Part 26

van der Stel, Simon: on the 14th of November 1639 is born at Mauritius, 172; at a very early age is sent to Amsterdam to be educated, 175; is regarded as their protégé by the directors of the East India Company, ib.; when grown up marries and becomes the father of six children, ib.; in 1679 is offered the situation of commander of the Cape settlement, which he gladly accepts, and in October of that year assumes the duty, 176; like all the chief officials he is prohibited from carrying on farming operations or speculating in cattle, ib.; he must be regarded as a model ruler, 177; in 1691 he is promoted to be governor, and in 1692 to be councillor extraordinary of Netherlands India, 179; in February 1699 retires from office, and is succeeded by his eldest son, 180; on the 24th of June 1712 dies at Constantia, ib.

van der Stel, Willem Adriaan: in February 1699 succeeds his father as governor of the Cape Colony and councillor extraordinary of Netherlands India, 180; has previously held various situations in the colony, 187; in November 1699 sets out on a tour of inspection of the settlement, 188; makes large profits by dealing in wine, 207; in February 1700 obtains an illegal grant of four hundred morgen of ground at Hottentots-Holland from the Commissioner Wouter Valckenier, 208; which farm he names Vergelegen, 210; and immediately begins to build upon and cultivate it, ib.; using the Company’s materials and servants for the purpose, ib.; until it becomes the most highly tilled ground in the colony, 211; beyond the mountains he holds an immense tract of country, on which he keeps a great number of horned cattle and sheep, 212; the utmost care is taken that no information of these matters reaches the directors, ib.; on the 15th of March 1701 the directors instruct him to be on guard, as war with France is imminent, ib.; which order he disobeys by frequent and long absence at Vergelegen, 215; in 1705 some of the farmers send a complaint against him to the Indian authorities, 219; which is sent back to him for explanation, 220; on receiving it he immediately concludes that similar charges will be sent to the directors and that his farming operations will become known to them, 223; to prevent this, if possible, he resorts to the most arbitrary and violent measures, 224; at this very time a commission in Amsterdam is making inquiry into his conduct, 234; and a committee appointed by the directors is devising measures for the security of the Cape settlement in case Vergelegen should not be a myth, 235; the commission of inquiry investigates the matter very thoroughly, and sends in a report, 237; in accordance with which the directors issue orders for the immediate recall of the governor and the other unworthy officials, 241; in April 1708 he leaves the colony, 247; after his dismissal from the Company’s service he publishes the _Korte Deductie_, as the best excuse he can make for his conduct, 248; he purchases an estate in the Netherlands, and in July 1723 dies there, 250

[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]

van der Stel’s _Korte Deductie_: references to, 210, 211, 212, 214, and 248

Stellenbosch: is founded under Simon van der Stel’s supervision, 177; defiant conduct of the residents, 231

System of the Dutch East India Company of paying its officials: is a very bad one, 176

Tas, Adam: draws up a memorial to the directors, complaining of the governor, 220; is illegally arrested and committed to prison, 225; further particulars of the treatment accorded to him, 229 and 242; journal of, 183

Text of the orders of the directors of the 26th of April 1668 prohibiting the high officials in the settlement from farming land or dealing in cattle, 179

Text of the order of the directors of the 27th of June 1699 again prohibiting the chief officials from trading in cattle, 192

Text of the resolution of the directors on the 22nd of June 1700 concerning emigrants, 185

Text of the instructions of the directors to the governor on the 15th of March 1701 to be on his guard against an attack by the French, 213

Text of the orders of the directors on the 28th of October 1705 reiterating their previous commands that the officials should not traffic in cattle, 210

Text of the resolution of the assembly of seventeen on the 8th of March 1706, 235

Theal’s _Abstract of the Debates and Resolutions of the Council of Policy at the Cape from 1651 to 1687_: reference to, 187

Theal’s _Belangrijke Historische Dokumenten over Zuid Afrika_: references to, 174, 178, 180, 185, 235, 237, 239, and 250

Timber and fuel: scarcity of in 1699 at the Cape, 187

du Toit, François: treatment of by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, 230

[Sidenote: Synoptical Index.]

du Toit, Guillaume: treatment of by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, 230, 232, and 242

Traffic of any kind in cattle is prohibited on the 27th of June 1699 to the chief officials in the colony, 185

Training of the colonists, 193

Treaty of Utrecht: reference to, 213

Tulbagh Basin: in November 1699 is inspected by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, 189; description of the basin, ib.; receives from the governor the name Land of Waveren, 190; in 1700 begins to be occupied, ib.

