History of South Africa 1795 – 1735
By G, McAll Theal
Chapter XXX
Jacob Abraham De Mist, Commissioner-General, 21 February 1803 to 25 September 1804.Lieutenant-General Jan Willem Janssens, Governor, installed 1 March 1803, capitulated to an English army 18 January 1806.

Image: Lieutenant-General Jan Willem Janssens

In the evening the principal houses in Cape Town were illuminated, and a series of festivities followed.

The amnesty did not include the Graaff-Reinet farmers who had been nearly four years in prison, as they had been sentenced by a court of law. But they were not left long in doubt concerning their fate. Adriaan van Jaarsveld had died in confinement. The others were set free on the 30th of March.
The landdrost, secretaries, and in general all the clerks who had held office during the English administration retained their appointments. So did the collector of tithes and the wine tax, Christoffel Brand, and the receiver-general of revenue, Arend de Waal, who had succeeded Mr. Rhenius in April 1797. Mr. J. P. Baumgardt had left the country on its transfer to its old masters, and in his stead as collector of land revenue Mr. Be Mist appointed Sebastiaan Valentyn van Reenen, who had suffered heavy losses under the late administration by being detained for a long time in arrest on suspicion of having communicated with the Dutch fleet under Admiral Lucas.
The burgher senate was enlarged to seven members, but in the following year was reduced to five. Those now chosen were Cornelis van der Poel, Gerrit Hendrik Meyer, Anthony Berrange, Pieter van Breda, Jan Andries Horak, Jacobus Johannes Vos, and Jan Adriaan Vermaak. Cajus Jesse Slotsboo was appointed secretary. After the reduction in number took place, the senate consisted of a president and four members. At the end of every year one retired, when a list of four names was furnished to the governor, from which to select a successor. At the same time the governor appointed one of them to act as president during the ensuing twelvemonth.

On the 3rd of April Governor Janssens left Cape Town to visit the eastern part of the colony, and ascertain how matters were standing with the white people, the Kosas, and the Hottentots. At Port Frederick he found Dr. Van der Kemp and the Hottentots under his care, who had abandoned Bother’s farm some time before. Upon close inquiry he learned that many of these people who had once been in service with farmers had good reason of complaint on the ground of ill-treatment. He fully approved of the plan contemplated by General Dundas, of assigning a tract of land for their use, where they could be under the guidance of missionaries; and he offered for this purpose any vacant ground that was available. A commission, consisting of the commandants Botha and Van Rooyen, Mr. Dirk van Reenen, and Mr. Gerrit Oosthuizen, was thereupon appointed by the governor to act in conjunction with the reverend James Read, Dr. Van der Kemp’s nominee, in selecting a suitable place. They chose a tract of land about six thousand seven hundred morgen in extent, lying along the Little Zwartkops river, between the loan farms of Thomas Ferreira and the widow Scheepers. On the 3lst of May the governor gave his formal consent in writing to the occupation of this place by the Hottentots under supervision of missionaries of the London society, and at Dr. Van der kemp’s request named it Bethelsdorp. The permission thus given was confirmed by Mr. De Mist a few months afterwards.

One hundred and fifty men of the Waldeck regiment, under command of Major Von Gilten, had in the meantime arrived by sea, and had occupied Fort Frederick. Order could therefore be enforced in the immediate neighbourhood. The governor found it advisable to remove two farmers, who were much disliked by the Hottentots on account of their harsh conduct. Thomas Ignatius Ferreira he ordered to reside in the neighbourhood of the drostdy of Swellendam, and Jan Arend Hens he sent to Stellenbosch.

Two parties of Hottentots who had not chosen to place themselves under the guidance of missionaries were living near the Sunday River. The governor sent friendly messages to their captains, Klaas Stuurman and Boesak, the first of whom accepted an invitation to visit Fort Frederick and make his wants known. Stuurman stated that his followers were thoroughly impoverished, and most of them would be very glad to take service with the colonists, if they could be assured of peace and good treatment. He asked for a tract of land on the left bank of the Gamtoos river, where he and his people could have their homes, while those who were so disposed could engage themselves to the farmers. The governor did not immediately give a decision upon this request, as he wished Stuurman’s clan to move farther westward; but he came to a friendly understanding with the captain. The past was to be forgotten on both sides, or, if it was remembered, the misdeeds of the Hottentots during the war were to be regarded as a set-off against the ill-treatment which some of them complained of having received from colonists. The Hottentots were assured of complete protection of person and property, and it was arranged that when any of them went into service a record of the terms should be kept by the landdrost, who should see that strict justice was done.

By the governor’s directions, on the 9th of May an ordinance was published by the council, requiring contracts between farmers and Hottentots to be made in triplicate, upon certain prescribed forms, before an official of position as no notice would be taken by the courts of law of complaints against servants engaged in any other manner.
On the 19th of June the governor instructed Captain Alberti, the second in command of the garrison of Fort Frederick, to select a suitable tract of land on the Gamtoos River, and give it to Stuurman for the use of his people. A great many of these in the meantime had gone into service. The captain was then away hunting buffaloes, and the next that was heard of him was that his gun had burst and shattered one of his arms, from the effects of which he died in November. His brother David Stuurman then became captain of the clan, and in February 1804 a location was assigned to him on the Gamtoos river.

Boesak and his followers wandered about for a time, but did not molest any one, and ultimately they also settled down peaceably.

When the colony was transferred the Hottentot regiment in the British service was transferred with it to the Batavian authorities The regiment was then quartered at Rietvlei, a farm on the Cape flats that from early times had been kept for the use of the government. There were two hundred and fifty-nine privates, thirty corporals, and seventeen drummers, drawing rations and trifling pay, and requiring to be clothed and housed. At the same place, Rietvlei, were the seven captains that Maynier had induced to remove from, the Zuurveld, and who had with them one hundred and twenty three men, two hundred and eighteen Women, and two hundred and fifty-two children All these were being fed at the expense of government and their presence had a very bad effect upon the pandours. To those among them who would not enter service the governor allotted locations of ample size at some distance from the frontier, and he furnished them with a few cattle to commence stock breeding.

By these arrangements the disturbances with the Hottentots were brought to an end.
Upon the arrival of General Janssens at Fort Frederick he sent messengers to the Kosa chiefs in the Zuurveld, inviting them to come and talk over matters with him. Ndlambe and Jalusa thereupon sent some of their councillors to declare that they wished to live in peace and friendship with the white people. Cungwa and one of the sons of Langa returned for reply that they would meet the governor on the Sunday River in five days’ time, if he would be there, and that they were anxious to be on good terms with the colonists.

The governor then made arrangements for a conference with the chiefs at the place of their own selection. He was accompanied from Fort Frederick by sixty-five soldiers and thirty other attendants, and on the way was joined by Commandant Van Rensburg with one hundred and eight burghers, who came to pay their respects and express their gratification that the country had been restored to its ancient owners.
The conference took place on the 24th of May, on the eastern bank of the Sunday River. The chiefs would not venture into the camp, which was on the opposite side of the stream, and General Janssens was obliged to leave his retinue and go across with a few officers and the burgher commandant. Ndlambe, Cungwa, Jalusa, Tshatshu, and some others of less note, with numerous attendants, were present. Klaas Stuurman and some of his people were also there.
During three days a discussion was carried on concerning a friendly arrangement between the two races. The chiefs expressed an earnest wish for peace and friendship with the white people, and there was no difficulty in settling such matters as the delivery of deserters and fugitive slaves, the mode of punishing offenders on either side, and the like. But the all-important question of the removal of the Kosas from the Zuurveld could not be arranged so easily. The chiefs admitted the Fish River as the boundary, but declared that they could not cross it through fear of Gaika. They were about to attack him, they said, and if they were victorious they would at once return to their own country otherwise they must wait for a convenient opportunity. The governor tried to persuade them to make peace with Gaika, and after much talking all except Ndlambe expressed their willingness to do so, provided the overtures came from him. Ndlambe could not be induced to say that he would come to terms with his nephew.

As nothing more could be done, presents were made to the chiefs, who sent a couple of oxen in return; and with assurances of friendship on both sides the parties separated. The governor now issued a proclamation Prohibiting the Colonists from engaging Kaffirs as labourers and ordering that all of that race who were in service should be immediately discharged unless they had been over a year with their employers and expressed a wish to remain.
The governor next proceeded to visit Gaika, from whom he had received a message requesting assistance against the Kaffirs in the Zuurveld. At the Fish River the persons whom he sent in advance to announce his intention brought him back intelligence that they had been received in a very friendly manner, and Coenraad du Buis came as the chief’s confidant to welcome him and request him to go on to the Kat river.

On the 24th of June the governor had a conference with Gaika, at which a formal agreement of friendship was entered into. The Fish River was declared to be the boundary between the two races, and the chief promised that none of his followers except official messengers should cross it. He gave an assurance that if the Kaffirs in the Zuurveld would return to their own country he would not molest them, but he declined positively to make overtures of peace to Ndlambe. He consented to expel the European renegades who were living with his people, but desired to make an exception in favour of Coenraad du Buis. That individual, however promised the governor that he would return to the colony, and a few months later he kept his word. As for the others, several were delivered to the Colonial authorities and were placed where they could be watched eight or ten fled to distant tribes, and one – Jan Botha – was murdered by Ndlambe’s people.
From the Kat river, General Janssens proceeded to the northern border of the colony, to ascertain the condition of the white people and the Bushmen. At Plettenberg’s beacon on the Zeekoe River a messenger met him with a despatch announcing that on the 12th of May, less than three months after the restoration of the colony, war had broken out again between Great Britain and France. The Batavian Republic was so closely allied with the latter power a necessarily to share its fortunes. The governor therefore hastened back to Cape Town, without being able to do more than gather what information could be obtained in a very rapid journey.

