered nearly ahead, turned the hands up, and hauled the ship close to the wind on the larboard tack, still blowing very hard, made all sail, having topsails and courses set, stood on till near noon, when breakers were discovered on the lee-bow, wore ship and hauled to the wind on the other tack; stood on till 2 p.m. then wore, and hauled to the wind on the larboard tack, continuing on till near 4 o’clock, when breakers were seen, called Lagullos Reef, which we could not weather on either tack, being completely embayed; clewed up the sails and cut away three anchors, the two bower cables parted shortly after, when Lieutenant Brice, agent for transports, recommended the captain to cut the sheet cable, and run the ship on shore, as the only chance of saving the people’s lives. The cable was then cut, and the ship put before the wind, in about eight minutes after she struck forward, the ship heeling to windward; cut away the guns in order to heel her the other way, but which could not be effected, and she soon began to break up. About eight o’clock the masts went, and the ship in a very short time was quite in pieces; many people were drowned below in consequence of her heeling to windward, and others clung to the wreck, endeavouring to reach the shore about half a mile distant. Out of the whole crew, consisting of near 350 persons, only six men reached the shore with great difficulty upon planks, being much bruised by the wreck and surf, which was very high. At daylight the next morning the stern post was the only part of the ship to be seen, the beach was covered with wreck, stores, &c. and a number of dead bodies, which were buried by the survivors. Amongst these were Lord and Lady Molesworth, the agent, the captain, and some children. On the next day, the 1st of June, considering ourselves to the westward of Cape Point, it was agreed to coast the beach to the eastward, which we continued to do for four days and a half, subsisting on shell fish from off the rocks, but fearing we had taken a wrong direction, we returned to the wreck, and accomplished it in three days and a half, where we remained six days subsisting chiefly on a cask of oatmeal, which had been driven on shore; by drying it in the sun, we experienced great relief. The pinnace having been driven on shore bilged, we proposed to repair it in the best manner circumstances would allow, and coast along shore. At that time, the 14th of June, being at work on the boat, we were fortunately discovered by a farmer’s son, John Schwartz, who was out shooting, and humanely carried by him to his father’s house, where we remained with every comfort he could afford us for a week, and then set off for Cape town, where we arrived on Monday evening, the 26th of June.

“‘Before we left the country we were informed that three hundred and thirty-one bodies thrown on shore, had been interred near the beach.

“‘Signed,

“‘CHARLES STEWART SCOTT, and party.’

“This declaration was made before me this day at Cape Town, the 27th day of June, 1815, of which this is a copy.

“J. MERES,

“Lieutenant R.N. Resident Agent for Transports.”

A List of Officers and Passengers, as far as can be collected from the survivors, who perished on board the Arniston Transport, the 30th of May, 1815.

• Lieutenant Brice, R.N. Agent.
• Captain George Simpson.
• 1st Mate, Thomas Hall.
• 2nd Mate, William Young.
• 3rd Mate, William Gibbs.
• 4th Mate, —— Robinson.
• Doctor, —— Gunter.
• Boatswain, John Barrett.
• Carpenter, John Finley.
• Gunner, Thomas Gowan.

Survivors.

• Charles Stewart Scott, (Captain’s Mate).
• Philip Shea,
• Wm. Drummond,
• Wm. Fish,
• Thos. Mansfield,
• John Lewis, Seamen.

Passengers.

• Lord and Lady Molesworth, with a boy aged 7 years old under their care.
• Four children—boys belonging to an officer of the 73 Regt. at Columbo.
• Captain Stoddart, (Royal Scots).
• Mrs. James, with two children, belonging to Point de Galle.
• Mrs. Taylor, Officer’s Widow.
• Miss Twisleton, daughter of the Clergyman at Columbo.
• Mr. Gordon, Commissary, and son, about five years old.
• Lieutenant Callender, 19th Regiment.

Invalids from the 19th, 22nd, 56th, 69th, 84th, and Royal Scots Regiments; and near 100 seamen from the different men of war in India, with 14 women, including passengers, and 25 children, in the whole about 350 people.

N.B. Captain Whyms of the army died on board six weeks after leaving Ceylon.

