A narrative of the Kaffir War of 1850, 51 (52)

Front matter

Published Quarterly.] [OCTOBER, 1851. FART Z. Price 2s. 6d. A NARRATIVE OF THE KAFFIR WAR OF 1850-51. By R. GODLONTON, MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, AND EDITOB OP THE GRAHAM'S TOWN JOURNAL, AND EDWARD IRVING. ILLUSTRATED WITH THREE ENGRAVINGS. LONDON : PELHAM RICHARDSON, 23, CORNHILL; AND SOLD BY WILLIAM TEGG & CO., Queen-Stkeet, Cheapside. 1851. Kaffirs sketched at Sandilli' s Kraal on the Keiskamma. Kaffir Police of the 1st Division, sketched at Capt. Davies' Station, near Fort C'ojc. London: PELHAM RICHARDSON, Cornhill. 1851. A NARRATIVE OP THE KAFFIR WAR op 1850-51. By R. GODLONTON, MF'-nPH OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, AND EDITOR OF THE GRAHAM'S TOWN JOURNAL, AND EDWARD IRVING. Keeping one consistent plan from end to end." — HORACE. ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS. LONDON: PELHAM RICHARDSON, 23, CORNHILL. GRAHAM'S TOWN: GODLONTON & WHITE, PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS. 1851.

ADVERTISEMENT.

. The imperfect information which has hitherto been current with the British public on all matters relating to the deso lating wars made by the Kaffirs upon the Colonists of the Eastern Province of the Cape of Good Hope, has induced the publication of this Narrative, in order that the features of the war of 1850-51, which, above all its predecessors, has been pre-eminently unprovoked and treacherous, may be correctly represented ; — that the different lines of policy in dealing with the South African Aborigines may be shown in their true light, and that the malignments which have been heaped upon the British Settlers and their descendants in this quarter of the globe may be subjected to that refutation to which they are so indubitably liable. The work is now issuing from the local press in Graham's Town, and contemporaneously therewith the present series is offered to the home reader.

Chapter I. Introductory Remarks

Outlines of previous Kaffir wars — Acquisition of British Kaffraria— Injustice towards the Colonists— Sir H. Smith's Policy — Kaffir Police — Excitement in Kaffirland — Umlanjeni, the Prophet— First apprehensions of War — Arrival of the Governor on the Frontier — 1 hefts of Cattle. In 1817, the Kaffirs and a few Dutch and English Colonists held conjoint possession of Eastern Africa nearly as far West as Algoa Bay. The European residents were, however, regarded as the nominal lords of the soil to the Great Fish River, and had about thirty military posts established in that part of the country which is now known as the Districts of Albany and Uitenhage. To prove that that lordship was only nominal, it is sufficient to state that the number of farms deserted on account of the frequent inroads of the Kaffirs exceeded the number of military posts, and that numerous frontier forays were continually taking place, very much resembling in character the border maraudings which figure so conspicuously in the annals of Scotland and the North of England.

Despite every assertion to the contrary, men of credence are still living to prove, and chronicles are in existence to maintain, that the Kaffirs vjere always the first aggressors, the Commandos of Burghers being nothing more than despoiled farmers united in a body to visit the haunts of the Kaffir robber, and compel him by legal force of arms to disgorge his plunder. In 1819, the Kaffirs became so bold as to venture upon war against the Colony, in which, after an attempt to carry Graham's Town, then merely the Head-quarters of the military, they were discomfited, and compelled to retire to the East side of the Great Fish River, along whose right bank a strong chain of forts was at the time maintained. The same year the British Parliament voted £50,000, and sent out 4,000 Emigrants of all classes to occupy the country from which the savages had just been expelled.

Those Emigrants formed the Albany and Uitenhage original Settlers, and being men of stern mould and indefatigable temperament, soon began to plant the seeds of a flourishing Settlement. At this time Graham's Town con tained twenty-two houses, and one hundred and fifty inhabitants. Port Elizabeth was not in existence, and, with the exception of Uitenhage, the land of promise did not possess a single other village. Fourteen years of peace had made the infant community a concen tration of wealth, power, and influence, when the second Kaffir war burst like a thunder cloud over the peaceful and prosperous locality. The assagai and the torch did their deadly work most effectually. The British territory was completely overrun and despoiled, numbers of lives lost, and £300,000 worth of the Settlers' property wasted or driven off.

