Part 2 (1/2)

”Have we ers on board?”

”No; nine or ten, which is considered a s of his ill-luck They are entle there I have had soent person But here is the steward co aft, to let us know that breakfast is ready”

The person who had thus conversed with Alexander Wilmot was a Mr

Swinton, who, as he had accidentally observed, was a naturalist; he was a person of some independent property, whose ardor for science had induced hi perfectly satisfied with his income, which was sufficient for his wants and to enable hie to the Cape of Good Hope, with no other object than to examine the natural productions of that country, and to prosecute his researches in science there, to a greater extent than had hitherto been practicable

Before they had arrived at Madeira, at which island the shi+p rereat intimacy had been established between Alexander and Mr Swinton, although as yet neither knew the cause of the other's voyage to the Cape; they were both too delicate to make the inquiry, and waited till the other should of his own accord impart his reasons

We have ers, one of as a gentleman who resided in Cape Town, and who held a lucrative situation under the governe, of a very benign and prepossessing appearance; and it so happened that Alexander found out, on looking over his letters of introduction when at anchor at Madeira, that he possessed one to this gentleh they were already on intimate terms; and this introduction made Mr Fairburn (for such was his name) take an immediate interest in his welfare, and also warranted his putting the question, as to ere Alexander's views and intentions in visiting the Cape: for Mr Fairburn knew from the letter that he was heir to Sir Charles Wil out as a speculator or erant

It hardly need be said that Alexanderto one who could so e

The other passengers were three young ladies bound to their friends in India, and a lady returning with her two hters to rejoin her husband, as a colonel in the Bengal ar ladies very lively, and on the whole the cabin of the _Surprise_ contained a very agreeable party; and soon after they left Madeira, they had fine weather, se endurable

The awnings were spread, chairs brought up, and the major portion of the day was spent upon the quarter-deck and poop of the vessel, which fordown before the trade-winds, intending to make Rio, and there lay in a supply of fresh provisions for the re, as Alexander and Mr Fairburn were sitting together, Alexander observed--

”You have passed many years at the Cape, Mr Fairburn, have you not?”

”Yes; I was taken prisoner when returning fro the time that it was in the hands of the Dutch; I was about to be sent home as a prisoner to Holland, and was embarked on board one of the vessels in Saldanha Bay, when they were attacked by the English Afterward, when the English captured the Cape, froe of, the country, I was offered a situation, which I accepted: the colony was restored to the Dutch, and I caain appointed, and have been there almost ever since”

”Then you are well acquainted with the history of the colony?”

”I aive you a short account of it”

”It will give e that I know but little, and _that_ I have gleaned froh very hastily”

”I think it was in the year 1652 that the Dutch decided upon ines, or natives, who inhabited that part of the country about Cape Toere the Hottentots, awholly upon the produce of their cattle; they were not agriculturists, but possessed large herds of cattle, sheep and goats, which ranged the extensive pastures of the country The history of the founding of one colony is, I fear, the history ofall that is possible to obtain the goodwill of the people until a fir them with barbarity and injustice

”The Hottentots, won over by kindness and presents, thought it of little consequence that strangers should possess a sly consented that the settlement should be made They, for the first time in their lives, tasted what proved the cause of their ruin and subsequent slavery--tobacco and strong liquors

These two poisons, offered gratuitously, till the poor Hottentots had acquired a passion for thelass of brandy was the price of an ox; and thus daily were the colonists beco enriched, and the Hottentots poor

”The colony rapidly increased, until it was so strong, that the governor overnive away; and the Hottentots soon discovered that not only their cattle, but thethem, were taken fro except their passion for tobacco and spirits, which they could not get rid of Unwilling to leave the land of their forefathers, and seeing no other way of procuring the means of intoxication which they coveted, they sold themselves and their services to the white colonists, content to take care of those herds which had once been their own, and to lead them out to pasture on the very lands which had once been their birthright”

”Did they then becoh much worse treated, they never were slaves, and I wish to point that out; but they became a sort of feudal property of the Dutch, compelled to hire thees, which they seldom or never received, and liable to every species of harsh treatment and cruelty, for which they could obtain no redress

Yet still they were not bought and sold as were the slaves which were subsequently introduced into the colony froascar The position of the slave was, in my opinion, infinitely superior, merely from the self-interest of the owner, ould not kill or risk the life of a creature for whom he had paid two or three hundred rix-dollars; whereas, the Dutch boors, or planters, thought little of the life of a Hottentot If the cattle were to be watched where lions were plentiful, it was not a slave who had charge of the, and the planter could procure another In short, the life of a Hottentot was considered as of no value, and there is no denying that they were shot by theiroffense”

”How dreadful! but did the Dutch government suffer this?”

”They could not well help it, and therefore were compelled to wink at it; the criive you so the Dutch boors, or planters, who usurped and stood in the shoes of the poor Hottentots

”The Dutch govern to the Hottentots, and gave it away in grants to their own countrye quantity of cattle; they also cultivated the ground to a certain extent round about their habitations As the colony increased, so did the demand for land, until the whole of the country that orth having was disposed of as far as to the country of the Caffres, a fine, warlike race, of ill speak hereafter It must not, however, be supposed that the whole of the Hottentot tribes became serfs to the soil Some few drove away their cattle to the northward, out of reach of the Dutch, to the borders of the Caffre land; others, deprived of their property, left the plains, and took to theby the chase and by plunder This portion were termed boshmen, or bush in extre in caves, constantly in a state of starvation, they soon dwindled down to a very diminutive race, and have continued so ever since