“On the morning of the 3rd December, anxious to visit the spot become so deeply interesting, from the preceding melancholy history, our party proceeded to the place, and arrived there at half-past nine, a.m. It was indeed an awful scene, although much of the horror had been removed by the burial of the dead. Every object was calculated to throw a deep and solemn gloom over the mind. The wreck of the ship lay scattered in great fragments in every direction on the beach, and the remains of the unhappy sufferers were indicated by pieces of plank and timber, which had been placed in an upright position over them; 350 bodies had been washed on shore.

“It may be easier to conceive than to describe the feelings excited in our minds at the awful scene which here presented itself. The coast and surrounding country was desolate in the extreme. The day being cloudy, not a sunbeam gleamed over it; there was little wind, and the surf rolled sullenly along the shore, with a hollow and lugubrious roar, whilst every object told the tale of woe. A monument had been raised by the direction of Colonel Giels over the grave where his children were deposited, by an artificer sent from Cape Town; its bright white appearance contrasted with the dark clouds, and the still darker tablet on which the fatal event was recorded, produced an indescribable effect upon the eye, unprepared for such an object.

“Having remained some time meditating upon this mournful scene, our party pursued their journey over a wide sandy plain towards the Hope, an Estate belonging to Mr. Lawrence Cloete, and appropriated to the breeding of sheep. In crossing these plains, and far distant from the coast, even many miles, we observed pieces of the wreck of the Arniston, which had been evidently dropped from wagons employed in carrying away timber from the beach, and it did at the moment occur to me, that the notions respecting the receding of the ocean which has occupied so many pens, and so many pages, and concerning which so much has been written in reference to this part of the world in particular, might have been accounted for by the object before us. Had a strong S.E. wind taken place subsequent to these remarkable pieces being dropped from the wagons, (they were shot-racks), they would have been forthwith covered deep in sand; and had they been found a century afterwards they would have excited the same suggestion, that the sea had formerly covered this place also.

“From an attentive observation of every part of the coast of this colony, I am much more inclined to adopt Sir John Barrow’s theory of the sea gaining, rather than of its receding; and the observations he makes upon the subject, (vol. i. p. 6,) appear very satisfactory; but I felt at the same time convinced, that the Cape flat, now an immense sandy plain, covered with shrubs and heath was, perhaps ever since the commencement of the Christian era, a channel between the Table mountain, then an Island, and the main land. Sir John Barrow grounds his opinion upon the effects produced by the accumulation of sand, during the period of nearly seven years that he was in the country, of which some very striking instances will be given in the course of this narrative. But lest the assertion may appear a startling one, it may be as well even in this place to shew on what grounds he founded the supposition.

“It is well known that the S.E. winds blow during a great part of the year, and sometimes with great violence for many days together. A heavy sea consequently rolls in upon every part of the southern coast, bringing with it an immense quantity of sand, which may have been forming a ridge of considerable elevation above high water mark. As the tide recedes, the sand dries, and is taken up by the wind, and carried in a continued and dense stream into the interior, where it is deposited among the shrubs, and soon covers them. A reference to those who have land near the coast, and even at some miles distant from it, will give a melancholy confirmation of this fact, and shew that much of their land has been entirely ruined by the accumulation of sand. During the winter months when the N.W. winds prevail they are in general accompanied by rain, and the sand when wet is not liable to be taken up by the wind and carried back again: and this shews how the sand hills accumulate, and how soon not only shrubs, but trees may be overwhelmed with sand.

“Our party arrived at the Hope in the afternoon of the 3rd. The house is small but very commodious, and fitted up with every attention to comfort and even luxury. It is situated on the eastern bank of an extensive salt lake, into which the little salt river carries its waters; there is no visible outlet, but they doubtless pass through the surrounding sands.

“Great quantities of game abound in this neighbourhood, and several ostriches were seen in the day’s journey, rising from the heath on the approach of the wagons, and striding towards the interior with most extraordinary velocity.

“Immense quantities of corn were once grown in this neighbourhood, but a decided and very reasonable preference was given by our host to sheep and horses. Of the former he has a very large flock, with a valuable collection of merinos. It is considered that the wool of the fourth cross is nearly equal to the Spanish original. It is surprising, considering the number of hyenas and wolves, with which this part of the colony abounds, that so little injury is experienced in the sheep-folds, but the hyena and the wolf seldom attack cattle or sheep in an enclosure, however simple and defenceless it may be.