To shew that the Colonists were not to blame in this second instance, it is only required to be understood, that intercourse with the Kaffir tribes was closely restricted ; that a clear line of territorial boundary was defined, and no residential inter ference permitted on either side. The Settlers in fact had not the power, nor the right to seize the Kaffirs' lands or cattle, and did not do so. The result of the 1834 war was the expulsion of the Kaffirs to the Eastward of the Keiskamma River. This was merely a feature in the law of nations. Two powers go to war, — one is beaten — the conqueror dictates his terms, which in this case were the cession and forfeiture of a considerable and valuable tract of country. Sir Benjamin D'Urban was Governor at the period alluded to, and he gave that important opinion which Sir Harry Smith is now attempting to realize, viz., that the expulsion of the Kaffirs from the fastnesses of the Amatola mountains was indispensable to the safety and permanent peace and welfare of the Colony.

Thus far the barbarians had been checked by the arm of power — by the sword. But a new Governor appeared upon the arena, and determined to try the power of concession. With this view Sir Andreas Stockenstrom restored to the Kaffirs that portion of the country which they had lost in the war of 1834, lying between the Great Fish and Keiskamma Rivers, which now took the name of the Ceded Territory. It will be necessary to observe, that the Frontier line, whereverlts position happened to be, still continued to be a scene of petty warfare and strife ; but the con ciliatory policy augmented the daring of the enemy a hundredfold, and robberies of cattle and other stock were multiplied to a ruinous extent. The Kaffirs had been appeased by a boon, and acting upon the old proverb, " give an inch and take an ell," they were evidently impressed with an idea that by continuing their aggressions, they would ultimately have ceded to them all their original holdings, and finally be permitted again to disport themselves in the rich Districts of Albany and Uitenhage.

Concession proved a most complete failure ! A strong military force managed to keep matters from an outbreak for eleven years, until 1846, when the third war deluo-ed the country with rapine and blood. Sir Henry Pottinger was managing the war subject in such a manner as would in a short time have effectually and for ever extinguished the Kaffir people ; but a false economy on the part of the Home Government caused the needful appliances to be withheld, and Sir Harry Smith was sent out to close the struggle at all hazards, and stop the heavy military expenditure which the war occasioned. Sir Harry performed his mission to the letter. He found the war indeed terminated, and he released those prisoner Chiefs who have since proved a thorn in his side, and a bane to Eastern Africa. The Kaffirs still further receded in this war.

They lost much; the Ceded Territory had again become Colonial, and was now portioned out in the Districts of Victoria, Fort Peddie, part of Beaufort, and Albert. The close of the year 1847 witnessed the dawn of peace upon the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony, — the third savage invasion had just been quelled at a sacrifice of much life and property, and the expenditure of upwards of a million of public money. The loss to the Colonists alone, in crops and stock, was about £500,000. It will be perceived that the turbulence of the Kaffirs had drawn down upon them the arm of power, before which they suddenly receded for a time, but gradually endeavoured to make their lost territory untenable to the new possessors. In addition to the forfeiture of the Ceded Territory, another penalty was exacted from the Kaffir people by the nominal annexation of a large and valuable tract of country to the British Crown — a tract of about four thousand square miles in extent, extremely beautiful and fertile, watered by numerous streams possessing forests of valuable timber, and accessible by means of an excellent Seaport.

This accession was entitled " British Kaffraria," and its boundaries are thus described by Sir H. Smith, in government Proclamations dated 17th and 23rd December, 1847 : — " From the mouth of the Keiskamma, along the eastern bank of the same, to its confluence with the Chumie River ; thence up the east bank of the Chumie to its northernmost source on the Katberg; thence along the summit of the Katberg range to the centre of the Luheri Mount or Gaika's Kop ; thence to the nearest source of the Klip Plaat's River, and down the right bank of the same to its junction with the Zwart Kei River, and from the last named junction along the right banks of the Zwart Kei and Great Kei to the Sea." This region was subdivided into the Counties of Lincoln, Bedford, Cambridge, Middlesex, Sussex, Yorkshire, and Northumberland — the whole being apportioned to the respective Chiefs and followers, who came forward and solemnly declared themselves willing to bear true allegiance to the British Crown.