It was now resolved to reduce the garrison of Fort Frederick to half the strength at first intended. Captain Lodewyk Alberti, who was about to take over the command from Major Von Gilten, was instructed to continue urging the Kosas in the Zuurveld to cross the Fish river without delay. In August that officer made a tour among them for this purpose, but was unsuccessful. In the following month Cungwa came to terms with Gaika, and promised Alberti to leave the colony as soon as his crops were gathered. Ndlambe’s people at this time were making gardens on the western side of the Bushman’s river, though the chief had undertaken not to do so. Parties of them were roaming about lifting cattle wherever they could find an unprotected herd. The war between them and Gaika’s clan was being carried on actively, and Kawuta had been applied to again for assistance, but declined to give it.

Soon after this another combination was formed. Cungwa and Jalusa joined Gaika, and together they attacked Ndlambe in the Zuurveld, but did not succeed in dislodging him. The belt of land along the coast east of the Bushman’s river was thus kept from being reoccupied by the farmers, but the remaining portion of the district of Graaff-Reinet was in a fair condition of tranquillity.
Upon learning of the renewal of hostilities in Europe General Janssens devoted all his attention to putting the Cape peninsula in a condition for defence, and to the increase of his military strength. But soon instructions were received from Holland that he must send his best regime the 23rd battalion of infantry, to Batavia, as the mother Country was unable to furnish more men, and troops were urgently needed in Java. In February 1804 this regiment left South Africa. The governor did what he could to make up for its loss, by increasing the Hottentot corps first to five hundred, and soon afterwards to six hundred men. But to the burghers he looked chiefly for the defence of the colony, if it should be attacked.

The English East India Company had a large amount of property in Capetown under charge of its agent, Mr. John Pringle. On the 29th of September 1803 this was declared confiscated, on account of war, and was seized for the government. There was a great quantity of salt provisions and 11,351 L. in money, which proved very serviceable, as the funds in the treasury were low. Mr. De Mist brought with him from Holland 8,333 L in money and 33,333 L in bills of Exchange, but that was nearly all expended, and, except for the maintenance of the troops, nothing could be expected from Europe after the renewal of the war. The yearly average of the colonial revenue from January 1803 to January 1806 was only three hundred and sixty-nine thousand six hundred and thirty eight rix-dollars equal at the estimated rate of exchange to 61,606 L.

On the 9th of October the commissioner-general left Cape Town for the purpose of making a tour through the Colony and becoming acquainted with the condition and wants of the people. He took with him a number of attendants and a military escort, so that the train had quite imposing appearance. Proceeding first in a northerly direction, he visited Saldanha and St. Helena bays; then turning inland, he passed through Pikenier’s Kloof, and kept onward to the Hantam, From the Hantam he made his way over the Roggeveld and the Bokkeveld to the land of Waveren – now the Tulbagh basin, where he remained some days to refresh his cattle. He then kept down the valley of the Breede River, and after passing the site of the present village of Worcester he turned to the south to visit the Moravian mission station in Baviaans’ Kloof.
More people were residing at that station than at any other place in the colony except Cape Town, but it had still no distinctive name, for there were several Baviaans’ Kloofs in the country. It was only on the 1st of January 1806 that General Janssens confirmed the name Genadendal – Vale of Grace – which the missionaries at his request had just previously given to it. At the time of Mr. De Mist’s visit, there were nearly eleven hundred people attached to the mission. They occupied about two hundred wattle-and-daub cottages, small and scantily furnished, but a great advance upon Hottentot huts. Each little cottage stood in a garden, in which vegetables and fruit trees of various kinds were growing. There was an air of order and neatness over the whole place, and marks of industry were apparent on all sides. The most thriving of the residents were naturally the halfbreeds, many of whom had really comfortable homes; but even the pure Hottentots had made advances towards civilisation. Some of the men belonging to the station were away in service with farmers, but at stated intervals they returned to their families with their earnings. There were five missionaries, two – Rose and Korhammer by name – having come from Europe in 1799 to assist the three who founded the station. They were living in plain, but comfortable houses. They and their wives were all engaged during stated hours of the day in teaching industrial occupations, and in the evening the whole community assembled in a large and neat building to join in the worship of God. The missionaries, having power to expel unruly persons from the place, maintained strict discipline among the Hottentots; but it was the kind of discipline that parents enforce upon children, tempered by love and interest in their welfare. Nothing more admirable than this excellent institution could be imagined, and Mr. De Mist and the officers of his train had a difficulty in finding words to express their pleasure and satisfaction with what they saw.

From the Moravian village the commissioner-general went eastward through Swellendam to Fort Frederick at Algoa Bay. Here he was visited by the reverend Dr. Van der kemp, with whom he had been acquainted in Holland thirty five years before. Dr. Van der kemp was dressed in coat, trousers, and sandals; but was without shirt, neck-cloth, socks, or hat. In a burning sun he travelled about bareheaded and thus strangely attired. Yet his conversation was rational, and his memory was perfectly sound.. He had formed an opinion that to convert the Hottentots to Christianity it was necessary to descend in style of living nearly to their level, to be their companion as well as their teacher and being thoroughly in earnest he was putting his views into practice Mr. De Mist and his party visited the London society’s station of Bethelsdorp, where Dr. Van der kemp and the Reverend Mr. Read were residing. They found no indication of industry of any kind, no garden – though it was then the planting season, – nothing but a number of wretched huts on a bare plain, with people lying about in filth and indolence. The Hottentots having settled there so recently, it was not to be expected that the place would present the- appearance of Genadendal, and Mr. De Mist was well aware that the London missionaries were not in as favourable a position as the Moravian brethren. They had to deal with a wild people, who had been less than a quarter of a century in contact with Europeans, and to whom expulsion from the station would be no punishment The Moravians, on the other hand, were working with people who had own up among farmers who could appreciate the advantage of a fixed residence, and who were accustomed to the use of such food as could be derived from gardens and orchards. It was not therefore the absence of improvement that gave Mr De Mist and those who were with him an unfavourable impression of Bethelsdorp but the absence of any effort to induce the Hottentots to adopt industrious habits, and the profession of principles that tended to degrade one race without raising the other. The missionaries themselves were living in the same manner as the Hottentots, and were so much occupied with teaching religious truths that they entirely neglected temporal matters. Dr. Vanderkemp was loud in complaints against the colonists in the neighbourhood, because they gave nothing towards the maintenance of the station, as he held it was their duty to do, and because they often tried to induce some of the people to leave the school and enter into service. More with a view of keeping the Hottentots out of mischief than with any expectation of this institution becoming useful, the commissioner-general made a small grant of money from the colonial treasury towards the funds of the place, and added to the gift some sensible advice.
From Bethelsdorp Mr. Be Mist and his train travelled north-eastward through the Zuurveld. They found parties of Kosas wandering about the country begging and making themselves a nuisance to such colonists as had returned to the devastated farms, but not committing any open hostilities. Messengers were sent to Ndlambe, Cungwa, and Jalusa, to invite them to a conference on the Bushman’s river; but they did not appear, and it was not found possible to meet them. A messenger was also sent to Gaika, who appointed a place for an interview, but on Mr. De Mist’s arrival he was not there. One of his councillors appeared instead, and requested the commissioner-general to proceed still farther, as the chief was anxious to see the great captain of the white people. He stated that Gaika was then preparing to attack Ndlambe, and therefore could not leave his kraal. Mr. De Mist, however, did not choose to put himself to any more trouble, so from the Fish river the party turned homeward.

The route now followed was by the way of Bruintjes Hoogte to the village of Graaff-Reinet. Here a detention of several days was made, for the purpose of arranging the affairs of the eastern part of the colony. When this was completed the party moved on, and after suffering greatly from heat on the Karoo passed again through the land of Wayeren and arrived at the castle on the 23rd of March 1804.

On the 7th of February the commissioner-general issued a proclamation from the village of Graaff Reinet, cutting off from the district of that name the field cornetcies of Zwarte Ruggens, Bruintjes Hoogte, Zuurveld, Bushmans River, and Zwartkops River. These were the field cornetcies in which the most turbulent burghers resided and which had been the principal field of depredations by the Kosas. They were now formed into a new district which was to have as landdrost a military officer in command of a body of troops. Mr. Bresler had been recalled some time before, and in his stead Mr. Andries Stockenstrom secretary of Swellendam was appointed Landdrost of Graaff Reinet On the l4th of February he assumed the duty. On the 22nd of April Captain Alberti, who was in command of the garrison of Fort Frederick, was instructed to act as landdrost of the new district to which three days later General Janssens gave the name Uitenhage, an old family name of the commissioner-general.