“There are no trees near the house, but several beautifully wooded glens or ravines running down to the lake.

“On the 5th December, at six, a.m. we left the Hope having been furnished with a span of oxen to ascend the Potteberg, a steep and rugged road, but one which might with care be greatly improved. From the summit of the hill we had a splendid view of the Sout valley, and the adjacent plains, with an extensive line of sea coast, terminating at Cape Lagullos to the S.W. The country although wild and uncultivated, was picturesque, and much enlivened, by the profusion and variety of the shrubs and heaths with which it was covered in all the brilliancy of flower. Many Piebocks were seen on ascending the Potteberg, and some Partridges. We stopped in the course of the morning at the house of the field Cornet; it lies in the descent of the Potteberg, and he is a most respectable man, with a large family, cultivating an extensive corn farm. He was suffering severely from a whitloe, which had begun on the finger, but its effects threatened the loss of his arm. The greatest inconvenience experienced by the colonists in the interior is the want of surgical assistance; though they are sufficiently well instructed in medical remedies, to apply them with tolerable success.

“After some repose at this place, we proceeded on our way to the Bride River, but having mistaken the road we had a long and very fatiguing journey, and having reached a part of the river where no means existed for crossing, we had to retrace our steps nearly half way over a hilly rugged road, and did not arrive at the ferry at Guillenpuis until nearly sunset. The country we had passed through this day was of an extraordinary description. The prospect before us as we left the Potteberg was that of a gently undulating surface, covered with a great variety of shrubs and aloes; but as we proceeded we found it frequently intersected by deep and precipitous ravines, and which could only be passed by means of very winding roads down the steep slaty sides. The ascent from these occasioned great labour to the cattle. The Bride River as seen from the heights on its right bank had a most picturesque appearance from its windings, making a distance between two places along its banks of two hours, when a straight road between them, had such existed, would not have required more than half an hour. Corn might be grown to an immense amount near this river, as was evident by what was seen growing on the few spots which were cultivated, but the population is very scanty, and labour very difficult to procure. It was said that black cattle would thrive greatly on these plains, but that there was something in the pasturage generally destructive to sheep, of which the inhabitants complained of having lost great numbers, and no longer ventured to keep more than they required for their immediate consumption.

“As it was too late to get the wagons over that evening, which requires a tedious process, they were unloaded and the baggage taken over in a small boat, which landed us at a small but commodious farm house on the opposite bank, where we received a most hospitable welcome; and the inmates, though very limited in their circumstances, made every effort to accommodate us, giving up the best part of the house to our use, and supplying us with fish, fowls, and fresh eggs, for which they positively refused to receive payment.

“The small boat, not more than twelve feet in length, returned for the horses, which swam over, having their heads tied up to the gunwale of the boat, two at each side. It consequently required three trips to get over the eight wagon and four saddle horses. Much difficulty was experienced, and time lost in getting them all to take the water. Some of them having been accustomed to it, took their stations on each side of the boat at once, whilst others could scarcely be brought to the water’s edge; but example here, as in most other cases, had at length its influence, they reached the other side in safety and ease, and were comfortably accommodated in the farm stables. At daylight in the morning we rose, in order to see the process of getting the wagon over. The river at this place might be about one hundred and fifty yards across, and perhaps two fathoms deep, the depth however was of no consequence. A large empty leaguer well bunged up, was placed in the wagon, and lashed to the framework at the bottom, a line was then brought from the opposite shore, and made fast to it, it was then pushed into the water, and hauled over to the other side without any difficulty, by two or three men; when a pair of horses were ready to receive it, and draw it out of the stream.

“The Bride River is navigable from this place to its mouth, for vessels of thirty or forty tons. The face of the country to the eastward, is wild and precipitous to a degree surpassing what we have hitherto seen; so much so as to wear the appearance of having been convulsed by earthquake. It is at the same time very fertile, even to the summit of the hills, being covered with corn wherever the cultivator thought proper to sow it.

“The scenery amidst the windings of the Bride River was most strikingly picturesque; the various tints which the mimosa, the aloe, the milkwood, and the protea, gave to the landscape, produced a very splendid effect.