There was no choice in this measure, it being forced upon the Colony by the necessity of securing from the several tribes the peaceful occupancy of the territory which lay within their respective boundaries. Continued aggression upon the Colonial border rendered restraint of the offenders at once imperative and indispensable. An impression unfortunately exists in England, and an opinion is prevalent, that the Colonists irritate the Kaffirs, in order to find a plea to rob them of their cattle, or to settle themselves upon their lands. The fallacy of this notion has been combated at the outset, and as this narrative proceeds, abundant evidence will be adduced to shew that the Kaffirs acted on the offensive, — the Settlers on the defensive— throughout. It is much to be regretted that a more correct idea of the relative rights and positions of the parties was not arrived at on the termination of the War of 1835, for if the sympathy and support of the British people had been extended to their fellow-countrymen in South Eastern Africa at that time, a rigid and powerful system would have been initiated and maintained, which might effectually have prevented the recurrence of another war.

But a weak and vacillating policy emboldened the savages, whilst it depressed and to some extent enervated the colonists. Not one of the Governors embraced in the long list from Van Riebeek to Sir Harry Smith has been solely to blame— the neglect has lain with the British public, and at their doors the charge must clog, unless it can be shewn that our Governors, our Statesmen, our Missionaries, our Journalists, our Writers, our Authors — Military officers, scientific visitants, or occasional callers — have all of them either shamefully neglected to place the true position of the Colony before the Home authorities, or have grossly perverted such accounts as may have been sent. The piteous representations of the plundering of the Colonial farmers were disbelieved and scouted, — the ties of country and of brotherhood appeared to have been completely severed.

British sub jects had been persuaded from their homes, to fight and hew their thorny path unaided and unheeded. The frequent depredations com mitted between 1835 and 18-16 induced the Settlers to ask themselves — Where is the vaunted power of England ? Why does she submit her subjects to be trampled upon with impunity? The following strain of argument was naturally adopted by them : — " Much, very much labor remains to be entered upon by the pioneers of civilization; yet, if the refining process is only to go on drop by drop, centuries must roll over our heads before any com prehensive amelioration shall have been achieved. Our South African territory may be not inaptly compared to an island in the midst of a troubled sea — fair and pleasant in itself, but encircled by an angry and turbulent margin, ever and anon chafing to overrun and engulf it.

The policy adopted by the Home government towards the British possessions hereabouts is certainly a piecemeal one, and much less liberal than has been conceded to any of the other Colonies of the Empire. Australia and New Zealand in the present day; Canada, the States, and India of former times, are and were much better cared so-. First of all they were effectually conquered, and thoroughly reduced to the yoke of the new allegiance, in a degree, and by a means and manner, that a country like that of our origin could alone accomplish If other Colonies have been decisively subdued — why have not the Cape of Good Hope and its appendancies ? Are the Kaffirs or the Tambookies conquered ? No, not a tribe of them. They have, it is true, often been chastised, and whilst smarting under the infliction have for a while deported themselves submis sively, but so soon as the pain and inconvenience had passed away, one and all were ready and willing to commit fresh insults— fresh crimes, It may be needful to repeat, that this last accession of territory — British Kaffraria — was not wrested from the Kaffirs in toto, but they were suffered to retain certain divisions apportioned out to each tribe by government Proclamation, under their own laws, modified in some degree by British rule.

A system of forts was established, garrisoned by British troops; towns and villages were laid out by British settlers; stations were established by British traders; — in short, a conjoint occupancy of the District was the system adopted. Here an Englishman, there a Kaffir, — here a kraal, there a fort,— here the residence of a Chief, there the dwelling of a Missionary and the store of a trader. The natives who occupied this territory in common with the British were to waive all minor tribes, designated Gaikas and H'hmbies, with the Tambookies on the North. A policy was enforced in case of theft, of compelling the first Chiefs kraal to which the spoor or trail was followed to make restitution and pay fine, leaving him to seek out and have his redress upon the actual thief, should such visited kraal not contain the real oflender.