Captain Alberti was instructed to consult the leading burghers in the selection of a Site for the drostdy, and the three landdrosts of Swellendam, Graaf Reinet and Uitenhage were directed to confer together and send in a report upon the advisability or otherwise of increasing the size of the new district. On the 4th of October they recommended that the fieldcornetcy of Winterhoek should be taken from Graaff Reinet and the fieldcorentcies of Zitzikami, Kromme River and Baviaans Kloof from Swellendam, and added to Uitenhage. Each district should then have a landdrost and six heemraden. The commissioner-general approved of this, and the necessary orders were given.
The boundary of the new district of Uitenhage was declared to be ‘from Grenadiers’s Cape through the upper end of Kromme River in a straight line through Kougaberg throught to the lower point of Anthoniesberg, thence along the waggon road through Dasjes Poort, Groote River Poort, Groote River, Swanepoel’s Poort, Hop River, Bul River, Sunday River, Vogel River, and Blyde River to Bruintjes Hoogte, thence along the top of Bruintjes Hoogte to the Boshberg, along the Boschberg to the end of Kagaberg, and thence Fish River to the sea.’

Captain Alberti, with Commandant Hendrik van Rensburg and Field-cornet Ignatius Mulder, selected as a suitable site for the drostdy a farm belonging to the widow Elizabeth Scheepers, which had been laid waste by the Kaffirs, and had not since been occupied. The widow offered to sell the farm for 400 L, provided the right of free residence during her life was left to her. On the 22nd of September the council agreed to purchase it on these terms. The drostdy buildings were commenced shortly afterwards, when the site took the same name as the district. The first session of the landdrost and heemraden was held on the 15th of November.

In the same year another district was created. On the 11th of July 1804 the commissioner-general issued a proclamation cutting off from Stellenbosch a tract of country north of a provisional line, which was laid down as extending from Verloren Vlei north of St. Helena Bay along Kruis River, thence east through Pikenier’s Kloof and Eland’s Kloof, along the northern base of the mountains of Cold Bokkeveld, and thence south-east by the Draai at Verkeerde Vlei to the border of Swellendam. On the 15th of July General Janssens gave to the district between this provisional line, the northern boundary of the colony, and the Gamka River or western boundary of Graaff-Reinet, the name Tulbagh, in honour of the highly esteemed governor of former days. It was proposed that the drostdy should be at Jan Dissel’s-Vlei, where the village of Clanwilliam was built a few years afterwards; but as it was doubtful whether a better site could not be found, Mr. Hendrik Lodewyk Bletterman, formerly landdrost of Stellenbosch, was appointed a commissioner to inspect the new district, report upon this matter and the provisional boundary, and make arrangements for opening a court.
On the 1st of August Mr. Hendrik van de Graaff was appointed landdrost of Tulbagh. This gentleman was a nephew of the former governor Van de Graaff and was an officer of the artillery corps when the colony was surrendered to the British forces in 1795. In April 1797 he was appointed a director of the loan bank, in which position he had acquitted himself so well that he was now considered the best man who could be found as landdrost.

Mr. Bletterman sent in a report, in which strong objections were urged against Jan Dissel’s-Veli being made the seat of magistracy on account of its being cut off from the eastern part of the district by a very rugged tract of land. He recommended instead the farm Rietvlei close to Roodezand’s church. This farm belonged to a man named Hercules du Pre , who was Willing to sell it for 1,111 L. The council adopted the report on the 18th of September and extended the district of Tulbagh southward to the Breede river from its junction with the Rex upwards to the western point of the socalled island, thence the Western chain of mountains to Roodezand’s Kloof thence the Little Berg river through the kloof, and thence the mountains of Twenty Four Rivers and Elephant River to the firs-named provisional boundary.
One of the most enterprising and patriotic men in the Netherlands at this time Was Mr. Gysbert Karel van Hogendorp whose name at a later date was intimately connected with the history of his country This gentleman formed a plan of colonising a tract of land in the neighbourhood of Plettenberg’s Bay, by which means he hoped to benefit both the mother country and the dependency.

The design was a large one. Mr. Van Hogendorp was to receive from the government a grant in freehold of an extensive district, comprising forests as well as ground adapted for tillage and pasturage The government was to provide free passages from the Netherlands for such persons as he should send out. These persons were to be farm labourers and artisans, who were to enter into a contract to serve him after their arrival in South Africa for a stated time at fixed wages, after which they were to have plots of ground from thirty to one hundred acres in extent assigned to them. He was then to provide them with stock to farm with, for which he was to receive interest in produce for twenty-five years, at the expiration of which period they could either repay the capital or continue as before.
He intended to have a portion of the land cultivated on his own account, and it was for this purpose that he required the services of the people. A magazine was to be -erected for the storage of produce until it could be exported, and for the sale of clothing and other goods. There were to be no slaves in the new settlement.
A saw-mill, with the best appliances then known, was constructed and made ready to be forwarded to South Africa, for he intended to prepare timber for exportation. The production of wool was another of his objects, and with this view he purchased a flock of choice Spanish sheep, which he kept under his own eye in Holland, that he might be able to send out rams yearly.

Mr. Van Hogendorp took as an associate a retired military officer named Von Buchenroeder, who had a very high opinion of his own abilities, but who – as General Janssens said -succeeded in nothing, because he was a mere theorist. In Holland there had been living for some time a colonist named Hermanus Vermaak who was one of those banished for political opinions during the British occupation and who did not fail to speak of the land of his birth in the highest terms. He returned in 1803 as one of Mr. Van Hogendorp’s agents in South Africa, the attorney-general Beelaerts van Blokland being the other.

Both Mr. D Mist and General Janssens were very willing to assist in the settlement of industrious European immigrants. They could not sufficiently express their regret that the mistake had been made of introducing negro slaves into the country; but they were of opinion that it was not too late partly to repair that error. If Europeans in considerable numbers could be obtained as immigrants and further importations of blacks be prevented, in course of time the negroes already in the country might have a tract of land assigned to them where they could live by themselves, and the remainder of the colony thus be made a pure European settlement. A stringent regulation was put in force that not a negro should be landed without the special permission of the government being first obtained. Holding these views, the authorities were averse even to the sale of a few slaves from ships that called, and though in several instances under pressing circumstances such sales were authorised, the number of negroes added to the population while Mr. De Mist and General Janssens were at the head of affairs was very small.

In April 1803 Major Von Buchenroeder arrived with a. party of immigrants, consisting of twenty two men, four women, and five children, when all that was possible was done to aid him. It was believed in Holland that the whole country in the neighbourhood of Plettenberg’s Bay was capable of supporting a dense agricultural population, and as General Janssens had already formed a different opinion, he did not assign a tract of land to Mr. Van Hogendorp but advised that the most suitable vacant ground should first be selected by a competent person.

Major Von Buchenroeder regarded himself as the best judge of a proper locality, and he made a tour along the coast, concerning which he afterwards published a small volume that proves how just was the governor’s estimate of his character. Before his return to Cape Town intelligence of the outbreak of war in Europe was received, which practically put an end to the colonisation scheme, though another party, consisting of fifteen men, six women, and sixteen children was sent from Holland by Mr. Van Hogendorp. These people, however never reached South Africa, as they were forwarded by way of the United States, and preferred to stay there instead of proceeding farther.

Meantime the men brought out by Major Von Buchenroeder ascertained that employment could readily be had in Cape Town on terms much more lucrative to them than the wages for which they had contracted before leaving Holland. Mr. Van Hogendorp had advanced them money for outfits, and his agents tried to keep them to their engagements; but most of them gave ceaseless trouble. Von Buehenroeder, too, worried the government with long memorials and endless complaints, until the commissioner found it necessary to deal very abruptly with him. A tract of land in the valley above Hout Bay was offered to Mr. Van Hogendorp’s agents to make a trial with, and the major was sent back to Holland.

The end of the matter was that in 1806 one man only of the people brought out was living on the ground, and he was getting a living as a woodcutter. There was not a square yard of the soil under cultivation. Mr. Van Hogendorp had forwarded a quantity of stores and implements from Holland, but most had been lost in two shipwrecks. The failure of the design was complete, and the promoter was some thousands of pounds out of pocket by it, without any return whatever.
Among the measures devised by Mr. De Mist for the advancement of the colony was the appointment of a commission to carry out improvements in agriculture and stockbreeding, and particularly for the conversion of Cape sheep into merinos. The commission consisted of a president, a vice-president, and twelve members experienced in farming operations, who were appointed in May 1804. No salaries were attached to their duties. The tract of land called Groote Post, at Groenekloof, was allotted to them, and paper money to the amount of 4,167 L was stamped and assigned as a fund to work with. Hopes were entertained in Holland of the colony becoming a great wool-producing country, and some Cape wool was woven into cloth at Amsterdam and sent back to show the farmers what could be done. The commission imported some Spanish rams, and within two years the number of wool-bearing sheep in the colony was increased to eleven thousand; but slaughter stock was still so scarce and dear that very few breeders could be induced to exchange weight of carcase for quality of fleece. To try to improve the quality of Cape wine, a man of experience in Rhenish vineyards was engaged and brought out. Experiments were again commenced with that Willo’-the-wisp of the early government in South Africa, the olive. On this occasion the plants were brought from Portugal.