“At eleven, on the 8th December, we arrived at Rhinoster Fonteyne, a grazing and breeding farm (for horses) on the banks of the Bride River, near its mouth. The view to the westward was superb. We rode down to the entrance of the river, and found a capacious harbour for small craft, formed by a spit of sand running out from the eastern shore. The harbour here formed is very capacious, its breadth securing the vessels which might be lying there in the winter, against the effect of the torrents rushing from the mountains. Here a depÔt should be made of corn, wine, flax, linseed, and oil, in readiness to ship for the capital, on board any vessels which might be sent for the purpose. They might also take on board large quantities of thorn bark for tanning; the gana, a shrub used in making soap; tobacco; wool of an excellent quality from the Merino sheep; the inspissated juice of the aloe, which may be had in large quantities; and many articles of traffic, not only for home consumption in the Cape district, but also as articles for exportation, the want of which was so severely felt, that the exchange for bills upon England, which were considered at par at 125, rose in the year 1822 to more than 200.

“A constant trade might thus be carried on, and if the resources of the colony were by such means brought into action, there is little doubt but the export trade would be very considerable, even in corn.

“Mr. Van Rennen, the owner of this farm, having purchased the famous English stallion, Euryalus, had greatly improved his breed of horses, which rose in value, and were generally sold at high prices from 500 to 1000 rix dollars. There were upon the farm 300 cows, and yet neither butter nor cheese were made, beyond what was required for the use of the family, and this for want of an outlet. It was stated that 1500 sheep were shorn annually upon this farm; that the wool was sold in Cape Town for two rix dollars the pound, and that the fleeces average two pounds each. Mr. Van Rennen has taken the precaution of enclosing and covering in a pool, or rather an extensive well in his grazing ground, by which he ensures a constant supply of water in the hottest seasons. It not only prevents the rapid evaporation, which would be caused by the heat of the sun, but also prevents the cattle from wallowing and trampling upon the borders of the pool. The want of water is the cause of the greatest suffering in every part of the colony. Great improvidence has been manifested in the distribution of the different farms by the Government, and this shews the expediency of being liberal in the remuneration of talented and upright Surveyors in all new settlements, and in preventing a monopoly of the streams; from which single cause it frequently happens that extensive tracts of valuable land may be thrown out of cultivation. From the steep descent of the beds of the rivers the waters soon run off; but much might, nevertheless, be done by irrigation and by lateral cuts. The country however must become much more populous before such improvements can be looked for.

“On the 8th, we left Rhinoster Fonteyne in Mr. Van Rennen’s wagon, which he had kindly lent us in order that we might send off our own, and the saddle horses at a very early hour; and that the horses might be refreshed before they were required for the remainder of the day’s journey, which was to be a very long one. We traversed an immense plain near fifteen miles in breadth, cultivated in patches which produced corn in abundance, and stretching to a great extent from the sea to the foot of the Swartberg. The mountains had continued to bound the prospect upon the left, from the time we had passed Hottentot Holland’s Kloof, and were seen running on to the north-east, lost in the most remote distance. The vallies and ravines, were generally dark with the woods springing up in the dark alluvial soil which was washed down by the wintry rains. In the course of this day, we arrived at Duivenhock, where the scenery was truly beautiful; and here we found a most respectable and hospitable family, in a substantial and commodious cottage, with every thing wearing the appearance of industry and gradual improvement. After receiving refreshment here, we proceeded over an open and generally level country to the Kaffer Kuyl River; we saw abundance of game in crossing it. The Kaffer Kuyl is a considerable stream running with rapidity from the mountains towards the sea. Much corn is grown near to its banks, and two respectable looking farms lie at a small distance from each other. This river is not capable of being made navigable, having an irregular and rocky bed, and in the rainy seasons it becomes an impetuous torrent. In the evening, we arrived at a farm belonging to Mr. La Grange, on the high road from Cape Town to Mossul Bay; it is situated on a level plateau at a considerable height above the level of the sea. The country about it is generally undulating, except in the immediate neighbourhood of the river, the banks of which are very steep and rugged. The Soetmelks River runs very near this farm; a great number of horses are bred here and some cattle.

