Rambles in South Africa, etc

Front matter

RAMBLES IN SOUTH AFRICA THE CAPE NATAL AND TRANSVAAL A RECORD OF HOLIDAY TRAVEL BY JOHN KERR CAMPBELL, D.D., F.S.Sc, AND FELLOW OF THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCOTLAND. Author of "Through Egypt, Palestine, and Syria," "Through the United States of America and Canada," " Through Classic and Bible Lands," " Pisgah Glimpses and Gospel Gleanings., "Life Problems," &c. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LIMITED. GLASGOW : ROBERT L. HOLMES, Dunlop Street. STIRLING : R. S. SHEARER & SON. STIRLING: printed ry duncan & jamieson, 26 Upper craics. lo SIR DONALD CURRIE, K.C.M.G. and M.P., WHO, BY HIS SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE IN OPENING UP CHANNELS OF COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE, AND BY HIS HIGH-SOULED PHILANTHROPY, COMBINED WITH DEVOUT CHRISTIAN ZEAL, HAS LARGELY ASSISTED IN SPREADING THE LIGHT OF CIVILISATION AND CHRISTIANITY OVER THE "DARK CONTINENT," lolttmc is IXcspectfttllg gebicateb II V %ht Author.

Preface

. This record of Rambles in South Africa may be said to be after the Author's usual order and style of travel-writing. Inasmuch as the record is not of the nature of a grave, scientific expedition, but rather that of an excursion undertaken for needed rest and recreation, the characteristics of a treatise on the exact sciences need hardly be expected. It has been written chiefly for the information of those who may readily avow themselves comparative strangers to the common or uncommon incidents of a sea voyage, as well as to the peculiari ties of the countries and peoples of our South African Colonies. The discourses embodied in the volume were written almost currente calamo, either on board ship, where a few of them were delivered, or in circumstances by no means favourable for such compositions.

If the reader should regard them as unattractive or unreadable, he is entitled to ignore them, or to skip them as he does Latin or Greek phrases in the course of his ordinary reading. With respect to the character of the record itself, the reader may safely homologate the sentiment expressed by the boy who said to his mother : " Mother, be sure and get a copy of our minister's new book, for I am sure that what he has written will be true." The character sketches and pen portraits have been added to the record at the urgent request of subscribers, and in the belief that they may at least draw attention to a subject of social and scientific importance, or to a branch of education too long and generally neglected. Perhaps one reason for this general neglect may be found in the fact that the science of physiognomy, like a faithful mirror, reveals to a considerable number too many unpleasant facts.

Many men may be ready to say of physiognomy what a certain king said of Micaiah, " I hate him : for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil." Nevertheless, " Truth is great, and shall prevail." Honest men love truth for its own sake, and therefore should not be unwilling to see them selves as others see them. Stirling, October, 1891. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Introductory

Previous travels and books — Health resorts — Shall we go to Africa, North or South ? — Serious difficulties — Strange experience — Kingly men — Sources of information, - - - - 13-21 13-21

Chapter II. The Land Beyond The

"LINE," AND HOW TO REACH IT. " Where is Natal ? " — " How long were ye on the sea ? " — — Difference between geographical or sea miles and British or land miles — Modern spirit of enterprise— Possibilities — Sir Donald Currie, M.P., and his valuable services — The Royal Castle Line — The fleet and the officers — Room in Africa for men who are neither lame nor lazy — What was and what is, - - 22-29

Chapter III. Our Voyage To The Cape

: INCIDENTS BY THE WAY. Off and into a fog — Patmos in the Thames — What can modern science avail in a fog ? — Men not constitutionally religious — Our company — Divine service — " Out of the way " — Gravesend — Something suggested — Flushing — A stroll to the town — The "poor man's colony" — An exciting scene — Four second saloon passengers left behind — A wild chase over the waves — Off to Las Palmas — Reticent captains — Our experience in Bay of Biscay — Rumbling crockery — What next? — Lively cabins — The captain conducts divine service — God's time keeping—" God manifest in the flesh" — Israel's faith — The Grand Canaries— Conversation with a Spaniard — Off to St. Helena — In the tropics — The heat — A Salvation Army company — Flying fish — Christmas and New Year's day in the tropics — Two steamers exchanging compliments — £9 f°r champagne in one night — A funeral at sea — Discussion on different modes of burial — St. Helena — Napoleon's place of exile — A wonderful ladder — The lord bishop and his curate — Distinguished prisoners — The lord bishop preaches, - 30-71 CONTENTS.