On the 25th of July 1804 an important ordinance was published by the commissioner-general. It declared that all religious societies which for the furtherance of virtue and good morals worshipped an Almighty Being were to enjoy in this colony equal protection from the laws, that no civil privileges were to be attached to any creed, but that no religious association might hold public worship or meet in public assembly without the knowledge and consent of the governor. The time was ripe for freedom of public worship in Cape Town, but in the country people were not yet prepared for such liberal measures, and they did not regard with favour an enactment that gave to Jews, Roman Catholics, and Mohamedans the same civil rights as themselves. As yet the whole rural population of European blood adhered to the Dutch reformed church. In Cape Town there were residents professing almost every shade of religious belief, and in the castle itself in October 1805 a room was fitted up as a chapel, in which a Roman Catholic clergyman conducted service for the soldiers of his creed.

The Dutch reformed remained the established church of the country, however, to the extent that its clergymen were appointed by the government and drew their salaries from the public treasury. Their number in Cape Town was reduced to two, of whom the senior received a salary of 333 L. 6s. 8d., and the junior 300 L a year, with no other emoluments whatever. In June 1804 the reverend Mr. Serrurier, after forty-four years’ service, retired on a pension, leaving Messrs. Fleck and Von Manger to perform the duties. It was intended that a clergyman should be stationed at each of the drostdies and at Drakenstein and Zwartland, but it was not possible to obtain a sufficient number. During the time that the colony remained a dependency of the Batavian Republic only one new name was added to the list: that of the reverend Jan Augustus Schutz, who called in a ship in September 1803, and accepted the appointment to the church of Swellendam, from which the reverend Mr. Ballot had been removed to Roodezand in May of the same year. The churches of Drakenstein and Graaff-Reinet remained without clergymen, and no church could be formed at Uitenhage. All the ministers in the country districts received the same salary: 166 L. 13s. 4d a year, with a house and a garden.

The ordinance which granted equal civil rights to persons of every creed also provided for the establishment of schools under control of the government and not belonging to any religious body. This was a measure altogether in advance of the times, and met with such decided opposition from the farmers that nowhere except in Cape Town could such schools be founded. Better no education at all from books than instruction not based on religion was the cry from one end of the colony to the other. Before the country again changed its owners there was not time to settle this question; but had there been, without doubt the government must have given way, or have forfeited the confidence of the burghers.
Another ordinance of the commissioner-general-though it was not published until the 31st of October 1804, after he had laid down his authority-facilitated the celebration of marriages. Prior to this date all persons desiring to be married were required to appear before the matrimonial court in Cape Town, to show that there were no legal impediments. Prom this court a license was obtained, and they could then either be married by a clergyman in Cape Town, or return to their own district and be married by the clergyman of the congregation of which they were members, The ordinance of Mr. De Mist provided that after the 1st of January 1805 marriages were to take place before the landdrost and two heemraaden of the district in which the bride had lived for the previous three months. The necessity for a journey to Cape Town was thus done away with, and quite as good security was provided against improper Unions.

It was the commissioner-general De Mist who gave to Cape Town the coat-of-arms now used by the authorities of the city. He adapted the devices from the escutcheon of Abraham van Riebeek, who was born here, and who was governor-general of Netherlands India from 1709 to 1713. Possibly that gentleman’s father, Jan van Riebeek may have used a coat-of-arms with three annulets in it. Mr. De Mist thought it likely that he had, but there is no certainty about it, though the probabilities are very much greater than that the portrait in the town-house, which is commonly said to be Jan van Riebeek’s, really is a likeness of the founder of the colony. The commissioner-general made the adoption of the coat-of-arms by the city of Cape Town an occasion for festivity. It was the 3rd of July 1804. There was an entertainment in the town-house, and in the evening the buildings along the principal streets were illuminated.

The paper currency of the colony was increased in quantity by the commissioner-general, though the government now admitted that it had depreciated in value. When the colony was transferred to the Batavian Republic, there were in circulation one million seven hundred and eighty-six thousand two hundred and seventy-five rixdollars, which at four English shillings to the rixdollar-its nominal value- represented 357,2551. On the 30th of March 1804 the commissioner-general issued fresh notes to the amount of seventy-five thousand rixdollars, for the purpose of relieving the sufferers by a fire in the village of Stellenbosch on the 28th of December 1803, when the mill, the parsonage. twenty-four private dwelling-houses, and fourteen warehouses and stores were totally destroyed (*Some time afterwards it was discovered that this calamity was caused by an incendiary, a Bengalese slave named Patientie. He was punished with death for the crime.)
A few months later notes to the amount of twenty-five thousand rixdollars were issued to provide a fund for the commission for the improvement of agriculture and stockbreeding to work with, fifty thousand rixdollars to erect the necessary buildings at the new drostdies of Uitenhage and Tulbagh, and one hundred and fifty thousand rixdollars to erect granaries, a hail of justice, and a prison in Cape Town. The last sum was not, however, used for the purpose originally intended, but as a measure of necessity was placed in the military chest. The whole quantity of notes in circulation was thus raised to two millions eighty-six thousand two hundred and seventy-five rixdollars, of which eight hundred and forty-five thousand rixdollars formed the capital of the loan bank. Most of this paper was worn and nearly defaced, and some of it differed in style from other; so it was all called in, and new notes uniform in appearance, though varying in colour according to the amount represented, were issued in exchange. On this occasion a trifling sum was ascertained to have been lost, so that notes representing only two millions and eighty- six thousand rixdollars were stamped. The paper rixdollar was now computed in the government accounts as well as in private transactions at two gulden of Holland, or three shillings and four pence English money, so that the whole amount in circulation was equal to 347,666 L. 13s. 4d.

There are strong indications in the official documents that both Mr. De Mist and General Janssens were not unfavourably disposed towards the Orange party, though they served the Batavian Republic faithfully. They were very jealous of French influence. In December 1803 an agent arrived from Mauritius, and wished to be termed French Resident; but they would not accord him that title, though they were careful not to offend him. When a French fleet put in and the admiral applied for provisions in a time of scarcity, the commissioner-general instructed the governor to give him what he needed, as it would not do to refuse, though payment might be doubtful.

Another instance of jealousy of French influence occurred in the treatment of a man named George Francis Grand, who arrived in South Africa in April 1803, and claimed the position of privy councillor and the second place in the government The commissioner-.general De Mist knew nothing whatever of the man or the office, and he was not as much as named in any despatches received from Holland. His pretensions were therefore disregarded, though he was treated with courtesy. He was by birth a Swiss, but had been for many years in the service of the English East India Company, and had held important situations in Hindostan until for some unexplained cause he was dismissed. He could not speak a word of Dutch. At length, particulars concerning him were received from Holland, when it appeared that he had been appointed consulting councillor, with a salary of 166L. 18s. 4d. a year. He had been for some time separated, but not legally divorced, from his wife, owing to her seduction by the celebrated Philip Francis; and she was then married to a French minister of state of the highest rank. This being the secret of Grand’s appointment, Mr. De Mist did not pay much regard to his importunate requests for a seat in the Council, if not the second place in the government. He was informed that he would be consulted in matters relating to the Indian trade, of which he was supposed to have special knowledge; and to this vague position he was at length obliged to submit.

On the 25th of September 1804 Mr. De Mist formally laid down his authority as commissioner-general so that the governor might be more free to act with vigour. The great question of the time was how to place the Colony in a condition for defence, as no one doubted that sooner or later it would be attacked by the English. Mr. De Mist did not profess to know anything of military matters, and thought that the governor, upon whom the responsibility would fall, should have sole authority, though they had worked together in perfect concord. There are many indications that they were both too far advanced in modern opinions to remain popular in this country much longer, unless they made large concessions to the sentiments of the colonists. General Janssens was the more flexible of the two. He was already beginning to see plainly that a body of people secluded from intercourse with Europe for more than a century could not be dealt with in the same manner as men who had lived in the whirl of the French revolution.

Mr. De Mist resided at Stellenburg, close to Wynberg, from August to November 1804, when he removed to Maastricht, at the Tigerberg. On the 24th of February 1805 he embarked in the American ship Silenus, and on the following day sailed for the United States. So entirely was Dutch commerce driven from the seas that there was no other way by which he could return to Europe.

In January 1805 a post for the conveyance of letters and the Government Gazette was established between Cape Town and the various drostdies. A mail bag was conveyed weekly by post-riders to Stellenbosch and Tulbagh, and to the other drostdies whenever the government wished to send despatches. In this case farmers along the lines of road contracted to forward the bag from one station to another, and the landdrosts sent the letters and papers to the fieldcomets with the first convenience.

As the northern boundary proclaimed by Lord Macartney it not include all the occupied farms, and as in one place it was somewhat obscure, on the 20th of February 1805 the council rectified it by resolving that it should thenceforth be the Koussie or Buffalo river from its mouth to its source in the Koperberg, thence south-eastward in as nearly as possible a straight line-but following the mountains-to the junction of the Zak and Riet rivers, thence the Zak river to its source in the Nieuwveld mountains, thence the Nieuwveld mountains to the Sneeuwberg, and thence northeastward a line enclosing the Great Table mountain to the Zeekoe river at Plettenberg’s beacon. The eastern boundary as defined by Lord Macartney was not changed, though it was worded differently, namely, as the Zuurberg, thence a line along the western side of the Bamboesberg enclosing the Tarka and Kwadehoek and passing along the foot of the Tarka mountain through Kagaberg to the junction of th Baviaans’ and Fish rivers, and thence the Fish river to the sea.