“Having passed the night with great comfort here, we pursued our journey towards the Gauritz River, over a beautifully variegated country. The mimosa of the most lively and refreshing green was strikingly contrasted with the generally parched and arid appearance of the soil, but this was also frequently relieved by the brilliancy of patches of flowering shrubs of the most lively hues, approaching even to gaudiness, if such a term can be applied to the objects of creation; while the aloes, scattered over the country in boundless profusion, gave finishing touches to the landscape, and produced the happiest effect. The whole of the tract we passed over this day appeared to be fit for cultivation, capable of producing in abundance all the necessaries of life, and wherever industry had been employed, it was apparently crowned with success.

“This day, the 9th day of December, was the hottest we had experienced, the thermometer was at 99 in the interior of the wagon. The wind from the north felt as though it came from a furnace; not a cloud was to be seen, except a few of a white and fleecy description, which were gathering over the summit of the Swartberg; and from their appearance, Colonel Graham, who had been long an observer of the changes of the weather in this country, at once predicted a thunder storm; and his conjectures were accurate, for in less than three hours a most violent storm of wind and rain, with tremendous thunder and vivid lightning, came on, and lasted about two hours. We had, providentially, reached the Gauritz River, and crossed it before the storm came on, and were comfortably sheltered at the house of Esaias Miers, on the left bank. He was a kind and hospitable man; and, with his excellent wife, gave every accommodation in their power to offer. With their assistance, and that of our own cook, we soon procured an excellent dinner. In about two hours the weather cleared up, and gave us a delightful evening for pursuing our journey.

“The banks of the Gauritz are extremely precipitate, and scarcely less than two hundred feet in height; the road, as may be supposed, is very steep, but with the precaution of locking both the hind wheels of the wagon, is not dangerous. The difficulty of ascending is very great. The country people in general travel with two or three wagons in company, for the purpose of assisting each other in getting over these places, which to one team of oxen would be insurmountable. This forms one of the most animating and picturesque scenes imaginable. I have already adverted to it, but to see the wagons ascending from the bed of Gauritz, up a broken road which in other countries would be deemed impracticable, with a long line of, in some instances, thirty-six oxen, through the wildest scenery imaginable, the shouting of the drivers, the echoes occasioned by the cracking of their huge whips, and the passengers in every direction climbing amongst the rocks in pursuit of the nearest way to the summit of the ridge, altogether produces an effect which is indescribable, and of a peculiarly animating character.

“We had in this place an additional proof of what industry and perseverance can perform in overcoming existing difficulties, but it is certainly ‘taking the bull by the horns.’ A small portion of labour applied by legislative investments would soon render these roads practicable for the wagon and its own team, without any of the detention and risk of loss of oxen, and damage to the vehicle which is now constantly experienced; and this being the great road to immense forests in Uitenhage, and to the district of George, it seems the more extraordinary that some exertion had not long before been made by the Colonial Government. In many cases we observed that the road might have been rendered much easier, and consequently safer, and more expeditious, by a little more detour being made in it; but when even it was at all possible, the straight line was most inflexibly adhered to. It was frequently seen that the ruts of wheels were passing over a stone of two or three feet in height, where a deviation of as many yards would have avoided it. But it was a road which the grandfather had gone, and was therefore most dutifully followed by his descendants.

“The Gauritz is frequently in the rainy season a formidable torrent, and impassable for days together, at which time a most singular and picturesque scene presents itself, from the groups of wagons and travellers collected on each bank, forming as it were extensive encampments, their numerous spans of horses and oxen grazing on the steep declivities of the bank, where any food can be found for them, or outspanned on the heights for the purpose of grazing. To these are added on the left bank very large droves of cattle and flocks of sheep, waiting for the water to subside, that they may continue their way to the Cape Town market. The Boors and their Hottentots enjoy these bivouacs much, as they pass the time of their detention in shooting, and the neighbourhood is well supplied with game; nor are the females of the party without their share in the general excitement, as they have the enjoyment of society from which they are precluded in their solitary farms; and as their wagons form very commodious tents, they experience but little more discomfort than in their cots at home, where in many cases the accommodations are hardly superior. To add to the animation of the scene, their little fires blazing in all directions, and the column of blue smoke ascending along the hills, and taking from them the monotony of feature by giving an appearance of distance to those parts dimly seen, increases the general effect of the picture.