Chapter IV. Cape Town And Suburbs

Table Mountain — Cloth and south-easter— Stroll through the town — Places of interest — " The Melrose " in which Carey was shot — Scotch Presbyterian Church — Deep pews, and music at the gallop — Capital sermon — One of the four promising youths — A terrible Cape doctor — A short discourse on Hadad's request — A visit to Stellingbosh — A grand place — Dutch kindness — A Dutch patriarch — A visit to the college — Professors — Ostrich farms — The Karoo — Cemetery — Transport wagons, - - 72-88

Chapter V. The Voyage To Natal

: PORT ELIZABETH, EAST LONDON, DURBAN. Pilgrims bound for Mecca — Cape of Good Hope — When and why so called — Port Elizabeth — A sun-scorched, but prosperous place — Stroll through the town — Places of interest — Mr. Kemsley, a kind citizen — East London — Zulus and Kaffirs — The basket — East London, a small town, but beautiful surroundings, - 89-97

Chapter VI. The Colony Of Natal

Natal, a hilly country, but all fertile and beautiful — When discovered, and by whom — The Dutch getting possession of land — Boer exodus in 1837 — Sufferings of the Dutch — Taking vengeance under Umpande — Zulus love war — Pietermarit/.burg, - 98-106

Chapter VII. Durban To Pietermaritzburg

The seaport town of Natal — Places of interest — The Berea — Some of the citizens — Mr. Hunter, a typical Scotsman — Off to Maritzburg — A Campbell at Pinetown — Engineering skill for rounding molehills — Arrival at the capital city — At church — A school, ------ . 107-112

Chapter VIII. Pietermaritzburg

A Saul among the Zulus — A principle of nomenclature — Who are the citizens ? — Streets well laid out, but too many men traps — CONTENTS. IX The chief of police, a Scot — Kafir policemen — Post office arrange ments — A conceited and careless fellow — Sir Charles Mitchell— A foundation stone relaid — Presbyterians and other Protestants go second — Hieroglyphics of truth among savages, or man essentially religious — A sermon delivered in Maritzburg, - 1 13-128

Chapter IX. Native Races In Natal

: THEIR CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS. Are the Kafirs and Zulus natives ? — The Dutchman a good master — Sons of Ishmael — Superior to Bushmen and Hottentots — The Kafirs' religion — No atheists — Sacrifices and rites which pertained to the Hebrews — Dutch doctors — Polygamy — Horror at unchastity — Annual dances — Sense of sin and shame — Kafir dress — Courtship and marriage — Labola — Washing away their sins — The coolies, and their temple, - - - - -129-137

Chapter X. Churches And Missions In South Africa

Northern provinces — Eastern Africa, Central Africa — The South African Church — Bishop Blyth, Bishop Gray — A ritualist — — Court of final appeal — Bishop Macrorie — No respect for evangelicals — Bishop Colenso — The opinion of the author of " Ecce Homo " — Ritualism has neither moral nor spiritual power — "Spoiling the natives" — Dutch Missions — Nacht Maal — Wesleyan Methodists and Missions — Society for the Propagation of the Gospel — Bishop Webb guilty of proselytizing — Presbyterian Churches and Missions — Practical suggestions — Godly men wanted — Union needed — "Alexander the coppersmith" unknown in any of the Colonial Churches, - - - - 138-150

Chapter XI. Education In Natal

My lords of education — Mr. Russell, Mr. Mudie — Children, teaching and schools very like our own — Payment by results practically unknown — Religious teaching might be improved — What is education? — Highly-informed men may not be educated Religious instruction given, but not tested — A syllabus suggested, - - - " - - - - iS1"^6 C X CONTENTS.