It has already been stated that the high court of justice was independent of the executive and legislative branches of the government. It was intended that all the judges should be appointed in Holland, and should be removable only by the supreme authorities there. The full court was to consist of a president and six members. As one of the judges had not arrived, and as there was good reason to suppose that he would never reach South Africa, on the 6th of October 1803 the commissioner-general, with the concurrence of the governor and the council, appointed Mr. Jan Henoch Neethling, a doctor of laws, to the vacant place. The office of secretary to the, council, which he had previously held, was given to Mr. Jan Andries Truter. Mr. Gerrit Buyskes, the secretary’ to the high court, who was appointed in Holland, did not arrive until two years later.

The inferior courts were remodelled by an ordinance enacted by the governor and council in October 1805.

The landdrosts were to remain, as before, the chief representative of the supreme authority in their respective districts. They were to guard the rights of the inhabitants to personal freedom and possession of their property; to encourage industry, education, the extension of agriculture, and the improvement of cattle; to maintain peace and friendship with the aborigines beyond the border; to protect the Hottentots in their rights as a free people; to preserve forests, and encourage tree-planting; ‘to keep a record of land-grants of every kind, and to prevent the alienation of vacant ground to the prejudice of the public; to receive revenue; to take preparatory examinations in charges of crime; to cause deserters and vagrants to be arrested, and to send them, together with prisoners charged with the commission of serious offences, to Cape Town for trial; and to protect slaves from ill-treatment. Their power of inflicting punishment upon slaves was limited to imprisonment for six months, the infliction of a moderate number of lashes, or placing the culprit in chains. In cases of petty crime, for which the law provided penalties not exceeding fifty rix dollars the landdrosts were left at liberty to compound with the offenders without public trial. The office of auctioneer was separated from that of landdrost, and was attached to that of district secretary. Each landdrost was to be provided with a house, a garden, and a cattle run. He was to have a salary of two thousand five hundred rix-dollars a year, and was to be entitled to specified fees for certain duties. The landdrost of Stellenbosch was to have five hundred rix-dollars a year extra salary.

In each district there were to be six heemraden, selected from the most respectable and trustworthy burghers. The qualifications of these officers were the attainment of thirty years of age, residence in the district for three years, and the possession of freehold property or the occupation of a leasehold farm. They were to receive no salaries or emoluments, as their office was to be regarded as one of honour. On the formation of a new district the heemraden were to be appointed by the governor; but at the end of each succeeding year the two who had served longest were to retire, when the governor was to select their successors from a list of four names supplied by the board. A session of the court of landdrost and heemraden was to be held monthly in the districts of Stellenbosch and Tulbagh, quarterly in the other districts. The landdrost was to preside, except in case of unavoidable absence, when the senior heemraad was to take the chair. The landdrost and four heemraden were to form a quorum.

This court had jurisdiction in all disputes concerning the boundaries of farms and the impounding of cattle, all suits connected with auction sales, and all civil cases in which the amount contested was less than three hundred rix-dollars. There was a right of appeal from its decisions to that of the high court of justice in eases over the value of twenty-five rix-dollars. The landdrost and heemraden were to perform the duties of coroners. They had charge also of the highways, and generally of such matters as were carried out at the expense of the district. In their judicial capacity they were responsible only to the high court of justice, and criminal cases – were reported by them to the attorney-general. In all other matters they were responsible to the governor.

There was a very useful class of officers, termed field – comets, whose sphere of duty other than military had only been recognised of recent years, as they had gradually and almost imperceptibly taken the place of the corporals of militia and the veldwachters of earlier times. The ordinance of October 1805 gave them a better position than they had previously occupied. Every district was now divided into wards, none of which were to be of greater extent than could be ridden across by a man on horseback in six hours; in each of these wards there was to be a fieldcornet, nominated by the landdrost and appointed by the governor. He was to be a man of unblemished character over twenty five years of age, a resident for more than two years in the ward, and in possession of freehold property or in occupation of a leasehold farm. He was to be the representative of the landdrost, to maintain order and tranquillity to settle petty disputes, to keep a register of the people, to make new laws known, and generally to promote industry and whatever might tend to prosperity. He was to be free of district taxation, and was to have a farm without rent or twenty five rix-dollars a year.

For military purposes the fieldcornets were to call out and lead the burghers of their wards whenever required by the landdrost. The burghers were divided into three classes. The first to be called upon for personal service were those between sixteen and thirty years of age, next those between thirty and forty-five and lastly those between forty-five and sixty years of age. If all the men of a class were not needed, the unmarried and those without employment were to be called out before the others. Such as were not called upon for personal service were to be assessed to supply food, horses, and means of transport. When in the field, the several divisions of the burgher militia of each district were under the general orders either of the landdrost or of a commandant appointed by the governor, and the fieldcornets often had the title of captain conferred upon them. In this manner the whole European population of the colony was organised for military purposes.

During recent years reports of various kinds had reached Cape Town concerning the settlements formed by agents of the London missionary society north of the Orange river, and as some of these reports were to the effect that a community hostile to the colony was growing up there, the government resolved to send a commission to inspect the settlements and obtain accurate information. The officers chosen for this purpose were Landdrost Van de Graaff, of Tulbagh, and Dr. Henry Lichtenstein, surgeon of the Hottentot corps. In May 1805 these gentlemen left Tulbagh, and travelling by way of Karoo Poort, reached the colonial boundary without difficulty. Along the route they heard numerous complaints of depredations by Bushmen, and ascertained that the arrangements made with these people in former years had completely failed in their object.

At the mission station on the Zak river they found the colonist Christiaan Botma in charge during the reverend Mr. Kicherer’s absence in Europe. The Bushmen gathered together here had dispersed as soon as the missionaries’ means of providing them with food failed, and only about forty individuals remained, most of whom were half-breeds that had from youth professed Christianity. Botma, the teacher, was a man of great zeal, and had expended a large portion of his private property in maintaining the station; but it seemed to the commission that the principles on winch the work was being conducted were decidedly wrong. Religious services were .frequently held, and were attended by everyone on the place. But industry was not enforced, and the habits of the people formed a striking contrast to those of the residents at the Moravian institution in the district of Stellenbosch. The mission was doing no harm politically or in any other way, though it appeared to be of very little service to the few people under its influence.
Here a party of farmers joined the travellers as an escort, making the whole number up to eight Europeans, twelve Hottentots, and five slaves. On the southern bank of the Orange a horde of Kosas was met, under two near relatives of the chief Ndlambe who had wandered away from their own country.

The Orange was crossed at Prieska Drift. On its northern bank the missionaries Vanderlingen and Jan Kock were met, journeying from the Batlapin country towards the Cape. Kock, who understood the Setshuana language was easily persuaded to send his family on to the station at the Zak river, and return with the commission.
At Lauw-waters-kloof which was reached on the same day, a number of half-breeds and Koranas were found. Here two more missionaries Koster and Janssen by name were met returning from the Batlapin country, having abandoned the work there. Lauw-waters-kloof was ascertained to be one of six mission villages inhabited by half- breeds and Koranas, with several Namaquas and a few blacks and Hottentots from the Cape Colony. The other five were Rietfontein, Witwater, Taaiboschfontein Leeuwen kuil, and Ongeuksfontein. In these villages nearly a thousand people were living, many of whom were half-breeds that had been wandering along the southern bank of the Orange for fifteen or twenty years, before the missionaries induced them to settle down to receive instruction. Among them were also several individuals who had grown up in the families of colonists These had always worn European clothing, and were baptized professors of Christianity before the arrival of the missionaries.

The district in which the villages were situated – [since 1880 the colonial division of Hay] had from time immemorial been occupied by Koranas and Bushmen, who were at bitter feud with each other. The half-breeds, Namaquas and colonial Hottentots were recent immigrants who had come in with the missionaries. Smallpox in a mild form was prevalent among the people, and was said to have been brought from the north, but how or when was not ascertained. It had been unknown in the Cape Colony since 1769, and most likely had spread overland from Delagoa Bay.
At Leeuwenkuil the missionary Anderson was then residing. The travellers were greatly impressed with his devotion to his work, and with the exemplary life he was leading. He and Mr. Kramer were the only white men living in the district, the others who had formerly assisted them having retired from that field.

The commission found that nothing was to be feared from this settlement. Mr. Anderson regarded himself as subject to the colonial government, and the half-breeds, who gained their subsistence chiefly by hunting, were so dependent upon Europeans for ammunition and other necessaries that their engaging in hostilities was out of the question.
From Ongeluksfontein, the farthest of the six villages to the north, the travellers set out for the Batlapin country. Since the journey of Messrs. Truter and Somerville to Lithako in 1801, a good deal had been heard of the Betshuana, but the different accounts by no means agreed. Among those who supplied information was the reverend Mr. Edwards. This missionary, who might be supposed to know more than any other European about the Batlapin, left the Kuruman river towards the close of 1803, and visited Cape Town, where he gave the government a description in writing of the people he had been living with, some portions of which could only be regarded as fabulous. For instance, he stated that they regarded his wife as a goddess, and offered him a great number of cattle for a daughter born at Molehabangwe’s kraal. In March 1805 he wished to return, but the council declined to give him permission and shortly afterwards Messrs. Van de Graaff and Lichtenstein were instructed to include the Batlapin country in their tour.