Valckenier, Wouter: when returning from India to Holland acts as a commissioner at the Cape, 208; and illegally makes a grant of land to the governor, 209; is a member of the commission that condemns the governor for having obtained Vergelegen in an improper manner, 239

Valentijn’s _Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien_: reference to, 173

Vergelegen: is illegally obtained by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, 209; the ground is resumed by the East India Company, 244; is divided into four farms, which are sold separately, 247

War of the Spanish Succession: reference to, 213

Waveren outstation: in 1700 is formed, 190

van der Westhuizen, Nicolaas: treatment of by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, 227

Witsenberg: is so named in honour of Nicolaas Witsen, of Amsterdam, 190

Wool; see Sheep’s wool

Wynoch, Christiaan: treatment of by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, 227

van Zyl, Willem: treatment of by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, 230

SKETCH IV.

Albany: settlement of the district of, 255

Barbarians: effect of the influx into the Cape Colony of, 258

Battle in which the army of Natal under English chiefs is almost annihilated, 291

[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]

Betshuana refugees: can give very little information upon the interior of the country, 265

Betshuana tribes: destruction of in the wars of Moselekatse, 258

Bird’s _Annals of Natal_: reference to, 293

du Buis, Coenraad, a notorious freebooter: account of, 270

Cape Colony: extent of in 1835, 255

Causes of the great emigration from the Cape Colony: as given by Louis Triegard, 273; as given by Pieter Uys, 281

Chase’s _Natal Papers_: reference to, 281

Destruction of human life in the wars of Tshaka and Moselekatse: leaves great tracts of land without inhabitants, 262

Discontent in South Africa in and before 1835: causes of, 257

D’Urban, Sir Benjamin, governor of the Cape Colony: the confidential correspondence of is presented by his grandson to the Union government, 259

Dutch and English colonists: difference in disposition of, 255

Dutch language: the suppression of in the public offices and in the courts of law is felt as a grievance by the old colonists, 258

English and Dutch colonists: difference in disposition of, 255

Englishmen: in 1835 some forty are living in Natal, 263; list of their names, 264; in June 1835 fourteen of them send a petition that the territory may be annexed by Great Britain, ib.; in March 1836 Lord Glenelg replies refusing to annex Natal, ib.

Fingoes, the: are brought by Sir Benjamin D’Urban from Kaffirland and located in Peddie, 260

Futu, Bantu chief: particulars concerning, 264

Gardiner’s _Narrative of a Journey to the Zoolu Country in South Africa_: reference to, 264

_Geslacht Register de Oude Kaapsche Familien_: reference to, 278

Glenelg, Lord, secretary of state for the colonies: maintains that the colonists are to blame for the Kaffir war of 1835, and abandons the Province of Queen Adelaide, 262

Glenelg system of dealing with the Kaffirs: particulars concerning, 262

Grahamstown: description of, 257

[Sidenote: Synoptical Index.]

Hottentots: injudicious treatment of, 257

Influx of barbarians into the Cape Colony: effect of, 258

Invasion of the Cape Colony by the Xosas in December 1834: particulars concerning, 260

Isaacs’ _Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa, with a Sketch of Natal_: reference to, 264

Jacobs, Pieter: is leader of the fifth party of emigrants from the Cape Colony, 277

Jalusa, a Xosa robber captain: moves to the country north of the Orange river, 267; in September 1836 his entire band is exterminated by the Basuto, ib.