Chapter XIII. Dunira

: RESTING AND RAMBLING. The young laird of Dunira — A well-trained family — a Kafir Kraal — Different kinds of Kraals — Killing a snake — Killing snakes all night — A sad case — Conversation with an aged Kafir — Outraging the Kafir tongue — Snuff — " Putting the devil upon the horse " — " Cooking the kettle " — Newspapers and blunders An appeal to the Cæsar of education — Strange advertisements- Poor oxen, ------- 162-174

Chapter XIV. Dunira To Ladysmith

An altered programme — Shall we go to Zululand, or to Mashonaland, and see ruins of the Queen of Sheba's palace? — Lady smith — Government teacher and Government school — Strolling round the town — Places of interest — People and churches — A story, not for the Philistines — A short address — A school examination, ---------- 175-186

Chapter XV. Ladysmith To Newcastle

The path still up and over hills — A Stirling man a stationmaster ■ — Glencoe Junction — James acts as guide — Newcastle — Old friends — Government school and Mr. M'B. — A handsome railway station — A generous friend — "A grand turn-out," - 187-191

Chapter XVI. The Transvaal

Where is that land of Boers? — Who are the Boers? — What right have the Boers to the Transvaal ? — Is might right ?— Did the land belong to the Kafirs or to the Zulus ? — If not, to whom ? — What right have the British to the Transvaal? — Were Boer complaints reasonable ? — Mr. Froude's opinion, - - 192-199 contents. XI

Chapter XVII. Our Journey To The Transvaal

A special train — No — "A carriage and four" — The horses run off — Jehu career — A wonderful boat on the Buffalo river — A boat of beer barrels — A comical, and yet rather costly business — The scene of battle between the Boers and the British — Amajuba — Cause of battle — Climbing the hill — A prayer meeting on Sabbath morning at 4 o'clock — Did the British soldiers think of it ? — How the battle began, and how it ended — Disastrous business — Poor Sir George Colley did not live to tell how the battle began or how it ended, - 200-207

Chapter XVIII. Transvaal To Durban

Homewards — Character of the Boers — The Boers know their Bible — Sir Donald Currie, M.P. — The Zulus and Zululand — Parting with friends — "That day I wore my gloves no more" — How some have succeeded — Farewell, - - - 208-216

Chapter XIX. Durban To Cape Town

At sea — What a magnificent vessel — Captain Webster a king — A Gospel chain of five links — A sermon — Lively conversations — Men of different creeds— The Hon. Chief-Justice, Du Toit, Mr. Von A magistrate, a good minister, and a good elder — A stiff breeze Parting with friends at the Cape — Message to a mother — Children and friends singing, and bidding "good bye," - 217-234

Chapter XX. Homeward Bound

Sketches of character — Differences of human character — Individual and natural — Different classes — Mrs. Siddons and Edinburgh — Causes of difference — Many and various — The "mind's mirror," or marks of difference — Special typical marks — General characteristics — A subject of vast importance, - 235-252 contents.

Chapter XXI. Pen Portraits

Our company on board the Dunottar Castle — The typical Englishman — The Irishman — The German — The Jew— The Conversion of a Jew — A touching story — The Scandinavian — The sceptic — The founder of the religion of humanity — The Scotsman, --------- 253-264

Chapter XXII. Life On Board The

"DUNOTTAR CASTLE." Falling through the ice of formality — Lost and not found — A " Father " Priest preaches a Gospel sermon — The voyage of life — ■ Seafaring in ancient and modern times — Human life a stormy voyage — Unity in variety — Lesson from contrary winds — Reaching the deserved haven — -Yonder side — •" To yonder side " — Tenerife — Excitement — Madeira — Men running too fast — Shunted — Diving for silver pieces — Parting with friends, - - - 265-282

Chapter XXIII. General Observations

"The grand object of travelling" — Sam Johnson's opinion — What may have been and what is — Things contrary — Bushmen — Hottentots — Zulus — Kafirs — What John Bull might have done with advantage, and what he should do now — The future of South Africa — Our hopes — A community that cannot truly thrive — Some stories worth recording — The perversion of a message — An effectual remedy for ghosts — Bishops without breeches ! - 283-291