A little beyond Ongeluksfontein the travellers met a waggon containing the families of two half-breed brothers named Jantje and David Bergover, who had been in Jan Kock’s service on the Kururman river. They had left the Kururman with a view of following Kock to the mission station on the Zak river, but had been attacked on the way by Bushmen, and the two men and one little girl had been murdered. The party from the south arrived just in time’ to rescue the other children and the women.

In the valley of the Kuruman the first Batlapin were found. The principal kraal of Molehabangwe was then only a short distance from the spot where that stream issues with great force from a cavern. The kraal was found to consist of five or six hundred huts, and to contain about five thousand people. The year after Messrs. Truter and Somerville’s visit, the Barolong under Makraki had separated from the Batlapin, and had moved away to the neighbourhood of their kinsmen in the north. This migration reduced the kraal to one-third of its former size. The commission was received in a friendly manner by the old chief Mlolehabangwe, and by his sons Mothibi, Telekela, Molimo, and Molala. There were no missionaries remaining on the Kuruman, all who had been there having left for the Colony; but it was Jan Kock’s intention to return. The commission could not ascertain that any of them except Kook had made the slightest impression upon the people, and what benefit had been derived from his teaching was in an improved method of tilling the ground, not in the adoption of Christianity.

Of the Betshuana tribes to the north – the Barolong, Bahurutsi, Bangwaketsi, Bakwena and others which have since disappeared – some information was gathered, but it was not very reliable. The existence of slavery among these tribes, which was not suspected by Messrs. Truter and Somerville, was proved beyond all doubt. In fact two boys were offered for sale to the commission at the price of a sheep each. But the abject state in which the slaves were living at a distance from the principal kraal was not made known until some years later.
The Kuruman was the farthest point reached by the expedition. During the return journey nothing occurred that was of more than passing interest, and the travellers arrived safely at Tulbagh again after an absence of three months.
On the 14th of May 1804 the whaling schooner Hope was wrecked near Walfish Bay. The crew got safely to land, and left the wreck with a view of trying to make their way along the coast to Cape Town. On the 20th they were attacked by a party of Hottentots, and all were killed except two sailors, who were badly wounded, but were rescued on the following day by an English whaler.

On the 3rd of November 1805 during a violent gale from the north-west, three American ships were driven ashore in Table Bay, and became total wrecks. The French frigate Atalante also went ashore, and was dismasted and otherwise damaged, but was got afloat again after the storm subsided.

In 1805 the European population of the whole colony, according to the census returns, consisted of twenty-five thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven individuals, exclusive of soldiers. They owned twenty-nine thousand five hundred and forty five slaves, and had in their service under agreements twenty thousand and six Hottentots, half-breeds, and Bushmen. It is impossible to say how many Hottentots were living at their own kraals, or Bushmen roaming about, for these people paid no taxes and therefore no notice was ever taken of them by the census framers. Those in service and their families were registered, in order that they might be protected. Cape Town contained, in addition to public edifices of various kinds, one thousand two hundred and fifty-eight houses and stores, and had a population of six thousand two hundred and seventy-three Europeans, one thousand one hundred and thirty Asiatics and free blacks, nine thousand one hundred and twenty-nine slaves, and four hundred and fifty-two Hottentots.

From the time that news was received of the renewal of the war, General Janssens made unceasing efforts to prepare for the defence of the colony. There were a good many British subjects in the country, mostly men who had settled here as traders during the English occupation. In February 1804 a proclamation was issued, ordering them all to leave in neutral ships within two months; but this was not enforced. After the 8th of October 1804 they were required by proclamation to reside in Stellenbosch, and could only leave that village with a pass from the governor stating the object and time of their absence. Some, however, who were married into colonial families, or who had farming interests that would suffer by their being away, were excepted, and were permitted to remain at their homes on giving a pledge that they would do nothing hostile to the Dutch in the event of the colony being attacked.

The Hottentot infantry regiment, six hundred strong, was brought to such an efficient state that it was regarded as a really serviceable corps. Its officers were colonists who understood the character of the men and how to manage them. Frans le Sueur, who was in command, had the title of lieutenant-colonel.

In November 1804 the Asiatics in and about Cape Town were enrolled as volunteers in a corps termed the Javanese or Malay artillery. They were drilled with field-guns and to work the cannon in the forts, until the governor pronounced them a highly efficient and reliable body of auxiliaries.

An attempt was made to lay up a supply of grain at the old Company’s estate Ziekenhuis behind the mountains of Hottentots-Holland, so that if Cape Town should fall, the army could retreat and cut off supplies from the invader. But this could not be carried out, as the crop of 1803-4 was a poor one, and that of 1804-5 unusually bad. In December 1805 the government was offering the farmers around the Cape for the wheat then being reaped sixteen shillings and eight pence a muid*, from which only one shilling a muid was to be deducted instead of the tithe. About Zwartkops River good crops were being gathered, and Captain Alberti was instructed to try to secure a quantity at Algoa Bay at eleven shillings and eight pence a muid clear. But this season’s harvest was not’ out of the farmers’ hands in January 1806. [*In French, various large measures of capacity. From the Latin modius. Conceptually, the muid was originally a wagon load. The word muid is a form of measurement - a muid can be a wagon load of wheat, also used is measuring salt and wine]

General Janssens was doing his utmost to excite a martial spirit among the burghers. Drills and reviews were more frequent than ever before, flattering addresses were made by the governor on every opportunity, and no event in which bravery or patience was displayed was allowed to pass by without notice. As an instance, on the 20th of February 1805 three corporals and twenty-eight privates of the Hottentot corps deserted with their arms from the camp at Wynberg. They were pursued by parties of mounted burghers, but they were not captured until the corporals were all shot, when the privates surrendered. In skirmishing with the deserters, a burgher named Mattheus Zaaiman was killed, and Jan Roux and Jan Swanepoel were wounded. At the instance of the governor, the council hereupon resolved to give to Zaaiman’s parents, Roux, and Swanepoel farms free of quitrent for life; and to present silver goblets with suitable inscriptions on them to the militia captains Willem Wium, Willem Morkel, Jan Linde, and Pieter Human.

The regular European troops of all arms were between fifteen and sixteen hundred in number. No reinforcements had been sent out, since the transfer of the colony, though the original strength of the regiments in garrison was greatly reduced by desertion, ordinary mortality, and unusually heavy losses from a very malignant form of dysentery which was prevalent in November and December 1804, when most of the soldiers were in a camp on the Liesbeek river. The troops were distributed over the Cape peninsula, except a detachment of eighty men at Fort Frederick. They were poorly clad, and a supply of clothing was urgently needed. From the almost exhausted treasury of the Batavian Republic, General Janssens had drawn until recently money at the rate of l00,000 a year for military purposes of all kinds, but he was now trying to manage with a smaller sum.

So matters stood at the Cape at the close of the year 1805. For a long time an attack had been, expected, and within the last few days tidings were received which set every one on the alert. On the 24th and 25th of December the French privateer Napoleon, which had recently brought some fifty English prisoners of war from Mauritius to the – Cape and then went to cruise in the route of homeward- bound ships, was chased by an English frigate, and, to avoid capture, was run ashore on the coast south of Hout Bay.

Her crew brought the intelligence to Cape Town, and it was suspected that the frigate had companions. Then came a vessel with a report that she had passed in the Atlantic a great fleet steering south, and on the 28th another arrived with news that a large number of English ships had sailed from Madeira on the 4th of October.

The fleet which was thus announced as likely to be approaching was in fact fitted out for the conquest of the Cape Colony. In July 1805, by Lord Castlereagh’s order, the 59th regiment of infantry, the 20th light dragoons, three hundred and twenty artillerymen, and five hundred and forty-six recruits were embarked at Falmouth in transports belonging to the East India Company, which put to sea under convoy of his Majesty’s ships Espoir, Encounter and Projector. Their destination was announced to be the East Indies, but they sailed under secret orders to wait at ]Madeira and join a larger force which was to follow. Shortly afterwards, the 24th, 38th, 71st, 72nd, 83rd, and 93rd regiments of the line were embarked in transports at Cork, ostensibly for the Mediterranean and, accompanied by victuallers, tenders, and merchantmen sailed under protection of three ships of sixty-four guns- the Diadem, Raisonnable and Belliquex, – one ship of fifty guns -the Diomede , – and two of thirty-two guns-the Narcissus and Leda. This fleet was intended to join the other at Madeira, and proceed in company to the Cape of Good hope. The naval force was under command of Commodore Home Popham, and the troops – in all six thousand six hundred and fifty-four rank and file – were under Major Gen. David Baird. This officer was well acquainted with the Cape and its fortifications, having served here under General Dundas for eleven months in 1798.

The expedition left England almost without notice, as other events were then engaging attention throughout Europe. The great French army, which was generally believed to be intended for the invasion of England, was still encamped at Boulogne when the fleet sailed. While it was on its way to the Cape, the Austrians capitulated at Ulm, the battle of Trafalgar was fought, a French army entered Vienna, and issues were decided in comparison with which the fate of the Cape Colony dwindled into insignificance.

In the morning of the 4th of January 1806 signals on the Lion’s rump made known that numerous sails were in sight, and that evening the ships – sixty-three in number came to anchor between Robben Island and the Blueberg shore. It was General Baird’s intention to land his army next morning at a curve in the coast north of Melkbosch Point, from which Cape Town could be reached by a march of about sixteen miles; but during the night a gale set in, and in the morning of the 5th such a heavy surf was rolling on the shore that landing was impossible.

