Part 2, Chapter XV.
Capabilities of the Colony.
“April 20th, 1847.—To-day is the anniversary of our sad intelligence from the Amatolas, with its list of killed and wounded. It is a singular fact that the Kaffirs themselves dislike to be questioned concerning the remains of poor Captain Bambrick, but have no hesitation in speaking of other sufferers.
“Within the year we have heard of the death of the late Lieutenant-Governor of the Eastern Province of the Cape of Good Hope. Major-General Hare died on board the ‘Essex,’ four days after leaving this country for England. He, indeed, may be considered as one of the principal victims of the war. Long ere the irruption burst forth, he should have been at home. In 1845, finding his health declining, he expressed desire to be relieved from the duties of his appointment, and it is most deeply to be deplored that his wishes were not complied with at once. When he was called to the field, all ideas of self were laid aside; and who shall say what the gallant soldier suffered, in mind and body, at the very moment the cheers of encouragement burst from his lips? Whatever may be said of his political career, when Lieutenant-Governor, the difficulties he had to contend with would, if explained, be sufficient excuse for many errors set down as wilful. He is dead! and it is a pleasure to recall his many excellent qualities. If he was not the man for South Africa, let it be remembered that, during the most eventful period of his government, he was here against his will, and that, having led his old corps against the ungrateful Gaikas, whom it had been his chief fault to trust and treat too kindly—when, I say, he had headed the 27th once more, with honour to himself and them, he left the field, debilitated from fatigue and anxiety; and it was not until the mountains of the land in which he had suffered so much had faded from his sight, that ‘he turned his face to the wall,’ in the cheerless cabin of that restless ship, and died of a broken heart; for such, in fact, his disease may be pronounced.”
One of the last anecdotes recorded of him, though trifling, is one of the many proofs of his kind nature. When about to leave Fort Beaufort for the field, and engaged in giving over the command of the Northern District to Captain Ward, 91st Regiment, his attention was diverted from the arrangements for defence to a little child who passed him by, looking up smilingly in his face. Bastions, forts, bridges, picquet-houses, etc, faded from the mind of the single-hearted soldier; the child’s smile was returned, and the kind eyes followed her retreating footsteps till she passed out of sight. The attention of the officer engaged with Colonel Hare was more particularly recalled to this little incident, by his Commander returning gravely and officially to the solemn charge he was handing over, namely, the defence of a large garrison town, with scarcely any garrison to protect it. It may be added that Mrs Hare was one of the inhabitants left to the mercy of the invaders, who, however, never came beyond the outskirts of the place; and Colonel Hare was pleased to express himself highly satisfied with the arrangements made by Captain Ward. Neither cattle nor horses were lost in the immediate neighbourhood of Fort Beaufort, during the period of that officer’s command, nor did the enemy venture to fulfil their threat of invasion.
The registration system is dying a natural death; at least, such an inference may be drawn from the order lately given to officers, not to inquire for their tickets of Kaffirs who may be found driving cattle. Many months ago, a party of the 27th Regiment, suspecting that some cattle found in a kraal was stolen, demanded the necessary credentials, when a Kaffir coolly offered as such, a leaf from a soldier’s pocket ledger, picked up, perhaps, after the burning of the waggons at Burn’s Hill.
The immediate border of the Colony was subject to the usual depredations; the Chiefs making the old excuse, that they “are sitting still, but that they cannot control their people.”
The post established at Waterloo Bay, under the command of Captain Savage, 91st Regiment, became the favourite haunt of these thieving wretches, in consequence of the number of waggons collected there, waiting for supplies. A clear front offers a great temptation to these cattle-lifters; and, on the 22nd of April, Lieutenant Butler, 7th Dragoon Guards, had a smart gallop after the enemy. On the 21st, sixty waggon-oxen were whistled away through the bush: the Dragoons pursued them; but, sighting them at dark, could not come up with them in time to attack the thieves. From the scanty force we have, compared with the land we have taken, sufficient guards cannot be given for the cattle in the pasture-grounds, sometimes a mile from the posts, and, by the time the herds,—if not shot,—can give notice of the loss, the Kaffirs, with half-an-hour’s start, can generally elude their pursuers. But, on the 22nd of April, the Dragoons, only ten in number, were in the saddle in a few minutes; yet, notwithstanding this, they had a ride of fifteen miles before they came up with their game, having traced the spoor along the sea-coast. The robbers were caught at the mouth of the Beka River, where Lieutenant Butler cut them off. The cattle were retaken, and three of the enemy killed. Only four had been employed in the marauding expedition, though, doubtless, there was a horde in the bush. The fourth fell to Mr Butler’s lot to despatch; and he, having ridden down the savage, struck him on the head with his sabre, which broke at the hilt; and the Kaffir, clinging to the officer’s stirrups, and imploring mercy, Mr Butler gave him his life, and took him on, as a prisoner, to Waterloo Bay, with some guns and a number of assegais. Unfortunately, in his transit from Waterloo Bay to Fort Peddie, being tied by one hand to a waggon, he soon slipped the reim (Note 1), and escaped.
On the 30th of April, a soldier of the 6th was found murdered very near the camp.
Colonel Somerset lately recommended that a guard of cavalry should be placed at the ebb and flow-drift near the mouth of the Keiskama, this river lying between the Great Fish and Buffalo Rivers, to intercept marauders; but there are no cavalry to send thither; and, at this juncture, we hear of troubles with the Griquas and Boers, near the Orange River. The Resident, Captain Warden, Cape Mounted Rifles, has applied for troops, and Lieutenant Plestow, 7th Dragoon Guards, has marched to the Modda River, with thirty men of his regiment.