Chapter XXIV. Arrival At Plymouth

Into a snowstorm — Custom house inquisitors — A novel experiment — -A dodge — -An invalid lady — Days in London — St. Columba Church — Dr. Fraser, Marylebone — Hearing Rev. Mr. Boyd Carpenter — An estimate of Dr. Parker — Aping Episcopacy Cæsar's representatives protecting a Dissenting congregation — An estimate of Mr. Spurgeon — A visit to Exeter Hall — Dr. Barnardo, the right man in the right place, - 292-300 RAMBLES IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Chapter I. Introductory

HEN I completed the third volume of my travels, "Through Classic and Bible Lands," I entertained the hope that my travelling in distant parts of the world was over, and consequently my writing of books. I then felt that my physical powers were no longer such as to warrant further excursions into far-off countries, and that the mental strain connected with the preparation of another book might prove too much a weariness of the flesh, if not a precursor of something more serious. But time has proved that my hope was groundless and my fears false. When I first resolved to go to Palestine and Syria, through the ancient land of the Pharaohs, I began to fear that I might never reach it, but die in Egypt, and have no one beside me to whom I could say, in the words of Joseph, "Carry my bones out PREVIOUS TRAVELS. 14 of Egypt."

When, therefore, I was enabled to carry my resolution into effect, I took my "better half" with me. That holiday of three months in Egypt and the Holy Land did me so much good, especially the horse exercise in travelling, that after three years, when my health broke down again, I resolved to return to these ancient and interesting lands, and then proceed to Asia Minor and Greece. Records of our travels in these countries, as well as of our visit to the United States of America and Canada, were given to the public, and I have had no reason to regret having done so. Indeed, I have had every reason to be satisfied with the reception given to my writings by the general public and the press. Travelling long distances by land and sea has never in itself been a source of pleasure to me, and nothing but a sense of duty to myself, and the work that demands my best energies, could have induced me to travel as I have done.

I have failed to see how travelling, or wandering from place to place doing nothing, can be a source of satisfaction to any one who has anything like a sense of responsibility in relation to time and money and the formation of that character which is largely the product of daily conflict amidst the duties of life. There can be no real pleasure to any one in merely seeing and being seen, or in being whirled along an iron way at the rate of so many hundred miles a day. I have never met with any man or matron who would willingly pay down two or three hundred pounds for the sole purpose of having a long sea voyage. SHU'S AS PRISONS. 15 Those who make a long sea voyage have usually some higher object in view. Those who go to America, or to Australia, or to Africa, may believe that our modern Atlantic liners are not what Dr. Johnson characterised the ships of his day, " Prisons, in which one has the chance of being drowned," that they afford many physical comforts, and that voyagers may meet with suitable companions or agreeable company on board, but they may also believe that our best constructed vessels are not yet absolute proof against the "perils of the deep," and the instincts of self-preservation are too strong in most men to venture on a long sea voyage without some other object than mere pleasure.

For myself, a voyage to South Africa was the last of my thoughts and the least of my desires. Even will for such a voyage was at no time present with me. Recuperative forces for some men may be found in the hilarity of the social circle, or in the pleasantries and banter and friendliness which predominate in some of our modern health resorts. Other men may be so constituted as to find the suitable conditions of restoration in climbing the hills and breathing the clear, bracing air of the mountains ; while for others nothing short of a kind of Patmos may be necessary, where they can have no books, papers, or periodicals to read, and where they may feel themselves free from all cares and yet be without ennui. The physical constitution of some men may have so deteriorated that nothing short of absolute rest •can be effectual in restoring them to sound health.

What rest and sleep do every night for the weary INTEREST IN SOUTH AFRICA. sons of toil, a few weeks or months of rest and sound sleep may do for those who suffer from nervous prostration. Some men are too seriously inclined to be enamoured with crowds of people in the market place, or with sporting idlers on the lawns, or groups of children upon the sands, or throngs of men and women in the streets. While thousands of men, out of sorts, may find the conditions of new health at a hydropathic establishment, or musing quietly for a few weeks by the sea shore, there may be as many hundreds who can find these conditions, only by running away from all business thoughts and domestic cares to a place where no letters and no newspapers can reach them. This was the kind of place pre scribed for me, and I was glad to be able to find that place in Eastern lands, and afterwards in the new West world.