_Kaffir War of 1835_: origin of the volume so called, 259; reference to, 279

Land tenure: the new system is not appreciated at first by the cattle farmers, 258

Maritz, Gerrit Marthinus: is leader of the third party of emigrants from the Cape Colony, 275

Matiwane, chief of the Amangwane: drives a section of the Tembu tribe into the Cape Colony, 258

Missionary and philanthropic press: tone of, 259

Moselekatse: effect of the wars of, 258

Natal: description of, 263; number of Bantu residing in 1835, 264; condition of the emigrant farmers in after the massacres by the Zulus, 290

Potgieter, Andries Hendrik: is leader of the second party of emigrants from the Cape Colony, 275; after the massacres by the Zulus goes with his men to the assistance of the distressed people in Natal, 290; with Pieter Uys marches into Zululand to attack Dingan, 292; on the 11th of April 1838 encounters a great Zulu army, and is compelled to retire, ib.; shortly afterwards leaves Natal and returns to Winburg, 294

Preller’s _Piet Retief, Lewenskets van die Grote Voortrekker_: reference to, 288

Province of Queen Adelaide: is created by Sir Benjamin D’Urban, 260; is abandoned by Lord Glenelg, 262

[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]

van Rensburg, Jan: is leader of a small party of emigrants from the Cape Colony, 268; in July 1833 leaves Louis Triegard’s party at the Zoutpansberg to open up a road to Delagoa Bay, 269; and with every individual in his company is murdered by blacks on the journey, ib.

Resolutions adopted by Pieter Uys and those who agree with him, asserting independence of Mr. Retief, 283

Retief, Pieter: is leader of the fourth party of emigrants from the Cape Colony, 275; in June 1837 is installed as governor and commandant-general of his own party and the one under Maritz, 276; on the 21st of July 1837 writes to Sir Benjamin D’Urban desiring that the emigrants may be acknowledged as an independent people, 286; in October 1837 goes over the Drakensberg into Natal, 285; on the 6th of February 1838 is murdered with all his companions at Dingan’s kraal, 280

Sekwati, chief of the Bapedi: mention of, 272

Settlement of the Cape Colony by Europeans: slow progress of, 255

Slaves in the Cape Colony: hasty emancipation of, 257

Smit, Erasmus: reference to the journal of, 275

Smith, G. C. Moore, Esqre., M.A.: assistance rendered by, 260

Tembu tribe: a section of is driven by the Amangwane under Matiwane into the Cape Colony, 258

Triegard, Louis: family history of, 266; in June 1834 he moves from the district of Somerset to the bank of the White Kei river beyond the colonial border, ib.; where about thirty emigrant families are then residing, 267; here all his slaves run away, ib.; he is believed by the British officials on the frontier to have induced the Xosas to persevere in the war against the colony, ib.; he moves northward with the notorious robber captain Jalusa, ib.; in September 1835 crosses the Orange river, and then with a number of other emigrants travels onward to the Zoutpansberg, 268; which he reaches in May 1836, ib.; account of his residence there until August 1837, when he and his party leave for Delagoa Bay, 271; they encounter great difficulties on the way, 272; but in April 1838 reach Lourenço Marques, 273; where they are received with great kindness by the Portuguese, ib.; but are attacked by fever, from which in course of time nearly the whole party, including Triegard himself, dies, ib.; in July 1839 the remnant of the party is rescued and taken to Natal, 274

Tsetse fly: destructive nature of, 272

Tshaka: effect of the wars of, 258

[Sidenote: Synoptical Index.]

Umnini, petty Bantu chief: particulars concerning, 263

Uys, Pieter Lavras: particulars concerning the family of, 278; personal character of, 279; in 1834 visits and inspects Natal, 265; is leader of the sixth party of emigrants from the Cape Colony, 277; travels northward over the Orange river, with the intention of crossing the Drakensberg into Natal, 280; on the 7th of August 1837 writes to Sir Benjamin D’Urban, stating the causes of the emigration, ib.; he assumes an attitude of independence as regards Mr. Retief, 283; in October 1837 joins Commandant Potgieter in the campaign in which the Matabele are driven far to the north, 286; in December 1837 visits Natal again, 289; in February 1838 is in the present Orange Free State when tidings of the fearful massacres by the Zulus reach him, ib.; he immediately collects his men and goes down into Natal to the assistance of the distressed people there, ib.; with Commandant Potgieter marches into Zululand to attack Dingan, 292; on the 11th of April 1838 is drawn into an ambuscade and is almost surrounded by a great Zulu army, ib.; when attempting to retreat is killed with nine others, 293

