1829.

LETTER TO MR. J. J. GURNEY.

213

in the shape of some good place, or they will never forgive the Duke for letting them go down to the House as strong Protestants, and insisting upon their returning that very day, stout Catholics! They say they do not mind changing their opinions, that is a duty which they must sometimes pay to their chiefs,—but they think it hard to be obliged to turn right-about-face at the word of command, without a moment being given to change their convictions.

"The Duke is very peremptory. The story goes, that he said to Mr., who has a place under government, We have settled the matter, and hope you like it.' Mr.- said, he would take time to consider it. 'Oh yes! you shall have plenty of time, I don't want your answer before four o'clock to-day. I shall thank you for it then; for, if you don't like our measures, we must have your office and seat, for somebody else.'

"To-morrow, we are to have a fierce debate. The high church party are very furious, and talk of calling upon the country; and I expect we shall have a good deal of bit

terness.

"As to slavery, we determined not to fix our plans for a week, in order to see the turn this Catholic business is likely to take, for the House will hear nothing else now; but we are to have a day fixed for Brougham's motion before Easter. He wanted me to begin on the Mauritius; but I said, "No! if they are not in a temper to hear you, I am sure they will not hear me.'

"Spring Rice said, that he had seen General Bourke, late governor of the Cape of Good Hope, who tells him that Government have sent out an order in council, giving entire emancipation to the Hottentots. If this proves true I shall be excessively delighted, and shall never say again that I am sorry I went into Parliament; not that I did much in the business, but I flatter myself I did a little."

His delight was well-founded. From the day that the fiftieth ordinance became law, the Hottentots were raised to the level of their white oppressors,

they were protected by the same laws, they could own property, they could demand wages in return for their labour, they could no longer be seized "like stray cattle" if they left their village bounds; in short, they were become a free people; and since that day civilisation and Christianity, with all their retinue of blessings, have flourished among them. For a while dismal forebodings and fierce complaints rang among the colonists at this sudden inroad upon their oppressive privileges; but after a few slight commotions, both their anger and their fears died away: and the experience of eighteen years has abundantly approved the wisdom, as well as the justice, of this important measure.

To the N. E. of the colony lies the rich pasture land of the Kat River; from which, in 1827, the Caffres had been expelled after a long guerilla warfare with the colonists. On this tract of country the Colonial Government, at the suggestion of Captain (now Sir Andries) Stockenstrom, determined to form a Hottentot settlement, as a sort of outwork against the Caffres, and also to afford an opportunity for drawing forth the latent energies of the Hottentots themselves. The latter quickly poured into the settlement from all parts of the colony, but for a long time they had to struggle with every species of privation and danger. Captain Stockenstrom had no tools to give them; when they asked him what means they would have to cultivate the ground, he could only answer, "If you cannot do it with your fingers, you had better not go there." However they set to work, lending each other such tools as they possessed, and soon

1828.

THE KAT RIVER SETTLEMENT.

215

began water-courses to irrigate the land for the seedcorn allowed by Government.

When Dr. Philip returned from England to Africa, he found them still in want of even the necessaries of life; but they had commenced the cultivation of the soil, and many of them, having been trained under missionaries while in the colony, were thirsting for education, though, as yet, no regular teachers were allowed by the Colonial Government to visit them. At one of the new hamlets, named after Mr. Wilberforce, a school had been established, which was attended by sixty or seventy children. The teacher was a young Hottentot, who could himself read but very imperfectly. To an observation of Dr. Philip, he replied, that he could teach but little, and that as soon as a qualified master should come, he would resign his charge and take his seat among the children. At another hamlet, named after Mr. Buxton*, a school had already been brought into excellent order, under the direction of a daughter of Andrew Stoffles a converted Hottentot.

Further on they observed a well-dressed female Hottentot standing on a stone, tinkling a small bell.

Sixteen years later, the Rev. James Read thus refers to the village of Buxton :

"Kat River, May 29. 1843. "Buxton is one of our largest locations; we have a good school there. The school-room, which is so large that it serves also for a chapel, has been built chiefly at the expense of Sir Fowell Buxton. The people are very proud of the name of their place the situation is delightful; the soil very fertile, being watered by a small stream, which is tributary to the Kat River. It is furnished with forests of the finest timber." (Report of the London Missionary Society, 1844. p. 125.)

They followed her unperceived, and soon found her in a hut with fifty children closely wedged in around her. She was the village school-mistress; her only apparatus being the separated leaves of a New Testament, one of which was held by each of the children, and they were quickly learning to spell the words. A few days after Dr. Philip's arrival, the Hottentots assembled to petition him to provide them with a teacher. “At an early hour," says he, "we sat down under the shade of some spreading trees, near the banks of the Kat River, and surrounded by some of the noblest scenery I ever saw. After prayer and singing a hymn, several of the head men addressed the assembly, and then Andrew Stoffles delivered a speech which produced an effect I had never before seen equalled. The main topic of his address was the former oppression of the Hottentots, and he described what he had seen and felt; rapidly pointing out the parallel between their own position (former and present) with the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt, and their entrance into the promised land. The analogy was finely brought out; and, as he went on from point to point of the resemblance, it was wonderful to see the effect produced upon the feelings of his audience; they became, at length, convulsed with emotion. Numbers, unable to support their feelings, hastened away to weep apart. When they were a little composed they assembled round us again, and closed the business of the meeting by an urgent and unanimous request that the Rev. J. Read might come among them as their missionary. The request was granted, and with the happiest effects."

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HAPPY RESULTS.

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The following extracts, from authentic documents, will show the remarkable success of this experiment. But it must be premised that the Hottentots, who did not emigrate to the Kat River, amounted at that time to about 25,000. They continued in the colony, working industriously, like any other labourers, for wages, and protected by the laws. A gentleman of great respectability, writing in 1832, says, "The number of crimes charged against the Hottentots in the colony, at the circuits, has of late greatly diminished, a great improvement is clearly manifest in their moral condition."

The Kat River settlement originally contained about 5000 Hottentots. It has continued to flourish in the most satisfactory manner, and has proved a strong defence to the colony, in the late Caffre war. So early as 1832, we find it stated that—

"The success of the Hottentots has been equal to their industry and good conduct. By patient labour, with manly moderation and Christian temperance, they have converted the desert into a fruitful field." *

It is worthy of remark, that, although while in a state of servitude the Hottentots had been very much given to drinking, they acquired, at the Kat River, remarkable habits of temperance; and of their own accord petitioned, and successfully, against the establishment of brandy canteens.

They had already "two missionaries whose chapels were regularly filled, and several schools crowded with orderly and acute children." †

* Letter in Anti-Slavery Record, vol. i. p. 124.