“The Gauritz is in no part navigable, from the broken and rocky nature of its bed, and no boats are consequently to be found upon it. Beneath the cliff on the right bank was a remarkable plateau, enclosed in a bend of the winding of the banks, quite level, and of considerable extent, and about twenty feet above the bed of the river. At the first view it appeared well calculated for the site of a village, but in winter it is frequently laid under water; and logs of timber and drift wood scattered over it shewed this to have been recently the case.

“Several wagons laden with timber were met with in the course of this day, on their way to Cape Town, carrying many large yellow-wood beams for building, and logs for converting into planks, also fellies for wheels, and treenails for the repair of ships. It may easily be conceived under what amazing disadvantages this traffic is carried on between the forest and the capital, a distance little short of two hundred miles, and the road lying nearly along the coast. It can be shewn that plank from Norway and from America may be brought into the market at a rate which competes with this which is grown in the colony; but the injury is not confined to the high price of this indispensable commodity. These journeys for the conveyance of timber depopulate the whole country in the neighbourhood of the forest. The labourers and the cattle are constantly on the road; and not unfrequently the farmer and his family seize the opportunity, in order to have their frolic, leaving the cows, the young stock, and the crops to the care of an aged female Hottentot, while every other part of the establishment follows the wagon. Should the scanty portion of grain which he has sown fail, in consequence of his absence, the family have a resource; they can live entirely upon mutton, and game, and tea, and brandy; the two latter articles being never forgotten in the return cargo. The want of hands in the different farms is an universal complaint; and is the only cause that can be assigned, why the immense tracts of fertile land are uncultivated; but the reason is here at once given. The whole population is employed in taking materials for building to Cape Town; while a few hundred hands employed in conducting a coasting trade would effect more completely all that is to be done; and leave the farmers and the farm servants, undisturbed in their rural occupations; ensuring to the former a most liberal return of whatever the ground would produce, while industrious habits would take the place of that wandering, unsettled, and indolent disposition for which the Cape Boor is so remarkable.

“The abundance of all the essentials of life which a kind Providence has showered down on this favoured country, is another great cause of the little advance its inhabitants make in improvement, which is so obvious in most parts of the interior. The want of food is unknown amongst them, either for man or beast; and other wants are easily provided for. Houses built of clay and thatched with reeds are readily constructed; the wood work necessary for doors, windows, and rafters, is easily obtained from the nearest Bosch, as the forest is called; and converted by the roughest tools in such a way as may answer the purpose. The furniture of many of the houses is confined to the frames of a bedstead or two, (the sacking for which is formed of thongs of raw hide) and a large chest serving at once for a store closet and a table. Clothing is easily made from the sheep-skin tanned or untanned; and a few loads of wood or aloes carried to Cape Town market, will procure them brandy and tea, their principal luxuries, and such European manufactures as they may be tempted to indulge in, such as printed calicos, and linen. These journies, as we have shewn, are attended with no other expense or loss than the neglect of their farms. The covered wagon is their dwelling house, and the sleeping apartment for the master and mistress; the children and slaves sleeping under them in dry weather. The journey is divided into schoffs, or distances, calculated from one grazing place to another, called “Out-span” places; these are six, eight, or ten hours from each other, as they happen to be. In the more sandy and arid parts of the colony the schoffs are regulated by the springs of water. The march is generally performed by night in summer, in order to avoid the heat of the sun. As soon as they reach the out-span place, the oxen are unyoked, and turned out to graze. If they have horses, they are knee haltered, by the halter being tied to the fore leg, and so short that when the head of the animal is elevated, his leg is lifted from the ground, and he can only go upon three legs, which ensures his being caught when wanted. In these wild parts of the colony there is little fear of the cattle straying, for they are too much in fear of wild beasts to wander far from protection; and it was very remarkable that saddle horses, which if turned out near the Cape, would be very difficult to catch, will, in the interior, when far from any inhabited place, keep close to the owner, when leading them by the bridle, or if left to themselves.