South Africa had never any attractions for me. I had often read of it in the histories of such renowned missionaries as Drs. Moffat and Livingstone, and in connection with the exploits of Dr. Stanley. It had been forced upon our attention in connection with the War in Zululand, and the unfortunate hostilities which broke out between the Boers and the British in the Transvaal. The interest of many thousands of Europeans was evoked in it when it became known as a land of trold and diamonds, but by none of these were we moved to go and see it. When we thought on the possibility of taking a voyage to this land beyond the line, this bourne of gold and diamonds, this country of Kafirs and Zulus, A SERIOUS POSSIBILITY. 17 Boers and Hottentots, we felt less elated than we ever did in similar circumstances.

The heat of the tropics and the length of the voyage were serious points in the prospect ; and there was besides a more serious question, that of expense. When we left the " City of the Rock" we might be somewhat as Abraham, when he went out not knowing whither he went. Our chief concern at the time was how best to escape from the gloomy winter and intense cold which then set in. We had not, at that time, fixed upon any definite course beyond London. We might possibly go to Egypt once more, perhaps further, and we might go to South Africa, but only by such an arrangement as would enable us to go together. The state of my health at the time was such that I would not venture a sea voyage of seven or eight thousand miles alone. The idea of becoming helpless in the tropics was not a pleasant one, much less the thought of dying and being buried at sea.

These possibilities some what benumbed our spirits, and we felt for a time, especially when our powers of locomotion gave way, that we should return home and submit to the worst. The weather in London was anything but agree able, and immediate departure from it seemed to be imperative. We called at the offices of the Castle Line Company in the hope of seeing the Manager, and to ascertain if any reduction on the price of two first-class return tickets to Natal could be made. Sir Donald Currie, M.P., was not present, had not as yet reached his office, and after waiting for full) A SURPRISE MEETING. an hour, we left without seeing him. We now felt as if we had reached the climax of the feelings which depressed the men who had toiled all night and caught nothing. Off we went, however, "faint, yet pursuing," and seeking grace to be "careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplica tion with thanksgiving."

As we groped our way through the crowded streets of the great metropolis, who of all the millions of Modern Babylon, and the thousands around us, should we meet, whom we knew sufficiently to recognise, but Sir Donald Currie, M.P. ! "That meeting," said our friends who were with us, " was wonderful. We have often walked these streets for days and weeks without seeing a person we knew." "Yes," I replied, "it was rather wonderful, but it may be taken as one more illustration of an old saying — ■ 'Thy way to God commit, Him trust, It bring to pass shall He.' " I was somewhat taken aback when I met Sir Donald, but I introduced myself to him in such respectful and apologetic terms as I could command at the time. Sir Donald, as a man of practical common sense, was frank and free ; he evinced no stiffness or airs of superiority, but spoke as a true Christian man might be expected to do to another.

I told him that I had been calling at his office and what my object was. After a brief conversation on two or three points of a general nature, he requested me to call and see him at his office on the morrow, and in the interval he would see what could be done DR. JOHNSON AND LORI) CHESTERFIELD. 19 to meet my wishes. On the morrow I called, and found that he had personally arranged to make such a reduction as would enable us both to go to Natal with the Dunrobin Castle, which was to sail from the East India Dock Basin the following Wednesday, and return with any of the mail steamers. This act of generosity on the part of Sir Donald Currie, M.P., might be a small matter to him, even less, perhaps, than a " cup of cold water," but to me at the time it was an act of great kindness. I then felt, and still feel, that he laid me under a deep debt of obligation, and I can only pray that He whose I am, and whom I desire to love and serve, may reward him.

