Part 20 (1/2)

”When the Dutch settled at the Cape, they took possession of the country belonging to the Hottentot tribes, driving the few that chose to preserve their independence into the Bush the population in those countries, which are only able to afford subsistence to a very scattered few Then, again, they encroached upon the Caffres, driving thereat Fish River, and afterward still more to the northward The Bushman tribes of hill Hottentots, if we may so term the the constant massacres of these unhappy people by the Dutch boors; ulations added another and a new race of people, who are already considerable in their numbers”

”Which do you refer to?”

”To the people non by the na taken possession of the Griqua country They are the mixed race between the Hottentots and the whites By the Dutch colonial law, these people could not hold possession of any land in the colony; and this act of injustice and folly has deprived us of a very valuable race of ht have added ent, industrious to a great degree, they, finding themselves despised on account of the Hottentot blood in their veins, have rated fro tolerably well provided with fire-arms, those who are peaceably inclined can protect thereat depredations upon the poor savages, following the exa off their cattle and their property, in defiance of law and justice You now perceive, Alexander, how it is that there has been a pressure from the southward”

”That is very evident,” replied the Major

”Perhaps I had better proceed to the northward by degrees, and make some mention of the Caffre tribes, which are those who have suffered fro, as it were, pressed between encroachments from the north and the south The Caffre race is very nueneral term Caffre, which means Infidel, and no more, is not known, any more than is that of the term Hottentot”

”A proof of e found out at school,” observed the Major, ”that nicknaer than real ones”

”Precisely,” replied Swinton; ”our acquaintance is mostly with theon the east coast of Africa, from the Cape boundary to Port Natal These are the Amakosa tribe, whose warriors have just left us; the Tambookies, whose territory we have recently quitted, and to the northward of them by Port Natal, the Hambonas These are the Eastern Caffres

”On the other side of the Mambookei chain of mountains, and in the central portion of Africa, below the tropic, are the Bechuanas, who inhabit an extent of country as yet imperfectly known to us These may be termed the Central Caffres

”On the western side of the African coast, and above Namaqua Land, whose inhabitants are probably chiefly of the Hottentot race, we have the Damaras, who may be classed as the Western Caffres; with these we have had little or no communication

”All these tribes speak the Bechuana or Caffre language, with very slight variations; they are all governed by chiefs or kings, and subdivided into numerous bodies; but they are all Caffres Of their characters I have only to observe, that as far as we have experienced, the Caffres of the eastern coast, which we have just left, are very superior to the others in courage and in every other good quality Now, have I ible, Alexander?”

”Most clearly so”

”I nevertheless ere sitting down in so on horseback over this withered tract, and that I had the map before me to make you understand better”

”I will refer to the map as soon as I can,” replied Alexander; ”but I have studied the reat deal, and therefore do not so much require it”

All these Caffre tribes live much the same life; their wealth is in cattle; they are partly husbandmen, partly herdsmen, and partly hunters; and their continual conflicts with the wild beasts of the country prepare them for warriors The Eastern Caffres, from e have lately parted, are the most populous; indeed, now that we have taken froe for their cattle

I have said that the Eastern Caffres' territory extends as far as the latitude of Port Natal, but it formerly extended much further to the northward, as it did to the southward, before we drove theoa Bay; all the country between Port Natal and Delagoa Bay being formerly inhabited by tribes of Caffres I believe, Alexander, that Mr Fairburn gave you a history of the celebratedof the Zulus?”

”Yes, he did”

”Well, it was Chaka who overran that country I a of, and drove out all the tribes who occupied it, as well as a large portion of the Bechuana tribes who inhabited lands more to the northward Now the irruptions we have had into the Caffre and Bechuana country bordering upon the colony have been wholly brought about by the devastations committed by Chaka Of course I refer to those irruptions which have taken place since our knowledge and possession of the Cape I have no doubt that such irruptions have been continued, and that they have occurred once in every century for ages They have been brought about by a population increasing beyond the means of subsistence, and have taken place as soon as the overplus have required it

”The boks, which itnessed yesterday, may be more frequent, but are not more certain than those of the central population of Africa The Caffres themselves state that they formerly came from the northward, and won their territory by conquest; and the Hottentots have the saards themselves

”The invasion of the Mantatees, as they are called (and by the Eastern Caffres Ficani), was nothing more than that of a people dispossessed of their property, and driven from the territory by the Zoolus, under Chaka; and, indeed, this last array under Quetoo, which has been destroyed within thisfro separated fro-place, and he therefore ca the territory from the Caffres, in which he has failed Had he not failed, and been cut off by the Caffres, he would have destroyed them, and thus made room for his own people”

”Of course; for the end of all these invasions and rations must be in such a sacrifice of human life as to afford sustenance and the means of subsistence to those who remain,” observed the Major

”Precisely; and such must continue to be the case on this continent, until the arts and civilization have taught men how to increase the means of subsistence To produce this, Christianity o hand in hand”

”But the Mantatees or Ficani, who are they?”