“As soon as the horses and oxen are turned out, the domestic arrangements begin; fires are lighted, sheep or fowls are killed, and cooking proceeds with great energy. It may be that a buck is brought in, which makes the feast a sumptuous one, in which all are equally interested. The driver and leaders of the oxen are no sooner off duty than they betake themselves to sleep, and only awake for their food, and then sleep again. After the meal, the Siesta becomes general, and lasts till the preparation signal is given for resuming the journey, when all again is bustle; the cattle are yoked, the wagons packed, and the cracking of the huge whips again announces that they are in motion. Such is nearly the history of every day, and of the whole journey, until they reach the immediate vicinity of the capital, when they become restrained by the usages of more civilized life, a fetter which is severely felt by all, bipeds as well as quadrupeds. There are few instances of these travellers being attacked in their night marches by the wild beasts, which infest so many parts of the interior of the colony. The feline species are in general as cowardly as ferocious, and are scared by the noise and the number of the caravans, which of course is not diminished on this account.

“If stationary, in the night the cattle are kept tied to the wagons, and large fires kept burning round the little encampment. In the preceding year, while the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, was on his journey to the Fish river with his family, having stopped for the night on one of the extensive plains over which they had to pass, a little Hottentot boy, the leader of one of the teams, having laid down to sleep at a little distance from the wagons, was seized by a lion. His screams having aroused the people who had not yet gone to sleep, the noise they made in pursuing the animal, induced it to drop its prey, and the child was found at a few yards distance, very little injured by the jaws of the beast.

“At three p.m. we proceeded on our journey towards Mossel Bay, which I was very anxious to visit, that I might form my own judgment as to its fitness as a resort for the coasting trade. The accounts published by the Dutch authorities of every part of the coast, threw great discouragement over every prospect of such a trade being ever established; but they were evidently influenced by consideration of the inexpediency of the coast being known to foreigners, which would render it necessary to defend many parts hitherto avoided as dangerous.

“We soon reached the farm of Thunis Meyer, lying in a beautiful, fertile, and tolerably well cultivated valley. The land was evidently good, and immense quantities of grain might have been grown here, in the immediate vicinity of Mossel Bay, where the anchorage might be deemed as safe as that of Table Bay, and from whence it might be shipped either for the capital or the foreign market. Between this place and Mossel Bay lies another extensive farm, belonging to Mr. Muller, also abounding in grain, and in which a number of horses and black cattle are annually reared. The farm lies at the eastern extremity of the Kleine Riverberg, and has a distant view of the sea, near Mossel Bay and the mouth of the Kayman, or ‘Crocodile’s Gut.’ There are some deep and well wooded glens and precipitous ravines in the immediate neighbourhood of this farm, beautifully wild and picturesque. The aloe, the mimosa, with every description and size of shrubs, and an immense variety of blooming and curious heaths, and other flowering plants, give a richness and beauty to the scene of which neither the pen nor the pencil could give any adequate idea. We remained at Mr Muller’s, and were as usual kindly and hospitably treated. It was here we remarked the apparently improvident and wasteful manner in which the Dutch colonial system of farming was carried on. A thrashing floor is built on the summit of an elevation commanded by the prevailing S.E. wind, and here the corn is trodden out by the hoofs of horses driven round the enclosure at a quick pace; after which it is turned up to the breeze, and the chaff and the straw are carried far away, being considered of no value here, as it was supposed the cattle would not feed upon it. This might certainly be true when they had abundance of green food at command, but could not be the case in the hot summer months, when the country was parched up in all directions. We had an opportunity of shewing the error of this system, for when dry feeding cattle for St. Helena was practised at Simon’s Town, the straw formed a very principal part of their food.

“On the following morning a thick haze covered the face of the country, a sure indication that the day would be sultry, and we had every reason to respect the prediction. We left Mr. Muller’s at eight in the morning of the 10th December, and traversed an extensive plain, on our way to Mossel Bay. We at length reached an eminence, from which a most magnificent view of the bay and eastern coast presented itself. Cape St. Blaize, which when originally discovered, gave its name to the bay, since altered by the former to the more familiar one, taken from the immense number of the shell-fish, to Mossel (or Muscle) Bay lay on our right. The little village or depÔt formed by the Dutch for collecting corn on government account was immediately below our feet, with the receding range of the Swartberg mountains, and the indented line of sea coast, terminating the prospect on the left and in front.

“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.

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.”