Two things at least we hate with a perfect hatred, — -meanness and ingratitude. That kind of meanness described by Dr. Samuel Johnson in his letter to Lord Chesterfield, it seems to me, can only be born of a reprobate nature. " Is not a patron, my lord," said Johnson, "one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached ground encumbers him with help ? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it ; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it ; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations when no benefit has been received, or to be un willing that the public should consider me as owing that to a patron which Providence has enabled me to do for myself."

POST MORTEM CENER0S1TY 20 This kind of post mortem generosity is far too common. Unlike the woman of the Gospel who came aforehand to show kindness to our Lord, too many come afterhand and say a thousand and one good things about men when they are of no use to cheer, to comfort, or to help them. When you are dead, these post mortem fellows will come and say how good you were, and how laboriously you lived to serve your generation by the will of God. Perhaps they will contribute a pound or two to raise a monument for you, or they may sound your praises through the press. This was not the way in which Sir Donald Currie acted towards us, and it is in our heart to say so, and a great deal more than is here recorded. We have taken the liberty of dedicating this record of our rambles to Sir Donald, and we trust that he may receive it as a token of our gratitude and as worthy of his perusal.

Sir Donald Currie well deserves all the honours which our beloved Queen has bestowed upon him. No man in this nineteenth century has done more to advance the best interests of our country and those of our Colonies in South Africa than Sir Donald Currie. If it be true, as we believe it is, that "com ing events cast their shadows before," we, if we live, will be among the first to rejoice at Sir Donald's elevation to the House of Lords. Our aim throughout the following pages has been to give a plain statement of facts as they came before us from day to day in the course of our travels. We have endeavoured to give our impressions of both SOMETHING PROMISED. 21 Colonies, of the people and of their institutions, without anything like varnish. We trust that those on the other side, to whom we promised this much, may find, when they read our record, that we have not failed to be accurate in our descriptions, and that we have in no way misrepresented the character of the people among whom they live. The character sketches and pen portraits have been added to our record of travels to meet the wishes of subscribers.

Chapter II. The Land Beyond The Line, And How To Reach It

HE information which we have from modern travellers," says Dr. Johnson, "is much more authentic than what we had from ancient travellers ; ancient travellers guessed, modern travellers measure." We suppose this may be regarded as one reason why the following questions have been addressed to us by different individuals since we returned home : — "Where is Natal?" "How far is Natal from the Cape?" "How long were ye upon the sea till ye reached Cape Town ?" "Is there any railway between Natal and the Transvaal ?" We will answer these questions at present in a general way. South Africa, or the land beyond the line, is as far south of the equator, or line, as Alexandria or Cairo in Egypt is north of it. Natal lies 30 deg. east from Greenwich or London, and 30 deg., or two thousand British miles, south of the equator.

The Cape, or the " Cape of Good Hope " as the sailors from India love to call it, is about six DISTANCES. 23 thousand miles from London, while Durban, the sea port town of Natal, is about eight hundred miles further on, round the coast. These miles, however, are not ordinary imperial miles of seventeen hundred and sixty yards, but nautical or geographical miles, which represent a distance considerably greater. As every 60 nautical or geographical miles represents a distance of about 69 imperial miles, it follows that were the length of the sea voyage between London and the Cape and between the Cape and Natal determined by imperial miles, the distance would be considerably greater. In other words, were the distance between London and the Cape, by Lisbon and Madeira, and the distance between the Cape and Natal, to be given in British miles, the first distance, instead of being 6242 geographical miles, as shown upon the chart, would be considerably above 7000, while the second distance would be about 1000.

It is comparatively easy to represent these distances upon paper, or to understand them as shown upon a map of the ocean, but to measure them by the revolutions of the propeller, or by so many days and nights of actual experience, is a very different thing. And yet these distances, in this wonderful age, are soon compassed. The seven thousand miles between the metropolis of Great Britain and the Cape are compassed in less time than it took the fastest steamers to cross the Atlantic from London to New York fifty years ago. In 1833 it took the Royal William twenty-five days to cross the Atlantic from Quebec to London. In STRIDES OE CIVILISATION. it took the first British steamer that crossed the Atlantic fully seventeen days to reach America. The distance between Tory Island, on the Irish coast, and Sandy Hook, near New York, is reckoned to be about three thousand four hundred miles.