“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.