Image: David Baird

The general then resolved to disembark his troops at Saldanha Bay, though from that port the soldiers would be obliged to make a long and weary march, and it would be necessary to keep open communication with the fleet by means of detachments posted at several stations along the route. During the night of the 5th, the Diomede, with some transports conveying the 38th regiment of foot, the 20th light dragoons, and some artillery, under command of Brigadier-Genera1 Beresford, set sail for Saldanha Bay. The squadron was preceded by the Espoir, which was sent in advance to take possession of the port and secure as many cattle as possible.

The remainder of the fleet would have followed next morning, but at daybreak it was observed that the surf had gone down considerably. A careful examination of the shore was made, and it was found that a landing might be effected. The Diadem, Leda, Encounter, and Protector were moored so as to cover the beach with their heavy guns, and a small transport was run aground in such a manner as to form a breakwater off the landing-place. The Highland brigade, composed of the 71st, 72nd, and 93rd regiments, under command of Brigadier-General Ferguson, was then conveyed on shore. The sea was still breaking with considerable violence, but only one boat was swamped. It – contained thirty-five men of the 93rd regiment, all of whom were drowned. The 24th, 59th, and 83rd regiments were landed on the 7th, with some artillery and sufficient provisions for the immediate wants of the army. The debarkation was attended with only the trifling loss of two soldiers wounded by a company of burgher militia under Commandant Jacobus Linde, who were sent to reconnoitre.
Meantime General Janssens had assembled as many men as possible under arms. Eight hours after the fleet came in sight, the fact was known in Swellendam by means of signal guns fired from hill to hill, and before the following morning the whole country within a hundred and fifty miles of Cape Town was apprised of the event. There was saddling and riding in haste, but in the short time that elapsed before the fate of the colony was decided it was impossible to make a formidable muster. It was the worst time of year for the farmers to leave their homes, as the wheat was being threshed and the grapes were beginning to ripen, while the heat was so intense that journeys could only be performed by night without utter exhaustion of man and beast.

As soon as it was known that the English were landing on the Blueberg beach, General Janssens marched to meet them, leaving in Cape Town a considerable burgher force and a few soldiers under Lieutenant-Colonel Von Prophalow to guard the forts and protect the town in the event of its being attacked during his absence. He had altogether an army rather over two thousand strong, but composed of a strange mixture of men. There were two hundred and twenty-four mounted burghers, under Commandants Linde, Human, and Wium. There was the fifth battalion of Waldeck, which was a body of German mercenary troops, four hundred strong; the 22nd regiment of the line, three hundred and fifty-eight strong, and the 9th battalion of jagers, two hundred and two strong, raised by recruiting from all the nations of Europe; and one-hundred and thirty-. eight dragoons and one hundred and sixty artillerymen, who were mostly Dutch by birth. Then there were the crews of the French ships Atalante and Napoleon, two hundred and forty men, under Colonel Gaudin Beauchene who was commandant of marines in the Atalante. And lastly, there were fifty-four Javanese artillerymen, one hundred and eighty one Hottentot foot-soldiers, and one hundred and four slaves from Mozambique in the artillery train. The field-guns were sixteen in number,*’ of various sizes [* In General Bairds report, it is stated that the Dutch had twenty three cannon, but General Janssens gives only sixteen, and his military returns made before battle are very incomplete in detail. The British general also greatly over estimated the Dutch force.].

At three o’clock in the morning of Wednesday the 8th of January 1806 this motley force was under arms, and was advancing towards Blueberg from the dunes beyond Rietvlei, where the night had been spent, when the scouts brought word that the English were approaching. At five o’clock the British troops were seen descending the shoulder of the Blueberg, marching in the cool of the morning towards Cape Town. General Baird had formed his army in two columns. That on the right, consisting of the 24th, 59th, and 83rd regiments, was commanded by his brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Baird. The left column was the Highland brigade, under Brigadier-General Ferguson. Altogether there were about four thousand rank and file, besides the artillerymen and five or six hundred sailors armed with pikes and drawing two howitzers and six field-guns.

The Dutch general extended his force in a line covering the whole English front. He knew that victory was almost hopeless, and he had long before placed on record his fixed conviction that the Cape Colony was too great a burden to be borne by the exhausted mother country, and that as it could not be held without heavy expense its loss would really be an advantage. But it was his duty to defend it, and now all his thoughts were how to make the most stubborn stand. He rode along the front of the line, saying a few encouraging words to the men, and met with hearty cheers from all except the battalion of Waldeck. These mercenaries were quite as well aware as the general himself that there was hardly a chance of success against the disciplined British troops, and they were not disposed to be shot down for the mere honour of fighting.

By this time the armies were within cannon range, and the artillery on both sides was opening fire A few balls fell on the ground occupied by the Waldeck battalion, and that regiment began to retreat. General Janssens rode up and implored the soldiers to stand firm, but in vain, for their retreat was quickly changed into flight. One wing of the 22nd regiment then began to follow the example of the Waldeckers.. It rallied for a moment under the general’s command, but resumed its flight on observing that the Highland brigade, after firing a volley of musketry at too great a distance to have much effect, was advancing to charge with the bayonet. The burghers, the French corps, the remainder of the troops, and the coloured auxiliaries were behaving well, receiving and answering a heavy fire with artillery and hunting rifles. But the flight of the main body of regular troops made it impossible for the mixed force left on the field to stand the charge of the Highland brigade, and by order of General Janssens the remnant of the army fell back. Adjutant-General Rancke and Colonel Henry were sent to Rietvlei to rally the fugitive soldiers there. The last to leave the field was a company of mounted artillery under Lieutenant Pelegrini, who continued firing until the general in person commanded them to retire. On the spot he promoted the lieutenant to be a captain.

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The loss of the English in the battle of Blueberg was one officer and fourteen rank and file killed, nine officers and one hundred and eighty rank and file wounded, and eight rank and file missing. [ The word file appears exactly as it does in the book - one could assume that the word should be five and not file] The Dutch loss cannot be stated with any pretension to accuracy, for the roll-call when the fugitives were rallied shows the killed, wounded, and missing together, and there are no means of distinguishing one from the other. When the muster was made that afternoon, one hundred and ten Frenchmen, one hundred and eighty-eight soldiers of the different battalions, four burghers, seventeen Hottentots, ten Malays, and eight slaves did not answer to their names. It is tolerably certain that more were killed and wounded on the Dutch than on the English side, though probably the excess was not great. General Janssens himself was struck by a spent ball, but it rebounded from something in his side-pocket without injuring him.

At Rietvlei the defeated army was collected together. The general resolved to retire at once to the mountains of Hottentots-Holland, but he would not take the Waldeck regiment with him, as he declared it unworthy to associate with men of valour. He ordered it immediately to march to Cape Town, that it might be included in whatever terms of capitulation Colonel Von Prophalow could obtain. One company of this regiment had been in another part of the field, and had behaved well. The men asked to be treated differently, and the general gave them the choice of accompanying him or their regiment, when they unanimously accepted the first alternative. The remaining companies of the Waldeck battalion then proceeded to Cape Town. The French sailors and marines had behaved with the utmost bravery, and the French officers only retired from the battlefield in company with the general and Pelegrini’s artillery Janssens was loth to part with them, but Colonel Beauehene represented that they could be of no service in the country, so they also were directed to proceed to Cape Town, and left with expressions of esteem on both sides.

The general next sent an express to Major Horn, who was in command of the garrison of Simonstown, instructing him to set fire to the Bato, an old ship of war which was lying at anchor in Simon’s Bay as a floating fort, to destroy the powder in the magazine, spike the guns in the batteries, and proceed along the shore of False Bay to join him at Hottentots-Holland pass. The garrison of Simonstown consisted of about fifty artillerymen and two companies of the Hottentot regiment. Major Horn carried out his instructions, but so hastily that the Bato was only slightly damaged.

An express was also sent by General Jansseris to Cape Town with a letter to the members of the council, requesting them, while it was still in their power to do so legally, to grant farms in freehold to certain burghers who had been conspicuous for bravery in the battle. The burghers, he remarked, had acted in such a way as to deserve a better fate than to be vanquished. But it was impossible to reward all. The names that he mentioned were those of the commandants Jacobus Linde and Pieter Human, the burghers Pieter Pietersen, Nicholas Swart Ps., Nicholas Swart Ks., Jan Rabe, Dirk Lourens, Servaas de Kock, Nicholas Linde, and Marthinus Theunissen, also Hans Human and Pieter Mosterd, whose brothers were killed. Upon receipt of this letter the councillors De Salis and Wakker lost no time in making the grants and having them properly recorded. Mr. Van Oudtshoorn had long since resigned on account of bodily infirmity and Mr. Van Polanen who only arrived in March 1804, went to Batavia on a special mission at the beginning of 1805, so that there were only the two-De Salis and Wakker – left. This meeting in the evening of the 8th of January was the last but one that was held under the Batavian administration. On the morning of the 9th the two Councillors held another session, and furnished Lieutenant-Colonel Von Prophalow with a small sum of money.