This worked most admirably. Depredations diminished, and, comparatively speaking, ceased. The power of the Chiefs over their people was gradually being weakened by the government dealing out equity and justice to every man alike, and by preventing the Chiefs " eating up " or despoiling their serfs. An important alienation of mis chievous power from the heads of tribes was effected. British Com missioners adjudged all wrongs, and the Kaffirs were practically tauoht that the laws of civilized men were much more just than the capricious wills of their hereditary rulers. All Kaffirland was be coming Christianized and civilized. Means were taken to improve and instruct the people. Some possessed wagons, oxen, and other property ; seeds and implements of husbandry were placed at their disposal, and they were taught how to use them.

Stations, Schools, and Churches were rising up throughout the land, and everything was wearing an appearance of brightness and prosperity. The appearance of matters in Kaffirland up to September, 1850, was most cheering. The admirable and just policy of Sir Harry Smith was most vigorously carried out by Colonel Mackinnon and the sub-Commissioners. It was a system in which civil privileges and military enforcements worked most harmoniously. Two divisions of Native Police, of two hundred men each, performed all the duties of the civil power. The first division was under the commind of Superintendent Davies, well known by the soubriquet of the " Lion " from the terror with which his power and vigilance inspired all offen ders. His men were admirably equipped, and by continued training were brought into a state of high discipline.

The following anecdote (although told by the " Lion " himself) will serve to show with how much energy the system was worked by the officers, and how well worthy the men were of commendation : — " Having received a report fom the Commissioner of the Gaikas, that two Kaffirs were known to be implicated in spreading mischievous and warlike reports, I went in search of them, took with me six of the Kaffir Police, and repaired to the kraals where the parties resided. I went under the pretence of getting a white goat, and when I came to one of the kraals, I found a large party as sembled eating meat, for they had been slaughtering. Here, seeing two of the Kaffirs I was seeking, I said to two of my Police— (ah ! they are fine fellows !)— ' Now there is one; you go and sit by him, and talk about a white goat, and I will go and look after the other.' So they went and sat down, while I proceeded in search of the other.

When I came to his kraal, he was absent, and I returned chagrined to the place where they were eating meat, and coolly going into the midst of the large party of Kaffirs, just put the reim on the man I wanted. At first he started on finding me put my hand upon him, but he submitted pretty soon. O yes, they know well enough it is of no use to think of getting away from me and my men ! We took him down to the first bush, where I told him what I wanted him for, and insisted on his telling me then and there where the other Kaffir was. He then stated that he was not in Kaffirland, but was away in the Colony. Upon this I took him to Fort Cox, and secured him, and that night, Friday, sent off a report to King William's Town. * * * After a search of a good many hours, in which I rode upwards of sixty miles, I caught the other offender within the Colony, and lodged him in a place of security."

These two instances are but indices of the rigidity with which the capture of delinquents was followed up under the Governor's system. A theft on being discovered was immediately reported, and, as before stated, the trail of the stolen property was followed up to some kraal, and that kraal was either obliged to carry the spoor further, or to pay tine and make restitution, in something like the proportion of three for one. This is in strict conformity with ancient law, as also with the law in Kaffirland, and amongst the Amapondas and other native tribes, only that the penalty for theft is more severe — ten for one being the usual demand amongst the interior tribes. As was anti cipated at the founding of the system, the crime of theft began gra dually to decrease. The Kaffirs seeing that the plunder of the Colony was a loss to themselves rather than a gain, began to devote their time to a more careful cultivation of their lands, and having amassed a little property, soon began to appreciate the value of those laws which protected the good, whilst punishment was inflicted on the bad.