Lieutenant Davis, late Adjutant of the 90th Light Infantry, having been appointed Superintendent of Native Police, has succeeded in drilling and organising a very efficient force, consisting chiefly of “tame” Kaffirs.
During our residence at Fort Peddie in 1843-4, we were frequently struck with the idleness of the Fingoes. The women, poor creatures, tilled the ground, carried water, cut wood, ground the corn,—in short, did all the heavy work; and the little boys and old men herded the cattle; while the young men, unless called out on a commando, for a few weeks or days in a year, spent their time in hunting, dancing, eating, and sleeping, and, not unfrequently, in lifting their neighbours’ cattle. It was at this period that Captain Ward, 91st Regiment, deprecating so weak a system, proposed to the Lieutenant-Governor to have these Fingoes organised, armed, and drilled as regular troops, by British non-commissioned officers; but Colonel Hare neither then nor afterwards dreamed of the mine which was about to explode beneath his feet, and the suggestion was not seriously considered by his Honour.
When we read of the distress of our own country, and of the wretched earnings of our mechanics, we are disgusted at the idea of these same Fingoes striking work (as Coolies) at Waterloo Bay, being dissatisfied with the pay of 2 shillings a day. As their services are necessary in landing cargo, their demand of 3 shillings a day has been acceded to, and they have consented to work, when it suits them! for they take occasional holidays, for dancing and eating. At Algoa Bay, the Fingoes are often paid 6 shillings a day for working as Coolies.
What a settlement for the starving Highlanders the Amatola Mountains would be! And what employment offers itself along the coast for the active Irish! If the Amatolas were devoted partially to agriculture, instead of pasturage, or to sheep-farming, with a view to the exportation of wool, there would be comparatively no temptation for the Kaffir, and a New Erin might rise, upon the eastern shore of this fertile country. Its very productiveness renders agriculture an uncertain speculation, in consequence of the small population: here again, emigration provides the remedy. It is to be hoped that the Royal Society will send hither intelligent and truthful individuals, who would make none but just reports of the capabilities of the colony. Coffee, sugar, and innumerable other articles might be raised here; flax, particularly, would be successful; and the discovery of coal at Natal, leads scientific men to infer that it is to be found elsewhere. At the Kowie, it is pretty well ascertained to be in existence. We learn from Natal, that the military there are intent on farming, the productive soil tempting many to purchase land, with the intention of settling. We might thin our dark mines of England, by sending men to South Africa, to work the treasures of her earth. It is, however, of the utmost importance, that the Emigration Societies should be particular as to the class of people selected.
Captain Hogg, 7th Dragoon Guards, has succeeded in raising another levy of about 200 Hottentots from the lower districts, who are expected at Waterloo Bay on the 10th of May. Lieutenant Forsyth, R.N., is relieved from his duties as a harbour-master at this bay by Lieutenant Connolly, R.N. Lieutenant Forsyth was appointed to this office at the Buffalo Mouth, 30th of April. The long-looked-for vessel, the “Frederick Huth,” has at last reached the Buffalo in safety, after a month’s voyage from Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay. She was seen three weeks since off the Buffalo, and was driven back to Waterloo Bay. At last, she was again sighted eight or ten miles from her place of destination: a mist came on, and it was doubtful whether she could make her way over the bar. At length, the curtain of vapour, which hung between Colonel Van der Meulen’s camp and the ocean, was lifted up, and there at last lay the welcome ship at anchor. The landing of the cargo is progressing favourably, which is at this moment of great advantage to the troops, their provisions being at a very low ebb.
The first step taken by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Henry Young, has been to send the Chief, Umyeki, out of Graham’s Town.
“May 10th.—Further particulars have been received of the murder of the soldier of the 6th. Those on the spot, and most capable of judging, are of opinion that this horrible deed has been committed by Fingoes. It seems that, on the unhappy man’s cries being heard, the guard rushed to his assistance. A little pool of blood was observed near the spot where he had fallen, and he had been dragged some sixty yards along the road. A gun-shot wound in the body, and an assegai stab in the heart, had silenced his cries speedily. The spoor of three or four men was traced towards Peddie; and, as the murdered man had some tobacco about him, and an empty case, with a hatchet beside it, lay near him, it is supposed, that, having gone to fetch some stolen and secreted tobacco from the bush, he was waylaid by Fingoes and murdered, for the sake of the plunder. As no cattle were near the place, it is not likely that Kaffirs would be lurking there.
“We have an instance to-day, the 19th of May, of our enemy’s perseverance and determination, in the report from a patrol in search of stolen cattle. A private of the Rifle Brigade, having lost his way in the bush, heard Kaffirs approaching the spot where he lay perdu; thanks to his green jacket, he was enabled to watch the movements of the savages, without decided danger to himself. They approached a kloof, in which one of their number awaited them. The rifleman saw them handing their arms to the Kaffirs in the ravine, who concealed them in some nook selected for the purpose. Watching his opportunity, the soldier effected his journey back to the camp; and, on giving his information, Lieutenant Macdonald, and a party of the Cape Mounted Rifles, were sent out to search the spot, for the muskets and ammunition hidden. From this, it may be inferred that there are many similar depôts of arms in the bush.”
Note 1. “Reims” are strips of bullock-hide used as thongs, and constantly carried in this country, by experienced travellers, for repairing broken girths, etc, and so on. One day, when out riding, my stirrup-leather broke, and the Orderly of the Cape Corps was about to receive a sharp reproof from the Officer who accompanied me, for not having a reim, when he pulled some hairs out of his horse’s tail, which served the purpose at once.