Uys, Dirk Cornelis: heroic death of, 293

Voigt’s _Fifty Years of the History of the Republic in South Africa_: reference to, 286

Xosa invasion of the Cape Colony in December 1834: particulars concerning, 260

CENTER THE END

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Among the sources of information for the next few pages I must mention particularly Arnold’s _History of Rome_, Gibbon’s _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, Busk’s _History of Spain and Portugal_, and Stephens’ _History of Portugal_.

[2] The old library of the Ptolemies was consumed in Cæsar’s Alexandrian war. Marc Antony gave the whole collection of Pergamus (200,000 volumes) to Cleopatra, as the foundation of the _new_ library of Alexandria. It was kept in apartments of the great temple of Serapis, which was broken down in A.D. 389 by Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, “the perpetual enemy of peace and virtue, a bold, bad man, whose hands were alternately polluted with gold and with blood.” The valuable library was pillaged or destroyed. See Gibbon’s _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, Chapter XXVIII.

[3] The Arabs, Persians, and Indians were found at the beginning of the sixteenth century of our era to be well acquainted with the eastern coast as far south as Cape Correntes, and the Arabs and Persians had settlements along the whole of that seaboard. But of this Europeans knew absolutely nothing. Beyond Cape Correntes, in latitude 24° 4´ south, the Asiatics did not venture in their coir-sewn vessels. Here the Mozambique current, from which the cape has its present name, ran southward with great velocity, usually from two to five kilometres an hour, according to the force and direction of the wind, but often much faster. The cape had the reputation also of being a place of storms, where the regular monsoons of the north could no longer be depended upon, and where violent gusts from every quarter would almost surely destroy the mariners who should be so foolhardy as to brave them. The vivid Arab imagination further pictured danger of another kind, for this was the chosen home of those mermaids--believed in also by the Greeks of old--who lured unfortunate men to their doom. There were legends of ships having been driven far beyond it in gales, and having been carried by the current onward to a great ocean in the west, from which they had only with the greatest difficulty returned. The perils the crews had gone through and the hardships they had suffered were magnified as a matter of course, and the dreadful sights that had met their eyes were such as to make the boldest shudder. Of the shore of that awful sea nothing was known, for no one had ever set foot upon it. So Cape Correntes, with its real and fictitious perils, was the terminus of Mohamedan enterprise to the south, though there were men in Kilwa who sometimes wondered what was beyond it and half made up their minds to go overland and ascertain. Had there been a Bantu settlement beyond Inhambane there can be no doubt that their eagerness to procure ivory would have led them on, but black men had replaced the wild aborigines there so shortly before the arrival of the Portuguese that there was not time to make the venture.

[4] For information on the discoveries mentioned here I am indebted chiefly to the _Indice Chronologico das Navegações, Viagens, Descobrimentos, e Conquistas dos Portuguezes nos Paizes Ultramarinos desde o Principio do Seculo XV_, the great history _Da Asia_ of João de Barros, Major’s _Discoveries of Prince Henry the Navigator and their Results_, and Beazley’s _Prince Henry the Navigator, the Hero of Portugal and of Modern Discovery_.

[5] These islands and even the Canaries had been visited by Genoese ships before they were rediscovered by the Portuguese. But as no use was made of them by the first visitors, and as knowledge concering them was not communicated to the world in general, the Portuguese have a fair claim to be regarded as the real discoverers. In the same way Columbus is rightly credited with the discovery of America, though the Northmen visited its north-eastern coast long before his time.