This Frontier policy was remarked upon by a local paper, just before hostilities commenced, in the following terms : — " In regard to our Kaffirland system, on which depends so largely the prosperity of the whole Colony, it may be pronounced as in even respect satisfactory. No part of that system has failed in realizing the intended result ; and there can be no question that if duly main tained and carried out to the perfection of which it is capable, the fruits will be the gradual but certain civilization of the Kaffirs, and the entile cessation of serious aggression by them on the Colonial farmers. It is satisfactory to remark too, that this happy state of affairs will be realized by a simple adherence to principles of substan tial justice. The Kaffirs begin distinctly to perceive that the great maxim of our government is, neither to do nor suffer wrong.

This is, in native phraseology, ' the great word,' and the effect is, unprece dented tranquillity, not merely on the borders of the Colony, but as far East as the Umzimvooboo, and inland to tbe Quathlamba Mountains." The Chiefs, whose power was broken at the end of the war of 1846 — 7, when British Commissioners were placed over the tribes, saw with jealous eyes these innovations upon the absolutism of un civilized man. They could no longer, under a flimsy pretence, pounce upon one of their serfs, and rob him of his cattle to enrich their own kraals. Witchcraft, war-dancing, and smelling-out mummeries, were strictly prohibited ; everything that tended to demoralize or debase the Kaffir people was forbidden, whilst all that conduced to elevate his position, or to better his circumstances and condition, was warmly fostered and encouraged.

The affections of the multitude were be coming alienated from their hereditary rulers, and the equity of the white man's decisions was preferred to the caprice of tribunals com posed of the Chiefs' nominee councillors. Had the system of Sir Harry Smith only been allowed a few years' trial, there cannot be a doubt but that the happiest results must have accrued. It was destined, however, to be overthrown, and all the measures which had been brought to bear upon the improvement of the people, thwarted and annulled. To all appearance the greatest contentment prevailed throughout British Kaffraria ; and yet, amidst this outward calm, there was, as is now known, a secret conspiracy at work. The notorious Sandilli was instigating his Chieftains and followers to unite in driving the Colonists out of the country ; in the course of which, this restless and ungrateful Chief sent to Pato the following astounding message : — " Arise, clans of the Kaffir nation ! the white man has wearied us ; let us fight for our country ; they are depriving us of our rights which we inherit from our forefathers ; we are deprived of our chieftainship, and the white man is the chief to whom we are obliged to submit ; Sandilli will die fighting for the rights of his forefathers."

This appeal — the verbiage of which excites fearful suspicion of the plot being laid deeper than in Kaffir craft — was made in June, 1850, six months before the war broke out. It would appear that the rebellious address did not have much effect upon Pato, who replied : — " I was instigated to join you in the last war, but it shall be the last; it shall never more be said that Pato has joined in a war against the Colony." Some of the other Chiefs were disposed to join with Sandilli, but contended that the time had not come. The Kaffirs who were in Colonial service were told to keep their eyes open. A monstrous birth — a child with two heads— was said to have taken place in Kaffirland or Tambookieland about two months after this. The infant was represented to have spoken immediately after birth, and to have predicted the overthrow of the English, and then died.

Towards the end of September, another Witch-doctor or Prophet sprang up, whom Sandilli speedily made subservient to his purpose, and worked upon the minds of his people in that most assailable point — superstition. The name of this impostor was Umlanjeni, a young Kaffir of the Gaika tribe. He made himself notorious by standing up to the chin in a pond of water for several hours without food. He next ordered a general purification of all the Kaffir war riors, which took place upon the top of a mountain during the month of September, 1850. This madman soon began to exert an extraordinary influence over the minds of the people, and was visited by the Chiefs of the Gaika tribes first ; afterwards by those of the H'lambies, and finally by the Tambookies ; nor is the paramount Kreli altogether exempt from the imputation of having paid Umlanjeni some homage.

