[13] Paterson’s “Narrative of Four Journeys,” 1789, p. 113.
[14] Cheeseman’s “William Threlfall, the Missionary Martyr of Namaqualand,” 1911.
[15] Cook’s “Modern Missionary,” 1849, p. 136.
[16] Alexander’s “Expedition of Discovery,” 1838.
Chapter VI
THE LATER HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The red tide of war surged backward and forward over the land in the ’sixties, and deeds of appalling cruelty were perpetrated. The Hereros fought to secure their independence from the Hottentots, and they were at length victorious, but a guerilla war again broke out in the ’seventies, and the country was in a state of chronic unsettlement. In 1868 the harassed missionaries connected with the Rhenish Missionary Society, whose stations were either plundered or destroyed during these wars, sent an urgent appeal to the British Government for intervention and requested that the whole of Hereroland should be “declared British territory, under British protection.” The appeal was backed up by Bismarck, but the Secretary of State for the Colonies was “unable to adopt the German views on the subject.” Efforts were made, however, to restore peace among the tribes by a special commissioner sent up from the Cape. The matter of annexation was not allowed to rest, and in 1875 the Cape Parliament passed a resolution in favour of the extension of the limits of the Colony so as to include Walvis Bay and as much country inland as it was considered expedient to acquire. With a view to ascertaining the feelings of the native chiefs in Namaqualand and Damaraland, Mr. W. C. Palgrave was sent on a commission of inquiry. He was cordially received by the chiefs, with whom he made treaties which placed the country under British jurisdiction, and he also arranged that a European magistrate or diplomatic adviser should reside among the people at Okahandja. The missionaries were in hearty agreement, as were the German and Swedish traders. Sir Bartle Frere, the Governor at the Cape, strongly favoured annexation, and urged it upon the Home Government, but all that they would agree to was the acquisition of Walvis Bay with some 400 miles of land around it. Formal possession of this area was taken in 1878. The Guano Islands off the coast, which had enjoyed an odorous celebrity for some time, had been annexed in 1867. Sir Bartle Frere renewed his representations at a latter time, but the British Government still adhered to the opinion that it was inexpedient to encourage any scheme of extension of territory in South-West Africa.
When war broke out again in 1880 between the Namaquas and the Damaras, Palgrave was recalled from the country where he had resided for a time, and Major Musgrave, who had been acting as diplomatic adviser at Okahandja, was removed to Walvis Bay. This outbreak of hostilities led to correspondence between the British Government and Germany. In a memorandum presented to Earl Granville by the German Ambassador it was stated (and the admission is significant in view of subsequent events) that “since there could be no question as to an independent proceeding on the part of Germany for the protection of life and property of its subjects in those regions,” it was the wish of the German Government that “the British Government would direct that any measures ordered or intended for the protection of life and property of English subjects might be extended likewise to the German missionaries and traders living there.” This drew from the British Government the admission that “Her Majesty’s Government could not be responsible for what might take place outside British territory, which only included Walvis Bay, and a very small portion of country immediately surrounding it.” That careful note was taken of this reply is evident from later events.
Meanwhile the Berlin Geographische Nachrichten, of November 1879, had printed an article by Ernst von Weber in which the writer had made a cogent and powerful plea in favour of a plan for a German Colony in South Africa, and it is not without significance that, early in 1883, the German Embassy politely inquired of the British Foreign Office whether British protection would be extended to a factory about to be established by a Bremen merchant north of the Orange River at Angra Pequena, intimating that if this could not be done they would do their best to extend to it the same measure of protection which they gave to their subjects in remote places, but without any design to establish a footing in South Africa. This was rather a disturbing inquiry to Earl Derby; probably he called to mind the reply given to a previous question, in which a definite statement as to the extent of British territory had been made, so he immediately communicated with the Cape Government asking if they had any prospect of undertaking control of Angra Pequena in the event of the place being declared British. Unfortunately no reply was forthcoming from the Cape for some months, and the matter dragged on. But it is evident that Germany was not idle: one Vogelsang, acting as agent for Herr F. A. E. Luderitz, the Bremen merchant, landed at Angra Pequena, got into touch with the German missionary at Bethany and Chief Joseph Frederick, produced treaty forms, and soon had the satisfaction of annexing some 200 miles of land around the Bay. In a report of an official visit paid to Angra Pequena in October 1883, on behalf of the British Government, by Captain Church, of Her Majesty’s Navy, it is definitely asserted that “it was through the influence of the Rhenish missionary at Bethany that Herr Luderitz obtained this extraordinary purchase of coast land.” The cession is dated 25th August, 1883. So Germany obtained a place in the African sun.
This action on the part of Luderitz was keenly resented by British traders, for Captain Sinclair had obtained on behalf of De Pass, Spence & Co. a cession of the coast territory from Angra Pequena to Baker’s Cove from the chief of the Bondelswaarts in 1863, and for twenty years the company had enjoyed undisturbed and undisputed possession of the area. Luderitz, however, assumed proprietary rights.
Germany now made another move in the game. In November 1883 the British Foreign Office was asked by the German Ambassador whether Her Majesty’s Government claimed any rights of sovereignty over Angra Pequena and adjacent territory. The reply was made that while Great Britain only laid claim to certain specified areas, any claim to sovereignty or jurisdiction by a foreign Power would “infringe their legitimate rights,” since the country north of the Orange River had been viewed as a kind of commercial dependency of Cape Colony. But this did not deter Bismarck, who had evidently resolved on a definite course of action. Accordingly he instructed the German Consul at Cape Town to announce that Herr Luderitz and his establishments were under the protection of the German Empire, and the announcement was made on April 25th, 1884. Then the Cape Government woke up. In the following month the Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, telegraphed to the Home Government that “Ministers have decided to recommend Parliament to undertake control of the coast-line from the Orange River to Walvis Bay.” Earl Derby also seems to have been aroused about this time, for in June he announced that arrangements would be made for giving protection under the British flag to any persons, German and English, who had duly acquired concessions or established commercial enterprises on the coast-line. In the following month the Cape Parliament passed a resolution in favour of the annexation of the whole coast-line from the Orange River to the Portuguese frontier; but the matter had been too long delayed—the prize had been grasped by other hands; for before the Cape resolutions could reach England a German gunboat had appeared at Angra Pequena, the German flag had been hoisted, and a German Protectorate formally proclaimed.