While the general was engaged in making these arrangements the soldiers and burghers were resting, but the remnant of the army flow pushed on to Rooseboom There it halted until eleven o’clock at night, when another march was made towards Hottentots Holland. In the evening the British troops arrived at Rietvlei where they passed the night in the open air.
In the morning of the 9th General Baird resumed his march towards Cape Town. At Salt River it was easy to communicate with the ships, and preparations were made to land a battering train and a supply of provisions. But the battering train was not needed, for Colonel Von Prophalow had no thought of attempting to defend the town, as he could not do so with any prospect of success. He therefore sent a flag of truce to request a suspension of arms for forty eight hours, in order to arrange terms of capitulation. Near Craig’s tower this flag met General Baird, who would only grant thirty six hours, and further required possession within six hours of the lines and Port Knokke. His demand could not be refused, and that evening the 59th regiment took possession of Fort Knokke. At four o’clock in the afternoon of the 10th the articles of capitulation were signed at Papendorp – now Woodstock – by Lieutenant-Colonel Von Prophalow, Major-General Baird, and Commodore Home Popham.

These articles provided that the castle and other fortifications should be immediately surrendered to his Britannic Majesty’s forces. The regular troops forming the garrison, and the Frenchmen of the Atalante and the Napoleon, were to become prisoners of war, and be sent to Great Britain as such, with the exception of officers of the army married into colonial families or possessing landed property in the colony, who were to be at liberty to remain in the country during good behaviour, and with the further exception of such soldier as might choose of their own free will to enlist in his Britannic Majesty’s service. Colonists in arms were to return to their former occupations. Private property of all kinds was to be respected, but property of every description belonging to the Batavian government was to be delivered up. The burghers and other inhabitants were to preserve all their rights and privileges, and public worship as then existing was to be maintained. The paper money in circulation was to continue current until his Majesty’s pleasure could be known, and the public lands and buildings were to remain as security for that portion not lent to individuals. The inhabitants of Cape Town were to be exempted from having troops quartered on them. And two Dutch ships sunk the day before in Table Bay to prevent their seizure were to be raised by those who scuttled them, and delivered over in a perfect state of repair.

Upon General Baird taking possession of Cape Town, he found only two days’ supply of flour and grain on hand.
The wheat of the last crop was nearly ready for delivery by the farmers, but the season had not been a good one, and he quantity was insufficient to meet the wants of the colonists and of the large military and naval force flow added to the number of consumers. A frigate was therefore sent to, St. Helena to procure all the flour and biscuit that could be spared from that island, and as soon as possible three transports sailed for Madras to obtain rice and wheat.
On the morning of the 11th three proclamations were issued by General Baird. In the first, the inhabitants of the country districts were ordered to remain quietly at their respective habitations, and were assured of protection by the British government. Any who should join the Batavian troops under General Janssens, or afford them assistance, were threatened with consequences of the most serious nature; and those inhabitants of the neighbourhood of Cape Town who had retired with the Dutch army were warned that if they did not return forthwith to their usual places of abode, orders would be given for the confiscation of their effects. In the second proclamation the civil servants and the principal inhabitants were required to take an oath of allegiance to his Britannic Majesty at noon that day. And in the third proclamation, Willem Stephanus van Ryneveld,. a staunch friend of the British government, was appointed chief civil magistrate and councillor, “it being General Baird’s intention that all the immediate duties of the civil administration should be executed by him under his Excellency’s own superintendence and directions.”

General Janssens had in the meantime reached the mountains of Hottentots Holland where he might have been able to cut off communication with the eastern part of the country if the British force had not been so overwhelming But of what use could it be to make a stand there ? The farms which produced wheat and wine would soon be subject to the English, and the country beyond would also be open to them by way of the Roodezand kloof. Only one plan of prolonging the struggle therefore remained, which was to retire to the distant interior and await the arrival of a French expedition to recover the Colony. But this did not appear very feasible. The most that could be said of the position in which he was placed resolved itself at last into this, that it was more favourable for obtaining terms than if be bad fallen back upon Cape Town after the defeat at Blueberg.

Within the next three days he learned that two English regiments had taken possession of the village of Stellenbosch and the Roodezand kloof, and that another regiment was about to proceed by sea to Mossel Bay, with a view of securing the Attaqua pass in the rear of his position. He ascertained also that the English general had required all the saddle-horses in the town to be taken to the barracks, where they were appraised and pressed into service, with a promise that if they were not returned to their owners when tranquillity was restored, they would be paid for. The greater number of the farmers with him being residents of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein, he advised them to return to their homes, as their remaining longer might cause the confiscation of their property. But so attached were they to him and the cause which he represented that it was with difficulty they were persuaded to retire.

General Baird made the first advances, by addressing a letter to General Janssens, in which, after complimenting him for having discharged his duty to his country as became a brave man at the head of a gallant, though feeble, army, he was informed that the British naval and military forces which had possessed themselves of the seat of government were of a magnitude to leave no question respecting the issue of further hostilities, so that a temporary and disastrous resistance was all he could possibly oppose to superior numbers. Under these circumstances, nothing could result but the devastation of the country he casually occupied, and such a consequence could not be contemplated without anguish by a generous mind, or be gratifying to a man who felt for the prosperity of a colony lately subject to his administration. It was therefore trusted that he would show a disposition to promote general tranquillity.

On the 13th this letter was forwarded by Brigadier-General Beresford, who was in command of the troops at Stellenbosch, and who announced at the same time that he was empowered to enter into negotiations for an honourable capitulation. General Janssens desired first to be correctly informed of occurrences at Cape Town, and requested that Mr. Jan Andries Truter, who since October 1803 had been secretary to the council, might be permitted to visit him for that purpose. This was granted, and upon being made acquainted with everything that bad transpired, he consented to the arrangement of terms. Some delay took place, owing to certain clauses proposed by one party being rejected by the other, but at length a draft made by General Janssens arid modified by General Baird was agreed to and signed at Hottentots Holland on the 18th of January.

It provided that the whole settlement should at once be surrendered to his Britannic Majesty. That the Batavian troops should retain all private property, and the officers their swords and horses; but their arms, treasure, and public property of every description should be given up. That the troops should not be considered prisoners of war, but be embarked and sent to Holland at the expense of the British government they engaging not to serve against his Britannic Majesty or his allies before they were landed in Holland. That the officers and men should be subsisted at the expense of the British government until their embarkation, and when on board transports be treated in the same manner as British troops. That the Hottentot soldiers should be allowed to return to their homes, or to enter the British service, as they might think proper. And that the inhabitants of the colony were to enjoy the same rights and privileges as had been granted to those of Cape Town according to the capitulation of the 10th, except that the privilege of quartering soldiers upon them was reserved, as the country had not the same, resources as the town.

The troops composing the force with General Janssens were reduced by desertion within the last few days to one hundred and eighty officers and men of the 22nd battalion of infantry, one hundred and four officers and men of the 9th battalion of jagers, fifty-two officers and men of the 5th battalion of Waldeck, one hundred and forty-six dragoons, and one hundred and seventy-seven artillerymen, in all six hundred and fifty-nine individuals, exclusive of a few staff officers, who were to be sent to Holland.

There were also three hundred and forty-three men of the Hottentot regiment and fifty-five men of the artillery train, who were to remain in the country. General Baird directed Major Graham, of the 73rd, to take as many of the Hottentots into the British service as could be induced to enlist. Most of them were willing to remain as soldiers, and they were formed into a corps which was soon afterwards enlarged and became known as the Cape regiment.

A good deal of trouble was caused to General Janssens after the capitulation by an act of the councillors De Salis and Wakker on the 6th of January, when the army was marching to meet the British forces at Blueberg. On that occasion the two councillors apportioned to certain individuals nearly 20,000L from the military chest as compensation for prospective loss of office, with the understanding that the money was to be returned if the British forces were defeated. The transaction was intended to be secret, and no entry was made of it in the record of proceedings. General Baird contended that the money ought to be surrendered, and General Janssens entirely disapproved of what the councillors had done; but it was no easy matter to induce the recipients to restore the amounts that had been awarded to them. Ultimately, however, all except about 1300L was given up. Further trouble was caused by the inability of Colonel Von Prophalow to compel the’ persons who sank the two ships in Table Bay to raise them again that they might be delivered as prizes.

But the controversy upon this matter at length came to an end, and seven cartel ships being prepared, the troops – ninety-four officers and five hundred and seventy-three rank and file – were embarked in them. One of the best of the transports – named the Bellona – was placed at the disposal of General Janssens, who had liberty to select such persons as he wished to accompany him. Thirty-one of the civil servants under the Batavian administration desired to return to Europe, and were allowed passages in the cartel ships. Fifty three women and the same number of children also embarked. Just before going on board the Bellona, General Janssens as his last act in South Africa, addressed a letter, marked private and confidential, to General Baird, in which the following paragraph Occurs:

‘Allow me, sir, to recommend to your protection the inhabitants of this colony, whose happiness and welfare ever since I have been here were the chief objects of my care, and who conducted themselves during that period to my highest satisfaction. Give no credit in this respect to Mr. Barrow nor to the enemies of the inhabitants. They have their faults, but these are more than compensated by good qualities. Through lenity, through marks of affection, and benevolence they may be conducted to any good.’

All being ready, on the 6th of March 1806 the squadron, bearing the last representative of the dominion of the Netherlands over the Cape Colony, set sail for Holland.

Tags: Algoa Bay, burghers, district of Uitenhage, Dr. Van der kemp, General Janssens, Hottentots, Malays, Moravian village, Plettenberg's, Zeekoe river