It was rumoured also, and subsequent events have confirmed the truth of the report, that the influence of this impostor had extended itself among the Fingoes and Gonahs in the Colony, and especially among the people occupying the kloofs of the Blinkwater, under the well known Hermanus, of whom more will be said in the sequel. At this time there were hundreds of Kaffirs — men, women, and children — at service in the Colony, or living at sufferance upon the farmers' lands. Secret and mysterious messages from their respective Chiefs caused those servants to desert their masters. A toil-worn messenger would arrive at a location of native huts during the night, and before dawn on the following morning the indwellers had disappeared, together with their moveable effects, whilst the courier passed on to warn others of his fellow-countrymen, or gave over the "Word" to a comrade, by which means it was passed on from hut to hut and farm to farm, in a manner strikingly resembling that in which the immortal Scott makes Rhoderic Dhu assemble his clansmen in the Lady of the Lake : — Fast as the fatal symbol flies, In arms the huts and hamlets rise ; From winding glen, from upland brown, They pour'd each hardy tenant down ; JNor slack'd the messenger his pace ; He showed the sign, he named the place ; And, pressing forward like the wind, Left clamour and surprise behind ; The fisherman forsook the strand, The swarthy smith took dirk and brand ; With changed cheer, the mower blithe Left in the half-cut swathe the scythe ; The herds without a keeper strayed.

The plough was in mid furrow staid, The hunter left the stag at bay, The falc'ner toss'd his hawk away ; Prompt at the signal of alarms, F.ach son of Alpine rushed to arms ; So swept the tumult and affray Along the margin cf Achray. Many of those servants possessed cattle, which they abandoned. Others had wages due, but they cared not to stop for money. A great and powerful magnet was drawing them towards the country of their Chiefs, compared with which their connection with the Colony was as nought. The Gaikas were called first, then the H'lambies, and lastly the Tambookies, being the order in which their respective Chiefs had presented themselves before the Prophet. To such an extent was this desertion of servants carried, that the farmers and their families had not only the household work to do, but the herding in many instances of extensive flocks had to be performed by children in a bushy and intricate country, infested by beasts of prey.

When the deserting servants reached Kaffirland, they were received by the Prophet in common with others of their several tribes. At those meetings the impostor spoke of his immense power, his ability to drive all the English out of the country, to discomfit the military, and to turn the fire of artillery into water. He would not receive any offering from his devotees, but said that he was sent as a deliverer, and did not want to enrich himself at the expense of his people. The Kaffir's love of cattle causes a suspicion to arise that Umlanjeni was hy Sandilli and other Chiefs to act as their tutored willing tool in imposing upon the people. This assembling of the servants in Kaffir land was regarded as extremely ominous by those who were well acquainted with the native character, and many openly expressed their opinions that mischief was brewing.

Mr. George Cyrus, Superintendent of Natives in Graham's Town, an indefatigable and vigilant officer, obtained such information through his office as led him to believe that the Kaffirs were meditating a movement against the Colony, and on the 15th August he laid his views before the Civil Commissioner for Albany, the leading Frontier District, who forwarded the communication to Sir Harry Smith in Cape Town, but at that time everything in Kaffraria wore so peaceful an aspect, that Mr. Cyrus was looked upon as a groundless alarmist. During the month of September, the notes of war and peace were alternately in the ascendant. More thefts than usual were committed, but it was ascribed to the fact of an universal and trying drought oppressing Kaffirland, by which the Kaffirs were reduced to great straits, almost to starvation, as the cattle afforded no milk, and the corn was not yet available.

Towards the middle of October, however, the plot began to thicken. Some of the Kaffir servants had returned to tell their masters to " flee as fast and as far as they could," that war was inevitable. A few of the Frontier stockmasters attended to the admonition, and moved off their cattle and sheep towards Algoa Bay and the western part of the division of Uitenhage. Confidential messengers were sent into Kaffirland by traders and others to ascer tain the exact position of affairs. These men returned, and the general tone of their advices was, that war was probable, but not yet. Great differences of opinion now prevailed upon the subject — some men con fident of war, others assured of peace. The British Commissioners amongst the Kaffir tribes scouted the idea of war, and entrenching themselves in a conviction that the number of their spies, countless sources of intelligence, and means of personal observation, precluded the possibility of a movement taking place in Kaffirland without immediate notice being given of it, reposed in fanciful security, and endeavoured further to allay the alarm of others who had less chance of watching the state of affairs so narrowly.