[6] It would be interesting to know the exact day on which Dias sailed, but I have not found it possible to ascertain it. As already observed, before the entrance of Vasco da Gama into the Indian sea the dates of the various discoveries given by Portuguese historians are not implicitly to be relied upon, and as no original journals or logbooks of the early voyages are now in existence, there are no means of verifying them. João de Barros is the only historian known to me who has placed on record the month and year of sailing and of the return of Dias in this voyage, and he does not state the day of departure from the Tagus. His words are: (ElRei Dom João) “determinou de enviar logo neste anno de quatrocentos e oitenta e seis dobrados navios per mar, e homens per terra, pera ver o fim destas cousas.” ... “partiram no fim de Agosto do dito anno.” ... “onde chegáram em Dezembro do anno de quatrocentos e oitenta e sete, havendo dezeseis mezes, e dezesete dias que eram partidos delle.” Barros is the most reliable of all the Portuguese historians of that time, and he was in a position to obtain the particulars of this voyage, which unfortunately he gives so scantily. Neither Damião de Goes in his _Chronica do Felicissimo Rei Dom Emanuel da Gloriosa Memoria_ nor Fernão Lopes de Castanheda in his _Descobrimento e Conquista da India pelos Portuguezes_ mentions the date of the voyage, but both relate other particulars which tend to confirm the opinion that it took place at the time stated by Barros. For instance, Castanheda states that Affonso de Paiva and João Pires de Covilhão commenced their journey from Portugal after the departure of Dias, and he agrees with Barros in giving the 7th of May 1487 as the date on which they left Santarem. The exact dates of Dias passing the Cape of Good Hope eastward, of his reaching the mouth of the Infante river, and of the erection of the landmark São Philippe cannot be ascertained, but these events in all probability occurred in 1487, as making allowance for his detentions when leaving the storeship, at Angra dos Ilheos, and afterwards, Dias can hardly have reached the latitude of the Cape before the beginning of that year. See appendix.

[7] See the numerous statements concerning this mythical monarch made by the early Portuguese writers, copied by me and printed, together with English translations, in volumes i, iii, v, vi, and vii of the _Records of South-Eastern Africa_. Ultimately the name was applied to the ruler of Abyssinia. Index, Prester John, in Vol. ix, page 474.

[8] “On the 21st of November (1825) a heavy south-east gale set in, before which we were carried with great velocity, and in the afternoon saw the remains of the cross erected by Bartholomeu Dias at the southern extremity of Angra Pequena. Passing by it we (H.M.S. _Barracouta_) anchored in the bay, where, although the wind was directly off shore, yet such was its violence that the whole surface of the water was one vast sheet of foam. Some officers landed with Captain Vidal, for the purpose of examining the cross, and obtaining the latitude and longitude of the point. They found the sand very painful to the eyes, being swept from the surface of the rocks, and almost blinding them as they proceeded to the summit of the small granite eminence on which Bartholomeu Dias erected his cross, as a memento of his discovery of the place. This is said to have been standing complete forty years back, but we found that it had been cast down, evidently by design, as the part of the shaft that had originally been buried in the rock remained unbroken, which never could have been the case had it been overturned in any other way than by lifting it from the foundation. The inducement to this disgraceful act was probably to search for such coins as might have been buried beneath the cross; and it is probable that the destroyers, in order to make some little amende for their desolation, re-erected a portion of the fragments, as we found a piece of the shaft, including the part originally placed in the ground, altogether about six feet in length, propped up by means of large stones, crossed at the top by a broken fragment, which had originally formed the whole length of the shaft. This was six feet above ground, and twenty-one inches beneath, composed of marble rounded on one side, but left square on the other, evidently for the inscription, which, however, the unsparing hand of Time, in a lapse of nearly three centuries and a half, had rendered illegible. In descending by a different and more craggy path, the party suddenly came upon the cross; this was sixteen inches square, of the same breadth and thickness as the shaft, and had on the centre an inscription, but, like the other, almost obliterated.”--_Narrative of Voyages to explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar, performed in H.M. Ships Leven and Barracouta under the direction of Captain W. F. W. Owen, R.N._ Two demi octavo volumes, published in London in 1833. The extract given above is to be found in Vol. II, pages 269 and 270. Two fragments of the pillar are now in the museum in Lisbon, and one is in the South African museum in Capetown.